What do you think of Magic Jack?

[babydanielsmom]

I know that this question has probably been posted before (sorry). I am currently trying to find a cheaper land line and was wondering if Magic Jack is really as good as the website says it is. The reviews that I read are mixed so I'm curious if anyone is using it in real life? TIA

[kate42]

We don't use it for everyday use, but DH uses one when he travels. He goes to China a lot for work and has called us on it without a problem. My parents have one for their condo and seem to like it.

However, it doesn't seem to work well from the airport in South Korea, if that's a concern for you.

[Pogonia]

We like it. It saves minutes on prepaids when calling businesses and going through the rigamarole of push this, push that. Calls are clear, never dropped. But there were no local numbers in our area so the calling area in a different part of the state is long distance for some. Although I think very few have the long-distance worry anymore.

[sunnysandiegan]

What kind of computer you have will make a difference.

Our desktop, where we wanted to install it, is a Mac and MagicJack doesn't work.

The old laptop we use for our TV and media storage, which was our second choice for installation, is also a Mac and MagicJack doesn't work on it, either.

My laptop, which moves around a lot, is an Intel-based Mac (the first one of its kind) and the MagicJack works on it. I was tethered to base phone, though, and hated it.

We had decent sound quality on our end, but other folks said it was static-y. Our older relatives really disliked having conversations on the phone with us during the 30-day free trial period. (We called everyone we knew practically.) They were all long-distance. A local friend, also, said there was a lot of static on the line.

We returned it and got an Ooma Hub from Costco (on sale). No more phone bills. Ever. Excellent sound quality with all the same people. No actual computer required. It needs the internet, but not a computer. Of course, one would not have an internet connection without a computer, but the point is my laptop is no longer involved.

[deditus]

Magic Jack: eh, ok for the money if you are going to have internet and cell anyway. No way could it be called reliable. It works most of the time but sometimes it won't work for a few days at a time. Sometimes it is crackly, sometimes people I am talking to say I sound all electronica (we say I'm lost in the Matrix), and it always hangs up after you've been on the phone for 2 hours (maybe most people don't talk on the phone for 2 hours, but occasionally my BFF and I do if we need to catch up). So I am happy with it for the price, we would have cells for back-up anyway, we would have internet anyway.

[Hopefulmama]

We had it for almost a year. We had cells, but didn't get good reception on them. So if Magic Jack was down or acting funky, I would get very frustrated. If you had reliable cell service for those times, I would use it in a heart beat. For the money, you can't go wrong. If you were going to use it as your only phone, I would think twice.

[gwen's mom]

Their customer service is almost non existent. You have to wade through web page after web page and then it is impossible to connect with a real person.

I had it for a year and then renewed for a second year and within days of renewing I had an accident where the "receiver" that plugs into your computer broke. I contacted them and was told that I would have to buy a new "receiver" and that the year of coverage I had just paid for would be lost because they supposedly could not transfer that credit to a new receiver. So I was going to have to pay for a new receiver and a year of coverage. I argued, sent letters...nothing. They lost me as a customer.

[Fuamami]

Originally Posted by sunnysandiegan

We returned it and got an Ooma Hub from Costco (on sale). No more phone bills.

Interesting! So do you find you have issues with bandwidth?

We used to have Vonage, and if someone was trying to download something or watch streaming video, the phone would cut out or drop the call all together.

[sunnysandiegan]

Originally Posted by Fuamami

Interesting! So do you find you have issues with bandwidth?

We used to have Vonage, and if someone was trying to download something or watch streaming video, the phone would cut out or drop the call all together.

DH is the techie around here. He says the Ooma works a bit differently than Vonage. (He actually got really technical and lost me, but something to do with the Ooma reserving bandwidth for calls and other VoIP systems probably don't. That is not an exact quote, though. )

To answer your question in more practical terms, the only time we've had any problems with the Ooma is when DH moved it behind our Airport (configuration-wise) in order to trouble-shoot our cable modem challenges. The net result was nothing changed on the internet side of things and the Ooma dropped mine and my best friend's phone call half a dozen times. DH moved it back and all other calls have been perfect, as usual. (I need to call the cable company and request an updated modem. The one we have is 7-8 years old.)

[rhiandmoi]

We also have an Ooma. We hardly get any calls on our houseline, and it didn't seem worth having a landline for telemarketers. I like that I can use it to call out for work calls which are all long distance and not have any charges.

So far no problems, but we probably have made 10 calls on it since we got it 6 months ago.

[beansmama]

I've honestly heard really bad things about the magic jack...plus, your computer has to be turned on for it to work. To me, running my computer non-stop isn't wise (money-wise).

Anyway, after doing a bunch of research we went with Ooma. It's been 6 months and it's officially "paid for itself" now. We love it...and we make and receive calls on it all the time. Perfect reception, it's only acted up once and it was for less than 10 minutes. Oh, and the computer doesn't have to be on for it to work