Today’s question is from Emily:
I am wondering about people’s experiences with Magic Jack or Magic Jack Plus phone service. Is it worth it? Is the service reliable?
I’d also welcome any other tips about how to get home phone service for less (our cell phones are extremely unreliable at home, so we need something, and the local cable company charges a lot for their “bundle”). -Emily
Marian says
Magic Jack if fine if it works. If it doesn’t work it is impossible. There is no customer support. I spent hours with ‘CHAT’ trying to get help with a number that wouldn’t go through. Went from one person to another, each telling me to do the same thing, which didn’t work. Finally after four hours they discontinued me, saying I wouldn’t cooperate.
They have a complaint form that is impossible to figure out.
Magic Jack is total frustration.
At first it worked and I could connect with Richard who was great. Then there was no Richard. I have signed up for five years, so am stuck.
I would never recommend Magic Jack. They are guilty of fraud and misrepresentation. They should be put out of business.
Alice says
Fraud seriously, I have used MJ for 8 years now. No problems besides the occasional dropped connection. Never had to use customer service so I can’t review that. But like anything on the market, whatever the product, it’s always
fine if it works, and isn’t fine if it doesn’t work.
I know many friends who have used it without issues with the exception of one friend last year and she finally got it to work and admitted it was because she was “dense” as she said LOL… and it was her fault until she finally understood what the customer service rep was telling her.
Diane says
We’ve been using Magic Jack for about 4 years and are VERY happy with it. We are currently on the 5-year plan, paying $1/month for unlimited local and long distance. Initially, there seemed to be a slight problem with reception, but they got that straightened out a long time ago. We have no plans to switch.
Kris says
We have MagicJack and I absoutely hate it. First thing that is annoying is that your computer must be turned on for it to work. If your computer is off, no calls! Second, I had so many people complain that they couldn’t hear me when trying to use it while working from home, I don’t even bother using it at all, I just forward my office phone to my cell instead.
We used to have Vonage and I liked that much better. We only got rid of it because when we moved here we originally had satellite Internet that the original owners were using, so it didn’t work with that. Trying to get my husband to switch back to Vonage for a while now.
Alice says
As of 2013 with Magic Jack Plus, you no longer have to have it connected to a computer so that takes care of that.
Ally says
My family has used the basic Magic Jack for 3 yrs. now, and it’s been such a financial blessing. Although an Internet connection IS required, if you have this already, I would most definitely recommend Magic Jack phone service. It is reliable, cost-effective, and user friendly.
Marie says
We had vonage for at least 4 years (no problems), but wanted to try a cheaper option. Heard negative reviews about magic jack, so went with Net Talk Duo. Some reviews said that the people that tried magic jack unsuccessfully were now happy with Net Talk. Upfront cost about $40 which included 1st year of service ($20/year after that). Have occasional static and occasional dropped calls, but I am not on the phone enough for it to bother me. We put up with poor reception and dropped calls with cell phone users, so my friends will just have to put up with my VOIP. We were able to keep our existing phone number for a $20 fee.
Rachel Brannen says
We used magic jack for a few months. A few things – they charge for everything – number transfer etc.
It will not work with a security system, we did not know this and paid for the first year including number transfer.
Had to cancel service – no refund, cost to transfer number back to Comcast – took weeks as they don’t easily release your number back.
I won’t do that again.
My advise – stay away from it.
Alice says
They do NOT charge for everything. They will charge $20 to port over your old number if you want to keep and are able to keep it. That transfer is not “everything”. As for security, they say nothing about it so why did you purchase it before checking to see if it will work with a security system? Since MJ says nothing about it it is hardly their fault your system didn’t work with it. They never said it would!
Rach (DonutsMama) says
We’ve had it for several years and love it. We do mostly use our cell phones, but MJ is great for giving out our number to people we don’t normally talk to. Also, free long distance in the US. Can’t beat that.
Shea says
We used MJ for about a year when we were in a location with only phone land line option but descent internet connection. We saved a ton of money and those out weighed the problems of occasional dropped calls and bad connections. When we moved to another town we had many problems with MJ. Some city numbers I couldn’t even call and people had a hard time calling through. It also burned our computer out quicker because we had to leave it on (before plus was released). It isn’t a bad option of it works in your area and saves good money.
Jessica says
We have had magic jack plus for a year. It is a great option to save money and it works great. We have only had trouble with it once and it was because the internet was down! I wanted a land line, but couldn’t afford one in addition to cell phones until this option came available. I’m glad to have it for when our kids get a little older because I don’t plan to get them a cell phone for awhile 🙂
angie says
I have not used magic jack…we use cell phones only and switched this year from verizon (good coverage but expensive) to tmobile cheaper but tons of dropped calls…
tmobile sent me a text saying if I had bad coverage in my home they would send me a free signal booster… so we got that but have not installed it yet …but you might want to ask your cell phone co. for a FREE booster since they aren’t providing a good signal to your home
tamika says
Emily-
my family has used magicjack for 3 years and running…. WELL WORTH IT!!!! the only (catch) is you have to have internet service to use it. in my opinion there is no quality difference other than alittle more money in your wallet every month. i pay less yearly than most pay a month.- GOOD LUCK
Jim says
Get Vonage. I have had it for many years now. I pay $10 per month plus local tax. With Vonage you get 911, with Magic Jack you do not get 911. This is important and not worth saving a few dollars.
Alice says
Not true, you DO get 911 service with magicjack. My elderly mother lives with me and 911 is imperative, so I know what I am talking about. And yes I have already called 911 so I know it works.
Lori says
Hello – I have never used the Magic Jack, but have OOMA which was recommended by Clark Howard’s website.
I selected OOMA because it had more features than Magic Jack and works with Fax machines, whereas Magic Jack reviews showed that it was unreliable when it came to working with Fax machines. OOMA also can support 2 phone lines. Since we run a business also, we used the 2nd line as our business number. This way we knew if the call was the business line or personal line. Other nice features with OOMA – digital voice mailbox, call screen, call forward to voicemail, etc.
