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The Magic Jack Review

Written on January 2, 2010 by Rob in Magic Jack
57 Comments - Leave a comment!

For this week’s review I thought I would do a quick review on a device that I use all the time in my house. It is called the Magic Jack. The Magic Jack is a VOIP device that allows you to make phone calls over the Internet. I have had one for almost a year and I am extremely satisfied.

The Magic Jack is very simple to installed. It is a small little USB device that you plug into a free USB slot on your computer. Once you plug it in the software is installed automatically. In order to use the Magic Jack, any conventional phone can be used. Plug the line from the phone into the line in on the Magic Jack and you are ready to go. The install is actually only 5 minutes.

The setup will ask you which city and state that you want your phone number to be in. Once you choose you are assigned a phone number and you are all set to make out going calls and receive incoming calls. The service includes free call forwarding, call display and voice mail. The only draw back for us Canadian Customer’s is at this time we must chose a US phone number. Mine is a Syracuse New York phone number even though I live in Toronto.

Calling other people is the same as a normal phone. Dial and you will be connected. The quality is extremely clear.

The cost of the Magic Jack is very reasonable. It is $40.00 for the first year which includes the service and the Magic Jack device. To pay for one more year is $19.99 per year and for 5 more years is $69.99. The service includes all the free long distance in North America which you can use. In comparison Rogers was charging me $20.00 a month for just unlimited Long Distance on top of my phone line. Since I dropped my long distance I am saving $220.00 per year. Over six years that is a savings off $1320.

The device is also portable. You can take it with you and plug it into a laptop. All you need is a conventional corded or cordless phone to plug into it. For the buisness traveler this means no more exorbitant hotel long distance rates. All you need is a high speed Internet connection.

I use the Magic Jack as a second line at home. It is used for all my outgoing long distance calls. I have a second cordless phone plugged into it so I can use it anywhere in my apartment. I forward the Magic Jack back to my local home number so that if someone just hits redial it transfers to my normal line. The day that Magic Jack starts offering Canadian Numbers is the day I will cancel my Rogers Home Phone Service. This is device is the future and the future is now. VOIP is the way to go for great telecom savings. All that is needed is a high speed internet connection at home which most of us have at this point in time.

The Magic Jack will run on a Windows xp, Windows Vista or Windows 7 based computers. I will also run on Intel based Macs.

If you want to save some money on your phone charges or just want to have a second line, I would urge you to try the Magic Jack today. The quality is amazing and it is well worth the money.

Which VOIP services do you like to use? How does yours compare to the Magic Jack? Let’s tall about them and compare them.

  • Prendergast
    how much do you get paid for promoting Magic Jack on your site? How can I get in on the action?
  • I do not get paid to promote Magic Jack. It is a product that has saved me hundreds of dollars so I review it.
  • Nestyhalilijr
    Hi rob..I leave in BC.. and i have a free wifi access in my apartment, can i use that to connect magic jack..is it worth buying for? thanks
  • Sorry for the delay. I personally used it on an Ethernet connection but it should be ok on Wi-Fi.
  • Gabe
    I've my MJ last week. I got Canada no, since I have difficulty to signing in after I registered the MJ. But the MJ online help is very useful, they helped me to signing in, this is due to Roger's online firewall and anti-virus block the MJ. After that I can make calls or receive calls. But I test some phone#, like 1-800, or calling card no. even it is 416 area code, the MJ does not work on this numbers...? Do you know why, or any way to rectify it?? Thanks.
  • I have had good luck using 1-800 numbers and 416 numbers. I use both on a regular basis (I am in 647) and have no issues.
  • rickdouglas85
    Robert, you're certainly right. For the price, the magic jack is quite a steal! We have it as our second line right now, and it's allowed us to cut down on our main line. We've scaled it back and now make all of our long distance calls with the magic jack. So far, so good, everything works great!
  • Hi Rick,

    We do not even have a main line it is it. The reality is my wife and I both have Smart Phones as well I use Skype a lot to chat with friends. The Magic Jack is great way to save a pile of money. I am glad you have managed to save money and it is working well.
  • Danielle
    Question for you, My dad is considering using the Majic Jack. Incoming calls, whomesoever calls you will they get charged long distance because of the US Phone Number?? As well can you use it like a Normal phone? just pick up the phone and call?? and using a Majic Jack is you have a slow connection does that affect it? or if internet is slow??

