Anyone here use MJ primarily and shut off land line?

Gear-Monkey · Post by **Gear-Monkey** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 2:17 pm

My goal is to shut off my land line completely. I am curious if anyone here uses MagicJack as their primary phone and shut down their landline?

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 3:11 pm

Yes I have. I got my MJ in Aug 2008. BUT I had DSL so I was in a catch 22 as I needed my landline for DSl. UNTIL they offered naked DSL 3 months ago. I dropped my landline then and havent looked back. BUT my phone company has a unique naked DSL. I can keep my phone line and ONLY receive calls at no charge. I can't call out ( other than 911). BUT between my MJ and Google Voice I dont need too. I could not be happier...

Joe Sica

sabresfan · Post by **sabresfan** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 4:31 pm

Gear-Monkey wrote:My goal is to shut off my land line completely. I am curious if anyone here uses MagicJack as their primary phone and shut down their landline?

Yes it's been seven month's now without an overpriced home phone bill. All I pay for now is roadrunner light. In two month's I paid for my MJ and the five additional years of service.

stroths · Post by **stroths** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 6:03 pm

I shut off my land line years ago and went straight VOIP. I am currently with MagicJack, but have had my share of other VOIP companies (Vonage, Net2Phone, SunRocket, etc).

My connection is FIOS (20m down/5m up) and it played the biggest role in getting a good quality call. I was too far from the CO that my DSL connection wasn't that clean and caused issues. Upgraded to cable Internet which helped, but still wasn't the most reliable. Moved to fiber w/FIOS which gave me the most stable base for VOIP.

Popgory · Post by **Popgory** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 10:03 pm

Gear-Monkey wrote:... I am curious if anyone here uses MagicJack as their primary phone and shut down their landline?

Shutoff and disconnected the landline from the Ma Bell circuit some 3 months ago. 1st month was a work in progress as I was tweaking the router. Since then, my mJ/TC combo has handled the load. I have now pasted the breakeven point with the $$ and am still learning new things about VoIP.

No regrets about making the change. Call it adapting or forced learning, I am happy with the results. Fact be known, I am considering another mJ/TC setup for the kids.

Gear-Monkey · Post by **Gear-Monkey** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 11:48 pm

I am happy to announce that I have officially cancelled my land line and now using my MJ and Cell phone.

It feels good saving money!

cell14 · Post by **cell14** » Fri Jul 24, 2009 11:52 pm

Yes, I ditched my land line, however, for me is my cell phone the primary line

macman4hire · Post by **macman4hire** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 12:34 am

I also have given up my PSTN line. I use currently MagicJack, Google Voice, IPKall and Sipgate One accounts.

samarai · Post by **samarai** » Sat Jul 25, 2009 6:48 pm

Even though I have MJ for my business, home and cabin I use VOiP with an ATA to ensure connectivity. Since I am on an aircard/router/switch for all my connections to the Internet - I do sometimes have some garble as it may not be quite fast enough. Google Voice forwards my calls to the MJ, VOiP phone and cell. The cell is clear and the VOiP phone with VoipVoip.com is usually a little clearer than MJ, so I try to answer with it or my cell.
Maybe too much info, but my system works fine for me (and I save a boatload of money) and I can be reached 24/7 without having to make any changes when I am out of the office or home.

08/11 Edit: Now using the 3G option and it has made a slight improvement.

08/25: After making codec adjustment on my ATA, no garble on any line.

sctirvn687 · Post by **sctirvn687** » Sun Jul 26, 2009 4:19 am

We have been using MJ as our only land line phone for over a year now. Like someone else here said it was something you have to adapt to. We have had some problems with, but it usually ends up being some sort of computer glitch, like Windows updating itself and getting stuck and the computer has to be restarted in order to make MJ work again. If we didn't have cell phones I don't know whether it would be our only land line service. I would hate for some kind of emergency to come up and not be able to call for help. It absolutely works probably 98% of the time, but that 2% down time is what I worry about.

Matt9876 · Post by **Matt9876** » Mon Jul 27, 2009 5:18 pm

Land line has been gone for years,MJ has been working smooth since the last big update that killed off the ATAs.

My MJ dongle and old HP computer are doing fine !!

Note: Have cell phone as backup just in case.

sigmeyer · Post by **sigmeyer** » Fri Jul 31, 2009 11:07 am

Yep, Verizon let me bundle my DSL with my Verizon cell phone and drop the Land Line. Oddly, The internet costs $2 less bundled with my cell phone than it did with my landline. I really used the landline very little, and most of my inbound calls were junk calls and creditors looking for the previous owner of that phone number. But I connected my Magic Jack to my existing house phone wiring and I have 5 phones connected to it. I did have an ancient dial phone that I had to unplug so that any of the phones would ring. And even the Caller ID works on my Uniden Phone, which I read was an issue.

madraida · Post by **madraida** » Sun Aug 09, 2009 3:30 pm

Last time I had a landline was in 2002.

