I’ve long been a proponent of Voice over IP (VoIP), having dumped the phone company over 7 years ago. During this period I’ve used 2 major vendors and only switched to the latest one because my former VOIP supplier was getting greedy. The price performance has been outstanding and the quality has been more than acceptable. I’ve never stood still and have continuously compared other VoIP providers offers, but I have not considered magicJack a serious player. This is because the magicJack required your computer to be running for it to work.. That’s until now! The new magicJack PLUS can be plugged into a router or broadband modem, just like the big boys. Also, I got turned off by the extremely annoying video on their home page.
Before I get into the details, perhaps a little refresher is in order. To use the magic Jack, or any VoIP device for that matter, you’ll need a broadband Internet connection. For magicJack a minimum bandwidth UPLOAD speed of 128 kb/s is required. This would probably be cable or DSL, but not satellite. It doesn’t make sense for someone to subscribe to broadband just for the telephone capability, so Grandma and Grandpa may want to stay with Ma Bell. You should also have a minimum understanding of your home network, because there will be times that you’ll have to reboot your modem and router to clear up problems. You should also be aware that if you lose power or Internet connection, you’ll also lose your phone capability. I’ve addressed the power issue at my house by plugging my cable modem and router into a UPS. This gives me an hour before I lose telephone service and covers most short power interruptions.
Features provided by magicJack:
- Voicemail
- Caller ID
- Call waiting
- Call forwarding
- Your own phone number
- Unlimited free calling within the US and Canada
There’s really not much to the device. You may not even need the smaller of the two cables. It’s a USB extension cable and you may be able plug the magicJack into your computer without it.
I decided to see how idiot proof the installation was, so I plugged the device into my LAN, via a powerline Ethernet adapter, hooked up the phone and within 30 seconds had a dial-tone. There’s no computer involved in the configuration, but to keep the device active, you’ll have to register the magicJack online within 48 hours of installing it. To minimize the number of variables when testing this thing, I used a corded phone, so the sound quality wouldn’t be affected by cordless phone issues.
Here’s a closer look at the setup. The magicJack plugs into the AC adapter, which plugs into the AC outlet. On the left of the unit you have a socket for the phone cable and one for the LAN cable. You could of course run the LAN cable from your router or switch. I like using powerline Ethernet because I can locate the phone anywhere there’s an AC outlet.
Here’s the setup when using the magicJack with a computer. Because of the clearance to my USB ports, I needed the extension cable. If using a laptop, this probably wouldn’t be necessary. This setup is simpler, in that all you have to do is plug a phone into the phone port. Power is supplied by the USB port. However, to run in this configuration, the computer must be on and the softphone magicJack application has to be running.
The first time you plug the magicJack into a computer, it loads the softphone application and has to be registered. This process takes about 14 screens of selections. Here you will get an online account and select a phone number. Unfortunately there wasn’t a number available in my home state of New Hampshire, so I elected to get a California based number. There is the option later of changing the phone number, for a fee, if one you want becomes available.
Be very careful when navigating the registration screens. Most of them have an up-sell button and of course, it is the biggest. If you don’t pay attention you could be signing up for more than you expected. The above screen shot is one of the less egregious examples. At the end of the process you should have a phone number and online account. Also, be sure to use the address where you expect to use the magicJack, when you sign up. This address will be used for the E911 service.
Now that we’re all registered, we can either leave the device plugged into the computer or plug it directly into a LAN port. I’ve opted to use the LAN port option because it doesn’t require the magicJack application to be running. However, when traveling I can take the device with me and use it with my laptop and when configured this way, I can either use a telephone plugged into the device or I can select to use the laptop speakers and microphone to make calls. This is changed in the softphone application.
When plugged into the computer, the above screen will pop up for an incoming call. At this point if you are using a telephone you pick it up and answer as normal. If using the computers audio, you would click on accept and begin speaking. You can also use the pop up window to place calls and listen to voicemail.
Regardless of whether you connect via the LAN or PC, you can access your magicJack account via a web browser. Here you have some options that can be changed and you can access your call logs. You may notice the switch for stutter tone at the bottom. At first this didn’t work, but now it does and it triggers the voicemail indicator on my phone.
Now the question is “how’s the voice quality?” I must admit I am pleasantly surprised at the quality of the conversations I’ve had. With all the VoIP devices I’ve owned or reviewed, I’m used to echos and delays, but I’ve experienced none of that with the magicJack. This runs counter to what I’ve read about the device in online forums.
In short, this latest version of the magicJack could make them a serious player in the VoIP space. I now am considering dumping my current provider. If you’re thinking about jettisoning your POTS phone, the magicJack Plus may be the way to go. They do give you 30 days to try it out, so you don’t have much to lose. Now if they’d only do something about their annoying home page and stop the bush league up-selling on all their screens.
Note: The Gadgeteer is not affiliated with the Magic Jack company in any way. We don’t provide customer support for them. However, many of our readers seem to have chosen the comments section for this review as an informal peer support forum. There are hundreds of comments with this review, and it’s likely that your question has already been asked and answered. If not, and if none of the other readers can help you, you’ll need to contact Magic Jack directly.
Product Information
| Price: | $50 for the device and first year service; $19.95 per year thereafter |
| Manufacturer: | MagicJack |
| Requirements: |
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| Pros: |
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| Cons: |
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Gadgeteer Comment Policy - Please read before commenting
So, where are these for sale? I keep reading reviews, but can’t find one anywhere.
Peter,
According to their PR person “This final release date is targeted for early July”. Maybe they were waiting for my review 🙂
Waiting for the android app. (bahaha)
I use Linux, so will the setup software work for me? The web site does not mention the new device or its requirements.
Dave,
Dave,
From the included instructions: ” Requirements, Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista, 7) or Intel based Mac personel computer with usb port.” Sorry, looks like it can’t be setup with a Linux OS.
Hi and thanks Bill. I’ll try to remain patient.
Dave, if you have Linux, maybe run xp or 7 in a VM (VirtualBox maybe?). Even if it’s only long enough to get Magic Jack installed, then get rid of or archive it away somewhere. Or, even just use a friends windows/mac computer for a few minutes, long enough to get MJ set up.
What a scam, I thought it is supposed to be wireless??? How is that different from Net Talk, they are years ahead of Magic Crap.
Hi Sam,
Do you own a Magic Jack? Or a Net Talk? I’d love it if you would share your firsthand knowledge. I’m looking into either of those products and I’m very curious to hear what you have experienced yourself.
That said, with either Net Talk or Magic Jack Plus, paying a super-low fee on an annual basis, so long as the quality is acceptable, is worthwhile and not “crap” in my book. Again, so long as quality of service is there. So crap?
If a person can’t take the 10 minutes one may need to set up a gadget like either of these, only to save over $1,000/year, then it’s pretty clear that person never really wanted to try it in the first place.
So if you have some experience with Magic Jack Plus or Net Talk you can share, I’d love to hear about it. Maybe you have both and have already personally compared them?
I have 2 -magic jacks, but the hipe was that it was going wireless, not a replica of Net Talk, I am just mad as I have been waiting forever only to know that I could have bought Net Talk instead. Super bad product to market strategies.
Both probably work the same … on any case this one will be priced like net talk probably
Waiting to test it.
So, how long this PLUS thing gonna be on sales?
The same old comment “early in Juliy” everywhere! jaja
Hope ASAP!
Thanks for the review Bill!
Question: Will I be able to port my existing at&t landline to magic jack plus so I can retain my current number??
The only downfall to NetTalk DUO in my view is the lack of FREE calls landing in Puerto Rico (area codes 787 and 939) compared to Magic Jack (Plus) which does includes Puerto Rico. If NetTalk included Puerto Rico, I would go that route since their Customer Service is excellent, the sound quality is supposed to be better and their device (DUO) looks better than Magic Jack’s.
We used to have Magic Jack. First had them running on a PC then moved them over to dedicated embedded Win XP boxes and they worked relatively well. Still, they required a computing device being up and running.
When I read about NetTalk we gave it a shot. I now have completely replaced MagicJack with NetTalk. Voice Quality, etc. is the same. Both suffered the occasional drop-out and disconnection, both disconnect every once in awhile.
The only negative for NT is with the way it handles Caller ID. The device does not timestamp the Caller ID messages…it depends on the phone to do that. We use them with a Uniden cordless setup and Uniden doesn’t provide the timestamp…so the caller ID history is just a list of numbers without time/date.
I’m not thrilled with this, but the ease and reliability of just plugging it into a router are worth the minor hassle.
These devices have made it possible for us to drop POTS at both our main home and vacation/rental. They literally save us close to $1,000 a year.
BTW, if anyone wants to buy 3 MJ devices and embedded XP machines (configured for MJ) let me know. 🙂
…add advertising & privacy issues to that list of ‘cons’ against MagicJack.
It’s advertising-supported, which is why it’s so cheap. They also track and correlate all phone numbers that you connect to.
Probably lots more data mining goes on.
Not all consumer ‘costs’ are money.
DennyC … That’s true, but do you believe that AT&T or whatever your local RBOC or mobile service provider is isn’t doing much the same thing?
Thanks for making the points Sam, and also Ken and Denny.
I’m waiting for MJP to make it to market. The low price tag is incentive enough to give it a try. I’m in Canada, and from what I’ve heard/read, Net Talk isn’t as great for me because they only carry US numbers. Anybody know if this is wrong?
hi peter if you buy Net Talk on Amazon.ca u can get a Canada number that’s was what they told me when i called NT. But i want the MJP so i can transfer my mj number to the plus
I think magicjack Plus will be better in the long run and with there new HD voice it should sound better from what i have saw on line looking foreword to getting it in 2 week hopefully
Well I can’t wait to see how it works and to try it. @Peter I have family in Canada and They have the nettalk they bought it of amazon.ca and they have a Canadian number. Oh well am biting my time waiting for the reviews before I make my choice.
I think the MagicJack (original and plus versions) price for both the unit and annual fee is great! I appreciate them.
I wish we could change the time date stamp within the e-mail alerts of new voicemail messages.
I wish we could also see the caller’s name on the caller id (on both soft phone and regular phone). Sure, I could purchase MagicFeatures.com for $19.95 to obtain this and more but yet …
I am looking forward to unleashing my laptop from my telephone system with the plus soon!
I will be thrilled when the Android app is released, soon I hope.
I should note that Net Talk has released a free VOIP app for iOS and Android that works very, very well. Best of all…it’s free.
ctbear,
The answer to your question is maybe. The FAQs say number transfer is in beta testing. I tried the link in the FAQ to see if my home number was transferable, and the link went nowhere. Perhaps someone else can enlighten us.
I am a long time MagicJack (not plus) and Nettalk user. I also have Obi110 (for google vioce). I would say they are all work well most of the time inside USA. However, if you travel to other countries, it will be a different story. I travel to China frequently. Acutally I am in Guangzhou China now. I have a Magicjack and a Nettalk (first version, not due) with me. When I got in my hotel room, I connected Nettalk first because it does not need PC. However nomatter how many times I tried, I still could not get it work. I called my office and home (in USA), it always gave me a busy tone. Then I turn on my laptop and connected magicjack, it worked very well. I just spoke with my co-work for about 20 mins. There was no problem at all. So in my experience, Magicjack works in China, Nettalk does not. It is this kind of case at least in the cites I traved Harbin and Guangzhou. I am waiting for Magicjack plus released to jump in. I will keep you guys updated.
im actually considering the magic jack plus, but the one thing that they cant copy is great service. i have net talk and their support people are very good! they even called me back when the line dropped on my cell phone.
It was true. MJ’s online chatting support was a jok, at least at the time when they started the business. I contacted them several times. At most of the times, they did not know what they are talking about. I even thought that it was not a human being at the other end, maybe I was chatting with a computer program, who knows. I don’t know the current situation, because I’ve not contact them for years.
will the magic jack work for faxing with my fax machine .my pc has a wireless modem by cricket,but i cant get my fax to work threw it thinking they both wont work being it is my isp . i would like to fax from the pc any ideas thanks ps i have the windows fax consul installed
Raymond,
From the MagicJack FAQs:
“SOMETIMES.
We do not officially support using faxing with magicJack.
Please try the following steps to use magicJack with your fax (contact your fax manufacturer for details):
Turn off error correction on your fax machine or program
Set the fax machine or program to use the slowest speed available. Increase the speed, checking at each speed that faxes work.”
I have used the MajicJack for over a year with limited success. The phone companies are getting smart and starting to block calls made via MajicJack. I cannot call long distance to a town 12 miles away from our home, where my child’s babysitter is, because the phone company will not accept calls made utilizing MajicJack. Nor can I make calls to the entire state of Montana. It is very frustrating. MajicJack has said they are in talks with those phone companies restricting their calls but no progress has been made.
@Misty
Wow…really? I have not heard about this problem. Does it plague all VOIP services or are they specifically targeting Magic Jack due to its success?
I’ve used MagicJack for years without any issues. I even take it with me when I go out of the country to make free calls back home. I have never heard of any blocking by the phone company, which BTW would prompt me to make an immediate call to the FCC. Sounds like your little MJ box may need replacing.
Misty,
Something else is going on there. Phone companies are not allowed to block calls like that. While you are using the internet to call Magic Jack they then act like any other phone provider. There’s a dispute going on and it has nothing to do with the VOIP side of things.
I’m guessing that problem has to do with the interchange fees between carriers. Whenever you make a call the originating carrier may have to pay a fee to the terminating carrier. If you’re a major carrier like AT&T or Verizon, you can easily negotiate this with your peers and probably force a favorable deal with small carriers too. But if you’re MagicJack, selling unlimited service for nearly nothing, and you’re dealing with a small carrier that is trying to squeeze as much out of termination fees as possible… well, it doesn’t seem surprising if an agreement can’t always be reached.
(If you’ve ever used one of those free incoming numbers, like ipkall or area765, this is part of how they’re paid for. And I’m sure it factors into the difference in prices between the various for-pay DID providers too.)
Got tried of waiting, I bought NetTalk and it works well so far. I have been with MJ for 4 years and it is great just got tired of the BS as to when it would be released now I could care less I have NetTalk.
ok if you have a problem with magic jack good luck on customer service they cant help you look what i just had to go through
ou are now chatting with ‘Jacob’
Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK55403024774X
Jacob: Hello, how may I help you?
julie: yeah i was just talking on my magic jack and i got disconnected tried to call back got the message 100 trying and i cant call people on this cause it keeps doing that
Jacob: hI’m sorry for the inconvenience.
Jacob: Let me check that.
Jacob: Please hold.
Jacob: Is this 5736933646, your magicJack phone number?
julie: yes
Jacob: Thank you
Jacob: Please unplug the magicJack first.
julie: ok
Jacob: If you still have the dialpad on the screen, please close it too.
julie: ok
Jacob: You can now plug the magicJack back in. It should bring up the dialpad automatically.
julie: its not
julie: i got a open folder thing
Jacob: Your Operating System is Windows 7 ?
julie: yes
Jacob: What are the options you got there? Do you get Start MagicJack?
julie: yeah i clicked on the icon on my destop
acob: Is it starting up now?
julie: yes
Jacob: Do you still have that error message?
julie: let me check it
julie: yes
Jacob: Do you get that message when you place a call?
Jacob: Is it displayed on the dialpad?
julie: yess i get 100 trying not on all calls just certain numbers
julie: sounds busy then clicks off
julie: but this has happend befotre like 6 months ago you fixed the problem now it is back
Jacob: Can you please provide me sample numbers that you are tryin to call?
julie: 417 345
julie: 417 722
Jacob: Hold
Jacob: **** hold on please
[You]
julie: are you there?
julie: still holding
Jacob: Yes, we are checking on your line.
Jacob: We are on the process of checking your line.
Jacob: Please chat us back later.
julie: so you want me to chat back later
Jacob: Yes, please. As of the moment we will check you line there.
Jacob: Are you still with me Julie?
julie: yes
Jacob: Is there anything else I may help you with today?
julie: so you cant help me with this problem?
Jacob: We are checking this matter as of the moment.
julie: oh ok then i guess
Jacob: You can chat us back later if this issue will still persist.
julie: ok then bye
Jacob: Have a great day ahead.
Jacob: Thank you for stopping by to chat, I hope I did a good job at addressing your concerns. Please take a second to answer a one question survey about the service I provided. Please click the “close” button on the top right of this screen and the survey will appear. Thanks again! i don’t know what the four stars meant but could been cussing me out????? i did the survey alright ……
If you think NetTalk has good customer service you’re out of your minds, or you didn’t have a serious problem.
I’ve called them and spent hours at least six or seven times, each time they ‘fixed’ it to resolve the problem. I was not getting email forwards of my messages like I would on MagicJack. I got calls all the time being my business and home phone, and messages left all the time, but only messages from NetTalk would be forwarded to my email. Eventually after the seventh call to them eight months later I said I was through.
The most frustrating part is the tech support guy got snappy and sarcastic, and asked me to call our cell phone carriers to see if it was their fault since when I tested it on the phone with him it didn’t work! I explained that no messages were forwarding at all, and like I’m going to call T-Mobile and Sprint and see if they can troubleshoot my NetTalk. It’s all a front. Stay away from NetTalk, if you have any problems that are beyond simple instructions it’s about as worthless as MagicJack tech support. At least MagicJack worked so I never needed to call them. Not to mention for almost two days all NetTalks were down a few months ago. I can’t risk all this for another year. No thanks. Not saying MagicJack is fantastic either since I think that Dan guy has done nothing new for the MJ in years, but at least it worked. I may give Ooma a shot- costs the most but I hear it works the best.
End of July – no “magic jack plus” in the horizon – bummer
I am a happy Ooma Telo user just taking some time to read on other VOIP services and especially the new MJ and popular NT out of curiosity.
I can see that I already have something better than both of these options but it pays to look around once in awhile. Yes, the Telo is an expense but the satisfaction is total and I wouldn’t trade it.
Good luck to all of you.
Aug 1st … Nothing yet. I went on and did the 30 day free trial and see how that works out.
I used to use a magic jack but had a number of problems with it. It didn’t play well with one of my other programs (Go Back) and I ended up having to reload windows. Then I discovered it would disconnect if I made long calls. After an hour , without warning, it would just drop the call. Also it would no longer work with teleconferencing calls which was the main reason I got it. The first issue is not an issue if I don’t have to use it with my computer but the dropping of calls and the lack of teleconferencing are deal breakers.
I had to call nettalk support today about a fairly advanced issue regarding call forwarding and got right through to a pretty knowledgeable person. I had actually found a bug in their system and he had an engineer join us so he could replicate it with me.
A couple of hours later I got an email telling me the issue had been fixed.
I’d give their support a pretty good grade.
This is the sixth pre-announcement for MJ+ that has been missed. This product is obviously more vaporware than anything else. I have never heard of a company with such a terrible reputation for missing their own deadlines. Whoever is in charge doesn’t know what they’re doing.
i think Ooma sucks in the price! and u cant use it in canada Nettalk wold like to try but some say it good and other say it sucks i know MJ not perfect but it has worked for me from the start no thanks to tech chat mind you they suck but the price is good and now that they finally got one that u dont need a computer that make it 100% better just hope i can port my mj number to the plus im going to order mine next week end the cost is $69.95 not $50.00 and the 19.95 is now 29.95 a year if u pay for 5 year u get the 19.95 one so that sucks but o well mj never tells the truth anyhow lol
Why bother waiting…
at this rate I’ll be retired before I get it! LOL
@ Scott
Where are you ordering the MagicJack Plus? And where are you getting your information? I have seen no signs that MJP is for sale anywhere yet. And until it is for sale, aren’t prices speculative?
Please update with info please.
In general, I considered Net Talk, but after looking into Canadian area codes, it is very limited. At least with MagicJack and MJP, I will be able to get a number within my own area code. I’ll wait a while longer, but if MagicJack Plus is not on the market by fall, I’ll rethink whether or not I care about having a local area code.
Leaving Bell and saving $100/month is incentive to make a change, even if there are some irritants that go along with Net Talk or Magic Jack Plus.
@ Peter
i got the info from the magicjack plus order number that i got from
http://www.magicjacksupport.com/ordering-magicjack-plus-from-800-707-5980-t10884.html hope that helps
Scott,
After reading that thread I’m not sure I’d place an order for a MJP quite yet. Seems don’t seem to be going all that swimmingly.
Let’s hope they get their device out soon.
September 6, 2011
Here’s the latest.
magicJack VocalTec Expects Q2 2011 Revenue of $28.5M to $29.5M and EPS of $0.28 to $0.30 per Share
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/news.html?d=228903
MagicJack VocalTec Sees Q2 EPS To Be $0.28 – $0.30 Per Share – Quick Facts
http://www.rttnews.com/Content/EarningsNews.aspx?Id=1686477&SM=1
Part of the news from Peter’s post first link:
The first paragraph…
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. and NETANYA, Israel, Aug. 8, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — magicJack VocalTec, Ltd. (Nasdaq:CALL), the company that invented voice over IP (VoIP) and sold over eight million magicJacks®, will release two revolutionary new products/services, magicJack PLUS™ and magicJack APP™ for Apple products and the PC on September 6, 2011.
——————————————————————
So, September 6, is gonna be the release date… hope this news comes true!
I’m not even a magicjack customer all the way yet and Ive never been more irritated with a live customer service rep, its like they think just because its via chat they can cyber dick slap you.
Please wait for a site operator to respond.
You are now chatting with ‘Raymond’
Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK55404787791X
Raymond: Hello, how may I help you?
jennifer: I wanted to know is the magicjack plus out to order or not I could not find any information on whether it is for sale?
Raymond: Yes you can place order for magicJack plus by calling to 1-800-649-1271
jennifer: okay i just ordered a magicjack and how long will it take for me to get my credit back so i can order the magic jack plus i ordered with a debit so my funds are on hold
jennifer: also will i get a full refund even for my shipping and handling?
Raymond: One moment please…
jennifer: okay
Raymond: Your card will be credited auotmatically with in 4 to 6 days.
jennifer: but if you guys do not have the funds why that long?
Raymond: Please wait while I check that for you
jennifer: k
Raymond: If you choose to return the magicJack within 30 days from your purchase, your debit card or similar form of payment will be credited to your account within 3 – 10 days after we receive the returned product
jennifer: okay thank you for that but what about the refund is it a full refund?
Raymond: Yes you will get a full refund.
jennifer: what if i just want the magicjack plus can i just pay the difference and send the magicjack back and get the plus.
Raymond: You can return the magicjack that you have received and we will issue the refund for the magicjack order. You will have to place another order for magicJack plus through IVR system
jennifer: okay then thank you.
Raymond: You are welcome.
