Only if I would have have researched little deeper. I gave MJ trial period before determining I could call out and recieve calls from family members and friends. When all seemed well I notified all important contacts and institutions of new # and date of changer over. Then I cancelled my land line service. I payed for 3yr svc. After 1 month almost to the day, I could no longer call 231 area code Mich to talk to my sisters. Went through online chat routine and spent approx 3hrs total 3 different reps attempting usual unplugging, updating, replugging, etc. spiel. These reps I was told were 10% in customer satisfaction. BS!. I know how professional svc center operates as I worked in in telecomm field 24yrs and my wife worked in IT customer and computer support as computer analyst. I was told that "engineers" are looking into it and will get back with me. Almost two weeks later I cannot get any info as to status or time frame regarding my issue. I believe I know the problem from experience as telecom tech installing and testing PBX (private branch exchange), basically Central Office telephone system. The problem I'm almost certain is a software restriction to access 231 area code. I know this because I get a fast busy signal. Also, as I indicated I had no problem for approx 1 month, coincidently, after paying for 3yr service and after trial period ends. I'm not done pursuing this problem until I get my money back. Now I have to re-establish a land line or get cell phone requiring time and effort to notify friends, family, employer, doctors, and on and on. If it sounds too good to be true it is.

Okay soo, I got the Magic Jack about a year ago. It was fine for the first 4 to 5 months. Then I began having droped calls, Sometimes when I talk The person on the other side says "I can't understand you, You sond like a robot..." I would not recomed the Magic Jack, unless you do not make alot of calls from your home phone. Or you do not have the money for a regular line. Also the Magic Jack has made my Labtop a sationary area because I can not move it with all the wires hooked on to it. I see many people agree that this is not a great product and I Do not recomend it.

If you are poor and no money, then consider Magic jack . If you can afford anything else, don't waste your money on this product. You call them for a problem; i.e. others say you sound like you are under water, you can hear them, they can't hear you, it disconnects, or they hear every few words. You call, they say they have fixed it, but each time it isn't. It also appears one person handles several calls at a time, for the response time from question to answer is longer than needed. I also find it strange there isn't a standard way of handling the problem; each has a different method of "fixing" what they are-in truth-aren't fixing. Oh they are polite, but I'd rather they stopped wasting time in being polite and fix the problem or give my money back! It also is as if they don't read what is written. Am presently waiting, they have told me to unplug the MJ and it has been at least 6 minutes before they return!

You can see that after an hour on the computer and two "tech" reps that they could not fix my problem. My fix, I took it back to the store for a refund.

Important. Important. If you are not able to make calls or having trouble with your contact list, please Click Here for fix. This will be your best solution. You should not click here if you do not have this problem.

You are now chatting with 'Jackie'

Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK4190100690352X

Jackie: Hello, how may I help you?
james Cowen: yesterday i was able to make a call via my phone
james Cowen: today i can only make a call via my computer
Jackie: Hi James
james Cowen: when i pick up the phone and dial out the numbers are not coming up on my magicjack screen and the call does not complete itself
Jackie: Please let me know whether you can see ready to call on your dial pad?
james Cowen: yes
Jackie: Please let me know whether you have dial tone?
james Cowen: under the magicjack is states Ready to call
james Cowen: yes
Jackie: Please go to Go > Utility > open disk utility
Jackie: On disk utility window please look for Ymax magicjack 17.7 MB
Jackie: Click on the "Erase" tab to the right of the list of drives. Please be informed that your contacts list of magicjack will be deleted.
Jackie: Click on the “Erase” tab to the right of the list of drives. The window will now display the options for erasing the hard drive and formatting it to work on the Macintosh computer.
Jackie: Select the Volume Format from the pop-up list. Then choose “FAT”
james Cowen: first off where is 'go"? i am on a mac
Jackie: Please minimise all windows on your computer screen
james Cowen: done
Jackie: Please try to locate it on top left of your screen
james Cowen: standby please
james Cowen: The disk Ymax was not there
Jackie: Okay
james Cowen: There is a disk titled phone
james Cowen: this is in ms-dos (FAT)
Jackie: Please let me know its size?
james Cowen: 18.6 mb
Jackie: Please format it
james Cowen: how?
james Cowen: erase free space or erase?
Jackie: Please right click and choose format/erase option
james Cowen: done
james Cowen: now the name is untitled
Jackie: Okay
james Cowen: now what
Jackie: Please click here
james Cowen: i see i now have an upgrade
james Cowen: it is going through the opening process
Jackie: Okay
james Cowen: still not dialing with my phone
Jackie: I am transferring you to one of our top 10% agents as rated by our customers. Please hold while I transfer you.
james Cowen: also the phone number is gone
Please wait while I transfer the chat to the best suited site operator.

You are not currently in a chat session.

You are now chatting with 'Marykate'

