Cheap Phone Calls - MagicJack Alternatives

I have been using Teleblend for over 3years and am very happy with their service. It includes every phone options and 50 minutes per month in international calls allfor $18/month. Teleblend.com

I have no experience with the new Magic Jack but had the original for 3 years and was happy with most aspects except for my inability to fax. I switched to NetTalk a year ago when I bought a Mac. Never could get rhe Magic Jack to work with it. Now I'm very happy with the NetTalk. And yes, faxing is possible. They also have wonderful customer service.

I used MJ for a year, then I went to MJPlus in Nov 2011. It is great, I never need customer service, the calls never break up as they sometimes did on my computer. But you have the price wrong it is $29/ year not $20 like MJ. One thing I didn't like was that they were always pressuring people to sign up for 5 years but people who did are screwed if they want to switch, as they wont give you credit.

MagicJack service is $19.95 per year, and MagicJack+ service is $29.99 per year. I am in my third year with them and am quite pleased. The Plus device works just as promised. It also works fine as a credit card processing line which can be a big plus for on-the-road businesses.

I have run into one phone number it would not complete, because the local phone company in rural Maine had not reached an agreement with MagicJack.

The emailed phone messages (.wav files) are very handy.

I have tried to use my fax but NO SUCCESS. Maybe someone can help us here. My buddy lives in Casta Rica and has a different service like Magic Jack and he claims his phone over the internet is much better than his old Magic Jack. But even with his new service he cannot fax. He has a new second dedicated number in that service but he still cannot fax although the supplier told him that he could. Maybe contact Magic Jack Chat to see what is possible??

I've had MagicJack for more than a year, using it as a business line for my freelance work. I finally quit AT&T a few weeks ago to save money since I am now retired. I ported my number--no problem. Once in a while I get a little waver in voice quality, but it is not very noticeable. I love getting v.m. via e-mail, so I never miss a call, even when we are RVing.

I must keep my land line (now $20.60/mo) for medical alerts related to power outages, but I have a great magicJack-to-cell setup. I have the original magicJack for which my computer needs to be on in order to keep the magicJack application open and receive calls. However, as a senior in subsidized housing I qualify for the Safelink Wireless free government-subsidized cell phone.

I chose the Safelink plan with 250 free minutes per month. Both incoming and outgoing calls use minutes, but I use the free minutes to make brief calls and receive calls from my magicJack number (I setup the magicJack to forward calls to my free cell phone number). If I get a call on my cell phone that needs to be more than a minute, I tell the person I'll call them back, then I call them when I'm on the computer where my magicJack calls are free.

I couldn't afford my Part D and Medicare supplemental insurance premiums for 1 1/2 years, so this reduction of my phone bill to $20.60/month has helped me get the insurance going again as of Jan. 1.

Since you need high speed internet for magicJack, I got cable internet service (no phone or TV), which is $44.90/mo. where I live. I get my news from AOL, Yahoo and cable, and have watched a little of the free hulu.com shows. After many years of wringing my hands, wondering how I could dramatically reduce my communications bills and yet keep up with technology, I think $65.50/mo is buying me a powerful array of tools. Thank you, Bob for helping me make these decisions.

When I last checked many months ago, one could not port their phone number with Nettalk Duo. I am gld to hear that this has changed, but I do not see the information on their web site.

EDITOR'S NOTE: You are correct. The info I saw came from a Nettalk Australia website. Number Porting is not available now in the US.

I just used my MagicJack Plus to send a fax and it worked flawlessly.

I was given Magic Jack as a gift. It is connected to a standard touch tone telephone. I recently received an email saying that I had a message in my "voice mail." I had never set up any voice mail. The email went on to state that in order to hear my message to hit the "Vkey" on my "softphone." What is a "softphone" and do I really need it for my Magic Jack? If so, where do I get one and how much does it cost? Other than the lack of voice mail the Magic Jack is working out to be a fine addition; almost to the point of dropping my old land line and all of their added monthly line item fees. In fact, I really like it and will enjoy the day I am finally free from the massive charges from my regular phone service. It was not too bad decades back or years back. When the Feds decided to break-up Ma Bell all heck broke loose. Once upon a time children, television was free...

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.