There is an up-front cost with OOMA ($120-$250), but you can search for deals on-line and get that costs down or find free shipping codes, etc. After the intial purchase our monthly bill is only $3.99 a month for the basic service and this includes 911 service. If you upgrade to Premier Features the cost is $9.99 a month. You can visit them at ooma.com for additional information.
I have used OOMA now for over 3 years and have no problems with it and would highly recommend it for others.
Disclaimer, your internet phone service is only as good as your internet provider. If your ISP goes down frequently, then your phone service will be down also.
PS – there are also free internet phone lines you can access via Google. My nephew and his wife use one, but the free ones do not support 911.
Jennifer says
We have had both the original Magic Jack and the Magic Jack Plus. I would not recommend the original Magic Jack unless you don’t mind resetting it every time your computer turns off, however I would HIGHLY RECOMMEND the Magic Jack Plus. We’ve had it for about a year and a half and it has been great.
Jos @ Joyful{in}Chaos says
We used it for 1 year and the PLUS for about 2 months. It was great at first, but the longer we had it, the more “static”-y it was. By the time we got the PLUS, we ended up returning it for our money back. Disappointing.
It might depend on the speed of internet. I honestly don’t know what ours is, but we were not happy with Magic Jack.
SusanR says
We used Magic Jack and it was completely unreliable. No one could ever hear you and the delay was terrible. We switched to Vonage, which worked fine, but it was $35/month.
I work from home so I need something reliable, but our cells wouldn’t work well in our house. We recently bought a $200 dollar cell booster for our home, and we’ve dropped Vonage. I think the booster is provider-specific (ours is AT&T).
Kate says
I havent had experience with Magic Jack but i did buy an Ooma 2 years ago and i love it. The ooma uses your internet connection. It is an additional box that connects to your router. The initial expense was 150.00 (costco). The only monthly fee is the federal phone tax , in my area it runs about 3.00 a month. Other than that, i no longer pay for local or long distant phone service. One of the things i love about the service is i get an email if someone has left me a message at home and i can listen to the message wherever i am on a computer, smart phone, pad. I have the basic service. It might be something to check out. The one thing to consider is if you have a home alarm system that is attached to your land line you will need to continue to have a land line. Good luck freeing yourself from expensive phone service!
Amber says
We didn’t get great service with the magic jack. It would cut us off mid conversation. When it worked, it worked great. This has been several years ago (6ish) so not sure if they have impoved it at all since then.
Theresa says
We have had both the MagicJack and the MagicJack Plus. With both we had the same internet service/speed which is cable modem. I would not recommend the MagicJack as there are some major drawbacks such as the computer has to be on at all times (if it shuts down there is no service), the quality of the sound was terrible at times and you had to dial the number really, really slow or it wouldn’t go through. HOWEVER, we just purchased the MagicJack Plus and absolutely LOVE IT! We have had no problems with the sound quality and the computer does not have to be on. It works just as good as a regular landline and there are no other charges including no long distance charges. We even use our fax machine with it (no charge). You can even “port” your current phone number with it so you don’t have to change your number (this adds $9.95/year in addition to the $29.95 charge for a total of $39.90 a YEAR). I would highly recommend it!
BOLA says
THIS IS FUNNY, WE JUST BOUGHT MAGIC JACK, GOT IT IN THE MAIL TWO DAYS AGO, MY HUSBAND JUST PUT IT UP ABOUT TWENTY HOURS AGO, I WAS VERY HAPPY TO RECEIVE MY FIRST CALL, WE HAVE A LOCAL PHONE NUMBER.
Rudi Pittman says
Unless it’s changed then the magicjack dongle still requires you to plug it into a computer and keep that computer active. You might do better with the solution I went with…I picked up an obihai obi100 which at the time was on sale for $30….you can get the obi110 for $40 most everywhere…it can use google voice and give you a free “home line” using that service which is free….the advantage of the obi100 is it has functionality to support dozens of voip providers so you are not locked into one….basically it’s a dongle that has a phone jack and an ethernet port….you plug it into your router and plug a phone to it…..many folks use it when travelling….I have no home service..have been cell phone only so I made sure the phone company line was disconnected and plugged the obi100 into the home phone wiring so ALL the jacks work with it….you can even send/receive faxes. So $40 up front for the device….google voice is free for us and canada calling……(no 911 service if thats an issue)…callcentric is a 2nd provider that will give you a phone # with free incoming calls and cheap plans for outgoing.
Jen e says
We don’t pay anything for our landline. We use call centric & forward our google voice to it. Now if you have comcast they will throttle it because they don’t like people using a phone service other than theirs but it does work.
Amanda says
My husband and I are missionaries in the Philippine Islands. We have a Magic Jack Plus. We love it! I am so glad to have the ability to call friends and family internationally. Skype is very unreliable over here, but the Magic Jack Plus works well.
Ed says
I am a retired phone company employee. Just like Vonage, and the cable companies, magic jack is what they call VOIP, Voice Over Internet Protocal. This means that there has to be some type of internet connection for them to work. There are pros and cons to all of them. A pro is they are less money then a typical land line. Cons are there can be an echoing on the line, if you loose your internet connection they don’t work, if you lose power they don’t work ( the phone company powers your land line if power goes out so you always have phone service as long as you have a corded phone (not a cordless)). Also some of them have a bad way for you to get 911 if you need help. When you call 911, you get an operator employed by your carrier who then uses a landline to call emergency services for you. Make sure you check this out before you sign up for anything because this can add time to any emergency call that you might have to make. I had the choice of going with VOIP or a landline when I retired. From my experience, most people that went with VOIP went back to a conventional landline within a month, so I stayed with the landline. But, that is me. I’m sure there are just as many people that love the service as there are ones that don’t. So take these comments as being my ramblings, and check out the services on your own and go with your gut.
Craig Wacker says
I have used it for 2 years. I love it. I transfered my home # to magic jack plus and after I paid for 5 years I now do not have to pay for it till the 5 years is up. $90 for 5 years.
Teresa says
We have the Magic Jack Plus. I would pay the extra for the plus model so you don’t have to be tied to a computer. We love ours. We have been using for over a year. Like others have said it does depend on the speed and reliability of your internet connection. Mine seems to be better than my cousins. Her internet is not as good. I wish I would have switched year’s ago.
