SAVE tons of money - Never pay your phone bill ever again!

[stinkynuts]

http://www.themagicjack.ca/about.html

My friend has the magic jack and says it works. You basically use a special jack to make free phone calls. All you have to do is plug it in, and you can use your regular phone.

You need an internet connection, so that's where my question is. I'm under the impression you can't have DSL Internet service without a phone connection, so I would have to switch to Rogers for a cable connection and then use the jack.

I currently pay about $80 for Internet/Phone, but with this jack, and if I have downgrade my Internet service speed, I can cut the bill to about $20. This would save me $700 a year.

 

[papasmerf]

I have one and it works. I use mine over my WIFI at home and not one problem. Keep in mind that it is VOIP and not a land line. BUT when my daughter was in London last year I sent her one it it worked great for calls to and from the US.

Yo do need a high speed internet connection and that is it.

 

[Squirt]

i thought you had to pay the magic jack people a smalll yearly fee as well.

 

[papasmerf]

i thought you had to pay the magic jack people a smalll yearly fee as well.

You do

It is 39.95 for the MAGICJACK and first years service. Then it is 19.95 a year after that. I just renewed for 60 bucks for 5 years.

 

[Arianne]

You can get a dry-loop put in (no phone connection) for DSL.

 

[herames]

You do

It is 39.95 for the MAGICJACK and first years service. Then it is 19.95 a year after that. I just renewed for 60 bucks for 5 years.

so i guess it would work for Fax machines too?...i'm a little cluesless as to what phone number is assigned and such

 

[papasmerf]

so i guess it would work for Fax machines too?...i'm a little cluesless as to what phone number is assigned and such

Because you are using VOIP you need to understand that LANDLINES are more stable in transmission speeds for faxes. It is recommended that for faxes you set your fax to the lowest speed. HOWEVER VOIP is never recommended for FIRE ALARMS or other life safety units.

 

[Powershot]

Says you get an American phone number?

 

[Arianne]

I am curious as well as to what numbers are assigned. It also looks like they only have US numbers available right now.

 

[papasmerf]

Says you get an American phone number?

I know you can assign your existing number or take one of theirs. I live in Buffalo but they had none in the 716 area code so mine is out of NYC.

Was nice when my daughter was in England to be able to call her and not pay international charges and she was able to call the US and Canada from there for free.


I know the site www.magicjack.com has a toll free nunber you can call. The Magic Jack is available at BEST BUY here in the US, not sure if the same holds true for Canada.

 

[Arianne]

There is a bit more information on their other site:

http://www.magicjack.com/

 

[Arianne]

oops lol looks like we are posting at the same time papasmerf.

 

[papasmerf]

oops lol looks like we are posting at the same time papasmerf.

No problem.

I have one and like it.

 

[Miss Maya Blue]

very cool. thanks for posting this. i take it everyone is happy with the quality of the connection? your voice sounds as it should?

i have a friend with a VOIP and it sounds very mechanical....

 

[bishop]

I have magic jack, for me it works ok; business with most calls coming from outside of Canada. As a home phone replacement it would not work since it does not have Canadian area codes, they keep saying that they will add Canadian numbers but it has been more than a year of waiting. The quality of magicjack is ok, about 70% as good as a regular phone line. Magicjack requires it be connected to a computer, so if you want 24/7 phone availability you need the comp on 24/7.

Alternatively you guys can check out, vbuzzer.com, $50 a year and they have Canadian area codes. You can use their PC software or you can get a phone line to ethernet adapter such as the linksys PAP2, ~$50, it does not require a computer to be on. Sound quality of vbuzzer is better than magicjack, just about as good as a regular phone line.

Alternatively, http://www.freephoneline.ca/ . You get a free Canadian incoming number, and all local calls are free. You can signup without any credit card info and try it out. You either use their PC software or you pay $100 for a modified phone line to ethernet adapter which they sell. I do not know exactly how they make money, but I suppose they make it from placing ads in the PC software and over charging for the phone line to ethernet adapter. Quality is crap, might be ok during non peak times.

 

[hunter001]

I currently pay about $80 for Internet/Phone, but with this jack, and if I have downgrade my Internet service speed, I can cut the bill to about $20. This would save me $700 a year.

I am not sure why you would downgrade you internet speed. These voip things are pretty sensitive to your Internet speed.

If you are saying you could cancel you home phone, you could, but you won't be able to get incoming calls.

 

[fuji]

Am I the only one here that hates VOIP?

I keep hearing how it doesn't suck if it is done right, but I have never yet seen it done right, and I have seen it done many times. At work we have VOIP phones on their own network independent of the one that we use for data with a separate dedicated connection and all the QoS stuff in place. It still sucks. It sucks because somewhere out there on the net it gets fucked up even when our office guys do everything "right".

When I'm speaking with someone on the phone I like to be able to catch small nuances in their tone of voice. It's very important because you can't see the expression on their face.

I suffer with VOIP at work, the last thing I want to do is inflict it on myself at home too.

 

[papasmerf]

I am not sure why you would downgrade you internet speed. These voip things are pretty sensitive to your Internet speed.

If you are saying you could cancel you home phone, you could but you won't be able to get incoming calls.

Magic Jack allows people to call you at no additional charge

 

[hunter001]

Magic Jack allows people to call you at no additional charge

but why would he want to lower his internet speed.

 

[WoodPeckr]

Am I the only one here that hates VOIP?

Been using VOIP for 2 years now in WNY with no problem.
It's crystal clear, just as good as my old landline.

You may have a lower quality VOIP system at work, quality does vary.

MAGICJACK has been well reviewed on a couple threads in the Terb Tech forum with overall good reviews about it.