Magic Jack

[cabinetman]

Has anyone heard of Magic Jack phone calling service, that lets a USB plug in to make unlimited calls for $19.95/yr. LOML wants to hook up.
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[footprintsinconc]

i've got a friend who used it as his primary number. you just have to have a computer running all the time to make sure you are getting calls or can make calls. they are real happy with the service. he did suggest that the computer that you plug this into should be wired to your router.

the thing he loves about it is, that he can take it anywhere with him and he has a phone serive. i think he said he is looking into buying a small/folding phone that he could carry with his laptop so that he can use it anywhere he can get an internet line.

[Uncle Cracker]

i think he said he is looking into buying a small/folding phone that he could carry with his laptop so that he can use it anywhere he can get an internet line.

Isn't that kinda like having a 12-pound cell phone??

[p8ntblr]

I've used (but don't own) one and they're pretty good. Since I was only testing it out I was on phone for a few minutes but it worked really well and the clarity was great. It's especially good if you have international calls. A few friends and relatives bought some and sent some to Philippines and cut their phone bills drastically.

[footprintsinconc]

Isn't that kinda like having a 12-pound cell phone??

my question to him was where are you going to get one from? he said there is stuff out there. this guy is into voip. his background is computer engineering, he's always messing around with voip gizmo boxes and setting up his own stuff so that he can talk to his family for next to nothing overseas and ....... basically his hobby is phones, like ww is for us. so when it comes to a hobby, there are no logical answers all the time.

[BobSch]

If you go with any VOIP service make sure you have a UPS for your computer and router. Unlike a standard phone that's powered from the central office, if you homes power goes out and you don't have a backup source, you've got no phone service!

[crokett]

There are two guys on my team who have it. I guess YMMV because both of them said it is not reliable enough to be your primary phone number. One of them has it because he travels a lot and uses it in the hotels. The other has it for his kid in college.

[ModestMouser]

I've had the jack for..... 13 months or so now. I got burned when SunRocket VOIP went under and it took six months to get my $150 back in unused prepaid voip service (18 months worth). So... I went with MJ for the low risk - if they went under, i wouldn't be out too much.

Here are the caveats Usually, it works just fine. But....

1 Sometimes when I dial, nothing happens.
2 Sometimes when I dial, I get a phoney (haha) busy signal.
3 Sometimes people tell me that I'm breaking up and they're having trouble understanding me
4 Sometimes people tell me I sound like I'm far away.
5 Your PC that hosts it must be XP/Vista and be on constantly.
6 USB port can't power a whole lot, so only use it with a modern low-current telephone... one that has its own power supply. It couldn't ring our first multi-handset system (Motorola) when someone would call. We replaced it with a Uniden multi-handset and it's fine now.

Aside from these weird occasional caveats, it really does work well.

A buddy tried it and it didn't work right for him. I think his was defective. At any rate, MJ was good and refunded his money within the 30 days just like they promised.

I would use the jack as "the" house phone when you already have cell phones that you use most of the time anyways. That way, you're not completely dependent on it, but you get free calls any time of the day that you want.

For us, I have a home-made PC-based dual-channel DVR/Tivo box, so i figure that the low price for the phone service pays for me to run the pc 24/7.