Skype Killer - Magic Jack - $20.00 a year phone service

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spdfreak

Senior member
Mar 6, 2000
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I have one... it works. for 20.00 a year and the ability to take it with you anywhere in the world, it is a great deal. I mean, come on, it is 20.00 a year! I spend more than that on coffee every week. Plus it emails you your voicemail messages so you can listen to them without calling in. Mine has worked well and has decent call quality- similar to a cell phone. I call my sister who is on vonage and it still works well going through 2 voip networks...
 

Aiyana

Member
Apr 14, 2003
91
0
61
I just got Ooma, a competitor to MagicJack. It has a higher up front cost, then no monthly fees at all (as long as they stay in business!). It cost me $189. There were two reasons why I chose it over MagicJack: Ooma is a stand alone device that is not attached to a computer, and Ooma allows you to port your existing land line phone number. For those two reasons it was worth it to me to give it a try over MagicJack. If porting doesn't matter and you don't mind leaving a computer on, then MagicJack sounds pretty good.

I haven't noticed any problems with the quality. I've had it for just over a week, but haven't used it too much yet. My home number will finish being ported in a week, at which point I will use the VOIP exclusively.
 

nutxo

Diamond Member
May 20, 2001
6,789
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Im tring to figure out why there are no area codes for WA state available...
 

spdfreak

Senior member
Mar 6, 2000
935
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Originally posted by: Aiyana
I just got Ooma, a competitor to MagicJack. It has a higher up front cost, then no monthly fees at all (as long as they stay in business!). It cost me $189. There were two reasons why I chose it over MagicJack: Ooma is a stand alone device that is not attached to a computer, and Ooma allows you to port your existing land line phone number. For those two reasons it was worth it to me to give it a try over MagicJack. If porting doesn't matter and you don't mind leaving a computer on, then MagicJack sounds pretty good.

I haven't noticed any problems with the quality. I've had it for just over a week, but haven't used it too much yet. My home number will finish being ported in a week, at which point I will use the VOIP exclusively.

Magic Jack has no monthly fees. It is 20.00/YEAR. That is 9 years at the price you paid. I have a feeling things will change in the next 9 years when it comes to phone service. Plus you can take it with you when you travel and plug it into your laptop for phone service anywhere. I can't port my number anyways since it is still my dsl number...
 

RideFree

Diamond Member
Jul 25, 2001
3,433
2
0
MJ is not the phone panacea you might think.

I have had it for over a year and it is a big PITA!
NO customer Service...my first one refused to format and MJ's CS was belligerent.
I ended up buying a second one but, it too, bit the dust.

I can not recommend this product although
I do note the sucess of some in making it viable.
:disgust:
 

magreen

Golden Member
Dec 27, 2006
1,309
1
81
I'm trying to save on costs, so I'm thinking of getting this MJ and cancelling my home phone. I don't need cable tv either -- so the only connection I'd have is my DSL. I'm thinking of the $20/month Verizon 1Mbps/368kbps down/up DSL with no phone service.

Anybody care to encourage/dissuade me?

Note: MJ is not $20/yr, it's $40 for the first year and $20/yr for each additional year.
 

spdfreak

Senior member
Mar 6, 2000
935
68
91
Originally posted by: RideFree
MJ is not the phone panacea you might think.

I have had it for over a year and it is a big PITA!
NO customer Service...my first one refused to format and MJ's CS was belligerent.
I ended up buying a second one but, it too, bit the dust.

I can not recommend this product although
I do note the sucess of some in making it viable.
:disgust:

Yeah, I had problems with compatibility on one of my computers. Simply would not install. Plugged it into a different computer and it installed perfectly. I think there are some problems with different USB chipsets or something. There is also a problem if you have NERO installed since it somehow changes how virtual drives are detected- or something like that. It is posted at the MJ forum. I have no complaints at all for the price but it is finicky on some computers.
 

KeithP

Diamond Member
Jun 15, 2000
5,661
199
106
Originally posted by: magreen
I'm trying to save on costs, so I'm thinking of getting this MJ and cancelling my home phone. I don't need cable tv either -- so the only connection I'd have is my DSL. I'm thinking of the $20/month Verizon 1Mbps/368kbps down/up DSL with no phone service.

Anybody care to encourage/dissuade me?

Note: MJ is not $20/yr, it's $40 for the first year and $20/yr for each additional year.