Your Issue ID for this chat is LTK4190100690352X

Marykate: Hello James . My name is Marykate. To better assist you, let me put you on hold while I read your previous chat. Thank you.
james Cowen: OK
Marykate: Thank you for waiting James.
Marykate: You mean that you cannot place a call to your telephone, right?
james Cowen: No I can not place a call FROM my telephone
james Cowen: I can place a call via my computer microphone and speaker
Marykate: Okay
james Cowen: I do not have the computer option turned on right now though
Marykate: Is the dial pad up on your screen now?
james Cowen: yes
Marykate: Does the display reads" ready to call"?
james Cowen: Now it is asking me to please connect to the internet and double click here
james Cowen: i am obviously connected to the internet or we would not be having this dialoge
Marykate: Please restart your magicJack.
Marykate: To do so you may click the 'Menu' button, over the 'Advanced users' menu item and click 'Restart'.
james Cowen: stand by please
Marykate: Take your time.
james Cowen: ok i turned off the magicjack and unplugged the usb drive i am now placing the magicjack back into the usb drive
james Cowen: the icon comes up asking me to double click to start calling
james Cowen: would you like me to click on it
Marykate: Yes, please do
james Cowen: same message about connect to the internet and double click here
james Cowen: should i double click "here"?
Marykate: No James.
james Cowen: ok
Marykate: Please check these again.
james Cowen: check what again?
Marykate: Please go to your MAC menu.
Marykate: "Finder"" File"" Edit"" View"" Go"" Windows"" Help".
Marykate: Click Go in the top of the screen, then Utilities and double click the "Disk Utility".
Marykate: Check if you will see Ymax or Tigerjet Hard drive at the left side then click it to select/highlight.
james Cowen: I have tigerjet
Marykate: Click on the "Erase" tab to the right of the list of drives. The window will now display the options for erasing the hard drive and formatting it to work on the Macintosh computer.
Marykate: Select the Volume Format from the pop-up list. In most cases it's best to leave it at "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" as this is the default.
Marykate: Name the hard drive. Type a name labeled PHONE. Click the erase button. A window will open asking to verify the erase procedure. Click the erase button in this window to start the process of erasing the disk.
james Cowen: The current volume format is ms-dos (fat)
james Cowen: is this because i have magicjack on my pc side of my macbook?
james Cowen: do you still want me to erase?
Marykate: Please change that to Phone.
Marykate: Then click erase.
james Cowen: done but now I have two named phones under the tigerjet hard drive
james Cowen: hello?
Marykate: Okay
Marykate: Now please click the link below again to run MAC upgrade.
james Cowen: link please
Marykate: Click here
Marykate: Then check if you will get a pop up page for you to click and start magicJack.
james Cowen: ok
james Cowen: downloading now
james Cowen: magic jack upgrade came up and i doubleclicked it still getting the message to please connect to the internet
Marykate: Please check if your firewall is enable. Please turn it off temporarily.
Marykate: To turn it on or off, from the Apple menu, select System Preferences.
Marykate: When the System Preferences window appears, from the View menu, select Sharing.
Marykate: In the Sharing preference pane, click the Firewall tab.
Marykate: Click the Start or Stop button to, respectively, activate or deactivate the firewall.
james Cowen: before i do this why would this have changed whether i was able to use magicjack yesterday but not today?
james Cowen: i dont see a firewall tab
Marykate: Are you on System Preferences now?
james Cowen: yes i found it under security
james Cowen: i will turn it off then back on
james Cowen: done
james Cowen: firewall is on and i allowed magicjack
Marykate: Please turn it off temporarily then restart your magicJack James.
james Cowen: it was off when i went to this setting
james Cowen: it is off again and i will restart magicjack
Marykate: Okay, please do and check it again
james Cowen: same message
james Cowen: to say that this device has been a huge waste of my and your time is an understatement
james Cowen: i think the solution is to return it because it appears you are unable to help me
Marykate: Would you like us to log onto your computer remotely and resolve this issue for you? If yes, I will transfer you to a higher level of support that will take care of this for you.
james Cowen: well i just picked up the phone and was able to start dialing
james Cowen: the numbers now come up on my screen when dialing with a phone but the call does not go through
james Cowen: either this needs fixed in the next few minutes or it is getting returned
james Cowen: what good is the savings when i have to spend over an hour of my day not getting a problem resolved????
james Cowen: Marykate, can you help me or not?
james Cowen: Thanks
Marykate: Can we check your connectivity?
james Cowen: yes
Marykate: Please click the link below:
Marykate: http://www.speedtest.net
Marykate: Click the yellow pyramid/star then give me your upload and download speed.
james Cowen: download speed 5.7 Mbps
james Cowen: Upload .94 Mb/s
Marykate: You do have a good connection James. magicJack requires only at least 128kbps both upload and download speed to make it work.
Marykate: Are you using a router?
james Cowen: yes
Marykate: May I have the brand/name and the model number of your router?
james Cowen: One moment
james Cowen: It is through at&t uverse
Marykate: Do you have internet security suite with your internet service provider?
james Cowen: 2WIRE
james Cowen: 3800HGU-B
Marykate: Thanks. Please hold.
james Cowen: I dont know yet you have not been able to answer my question as to why it worked yesterday when i first installed it and not today?
james Cowen: should i turn my firewall back on?
Marykate: Now please click the link below to add UDP ports 5060 and 5070 on your router.
Marykate: Click here and use this as a guide
james Cowen: i have no idea what you want me to do
james Cowen: such you cant help me resolve my problem lets just call it a day and i will return the unit
Marykate: Please allow me to explain to you that "Error 3 and Error 9 " on the dial pad refers to some settings on your computer, i.e firewall, anti-virus, router and even your ISP that may have block the magicjack to get a connection from our server, thus it says "Please connect to the Internet".
james Cowen: thanks for your help but i have other things to do today besides spend it here
Chat session has been terminated by the site operator.

I happen to live in the southern 1/3 of the state of Indiana. Unfortunately, this area does NOT exist according to Magic Jack . It would be extremely helpful if they would make a notation that their product is completely worthless if you live in the 812 area code. After calling their tech support and wasting an hour on chat with them, they suggested that I pick an area code in Montana or perhaps one of the Dakotas since there are plenty of numbers available there. Clearly this is not any sort of acceptable answer.

Magic Jack sounds like a good idea, but they need to disclose where all it is useless. I have a feeling that it's not only the people living in the southern 1/3 of Indiana who they fail to recognize exists. This product is not yet ready for prime time! The major selling outlets are in for some severe backlash from upset customers!