I currently use MJ backed up with a prepaid cellphone, which I keep solely for emergencies. I do enable unlimited incoming on my cellphone on days when I expect to receive a lot of calls and am away from a computer (in which case I forward all calls to my cellphone). Pretty cheap at $10 per month.

I do have three cellphone accounts:
CDMA phone - for my Telus account ($10/mo)
dual SIM quadband phone - for my Smart PH (~$7 per 6 months) and T-mobile US ($10 per 3 months) SIM cards

I have Voipcheap and Yahoo Phoneout as backup for outgoing calls. International texting (to outside North America) is cheaper using VoipCheap.

I have two Google Voice numbers - one for work, one for home - both forwarded to my MJ number.

And for fax, I use Faxaway for incoming and outgoing. Sometimes I do use MJ for outgoing fax but it doesn't always work.

Darkman90808 · Post by **Darkman90808** » Sat Aug 15, 2009 7:47 pm

I have two Google Voice numbers - one for work, one for home - both forwarded to my MJ number.

All this is very interesting. Thank you for sharing. Although I consider myself something of a phone junkie, I'm a piker compared to some of the folks on this forum. I use my MJ just the opposite. I have two and both are forwarded to my GV number, which goes to my cell phone.

MagicPhoneMan · Post by **MagicPhoneMan** » Mon Aug 24, 2009 8:04 pm

who uses a landline anymore? I haven't had one in 7 years

callontom · Post by **callontom** » Wed Aug 26, 2009 5:09 am

no landline since maybe 6yrs. Had OptimumVoice for about 2 yrs. Until they charged regular price after special offer. Now have Viatalk, Gizmo Voice with ATA and MJ. I will drop Viatalk soon. Keep Gizmo Voice as main and use MJ for backup. If i didn't have to keep the computer on..... well you know.

RobQ · Post by **RobQ** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 3:48 pm

Had no land line for almost a year.Got my MJ and cell integrated to GV. And also i just got my Nettalk as my private line.

CDJ · Post by **CDJ** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 4:38 pm

I am using MJ & Net10 prepaid for my telephones. No contracts and no monthly bills. I don't use the cellphone much.

Darkman90808 · Post by **Darkman90808** » Wed Oct 07, 2009 4:44 pm

It's been almost two years since I gave up my landline. Since then, I have almost completely integrated my two MJ's and my cell phone into Google Voice. As of yesterday, I installed GV Dialer on my cell phone, so that now all outgoing calls are channeled through Google Voice, with my GV number showing on the receiver's CID.

My cell phone voice mail goes directly to GV, so anyone who calls gets the appropriate message for their group. My work related callers hear one message, friends and family another, and unidentified calls hear the standard greeting. Since GV is in my Friends & Family, it also saves me from being charged for checking my voicemail, which I always thought was kind of cheesy.

Now, we'll just have to wait and see how long Verizon lets me keep my Google Voice number in my Friends & Family.

MJKobe · Post by **MJKobe** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 1:37 am

bitstopjoe wrote:Yes I have. I got my MJ in Aug 2008. BUT I had DSL so I was in a catch 22 as I needed my landline for DSl. UNTIL they offered naked DSL 3 months ago. I dropped my landline then and havent looked back. BUT my phone company has a unique naked DSL. I can keep my phone line and ONLY receive calls at no charge. I can't call out ( other than 911). BUT between my MJ and Google Voice I dont need too. I could not be happier...

Joe Sica

Lucky you Joe! You have PSTN receiving for free plus 911 services.

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Thu Oct 15, 2009 11:34 am

Yep and it is still going strong, other than the beeping issue we had last summer I have zero complaints. If I don't tell anyone I am using VOIP and MJ in particular, they would never know.
So I get DSL ( 6 mps) AND a landline to receive calls for $29.00 a month. All and all WELL worth it for me, moneywise AND call quality wise, yes my MJ sounds THAT good..

Joe Sica

jackiehsu97 · Post by **jackiehsu97** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 5:11 pm

bitstopjoe wrote:Yep and it is still going strong, other than the beeping issue we had last summer I have zero complaints. If I don't tell anyone I am using VOIP and MJ in particular, they would never know.
So I get DSL ( 6 mps) AND a landline to receive calls for $29.00 a month. All and all WELL worth it for me, moneywise AND call quality wise, yes my MJ sounds THAT good..

Joe Sica

HOLY POOP!!! 6 mps FOR ONLY 29.00 A MONTH??? What service are you using?!!?!

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 6:13 pm

jackiehsu97 wrote:
bitstopjoe wrote:Yep and it is still going strong, other than the beeping issue we had last summer I have zero complaints. If I don't tell anyone I am using VOIP and MJ in particular, they would never know.
So I get DSL ( 6 mps) AND a landline to receive calls for $29.00 a month. All and all WELL worth it for me, moneywise AND call quality wise, yes my MJ sounds THAT good..

