New to MagicJack with a question or two

[plantsower]

I've looked over the forum, and if the answers are there, please direct me.

First, I have a base unit and four phones in the house all with the same phone number. Do I need to buy more than one MagicJack unit?

I talked to Chat and to someone on the sales phones. They said I would need splitters. I asked if that meant I would have cables running from room to room to each phone and they said "yes." That won't work. We would trip over them. I would think that if I connected the MagicJack unit to the base unit and then to the modem or router and plugged it into the wall it would work all four phones without splitters. Am I wrong?

I am not a techinial person, so no big electronic words please.

Also, I don't plan on using it with my computer, but it is a Mac. Would I still have to update with firmware anyway, etc., as I read on your forum?

That's it for now except I have no idea which unit to choose, Go, Express, Plus..... Just want a cheap phone system. I cancelled AT&T and it will be off this Saturday for good. I hope that doesn't mess with my getting the same phone number.

Oh, also, I was told my uploading speed had to be 128 kbs. Mine is low but not that low. I think it's 400 something because we use a microwave unit as we are in the boonies. No options for "high speed internet."

Thanks for reading all this and for your help.

[Bill Smith]

You have many questions and are getting a bit a head of yourself. I'll try to answer them in order.
1. 1 MJ is all that's needed.
2. Plugging the MJ phone output to the wall may work with multiple wired phones. Just be sure to first disconnect the telephone line where it comes in from the street. A better choice (and one that will almost certainly work) is to get a wireless phone set with the number of handsets you need and plug it directly into the MJ. I use Panasonic wireless phones with excellent results.
3. A firmware update via a MAC should not be a problem.
4. I can't advise you which MJ to get. I've used the Plus for several years and saw no reason to change.
5. Be aware the MJ charges to port your existing number to the MJ and has an annual fee for this as well. You may not be able to port the number after your existing service is terminated.
6. Your internet speed may not be a problem, but latency (think voice delay) sure could be. To check your internet connection, go to this site: http://myspeed.visualware.com/index.php and select your state and then the VOIP test. If you have a poor score, you probably will not be happy with MJ or any other VOIP service.

[plantsower]

I also have Panasonic wireless phones. That's why I was asking about the base unit. It just makes sense it would work off of that and that I shouldn't need splitters.

Thanks for the valuable information.