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MagicJack Build

R

rickss69

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jan 3, 2010
Messages
328
I have decided to dump my Comcast phone service and go with the MagicJack. This pc I built just for it will run 24/7...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129080

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813121399

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820144259

A little overboard on the case but I wanted something that had at least a little class to it lol. I used one of my old SuperTalent 32GB ssd's so there would be no extra heat generated. I'm quiet pleased at how it turned out and hopefully it will run trouble free for a long period of time.

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I figure in about 6 months it will have payed for itself...not bad for $20 a year lol...:p
 
rickss69 said:
I figure in about 6 months it will have payed for itself...not bad for $20 a year lol...:p
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How's your experience so far with Magic Jack? My stepdad is seriously interested in it but I still have my doubts about it.

Oh and you didn't go overboard with the case: It's just perfect for these kind of setups
 
That is so cool. That's the best idea I've never thought of.
 
Danny Bui said:
How's your experience so far with Magic Jack? My stepdad is seriously interested in it but I still have my doubts about it.

Oh and you didn't go overboard with the case: It's just perfect for these kind of setups
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I had used it before and the voice clarity and service is superb...just as good as Comcast or Vonage without the price. ;)
 
I have decided to dump my Comcast phone service and go with the MagicJack. This pc I built just for it will run 24/7...
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Can you keep us informed on quality of service ...

I am a customer of vonage for 4 to 6 years but I am getting mad at them for all of the hidden rate hikes this year. We have the 500 minute plan which is advertised at $17 US but ends up being almost $30 after all of the taxes and other fees.
 
drescherjm said:
Can you keep us informed on quality of service ...

I am a customer of vonage for 4 to 6 years but I am getting mad at them for all of the hidden rate hikes this year. We have the 500 minute plan which is advertised at $17 US but ends up being almost $30 after all of the taxes and other fees.
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I used Vonage at one time and the service was fine for me as well. I had router issues I was unaware of at the time and that is when I went to Comcast out of frustration. I figure with my yearly savings I can buy a new video card annually. :p
 
my experience with magicjack is that its complete shit.. horrible voice quality 90% of the time. But I guess if its working for the op then good for him.

on another note though.. Sweet little ITX build
 
my experience with magicjack is that its complete shit.. horrible voice quality 90% of the time.
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Are you using VIOP from some other provider to compare? I mean being a vonage customer I know that quality is highly dependent on the latency of the network/internet. So basically 5:00 PM is a bad time to make a phone call. Other than at peak internet usage times the quality is acceptable most of the time.
 
drescherjm said:
Are you using VIOP from some other provider to compare? I mean being a vonage customer I know that quality is highly dependent on the latency of the network/internet. So basically 5:00 PM is a bad time to make a phone call. Other than at peak internet usage times the quality is acceptable most of the time.
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I used to use voip.. I am cellular only now. But I can tell you that 9 out of 10 times I talk to a customer at work who has a shit ass connection they blame there magic jack..
 
Here in Iraq its pretty much evenly divided between the Magic Jack and Skype, with a few using Yahoo Messenger. Different needs here and hear good/bad about all of em.
 
bastage said:
my experience with magicjack is that its complete shit.. horrible voice quality 90% of the time. But I guess if its working for the op then good for him.
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I have a Magic Jack and it doesn't seem all that great to me, voice quality-wise. I already have a machine running 24/7 so it wasn't that big of a deal to plug in the Magic Jack (and run it as a service).

If I were to do it over again or if I didn't already have a computer for the USB Magic Jack, I wouldn't go with it. I would go with Ooma instead. It costs a lot more than Magic Jack, but if you have to buy a dedicated machine for it then you break even.

Costs:
$200 Ooma Telo (stand-alone VoIP embedded ARM computer running open source Asterisk)
$3.50/mo estimated taxes/government fees (varies depending on where you live)

Options:
$40 if you want to transfer your existing number (a service Magic Jack has promised for years but in reality doesn't offer)
$9.99/mo Premier service (gives you a second line, plus advanced services such as ability to block numbers from calling you, free transfer of existing number if paid annually)
There are also other hardware options such as wireless handsets and BT adapter.
 