    Please get back to me, Much appreciated.
  • Thanks for the comment. The answers are if you have a US phone number it is the same as dialing a US number in another city for a local Toronto or Canadian number.

    The way the Magic Jack works is that it plugs into the USB port of your computer. Your phone then plugs into the Magic Jack. The computer must be on and logged into Windows then you can make calls like a regular phone as long as the computer is on the Internet.

    Also note Canadian numbers are available for 10.00 extra per year. I have one.
  • fox
    Magic jack issues:
    1) Slows even fast PCs (generally and esp. during boot up) – Don’t blame it all on Vista, blame it on applications that screw up PC like magic jack. May decrease PC life and hence hidden cost.

    2) after 3/4 rings goes to magic jack voice mail. Can’t adjust the setting to let my telephone’s ansering machine do the job. Very bad when you have a nice answering machine or you want to answer the call.

    3) needs usb powered hub for getting caller id on the telephone unit (additional devices and cost)

    Ipod and gps unit can be driven by the USB port. But magic jack says, ” give me more power for me to work right”

    4) trial usage period starts before product activation or shipment reception. Not a big deal if the product is good. Especailly, with other problems listed here, this is a real concern.

    5) when calls are made from magic jack to other phones, receiving phone can’t get caller id (i.e. magic jack number)

    6) Ugly GUI on PC, which can’t be even hidden/minimized. Gives even the greatest looking PC desktop a cheap finish/look.

    7) magic jack application interferes with other telephone/chat applications like skype. Very bad software, just like the magic jack website.

    Try nettalk. At least, it won’t interfere with the PC. See the comparison http://www.nettalk.com/tk6000-vs-competition
  • answer to issues:

    1. After 25 years in this business the Majic Jack is no more screwy then any other pc.

    2. So most of us have USB powered hubs. or plug directly into a us port. Besides USB powered hubs are cheap.

    6. Not true.

    7. Who cares. I use it on a pc dedicated for it an old PIV

    Nettalk is a possible altenative but belive it or not they bought their technology from Magic Jacj.
  • Kelly
    Where can you go & buy one in Canada or do you have to get one online?
  • Tiger direct has them - Factory Direct also does www.factorydirect.ca or one of their stores in Ontario
  • kevin
    tiger direct has them.. tigerdirect.ca
  • Stacy what I would do is take the Magic Jack to a friend who is not using Verizon for their Internet access and try it their. It could be Verizon or could be an issue with Magic Jack itself. I am in Canada and I use the Magic Jack on the Roger's network and I have had great success with it.
  • stacy
    Do you have any idea why my magic jack softpad would say unknown field where the number should be.It was working before verizon completly turned phone service off. I just have the internet service everything is compatible but cant call in nor out. It just goes straight to voicemail. I returned it and thought verizon might have zapped it but still saying same message. Also saying SIPDirect Ready to call.
  • Stacy what I would do is take the Magic Jack to a friend who is not using Verizon for their Internet access and try it their. It could be Verizon or could be an issue with Magic Jack itself. I am in Canada and I use the Magic Jack on the Roger's network and I have had great success with it.
  • John@thecottage
    Does anyone have an idea how much bandwith MJ consumes? It would be useful to me if I could use it over a mobile interet connection, but there I am paying by the gigabyte. Is aanyone using it this way, and knows how many kb per minute it burns?
  • Hi John. They suggest not running Magic Jack over a mobile Internet connection. I would not do it simply because it would be cost prohibitive.
  • John@thecottage
    Hi Rob. An update on MJ over mobile internet:

    1. At my cottage, I can get Rogers HSPA+ in just a few locations in the cottage - certainly not everywhere in the structure.

