magicJack is a portable USB device that provides unlimited U.S. and Canadian calling to landlines and mobiles. You can use magicJack with your home phone number or as a different number by plugging it into your computer and connecting it to high-speed internet.
Though magicJack seems to provide flexibility, customers have been upset with the unreliable and patchy service, contracts, unhelpful customer service, and unfriendly cancelation policies and have been looking for reliable alternatives.
This article will provide information on the drawbacks of making VoIP calls with a magicJack device and the best alternative to continue using your landline.
10 Drawbacks of the magicJack VoIP landline
1. Double Expense in Buying the magicJack Device and Internet Hardware
You have to get the Magicjack device and connect it to your high-speed internet to enable VoIP calls. The device can cost you upwards of $50 with taxes and fees. You will also have to get the hardware specified by your internet service provider to enable syncing between the Magicjack device and your internet for you to make and receive calls.
2. Unhelpful and Rude Customer Service
Reviews from customers clearly show dissatisfaction with the device and patchy service. Customers do not find any resolution when they call to get assistance with non-working features such as call forwarding. Customers claim chat and phone service to be abysmal and unhelpful, and the company has a trust score of 1.6 on Trustpilot.
3. Contracts and Unfriendly Cancelation Policies
Customers are bound into year-long or 15-month contracts depending on whether they choose magicIN, magicOUT, or both services. Contracts are auto-renewed, and customers have to wait hours in line to talk or chat with a rep who may or may not cancel the contract.
4. Patchy Connectivity
The magicJack device needs more bandwidth than normal browsing for calling. So, you need a high-speed internet connection for good call quality. Since the internet is unavailable or patchy in rural and suburban areas, magicJack is not an option if you live in one of these areas.
Fluctuating internet connectivity in urban areas and blind spots at home can lead to issues such as call drops, jitter, latency, and poor voice quality, despite having high-speed internet and a magicJack.
5. Questionable Reliability
Your magicJack VoIP landline will not work
1. If you or your internet service provider have a power outage
2. Your provider has internet issues
3. Network outages
4. Scheduled or unscheduled maintenance
These issues make VoIP phones highly unreliable if you want to stay connected with loved ones or emergency services.
Investing in a backup power unit can be helpful, but it is expensive and not the perfect solution. Backup power units can help you only if you have a power outage, but if your internet service provider has an outage or other issues, your phone lines will be down.
6. Safety and Security Issues
Using magicJack to make calls via the internet (VoIP) will leave you vulnerable to hacks, attacks, malware, and internet-related threats. Hackers may intercept your data when you use the internet for communication, leading to data and identity theft.
For example, you may be liable for credit cards, expensive purchases, and loans you never took.
7. Poor Call Quality
Call quality and clarity on internet-based phones depend on the strength of the internet connection. The favorite catchphrase of all VoIP providers is "fast and stable internet," and magicJack needs high-speed internet to enable VoIP calls.
You may face call drops and latency issues using magicJack with average internet speeds.
8. Geographical Limitations
Internet service providers do not cover many rural and suburban areas. This limitation can render magicJack useless if you live in an area that does not have high-speed internet.
However, you can get reliable, affordable landline services in rural areas through Community Phone.
Read on to learn more!
9. Installation Costs and Challenges
The magicJack device needs high-speed internet, which means you need internet lines installed at home. The expertise required for the installation and your ISP's customer response will determine the speed and accuracy of the installation and the subsequent working of your phones. Be ready to face several technical issues if the installation is incomplete or incorrect.
10. Challenges With Emergency Tracking
First responders, especially 911, cannot trace your location accurately if you make calls through the internet with your magicJack. Since the information comes from an IP address with no GPS data and is not from a physical address or cell tower, location tracking becomes difficult.
Community Phone - The Best Alternative to magicJack VoIP Landlines
Community Phone is the best wireless home phone service provider in the US, revolutionizing traditional landlines to combine reliability, flexibility, and excellent features. Its wireless landline base connects your home phone to local cell towers, eliminating the need for high-speed internet to make or receive calls.
The company provides solid coverage across 99% of the US for you to experience excellent connectivity and superior voice quality in rural and low-reception areas.
Enjoy unlimited nationwide calling, features like spam call blocking, call forwarding, call waiting, voicemail, 3-way calling, and more at affordable prices. With US-based support, no hidden charges, and flexibility, Community Phone is the best landline service.
How It Works
The Community Phone landline base does not tie your phone to the internet as it works off resilient cell towers. The company's partnership with nationwide carriers and the unique design of the landline base ensure connectivity across 99% of the U.S., including rural areas. The built-in antennas on the base amplify signals from mobile towers to ensure superior voice quality in low-reception areas.
The 12-hour backup battery in the base ensures your phones continue working during a power outage or blackout in your area.
Why is Community Phone better than a magicJack VoIP Landline?