I dropped my landline and was just using a cell phone. I got a MagicJack because I have a base cell phone plan with the least amount of minutes.

The MagicJack works well enough. I am currently using it under OS X but I think it works a bit better under Windows. Sometimes, a call will start out scratchy with poor audio quality and then become OK after about 30-60 seconds. Very rarely, the quality was so bad I had to hang up and call again to get a better connection.

With that being said, I still recommend it. The only downside being you have to have a computer running for it to work. I have it running on a MacBook.

-KeithP
 

magreen

Golden Member
Dec 27, 2006
1,309
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Originally posted by: KeithP
Originally posted by: magreen
I'm trying to save on costs, so I'm thinking of getting this MJ and cancelling my home phone. I don't need cable tv either -- so the only connection I'd have is my DSL. I'm thinking of the $20/month Verizon 1Mbps/368kbps down/up DSL with no phone service.

Anybody care to encourage/dissuade me?

Note: MJ is not $20/yr, it's $40 for the first year and $20/yr for each additional year.

I dropped my landline and was just using a cell phone. I got a MagicJack because I have a base cell phone plan with the least amount of minutes.

The MagicJack works well enough. I am currently using it under OS X but I think it works a bit better under Windows. Sometimes, a call will start out scratchy with poor audio quality and then become OK after about 30-60 seconds. Very rarely, the quality was so bad I had to hang up and call again to get a better connection.

With that being said, I still recommend it. The only downside being you have to have a computer running for it to work. I have it running on a MacBook.

-KeithP
sounds good to me. I'd also like to save on cellphone minutes, plus have the 911 capability. Plus extra handsets so you don't have to run across the house for the phone, and so the wife and I can get on the phone at the same time. Cell phones don't do that.

It seems ideal to use an old laptop (or cheap netbook?) as the dedicated MJ server (and perhaps a file and print server too if you want), since it consumes little power and has built-in UPS capability. (Though I don't know how much that helps unless you have a UPS for your modem/router too... although in a quick power surge/brownout without a UPS, the router will be up and running quick and your laptop will still be fine, while if your computer shuts down it might take minutes plus a manual restart to boot back up.)
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,548
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Originally posted by: magreen
I'm trying to save on costs, so I'm thinking of getting this MJ and cancelling my home phone. I don't need cable tv either -- so the only connection I'd have is my DSL. I'm thinking of the $20/month Verizon 1Mbps/368kbps down/up DSL with no phone service.

Anybody care to encourage/dissuade me?

Note: MJ is not $20/yr, it's $40 for the first year and $20/yr for each additional year.

That's what I have. I have $29.99 3mbit/768 kbit Verizon DSL without Voice, and then I have MagicJack for phone. It works really well for me.

Rarely, when I dial a number, I cannot hear them. Usually, hanging up and redialing works, but even more rarely, I have to restart the MagicJack app. That usually fixes things.
 

Fox5

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2005
5,957
7
81
Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Originally posted by: magreen
I'm trying to save on costs, so I'm thinking of getting this MJ and cancelling my home phone. I don't need cable tv either -- so the only connection I'd have is my DSL. I'm thinking of the $20/month Verizon 1Mbps/368kbps down/up DSL with no phone service.

Anybody care to encourage/dissuade me?

Note: MJ is not $20/yr, it's $40 for the first year and $20/yr for each additional year.

That's what I have. I have $29.99 3mbit/768 kbit Verizon DSL without Voice, and then I have MagicJack for phone. It works really well for me.

Rarely, when I dial a number, I cannot hear them. Usually, hanging up and redialing works, but even more rarely, I have to restart the MagicJack app. That usually fixes things.

Err, I'd like my phone to just work. If MagicJack has the same problems as a cell phone, why not just use the cell phone I already have?
 

imported_nunya

Senior member
Jul 15, 2005
612
0
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Originally posted by: Fox5
Originally posted by: VirtualLarry
Originally posted by: magreen
I'm trying to save on costs, so I'm thinking of getting this MJ and cancelling my home phone. I don't need cable tv either -- so the only connection I'd have is my DSL. I'm thinking of the $20/month Verizon 1Mbps/368kbps down/up DSL with no phone service.

Anybody care to encourage/dissuade me?

Note: MJ is not $20/yr, it's $40 for the first year and $20/yr for each additional year.