Alissabeth says
I love Ooma! Where we are, we had horrible success with Magic Jack – lots of dropped calls.
Jennifer says
We do not have Magic Jack, but I have a couple of friends who do. Sometimes when we’re talking everything begins to sound garbled. If we hang up and call back, it is usually clear. We are considering Ooma for our phone service. Clark Howard highly recommends it and Consumer Reports has given it excellent reviews. There is some start-up cost involved, but in the long run, I think we’ll save a lot.
Joy Long says
We don’t use Magic Jack but we do use Ooma and have since Oct 2010. It’s been totally reliable for us. We did have to pay for the device initially. I believe you can either rent it or pay for it outright. We decided to pay for it and it was roughly $200 but after that our monthly bill is less than $4. Compared to what local service + fees cost, in about 5-6 months, we had recouped our initial cash outlay for the Ooma device.
Patty says
We just completed our first year of Magic Jack. We first had it plugged into our computer so the computer had to be on for the phone to work, but now we have it plugged into our router and it works great. I notice no difference than when we had phone service through our cable company(caller id, call waiting, and voice mail all included!). We paid for the 5 year plan when we started (which ends up being 6 years because the first year is included in the purchase of the unit) I would definitely recommend it!
Grace says
We bought my in-laws, who live on the island of Trinidad in the West Indies, a magic jack for Christmas years ago and it has worked pretty well! Sometimes there are issues, but you can’t beat the fact that they chose a number in our area, so when we call that number, it is free for us! I’d say it’s definitely worth a shot.
Shelly says
We first purchased just the basic Magic Jack and had a hard time with it working consistently so after a few months of frustration and research we purchased the Magic Jack Plus and have had no problems. We own an at home small engine parts and repair business so we are on it constantly. Definitely more reliable than our cellphone reception.
nawar says
I have been used magic jack plus now for 6 months it is work great just you have make sure your internet servies is very high speed …some times if the signle slow you have bad day with your phon and if no inernet for some reson no phon and you need to call the provider ..no phon ..so you need anther phon for emergnsy time …if snowy….bad phon…..but stil good and sve money..I like it and it will do job why waste the money…so..I encoreg you.
PATRICIA BELL says
I have tried both Magicjack and Magicjack plus. When I first got Magicjack everything worked great until I got a new computer. I started having all kinds of voice quality problems and echos on the phone. I switched to Magicjack plus and it is wonderful. You can hook it up though your computer or run it alone with your internet. I am just using the internet and have had no serious problems. The adapter went bad, but Magicjack replaced it for free.
Joy says
We’ve been using Ooma fir about 3 years now without any problems. It’s VOIP; You buy the main unit from Costco $200, then it’s just $3 / month. We were able to port our old number and haven’t has any probs since!
Rachel says
We used Magic Jack for 3 years and then I just couldn’t take it anymore. It got to where I dreaded making or receiving phone calls. We had a good internet speed, a good computer, and a decent phone, and it was still awful. If my husband checked e-mail while I was on the phone, it would skip, cut out, warble, etc. And heaven forbid he was watching a video . . . . My folks complained about it constantly too and got to where they hated calling me because of all the drama.
Downsides: the computer has to be turned on and the internet has to be working to use it, so if your computer randomly powers down or if your internet goes out, you’re phone-less (though it looks like they resolved that issue with MagicJack Plus which came out as we were giving it up). Plus the above-mentioned reliabiliy issues. Their tech support is nearly non-existent, so if you have problems, you’re up a creek. And at the end, we actually couldn’t even get it to work. They did an upgrade of some sort and it never worked again after that.
Upsides: it’s super cheap, so even if it doesn’t work out, you’re not out much money. It’s portable, so you can take it with you on vacation or when you travel and pick up like you’re at home. The voicemails to e-mail is super handy. We actually still get them sent to us even though we’ve been without the service for over 6 months.
Another option is Ooma. It’s a more expensive product but I’ve heard that it’s much more reliable. I can’t speak from experience, because before we went that route, we just bit the bullet and returned to being cell-phone only users.
sharon says
Does anyone have a cheap phone plan that you can hook a fax machine up to?
Sara says
We have a Ooma, which works great, and I think is similar.
Linda H says
We’re on our 3rd or 4th year (time tends to blur) with Magic Jack. We’ve had a couple random issues over the years .. we weren’t able to call out for a couple days but people could call us, sometimes it sounds tinny or there are some echo’g (rather like talking to someone on a cell phone to a cell phone), we have to dial 1+area code even for local even though our number is local and since we have the original Magic Jack we have to have it plugged into the computer 24/7 and occasionally we have dropped or lost a call because I was doing something on the comp as the call came thru and I clicked at the right (wrong) time with my mouse or typed an enter key but the call will still go to VM (email) & unless it’s a blocked # it shows up on the caller id, so it’s not like we sit there wondering if we’ll ever get that call back or who that was. .. so other than recommending getting Magic Jack Plus or having a dedicated laptop/older comp, I can totally recommend Magic Jack as a replacement for a landline.
But, service will be dependent on internet service and even if you go Magic Jack, the phone company is still involved one way or another when it comes to calling or receiving calls from Landline phones, just as it will depend on whose cell service you’re calling or receiving calls from!
Kristina says
We had the regular Magic Jack for years and just recently upgraded to the Magic Jack plus. I would love it except it drops calls constantly. Sometimes during a conversation with my Mom or Dad it will drop our calls two or three times. I was hoping upgrading would get rid of this problem but am disappointed to say it didn’t. My Mom and Dad live in different places so it can’t be their lines fault.
Kristina says
Want to add we have DSL internet and pay for a faster speed. So our connection shouldn’t be an issue.
Elizabeth says
We actually use an ooma. I’ve heard the magic jack can sound fuzzy? But the Ooma has a higher start up fee and depending on what state you live in you might have to pay a monthly bill but I love it. We don’t get all the bells and whistles though the trial was nice it wasn’t worth paying the extra for us but we pay $10 a month approx for our phone service now. I went with it because I have a lot of older relatives so I didn’t want to lose the land line number I’ve had for the past 10 years and confuse anyone so I paid to have my number kept. Again it was a bit pricey to start but I’ve never looked back or had any regrets. Some states it’d be free I believe but KY has like a phone tax which is what we end up paying for.
