Skype vs Magicjack

[Russianwolf]

okay, let's hear what you guys know about them?

Skype as we all know is owned by ebay and you can talk to any other skyper free and pay to call land/cell lines

Magicjack is a USB box that allows you to call in the states/canada for $40 first year and $20 a year after. Not sure about jack to jack calls.

So does anyone use either and what aree your thoughts?

[bigstick509]

No info on Magicjack but I would love to get some user feedback on this service, I have been meaning to drop our land line from AT&T and this sounds like it might be a good alternative.
http://www.magicjack.com/1/index.asp

[leehljp]

I have been using Skype for 2 years and the phone quality has gradually been getting better. About half the time, it is as good as landlines to me and most of the rest of the time, it is about like decent cell phone quality. About 1 in 20 connections, I get an echo and have to recall if I need clarity. There is also another reason and it is mentioned below.

I call family from CA to FL on their cells or land lines all the time and most of the time I get real good connections.

LOML has her computer set up the same as mine and she talks to her sisters and mom several times a week, in addition to at least one of our daughters daily. We often carry on simultaneous phone conversations (she with one person from her computer and me with a different person through my computer) over our wireless network without a hitch, slowdown or disruption of quality. We sometimes do simultaneous video phone/conferencing with different people at the same time.

One caveat: We both use stereo headphone/mike (Logitech) sets on our computers as we talk. Without headphones, we often get feed back, but the reason for that is if we are in a chair or sofa that is backed against the wall. The laptop screen reflects sounds back to the wall behind the chair or sofa and back to the screen. If we are in a chair or at a table with our backs to the open area of a room, there is no feedback.

One last note, LOML just HAS to have her conversations with family. Before Skype, we were averaging $200.00 a month for international calls year round. Now we average $120 - $150 a year. Our children call our land lines or cell phones from their Skype. We call their land lines and cells from our Skype. This has cut their bills down considerably also.

As far as a comparison, I haven't tried MagicJack. I don't think Skype is for every situation but it helped keep our wallets a little fatter while also giving us a live video of our grandkids and increasing our talking time.

MagicJack looks VERY interesting and that is a possibility when we return to the States.

[BobSch]

The big thing to remember about VOIP is if your power goes out, so does your telephone service. Not such a good deal during an emergency.

I was thinking about that last night as the thunder bumpers rolled through.

[Russianwolf]

The big thing to remember about VOIP is if your power goes out, so does your telephone service. Not such a good deal during an emergency.

I was thinking about that last night as the thunder bumpers rolled through.

since all the land line phones in our house are cordless, there's no difference. No power to the base set, means no phone when the power goes out. Besides, that's what cells are for.

[gordons]

Friend of mine has Magicjack for a couple of months now. It's OK, but not good enough as a primary line. For the price though, it can't be beat as a second line.

As for VOIP, I ditched landline nearly 4 years ago and went on to Vonage unlimited. The worst part about that was the ISP (Adelphia in those days). Now with TW, don't have any problems. I have also had Via Talk unlimited as a second line for nearly 2 years. Not quite as clear or efficient as Vonage, but it was on a special deal when I signed up for it. The beauty about these systems is the unlimited calling within US and Canada and to quite a few countries in Europe. Also really competitive long distance rates to other countries. Have noticed that Vonage is getting a little AT&T'ish with it's additional charges....... you know $24.99 lands up being $32.63 or whatever.

As for power outs and ISP crashes, these have never been a problem for me as I have set up the system to ring through to my cell phone anyway after a certain time has elapsed from first ring. This works all the time irrespective of down time anywhere other than the VOIP providers' servers (remember Blackberry recently).

All in all, I would highly recommend VOIP as a replacement for landline. Just be careful on your selection of providers and be sure to run parallel for a couple of months to make sure that all is as it should be.