I now am really much more impressed with MagicJack. I called my friend who just flew to Halifax, Nova Scotia and the reception was perfect. No echo or lag time at all. This gadget really rocks! It's a keeper for sure. One of the best gadgets I have ever come across in a long time. The more I use it, the more I recommended it.^

And now a fax went through just perfect !

We just received ours last week. Its awesome. Perfect clarity and great function.

We are in the Carribean next month. I can keep up with orders and clients very economically now.

I am thrilled with it.

Well based on the advice I was given in the thread I started about a home VPN, I ordered Magicjack and now have it installed. (anyone want my number ;) )

Overall I like it, set-up was quick and easy and the phone clarity is better than my cell.

I plugged it into my docking station hoping it would work when the notebook wasn't in it, nope - gotta be docked for it to work. Didn't realize it needed the softphone option. Oh well, I will set it up on my desktop.

One thing I do find annoying with it is whenever I make a call, the softphone jumps up and in front of whatever I am doing. It is annoying to be surfing por... newspapers and have this get in the way. What is a girl to do? Any ideas?

Go over to The Unofficial Magicjack Forum and do a search. You'll find a number of solutions (involving user-written software) that will block the pop-up.

Thanks I just went over and registered. Another forum to remember to check :rolleyes:

Ok, I just ordered one of these. I thought for the price it really couldnt be so bad. I really only use my vonage for cheap calls to Thailand for my wife and if this works out the we will just continue to use it and drop vonage as I have a pc in the house that is running all the time anyway so I just put the magicjack in that and run the rj11 cable to my house phone "network" like I did with my vonage and so far cant tell the difference.

It also will be easier to travel with and I would say for anybody that travels outside the US this would be a nice thing to travel with.

I'd prefer hard phones rather than usb based voip devices. You need a computer for this, but this would be handy if you bring your laptop along with you and you have good internet connection.

So what is the advantage over a simple softphone?

You can connect physical PSTN phones and get caller ID support

It's cheap - in fact, if you crunch the numbers, it can even be cheaper than Skype for unlimited US calls

Not sure why I would want to connect an adapter and a PSTN phone to my computer when I can simply connect a headset? I use sipgate in Europe for my calls (using X-Lite) and they support caller ID and have free local numbers in Germany, Austria and the UK.

But only for one year, right? Aren't there several SIP offers that give free calls.

I'm not really convinced... I prefer a nice SIP solution that works on my IP phone at home, as well as working as a softphone when I'm on the road.

That's fine, so it's clearly not a product you are interested in.

Many people prefer to make calls using a normal phone and don't like the hassle of having to use their PC to call. Or some hookup a cordless phone.

I am one of those, but then I prefer not having to switch on my computer in the first place. If it is on, I actually prefer a headset because you have both hands free to type.

So, essentially this is an ATA that connects to a computer, and probably a specific software that does part of the work?

Yes, they have the client actually preinstalled on the ATA. It does support calling with a headset using it fully as a softphone.

That's what I do when I travel. For the one I have at home, I use a PSTN phone (soon to be a cordless phone system w/answering machine)

After the first year, it's $20/year for dial-out service.

How to block MagicBlock pop-ups
 

Hey Everyone,

I've been using magicJack since March and it's been a decent bargain and good alternative to the legacy phone company. Haven't had a chance to use it on the road yet, but it works good on both my home computer and work laptop.

I really like the service, but the pop-up window (or "SoftPhone") get pretty annoying at times. We've got MagicJack is installed on the home computer, so whenever the phone rings, the pop-up window bumps you off the program/web-page your looking at.

Being a programmer, I made a small utility that blocks the pop-up window when I don't want to see it. MagicJack is fully functionally, just not in my way anymore.

It's freeware and available on CNET Download.com:
http://www.download.com/MagicBlock/3...dlPid=10843178

or can be found on Google by searching for "MagicBlock"

Hope this helps other folks who've ran into this annoyance too.
:)
All The Best,
Jeff