magicJack and MagicJack Plus Support, Reviews, FAQs and Hacks

momo · Posted: Tue Aug 04, 2009 8:46 pm Post subject:

Try looking at www.future-nine.com Smile

plans show > http://www.future-nine.com/plans.html

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kidbyte · Posted: Thu Aug 06, 2009 8:59 pm Post subject: Re: Magic Jack Alternative

You might try www.voipo.com. Fairly cheap.

Kidbyte

theplunger · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 25 Oct 2008 Posts: 8

I'm seriously looking at the Ooma Telo. I'm hearing very little negitive things about Ooma. I read they should be out in Aug. but, I also read they are just now sending them out for beta. Sad

While I wait I would love to get MJ to work. Maybe a little? I can deal with the echo and a few other things but, I really need it to work if someone is trying to call. 1. They can't get through (the phone doesn't ring.) 2. The phone rings and I can't hear them. (They might hear me and/or they hear nothing as well.) Now the MJ does other bad things but those two are major.

fulcrum · Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2009 11:39 pm Post subject:

I was thrilled when I first bought Magic Jack, but WOW, its been 3 months now, and the quality keeps getting worse and worse. First the beeping started, and then the call quality began to degrade. Now even if I reboot my computer and update the software for the dongle, it only takes 2 or 3 mins into a conversation before the other party says I'm breaking up.

Anyway, now I've purchased the Ooma phone system for $200 at Costco (special promotion through Aug 31st). It gives me all the same features I had with Vonage, but with $0 telephone bills for life.

I know people will balk at the price; I know I did, but its price keeps dropping. I realize that $200 buys 10 yrs of Magic Jack service, but that is also 10yrs of head aches and frustration, and explaining to everyone you talk to every time you make a call that its Magic Jacks crummy service. So I decided to buy Ooma, and so far it is as good a Vonage.

Since many stores are now selling it... (i.e. Walmart, Best Buy, Radio Shack, and Costco) you can buy one, try it out, and if you don't like it, then return it to the store. Costco has a 90 day return policy.

Its a better deal that what Majic Jack gave me when I ordered it on-line, as I wish I could return it, but sadly my understanding is that those who have tried don't get their money back. So anything store bought is a awesome as it can be returned.

And no I didn't wimp out on Magic Jack, I tried all the suggestions to make it better, even splicing in a resistor to get the Caller ID to work. Why in world should a customer ever have to splice a resistor into the phone line... that is what makes Magic Jack junk.

Anyway the Ooma system was as easy to set-up as Vonage, and displays the Caller ID and Caller Waiting ID the same as Vonage with all the extra lines of information. No splicing.

Anyway my wife is thrilled, which in my book, and probably several others out there is gold... if it passes the wife test, then it is good. I'm guessing that most of the people who have Magic Jack are men like me, as women would ditch it in less than a minute as soon as a problem becomes apparent. Women typically won't mess around with junk, and the reason we had the MJ garbage for 3 months is I kept telling my wife that eventually MJ will figure it out, and we were utilizing good work arounds... yeah I was only fooling myself.

Ooma is the way to go... stop those head aches and explanations to everyone you call.

Fulcrum
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Fulcrum
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sabresfan · Posted: Mon Aug 17, 2009 10:05 am Post subject:

I have no doubt's that ooma is a superior product but
i could not justify $200.00 plus dollars on a device that if it breaks or the company goes out of business I'm sol. At least with MJ it's $40. I got one for even less by getting my prescriptions filled at cvs and got an $11 in store coupon. Even if MJ goes under you can still use the dongle with skype. If the ooma hub could ever be programmed or unlocked and used with another provider then I would go for it but I don't think thats gonna happen. Ooma has a ton of great features but googlevoice is doing it for free. MJ has it's problems but it's running about as smooth as I have ever had it now. Even the beeps are gone for now. Very Happy

samarai · Posted: Sat Aug 22, 2009 5:47 pm Post subject:

As I said in an earlier post - I was tired of waiting for MJ to allow porting. I was paying almost $100 a month to ATT. I ported my # over to VOiPVOiP.com for free. Now I pay less than $8 a month for #s forwarded to my GV #. The calls are consistently high quality(after adjusting the codec in the ATA to a lower speed for VoIP). At first I ported to Voipvoip.com just to have a place to park my bs number until MJ allowed porting. I will stay with them after MJ porting is possible because of the higher quality of the VoIP service.
By the way - all of my telephone (3 MJs & ATA) and Internet services are done via Verizon through an aircard. I wanted the portability to use the service at my home office, RVing and at a lake house.
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samarai

msiam · Posted: Thu Aug 27, 2009 2:23 pm Post subject:

Sam.. How did you get your ATA to work on a Verizon AirCard?? Confused

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samarai · Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 1:18 pm Post subject:

msiam - The aircard connects to a Cradlepoint router that connects to a 24 port switch. The router also has WiFi. I just plugged the ATA into the switch and throttled the codecs down. MJ and ATA phone work great.
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samarai

TwitterHoax · Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 5:01 pm Post subject: Alternatives

There are actually sites out there buying back magicjacks and offering better phone service now,.

I haven't found one as cheap as mj though,. not even Lingo.
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Peace in the middle east

Darkman90808 · Dan Should Pay Me Joined: 27 Feb 2008 Posts: 687

Going into my second year, and I still love my little bundle of joy. I have a Samsung Omnia that locks up regularly, sends calls into VM on the second ring, and cost me a bloody fortune. I may get off my inertia one of these days and look into an alternate VoIP solution, but for now, my MJ continues to save me $$$, with no muss, no fuss.

Okay, let's be realistic. Sometimes there's a little muss and fuss. But not much.

cell14 · Posted: Fri Aug 28, 2009 11:13 pm Post subject:

stroths · Posted: Sat Aug 29, 2009 8:31 am Post subject:

I am still using SIPgate and loving it so far. It has nice features which work well for me.

My wife needed a VOIP line for her business line and I needed something a little more seasoned and highly rated with proven reliability. I looked around online and did a lot of research. The name that kept popping up was CallCentric. The dsl reports website/forum has a VOIP section that rates different VOIP providers. Callcentric had extremely high ratings, so I got her setup on it and they are really nice. http://www.dslreports.com/comment/3050/66868

If you want to use them with a residential plan, look for their dirt cheap DID plans if they have it in your area. This gives you unlimited inbound calling for $2.95/mo plus $1.50/mo 911 fee. Outbound is $.02 a minute just like SIPGate.

They do not offer phone support, but instead do it through an online ticketing system. Their response time is great as I had questions after I signed up and had responses back very fast and they were knowledgeable. Not like the crap you get from MJ's chat support.

There are cheaper ones out there, but not as reliable and highly rated as Callcentric.
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solearth · magicJack Apprentice Joined: 30 Nov 2007 Posts: 17

Voxox has unlimited calling for $2.45 a month. They have support for a SPA 2102 ATA.
The initial tests were good, but later I heard a voice saying "password invalid". I received an email that customer service is fixing the problem.

theplunger · MagicJack Newbie Joined: 25 Oct 2008 Posts: 8

I ended up not getting Ooma. The price tag is just too much. I'm back at square one looing for a MJ replacement. Sad

The last time I was trying to fix a MJ issue it lost all my contacts. I need go drop this damn thing in a volcano.

RobQ · magicJack Apprentice Joined: 24 Dec 2008 Posts: 16

Why not try Nettalk? It cost 100 dollars for life. I had it for almost a month now and call quality is better than MJ. I still have MJ as another line for back up. Very Happy