[CS-FSLUG] Hacker...Me

[Jim Isbell, W5JAI]

I have looked at the reports you referenced, and have offered the
following response to that website.  Thanks for the heads up though.
I dont think, however, that the complaints on that site have any
bearing on the actual truth, just people with NO computer experience
that are expecting miracles...   Of course all of us on this site are
"expecting miracles"....but we also have computer expertise...#8-)

=================================================================
I am a customer with NO connection of any sort other than as a
customer to Magicjack.  I am responding because I received a warning
from a friend, who incidentally had NEVER tried MagicJack.  This
response from him was a warning to read this site.  Thus, an
uninformed person, reading un rebutted anecdotal reports, was further
damaging the MagicJack reputation by spreading unconfirmed
information.  I felt it was my duty as a satisfied user to rebut these
reports.

I have read many of these reports and find them to be very repetitive,
in that most are of the same problems.

I wont respond to all the complaints as most are complaints from
people that don't understand how computers work and want more for
their money ($20) than any computer could offer.  Most of the
complaints are not really directed at MagicJack, but at problems
caused by their lack of computer literacy or by the shortcomings of
their computer, or the short comings of their Internet service
provider.

Here is a synopsis of some of the more common complaints and my
response to them:

1) "30 day trials that don't seem to go the way the buyer expected"
These are directly attributable to ANY 30 day trial and computer miss
management etc.  I have rarely found a 30 day trial to be easy to
navigate.  I just went whole hog and went for the full year as it
seemed obvious it was a bargain.  30 day trials are ALWAYS a
disaster...no mater who you are dealing with.

2) "Dropped calls."  These are attributable to a slow interface,
either the computer OR the internet service.  Or a bad cable...thats
was my first problem...a telephone connection that didnt fit
correctly.  ...This was NOT MagicJacks fault....

I run mine on a dedicated computer (after all, if you want a program
to run well you dont want the computer doing all sorts of other
stuff!!!)  I picked up an old computer at the thrift store for $4 and
put it in the closet to run only the telephone line.  This only makes
sense that the computer cannot be over taxed....This is NOT MagicJacks
fault......

Also, you cannot run this on a land line...but why would you want to?
If you are going to MagicJack you are dropping your phone service,
right?  A DSL or Cable service is fast enough to give great
connectivity.  A telephone line is NOT fast enough.  .... This is NOT
MagicJacks fault....

Also, if you are running on a laptop on WiFi at a location other than
at home, you are competing with hundreds of other customers for the
line time...this is NOT MagicJacks fault....

3) "Must run the computer all the time"....Well, Duhhhh!  If that was
a surprise then I am surprised the person had the computer savy to
install it....which involves just plugging it in and following the
prompts.

4) As far as not being able to input # when prompted by a phone robot.
 I have had no problems at all with that and can only suggest that it
may a slow computer....This is not MagicJacks fault.....

5) "You have to dial your area code to make phone calls within your
own city, so to call your next door neighbor you must first dial your
area code."  Wow, what an inconvenience.  Three extra digits seems
like such an imposition.  Also this may ONLY be required if your phone
number is NOT a local number, as mine is not, if that is the case then
it is what would expect.  I have a California phone number and I live
in Texas.  I did that so my family in California will have a local
call to call me.  They dont have to use the area code, just the 7
digit number.  I think if I had a local number here where I live, the
same would be true locally.  The complaint that it was needed to dial
the area code, I suspect, was from someone, like me, who had an out of
town phone number.  I don't see how it could be otherwise...But even
so, is three key presses too much work???

6) "Every time someone in your house picks up the phone or a call
comes in a box pops up which you have to minimize."  Again, see the
above comments.  This is what computers do.  Expect it.

7) "You are going to be using up your systems resources"  Again, that
does not seem unreasonable since the resources have to come from
SOMEWHERE.  They cannot manufacture resources out of this air, they
come from your computer...of course.

I have had my service for several weeks now and it is all I expected.
I have made calls all over the country from my home.  I have also made
calls from my Laptop for a week from a hospital on their WiFi.  The
WiFi service was heavily loaded by hospital activity but my calls,
while sometimes iffy, were always handled.  The cause was overload of
the hospital WiFi, not MagicJacks product.  Calls from the hotel
computer all went perfectly.

I was pleasantly surprised that all my information resides in the
MagicJack so when I move to another computer in a hotel or on my
laptop, the phone book and call records go with the MagicJack in the
on-board HD.
======================================================================

Jim Isbell
"If you are not living on the edge, well then,
you are just taking up too much space."