NatPatBen says
I have it in Texas and pay less than $5/month for the fees. $10 isn’t bad, though.
It was $200 for the ooma device, but the savings per month make that $200 well-spent.
Elizabeth says
I actually got it wrong we pay $3.73 per month I had to pull up the bank info doing it by the top of my head I constantly over price things LOL
Zina says
We’ve had the magic jack for over 3 years now and we love it. We first paid around $40 for the chip and it came with one year service. Then we paid $69 for an additional 5 years of service. We have over 8 computers at home, so we set one just for the magic jack and we leave it on all the time (Over 3 years now-:)) except when we travel. We love the magic jack because it saves us so much money, and their international rates are really good. I buy credit for international credit to call home (Morocco) all the time. Now, people who complain about the connection dropping may be right if they had low bandwidth internet service. We have a good high speed internet and never had a problem with calls dropping.
The other thing is, some phone service companies block calls coming in from magic jack. That does happen every once in a while. But you can always try to call a cell without a problem.
I would highly recommend the magic jack. I hate having to pay something on a monthly basis and this works for us.
Lauren B. says
I have an Ooma and I love it! We got our box when it was the daily deal on Woot.com, then we pay 3.70 per month. We have never had any problems with it. I am a big fan!
Terie says
We have had Magic Jack Plus for about a month now. We had to get faster internet service, but otherwise, no complaints. We were paying $32/month for a landline w/ no long distance. Now all long distance is included. So far, so good. They have a 30 day free trial. It is definitely worth trying!!
April says
We have used Magic Jack for a few years now and haven’t had any issues. It’s our back up phone bc we mostly use our cell phones, but it’s so cheap it’s worth it! We have a computer that we have on pretty much 24 hours a day for our home media center, so that’s also not an issue for us.
fran says
I’ve been a happy MJ user for over 5 years. Sure it ocassionally drops calls and sometimes there’s strange noices on the phone line, but for just a little over $1.00 a month (upgraded to 5 years for $69.99), it’s worth it to me to just hang up and redial for a clear connection. I live in the foothills so reception is sketchy with a cell phone and MJ is usually crystal clear. I’ve used it on trips with my netbook and it works great. I can’t use the internet while on the phone because it breaks up the call. But it would be rude to do that anyway.
Have not upgraded to MJ Plus because MJ will not honor left over years on my old MJ plan.
crystal williams says
I’ve been using magic jack for a few years now, I do use the new one that plugs into the wall instead of the computer because I didn’t want to leave my computer on all the time. We have all adjusted to using it and very rarely have problems, once in awhile there is a delay but for the most part it works great. If you have a smartphone you can now download the app to your phone so you don’t even need a house phone plugged in anymore, my daughter even has the app on her itouch and it works great.
Kim T. says
I’m sure it depends upon your location and your internet connection. We have neighbors who are snowbirds and use Magic Jack and love it. We use Ooma, and do have some problems now and then, but we feel it is worth the under $5/month bill. We have not researched magic jack, ourselves. a relative who lives a state away uses Ooma also and has no problems at all.
Lynda A. says
I currently use MagicJack Plus in my home and I like it a lot. The only problem I have had is that once in a great while the person I’m speaking to will not be able to hear me as clearly if I stray too far from the living room where the Magic Jack lives. However this has not been a serious problem at all and most of the time it is not even an issue.
Emmy says
It was very unreliable for us. It worked sometimes and not others. We switched to Straight Talk home phone through Walmart. $15 a month and always works when I pick up the phone. It is local and long distance. We had to buy a device that works off of our internet for $99, but that was just a one time fee. Very happy with our choice 🙂
Richard says
I’ve used it for two years and it generally works pretty well and the price is unbeatable. However, you should have a reliable high-speed internet connection and an always on computer. The only downside is that I have been unable to send and receive faxes using a regular fax machine. Since I do this rarely, I scan documents on a computer and then fax them using an internet>fax service.
Cassandra says
I have had Magic Jack for over 2 years and I love it. You want to make sure you have reliable internet service, because that is the biggest factor in reliability. Also, I would suggest getting the Magic Jack Pro, as you can plug the device right into your router and you don’t have to have your computer on to make/receive calls. Overall, I love the Magic Jack and the cost is totally worth it, especially if you buy multiple years at once.
Amy says
We recently cancelled our cable and phone service (which had been bundled with our internet service). We purchased the magic jack plus that runs through a router. We ported our same phone number and once we knew it worked, we cancelled our phone service. It works pretty well. Occassionally when I am talking to someone they tell me that there is lots of static and they can’t hear me well. I can hear them totally fine. That is frustrating though. And the caller id shows the phone number but no name. . . which will take a little getting used to. We’ve had it for about a month now and it is nice to have a much smaller bill from our comcast company!
Christina says
We have used Vonage for the last 5 years. I have been extremely pleased with the service. We have internet through TimeWarner cable. You will need decent internet service for the connection. You get call waiting, caller ID, voicemail, conference calling, local/national/international long distance, email notification of call and many other features that I don’t even use for one montly rate. We now pay for the service up front for the year and that saves us even more. The best part is that if the internet is down you, calls are automatically routed to a different phone number of your choice.
Shelah says
We’ve had Magic Jack for years and love it.
At first we had a couple of problems and thought it was our connection speed. We discovered that while connection speed is important of course, the capability of the computer it is plugged into is important as well. (This may be a moot point with the new Magic Jack.)
Has worked like a champ for years!
We have caller-ID with it….someone mentioned that they did not for some reason.
coupon woman says
We researched all of the VOIP companies (Magic Jack, Ooma, Vonage) last year and finally settled on Ooma based on price and reviews. I watched the Ooma box prices and bought it on sale at Sears. We’ve been very happy! We have a really reliable internet connection, so that’s not a concern. We’ve only had a problem twice in about a year, and that is just unplug the box and replug it in (kind of like you have to do to computers and restart them every now and then). It paid for itself in about 6 months and we like that we still have a home phone # with young kids and our rates aren’t constantly being increased by Cox!