    2. MJ works fine over this network using the Air Card (3G) option. A couple of complaints about breakup on calls to the maritimes, and slightly reduced volume, but otherwie we, and people we have called, are happy with the quality.

    3. Cost - MJ uses between 500-750 kb per talk minute. At my Rogers Stick contract overage rate of $0.03 / MB that works out to 1.5 - 2 cents per minute. The alternative at my cottage which has no landline is a Telus BB where the LD rate is $0.10 per minute. (95% of our calling at the cottage is LD)

    One downside that I've had with MJ - I was unable to install it at home on 2 XP machines - it only has worked on a new Windows 7 Dell machine. I had the RMA form all filled out to send it back and decided to try it on the W7 Dell at the last minute.

    All in all, its definitely a workable solution, and I'll keep it for at least this year. Recommendation to others thinking of this. First check out that your mobile internet connection is strong at the location in the building where you'll keep a computer on running MJ before you buy the MJ. I didn't but got lucky.
  • John I am surprised it does not work under Windows xp home. That is what I run mine normally under. When I run at home I use it plugged into my pc which is my print server all day.
  • John@thecottage
    Not sure this is true anymore. MJ FAQ dated Dec 09 says MJ does work over wireless networks. Also same FAQ says MJ uses about 80Kbps bandwith. This calcs to about 700kb thruput per minute - about 2 cents a minute at Rogers Mobile overage rate, and a lot cheaper than Telus charges me for LD on my cell phone (10 cents/minute)
    Now have MJ on order. So will let you know if their FAQs are true or not !
  • Joey
    Hello Robert, great review of the Magic Jack but have you had a look at the NetTalk TK6000?
    Apparently this baby does NOT require a computer to be running and simply connects to a router to be always on, much the same as any other VOIP provider. It's more expensive ($100) but with this always-on feature it appears to be a viable only Landline. I'd be very surprised if Magic Jack didn't come up with their own 'Always on' replacement and one would think others will follow. A little competition should then bring new features and improvements.
    I convinced that not having to have a computer running day and night to have a landline blows the Magig Jack out of the water. Net talk currently promises no charge ever, beyond the initial aquisition, BUT that doesn't sound like a good businessmodel to me and I would expect that once they have enough units in the field and depending on what MJ and others do in the meantime, they will have to eventually charge for maintaining your number and operate as a profitable business.
  • I have not looked at it actually. I suspect it is the game technology just licensed. The reality is I have a pc that is always on so this is not an issue for me.
  • Marko
    Well some Canadian area codes are now available but that's another $10 a year. What is not mentioned here is that the computer has to be up and the user signed in for Magic Jack to work. Put your PC into sleep mode and the phone won't work. This of course consumes a lot of energy, creates what ever noise your PC creates and adds maintenance costs to your machine due to the added up time. It also give access to you computer to anyone that's in the house. BUT if you do shut down your PC or put it to sleep, Magic Jack will not even work after you sign back in. You have to unplug MJ and after plugging it back in wait for about 1 1/2 minutes before it has reconnected itself. Not sure how anyone can make it their only landline with those requirements. Just to use it for long distance? Why? Other options are available that don't require to have the PC on 24/7 and calls beyond North America are charged on MJ at the same rate as several other options. Skype to Skype is free world wide without hardware costs unless you also want video.
  • Pierre
    This of course consumes a lot of energy, creates what ever noise your PC creates and adds maintenance costs to your machine due to the added up time.??
    Just leave you PC on and MJ plugged in .. WHat cost for leaving your PC on? Give me a break. Had my PC on for years continuously , no problem and don't see any cost
  • Iveybeaver
    Energy costs are a concern now with TOU pricing and everything coming into effect now. I built a low power PC to run my MJ 24/7. I plan to use my MJ as my land line once I get all friends/family/companies over to the new number. The PC i built uses just 24 watts! It cost me about $200 to build, but that will be recouped in no time.
  • I always have the pc my Magic jack is on all the time anyway so this is not an issue for me. It acts as a print server as well. Yes you have to be signed in. I actually have my print server pc setup for autologin so this is not an issue. This way if Windows updates run over night it reboots and logs itself back in.

