magicJack: PC to Phone Jack

magicJack: PC to Phone Jack From magicJack List Price: $43.12 Price: $34.13 & eligible for FREE Super Saver Shipping on orders over $25. Details Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Ships from and sold by Amazon.com 54 new or used available from $27.48 Average customer review: (628 customer reviews)

Product Description

Add magicJack Telephone Adapter to your PC and you can make telephone calls within the USA and Canada for FREE! Skype uses a peer-to-peer network, whereas magicJack uses a dedicated telephone networkOther VoIP carriers do not have dedicated telephone networks, and lease this service from other companies. That means higher costs and poorer reliability. magicJack uses its own dedicated telephone network. You can use magicJack with either a regular telephone handset, or with a headset. You can also use both, and switch between the two. You can move magicJack between Internet providers. You can use magicJack from anywhere in the world (where broadband web access is available). It requires - PC - Windows XP or Vista operating system; (Mac/Apple expected soon); Broadband, high-speed internet, cable internet, DSL - WiFi - WiMax magicJack comes with an easy-to-use device to allow you to use a regular telephone handset. Service is free for 1st year. $20 per year thereafter.

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Product Details

• Color: SLIVER
• Brand: magicJack
• Model: magicJack
• Dimensions: 1.00" h x 1.00" w x 2.00" l, .2 pounds
• Hard Disk: 4GB
• Native resolution: N/A

Features

• Local/long distance/international calling
• magicJack is free for first year
• Each magicJack includes a free phone number to receive call from anyone in the world
• Free outbound local and long distance calls

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Editorial Reviews

From the Manufacturer
The magicJack uses your computer and Internet service so you can make local and long distance calls in the U.S. and Canada with no monthly bills. First you connect any household phone to magicJack. Then you plug magicJack into an available USB port on your computer, using the supplied extension cord if needed. Finally you wait for the completion screen to appear to use your phone like you always have. Installation is simple and takes 60 seconds.

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Customer Reviews

Most helpful customer reviews
610 of 621 people found the following review helpful.
Works great for me but it is not for everyone
By NoSleep2Nite4Me
The key to using Magicjack without any problems is to research information on it first to decide whether it's right for you *and* whether it will work for you. It's not really as easy as 1-2-3 nor will it work magically despite its name. You need to exceed its miminum system requirements, have high speed internet service (like cable), and YES, your PC has to be on with your internet connection available for Magicjack to work. But for $20 a year (initially cost is $39.95 for the Magicjack with 1 year phone service), to me, Magicjack is a great product which provides free unlimited long distance across the country and local phone service. However, Magicjack should not be your only phone service because if your electricity or internet connection goes out, Magicjack won't work. At least also have use of a cell phone service.

I bought my Magicjack from its website [...] and received it in less than a week after I ordered it. If you want the option of returning it easily should you decide not to use it, most people on the web recommend buying it from a store like Walmart, Radioshack, Best Buy or even QVC. It took me less than 10 minutes to install Magicjack (plug it into your PC's USB), register it, pick a phone number in my area and start using it. For me, deciding which number to use took the longest time. I live basically in Philadelphia, PA so there were a lot of local numbers I could select. The [...] site lists its available area codes and phone prefixes. Not all areas are available yet so make sure you can select a local phone number for your needs before buying Magicjack. Keep in mind that if you use a non-local phone number for your Magicjack, people that call you may incur toll charges or long distance charges.

After Magicjack was up and running, I tested it by making calls to and receiving calls from landline phones, cell phones, Vonage phone service users and other Magicjack users. Everyone I called commented that they can hear me clearly. I also had no trouble hearing them just as well. No echoes, no static, no disconnections, no strange noises. The longest phone call I've made so far lasted about a little over an hour.

