Cheap Phone Calls - MagicJack Alternatives

I've been using Ooma for almost a year now now and I couldn't be happier. Tried MJ, but it was a pain to enjoy a decent conversation when talking through the computer. No wonder MJ went the other way. The Ooma system has already paid for itself and all I pay is about $3 a month for taxes and I enjoy crystal clear "free" conversations for as long as I want. Now, I thumb my nose to the phone company and tell them good riddance...

I have been using Vonage for years and am very happy. What does it for me is that calls to the UK are included so my wife can call her mother and sister for as long as she wants for no additional cost. I think all of Northern Europe is included.

I also have a London number for $4.99 which forwards to our home number so the family in London can call us for no cost.

Finally the new "extensions" feature and Android app lets us use all the Vonage features from a cell phone for no additional cost. My wife can call her family in the UK without dialing a special number, using the app on her cell for no cost except local cell minutes...sweet.

Vonage service just works, calls are crystal clear, so until the other dongle providers match the features, it will be a while before I switch away.

The statement that Obi does not support mobile or out-of-country is incorrect. Install an Obi app on your phone and your phone connects over WiFi to your Obi100 or Obi110 and makes calls as if they were placed from wherever the Obi is installed. So if you have an Obi installed in Pismo Beach, CA and you're staying in a hotel in Samarkand, Uzbekistan and have a WiFi connection, you can place calls from Samarkand as if you were in Pismo Beach.

I got NetDuo after having trashed the original Majic Jack for poor performance. When I first got NetDuo, it could receive incoming calls, but I always got a busy signal when making outgoing calls. I called customer service and they changed a port number on my device. Works great now.

Hi I have Majic Jackplus, and one thing about it is, how is it that you can make it work without using your computer? I was hoping that this would work without having to have the pc on. what's the sense of plugging it to the wall if you still have to have your computer on! If there is something I'm missing can you please let me know thank you.

EDITOR'S NOTE: The MJ Plus can plug into your router. No need to keep the computer on.

Where I live in Grand Rapids, MI, no matter how fast & who your internet provider is, both nettalk Duo and MJ+ simply do not work without voice outages and breakups being heard by the called party... instate, out of state, cell, landline or other DUO and MJ+ users. All of them hear unacceptable voice breakups. ALL OF THEM. Inconsistency of service and jitter with both CLEAR WiMax and Comcast (highest speed packages from both) render the DUO and the PLUS absolutely unacceptable for everyday use, either plugged into the router or the PC. I'm going to try DSL and see if that works, next.

Are you sure the yearly charges are around $20. for both? I was under the impression that MJ charges about $70. to renew. It's hard to find the rate on the MJ website.

The latest news is a downloadable app available called GVJACK for under 20 bucks from http://www.pcphonesoft.com that completely directs a magicJack to use the Google Voice network.

I just downloaded and installed it with a magicJack I let expire and had stuffed away in a drawer and was literally blown away. It appears these guys got it right. Free phone service, good call quality and lots of features.

Even if you don't have a magicJack sitting around like I did it looks like Ebay is flooded with cheap used ones starting at under 5 bucks.

I believe you need to update your article. Vonage actually has had mobile apps before NetTalk or MagicJack and Extensions does not require all the steps you mentioned if you download the Extensions app. And the first extension is free the second is $4.99 which is reasonable. Also from what I hear they will be doing video-conferencing in the near future. As for the customer support I agree MagicJack is a joke but I know when calling NetTalk I am listening to hold music alot longer than Vonage.

The original MagicJack plug-in for your computer is NOT $19.95 a year anymore. They gave existing customers a certain amount of time to renew for that price back in Jan. or Feb. of this year. Of course we still had about a month before our subscription ran out, so we just waited. It is now $29.95 per year for the original magicJack. I'm not sure about the MagicJack Plus that plugs into an a/c outlet plus a high-speed router. I do know that it's NOT $19.95 a year anymore. Plus there have been some serious problems with both MJ's dropping calls and showing error messages. Everyone has claimed it was due to the latest firmware update back in Nov.2011, to some Linksystem routers, to certain cordless phones that are better to use (DECT) and using a a/c powered usb hub. I tried buying a new MJ,powered usb hub and then changed routers BUT ours wasn't a Linksystem it was a Netgear wireless combination modem/router with a built-in firewall. Switching modems did the trick but got screwed out of a whole year of service because we already subscribed for another year and then bought a new MJ that is supposed to come with a year of service. I've heard their customer service is .......well....not really any customer service but an online chat.

I jumped off the land line cliff with Magic Jack+ this last January. With router and cable modem in place, I could call across the country almost immediately. I did port my old number with MJ+ and have paid the $21.00 fee (that is an annual number fee).
Pluses: no extra tax and franchise charges from my old phone company, no paying for extra minutes I did not use. Good voice quality most of the time. Voice mail messages to my e-mail account if I am on a call and another call comes in.
Minuses: I had to replace my first MJ+ unit because it kept overheating and frizzing out. I spent several weeks moving it and its power plug from one outlet to the next, unplugging and replugging my router and phone line as it would drop the cable modem connection. MJ+ Customer Service accepted my reset efforts as sufficient justification for a new unit and sent me a replacement for the "cost" of shipping ($10.83). Replacement seems to be working better. I am watching it carefully.
I am still happy and comfortable with the MJ+ and its 911 and voice mail services. We shall see in Dec. when I have to renew both my phone number and my MJ+ subscription.

