Will This Gadget Replace Your Landline? - Comments Page 1

I did try MJ about a year after they came on the market and the major issue I encountered was the
Connection quality varied greatly depending on how and where you were accessing the internet

I only pay 45 bucks for my home line with AT&T. And am getting ready to cut that out in favor of just my cell phone. Especially since it’s just there as a backup and I get mostly spam calls on it. And of course with there’s many free options with Skype and FaceTime. So I’m not sure why Magic Jack would replace any of that. I wouldn’t trade my normal cell phone - true I pay more than the monthly fee for magic Jack but the flexibility and better connection doesn’t warrant a change really.

We replaced our landline with MagicJack many years ago, and we love it! We were able to keep our number, which made the switch drama-free. The call quality is not always perfect, but I suspect that this has more to do with our crappy AT&T internet connection than with MagicJack.

Our package of cable Internet and phone is less than it would be for just cable and Internet, so won't be ditching our landline. When we're travelling I'll accept the roaming charges on my cell phone or get a local SIM card,my phone takes 2 SIM cards, depending on what we're doing and where.
Another thought, how well does it work with 911 location services?

Many years ago we had not given up our land line yes but we did switch to MJ. It worked perfectly and we also had a cell number. Eventually we gave up using the land line but kept our MJ and just forwarded the number to our Cell phones. Works just great and makes "giving it up" so much easier. Loved MJ while we were still using it. Never had a problem in all our travels.

Been using MJ for years and wouldn't go back. Yes you do need a good internet service. As for the 911 question, You register your physical address with MJ and they notify your local 911 office.

There may be a small fee for this but not in all cases. Where I live (rural VT.) there is no fee.

I tried this service awhile back and give it a "meh" rating. Most of the time it was reliable but I had problems with calls not connecting (dial the number and nothing happens). The biggest problem I had was a chronic "echo" issue. Hanging up and trying again usually cured this - not very feasible for incoming calls. Another issue: their Tech Support is only On Line. If you have a problem, you must send them a message and wait for a reply - breath holding not advised (never did get the "echo" issue resolved). Remember, as this service relies on the internet (it's VOIP), it's only as reliable as your internet connection. If you live in a rural area with sketchy service you should stick with the phone company POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service)

I did end up cancelling this thing and went back to my ISP phone service (also VOIP). Another gizmo tossed into the dust catcher drawer. The ISP service is a bit more pricey, but always a good connection, comes with the same features as the MJ and it's very reliable. And their Tech Support (which I have never needed) is easier to access.

Anyone out there use an ISP that provides VOIP service and had either success or failure at setting up MagicJack service and are willing to share their experience?

We tried MagicJack GO in 2017. We were unable to get it hooked up to our ISP, and as the "package" we bought included international calls we did not get to use them either.

So we were out the cost of the gizmo, 12 months "service", $10 worth of international calls (that actually cost $12.50) We were billed several times for "government imposed charges for 911" also.

But maybe they have their act together with this new version. I just wish we could check it out without paying for a year long service contract as they don't do refunds if you cannot set it up.

I took Bob's recommendation nearly 4 years ago and bought a MagicJack. This purchase eliminated Spectrum's $29 monthly fee and gave me an acceptable monthly fee. I have a cell phone, but I wanted to keep the land line for privacy. My MJ number is given to any company or person I don't wish to give my cell phone number. That's the pro. The con is I have never been able to contact MJ by phone or internet and reached a human. Be careful when navigating MJ website you may end up frustrated.

I have been using MagicJack for over five years. I recently renewed for another five years. I believe the special is available again for a short time.
THE GOOD: low price for good service. I need Call Forwarding and this is included. Also, I am not tied to an ISP, which can make switching difficult. There is a newer version of the device and I wonder if issues would improve with newer device?

THE BAD: Call quality is fair to good. There are some issues calling gov't & other very large phone systems. There can be both outbound and inbound busy signals without (apparent) cause. My friend has Ooma and connection between the two is ALWAYS unusable. About two years ago I upgraded the USB power supply and that reduced frequent disconnections and spurious strange sounds.

I pay about $3 a month not including a $10 a year charge for a Canadian phone number. This extra charge seems disproportionately excessive.

By contrast, Ooma offers two tiers of phone service. With Ooma Basic, phone service is completely free. Just pay a few dollars per month in taxes and applicable fees, and you get unlimited calling within the U.S. ( But NO Call Forwarding) To access all of Ooma’s advanced features, Premier costs just $9.99 per month.

