Majic Jack phone jack/Im telling MOM BELL TO TAKE HER BILL AND YOU KNOW WHERE SHE CAN SHOVE IT!!!!!

[fespo]

Hello all. Since I been layed -up now on the start of my 6th week from shoulder sugery, I have been surfing the web alot. I found this and it works!

http://www.magicjack.com/1/index.asp

It takes a few mins to install and set up. Once your done with that you can call anywhere in the states or canda for 20.00 a year! You have to have high speed internet and away you go. For what I payed for this $50.00, hardware, one year of service and shipping. I will save that much every month. As I have learned so much from this site i thought i would share something back. So now I can tell mom bell and the natural gas company to shove it. Only if i could do with the electric! if anyone has any questions maybe i can help you out. Fespo

 

[mayhem]

I can't get to tje link from work, but if you have high speed internet at your home you can (or used to be able to) call anywhere on the planet for free using Skype, go2call.com or other options. We used to call my brother in law in London every few days with go2call because calls outside US and Canada were all free.

 

[Mike Wilson]

There's also Skype, Vonage, and Broadvoice.

-- Mike

 

[webbie]

I've been using Skype out for my outgoing calls - I use a cheap USB headset while I am at the computer. Allows for easy recording of calls also (podcasts, etc)...

I also use Charter (cable) as the regular phone.....part of a package for cable,phone, internet. The Charter has been reliable since they got the bugs out (takes a few trips at first for them to make sure signal is good, etc.).

Whole package is pretty cheap, and no more Verizon bill.

 

[Highbeam]

I too use my cable connection to provide internet, phone, and TV. I actually bought this old house with phone lines and cut them off. I now only have a single coax line and my power line to the pole. I recently set up my Structured Media Center in the attic where all new cat5 phone lines and the RG6 coax cable connect together. So my coax feeds the TVs and cable modem which feeds my phone lines and my computer.

All that silly jive that the phone company likes to nail onto the outside of your house like their little bxes and phone lines are now gone.

20$ per year for all phone service is cheap nomatter where it comes from.

 

[sylvestermcmonkey]

With Skype and Vonage, and don't forget cell phones - the old way with all its ridiculous taxes and fees is surely going the way of the rotary dial.

Mike Wilson, what's going on with your avatar?

 

[sylvestermcmonkey]

Mike Wilson, what's going on with your avatar?

Nevermind...

 

[Gooserider]

We get our phone service two ways - a standard wireline from Verizon, on the cheapest rate plan they offer, which we use for incoming (same phone # we've used for years..) and a line from Comcast that gives us unlimited long-distance and local calls that we use for outgoing (it works incoming but we don't give out the number)

Looking at MagicJack's page I'd be really cautious...
1. They promise 19.95/year for this year only, and that price only if you renew now - no mention of what happens in future years for renewal.
2. The device requires you to have a defective operating system installed - no support for Linux, and no guarantee of future drivers for other O/S's - can you say technology lock-in?
3. They reserve the right to cancel your account, and / or change your phone number at any time, "at their discretion" (with no refunds...)
4. They don't mention the fact that there seem to be stupid software patents on making calls via the Internet that may cause them legal issues later
5. They don't mention that Comcast and some of the other major ISP's have been playing games with P2P network services in an effort to interupt them - until / unless we get net neutrality rules in place, I wouldn't guarantee their service - they don't make ANY promises of service, other than that they will accept your money...
6. As best I can tell, the hardware has only a 30 day warrantee, and they don't cross-ship - if the thing breaks you could be without communication for several weeks.
7. No mention of the ability to power more than one phone - i.e. they don't say if you could plug it in and run all the phones in your house off of it.... Given that it appears to pull all it's power off the USB port, I'd have my doubts as to it's ability to supply adequate ring voltage especially.
8. No promises about company stability, cash flow, etc, or what happens if they can't keep up their end of the deal - from what I read it looks like if they go belly up, you get to keep the device, they keep your money - granted $40 isn't a big sum, but...

It may be legit, but I'm suspicious...

Gooserider

 

[begreen]

I'm suspicious of anything that wants a monthly or annual fee for the service. We used Skype when travelling and it worked fairly well when we were in India. But sometimes the quality is only so, so. It's hard for my mother to understand when there is an echo on the line. Lately we've been using a card service from Cloncom. No hidden fees and about 2 cents per min for long distance. The voice quality is good, works worldwide and it knows our phone number so no need to dial in a special code, just autodial the toll free number and then dial the long distance number. We have family numbers stored for speed dialing. Pretty simple and cheap.

 

[Nic36]

I did the Vonage thing. Worked great for a while. Then I started having problems. Worst customer service ever. I finally told them I was fed up and to terminate my service. But, they never would. You see, Vonage automatically charges your credit card every month. That's the way they set up your account. I finally had to call the credit card company for help. They said they could not block the charge. I ended up canceling my card just to stop Vonage from charging me.

For $20.00 a year, I would be willing to try that as long as they sent me a bill and did not ask for a credit card number or to do a bank draft.