    I use Skype as well a lot actually. For home I do prefer Magic Jack.
  • paulebrown
    I have just in the last month purchased a MagicJack. It was easy to install and even easier to use. I took a Buffalo, NY number as I am near Buffalo. I am thinking of changing to a Canadian Number and at $10. a year for a Canadian Number it is well worth it. My only fear is the CRTC will get their greedy little noses into MagicJack and put on some tariff or extra charge.
  • Steve R.
    Hi,
    A friend in the States called me here in New Brunswick on her MJ and I was impressed with the quality of the call. I was really intrigued by this device, since I'm paying Primus about $26 a month just for my unlimited Canada/US long distance plan (Compared to our local Aliant prices, I thought this was a good deal once upon a time). I intend to keep my land line and just want to use this for placing outgoing long distance calls to family and friends. It should pay for itself in the first month. They can still call in on my land line as before, and how they pay for that is their concern, right? So should I care whether I have a U.S. or Canadian phone number in this case?

    Thanks for any advice.
  • Steve you can have either. you will pay an extra 10 per year for the Canadian number which is what I have. My son is headed to school in Ottawa next year and he will be taking a Magic Jack with him.
  • Steve R.
    Just a quick update. I ordered the MJ from the US web site and it arrived right at the door with no hassles from Revenue Canada. As advertised, my Visa was not immediately billed. Because of all the negativity and suspicion on various web sites, I installed it on an old Dell laptop from work that we were going to throw away. It's only got a USB 1 port, but presumably it's USB 1.1. We installed a fresh version of XP and AVG and that's all. I'm very satisfied with the results. I decided to save the $10 and chose a US phone number. It turns out that this an advantage to one of my sons who lives in NYC, although I only intended to use the MJ for outgoing calls. He's no longer charged minutes on his iPhone plan if he wants to call me here in Canada, but I often turn this old laptop off if I don't intend to make any calls for a few days. Mu upload speed is only 0.41 MB/s (download is 1.54) and as I said, this is an old laptop with a usb 1 port, but the quality of the call is still very good. In fact, it's better than the Vonage calls my other son in Vancouver uses. I bought a $35 cordless phone which I dedicated to the MJ and I'm very pleased with this setup. Of course I still have my old landline for local calls, so I'm not dependent on the MJ for everything. It works for me - and well.

    == Steve R. ==
  • freestylegreek
    How do you make it possible so the safety removal hardware can work? I cant seem to make it want to safely remove the hardware. I even tried to end the magicjack.exe process but it wont work. So Rob maybe you can let me know how i can safely remove the hardware without having to always unplug it from the computer all the time.
  • Sorry for the delay in getting back to you. I normally remove mine the same way I do any other usb device - go into the usb devices and click on the device to remove it. It is the same way that you remove a usb flash drive.
  • Vick
    Hey Rob,

    Great review there. I am thinking of getting rid of my expensive long distance Home phone line service with Bell(I pay $60 every month) and switching to Magic Jack. I live in Milton, Ontario and I am hoping that I will get a local Canadian number. By reading you review it seems like Magic Jack is a pretty ood product. I just have one quick question. I use internet quite a lot and I am a little concerned that if I am viewing a stream on the internet, would it affect the call quality? I currently have 6 Mbps download speed, but I am thinking of switching to 12 Mbps.

    Thanks
  • thank you for your question. 6Mbps is enough actually. I actually have 50Mbps down at home and it just flies
  • Vick
    Thanks for the reply Rob! I finally got my magic jack yesterday and I tested it so far I am very pleased with it. I might have to get a higher bandwith than 6 Mbps since when I tested the call quality while having a video stream on my computer, it did indeed had an affect on it. My only concern is that when I made an outbound call to my cell phone, it showed that "Unknown" is calling on my caller ID 90% of the time. I also called my brother in Vancouver, and he also told me that he on his headset that it shows unknown on his caller ID.
  • Thank you for your comment. I do not totally agree it is crap ware. I have looked at many EULA agreements and if you ask me most of them have a lot to be desired. The software works great - I have been running it for over a year and for 2 months it has been my only home phone. Personally I would rather pay them then outrageous phone costs every month.
  • kenpmason
    magicJack's software is installed into AppData--a hidden folder--NOT in Program Files. It has no uninstall, nor any Exit function. It autostarts with Windows without telling you. As a result, most users will never be able to get rid of it. And the only way to stop an online order in mid-stream is to kill it's process (you can't go back). THEN you find that the order completed without your authorization. Lastly, their EULA is almost as long and complicated as that of Windows.

