Magic Jack

[BILLJRIV]

The Magic Jack operator says theres a way to block the Ad-bar but he won't tell me how.I imagine it's not hard to do.

[zalani]

Acutally, my friend bought the magic jack and has been using it successfully. It really depends on your high speed internet bandwidth. He left me a message which was very clear, and when I called back, I got his voice mail, and left him a message. That was turned into a wave file that was sent to him by email (he could access it through the program anyway). The sound was crystal clear. Like I said, it really depends on your ISP and the bandwidth.

[Timedess]

wait- don't you have to have a landline (phone service of some sort) in order to get dsl? Am I missing something here? We thought we HAD to sign up for either TV cable or a landline in order to get DSL for the computer.

[Chedda1741]

Originally Posted by Timedess wait- don't you have to have a landline (phone service of some sort) in order to get dsl? Am I missing something here? We thought we HAD to sign up for either TV cable or a landline in order to get DSL for the computer.

Okay for your question on DSL, in order to get DSL, yes you do need a landline phone service, as for broadband they hook that up through your cable lines, and no you do not have to sign up for cable service. Your best bet is to sign up for broadband cable, then it'd be a decent idea to order the magic jack and save more money and eliminate your existing phone bill as well.

[TomP]

Not to belabor the point, but DSL and Cable are both broadband connections. <g>

Tom

[donteverusemagicjack]

OKAY... YOU HAVE TO READ THIS.

I never ever register just to post on someone's board. This is a first. In fact, it took a good 10 mins to register because I kept typing the hard-to-read security code in incorrectly -- say 6 times! Annoying much! Just as I was about to give up all together, the code worked... fate wanted me to warn you guys.

When I first heard about Magic Jack, I thought it sounded like such an awesome deal compared to paying for AT&T/Qwest, etc and VOIP. I signed up and couldn't wait to get it.

It worked like a CHARM the first day. I told all my family to sign up. They were skeptical and waited. 2nd day, just great. After a week, my dad started saying I was cutting out. He could hear a few words, then the line would cut out and he'd miss what I was saying.

And then pop-ups started. Okay at first, but as time went on, they got worse and worse and WORSE! Before I knew it, in my 2nd week, my entire computer was infested by SPYWARE/ADWARE!!!! I looked in my Ad/Remove Programs (under Control Panel) and saw at least 5 adware programs had been installed on my computer and I could not uninstall them!!!

The worst was a spyware program called OUTERINFO. If you're not familiar with this one, it's the worst pop-up program I've ever encountered. It deletes your ability to System Restore! It crashes everything. Needless to say, the adware killed my computer. I had to wipe my computer, reformat the hard drive (if you forget this step, you won't wipe out all the junk), and reinstall Windows and all my programs.

So I decided I really didn't want to tell my family I made a dumb mistake and so I set up Magic Jack on a 2nd computer - one I dedicated ONLY to use for Magic Jack. At first, things were fine. Then I come home from work and the entire computer was killed. Now it won't start back up at all. And I have built near a dozen computers in my life. And I still couldn't get this one back up.

So I took all this time to warn you... DO NOT GIVE IT A CHANCE!!!! You'll be sorry like me. I'm returning it and screaming to everyone never to use them! I could handle a few pop-ups. But when your entire computer is killed due to virus-like spyware/adware... they should be sued.

Good luck. And if you really MUST try it, back up EVERYTHING on your computer first. I guarantee you'll be wiping it in less than a month. Luckily with enough time to take advantage of your 30 day free trial!

[derigo38]

Okay let me try this one last time. I would caution anyone beforefalling for this product. I'm glad I tried as my phone bills are all so outrageous, but there are better products can bundle with your fiber or cable service. Some pointers:

1) if you still want to try out MJ, it will cost you $40 the first year and they'll offer you some pretty nifty bonus is to extend for five years. Don't do it.

2) don't do anything drastic like telling off AT&T or your cable company for their outrageous bills until you try MJ for a week or two. Make sure you can live with the issues.

