Magic Jack is the home VoIP solution that is taking on the big boys like Vonage and enjoying great success. The MagicJack, which is primarily advertised as an “as seen on TV” product is gaining some serious traction among the thrifty that are looking to cut costs on their monthly bills. With phone companies usually charging around $30.00 a month for phone service, it’s no wonder that the device has been so popular since the service costs only $20.00 a year. There are Millions of people using this cheap voip service now, which is a testament to its legitimacy. However, this does not mean by any stretch that the product is perfect. In fact, some people of gone as far as to scream Magic Jack scam.
100% Risk Free – Try Before You Buy http://www.magicjack.com
The Magic Jack is a little bit smaller than a credit card and plugs into one of your computers usb ports. The device has a RJ11 input to plug your standard telephone into. Set-up and installation is a snap; the Magic Jack instantly loads its own software and then you can let the free calls begin. The device does require a high speed internet connection so make sure you have a quality cable or DSL connection. Almost all computer operating systems are supported by the device, including Windows XP, Mac, and Windows Vista. At the time this article was written there are some hiccups with getting the Magic Jack to work with Windows 7. The company does offer a download to make the product work with windows 7 http://upgrades.talk4free.com/tools/magicJackUpdate.exe however I have not be able to test this yet.
The fact that you simply plug the MJ into your computer, plug in your phone and start calling for free has attracted many users. After you purchase your Magic Jack USB dongle you receive a unique phone number that is completely yours and lasts for life, this in itself is something other phone companies cannot deliver. During the free trial there is a 100% risk free period which allows the end user to make as many free calls as they desire. There is free local and long distance calls for owners; there is also free directory assistance, free call waiting, free voicemail and free caller ID. The quality of calls you can make with the MJ is very good and the products recent popularity has only increased the features and service you will receive with this product. The online based customer service for the Magic Jack has also been very well received for the most part however there have been some very vocal individuals on the web complaining about the online customer service.
100% Risk Free – Try Before You Buy http://www.magicjack.com
It’s no big surprise that up to 10,000 of these units a day are being sold with a total incurred cost of $19.95 per year plus a $40.00 dollar upfront cost for the magic Jack device it’s self. Once you have paid these dues, you are able to make all the local and long distance calls for $0.00. There are no restrictions on the length of the call or what time the call is being made. So, you are probably wondering what other features you get with the MagicJack. One would think that there would be hidden fees for advanced features such as caller id or voicemail. Another bonus feature that often does not get mentioned is the ability to call 411 directory assistance for no charge as well. This is where the Magic Jack shines, providing voice mail, caller ID, call forwarding, call waiting and 3 way conference calling all for FREE. The only thing that does cost money is International phone calls. However rates are much lower than the local phone company or Cell Company or many VoIP companies. To clarify things a little bit, you can take your Magic Jack USB phone and a laptop out of the country and make phone calls to the US for free.
Now that we’ve established how exactly it functions, let’s look at how many different ways this can go wrong:
Internet Issues = No Phone
Family and friends with standard cable/DSL connections call me to their homes all of the time to fix their Internet connection. This usually involves tweaking/resetting the (usually wireless) home router, or likewise power-cycling the modem. Other times, the issue is on the end of the ISP or an issue with the local machine. The point is, stuff goes wrong in home networks all of the time.
Well that’s a huge problem when your landline phone connection goes through the same connection. Need 911? Having Internet problems? Forget it. And if your cell phone, if any, is also experiencing problems along with your Internet connection then you have no way of calling your ISP (or “geek friend”) for assistance.
The best part about this, is that most cheapo Linksys/D-Link/Belkin home routers usually need resets every now and again when being run with a ton of traffic (e.g. magicJack VOIP traffic or BitTorrent).
So expect the complete loss of your landline phone connection with the loss of your Internet, or for that matter:
Problems With Your PC
Windows isn’t the most secure or stable operating system, but that’s an entirely different rant. Here’s the thing: if a virus is eating up all of your bandwidth or CPU time/memory, then bye bye reliable phone service over VoIP.
And since MJ relies on a _working_ Windows PC, power outages or other mishaps mean you also lose your home phone service. Is it still worth the price? Even with a cell phone to back it up, nothing beats a reliable land line for emergencies or other needs.
100% Risk Free – Try Before You Buy http://www.magicjack.com
Did You Read The EULA?
When doing a little research on this product, I found something very disturbing on the Wikipedia Entry for the magicJack regarding the EULA’s respect for privacy and any legal issues.
The End User License Agreement specifically states (as of this writing) that:
You also understand and agree that use of the magicJack device and Software will include advertisements and that these advertisements are necessary for the Magic Jack device to work … Our computers may analyze the phone numbers you call in order to improve the relevance of the ads.
