TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
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join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
 ·Comcast
2 edits |  Promising as a call out system; but wouldn't trust inbound
The system sounds promising, but the reviews and the description in this story would make me very wary of having this as the only landline phone for my residence. This company needs more mileage before I would trust it.
Having an absolute barebones basic telephone service from a telco for inbound calls, with the magicjack as an outbound caller(with cellphone backup) could save some serious money. Especially for those who do a LOT of monthly minutes calling long distance. |
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ctgreybeard
Old dogs can learn new tricks
Premium
join:2001-11-13
Bethel, CT
clubs:  | CT Area codes
Neither of Connecticut's area codes seem to be represented either. 
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Old dogs can learn new tricks! |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
 ·North State Commun..
| reply to TKJunkMail
Re: Promising as a call out system; but wouldn't trust inbound
said by TKJunkMail  :Having an absolute barebones basic telephone service from a telco for inbound calls, with the magicjack as an outbound caller(with cellphone backup) could save some serious money. Especially for those who do a LOT of monthly minutes calling long distance. The problem, is that an absolute "basic" POTS line still costs anywhere from $15-$20/month after taxes and you're RAPED on a per minute basis both inbound and outbound.
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sporkme
drop the crantini and move it, sister
Premium,MVM
join:2000-07-01
Morristown, NJ | Don't get it
With standalone adapters so cheap these days, especially combo router/traffic management/telephone adapter, what is the point of tethering the service to a PC?
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with every mistake we must surely be learning |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| Don't understand
I still don't understand what sets this apart from any other VoIP provider? Can someone explain the benefit and how the technology behind this device is any different than say, the Vonage USB adapter?
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Pretty Fly for a White Guy™ |
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Grandmagic
@usfca.edu
| reply to TKJunkMail
Re: Promising as a call out system; but wouldn't trust inbound
said by TKJunkMail :The system sounds promising, but the reviews and the description in this story would make me very wary of having this as the only landline phone for my residence. This company needs more mileage before I would trust it. Having an absolute barebones basic telephone service from a telco for inbound calls, with the magicjack as an outbound caller(with cellphone backup) could save some serious money. Especially for those who do a LOT of monthly minutes calling long distance. If I was using this service I guess the inbound could be a problem but than I could just tie it with a grandcentral account so if i miss calls they will still go to voice mail. for the price sounds good but I think for now seems like more of a toy than a solid phone device. I might pick one up over Christmas and play with it. |
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h4x0r3d
Premium
join:2003-04-13
Oxford, MS |  .
Our computers may analyze the phone numbers you call in order to improve the relevance of the ads. |
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amigo_boy
join:2005-07-22
Tempe, AZ
·Cox HSI
 ·magicjack.com
| reply to Matt
Re: Don't understand
said by Matt :I still don't understand what sets this apart from any other VoIP provider? Something unique to me is that you can buy one of these, take it overseas, and make free calls to the US and Canada. People in the US and Canada can call you for the same price they would if you were really at that local, US number.
If you had friends or family overseas, you could buy one of these, send it to them, and have free calls.
It's also free, unlimited calls after you pay $30 for a year. Do other VOIP services do that? I briefly looked at some others and I thought they were per-minute.
Mark |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC | You can take any VoIP PAP overseas and make calls back home and people can call your US number. So that's not it. |
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TKJunkMail
Enjoy the sun
Premium
join:2002-03-03
Avalon, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
·Comcast
| reply to Matt
Re: Promising as a call out system; but wouldn't trust inbound
said by Matt :The problem, is that an absolute "basic" POTS line still costs anywhere from $15-$20/month after taxes and you're RAPED on a per minute basis both inbound and outbound. There are no INBOUND per minute charges on a basic Pots line. And if not using the Pots line for OUTBOUND calls, no charges there either. The line would cost about $15/mo in my area with all fees included.
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC
·North State Commun..
| said by TKJunkMail :said by Matt :The problem, is that an absolute "basic" POTS line still costs anywhere from $15-$20/month after taxes and you're RAPED on a per minute basis both inbound and outbound. There are no INBOUND per minute charges on a basic Pots line. And if not using the Pots line for OUTBOUND calls, no charges there either. The line would cost about $15/mo in my area with all fees included. Well, perhaps that is a Verizon offering? I just canceled a POTS line for my alarm system that was $9/month, but after fees and taxes was $20.something per month. The rep told me that all inbound and outbound calls would incur a per minute charge, including local calls. The rep could have been wrong, but I wasn't about to start making/receiving calls to find out.