That's what I have. I have $29.99 3mbit/768 kbit Verizon DSL without Voice, and then I have MagicJack for phone. It works really well for me.

Rarely, when I dial a number, I cannot hear them. Usually, hanging up and redialing works, but even more rarely, I have to restart the MagicJack app. That usually fixes things.

Err, I'd like my phone to just work. If MagicJack has the same problems as a cell phone, why not just use the cell phone I already have?

Um...because it's ridiculously cheaper? I haven't had a land-line for 10 years, just my cell phone. However I bought a MJ in part because I've gone over my minutes a couple of times, but mostly because why-the-hell-not? When I bought mine they had a promotion for 5 years service + MJ for $100. That's less than 2 months of cell service. I have a different cell plan now but on my old plan my MJ saved me from going over minutes twice so it's already paid for itself and it's been less than a year. I don't receive calls on it (no one has the number) but it sure is nice when I have to call some shitty support/cs number to not have to worry about the fact that I'll be burning minutes on hold for half an hour or more. No, the quality isn't exceptional but it is acceptable, at least for me.

*yes, their support blows.
 

mazeroth

Golden Member
Jan 31, 2006
1,821
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My Mom and I have had a MJ now for a little over a year and we both did the 5 year deal for $100. When it works it's great. However, I have to unplug the stupid thing constantly, then plug it back in and let it reinitialize in order for it to work. Same for my Mom who has a Mac. Very undependable. We just had a baby and decided it's worth it to pay $23/month for a land line just in case something were to happen and the cell phone we share is out with one of us.

I don't see why the stupid thing always quits working. Also, sometimes we'll dial out or answer it and either we can't hear them or they can't hear us. If they could fix these few things it would be unreal. I mean, roughly $2/month for unlimited local and long distance calls.
 

VirtualLarry

No Lifer
Aug 25, 2001
56,548
10,171
126
Originally posted by: mazeroth
My Mom and I have had a MJ now for a little over a year and we both did the 5 year deal for $100. When it works it's great. However, I have to unplug the stupid thing constantly, then plug it back in and let it reinitialize in order for it to work. Same for my Mom who has a Mac. Very undependable. We just had a baby and decided it's worth it to pay $23/month for a land line just in case something were to happen and the cell phone we share is out with one of us.

I don't see why the stupid thing always quits working. Also, sometimes we'll dial out or answer it and either we can't hear them or they can't hear us. If they could fix these few things it would be unreal. I mean, roughly $2/month for unlimited local and long distance calls.

Are you using that USB extension cable that it ships with? I've heard that using the cable can cause problems. I'm using a Belkin 7-port powered hub for mine, and no problems at all.
 

magreen

Golden Member
Dec 27, 2006
1,309
1
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I think I'm gonna try the 30 day money back guarantee. I'll see if I experience the trouble you're saying. (Btw, I saw in their faq that if you pay by credit card, they don't charge your card until 30 day trial is over, but if you use a debit card they charge it immediately).
 

Destro

Member
May 20, 2002
41
0
0
I looked at MagicJack (really a scam company if you do your research) and I also considered Ooma. Don't believe what Magic Jack says about getting your money back. Customer service is non-existent.

After doing lots of research, I settled on VOIPo, and it's been terrific.

It's $99/year, and they provide a Linksys VOIP device that's a $79 box.

It doesn't require your PC to be on all the time like MJ, and their customer support is excellent. One of the VP's or owner answers questions frequently in the DSLReports forums.

http://www.voipo.com/
 

magreen

Golden Member
Dec 27, 2006
1,309
1
81
Originally posted by: Destro
I looked at MagicJack (really a scam company if you do your research) and I also considered Ooma. Don't believe what Magic Jack says about getting your money back. Customer service is non-existent.

After doing lots of research, I settled on VOIPo, and it's been terrific.

It's $99/year, and they provide a Linksys VOIP device that's a $79 box.

It doesn't require your PC to be on all the time like MJ, and their customer support is excellent. One of the VP's or owner answers questions frequently in the DSLReports forums.

http://www.voipo.com/

That looks interesting. I'm looking at it now.

It appears to be $135/yr, not $99/yr, because even though they currently have a promotion to waive the $30 activation fee, they charge $36/yr in taxes and fees. Their website explains it as,
This Fee covers USF contributions, E911 service and various taxes that VOIPo is required to remit on your behalf for the duration of your account.
So it comes out to $11.25/mo.

