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What’s the Deal with MagicJack?

April 8th, 2009 · 15 Comments

Written by J.P. Wicklein

     Have you seen a commercial for MagicJack yet?  MagicJack provides users with an unlimited amount of phone calls anywhere within the U.S. and Canada for only $40 a year and $20 every year thereafter.  That’s equivalent to a monthly phone bill of $3.33 the first year and $1.67 thereafter.  The best offer I’ve heard before MagicJack was Vonage’s $25/month rate.  So….what’s the catch? 

How it works

     MagicJack is a small device that hooks into your computer on one end and a landline phone on the other.  It uses voice over internet protocol (VOIP) to send and receive calls via your internet connection (same as Vonage).  When you buy MagicJack you’ll receive a telephone number and software to install the service on your computer.  Once the installation is complete you’ll have a fully operational phone line.

What are the advantages of MagicJack?

·      Price:  Without question the single biggest benefit of MagicJack is its price.  They are ridiculously cheaper than every other phone service provider.

 

·      Phone Bills:  Unlike other phone service providers that bill monthly, MagicJack users will only receive a phone bill once a year.

 

·      Features:  MagicJack comes with free directory assistance, call waiting, voicemail, and caller id.   

What are the drawbacks of MagicJack?

·      Poor customer service:  The most common complaint I’ve read about MagicJack centers on their terrible customer service.  Finding a customer service number is extremely difficult.  Once you find one be prepared for long waits and customer service reps that may not be very helpful.  Alternatively, MagicJack offers an online chat feature that allows users to ask questions or lookup answers to frequently asked questions.  I haven’t read good things about this service either. 

 

·      Installation issues:  Several folks have reported issues setting up MagicJack.  (At which point poor customer service only provides minimal assistance.)  You may need to have some technical know-how to get MagicJack up and running.  The more technically inclined you are, the better.

 

·      Your computer must be on:  To send and receive calls via MagicJack your computer must be on.  Shut it down and you’ve unplugged your phone. 

 

·      Call quality:  I’ve read mixed reviews on call quality with MagicJack.  There’s a general consensus that MagicJack’s call quality is inferior to Vonage.  That said, some folks have stated MagicJack’s call quality is still pretty good, only occasional dropped calls or poor connections.  At the same time, reviews from other customers slam MagicJack for providing terrible call quality.   It’s worth noting that running applications on your PC, while using MagicJack, can negatively impact call quality.

 

·      Only works with a high speed internet connection:  Without a doubt, don’t use MagicJack if you have a dialup internet connection. 

 

·      General reliability:  Several user reviews I came across complain about MagicJack causing them to reboot their PC or reinstall the MagicJack software.  Also, some users have reported that MagicJack’s software interferes with other applications on their computer. 

 

·      Area codes:  Apparently MagicJack cannot provide you with a telephone number for any area code.  Rather, they only offer a partial selection of area codes.

 

Is MagicJack worth it?

 

     Based on what I’ve read I feel comfortable stating that MagicJack isn’t ready for primetime.  The volume of customer complaints I encountered are significant.  Common sense tells me that if MagicJack was just as good, or close to as good, as Vonage, they’d be charging closer to $25 a month.  Despite the large amount of negative feedback, I did come across several positive reviews of the product.  So, who should buy MagicJack?

 

     If you’re technically savvy and possess a great deal of patience MagicJack may be worth a shot.  You’ll probably experience a downgrade in call quality but will save a lot of money on your phone bill.   If, however, you need a highly reliable phone line MagicJack may not be for you. 

 

     If you’ve used MagicJack before, or have it now, please share your thoughts by adding a comment below!  If you found this article useful perhaps you’d like to receive future posts from Financial Fellow via email – it’s free!

Photo by: comedy nose

Tags: Save Money · Uncategorized

15 responses so far ↓

  • 1 Jean Ramsey // Apr 8, 2009 at 8:47 pm

    Thanks for the great info on MagicJack. I’ve watched the ads a few times and thought that it was too good to be true. Sounds like you get what you paid for. Even with all the issues, though, it appears they still may be worth the cost. A few dollars a month for a phoneline - even one that doesn’t always work as well as you’d like is pretty darn cheap.