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Pretty Fly for a White Guy™ |
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dbmaven
There's no shortage
Premium,Mod
join:1999-10-26
Sty in Sky
clubs:
·VOIPo
·magicjack.com
·Optimum Online
Host:
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| reply to Matt
Re: Don't understand
What really sets this apart from many (but probably not all) of the other VoIP services is that it's really tied in with a CLEC - YMAX Communications. This is the primary mechanism that can keep the costs to the consumer low, and still make the company a profit - the call termination fees paid by other providers for calls terminating at YMAX/magicJack.
As for 'tethering the service to a PC' - that's another part of the cost savings. The device itself is a TigerNet part, and has been around for a while. The cost is probably under $5 (purely a guess on my part) - whereas an external network device like other VoIP services use would cost significantly more.
I think the fact is that this service is NOT for everybody. I couldn't recommend it as a primary telephone service - simply for all of the downsides of being tied to a computer that has to be running 24/7. And with a primary platform of Windows - historically unreliable in consumer platforms - you're really asking for trouble.
As soon as a more local number becomes available that I can transfer to (my current MJ number is in Maryland, and I'm in New York), I'll be turning off a 2nd POTS line that I use for a home office and FAX - saving about $40/month. Basically, the ROI is covered in one month....
If you have a cell phone and use that as a primary service, the MJ is a good investment as a backup. If you've got a teenage daughter who talks incessantly, this is a no brainer. She gets her own number, won't eat up cell minutes, and can talk free as long as she wants - a win/win/win.
Also note that some folks are tying this in with other SIP/PAP devices so that it's not dependent on a computer - albeit with mixed success - see the threads in the VOIP Tech Chat forum...
Overall, I like the service, when I've needed to make calls it has been up and available, and the call quality is great (although I do recommend the TigerNet Echo Cancelling utility). If they continue to make improvements as promised, it will be a great service - and at $40, I could care less if they went under in 6 months....although I don't think they will because of the business model with YMAX. |
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dbmaven
There's no shortage
Premium,Mod
join:1999-10-26
Sty in Sky
clubs: | reply to h4x0r3d
Re: .
That's only a potential issue if you use the softphone and a PC Headset/Mic/Speakers. Plug in a phone and you'll never see them, if they ever do appear. |
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Hehe
@ssa.gov
| reply to sporkme
Re: Don't get it
said by sporkme :With standalone adapters so cheap these days, especially combo router/traffic management/telephone adapter, what is the point of tethering the service to a PC? Cost. Being on a PC they can put up ads. This will help with the cost. A non-PC solution would be nice. But I assume they would need to charge more. |
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dvd536
as Mr. Pink as they come
Premium
join:2001-04-27
Phoenix, AZ
| p
13. Modification
magicJack reserves the right to modify or discontinue the magicJackTM device and Software, temporarily or permanently, with or without notice to you. We will not be liable to you or anyone else in the event that we exercise our right to modify or discontinue the magicJackTM device or Software.
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I wouldn't advise buying the second year up front and they maybe won't be around by that time.
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You can never be too rich, too thin or have too much Bandwidth |
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clecsize
@rr.com
|  Largest CLEC in the US?
"Dan Borislow, inventor of magicJack, is the founder of YMax Communications Corp., a phone company with the largest competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) network in the United States"
I really don't think this is even close to being true. I believe all of the CLEC's below are larger in terms of footprint, network size, and probably revenue:
Level 3
Global Crossing
XO Communications
Pacwest (even though they are in bankruptcy protection)
Paetec |
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rmdir
join:2003-03-13
Chicago, IL | reply to Grandmagic
Re: Promising as a call out system; but wouldn't trust inbound
Voice mail isn't working. This product has a long way before it's ready for prime time. Too bad, as Xmas would have been the best launch time. The perfect gift, if it actually worked right. |
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SMCinAZ
Premium
join:2000-11-29
Glendale, AZ
clubs:
3 edits | Article Left A Few Things Out
1) Lots and lots of downtime-they must have the worst servers ever known to mankind, both for initial registration and for the required re-registration on their servers everytime the thing is plugged in. #1 complaint is that when you plug it in, 30-40% of the time, the thing won't register on their server, so it is useless.
2) Horribly unreliable voicemail. If you need good voicemail. forget it.
3) Their new tech support chat is pure crap. They people they have hired are untrained monkeys. I have tried it 4 times for various issues. Each and everytime, their answers have been "we have no idea-the people at the company tell us nothing, sorry". Apparently, it is outsourced to completely untrained and clueless people. They cannot help you in anyway, whatsoever.
4) These supposed dates for upgrades are just more b.s. from the "inventor" Dan. He has NEVER, EVER kept his word about any dates for any upgrades. This "we will have that ready in 2 weeks" stuff is just hype and nonsense that only turns into "soon" and then never.
5) The only reason they got rid of the forums was to avoid the bad press and exposure of the true facts that these "miracle devices" are so incredibly buggy, even after this long long long beta period, that it would inhibit sales. Remember, this was done after they had already buried the forum deeply inside their site weeks earlier by removing virtually all links to it from their main website anyway.
