I've had my MagicJack for 13 months. MJ met my expectations. Since cell connection in my neighborhood is unreliable, I used MJ in conjunction with my primary land line as a second phone service.

I found it to be reliable and clear. Using MJ for long distance I've saved more money than the cost of hardware and annual service fee.

However, once I renewed the service when down for 3 or 4 days. Then it was functional for a week. It hasn't worked since. And, since renewal attempt, the hardware locks up my computer. I'm running Dell dimension 9100, 2.8GHz and 3.5G RAM on windows XP, Magic Jack shouldnt be enough to bring it down.

I have had Magic Jack for a year hooked up to cable. At first it was clear but now there is NOTICABLE ECHO. Sometimes you can hardly hear the other party.

I ordered the magic jack device in hopes of receiving a canadian area code. When looking up information on the web site I noticed that the area code I needed was available.

Upon registering I was told that in addition to the 39.95 I paid for the device I would also have to pay $10 a year for the Canadian area code. I contacted a online site operator for an explanation as I did not notice anywhere on the site about this fee.

I did not receive any assistance. For your reference I have copied the conversation so you can see a sample of their "customer service" Now I understand that $10 is not a lot of money. My real concern is what other "hidden charges" could be sprung on us with their service. And sorry, I just realised that the top part of the conversation was cut off and the window has closed but I think you can still get the just of the conversation. It started off with her telling me I could find the information about this fee in the "Knowledge Base" tab.

Lisa: I'm in the knowledgebase but not seeing where it says this

Lisa: this is what I read

Lisa: Are there any other charges besides the annual service fee?

Lisa: NO. magicJack costs $39.95 plus shipping and handling. One year of free local and long distance calling to the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, along with all the other great magicJack features are included with your initial purchase. You can purchase an additional year of service for $19.95.

Lisa: Is there a connection, activation or start-up fee associated with magicJack? No. There are no additional connection, activation or start-up fees associated with magicJack.

Ruby: Please go to.

Ruby: http://www.magicJack.com

Ruby: Click on Knowledge Base" tab .

Ruby: Type on the box the "Canadian Number".

Lisa: ok

Lisa: that is where I am copying the information from

Ruby: May I ask when did you purchase your device?

Lisa: Just recently, I received it in the mail a few days ago

Ruby: I see.

Ruby: As much as I would like you to have a magicJack phone number. But you really have to pay for the $10 to complete the process.

Lisa: you work for a very crooked company...your assistant was disappointing as you could not offer me a reasonable explanation why this was not mentioned on the web site. Perhaps next time I will pay more attention to the negative comments that are posted. I will not be continuing the "process"

I used NetPhone back in the 90's and it was great, so I thought 10 years later, this would be even better. The sound quality is actually not as good. Then I went and bought a new phone to use with my new service... but it would not ring. I tried EVERYTHING working on it for hours, and after several attempts Tech Support from MJ (and it won't be an obvious button on the website) I was told by their operator that MJ "doesn't work well with new phones, or cordless, or multiple phones. It's a known problem, because the USB power supply on most PC's is insufficient to cause the phone to ring. If you have an ANTIQUE phone with a mechanical bell... FORGET IT, not even an option. If you want MJ to work, use a old style corded phone and it will ring. Then you can enjoy the pops, cracks, and intermittant tones (sounds as if the person on the other end pressed a key and held it) long echoes, and my favorite... it just drops one side of the conversation for about 10 seconds... and you hear the other person saying "hello??? hello?" and you cannot be heard (and vice-versa) You get what you pay for... $20 a year for unlimited minutes... so you put up with this to save the money.

I have been using Magic jack for about 6 months now. Initially I was very satisfied with it. However, having used it for a while I am annoyed that magic jack is not very reliable. The problems I experience on a weekly basis are: hearing an echo of my voice, the person I'm calling complaining about the call breaking up hearing every third word, I try to place a call it rings once then nothing so I have to call again, unable to receive incoming calls even though my computer is up and running the magic jack program, constant errors trying to use my phone line to place or receive a fax (have to retry at least once). I suppose Magic Jack is worth the cost but it's not really that much of a bargain because I would not rely on this as my only phone line.