Magic Jack-tell me all about it

[groucho]

Anything you can. Hidden costs, clarity..........do I need to keep AT&T for support? Thanks

[moparmaniac07]

This is secondhand info, but it's internet phone. Your computer needs to be on to receive or make calls, and you need an internet connection. I never heard mention of other costs.

[Deaf Bob]

Google it and read wikipedia... Split for/against..

[NewEnglandRaceFan]

you don't need a computer anymore.. if your internet is reliable then the phone is..
think of it as Skype without the video

[Beagle]

I'm sure it will get better and better but imho, IP Phones still suck. When you get a nice storm and something hoses your internet connection, copper / hard phone will still ring... Magic Jack won't.

[bearphoto]

One of my friends has it, seems to be a pos in my opinion. Most of the time I can't hear him due to him breaking up so I always end up calling him back on his house line!

[Deaf Bob]

While I do not use Magic Jack itself, I do use video phoning,
I will get jerky expressions.. Like a nod always in the upper range or when a word is fingerspelled, it will show some of the letters..
Or get pixelated ..
That is the way of internet phones..ever the best of them do it..
Knowing that, I can see how a voice phone will "lose" it's sound .. Or break up..

[Scott Liggett]

I'm sure it will get better and better but imho, IP Phones still suck. When you get a nice storm and something hoses your internet connection, copper / hard phone will still ring... Magic Jack won't.

Tell that to AT&T. My home line would get full of static every time it rained. My DSL sucked then as well. They have been trying to fix it for three years. Why I don't have a home phone anymore.

[Beagle]

oh yea? Try getting out of the Matrix with a Magic Jack!

no cell coverage, no electricity, no natural gas after Ike. The phone in my grandmother's house rang, and Hardy about had to peel me off the ceiling. I should have pulled the line voltage for a night light but I was pretty overwhelmed and just didn't think about it.

I would consider it but I haven't had a land line in years. I may have one now because of Fios, but I'd have to hook up a phone and call my cell to give you the number. If I lived anywhere remotely rural like I intend to real soon now, I may have to change my mind about the Cell as the "cure all" for phone communication. I don't get cell coverage at the lake or at location X, internet is going to get amusing too.

A solid internet connection is the single biggest contributor to satisfaction with an IP phone is my opinion. I've had fiber here since 1999 so I'm spoiled and I'm sure it would work fine. When the Indians (not American, the other Indians) used to try to conference us in here in the states, the phone quality would go straight to hell. If you're getting tech support, an IP phone is not always what you want to do it on.

Basic Talk has been putting out some trash talk commercials, I wonder if that is what sparked Groucho's question?

[groucho]

Yeah, I need to get away from AT&T. They've been humpin me for yrs. I get caller ID, and they take my phone number of 20 yrs and change it without asking my permission. Then I call to complain and they tell me some bullshit about a transition between old AT&T and the new AT&T makes it irreversible. THEN, I get a letter in the mail every year saying I need to call a certain number by a certain date or my rates go up (a 30-45 minute call every freakin year). Except this year the call doesn't get me the reduced rate and my bill goes up. I call to bitch (and hour or more on the phone) and they say pay the bill and they'll credit me later. I say BULLSHIT, I ain't payin. So, for almost 6 months now I short them the $30 that they are trying to hump me for. I figure it'll catch up to me sooner or later