By “Necessary to work”, they mean “completely optional for all practical purposes but we need something to pay the bandwidth/telephony costs”. Right. Surrender all privacy regarding who you call, because Big Brother is watching you, only using the “magic Jack” instead of the conventional Telescreen (reference: George Orwell’s 1984).
Also, the EULA goes out of it’s way to protect the product’s parent company of any possible legal liability that may result from usage of the product. If you don’t believe me, read the current (as of this writing) EULA.
Other Issues
Did they mention that the free voicemail the service offers is stored on remote servers maintained by the company itself? Another point of failure to consider when using the service, combined with the other issues outlined here. You better hope they have sufficient redundancy for their datacenter, else you just lost all of your voicemail.
The voicemail service is mainly to cover for another issue at hand: if the PC is off, the phone is unavailable. So the call made to an off or otherwise unavailable computer with MJ is instead routed to the failsafe voicemail system, hosted on the company’s servers (as mentioned above). While this saves the hassle with failed incoming calls, it still doesn’t justify downtime’s effect on outgoing calls, especially those needed during serious emergencies.
Uninstallation Troubles
Not that I have any love for conventional phone companies, but should you have the desire to uninstall this POS after reading this, expect editing the registry because another common complaint is that this ad-ridden, naturally-flawed product is difficult to uninstall due to lack of a traditional Windows Installer uninstall utility.
Last Remarks
100% Risk Free – Try Before You Buy http://www.magicjack.com
While conventional home phone service isn’t 100% perfect, this product throws way too many other common points of failure into the equation. With viruses like Conficker running on too many machines as it stands, the possibility for the complete loss of privacy as a result of using this product is disturbing to say the least given the appropriate security compromise.
I don’t mean to completely knock Magic Jack as it may seem from reading this post, but I feel it is necessary to outline the potential problems that may come as a result of using it. I value having a hard-wired home phone connection with guaranteed reliability regardless of the Internet connection and power status, because some emergencies also entail the loss of both and a cell phone may be out of reach or uncharged.
Other VOIP (Voice Over Internet Protocol) services like Vonage require only a base station and the standard Internet connection, independent of a PC (OR Mac) status. Still susceptible to power issues, but that’s a small subset of the factors associated with routing your entire phone connection through a Windows PC.
Take it form a Networking professional: don’t trust your life and privacy in the hands of this product any more than you would your power, PC uptime, and Internet connection at the same time.
A Recent Review From One Of Our Readers Also I since this post started it has amassed a ton of user comments. I have started a new post for magic jack reviews so feel free to make your comments there as they will more likely be read.
Magic Jack has exceeded my highest expectations! Received the device in 2 business days (from Florida to NYC). Set up was a no-brainer. Picked my area code and MJ assigned the phone number. Avoid all the extras . . . imho, they are not worth it. My internet connection (TWC NYC) is excellent, so MJ works like a charm. Quality is excellent! As good as it ever was with Verizon. Very intuitive and easy to use all the features. Conference calling is terrific! Again, quality was without peer. Sure hope that all the good stuff continues. As for the much talked about “spyware” issues, if they’re out there, no one is bothering me . . . and, who really cares. If you use Amazon.com, Google, et. al, they alreeady have your ticket. Well worth the price . . . btw, we use MJ as a second line, as our main line in Vonage, which also works extremely well.
Update: FemtoJack The Magic Jack For Cell Phones
The company Ymax which is behind the MagicJack has been working a new product for some time that will utilize femtocell technology. The product they are calling FemtoJack is similar to the MJ but will allow you to make calls from your cell phone and the FemtoJack will transfer the call through the internet so you will not have to use up your minutes on your cell carriers network. It is rumored that the device will come out in the second quarter of this year and will cost less than $100 dollars. You can imagine that the cell companies are not very happy about this announcement. I will make a post soon on more of the details of this new device.
