Magic Jack

[JimD]

We are looking at dumping our current internet/TV/phone provider for too high a price and too slow internet speed. We have DSL. They offer higher speed but not to our house, we are too far from their switches. So a phone call and threat would probably lower the price but it wouldn't increase the speed.

So I looked at the internet+TV and the internet+TV+phone packages from the cable company that serves our area and there is $20/month difference. The first year when prices are low. So I investigated MagicJack. It is $35/year. I paid $50 from Amazon to get the little bit of equipment plus the first year. I got it from Amazon for easy returns but the first two calls went fine. I couldn't port my number but that would have cost extra anyway. I think I will pay $3/year for 911 service.

About $3/month seems like a good deal even though we don't use the "land line" a lot. I only carry a work cell phone right now but when I retire I will get a cell phone. MagicJack offers an app which lets you call over the internet with a cell phone. You can either only use the phone when you have wifi or get a calling card to use when you don't have wifi but want to use the phone. One guy reviewing it said he was averaging about $10/mth.

Anyway, for now it is just a cheap way to have a land line at the house. I have a Panasonic cordless phone with 3 handsets and that is what is plugged into it. The MagicJack is plugged to the router, a power supply, and the Panasonic phone. The original MagicJack required a computer be on but the current one does not.

A secondary benefit will be to eliminate the large number of phone outlets in this house. I'll keep one, in case we want to go back, but I have two in this room, which will go to none. Lots of wire under the house just for a bunch of useless phone jacks. Transformers raising the voltage for who knows what reason. I will semi enjoy trashing that junk (semi because it is under the house where I don't love to go).

Anybody use it? Comments?

[woodturner]

About $3/month seems like a good deal even though we don't use the "land line" a lot. ...

Anybody use it? Comments?

It's relatively simple to buy a $20 Obi box, get a free number from a service like Anveo, pay the $3.20 per year for e911, and have "landline" service for $5/year or so. Couple that with a free cellphone provider like RingPlus or freedompop and a $15 smartphone, and you have modern communications for less than $20/year ;-)

I've not used MagicJack, the annual fees and quality complaints dissuaded me, but have been very happy with Anveo and Ringplus.

[JR]

Interesting thread. I'm moving to a new house this week where telco is phone only, cable offers triple play, and cell reception is iffy.

i've been thinking of getting tv and Internet from the cable co. and purchasing a microcell from AT&T, my cell provider. Somewhere in the AT&T fine print I think there is a limitation on which plans can host the microcell, so we'll see.

[tfischer]

I don't think it's worth actually pulling the wire from under the house. It's not hurting anything and who knows it may come in handy for something totally different someday.

[Cochese]

I use Ooma. I do pay for the privledge, but it is still cheaper than any land line that is available. I have the Premier tier, and pay about $15 a month. That's two lines, Google Voice compatibility, and most importantly call blocking. If I could figure out how to get them to do the blacklist on the normal tier, I'd dump Premier.

Ooma was one of the very few options I had to register my address with 911, so that was the route I went. Call quality is good, but obviously not what it would be with a land line.

[JimD]

So far I think Magic Jack call quality is equivalent to my old land line. That was the judgment of my mother last night too. But that was only one fairly long call. My other two calls just got machines but sounded fine.

My address is registered with the 911 service but it costs $6/year.

I block calls with my Panasonic cordless phones.

The old wires are sometimes not a problem but I have one hanging out of my wall in the great room because the dogs chewed the cover to pieces and I don't want to find another one. I need to plug the hole in the paneling. That wire runs around the outside of the house and through a vent to get from under the house. Needs to go away. Others we'll see. I have an uncovered box near my airhandler in the crawl space that I think is the phone and a transformer. I got "bit" from a bare wire in another spot I'm pretty sure was a phone wire. I don't know why it would have voltage high enough to shock me but it did. It isn't a huge priority to get rid of all the wires but at least some of them have to go. It also is one small thing to date the house.

[dbhost]

If you can cough up the extra $$ to buy into it, the Ooma is a better VoIP adapter. My brother has one and loves it. I don't do much with land line so I simply have an Obi100 with Google Voice. Free phone service.