Customer Reviews

magicJack: PC to Phone Jack

5 star:		(230)
4 star:		(131)
3 star:		(53)
2 star:		(63)
1 star:		(310)

 

 

The key to using Magicjack without any problems is to research information on it first to decide whether it's right for you *and* whether it will work for you. It's not really as easy as 1-2-3 nor will it work magically despite its name. You need to exceed its miminum system requirements, have high speed internet service (like cable), and YES, your PC has to be on with your internet connection available for Magicjack to work. But for $20 a year (initially cost is $39.95 for the Magicjack with 1 year phone service), to me, Magicjack is a great product which provides free unlimited long distance across the country and local phone service. However, Magicjack should not be your only phone service because if your electricity or internet connection goes out, Magicjack won't work. At least also have use of a cell phone service.

I bought my Magicjack from its website [...] and received it in less than a week after I ordered it. If you want the option of returning it easily should you decide not to use it, most people on the web recommend buying it from a store like Walmart, Radioshack, Best Buy or even QVC. It took me less than 10 minutes to install Magicjack (plug it into your PC's USB), register it, pick a phone number in my area and start using it. For me, deciding which number to use took the longest time. I live basically in Philadelphia, PA so there were a lot of local numbers I could select. The [...] site lists its available area codes and phone prefixes. Not all areas are available yet so make sure you can select a local phone number for your needs before buying Magicjack. Keep in mind that if you use a non-local phone number for your Magicjack, people that call you may incur toll charges or long distance charges.

After Magicjack was up and running, I tested it by making calls to and receiving calls from landline phones, cell phones, Vonage phone service users and other Magicjack users. Everyone I called commented that they can hear me clearly. I also had no trouble hearing them just as well. No echoes, no static, no disconnections, no strange noises. The longest phone call I've made so far lasted about a little over an hour.

Now, mind you, my Magicjack is on an IBM X41 laptop which has 1.49GB RAM, 1.50Ghz Pentium M processor and Windows XP (Professional) SP3. Magicjack is basically the only main application that is running on this computer. You do not need a dedicated PC for Magicjack but it won't work as well on a computer that have other large applications such as multi-media, graphic programs, email systems and games running at the same time. My internet connection is cable and I have a wireless router but the computer with Magicjack is connected "wired" to the router. I specifically wanted to test Magicjack on this type of system setup so that I couldn't blame any problems I might encounter on any other factor. I also wanted a system that I could leave running for 24 hours if I decided to use Magicjack as one of my main phone service.

The one problem I did encounter was at the beginning when I found that one of my phones wouldn't ring when someone called me. By googling the problem, I found out that this problem is due to the ringer equivalency number (REN) of the phone you are using (google "phone REN" to find out what it is). Most phones have their REN listed at the bottom of the base unit. From my experience, I believe Magicjack will only work for phones that have REN of up to 1.0B (add up all phones in your system to get your total REN. Mine had a corded base with 0.6B REN with 2 more cordless handsets. I figured that made my phone system total to 1.8B REN). Magicjack did ring on a phone that had 0.98B REN. To fix the problem, I bought a multi-handset GE DECT 6.0 (model 28223 Series) which basically has REN 0.0B. Magicjack had no problems ringing with this phone. My phone system was over 3 years old anyway so I didn't mind replacing it.

My system setup is probably an optimum environment for Magicjack although while Magicjack is running on one computer, I have another laptop running wirelessly connected to my cable modem in addition to a desktop connected wired to it also running *and* a Vonage modem connected to it.

To find out if Magicjack is right for you, google reviews on it first and be sure to read up on the system requirements and recommendations from Magicjack users that have had no problems using Magicjack and love using it. These users will offer the most detailed information and they give out tips and tricks to make Magicjack work at its best such as how to set up your system for automatic reboot, optimize your internet connection, set up your USB ports so your computer doesn't power it off, using "thin clients", etc. Be aware that you'll also find a lot of reviews from people who hate Magicjack but most of them seemed to have bought Magicjack when it first came out. You'll find complaints about Magicjack's customer support also but since I've had no problems so far, I have no experience with them. I used Google to get the answer to all the questions I had about Magicjack.

Personally, I think Magicjack works better than my Vonage whose service I plan to stop using soon. Also, don't be afraid to try it out even if you're not technical. My younger sister knows very little about computers and she also uses Magicjack without any problems.

