Magic Jack Internet Phone Service

[ERD50]

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.

If this is just a few calls once in a while, Skype works great for that. I used it a few years ago, would have been free to call home to others on Skype, but calls to landlines/cells were just something like 2 cents a minute from Hungary to US. So a half-hour call back home was just ~ 60 cents. Not even worth saying "OK, now that I got you on the regular phone, hang up and switch to Skype-to-Skype".

You can even put Skype on a smart-phone with wi-fi, won't even need the laptop and headset.

Plus, no hardware to buy/carry.

-ERD50

 

[kcowan]

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 have used it from Spain, France and Italy to Vancouver without trouble. I also use it for 6 months from Mexico. In Mexico it works best when the internet is not busy. So mid-morning is the worst time, and Christmas day.

I also use their smartphone app (Talk Free).

 

[sengsational]

My daughter called us on her magic jack from central america and southeast asia (these were two trips with a year between them).

The call quality went from barely tolerable to horrific.

But the problem was that the underlying internet connections were typically at hostels or open wifi points.

 

[jim584672]

I have has MJ for several years now. Works just like a phone. Voice quality is better than cell, not as good as land line. Good part is it works with any Ethernet port, so when I moved I could keep the same number, just plug it in and it works.

If you are concerned about reliability one could get a cheap cell phone, like Net10, which is $15 a month as a backup.

 

[movaly1]

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 used it in Japan and various countries in Europe (mainly Germany and Portugal) without any problems at all for the last three or four years (can't remember exactly when I got it).

 

[trixs]

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.

I have been using Obitalk and Google voice for a few years now. Nothing like 100% free home phone service that works great.

 

[Animorph]

Google Voice is no longer promising to support Obihai hardware, so that option is problematic. I'm using an Obi 110 with the Phone Power $35/year plan and it has been working fine. They have a soft phone capability we'll try next year on vacation.