Now, mind you, my Magicjack is on an IBM X41 laptop which has 1.49GB RAM, 1.50Ghz Pentium M processor and Windows XP (Professional) SP3. Magicjack is basically the only main application that is running on this computer. You do not need a dedicated PC for Magicjack but it won't work as well on a computer that have other large applications such as multi-media, graphic programs, email systems and games running at the same time. My internet connection is cable and I have a wireless router but the computer with Magicjack is connected "wired" to the router. I specifically wanted to test Magicjack on this type of system setup so that I couldn't blame any problems I might encounter on any other factor. I also wanted a system that I could leave running for 24 hours if I decided to use Magicjack as one of my main phone service.

The one problem I did encounter was at the beginning when I found that one of my phones wouldn't ring when someone called me. By googling the problem, I found out that this problem is due to the ringer equivalency number (REN) of the phone you are using (google "phone REN" to find out what it is). Most phones have their REN listed at the bottom of the base unit. From my experience, I believe Magicjack will only work for phones that have REN of up to 1.0B (add up all phones in your system to get your total REN. Mine had a corded base with 0.6B REN with 2 more cordless handsets. I figured that made my phone system total to 1.8B REN). Magicjack did ring on a phone that had 0.98B REN. To fix the problem, I bought a multi-handset GE DECT 6.0 (model 28223 Series) which basically has REN 0.0B. Magicjack had no problems ringing with this phone. My phone system was over 3 years old anyway so I didn't mind replacing it.

My system setup is probably an optimum environment for Magicjack although while Magicjack is running on one computer, I have another laptop running wirelessly connected to my cable modem in addition to a desktop connected wired to it also running *and* a Vonage modem connected to it.

To find out if Magicjack is right for you, google reviews on it first and be sure to read up on the system requirements and recommendations from Magicjack users that have had no problems using Magicjack and love using it. These users will offer the most detailed information and they give out tips and tricks to make Magicjack work at its best such as how to set up your system for automatic reboot, optimize your internet connection, set up your USB ports so your computer doesn't power it off, using "thin clients", etc. Be aware that you'll also find a lot of reviews from people who hate Magicjack but most of them seemed to have bought Magicjack when it first came out. You'll find complaints about Magicjack's customer support also but since I've had no problems so far, I have no experience with them. I used Google to get the answer to all the questions I had about Magicjack.

Personally, I think Magicjack works better than my Vonage whose service I plan to stop using soon. Also, don't be afraid to try it out even if you're not technical. My younger sister knows very little about computers and she also uses Magicjack without any problems.
163 of 166 people found the following review helpful.
An excellent choice and dirt cheap ...if...
By Know-It-All
I have been using MJ for a while and here are a few things to consider.

1)Magic jack is not a standalone device.
2)It needs a Windows or Mac based computer to operate.
3)Needs a high speed internet connection..Will not work on dial up.
4)Computer needs to be on to be able to use MJ..No sleep,hibernate or standby.
5)Needs to be directly connected to the USB port on the PC and not a hub. The primary reason for this..in layman's terms is : The device draws power from the USB. In a distributed setting like a hub, there may not be enough power to support the device. Not saying it will not not work but you WILL have issues.

Installation : Just plug the device on a available usb port and the software and drivers install automatically. Once installed, you will see the MJ softphone on your desktop. Now quickly go to the MJ website and do an upgrade. Steps are pretty simple.

Firewall Settings: Add UDP port 5060 and 5070 to the windows firewall exceptions.

Operation: Once you have the MJ device connected to the USB and the other end to a standard phone, you are ready to make and receive calls.

Call Volume: In the audio proprieties, select tigerjet as playback device and increase vol to approx 60%. Do the same for recording device OR adjust to your preference.

System Resources: Like I mentioned before, the MJ application runs on your computer and hence competes for system resources. I will not go into setting application priorities but if you can do it, it will work better..Having said that, MJ's performance will suffer when you are running a resource intensive application on your computer while running MJ. For eg..graphic softwares, games, movie playbacks etc are very resource intensive and use a lot of processor and memory. So please be warned in advance unless you have a really powerful computer. Times like this you will notice patchy voice quality, cut outs etc etc...