Now, it calls this a promotional rate for their first year of doing business -- it says in their support/knowledgebase section on residential pricing,
Tentative Pricing
$21.95 - Monthly
$99 - Bi-Annually
$199 - Annually

Limited Pre-Launch Special: First Year for $99

So it may jump to $199/yr after the first yr, which would be more like $20/mo, and not such a bargain.

Also, is this system really pre-launch? Does that mean it's a brand new untested service? How long has this company been around? And what's with the "backed by HostGator" stuff on their homepage? That makes me think they're really just starting up and fly-by-night -- if they have to tell you which webhosting they use. Google doesn't go around bragging about their webhosting.

But I'm still interested, anyone else with experience or knowledge on this?
 

Aiyana

Member
Apr 14, 2003
91
0
61
Originally posted by: spdfreak

Magic Jack has no monthly fees. It is 20.00/YEAR. That is 9 years at the price you paid. I have a feeling things will change in the next 9 years when it comes to phone service. Plus you can take it with you when you travel and plug it into your laptop for phone service anywhere. I can't port my number anyways since it is still my dsl number...

First, my voice landline was my dsl number as well. I had a dry loop dsl installed, and once it was working I dropped the dsl on my voice line and dropped the voice down to a minimum plan ($13.95). I will have to pay the $13.95/mo until my number is ported (about 3 weeks worth).

Second, you are not comparing apples to apples. In a far comparison you have to consider that I essentially bought a very inexpensive and low power computer (the ooma), while with the BlackJack you would have to supply a presumably much more expensive computer and most likely would be using a lot more juice to keep it going 24/7. A high power gaming computer can cost as much as $400/year in electricity alone if it is run 24/7. If you had an efficient computer running at 60w using electricity at $0.14 per kWh, your cost per year would be ((60 * 24)/1000) * 365 * 0.14 = $73.58 per year. Ooma is 5w standby and 8w while talking. 5w would give $6.13 per year, so in that scenario the MagicJack would cost an additional $67.45 per year. In that scenario the Ooma and Black Jack cost about the same for 2 years, not 9.

Again, I have nothing against the BlackJack. I just decided for me personally that not requiring my computer to run 24/7 plus the ability to port a number I have had for ten years was worth the additional up front cost to me (remember that number porting is additional $40).


 

Smoke

Distributed Computing Elite Member
Jan 3, 2001
12,650
206
106
I started having problems with a beep/tone error right about a week or so after getting my MJs. The problem is the person to whom you are speaking hears tones as if you were tapping the number keys on your telephone in a random manner ... I could not hear the beeps/tones and only learned of them as my friends started complaining. This problem seems to have started with an update. Do a web search for MagicJack and beep/tone problem and you'll see that it is quite wide spread. A recent "fix" has helped some people but not others.

I was approaching the end of my 30-day trial and after going round and round with their tech support via chat (unbelievably they have no phone you can call) I decided to ask for RMAs to return the phones for a refund.

I immediately got a refund for the devices but the refund for the multi-year purchases has yet to show. Then I did a search to see if anyone else had problems getting their refunds. I wish I had done this first ... shame on me. :(

It appears I will have to file a dispute with my credit card company. :|

At this time, I would have to advise against purchasing a MagicJack until it has been proven they can fix the problems that I have outlined.

 

nyker96

Diamond Member
Apr 19, 2005
5,630
2
81
I tried VoIP a while back not too good voice quality, so opted for cell/land line combo instead. I think internet needs more bandwidth for VoIP to work well.
 

Uhtrinity

Platinum Member
Dec 21, 2003
2,259
202
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I picked up a MJ and love it, however I don't use it as my main line. I also found it is very finicky with different phones, I think it is a usb power draw issue. However it works great with a mic / headset via the computer. Recently I went on a roadtrip to Oregon and used the MJ to stay in contact with my parents. I relied on internet in the motels and campgrounds we stayed at and used the MJ on a Asus EEE 701sd netbook. It worked like a charm. The only issues I ever had was being located to far from the access points. Once I moved closer the issues were resolved. This only happened twice on the trip. My other phone is a landline and I recently removed the long distance service and use the MJ exclusively for those calls. I don't even plug in the MJ until I need it and rely on the voice mail emails if anyone calls it which is rarely. A steal for $20 / yr. I may even consider making it my exclusive line if they add a local server. As it is I have a Boise number which is on the other side of the state.
 

