Anyone heard of the Magic Jack ??

[JaHoney 3]

Hello Vj'ers,

I am inquiring if anyone out there is familiar with the phone device called the magic jack. I am constantly trying to find ways to make cheaper or free calls out of the country to my SO, as i will be in the poor house soon if i dont...LOL. I read up on the magic jack and saw that if you purchase the device you can make free calls anywhere in the US and to Canada. But i was also told by a friend, her brother who is in China, purchased one, connected it to his computer and is able to call the states for free. SOOOOO im wanting to know if anyone has any firsthand knowledge or has used this for international calling?

Thanks

Honeychild

[Krikit 1,163]

Yup

[GaryC 7]

I have one. For $50 total for a years worth of service it's pretty good. Sending one to your SO in another country is a cheap way to stay in contact. I have had some problems with it though. The biggest one is that sometimes when there is an incoming call you can't hear the caller. It just sounds dead. I think it's some sort of a network problem because I can call them and it works fine. If your willing to put up with the occasional glitch it is a good deal.

[Krikit 1,163]

Vonage is an excellent option. Plus you can purchase a virtual phone number in other countries so that people living there can call you locally. One of the members here had the Magic Jack but changed to Vonage because she was having problems with it. She really likes it.

[payxibka 10,044]

MagicJack is another flavor of VOIP that plugs into a USB port rather than an ethernet connection.... It by far appears to be the leader today on price...

[GaryC 7]

Vonage is an excellent option. Plus you can purchase a virtual phone number in other countries so that people living there can call you locally. One of the members here had the Magic Jack but changed to Vonage because she was having problems with it. She really likes it.

I had a Vonage for 2 years while waiting for Luz. It was great. I gave her unit a phone number local to me and mailed it to her. I could call her any time I wanted from my cell phone for the $25/month charge. We ended up talking hundreds of hours a month. The advantage of Magic jack is the price. $50 for the first year and $25 per year after that is hard to beat. Plus the Magic jack plugs into the USB port of the computer so your SO can take it to any computer they like. The Vonage must go in between your router and the computer and has some settings that can be hard for someone that isn't computer savy. I know there were several times Luz had to call a tech in to reset some setting on the vonage to keep it working.

[Krikit 1,163]

Vonage is an excellent option. Plus you can purchase a virtual phone number in other countries so that people living there can call you locally. One of the members here had the Magic Jack but changed to Vonage because she was having problems with it. She really likes it.

I had a Vonage for 2 years while waiting for Luz. It was great. I gave her unit a phone number local to me and mailed it to her. I could call her any time I wanted from my cell phone for the $25/month charge. We ended up talking hundreds of hours a month. The advantage of Magic jack is the price. $50 for the first year and $25 per year after that is hard to beat. Plus the Magic jack plugs into the USB port of the computer so your SO can take it to any computer they like. The Vonage must go in between your router and the computer and has some settings that can be hard for someone that isn't computer savy. I know there were several times Luz had to call a tech in to reset some setting on the vonage to keep it working.

Vonage has that option now: Link (See the V-Phone ad)

My neice took it to South Korea with her so she and my SIL use it. Haven't heard of any problems with it, as yet.

Edited June 4, 2008 by Krikit

[Alhamdulillah 0]

I had vonage for a long time and loved it but had to do some creative financing lately and opted to trade it in for the magic jack... it's pretty much the same thing except now vonage has some deal on their international calling like unlimited calling that magic jack doesn't offer..... but for $20 a year... i'm not complaining too much. Also, magic jack has something on ur pc that vonage doesn't but I kind of dig it because when I'm working it's easier for me to make calls from the pc than my handset anyway.

[LIFE'SJOURNEY 970]

Hello Vj'ers,

I am inquiring if anyone out there is familiar with the phone device called the magic jack. I am constantly trying to find ways to make cheaper or free calls out of the country to my SO, as i will be in the poor house soon if i dont...LOL. I read up on the magic jack and saw that if you purchase the device you can make free calls anywhere in the US and to Canada. But i was also told by a friend, her brother who is in China, purchased one, connected it to his computer and is able to call the states for free. SOOOOO im wanting to know if anyone has any firsthand knowledge or has used this for international calling?

Thanks

Honeychild

Hi, Please make sure you are looking at how they handle International calls to Jamaica. Calls to the Jamaica and to cell phones are handled different, than calls to Europe and Asia. Try Rebtel or Ringyard, they offer the same rates and they assign a local number to their International Number. Also on the JA thread, there is some information on how to send text messages FREE.