100% Risk Free – Try Before You Buy http://www.magicjack.com
Hmmm…okay, as I have read some of the comments and praises about MJ they’re all correct. Sometimes it turns out to work perfectly fine and some really don’t…well for most of the comments. Let me just say that MJ has pros with regards to payments, you would only have to pay for $70 for 5 years of service with MJ…that’s definitely practical. Although the cons are much more dominant that the pros as what the customers would have hoped for with MJ. Starting with connection, it REALLY eats up a lot of bandwidth. You can’t do multi-tasking even if you have one hell of a PC. Next is the conversation, even if you have a very fast internet connection speed you end up hearing chappy conversations. Lastly, if you don’t have any phone lines with you get ready to leave your PC 24/7 since MJ would rely with USB Connection on a PC. As for the customer service…just forget about it they would stick with what they were trained to do like, read EULA, warranties, disclaimers and all sorts of stuff that would mostly irritate you hehehe…so it’s your call. READ and UNDERSTAND, then DECIDE what you want…
\m/
I got MJ for our new business, trying to save operating costs. I have had nothing but problems and I deeply regret it. It would stop working and we wouldn’t know it unless a customer came in and told us. The calls were choppy most of the time. After many, many chats with MJ customer service and “fixes”, I gave up and forwarded the MJ number directly to our company cell phone. That worked fine, but then we got an AT&T landline and the call forwarding worked to the landline, but the customer never heard a ring tone in their earpiece. It rang on our end and when we picked up it worked fine. After many, many times chating with MJ, they kept saying it was AT&T, I gave up. I will never use MJ, again.
No, No Magic jack is started playing games , if you have long distance calling with other than magic jack ( Ynex ) Magic Jack will block all those companies , as in my case I have account with Com wave ( long distance call provider) when I call com wave number it is redirected to ynex, so I believe in coming days Magic jack will interfere in your private matters , I complained so many times but they did not solve the problem , there simple answer is ” engineers are working on it” O my God. before you go to buy Magic jack please call them and monitor the conversation so you wont have any problem latterly.
I have been using Magic Jack for a couple of years. I would say the call quality is usually ok to poor. Not as good as Skype and nowhere near as good as Vonage, which I have also used with my current ISP and home routher. A lot of the Magic Jack calls get dropped and sometimes it won’t even call out. I use Magic Jack to keep from running over on my cell phone minutes and otherwise it is not plugged in. The reasons I don’t like to keep it plugged in are that it monopolizes the screen for a long time during startup, I find the utility very annoying and the utility prevents the computer from going into standby. I wish the utility had an option to keep it minimized on startup and when making calls. I don’t encourage people to call me on the Magic Jack number as it is usually unplugged but I have been happy with the voice mail system when they do. In short it’s ok for occasional use on non critical calls.
Thank you for the reviews and information! I am tired of paying a phone bill to big firm (Rogers) and was really looking forward to trying this. Aside from security issues which I feel I could live with, the quality of the calls and tech support issues have dissuaded me.
I’m stuck paying my monthly phone bill but at least I didn’t wast money:-)
Magic Jack is worth a lot more than $1.50 per month. I have had it for 2 years and it has cost me about$60.00 with no usage limitations. An unbelievable invention.
Try it with Google Voice (free), unreal.
Magic Jack is so cheap that people are afraid to buy it !
It is no good for faxs.
I have Ooma for two years. It may have cost more for the hardward (then for a MagicJack) $179 with shipping from costco (which has a great return policy, if I didn’t like the product or it didn’t work I could just return it to my local Costco) Have not had to pay a dime for Phone calls in the USA. if I want to call other countries cost very little can take the unit with me anywhere I travel. I Have a local phone number. get call ID, voice mail, call waiting FREE. can upgrade to and get two lines and a whole lot of other features (but I don’t need them) And the biggest plus….you don’t have to leave you computer on all the time. it plugs into you modem or router, looks like an answering machine and works like one. Why would anyone choose MJ over OOMA. all you need is a high speed connection, not even need a computer so if you computer crashes you still have phone. Also NEW has an app for the iphone. you can make ooma calls from your iphone for very little charge (I don’t know it it works with other cell phone really didn’t look into this because don’t need this option). If I was looking for a new free phone service I would check out ooma.com. (no I do not work for ooma, I’m just a very happy costomer)
Paying Magikjack $40,00 is the same as throwing the money in the thash can. Poor quality calls, absolutely not reliable and when you need costumer service: GOOD LUCK!
I called the number (281) 404 1551. They make you wait for several minutes and then you get disconected, before you can talk to anyone. Complete lack of respect for the consumer.
Calling with Magic Jack is like playing a lottery, I get one good phone conversation out of 10. I gave up. The voice is choppy, there is a 15 second ! delay between talking parties, so each person talks about somtething else, it’s quite funny actually, M. J is a totall scam and lie
Magic jack is crap, lied to me about them having my local area code and can’t even call toll free numbers in Canada
By the way, I do have a fast internet conection, with power boost from Comcast and still don’t work, guess what I’am using Vonage for serveral months now and I’am very happy with it. Hey Magic Jack people if just going to take our money, fine I’am used to it everyone taking advantage of us americans, but you guys don’t see my cash never again, I’am seek and tired of being ripped off. Please stop selling that Chinese Mikey Mouse shit to Americans.