I have been using MJ for a while and here are a few things to consider.

1)Magic jack is not a standalone device.
2)It needs a Windows or Mac based computer to operate.
3)Needs a high speed internet connection..Will not work on dial up.
4)Computer needs to be on to be able to use MJ..No sleep,hibernate or standby.
5)Needs to be directly connected to the USB port on the PC and not a hub. The primary reason for this..in layman's terms is : The device draws power from the USB. In a distributed setting like a hub, there may not be enough power to support the device. Not saying it will not not work but you WILL have issues.

Installation : Just plug the device on a available usb port and the software and drivers install automatically. Once installed, you will see the MJ softphone on your desktop. Now quickly go to the MJ website and do an upgrade. Steps are pretty simple.

Firewall Settings: Add UDP port 5060 and 5070 to the windows firewall exceptions.

Operation: Once you have the MJ device connected to the USB and the other end to a standard phone, you are ready to make and receive calls.

Call Volume: In the audio proprieties, select tigerjet as playback device and increase vol to approx 60%. Do the same for recording device OR adjust to your preference.

System Resources: Like I mentioned before, the MJ application runs on your computer and hence competes for system resources. I will not go into setting application priorities but if you can do it, it will work better..Having said that, MJ's performance will suffer when you are running a resource intensive application on your computer while running MJ. For eg..graphic softwares, games, movie playbacks etc are very resource intensive and use a lot of processor and memory. So please be warned in advance unless you have a really powerful computer. Times like this you will notice patchy voice quality, cut outs etc etc...

Reset: I personally like to unplug and replug the mj atleast once a day or just restart my computer. I know this can be a chore. There is a solution. In XP goto start>run and type in control userpassword2. Once you get the dialog box, just uncheck where it says, user needs to enter a user name and password to use this computer. Next go to control panel scheduled tasks and click add scheduled task. In the wizard, click browse and goto windows>system32>shutdown.exe. Set the task to run daily at a time of your choice. Check the advanced check box and hit ok and come out of it. Now in the advanced dialogue, where it says run add a space and type in /r. The process prompts in for passwords. Type it in. Now your XP is set to restart at a predefined time daily and go directly to your desktop without any user input in form of a user name and password.

Issues: Call quality. As mentioned before, it can depend on the resources on your computer. Also depends on the the internet speed. Sometimes, you might be set to receive a certain bandwidth, but it may not be always the case. What you receive in real-time might be different from what is on paper. It is a good practice to reset your cable or DSL router once in while. When it comes to wifi, it is majorly affected by interference. So make sure if you are on wifi, you are at a place in the house with minimum interference. TV,Fridge, Microwave etc cause interference to your wifi signals. Cable users ..not sure about DSL ...are on shared bandwidth. Meaning..a bandwidth slab is allotted to x number of users. So say if in a group of users, few of them are streaming a High def video, it is that much off your bandwidth. So sometimes you will see slow internet connection and slow is not very good for your mj.

Final Conclusions:MJ casts about $1.60 a month to use as a service BUT the hidden costs need to factored in. Consider the fact that the computer needs to be on to use it. So that adds to your electric bill. I recommend using a low end dedicated computer like a used laptop for MJ. Or you can get a thin client which cost pennies to run. The call quality is good. You can take it anywhere..But ultimately, optimum performance depends on all the factors I have discussed above.

Hope this write up will help you make an informed decision before you buy.

My uncle in Georgia has one of these, and I live in Michigan. When I first heard of Magic Jack it intrigued me that he was only paying $19.95 a year for phone service. So I had to check it out. So I went to the web site, and I did a lot of reading. After talking it over with my wife, we decided to try it out. It only took a couple of days to get it, and set up was easy, but when I plugged a phone in it to make a call, it was horrible. Though I remember reading some where that a power USB hub could fix this problem. So I order one up, and waited. Once it arrived, I hooked everything up to my computer, and started making calls. It worked great! Every time, with every call. I have been running it for a week, and no problems. In my personal option, no digital phone service will ever sound like a regular phone line. I know people the have Vonage, and Packet8, and this works just as great as those, maybe even better. I also have slowest DSL possible (768k), and sounded great, even when I was downloading files on the internet.