I'm a very satisfied MagicJack customer (I have absolutely no affiliation with MagicJack other than being a very satisfied customer), and I have been for nearly 3 years. I've had the same phone number since about 1974, so I ported it to MagicJack for a very nominal fee (a few bucks - I can't remember the amount), which took a few days, but I was able to keep my ATT phone service working until the porting process finished, so I didn't experience any interruption of service.

After switching, I asked people I talked with if they heard any difference in how I sounded and they didn't, so I told them about MagicJack. My service has been excellent with no interruptions, other than during power failures. I have ATT Fiber-500 Internet, which is very stable here and I'm sure that helps. The call quality on my end is at least as clear as what I had on copper (I can't tell the difference), and I couldn't be happier with what I have.

I recently learned about the free Robo-call blocking feature, so I enabled it. It's ingeniously simple. When someone calls me, they get a prompt to enter a random number to get put through. Since enabling that service, I hardly ever get bothered by robo-calls. The best thing about this feature is that I no longer get interrupted from whatever I'm doing (as often as a dozen times a day) by these nuisance calls. NICE!

I'm a retiree in my 70's, and I've had a home phone all my life. I have a mobile (cell) phone, but I only use it for emergencies. If anyone wants to contact me, they will have the best luck by calling me at home. If you're like me, and you want a home phone, MagicJack may be a great choice. Check it out,

Ernie

Was an avid MJ user in their early days and I absolutely loved it. Other than the choppy connection at that time, it lived up to its name. I got it since I had young children & needed to make sure they had access to a phone at all times. My cost at that time was $100 for 5 years!!!! Thinking about resubscribing. Thanks for the article.

Was an avid MJ user in their early days and I absolutely loved it. Other than the choppy connection at that time, it lived up to its name. I got it since I had young children & needed to make sure they had access to a phone at all times. My cost at that time was $100 for 5 years!!!! Thinking about resubscribing. Thanks for the article.

We use it and the automated call screening feature is great. We get ZERO junk calls or political calls. Our phone only rings for a legitimate call.

The low price does not help all the people with no internet service. That continues to be a problem in the US. The only solution so far is “Obama phones”, inexpensive smart phones given free to qualifying low income people, allowing e-mail and other internet activities. If the phone is stolen or lost, it can take a long time for a replacement. Qualifying means officially low or no income people disabled from all work, not allowed to have more than $2,000 cash in a bank account, living in food stamps and food pantries. Those are handed out by state rules, with help from a national program. I was reading closely to see if a relative now without phone or internet connection might be helped. Not by that technology, unless some program wires his building with fiber optic cable for mire reliable internet connections. He must keep waiting.

Might I suggest/recommend that anyone considering or using VoIP equipment also purchase an Uninterruptible Power Supply (UPS) and plug the MagicJack into the UPS (via the 'optional' USB cable) along with any equipment (cable modem/router or ONT/router) provided for connection to the internet. An essential difference between a POTS landline and a VoIP solution is that the POTS system uses its own power supply whereas your VoIP solution is dependent on the same power that powers your house. So if the lights are out, so is your VoIP and the e911 service it might provide, or any other calls as well. Sure, a mobile phone is there as long as the power outage does not affect the cell towers (think strong winds like hurricanes) and your phone has a charge. The UPS should be a standalone only for the internet and VoIP equipment. Pluging a computer/monitor into the same UPS would drain the power too quickly; however, any battery-powered, Wi-Fi-enabled devices (laptops, smartphones, tablets) will still be able to connect. Just a thought.

NOTE: I am not in the UPS business and I will not receive any commission for the above thoughts. I have just been there (IT operations) before. :-)

Something like Magic Jack will never replace a land line since it requires internet service to work. I live in a mountainous area where due to high winds, electrical storms, and other weather events we lose internet service frequently, often for several days. Cell phone service suffers the same problem, but less often than internet. Land lines are the most weather-stable of all. However, in California, for example, land lines often use relay towers, subjecting those land lines to the same interruption by weather or now fire.

Sadly this article and a lot of others are not helpful to Australian members like me.

I have used it overseas for years in order to have a US line for forms and chatting. Invaluable. Using their app let:s me use it on my cell phone. I use it for talking and texting. great service!

I’m in Australia and I used to use a VOIP phone but now I just use my mobile phone. It costs A$99/year for unlimited calls and texts. My home phone is included in my internet plan but it is no longer plugged in - the only calls I was getting on it were spammers or charities wanting money. In Australia we don’t pay to receive calls on our mobiles so it is used exclusively.