I have used my full name because, i’ll like magic jack people to know about it, it is a piece a junk, I have my know for almost an year, and I have lost how many days i did not used it, takes longa to reboot the computer, and no one to help, they say in the comercial that a 5 years old can do it, please send her to my house to fix my shit, I have not used it for 4 months, no service, and no one to talk to, piece of shit, it is going to the trash can, See yaaaa
It’s pathetic how horrible the magic jack is. Literally every time I call someone it doesn’t connect, then I have to restart the magic jack and hope that it works. Literally every time I am having a phone conversation it drops the call out of nowhere. This is the worst piece of technology Ive ever seen. You would think with the rate of how fast technology is going there would be something better. I DON’T recommend this to ANYONE. You all would be better off just using Skype. That’s what I’m doing
Its funny that people say that their landline will work when the power is out. News flash most americans use phones that require power to function, If you have a wireless phone it won’t work either. A lot of phones require power just to dial. Very few will work such as an old rotary phone and a few direct connected phones. So if your counting on calling 911 and don’t have one of these few types of phones then you are already in the same boat as a MJ user. As far as privacy I’m sorry to report that if you pay taxes and have taken your return to a tax preparer then all of your most private data could be in anyones hands already especially if they did an electronic return for you. Also our own U.S. government gives away or has been hacked for info so many times even this problem you may already have just haven’t found out yet. The only thing the article writer brought up thats valid is a computer virus. This is the only problem with running a magic jack. You could of had one on your computer from the beginning and thats why the MJ phone is not working, or working poorly. When it comes to virus/spyware software you get what you paid for. So if it was one of those online freebies then guess what it didn’t work. My MJ has worked fine and the only problem is viruses, but to truely get rid of them is to do a good format of your hard drive which being luck I know how to do, Then start over. MJ will work fine after that.
MagicJack is biggest piece of shit, but I like it, this shame on technology does exactly what I purchase it to do.
Just bought the MagicJack. All I have to say is buy it folks. I understand some issues have come up for different individuals. Happens in life. Sorry. But this is the best thing in the 21st century. Love it to death. I have friends in Canada(I am in the USA) Everything works wonderful, including the voicemail. I will save a bundle this year on phone costs.
just wondering if i could use the majic jack to call directly from the us to south america…
what are the charges?
You’re buying problems.
Bought this for my sister for christmas to use as an alternative to cell phones while at home. It worked ok for a while, then I had to change stuff in the router (turn on DMZ) which worked OK for a while. Now it talks for about 60 seconds and just cuts off. Really annoying. Good concept, but the developers just made it a piece of crap.
Thanks for the review! Just have to point out the egregious grammatical error though: “In fact, some people of gone as far as to scream…” You meant “some people have gone as far as…” As a blogger, you should know better!!
Just purchased and installed MJ. We also use Skype to keep in contact with family etc outside of the USA. The two systems conflict. When MJ is pluged in we have no sound on Skype and can’t use it for outgoing contacts. The advice from MJ tec people was if we wish to use Skype we must first unplug MJ. Though inconvienent it works and the savings are great.
Godam people, if it sounds to good to be true, IT IS!
Why aren’t other companies moving to this technology?
I thought the commercial said just plug in to your wall?
Doesn’t matter, im surely not using this product plugged
into my computer. Cmon you people are stupid if you think they aren’t looking at everything your doing. Just read the fucking EULA…I don’t know why I care to tell you morons this. people still look at me funny when they ask my cell phone number and I say I don’t need one.
People are just lambs being programmed to go to slaughter. I bet a lot of you text and think you got limitless text, but pay a higher monthly bill? They still try and argue, but pay 50 or more a month for a phone! Whatever empties your pocketbook i guess. Im saving for better things. Some technological advances are done for the sake of dumbing people down. Wake up people!
Magic jack is a no go!
I do not have one yet but,I plan on getting one from Wal-mart I have three family members who have the Magic Jack They like it and have no problems……..How many of you remembers when we got our phone bill we had one charge now there is a charge for the uses of the landline (the monthly charge)the touch tone phone, several taxes are taxed on our bill. plus a state tax and if you need to call the operator assisant ttack on another $1.50 . our phone bill is 20.00 a month for service out total bill is 38.00 the rest is taxes and fees in my openion maybe if more people dropped there phone company and got the MJ maybe the phone service would be less. get one try it for the 30 days if ya don’t like it take it back.
can you go back and look at numbers anywhere even if the numbers have been deleated out of the phone or on the majic jack screen on the computer
We’ve had MJ for about seven months and we are mostly pleased with it using it for long distance calls. MJ is installed on a Mac Mini connected via TWC. I’ve also used it on my iMac and my MacBook. Sometimes we do experience some cell phone – like transmission problems, but, for the money, I can live with that.
