I’ve gotten really behind with posting the emails here in the comment section. But here’s one I got this past week. I’m posting this one as a lesson/warning about the up and down nature of dealing with me. Some days good, some days…
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HIS MESSAGE

i have wintel xp pro sp2 rig with 2.4G pentium. plug a conairphone into mj and mj into usb 2 port. the mj lights up, i get a little “jingle” sound, and a tray icon for disconnecting a usb device.

i cant open other apps at this point. i have tried all 4 of my usb ports, different phones, rebooting, yada yada.

i have an att dry loop which has always given me good internet. i use firefox 3.6.

ive left the mj in the port for as long as 15 minutes and it still does nothing.

any ideas would be appreciated.

j

MY RESPONSE

Hello John

For the life of me I can’t imagine why you came to me and didn’t go straight to the magicjack site and let the creators help you. But since you’re here and talking AT me like we know each other or I owe you some help I”ll try help despite your strange “this guy owes me a favor” tone.

So to begin with I would try a different computer. Obviously your computer is powerful enough since MJ will work on the most out of date, crappy machines. So it’s not a power issue, it’s something about your configuration. Something is blocking. The good news is that you have XP and not Vista which would be a little more complicated.

I’m not sure what “other apps” you’re trying to open. Some kind of MJ thing or just other USB devices wont work with your computer?

You say you have tried other phones, but that issue is almost a little cart before the horse. Your first goal is going to be getting that MJ softphone on your desktop. It will look like a regular phone -actually there’s an image on my blog. If you’re not seeing that, chances are your MJ hasn’t downloaded the startup software. So that is probably what you need to have happen.

Because right now it’s sounding like your computer doesn’t recognize what was plugged into the USB. The MJ is seeing your computer though, that’s why you’re seeing the lights. MOST of those MJ’s work, but I have heard about some brand new ones that don’t; and that’s why I suggested trying to find ANYbody’s computer just to test the MJ. And I’m also assuming your MJ is new.

However, next, I would go to the MJ “chat help” section on the MJ site or the FAQ section. One or both will probably direct you to a download link, so you can get the software (what a MJ should do on it’s own). Install it and THEN your computer will probably be able to recognize what’s in the USB port. Then your MJ will see the software. You’ll be asked to register your account probably-it’s been a few years since I did it-but the point is once MJ is actually ON your computer and your computer, and it’s online, you’ll get a dial tone.

Helping with a dose of reluctance
Dave

HIS MESSAGE

whoa! sorry man. i probably should have gone to the mj site and tried live chat, but my research showed that tech support wasnt all that good. since i just had a dry loop connected, i googled “dry loop magicjack”. first on google was your site (http://welcomebackrosenthal.com/i-had-att-dsl-dry-loop-installed-today-dsl-with-no-phone-line). it looked like it was made for me. you seemed to be a big fan of mj and others had asked your help and that you were offering to help.

if i came on strong or misread, i apologize. last thing on my mind. i appreciate your response and your honest feedback; thought genuine people like you had faded away.

ill try the “live help” thing on mj site. sorry to have barged in like that.

j

MY RESPONSE

Hahaha

Well, that’s what happens when you reach out to “genuine people.” They might turn out to be an asshole like me! Yeah I’m MOSTLY a nice guy, who’s kind of helpful-but if it’s on the blog. In that format there’s sort of an ongoing conversation going, so if people jump in with a question with zero introduction I’m a little more forgiving. Although I’m still used to “hi my name is X, I was wondering if you…”

But I do get the occasional demanding email, however in those cases it’s some foreign born person and the English a little broken. Even then I’m sort of forgiving; but to a native born guy named John, speaking English since birth person, I find that kind of weird-”Here are some facts now give me some results”-Don’t you? If some guy just walked up to you and did that, wouldn’t you find it weird? AND they didn’t start at the place where they bought the thing? So that’s all I was saying.

Now just a little follow up; you didn’t mention you had dry loop. I think it’s in the comments section of my ATT article, but regarding MJ, you do want to make sure you’ve allocated enough bandwidth. Basic DSL is usually 78kb download/35 upload and MJ needs about 6-8kb upload and download to get a clear sound.