Reset: I personally like to unplug and replug the mj atleast once a day or just restart my computer. I know this can be a chore. There is a solution. In XP goto start>run and type in control userpassword2. Once you get the dialog box, just uncheck where it says, user needs to enter a user name and password to use this computer. Next go to control panel scheduled tasks and click add scheduled task. In the wizard, click browse and goto windows>system32>shutdown.exe. Set the task to run daily at a time of your choice. Check the advanced check box and hit ok and come out of it. Now in the advanced dialogue, where it says run add a space and type in /r. The process prompts in for passwords. Type it in. Now your XP is set to restart at a predefined time daily and go directly to your desktop without any user input in form of a user name and password.

Issues: Call quality. As mentioned before, it can depend on the resources on your computer. Also depends on the the internet speed. Sometimes, you might be set to receive a certain bandwidth, but it may not be always the case. What you receive in real-time might be different from what is on paper. It is a good practice to reset your cable or DSL router once in while. When it comes to wifi, it is majorly affected by interference. So make sure if you are on wifi, you are at a place in the house with minimum interference. TV,Fridge, Microwave etc cause interference to your wifi signals. Cable users ..not sure about DSL ...are on shared bandwidth. Meaning..a bandwidth slab is allotted to x number of users. So say if in a group of users, few of them are streaming a High def video, it is that much off your bandwidth. So sometimes you will see slow internet connection and slow is not very good for your mj.

Final Conclusions:MJ casts about $1.60 a month to use as a service BUT the hidden costs need to factored in. Consider the fact that the computer needs to be on to use it. So that adds to your electric bill. I recommend using a low end dedicated computer like a used laptop for MJ. Or you can get a thin client which cost pennies to run. The call quality is good. You can take it anywhere..But ultimately, optimum performance depends on all the factors I have discussed above.

Hope this write up will help you make an informed decision before you buy.

221 of 228 people found the following review helpful.
It works
By Phoenix T.
My uncle in Georgia has one of these, and I live in Michigan. When I first heard of Magic Jack it intrigued me that he was only paying $19.95 a year for phone service. So I had to check it out. So I went to the web site, and I did a lot of reading. After talking it over with my wife, we decided to try it out. It only took a couple of days to get it, and set up was easy, but when I plugged a phone in it to make a call, it was horrible. Though I remember reading some where that a power USB hub could fix this problem. So I order one up, and waited. Once it arrived, I hooked everything up to my computer, and started making calls. It worked great! Every time, with every call. I have been running it for a week, and no problems. In my personal option, no digital phone service will ever sound like a regular phone line. I know people the have Vonage, and Packet8, and this works just as great as those, maybe even better. I also have slowest DSL possible (768k), and sounded great, even when I was downloading files on the internet.

To those who have had problems:

1. Read everything before you buy. I have noticed on the internet people complaining about how it doesn't work. It is a piece of technology, and even though it is supposed to be an easy thing, it may require some reading on your part to learn how to make it work. Everything can be found in the FAQ's section on their Magic Jack's website.
2. If you buy this item and don't work, like bad reception, or no dial tone, broken conversation, get a Powered USB hub. For 15 bucks, it makes it run great, and I have a lot more USB ports now.

Pros:

* I like the fact that is cheap. $19.95 a year cheap! I like to save money, who wouldn't in today's world?
* The fact I can call long distance for free, and saving money.
* The call quality is great, if my 83 grandmother could hear me, and understand what I am talking about, then the sound quality has to be decent.
* It can go with me if I ever decide to travel, I am too poor to do that right now.

Cons:
* The fact that I had to get a USB hub to make it work great. On the web site it says plug and go. If I wouldn't have read about it I probably never would got it to work.
* Their tech support could be better, I never have used it, but from what I have read, it isn't all that great.
* In order to use it, your computer has to be on. I leave my computer on 24/7 anyway so it doesn't bother me any. To those that shut off your computer at night then your phone wouldn't work, and who wants a call at 3am anyway?
* No local area code for me yet. Though there might be one someday.

There may be other quirks that I don't know about, but all know the problems I had when I first hooked it up, versus how it works with a hub, I doubt I will have an real issues with it.
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