Magic Jack Phone Service - Comments Page 15

Bob - is MJ usable as a whole-house phone connection? That is, connected such that all the existing phone jacks in the house go through MJ? I suppose the easiest for this would be: 1 MJ into a USB on a computer that stays on 24/7 and plug in a cordless, 3-5 handset base station - then all the cordless phones are going through the one MJ. But, is there a whole-house "jack" method?

I've had my MJ one week and I love it. wondering if it matters that I shut the computer down over night. Is it best to remove the MJ from the UBb port before shutting down, or does it matter? Also, should I insert the MJ before turning the computer on or after? Thanks

EDITOR'S NOTE: Powering down your computer every so often can do a world of good! But I see no reason to unplug the MJ from the USB port.

Had DSL internet, land line and cell phone from AT&T. $$$$.

I got a two-fer deal when I purchased MJ long ago. Don't know if those are still around. Now have cable internet and use MJ in a cable, base station, multi-handset configuration and love it. The base station, cable modem and wireless router all sit together. No interference with MJ. Great sound quality. Voicemail is decent, too.

No monthly phone bill. No expense for special equipment. No monthly phone bill. Truly plug-and-play. You're right, Bob. No need to unplug MJ unless you're going to travel. Can occasionally take a few minutes to restart program after computer restart. So, a short wait versus no monthly phone bill......

I have magic jack and really like it. My problem: I have not been able to get rid of my landline since we can NOT port. Every time I check it still has the same message. They are working on it. I even online chat and it is still the same. Anyone have a clue what the problem is? Shuldnt take them almost 2 years to work out the portability kink.

I use an air card --plugged into one of the USB ports-- exclusively for wireless internet access. Will Magic Jack work equally well? Are there any issues I should be aware of?

Thanks!

I recently moved. My MJ # is in my former area code - so my friends can call me toll-free. My girlfriend and I talk daily ... also for free.
Since you can get any area code you want, if you get a lot of calls from a long-distance area, you can save your friends a ton of bucks by getting a MJ # in that area.
I've used MJ heavily for over a year; excellent voice quality - no problems except the occasional dropped call (just redial).Most of that time MJ was run on an old Sony under Win XP - no probs even with Netflix and email running concurrently.
The only downside I see is if you want 24/7 service, you must leave your computer on 24/7 - which I usually do.
I figure my savings for the last year at well over $500 (on a $40 investment) - wish I could get that return in the stock market!

I got a Magicjack in August of '08 following the lead of several friends. The biggest issue up front is with customer service. If you just order and keep, its fine. But if you have problems or want to return, they don't seem to have the staff to handle it. The web site support is very poor.

A few things I can observe from my own and others experiences:
- if you're Canadian, no Canada number, no 911 equivalent and pay up front- no trial. Not as useful for a phone replacement but still a great long distance deal. Also, express shipping is pointless.
If you have friends or family in a US location, get a number there and they call you toll free.
- there are resellers out there selling them for a 50% markup. make sure your prices are as Brian lists or better.
- if you have connection issues, make sure you're using a USB 2 port and are not using a USB extension. It comes with a short one but a long one is bad news. Some USB hubs will also reduce quality a lot.
- MJ launches a softphone that runs on your PC so you don't even need a telephone, just a computer mic. It has an address book and voice mail signals, etc. Call quality was slightly better with a telephone, but i like headsets better.
- it likes lots of RAM so you may have to shut down RAM hungry programs like Outlook if RAM is modest on your computer.
- if you're having troubles using a wireless connection, try going hard wired. Its not as prone to interference.
- it requires autorun enabled, like for CD's. If its off, it doesn't start right. Some firewalls will nag you every time about it as autorun may be seen by it as a security issue.
- MJ uses older H323 technology so will not be able to expand services into some arenas like conferencing.
- MJ assigns 2 drive letters, one a "CD". Its driver is not real sophisticated so it can use the same letters as other devices like card readers and network drives. Those are thus hidden in Explorer, etc. You may need to reassign the used letters of other drives to access them directly.
- the address book on the MJ is a file that can be copied to another MJ if you want to duplicate it. Addressbook.xml You may have to change settings to Show Hidden Files. You may also want to back this up if you add a bunch. I know one persons whos as corrupted.
- MJ posted a Windows firewall fix. While I didn't use the Win Firewall, I tried the port settings and it improved call quality:
Here is MJ’s suggested fix:
Control Panel, Windows Firewall, Exceptions tab.
Click Add Port, name MagicJack, port number 5060, UDP, click OK.
Click Add port, name MagicJack, port number 5070, UDP, click OK.
No need to reboot.
Fix works on XP, Vista and Intel Macs.
- similar improvement from updating the USB controller drivers.
- MJ support may encourage you to make settings changes to improve call quality but that may reduce system performance. They should not be telling you to change settings for things other than the MJ, like reducing the priority setting of other software.
- occasionally I would have problems with phone systems directing my calls based on incoming number (not where I lived). This is becoming less of an issue due to the number of services now offering non-local numbers.