Roxcie

[Carol and Bruno 0]

Hello Vj'ers,

I am inquiring if anyone out there is familiar with the phone device called the magic jack. I am constantly trying to find ways to make cheaper or free calls out of the country to my SO, as i will be in the poor house soon if i dont...LOL. I read up on the magic jack and saw that if you purchase the device you can make free calls anywhere in the US and to Canada. But i was also told by a friend, her brother who is in China, purchased one, connected it to his computer and is able to call the states for free. SOOOOO im wanting to know if anyone has any firsthand knowledge or has used this for international calling?

Thanks

Honeychild

Hi, Please make sure you are looking at how they handle International calls to Jamaica. Calls to the Jamaica and to cell phones are handled different, than calls to Europe and Asia. Try Rebtel or Ringyard, they offer the same rates and they assign a local number to their International Number. Also on the JA thread, there is some information on how to send text messages FREE.

Roxcie

I have Vonage also and love it. I used to pay between $300-$500 per month for my cell phone bill and now with Vonage, most of my calls are made from home, which are free to Brazil (land line).

However, RoxcieJoe is correct, you do have to check the rates for the country you intend to call. Cell phones are more expensive than land lines. I pay $49/month and can call 60 countries for free as long as it's to a land line. I looked up Jamaica's rates on Vonage.com and it's $.20/min to a land line and $.29/min to a cell phone. Unless you plan on sending your SO a virtual number, then it might be more advantageous to you to check out Magic Jack. I've never heard of Magic Jack so I can't offer any advice, but seems other VJ'ers are using it.

Edited June 4, 2008 by Carol and Bruno

[JaHoney 3]

OKAY GUYS THANKS, This appears to be the next problem, my SO has limited access to a computer so that is not an option for us, and uses only a cell phone thru digicell. I am currently using Ringyard which i like because of no connection fees, but i am still spending in excess amounts of money, because i have a hard time limiting myself to calling once or twice a week for 15 or 20 minutes. Magic Jacks says that they have international calling rates that i would like to compare with Ringyard, BUT i cant compare the rates until i actually recieve the unit which is stupid to me! i have to access the net with the info they send me once i receive the unit, and then i can go online and check the rates, or so i was told, by and incredibly stupid customer service agent who assisted me. If anyone knows otherwise, please fill me in. If it isnt beneficial for me to use Magic jack i will probably give it to my mom, who spends all of her retired day gabbing on the phone anyway

I guess my bottom line is to find an affordable way for me and my SO to talk to one another. I have figured out the free text messaging thing thru techjamaica.com but it isnt the same

[Alhamdulillah 0]

The rates are listed on the website under the FAQs here http://www.magicjack.com/1/faq/ they're pretty much the same rates as vonage.

[MrsCat 6]

You can always have you Vonage # permanently forwarded to a house phone or cell phone. So whoever has the computer - can keep the Vonage hooked up and forwarded to the SO phone #. That way, when you call the Vonage #, it will dial what ever # it is forwarded to. Not sure if this makes sense, a few examples:

1) Chris is on the road and only has his cell, but doesn't want long distance charges - I forward the vonage # to his cell #, I can call him - and its like a local call

2) I'm at work, and don't want to make a long distance call from Canada to call the NVC - I forward the vonage phone to the # at the NVC, and its a local call for me in Canada.

Although once I forgot to take the call forwarding off to the NVC, and Chris' family was getting really confused one evening when they were trying to call him.

[JaHoney 3]

You can always have you Vonage # permanently forwarded to a house phone or cell phone. So whoever has the computer - can keep the Vonage hooked up and forwarded to the SO phone #. That way, when you call the Vonage #, it will dial what ever # it is forwarded to. Not sure if this makes sense, a few examples:

1) Chris is on the road and only has his cell, but doesn't want long distance charges - I forward the vonage # to his cell #, I can call him - and its like a local call

2) I'm at work, and don't want to make a long distance call from Canada to call the NVC - I forward the vonage phone to the # at the NVC, and its a local call for me in Canada.

Although once I forgot to take the call forwarding off to the NVC, and Chris' family was getting really confused one evening when they were trying to call him.

OMG...lol...kinda confusing but i understand what your saying. I may have to look up Vonage and see what the difference is in the two products. Thanks

[JaHoney 3]

The rates are listed on the website under the FAQs here http://www.magicjack.com/1/faq/ they're pretty much the same rates as vonage.

Thanks for that info, i dont know why it was so hard for the customer service rep to give me this