Magic Jack Internet Phone Service

[Notmuchlonger]

I've probably said this before, but poor quality in general in the phone system is common, and very irritating. Poor cordless phones, garbling with cell phones, etc. Pick up an extension, and quality drops further.

I know I sound like an old guy, but I bet sound quality was better, on average, in 1960.

It would be great to have CD-quality sound over the phone.

Either that or your hearing was better

 

[free4now]

I have no landline or VOIP and I'm fine without it. I have two activated cell phones on different carriers, one deactivated cell phone that I use as an alarm clock always charged, and another deactivated cell phone in the car with a 12V cord.

In a true disaster like the Big Earthquake, 911 would be useless because emergency responders would be instantly overwhelmed. The main concern I would have would be letting family and friends know I'm all right, and that can be done with email (over DSL or cell SMS).

My building has a 24 hour security attendant who is probably a better resource than 911, and worst case could call 911 for me.

 

[ERD50]

It would be great to have CD-quality sound over the phone.

I keep thinking that also. I can get very good (not CD) quality music streaming over pandora on my computer, and still have plenty of bandwidth left for other stuff.

I think it is largely based on traditional expectations (you're a musician, you expect more in terms of sound quality) - and standard phones don't need to have any better sound quality than the POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) network, so they may not sound so great when run through a quality connection (weakest link).

But, you got me curious - I may see if I can utilize any of this -

Voice over IP (Voip) - an introduction

Codecs are software drivers that are used to encode the speech in a compact enough form that they can be sent in real time across the Internet using the bandwidth available. Codecs are not something that Voip users normally need to worry about, as the Voip clients at each end of the connection negotiate between them which one to use.


Voip software or hardware may give you the option to specify the codecs you prefer to use. This allows you to make a choice between voice quality and network bandwidth usage, which might be necessary if you want to allow multiple simultaneous calls to be held using an ordinary broadband connection. Your selection is unlikely to make any noticeable difference when talking to PSTN users, because the lowest bandwidth part of the connection will always limit the quality achievable, but Voip-to-Voip calls using a broadband Internet connection are capable of delivering much better quality than the plain old telephone system.

After all, the VOIP provider doesn't care how much bandwidth you use (unless it's the same provider), so why not go for quality?

check the link for some tech details. I gotta run, will look later.

-ERD50

 

[plsprius]

MagicJack Report: Just installed it and it seems to work fine. It's neat to be able to "pick up the phone" and get the dial tone, and know that I can call anywhere in the US for free...I have mine connected to a two-line phone, and it's real simple to access when I want.

MagicJack also comes with a voicemail account, inbound and outbound calling, and caller ID. I was even able to get a local number right in my city. Of course, your computer must be on and connected to broadband to work, but I am using a low-end DSL line and it seems to work fine.

Next up--canceling ATT long distance (in CA). Does anyone have experience with canceling long distance (and keeping local service)? I'm paying $4.58 per month (including $3 monthly fee and $1.22 in taxes) for service that I don't believe I will ever use (also have a cellphone and the Costco calling card for backup).

Any helpful hints about canceling long distance?

 

[ERD50]

I'm not keen on the fact that the computer needs to be ON to make/receive calls. Can't even sleep it, from what I can tell (yes, you can shut down the display, etc, but not sleep it).

With most other VOIP, you get an adapter box that needs to be on. I can't see the power rating w/o unplugging it, but it's just a tiny wall wart, can't be more than a few watts.

If you don't think you will use your land-line - why not just drop it? I did, I'm still alive. $23/month VOIP, unlimited local/LD and a host of features, versus $38/month for landline and having to watch every single phone number we call to make sure it isn't LD or 'out of band' and no features. Pretty happy with VOIP so far.

-ERD50

 

[TromboneAl]

We canceled our AT&T long distance years ago; nothing special that I recall, just called and canceled. BTW, even if you don't have magicjack, it's much cheaper to cancel AT&T long distance and use a dialaround -- at least for us.

 

[tryan]

We use Vonage at home and at the lake. Put a UPS on the modem and router so they work in a power outage. The ISP also has generators so the power outage has not been an issue. Had several outages at the lake and received calls from my monitoring system (telling me the power is out) until the UPS dies. Really not an issue.

I'ld trust my cell phone before ANY land line ... one tree branch and the land line is toast.

 

[rlfordyce@indy.rr.com]

Can you change from Cable to DSL ??

After registering your Magic Jack with you using either Cable or DSL can you later change this so your Magic Jack will work over seas.... in other words... my home system is cable and that is what I registered it as but I already know that when I go to Europe this summer I am going to connect to a Pc that is using DSL... will my Magic Jack work or do I need to change something with Magic Jack and if so how is this done?

 

[Coach]

It should work fine -- it won't matter to the Magic Jack software how your Internet connection is made.