Heather says
We’ve had MJ for over a year now and even though there were a few glitches, we’ve saved a ton of money and I think its worth any small inconvenience we’ve had. We had problems at first because the phone would only ring on the computer, not the phone handset, but we fixed that by buying a new phone. Also, sometimes when someone calls, they can hear us say hello, but we can’t hear them.
Christy says
We have used it for a while and it worked pretty well, but now we use just cell phones. Just keep in mind cause it goes through the internet there can be a slight delay when you answer and a few times you just have to unplug it and plug it back in. Obviously your internet has to be good enough to handle it. We have friends that use it and we have a friend that owns over 80 tax stores and that is all they use in there stores. Great cheap phone services.Worth it!!
Carmen says
My sister and brother-in-law got this and it didn’t work well for them. The worst part about the whole experience? I think it took them an entire MONTH to get the service cancelled. Their customer service was awful. I won’t touch them with a 10-foot pole.
I’ve heard some good things about http://www.ooma.com/ but don’t have any personal experience.
NatPatBen says
I’ve had Ooma for over a year and love it! Computer doesn’t have to be on, as it’s connected to the modem/router instead of to a computer. Bill is <$5/month for local & long distance calls!
jaime lynn says
they have a magic jack now that plugs into your wireless router instead of your computer which we have in our house so our laptops don’t have to be on 24/7 and we LOVE it, we actually stopped both of us having cell phones, have a family cell phone and the house phone! Makes life simple, and i love it since i am always home and the kids were always losing my cell phone…..
jessica dodge says
I might have to look into this. We spend alot of money on phone service and we could really use that extra money in our pocket!
angel says
My in laws had it for awhile when it first came out. It was staticy and the call quality was very bad so they went back to traditional service.
We use Vonage and have been very happy with them for years now. We don’t make many calls and pay $15 a month.
Kristi says
I used it a couple of years ago and was not impressed. They might have came out with a better product since then.
veronica sanchez says
Ive used magic jack for 8 years. I started with the regular one, which is $20.00 but you have to have your computer on all the time. Now with the upgraded version. its a whole lot better since its simply connected straight to your internet source. its cost is about $60.00 and when you purchase it its ready to use! Even seniors cant get this deal. i think in california its $12.00 per month(for seniors) for local service. with magic jack you pay $20 per year and its national! even free to other magic jack users no matter where in the world they are!
in the end my family has saved major $$$! I’m a stay at home mom. I really have no need for cell phone, my hubby does have one, but we try to stick with the month to month. because if another company has a better offer they will usually match it instead of loosing your business.
about bundling myself and many others will tell you. not unless your hubby is a sports fanatic or for other reasons you need cable. loose it! just have internet. then you can subscribe to Netflix or other providers. and if you have magic jack you don’t have to add that in either. so your bill should be about $40-$60 max! with taxes. I had basic cable and this is what my bill was. in california and texas. every region differs.
hope you find what you’re looking for.
oh by the way if you have a home phone and want to keep that number you have to call your phone company and tell them you want to port the number to your magic jack-takes about 10 days but at least you wont loose your #
kim says
My only hesitation with ditching the landline is that we have small children at home and occasionally have an elderly relative staying with us too. Landlines are wired into the local 911 response system…wireless or internet based lines are not. So the response time for an emergency is longer if you call 911 from a cell or internet line versus a landline. If anyone has any ideas on how to address this issue…I’d love to hear them.
shannon says
This is my reason for not ditching land line. I have considered just getting a prepaid cell phone to keep at home, but nothing takes the place of the peace of mind of a land line.
Kim says
I don’t have magic Jack, but we use Net Talk. We have had it for over a year. It costs about $26 a year and we have voice mail, caller id, 3 way calling and unlimited long distance in the US. You can visit their website to see if your current phone number is portable, otherwise you would have to get a new phone number. We have never had a problem with it. I Highly recommend!!
Linda says
It worked at our house for less 6 months maybe. Then it stopped working and there was NO customer service. We ended up going to just cell phones.
Jennifer says
We currently use OOMA. You make a one time purchase for the box ($150) and then you have unlimited long distance and local for the taxes only each month. In our area it is $3.76.
We had Vonage for over 7 years and really liked it, but were paying a little over $30 per month.
Nora@ The Dollar Holllering Homemaker says
We have Ooma and like it. After the cost of the unit, it only costs us around $4 a month.
Kira says
We tried it and had a horrible time with it (and we know several people who share the same poor experience with it). We made the switch to Ooma and never looked back!
amanda m says
We have used Magic Jack. It was great. The only pitfall I can say was that your computer had to be on in order to make/receive calls. That may be different with Magic Jack Plus. We never had a problem with the connection or with getting voice mails. It even has caller id. IMO it is a great way to save money on a home phone.
Debbie says
We use Ooma as well, which cost us about $150 to get the box and around $3.50 a month for taxes. It works great for us and we haven’t had any problems with connections (unless the internet goes down, I guess). Like you, we have horrible cell phone reception in our house and need a reliable home phone. Our friends who use it as well all gave us positive reviews, and my husband made sure to thoroughly investigate it before we got it.
kristine says
We use Ooma. It has a high start up cost ($180), but has been working well and reliably for us. We pay approximately 4.25 per month for fees with this service.
Another option is Nettalk Duo VOIP Telephone Service. Start up cost is lower ($44 on amazon). It worked initially for us, but then we began having problems with it. Customer service is not great (when we tried to call for help, we had 90 minute wait time).
Jaynee says
We’ve been with MagicJack for four years. Upgraded last year to MagicJackPlus. We like it a lot. There are other companies doing the same thing (i.e., Vonage), but we stick with MJP because the price can’t be beat and service in our area is really good.
With regular MJ we had an old CPU that we used just to run MagicJack. We just tucked it in the corner and let it do its thing. With MJP it plugs directly into the router so we don’t have to worry about having the computer on all the time.
I occasionally use the Call Forwarding option so that calls to that number come in on my cell. That’s a nice perk when you are expecting a call and need to step out of the house for a few minutes. And I also like getting actual audio files emailed to me the minute someone leaves a voicemail so that I can call right back if I want to.