Raymond: Is there anything else I may help you with today?
jennifer: yes one last thing
Raymond: Yes sure.
jennifer: can i get my order that i will be sending back certified so i know that the company has received it
Raymond: One moment please…
jennifer: okay
Raymond: Once the replacement has been issued, you will receive an email with an RMA number and return information for the original magicJack.
Raymond: * You must return your RMA email or RMA Bar Code form you receive from us.
Raymond: * You must return your equipment within 14 days after you receive an RMA.
Raymond: * You are responsible for any charges for international calls.
Raymond: You are responsible for return shipping. Equipment returned without a valid RMA number will not be eligible for replacement.
jennifer: what does that last part mean?
jennifer: if it gets lost it my problem basiclly
Raymond: Yes you are responsible for return shipping.
jennifer: i just want to upgrade if i would have known about the new one i wouldve just purchased that instead but the site does not offer the new one
Raymond: For magicJack plus you would need to call our IVR system .
jennifer: no that not what i’m saying your saying if there is no RMA then i can possible lose my money
jennifer: ??? i am confused about the last part with the RMA
Raymond: You will receive RMA(return merchandize authorization) number and return address after filling return form. All you have to do is to return the MagicJack at the address specified in return form including RMA form
jennifer: now the rma form goes where? do i have to open it and put it inside?
Raymond: Please click the link below
Raymond: http://my.magicjack.com/returns.html
jennifer: i have the link up already i dont want to start it until i get the magicjack because i have 14 days to return it
jennifer: after i start that process
Raymond: You can return the magicjack after you have received .
jennifer: okay but you never answered my question about the rma
jennifer: do i have to open the box and put it inside?
Raymond: Please write the sales Order Number on return package and send the magicjack back to us at the following address.
Raymond: Magicjack LP
Raymond: PO box 6846
Raymond: West Palm Beach FL 33405
jennifer: but what about the rmp where does that go?
Raymond: One moment please…
jennifer: are you serious, can you please hurry
Raymond: Before returning equipment you must obtain a valid RMA number from our Customer Care department by visiting: http://my.magicjack.com/returns.html
jennifer: now your pissing me off watch what i’m writing WHERE DO I PUT THE DAMN PAPER INSIDE THE BOX OR DO I WRITE THE RMA NUMBER ON THE BOX?????
jennifer: pay attention i know its just threw a computer but does not mean give shitty service its not that difficult of a questin
Raymond: One moment please…
jennifer: ya
Raymond: Put the RMA number inside the box.
jennifer: geeze thank you wasn’t hard was it.
Raymond: You are welcome.
Raymond: Is there anything else I may help you with today?
jennifer: yeah, get some customer service training
I purchased the magicJack Plus and installed it today. The installation was no problem (you have to install the new magicJack Plus using the USB in your computer). I was able to keep my old magicJack telephone number. The problem now is that I can’t get the softphone (dial pad) to load when the magicJack Plus is connected to my router. I can dial out using a phone and the call goes through. I can also call (using my cell) my magicJack Plus telephone number and the call goes through. If I then go to my computer the message (voice Mail) will be in my email account so everything is working except no softphone (dial pad) using the Ethernet cable. With no softphone you can’t see you contact list, can’t add people to your contact list, can’t call from the computer using the dial pad or retrieve voice mail. I was on the phone with the tech people for almost an hour. They ended up telling me the softphone was not part of the magicJack Plus features. It is funny it took almost an hour of trying different thing to be told it was not available with magicJack Plus. Has anyone else had this problem? if so, how was it corrected – if it was corrected.
Fred,
You are correct. When used without a computer the MJ+ exhibits the behavior you describe. I don’t think this behavior can be corrected. The MJ+ is a different device than the original MJ. The first time I used the MJ was for this review. I didn’t see the differences in the operation of the softphone and direct connection modes as an issue. When on the road I use the softphone version. When at home I use the direct connect version and have all my phone numbers stored in the phone.
Thank you for pointing out these differences.
Thanks for the information Bill. I thought maybe the tech guy I was talking to didn’t know what he was talking about, and that is why he could not help me. I can also switch between the MJ and the MJ+ as I still have about 4 years (I paid in advance the yearly service fee) left on my service with MJ. I am curious how people that get the MJ+ and don’t have the MJ can get upgrades. I always used my softphone to select the menu and then clicked on the upgrade. I guess you can also go to the website for upgrads. Fred
@Fred
That’s interesting. Glad to hear your impressions on the MJ+. Can you share with us where you ordered it from? I really want to buy one, but all I ever find are the old magicJacks. I want to buy a magicJack Plus, and I don’t want one of the old ones. My bill with Bell is $100/month, so if MJ+ works for me, I’m hoping to drop that bill from my life. For those savings, I’m willing to live with some lesser inconveniences, so long as it works. But first I have to get one. I just can’t seem to find where to get it.
Thanks,
Peter
Hi Peter,
I called the magicJack number to find out to purchase the the MJ+ and the person told me to call 1-800-509-1709. If I remember right I had to place the order with a machine which is a pain in the b_ _ because you can’t talk to a live person, or anyway the day I called (8-14-11) that was the set up. I requested regular shipping and the MJ+ arrived via USPS on 8/17/11. I didn’t see any reason to pay extra for shipping. By the way the MJ people told me that the MJ+ was only available from MJ (calling the number above) at this time, it is not in any retail stores. Fred
TO: Bill Kuch,
Do you know if you can say have the MJ+ connected to your modem or router and then take the older MJ on the road to use while traveling? In another words, I would like to leave my MJ+ connected to my modem or router for my desktop, then when I travel with my laptop I would take the older MJ with me to use with the laptop. MJ would not let me transfer my service agreement (5 years in advance that I paid last year) to the new MJ+ so it would not be a complete wast of money if I can use both as described above.
Thanks,
Fred
Fred,
If you have two MJs with different phone numbers and accounts, I don’t see why you couldn’t do what you suggest. If you want to be able to answer calls from the MJ+ while on the road, you could forward from the MJ+ to the older MJ.
Bill,
I guess I am out of luck as I have the same number for both MJ and MJ+ Had I thought about this situation when I purchased the MJ+ I would have gotten a different number. I will contact MJ and see if I can get a different number for the MJ+.
Thanks,
Fred
@ Fred
Thanks Fred. I used that number and ordered a magicJack PLUS. I received my confirmation in email this morning and expect it by Friday or Monday.
Much appreciated!
Peter
So what exactly is the advantage now in purchasing the MJ+ given that it is priced the same as the netTalk Duo?
In Canada, one advantage would be local numbers. MJ+ has a ton of area codes to pick from compared to NetTalk Duo.
I’m betting NTD is an awesome product, and from the sounds of it, it has great support. And if the MJ+ doesn’t pan out, I have no qualms about getting a NTD once the MJ+ year runs out.
But local numbers are important to me.
does the magicjack+ have the annoying music on old that cant be disabled?
Hi, I read everything here and on http://www.magicjacksupport.com/ordering-magicjack-plus-from-800-707-5980-t10884.html , boy there a guy over there having all kinds of problems, and then called the 800-707-5980 number. I used my magicjack phone for larger numbers, carefully said and punch numbers for all questions and ordered MJ+. In about a day, I got a confirming email, they said: Thank you for your order of the magicJack on 08/25/2011. We have already shipped a trial magicJack to you on 10/10/2008. Due to the overwhelming demand for the magicJack, there is a limit of one trial magicJack order per customer. Your order will be processed but your card will be charged as per the detail below. You may edit or cancel your order by clicking the TECHNICAL HELP link below to contact customer support. I really don’t remember the free trial but OK.
Qty Item Description Price Ea Total Price Charge Date
—– ————————————————– ———- ————- ———–
1 magicJack PLUS/EasyPay 30 Day Money Back Guarantee 69.95 69.95 08/26/2011
1 Regulatory and Compliance Expense 3.55 3.55 08/26/2011
1 magicJack Express Tracking Mail 3.95 3.95 08/26/2011
————————–
ORDER TOTAL: $77.45
Your credit card will be charged on or after the
following date(s) for the amounts listed below
Date: 08/26/2011 Charge Amount: $77.45
Important: Please save this email for 30 days as it contains your Order Number.
I didn’t try Googlevoice to get the $49.95, but I went for the $3.95 3 day shipping. I would had been upset if I had to wait 2 months and then they shipped w/3 day shipping.
Today I got the shipping notice email and I an elated after the April, May, June, etc deadlines went by. Your magicJack is on its way to you via US Postal Service. Your tracking number is xxxx For your convenience you can track your package via the USPS’s website at this link: USPS Order Tracking
Yours truly,
magicJack
so It looks on the up and up. I was very apprehensive at first but it looks Ok to go ahead and get the jump on the millions that will want it when it officially gets offered. I should receive it Tuesday so if I’m not on here with a warning next week you’ll know all is well.
Magicjack has been a great product and I have saved thousands by firing Bell Telephone, I caught them stealing from me several times. I had the Public Service Commission on speed dial. The no-call system doesn’t really seem to work. I did couple my Magicjack to Google voice for my incoming calls, they have call block, a feature I dearly love. I block telemarketers, third party collection companies, etc. that I do not owe and refuse to talk to. I am also firing Windows because I am tired of paying for licenses and having to buy new equipment I didn’t need. My machines dual boot with Linux and after setup goodbye Microsoft you’re fired! Good luck everybody. Harry.
Looking at upgrading to the plus, I’m following this thread.
Well I got tried of waiting for magicjack plus sooooo I bought NETTALK and I’m here to report it work VERY VERY well and of course no computer needed. SORRY MJ .
Sorry to hear you couldn’t wait Andrew. MJ+ is available now. But it’s great to hear you are pleased with your Net Talk Duo. That is my backup plan if the MJ+ doesn’t work well.
But sorry to hear you got tired of waiting, especially since it’s been available to order now for probably 2 weeks or so.
Good luck!
Try the obitalk adapter with google voice.. its been extremely grrr8 with grr8 call quality
Just a quick vent.
Magic Jack seems to have brought every f’ing weirdo out of their caves over the last few months.
Very clearly people with s### computers and lousier broadband have been complaining endlessly about the voice quality. My Dell is now 9 yrs old and the call quality is excellent – I remember I had clarity issues with Verizon, directly through the phone – because they were using voip without telling anyone.
Then there was the issue often mentioned – it’s in your registry and can’t be deleted – mmm like internet explorer and a thousand other programs?
Then there was the advertising.
People are willing to pay $100’s per month for premium cable channels which inc endless ads and can’t stand a single tiny non-flashing, unchanging ad on the MJ window??? I wonder how many vegans refuse to board a bus in London because there’s an ad for Bisto on the outside?
Any single online newspaper page contains at least 12 ads, pop-ups and all sorts of distractions.
MJ is apparently a magnet for the looney bins.
It’s slightly ingenious, and it is cheap and works – end of story.
Buy it and enjoy it.
I recently had a call from Australia to Florida forwarded from the pc to my cellphone as I drove over the skyway bridge to St Pete and had 30 minutes of perfect reception – for next to nothing.
Not certain I’ll spring for the plus – I like the softpad on my pc, but I am t-totally happy with the existing MJ.
End of rant – time for bed here.
@Paddy
Love your comments. I’ve thought this numerous times while reading posts on some forums. Practically free telephone service. I’m thinking people should be a little accepting of occasional service issues.
But I still haven’t received my MJP, so I can’t say yet!
@ Fred Hampton
I read over at magicjacksupport.com that if you have both MJ and MJ+ connected to a computer that both would ring when your number s dialed. It should be easy enough to test first without trying to get complete second number. Only downside I suppose is you probably cannot use both MJ’s at the same time so if someone is making a phone call at home, you probably won’t be able to make a call while on the road.
http://www.magicjacksupport.com/my-magicjack-plus-is-here-t11124.html
I wonder if you can have the MJ+ connected to a router and the PC via USB at the same time. Maybe you would get the softphone when the PC is on but then still receive and make phone calls when it is off? I would double check any manuals before trying this.
I should have re-read the website I listed as a source. According to scotty200 you can dial out from both MJs at the same time. You just can’t call yourself and pick up the phone on the other MJ.
I live in Canada and both the nettalk duo and magicjack plus have my area code available. What id like to know is how much is the initial cost and subsequent years to have mjp in Canada. With duo it is a $79.99 upfront (includes first year) then $39.99 for every year after that. Also what features am i missing out on if i take either of them?
Ronin,
Here’s the info from the PR sheet I received with the test MagicJack Plus unit: “The device will be offered for $50 and will include the first year of service…This final release date is targeted for eary July.”
As part of the review unit I received an account. Looking at the renew tab it states the subsequent years are $29.95 each or 5 years for $99.95.
As to features I would consider them to be equal.
Where can you pick up MagicJack Plus for $50 including the first year of service? I was just on a chat with their support and they quoted $69.95.
Anyone know when this might hit the shelves of the retail stores? The support contact I chatted with did not know.
Thanks Bill! Where are you in Canada or US…I think there’s a difference between US numbers and Canadian numbers isnt there? Where can i see rates online?
When I first read about the MJ+ being available for order some people were able to get it for $49.95 but the price quickly went up to $69.95. I just got done chatting with MJ support as well and there is an additional 4.8% ‘regulatory fee’ (? sales tax ?) and S&H is $7.95 so total order would be $81.26. Additional years of service are also now $29.95 unless you opt to order 5-years of service for $99.95. I read somewhere that this might be 5-years INCLUDING the 1-year that comes with the device so technically they are only adding an additional 4 years..
I’m guessing MJ changed their prices to match that of the NetTalk Duo which also sells for $69.95 and additional years of service costs $29.95. However, NetTalk occasionally does coupon codes and it looks like they don’t charge sales tax. See the website below which suggests there might be a 25% off coupon but some people say it doesn’t work.
http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/expired-deals/1063037/
Based on the above it is cheaper to go with the NetTalk unless you opt for the 5 years of service with MJ.
MJ does offer numbers for Canada, but I think there is an additional fee of $10 to get one. I’m not sure if NetTalk offers Canadian numbers. MJ also offers number portability for a fee (not sure how much $) while NetTalk does not.
I also asked with MJ support and if you already have an older MJ unit it would continue to work with the additional years of service you would get when purchasing the MJ+.
It looks like the MJ+ price is variable number. Thanks Kevin for the information. Ronin, I live in the USA.
I just double checked my math. If you were able to get the 25% off on the NetTalk, after 5 years @ $29.95/year it would cost about the same as if you had bought the MJ+ and selected 5 years of service. The difference is $1.
MJ+
$69.95 * 1.048 + $7.95 + $99.95 = $181.21
Duo
$69.95 * 0.75 + $9.95 + 4 * $29.95 = $182.21
The PR person that hooked us up with the MagicJack Plus review sample sent this info:
Julie –
I have some updates for you on the magicJack Plus:
* The magicJack Plus will be officially available this week on
http://www.magicJack.com
retailers before the holidays.
* Number porting capability will be included.
* The magicJack Plus will be sold for $69.95 but all current users of the
original magicJack will be able to upgrade for only 50% of that cost for
60 days. This will include the device and first year of service.
* Renewal will remain at the $29.95 annual rate. This is an increase from
what it has been in the past. It was always 19.95 before, now it will be
$29.95. This is the first price increase magicJack has ever had.
* Also, a magicJack mobile app called magicJack APP for iPad, iPhone and
iTouch (effectively turning the iTouch into a phone a rather cheap one)
is in the works which should be available by the end of the fall.
Thanks Julie! I have been waiting for news like this before I went and purchased the new MJ+.
Julie, is this the price in US or Canada? The ordinary MJ added $10 a year to both the initial cost and the annual fee for a Canadian number…is this still true for MJ+?
Julie, you write that “all current users of the original magicJack will be able to upgrade for only 50% of that cost” ($69.95). Did you take advantage of that offer, and if so, how? Apparently at present you can’t get MJ PLUS online – it’s only avail through the toll-free tel #, which does not let you speak with a human being. I just inquired w/someone from MJ cust service via e-chat, who assured me that this 50% off discount does not exist (or as he said, “as of now there are no discounts or promos for current magicJack users when you order a magicJack plus device. The magicJack plus is a different device than a magicJack.”) So if you got this discount, pls advise how. thanks
@Stan I don’t have the details. But will try to get someone from MJ to leave a comment here…
Could someone out there with a magic jack plus give me some answers on the following:
1. Can that small device power one corded phone (I believe a REN of 1) AND using a splitter power up my unused second line (yellow and black wires) which I would like to connect a couple of cordless phones (I believe the cordless phones have a REN of close to 0 but there obviously would be some resistance on the phone wiring in my home). I cannot find any info on what this device can power and I am not able to find out the answer using a google search. I’m hoping some of you have tried this and know. Someone must have tried to plug in X number of corded power hungry phones and finally found the limit on when the phones no longer rang and/or worked. Vonage says their device can power up to 5 phones which I believe can all be corded. I’m all for cordless phones for their convenience, but I want to err on the side of caution when it comes to my kids and exposing them to cell phone and cordless phone radiation.
Well, ended up getting Nettalk Duo and I am extremely pleased with the voice quality and ease of use! Turns out it is the same price as MJ+ ($69 startup, $29 annual fee) plus $10 a year for a Canadian number, except you get live tech support as well!! Picked it up at Best Buy too with a gift card I already had which means hassel-free return without having to ship it back, although I’m extremely doubting I’ll be doing that. 🙂
The MagicJack plus is now available through magicjack.com. I clicked the link for the ‘Free Trial’ and then entered my log-in information (I’m an existig MJ customer). It then brings me to an order page but the MJ+ is still full price. No 50% off discount.
I dug my way to the MagicJack chat support and asked about it. The first person I chatted with simply told me there is no discount and then the chat got disconnected. Second person told me the same thing and that they are not affiliated with the-gadgeteer.com. However when asked if they might offer a discount he/she said “I cannot give you any specific time on that as its not available yet. I do not want to give any false information to you , I hope you understand that.”
So no discount as of yet, but maybe sometime soon? Julie, can you verify with your MJ contact about this 50% off discount for existing customers and ask how to get it?
I too check with MJ chat member, But he said, there is no discount and also no plan upgrade or migration. since, im already in MJ 5 years plan.
Please let us know, what is the benefit for existing customers ?
It’s been a while, but I thought I’d update my experience so far on the magicJack PLUS. I received it a week ago, took 3 weeks to get it, but it arrived. As advertised, I plugged it in, and I had dialtone. from the control options I made a change or two from the default settings, ie.: volume levels and in my case 3G instead of broadband since my internet access is delivered to my home via Bell Mobility.
I must say, WOW. I was worried. You hear from all the negative nannies when you read online forms/blogs. But I held to it and tried the magicJack PLUS anyways. And so far I’m glad I did. The quality is better than I expected. My wife was very pleased, and I’m sure she was concerned it was a gimmicky gadget that would sound horrible or just not work as advertised.
Well I’m so please to report, the mJP works great! I will be keeping my land line for perhaps another month while I test drive the mJP, but after that, and if all goes as expected, we’ll port our land line number over to mJP.
I highly recommend this to people. Everybody I talk to I comment on our new phone service. I’m certain the NetTalk Duo is just as great. But I’ll be keeping my mJP for sure. In Canada, $40/year? Per year? I mean come on… I’ve been paying $100/month to Bell for my land line with long distance plan. There are no other carriers where I live, which is in the countryside. So to go from $100/month to $3/month is a massive savings. On my last Bell bill they tell me they will be adding an additional $5/month charge to make up for costs in rolling out their new FibreOP service to customers. Well that’s not even available in my location. But they’ll make me pay for it anyways, won’t they?
People? Get a mJP! Or for that matter, a NetTalk Duo if you are so inclined. I can’t brag enough about our new little gadget.
It cost us $84 after taxes and shipping, and renewal next year is $40, or less if we bundle a few years. You can’t beat that. If you are bargain hunting, looking so hard to save an extra few bucks on a discount, just think of it in terms of how much you are already saving by dropping your current carrier… I’ll be saving approximately $100/month. Don’t wait for a discount, how much are you paying now for your carrier? Won’t dropping them be the savings you are looking for?
Good luck to all. It’s a good decision.
Oh, and my experience with the online support has not be negative either. I logged in to ask them some questions, and they were very polite and helpful. Not at all what I was braced for from reading horror stories on forums.
Regards!
Need some advice on MagicJack Plus, I have kids studying in the US, and I am based in India, so there is substantial calling to the US from India.
As I understand it, I can buy a MJP in the US, ship it to India, connect it to my router, and have a US dial tone, and can call my kids unlimited, is this true, is this possible?
Vic,
From the MagicJack FAQs “magicJack is ideal for friends, family and associates in other countries; they can use a magicJack the same way you do to make and receive calls to United States and Canada.
It is a great way to save on international calling for anyone outside the United States and Canada.”
It will do what you want!
Vic, I think my previous comment (#23) could at least partially answer your question. I had no problem to use MJ (not plus) in China. Hopefully it helps.
“BDL July 24, 2011 at 6:00 pm
I am a long time MagicJack (not plus) and Nettalk user. I also have Obi110 (for google vioce). I would say they are all work well most of the time inside USA. However, if you travel to other countries, it will be a different story. I travel to China frequently. Acutally I am in Guangzhou China now. I have a Magicjack and a Nettalk (first version, not due) with me. When I got in my hotel room, I connected Nettalk first because it does not need PC. However nomatter how many times I tried, I still could not get it work. I called my office and home (in USA), it always gave me a busy tone. Then I turn on my laptop and connected magicjack, it worked very well. I just spoke with my co-work for about 20 mins. There was no problem at all. So in my experience, Magicjack works in China, Nettalk does not. It is this kind of case at least in the cites I traved Harbin and Guangzhou. I am waiting for Magicjack plus released to jump in. I will keep you guys updated.”
I just talked to a rep and they told me the following details and EXTRA FEES associated with porting a number to the MJ+
$19.95 one time porting fee
+
$9.95/year annual fee to keep ported number on top of the already $29.95/year fee.
That came out of the blue, and I feel like they are abusing their user base by implementing sneaky fees like that. This is truly very disappointing to hear. I hope Net Talk Duo comes out with Number porting soon, which will be the deciding factor for me.
I just bought the MJ+ yesterday, and I’m just waiting for it to ship.
I read a few posts about porting numbers, and wanted to double check the following
Is it possible to take your existing Rogers phone number with area code and transfer it to MJ+? I realize there’s an extra charge, but for the convience of not having to tell everyone your new number this would be amazing.
I spoke with a Magicjack customer service representative via chat line. The Magicjack Plus can’t be ordered on line yet, but you can get it by call #800-509-1709. I upgraded shipping for an additional $3.99 and received it in three days as promised. It cost $69.99 (my total was approximately $82.00) for one year and $29.99 if you opt for an additional year. If I’m not mistaken, it’s $59.99 for five years. Of course, you can always increase your years of coverage via the Magicjack website at a later date.