    JR

  • 2 Tom Wacowich // Apr 29, 2009 at 9:51 pm

    I have 3 MagicJacks. I bought 2 more after I got 1 working very well. 1 for the home phone 1 for the fax and 1 for travel. There are some technical issues required for it to work perfectly. For one, plug the device directly into the computer and avoid USB hubs. USB hubs can slow the data transfer rate which can lead to intermittent sound. Intermittent sound occurs when the data transfer rate is slower than the minimum required and this can be due to a variety of factors. Of course high speed internet is a must.
    My sound quality has been as good as any service I have had from any provider. I use a netbook to connect the MagicJack to the internet as it uses very little power so it does not cost a lot to leave on all the time. I would suggest a newer computer using Windows XP at least as that is what I have and have not experienced any problems running the software. I have been successful in sending faxes but it can take a few attempts. This may be due to my fax machine and not the MagicJack. My fax was designed for a standard phone line and was not to be used with voip like systems, but it still will work. I am obviously very happy with the product while it may not be perfect it is very very good. It may not be for everyone but it definitely works for me.

  • 3 Financial Fellow // Apr 30, 2009 at 9:33 pm

    Tom -

    Thanks for the great insight - particularly on avoiding USB hubs. Glad to hear that it has worked well for you. No doubt about it - as cheap as it as if it works well for you it’s totally worth it!

  • 4 Mark // Jun 23, 2009 at 6:36 am

    magiJack works. They have made considerable improvements in their customer services area.

    Here is the latest BBB.org rating of the business.
    Company Rating A-
    Our opinion of what this rating means:
    An excellent rating. A company with this rating may not rate higher because of a greater number of rate-lowering factors, but we do not consider them to be factors that would likely adversely affect consumer transactions.

  • 5 Financial Fellow // Jun 23, 2009 at 9:27 pm

    Thanks for the update on MagicJack, Mark!

    This article is a couple months old now so I’m glad to get an update on their service.

    John

  • 6 Greg // Aug 23, 2009 at 10:51 pm

    I really don’t need a home phone line, but I had been keeping Vonage around for the past few years. I decided to dump it and take my chances with Magicjack, since I didn’t have much to lose. But, I’ve been very happy with it. They pushed through an update about 3 months ago which really helped the dropped call issues and a glitch where about a 1/3 of my calls would ring once and go back to dial-tone. With those two bugs gone, I’ve been very happy. I do a lot of travel overseas and decided to dump my Skype in/out service for a second magicjack (which you can also use a headset with instead of a phone). Great solution that’s more reliable than Skype, and if you travel enough, much cheaper.

    My office uses a Cisco VOIP system and I’ve had as much trouble with static and broken up calls on that system as my magicjack. So, for the savings, I think Magicjack does a pretty good job.

    I do agree, though, that their website and customer service are surprisingly behind the times. Their site looks like something you’d find in 1995, and the one time I needed help, I gave up in the middle and worked out the problem myself. But, I found Vonage to be equally bad with support. I think anyone opting for the home voip solution over traditional needs to be somewhat tech savvy going in - at least for the foreseeable future.

  • 7 Financial Fellow // Aug 24, 2009 at 4:01 pm

    Greg -

    Interesting that your experience with MagicJack puts it on par with your company’s Cisco VOIP system. I’m also glad to hear that they made a couple service improvements. It’s always a good sign when a company actually fixes their bugs.

    I originally wrote this article several months ago but it sounds like everything else is still pretty much the same - customer service is poor and it definitely helps if you’re technically inclined.

    Thank you very much for the detailed update!

    John (Financial Fellow)

  • 8 Dan Cook // Sep 23, 2009 at 11:53 am

    I’ve been using MJ for about 15 months now and can attest that the service has improved dramatically over that time! Here are some of my suggestions:

    1) Find an old computer that can run Windows XP. Plug in MJ, and place this computer out of the way in a basement or office. This will be your “MagicJack Server” and its one and only job is to run MJ. If you have a choice in these, pick the one with the lowest wattage usage (may have to open the case to find this out).

    2) Buy a cordless phone system that only needs 1 base to plug into the phone line and distribute the other phones through the house. The one main base will plug into the MJ Server and may not easily be accessible. If an answering machine is desired, make sure the other handsets can access the answering machine and then you’ll never need to go to the MJ server.

    3) If possible, program the BIOS on the MJ Server to start the computer up at a certain time each day. This isn’t always possible, but if available do it. I have mine start at 6:30 AM each day. Windows XP has a ’scheduled tasks’ option whereby you can set it to shutdown the computer at a designated time (mine is 10:30 PM). This saves electricity for the night time when you’re not likely to get calls anyway.