6) Dan, the "inventor" in a radio interview last week, denied all knowledge of the TOS that was pointed out in this article where they have the right to snoop your calls for ad purposes and, in fact, stated publicly that he had never even seen the TOS of his own product. Imagine that. He also denied publicly that the MJ itself polls the user's Internet Explorer favorites on a regular basis, again for ad and email-directing basis, yet another invasion of privacy and revenue source for the company. "Free" my ass.
7) Dan has never, ever, in all of his announcements and interviews, acknowledged the fact that the product and service have been and are still in BETA. He ALWAYS represents it as being a completed and retail product that has public servers in 31 cities which is nothing but a bold faced lie. All MJ's are currently routed through 1, count 'em -ONE server-currently in Nashville.
8) Everytime the guy gets on the radio, TV, or in print, he says the product and service are FREE. Yes, it is cheap. Hooray, it is cheap, but cheap is not free, so for craps sake, STOP SAYING IT IS FREE.
9) The product and service will be ad supported, and those ads will be based on personal information gathered from the users phone calls and internet favorites and internet browsing activities. Users need to be told that PLAINLY and CLEARLY just as often as they are being told that the service is FREE. The service is AD SUPPORTED. You cannot get rid of the ads off of your screen unless you are very tech savy, and they use up CPU and bandwidth, too. Additionally, when you make or receive a call, you are forced to have an additional window popup on your screen as well. NO MENTION OF EITHER WINDOW IS EVER MADE BY DAN IN ANY OF HIS INTERVIEWS. All he ever says is that you plug the device in and plug your phone in and you are done. He also NEVER, EVER mentions the fact that the computer has to stay on in order for it to work. You think MAYBE that MIGHT be important?
10) USB is a terrible interface to have to rely on for anything as important as phone service. It is limited in number of connections, it is buggy and subject to driver and power issues, and can easily time out so that the jack just "quits" with no notice to you at all.
What does this guy and this company have against the truth?
Why does he feel the constant and regular need to lie to the public about virtually every aspect of this product and service?
He and his company are so damn shady, it is amazing. He never tell you that they are running on venture capital, just like Sunrocket was. He did say that they need to sell a million of these things just to try and break even. A MILLION!
Lastly, there is one huge and grave concern that I have about signing up and using a Magic Jack. There are several GIGANTIC security holes within the way this company has setup their registration procedures. This has left it INCREDIBLY easy for even the lowest level of hackers to access all of the company's records including YOUR personal and credit card information as well as your account information. There are people accessing it EVERY SINGLE DAY just for fun. They can mess with your account anytime they want, change your account information including cancelling your account at anytime, signing up for new extra accounts, make calls including upcoming international calls using your account number, spoof your account so that your caller ID shows up for their own calls, and have even gone so far as to use Dan Barislows own account to make calls "just for fun". The company apparently just does not give a damn about this and have taken little to no steps to stop this or block this from happening. This is a HUGE red flag to me, and people should be warned about it.
If you do not mind this happening with your financial and other information, go right ahead and order one. |
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Pinan
Hypnotic Tweaker
ExMod 2000-03
join:2000-09-02
Murrieta, CA
| I like it.
I think you're holding back smc. How do you really feel? Heh
I like mine. It's great for travel. Beats the heck out of using a hotel phone, or cell phone.
The voice quality is fantastic, when it's working well/correctly. Most of the time mine works well.
I would not use it as a landline replacement, that would be dumb. Maybe when it's out of beta, and the bumps are worked out. Keeping ViaTalk or the like around for "consistency" is a better idea.
For someone who has a basic landline now that pays too much for long distance calling, this is a fantastic way to make your calls. Use your landline for local calling only. As for voicemail, have people leave messages on your landline.
In short: Yeah, MJ is buggy, but they're working on it and it gets a little better all the time. Invest the $40 and play with it. My folks love theirs as do my friends.
Note. If you are impatient, hold off on getting one, for now.  |
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fuziwuzi
Not born yesterday
Premium
join:2005-07-01
Atlanta, GA
| reply to SMCinAZ
Re: Article Left A Few Things Out
I've had my MagicJack for 3 months now. Haven't had a problem. It installed on my XP Pro system without a hitch, works as it should. Only time I've had an issue with using it was some echo/feedback but that was due to simultaneously using utorrent downloading at over 500kbps in the background while I was trying to talk on the phone (perhaps my Comcraptic connection was saturated?).
I've been cell-only (no POTS) for over 2 years. I added the MagicJack to benefit from its unlimited use which means I can change my cell plan to a lower cost/lower minute plan and save even more money.
So far, that has worked very well. |
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