@ctbear
Let me see.
Initial Setup Costs:
Buy the magicJack PLUS + tax + shipping = $85
Port number into magicJack Plus Directory = $20
Additional cost for Canadian area code = $10
__________________________________=$115
Annual Renewal Charges:
Annual fee for maintaining my number = $10
Annual renewal of magicJack PLUS service = $30
Additional cost for Canadian area code = $10
__________________________________=$50
All prices are either initial setup or annual, not monthly.
People pay more than this for a couple bottles of wine. Heck these days you can barely drive through a McDonalds drive-thru and get away without paying more than $10/adult, after tax. Even to sit and watch a show, eat some chips and drink a soda or beer, you are going to spend $10. And some people, not many mind you, even pay $15/month to play computer games online. So for a telephone? $115 initial setup charge, including the first year service (less than $10/month), then the following year pay $50 (barely more than $4/month)? I’m sorry, it’s hard to complain about that.
Consider that even on the cheap, a land phone with no plan or package added for features or long distance will likely cost you $40/month, or $480/year. Or if you are using Vonage or some other VoIP carrier you are probably paying a minimum of $20/month, or $240/year. Where I live, I can’t even bundle TV/PHONE/INTERNET, so my phone with a long distance plan actually costs our household a stellar $105/month, or $1,260/year.
When I “crunch” those numbers, I get a yearly savings of $1,210/year, and that’s with keeping my ported number for the extra $10/year.
I’m just sayin’. I am not going to complain about that last $10 charge. mJP is saving our house enough money to buy a new Macbook Air or iMac every year.
So many people are complaining about the cost of mJP. I’m a little confused about why. Does saving $10/year, or $0.83/month really mean that much? $0.03/day.
And who said they are hiding this? They told you about it when you inquired didn’t they? Should they post that in bold on their main website? Every company has costs and charges not unlike that fee. Just call a carrier in your area and ask about call display, call waiting, call whatever, and how much they charge for each one if you don’t package them.
/end rant
I’m not a fanboy of mJP, or any other product, although I really like my mJP and I’m not giving it back. I’m just a fan of common sense.
Well said Peter!
I think you summed up what everyone eventually realizes; some sooner than later…
@BDL- the new version of nettalk works through computer the way you used mj in China. At this point I would say that the duo and mj+ are the same. I didn’t have to pay shipping but that will change once mj+ comes to stores here in Canada.
hi. anyone could help me upgrade to mj plus. i keep reading on current mj subscribers that they will be given 50% but when i chat to mj they say no. pls. help me, i really want to upgrade because i don’t want my pc to be on for 24 hrs every single day. thanks.
The old majic will go into voice mail after three ring tones. Does majic plus improve this annoying fuction so I don’t have pay the software “majic ring forever”??
Just an update on being able to buy the MJ+ locally.
Radio Shack will be carrying these in the stores for $69.99. They are supposed to ship to the stores this week. Not sure how accurate that is because I just checked the warehouse and they are not available there yet, so it may be next week.
It is supposed to be a Radio Shack exclusive thru the end of October. Not sure who will be selling it then, but probably many of the same places that are selling the standard MJ.
@Kit Kimes
Where did you get this insider information from? That is exciting to know. I hope Radio Shack has a good return policy like that of Fry’s Electronics. So are you saying ONLY Radio Shack will be selling the MJ+ exclusively until after October?
When I first heard of the new Magicjack plus back in April, I wanted to be the first out of the gate to get one. I have been a magicjacj user for two years, during which time it has worked almost faultlessly. Therefore, my expectations of the new Magicjack were very high. In this regard, I am very disappointed. When plugged into my modem, the speech is very choppy at times,reminiscent of the early days of the original MJ. I have checked the speed of my modem and get the following readings which seem to be adequate for VOIP purposes.
Download speed 2.57 Mbps
Upload speed 685 KBPS
Quality service 99%
The unit seems to function a little better when connected to my PC. However, the whole point of getting the MJ plus, was to have a permanent connection. What am I doing wrong? I hate to go on the chat line for MJ, since there is always a run around and frankly the customer service is not that great.
Hi Graham,
Try this. I had a similar initial experience until I noticed an option in the MJP controls. Plug mJP into your computer/laptop and run the mJP program. When the dial-pad comes up, look near the very top. There you should see bullets for either Broadband or 3G. I am on a 3G network, but have great upload/download speeds. So initially I selected Broadband. It was choppy and sometimes dropped the call. After a day or two I noticed this option to select 3G. I’m not sure what it changes, perhaps MTU or audio compression. But that one little change fixed everything, now I’m pleased to say my phone conversation experience is possibly better than any phone I’ve used in the past.
I hope that helps.
Thanks Peter. I follwed your suggestion. I managed to have an almost faultless twenty minute converstion. However, another call came in on the other partys line and the choppiness started again. I can live with that if it is only related to other incoming calls I also ran Itunes through my router at the same time as talking on the phone and it seemed to handle both well. Thanks for your help and prompt reply.
Hi Graham. So glad that helped. Hopefully your next two years with mJP will be as faultless as your first two years with your old MJ.
Heck, I hope mine will be also!
Hi again, Well I do not want to sound too optimistic, but I think I have resolved completely my poor sound quality. I moved the unit to a differentel ectrical outlet which seems to have helped. I have one question however. When the unit is plugged into the modem, it becomes separated from the soft phone, since it is using it’s own processor which I understand is the basis for the MJ plus. Therefore any adjustments to the soft phone application when plugged directly into a PC would not take effect when operating from the modem since the unit does not have access to software within your PC. Am I correct with this assumption??
I hope that my problem has been solved since I am dying to give Bell Canada the old heave ho. $80.00 per month for phone service is outrageuous compared with $29.95 per year with MJ.
Hi Graham. I run my mJP plugged into my router, not on my computer. After making my changes via the soft phone (plugged in to my computer USB), I then moved the mJP away from my computer and plugged it into the wall power as you have. It retained my setting changes. I know this because my first attempts of using mJP plugged into the wall power was were filled with choppy calls. But afterwards I plugged usb into computer, changed settings to 3G network through the soft phone, then plugged back into wall. Now my calls are stutter free.
Did that make sense?
From that, I consider it to be retaining settings changed via the soft phone.
What exactly do you mean by a deferential electrical outlet?
Sorry Peter my typing is bad. I meant a different electrical outlet. I had so much stuff plugged into one outlet and wondered if was causing interference. That is interesting about the adjustments being retained when disconnecting from the PC. So that little unit does retain information provided from the software in your PC. That is good since it may become necessary to upgrade from time to time. Now that the plus is going to become so popular, do you think that their circuits will become overloaded since everyone will be connected at all times? I remember in the early days that there were times when all circuits were busy when the original MJ was gaining popularity.
Alright. I plug my mJP into a power outlet on it’s own, so I suppose that’s the same as you are saying.
Regarding busy circuits, I can’t imagine that would happen. And if so, it would be because of popularity, not due to a disconnect from the PC. Since the new mJP is a small router of sorts, on it’s own, I believe it would only maintain a very small circuit footprint, only so much as to let the exchange know it’s up and listening… But I’m just assuming. I can’t believe it would be any other way.
It never crossed my mind I may contribute to network congestion! Haha!
Oh, and best of luck giving Bell the boot! I’ll be doing the same in a week! =)
I purchased the MJPlus so I wouldn’t have to have it hooked into my computer and have it on for the phone to work. I’ve had good phone quality; however, the date/time setting doesn’t seem to work. It always shows either 1/1 or 1/2 and the time is way off! It seems to reset itself to one of those dates and the time as well. I set the time and date on my phone but when I receive a call, it resets to the wrong date/time as mentioned above. I can dial out without the date/time setting changing on the phone. All calls that shows on the caller ID have the wrong date/time. In addition, the answering machine on the phone (opted to use this instead of the MJ voicemail service), gives the wrong date/time of the messages since the MJ changes it when I receive the calls. I’ve tried to contact MJ ‘chat’ for customer service but the experience was horrible both times I tried. I spent over an hour each time and what they were telling me didn’t make sense. They offered me a replacement for $40 but I wouldn’t be able to return the one I received for 30 days free trial (that I was charged $70). When I checked the price of the MJPLus from customer service, they told me $49.95. I can make calls and receive calls but everything else is horrible (I get what I pay for)! Do you have any ideas on how to fix the date/time issue? Thanks.
Erica, I do not claim to be an expert. However, it sounds as though the problem lies with your phone and not the MJ Plus. Why don’t you try the phone on another line (if you have one) and see if you get the correct time and date for your calls. Just a suggestion.
Does it still have “Music on Hold” that can’t be disabled like the regular MJ?
i have the original magic jack i cant seem to find if there is an update option to get the plus, i want to keep my current magic jack number because i have a lot of contacts, as well as keep my remaining time that i purchased for it. is there a way to do this i cant find anything in the FAQ, thanks for any help.
Bryan. You have to purchase the new MJ plus either on line from their website or by a 1 800 number. Once you register the MJ plus, the first piece of information requested is your email address. This will trigger an option to either obtain a new number or keep your existing number. Your old MJ and the new MJ plus can share the same phone number. I hope that this helps.
Graham
I just got my MJ+ yesterday and I must say I’m impressed.
Works very very well, but it was a bit of a pain to install since I didn’t realize you need to click on the “Click Here” in the left banner of the softphone if upgrading from previous version. I thought you had to register the device as per normal (which isn’t the case).
I think I know why both the old & new magicjacks both work for the same number, They are attached to individual subscriptions and as such I expect the old MJ to stop working once its subscription expires (in my case Dec 26th 2011). It also explains why you can’t transfer the time remaining from the old version to the new magicjack plus (No big deal for me as I only have a couple of months left), but for those who have 5yr subscriptions its a royal pain.
Just to clarify a few things: I’ve ordered my MagicJackPlus today and the price, as of September 27, 2011, is now $69.95 AND each additional years of service is now $29.95 for the Plus model.
The regular computer-based model is still $39.95 and each additional year is still $19.95.
And also note that for Canadian customers only, of which I am, there is an additional $10 per year fee, and that there is a limited number of local numbers available. They’re adding new ones in batches from time to time, but there’s no guarantee that you’ll be able to have a number that isn’t long distance, even locally.
One of my friends has used a regular model for about 3 weeks now, and the call quality is great but there is a very small delay (.25 seconds) between his line and my regular land line. Not really a problem. I was only waiting for this Plus model to be available to get one, since I didn’t want my computer to be on all the time.
We’ll see if I’m still satisfied in 30 days….after I finally receive it!
I just upgraded to the MajicJack Plus. I cannot get the “Voice Message Indication” feature to work . I spent about 4 hours total with the MajicJack customer service and they could not resolve the issue. They tried resetting my voicemail and nothing. Does anyone know how to get this feature to work? Thanks
I’m in Shanghai,China.I’ve been using the Old magicjack for a year.At the begining,i had some bad experienced with it,but recently,it has improved a lot.I had renew it to 5 years now.I just saw the new Magicjack Plus.I want to buy the new one,but i see the price is much higher.Will i be able to keep or to transfer from the old magicjack the new 5 years contracts with the Magicjack Plus ? Does the magicjack have a plan for those old customer with 5 years contracts to move to the new Magicjack Plus? i’m waiting for your comments guys…
Willy.
Hello Willy,
Unfortunately you will not be able to transfer your left over years from one to the other.
I ordered my MJ+, had it delieverd to Canada, regular shipping and it took 9 days. If you plan on keeping trak of it with USPS, I would say don’t waste your time. It said it left the main terminal the day after I bought it, and it never had another update.
I called Rogers yesterday, and cancelled my home phone number. This will save around $57 a month. MJ+ works out to be around $4 a month since there’s an additional charge for a Canadian area code.
Originally I was thinking of porting my Rogers phone number to my MJ, but I guess they weren’t able to do it at this time. But after looking at the available numbers, I was able to find an easy number to remember, and I like it better then my old number.
As far as people calling my old number, Rogers set it so when the old number is dialed, they mention the number has been changed to my current number, and they say the new number. This is available for free for one month. I didn’t enquire if it could last longer, but I’m sure for a fee it can.
I had posted a question on here in an earlier post asking if the MJ will power all the phones in the house, and it was unanswered. When I disconnected the Rogers phone box, I kept their phone wire & jack and instead of plugging a phone directly in the MJ, I plugged in the Jack that the Rogers box was plugged to. This now means the MJ is powering all the phone jacks in the house. So I can have all my phones, cordless, and corded phones all plugged in. I’m not sure if it affects the quality, but that’s how I’m keeping the set up.
There was another post, about some one saying the date & time was incoorect after using the MJ. This also happened to me. The issue is not with the MJ, it’s with your phone. All you have to do is go in the date functions and fix it yourself on your own phone.
Helpfill hint :
After purchasing the 5 year plan, don’t forget to log into MJ and insert the Plan Redemption Code in the tab of your subsrcptions. Although you might buy the 5 year plan, it’s not automatically put on your account. You have to do this yourself.
If you are an existing MJ owner, and have contacts, your new contacts are shared with the MJ+.
When you get the MJ+ you have to install it on the computer the first time you use it. You need to have the computer on to get your phone number, but after the initial setup you no longer need the computer, you just need to plug it into your router.
As for sound quality, it’s good, but not as good as a landline, but for the little difference in sound, and the BIG difference in price it doesn’t bother me at all.
I have a further update with regard to my recent purchase of MJ plus. I have been less than satisfied with the voice quality which at the comencement of a call seems fine. However after several mintes the quality becomes a little choppy. I believe after many different adjustments this may be casued due to the fact that I am using a DSL connection which is routed through my POTS Bell Canada line. Maybe there is a conflict between using VOIP over Bell Canada phone lines. The quality has been improved by connecting the modem to a diiferent phone jack and not having the POTS phone with a filter attached sharing a connection . However, it is not as clear as my land line. Maybe, I should switch my internet provider to a cable company rather than using ADSL When connected to my PC the MJ plus works just fine. So much for my plan to dump Bell Canada. However these problems pale in comparison to my having to deal with the company. I originally ordered my MJ plus over the 1800 line. It was horrendous having to negotiate through the sales pitch of additional magicjacks along with additional services. Obviously I failed in this regard since I have recieved only one Magicjack plus but have been billed an addtional $176.00 over and above the $140.00 charged for the MJ I recieved. I have spent countless hours on the chat line trying to resolve this issue. So far they have issued a credit for only part of this amount and they still owe me $101.00. I just cannot deal with these incompetent people any further and will just write of the hundred bucks to experience. My advice to anyone buying the new MJ plus is to wait until it becomes available at retail outlets such as Best Buy or Future Shop. I purchased my original MJ two and a half years ago when vacationing in Florida from Best Buy and had no problems at all. In the meantime, if anyone has thoughts or experience using MJ plus on DSL os opposed to staight cable, I would like to know.
Hello Graham,
All I could suggest to people trying to order these is, order direct from the website. That way you know exactly what you’re clicking on. Originally I purchased (2) since my parents wanted one, but my mom got nervous (lol) and backed out. I was able to email before they shipped the product out and knock my order down to (1).
As for Bell and cable (Rogers), I have Rogers for my internet provider, so I’m not facing the same challenges you are since you’re using a phone line as your internet source. I’ve only had the MJ+ for 2 days, and I haven’t had any bad experience. I also dumped Rogers as my phone provider to start saving money right away.
I guess you could try switching from Bell to Rogers.
I just came from Magicjack.com website, and I see they are charging $79.95 for the plus unit and $7.95 shipping. Are you getting a discount for $50.00 for the unit and the first year, or are they just getting greedy?
Joe
Update on the MJ+.
A few things crept up in my usage which I’m trying to work out, but overall I’m very happy and it saves alot of money and well worth it.
1. Incoming caller hears beeps which we don’t here.
2. I noticed the MJ+ defaulted to headset instead of telephone (I would think that most people are plugging it into a power outlet, therefore setting to telephone is the proper setting), to change the setting you need to plug the MJ+ into the PC and run the softphone app.
3. I also noticed my settings showed aircard 3G when in fact I have an ADSL connection. (Again this setting needed to be changed via the softphone).
I will give an update in a week or so after I test how well these changes work out.
John.
I forgot 1 other thing….
The time on my phone is correct, but incoming calls have the wrong timestamp (wrong time displayed) thats because when you plug the MJ+into the power outlet the time starts at 12:00am, what this means is everytime there is a power interuption your MJ+ will default back to 12:00am just like any other appliance (microwaves & stoves come to mind) unfortunately there is no way to set the correct time on the device except to get up just before midnight to unplug the MJ+ then plug the device back in at 12 midnight.
John
ATTN: John
Hello John, regarding your post “Update on the MJ+” #1. I have had my MJ+ for about a month and half. My callers also tell be they hear a beep, but I don’t hear it. I have my MJ+ hook up to my router. I hope someone can tell us how to fix that problem. My callers also say that they miss part of my conversation because of this beep.
#2. I don’t use a headset so don’t have any problem there. I believe I have my MJ+ set on telephone.
#3. I am not technically inclined 🙂 so I don’t know even where to look to see what my settings show. In fact I don’t even know what I have. I get my service from our local TV cable supplier and it is wireless.
Fred
Louis, You can hook up all your phones in the house but it will be a little tricky. Depending on how your house is set up. You might just be able to plug your MJ+ into a regular phone jack on the wall and it will go to all the jacks in the house. On the other hand, on most newer homes (1980’s and up) the homes were wired in what is called home runs (individule lines run back to a main box by your electrical panel) or if the builder was cheap and wired in series (then you would onlt have 2 lines at the electrical panel area) If your not familur with phone lines, your looking for a box or even a block with 2 studs and nuts by the electrical panel or close by. Either way all the lines should be connected somewhere. Try just pluging a line from the MJ+ to the wall and see what you get. Another option would be to get some one in and set up your home with BIX combs and data cat 5 line to make it work nicely. If you want to contact me, you can send an e-mail to [email protected] Use to work for Ma Bell and live in Durham Region.
Also would like to know where you got the MJ+ and how is it working. Been looking at getting one and reading all the sites.
I’m moving soon and I am considering MagicJack Plus. What I’m wondering, will it work with my DirecTV setup, for dvr service and ordering movies? The concept is great, but will it work with the satellite TV?
I don’t want to leave my PC on 24/7 so connecting to my USB port does not appear to be a choice.
I’m confused how to connect the Magicjack device to my PC via the only “network adapter” aka LAN connection port on my PC as my modem is already plugged in there. How can I connect the Magicjack device to my system as I have described it?
Also, I’m wondering if I could just plug the magicjack device into another phone jack bypassing my PC altogther and then discontinue the phone sevice and continuing my internet service.
You don’t plug the Magicjack+ into the LAN port on the PC (Its meant to be plugged into a router which is normally between your modem & PC), you plug the Magicjack+ into the AC power adapter and run the supplied ethernet cable from the magicjack+ to your router. This setup completely bypasses your computer
Modem —> Router —> PC
^
The MJ+ ——|
sorry my graphic didn’t work
Hello John,
I was able to disconnect the box that Rogers had, and hook up my MJ+, and power up all my jacks in the house.
Marsha,
I was waiting for someone to chime in who used the MJ+ with Direct TV. All I can say is on the MJ website the FAQs advise against using the MJ with TIVO, so I’m guessing that would be similar to Direct TV. You could always try it and if it doesn’t work, send it back with 30 days for a refund.
I ordered my MagicJack Plus last week. We’re trying it out to see if we keep it or not. However, we’re having the same problem as Erica with the date & time. I fixed the date but the calls keep showing different times and dates. It’s not the phone because we still have our regular land line and when the phone is connected to the land line it shows the correct date on the calls. Has anybody else experienced this problem and fixed it?
The only fix for time from incoming calls is to plug your magicjack in at midnight.
By default it starts the time at 12:00am every time it gets plugged in or when there is power if there is a power outage.
Thank you John.
Another thing, two people have told me that they hear a beeping noise on the other end, like if I’m pressing the buttons on the phone. I don’t hear anything on my end, though. I found a couple old threads on this issue with the previous MJ but the “fixes” don’t seem to work anymore. Any ideas?
The beeping (sounds like key presses) and pauses are a known issue, I chatted with online support about it earlier today (I have the same issue) and they told me I had to unplug my MJ+ for a minute then plug it back in (after chatting with them) as they needed to change something with my account.
Not knowing what they did and not having tested the change, I can not answer whether it fixed the problem (I’ll update in a few days).
Together we will figure things out, I did suggest to them that to fix the timestamp issue that the Magicjack+ unit could get its time directly from the PC thus when you change to the power adapter (hopefully quickly) the time should be very accurate (maybe off by a minute) which is better than it is now.
John.
Time & Date
I not sure if this is the fix but I believe the time and date reverts to Jan 1st after a phone call is that the phone is set to update the date & time at the time of every call. I went in the phone program, and set it to update manually instead of, after each caller.
I haven’t had a call since I did this, but I believe this might be the easy fix.
Does anyone have experience connecting the MJ plus to a DSL modem? When connected to my PC the sound quality is fine. However when connected to the DSL modem, the sound is intermittently choppy (words are clipped) I have tried plugging and unplugging both the modem and MJ with little effect. I have conducted tests on my modem which gives adequate readings to support VOIP. Any suggestions??
Hi Graham
You need to chat with online support and explain the pausing issue as I did, they need to change something from their end to fix your account. Again they will ask you to unplug your device so they can make the change then have you plug it back in.
hopefully it helps. Seems to have helped here so far but then again we’ve only had 2 calls since the change.
@Louis…
Our phones time is setup correctly, the problem is the timestamp on incoming calls (caller ID date & time) is off. Thanks for the idea though.
Thanks John I did call the support line and they refreshed my account. I made a perfect call with no sound issues then had a crappy one to the UK. I may have made an interesting discovery. I also have skype and use skype mate which is a USB box connected to my POTS line. Could this be interferring with my MJ since tmy internet connection comes through my phone line??
John,
Thanks. I asked MJ tech if/when I get a new modem, which has two or four ports, if I still need a router to use with Magicjack Plus and she said no;just hook the phone line to magicjack then to modem via ethernet cable and another ethernet cable from the modem to PC. Is the order of the connections correct.
The tech also said I could use a “splitter” instead of a router just as you described the connection with a router previously.
That sounds correct Nick.
A lot of great information from everybody. I’m thinking of using MJ+, but I’m confused as to how to connect it up to my DSL black box from AT&T. Do I just exchange MJ+’s for my telephone line and reconnect my telephone line to MJ+’s black box and use my land line wireless phone system as normal. Example:
AT&T DSL box Ethemet outlet and unplug it from the computer and plug in MJ+’s wire into the Ethemet outlet, then plug in the Ethemet wire into MJ+’s black box and then my land base telephone line into MJ+’s black box so it’s connected to my telephone system which has 4 remote wireless hand held receivers and connect the Ethemet line to the computer.
