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After being with Vonage for a few years and steadily watching their prices inch up from $12 to $22 a month, I started looking into alternatives. I hardly use my home phone line but have had this number so long, I want to allow people to still reach me and have it as a backup if I ever have cell phone issues. I decided to look into MagicJack. They have a new device that does not need to plug into your PC like the original MagicJack. It is more Vonage like now where there is a device that can be powered on through an outlet and the device has an RJ-11 port and an Ethernet port. It took all of 5 minutes to register it and get it up and running. One thing I can say is MagicJack's billing system is on another level. As soon as you activate the device, you get the E911 bill for the year to pay. It was only $18. Also, you have to pay a $20 port fee to get your current number transferred over to MagicJack. As soon as I paid for the number transport, outbound calls from my home phone started showing as coming from my old number. I think that is more of a Caller ID thing than the actual line port being that far in the process. MagicJack must do that in the interim until the full number port is complete as calls to my ported number still go to Vonage. In any case, the voice quality sounds really good. I also have MagicJack feeding other RJ-11 connections in my house. NOTE: Do not connect your MagicJack device to the RJ-11 outlet in your home unless you know for a fact that your inside wiring is no longer connected to your telephone company's wiring. Per MagicJack, that can destroy your device. When I had Comcast VOIP years back, the tech disconnected the internal phone wiring from the telephone company's wiring so a loop would be created in my home and whatever device I plug into the RJ-11 would feed the phone line to other RJ-11 ports in my house. I am glad I picked it up and now saving myself over $200 a year (maybe more when I renew with a longer plan). It serves its purpose. I have not had to call tech support and hopefully, will never need to call them. member for 20.2 years, 2899 visits, last login: 4 days ago updated 3 years ago
May-04-2015: Still using Magic Jack.. still happy. The five year deal has now gone up to 99 dollars, but still an excellent deal. Some people spend more than that a month. I carry the Magic Jack Go with me when I go on a trip. Just get a motel or the place you intend to visit, that has an internet connection, FREE calls. Don't waste your cell phone money. Happy vacation! April 1, 2014 UPDATE:.. MagicJack is still working flawlessly..BOTH OF THEM! Bought a New 10 dollar phone for my MagicJack Plus, the old phone got wet, From Talking So Much on MagicJack.. MagicJack is one the the BEST deals of my life, no joke.. I have saved lots of money over these 5 years and not a Problem with my MagicJack. Sound Quality is the BEST. My cousin ask me if I'm gonna ask her , "How Does My MagicJack Sound today", every time I call her. Check out the MagicJack website, Amazon, WalMart or many other outlets that sell MagicJack. No, I don't get Paid to say good things about MagicJack, MagicJack has PAID me, in SAVINGS!. YES, the 'OLD", Phone company had to come an take their line of the house..(but I still have AT&T Uverse internet), and together, they make a Great combination. MagicJack a Deal of Lifetime. All those wet eyes in the Office, will dry-up with a New MagicJack Plus.. Thanks, have a MagicJack day! Bought MagicJack about 4 years ago, got a deal on the 5 year plan @ 49,00 dollars. took about 5 days to get shipped in to my house (now you can buy at your Local electronice store). setup was a Breeze, about 10 minutes, just plug-in (smaller than a Pack of cigarettes) n go. they have 800 numbers, Vanity numbers and you can pick a number you like, (if available) for your local area code are and outside of your state code.MagicJack plugs into your USB port, (use the extension cord), if you plug direct with MagicJack sticking out, you can drop something on it and break the Plug off..use the extension and let it hang down insted.. you have to dial your (1)-area code, then the number you want to connect to. I like MagicJack and the Sound quality is really as good as regular Phone are better (only speaking from my experience). Made the phone company take all their wires off the house, (hehe). SO INEXPENSIVE!..you dont need a computer that stays on all night, just a connection with the new MagicJack. make sure your Old phone isnt Corroded where your line connects before install. use a Regular phone (I have a 10 dollar one) and it works Great. MagicJack is a Great Deal, GO check MagicJack out. Thanks.. Magicjack