VoIP For Dummies with MagicJack
I am in no way, shape, or form surprised about magicJack selling over 8,000 systems a day.
They are on their way to 550,000 subscribers after a little over a year, as noted by the TWICE blog and Asterisk VoIP News.
I am also in no way, shape, or form a VoIP genius. Yes, I write about VoIP and the industry, but when it comes to technology and setting things up (honestly, it could even be figuring out an espresso machine), I’m usually the one with the Dunce cap in the corner. I can set up a PC, start a laptop, press play on my iPod, but configuring a VoIP system (which is in actuality not at all difficult)? I’ll leave that to the solutions providers 
MagicJack is still wowing everyone with its literally, plug-and-play system. It’s not necessarily something for businesses, but for calling mom and dad across the country, or saying hi to a friend working in Europe it works. It is technically a phone system that plugs into the USB port on the side of your computer. Done and done. Enough said.
In fact, I’m drawing a blank when thinking about the negatives of magicJack.
Their website even features a commercial with puppies.
Has anyone tried this out? Any thoughts?
8 Comments
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It’s got to have a PC turned on. That’s a down side. Also, it’s not doing anything really innovative. Lots of cheap minutes, but that’s not uncommon these days.
One can quibble about cost/minute, but once it’s below a certain point does any retail consumer need to care? It’s not like they use call center quantities of time.
Soft phones don’t really count an innovation anymore…do they?
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Told by mj support that my dsl doesnot have enough speed to carry signal. Is there another option than upgrading DSL to 1.5?
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Mel - can you tell me who your ISP is, and what you current average upstream and downstream bandwidth are?
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Thanks for responding! Not sure what isp is. Att is my porvider. When mj support was helping to connect they sent me to a web site that measured my up and down bandwidth to i believe 240 up and 125 down or vise versa. Tried to save dialog but didn’n go to my email.
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Mel, MagicJack is a bit of a mystery in terms of the nuts and bolts of how their service works, but from what I have read it does utilize SIP, and uses the G.729 codec for VoIP.
What this means to you, is that you should really only be using 10-30KBPs of bandwidth on an MJ phone call.
You DSL connection, although not fantastic, should be more than sufficient to support MJ.
Can you use the service at all? If so, what type of problems are you having?
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Thanks for clarification Cory. I plugged it in ubs port without connecting a phone to it. I contacted mj support to help with connection and after giving info about my computer and browser they had me go to the broadband measure site. After I gave them measures they told me I need to upgrade to use the mj. Have not tried to install or otherwise use mj. Is there a source of manual for a walk through on self installing. Sure would like to use it. Would like to replace my home phone with it. Do you recommend this. I don’t use it much. But guess it goes without saying I need a phone. I don’t have a cell phone.
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Mel - here are instructions on installing MJ. Plug the cord of a regular telephone into the magicJack. Then plug the magicJack into a USB port on your computer. It is recommended that you be running Windows XP on your machine machine. It’ll automatically install itself in under a minute. Now reboot your machine. Once your PC comes back to life, unplug the magicJack and then plug it back in again. When prompted, you’ll need to authorize the magicJack to access the Internet through your firewall obviously. Then you’ll be prompted to enter your email address and set up a password. Once completed, you’re good to go.
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Cory: Thanks for all your help. Will try your directions! Thanks again.