A word about land lines and service during disasters. As a result of the Northridge earthquake in 1994, our power and land line phone were both out for most of two days. We were about twenty miles form the epicenter. A more recent small nearby quake knocked out the local cell phone service but affected neither our land line nor MJ.
Got a magic jack about a year ago. the service was great most of the time, as long as I had a clean computer without too much running on it. I was going to cancel a little while ago, but I gave it another chance and the last 20 calls were clear and the other person didn’t know I was on a web phone. I’m on the fence about subscribing for another 5 years.
Does MJ works with Comcast Internet?
thnx
David ( January 9, 2010 at 6:30 am ) described my experience to a T. Great for a few months. Then when I purchased 5 yrs, it degraded to the point my associates ask me not to use it. Crackly calls, skipped words. I can hear others perfectly. They just cannot make out what I’m saying. Spent 5 hours w/Magic Jack reps one day. Downloaded stuff, tweaked settings, restarted several times. changed usbs. Asked for refund. What a JOKE! you can forget getting your 5 yr subscription or any part back.
I just got my magic jack yesterday in the mail. The installation was incredibly easy. I use a wireless connection and it seems to be working well so far. I think that this is an incredible product and am looking forward to saving money with this device.
Chris if you buy two, send one to (Ecuador) and you keep the other it will cost you nothing, mj to mj calls are free no matter where you are….
Paul if you use a landline for your internet connection it wont work, otherwise just plug the magic jack into a usb port and plug any phone into the other end
I have been using this product for almost two years now. It works perfectly. Incoming and outgoing calls are clear and they give you a local number which you can change if need be. The ONLY thing is that you cannot block your number for outgoing calls. And of course, the computer must be on. I leave my computer on 24/7. It just hibernates after 20 minutes and if an incoming call comes in it restarts immediately. Forget the phone company and forget the “special” packages offered by the cable companies. They are just profit makers at your expense.
I just bought the magic jack and i can’t believe i didn’t buy it before. It works great but most like voip solutions there’s sometimes an echo. Nonetheless its so inexpensive for the savings from long distance calls.
Does Magic Jack run on Linux?
One thing I’m not clear about is don’t you still have to have a landline for magicjack to work? Otherwise what exactly is it that you plug into the magicjack???
If I send this magic Jack to South America, Do I need also have one in order to receive the call from the person in South America? or they can call me to my cellphone?
If I wanna call from US to South America (Ecuador) how much I would have to pay for every minute? But, let’s suppose that the person in south America also have the magic Jack.
And also let’s suppose that the person in south america doesn’t have a magic jack, just a regular line, can I call them to a regular landline?
Please help me, because I don’t know if buy it or not
Hi. I have had the Magic Jack. I have had it for about 30 days now. I thought I read all the blogs and articles about the product before buying it, but it seems like more and more people are having problems with the Magic Jack. I will say that my product WORKED great the first 30 days, then stopped working. Wouldn’t make calls, receive calls, but had a dial tone and when I called from my cell my answering machine answered. I contacted customer service through the site and delbt with some of the most incompitent people in the world I suspect. I spoke to rep 1 who had me unplugging and plugging my jack in about 5 times, then admitted she was slow and transfered me to what she claimed to be one of the top 10% of reps who was just as STUPID she told me to wait while she read what me and the other rep talked about. Then came back and had me doing THE SAME SHIT! I unplugged and plugged my Magic Jack about 10 times with her, she asked me to turn off my Anti Virus… WHAT THE HELL and my firewall?? Are you serious? My product was working fine with all that in tackt, it is the product NOT my computer. The rep2 also had me download java (WHICH I HAVE AND MY COMPUTER AUTO UPDATES) so I’m not a computer wiz but I know somethings, I assume they know more than me since their tech support. I download the update as she asks and as you know if you have ever downloaded java, it kicks you off of the internet to do whatever it has to do when it is installing. So she conveniently lost my connection. I was talking to these people for over an hour…. Well to make this a little shorter… I ended up fixing my shit myself so if you need anyhelp I will be MAGIC JACK CUSTOMER SERVICE because their fuckin dumb.
I got exactly what I expected with MJ. It is a USB piece of hardware, running software on a computer, using the internet to connect to a TX. What is the mystery? It works. For those trying to replace expensive LandLines,..THINK. Land line is dedicated to Comminication over a phone. You get what you expect and pay for.
MJ is not good or bad, it is simply depends on alot of technologies from a PC. Healty PC and home Network, then healthy MJ.
