I’ve got an idea for Threads (or even a sub-forum) that may be helpful to the members here. Review threads or a sub-forum. Review anything, not just cooking related. The more reviews, the more we know what to try and buy.
I’ll start with a review of IP (Internet Protocol) telephone service.
If you have a broadband internet connection such as cable or DSL, you can take advantage of fairly cheap and sometimes free phone service. All you need do is connect the appropriate hardware to your Broadband Modem or PC, hook up a phone, and you’re ready to go.
I’ve tried 2, but there are more out there, so if you know of others, then please post.
MagicJack
You may be seeing the commercials for this one by now. You pay a set fee, 39.99 to buy the device, then you get phone service free for 1 whole year. Sounds like a great deal. You get free local and long distance to all of the continental US and Canada. International plans cost extra. One neat feature is that you can take MagicJack with you wherever you go meaning free calls via a Laptop when you’re in a net capable Motel room. Kind of neat. The S/W also acts as a “softphone” so that you can use your PC speakers and a microphone to have a conversation over the PC instead of through a regular phone.
But there are some problems.
1. You have to have this device hooked up to a PC/Laptop that is always on and running. The software needed to run this has to be running or your phone doesn’t work.
2. It’s still a fairly new device and full of bugs. Often, you try to call out and you get no voice on your end, yet the far end can hear you. Or, if you do connect, it is “jumpy” and drops every 1/2 second of voice making for a very stuttery call. Worse case, and I’ve seen about all of them, is it flat out will not make an outgoing call nor receive an incoming call.
3. Limited availability of “Local” numbers. Even though all of your calls will be free (local and long distance) you may be assigned a number (like what happened to us) that is out of your area. When we signed up at first, the only area close to us was Tennessee meaning we got a 931 area code number even though we are in Northern Alabama. This means that all local calls coming in to us were long distance for the person calling. Not a problem for you, but a real pain for anyone that wants to call you.
When it does work, it actually does a pretty good job. On a good day, the call quality was acceptable, and it comes with free voicemail. It also supports other popular features, but caller ID never really worked well. You’d get the number but no name, or you’d get “Unknown”.
Another annoyance is that the S/W has to run on a PC. This means that your PC must always be on to have phone service. Not really a problem, but if you are working on the PC and someone picks up the phone or a call comes in, the MagicJack S/W becomes the active window and can hose you up if you were working on something else. It’s a real pain to be in a Word doc and have that damn box pop up.
Since it must run on a PC, you need to consider your PC specs and all programs you have installed. The older and slower your PC, the more problems you may have.
All in all, I give MagicJack a thumbs down and got rid of it. I used it for 5 months and 90% of the time it was problematic, I’ d often have to reset my cordless phone, the MJ dongle, or even the PC just to get it working. A real pain. And when it did work, it was often unacceptable quality. Mileage may vary based on your PC, how old it is, and what you have installed. For now, I’d say steer clear of it as it is not a mature device yet.
Vonage Phone Service
I dropped MagicJack for Vonage.
It comes with a very nice, slim, and sophisticated stand-alone box. No PC required. It plugs directly into your Broadband Modem or router, and also has an extra router port on it for connecting another net device.
As a stand alone device, you do not have to have a PC running constantly (although I never turn mine off anyway). This means it will not interfere with any PC work you are doing and will not hog PC resources.
However, it does require a monthly bill. Unlike MagicJack, you have to pay each month instead of each year. Vonage starts at 17.99 for 500 “anywhere” minutes. The next and most popular plan (which we use) is 24.99 for unlimited local and long distance to continental US, Canada, Mexico, and 5 select areas in Europe. Additional International rates can be purchased.
We’ve had Vonage for 2 months. The little box is SLICK. It is wall mountable (which I did), has built in caller ID and several other diagnostic and service features. It offers an additional router port which is nice, and it will auto-update itself with new software.
Vonage does suffer from limited numbers though. However, it’s not nearly as bad as the situation with MagicJack. We had to pick a prefix for a town that is 20 miles away, but it is still “local” to everyone that calls us. So no real big deal there.
Call quality is outstanding. It works perfectly, and we’ve not had a single problem with it. We bought it online and got all of the net instant rebates as well as 2 months free, so we only paid 20.01 with Free Shipping to get Vonage. Not bad at all.
Overall, I’m very impressed with Vonage. It works every time as it should, and it works very well.
MagicJack was a sweet sounding deal, but in the end, as they say, you get what you pay for. Maybe in a few years they will work the bugs out, but for now, stay away from MagicJack and go for Vonage instead.
One final note – 911 service works differently with IP based phones. The 911 dispatch can not track you based on an IP call. Instead, the IP phone provider has you enter your address manually into your account. Then when you call, the address you entered is what is transmitted to the dispatcher. You have to be careful to enter your address correctly, and keep it updated if you move. But really, it is a simple matter, and dispatch will often ask and verify your address anyway. But…..it does stand to reason that some unscrupulous users could enter false addresses and perform “drop calls” to 911 to cause someone a problem. Haven’t heard of this really, but it seems a possibility. Shouldn’t be a problem for the average user, but it does seem to be a hole a prankster could exploit. Granted, if it gets bad, an IP trace will find the user and nail them.