3) other VOIP do not require that your computer always remain on and the program running. This can be a significant wear and tear on the computer not to mention energy costs. My biggest concern is if the computer receives a update any number of programs I have runining an auto update like Windows or Norton and then reboots, or if you have a power outage, the program turns off and you have no phone, even if the computer turns back on. For those of you who rely on babysitters, and the computer suddenly turns off, and you have no phone system for incoming or outgoing calls, it can be kind of nerve-racking. I would not want to have a power outage, need to call 911, and find out that my phone beside the bed has no connectivity. Let me say this again, not only does the computer have to remain powered (i.e. not in standby mode), but the program actually has to be running. I tried this the first night, and was dismayed to learn I had no dial tone even with the computer on.

4) I have seen a couple posts about ad aware being automatically downloaded but have not had a problem.

5) the biggest annoyance is a number of dropouts so that this sentence would sound roughly like this:

the bigge-- annoyance -- a numb-- of dropouts so --at this --tence would sou roughly like --is:

6) the dropouts can be pretty significant annoyance when you are typing in your credit card number or some code or responding to voice prompts because when the dropouts hit, it will miss a tone or misinterpret a tone.

7) you cannot use your old phone number so that even during the two-week trial you will have to tell all your friends, family, coworkers, alarm system, credit card companies, etc. unless you have one phone to test the system on, and another system remain on your other line. This is a major annoyance for a one time trial.

Because of the impact to my computer, the unreliability of ensuring the program is running, and the dropouts, I would suggest u instead consider bundling your Internet phone with your cable and your high-speed access. Those systems do not require the program running, or even the computer on. Believe me I am no fan of cable companies, but bundling only costs about a sawbuck a month. Still much more expensive than $40 for the first year and $20 thereafter, is just not worth of frustration or the loss of peace of mind. Obviously, $60 a month for phone service is just not right in this day and age, but it appears that $20 a year is similarly mythological.

[theomnipotence]

the problem with message boards is that you never know when the people doing the flaming are the companies competitors. to be fair, you also never know which of those doing the praising may work for the said named company. so take everything you read on forums and add some of your common sense to it and you can pretty much figure it out.

all that being said, i have some input on the magicjack device for you...

i ordered it under a free trial. i figured if they were gonna ship it to me and let me use it before paying for it, it couldn't be all bad.

I WAS RIGHT.

this little device is wonderful to say the least.

it does NOT install a bunch of..or ANY that i can tell or see, spyware or adware. i never had popups before using it and i have never had any since using it.

you can tell this is true by reading all of the above posts. on every forum, there is someone there to say ADWARE.....SPYWARE...but if you read on and find the reviews by real users, they will tell you that they too have HEARD of people having adware issues, but they themselves have not noticed any. nor have i.

i have never had it crash a computer, or affect it in any way aside from the magic jack box popping up on the screen when the phone rings or the handset gets lifted to use the phone.

the ads in the mj box that the real users do speak of are in no way intrusive or annoying. they are just a little section on the left side of your mj box on the screen...and since you will always have this box minimized, except for when it pops up as mentioned before, you will never see these ads...or so called ads. they are more user tips than anything.

let me add at this point that while the box does go from the tray to on the screen when the phone rings or you lift the set to use it, you CAN minimize it right back to the tray...EVEN WHILE THE PHONE IS STILL IN USE.

I had never had any of the the problems people mentioned here regarding clarity or broken sentences.....AT FIRST. no, this is not going where you think it is...sorry mj flamers. then, about a week ago, the phone started breaking up on me, no static, but lost words and incomplete sentences. I unplugge it from the pc and restarted it to no improvement. i rebooted the puter...no improvement. NOPE, Still not going where you think it is... . so then i check on my interent connection speed. i am on laptop running wireless between router. BINGO, I found my problem. my wireless was only connecting at 36 or 38 mbps. WELL, i grabbed my cat5 cable and plugged it into my laptop and turned the wireless off. problem was gone, simple as that. now, i have since moved my router and returned to running wireless again, again with no issues, but it seems pretty imperative that if you use a wirelss connection, it needs to be connected with at least 48mbps, and mine is now staying connected at 54mbps.

so if you do plan to use mj, make sure you plug it into a computer that is hardwired to your router, or else make certain that you have a decently fast wireless connection to it. all that being said, i am pretty sure it would prolly suck on a laptop out in the field, using either a cellular connection or wi-fi with weak signal.

one cool thing i like about it is the call log. this thing has a call log on mine dating back to the first call i made on 4/15/2008 all the way to the last call i made today. something like 196 calls total so far. inot sure how high this number will go, may only hold 200, maybe 500, maybe 1000...who knows, but i do know this....if i take the mj out of my puter and put it into another one, my same call log still shows in the mj box on screen...all 196 calls.