MJ is a fine secondary phone service for mobile. I have an XP based desk top with 3MB Cable Bandwidth and it works just fine. I’m puzzled with all of the criticism. Operator error, perhaps? FWIW, ATT and the rest of the Phone Company Behemoth’s have been using VOIP (under the covers) for years.
I saw an add on TV 2 days ago! and I think that I jumped the gun, I spoke to a co- worker about this
phone service and they said that they bought this device
and found that only people that also have magicjack
that you talk too is a clear reseption, and going through
these testimonials is good information. At this time I
would like to cancel my order for this product I feel that I was too hasty in calling the toll free number
I had given my mastercard no. And wish to cancel
I will also call tomorrow morning thank you Carmen
I have had MJ for over 6 months and it’s a nightmare. People who call me get high pitched screeches or fax tones. When I want to make a call, I get a recording that I need to dial the area code (which I am doing). I have worked with their customer service 5 times, not successfully. My problem persists and I would never recommend it to anyone. Sorry I talked my brother into it, early on, when I thought the product was good.
Works about 60%, Most of the people I call complain that they can’t hear me. I would never depend on it as my primary phone. I’ve been using it for a little over 3 years.
It has saved me some money, but I’ve had to listen to most of my friends complain about the quality of my calls.
Would I recommend to a friend? Not a chance. Nobody I know would buy it after seeing how well mine works. I was hoping to eliminate my cell phone, but that was not realistic. I always use my cell for any call I feel is important. Majic jack reminds me of the early days of cell phones. Works fine till you really need it.
I just got mj last nite. I’m not to happy a local Ak area code was not available. I was able to chat online with someone from cus service and my question was answered in a timely fashion. I got an area code from Az were ally family is, so it works out for me. I still have a land line and will wait a bit b4 disconnecting it. I know my choices for phone services in Alaska are limited and spendy.
I have had several magicjacks for the past 2 years. I first purchased one for myself, and I used it all the time without any problems. So I purchased my kids each one for their birthdays last year.
Each connected to a different computer. The kids love it, they get to talk to their friends all the time, and its basically free. Magic Jack has saved me lots of money and has also free’d up the household phone for more important calls. Overall very satisfied with our magicjack.
I laugh at Anthony’s statement, ” I’m just pointing out the reasons why it might not be optimal in the case of, say, a tornado that kills power and therefore Internet connectivity and PCs.” Hmmm… apparently tornadoes have some agreement with telephone poles/lines I am not aware of. Please educate me on the benevolence of tornadoes when it comes to telephone infrastructure.
I bought the magic jack yesterday and had to contact technical support today. Good luck if you ever need it. You cannot speak over the phone with anyone, the agents text you like robots, they do not respond to your questions, they just copy and paste general text. There are no supervisors. They claim the call center is in Florida, but based on the verbiage, I doubt it. It was so aggravating and S-L-O-W. While the device is economical, your phone calls can be preserved forever and that thought isn’t comforting. The agents take minutes to respond so they are probably helping a half dozen people at once. If they could address that, I might take another look. I really don’t think I trust it at this point.
If you ever need to use any conference number like Yugma or The Free Conference Call, they hijack the call and route you to majic jack free conference.
Also, their 30 day trial starts the day you place the order, not when you receive it.
My MJ works pretty well except after about 10 min of conversation it fades out so you have to hang up. Does anyone else have this problem? And do you have a solution?
I paid for the stupid thing with an additional year. After the first year they cancelled the service. I looked on my credit card bills, and yes, I did in fact get charged for it. When I went to the website and finally chatted with a rep. they promptly sent me to another person. When it all was complete, or should I say I gave up, they wanted to charge me again for the additional year. So don’t expect to get any help on the website. I then called the number on my credit card only to be sent to another number. When I called and waited around 20 minutes using my cell phone, I got a rep. who spoke some Indian language, when I asked for someone who spoke English she said I would have to call back because she could not transfer me. I then asked for a manager and was denied. She said I would have to call back. I am not going to wait another 20 minutes. The lack of customer service with this company is horrible!!!!!!! She said all!!!! the managers were in a meeting and I could not speak to them. How convient. Don’t make the mistake of using this piece of junk; it doesn’t work. It drops every other word and you sound like a robot even after doing all the things they recommend you try.
We have had Magic Jack for about 7 month. At first our phone worked well. Then after about 3 months it started going down hill. Now we can only can only call about 3 of our contacts and even then the phone hangs up on us throughout the call. We have tried tech support – an hour tonight – and nothing has changed. We just requested a replacement Magic Jack (after trying all of there tests) and were told it would be an additional $10. We asked for a supervisor and then our tech stopped talking to us. We are NOT happy with Magic Jack and will be switching to another VoIP provider. My suggestion: don’t even go down this road.
