Tips

[rel17]

First, I used Magic Jack 2+ hours a day in Korea for a year, and for the past year in Germany. It is a wonderful product. But, there is a learning curve for some problems.

There are bugs in service, but this is an outstanding product. Those who downplay the Magic Jack have more than likely ran into one of the two problems below.

1. Customer support is worthless. Sorry Magic Jack, but the people do not know the product. The support names are strange, and I suspect the help desk is one of those hired overseas. The website has errors. and the people won't even pass the errors along to the programmers. However, I've usually found answers in forums like this.

2. VOIP - voice over internet protocols are blocked in many places in the US and other countries. If this happens, the magic jack will say it isn't connected to the internet, while you are connected just fine.

A solution around this is a service such as BoundIP.com. You pay them a small amount each month, and then activate that on your computer. That scrambles the port setting, and your Magic Jack works fine. I did this for the entire year in Korea. Well worth the service I paid.

How much is it worth to you when you are in Korea and your daughter blows a tire on your truck and doesn't know what to do?

Now again, there are internet providers who want you to use their internet VOIP phones, but they are usually one way (call out, but not receive) and limited to Land Lines and not cell phones. That wouldn't work for me, as I wanted my family to be able to call me, and my kids only have cell phones.

3. An unknown feature of most computers is a sound device called the TigerJet internet phone. Go through control panel, sounds, and you will find it. Look at the properties for that phone. If the sound volume is over about 20 (and the default looks about 40-60), you will get echoing during your call. Just lower the sound volume of that device, and the problem is solved. Ironically, Magic Jack installs that device on your computer, but their people do not know this, nor do they know to turn down the volume to fix the echo.

4. I have several Magic Jacks, and they worked great. I have called one from the other without a problem. For example, I used a magic jack on my laptop in one European country to call my other magic jack attached to my computer in Germany. Both had Texas phone numbers, and I was able to call me wife internationally for free that way.

With patience, you will find this product very valuable when traveling out of the US.

Best wishes,

[cell14]

I agree with you that MJ is great for travel and even more if you have relatives overseas. Interestingly, in some european countries MJ seems to work better than in the U.S. I never encountered VOIP blocking, seems to be more common in Asia.