To those who have had problems:

1. Read everything before you buy. I have noticed on the internet people complaining about how it doesn't work. It is a piece of technology, and even though it is supposed to be an easy thing, it may require some reading on your part to learn how to make it work. Everything can be found in the FAQ's section on their Magic Jack's website.
2. If you buy this item and don't work, like bad reception, or no dial tone, broken conversation, get a Powered USB hub. For 15 bucks, it makes it run great, and I have a lot more USB ports now.

Pros:

* I like the fact that is cheap. $19.95 a year cheap! I like to save money, who wouldn't in today's world?
* The fact I can call long distance for free, and saving money.
* The call quality is great, if my 83 grandmother could hear me, and understand what I am talking about, then the sound quality has to be decent.
* It can go with me if I ever decide to travel, I am too poor to do that right now.

Cons:
* The fact that I had to get a USB hub to make it work great. On the web site it says plug and go. If I wouldn't have read about it I probably never would got it to work.
* Their tech support could be better, I never have used it, but from what I have read, it isn't all that great.
* In order to use it, your computer has to be on. I leave my computer on 24/7 anyway so it doesn't bother me any. To those that shut off your computer at night then your phone wouldn't work, and who wants a call at 3am anyway?
* No local area code for me yet. Though there might be one someday.

There may be other quirks that I don't know about, but all know the problems I had when I first hooked it up, versus how it works with a hub, I doubt I will have an real issues with it.

magicJack - No More Phone Bills - Free Local & Long Distance Calls!magicJack Phone Device - 2 packmagicJack: PC to Phone Jack
Purchased in Oct 2008. An update for 2009 fixed the voice quality issues, which was a major drawback. Thanksgiving 2009: magicJack has been useless for the last month. I've spent more time working with the service rep than I have on the phone. The device itself works, but the programming they put on the computer keeps requiring more and more adjustments to my computer settings. It rarely connects on the first try; usually dropping off your computer, so you have to reboot it onto your computer; and when it does connect, it cuts off after 5-10 minutes. It just doesn't feel worthwhile to pick up the phone and try to make a call using magicjack. So, I recommend against spending your money on magicjack.

There are many other minor drawbacks.
1) When you first install majicjack, it sometimes doesn't install right. However, the service desk does try to be helpful.
2) Every time you start your computer, majicjack takes over for 2:15 minutes, though it says it only takes a minute. My computer and connection are very fast. My fix: I plug magicjack in after my computer has booted and wait until I want to use it, then the computer boot and magicjack boot both take less time.
3) While it's booting, it takes over your computer and doesn't allow you to do anything else. While you're talking, don't try to do anything else on your computer; that causes loss of the call.
4) Every time it boots, for the full time it is booting, it puts up a magicjack ad: Unnecessary brainwashing.
5) It puts icons everywhere: First, the main window appears in the middle of your screen. If you minimize it, it pops back up in the middle of whatever you're doing when the phone is used. Hell on games. I eliminate this by stuffing the open window under the bottom left corner with just a little corner showing so I can grab it if I want. (I guess I can eliminate this by unplugging magicjack, and plugg it in only when I want to use it. Pretty antique operation.) Second, it puts an icon on your desktop, and if you delete it, it reappears every time you reboot magicjack. Third, it puts an icon on the tool bar that takes up space and inconveniences my management of multiple programs. Fourth, because it gets used some, it appears on the Start Menu quick start menu. Why all these icons? It's already running all the time! Fifth, it appears where I'd prefer it to appear: On the programs menu.
6) Fixed in 2009: People used to tell me they cannot hear me well. Now there is no mention of low volume or static.
7) Fixed in 2009: The transmission used to be one-way communication. You could not talk on top of one another in a two-way communication, as the transmission became choppy both ways. This no longer happens: it's like a normal phone now.
8) On the main screen there are tabs marked Contacts, Calls, and Favorites. The Favorites tab lists a bunch of links from throughout my computer, including from my browser favorites and random links only appearing in My Documents. Apparently the MagicJack program searched my whole computer for these links.
9) Fixed in 2009: In Dec 08 the I started having increasing problems dialing numbers in my area, though I'm dialing from another area code. I haven't had this problem since.

Sept 2009: Everything went haywire and as of November 2009, it hasn't been fixed. Virtually unuseable, and don't feel like trying to work with their reps anymore. Getting to know them by name.