As a user of magic jack for over 1 year all I can say is:
I LOVE IT!! As for the comments on the commercials, or advertisements there are none. It is wonderful. So they can tell where you are calling…who cares? Like they are really going to sit down & watch you. come on…..Call anywhere for as long as you want…I have a microphone attatched to my computer & I can talk all day if I wanted. Or you can switch it over to your phone if you prefer. Bellieve me, it is great! I HIGHLY recommend it! I have never had a problem with it AT ALL! Get it!
I’ve read lots of reviews, and it seems MJ works well for most people, and not so well for others. I went ahead and bought one, and I must say I’m pretty ****ing impressed so far. The sound quality is just like a landline, and it works with my old handset. I’ve been using MJ for a week now, calling and receiving calls from Canada and the US, and it feels just like a landline! It has saved me about $30 in long-distance charges ALREADY. I just hope MJ doesn’t go out of business anytime soon.
…..not sure what product some of these people are using, but MagicJack is WAY over rated. Just another case where you get what you pay for….
1. It has HORRIBLE call quality (or should I say lack of quality).
On the commercials they talk about how great the quality is…..that’s B.S. I can’t even use the phone from the hardline because it’s so broken up, so I just forward the calls to my cell. For the haters out there, it’s not the PC, Internet Service, or user.
2. Faxing definately doesn’t work with my Magic Jack.
I was excited to try it out (wanted to use it as a 2nd phone/fax line)…extremely disappointing to find out that faxes won’t send.
3. You must be logged on for it to work. On a multiple user PC, you need to Switch Users, NOT Log Off. Forget about shutting the PC off overnite if you want the Jack to work……
This may sound like a stupid question, but I’ve seen nothing on their website that addresses this: Can you receive incoming calls? I would assume yes, but there is no mention of this that I can see. It only talks about outgoing calls.
So, if you can receive calls, does the phone act as a normal landline? IOW, it rings and you answer it normally? And if your PC is off/down and/or your internet is down, the incoming call goes to VM?
thanks
I just went out and bought MagicJack.com, I cannot wait to come back and let you know how my experience goes.
I am very HARD on things, and have hardly any technical skills at all. I can turn it ON, and OFF. Whee, let’s go.
Live long & strange,
jaYMan
I love it… super easy to install and I am by no means a computer wiz. I was skeptical… a too good to be true scam? I have been without a landline for sometime by choice. I have no desire to again commit to an overpriced phone company with hidden charges, fees and taxes (Verizon). My cell phone has been my primary form of communication, but this can also get costly and the reception is not reliable (AT&T). So I gave this a shot. So far so good. I think it is a wise investment. I am using Magic Jack with a cordless phone and my laptop, and I have not had any issues. I am thrilled with this purchase! Do not let all the negative reviews deter you. Try it for yourself. I am glad I did!
This should answer your question about Magic Jack Faxing.
I have my magic jack set up on our fax machine all the time. Receiving I do not have a problem. Sending sometimes I have problems, but usually if I retry it I can get it through. I think it all depends on the amount of traffic on my server network. When I fax in late evening, it goes through with no problem. I do not know the reason why.
Also, my fax number is assigned as a local number for where my Mom lives in Missouri instead of where I live. She is on a limited income and local calls for her are free. She makes a local call in Missouri and I get it here in Indiana. Works like a charm. Love the magic jack.
CAN YOU FAX OR RECEIVE FAX WITH MJ?
What are the best Internet Service Providers to use with magic jack. I mean who offers dry lines or naked internet service at a good price and you do not need the use of a credit card.
Wow, great guide and review, Jenna. Very thorough and helpful! Thanks!
When I first got the MJ I signed up for an
additional 5 years. After a year, my service was
cut off. I chatted with a rep for an hour, on
line. She guided me through the process, She
assured me I would NOT be charged again. I
thought I was getting my five years back. What
ended happening is that she got me to pay for the
next five years again.
After I saw the charge on my card I chatted with
another rep for another hour. She said she was
filing a report, that should have solved the
problem. I have still not seen a credit yet. Now
I want that initial charge for the 5 year
extention returned as I can not see ever using MJ
ever again.
David Kohn
Hey Linda,
Here are the uninstall directions for Magic Jack Windows Vista. It should be very similar to uninstall process on Windows 7.
Windows Vista MagicJack Uninstall Process:
1. Open your CONTROL PANEL
2. look on the left portion of the control panel window and click “Classic View”.
3. Now look for an icon named “Folder Options” and double click it to open.
4. On the FOLDER OPTIONS window, click “View” tab and click “Show hidden files and folders”.
5. Apply and Close,
6. Then go to COMPUTER,
7. double click on your hard drive (usually called C:\).