Thanks for your help.
I am having the same “beeping” problem that other MJ+ users are talking about i.e., it beeps intermittently on incoming calls, but only the other person can hear it. Also, the date and time on my phone is reset to 01/01 and 12:00 am with every incoming call (after resetting it between calls). Over the past week, I have contacted twice and they tried to change the settings on my account at their end and had me unplug and plug-in my MJ+ into my router and power supply on first occasion, but to no avail. On the second occasion, the CSR had me connect my MJ+ to my computer and download and install the softphone app upgrade. The MJ+ worked well when connected to my computer, but the issues (beeping and date/time reset with incoming calls) were back the moment I started using the MJ+ by directly connecting it to my router.
Will try contacting customer service again to see if they have any other ideas….
Date & Time Issue
I have a Panosonic phone, and I was able to correct this issue by :
To fix this issue, go to “Set Date & Time”, then go to Time Adjustment, then it brings you to Time Adjustment, set that to “Manual” instead of “Caller ID”.
This way when the phone rings, it’s not adjusting the time byitself when a caller rings. I’ve had several phone calls coming in, with the proper date & time when they called.
@Jolly
From my reading you have one ethernet cable you are planning on plugging in three places. That doesn’t sound right. In general, if you want to connect multiple destinations to a router, you need to add a switch so you have enough ports.
HTH,
Brad.
Louis,
Thanks but unfortunately not all phones are the same. I have a Uniden cordless phone and it doesn’t have that option. It’s a pretty simple phone, you just go under “Date & Time” and fix it. But even if you fix it, incoming calls won’t have the right time.
John, I did what you said last night. I unplugged my MJ+ and plugged it back in at 12:00am and now the time is correct on the calls. It sucks, though, that when it gets disconnected it will restart itself again. Perhaps getting a Panasonic phone like Louis will help.
Just wondering where I can order the MagicJack Plus in Canada…tks…
I picked up a new MJ+ at a local Radio Shack in San Jose, CA last night (1st shipment of about a dozen just came in). Set up was quick & simple as I recalled with the previous model. I connected it to my PC USB port and waited a few minutes for it to complete installation of sw on my PC. Got ring tone immediately after sw install, test dialed my house & cell#. I didn’t register cuz wanted to use the free 30 min of call to test it out. I then removed it from my PC & plugged it into the AC adapter, connecting a CAT5 cable from a port on my Wi-Fi router to the MJ+ LAN port & a phone line to my cordless phone. Called a friend on a MJ# for about 10min, call quality was clear both sides. Called another friend landline# & talked to him for 20 min (call disconnected when the 30min free was up). The call quality was excellent cuz he didn’t know I called on a VoIP til I told him & asked for feedback on sound quality 10 min into the conversation. He didn’t notice any beeps or choppy audio, so that’s a good sign. I tried to register last night, but their servers were down for maintenance, so will try tonight. It looks like a keeper thus far. I’ve been waiting for this MJ+ in the past 2 yrs to use it as my main line & cancel my ATT landline, so I can finally execute my plan now. Will try to update my review in a couple of months.
I don’t think you can order it directly from a store yet, but just go to MagicJack.com, and order it direct from the website.
It’s safe, and you might as well order the 5year plan, it’s worth it.
It takes roughly 9 days for delivery (Free delivery).
If you do get a plan of any sort, you have to register it when you log on to Magic Jack. See post 118.
I don’t know about retail availability in Canada yet, but it seems that retail stores in US are expecting delivery of MJ+ in Oct. Mon 10/3 I checked with a local Fry’s and were told they expect delivery next week. I then decided to check with a Radio Shack near my house on 10/4. After a few minutes opening boxes in the stockroom, the guy brought out about a dozen just arrived. So it’s worth a try to check with local electronic stores if you’re in the US.
I registered my new MJ+ tonight and made a few calls already. No issues with call quality that I’m aware of.
John
I am having the same issue with the beeping sound from my callers. Did the MJ+ customer service correct the problem for you?
Tom
Not yet tom, I have a couple of ideas I’m going to try. 1. Putting a DSL filter between the majicjack & the phone. 2… splitting the cat5e cable right out the modem, then having the mj connected to one port and my router on the other.
After talking with the crack tech team over there :lol … I believe the touch tones (beeping) that we are hearing could be a result of interference. I have lots of wireless devices around my place and things which could cause interference including my neighbours phones possibly.
I’ll keep trying things and let you know if any of them solve the issue.
I don’t know if it’s just a coincidence, but the beeping only happened when speaking to people out of state. Every time I need to speak to my husband I call from the MJ as much as possible so we can test it out. So far, he hasn’t heard any beeping. Then again, I called a friend in Miami last night (I’m in Chicago) and she didn’t hear the beep at all. So it seems to be that it’s not a constant problem.
update … I’ve put an ADSL (DSL) filter inline between the magicjack plus and my telephone while plugged into my wall outlet and so far in several test calls to my MJ phone number I have not heard any beeping (touch tone type sounds).
Lets keep our fingers crossed as this would be a quick & easy fix and a cheap one too since those filters can be readily found in dollar stores.
John
ATTN: John
Thanks for the update.
Please keep us updated as a lot of us are having the beeping – touch tone type sounds.
Fred
Darn it … the ADSL filter isn’t working. What we are hearing are DTMF tones and other providers also have issues with them such as google voice and those using SIP devices for phone service.
There are many threads from others on the subject however nobody really seems to have the answer.
Guess its just trial and error to find a solution, too bad we don’t have access to the software on the device to manipulate settings for DTMF.
In addition to all the sound quality issues as seen in my previous posts, I now have the beeping issue for the first time. It happened when I was talking to a friend whose IPS and phone service provider is Cogeco. I wonder if this is a battle of the giants who are trying to foul up each others service. Maybe when Ma Bell ruled the world, it was not such a bad thing. In any event, I have now pulled the plug on the MJ plus for now and have gone back to using my old MJ routed through my PC. It has always worked well for me. As far as I am concerned, the MJ plus is just a big minus.
can anyone tell me if the mjp id in canada yet and where i can pick one up from ,thank you
Has anybody had any issues with the called ID? When you make calls, does the other person see your name on their caller ID? I still have to test this out but last night my MIL said our number was showing up with a different name…
Can you fax with mj plus?
Update … good & bad …. first the bad then some possible good news so read on :lol
1. The ADSL filter did not help
2. MJ tech support had me open the device manager and click on the properties tab of the Tigerjet audio device and uninstall it (old MJ driver) then plug the MJ+ back into a different USB port and let it re-install the driver. I made some test calls and no DTMF tones but on 1 call there were tones again but not as frequent.
I’ll keep you posted … from what I’ve been reading though this problem happens with most VOIP providers and the tones appen more with female callers as their voices are of a higher pitch.
For those of you who are upgrading from the original MJ to MJ+ here are a few facts that you should know. I am one of those persons who has my laptop at my side continuously. Its on a stand next to my recliner. The original MJ that plugged into a USB port on your computer has a window that opens with your phone # , address (important to verify 911 support), a call list so you can see who has called, and a complete list of contacts from which you can double click to place a call. The new MJ+ works exactly the same when plugged into the computer. The negative comes into play when you plug the MJ+ directly into your router. The familiar window with all of your information is gone – no phone #, no address (important for 911), no call list, and most of all – NO CONTACT LIST. The advantage of being able to connect directly through the router is, in my opinion, overshadowed by the loss of convenient features. So, if you are happy with the MJ window and all the information it provides, and you thought that everything would be the same except that you get the advantage of plugging it directly into your router, PASS on the MJ+. Now you have to program your phone with all your contacts and search through your phone to find the person you want to call. To me this is a step backwards. Its like any software upgrade you purchase. They screw up things that you are happy with and make things more difficult. At a higher price and higher yearly fee, I am returning the MJ+ and will go back to my trusty old MJ. I only hope they do not screw up my service as I had 3+ years left on my old MJ contract.
Does the new MJ+ have 911 service?
Lots of good info on the MJP. I haven’t owned the original MJ and want to try the MJP, I was waiting for the plus because I didn’t like the fact that the original MJ had to go through the computer. I currently have Vonage and I never have problems, it works flawlessly, however, it costs $30 a month. I tried NetTalk and that just did work, it stopped working after two weeks. Now, I hoping that the MJP works just as good as Vonage. My question: Is the MJP available in retail stores yet? I really don’t want to give my CC info to the MJ folks, I don’t trust them with my CC info. I heard that they have overcharged people cards etc. For this reason, I’d like to just go ahead and purchase it directly from a retail location such as Radio Shack or Best Buy and also, If there is a problem with it I can just return it the retail location.
After spending some 3 hours with their crack top 10% agents (shakes head!) and them not being able to fix the DTMF tone issue I have decided to try the magicjack plus via plugging it into the computer (old method) to see if the same problem occurs (I doubt that it will have any issues).
I am truly starting to believe the issue is related to the firmware on the device itself and the most likely cause would be the audio codec they are using. I’m almost positive they are using the G729 HD audio codec with echo control on the magicjack plus while the old original MJ used the G711 audio codec which is still used today by most telephone companies.
I’m not a techy in any way – so please bear with me…
I just received the MJ+ yesterday, and in the process of setting up, I realized that my upload speed is way too low to run MJ+.
I have: basic AT&T DSL
brand new & powerful laptop
Do I need to bump up my basic DSL AT&T service to make this work properly. Or perhaps a more powerful modem or is it a router? I’m really out of my league here. So I appreciate any assistance you can provide. Thanks.
****
I’m sorry to hear all of the problems you guys are experiencing with the MJ+. Luckily, I opted for the NetTalk Duo, and I can honestly say my experience so far has surpassed my expectations in terms of performance and Customer Service. It has been working flawlessly with my number ported over for no additional yearly fee. There are no weird tones whatsoever, and I love that I have caller ID, which has perfect date and time and lets my block annoying telemarketers. It’s not an exaggeration when people say it’s customer service is a huge advantage over MJ. The actual moderators in their forums work in the actual company and some even work closely with their Engineers. They have a very well laid out “ticket” system for all problems that operates 24/7 in a very professional and user friendly website UI. I get almost immediate responses from their reps within the hour of shooting them an email. I feel like I’m a customer of a small company who gets all the important attention where all my questions are taken seriously, instead of the craptastic way AT&T treated me, and others, as its customer.
I hope you guys are able to solve the problems with your MJ+. Even so, everyone’s saving a ton already. So if you haven’t already, FIRE YOUR MONOPOLISTIC PHONE COMPANY!
When I read John’s post regarding the deletion of the old MJ Tiger jet drivers, I tried the same method to see if it would improve my choppy sound issue. It did not help at all. My neighbor is now testing the MJ plus on his DSL modem (like mine) and the choppyness is still apparent. I will take it to another friend to test on his regular cable and see how that goes. If there is no change after that, then I will write the MJ plus down to experience and contine using the regular MJ. I cannot tell you how disappointed I have been with the MJ plus. I would have thought that after all the hype over the past ten months or so and the supposed testing of the product prior to release, that all these bugs would have been worked out.
ctbear, that’s interesting to know. I never heard about NetTalk but that’s nice that you don’t have to pay extra for porting your number. Did you have to pay at all ? MJ customer service stated that it costs $20 to have my number ported and then $9.95 additional to the yearly cost of $29.95. Now I’m considering returning the MJ+ and giving NetTalk a try.
Just a note: looked up NetTalk on the web. According to their comparison they charge low fees for international calls. US / Canada are free. Still seems like a great deal if you can bypass the hassles and have great customer service. Worth looking into.
Seems like most (if not all) the people that are experiencing the “choppiness” are using DSL. I have a broadband connection and a 1 gig per port router. Perhaps that makes a difference in the operation of the MJ, just curious.
@Liz,
NetTalk is definitely a viable option. Here is their answer to your question:
https://forum.nettalk.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=2856&sid=7369c62474a5f06d29b4caec4d03a912
It is currently in beta testing, but I can tell you that once it is released there will not be an additional yearly fee like that which is required by MJ+.
Given that the pricing is exactly the same, (NetTalk is actually cheaper through walmart.com) the MJ+ has no competitive advantage. MJ loses even more when you take customer service into consideration. Just my 2 cent…
@ctbear,
Thank you very much for the info. The only downside I see for the moment is my router. I was reading on NetTalk forums that Belkin routers don’t work well with them, so I might have to change my router if I want to use NetTalk.
On the other hand, I just used my MJ to talk to a friend in Miami and the call got choppy at times and she started to hear the beep again.
@Liz
If you’re techy enough or know someone who is, you can flash your router with either custom firmwares DDWRT or TomatoUSB, and then not only will it run NetTalk flawlessly (or any other voip device) but you will also unlock the full potential of your router effectively turning it into a $500+ industrial router. =P
My setup currently consists of: cable internet with a Motorola SB6120 cable modem connected to an Asus RT-N16 router running TomatoUSB firmware.
@ctbear,
I’m “techy” enough to try to figure it out. I honestly didn’t know you could flash routers, but I will certainly start researching on the subject and see what happens. My Belkin router wasn’t too expensive, I think I paid like $39 over a year ago. We’ll see… thanks again!
@ctbear,
I checked both Tomato USB and DDWRT and none seem to support the model of my Belkin router. Thanks for the suggestion, though.
@Liz,
In order for DDWRT you will need a much better router than you currently have, not all routers support DDWRT. You would have to invest somewhere around $60 – $80. I purchased one on Amazon for around $80 over a year ago and it came already flashed with DDWRT from the factory. Unless you know what you’re doing when messing around with the settings you can really mess things up, you can even burn up the router. If you are really interested in a router capable of this I would suggest the Buffalo AirStation Infinity HighPower Giga port router. The reason being, they (Buffalo) have 24/7 support located right here in the states for as long as you own the router, and I believe the comes with a 5 year warranty. I own this particular router and it has worked flawless since day one and I run a lot of stuff on it at the same time.
@Billy Jack,
Thanks for the heads up. I figured I couldn’t do much with my router after checking out the websites for TomatoUSB & DDWRT. I’m trying to avoid having to buy a new router, the Belkin one was cheap but it has served its purpose so far. The only downside is if I wanted to try NetTalk, which I’m not 100% sure yet.
One question, will the product details on Amazon state that the router has already been flashed?
@Liz,
You probably wouldn’t need a router that is running DDWRT, just a different router. On a side note, I tried NetTalk and it didn’t work for me. It worked for about two weeks and then it died, NetTalk’s support couldn’t do anything for me. They do stand behind the 30 day back guarantee though, I sent it back and they refunded me the purchase price plus the shipping. They offered to send me a new one but I opted for the refund. Quite honestly, the two weeks that it did work, it had echo problems and I also didn’t care for the voice mail system either. I picked up the MJ Plus tonight at Radio Shack and I’m going to give that a shot and see how it goes. I have cable broadband so I may not have the issues others have had in regards to the “choppiness” they have posted about and I also have a good router and a Motorola cable modem. I’ll be sure to post and let everyone know how its going…
Hi everyone.I’m using the old magicjack from China.It works pretty well.I saw the new Magicjack Plus Ad & Nettalk Ad. Which one is better to use for VOIP call ? The Magicjack Plus or the Nettalk? I had followed some comment on the MJ+.It seems it still on trial,maybe it’s not the best time to buy the MJ+.
Awaiting for your comments .
Willy. Shanghai, china.
@Liz,
Sorry, I didn’t see your question regarding the router being flashed from the factory. It may or may not state that in the description. At the time I bought mine, they were shipping them with DDWRT already installed, previously (before I bought mine) they were not pre-flashed but you could go on Buffalo’s site and download the package (or some other site), they did have instructions on how to flash the router with the DDWRT software. You can also go on Amazon and read the reviews, much like here, they give a lot of info on the product.
@Billy Jack,
Yeah, I found a couple on Newegg for decent prices. However, I think I’m just going to sit tight for the moment with MJ+. I would hate to go through all the trouble of getting a new router and returning the MJ just to find that I’m not happy with NetTalk. Let us know how it goes for you with the MJ+.
@Willy, I haven’t tried NetTalk Duo, but if you’re happy with the original MJ I would suggest to stick to it. Some of the problems associated with MJ+ are the wrong date & time on calls, beeping noise (present on original MJs but I never had a problem until now) and chopped calls.
I decided since magicjack support isn’t able to help with the dtmf tone issue that I would turn in a different direction. Their tech people seem to think the problem is a router issue although my router work perfectly fine for everything else here.
With that being said I’ve now begun research on routers & VOIP service and have discovered one important thing so far, NAT translation service can severely disrupt voip services just by the way it operates and DSL service providers are the most affected by this, Cable ISP providers don’t have these issues because of the way their systems operate.
My Internet service provider (isp) is a telephone company and thus uses ADSL to provide internet services. I’m wondering if the rest of the people with the same dtmf tone issues are also on a dsl service.
I may have to change to a cable internet provider if I can’t figure a work around.
I’ll keep you posted.
by the way my router is an Engenius ESR-9752
@John,
I have Comcast (cable) and have experienced the beeping noise. As a matter of fact today one of my calls got choppy and the beeping could be heard on the other end.
I’m using a belkin router and running net talk todate there has been no issue with this router. The router that was replaced was a net gear and no issues with net gear. I still use magicjack as a second line in the home and have now been using Net Talk for 3 months with no issues, the sound quality has been great. I would be using magicjack plus but I got tired waiting for the plus release. I will keep using my good old magicjack as a second line.
@ Liz (and everyone else),
I have set-up the MJP and I’m happy to report that at this time everything is working fine…IE: Caller ID shows up as it should, call quality is just as good if not better than Vonage. Voicemail is working as it should, I have already set up custom message. The time and day stamp is off (on the phone itself) as others have reported, however, for me it doesn’t matter as the voicemails go to my email and the email itself has the date and time when someone called and left a message. I listen to all my voicemails on the computer anyway. Thus far after several test calls when calling someone or calling my home from a cell phone, I haven’t experienced any “choppiness” or beeping noises in the conversations.
I would like to note, I didn’t use the ethernet cable that was supplied with the MJP for a couple of reasons, one, it was to short to be able to reach my router, two, its a very cheap cable. I’m using a high quality CAT 5 cable which I purchased on Amazon last week. Obviously, I’m using the MJP through my router and not the computer.
At this time, everything is working as it should minus the date and time stamp (on the phone itself) If things change I’ll report back and let people know what issues (if any) are occurring.
@Andrew, according to NetTalk’s website the majority of Belkin routers don’t work well with their system, but there are a few exceptions. In regards to the MJ+, it’s already available on their website if you want to give it a try.
@Billy Jack, do you think changing the ethernet cable might improve the call quality? We don’t use our MJ+ too much but in general the experience has been fairly good. You’re right about times being off, it doesn’t really matter when you can check the voicemails on your e-mail anyway. Thanks for the feedback.
@ Liz,
It might, you should always use quality cables irregardless of the type of cable, whether it be an ethernet cable or HDMI cable, it could make all the difference in the world in regards to quality of the voice (ethernet) or picture (HDMI). I’m not saying this will solve your problem, but, if I were you I would eliminate as many things as possible that could be the cause of the issue(s). To me, the cable supplied with the MJP seems very cheap. Also, I noticed at the bottom right corner of the instruction sheet that came with the MJP. Its showing “monthly maintenance” Its saying to: Unplug your router, wait 60 seconds and turn it back on.
@Billy Jack,
I’ll change my ethernet cable and see if I experience any improvement. Thanks!
@ Everyone,
I got the “beeping” noise when I received a call. I contacted MJ. I was instructed to plug the MJP into my computer and perform the following steps:
1. Please click the Windows “START” button and select “Control Panel” ( if not in Classic view; click “Switch to classic view”).
2.double click “Network Connection” and tell me your active connection.
3.right click on the “Local Are Connection” and select “Properties”
Martin: 4.In the box under “This connection uses the following items:”, please scroll down and look for “Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)” the double click on it.
5. In there, please check the little circle that says “use the following DNS Server address”. In Preferred DNS Server type in: 67.90.152.122, in Alternate DNS Server type in: 67.107.71.186 click OK and OK.
6.Now restart your magicjack.On your dial pad click on menu > advance user and click on restart.
7. then make a test call
Note: I told the person I would not perform the procedure when I was on with them and to just give me the steps and I would do them at my leisure.
Has anyone else tried the above procedures? If they have and it didn’t resolve the issue, I won’t bother wasting my time doing them.
I also told the person that this is a known issue and that I believe its in the MJ system itself and that Ymax engineers will need to look into it to resolve the issue.
@Billy Jack, I haven’t tried that yet. Perhaps somebody that has can give us a little feedback.
On the other hand, when we receive calls on the MJ+ (phone not PC) do you only show the number? I just received a call from my MIL and the caller ID was only showing her number and not her name (she called from her house). Is this normal for the MJ? Is there a way to fix it so it shows the name and number, as it should be?
@ Liz,
I noticed that on some calls it shows the name and number while on others it only shows the number…Not a big deal for me because I know the numbers of people that might be calling. I don’t answer the phone if its a number or name I don’t recognize. Have you tried adding contacts to your MJ account? This might bring up the name of the person (you know) that is calling if they are added into your contacts on MJ account. Its a rarity that I even use my house phone, most people call me and the Mrs’ cell phones (I have two cell phones and the wife has one). The only reason I still have a home phone is because I’ve had my # for over twenty years, business’s have the #, also, when a business ask for a phone # I give them the home phone that way they can just leave a message if they need to get a hold of me or the wife and we don’t want to talk to them. As for right now, I’m keeping my Vonage phone service until something works. If the fix that MJ gave me doesn’t work, I’ll bring the MJP back to Radio Shack since I have 30 days to return it. I did the same thing with NetTalk. There are other options out there, I’ve also been eying OBIHAI which is another device, it goes through Google Voice, its reasonably priced and you can get a Google # free. There are some that say you can port your current # to a phone # porting company and then get the OBIHAI to work that way. I believe MJ is probably doing the same thing, thus, the charge to port your #.
@ Billy Jack,
I haven’t really added any contacts to my MJ but I would expect it to work just like a regular land line. We don’t use our home phone that much either, the husband and I usually talk on our cell phones but the reception is sometimes bad at the house and that’s why we’ve kept the land line. I will continue to try it out and see what we decide. The husband just spoke to his mother (she’s out of state) and didn’t have any problems on this particular call.
@ Liz,
The “beeping” issue seems to only happen when some calls us rather than when we call someone. We talked to the same person that noticed the “beeping”, when I first set-up the MJ we called them to try the phone out and everything was fine, about an hour later they called us (on the new MJ#) and that is when they said they heard the “beeping” noise about every 10 seconds. Likewise, I decided to test it out and had the Mrs’ call me from the home phone to my cell and I heard the “beeping”, it sounded exactly like she was pushing the buttons on the phone.