another neat trick i like is to unplug it from my puter and take it with me when i go to a friends or to travel. i can plug it into their puter, or my laptop, add the phone and make calls to people, WHO ASSUME FROM THEIR CALLER ID, that i am calling from home, when i am in fact, NOT AT HOME.

i use my mj for business believe it or not. telemarketing to be exact. i know, i know, i suck, telemarketers are bad, blah blah. none of my customers have ever had any issues hearing me or vice versa. and, if it continues to work as it is, i plan to add another mj phone....and i even plan on trying to run the second phone on the same puter, different usb plug. not sure if this will be possible since the two may try to use same popup box or some other issue, but i'm prolly gonna give it a go.

it also makes a great second line to dedicate to a fax machine. provided you do have a good internet connection and connection to your router. This seems to be the most important factor, and i would be willing to bet that most all the people who do have issues with it are experiencing some sort of packet loss from a poor or too slow connection.

FYI...i am fiber optic broadband internet through verizon fios. when i take the mj with me to friends, there i use it on cable modem broadband. works fine on both of these. i can not speak personally for dsl or any other.

and hey, lets face it, for the price, how can you go wrong....

i read here that someone suggested not to pay for extra years if service in advance. i dunno what to say about this subject or how to advise. i personally wish i would have bought into the extra years of service for discounted price since mine works so good. in fact, it works SO GOOD, that i am sure they will raise the price on me in the coming years. this is why i wish i had bought the extra bonus. for you, i dunno. hard to say until you get it and try it, unless you are really sure you have a good internet connection and decent pc. cuz it does seem that some people experience static and broken sentences when their connection isn't up to par.

my advice to you is get it and try it. if you do it now, they may still have the free offer on their website. i haven't looked again since i got it. if they do, you really have nothing to lose. i love mine and have suggested it to friends as well. of these friends, only two have gotten them, and both of them love them as well.

i hope i have been helpful.

donnie brass

[michealbui]

Here's my review of the Magic Jack (MJ). I was skeptic from the beginning but took a chance and order 2 and shipping was waive. I did read into the reviews and there were pros and cons.

The set up was simple, one would need to wait and let the installation finished and you will see the MJ icons pop up on desktop. Before you can make any calls, you would need to register your product. Then choose your state, area code and prefix. The final 4 digits will be randomly assign by MJ. I plugged my phone into the MJ and made the call with no trouble. MJ will also work when your computer is in sleep mode. In sleep mode, the system is still on, when your phone ring, it wakes the computer up and you'll be able to answer your call.

You can also set up dual jacks on this MJ, another word fax or all in one machine and regular phone, but the dual jack is loose so make sure you have something to snudge on the inside of the MJ (you'll see it once you try it). You can dial from the MJ icon on your desktop and pick up the phone and talk or switch to headset. You can also dial from your fax machine (outgoing and incoming).

Before I make this comment, I will tell you that on my DSL line, I do not have this problem. When I'm on the road, I used my Verizon Broadband access and my only peeve on this is that it (MJ) has a sleep mode so there are times when you're dialing out, you hear the dial tone, but the ringing part is silent and the other party answer but can't hear you. If that's the case, I would dial my MJ, listen to your own greetings (hello, helllo), at this point, it's back to normal.

I have set this up on Win XP sp3 and Vista sp2 and it works great. I was able to call back into the state from MX, SE Asia and Europe. It was free.

I am recommending this product, but if you're going to buy this, please have or be patience and be open minded as minor troubleshoot (unplugging the MJ from USB port and reinstalling it or rebooting the system) maybe needed. The cost of first year is 39.99 (first year fee and equipment), then 19.99 a year the following year. Good Luck and let me know if you have any other questions.

[1flip1]

Ive been using MJ for a month now and I would say it is a good investment. Before you purchase make sure to check that your area code is on the list.You can do this at the MJ web site.If your from NC I noticed that Charlotte isnt on the list.I from Forest City so my area code 828 was on the list.If you want to keep your same number you will have to pay additional fee and you are unable to do that at this time but coming some according to MJ web site.You get one number with MJ but if you go online a click on returns and warranty they will offer you a second number for free if you do not return.This is ok for maybe a fax or whatever you like to use it for.It was very easy to install and I really like mine.