Click on “Users”
8. “Application Data”
9. “Roaming”
10. delete the folder called “mjusbsp”
MagicJack Is Uninstalled
So, I have purchased the magic jack. Installed it…only to find out they
do not have area codes for WA state yet.
I read your article on it and so am turning to you for a possible solution
to this.
How do you uninstall from Windows 7??
This is one feature that I am not thrilled about, and knowing this now, I
would not want to use magic jack again even if they did get my area code.
Can you give me any guidance on removing it from my laptop? I would greatly
appreciate it! I am sure that some others will enjoy an article on this
also!
Regards,
Linda L George
Budz,
As some one who has worked in IT for years I can tell you that the Magic Jack did NOT give you a virus. It’s just not possible. The product has been around for years now. If it was infecting peoples computers with viruses then it surely would not be around years later. Also I’m sure there would be all sorts of lawsuits against the company. I’m sorry to hear it’s not working like it was before. I would guess that you got a virus through the Internet some how and it has crippled your computer making your majic jack perform poorly. I would imagine that if you got a rid of the virus by getting a fresh copy of Windows on your computer that Magic Jack would behave the way it’s supposed to.
i’m so disappointed with magic jack. it’s so hard to contact a live agent and when you’re lucky to find one, you’ll be referred to another agent. magic jack brought virus to my computer. i am no longer recommending this to my friends and i regret recommending it before. after getting the 5-year plan, i can no longer use it and every time i tried using mj, i got warning from the computer that it’s not safe to use it. it’s a waste of money!
good review i liked the points you made
thank you VERY much for this info! I just got vonage and someone told me I was crazy — magic jack was so much cheaper.
I have a laptop and wireless router so all the issues you mentioned are important. Plus they do NOT make it clear on the website that there are all these ads. Thank you so much for making all of this crystal clear!
Hi Julianna,
You can talk for free No matter where you take the Magic Jack and no matter what computer you have it plugged into as long as you have a strong internet connection. Many people have found the magic jack usb device to work great for calling friends and family from outside the US into the US or Canada as these are seen as free calls. However you should realize that if you want to call out from the US or Canada to another country you will have to pay extra.
Hope that helps!
Hey TJ,
Yes you can call Guam with the Magic Jack. You must remember that calling with the magicjack is free to use when calling within the US, Canada, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands. If you want to make international calls you much purchase prepaid minutes from the company. Last time I checked it was .05cents to call Guam.
Can majic jack call to Guam?
Hey Guys quick questions about the MJ,
The opinions seem to be very 50/50
I was wondering can you plug in your MJ to different computers?
I am thinking of getting it for my desktop, but would like the option to plug it in my laptop when I am away from the office. Can that be done, or do I have to get two different ones?
also does MJ provides 800 numbers by any chance?
Been using Magic Jack for a year now. We are so glad we did because we saved a lot of money which is crucial in these times. We are on the lowest internet plan of AT&T and works well.
Since the computer is on whenever there is somebody at home, so does the Magic Jack. When we are away or asleep, the off-line answering machine takes our messages which we receive via email.
When I did my research for awhile, I brought my laptop with me to the library where there was free wi-fi. I took the Magic Jack with me allowing me not to miss my calls. I switched the Magic Jack to headset of course.
Magic Jack worked great for us!
What’s with the Voicemail FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt)? You get a .wav in your email, instantly. A copy remains on their voicemail servers.
I just got my jack, it works great! Have it running on a freshly formatted XP notebook.
I tried an experiment where I bought one of these and sent it to my wife’s family in Colombia. They installed it and now they can call us anytime here in the USA for free. They no longer need to purchase phone cards….which are very expensive in Colombia where the economy is very weak. Worth its weight in gold for calling ‘IN’ to the USA… I can’t tell you anything about how it works within the states.
Ok – I have one question. IF the VM features work whether the PC is on, or whether the MJ is plugged in, and I just want to use is as a VM system and NEVER make or receive a call on it… then do I still have to have a High Speed internet connection? It sounds like I could just call my MJ number from my cell – and retrieve VM’s?? Does anyone know if that’s right? I only keep a house number for “unwanted” calls…ie bill collectors! Hey – maybe if I could save on my phone bill… I could actually pay some of them! Ha
Question: Just bought a magic jack love it however dont lke keeping the computer on all the time… Is it possible to buy a FEMALE usb to ethernet adapter and plug directly into my ehernet port on my wireless modem??? i haave a phone jack righ next to my modem and this would be very ideal for my needs…
Please let me know. thank you very much and this is really a stellar product!….
I bought Magic Jack which cheap for VOIP, when I called people they had trouble hearing. Call quality is not good.