    4) If #3 isn’t possible, remember to reboot your MJ server from time to time (weekly) to force MJ to pick up any updates and allow the computer to clear it’s cache/memory. Do not just restart the computer. Shut it down, give it a minute or two, and then start it up. Or shut it down at night and start it the next day.

    Hope this helps and feel free to email me if you have any questions that I can help with.

  • 9 brian king // Sep 25, 2009 at 2:11 pm

    magic jack is the only reason i have home phone service. i paid $59 for 5 years. they have their free trial at magicjackphone.tk which lasts for 30 days.

  • 10 des // Oct 5, 2009 at 7:12 pm

    I’m so glad I heard of Magic Jack. It’s simple to use, and I’d be lost without it. I have a cell phone, but I too wouldn’t have a home phone service at the moment without it.

    It’s clearly NOT for everyone, but right now, it’s definately for me so long as they continue to provide what they promise.

    Regarding a previous comment, that it might not be as good as Vonage and that’s why they don’t have a higher price, whether that’s true or not, I think that the price difference is a feature. If this service became exactly or basically close enough to any other service more trying to duplicate EVERYTHING, then I would possibly switch.

    It’s great that it does a lot, but the more it’s also unique, the more it’s worth it to me. I’m glad it connects with old telephone lines, because currently it’s important too.

    So far I’ve had no trouble with service or anything, but that’s partially because I”m technical. For the moment, I think buying it a Radio Shack is best, rather than directly.

    I have had trouble faxing, but that’s because it wasn’t designed to do that. But I’m definately doing way more as of now than it was ever designed for and that’s another benifit of it that it is useful for what it’s designed for and more. I have a lot of items/services that way and those are the ones as well as prices that tend to draw my buisness.

    I just wanted to leave a comment here or somwhere now because I wanted to be fair and point out some bad things, but also the good things as most stuff I hear is bad except from direct customer experience for technical users.

  • 11 Financial Fellow // Oct 8, 2009 at 8:36 pm

    Des -

    Thanks for your comments. I’m glad to see this article has had some “legs” and spawn quite a few comments. Between the article and all the comments from folks with MagicJack experience I think we’ve put together a pretty good analysis.

    John (Financial Fellow)

  • 12 Jack // Nov 17, 2009 at 7:39 pm

    I agree that this is definitely not for everyone, but personally I love it. One thing that will help dropped calls etc tremendously is to have a true “high speed” internet connection. Most cable/dsl providers will sell a “lite” version of their service at a reduced price. I had this for about a year and would experience random call drops with not only magic jack, but vonage and for a while viatalk. Once I upgraded to the “standard” speed cable service, 99% of these problems went away. Not that the service is completely unusable with the “lite” version, but in my experience it was about 70% reliable. I would say that the service for me now is 98% reliable. Also, I no longer have to tell the kids to stop internet usage while I’m on the phone. I do, however have a dedicated computer for service.

  • 13 Robert Douville // Dec 3, 2009 at 11:41 am

    I bought a magic jack one year ago, it is very good for a second line, also to make long distance, I also offered one as a to my mother in law she live part of the year in florida out of quebec, she can now talk as long as she like without huge phone bill.

    Robert

  • 14 Kevin Castle // Dec 9, 2009 at 9:17 am

    I have had service with both Magic Jack and Vonage. I got rid of vonage due to cost and poor call quality. I still have the magic jack. It works great. I agree that the tech service is poor, but otherwise the service is great, it is cheap and measures up to any other voip provide.

  • 15 Bob Arvidson // Dec 27, 2009 at 5:21 am

    I’ve had MagicJack for over a year. I’m very satisfied with its performance. It’s on a par with, if not better than, most cell phones’ performance. Mine is plugged into an Acer Aspire One with WindowsXP. Comcast High Speed Internet is the Internet Provider unless I’m away from Home. It’s turned on when I get up in the morning & turned off when I retire for the night. Voice Mail is always operational & comes to me thru my email address. Its current problems with other operating systems &/or internet providers are no worse than the Big Boys like Microsoft with their Vista Operating System. I see MagicJack currently suffering from growing pains but I think they will work out the kinks & successfully solve these problems. I’m keeping my MagicJack & making good use of it. BobA

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