MagicJack Phone Service - Comments Page 4

Can it be used in other countries than the US?

If your MJ worked for a few months, then the sound goes south, you might try re-booting your DSL modem. works for me.

Does Magic Jack work with a two line phone? I need an outgoing voice message for each line.

EDITOR'S NOTE: No, MJ only works with single lines.

My brother had to return the MajicJack Plus, did not work for him, had issues, caller id did not work and the quality was not good either, he had to go back to using the orignal Majic Jack.

They also have MagicTalk that you can download from their ws if you have trouble with the MJ device.
I like it better.

Bo, you are great!!

I appreciated this article and the comments/questions as it helped me dedide against MJ.
I am in the mountains of Oregon and that means snow, wind, stormy weather and the accompanying power losses. That means I would not have phone service until power was restored, and that's a safety concern.
Also, I have to use HughesNet Satellite for interntet, so when it fails, I would also lose phone service. Another issue: Bandwidth use. HughesNet limits bandwidth use per day based on your service plan, so if one was to download files or watch videos or use up bandwidth allowance, that would also limit phone service.

Soungs like MJ is only good for certain customers, not all.

Thanks for the information/feedback provided about this device.

I tested MagicJack Plus to replace my landline (to save me about $200 each year), and it failed. In brief, it is surely better than a cell phone, and surely poorer than a landline.
I use DSL, with 1Meg download. Its slight delay (0.1-0.2 second) was no bother at all. The briefer random hiccups (less than 0.1 second), which occurred a few times a minute could also be tolerated. But the random pauses of 3 seconds or so, which occurred each minute or two were very distracting during a serious conversation. MagicJack honored their return policy readily, although I had to check my credit card to be sure - they sent no notification.
MagicJack Plus is an interesting product, and I suspect that these limitations are characteristic of the Internet, not this product.

Magic Jack is a huge money saver if you travel internationally as I do. No matter where I am in the world, I am always in contact with my family and my company in the USA at almost no cost to me and I never have the fuss of paying phone bills in different currency. My stepchildren in Latvia each have the device as well so we can call them everyday at no cost when we are home in Italy.

The annual renewal for MJ+ is 29.95, not 19.95.

This is probably not worth it in Hawaii. All of the last power outages, Internet service goes as well. Sometimes, power outages in other areas can cut off Internet service because important routes lose power. In Hawaii, we don't have a power grid like those in the continental US, so even if you have UPS the infrastructure won't support it.

Regarding international calling, all the people that our family needs to call have computers and Skype accounts. So, no annual charge no hardware to buy, if you already have a computer. So, only MJ+ makes any sense.

I have used it for years with few problems. A powered USB hub is a plus, and you may need to tweak some settings about background tasks not having priority, but in all, it works great. I can make a phone call, and most times, the person on the other end thinks I am on a land line.

I received my magicJack Plus on a Sat (29 Oct) and it worked fine while connected to my computer. It would not work when connected to the router only. I spent 3 hours each of two days (Mon & Tue)chatting with technicians and making changes to both Win7 and my router all with no success. I had paid to have my home phone ported to magicJack and asked that they not port my phone number to magicJack until we got it working. The Technician promised me that they would not port it over. After two days of chatting they said an engineer would get back to me with a fix and no one did. I got an RMA on Thursday (3 Nov), mailed the magicJack back on Friday (4 Nov)and on Saturday they ported my phone number over to magicJack which left me without a home phone. I ordered my magicJack on 27 Oct, it arrived on 29 Oct. Supposedly I had 30 days to return it if I was not satisfied. When I went to get my RMA it said that I had until 17 Nov to return the magicJack and get a full refund. What happened to the 30 days?? There are no phone numbers to talk to a real person at magicJack and when you chat you are placed on hold sometimes for over 10 minutes. I may try a magicJack Plus again in a few years but I will definitely wait until they get all the bugs fixed. I still have no home phone even after they promised to port my phone number back to TWC after they received my magicJack. Have to wait and see if I get a full refund (they said 3-5 days). If not I will have my credit card reverse the charges. This is a buyer beware type of deal. If it works for you great.