@ Liz,
I should have said, I called the Mrs’ from my cell phone to the new MJ # and that is when I hears the “beeping”…
@ Billy Jack,
I honestly don’t know what is the explanation of the beeping and why it happens but I asked the hubby to call me from his cell phone to the MJ this entire past week and he says he has not heard the beeping at all and the calls have been pretty good. The beep noise was heard by a friend in Miami when I called her, so who knows what it is. If you try the setting that they gave you let us know how it goes for you, but I have a feeling it won’t get rid of the beep.
OK…I did the procedure that MJ suggested and I made a call from my cell to the new MJ phone # and I didn’t hear any “beeps” and the call sounded clear. Now, its going to have to be a wait and see game to find out if it actually took care of the problem or not. I’ll have to call the Mrs’ from my cell for the next several days while at work instead of calling her cell phone. On a separate note, I noticed when I unplugged the MJP from the outlet so I could plug it into the computer to do the procedure that the male part of the USB as very hot. It seems the transformer (the part the plugs into an outlet which the MJP plugs into) is generating a fair amount of heat which in turn is transferring the heat to the male USB…It might be wise to use the USB extension that came with the MJP instead of plugging directly into the part that plugs into the outlet…Just a thought.
ok i have atnt cell phones service in my area is bad. will this help my calls in and out when im at home?
I also decided to try out the settings as in post #192 above and so far it seems to be working here as well, I called my MJ# with my cellphone and no beeps either. It will be interesting to see as people phone here as the day goes on.
Thank you so much for your report – Excellent photos and easy to read. I’ve got a magic jack which works great 98% of the time – I’m very satisfied – because of your article, I’m buying the mj plus for my family home number. Muchas Gracias.
@ John,
I made several calls to the MJ # from two different cell phones. On two of the calls I got one “beep” at the beginning of the conversation, I made a total of 5 calls at various times of the day. Three of the calls where normal, no “beep”. While the solution that MJ gave me made the issue better, it hasn’t completely resolved the it. It seems only to be limited to incoming calls. When calling someone from the MJP there is no issue. This leads me to believe that the problem is in MJ’s system itself, otherwise I think the problem would occur during outgoing and incoming calls. If enough people yell loud about it and a fair amount of people return the MJ they bought, it will grab the attention of the engineer’s of the system and they will find the cause or a solution to remedy the issue(s). MJ is applying to go public, and sell shares of the company on the stock market (see link below). The last they they need are problems with their product especially at a time like this…With as many people that have brought the issue up to MJ they’re fully aware there is a problem, its something that can’t be hidden. Investors look for things like this before buying stock in any company.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/new-magicjack-plus-available-today-on-magicjackcom-ceo-dan-borislow-cautiously-optimistic-with-new-sales-test-2011-09-20
We made 3 calls today and had other 3 incoming, the beeping noise was not present in any of them (I haven’t applied the changes from post #192). However, the first call did get quite choppy for a few seconds.
@ Everyone,
I would also like to note, that I just reconfigured the MJP set-up. I used the short USB extension (that came with the MJP) and went from the transformer to the MJP, basically giving some space between the transformer and the MJP. The reason I have done this is because the male part on the MJP device itself (the part that plugs into the transformer) is extremely hot. Heat is one of the main destroyers of electronics. This is why most electronics have a transformer with a long cord which then plugs into the device that is being powered, to keep the heat away from the device, not a very good design on MJ’s architects part. It still operates the same, but the MJP may last longer without being subjected to so much heat all the time. I made a call to someone and had them make a call to me and everything worked fine. I may get a better extension over time.
I decided to try an old router (linksys wrt54g V3) which I have flashed with alternate firmware (DD-WRT for voip or Tomato v1.28) to see if the beeping issues are because of the router as suggested by magicjack support people. I’m currently using Tomato firmware.
So far in a day and a half there have been no problems at all although we haven’t received too many calls. I’ll let this run for a week and post back later (If the beeping starts again then I’ll change to a different firmware).
John
Update …
Changing routers did absolutely nothing to fix the beeping noise on incoming calls, now I’m thoroughly convinced its a MJ+ issue.
I am however going to try 1 more thing and that is to hook it directly to my modem which completely bypasses everything between the MJ+ and the internet. If this also fails to fix the beeping then its 100% for sure an issue with Magicjack device or their servers.
John
We have not experienced the beeping noise at all in the last few days. I really have done nothing to fix it and that’s why I agree with you John, it must be something with the device itself because the problem seems to come and go. I did order new ethernet cables but I haven’t received them yet.
As of now, I think we’re going to keep the MJ+ and cancel our land line, but we won’t port our number (additional $9.95 a year to do so, according to MJ rep).
Follow this link for the first MJ plus update which is specifically for the beeping problems.
http://www.magicjacksupport.com/first-update-and-bug-fix-for-the-mj-t11223.html
@Liz,
I also chatted with MJ online today, and they confirmed the annual fee. They claim that it’s the cost to keep the number in their system once ported over, and I told them it can be a deciding factor for potential customers choosing VoIP providers. It’s reasonable to charge a one time upfront fee but not recurring annual fee. Google, Comcast & Ooma only charge a one-time fee; however, porting a land line to Google Voice is not yet available.
I originally planned on porting my land line to MJ+ but won’t now. I’ll use my Google Voice# as my forever personal number and set it to ring my MJ+ or cell numbers (selectable in GV settings). I suggest to look into Google Voice for this purpose should MJ+ doesn’t work out in the long run. Giving up my old home# has little to no impact on my communication connections cuz we use cell phones with all friends & families. I don’t expect to get lots of calls on my MJ line, just assurance of E911 if needed. and low cost solution available.
@Jonathan,
Yes, I agree. If it was a one time fee I wouldn’t mind paying for it but I’m not happy with having to pay an additional fee every year.
On another note, I used my MJ+ recently to make an international call and it was very clear, just as if I was calling from my regular land line. I was happy with that. I also installed the upgrade and so far no beeping noise but the time&date on my phone is still wrong. Hopefully MJ can work on these problems and stay in business for the long run.
I’m going to try the update in post #209, however in one of my previous chats with magicjack support they had me download and run a fix with the same name as this one and it did not work to solve the beeping issue.
Maybe just maybe this is a more up to date fix. Here is hoping that it does work, if not like I said I will connect the device directly to the modem and check to see if the device maybe at fault (It is possible they had a bad batch of units).
@ John,
I still have the beeping noise, I haven’t downloaded the update which Graham posted in #209. I’m a bit apprehensive about “updates” because sometimes it really messes things up instead of fixing them. I’d prefer to wait and see what kind of feedback is posted on the update first. The beeping seems to be only limited to incoming calls (at least for me).
Hi Guys,
I did download the update and can only report good things. Actually it has cleared up three issues as follows:
No more beeping on incoming calls(this never was a major problem for me and only happened once)
I now get the stuttered dial tone for messages which I did not get before.
My call quality has improved greatly. There is till a little bit of break up with a call of more than ten minutes duration. However, this is not a problem for me since I rarely talk for more than this length of time. Also I think an old rotary dial phone in the workshop in my basement may have been causing interference on my DSL modem.
Anyway for now things seem to be fine. I will report any further issues on this forum.
@ Graham Hall
I have the beeping problem and am thinking about using the update you mentioned in post #209.
As I am NOT technically inclined I am not sure how to do this. Now my mj+ is connected to my router. For me to do the update on your post #209 do I need to plug my mj+ into my USB port? or can I do it while it is connected to my router? The only way I can get the softphone to come on my computer screen is to connect the MJ+ to the computer USB. I really am confused. I have called MJ and they keep having me change settings on my firewall and I don’t seem to be getting anywhere even though they say I am talking to one of there top 10% tech people. God help us if they are the top 10%.
Thanks,
Fred
Hi Fred
yes you need to hook the magicjack plus to your computer via the USB in order for it to update.
I agree with the top 10% comment.
I have updated mine already but since the wife isn’t home this week its not getting very much use.
Hi Fred, You will have to plug your MJ into your pc and wait for the soft phone to appear. Then go to the site where the link will tell you and just click on the upgrade link. It will automatically start to down load to your MJ. You will see a green sign inside a picture of a MJ on your screen which will say”Lucky you upgrading” or words to that effect. Once the download has finished unplug from your pc and plug back into the router.
I hope that this helps
Hi everyone…. I am wondering if ‘call waiting’ caller id (I believe AT&T calls it Call Waiting Deluxe) will work with MagicJack Plus? I have read that it will work with the original MagicJack with MagicFeatures plugin installed. I really don’t want to leave a computer on all the time, so I am looking for a way to still enjoy that feature without using a computer. Thanks!
@Kim,
I don’t think it works with MJ+ but I’m not 100% sure. I just had an incoming call when talking on the phone and all it does is beep, but no caller ID. I will try to research a bit and come back with some info if I find anything.
Well, it seems that the cost to port the land line is only the one time fee of $19.95 plus taxes. Originally I was told that there would be an additional yearly charge of $9.95 to keep my land line number but this is now incorrect.
Conversation extract:
Liz: Hi Molly, I need to know how much is the total cost to port my current land line to my MagicJack Plus?
Molly: That is $19.95, Liz.
Liz: Is it a ONE time fee only? Or are there additional yearly fees?
Molly: Yes, that is a one time charge only.
@ Liz,
I think you’re going to find out that the information you were given is incorrect. You have to ask very specific questions. MJ is a very “shifty” company, they tell you half truths. The question you need to ask is “I understand there is a $19.95 fee to port my land line phone number to my MagicJack Plus device.” “Is there also a $9.95 yearly fee to keep the phone number ported to MagicJack?”
Everything I’ve read and seen about porting a land line number to MJ says its $19.95 and then $9.95 a year after the initial year passes.
I believe the $9.95 per year fee is because MJ is “parking” the # by porting it to a phone number parking company. In fact, I believe anyone can port their phone number to a # parking company and it will cost X amount of money per month to do so. I’m sure MJ has made deal with such a company, otherwise, it would simply be a onetime fee to port the #.
@ Billy Jack,
Indeed are they shifty! People are still confused with this whole porting number issue. I wasn’t lazy and went on to chat with another agent today, who confirmed there is an additional fee.
Extract:
Liz: I understand there is a $19.95 fee to port my land line phone number to my MagicJack Plus device.
Liz: Is there also a $9.95 yearly fee to keep the phone number ported to MagicJack?
Tara: Yes there is Liz
Liz: So, every year I will have to pay $29.95 plus the $9.95 to keep my number?
Tara: Yes thats correct
I agree totaly with Billy Jack that Magic Jack is a shifty company and I have had my share of negative experiences with them as outlined in previous posts. However,$29.95 per year plus $10 per year for a phone number is very inexpensive for phone service. I pay the same amount for my Mj since I have a Canadian phone number. I Know it is annoying to deal with them but the alternatives are not great.
@ Liz and Graham,
I agree that $40 per year is a deal, since I currently pay $30.00 per month with Vonage. I think they (MJ) should just be upfront about fees. Quite frankly, it states “minimal charge” for porting your # on their site and that is it. If they would just be upfront they could avoid a lot of problems with trust and billing. I have two weeks left for a refund and I’m considering just bringing it back to Radio Shack. I tried the supposed “upgrade” and I still have the “beeping” issue and “choppiness” in various parts of conversations on incoming calls. If something doesn’t work properly it really doesn’t matter how inexpensive it is, its not worth it. the wife wants to keep it because we don’t use our home phone that much, but at $70.00 for the first year (including the device), after you add the $20.00 for porting that brings it up to $90.00, thats not exactly cheap, especially for sub par service. If Google voice had # porting I would go with that instead but they currently do not. If I didn’t have my current phone # for over 20 years I’d just go with Google voice and that would be the end of it. Vonage has been very reliable, no problems at all, have been with them for several years, but, paying $30.00 per month for something that isn’t used that much is hard to justify too. I would have thought that MJ would have resolved the issues during beta testing on the MJP, they shipped many of these units out to people that review products such as these before making them available to the general public, the “beeping” issue had to be present during beta testing. I may park my phone # and have it forwarded to Google voice, I guess that is another option, I saw a site that would park your # for $3.00 a month.
I agree with you Billy Jack. I only have a week left and haven’t made a decision just yet… but like you, we don’t use our home phone that much and we pay $35 a month with Comcast and that doesn’t even include long distance calls. I still have to get in touch with them and see if my internet charge will go up if I decide to cancel the phone with them.
In regards to Google Voice, I thought they had number porting already, or is it only for cell phone #s?
@ Liz,
Google voice is only capable of porting mobile #’s at this time. However, I found a parking service that will park your home number and forward it to another number for 6.95 per month. I’m guessing you could sign up for a free Google # and forward your number to that, however, that means anytime someone calls your home # it would ring on your cell phone or you could just set it to go right to voice mail and call the person back from your cell. it would be $84.00 per year compared to MJ’s $40.00 but it might be more reliable and you’d have more flexibility because you can switch the # you want to forward it to in the event you want to change something.
@Liz,
Extracted from my online chat on Oct. 13th with MJ customer service (I chatted with Cassy first & was xferred to Paolo after strongly disputed the $9.99 additional annual fee to keep our land line after ported over, all in the same session.)
Paolo: Yes, there is $9.99 annual fee to retain your home phone number to our system.
Jonathan: OK. If that’s your policy then I’ll have to make my decision. And post it on forums so others can be aware of it to before trying out MJ services.
Jonathan: Will you post this annual fee on your website so everyone will see it and not be deceived?
Paolo: Yes, soon, our engineers will update our website.
@Billy Jack,
Google Voice can also ring land line & VoIP numbers, not limited to mobile only. I just tested it to ring my land line & MJ+ individually as well as simultaneously in my GV settings. GV however can only port mobile# at the moment and no date of porting non-mobile#’s yet.
It’s good to know there’s phone# parking service available, but that would add to the cost. My main reason considering MJ is merely low cost for a service that I rarely use. Technically it’s not perfect, but if it works 95% of the time with good audio quality then I can tolerate that. The occasional beeping & choppiness can be a “good” annoying to cut off telemarketers. I talked to about a dozen different people thus far on my MJ+, and only one confirmed that he heard occasional beeps at about almost 3 min intervals, so it is a non issue to me cuz I don’t expect to talk to anyone that long on my MJ+ line. Or perhaps it’s his iPhone causing the issue 🙂
@ Jonathan,
The only reason I brought up the parking service is my current phone costs me $360.00 per year. If I did away with the MJ altogether and just went with a parking service my cost would go down to just $84.00 per year, that is a savings of $276.00 per year. and, I won’t have to worry if the MJ is going to work or not. Paying an extra $44.00 per year for a piece of mind seems pretty cheap to me.
@Billy Jack,
My saving is about the same as yours if I’d cancel my AT&T basic land line & go with MJ+ with more features. If you don’t mind, pls provide the link of the # parking service so i can check it out. I might consider using it too while waiting for GV to offer porting non-mobile#’s.
I am still getting choppy calls for about 5% of my conversations and had come to the concusion that my modem was at fault. However if others are still getting the choppy calls then it is not my modem. I have run tests with the following results Download 2.57 mbps Upload 685 kbps quality of service 99%. Are these results good enough? Ihave no sound issues when connected to my pc. What are your thoughts Billy Jack or Liz?
@ Jonathan,
Here is the link to the parking service…
http://www.parknblend.com/planspricing/plans.html
@ Graham,
I really don’t think it has to do with modems, routers etc. I think it has to do with MJ’s systems, I don’t think its the device itself, because I can make calls and it is fine, its only incoming calls that I’m having an issue with.
@ Jonathan,
And you can get this
http://www.amazon.com/OBi110-Service-Bridge-Telephone-Adapter/dp/B0045RMEPI
I guess it would go something like this…
Step 1…Get a free GV #
Step 2…Get the OBi110
Step 3…Park your current land line #
Step 4…Forward your # to GV.
Step 5…Set-up the OBi110
Now you can use a corded or cordless phone and not a cell phone.
@ Graham,
I agree with Billy Jack, I believe it has to do with the MJ system. Today my sister in law tried calling us 3 times and for some reason the call wouldn’t come through. I was a bit embarrassed. I don’t know what was the issue. My average download speed is 19.26 Mbps, upload speed 6.44 Mbps, and I still get choppy calls every now and then.
I see where many are having problems with MagicJack Plus. Here is what I did I have kept my old MagicJack and went with NetTalk and no problems to-date. So it’s not worth the worry about MJP let them iron out the bugs then buy Plus.
Thank for the info. I have the old magic-jack and was annoyed that I had to have my computer on to have phone service. I will be switching over from my old MJ to MJ+ when my service is about to expire. Then will not credit from my current account. I Have saved over $1000 over the past 5 years. I will have to get an ethernet switch but can get one for about $20 and I already have a UPS so I’m good to go. BTW I have a phone cord from magic jack to the wall jack and it powers 2 land-line phones and a cordless without issue. MJ+ addresses the one thing I didn’t like about MJ. Thanks again.
@Billy Jack,
Thx for the info on OBi110. It’s another alternative solution to VoIP but lacking E911 and centralized supportability due to integration of services from different providers (OBi110 + Google Voice + E911 + possibly router + ISP).
I have 2 wks to decide on MJ+. If keeping MJ+, I won’t port my landline over, not because of uncertainty of the annual fee but uncertainty of porting out from MJ should I decide not to use their services down the road. I’m not attached to my old landline#, so I can use my GV# as the main one & set it to ring my cell and/or VoIP#’s. Parking my number is one option while awaiting for GV to offer porting of non-mobile#’s or I can try the method in the link below of porting my landline -> T-mobile -> GV.
http://falz.net/tech/port-landline-to-google-voice
Further Update…
I’ve still been getting beeping sounds on incoming calls even with the fix in post #209.
I’m now trying the following QOS (quality of service) settings in my router as posted in the article below. I realize this is from a router which has tomato firmware, however these settings should be universal in most routers. Please read the article!
http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r21581951-HOWTO-QoS-and-Tomato-fixes-choppy-voice
I haven’t been home to receive calls the past few days so therefore no updates. We’ll see how this goes.
On another note I monitored my magicjack plus and found out the server they use on my particular device connects to New York, by the way i’m as far west as you can get in Canada. :lol
I have not found any way yet to connect to a server which is closer unless I connect via PC.
John
It happen the Old Magicjack had troubled these days.Does anybody experience the same problem with the Old magicjack ? When i make outgoing call or receive incoming call,it last 18-20mn ,then sometimes it shows “errors 3 no internet connection”,while i’m still surfing on other websites.For your infos,i’m using an internet 10 MB which is pretty fast in China .Please let me know what alternatives to this problem.
Awaiting for your comment.
Willy (Shanghai,China )
Hi… I have a question – I currently have a Magicjack.. As I understand that once I get magicjack plus I can transfer my mj nbr to mjp. My question is what happens to my old mj device. Can I assign a diff nbr to it and make it usable?
I currently have MJ standard at it cost $19.95 a year plus taxes; it is a pre-paid service. I cannot complain, since I dumped the old phone company been saving around $300 for the last 5 years.
I chatted with MJ customer service and MJ+ services is $29.95 a year or $99.95 for 5 years, however your first year is free with the purchase of the MJ+ adapter for $69.95 plus taxes. MJ will charge you for phone taxes if you buy through them. At RadioShack it $69.95 plus local sales tax! You will not get credit for the service you already paid for with standard MJ (not that big of deal).
Since I do not have an ethernet switch will have to purchase one. Found an unmanaged 10/100/1000 gigabit 5 port switch with auto power management for $23 plastic case or $28 metal case (TrendNet) at Amazon.
So, the switch over for me will be around $100 for the first year’s service. But I will be able to use the phone without powering up the computer. It will be a “virtual” landline~!
@ Erney,
I have the NetGear GS105 Gigabit switch, however, its $42.00 on Amazon…
http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-GS105-ProSafe-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B0000BVYT3/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1316884496&sr=1-7
I bought my MJP at Radio Shack a couple of weeks ago, haven’t decided if I’m going to keep yet or not, it has some issues on incoming calls, outgoing calls don’t seem to have any issues.
@ Ashish,
I don’t think you can assign it a different phone # (not sure), I think you can plug it into another computer, but, it would still have the same #, you might want to go on MJ’s site and look in the FAQ pages, or, do a live chat session with one of their people to find out. However, be forewarned, most of the people you encounter on the chat support really have no idea what they are doing, so you’re liable to get faulty info…
@ Jonathan,
I have the same fears about porting my # over to MJ, I’m a bit worried I won’t be able to get it out once its ported over to them should I decide I want to go elsewhere.
@ Jonathan,
There are less expensive parking services if you just want to keep it stored for future use, one company has “deep freeze” for $3.00 a month, they simply hold your number until you’re ready to do something with it. See link below…
http://www.parkmyphone.com/plans-rates.php
I can’t seem to get the answer to this question anywhere.
I know that ones computer has to be on in order for MJ to function when plugged into a computer USB port. But with MJ Plus when plugged directly into one’s modem or router Ethernet port does the computer have to be on? That’s providing the modem or router has power.
Thanks,
Doug
The computer does NOT have to be on when plugged in to the router. Only the modem and router need to have power and usually they are both left on 24/7 unless you plug them into a power bar and turn that off.
John.
On another note … I may have found a router setting that stops that annoying beeping on incoming calls (Still testing but so far on all calls received nobody has heard any beeps).
@ John,
Let us know what’s the verdict after testing out the settings. Thanks.
Google Voice: $0 for the device and first year service; (likely) $0 per year for domestic calls thereafter
Manufacturer: Google
Requirements:
Broadband Internet, Computer
Pros:
Free, easy to install, many included features, very good voice quality. Supports VOIP, Text messaging, Multiple Voicemail options, Call record, and Voicemail Transcription. Works with headsets, bluetooth, and regular POTS handsets with adapters.
Cons:
Requires a computer. Yeah but it’s free. So compare it to MJ Standard.
Since John’s comment about tracing which server your individual Magic jack may reside, I attach the following link which I found on the internet. Apparently, it can be changed to suit your needs. Maybe this could be the solution to my audio problems. If anyone with techical saavy would like to try it and let me know.
Graham
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/MagicJack/Support_Resources/How-To/Proxy_Find2#Identify_your_proxy
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/MagicJack/Support_Resources/How-To/Proxy_Find2#Identify_your_proxy
@ Liz and John,
OK, I went into my router settings as John posted in #247 and enabled the VOIP to have priority and put the setting on “high”. It actually wasn’t enabled (I had to put a check mark in the little box under the enable column next to VOIP to enable it). I made a call and also had the Mrs. call me from her cell. So far no beeps or choppiness. My router has DDWRT (not tomatoes). I think what this does is when I’m using the phone (either when I call someone or they call me) it gives priority to VOIP over everything else. IE: web surfing, etc. This way it allows the packets of info to come through uninterrupted by anything else, and, thus, prevents the “choppiness” or break ups from occurring while having a conversation. I’m still in the “testing” phase, will test over the rest of the week and see how it goes.