I switched from Magicjack to ooma also. Ooma has been much more reliable. Never do we get random echo or distortion and things we used to get on Magicjack. Or the occasional random call drop. Or mysterious weekends that Ooma would stop working, CS would be useless, only to have it start working again on Monday (bet someone came into the office and rebooted a server or something).

I ran it on a 100w Shuttle K45. We went 2 years before switching to ooma.

Also, it's nice to be able to check messages on the Ooma box, which is a little linux-based device that looks like an answering machine.
 
All of this sounds viable. I have not experienced any problems as of yet with MagicJack...it would take something pretty severe to sway me from the savings at this point. :p Nice to know there are cheap alternatives out there just in case. :)
 
rickss69 said:
All of this sounds viable. I have not experienced any problems as of yet with MagicJack...it would take something pretty severe to sway me from the savings at this point. :p Nice to know there are cheap alternatives out there just in case. :)
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17 bucks a year is still 17 dollars a year more then I spend on home phone..
 
bastage said:
17 bucks a year is still 17 dollars a year more then I spend on home phone..
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You have no phone at all? :confused: (If you own a cell phone then that "is" your home phone)

If there were any so called "installed crap", is this where one would find it?
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If you have a Gmail account you can have a IP phone for free, you can also send and recieve text messages, i beleive it transcribes voicemail into test as well. They also give you a dedicated phone # all for free. You can also have them forward call to that number to other phones. Its called google voice its google.com @ the top click more then even more its 1/2way down in the right column.
 
Zap said:
If I were to do it over again or if I didn't already have a computer for the USB Magic Jack, I wouldn't go with it. I would go with Ooma instead. It costs a lot more than Magic Jack, but if you have to buy a dedicated machine for it then you break even.

Costs:
$200 Ooma Telo (stand-alone VoIP embedded ARM computer running open source Asterisk)
$3.50/mo estimated taxes/government fees (varies depending on where you live)
Click to expand...
Interesting option. I was thinking about making one of these little ITX rigs for Magic Jack, but a standardized box like the Ooma would be easier. Probably cheaper too, by the time I had an ITX built.:D Anyone else use it?
 
Mr. Perfect said:
Interesting option. I was thinking about making one of these little ITX rigs for Magic Jack, but a standardized box like the Ooma would be easier. Probably cheaper too, by the time I had an ITX built.:D Anyone else use it?
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If you guys thinking of saving money and about Magic Jack phone quality, why not take a look at the netTALK DUO. Plug it in your router and then plug it into your home phone, skipping the computer altogether. It has most of the ooma features at a much lower initial setup cost.
 
Anh N. said:
If you guys thinking of saving money and about Magic Jack phone quality, why not take a look at the netTALK DUO. Plug it in your router and then plug it into your home phone, skipping the computer altogether. It has most of the ooma features at a much lower initial setup cost.
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if that thing works well then it would be the way to go in my opinion. At only 70 bucks up front & that also covers the 1st year of service. The international shit there touting is also pretty cool.
 
netTALK DUO sounds like a better Magic Jack. :D

I'm still thinking that Ooma might be the best for me because I want to keep my POTS number and Ooma can port it over but AFAIK netTALK is like Magic Jack, they announce it as a future feature. Otherwise, the netTALK DUO sounds like a better version of Magic Jack.

Note that I've never used a netTALK or Ooma product, but I do have a Magic Jack. It's sitting unused because it magically stopped working on my only always-on machine. :( Keeps complaining that there's no audio device and it won't allow me to switch to phone - even though a phone is plugged in and the system has a sound card.
 
I, too, have MagicJack and subscribe to Cox standard internet service. I find that both parties on each end of the line can't speak at the same time or else neither party will hear a thing. If you're speaking on the MagicJack line the other person is muted until your stop talking. I find this very annoying. Have you noticed this as well?
 
