Comments on: Magic Jack

By: PC

PC — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:51:02 +0000

Yes, exactly. I can’t remember if I mentioned it, but if you are considering between this and traditional VoIP such as Vonage, you can afford to buy a little low power netbook to stash in the basement to run it.

By: PC

PC — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:48:28 +0000

Frank, fail to see why you’d want to return it. If it doesn’t work it is cheaper to throw it in the trash than to mail it back. The vast majority of problems people have with MagicJack have nothing to do with the device itself, but instead center around the business model being either a) unsustainable, in their opinion, and thus not something worth investing even a little in, or b) cheaper than their own solution. I’ve never actually met a person who tried it and didn’t see some usefulness for it, but there are sure a lot of spambots who think there are.

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 18:01:35 +0000

Hi great article thanks for sharing. Does anyone have the Magic Jack? Does it work? How do you contact the company to return it if desired?
Frank

By: whgeiger

whgeiger — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 07:41:26 +0000

MagicJack Issues (I) & Comments (C)

I1) Computer must be on all the time.

C1) Frequent System Shutdowns and Restarts (once a day or more) are more likely to foreshorten system MTBFs than just keeping it turned on 24/7. When going out of town for a few days, of course, then shut it down.

I2) Less than POTS service offered.

C2) Use it as a second line to place most of your outbound calls, as those are the ones subject to toll charges via POTS. You will still be saving money and also gaining some degree of diversity in your access to the PSTN.

By: big cheezer

big cheezer — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:30:02 +0000

Here is your caller ID fix:

http://my.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?MyEbayBeta&CurrentPage=MyeBayNextSelling&ssPageName=STRK:ME:LNLK:MESEX

By: Linda Corley

Linda Corley — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 20:24:50 +0000

When trying to use magic-jack, it ask for E-Mail and PassWord. No matter what I use it will not accept. My magic- jack is totally useless. Whe uusing “Forgot your Password and E-Mail they say they have sent me one. NOT!!!!!!!!!!

By: CheapVOIP

CheapVOIP — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:03:25 +0000

I have had Magic Jack running for about 2 months as a replacement for my regular AT&T phone service. I can probably live with having to dial the area code for local numbers, echo on some calls, not being able to FAX reliably (maybe 5% go through first time if 1 page), not being able to turn off voice mail, but I’d like to resolve these problems or I’ll be looking for another VOIP provider:

1. About 40% of local calls don’t go through. The call says “ACTIVE” but after a few rings there is nothing but silence. You can call back over and over and it is the same each time. Yet if you call that number using your cell phone it goes right through.
2. Randomly dropped calls while speaking (although I upgraded my router firmware and this seems to be happening less often).
3. When calling out, the other party sometimes cannot hear anything yet you hear them just fine. Calling back again and everything is normal.

If anyone has solutions to these problems I’d love to hear from you. I have 6mb DSL service and a relatively new XP Home computer that is dedicated to nothing but the Magic Jack…

By: JJ

JJ — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 13:39:47 +0000

I love my MJ and if you don’t want to use a powered USB, which fried one of my MJs (they refunded me) you can attach a phone line extender with some resistance to fix the caller ID issue. There are companies that make the device very cheaply, I am waiting for mine from magicmojita.com

By: oska

oska — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:21:09 +0000

Most of the comments here are made by folks who just want to say something Plug into a Hub if your not getting your caller id's . Don't buy it if you have an Old Computer,more than likely you will have problems. oskas last blog post..Our Toolbar

By: oska

oska — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 22:17:20 +0000

If you are getting your caller id feature,you should use a hub to boost it..I been using it for quite awhile with no problem at all.. You don’t have to have your computer running at the time either,because you have voice mail that will answer.
you can also forward your calls to your cell phone.

By: PC

PC — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:37:42 +0000

You can call your own Magic Jack number. Better yet, set the thing up to email your voicemail to you. Then you can listen to it on your computer. I get the voicemails on my blackberry and can listen to them there just like visual voicemail.

By: PC

PC — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 04:36:15 +0000

If you are getting it for free there’s no reason to turn it down. It makes an excellent alternative communications device. I expect to renew it next year. Look at it this way – it comes with a phone number and voicemail that can be delivered to your email. If you look around for paid voicemail services those typically cost more than what Magic Jack does for a year, and Magic Jack has many more possibilities for utility.