Candy says
We tried Magic Jack and it wasn’t very practical because your computer had to be on all of the time to receive incoming calls. We bought Ooma for around $200. Ooma works through your high speed internet and your computer doesn’t need to be on. It paid for itself in about 5 months. We pay like $5 a month for taxes and 911 fees.
mo says
i’ve used it..when I had no other option. You need a reliable internet connection.
Amanda says
My husband and I have Magic Jack and have for about 3 years. It is very inexpensive, if you sign up for a 5 year plan you can save a few bucks also. Ours plugs into the computer and does have cut-out issues. When I use the phone I make sure I am not using the internet, that helps eliminate a lot of the glitches. But other than a few words you get from people it is a great way to save money and still have a home phone.
Becca B. says
I have heard of Magic Jack, and the only feedback I’ve heard is that it can be unreliable. I have no experience with it. My husband and I have been using Ooma for 2 1/2 years now. It is phone service through your internet. There is a considerable start-up cost, but after that it is only 3.99/month. It is usually great service. Sometimes it gets interrupted if our internet goes down. You can also work on the internet while on the phone, though at times if you have to many windows open, it will cause the phone conversation to be spotty. Overall, it has definitely been worth it. It is so much cheaper than regular phone service, and we still have a home phone.
Elizabeth says
We have had ours nearing a year now…in 2 states. It does work…but when you answer there is a bit of delay at first, so you end up saying hi at least 2 times. Then after you have talked awhile, it dumps you here and there…not sure if that is our server, or now what we have is MiFi hookup…but any rate, it is worth it for us. If we had a business, or had to make many calls, I am not so sure.
Erin says
We have used Magic Jack for several years now, and it has been great for our family! We’ve saved so much money by going this route instead of with our local phone company. We rarely have problems with it.
sandy says
we had majic jack for several years and it was awful! during hurricane sandy we lost power for days, no power, no phone to call 911, very dangerous situation. the connection was bad if you were on the computer and i had to have it replaced three times in two years because it stopped working and i was charged $10 shipping for it. two months ago we had to break down and get verizon. it’s nice to use the phone and the computer at the same time again!
Anna K. says
Obviously based on the comments it totally depends on the quality of your connection.
We only have cell phones (no land line) but tried Magic Jack once a few years ago when we lived in an apartment that had a crappy cell connection. We also figured it would be good to have a backup to our cell phones. (However, in an emergency it’s as likely that there would be an internet outage as a cell phone outage so that wasn’t necessarily good logic for emergency purposes.)
Anyway, more to the point, Magic Jack has some neat features (easy to travel with, voice mail messages go to your email inbox) but I just couldn’t get past the terrible connection. We lived in Western Washington at the time, by the way, and had a great internet connection but Magic Jack was terrible. I found myself just putting up with the crappy cell phone connection or even stepping outside on a longer call. That was better than MJ and, even though it’s super cheap, even $30 a year isn’t a good deal if it doesn’t work!
Jamie Rohrbaugh says
My mom, sister and her family just moved from Virginia to the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. They bought a Magic Jack before they left Virginia, and they were just able to get it hooked up. I got my first call from them on Saturday – the international call shows up as a local number! It worked great. I don’t have any long-term experience with Magic Jack, but if it allows us to talk internationally for cheap, it seems to be a good solution.
Melissa says
I have Magic Jack Plus and I used to have the regular Magic Jack. The original Magic Jack had some problems when it first came out but the newer Pus model is improved. It also doesn’t need to be connected to a PC 24/7 to work like the earlier version.
I used to use a set of digital V Tech phones with noise cancellation for a while and they were great paired with Magic Jack Plus. I needed to replace them though and the store could only replace them with a set made by AT&T without noise cancellation and the clarity is not as good.
Overall my experience with Magic Jack Plus is good and I feel the service is as reliable as any other, granted your internet service is reliable. The original Magic Jack, not so much but that was years ago and most of the issues have been fixed.
The service for a year is now $29.99, it’s advertised on TV as $19.99 but that’s if you buy 5 years of service at once. That’s very inexpensive but remember to calculate in the price of your high speed internet which is required. If you are planning on a DSL subscription without land-line phone service or cable internet without a TV programming subscription, the provider is likely to charge much more for the single service. Sometimes it costs as much for a dry-loop than two services; that’s something to check in advance.
Google Voice is a way of making free phone calls. You can use the service solely for long distance; you can have the call placed to an existing land line number that doesn’t have long distance. Or you can pair it with Google Chat in Gmail for completely free service. The limitations of this option is that your PC would have to remain on and Gmail open to receive calls through Google Chat. You would also have to remain seated at your PC during calls unless you invest in a wireless headset.
There is one more option that I can think of though it may not be for you because you said your cell reception is not the best at your home. Straight Talk offers a device now for $99 that you plug a home phone into and it provides service through cell phone towers. The service costs $15.00 a month and is unlimited calls. It also has a battery so that it still works during power outages as long as your house phone doesn’t require electricity.
Allison Sanders says
We had Magic Jack for an extra phone line for our fax machine. The service worked okay but the Magic Jack is connected to your computer and it screwed up our computer ALL THE TIME! It caused so many problems that we disconnected it and we don’t use it anymore.
Jolene says
My mom has it and hates it. I never call her on that number anymore, just use her cell phone. Most of the time you can’t even finish a conversation because one of you can’t hear the other. She has tried buying a new phone, calling her internet provider and it is still awful. We were considering it but won’t now after all the trouble she’s had. I say find another option.
Ruz says
We use Phone Power. Similar service. Just plug into internet connection, connect your phone and you’re pretty much good to go. Has online options and ability to fail-over calls to another number in case of an interrupted internet connection. Online Voice mail, etc. There is a slight delay and sometimes an echo, but overall it just works.
Jennifer says
We don’t have home phone, but when we wanted to upgrade our ds’s cell phone at AT&T, they had a program where if you had AT&T, you could get home phone service and it was only $5 a month. I don’t know if any other carriers have that, but it would be worth the call.
Stacy says
Basic landline phone service for me costs ~$16 a month (including taxes). There is a limit on the number of calls (think it is around 20). This is through the phone company.