After reading a few comments about when you lose power and phone service, what I did was to purchase a Trac Phone as a back up. No monthly fees. It's cellular, so it's a viable backup. The minutes don't expire every month. You can purchase a double minutes for the life of the phone. The double minutes purchased also roll over. Including the phone, which I think was about $40 at Amazon, I have 3500 minutes good until 2013. Total cost was about $250. Not only do the minutes roll over when you purchase a phone card, but the time that you can use them does too. For example, with double minutes, if you purchase two cards good for 500 minutes and X number of months, you get 2000 minutes and 4X the number of months. I hope all that makes sense.

Thanks for the column Bob.

I've had MagicJack for almost two years now and would recommend it to anyone who wants to save money. MagicJack stays plugged into my smaller Gateway Notebook that is turned on at all times back here in my office. I've made numerous local and long distance calls with clear connections.

When I'm not available to answer incoming calls, the voice mail is waiting for me on my major Dell laptop to download at my leisure. After buying the small MJ unit, I opted to get the five-year plan for around $70.

Can you imagine not getting another phone bill for five years?

I have had magic jack for over four years. I am happy for the service.My only complaint is that they do not have a NH area code so that for others to call me they have to make a toll call. This makes it difficult for family and friends. They have been telling me since the beginning it will not be long before an NH area code.

My first experience with MagicJack Plus was negative! The advertising stated that, using my credit card, I would not be billed until the 31st day, which ould have been Dec. 20th. But when I placed the order, I found I was billed the total mountt ($67.94) IMMEDIATELY. That' deceptive enough, but when I found so many functional quirks, I wanted to return it. After waiting on hold for over one and one-half hours, I got an RMA number. We'll see what happens next!

I purchased a MagicJack Plus, based on the info here. I bought it at Radio Shack, & installed it 1 week ago. It was difficult for me to navigate their website, but I finally got it. ONE BIG PROBLEM... the Ethernet cord would not stay in the MJ+... so I used some strong tape to hold it in place for a few days. MJ+ otherwise worked terrific.
Here's the kicker. I decided to return the MJ+ w/ cord within the 30 days trial period, to get parts that stay connected without relying on tape. The exchange was painless. (It was determined that the issue was the MJ+ device & not the Ethernet cord.)
NOW... hours & hours & chats & chats later, I am giving up. , like the 1st one. I could not get the 2nd MJ+ to accept calls. I was finally told that it also had to be registered. BUT, I can not register a 2nd device & keep my acct, & I could not get anyone in customer serive that could help me. I tried at least 12 times, & I give up. I'm pretty sure that the device will work well, but I am unwilling to invest another minute into it after spending 8 HOURS on chats, & getting nowhere.

as w/ "John", Nov 10, 2011, before figuring that it may be a registration problem, I was also told that MJ+ engineers would investigate, then send me an e-mail. That e-mail never showed up. And I was put into a chat w/ their "top 10%" c.s. personel, at least 3 of my chats. There is definitely big GAPS between the product & the tweaks it requires,the websights & trying to navigate them, & the customer service. It's actually sort of sad, because I could really use some savings, but I am totally stressed out by these past two days of dealing w/ setting up this replacement MJ+, to the point that I can not do it anymore.

Dear Bob and all,
I've used MJ for a couple of years. Mostly, I've enjoyed it very much. Recently however, I wanted to upgrade to the MJ+. Apparently there's a glitch in my account, as when I attempeted to charge it to my Visa Debit card, it was not accepted. I tried a total of 3 times after carefully editing my account info, same result. I checked my Visa account activety, lo and behold, 3 charges against it from MJ. After no resolution, I cancelled all 3 charges, as well as any remaining desire to use their "service" entirely. It's a great product, not perfect, and there's no human interface available without extended waiting. Buyer beware.

MagicJack will not work in North Dakota, that is you can not call anyone in North Dakota, try Skype as far as I know it works in all states and Canada.