Next review….Roku Set Top Box (STB) for IPTV with Netflix.
I’ll start with a review of IP (Internet Protocol) telephone service.
If you have a broadband internet connection such as cable or DSL, you can take advantage of fairly cheap and sometimes free phone service. All you need do is connect the appropriate hardware to your Broadband Modem or PC, hook up a phone, and you’re ready to go.
I’ve tried 2, but there are more out there, so if you know of others, then please post.
MagicJack
You may be seeing the commercials for this one by now. You pay a set fee, 39.99 to buy the device, then you get phone service free for 1 whole year. Sounds like a great deal. You get free local and long distance to all of the continental US and Canada. International plans cost extra. One neat feature is that you can take MagicJack with you wherever you go meaning free calls via a Laptop when you’re in a net capable Motel room. Kind of neat. The S/W also acts as a “softphone” so that you can use your PC speakers and a microphone to have a conversation over the PC instead of through a regular phone.
But there are some problems.
1. You have to have this device hooked up to a PC/Laptop that is always on and running. The software needed to run this has to be running or your phone doesn’t work.
2. It’s still a fairly new device and full of bugs. Often, you try to call out and you get no voice on your end, yet the far end can hear you. Or, if you do connect, it is “jumpy” and drops every 1/2 second of voice making for a very stuttery call. Worse case, and I’ve seen about all of them, is it flat out will not make an outgoing call nor receive an incoming call.
3. Limited availability of “Local” numbers. Even though all of your calls will be free (local and long distance) you may be assigned a number (like what happened to us) that is out of your area. When we signed up at first, the only area close to us was Tennessee meaning we got a 931 area code number even though we are in Northern Alabama. This means that all local calls coming in to us were long distance for the person calling. Not a problem for you, but a real pain for anyone that wants to call you.
When it does work, it actually does a pretty good job. On a good day, the call quality was acceptable, and it comes with free voicemail. It also supports other popular features, but caller ID never really worked well. You’d get the number but no name, or you’d get “Unknown”.
Another annoyance is that the S/W has to run on a PC. This means that your PC must always be on to have phone service. Not really a problem, but if you are working on the PC and someone picks up the phone or a call comes in, the MagicJack S/W becomes the active window and can hose you up if you were working on something else. It’s a real pain to be in a Word doc and have that damn box pop up.
Since it must run on a PC, you need to consider your PC specs and all programs you have installed. The older and slower your PC, the more problems you may have.
All in all, I give MagicJack a thumbs down and got rid of it. I used it for 5 months and 90% of the time it was problematic, I’ d often have to reset my cordless phone, the MJ dongle, or even the PC just to get it working. A real pain. And when it did work, it was often unacceptable quality. Mileage may vary based on your PC, how old it is, and what you have installed. For now, I’d say steer clear of it as it is not a mature device yet.
Vonage Phone Service
I dropped MagicJack for Vonage.
It comes with a very nice, slim, and sophisticated stand-alone box. No PC required. It plugs directly into your Broadband Modem or router, and also has an extra router port on it for connecting another net device.
As a stand alone device, you do not have to have a PC running constantly (although I never turn mine off anyway). This means it will not interfere with any PC work you are doing and will not hog PC resources.
However, it does require a monthly bill. Unlike MagicJack, you have to pay each month instead of each year. Vonage starts at 17.99 for 500 “anywhere” minutes. The next and most popular plan (which we use) is 24.99 for unlimited local and long distance to continental US, Canada, Mexico, and 5 select areas in Europe. Additional International rates can be purchased.
We’ve had Vonage for 2 months. The little box is SLICK. It is wall mountable (which I did), has built in caller ID and several other diagnostic and service features. It offers an additional router port which is nice, and it will auto-update itself with new software.
Vonage does suffer from limited numbers though. However, it’s not nearly as bad as the situation with MagicJack. We had to pick a prefix for a town that is 20 miles away, but it is still “local” to everyone that calls us. So no real big deal there.
Call quality is outstanding. It works perfectly, and we’ve not had a single problem with it. We bought it online and got all of the net instant rebates as well as 2 months free, so we only paid 20.01 with Free Shipping to get Vonage. Not bad at all.
Overall, I’m very impressed with Vonage. It works every time as it should, and it works very well.
MagicJack was a sweet sounding deal, but in the end, as they say, you get what you pay for. Maybe in a few years they will work the bugs out, but for now, stay away from MagicJack and go for Vonage instead.
One final note – 911 service works differently with IP based phones. The 911 dispatch can not track you based on an IP call. Instead, the IP phone provider has you enter your address manually into your account. Then when you call, the address you entered is what is transmitted to the dispatcher. You have to be careful to enter your address correctly, and keep it updated if you move. But really, it is a simple matter, and dispatch will often ask and verify your address anyway. But…..it does stand to reason that some unscrupulous users could enter false addresses and perform “drop calls” to 911 to cause someone a problem. Haven’t heard of this really, but it seems a possibility. Shouldn’t be a problem for the average user, but it does seem to be a hole a prankster could exploit. Granted, if it gets bad, an IP trace will find the user and nail them.
Next review….Roku Set Top Box (STB) for IPTV with Netflix.
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