    When I complained to their online chat tech support about these issues, I was told that no one else had complained of these "features"!

    This is crapware, in my opinion.
  • Angie
    Thank you for your review, I have been considering buying Magic jack and getting rid of my cable phone line and your great review has helped me decide to go for it. It also looks like they now have Canadian phone numbers available, I am in Niagara Falls and it says on the Magic jack website that there is a local area code available
  • Angie I am in Niagara Falls right now and mine works fine. Running it in a hotel
  • johntoss
    HI Rob, happy New Year to you, Where did you buy your MagicJack from the Canadian site or US Site.
    JohnT
  • Hi John,

    A Happy New Year to you to. I bought it in a store in the Toronto area and then registered it with the US site. If you are in THE GTA I can suggest who might carry it.
  • Thank you for taking the time to read my article and comment on it. Comments you asked for are inline as follows:

    Have you canceled Rogers? MJ offers CNDN numbers now.

    No I have not yet. MJ currently is out of Canadian Numbers so I am still waiting.

    Please comment on these issues I have read on other forums:
    - MJ disables power saving settinf on PC

    Not an issue for me I have it on a pc which does not have a monitor and also acts as a print server. I can see what it would disable Power settings. The MJ needs to be on so it can answer calls. This makes sense.

    - MJ does not allow user to log off (on PC with multiple user profiles)

    not true I can log off on a xp pc.

    - MJ works great for 30 days (time of free trial)

    I have had mine over a year and it still works great.

    - MJ has no servers in Canada and calls get routed to US causing lag in voice

    I get no lag in voice. Most of the lag is caused by Band Width issues on your end. I fortunatly have Rogers 25Meg/second service 1 Meg up. I have also run it on their 6meg/10 meg services and not had any issues

    - incoming calls open a screen on top of any other application running on PC

    Yes it does but you can minimize it.

    - not all handsets work on MJ

    Not true it uses a standard phone. I use a Uniden cordless connected to it.

    I have not really had any major issues why I like and use it.
  • AS
    I have a question. We have 25GB alloted to us through Rogers internet. How many GB's am I using a minute with MJ?

    Thanks in advance.
  • the answer is I am not sure unfortunately. I do know it is not that high. Downloading and uploading usually cause more bandwidth issues then the MJ. If you are using the Internet a lot you should increase the GB you are allowed.
  • Thinking about it
    Have you canceled Rogers? MJ offers CNDN numbers now.

    Please comment on these issues I have read on other forums:
    - MJ disables power saving settinf on PC
    - MJ does not allow user to log off (on PC with multiple user profiles)
    - MJ works great for 30 days (time of free trial)
    - MJ has no servers in Canada and calls get routed to US causing lag in voice
    - incoming calls open a screen on top of any other application running on PC
    - not all handsets work on MJ
    *** surely not all is paradise. What issues/annoyances have you had?
  • Prendergast
    how much do you get paid for promoting Magic Jack on your site? Can I get in on the action?
  • Kum Richard
    I have used Magicjack now for two months and when i plug it in, it asked to be plugged into a usb port eventhough it is already plugged into a USB port. Is it bad? If it is, how should I know what caused it and who beras the loss?
  • To Thinking about it - It turns out Magic Jack Canadian number are available. They only can be selected when you install a new Magic Jack. For the sake of $35.00 Canadian I am going to run out this week and get one, get a Canadian Number and a week later cancel my Rogers Home Phone Service once I have things working the way I want and all the companies I deal with notified.
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