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Are you able to provide a comparison of services with the Magic Jack?
Posted by Joe on January 20th, 2009
The following post in our Reader Question series is an actual user submitted question. To maintain the integrity of the original question, we do not edit or change reader questions in any way.
Q: Are you able to provide a comparison of services with the Magic Jack?
A: We are currently working on a review of the Magic Jack service that compares Magic jack to other VoIP providers. however, it is worth pointing out that Magic Jack is different than many of the services we have reviewed in that it is not really meant to be a true land line telephone replacement. We posted some comments from one of our readers this summer that discussed a comparison of Vonage versus Magic Jack. I would encourage you to read not just the original post but also the follow on comments from a number of users that have had experience with Magic Jack.
We will update this post with a link to our Magic Jack review once it is complete. In the meantime, you can learn more about VoIP services by visiting our reviews and comparison on NextAdvisor.com.
9 Responses to “Are you able to provide a comparison of services with the Magic Jack?”
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February 8th, 2009 at 4:58 am
Clear and concise:
I have used Vonage, Magic Jack, VOIP.com, and
SunRocket. com (now bankrupt).
I currently use both VOIP.com (like Vonage, but
about 40% cheaper) and MagicJack)
VOIP.com $19.99/mo.
http://telebay.voip.com/track.aspx?affID=FFFFB847&l=l7b&cg=telebay&c=73online
VOIP.com $199/yr. (approx $16.66/mo.)
http://telebay.voip.com/track.aspx?affID=FFFFB847&l=l7b&cg=telebay&c=73online
Pro's:
* Both Vonage and VOIP.com offer always on
quality service. (you get what you pay for)
EXCEPT the case of cable and your local phone
co's voip services which are vastly overpriced
(you are only paying for the name).
* MagicJack is cheaper, at the expense of a
true quality connection.
Con's:
* MagicJack has a poorer quality connection.
* MagicJack must be connected to an always on
computer to make and receive calls.
* Vonage and others higher priced.
What you should get depends entirely on your
specific need. Don't underpay and suffer in the
appropriate inconveniences, nor pay more for
services you will not utilize.
By the way, my cell phone provider is T-Mobile,
in which I have the family plan, with one wifi
nokia 6086 phone. This gives me 100% free calls
when connected to my home wifi network or other
hotspots, using this @home service.
Also, you may wish to take a look at ooma.com
which offers free service if you are willing
to shell out a hefty $225 up front equipment
fee (phone & ooma router). as of 02/07/09
it is available on sale with free shipping
at amazon.com for about the above stated price.
http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_gw_6_4?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ooma+core+voip+phone+system+with+no+monthly+phone+service+bills&sprefix=ooma
Hope this helps,
Bob
February 20th, 2009 at 6:43 am
While the voice quality of Magic Jack may be less than other similar services, you can still hear the caller quite well and vice versa. It's strong points include:
1. One time fee of $19.99 for the equipment that is roughly the size of a small USB Flash Drive. Service is $19,99 per year and provides unlimited inbound & outbound calls;free Caller Waiting; free Caller ID; free 3-way calling and free voice mail (should you miss any inbound calls).
2. Every Magic Jack user is assigned a US telephone number allowing the user to make free long distance calls to anywhere in Canada & the US from any country in the world that supports broad band internet. My son is working in South Korea for one year and he can call his family & friends in Canada & the US on their regular land line or cellular telephone.
3. My daughter travels extensively throughout the world and with her labtop, can call family, friends & business associates from her hotel room (given that most brand name hotels offer broadband Internet in their rooms).
4. My neighbour's son went on a 3 month trek to India & Australia and was always in contact with his family by simply going to an Internet cafe. With Magic Jack, it's not essential to plug a conventional telephone into the Magic Jack equipment. With a head set and Magic Jack's software, you can dial the number you want from a screen menu.
5. In the case of my son & daughter, I can also call them given that I have a Magic Jack myself. Had I not had my own Magic Jack, calling them using my regular telephone would still be cheaper given that I would be calling their Magic Jack's US telephone numbers.
It's also important to note that Magic Jack allows you to select your own US telephone area code. Hence; as an example, if the majority of your family & friends live in the Miami area, they can call you for free regardless of where you might be in the world which can change from week to week or otherwise.
February 20th, 2009 at 7:02 am
Majic Jack
March 10th, 2009 at 10:31 am
I have magic jack and its perfect. I didn't think it would be so good and clear when I ordered it. I just wanted basic service with voice mail and for $59.95 for 5 years why even try vonage?
May 31st, 2009 at 9:37 pm
i recently got magicjack and couldn't get it work
so i exchanged it and i still can't get it work
i can't call out i don't even have a phone number i can't even get it to install !!!!
to top it off i can't even get to magicjack.com
any help please
July 4th, 2009 at 4:33 pm
I noticed that when magic jack is hook up to my old laptop with XP os it receives bad reception,but when connected to a newer laptop with dual core and with Vista os in it the signal is way better.
DSL were used for both.
August 20th, 2009 at 1:44 pm
I considered MagicJack but I've read too many reviews of sub-par call quality. Then I did the math and decided it wouldn't suit my needs.
I figured the electricty cost of leaving my computer running 24/7 plus the initial cost of MJ and the yearly fee. I actually cut my estimate of electricty in half because I would have my computer running part of the day anyway. With 12/7 electricty over a year I needed to add about $75/year to the cost of having MajicJack and be able to receive calls (not send them all to voicemail by turning the CPU off).
All of a sudden MJ was nominally cheaper than other VoIP and is more expensive over 2 years than an Ooma hub. Plus, as mentioned above the MJ call quality doesn't hold a candle to other services.
I think a lot of people will buy MJ but never know the true cost of the system. Six to Ten dollars more a month in electricty won't make most people's radar. And that's funny to me because most MJ users are trying to save money. In the end they get inferior call quality, some spend hours with tech issues, wear out their computers running them 24/7 and may not even save any money over other VoIP.
I'd tell others to do their own math if they are looking at MagicJack to save them money.
September 13th, 2009 at 4:12 pm
I disagree with all the negative buzz and call quality comparison issues.
Anyone can install magicjack and it is not quality muffled by operating systems.
All around I have 6 accounts with magic and all the others are still banging everyone for extra money and inferior service.
Magic is a great choice.
September 24th, 2009 at 7:04 am
I live in NOrthern Idaho, have high speed internet and have tried to use Magicjack. According to the MJ techies, you have to have at least 125kbps download/upload speed for it to work. Well, that is not true. I have an average 250-400 download/upload speed throught Verizon and MJ still has poor quality and delay so, I rarely use it. I did take my laptop into the nearest big town close to a Verizon tower and MJ did seem to work better. Quality was still iffy. I think MJ commercials embellish their claims.