Joe Sica
HOLY POOP!!! 6 mps FOR ONLY 29.00 A MONTH??? What service are you using?!!?!

I am using Frontier.
I had some billing issues Oct of 2008. I called and complained and kept asking about "naked" DSL. Finally in March of 2009 they said they just started offering it, a lite version 1.5mps for $29.99 and the 6mps for about $53. The 6 mps only saved me about 3 bucks so it wasnt a good deal. I asked to speak to a supervisor and explained about all the billing problems and lack of fixing them. He said, tell you what, you can keep your 6 mps speed and we will give it to you at the 1.5 mps price. PLUS lock you in for 2 years. Twist my arm why don't you

On top of that I got a loyality credit ( becuase of locking in for 2 years) of $5 which lowers it to $24.99. Not bad huh? Now after my 2 years are up next March I haven't a clue what it will go up too.
What I really liked about this whole deal is I got to keep my landline # ( for free) to still get incoming calls. I use my MJ for outgoing. My quaility is great.

Joe

jackiehsu97 · Post by **jackiehsu97** » Tue Mar 09, 2010 7:37 pm

bitstopjoe wrote:
jackiehsu97 wrote:
bitstopjoe wrote:Yep and it is still going strong, other than the beeping issue we had last summer I have zero complaints. If I don't tell anyone I am using VOIP and MJ in particular, they would never know.
So I get DSL ( 6 mps) AND a landline to receive calls for $29.00 a month. All and all WELL worth it for me, moneywise AND call quality wise, yes my MJ sounds THAT good..

Joe Sica
HOLY POOP!!! 6 mps FOR ONLY 29.00 A MONTH??? What service are you using?!!?!
I am using Frontier.
I had some billing issues Oct of 2008. I called and complained and kept asking about "naked" DSL. Finally in March of 2009 they said they just started offering it, a lite version 1.5mps for $29.99 and the 6mps for about $53. The 6 mps only saved me about 3 bucks so it wasnt a good deal. I asked to speak to a supervisor and explained about all the billing problems and lack of fixing them. He said, tell you what, you can keep your 6 mps speed and we will give it to you at the 1.5 mps price. PLUS lock you in for 2 years. Twist my arm why don't you On top of that I got a loyality credit ( becuase of locking in for 2 years) of $5 which lowers it to $24.99. Not bad huh? Now after my 2 years are up next March I haven't a clue what it will go up too.
What I really liked about this whole deal is I got to keep my landline # ( for free) to still get incoming calls. I use my MJ for outgoing. My quaility is great.

Joe

That's AMAZING!!! If only I could do that.... poopy.

==-=---=--==-Jackie-=-=

V-Man · Post by **V-Man** » Tue Mar 30, 2010 10:39 pm

Working on it. I reduced my landline service to the bare minimum about a week ago, right after they had a price increase. I still need it for my home alarm system until I switch it's monitoring over to a cellular adapter. Also waiting for MJ to enable number porting, but after reading the posts on here, that's looking like it may never happen. Maybe I'll use one of the cheap methods mentioned in the forums to reserve my number Then GOODBYE permanently to my landline.

Feels great saving money AND sticking it to the monopolistic giant that is (was?) AT&T.

Gotta LOVE competition. It keeps everybody honest.

Paul777 · Post by **Paul777** » Thu Jun 10, 2010 1:04 am

I will never get rid of the landline. What if power goes out and you need
to call 911? Also 911 doesn't work with MJ outside of the USA. I do have
landline down to basic service though. Even cancelled the touch tone
service. Down to $20 a month plus tax. Good peace of mind for now
but yes would like to shut down landline eventually.

bitstopjoe · Post by **bitstopjoe** » Thu Jun 10, 2010 6:36 am

Paul777 wrote:I will never get rid of the landline. What if power goes out and you need
to call 911? Also 911 doesn't work with MJ outside of the USA. I do have
landline down to basic service though. Even cancelled the touch tone
service. Down to $20 a month plus tax. Good peace of mind for now
but yes would like to shut down landline eventually.

I am lucky I guess as when I went to naked ( dry loop) DSL they let me keep my landline at no charge. I can not dial out EXCEPT for 911 and phone support but I can receive all the calls I want on it. So I can't complain as I have the best of both worlds..

Joe Sica

Matt9876 · Post by **Matt9876** » Fri Jun 11, 2010 5:14 pm

Paul777 wrote:I will never get rid of the landline. What if power goes out and you need
to call 911?

It's called a UPS "battery backup power supply" my wifi hotspot and MagicJack last more than an hour after main power loss,If needed I can hook up a car battery and go for two or three more hours.

I also have a cell phone that works well for 911 calls and the few things MJ seems to not handle correctly.

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Anyone here use MJ primarily and shut off land line?

Anyone here use MJ primarily and shut off land line?

Re: Anyone here use MJ primarily and shut off land line?

Re: Anyone here use MJ primarily and shut off land line?

3 MJs and a VOiP line

Awesome!

Soon to be LandLine free