@ Everyone,
I would like to add that you have to go into QoS on your router to get to the list of items you want to give priority to…Also, for those of you that don’t know how to get to your router settings/software. Open up a browser window and type 192.168.11.1 (it may be different for your particular brand of router, but I think its universal) into the address bar, that address opens up the router software, you’ll be prompted for the user name and password, or, find the manual for your router and follow the directions for accessing your router settings (IE: password etc.)
Most routers administration pages are located by using addresses:
192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1
Default user/passwords are typically admin/admin or leave user blank and password is admin.
good luck.
So far so good here, only 1 person reported a beep (only 1 beep). I think they can live with that, I know I can 🙂
John
@ Billy Jack,
I believe my Belkin Router doesn’t have the QoS feature, so I can’t give VOIP priority.
@All,
Just to confirm that MJ+ works with fax. I tested it today.
My D-Link N router QoS engine was already set to enable by default; perhaps that’s why I haven’t experienced the frequent beeps during conversation, except one time at about 3min intervals.
My Linksys Model WRT54G v.3 does not have a QoS feature. Any suggestions on how to change the VOIP setting to (High) priority?
Also during some of my (domestic call) testing, dicovered that after exacty 90 minutes, MJ+ will cut you off the call and give you a busy signal tone. When trying to return the call you will get a busy signal. The only way to call the individual back is dial and connect to another number. Then call your original number. This issues has occured three times with different callers.
@ Liz and Tom,
You might to check to see if your router supports port forwarding. MJ uses ports 5060,5070. You can use this method if your router doesn’t have QoS support. Here is a site that shows you how to set that up.
http://portforward.com/english/routers/port_forwarding/routerindex.htm
Find your router in the list and then look for MagicJack in the program list on the site and it will give you instructions along with screen shots on how to set up port forwarding for your particular router. Thay have a free software program that will check the ports to make sure they are open after you make the changes to your router.
If your router doesn’t support port forwarding either, then its probably time to get a new router…Hope this helps…
@ Billy Jack
The tomato program seems a little daunting to me. I am not a technical person by any stretch of the imagination. I went into the other site you mentioned which apparently does the settings for you. There is a charge of $29.95. I have been stung on the internet so many times over useless programs over the years and I am reluctant to fork out more money unless it really works. My router is listed on the above site so they seem to know wjhat they are doing. What are your thoughts
@ Graham,
They only charge if you can’t do the easy to follow directions yourself and you want their help, other than that, its completely free. I actually went through the steps myself and performed them, its actually quite easy, they give you pictures as well as instructions, I even downloaded the free program and checked the ports. Quite frankly, its one of the easiest things I ever did. If you don’t want to pay, you don’t have to, its completely free unless you want their help to do it. Its actually one of the most comprehensive free sites I’ve ever been on…
@ Billy Jack
Thanks for the info. Now I see that you have to click at the top of the page to skip the ad for payment. I will definitely try this once I have some spare time later this afternoon or evening. I run a busy guest house(B&B) and it is difficult to work without interruptions during the day. I also wondered if anyone is willing to share their MJ number for some testing. My friends and associates are getting tired of my calling for test purposes. I certainly have no wish to invade anyones privacy, but since we all have a common goal of getting this thing to work, it might not be bad idea. Just a thought.
@ Graham Hall … I’ve been thinking the same thing about calling each other, my friends are also getting tired of testing. If some of us are willing to do it then please don’t post numbers directly on here. I suggest you offer an email address where they can get a hold of you and exchange numbers by email (in order to keep them just between those testers).
I’m on the westcoast of canada so time zone would have to be taken into account as I’m 3-4 hours behind eastcoast time zones.
John
Thanks Billy Jack.
In this case I would have to obtain a Static IP Address first. I don’t think I’eve ever set up port forwarding on my router, can it affect my connection in a negative way at all?
@ John
Great idea. My email is [email protected]. I was going to follow the advice in post 257 by Billy Jack for forward porting. Coincidentaly, the wireless connection on my Siemens speedstream 6250 packed up this morning. Bell are shipping a new two wire modem to me which should be here in a few days since they say that the above modem is too old. My neighbour opposite has the same new modem running on the same ISP. I took my MJ over there just now and tried it out. It is a huge improvement over mine but there was still a very slight choppiness on both calls made. So I still do not have the perfect solution. When the new modem arrives I will try the forward porting option.
I just purchased a MagicJack Plus and I also have DSL-6 service w/Motorola modem. I dont use a router with my computer but. I like the setup of using a powerline Ethernet adapter so I can locate my phone in another room where there’s an AC outlet. Do I need a router and two of the powerline Ethernets to make it work the way you have shown in the diagram. I not a big technical person so I need some step by step directions to help me get this hooked up the way you have it in your picture. I would appreicate some assitance If you can help me!
>Anthony
If you don’t need WiFi, get an Ethernet switch instead of a router. Plug the cable from the modem into the WAN port of the switch. Then plug your computer ethernet cable into one of the LAN ports on the switch.
Yes, you will need a pair of Powerline Ethernet boxes. Most vendors sell a startup kit that have two included. Plug one box into a mains outlet near your modem. Connect an included ethernet cable from that box to an open LAN port on your switch. Take your other Powerline box and plug in into a mains outlet near where you want to put the MagicJack. Now take another included ethernet cable and connect it between the powerline box and MagicJack. You should be good to go.
@ Everyone,
What about the caller ID? I think I posted this before, but when you receive calls do you only show the number of the person calling you and not their name? Or do you show both? I don’t like this… and when we call people they only show our number and not our name, right?
@Bill
Typical switches do not assign mac addresses or ip addresses because they are merely used for home intranets where data is shuttled around internally. Pretty sure VOIP devices require these essential elements. A full fledged switch that do have these capabilities are “rare” nowadays and cost as much if not more than routers. Short answer: a router is required to assign the IPs/mac addresses to make voip work. Furthermore, most people with broadband internet services should already have a router. They are as ubiquitous as cordless home phones or cell phones; there is no reason not to have one.
Never mind, I just found out that Caller ID Name is non-existent on the MJ system. I wonder how much work is needed from their part to make it work? Perhaps I’m dreaming too much.
I also found out that my internet will go up if I cancel my phone service with Comcast. Still not sure if I’ll make the conversion permanently.
@ctbear,
I think you’re correct. I never considered your points. OK, the solution is to get a router. I know that works because my setup has 3 different Voip solutions connected through Powerline Ethernet and I have a router. Anthony doesn’t have a router, so I was trying to simplify the topology.
@ Liz,
The following link explains the difference between a dynamic IP address and a static IP address. Static IP address is recommended for VOIP as pointed out in the article. To answer your question, a static IP address is more reliable than a dynamic IP address.
http://whatismyipaddress.com/dynamic-static
@Billy Jack,
Thanks for the link.
You guys are great for sharing this info. I am trying to make up my mind. I am in rehab right now so I have been lowering bills. I already have vonage and have had the number that I use with it for over 10 years, before I got Vonage. Now I want to move to MJ+ which appears to be a better bargain. My trial is almost over and I have not had a chance to use it as I have had network problems and/or health problems that prevented it. I planned to do it tonite and while pondering my options ended up here. I have a GV number that I do not use and am also trying to lower my cell phone minutes (BTW, there is a magic jack app for iphones that you can make free calls on). You guys have given me much to think about. I had no idea parking your number was even an option, which is another reason I had not tried it out…..I did not want to lose my number in the registration process. Thank you all.
@Mann,
I don’t know what type of wireless carrier you have, but depending on your area, you might want to give Simple Mobile or H20 Wireless a try. Currently, I have Cricket and while it’s not the best service out there, I only pay $55 a month for my BlackBerry Plan. I’m thinking about changing to Simple Mobile because they use GSM phones, which means I can purchase whatever phone I want from eBay (for example) and pop in a Simple Mobile SIM card and voila. In addition, iPhones don’t work with Cricket but they do work with SM and H20. Anyway, good luck!
@Billy Jack,
I set up my static IP address and also ported MJ’s ports successfully. I haven’t had a chance to test it out with a call yet, but we’ll see how it works. Thanks.
I have been using the magic jack and for the price, it has been mostly good. The main complaint I have is that it will not receive private or blocked calls (including skpe and google phone calls) and when the caller tries, they get a pretty long magic jack advertisement (Tacky) before hearing that the call did not go through because it is not recognizable by caller ID. Most callers hang up before that point due to thinking that they have the wrong number and are calling a company/magic jack
@ Liz,
One thing I’ve noticed after giving priority to VOIP is that calls seem very clear, both incoming and outgoing. However, I still had a couple of beeps on one call (incoming). I haven’t set-up a static IP as of yet, that will be the last tweak. Quite frankly, if the beeping goes unresolved after all of the tweaking I really don’t know what else to do, I’ve exhausted all avenues, I really have no more “tricks” up my sleeve. At this point its on MJ to figure it out, they either need to send the “fix”, tweak their system(s) or both. Let us know how you fair…
@ Katherine,
Are you using the original MJ or are you using MJP? Just curious…
@ Mann,
The app seems like a good idea, however, I have an android phone and MJ currently doesn’t have an app for androids.
Update … not good
I got several beeps with the Tomato firmware with many different configurations including giving the magicjack plus exclusive highest priority on both incoming & outgoing connections.
I then changed to DD-WRT firmware for Voip with the same results.
I have now plugged the magicjack plus into the computers usb port (just like the old magicjack) to see if callers still get the beeping when calling us.
I’ll keep everyone posted as to the results.
John
@ John,
Do you have a static IP address? Also, have you tried port forwarding instead of giving priority to VOIP? Keep in mind in order for port forwarding to work you have to have a static IP…
As the magicjack website leaves much to be desired in the way of information, your review was extremely helpful and a pleasant read as tech reviews go. The photos were also quite helpful. However, what I most appreciate is your introducing me to the powerline Ethernet adapter as I was unaware of its existence; okay, so I’ve been stuck in the closet a while. Your mention of the device though will now liberate me from the present location of the router, my chilly downstairs office. Thanks so much again.
Kimberly B.
Kimberly,
You are welcome. Powerline Ethernet is not very well known nor adopted. If you search through The Gadgeteer Blog, you’ll find several reviews of the devices.
@ Billy Jack
Yes I have tried port forwarding and it also does not fix the beeping issue.
All of my PC’s have static IP addresses.
I’ll leave the magicjack plus hooked to my PC through USB and see how that works for a day or two.
I’m almost at my witts end and am believing that the issue is with either the device it self or magicjacks server/switching setup.
John
Good news for me. My Bell Canada Siemans 6250 speedstream DSL modem died on Wednesday morning. First the wireless connection died followed by incredibly slow connection speeds (332kbps) Bell sent a new modem by Purolater which arrived the next day. Not only has my internet speed and wireless connectivity improved dramatically, but best of all I have had four perfect MJ plus calls with absolutely no beeping or choppy voice. These are the best phone calls I have had since the device was delivered in early September. My modem was six years old and was made prior to the advent of VOIP. Could this be the reason for others with these problems? In any event, I will advise this forum should things change.
@Graham,
Glad to hear your calls are as they should be.
After setting my static IP address I really have not noticed any difference in the call quality. The beeping has not been present but it had been a while since I last experienced it, even before I changed my IP. I hope I’m not jinxing myself.
@ Graham,
That is something I actually hadn’t thought of to be quite honest. I have a Motorola broadband modem that is supplied by the cable co, but it was supplied many years ago before VOIP was a reality (10 years ago, maybe). If I were to request a new modem from the cable co they would give me a used Scientific Atlantic modem which would be worse than the modem I have now. I may just buy a new modem on Amazon and return the one the cable co has been letting use. I would have to call the cable co once I had the new modem so they can ID the device, but it may speed up the Internet and also be more inclined to work with VOIP better.
@ Billy Jack
If you have Comcast broadband, I strongly recommend to get a reconditioned Cisco-Linksys CM100, supporting DOSCIS 2.0 upto 38Mbps, around $35 shipping included.
http://www.buy.com/prod/cisco-linksys-cm100-cable-modem-with-usb-and-ethernet-connections/209342351.html
I bought a total of 4 reconditioned units (1 for myself & 3 for friends), and they have been running reliably for 2 yrs now.
Another friend bought a SURFboard 6120 DOCSIS 3.0 (> 38mbps) with GLAN and highly recommended it too.
The upfront cost paid off in 4 months instead of paying a monthly rental fee to cable company. You need to provide the MAC address of the cable modem to the cable company to access their network.
My current set up is Linksys CM100 + DLink DIR-615 N wireless router, and I can safely say no major problems using MJ+ thus far.
@ Jonathan,
I don’t have Comcast. I’m with Brighthouse (TWC). The Cisco modem is not supported and neither is the SURFboard 6120 DOCSIS 3.0. (I was actually going to get that one), but after going on their site and looking a list of supported modems. I’d have to go with the SURFboard 5101 DOCSIS 2.0. Not sure if its any better than the workhorse I currently have. I get pretty good upload and download speeds now and I’m not charged any rental on the modem. I have a lightening fast router (1 gig per port) no problem streaming anything at all (even under stress). Can’t explain the beeping issue I get on incoming calls from time to time. Quite honestly, I’m not so sure a new modem will solve the issue, its something MJ will have to solve.
@ Everyone,
I just realized that I still have Vonage hooked up to my router, although I don’t have a phone pugged into the Vonage device I still get messages on my computer because no one has the MJ phone #. I wonder if the fact that I have both the MJ and Vonage hooked up to my router that maybe that is what is causing the beeping. Just a thought…
@ Billy Jack
I don’t think so as I only have one hooked up and thats the Magicjack plus and still get the beeping.
btw: I’ve had the MJ+ connected to the PC via USB all day and not 1 beep on any call which is leading me to believe the issue is either with the device/maicjack server or possibly (since it was brought up recently) my modem/ISP equipment (not the router).
My ISP is Telus.
John
@ Billy Jack, Liz, and John
My new modem will not be as powerful as any of yours since my service is DSL and not cable . 5 mbps download and 676 kbps upload. The upload speed, which I understand is the important one for VOIP, is the same as my old modem. However, I am now into my third day of making perfect sound quality phone calls(keep your fingers crossed) In my case, I am convinced my old semens speedstream 6250 was the problem. I have researched the new modem which is a 2wire gateway. It gets horrible reviews which is something over which I have no control since Bell will not allow you to use your own modem. However, all is working well at present. No choppy conversations peppered with beeps or any other kind of interference. Now let’s hope I have not jinxed myself by bragging!!! Incidentally, I find the echo test number 909 390 0003 very handy for testing voice quality.
@ Graham,
I thought about that afterwards…I figure MJ may not have taken somethings into consideration when designing the firmware for the MJP as John states…I’ve ran every test known on my system and optimized my modem and router. I haven’t tested the MJP in a few days (at least on incoming calls). I just assume the beep will still be there. I refuse to use it through the computer as I specifically bought so it could be used through the router (by passing the computer). The wife doesn’t care about the beep but it bothers me that it doesn’t work as advertised, the beeping wasn’t advertised as part of the deal…Its apparent the MJ doesn’t have a fix for this either at this time. I actually went on some older blogs and apparently the original MJ also had the beeping issue even though it went through the computer so this isn’t something new, its a known issue (which I thought MJ resolved with the MJP). In my opinion, MagicJack and NetTalk are still not where they need to be in order for them to be serious players in the VOIP market, I can now say that I’ve tried both and they both have issues. I guess thats the difference between paying $30.00 per month versus $30.00 per year. The old adage is true, you get what you pay for…
I have taken the extreme step of call forwarding my business line to the MJ number. That will really put it to the test. I get so little traffic on the MJ line since nobody knows the number as we have been using it for long distance outgoing calls only. If I start to lose calls or business as a result, I will unforward it very quickly.
@Graham and everybody,
I never noticed that Comcast charges me $7 every month for the equipment! So far the modem provided by them has been working with no problems but now I know I can find a list of the approved modems to use with their service.
Hopefully your calls will continue to be great Graham. You’re really putting the MJ to the test by forwarding your business calls. Good luck!
Billy Jack, I also refuse to plug in my MJ+ to my PC since the whole idea of purchasing it was that it works as a standalone device. So far we have not experienced any beeps but we only make or receive about 2 calls a day.
I’m going to try EOIP (Ethernet over IP) tunnelling to see if that setting helps in any way, however I’m also wondering if the issue maybe related to the ISP’s modem.
I have a little blackbox which has no name on it except my ISP’s name. No model # or anything, but its meant for telus new optik TV service as well (I’m guessing its ADSL2 compliant).
John
@everyone who hates the chessey MJ homepage
MJ homepage has been changed! No more 8 year old girl saying this is Magic and this is Jack (her kittens)…she must be 16 to 18 by now. Believe it or not!
Its an infomerical clip from a TV shopping network. At least that is a step up! Ha Ha LOL
I wanted to ask customer service if I could run MJ+ on the modem with switcher and the old MJ std on the computer.
The CS lady didn’t seem very knowledgeable, but in theory since MJ+ has its own processor and only takes .125 Mbps of bandwidth, should be able to run multiple MJ+ off different ports of switcher. Has anyone tried this?
I have teenagers and they fight over who is using phone next.
I contacted MJ support yet again and this time got an operator who has apparently fixed the beeping issue with many customers.
He had me do something that nobody else has….
1. Right click on the magicjack Icon and select properties
2. Click on “Open File Location”
3. Delete all the files including sub-folders in that location. (If some won’t delete then open Task manager and highlight anything magicjack related and end process, now try to delete remainder of files)
4. plug magicjack plus back into router.
The problem as I see it seems to be a conflict between whats on the device & whats on the PC. Remember both are connected through 1 internet connection. Even though the device is plugged directly to the router the softphone still has some files loaded & running in the background and thus a conflict occurs between the 2 devices (MJ+ & your PC)
I’m testing this now and will report back later.
I know when the MJ+ is plugged in to the computer there are no issues at all.
John
@ John,
I’m guessing you missed a step in your instructions. I right clicked on the MJ icon and went to properties however, there is no choice showing “open file location”. I’m guessing the MJP has to be plugged into the computer in order to have that particular choice available in the properties menu.
Also, Once the MJP is plugged into the computer it automatically opens the soft phone app. Should that be closed prior to going through the procedure in your post?
Let us know how you fair, I’m skeptical about the fix. I don’t see how deleting files off the computer will affect the MJP as it completely bypasses the computer and strictly goes through the router.
On another note, someone called the wife last night and the person reported hearing several beeps during the conversation, in fact, they said it was so annoying that they wanted to call back and talk with her on the cell instead. I asked the wife to call her friend back from the home phone as I wanted to see if the beeping occurred during the conversation on an outgoing call, they spoke for a half hour with no beeps. This confirms that the beeping only occurs during incoming calls only, outgoing calls work as they should.
@ Billy Jack ….
1. Magicjack device should not be plugged into anything.
2. Softphone should be closed (Exit out of softphone app)
3. Right click on Magicjack desktop icon and select properties
4a. Click on “Open File Location” (should be a button near bottom on left side), This will open a new window.
4b. If 4a doesn’t work then search your computer for a folder called “Mjusbsp” and open it.
5. Delete all the files including sub-folders in that location. (If some won’t delete then open Task manager and highlight anything magicjack related and end process, now try to delete remainder of files)
6. plug magicjack plus back into router.
The problem it would seem to me, is its the same idea as having 2 or more files on your computer in different locations with the same name but different versions, The devices (modem, router & MJ+) are getting confused as to which is the correct way to operate.
I hope I’ve explained it a bit better.
John
Remember just because the Magicjack is bypassing your computer your router or modem are not, both of which also contain software to operate and both of which are connected to your computer as well.
also remember that you only have 1 internet connection which is being shared by these devices (computer, modem, router & magicjack+), There maybe software conflicts which are adding to the problem so by elimenating the files which are not needed it may resolve any conflicts.
I’ll keep you posted…
I look at it this way if it doesn’t work then the softphone will be installed again when I hook it back to the PC.
John
@ John,
I checked program files and there is no program for MagicJack, the location is in documents and settings, however, its just for the icon on the desktop, its an exe file (executable). In other words, the program itself in located in the MJP device, which is why the soft phone application only starts when the MJP is plugged into the computer. I had my computer look for the file called “Mjusbsp” and it brought back nothing. I’ve right clicked on the MJ icon and it doesn’t give me any button that says “open file location” I’ve clicked every button and tab on the right click menu for the MJ and there is nothing showing “open file location”. I checked all running process’s and no files that start with MJ.
The interesting thing is I went to “add and remove programs” and there appears to be the MJ program and its 64.89MB, however, I cannot find it anywhere on my computer…I did a computer search for MagicJack and it only brought back two 1KB files which are the icons (one on the desktop and one in documents and settings)
I’m curious, did you have the original MJ? As this might be left over files from that which were still on your computer. I never had the MJ until the MJP came out so those files are not likely to be on my computer.
@ Billy Jack and John
Just out of interest I took a look myself. You have to select short cut at the top in order to see file location at the bottom. If the tab at the top is open on any other , then change it to shortcut and you will see the tab.
@ Graham and John,
OK…I clicked on the icon tab and then clicked on the button that says “find target” this has brought me to the file called “Mjusbsp”, in this file are a whole slew of MJ files (otherwise known as the MJ program). I’m running XP media addition perhaps you guys are running a different operating system which is why the procedure is not the same to find the “infamous” files.
John,
Am I to delete the contents of this entire folder? As I’m sure you’re aware that the program will have to load itself back onto the computer next time the MJ is plugged into the computer.
@ John,
There actually is another way to test out your theory, unplug the ethernet cable going from the computer to the router. Then test out the MJP for a day and see what happens. If it solves the problem, then I would just figure out a way to separate the MJP (isolate it) to where it had its own (dedicated) router separate from the router that the computer uses. I guess, maybe, put a splitter at the modem and run another ethernet cable to another router and plug the MJP into that instead. Don’t know if it can be done or if they sell an ethernet splitter.
@ John and everyone else,
I did some research and apparently splitting your internet connection can be done (see link).
How to Connect Two Wireless Routers to One Modem | eHow.com
http://www.ehow.com/how_6374808_connect-wireless-routers-one-modem.html
Apparently, the splitter can be bought at Walmart or Radio Shack.