Uhtrinity

Platinum Member
Dec 21, 2003
2,259
202
106
Originally posted by: Aiyana

Second, you are not comparing apples to apples. In a far comparison you have to consider that I essentially bought a very inexpensive and low power computer (the ooma), while with the BlackJack you would have to supply a presumably much more expensive computer and most likely would be using a lot more juice to keep it going 24/7. A high power gaming computer can cost as much as $400/year in electricity alone if it is run 24/7. If you had an efficient computer running at 60w using electricity at $0.14 per kWh, your cost per year would be ((60 * 24)/1000) * 365 * 0.14 = $73.58 per year. Ooma is 5w standby and 8w while talking. 5w would give $6.13 per year, so in that scenario the MagicJack would cost an additional $67.45 per year. In that scenario the Ooma and Black Jack cost about the same for 2 years, not 9.

The MagicJack does not require a gaming system to run. I have been running mine on my EEE netbook which uses a Celeron M 900 Mhz. When in use CPU utilization runs between 5% and 20%. I have read of people even setting up older hardware and even underclocking for lower power consumption or even fanless systems.
 

Aiyana

Member
Apr 14, 2003
91
0
61
Originally posted by: Uhtrinity
Originally posted by: Aiyana

Second, you are not comparing apples to apples. In a far comparison you have to consider that I essentially bought a very inexpensive and low power computer (the ooma), while with the BlackJack you would have to supply a presumably much more expensive computer and most likely would be using a lot more juice to keep it going 24/7. A high power gaming computer can cost as much as $400/year in electricity alone if it is run 24/7. If you had an efficient computer running at 60w using electricity at $0.14 per kWh, your cost per year would be ((60 * 24)/1000) * 365 * 0.14 = $73.58 per year. Ooma is 5w standby and 8w while talking. 5w would give $6.13 per year, so in that scenario the MagicJack would cost an additional $67.45 per year. In that scenario the Ooma and Black Jack cost about the same for 2 years, not 9.

The MagicJack does not require a gaming system to run. I have been running mine on my EEE netbook which uses a Celeron M 900 Mhz. When in use CPU utilization runs between 5% and 20%. I have read of people even setting up older hardware and even underclocking for lower power consumption or even fanless systems.

I know it doesn't take a gaming system, that is why the energy price I quoted was for a pretty efficient machine, not a gaming rig. If you can get a free machine that will run at 5w, then more power to you. I'm willing to bet your EEE Netbook cost substantially more than $189 if you bought it new, so again, there is a trade off there. If it works for you, then great. The power consumption of an atom netbook ought to be pretty low for supporting BlackJack.

I've got nothing against BlackJack. My brother-in-law raves about his. I listed the reasons why it made sense for me to take a small gamble and pay more up front for the Ooma. I said before that if you have an efficient computer available that you don't mind keeping on 24/7, and you don't care about porting a number, then BlackJack might make more sense for you.
 

bradley

Diamond Member
Jan 9, 2000
3,671
2
81
Even at $180-$250 Ooma is intriguing. My biggest concern is their business model eventually pushing them into bankruptcy and/or being stuck with proprietary hardware.

Although I am considering buying an adapter and giving a BYOD pay-as-you-go VoIP company like Future Nine, Call Centric etc. a try. I currently pay $38 a month for basic service on Verizon for a handful of outgoing and incoming calls a week, which in this day and age is ridiculous.

List of 41 ?BYOD? VoIP Service Providers
http://blog.voipsupply.com/lis...voip-service-providers
 

Jawadali

Senior member
Oct 1, 2003
994
6
81
Originally posted by: bradley
Even at $180-$250 Ooma is intriguing. My biggest concern is their business model eventually pushing them into bankruptcy and/or being stuck with proprietary hardware.

Although I am considering buying an adapter and giving a BYOD pay-as-you-go VoIP company like Future Nine, Call Centric etc. a try. I currently pay $38 a month for basic service on Verizon for a handful of outgoing and incoming calls a week, which in this day and age is ridiculous.

List of 41 ?BYOD? VoIP Service Providers
http://blog.voipsupply.com/lis...voip-service-providers

Thanks for the info.

I'm in a similar boat with Verizon; We pay for "unlimited local calls" as well as DSL, but we only make a few calls a week. In fact, most of our "received" calls are telemarketing robocalls.
 
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