magicJack: PC to Phone Jack
by magicJack
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Category: CE
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Customers in the UK,
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: magicJackModel: magicJack
Color: SLIVER
Product features:
- Local/long distance/international calling
- magicJack is free for first year
- Each magicJack includes a free phone number to receive call from anyone in the world
- Free outbound local and long distance calls
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of magicJack: PC to Phone Jack
Customer Review: Excellent product, especially given its price!
Summary: 4 Stars
I got tired of paying for additional minutes for my son's cellphone, as he was continually jabbering away on it while playing his PS3 game machine (both on client-based and Internet/PlayStation Network-based games). As he has this cheapo Sylvania netbook (running Windows XP), I figured I'd try MagicJack on his netbook and if it worked I'd be saving myself a ton of money.
Result: Viola! The darned thing works PERFECTLY, even when he's playing his games on the Internet with his bandwith-hogging PS3!!! He has a somewhat older Uniden cordless phone plugged into the MagicJack, and its sound quality on both ends is consistently EXCELLENT. Now, mind you, we only have the absolute SLOWEST cable Internet speed available in my area (about 1.75 mbs/sec. download speed, 350 or so kbs/sec. upload, on Comcast)!!! Even when I'm using the Internet on my laptop, my TiVo's accessing data over the Internet, AND he's playing his PS3, MagicJack works flawlessly!
REGARDING OTHERS' LESS-THAN-STELLAR EXPERIENCES:
1) When you first plug your MagicJack device into your computer's USB port you MUST do EXACTLY as the instructions accompanying the MagicJack tell you to. Specifically, you must plug it *directly* into the USB port and NOT via an external USB "hub." When you plug it into your computer it will immediately begin to proceed (automatically) to install its client software on your computer, download and install any firmware and/or software update(s) that it detects is available and appropriate for your MagicJack and computer, then it will automatically connect you onto its website to set up your account and issue you a telephone number and password (which you will immediately be informed of via an email message)... thus you MUST leave the MagicJack plugged in and wait a good 3 minutes or so before doing ANYTHING else; interrupting the process will screw up the device and its software. Many people get impatient, do not follow these instructions, and then complain about how their MagicJack "doesn't work."
2) By now, the MagicJack is a fully-developed and extremely reliable product. Yet many people think they're being "smart" by trying to hunt down (on the Internet) a separate "MagicJack updater" and when they do find one and run it, more often than not the result is a poorly or totally non-performing MagicJack. This is because there was absolutely nothing wrong with their MagicJack to begin with, consequently what they downloaded and installed was something that was inappropriate for their MagicJack and/or computer system.
3) Like almost everything else, MagicJack initially performed very inconsistently on computers running Windows Vista. Therefore, MagicJack developed a manually-downloadable and installable "update" for people who were not experiencing good performance with their Vista operating system. Unfortunately, many people who had Vista and who were NOT initially experiencing problems with their MagicJack went ahead and download and installed the updater ANYWAY - with the outcome being that their MagicJack then either began working poorly or in some cases not at all. A few people who were running Vista and who WERE initially having poor MagicJack performance downloaded the updater and found that it helped; others did not have such success. Vista was a TERRIBLE product to begin with; I STRONGLY recommend to anyone who is still running Vista to get rid of that OS and shell out the bucks for Windows XP (or any newer/future OS version).
If you install your MagicJack correctly and it works fine, DON'T MESS WITH IT!!! "If it ain't broke don't 'fix it'!!!"
4) Some people have reported that when they installed their MagicJack and plugged a phone into it that they could dial out calls fine but when they receive calls their phone doesn't ring. This is because either a) in the MagicJack client software (running on their computer) they inadvertently had set the program to be operating with a headset or their computer's speaker and microphone rather than a connected telephone, or b) the phone that they plugged into their MagicJack was an older one that had a Ringer Equivalence Number (REN) that was TOO HIGH. You need to use a phone that has a REN far lower than "1" - preferrably 0.1 or 0.0 (as most newer phones are)... the REN is always posted on the phone's main label (usually on the bottom of the phone or base unit).
