PC
I have had the MagicJack for about a week now, but still have not had much time to do testing. I did try it on my laptop and noticed that it allowed me to connect through bluetooth. I set the options and connected my Plantronics 510 to it and it works like a charm. No external phone needed.
Pressing the “Send” button after typing numbers gives an instantaneous connection. I tried calling my desk phone and it almost seemed as if it was ringing before I pressed it. I have noticed some call quality problems, but so many people are used to VoIP and poor quality mobile phones that it makes little difference.
My plan is to forward my Packet 8 number to MagicJack starting some day this week and move the phone line from my Packet 8 ATA to MagicJack so all incoming and outgoing phone calls with be via MagicJack. If things go well then I do not see much incentive to keep Packet 8.
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Congrats for giving the Magic Jack a try and writing a fair and honest review. There is SO much Magic Jack bashing going on these days. You do have to wonder if some of it comes from Vonage employees trying to spread FUD (Fear, Uncertainty & Doubt) about it.
After all, it’s been called the “Vonage killer” from the day it was announced in the press.
For those who may be confused about it how it works, the below web site might help…
http://www.magic-jack.info/
Looks like this site has just started advertising on your site too.
Magic Jack VoIP Phone fans last blog post..Magic Jack Info – Magic Jack USB Phone Jack Info – Magic-Jack.Info
@Magic Jack VoIP Phone fan
I thought that was interesting. Vonage picked up the keywords Magic Jack and started advertising through adsense here. I have the tag VoIP listed in my tag cloud on every page, so they are not just keying off that, otherwise they would be advertising on every page.
MagicJack® Set Up
How many USB devices are currently plugged in?
Power-Hungry Hubs (Quote from an unknown informed source)
A USB hub will expand the number of USB devices that you can plug into your computer, and these days, with cameras, scanners, printers, keyboards, pointing devices, PDAs, hard disks and many more peripherals using the USB interface, the number of devices you want to plug in often exceeds the number of USB ports on the computer. Some hubs have their own power adapters, but others run off the computer’s power through the USB bus. This is more convenience since you don’t have to plug in a separate electrical cord, but it’s also easy to overload the USB port if you plug a lot of devices into one of these hubs.
Do your PC’s USB ports supply enough electricity to power all the devices you have attached to them? Plugging too much gear into a bus-powered USB hub (one with no external power adapter) can overwhelm a USB port by demanding more than the 500 mA it can supply. Check the power demands on any USB port in Windows XP by right-clicking My Computer and choosing Properties, Hardware, Device Manager. Double-click Universal Serial Bus controllers, double-click the USB Root Hub entry, choose the Power tab, and add up the amounts in the “Power Required” column. On the packaging that Magic Jack arrives in, there are warnings that some USB ports might not have enough electrical power for your Magic Jack to work properly. (Below is the advice which many people forget about.)
Remember: magicJack® works best when plugged directly into a USB port on your computer.
Do not plug into a multi port USB hub that is not AC powered. In a few rare instances, your USB port on your computer may not have enough power.
Try using a externally AC powered USB hub to plug your magicJack® dongel into instead of using your computer’s USB hub if you have ‘many’ other USB devices connected to your computer.
After you have connected the dongel for the first time, registered the device, and have the ‘softphone’ on the screen, you should probably run TCP Optimizer to “tune” your computer to work with it in an efficient manner; it can be downloaded from the following website:
http://www.speedguide.net/downloads.php
You can use the TCP Optimizer by following these short instructions:
1.Choose your maximum Connection Speed from the slider bar (the maximum available bandwidth, in kilobits per second)
2.Choose your Network Interface, or check to Modify All Network Adapters
3.Pick “Optimal settings” from the radio-buttons near the bottom of the program
4.Click on the “Apply changes” button and reboot
MagicJack® Uses
1.Inexpensive Secondary Telephone Service
2.Excellent adjunct to expensive prime time and/or poor indoor Cellular Telephone Service
3.Distribute magicJack® phone number to all contacts as primary contact number
4.When outdoors have the magicJack® phone number forwarded to cell phone
5.When indoors use magickJack® phone number to reach and be reached by contacts
MagicJack® Support
http://www.magic-jack.info/linkpage.htm
Main Office: (561) 594-2140 this is just a recording telling you where to get support, you can leave a message if you want.
Support: (281) 404-1551 open from 11am to 8pm EST
http://www.bbbsoutheastflorida.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportPage_Expository.aspx?CompanyID=92003333
How to save money and pay for MagicJack® Service with interest earned after one year!
1.The average cost of land line telephone service (Verizon, AT&T, Cavalier, or Sprint) with all federal, state, and local taxes and fees is $60.00 per month
2.Deposit $720.00 [12 months of land line payments saved] in an on line account (ING or HSBC linked to you Debit Card Account) earning at least 2.8% interest per year at the time you initiate magicJack® Service
3.After one (1) year you will have earned enough money in interest to pay for the coming yearly magicJack® payment
4.Transfer the interest earned to your Debit Card Account and pay your magicJack® service fee
5.This account will allow you to use [OPM] “Other People’s Money” to pay for your magicJack® service for each year you chose to maintain it
Obviously this is a cut-and-paste post, but I allowed it since it is on topic and tries to address the problem I had.
I had to laugh though at the “Other People’s Money” idea. People who have $720 around and nothing to spend it on aren’t really going to be interested in saving a few bucks on their phone bill, or dealing with inconveniences in order to make that saving work. Besides, interest on money isn’t someone else’s money, it is money they pay you to let them make use of the money rather than you. In the same vein you could suggest putting away roughly $500,000 at 2.8% in order to pay your $1100 mortgage payment monthly. What makes no sense on a high value item also makes no sense on a low value item. Unless you’ve got more cash than you know what to do with.
A more practical idea for most people is to spend that $720 on that flat screen TV you planned to buy rather than put the TV on your credit card at 22% interest. Better yet, don’t buy the TV and just pay the extra $720 on your card. The average American has how many thousands of dollars of credit card debt? Then I buy your argument – if the MagicJack is adequate to replace your home service, then put the saved money to use for yourself!
Wow, great blog. I love reading blogs about VoIP! It’s such an exciting technology. I have learned a lot in implementing a small VoIP network at home, and am thinking of starting VoIP business in my area. There are a number of small businesses in my region that would benefit from it greatly. Thanks again for this blog – it is really well-done.