is still working strong. Got the new Magicjack Plus about a month ago and it works great and the old MagicJack is working as usual. The new MagicPlus is about 29 dollars a year. Still using the old 10 dollar cordless phone and works on both regular and Plus Magicjacks. I will be getting another phone for the New MagickJack Plus. I use two different phone numbers. These are two different devices so I advise to get the MagicJack Plus, it works in a computer or just plug into your wall socket, plug in your internet connection and phone. Really simple and so inexpensive. If your power goes down you want have a line of communication through MagicJack, so you may want to invest in a USB backup system, if you are concerned. My power has been down maybe three times since my first review and the longest was a little over an hour during a lightning storm. None of my equipment is used anyway, during a storm. You can buy MagicJack from many retailers, or order direct from MagicJack. Save lots of MONEY, go get a MAGICJACK PLUS, just my opinion. Thanks for looking and and have a great day! UPDATE: 12/14/2016 MagicJack is still working great, no problems here. The five year plan is now 99 dollars, all the talk time you want. If you want to save lots of dollars, go to MagicJack.com and get some great deals today. i do not get paid for doing this, i just LOVE my MAGICJACK! PS. and my AT&T Uverse 24 MBs internet connection. thanks for reading. member for 14.7 years, 153 visits, last login: 6.5 years ago updated 7.2 years ago
Most affordable voip - reaches all Frontier, Verizon and AT&T numbers I need. With the MagicApp, now get my home phone on the cell phone also. 100% satisfied. Good is not a good enough rating. I rate Magicjack as excellent. member for 17.8 years, 7914 visits, last login: 1 day ago updated 7.6 years ago
I want to start by saying that I have used MagicJack for years. I have defended them against many who have dogged them. I bought one of the original MagicJack device that can only plug into your computer. That device flat out died. So a few years ago, I bought the MagicJack Plus. Used it and had a few problems with it from sound quality to needing to reset the device. I have renewed my subscription to a 5 year deal. Two years into it, my phone subscription said it had expired. So the device is working, but it was not communicating with their server. After hours of troubleshooting we finally found out what was the problem. Techs tried to reset my account saying it should be resolved, but that did not resolve the issue. I had to plug the device directly into my computer. It came back with invalid serial number. At first the tech told me it's not corrupt or else it would give a different error. After continuing to troubleshoot, tech found that the serial number was indeed invalid. Now the tech changed his/her tone saying my device has gone bad. Technician's words, "Windows Update, router firmware or software updates, electrical power outage, internet connection outage or thunder-storm may have affect the magicJack's core information." Even though I did not do any router update and my magicjack device was not plugged into my computer, I told the tech that a router update can not affect the firmware of another device. Tech continued to argue the point. My point is that obviously MagicJack made some updates on their servers are no longer recognizing old devices, but they did not warn me about it nor replace my device. They are sticking to the fact that my device is broken even though signs show nothing wrong with it. Stay away from this company. They do not care about their customers. I have been with them for over 7 years and they will not work with me. It's too bad. I stayed with them because I rarely need a house phone. They were a cheap alternative for when I do need a land line. member for 7.8 years, 1 visits, last login: 7.8 years ago lodged 7.8 years ago
I purchased a magicJack Go device last September because we moved and I wanted to keep my landline number that I'd had for 11 years. Ported the number over with ease, and my services were working fine. Had some distortion that was being caused by my router, not sure if it was interfering with the magicJack device or my cordless phone, either way after messing with the wifi settings the interference was gone. Call quality is great although the volume isn't as loud as my XfinityVoice line, but it's good enough. I've yet to drop a call. Caller id isn't as detailed and there really aren't any features with the service, but for what you pay you can't ask for any more. It's a great, inexpensive service that you can travel with. member for 22.2 years, 242 visits, last login: 4.9 years ago lodged 7.9 years ago
