Re: Anyone here using Magic Jack?

sjl wrote:

Unfortunately, the Magic Jack requires a PC in order to work, whereas Vonage doesn't /require/ a PC. The Vonage router connects directly via RJ-45 to a wired network.

Someone else mentioned that Vonage service costs around USD$25/month. That seems very high to me, since you can purchase something similar to the Vonage router (aka an ATA) for CAD$70, and use a service with a much lower monthly rate.

The following is from a relevant post on my local Linux Users Group mailing list. This was discussing the addition of VOIP lines to an existing PBX-based office environment, but the testing setup described could work at home too. I think there are even cheaper ATAs that would not support multiple numbers but might work just as well at home.

Lori Paniak wrote:
2) To start with your own experimentation, I recommend an ATA or two, a
couple of good analog phones, and some willing participants with good
senses of humour. The VOIP users will be cut off from the main PBX
during testing and will have different phone numbers (DIDs). At this
stage the VOIP system might be most useful for outgoing calls.

The basic Linksys/Cisco ATA is the SPA2102:
http://www.canadacomputers.com/index.php?do=ShowProduct&cmd=pd&pid=013131&cid=828.480

It can support the registration of two DIDs with a provider like
Unlimitel ($2.50/month/DID +calls) and has two FXS ports. This means it
can connect two separate analog phones, each with their own numbers. In
fact, each FXS line can support a ringer equivalence number of 3, so it
can ring a fairly large number of modern phones (modulo interconnect
wiring losses). These phones will all share the same number and
extension - just like a typical single-line home phone. If you want
independent extensions you need a PBX (see #5) - or something like the
hosted PBX service offered by Unlimitel:
http://www.unlimitel.ca/temp/services/voip_services/server_ip_pbx.html


HTH,
Adam