Yeah, my sister complained about it when I used it with her (back when it worked). Kind of like a walkie talkie effect? Didn't happen all the time, just occasionally.
 
I did dumped my Vonage last month for Magic Jack. I have been using it for the last 2 years and no problem at all.

I used my Win2008 Server to plug it in and run as a service. It works great without any problem. If you want to run it as a service use the following program it will setup for you.

http://www.evanvaughan.com/magicjack.aspx
 
I could only see this being beneficial for long distance calling to save a dime. Like the guy on the first page in Iraq, that is what this product is perfect for. I sale and install EMTA'S every day and the majority of home phone users these days only have it for one of two reasons.
#1: Emergencies/Kids
#2: Alarms systems
Unfortunately magic jack is not reliable enough for either of these 24/7 needs. The 911 system is heavily regulated for major cable voip's and phone companies. Certain phone numbers can not be moved out of what is called rate centers to ensure that in an emergency dispatchers can route the fastest and the closest help. Rate centers can be changed but not prior to notifying e991 and receiving approval back from them. When you get magic jack you enter your home address in online. I can't believe that by doing this automatically updates the 911 database with a number associated with your address. There is absolutely no way I would trust my families safety or security on a usb dongle on a pc that may or may not be on when I need it or in the middle of a windows update when somebody breaks into my house. Home phone cost less than $.060 a day. You could pay for almost a week of reliable secure home phone for the amount you spent on starbucks coffee this morning. Different strokes for different folks I guess but in my humble opinion save your money somewhere else and get a solid well maintained phone system and not an informational gimmick.

Oh but I do like the Antec build! Get your real phone back and use that little build for a HTPC. LOL
 
Zap said:
Yeah, my sister complained about it when I used it with her (back when it worked). Kind of like a walkie talkie effect? Didn't happen all the time, just occasionally.
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That happens when the network latency is too high. This will probably happen on all VOIP systems under heavy load. Well at least I have had this with vonage and broadvoice.
 
harrison0550 said:
I could only see this being beneficial for long distance calling to save a dime. Like the guy on the first page in Iraq, that is what this product is perfect for. I sale and install EMTA'S every day and the majority of home phone users these days only have it for one of two reasons.
#1: Emergencies/Kids
#2: Alarms systems
Unfortunately magic jack is not reliable enough for either of these 24/7 needs. The 911 system is heavily regulated for major cable voip's and phone companies. Certain phone numbers can not be moved out of what is called rate centers to ensure that in an emergency dispatchers can route the fastest and the closest help. Rate centers can be changed but not prior to notifying e991 and receiving approval back from them. When you get magic jack you enter your home address in online. I can't believe that by doing this automatically updates the 911 database with a number associated with your address. There is absolutely no way I would trust my families safety or security on a usb dongle on a pc that may or may not be on when I need it or in the middle of a windows update when somebody breaks into my house. Home phone cost less than $.060 a day. You could pay for almost a week of reliable secure home phone for the amount you spent on starbucks coffee this morning. Different strokes for different folks I guess but in my humble opinion save your money somewhere else and get a solid well maintained phone system and not an informational gimmick.

Oh but I do like the Antec build! Get your real phone back and use that little build for a HTPC. LOL
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As stated previuosly, this was only undertaken from a purely monetary standpoint. To think that one's safety or security is tied to a phone system is flawed from the beginning...I have no such misconceptions. I might add that I have never seen the inside of any StarBuck's as well haha. Meanwhile, I will have pocketed $45.00 this first month of my departure from the ordinary phone service's and this will continue for as long as I choose to do so. ;)
 