OK HERE IS THE DEAL!!!
The majic jack is all that it says "IF YOU HAVE A GOOD RELIABLE COMPUTER", "AND GOOD INTERNET SERVICE" I have had my issuse with this product but it all comes down to. If your computer stutters (slow) when starting then you phone service will do the same. The majic jack is only as good as the computer or network it is hooked up to. Trust me I have tested this myself. I plugged it to this OLD...VERY SLOW computer in my home and the service was absolutely HORRIBLE, then I plugged it in to my laptop I just purchased and it was AWESOME. I was just like a regular home phone.Also since my computer has a built in microphone I was able to talk without even plugging in my home phone. All I needed was the majic jack. So as a customer myself I feel anything new is going to have its problems ,but for the price...Come on folks. I paid 49.99 and I am paid up for 5 years....Can't beat that. If your conputer is ancient and loaded with junck and it is slow online, then do not buy it til you gat a better machine. If you computer is up to date and runs at a good speed. Get it cause it is a steal of a deal. Hope this helped!!

MagicJack is a mixed bag. It will save you money, but you do get what you paid for. I have a laptop computer with a broadband connection that usually clocks in at over 5000kps in downloads and 268 kps for uploads. Despite that, the sound is spotty. I can have conversations with other people, but occasionally it is difficult, with the sound sometimes skipping around like an old record player with a needle that doesn't quite stay on the record. It is more of an annoyance than a problem, although I've had at least one phone conversation I had to drop because it became unintelligible. The problem is, and what MagicJack doesn't openly advertise, is you need to have a VERY fast internet connection before the sound approaches even cell phone quality.

The technical support is horrendous. I actually knew more about computers than the person who was trying to assist me -- and I'm not exactly the most technically savvy of people. That said, most of the time my MagicJack does work well enough, although people on the other end complain my voice sounds "distant." I had to take some draconian cost-saving measures in the past year, and being able to cut out my monthly phone bill entirely made a big difference. I wouldn't recommend MagicJack unless you are in a situation where you really need to cut back on your long-distance bills - it is not good enough to replace a land line or even a cell phone with spotty service. But it is a workable option if you are really looking to save money. Just remember you get what you paid for.

My wife and I had seen the gimmicky advertisements on TV, but after we saw it in Best Buy we decided to give it a try. A few months ago, we gave our landline the boot b/c it was costing us nearly $30/mo for something we rarely used, and didn't have long distance. We were using our iPhones 99% of the time anyway, so we upped our plan and went totally wireless.

Enter the Magicjack...

For $40, I figured there was nothing to lose, and Best Buy has a 30/day return policy.

Day #1: Hooked it up to our 20" iMac, set up an account, and was making test calls in less than 10min. (literally)

Day #2: Found out that it will work with a powered USB hub, but it is not recommended (even Magicjack recommends against it). It is now hooked directly up to our iMac and even fits perfectly along other USB devices on the back of the machine. Excellent.

The darned USB extension cable that came with ours was defective (rubber boot kept coming off) so I finally just tossed it and plugged the MJ directly into the iMac. Sucks, but I'll live.

Day #3: So far so good.... I spent nearly 2hrs on the phone w/ family and it didn't skip a beat, very clear call quality. Excellent.

We are now on Day #7 and thus far it has been working just fine. My wife calls her family more often and they can hear her "loud and clear".

Suggestions: When using the Call Waiting, make sure you only "tap" the Flash button on your cordless phone and DO NOT hold it down. I found this out through trial and error that the Call Waiting works fine but is picky if you don't just 'tap' it.

There is hold music for people you have waiting on hold....nothing offensive or obnoxious, it almost sounds like you're a business if you're waiting on hold. Nice.

Your call log and phone contacts (saved on the MagicJack) are all saved on the Magicjack; it means that if you plug it into another computer (Mac or PC), it will be there just as it was on your other computer. Very Nice.

When we bought the MJ, we were told they have "no customer service". This is NOT true! I've already had to contact them once for a small issue changing my voicemail e-mail address. They use Livechat for all their customer service, and it's 24/7. They were very nice, and there was no wait to talk to someone. Very good.

Voice mails are e-mailed to you, as well as kept on your MJ line. You can check your voicemail on your phone # by dialing your #, then press "*" and enter your password. I was very impressed that they will literally e-mail you a .WAV file of your voicemail, and it's in good quality. TIP: I have the voice mails sent to a freebie Yahoo account that "pushes" the messages to our iPhones; I can listen to the voicemail on my iPhone, and it's very easy to use. EXCELLENT!

