magicJack and magicJack Plus Support, Reviews, FAQs and Tricks

Stanley Sokolow · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 02 Jun 2008 Posts: 1

My experience with MagicJack has been pretty much the same as others describe, but I still like the device and service well enough to say that I would still buy one knowing what I know now. I only use it to make long phone calls to my mom, which I routinely do every week. And she likes to talk a long time. She's 94 and doesn't get out and all of her peers have died before she did (the curse of longevity), so she needs these long calls from me. I figured at the cost of my regular long distance calling plan versus the low cost of MagicJack, I would break even in a few months and thereafter I would be calling mom for free. With this short payback period, I couldn't lose even if the company goes out of business within the year of service included in the initial purchase. I have had the problems mentioned -- occasional echo, a few calls dropped, a few times I could hear mom fine but she couldn't hear me so I had to hang up and re-dial. I just explained to mom that this is a cheap "computer phone" service so we accept the small inconveniences in exchange for no cost to stay on the phone as long as we want. I wouldn't mind paying more for the renewal than the $19.95 they charge, if I could be confident that the quality of service would improve (mostly if the calls would not be dropped nor unidirectionally-dropped).

Darkman90808 · Dan Should Pay Me Joined: 27 Feb 2008 Posts: 701

I *love* my MJ, in spite of occasional problems. Maybe it's just me, but I can't help but compare my MJ to other types of phone service, i.e., cellular and Ma Bell. One friend has Sprint and it's notorious for dropping in the middle of a call. I have Verizon, which seems to be a little better lately, but I still find myself talking to myself before I realize it's been dropped. Another friend of mine has Cingular, and she's almost impossible to hear with a combination of poor quality and dropouts.

I still can call on my land line and get the occasional long distance echo, although it's not as frequent as it was in days past. All in all, I will put up with the idiosyncracies of my MJ for the convenience of having (almost) free phone access whereever I can plug into a computer/internet.

Last comment: Several folks have complained about the call quality and volume when I use my MJ. BUT... whenever I've had them call me from my MJ to test, the quality has consistently been great. So, I no longer tell anyone I'm on anything but a land line. One reporter's opinion.

HendersonMike · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 1:14 pm Post subject:

from: Darkman....... "I no longer tell anyone I'm on anything but a land line."

I'm assuming you were telling them from the git-go that you were calling using the MJ..... Myself, for testing purposes, always tell the called party at the very end of the convo that I called them using my comp and a MJ after asking how was the quality of the call. Makes for more of an un-solicited review.

Darkman90808 · Dan Should Pay Me Joined: 27 Feb 2008 Posts: 701

I suppose I misspoke on that last post. I don't really refer to it as a landline; I actually don't refer to it at all, unless I have a reason, such as poor connection, etc. In the same way, I don't make a point of mentioning I'm on my cell phone, unless I'm experiencing bad reception. Sometimes I'll ask the person I'm speaking with how the connection is, but I find that as soon as someone learns I'm on "the computer phone", they start noticing problems that weren't there before.

msiam · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 2:53 pm Post subject:

I've dropped all the other services.. Except for the T MObile Favs.. Between GrandCentral and MJ I have all the phone service I need.. I couldnt be happier.. Well, yeah I guess I could.. Can we get Magic T Mobile?? Laughing

I own 3 of these MJs and I have bought one for each of my family.. Bro. 3 Sis's. son.. Ebbabadee HAPPY!!

caangel · MagicJack User Joined: 25 May 2008 Posts: 38

I love my MJ it is so cool no problems at all no dropped call or anything and the install was very simple the only thing I would say is the reg server was down but it came right back up so am happy

teyong · Posted: Mon Jun 02, 2008 5:57 pm Post subject:

I love it. I also had a problem with the sound; mostly with the person I called not hearing me well. Got it fixed; with the help of this forum. Purchased the full package; new phones and soon may say goodby to AT&T's $72.00 a month charges; which I just received a note about an increase on my in home line service.

Happy camper,
David

snafu2 · MagicJack User Joined: 28 Nov 2007 Posts: 35

[quote="teyong"] goodby to AT&T's $72.00 a month charges; which I just received a note about an increase on my in home line service.

They have to do something to make up for the lost revenue due to MJ.

nemfo · MagicJack User Joined: 08 May 2008 Posts: 47

works great after 100k mod... 0 dropped calls and hooked to my alarm system and remember 20$ a year
you get what you pay for and it only needs to work 1 month and it pays for its self... I don't think twice before calling a number. and 10 digit dialing don't bother me none.... LONG LIVE THE MAGICjACK

oh yea had to wait a few weeks for my area code... big deal though

Nos · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 02 Jun 2008 Posts: 9

I ordered my magic-jack Got my Email to comfirm and 2nd E Mail for shipping tracking info. Guess what It hit the mail box.
4 days reg-shipping. Not bad at all.

I opened the box, looked at all there was to read, NOW IF I HAD to kick MJ for anything is there Lack of Instructions, seems we like to be told how hard things are.

Folks it works plug it in and let it load up, sit there and let it do its thing. I have a phone that works. so far so good I made 3 calls and clear as a bell and the caller ID works on this cheap cordless vtech so worn out phone I can't read the model numbers off it.
I may have all kinds of headaches with it tomorrow, but so far so good seems about the time I made the third call my A/C in the House crapped out and I just finished fixing it at 1:00am. more to come after I run MJ for a few days.

so far clear calls caller ID works and shipped as quick as anything I have ordered anywhere.

neecy · magicJack Apprentice Joined: 09 Apr 2008 Posts: 10

I love my MJ, it worked from the very beginning, and the installation went through without a hitch. The only time I have difficulty is when we have rainstorms in my area, as I have DSL and it seems to be touchy when it comes to the weather, but when its clear, the quality and reception is unbeatable!

kumar · Dan Should Pay Me Joined: 15 Nov 2007 Posts: 806

Rocker-Mtl · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Posts: 7

johnatnro · Posted: Thu Jun 19, 2008 8:37 am Post subject:

100k refers to the use of a resistor to improve some aspects of your calls on MJ. Do a search of the forums for the word resistor. Several ways to install one are listed. I've been using one for about four months now.

Rocker-Mtl · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 11 Jun 2008 Posts: 7

lonestarmagic · Posted: Sun Jun 22, 2008 6:11 pm Post subject:

My MJ works better than I thought it ever would. Caller ID works all the time and with no resistor installed. Maybe it's the type of phone I'm using (Uniden Dect 6.0) with two handsets.

Anyway, one thing I have found is if my virus protection is running a scan, usually I'm unable to make a call since the virus pgm is using most of my memory and MJ needs more memory while making a call. So, whenever I know I'm going to be making a call, I just abort the scan if it is running. My CPU is usually maxed out when the virus pgm is running as well which appears to affect MJ not being able to call out. After stopping the scan, MJ calls out each and every time with no issues.

My puter is about 5 years old:
Fujitsu C Series Lifebook
XP Home Edition
V 2002
SP 2
Pentium 4 CPU 2.60Ghz
736 MB RAM

So, as a tip to others, if your having probs making calls, you might check to see if your system is running other apps such as a virus scan and shut those pgms down before trying to make a call.

magicJack and magicJack Plus Support, Reviews, FAQs and Tricks

I still like MagicJack in spite of occasional problems.