Kate says
We have magic jack plus. My only complaint is sometimes you hear your voice after you talk- like repeating yourself- slow connection or something. But other than that it is fine and you can’t beat 20$/year.
Kate
Kelly Deichler says
We had a similar problem with cell service and had to get a home phone too. We use Ooma. For the basic service, we had to buy the Ooma box and then the service is free. Their website says it’s $129-199 for the device and then you pay a $3/month FCC fee. We’ve had it for about five years and like it. The only issue we ever had was with the built-in answering machine on our phone didn’t always detect when someone would hang up so the message would have a dial tone until it timed out.
Since I’m home most of the time anyway and only use my cell if I’m out, having a home phone allows us to save more money by not having cell phone contracts. I pay $100/year for my GoPhone and have plenty of minutes since I use it so little (some years I have so much extra I can donate money via text). My husband has an Android phone through Virgin and it only costs $45 with unlimited text and data and 1200 minutes.
Kimberly Graesser says
We have an Ooma too and love it!
Crystal says
We love it! We were using it for ourselves for around 5 years now we just use our cell phones we travel alot and it was a great asset as long as we had interenet at the RV parks we had our “home phone” also my husband is from Colombia and we purchased 2 of them for his family that is still down there we were able to talk with them as much as wanted for FREE! Which was wonderful without having to pay for cards or an expensive phone plan. My father still uses his for a second line at his house too. I heard they are even better now that you do not have to plug it into your computer you can plug it into your wifi box not sure how that one works but the one you plug into the computer is great!
ellise says
We’ve been using magic jack, and magic jack plus for 5 yrs. now, I’ll tell you guys it was great decision we made, way cheaper and the service is reliable….
Michelle says
We have had one for 2+yrs now and it has been more reliable the then voip phone service we have for our “landline”.
We can not port our landline number to the magic jack (or to any of the low cost alternatives) nor can we get a local number. The closest number we could get is from a town 3hrs+ away. You can check online to see if your number can be ported before you buy the unit.
The phone service is about as good as your internet service. If the internet is slow or not working you can expect the same for the phone, at which time any calls would go right to voicemail.
Customer service is marginal. It’s online chat only but eventually they got the problem figured out.
I have the original unit (that has to be plugged into the computer) but I have it on our old desktop. I guess i would recommend spending the few extra dollars to get the plus version so it doesn’t “have” to be plugged into a running computer (especially if you are laptop only).
I have used mine to fax several times with no problems (well unless the internet was slow that day and then well it’s to be expected).
veronica sanchez says
you can port your landline # you have to call your phone company and let them know you want to port it. it takes about 10 days
Sarah says
We use magic Jack Plus and it works great! We have had no problems and it is super inexpensive.
vickie says
We have majic jack and used for about 3 years now- we also switched to Majic jack plus last year so no problem with computer turning off. We love it -it has saved us so much money.
Virginia says
We tried it and all the claims they make seemed to be held up, however we live out in a very rural farm-heavy area and couldn’t get a good satellite signal so the service was unreliable for us. When it worked it was great though!
Virginia says
To clarify, our Internet connection was via satellite, no cable way out here. 😉
Cam says
I have the Magic Jack Plus and love it. I have the one that plugs directly into the wall, but you do have to program it through your computer. We do have minor issues from time to time, such as the call dropping or static in the line, but even with that, I love the convenience of this phone and the cheap yearly plan. It also has voice mail and allows you save messages in various voice mail boxes. I recommend it to everybody I know.
Julie Zilkie says
We have had MJ for nearly 4 years, and think it is GREAT!! It is not necessary to have a phone line anymore, when you can just use the cable line of your internet connection. We have the smallest bundle from our cable compnay for $35.00, which give us high speed cable internet, and then pay less than $2.00 per month for ALL of our phone, both local and long distance. For $37 a month, we cover internet AND phone! Can’t beat it, and I defintely would recommend MJ!
Pam says
We have had Magic Jack for several years now and we love it!!! The quality is great and it is so affordable. Also, you can take it with you anywhere you go and have access to a computer. We went to Canada and used it and were able to talk for free.
Trudy says
We have had magic jack since 2009. If you have a newer computer it is wonderful. We actually have 2 of them. My husband is overseas. He took one with him and call us with a local number. It is well worth the money. I would get the magic jack plus so you don’t have to leave your computer on all the time.
Jordan says
We just tried it for our fax line for our home business. It was unreliable for us, we had to make sure it was on almost everyday or we would miss incoming faxes (for some reason it kept “logging off” of our computer, not sure exactly how it works, sorry for the poor explaination). It may have been our computer or the fact we were using it for a fax line rather than for a phone, but we got rid of it after a few months and broke down and got a land line for the fax. Its $30/month, but worth it since we never miss faxes now.
Camilla says
I have a device that is offered from verizon, since we have verizon cell service. It is a little machine that we have on top to our fridge that we plug into the wall and hook up to a lnad line phone. It uses no land line, but you have a home phone through verizon w/ a cell phone number. It is seperate from our cell phones. I love it! Where we live I have very little cell signal except in our kitchen window. With this home device and can go anywhere in the house with my phone.. The best thing is the price, $20 a month and that is including long distance. Couldnt be happier with the service, and the machine was free through our verizon dealer!
Sarah says
This is the Verizon Home Phone Connect box. We have it also, but our service has not been as good as yours. Glad it’s working for you. A caveat, you only get the Verizon box free if you sign a 2-year contract. Otherwise, it’s at least $200.
shannon says
A note on Verizon Phone Connect…returned ours because it was never explained to me that it could only be used on one phone. We have a 2 story house and a phone on each floor, so needed two working land lines.
Margie says
We have this verizon device and use three phones with it, you just have to buy the portable phone set that comes with the 3 phones, two people cannot be on 2 extensions at the same time but that is really not an issue with us.
Nicole says
I can not say enough bad things About the Verizon home phone service…. After multiple attempts to fix we finally canceled but then had an impossible time getting our old service back. I wish customer service was more important to companies today…
Lara says
We have had the service since September, and we are happy with it. Also we have relatives abroad. They have it and we frequently (daily) talk to them with both of us using magic jack. As long as the Internet is functioning well, the phone line is too.