PRAISES:
- Excellent Call Quality
- Free Long Distance + Call Waiting + Voicemail + Conference Calling
- Windows and Mac Compatible -- Works great on Leopard

PROBLEMS:
- USB extension cable was defective out of box.
- Had trouble changing e-mail address for voicemail, had to contact customer service. Customer service had to reset voicemail box, works great now.

SUGGESTIONS:
- Your computer DOES need to be on for ALL calls; however, it DOES NOT need to be on in order for your voicemail to work. I leave our iMac on nearly all the time, so it doesn't concern me but may concern others. My advice is to turn on your computer, turn off your monitor, and you'll have a landline for a fraction of the cost of paying for a traditional landline (not even counting all the freebies you don't get with the telco). Since my wife and I use our iPhones most of the time, the MJ is used more for outgoing calls than anything.

LAST WORD
- I recommend the Magicjack as a great way to supplement your cell phone minutes, and to get away from your landline provider. If you're a Mac user (like us), you'll find no problems using it at all. Great device, and I hope you enjoy it as much as we have.

You cannot beat $20/yr for landline service!

I have returned my MagicJack because every other time I tried to use it I had to reboot the software. It became a royal pain. I also had a very difficult time communicating with the return service personnel. They still have not refunded my money a month after they received my magicjack back, and I had to have the credit card company investigate. Please be aware that there is no phone number to call for help, only online help which was not satisfactory.

Don't buy this product. If you must buy it buy it from Magicjack so you get the 30 day guarantee. I bought it here on Amazon and once installed the audio would cut in and out. I worked with Magicjack to re-install their software but the problem continued to reoccur. The Amazon seller would not let me return and would not refund my purchase. I contacted Magicjack and they said they only issue refunds to those who buy direct from them. On another note, the software slows down your computer. I currently have cable phone service through Comcast and it works fine so I know it wasn't my internet connection. Buyer beware!

It arrived in 5 days after order placed on MagicJack web site. They incorrectly charged me the full $46.90 while they should only charge for the shipping under the 30-Day Risk Free Trial.

Went through seven slow Tech Chat sessions, each one can easily be an hour long or more, tried on four PCs with XP or Vista, and all their USB ports. Obtained an external powered USB Hub to test as well. Out-calling quality changes from time to time (i.e. unstable) and incoming calls totally won't work (this could be the 732 area code I requested). I could not figure out why they wanted me to download and install DivX so I refused that weird step. I did have followed all other repeated instructions with quite a few reboots... all my systems are so modified that I started to sense if the MagicJack softphone is actually an ad-ware piece.

After 5 days of frustration with slow and ineffective tech chat support, it was returned. We followed the instructions in an e-mail from MagicJack to put the original order number on the returning box.

In the following dozen of Billing Chats I could never get a confirmation that MagicJack had received the return. They even told me that they could not confirm the receipt of the original $46.90 payment via PayPal since they never accept PayPal !!?

The MagicJack e-mail address and phone number on my PayPal statement are practically unreachable. The e-mails are simply bounced back with messages redirecting to their web and chat. The phone number is a very noisy voice-mail only line, and I never got return calls for voice mails left there.

Thank God I sent it back via certified mail. I have initiated a charge-back from my Credit Card service since the middleman PayPal said they could not help such non-ebay purchase (another good lesson). Thank God, I used Credit Card to fund the PayPal purchase for MagicJack. I used the over-charge (the $46.90 does not match the invoice e-mail I got from MagicJack) as the reason to have my credit card company processing the charge-back. I finally saw the refund through PayPal this morning, after a week of MagicJack Billing Chat's in-denial chat sessions.

So here's my advice, it may work and work wonderfully for you, for a period of time tough to predict. When it doesn't work, they can easily blame your PC/OS and these applications installed. Test it ASAP upon receipt, if it could not work in few days, use a traceable method to return within the 30-Day Trial counting from the order date, and request refund aggressively.

I would advise my friend to return in 25 days from the order date to avoid any refund issue, if MagicJack did not work for them.

Remember to request full chat scripts to your e-mail as future reference. For all the copies I kept, after reviewing them again, I could say MagicJack would like you to pass the 30-Day Trial more than really fixing technical issues.