Picked-Up MagicJack for my BlackBook...

[!¡ V ¡!]

I'm looking at this for our next phone service, but we're about to move. Does anyone know if the trial begins from the time they ship me the magicjack, or does it begin from the moment I activate it?

Thanks for the info!

Trial begins from the time of registration.


If MJ does not have a local number, select any number you want and obtain the SIP information via Fusion or Parallel. You can then assign an number to it and it will re-route it to your MJ and the MJ software does not require to be run there onwards.

There is also a call forward feature if your phone is busy or offline. I have it forwarded to my landline which I use to 911 purposes.

 

[!¡ V ¡!]

Good to hear!^^^ I've gone out and hooked up my wife's Lifebook Fujitsu to test the compatibility with PC-Windows XP and it works like a charm as well. I've set-up a 2nd one that stays connected 24/7 at the house. It's easily transferred to my BlackBook or the wife's work PC Dell Inspiron 1520 with Windows XP. Haven't tried Vista yet.

It seems most of the problems that people are having with the MJ is user related, it is straightforward procedure(s) for it to work. At times if the call is "fuzzy" it is due to bandwidth issues or ports being blocked. You can also adjust the input and output volume of the MJ so people who claim to being heard "distant" are not utilizing the SW properly.

 

[SFStateStudent]

I hear ya'! I'm extremely happy with my MJ and have even picked-up a 2nd for the War Department. I've dropped my home long distance, but kept my local land line since I've had the same number for over 20 years.

I'm yet to have a bad connection or a "fuzzy" call, as you mentioned. I've called friends and relatives, and they continue to wonder who's calling, due to the "new" phone number and can't believe I'm calling via my BlackBook on the road.

I've purchased a $40 GE Digital 5.8GHz phone that is a plug-in, and then I got a $5 GE Trimline that I just plug-in to my BlackBook while on the go. They both compliment my BlackBook, since they are black.

I still haven't heard about anyone using those Philips USB type Vonage phones. They seem pretty sweet, but I wonder if they work with MJ? So, if anyone out there has gone that route, please post something. They are very compact and the down side, is the short USB cable.

I've recommended the MJ and the BlackBook to all my friends and family!

 

[jasko]

Hey guys. I just got this MJ thing and when I plug it into my Mac, it does work..... but Caller ID, Call waiting, etc, don't work. When I try to download the software from that link provided above, I don' t even see a link on the page......

..... does anyone else have this problem when it's plugged into their Macs?

 

[macworksgreat]

I do not know if any of y'all have had this problem. (I also posted this same on another part of this forum) My MacMini and/or MacBook seem to be having problems with it. The voice is jerky and it is a pain to listen to at times. Others do not seem to have the problem. I do not know if any here have used it or have an idea what I can do (if anything, except return it). I was advised by someone on a MagicJack forum to do this:

"using QoS in Tomato helped. Giving high priority to the MJ process helped (do you do that in Mac OS from a command window, and the unix "nice" command?)." Is there a way to do this on a MAC? I would love to be able to keep this cheap form of phone service (a Presbyterian you know) if I could get my MacMini to work with it properly. Any advice?

 

[macworksgreat]

This is strange. It is now around 10:30 pm (eastern - not that it matters) but the MagicJack works fine now...the same thing happened last night before I went to bed. I don't think it is because I am using any less CPU My MAC is pretty good at keeping that at a minimum. Just strange....tomorrow morning, if it is like this morning, the problem will begin again. I guess I'll have to wait and see. Hmmm

 

[ti99forever]

MJ on Mini

I have similar issues on my mini.

Not a problem with the computer. You can be running nothing (except the normal bg processes) and still have issues. Ours was on my wife's Windows Vista laptop before I moved it - kind of hard to have a phone plugged into a computer that is constantly moved around.

QOS does help. Just go into your router and look for it - I found mine under "gaming" on my Linksys.

I cannot remember the ports at present, one was 80, which is http - I didn't add that one! Two others I added. I saw some immediate improvement.

Still, it can "clip" and be "choppy" at times. This can depend on both your ISP and MJ's provider. And traffic on each. Nothing you can do about the latter or the rest of the internet.

You should, by their admission, get good results on a slow DSL line (128k up/768k down).

Also, you can "renice" the MJ process(es) under Terminal, but I haven't seen where it did much. If you aren't running anything else, it doesn't need it. If you are running something else, it may help - probably not much.

At any rate, if you read "true" reviews, not the MJ propaganda, you will find that it will not match VOIP from providers like your local cable company or Vonage. You get what you pay for, usually.

And if you look around, you will find that some have turned to buying a system that is solely used for the MJ, with custom setups (read: no frills, stripped down OS). There is a guy who sells HP servers for such use! But the $$$ is a little much for me.

 

[SFStateStudent]

I've had some static recently, but it was only one day and then it disappeared. Using the MJ on my MBA 24/7 has worked really well. The set-up after plugging in my MJ has been less than a minute and I'm hooked-up and ready to make calls. I'm hoping most of you with Mac-mini's are able to work out those issues...

 

[ti99forever]

Magicjack dead?

Well, something happened to mine today!
I removed my keyboard to use with another computer (whose keyboard mysteriously died), and then replaced it. I started getting all sort of USB errors in the console log.

I restarted my machine, kept getting them. Cold-started it, and they went away. Everything, including the hub the mj is on, appears to work now. But the mj doesn't.

When I start up the software, it starts the soft-phone, but the part where the ads appear is blank and I get the spinning beach-ball of death!

OSX 10.5.5 (I believe, latest up to date), Mac Mini.

Think tomorrow I will put it back on my wife's laptop and check it there (hers is Windows Vista), and then if it still works, re-download the software. Restoring the software from a backup did not work.

Saw no errors on the console log for it either.

 

[ti99forever]

Magicjack dead? Nope!

Strangely enough, it worked first time plugged in this morning.
Perhaps there was an ongoing network issue at the time... and the software phone isn't "smart" enough to error out and tell you.

 

[iWoolf]

magicJack and usb device removal error when sleep

I had a problem with my magicjack whenever my imac went to sleep. I would get an error about removing a usb disk prematurely without ejecting it. I searched high and low. No help anywhere. I finally found a solution and would like to share it with the world.


1. Install Bernhard Baehr's excellent Sleepwatcher (http://www.bernhard-baehr.de/).

2. Create the the below .sleep and .wakeup shell scripts by copying text into Terminal. Here's .sleep:


#!/bin/sh
#
# sleep: kill magicJack process
#
killall magicJack


And here's .wakeup:


#!/bin/sh
#
# wakeup: start magicJack process
#
open -a /Users/username/.magicJack/Softphone/magicJack.app/Contents/MacOS/magicJack


Substitute "username" with your own username.
To enter these easily, open the Terminal, type cd and hit return (to make sure you're in your home directory), then type cat >.sleep, and paste in the above .sleep script, then type Control-C. Do the same for .wakeup. Then set both scripts executable (via sudo chmod 755 .sleep or .wakeup).