In early 2009, there as major deterioration in call quality. Especially when not calling other MJs. This did not improve over time for myself or friends. Skype quality meanwhile improved.

This was probably due to how local phone and internet providers were treating Internet calls. Mileage will vary for other areas.

As a result, at renewal time, I went back to SkypeOut. $30 a year for the same thing, including conferencing. I may yet reactivate my MJ for traveling overseas but will have lost my number.

Hope others may find that useful.

I dropped Bell/ATT 2 years ago, and started using MJ, It turned out to be such a great deal i opted for an additional 5 years for 60.00 more. Considering my normal phone bill with unused ATT LD service was 40.00/ month times 5 years is a $2400.00 savings not to mention LD charges monthly. Every once in a while I go to the MJ home page to see if there are updates or patches and then install them. This usually stops any problems which are a rare thing anyway. If you have a DSL service it would behoove you to buy a MJ. Not mentioned previously, was if most of your friends and family live in NY and you live in Florida let say, you can get a NY telephone number and it will always be a local call for Them and You, a real BONUS. You can still make calls to your local stores or police, I'm just not sure what your 911 emergency feature which comes free of charge will display?

Some persons are under the impression you can use an MJ with dial up internet you can't! The bandwith width is not large enough. You must have DSL service, my home has several wireless phone extensions with tha main phone jacked into MJ.

Hi, I live in canada, and I have ordered magic jack on telephone. I don't know why US$ 73.9 has been deducted from my credit card (VISA)for this order on MAY 08, 2010 and still I didn't receive it. I have also paid extra for fast delivery, though.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Only Magic Jack customer service can help you with that. This is not MJ here...

can you transfer mj line to a cell phone like u can a landline??? if so how???

I have now used MJ for 2 yrs, initialy connected to a desktop 24/7.
A yr ago I installed a thin Client/NAS in a basement closet and run the MJ through it, the call quality improved immensely and connected to a multi set cordless is always available.

I have a second unit residing in Europe, calls to/from the kids is local..

What adapter can I buy to hook Majic Jack to a cell phone?

I saw the "forward calls from you home phone to your cell phone" suggestion above. Which is a good one, but I'm trying to save cost.

That idea involves paying for call forwarding (unless I can buy a phone that will forward) and paying for long distance and roaming expense (if my home is in Washington DC and I'm in California).

Plus I want to get rid of my cell phone bill all together, (by using Majic Jack.)

Thanks in advance. Great board and comments.

I've noticed a lot of the comments on MagicJack seem to be asking for technical help, or support from Magic Jack. I was wondering if you will help me move at the end of next month? I need to get all my stuff out of my fourth floor walkup into the basement of a duplex. I'll pay for gas, and buy beer and pizza when you're done...

EDITOR'S NOTE: At least you offered something in return! :-)

Nothing bad to say It has worked as advertised..After getting the shaft from bell,in so many ways so many times,,It makes each call sweet... yours truly Happy

Magic Jack is blocking calls to non-magic jack conference calls. I tried to call different conference call numbers and both times, I received a recording that my call cannot be connected and if I want to use a conference call service to contact Magic Jack. I had a long chat with Customer Service on this issue and they cannot help. They say this is Magic Jack's protocol. I say it is illegal to force customers to use Magic Jack service and block non-magic jack conference call numbers.

1-can i use my cell to hook to a magic jack to call overseas?

2-and if yes=>how can i hook my cell (HTC) to a magic jack?

3-should i buy phonecards(for calling international) when i am using a magic jack?

4-does it use my cell minutes to call (both to call inside the US or overseas) with a magic jack?

Thanks in advance for ur time and feedback.

MJ is awesome. Absolutely the best thing since slice bread. I had had it for the initial two years that was included when I purchased it. So as the two year period was winding up, I decided to purchase the service for another year, of course for 20 bucks. Thing is, I received another two years! Can't beat it. I use it solely with my laptop as my phone. Headphones and mic, and my laptop is falling apart and is getting old and I am still without any kinds of problems. My only complaint, make it compatible with Ubuntu.

I bought the MJ almost a year ago. I have been trying for the past three months to pay for the next five years. My credit cards are good. MJ keeps saying there is an error and cannot accept the payment. Until now, I could not find the phone number to call them. KEEP THESE PHONE NUMBERS!!!!!!! I already lost out on the 59.95 deal. IF they ALLOW me to pay, I really like the service. It is good about 97% of the time. Getting customer service by phone is difficult. They really should give us better phone support. I don't have time to do the chat thing.

Never mind my last comment. Phone service sucks too. They keep hanging up on me "accidentally". Your only way to get in touch with them is through chat. They have told me they will get back to me for the last three months and never have. I am imagining that I will have to buy a new MJ with the five years included so it was not a free service at all. I will have to pay twice.