Thread: MAGICJACK

I live in the sticks so I look at things like this and go interesting but.....

I use a cell phone for everything, my wife and I share a plan for about 70 a month, never touch the max and international is cheep as hell (Canada is free, but is that really international?). Our internet is also cell based as that or satalite is the only high speed options here. Whatever you do getting rid of the land line is worth it, Uncle Sam gets a bigger portion of that bill than the phone company does.

I gave it some thought, but after reading some of the comments that can be found regarding billing problems and lack of customer support other than internet chat, I've decided to pass. From what I read, there is not even a phone number to call.

I easily use over 1000 minutes a month while my wife uses no more than 30 minutes a month, and all those minutes are calls to me.

Originally Posted by JMS

Keep your mind out of the gutter guys!
Its a little doohickey that plugs into a USB port to which you plug your phone into. the jack plus one year costs 40 dollars, after that it is 20 dollars a year. No more phone bills. you can call anyone anywhere as long as you have the intenet for only 20 a year, or at least thats what they say.

Question: Has anyone used this device? If so, do you like it? What are the advantages and disadvantages?

There is a lot of good info posted already. Here are my experiences with MagicJack

I currently use MagicJack as a phone for my home-business operations.

Pros
Cheap ($20 per year)

Setup is easy.

You get to pick your Phone number. You can also change it just as easily.

I get my voice mail messages emailed to my email account.

Works great for me because I can have it connected to the PC during business hours. Once my PC is turned off I get no more phone calls, if I choose.

When on the road or during off hours (if necessary) I do have the option of forwarding my calls to my cell which is what I do. Once you set your forwarding the doohickey does not have to been connected to your PC neither does your PC have to be turned on.

Cons
As discussed in previous posts.
Must have good internet connection.

Over here there's a provider who just started a 1 euro a month contract. For those wh wish to be reachable but don't with to call themselves.

I recently set up my Grandmother in-law's computer with magicjack. It was very easy to set up and choose her phone number. She could understand the instructions and operation of the magicjack easily.

I think that VeeDub has hit the majority of things I was about to comment on, but here is my $0.02.

You can use the magicjack with a physical phone handset, or use the softphone (virtual phone) on your computer with the computers speakers and microphone.

The number that she picked will follow her all over the US, I don't think they have worked out translating the number to other countries as of the time I set hers up.

As long as you have a decent internet connection, I found the clarity was very good. I used it over the wireless to make a few test calls and it was like I was talking from a land line.

Hope this helps and good luck.