[dannyn]

I know what voip is. I just was wondering if the computer running all the time and o standalone option was the only "catch"

[DoubleHelix]

Yes, the computer would have to always be on. That's what powers and controls the device. There's really not much information at Magic Jack's website. I'd be cautious of a device that's hawked for hours a night on Infomercials. For example, there's no mention of assigning a local phone number. That may or may not be an issue for you.

[hairybusdriver]

A lot of you guys sound like your advertising the darn thing. It does sound good though. I have one question though, if you have the magicjack and all of the proper software to run it, and it uses voip than why do you have to pay a yearly fee. Are you paying for access to their servers or something.

[dannyn]

there is a monthly fee.

[DoubleHelix]

It's a for-profit business. They need to not only pay for the hardware but for the software development, customer service, general overhead, etc. All the things that go into making a product.

[Wino]

Originally Posted by dannyn

there is a monthly fee.

There is no monthly fee. $39.95 + shipping for apparatus and 1-year service, then $19.95 a year for service access. I expect that will rise same as Vonage did after AT&T whined they were not having to charge all the little fees Ma Bell does.

It is a viable alternate to land lines for those that wish to be frugal and are not slaves to a telephone. There is no need to have a computer on all the time, just when you wish to use. If your computer is off caller will get voice mail and you will be notified when you boot there are messages.

The service can at times be sucky and callers may not always get voice mail on first try. If they don't, and don't try back, the call wasn't worth anything anyway.

Before ordering check their available area codes. They may not service your area. If they do, they will assign a local telephone number. If your area code is not available initially, they will assign another area code and phone number which may be changed ONCE at no charge when your AC becomes available and the base 7-digit phone number will also change.

Not sure about MJ, but Vonage VoIP works quite well on DSL, so I expect MJ would, too. Albeit, you will suffer quality at times, dropped calls, signal loss - not much different than cell phone service, but much less expensive. My experience with VoIP is that any hi-speed under 3.0 MBS sucks.

[Rivera42]

and this is better than Skype...how???

[Wino]

Originally Posted by Rivera42

and this is better than Skype...how???

It works like a regular landline to a land based phone. People calling and people you call don't need a computer nor software to talk with you. Unless Skype service has changed, that's the only advantage I can see.

[JohnWill]

Originally Posted by hairybusdriver

A lot of you guys sound like your advertising the darn thing. It does sound good though. I have one question though, if you have the magicjack and all of the proper software to run it, and it uses voip than why do you have to pay a yearly fee. Are you paying for access to their servers or something.

Any VoIP that has access to the PSTN will have a fee, someone has to pay for the interface equipment and service to actually reach the phone network.

[catmom112]

I also saw this on tv and it sounded very good but please be sure where your call goes when you dial "911". My brother in Ohio had Vonage and when he had an heart attack his 911 call went to California costing him valuable time under these circumstances.

Good Luck

[Squashman]

Originally Posted by JStergis

...so it's a voip type of thing?

I couldn't do that because I have DSL and thus need a phone line for internet. It really doesn't matter much to me anyway because our phone bill is only around 20/month (no caller id, call waiting, etc. of course) and we almost never make a long distance call.

It works on any High Speed Internet Connection. Doesn't matter if it is Cable, DSL or T1. I just needs 80 Kb of bandwidth.

[ronhum]

Well, this will just about do in landline phones, as least in homes that have a computer.

Amazing how technology continues to progress.

[Rivera42]

Originally Posted by Wino

It works like a regular landline to a land based phone. People calling and people you call don't need a computer nor software to talk with you. Unless Skype service has changed, that's the only advantage I can see.

I have used Skype to call T-Mobile when they needed me to troubleshoot my handset. For over half an hour I talked with Customer Care over my Skype connection, completely for free, and the clarity was unbelievable. No drops, no lags, no gaps.

If you want to get inbound calls on Skype then yes, you either need to pay for a number (just like any phone service) or convince your nearest and dearest to get Skype too. (IOW absolutely free software to make absolutely free calls, no catch, no fine print) There is no monthly/annual fee. The number you buy is dirt cheap and can be local to almost any country in the world, no matter where you're actually located. (If you make a lot of overseas calls, for instance, you can get a local Skype number in that country, so your friends don't have to pay any long-distance charges anymore to call you, and of course you aren't paying any long-distance fees either.) Outbound calls to landlines and other non-Skype users do require a small up-front fee for talk time (exactly the same as your cell phone, and probably cheaper), but if you're calling 800/866/888/other toll-free numbers on landlines (like T-Mo CC), it's free and unlimited, still no fine print, and still no fee. Heck, they don't even need to know your real identity in order to use their service. Their software and service have been around for awhile and, unlike the iffy MajicJack, are established and mature.

I still fail to see where the Majicjack outweighs the Skype service.

[LaytonE]

MagicJack gets 2 thumbs up.

I have a magic jack. Its not a Land-line replacement by any means. If you don't have a pretty decent connection you will suffer from broken up conversations and sometimes long delays. (I have had delays up to 20 seconds on a bad internet connection.)

so don't replace your phone with one.

If you have a broadband connection (Better then 256k) and a computer that does not run like honey drips then GET ONE!

The quality is great, and you really can't complain about the fact that you can talk as long as you want and not worry about a thing. If you have a bluetooth dongle or a bluetooth radio built into your computer you can use a bluetooth headsets and they work just fine. You can plug your regular phone into it and use it like its pluged right into the wall (pick up the receiver to hear a dial tone), or you can use the mic and headphone jack or pc speakers to talk.

I pluged my magic jack in and within about 5 minutes I had a working local phone number.

The software is not very mature yet but they move quickly to update the most important features as quickly as possible.

for 40 bucks its worth it.

Again dont replace your current phone. switch your landline to the $9.00 a month plan or something.

[Stmped Cmp Bildr]

i have a magic jack and its great! $20 per year, and you don't have to buy a special headset like vonage. The only drawback is yes, a power outage, and the software reinstalls itself every time your reboot the computer. Also, if you they don't have your area code number, then people in your area have to call you long distance.