Since I have 3 older routers (I’m constantly updating hardware), I could use a “G” router and dedicate it just to the MJP, that way it would be truly on it own router separate from everything else. No interference from computers or programs. Also, if I wanted to plug it into the computer to use it that I would still have that option and it could be updated as well. I’m going to try this out. It will only require me to get the splitter and another ethernet cable and I should be good to go…
I’m running windows 7
I’m not experiencing any beeping at all, however I’m getting the odd pause like when it was beeping.
Be interesting to play around with this some more.
John
@ John,
I tried splitting the internet connection from the backside of the modem and the second router failed to work. I suspect there was a conflict regarding the routers and it just went to the most logical router (the one my computer was hooked up to). I’ll be bringing the ethernet splitter back to Radio Shack. There might be a way to do it by giving the second router a different IP address but I’m not a networking person. It would take someone that has a bit more knowledge than myself.
Looks like the “beeping” is still occurring on your MagicJack, its just in the form of a pause now instead. Too bad there isn’t a way to put the MJP on its own standalone router…
@Billy Jack,
I’m not a networking person either but from what I read you can’t really split the internet connection. Perhaps you can take a look at this:
http://ethernetsplitterhowto.wordpress.com/
On another note, since I set up my static IP address my internet has slowed down on my laptop so I went back to dynamic. No beeping (yet).
@ Liz,
Yes, I figured that out…Seems the person that wrote the “how to” article on the ehow website had absolutely no clue on “how to” connect two routers to one modem. Wonder how many others tried his instructions only to figure out the person doesn’t know a thing on what they wrote about…No biggy, I’ll just return the splitter, I already had some cables so I didn’t buy any…
I never did change my IP to static, but I have my router set-up to give VOIP priority but that really hasn’t made a difference in regard to the beeping. Quite honestly, I’d like to just bring it back to Radio Shack and be done with it, but the Mrs would probably get upset and it ain’t worth the hassle of having to hear her complain, so I’ll wind up keeping the thing (unfortunately)…
@Billy Jack,
I guess you can’t really trust those eHow pages. Lol. The husband is not too convinced about keeping the MJ+, especially because we confirmed with Comcast that our internet rate will definitely go up if we cancel the phone service with them. So we wouldn’t be saving as much as we thought, and we would be giving up certain things like Caller ID NAME and correct date & time stamps on the phone. I know it isn’t such a big deal but it annoys me.
We only have a few days left on the trial… We’ll see what happens.
No more beeping here, I think I may have also solved the pausing.
Deleting the MJUSBSP folder from my computer seems to have done the trick for eliminating the beeping, as for the pausing I have put my Magicjack plus’s IP address (192.168.1.100) into the DMZ (de-militarized zone) which basically makes it bypass the routers settings in order to access the internet.
All of my computers have static IP addresses, the only device that doesn’t is the magicjack plus.
I’m going to get a little technical here, but someone else who understands this may be able to explain it better 🙂
-I setup the router to allow for 5 IP addresses starting at 192.168.1.100 to 192.168.1.104
– I then setup my pc’s to use IP addresses from 192.168.1.101 to 192.168.1.104 thus leaving 192.168.1.100 (the 1st IP address) for the magicjack plus (It will get that IP address by default from my Internet service provider’s DHCP server)
All seems to be working fine right now, here’s keeping my fingers crossed that it will work perfectly tomorrow and for days to come.
John
@ Liz,
If you also have phone service along with internet with Comcast then you’d have to rent the modem/VoIP adapter combo box from them. Couple of ways you can get discounts from them:
1. You can call their customer service# & select “CANCEL” service to get connected to retention center. Tell them you’re SERIOUSLY consider canceling their services cuz of cost & some satisfactions, they will give you some discounts to keep you. However, the discounts won’t be as deep as for new customers & for 6-12 months.
2. Since you have 2 adults in your household. Call them to open up a new account under a different name & contact# to get the new customer introductory offer, most prices are good for one year then some increase in 2nd yr. You can pick double-play (Internet+TV combo) or triple-play (internet+TV+phone). In your case, likely double-play or single only. You’d have to pay a $25 installation fee, but if you purchase your own modem then you recover all that costs in a short time instead of renting their equipment. Once you got all pricing & info confirmed on new account, call back at different time to cancel your current service. It can be inconvenient, so consider it if your saving vs time is justifiable.
@ Billy Jack, John & Liz,
A network splitter won’t work as each network device connected to a network is required to have an IP address assigned to it, either static or dynamic, and the IPA is mapped to its unique MAC address. In addition, when you connect a router (LAN) to the cable modem (WAN), you’d have to enter the account info given by your ISP to access their network to reach the internet, handling by router NAT. In the case where you simply install a splitter & another router to your network, then it’d naturally connect to the existing router cuz your account info is already entered in that router; therefore, validated by ISP system to allow access. The other router will be denied. To use 2 routers in your private network, they must be daisy-chained, meaning one router will be the main tier connecting to your ISP network, and the 2nd router will be branching off of your main router connecting by a cable to one of the ports. I think BJ said you have one of the latest advanced routers, which would likely have all the features to meet VoIP requirements, so I think the beeps issue would likely be either with MJ or the aged workhorse cable modem with your ISP provided. Adding a 2nd router won’t likely resolve the beeps. BUT… if you decide to try, then 2nd router should be designated for VoIP only.
@ John,
Be very cautious using DMZ in your network as it’ll make your private network vulnerable to hackers, especially when it’s open 24×7. Best practice to use DMZ is only when you absolutely have to with restricted time & closely monitor traffics on it. Think of it as you have all your doors & windows in your house locked but decided to have one open to get air circulated inside your house. Burglars (hackers) will case your house then break in (hack). Have you tested MJP with reduced DHCP IPA range w/o DMZ enable?
It’s all great that we’re working together to troubleshoot the problem (MJ must have loved it having a workforce without pay :-D), but think of our own network security before implementing any permanent settings on our routers.
@ John,
Did you reserve the static IPA’s on your router for your PCs? If you have a power failure, MJP will likely be the 1st device to power up once power is restored before your PC’s, and it can be a conflict with PC’s later on. Just a thought.
@Jonathan,
Thanks for the idea. I’ll have the husband call tomorrow and see if they can lower the bill. If they do, I’ll be shipping the MJ+ right away.
Jonathan took the words out of my mouth, in that if Dan Borislaw and his merry men had put as much effort as you guys have when they were running the beta tests, we would all be a lot better off. I have been forwarding my land line to the MJ for the past several days. I had two choppy outgoing calls yesterday having just uploaded a movie to Utube. I took that to be a factor and rebooted my modem. The subsequent calls were fine. However, I now see the issue regarding the time and date of calls. I run my MJ along with my POTS line on a two line phone. All the incoming calls on the POTS line show the correct time and date. However, the calls on the MJ line are dated January 1 and have odd times. It is annoying. However a small detail compared to the sound quality issues. Over the past three years I have been singing the praises of the original MJ and always attributed problems to peoples unhealthy computers since I had great service from the original. I am no longer quite so sure about this outfit.
@ Graham,
I hear ya! To be quite honest, I think this technology has a ways to go yet. If you look at NetTalk and MagicJack, they both have issues. The problem is both of the above mentioned companies bill their products as the best thing since sliced bread and most people that have bought their products know that simply isn’t true. If they were just honest about it, they wouldn’t give their customers the expectation that it works without problems. They really shouldn’t come out with these products until they have been thoroughly tested on every platform, router, ISP etc. It seems like they just threw a chip in a little box tested it a little bit and billed as the best thing since sliced bread, it was done half-assed. There is a reason I’ve been with Vonage for as long as I have, because it works! They have apparently spent the money and time and got it right.
@ Jonathan
Yes I did reserve the static IPA’s on my router for all my PCs, I even have the magicjack device listed even though its IPA comes through DHCP (Its the only device which does that therefore I can set it up this way).
First day on the job for MJ. As you know I call forwarded my business land line to the MJ with mixed results. I had to reboot the modem once already today due to some choppiness. Also, does anyone know how call waiting is supposed to work?? While talking on one call another came in and it went straight to voice mail. I was not given any warning through audio that a call was coming in. Is this another one of those “magic promises” unfulfilled. It is crazy that we are all spending so much time trying to make what is being sold as “plug and play” technology work. My old MJ worked fine. I will see how the rest of today goes.
@Graham,
I tried call waiting and it would beep while I was on another call, but I don’t think it showed who was calling. Not sure why it went directly to VM for you.
I ended up printing the RMA and shipping the MJ+ back today. I also got in touch with Comcast and tried to get them to lower the price on our bill but that didn’t work. They’re trying to get us to downgrade our internet speed and we don’t want that. AT&T seems to be cheaper but I’ve heard horror stories about their internet connection.
It’s funny because a lady at the Post Office saw me packing up the MJ+ and said she loves it, but she has the original one.
Anyway, I think that’s it for me with MJ+ at least for now. Good luck guys.
@ Liz
I agree that the original MJ is much better. I have a new issue. I have had three incoming calls this afternoon which have been forwarded from my land line. I was unable to hear the person on the other end but they could hear me. I took my original MJ to Mexico and the UK last winter. I call forwarded my line to the MJ and received all my calls. So I do not understand why it cannot transfer calls in the same house!! go figure.
A month ago, I arranged with a local cable company to transfer all my services (internet, TV and phone) They were offering a fantastic rate $140.00 per month as opposed to the $300 I was paying with Bell Canada. When I called Bell to cancel my services they were able to match the rate being offered by the cable company. So my bill has dropped 50%. I am sorry that comcast does not do the same for you.
Make sure that MJ give you the correct refund. They are quite sneaky when it comes to credit card refunds.
Good luck.
Will the magicjack plus work on my wireless internet that is connected to my laptop?
@Graham,
That sucks about your calls. I had an issue with the MJ+ where somebody was trying to call us and the call wouldn’t come through. They tried 3 times and nothing. Who knows why.
I took the 30 day trial, so as far as I know they wouldn’t charge anything until after the 30 days. I just checked my credit card online and no charge has been made. However, I’ll keep checking just in case they want to play sneaky.
I got only 2 beeps on a 10 minute conversation which is a major improvement, but my MJ+ is once again plugged into my PC’s usb port.
@ John,
I assume the MJ program reloaded itself back onto your computer. I really think the only way to stop the beeping/pausing is to completely separate the MJP device from the computer and router. I was talking with a friend of mine today about the issue(s) with MJP and he suggested getting a new modem (from the cable co) that has the VOIP ethernet jack already built into it, that way, it would be before the computer and the router. I’m guessing one would plug the Ethernet jack going to the MJP device directly into the modem, I didn’t know they had these types of modems. What are your thoughts on the subject?
I am now getting the beeping noises big time on incoming calls. The Jury is back on this one guys, I have written a bad review on
Epinions below. I have wasted enough time on this piece of garbage
http://www.epinions.com/review/magicJack_PC_to_Phone_Jack/content_568034889348
Jane,
If you mean your laptop use Wifi, then the answer is you can plug the MagicJack into the laptop and use it. If you have Wifi you probably have a router with Ethernet ports and the Magic Jack could be plugged into that also, eliminating the need to keep the computer on.
Nice write up Graham.
I thoroughly agree with what you have said. I’m trying it out plugged into my PC just like the original to see if there are any issues using it that way.
If there are none then it will become a spare unit for me.
John
I am on a roll guys. I attach another review similar to the last one. I want the word out that this product is a rip off.
http://www.magic-jack.com/what-is-the-new-magic-jack-plus/magic-jack/comment-page-1/#comment-1862
@ Everyone,
Has anybody tried to use the MJP with a corded phone? Just curious, maybe the beeping has to do with cordless phones. I know Bill is showing it with a corded phone in the photos of the review. Also, has anyone tried it with DECT phone?
I’m going to ask this question in hopes of finding a few setups that work great.
Please only respond if the magicjack plus works without beeps, choppy voice or pauses when connected directly to your modem/router.
1. Did U upgrade from previous version of MagicJack?
2. What type of internet service do you use? Cable or Telco (ADSL)
3. Make/Model of both modem and router (if separate) or Modem (if combo unit)
4. corded or cordless phone
5. Any special firmware or tweaks done to modem/router
6. [optional] Name of Internet provider (maybe its got something to do with their specific system)
7. any other comments which may help
@John,
Answers to your questions:
1. Did U upgrade from previous version of MagicJack?
– I used the original MJ for 2 yrs since 2009 but didn’t renew it earlier this year due to low usage & inconvenient of keeping PC on. No complaints from other lines when using with a telephone, but got a few complaints about static noise when making calls on my old, old laptop with DSL. No complaints when switched to cable modem.
2. What type of internet service do you use? Cable or Telco (ADSL)
– Currently cable broadband with Comcast.
3. Make/Model of both modem and router (if separate) or Modem (if combo unit)
– Cisco-Linksys CM100 cable modem
– DLink DIR-615 N wireless router
4. corded or cordless phone
– cordless phone. Panasonic DECT 6.0 4-handset with built-in bluetooth to pair with my cell phones and a 3yrs old Philip DECT6.0 cordless phone.
5. Any special firmware or tweaks done to modem/router
– None. Bought my router in 2007 and running with the last available FW updated in late 2008.
6. [optional] Name of Internet provider (maybe its got something to do with their specific system)
– Comcast
7. any other comments which may help
– It’s interesting that Billy Jack brought up DECT cordless phones. All the phones that I’ve tested MJ+ on are DECT6.0, and only 1 of 25 calls experienced the beeping noise at about 3min intervals.
– on my Panasonic, I set the Time Adjust to “Manual”, then the time stamp on calls shows correct current date & time.
– if set Time Adjust to “Caller ID Auto”, then it displays the 1/1 hh:mm from MJ+.
@ Billy Jack
I have been using a corded at&t two line phone. One line is for my POTS line the other is for Magicjack. I have been using this phone for two years with no problems. I wondered if the phone was the problem and for a time switched to a panasonic corded phone with the same negative results. I really wonder if this is not a server issue with MJ. Maybe if we could switch servers it might help. I believe that my old MJ may be on a diifferent server to the plus since the volume is much louder and more clear than on the plus when plugged into the PC.
I saw something a while back which I attached in a previous posts about MJ servers. Apparently some are overloaded. In any event, I have never used a cordless phone with MJ although I do have a Vetech 6.0 connected to my land line
@ Graham,
I found these links on how to change the proxy, not sure if its the same thing your looking for or if you can do it with the MJP.
http://magicjackhacks.blogspot.com/
http://www.howtofixyourstuff.com/computer/fix_magicjack_problems_by_tweaking_and_changing_your_proxy_settings.php
http://www.ehow.com/how_7653350_change-destination-proxy-magic-jack.html
@ John and all
Another question worth asking is how many MJ plus users opted to use their existing phone number when switching to MJ plus. My old MJ shares the same number. Is it possible that there could be a conflict due to this. Particularly if both units reside on different servers. Just a thought since we are looking at everything
@ Graham,
Here is the post someone made about putting the MJP on a router instead of putting it directly to their router…
I put MJ+ behind a linksys switch (vs. directly on the router) and had no issues. killed power to the switch and MJ+ recovered in ~ 1 minute. Unplugged MJ+ and recovered in about ~ 1 minute. So it seems to be pretty robust so far as network recovery is concerned. Wireshark (network sniffer) also shows no ‘weirdness’ on the LAN. At this time I configured QOS on the router. Quality: Seems to be clear enough, as good as my POTS line anyway. I never had issues with delay or ‘beeping’ as some have reported. And, shock of shocks! The Phillips DECT phone system now rings on incoming calls (with old(er) MJ, they would not ring on incoming calls). So maybe I cancel that new phone system order. All in all it is working as advertised, and maybe a bit better than expected
@ Graham,
I have my MJP plugged into my router, I have a router switch (Netgear) but I just ordered it a couple of weeks ago and haven’t installed it yet. I guess I’ll try putting the MJP on my router switch instead of plugging it directly into my router, however, I won’t be able to set it up until this weekend, at this point have nothing to lose. Does anyone else have their MJP plugged into a router switch instead of having it plugged directly into their router? Just curious…
@ Billy Jack
I have an all in one wirless router and modem. I guess that is how DSL works. Would I be able to plug this device into one of my ports on the modem/router then plug the MJ into that? If it works, please let me know and I will go out and get one.
Thanks
@ Graham,
A router switch is used when all the ethernet ports are being used up on your router. Mine were all being used up when I bought the MJP, I had to unplug the ethernet cable going to the home plug that runs to my daughters room (she doesn’t use the internet in her room that often) to be able to plug the MJP into the router. In order to restore internet back to her room I’ll have to use the router switch so I have more ethernet ports. I also have an ancient cordless phone, the wife wanted to get a new DECT cordless phone system anyway (about a year ago or so) and I didn’t want to spend the money, so now I guess it may be time to update our phone too. In reading the person findings that made the post I copied from another forum I found two things interesting, one that he put the MJP on a router switch rather than plugging it directly into the router ,and, two, he was using a Phillips DECT phone and he reported that the call quality was good and had no beeping issues. This is one of reasons I asked the earlier question about the DECT phone, my phone is probably 6 years old (or older) running on 2.4 ghz.
@ Billy Jack
This is not the case for me. I only have one ethernet cable for my PC and one going to the MJ leaving two available ports on the router. I did some research and found the following available on Amazon. Is this one you have? Anyway, it does not look like the answer to my problem.
http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-RP614-Router-4-Port-Switch/product-reviews/B00006B9H9/ref=dp_top_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1
@ Graham
I opted to use the same magicjack # as my old one, and I only use the Magicjack Plus. The original version is in a drawer.
I’ve been using a Uniden 5.8 Ghz cordless phone system (Model : TRU9488om), but we do have a Panasonic Dect 6.0 two handset phone which I will try this weekend.
I also wonder if volume settings are too high on either the magicjack or the phone itself causing the beeps.
@ Billy Jack
I had to run the the install software again to put it back on the PC, then plug the magicjack plus back into the PC and wait for the Lucky You updates.
Works perfectly when connected to the PC.
John
@John and Billy Jack
I am really wondering if this is not a traffic problem on MJ’s network. The choppiness only seems to occur in the afternoons. I had some good calls all day on Sunday and yesterday morning. This morning I only had two calls but they were both OK. The beeping has not happened since the last call of yesterday afternoon at around 4:30 pm. I should start to keep a diary. I would like to try and transfer to another server to see if that is the problem.
I just went into my MJ account. I selected My subscriptions. When you scroll down you will see Static network configuration. Mine is set to use “DHCP” When you uncheck that box, you are given a list of other options such as ip address etc. Has anyone figured out what that is and would it help to change it.
@ Graham Hall
I played with that Static settings at the beginning of this group troubleshooting efforts. I entered a static IP, broadcast IP, gateway & “MJ” DNS IP mentioned from one of the posts. but I didn’t notice any difference in sound quality or beeping issue. My case may be isolated, not conclusive though, that I might end up have had the “required” equipment set up to run MJ+; thus, I haven’t really experienced the frequent beeping issue. I wasn’t sure if the static settings are written to any onboard EEPROM in the MJ+ or not, and I couldn’t find a method to read info from MJ+ either.
One thing that crossed my mind as I’m writing this msg is that when I reserved a static IPA on my router for MJ+, after rebooting both my router & MJ+, I noticed that a diffferent IPA is assigned to MJ+. I’ll try to verify again later tonight if static IPA assigned in My Subscriptions is retained in the MJ+ & being used on my router.
@ Billy Jack & John,
I also tested MJ+ on my old Uniden 5.8GHz cordless phone (silver handsets but can’t remember model#), but the volume was very low. Phillips DECT6.0 was better, but the Panasonic DECT6.0 has the best call quality. I bought my Panasonic DECT6.0 4-handset package at Costco $100 7 months ago, and a friend bought the same set there 2 months ago $80.
I was mistaken earlier … My DECT6.0 phone is a Phillips not Panasonic.
I’ve hooked it up directly to the router and after 3 incoming calls so far nothing but perfect operation. Caller ID works and no beeping or pauses yet.
I’ll leave it hooked up this way for now, I also put back my Engenius router since it is a wireless N as opposed to the linksys.
I had not thought that it might actually be the phone that could be causing the interference, I know the DECT6.0 technology is digital versus the 2.4 or 5.8 ghz phones.
John
All still working well, however the date/time stamp still resets to 01/01 12:00am with each call.
That to me is a non-factor, I’m sure it will get corrected in time.
@ Jonathan,
There is a free program that can assist you in figuring out the info you’re looking for (see link). I think people that are into networking and such probably use this program…
http://www.wireshark.org/
@ John,
I’m afraid I don’t understand your previous post…You state you have it hooked up directly to the router. Are you saying you have the MJP hooked up directly to the router and you have the DECT phone plugged into the MJP? I also have been using wireless N router, but my phone is old technology either 2.4 ghz or 5.8 ghz not really sure, either way, its old technology…
@ Graham,
I don’t have the router switch in the link you provided. Since my router is a gig per port router. I chose a router switch the also supplies a gig port (see link)…
http://www.amazon.com/NETGEAR-GS105-ProSafe-Gigabit-Ethernet/dp/B0000BVYT3/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1316884496&sr=1-7
I realize you may not need one now, but, you may need one in the future, however, the router switch that works for my set-up may not be the best switch for your set-up.
@ Billy Jack
Sorry, yes the magicjack plus is hooked to the router via ethernet cable and the phone is plugged into the MJ+ (The way it should be if you don’t connect to pc usb port)
John
@ John,
No problem…Please keep us updated on the status of how the MJP is working with the DECT phone hooked up to it…My current cordless phone is a Panasonic but as I stated in an earlier post, its either a 2.4ghz or 5.8ghz. If you don’t have anymore choppiness and beeping issues I’ll get a the Panasonic cordless DECT phone system, its probably a lot cheaper now than when it first came out. I’ve seen them online ranging from $65.00 -$80.00
@ John,
One observation I have made is when the wife starts talking louder into the phone is when the beeping on my cell seems to happen. However, she has heard the beeping when she has called me from from her cell too. Not sure if the pitch of someones voice may be causing the issue…I noticed you mentioned the volume might be the cause of the beeping…
@ John and Jonathan,
I stand corrected, I just to a look at one of my phone bases and its an AT&T DECT 6.0 cordless phone, its not a Panasonic. If I remember correctly it seems we didn’t pay that much for it, its a two phone system. We either bought it at Walmart or Sams about 5 years ago. If the choppiness and beeping stop with the Phillips or Panasonic I’ll go for one of those two brands since Jonathan has tried the MJP on both brands without an issue. Jonathan, am I correct in stating that you haven’t experienced the beeping and choppiness?
I have the Panasonic phone, Dect 6, and I hear the beeping.
The one good thing with the new Panasonic, is you can program it so it doesn’t reset the time & date after each call.