If I were you, I’d do an online speedtest by typing “test dsl speed” into google, and I’d get a free tool like NetLimter so you can see which applications are using bandwidth at any given time. But generally I think the previous email should get you up and running, these tips are just extra

Dave

HIS MESSAGE

hi dave

point well taken. i will be more polite from now on.

took your advice, verified i had a good enough broadband and got to thinking about your comment about the mj download being blocked. i disabled antivirus and firewall, downloaded the update.exe and ran it. my box froze so i d/c mj, rebooted and contacted live help on mj site. after explaining what i had done, they escalated me from tier 1 to tier 3 tech support. they had me download and install “MicrosoftFixit50027″ which cleared up the problem. the registration went off without a hitch and ive made several phone calls with very good results.

thanx for the help. and the kind feedback. live long and prosper.

j

You should visit my main ATT DSL article, scan it, then take a look at the comments section with a lady from San Francisco last week.

Option 1
Then you should just type in what you’re looking for at google, but you should read through those comments.

Option 2
Also if you have any other kind of tv or cell phone you should really look into the mix and match ATT uverse stuff, I’m pretty sure I have a link for that too but that can really cut your cost.

“Everything I read- tells of a dream deal. One area of concern is that in order for the system to work-your p/c must be on- versus the vonage modum etc.. Who keeps their computer on 24 hrs a day- and is this correct-or will it work-without the p/c being on. If it needs to stay on- that’s a major drawback-to something that sounds like a dream. Thanks.”

Hi Leon
Thanks for visiting. I actually have an article I’ve been waiting 11 days for approval on ezinearticles.com, should be approved by mid August
I compare
Regular phone
Vonage
MagicJack

But in a nutshell-NONE of the three systems is perfect. Regular phone (called Plain Old Telephone Service POTS) is just crazy expensive in a world where internet phone exist. Because basically when you have a conversation you’re “borrowing” a connection. Internet phone breaks your signal up into packets-the same way the internet works-and sends your message as small cheap pieces. It’s the same principle that a FAX works on.

Vonage WAS great except they wouldn’t (and wont) give call across the board blocking. Plus Vonage prices kept going up and that just made me mad. It didn’t make any sense. Everybody is coming down in price, why the hell were they going up-but at the same time not adding any significant new features. BUT, in terms of ease-of-use I still recommend it compared to regular phone if you’re more or less comfortable with computers. It can AND DOES go out sometimes and you’ve got to get in there and fool around.

Magicjack like Vonage no call blocking-but I have an article on ezinearticles on how to set up PhoneTray or GoogleVoice-which are both free-to get perfect blocking. 5 minute job. But let me repeat that magical price-a DOLLAR a month. And the phone quality is actually better than my old house phone.

But yes YOUR COMPUTER needs to be on. And most heavy computer uses do leave their machine on 24 hours a day-in my case I have TWO machines running around the clock. Because it uses so little power and it’s better for the computer. Turning them on and off is a little bit like a shock to a computer’s system. But DO turn off the monitor when not in use-it does use a lot of juice. Basically what I’m saying is; just because the computer is on you don’t have to use it, or even look at it if the monitor is off. I mean your modem is always on anyway right? And MagicJack will just be running smoothly in the background. Or just turn off the computer and forward calls to the cell phone.

Even if you don’t go for the 5 year deal. I think it’s a very cheap thing to test out for a month. It’s a money back, no questions asked kind of thing. And a second phone line without having to re-wire your house through the phone company can be up and running in 30 minutes. And then you might decide “what the hell I’m paying 60 bucks a month for my regular phone for the basic line, the call waiting package, the long distance package, the city tax, the state tax, the “fees” and it works the same as MJ, I might as well get rid of the regular one.” That’s why I say, this is something I think people should just test and see how easy it is.

OHH! One last thing-you need a high speed connection. Dial-up is actually fast enough in my opinion since MagicJack only takes about
8kb upload
8kb download
during a conversation BUT if you loose your dial up signal the phone would be out, so that’s why people need an “always connected” line.