5) Don't mess with your router's PORT configuration!!! - Unless, of course, you NEED to manually OPEN a particular port (and keep it open) in order for a particular program that you frequently use to operate properly... this is almost always a particular video game or video conferencing program, but programs that require such manual port configuration are now EXTREMELY rare. So if you use a router (and who doesn't these days) and all of your Internet-accessing programs and devices work fine with the router's default port settings, LEAVE THEM ALONE! Messing with port settings, especially manually closing ports or forcing the use of non-standard/non-default ports, will almost always cause FAR more problems than it will ever solve.
6) The MagicJack device's client software MUST be running in order for the device to work. Therefore, it will not work when your computer is in sleep or hibernation modes. Consequently, with MagicJack you can set your screen or monitor to shut down or go into "sleep" mode, but NOT your computer ("system") or its hard (or solid state) drive. For the same reason, you must not shut down or "log off" of your computer if you want MagicJack to function. If you do any of these program-halting things MagicJack will not work until you manually re-start its client software... then you will have to wait the 3 minutes or so that it may take for it to become fully loaded, operational, and to re-connect with your MagicJack account via the Internet.
7) Given that your MagicJack-connected computer will be running continuously most if not all of the time, for consistently good performance you should do the following at LEAST once/month - unplug (and leave unplugged for 10-30 seconds) your router, then plug it back in; and restart the computer (note that this *may* then require a manual re-start of the MagicJack client software); some people also find the additional step of unplugging the MagicJack device then plugging it back into the computer to be useful.
If you want to use a voice-over-Internet service that uses standard "land-line" telephones (corded or cordless), Magic Jack is the cheapest and just as good as (sometimes even better than) just about ANY other such service; it has the same limitations as most all of the others but multiple BENEFITS over those others. If you want to use a "VOIP" service that uses such landline phones yet does NOT require you to use a computer (which must remain "always on" - and you logged into it), the only really viable and practical option is OOMA. Although Ooma's reliability, voice quality and ease of use is excellent, it is MUCH more expensive than MagicJack (Ooma costs about $200 up-front, plus $3-$4 per month in government-mandated fees and taxes... and if you want 3-way conference-calling and call forwarding - which comes standard with MagicJack - you must pay an ADDITIONAL $10/month).
Note: As with all other software installations, BEFORE you plug your MagicJack into your computer for the first time you should DISABLE any and all virus/malware protection programs, then run your usual maintenance routine(s) (like disk cleanup, disk defragmentation if you have a standard hard drive, etc.). It is also recomended that immediately prior to installation you turn off your *computer's* firewall (you can generally keep your *router's* firewall turned on). Also - If you have MagicJack plugged in, your computer running "always on" and keep yourself logged on BUT "Switch to Another User" (without actually logging yourself off) - REGARDLESS of whether or not another "user account" gets logged on - you will probably find that although MagicJack will continue to function, its performance will be SEVERELY degraded.
Description of magicJack: PC to Phone Jack
Add magicJack Telephone Adapter to your PC and you can make telephone calls within the USA and Canada for FREE! Skype uses a peer-to-peer network, whereas magicJack uses a dedicated telephone networkOther VoIP carriers do not have dedicated telephone networks, and lease this service from other companies. That means higher costs and poorer reliability. magicJack uses its own dedicated telephone network. You can use magicJack with either a regular telephone handset, or with a headset. You can also use both, and switch between the two. You can move magicJack between Internet providers. You can use magicJack from anywhere in the world (where broadband web access is available). It requires - PC - Windows XP or Vista operating system; (Mac/Apple expected soon); Broadband, high-speed internet, cable internet, DSL - WiFi - WiMax magicJack comes with an easy-to-use device to allow you to use a regular telephone handset. Service is free for 1st year. $20 per year thereafter.Digital Cameras & Photo Categories
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