@ Louis,
I guess that eliminates getting the Panasonic phone…I guess its the Phillips as of right now…We’ll see what John comes back with for results after using the Phillips for a few days…
@ John,
Do you know what model # your Phillips DECT Phone is? I want to see if its still available, or, if not, perhaps there is a replacement model (not sure how old your Phillips phone is)…
@ Billy Jack
I got it at a discount store as a refurbished unit, they had several.
Its a Phillips SE455 (Black phones)
The phone is a little over 2 years old. I’m guessing its no longer available as it was already discontinued last year.
@ John,
I checked and they have some on Amazon, but, its not offered by Amazon so I’ll stay away from it. There are many different Phillips DECT phones, so I’m not sure which one to get. At any rate, I’ll let you test it for several more days just to make sure the MJP is still performing with out beeps…
I have a question regarding the use of the UPS battery backup. My understanding is that the MJ cannot be plugged into a surge protector. What type of battery backup would be best? Is there a basic UPS without surge protection available?
Unfortunately there are so many variables that its almost a crap shoot if your setup is going to work.
I honestly think the device is OK.
The jury is still out on their network of servers.
Everything from ones own hardware (modems, routers, ISP and even the power distribution in your home and the type of home construction & whats around your home that could cause interference [Metal, microwave, florescent lights etc etc]) will all play into how well the device may work.
At this point its all trial & error hence the questioning in an earlier post, to see if we can find something in common that works.
John
One thing I know for certain is it does work perfectly when plugged into the computers usb port (Just like the original version) and based on that I have to say the problems are not related to the device itself.
@ John,
Perhaps the design of the device…Why on earth would MJ make a device that might include so many variables that most everyone would have problems? The beeping issue seems to be the most common problem people are noting on every forum related to the MJP. I could see if a few people reported the problem, but its being reported by a very high percentage of users…
It’s inconclusive to determine the root cause of the beeps to resolve it. I got 6 incoming calls from cell phones to MJ+ connected to Philips DECT2211G/37 & Panasonic KX-TG7624SK DECT6.0 phones, and 2 calls on each phone got the beeping noise; however, the first beeps happened about 1min into the conversation and didn’t happen again til about 12 & 20 min later. Incoming calls were from ATT Android & T-mobile phones with durations from 3min to 40min, and callers are of both sexes. Prior to tonight’s experiment, only 1 of about 25 calls reported hearing beeps during conversation, so I thought I might have had the almost perfect equipment set up but evidently not so now.
Static IP address saved in MJ My Subscriptions menu is not the IPA for MJ+ shown on my router, so it’s still a mystery of its static settings function. After plugging the MJ+ to my PC and saved the static settings with MJ DNS, it didn’t work when I reconnected to my router. I had to repeat that process using gateway & DNS IPs from my router, and it worked.
All testings have been done with MJ+ connected to the router port since that is the application that I bought MJ+ for. I don’t plan on testing it connected to USB port cuz ppl aren’t complaining about the beeps in that configuration.
Well, with the long intervals between beeps, it’s tolerable with us (wife & kids agreed too) since we don’t talk on the phone that much. I’ll try to call into MJ+# more often in the next 8 days to test it out before trial period ends. Have 10 days to decide.
@Billy Jack,
Thx for the wireshark link. Will check it out when I have time later.
Betsy
The MJ Plus can be plugged into a surge protector. I have mine in one as I have the other 3 Voip devices in my house. If you want to battery backup the device, remember you’ll also have to battery backup the modem, router and telephone handset. You can skip the telephone handset if you use a wired phone.
I use an APC 750 and it works just fine. It gives me about an hour of power.
I have never been a fan of cordless phones. I note that Bill in the above review used an ordinary type corded phone to avoid cordless issues. I have been using all along a two line AT&T two line corded speakerphone for both MJ and the land line. We are going on a short vacation to visit friends for a few days and I shall take the MJ along to try in on their system. I shall be using a corded GE phone (dirt cheap) connected to MJ. If it woks without choppiness, then I will stop using the two line phone and just use the el cheapo GE when we are back home. I had some other issues yesterday. Some incoming calls forwarded from my land line, were dropped seconds after I answered. The cut off was prewarned by my land line ringing once. It was as though the MJ rejected the call forwarding and sent the call back to the land line. The MJ went dead after that and I had to reboot it. Maybe it is the two line phone causing the problem and it is trying to default back to the land line.
@ Graham and John,
Which brings me to my next question…I’ve been wondering about the QoS setting in my router for VOIP…Since I have two VOIP devices (Vonage and MagicJack) connected to my router and I have set the QoS to give VOIP priority, how does the router know which VOIP device to give priority to?
Wow, after reading all this, and just for a phone ??? i mean COME ON !!….i’m not gonna touch one with a 10′ pole ! I’ll stick to my plugin and say hello phone ! It just doesn’t seem worth it…. AT ALL !! Geeeeezzzzz !!!
So much for the idea that the phone could be the issue.
It started off real well then as the day went on the beeping started and continued.
Its got to be something with their server or with the codec they use on the device. The old Magicjack along with the softphone use the G711 codec, however the new version as I understand it uses a hi-definition codec most likely G729.
Oh well for now I’m going to use it just like the old one until they come out with a fix (Plugged into the USB port on my PC, which by the way is on 24/7 anyways).
@ John,
Well, I knew it was to good to be true…If what you say is true wouldn’t everyone have the beeping issue? They also sell HD audio DECT phones, I wonder if that would make a difference.
@Billy Jack
You would think so.
As for the HD audio DECT phones, that is what mine is. I can set it for either and I have tried both settings.
I am convinced that it is a server issue. We must all be on the same server .Several days ago Billy Jack sent some links in a previous post to change the proxy settings. I did look at them but I think they were for the old MJ. Also I am not convinced that any changes made to the soft phone in you PC have any effect when plugged into you router
I have been using MJ as my only phone service for years and in different countries. It is the BEST! Once in a blue moon, I have echo which is no big deal; I just talk with it or hang up and dial again or hang up and whoever I am speaking with calls me back. And, sometimes my ISP goes out but I just wait for it to come back. I have never had serious problems enough to go back to whatever horrible phone service is out there at outrageous prices and horrible service. MJ is the best!
We have a router secured by blocking any MAC address which we do not input. We bought the MJ+, and are asking the company to provide the device’s MAC address. They’re responding by claiming that the MJ+ does not have its own MAC device, which seems to violate standards. They’re asking us to decrease our security so the devise can work. We’re probably going to have to send it back if we can’t get someone there who understands this issue (we’ve gone through 3 people already and getting close to 2.5 hours…)
I bought the MJ plus with the intention of connecting it without computer. I connected the Magic jack plus with my ATT westell modem but it does not work. Can someone help me out, please.
I just downloaded Magic jack for my iphone. It seems to work very well on iphone. Better in fact than Mj plus. Go figure
@ Billy Jack,
Check your router QoS menu if if allows you to set priority with device’s MAC address and/or IPA if you use static IPA.
@ Hawaii
MJ helpless customer service needs to update their knowledge. The original MJ doesn’t have MAC address, but the new MJ+ should have it as it is a network device & missing a MAC address label too. Plug your MJ+ into your router, log into your router, turn off MAC filter so that your MJ+ is able to connect to your router. Capture the new MAC address in your IP table. Enter that in your MAC table and turn MAC filter back on. That should work.
@Graham Hall,
Did you set up MJ on iPhone to call out only or also receives calls? Is it a subscription service to get incoming calls? outgoing only is free. I set up on my wife’s iPhone4 but hasn’t really spent time testing it yet.
@ jonathan
I have already received a call on my iphone4 so I must have subscribed. I had no idea that you had to pay for incoming calls. I opted to use my MJ number. I suppose it will be deducted from my international minutes. I did not see anywhere in the setup to indicate a charge for incoming calls. Thanks for the heads up
@Jonathan
I just went back to the app and read the instructions. It states free outgoing calls to US or Canada. It further states free incoming calls with a magic number prefixed by another number . Further down it says that existing customers may use their existing MJ number but remains silent about free incoming calls. I appreciate your heads up on this since I was going to call forward my land line to the MJ number to take calls on the iPhone when away from the house
@ Jonathan,
In the QoS section it has “application name” which has VOIP in it. The next box is a drop down menu which gives you the choice of choosing UDP or TCP, I currently have it set on UDP, the next box in the row says “destination port” and that is blank as I have no idea what to put in there and the next box is a drop down menu where you can choose the level of priority which I have set on “highest”.
@ Billy Jack
MJ uses UDP ports 5600-5700, so enter those values in.
@ Jonathan,
Do I enter them just like you have it shown in your post? There is only one box.
@ Billy Jack
If enough space enter as shown or use , instead of – depending on router. Or enter one value only.
@ Jonathan,
I guess that answers that, I tried to use (,) and it said ERROR: invalid character. It only allows one # so I used 5060. It took it, perhaps that will help (who knows). I have a dynamic IP…
*** WARNING WARNING ***
I just discovered that your old magicjack device will still auto-renewal (if setup that way) even though you’ve upgraded to the “MagicJack Plus” [This means you’ll be paying a separate renewal fee for each device]. Both my old & new magicjack devices were on the same account as I transferred the number from the old magicjack to the new magicjack plus device, If you try to disable one device by logging in to your magicjack account / subscriptions and changing the setting It will disable ALL devices attached to your account.
The ONLY way around this is to chat with their top 10% agent and ask to have the old device de-activated or else it will cost you a renewal for the old magicjack which you might not be using anymore (Mine is in a drawer).
John
Ooops … The post above should say … It will disable Auto-renewal on all devices.
It won’t disable all the devices :lol
John
@ John
I long ago suspected that to be the case and disabled auto renewal on my account since I did not want to be charged this coming January when the old MJ is renewable. If I keep auto renewal disabled until after the expiration of the old one then put back again for the plus should that not be OK?Or will they wipe out both devices even though I have a two year subscription on MJ plus. I ask because nothing would surprise me with these guys.
@ Graham
I’m not sure thats why I had the old device de-activated. It makes it final and there is no chance of them charging for 2 devices.
Just like you nothing about these guys surprizes me anymore.
John
Now I am curious about Magictalk for Iphone which I downloaded yesterday.I just went into my MJ account and found my iphone listed in my subscriptions as a device along with my old MJ and MJ plus. I have a sneaking suspicion that I am going to have to pay an anual fee for this service, notwithstanding that they say it is free when you download to your phone. Does anyone have expreience of magictalk for smart phones ?
@ Graham,
I have an android smartphone. MJ doesn’t have an app for smartphones, to my knowledge they only have an app for the iphone, ipad and ipod (Apple products only). you can only download the app from the Apple store.
I read that the subscription to use the app (for the iphone) is an additional $20 per year on top of the $29.95 per year phone service…
@ Billy Jack
I did download from the apple store from my iphone. It did not mention anything about anual fees although I am sure to be charged since my iphone is listed as a device. These guys are so sneaky. As long as it is only $20.00 per year and not for each incoming phone call as suggested by Jonathan. I must admit that the quality is pretty good on both wifi and 3G.
By the way, I just tried to access my account again and got a message that their system is down for upgrading!! Could this be the end of our problems if they are updating their system. Forever an optomist.
@ Graham,
I have till the 7th of Nov to bring the MJP back to Radio Shack, as of right now I plan on bringing it back before the 30 days are up…I just can’t see paying $74.95 + tax for something that promises one thing and gives you something else (crappy communication services). If they had an app for Android smartphones, I would consider keeping it. One thing NetTalk has that MJ doesn’t is an app for Android, Blackberry and iphones. According to Entrepenuer/shyster Dan Borislow the iphone makes the perfect platform for the MJ device, I don’t know if MJ will ever come out with an app for android…
@Jonathan
I just spent over half an hour on the MJ chat line and have been informed that Magictalk on your iphone is free for the first two months after which there is an anual fee of $19.95. Inbound calls are free. It was like pulling teeth to get this much information and the operator “Dudley” never once answered my question directly and I had to ask the same question numerous times. Of course there is no mention of an anual subscription fee in the apple store when you read the information provided before downloading.
Okay – been reading your thread here – I’m still confused about the ability to use the MJP over Wifi – it is unclear if the company intended us to be able to use a wifi internet connection – such as in my apartment building which includes free wifi in my monthly rent or only if we connect though a wireless connection on say a laptop/netbook …. I was trying to avoid the ‘have to have a computer’ thing. I can use the MJP with the data cable connected to the wall outlet in the apartment it’s just that having the ability to connect with the wifi was part of the reason I wanted this to start with…think of the possibilities for some of us mobile/location independant types!
Any input would be GREATLY appreciated…. (hope I’m not too much of a dreamer on this one)
oops – I forgot to add – if it is possible and/or you have connected the MJP through wifi – please share the how-to… cause I haven’t figured it out yet.
does anyone know if this new magic jack plus can send or recieved fax, ?
Lesa, I use MJ with WiFi. I have a Mac, so my router is Apple’s Airport. I simply plug the MJ (not MJ+) in a USB port, my phone into MJ, and I am good to go. There is a higher probability of being cut off if using WiFi, and MJ suggests not using WiFi, but I do not have a problem; I can talk just as well with ethernet or WiFi.
Please ignore my previous comment.
Alfred,
Check out comment #27.
Lesa,
You will need to connect to a windows computer to initially install the MJ+. Also, I wouldn’t depend on a free WiFi solution for my phone service. Remember, it’s worth what you pay for it.
It is conceivable that you could use a device such as a wireless bridge to give you an Ethernet port. I haven’t tried it though. Check out the Diamond Wireless Range Extender review available here at THE GADGETEER.
Well they seem to have got the Magictalk app for iphone right:
I am now using the the above application from my wireless connection in the house. For only $20.00 per year it works like a charm and both receives and makes calls without a hitch (so far)
It is now too late to return the MJ plus which has been a disappointment to say the least. Oh well, it will probably end up in a drawer along with the original MJ and other not so great gadgets purchased over the years.
I’ve been reading about RFI interference (radio frequency interference) and am going to try a modular RFI filter like this one.
http://www.wilcominc.com/item.cfm?ProdID=104&result=1&stockalert=No#skus
Its not the same as the ADSL filter which your ISP may provide to separate phone from internet service on the same line. Looks very similar though.
I’ve read a few users comments on another forum/blog which indicated that such a filter solved their beeping issues.
I’m going to see if I can find one locally to try it out (I can always return it if it doesn’t work).
I’m currently using my MJ+ via the computers USB port without any issues.
John
@ Billy Jack
The UDP port should be 5600 entered in your QoS menu for VoIP priority for MJ+. Was it a typo in your last msg to me stating port 5060?
@ Graham Hall
Thx for confirming the annual subscription fee on MJ app on Apple iProducts. Did you mean “outbound”, not “inbound”, calls are free? I don’t need their App, just installed on my wife’s iPhone4 to check it out. We’ve been using Tango to call when travel oversea. Plan to test Viber soon. My Android 2.2 phone is unlocked, so I can use a local SIM oversea.
@ Jonathan
Both incoming and outgoing calls are free. However after two months you will be billed an annual fee of $19.95 per year according to the support line. I am currently traveling and I am wondering if I am using air time if this app is running in the background.
@ Jonathan,
I had it set on 5060, however, I have now changed it to 5600. I thought MJ used ports 5060, 5070? Wouldn’t it be set on 5060?
@ Billy Jack
You’re correct the UDP port should be 5060, so pls change it back. My apology for being like a real MJ customer service flip-flopping on info 😀
Just curious, did you notice any difference in call quality toggling between the 2 different UDP settings?
are you using the telephones companies land line? if so what do you pay to the local land line company. can you use the same phone no. you have with the land line. if so , what happens when the phone co puts your no back into action after I assume you have canceled your phone service.
@ Jonathan,
I actually changed it back right after I made the post as I realized you made a mistake. I haven’t really tried my phone for a few days as we don’t use our home phone that often. I use my cell (supplied by my job) most of the time and the wife uses for own cell…
[email protected]
@ Jonathan,
I actually changed it back right after I made the post as I realized you made a mistake. I haven’t really tried my phone for a few days as we don’t use our home phone that often. I use my cell phone (supplied by my job) most of the time and the wife uses for own cell…
What I’ve done with the VOIP services I’ve had for many years now is this. Disconnect the Land-Line cables coming into the house. Then from your VOIP router/connection plug that phone cable into the closest wall phone jack. In doing this you energize every outlet in the house (in a backwards type fashion). Then you can use all the phones in your house just as you’ve been used to. I’ve done this for years, it works great…and I rarely even think I have a VOIP service.
@ John
I am currently away from home but I just had a thought regarding your post re electrical interference. Is it possible that wifi in our homes is causing beeping and choppy sound?
We usually have a tablet or at least one iPhone connected while in the house.
I saw MJ+ at Radio Shack yesterday and was reading the box. Did I read correctly, that international calls are also free?
@ Kevin,
Not exactly. That means that you can send a MagicJack or MJ+ to your friend or relative overseas and then call them to the device. You can also bring the MJ when you travel abroad and use it to call home. That’s what they mean with “international”. If you want to make a regular international call, you’ll have to add credit to your MJ account.
I live in a rural area and we recently recieived DSL service from our local phone company. Our download speeds are 1 Mbps and upload are .35 Mbps. Will Magic Jack Plus work with DSL (and without leaving the computer on)?
How long does it take to switch the local number to Magic Jack Plus, and can it be switched back if the Magic Jack service is not satisfactory?
Does anyone reading this forum have experience with Voipo(seems to offer a similar product and service – http://www.voipo.com)?
I haven’t had the chance to try the jack straight off my modem. I just purchased the jack for the PC about a month ago and don’t feel like spending another $70+ dollors for a second jack just to get the adapter. It would seem there would be a way to create a UNB to Ethernet adapter or use something else like the phone port on a WLAN. Is there a way to just upgrade what I already have? One problem I found running off a PC is if you need to use a older one due to down time with your newer one it doesn’t work wile running other applications. Perhaps due to a lack of RAM. I run my DSL threw my phone line as stand alone DSL with no phone service. That is something Verison offers but trust me they don’t want anyone to know about it and it is a month long battle with the phone compant to get it done. I should snap a picture of how they ran the wires in the box outside for future info if in the event I need it. My ISP is sub contracted threw them though. Local companty and less expensive.
@ Michael K,
There is a way you can hook up the original MagicJack without having to hook it directly to a computer…You would need to purchase a thin client. These can be purchased on eBay http://www.ebay.com/itm/HP-T5720-Thin-Client-1GHz-512MB-Flash-512MB-RAM-XPe-SP3-magicJack-Ready-/110769966305?pt=COMP_EN_Workstations&hash=item19ca678ce1 already configured for MagicJack, they range anywhere from $70-$90.
Someone has posted a YouTube video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jH9A2aFVN4c on how to hook it up, it looks pretty simple to hook-up, basically plug and play. However, by the time you look at what you paid for the MagicJack and the cost of the thin client you could just buy the MagicJack Plus and it would still be less expensive.
@ George,
MagicJack says it works with DSL or broadband internet. I have broadband, however, several people on here have posted they have DSL too. As far as the speeds, according to the MagicJack site it requires a minimum upload speed of 128 Kbs (kilobits per second) so it looks like your connection should be fine…
My major question which I have not seen answered in any other reviews is will it support more than one phone. In other words, can I tie my whole house network of 5 extensions into the one Majikjack? Also, are there any issues with porting your existing phone number?
Thanks
In response to Richard.
My MJ+ is my only phone provider for the past 4 weeks, and I connected the MJ+ directly to the same wall jack Rogers used, and it powered up ALL the phone jacks in the house.
All in all, it’s worth the savings to switch over. I used to pay around $50 a month, with Rogers. Now, there is no monthly bill but it works out to be around $3 something a month if you broke it down.
As for the porting number thing, I tried with my Rogers number, but they couldn’t port it. But I was able to get a number that is so easy to remember, I prefer my new number.
As for people trying to reach me on my old number, I asked Rogers to give people my new number when they called the old number I disconnected. They do this for free, for a month. It’s basically a recorded voice that says “The number has been changed to…”.
OK, I’m reading the fine print in the user agreement on the MJ website. I’m confused on free vs. paid, or regular vs. ‘Preferred.’ Is the ability to make and receive calls to/from any other domestic number something you have to pay extra for? What exactly is the preferred service?
I also am somewhat confused about free vs. paid or regular vs preferred. Are there hidden cost. With my Magic Jack Plus do I have the ability to make free calls to any domestic number and receive free calls from any domestic number. Some of my friends are afraid that they may get charged on their bill for calls they make to me on the Magic Jack Plus. Please clarify.
Do I understand correctly that if I connect a phone line from the Magic Jack Plus into an existing phone jack it will power up all my other phone jacks in my home?
That’s not what the rep said.
Thanks,
Howard
That is correct as long as you have disconnected the existing incoming phone line from outside the residence (in other words you must disconnect the telephone companies line that comes from the pole to your home before doing this).
John
Can you use an 85Mbs, like the Netgear XETB1001 85 Mbps Powerline Network Adapter, with the Magic Jack Plus or do you need a 200 Mbs. I don’t know much about Powerline Network Adapters, but want something easy that will work well on my Century Link DSL wireless router. Do you need to plug anything into the router or do you just plug the Powerline Network Adapter into the wall outlet and you are ready to go?
Les W.
I don’t see why not. Should provide enough throughput for the MagicJack. You do need TWO Powerline adapters (get a starter kit). One plugs in near the router with an Ethernet cable from the router to the device and the other is used for the MagicJack.
FYI, I’ve been using the Powerline adapters for my 3 VOIP phone systems. Search the blog for some reviews of Powerline equipment.
So, if I understand you correctly, all applications will require one base unit that plugs into the router, then you can add several other units throughout the house to plug your devices into.
Les W.
That is correct and all the units are the same.
I’ve had old mj for a couple years. highly recommend it. as far as home phone – I use a wireless phone system (Uniden from Costco or any other should work) that uses one phone line. the other phones are wireless and dont need the old style wall jacks at all, so i have multiple phones throughout the house same as the old analog phones. just found out about PLUS. wondering how much per year after the initial $70.00?
Eric,
Looks like it’s $69.99. That includes 1 year. It appears that after that it’s $19.99 per year. You can buy them online or Radio Shack has them instock for the same price.
So is there a way to transfer current service to the MJ+ if you already have MJ? I asked a rep and they said I would have to just give it to someone else even though I still have 4 years of service left. SO in other words, I would be stuck with 2 MJs and paying another $69.95 plus the yearly fees for a new one…I don’t think that is good business.
Short answer is NO.
Each device has its own subscription under your main account. You can continue to use your old device until its subscription runs out, but can’t transfer the existing subscription to a new device unless the device is faulty and sent back for replacement.
Asking my question again if anyone knows. I’m confused on free vs. paid, or regular vs. ‘Preferred.’ What does preferred service get you?