By: annasolanos

annasolanos — Wed, 18 Mar 2009 04:23:32 +0000

I LIKE MY MAGIC JACK , BUT STILL HAVE A LOT TO LEARN. HOW DO I GET A EXTENION NUMBER TO GET MY VOICE MAIL.

THANK YOU ANNA

By: Richard Avery

Richard Avery — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:49:03 +0000

I have contacted Magicjack 6 times,each tech agent tells me something different. I have spent hours them walking me though different solutions.
I am so confused,I do not know what to do.
I paid extra for the 4 year plan.
In the beginning it worked great,but a few months later it’s terrible. This program does not allow you to reinstall the Magic Jack.
I would not suggest this product to anyone.

By: The Head Master

The Head Master — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 17:07:59 +0000

A friend of a friend is offering me this Magic Jack, said it was good and all that. Now that I’ve seen your reviews maybe it won’t be worth it. Thanks for the review of this product guys!

By: Siweloj

Siweloj — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 05:09:33 +0000

Yes, there are problems with the new Magic Jack. But, you all have to understand that every new equipment has some bugs that have to be worked out as it is been used. If you are having problems, it’s best to call the support team that they may document it for their records and help you fix any problem. You have to give them a chance. This is a great thing for me. It maybe soon that the Magic Jack wil allow us to operate the phone, even when the computer is turned off. I believe that they will find a way for every problem that we encounter. This is a blessing and I am enjoying it. Just as new phone companies, new DSL companies, or anything else, there will be problems.
Be blessed!

By: drbray

drbray — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:54:01 +0000

“Most users that are having “trouble” with their magicJack® dongle are usually having connection problems with their computer’s USB ports and its power supply to those ports!”

This is the least expensive and probably the best telephone service that I have EVER used!

This service ONLY costs $19.95/year and with a 5 year license extension it costs only $12.00/year! $1.67/month 1st year then $1.00/month each year thereafter.

Don’t believe any of the BAD PRESS you may hear about the service. I discovered what the “technical” problem was, because it actually happened to me. I was having audio and connection problems until I solved the technical problem of my computer’s USB bus drawing over 500 mA, actually 580 mA, with everything plugged into the bus.

My eMachine computer, Model T2882, only has a 250 Watt power supply and that was working at its limits with all the computer cards and USB devices that I had plugged into the machine were demanding current.

The attached article is how I solved the problem for less than $20.00!

http://drbray.blogspot.com/2008/12/magicjack-reality.html

By: PC

PC — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 00:19:21 +0000

@kaycee
VoIP wasn’t very popular back then except in large businesses, and even then was pretty progressive. Glad you find MagicJack to your liking! I haven’t had a use for it since I ended this review, but it does travel with my laptop just in case.

By: kaycee

kaycee — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 16:23:48 +0000

I’m very happy that you are writing about Magic Jack because I recently heard about it and am interested in user reviews. I used to market voIP in the year 2000 before Skype was even created. I use both a mac and windows on 2 separate pc’s. I plan to use Magic Jack after reading your review because it sounds like out needs are different.

By: PC

PC — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 22:00:53 +0000

@MagicJackFan
Your name lets us know where you stand on this issue. I understand some people are pretty passionate about this topic. I don’t understand that, but there it is.

Thanks for the links though. My MagicJack is plugged in on its own USB header where nothing else is plugged in. I tried it in my laptop as well, and my laptop is able to self-power a USB hard drive that I have. Still, I do have a powered hub here somewhere and will give it a try and report back.

My whole problem with leaving a computer on all the time was due to the Vista computer that I had available to run this on has a high end graphics card which sucks power. The laptop goes with me to work every day, and the other machines are Linux, etc. The MagicBlock program would work great, but only while the computer was turned on. My best solution for that was to spend the extra $100 or so on an Atom and more than save that much on electricity and phone bill savings over the course of a year. Then I could continue to shut off that electricity hogging computer and video card when it is not in use.

I definitely agree with what I’ve read from your site, which was one of many sites I visited before buying it. Magic Jack is not a scam as I originally feared. It has some limitations, but those are clearly disclosed. My Magic Jack is perfect for plugging into my laptop and using my bluetooth headset with, so I do intend to keep it.