 Review by brut7 
UPDATED: 281 days ago
member for 9.1 years, 672 visits, last login: 61 days ago
 Babylon,Suffolk,NY
 $3 per month (12 month contract)
 about 5 days
 "Very Inexpensive"
 "Needs an always on Computer"
 "Works great, Very Inexpensive"
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(ratings above consensus)
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After reading many reviews here I decided to give it a try.
I'm familiar with VOIP in many flavors having been on P8, Sunrocket and most recently Optimum Voice. I have an old P3 1100 based laptop with a USB 2.0 PCMCIA card that I decided to dedicate to this task; it wasn't doing anything anyway. It's wired into my router, not on wireless. I want to use the service like a land line for the whole house. Had the laptop all set up, fresh install of xp sp3 and power options set appropriately. I think a lot of people have computers that are infested with spyware and/or so many BS applications that it slows down the computer to a crawl. With a clean proper computer, the requirements are low. Optonline in my ISP and that is of course, very solid. MajicJack device arrived, plugged in my Uniden wireless phones that I originally got from Sunrocket! One base and 2 sattelites, I replaced the battery packs on all 3 recently and they still work great.
Plugged the jack into the usb 2.0 port, it started doing stuff and downed updates.
I chose my number and after a few minutes it all started working.
I went to the website and downed an update file and it did another update.
Rebooted the computer for good measure.
I called my Mom.
Mom said it sounds fine but had a bit of a too quiet sound to it when no one was talking but it was fine with her.
Did a bit of tweaking on both the laptop and the MJ sofware (not that you can do much) and was ready for the all important "Wife Test"! (dramatic music here).
My wife calls Montreal Canada every day from here on Long Island to talk to her parents and sometimes several times a day. MJ passed the wife test! The in-Laws one of which is hard of hearing said it sounded better than Optimum Voice, especially the hard of hearing one, he had no problem hearing my wife and he had been straining with OV (they have a pots line). BINGO, the primary goal is calling Canada and it passes the test with high marks. Set up my voice mail, forwarded my OV number to MJ, closed the lid on the laptop and put it up on a shelf where it will remain on all the time. A laptop is better for this use as it consumes less energy than a full sized PC but probably a bit more than a full device like a Sunrocket Gizmo. Called Cablevision and reduced my bill from them quite significantly and reduced my TV service as well, down to 65 a month for ISP and basic TV (times are tough). MJ works fine now for a couple of days, no complaints from the wife. At $3.33 a month for the first year and half that for the hopefully next couple, you can't go wrong. Voicemail, caller ID and a working home phone. Two thumbs up.
The Bad, it needs a computer but that wasn't a problem for me. I do wonder how much the electricity for the laptop will actually cost but it's probably not much. Anyone have any ideas on that?
Bad reviews on MJ are probably from people who are technically challenged, impatient or have a lousy ISP.
I can't really comment on tech support being someone who usually figures things out himself but it looks like it's not that great though it does seem to have a live instant messanger type service.
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magicjack.com
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Magic Jack Undependable
Ive had three MJs for a year now all on three different computers as they require. Ive had numerous "chats" with them trying to get them working as the public is lead to believe. Their technical support is good for what it is, but very frustrating too. Each time I chat with them its either repeating the same operations suggested by each tech or someone comes up with something completely new. Weve been all over the computer in and out of different programs, reseting or changing defaults, rebooting, etc. Ive had road runner here 12 times to improve service and have signed up for "Turbo". No matter what I do, the system does not work dependably. Most of the time people on the other end can not hear me due to chopped words. Sometimes delay is horrible, but mostly chopped words. I have to repeat myself over and over if trying to give someone a phone number. If only Magic Jack would quit hiding behind computer screens with chat techs and care enough about their customers to actually answer a call or at least return one. After all, they are a phone service. 