harrison0550 said:
I could only see this being beneficial for long distance calling to save a dime. Like the guy on the first page in Iraq, that is what this product is perfect for. I sale and install EMTA'S every day and the majority of home phone users these days only have it for one of two reasons.
#1: Emergencies/Kids
#2: Alarms systems
Unfortunately magic jack is not reliable enough for either of these 24/7 needs. The 911 system is heavily regulated for major cable voip's and phone companies. Certain phone numbers can not be moved out of what is called rate centers to ensure that in an emergency dispatchers can route the fastest and the closest help. Rate centers can be changed but not prior to notifying e991 and receiving approval back from them. When you get magic jack you enter your home address in online. I can't believe that by doing this automatically updates the 911 database with a number associated with your address. There is absolutely no way I would trust my families safety or security on a usb dongle on a pc that may or may not be on when I need it or in the middle of a windows update when somebody breaks into my house. Home phone cost less than $.060 a day. You could pay for almost a week of reliable secure home phone for the amount you spent on starbucks coffee this morning. Different strokes for different folks I guess but in my humble opinion save your money somewhere else and get a solid well maintained phone system and not an informational gimmick.

Oh but I do like the Antec build! Get your real phone back and use that little build for a HTPC. LOL
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You mean .60 a day, not .06 right.. & Either way your wrong.. I used to work for Qwest & a 8 dollar metered local only 300 min a month land line service ends up costing nearly 25 bucks a months after the govt tax's & fee's. If you want Long distance & any calling features included (such as caller ID, call waiting & the other common ones) you would be looking at more like 60 bucks a month for unlimited long distance & a decent feature set.. Thats why Cell phones have gained so much ground since for most people they end up cheaper.. So to compare to a Magic jack @ 40 bucks for the 1st year & 20 for each year after that.. Your looking at a savings of about 680 dollars a year.. Thats another Mortgage payment for some folks..

So I am in no way a supporter of of Magic Jack, I just wanted to point out that copper pair is a blatant rip off.. And as far as e911 services go regardless of the phone number if the place of use address is up to date 911 should be routed accordingly.
 
bastage said:
I used to work for Qwest & a 8 dollar metered local only 300 min a month land line service ends up costing nearly 25 bucks a months after the govt tax's & fee's.
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I have basic metered service from AT&T, and it started at just under $20 after all tax/fees five years ago, but is now just over $30. I got Magic Jack over the Summer thinking about replacing the landline, but betewen the sound quality and the current problems I'm having with it, I'll take a pass for now.
 
Zap said:
I have basic metered service from AT&T, and it started at just under $20 after all tax/fees five years ago, but is now just over $30. I got Magic Jack over the Summer thinking about replacing the landline, but betewen the sound quality and the current problems I'm having with it, I'll take a pass for now.
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That was about the same as I have experienced with Magic jack.. Now I have used some good voip services, but that aint one of em.. I suppose given the right conditions it could be fine. But myself I am too much of a bandwidth hog, I dont want to share with anything else while gaming. So were Cell only.
 
bastage said:
That was about the same as I have experienced with Magic jack.. Now I have used some good voip services, but that aint one of em.. I suppose given the right conditions it could be fine. But myself I am too much of a bandwidth hog, I dont want to share with anything else while gaming. So were Cell only.
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I don't like sharing either, hence the reason mine runs on a dedicated rig. I would be interested in hearing some of the problems in detail as I have experienced none of them so far.
 
Zap said:
I have basic metered service from AT&T, and it started at just under $20 after all tax/fees five years ago, but is now just over $30. I got Magic Jack over the Summer thinking about replacing the landline, but betewen the sound quality and the current problems I'm having with it, I'll take a pass for now.
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Seriously. Give Ooma a shot instead (especially if you don't have QoS on your network for the Magicjack).
 
rickss69 said:
I don't like sharing either, hence the reason mine runs on a dedicated rig. I would be interested in hearing some of the problems in detail as I have experienced none of them so far.
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Its not sharing the rig I have a problem with.. My PC couldnt easily manage the extra workload (or my server for that matter). Its sharing the Bandwidth from my CableCo.. There aint enough to go around. May be different if your on Fios or U-Verse or something like that though.
 
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