MagicJack

[free2wander]

Anyone out there have any experience with MagicJack. We just got one to supplement our phone plan but all we have experienced so far is a lot of clipping ang garbled connections. I guess it feels like words are not the only thing that got clipped. We plan on leaving this camp next week and wonder if it will get better?????

[rlawson]

It takes high speed internet to work properly. Take a look at verizons Home phone Connect.

[Dr4Film]

Don't count on it.

A piece of JUNK !!!

You are better off with Vonage. I don't have it but others that do say that they happy and have no problems with it.

I use my Sprint mobile when there is a signal. Although, we are at a location presently where there is no signal so I signed up with Time Warner Cable for their TV/Internet/VOIP Telephone.

Dr4Film ----- Richard

[mrschwarz]

VOIP, which is what Magicjack is, requires a solid, low latency connection. What is the connection that you are using?

[free2wander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dr4Film Don't count on it. A piece of JUNK !!! You are better off with Vonage. I don't have it but others that do say that they happy and have no problems with it. I use my Sprint mobile when there is a signal. Although, we are at a location presently where there is no signal so I signed up with Time Warner Cable for their TV/Internet/VOIP Telephone. Dr4Film ----- Richard

We too have Sprint with a really good plan - as long as we make mobile-mobile, after 7 and weekends. However, there are times when we have to spend "Hours" on the phone because of business or some emergency. This past billing cycle it was to troubleshoot a piece of equipment and there was enough time spent to eat up our 1500 minutes. Fortunately, it behaved and service was super. Since then, we have barely understandable calls.

[free2wander]

Quote:

Originally Posted by mrschwarz VOIP, which is what Magicjack is, requires a solid, low latency connection. What is the connection that you are using?

Currently we are connected via a WiFi network providing us with 54.0 Mbps

[kparam]

We have Magic Jack at home and have a "moderately" reliable DSL connection. On Windstream, we have to keep a local phone line to get DSL so we have the cheapest basic line we can get. Here's our set up:

* 2-line cordless phone system
* line 1 on the cordless system is connected to the Magic Jack
* line 2 on the cordless system is connected to the basic POTS (plain old telephone service) line
* Using mymagicjack.com, I have forwarded incoming calls to the POTS line
* A additional plain single line telephone is connected to the POTS line (gives us access to a phone line if electricity out and/or cell phone service is down or phone is not charged.

This way, even if our DSL is down or there is an issue with the network, we receive phone calls on the POTS line. Magic Jack call forwarding is apparently done from their server and is not dependent on the status of your internet connection.

When we want to make any LONG DISTANCE outgoing calls, we do so through line 1 (which is connected to the Magic Jack - no long distance fees)

It sounds strange but does work for us. Advantages:

1. We don't have to use any of our cell phone minutes
2. We can use several handsets on our cordless system - don't need to hunt for the cell phone when there is an incoming call
3. POTS service is very reliable without the dropped calls that sometimes occur when using a cell phone
4. If the internet is down or PC the Magic Jack is connected to is powered down, we still receiving incoming calls
5. Saves a considerable amount of money per year on our Windstream bill
6. When we travel, I change the forwarding number on the Magic Jack to my cell phone number.

For the cost of the Magic Jack (about $29 or $39 plus $19.95 per year) it works for us.

Karen

[southland]

I have had good luck with MJ but you do need a good internet connection. A friend uses his at a truck stop WIFI in his small town. If the WIFI is busy, I will hear chopping from him. I use mine in the MH while traveling and have no problem finding "hot spots" to connect.

[mrschwarz]

Quote:

Originally Posted by free2wander Currently we are connected via a WiFi network providing us with 54.0 Mbps

There are a lot of variables that you need to take into account for VOIP like, latency, packet loss, jitter, quality of service priority, etc.

The easiest way to make sure it's not your connection is to go here and test your connection. It will tell you if it's good enough for VOIP. I am using a 4G aircard while I am doing this. It's got a fast connection that responds to what I am doing almost instantaneously. When I ran test on this connection, it reported that the my connection wasn't stable enough to use for VOIP. Try it on yours.

MyConnection Server, speed testing, Video and IPTV testing, speed capacity testing, network assessment testing, network route performance, VoIP quality testing

[John Hilley]

Quote:

Originally Posted by free2wander Anyone out there have any experience with MagicJack. We just got one to supplement our phone plan but all we have experienced so far is a lot of clipping ang garbled connections. I guess it feels like words are not the only thing that got clipped. We plan on leaving this camp next week and wonder if it will get better?????

What are you using for your Internet connection?

[WheelingIt]

Tried it and had to chuck it. Like others said you really need a solid internet connection and we simply didn't seem to get that most places as we were fulltiming. Although it makes little sense Skype has always worked better for us. That's what I use on the road.

[FlyingDiver]

Quote:

Originally Posted by free2wander Currently we are connected via a WiFi network providing us with 54.0 Mbps

54Mbps is the speed of the local Wifi network, not the speed of your connection to the internet.

Are you using a campground Wifi network? What's their source (cable, DSL, satellite)? If you want to see what your ACTUAL internet connection speed is, use one of the web based speed tests, like testmy.net or speedtest.net.

joe

[golden]

I use it as my primary phone, both at home and on the road. It cost me $60 almost three years ago and I think it is still the same. Sometimes (rarely) you can't use it because the connection isn't good enough but most of the time you can. I haven't had a landline since getting MJ.

I didn't add any technical info because that isn't what you asked and others have already given their own opinions and information.

[fireguy889]

We use a magic jack with verizon when our ATT phones do not work well. It does require a good signal from the provider. We actually use it as our cam p phone. When we shut it down we forward our calls to our cell phone. It kepy my wife and I in touch when I was off to work last year and she stayed at coach.