Coach

 

[rgarling]

After registering your Magic Jack with you using either Cable or DSL can you later change this so your Magic Jack will work over seas.... in other words... my home system is cable and that is what I registered it as but I already know that when I go to Europe this summer I am going to connect to a Pc that is using DSL... will my Magic Jack work or do I need to change something with Magic Jack and if so how is this done?

You will have a longer transmission pathway which might result in delays. Also, Magic Jack seems to indicate they can only get out to the phone system in the US and Canada, which probably means there is no way to make a "local" call while you are in Europe. Calling back to the US (free) should be uneventful.

 

[Chuckanut]

I've been considering getting a Magic Jack for making calls home while overseas. I would be interested in what people think of the device, especially when using it from outside one's home country. Thanks.

 

[tryan]

Little bit of an update to my May 08 post.

Now use OOMA at the lake. One time fee of $199 ... NOTHING after that. They loose money on me since I bought before taxes and 911 fees were billed. Just cut the land line at home. Paying for 4 cells .... comcast bill dropped $60/mo when I "unbundled"; increased the internet speed and dropped to a 40 channel package.

Filled a trash can with 4 phones and associated wires and adapters. Fax machine replaced with efax and a scanner.

 

[BTravlin]

I've been considering getting a Magic Jack for making calls home while overseas. I would be interested in what people think of the device, especially when using it from outside one's home country. Thanks.

I've had MagicJack here in Mexico for 2 years now and it works quite well MOST of the time. I have a number with area code that corresponds to where I used to live in the U.S. Friends and family call me and don't know the difference. Sometimes there will be a poor connection but can solve this by hanging up and calling back. Had Vonage for 2 years before that and I believe the Magic Jack has better quality and reliability.

Did get a surprise last night when I called into a teleconference. Magic Jack recognized the telcon line and would not grant me access until I went to their website and bought minutes at $.02 each. Not a big deal but wish I had known beforehand since I ended up joining the call about ten minutes late.

 

[rodi]

I've been considering getting a Magic Jack for making calls home while overseas. I would be interested in what people think of the device, especially when using it from outside one's home country. Thanks.

I'm curious, also. We plan to try it out next summer.

 

[BTravlin]

I forgot to mention that call quality can deteriorate if someone else on your network is downloading lots of video while you're on the phone.

 

[Chuckanut]

From what I have read one still needs a computer to hook the MagicJack into and also some type of phone headset. True?

 

[BTravlin]

No, Magic Jack Plus can be plugged directly into an open port on your router. And mine is also plugged into a regular Motorola phone with wireless handsets.

 

[Chuckanut]

How can MagicJack be used when the only internet available in a hotel room is via wifi.

 

[BTravlin]

I think in that case you would want to plug directly into your laptop. Would then need a mic as well.

 

[chonga]

Chuckanut - connect your computer to the hotel wifi, then connect the magicjack to the USB connection of the computer.

 

[BTravlin]

You can also download the MagicJack app for your cellphone and make calls that way as well. We have the home number forwarded to my iPhone when we're out so that we can still answer important calls.

 

[M Paquette]

The call quality appears quite good. I get calls from Magic Jack numbers every day, mostly from the (202) numbers the IRS agents in India and Pakistan use.

(Magic Jack has blocks of numbers in lots of area codes. The Washington DC area code is popular with the scammers, and they use a bunch of Magic Jack numbers.)

 

[RockyMtn]

Have used Majic Jack for four years now. No problems to report but I basically use it for US calls. Works fine for faxing as well. Heck of a lot cheaper than land line. No calls from people begging for money either!

 

[Ready]

I looked at Magic Jack but didn't want to incur the ongoing $20/year fee (I know...I'm cheap). Google voice is completely free. I just needed to buy a $38 Obitalk 100 from Amazon, request a free local phone number from Google, and now I have a great VOIP line with excellent call quality and no fees whatsoever. And it works with any cordless phone system, so you can buy one of those devices at Costco with one base and four cordless handsets for around $39 and have land lines in every room in your house.

I've had it for a year now...no issues.

 

[imoldernu]

Before porting your home number to MJ, try it out with a different number. While people have different experiences as far as call quality, for a myriad of unknown reasons, many (including me) have serious issues with call quality and dropped calls.
I had used MJ about 5 years ago with no issues, but my current switch to port my home number with MJ+ has been a nightmare.
If you google "MagicJack loud beeps" ... you'll see that experiences vary... but no good solution. Often mentioned is a DTMF adjustment that the MJ online tech can set for your phone. It didn't/doesn't work for me or for most of the complaints.
The same complaints also show up on the Ooma forums.

No... it doesn't happen to everyone, and chances are that changing will go well, but if you're considering porting your home number... maybe you should try it out with another number first. Porting took 6 days for me, and I never received notification that it had been completed, so it was trial and error to see when it happened.