Susan says
My friend uses it. There’s a slight delay in the conversation, but you get used to it. Other than that, she’s had no problems
Melissa says
Used the free service, but it never worked well for us.
chrissy says
We have MagicJack PLUS (so you don’t have to have the computer on all the time) and we love it!
No long distance charges, no local charges just one flat fee one time per year. It’s the same basic thing as VOIP service through your cable provider but instead of $29.99 per month we pay for the entire year with what used to be two months of bills…. (about $65 per year after taxes and 911 fees). Plus we got to port our old phone number over so no one had to learn a new number. 🙂
My parents just got Magic Jack for the same reason – and love it!
My ONLY complaint is that I can no longer see who is on my call waiting…. magic jack tells you there is a call, but you can’t see the phone number on your phone. :-/
Hope this helps!
Beth says
We have used Magic Jack as our home phone for about 4 years now. Started out with the plain Magic Jack that you plug into your computer …. this was tough for us because when the computer got turned off or restarted the phone didn’t work until we turned the program back on. But, a few months ago we upgraded to Magic Jack Plus (a little extra per year but worth it) which plugs into your modem instead of the computer. We’ve had no problems with Magic Jack Plus unless the internet goes down for some reason, which is rare. Reception is great, but this really depends on the quality of the phone you have plugged into it … which is about the same for a land line too. We have also been able to lessen the minutes on our cellphone plan because many of the calls we make are from the home phone. Overall, we like it for convenience, minimal cost and ease of use.
Beth says
We also have mj plus, great reception, works when computer is off, so cheap…I love it!
Melodie says
I have no experience with Magic Jack, but I can comment on other options. I assume you have internet? We have used Vonage for about 1 1/2 years now and are very pleased with the service. It is connected through your internet, but the fees are much better than the land line options in our area with any local providers even with package discounts. The lowest plan is, I believe, less than $20 after taxes and surcharges. We upgraded to a business line for our family business phone. The features it includes are great. Our favorite services that come free with the service include free long distance through out the States and in dozens of foreign countries, plus free forwarding services, which are important with our business. Lots of other features too though. We pay $30 per month for the service, which is pretty reasonable in our area.
We are currently looking into Google Voice as another voice-over-IP option that is actually cheaper than Vonage. We cannot port our business phone number with that though, which is a big deal since all of our written advertisements would have to be changed and would be floating around out there with incorrect information in the mean time. We are weighing out the pros and cons. I hear good things from Google Voice users though, so it may be worth your looking into.
shelly says
Just curious, why can you not port your business number with Google Voice?
Stephanie says
I used to work in the porting side of the phone company. If your number is registered as a business line and listed in the phone book, the phone company didn’t have to offer you the ability to port the number to a different provider that doesn’t provide business service. Basically, it was to protect the company and their ability to charge business rates/listings in the yellow pages from customers avoiding the business rates.
Priya says
Hi,
We used Magic Jack as an alternate to the land line for a while. It is totally worth it, considering you have a reliable internet connection. It’s fuction totally depends on the speed of your internet connection. We had a broadband at that time and it totally worked for us…..
Cheers
Becki says
My friend had tried it and the connection was horrible!! Over & over they tried to fix it, called the company, tried new units, nothing worked. It was a horrible waste of money for a phone line they couldn’t use.
Sarah says
We tried it but it had constant echo problems, even with broadband. We spent at least 8 hours with tech support, trying everything known to man, to make it work. It wouldn’t. We called it “Magic Joke”.
Jolene says
My husband’s parents have it and they love it. We are probably going to be switching ours over to the newer Magic Jack because that goes directly into your router, and most likely won’t require a filter. (Our daughter has a pacemaker and we need to do remote monitoring). Compared to what I pay for phone a month, my bill might go down 30-40 dollars. We got bundled and I feel like I am flushing my money down the toilet now.
Siobhan @MoneyDearest says
I use magic jack when I travel internationally.
I just plug it into my computer and it works well. I don’t think its practical for every day home use because it always has to be connected to the internet which would mean running your computer/laptop all day long.
Michele M says
My son is at college two hours from our home and has a Magic Jack. It has been great for us. He had an extremely rough first semester and we were able to talk for hours for just $19.95 a year. This is his second year with it, and it now costs $29.95, but it is well worth it for us. The only problem has been if he plugs it directly into his laptop, occasionally it cuts out or disconnects us, but it’s not a big problem. I haven’t noticed that as much when he’s using his cordless phone. I also like the fact that when his computer is off, we can still leave a voice mail message for him, which goes to his e-mail.
Jamie says
We’ve used the magic jack for over 5 years now and LOVE it!! We’ve lived in 3 different states (military) and it is wonderful!! Even during the moves, you can check all of your voice mails online and don’t even have to have the magic jack plugged in to still receive your messages! Worth every penny!!
Jesse says
We’ve had our Magic Jack for over a year and LOVE it! The only pitfall is that we have a phone number registered to a different region so many friends think we’re telemarketers when we call. 🙂 We’ve never had a service issue. I highly recommend them.
Ellen says
We have never used Magic Jack before, but we did recently switch to Vonage. It cut our landline bill down by $15/month and includes long distance, which is something we were paying out of pocket for previously. Best of luck exploring your options!
Abbie says
We previously used Vonage and it was fine at first. After about a year though, it dropped calls left and right. 6 or 7 a week and I don’t talk on the phone much! Just a heads up. Price is good, but it was definitely not worth it for us. Picture waiting on hold for 20 minutes only for your call to get disconnected…
Ellen says
hmmm… we haven’t had any dropped calls yet, but I’m curious to know what happens. We switched because I have two good friends that have had it for years without problems. I decided to heed their advice! We shall see!
Bethany says
We have been using vonage for 4 or so years and have NEVER had a dropped call. You do have to have good internet service but I like to have that anyways. I call Canada all the time and I LOVE vonage!
Lynda says
We had Vonage years ago and the many problems we had, it turned out, were problems with their router and our computer router.
jennie rose says
We have Vonage for $16 a month. Service has been great and the online features are wonderful