MagicJack Long Distance

I am sure you can see a theme on where I spend my money!

I seen this on TV and thought, its the price of a phone card, why not try it - there seemed to be good things about it on blogs.

So I signed up for the free trial, but it wasn't just $19.95 US as claimed on the tv advert, there was a $39.95 US plus shipping & handling charge placed on my credit card which came to over $50.

Not happy but thinking, I spend that in a month anyway (I have friends all over the US and make lots of long distance calls across Canada at home) and this seemed portable so I could use it when not at home instead of buying calling cards and using through my cell I thought I would still save money.

A few WEEKS later, a small box arrived with the magicjack, by this time my trial is almost over and they dont have any Canadian numbers so if someone wants to call me back on it, they have to call a US # and none were from cities where any of my friends live. I checked today and they still do not have any Canadian numbers as they said they would have shortly when I contacted them after receiving the magicjack around Christmas.

The advert says plug it in and wait a minute an make a call, so I did. Only it isn't just plug and play as advertised, you need to install the software that is a file within the USB key that gives power to your phone. I hate adding extra software, but this one is worse - you dial out using a keypad that you must leave running on your computer at all times and must leave your computer speakers on because the phone 'rings' through this software.

So I made my first call and the quality was so-so. With VOIP software, that could be the internet connection so I wont hold it against them but the call dropped and when the person called me back (on the LD #) it was worse.

I conacted MagicJack who told me the phone I was using was not supported (huh? no mention of that on the website) and to get a simpler phone. So find the simplest no-frills phone possible from a local buy&sell for $2 (its actually kinda cute, aqua plastic that you can see all the components through) and it worked better. But still not enough to make me keep it.

By the time it was shipped (included in your free trial) and the messing around with phones my trial had expired and I couldn't get my money back so I kept it but having to carry a bigger phone with me as well as the jack to ensure it works wasn't worth it so i gave it to a friend who is travelling through Europe. He can call home on better lines than he would get from a public phone in Europe and his family can call him using an unlimited US/Canada plan which is still cheaper than most European calls on a plan.

I give this 1.5 / 5
2/5 for the actual product but only 1/5 for their service
Worth it if you will travel with a phone and the jack and have a stable internet connection (its not a fan of wireless defeating the purpose of travelling with it) on one computer