A few years ago I had bought the very first magicjack that required a PC. No big deal that was how it was advertised and it worked fine for me at the time. Later on I saw advertisments for the new MagicJackGo. Advertisments for it saying "No PC Required" being its main selling point. Just plug it in and it works. Unfortunately I still had almost a year left on my phone subscription and so I decidided to wait for it to get closer to running out before getting a new MagicJack. At the time I had something like a 5 year plan! Anyway, bought the new MagicJack and put it on my account and kept my number obviously. However, I ran into unusual problems... First off I tried the MagicJack just plugging it in as this is the entire reason I bought it. No PC Required. It would not work. I was confused to say the least. So I plugged it in to my linux machine (I have no windows machines just as a matter of info) and tried to run the MagicJack through WINE. I finally got it to pull up but it wouldnt connect or do anything. Which was very frustrating. Then I called support, because this thing is suppose to work without even having to plug it into a PC. Support explained you NEED to plug it into a computer first time so that it can update its settings. I explained my problem to them how I could not do this. The asked "well, do you have a friend you can go put it in their computer?". Which I said no I don't and asked them again why they say no PC required if it isn't true. Which they would never answer me directly. Fortunately I am technically inclined. I installed a virtual machine on my computer. Then installed an old copy of WIN7 on it. Then did all those updates through the first service pack and so on. ALL that just to plug in the MagicJack and update it. That is the worst service ever. The device needs to be able to link itself to my MagicJack account on their site without a machine present. Then there is their HORRIBLE smartphone app. I try to use it for things that require you to hit the keypad so the auto systems know what number you hit but the auto systems cant understand it. Like just today I tried to type in some old gift cards to see if they had anything on them before I shredded them. MagicJack app the system kept saying invalid card number. Regular phone dialing it went through first time with no trouble at all. Also, I get constant complaints about echoing when using MagicJack. However, I don't recall that it has ever totally cut out or disconnected. Whenever, I log into their website I don't go straight to my profile. This is always bothered me too! The first thing it shows you is the "Shop" tab. They are trying to sell you stuff immediately after you login. The tabs are ordered strangely too. I would think the "account" tab would be first AND be the first to come up when you log in. The reason being is when you log in you want to see that information. Your phone number is listed there and your devices. I really hate the website they have. member for 11 years, 136 visits, last login: 4.3 years ago lodged 7.9 years ago
After weeks of mysterious happenings, such as 3 Consecutive suspensions from google business (spam, quality issues), several agencies we deal with were telling us that there were sundry problems (everything from problems with our dns to running a mail server/pbl), and more!!!! Here's the real deal: This magicjack has cost us way too much loss. It took weeks to figure out it was magicjack that was our weakest link (hell, we were about to cancel our ip provider, became hateful of google when we thought they were suspending us for no reason, became hateful toward yandex when their adwords turned us down for mysterious reasons, and much more! Firstly, our main business is : COMPUTER REPAIR IN SPRINGFIELD OHIO Consider the aforementioned when considering the authenticity of our claim. Here's what you need to do: When your internet is suddenly slow, or when you witness weird happenings during a call (such as sudden disconnects at critical moments during a conversation), or if your line is nice and clear all the way through the conversation but suddenly there is clicking only when critical conversation matter is occurring (such as when a number or information is being related during the call but then becomes garbled at only those particular moments), there's more but I have to get back to work so let's move on.... Here's what you can do to verify that it is your magicjack that is hacked. Go into your router, inspect what devices are attached to the router (if you are a business STEER CLEAR OF MAGIC JACK!!!). If you're magicjack suddenly goes from anonymous to a cut-down version of one of the computer names....panic LOL. Magicjack, like everything else