"Magic Jack" ?????

[billt]

Does anyone have this? I was reading about it on another forum and it sounds pretty good. $19.95 a year and no phone bill. You get a doohickey that plugs into any USB Port on your computer. Then your phone plugs into it. That's it, your hooked up. The only requirement is you must have broadband. I was wondering if you can keep your same phone number?

The only downside I heard is if you have a lot of programs up and running and you get a call, it can break up, so it's best to close everything out when you get an incoming call. Right now I'm paying $24.00 a month for my land line with my cable provider. With Magic Jack that would go from $288.00 a year to $19.95 for the exact same service. I just wondered if anyone has it, and what you thought of it??  Bill T.

[jnevis]

I don't have it, or Vonage, and won't.  Voice Over IP (VOIP) is used a lot and is pretty reliable UNTIL there is a power outage.  Then its dead.  We use it at work for a loot of stuff but we have back-up power and back-ups for the back-up.  At home unless you have a battery back-up on the modem/router and can get a generator to recharge it in a long term power outage the phone won't work.  Regular phones may cost more but it's built to withstand more damage before going out.

[Badgersmilk]

Don't know about "Magic Jack", but Vonage blows.  A friend had it for about three months and just finally got sick of the call "fadeing in and out".  I could hear her fine, but she said she could only hear half we were saying, then it would do the oposite with other people.  

She'd call back two or three times and sometimes get a really good connection, sometimes not.

[tombogan03884]

Just use a web cam and Skype is free. It sux,  frequently locks up the computer and downloading updates every day.

[billt]

Is Vonage the same as Magic Jack? Can your computer be off and will it, (Magic Jack), still work, or are you required to leave your computer on all the time?  Bill T.

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

It's all the same thing, just different marketing names for "Voice Over Internet Protocol".
Yes, you have to leave your computer on all the time. If you turn it off it doesn't get power to compute any more.
Kind of like the light bulb wont glow if you turn the switch off.

[billt]

Yes, you have to leave your computer on all the time.

That sucks. Why don't they have it so it plugs into the modem, not the computer??  Bill T.

[Solus]

That sucks. Why don't they have it so it plugs into the modem, not the computer??  Bill T.

I'd guess because there is a software component....which, as Tom said, gets updated often.

[Big Frank]

I had magic jack for awhile and only had one problem. My mom couldn't hear me very well but I could hear her just fine. I don't think the computer had to be on but mine is anyway. If my mom wasn't so hard of hearing I'd use magic jack. I'd rather pay less than $1.70 a month than $25 that I'm paying now. You get a new phone number with it BTW.

[PegLeg45]

Our oldest son and his wife tried Magic Jack and they didn't like it at all. They had a lot of missed incoming calls and static.  FWIW.