I had Magic Jack and had numerous problems after the first 2 months. I finally gave up. One problem which was unacceptable is that I was given a phone number that was long distance for anyone in my city to call me. I live in a large city! My daughter had the same area code and lived less than 4 miles away. It was long distance to call me! It was long distance for all my doctors to call me! It was long distance for everyone that I knew to call me! Is this a problem with Magic Jack+? If not, I'd be interested in trying it. If not, I'm going to try NetTalk. BTW, Chat NEVER DID UNDERSTAND MY PROBLEM! EVER! They kept saying if I had the area code and the same city, it would not be long distance for people to call me. They were wrong!!!

I had reg MJ, went to MJ plus,got to keep my reg #. I have free phone til 2016.[got another free yr, getting the updated MJ Plus}
When I had problems hooking up , I let them take over my comp, they fix what needs fixed. They have a good chat support help.
Once you get it working, it's very clear, I don't have problems with it. When I do, I get on live chat, my probs was my computor.
They do your ports, update what drives you need,etc.
It's great for free long distance.
I like mine. I do suggest if you let them fix it, on lst set up...you will be happy. I had problems setting it up, like I said, it was my comp, that needed fixed, they took care of all that..no charge..they're frdly, sometimes due to busy chats, it might take them few minutes in between on chat, but they get the job done.
At lst the reg tech would ask me q's, tell me what to do,etc...it didnt work, so they set me up with higher up techs, who took over computor, which I say is the BEST way to get set up faster.
Once your set up, it works great. It might take a lot of time, but if you jump to the higher up techs....it won't take as long. I had to have java fix set up also., but it's a good product once working...

I think MagicJack utterly blows.

After getting nowhere with the local phone company, I bought a MJ out of desperation. I needed it for a long conference call. The MJ would drop the call after an hour and a half. After redialing, it did it again at exactly at the 1-1/2 hour mark. Alleged tech support says the thing overheats. Right. That's why I've heard the same story elsewhere on the internet. And now they are charging you to dial certain conference call numbers. How much, you ask? MJ tech support can't tell me because no one has told them! WTF? They can't even tell the customer what their fees are?
Plus the call quality sucks. Lots of snap, crackle and pops.
I'm done with them. I'm going to get cable telephone.

I've had Magicjack for about 5 years, today I went to use my phone....no phone. I then proceeded to log in to my account and lo and behold....the device was missing in the account. I went on live chat (only customer support available)and after an hour and a halve and multiple tech reps was told I was dropped as a customer for using the phone more than 20% of their customers. No where are there any numbers mentioned on this....it is not in the contract.
If you check you'll find this is a common practice.
This at the very least is unethical.

I was one of the first to get the original MJ. Back then, there were not that many customers and call quality was pretty good. After it started to pick up, there have been service problems ever since. They max out the lines per server, so you have connection problems and service issues pretty regularly. BTW, they have the WORST customer service ever. If you are the type of person that likes any customer service, DON'T GET MAGIC JACK. I guarantee that you will grow to hate them.

Anyways, I think they are running out of DID's because they are confiscating numbers from prepaid customers and reissueing them to new ones. They claim that it is in the contract, which it is not and they reserve the right to discontinue service for any reason. I had my number "reclaimed". I still have a couple of years on my account that is prepaid, but they already gave my number away. I don't see how they can get away with this. There should be a class action lawsuit somewhere here. Where is a lawyer when you need one?

Anyways, we have been Skype users for some time and we are happy. I would recommend to try Skype before you try any of the others. It's a reputable company with a great product and following. They already have video conferencing and it works in every country as long as you have access to internet.

Hello, I had to drop my internet service, which also provides my land line phone service and cable TV service, due to high cost.
I am going to try using my mobile hotspot home my home internet service.
My internet provider will take the router.

Will Magic Jack work with my mobile hotspot? If so, how will I connect the magic jack without the router? Thank you.

After a year with Magic Jack, we are DONE. Their customer service--if you can call it that--is among the WORST I have ever experienced. Looking for alternatives now!

We have been using, and recommending MagicJack for about 30 months, but now they are jacking us around. In November of 2010, we bought our subscription for $19.95, plus the cost of the device, A year later, they offered a special 2 year for the new $29.95 annual subscription price. Now 15 months later, they are saying we only bought a 1 year subscription. No explanation of why they waited until now to notify, but they insist we only bought an annual subscription. Tomorrow, I am informing MagicJack that we will be filing a complaint with Consumer Affairs and the Federal Trade Commission. I will indeed file the complaints and we will find another provider, either now or in November, depending on MagicJack's willingness to fulfill their obligation.

Magic Jack... VERY BAD SUPPORT I would love to give a review but... I bought it in Canada paying for the jack and the 1 year subscription and then travelled to Latin America planning to use it. when registering the product I asked for the Canadian # for $10. I use a credit card and the software gives me a success message and a phone number. But when I used the jack I found it had a US phone number, which costs my Canadian callers to use. I contacted the on-line support and was told 3 times they would resolve it. Now I have spent over 5 hours with their 'highest level' support and still no Canadian number. Their billing system has a problem processing my payment it never gets to the bank for approval and I have tried 3 times. For a simple $10 fee on top of what I have already paid there is no way to speak to anyone or make the payment a different way. It's beyond ridiculous at this point.