in life, is not forever and served it's purpose .... now it's time for this company to move on to the semi-secure good old days (landline). Explanation of the attached screen shot: The top connection within our router is this computer I'm using to make this review, the bottom connection is supposed to be our server, the middle connection is magicjack but we never would bother to name that and it would surely not be named that particular name (this is a FRESH INSTALLED COMPUTER here so that name we put for this particular computer and the op sys on this computer is less than 13 hours old). Amen. p.s. Anybody want a magicjack plus can contact us, we'll sell ours for $5.00 (937) 718-3586 We're through with this. Attachments: member for 8.4 years, 1 visits, last login: 8.3 years ago updated 8.4 years ago
Very disappointing, unreliable service. Two power adapters had to be replaced. Now I have to replace the whole device. Cannot talk to a human being, just chatting. Pre-canned responses when you complain. I guess when you've heard so many complaints before, you can just copy and paste responses in your chat session. The "magic" part about Magic Jack is that you get what you pay for. Buyer beware. member for 8.9 years, driveby review (so far) lodged 8.9 years ago
Update March 11, 2015: Well, I decided to let MJ lapse. Unlike many others, I have had no issues with MJ. What I DID have an issue with was the steep rise in price over 5 years. May see if I can re-use the dongle on another voip system Update Jan 31, 2015: Can honestly say I have had no bad issues. Still have my original dongle from 2008. They have made some changes to the software, and can't say I like the new look. The account comes due for renewal in a few weeks, and I really haven't made up my mind what I'll do. $35USD +30% exchange = $45 for 1 year, or 120USD + 30% exchange = $156 for 5 years, is a healthy increase from when I got the unit. Got some serious thinking to do ... Update Feb 7, 2012: Have had no problem with the MJ unit. Sad to see such such a high jump in rates last month. Certainly far above any rate of inflation that's been posted in North America over the 3 year period. Early 2010, signed up for the 5 year plan, so have that going for a while, yet. What happens in 2015 when those 5 years are up? Who knows??? Voice quality is very good. No complaints. Noticed calls get cut off at 90 minutes duration. Could not redial to finish the call. Tried next day, no problem with same #. Unit still used for outgoing calls only. Very inexpensive LD. For me, still a keeper. Opinion, therefore review, not changed. Haven't used the tech support, so I cannot honestly comment on it. ********************************* Original review ~ July, 2009: I had seen the ads, thought what the heck? Picked it up in February, running it on XP Pro on a Pentium M laptop. Chose a Milwaukee phone #. Couple of small tweaks, and it was functional. The unit is used for outgoing LD calls only, and is removed from the machine when not in use. The bad: There is no uninstall program, so you have a hunt to find the entries hidden in your registry and system. The Canadian & US websites could best be describes as "visually noisy". The unit may have a lifespan if left on continually due to constant writing to it. Some have said about a year. The good: Quality with everyone we have tried is excellent across Ontario and through the US. Oddly enough, the poorest quality occurs when calling a Milwaukee #. We have yet to figure out if it is MJ or the person we're calling. Economical - Omitting the hardware cost ($20US), at less than @$2 US /month - you'll likely spend more on coffee in a week. Other: Canadian #'s have just come in. For the charge for a Canadian # ($5/month), I'll stick with the US#, thank you. A stable high speed internet line is strongly recommended. Have had no calls to their tech support, so that really can't be commented on. member for 20.6 years, 4956 visits, last login: a few hours ago updated 9 years ago
Bought two Magic Jack units several years ago. They have been inactive a few years. Recently reactivated them. Reactivation was fast and easy. Both units work well though occasionally the transmission quality suffers from network congestion. Tech support is an issue. Support is provided by on-line chat from the Philippines. My perception is that the call center reps are not overly knowledge about the Magic Jack order system. If the info they have doesn't answer the customer's question they are lost. They did make an honest effort to help. The Magic Jack app for my iPhone work well. member for 9.1 years, 2 visits, last login: 9.1 years ago updated 9.1 years ago
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