Here are some salient Community Phone features that make it better than VoIP providers:
1. Zero Cost DIY Installation
You do not need a technician or advanced skills to install your Community Phone landline. You can set up your landline in 30 seconds with the following steps:
1. Unwrap the landline base
2. Connect the base to a power outlet. Do not turn it on yet.
3. Hook your phone to the base per instructions in the manual
4 Toggle the ON/OFF switch to the ON position
5. Turn on the power and wait for 5 mins. Once the base finishes setup, make a test call to ensure your phone works as intended.
2. No Specialized Hardware Required
You don't need fancy equipment for your Community Phone landline, except the landline base and a SIM. You will receive the SIM with the base when you sign up with Community Phone. The landline base is compatible with all phone models, saving you the hassle of buying new phone equipment.
3. Excellent Connectivity
Community Phone has partnered with nationwide carriers to ensure coverage across 99% of the U.S. Since the wireless landline base does not need an internet connection to work, you will not face issues such as call drops, jitter, or latency.
4. Reliability
Resilient technology, and thoughtfulness make your Community Phone landline the most reliable option to stay connected with loved ones and emergency services. Their landline base works off resilient cell towers with power backups to support them during a massive outage. The base also has a 12-hour backup battery that keeps your phone working during a power outage or blackout in your area.
5. Great Security
Since Community Phone does not tie your landline to the internet, it does not leave you vulnerable to hacks, attacks, data, or identity theft. You get an additional layer of security as the wireless landline cannot be wiretapped like conventional landlines.****
6. Superior Call Quality
Community Phone has partnered with carriers nationwide to ensure robust coverage and clear voice quality in rural areas. The landline base has built-in antennas that amplify mobile signals to ensure crystal-clear voice quality in poor-reception areas.
7. No Geographical Limitations
Community Phone's landline service covers 99% of the U.S., including rural areas, making geographical limitations and the monopoly of certain carriers a thing of the past. The landline base's unique design and revolutionary wireless technology provide superior voice quality even in low-reception areas.
8. Flexibility
Community Phone's partnership with nationwide carriers and the unique landline base design ensure excellent voice quality and connectivity across 99% of the U.S. Experience extreme flexibility with your Community Phone landline, as you can take it anywhere without changing the number. Plug it into a power outlet and a phone, and your landline will work as well as new!
9. Emergency Tracking
First responders can easily track your location in an emergency, as they can trace the data originating from the cell tower and zero in on your location.
Community Phone Landline Features
Spam Call Blocking
An average American lost $577 to phone scams in 2022, which is an increase from $507 in 2021. With scammers being persistent in their brutal attacks, manual call barring, *60, and phone features cannot help you block spam effectively.
Get the Community Phone spam-blocker, your one-stop solution to block unwanted and unlawful calls before your phone rings. The spam blocker challenges robocalls and blocks them before the call can ring your phone, ensuring protection against spam.
The "Safelist," a new Community Phone feature, allows you to list the numbers you want to accept calls from. Your phone will ring to let calls from these numbers through and block all others before the phone rings. You can update your allowed list anytime to add or delete numbers, or Community Phone specialists will be happy to assist you.
Studies report that several people miss legitimate calls fearing spam. Understanding the need to balance robust spam protection and legitimate calls, Community Phone is launching another iteration of the Safelist soon.
This feature will allow you to accept calls from numbers you want and route the rest to voicemail. Since Community Phone will not block other numbers, you can check your voice messages and respond to the ones you deem necessary.
The soon-to-be-launched "blocklist" is an aggressive spam blocker that blocks over 6 million spam calls based on an ever-growing database of spam numbers and a spam score. You can actively contribute to this database by adding a spam number to protect yourself and other Community Phone customers from scams and fraud.
Talk to Community Phone specialists to learn more!
Call Waiting
The call waiting feature helps you handle two calls simultaneously. You will hear 2 beeps when there is an incoming call while you are engaged on one call. You can place the first call on hold, talk to the second caller, or route it to voicemail.
Call Forwarding
Enable call forwarding to forward important calls when you cannot answer them from your business landline. You can opt from one of the several Community Phone options to forward your business calls to a number of your choice.
Temporary Forwarding: Use the manual process to turn call forwarding ON/OFF if you are temporarily away from your business phone. Here's how you can enable it:
1. Get a dial tone
2. Dial **21*1
3. Dial the 10-digit number you want the calls forwarded to and #
4. Three beeps will indicate you have enabled call forwarding
Follow the same steps, but press ##21# to turn off call forwarding.
Unconditional Forwarding: Forward all calls from your landline to a cell phone or another number of your choice and ditch your landline.
Conditional Forwarding: You can program several phone numbers to ring simultaneously with one incoming call, allowing the person available to answer the call.
You can also have numbers ring in succession if the first number is busy or does not answer. For example, your cell phone can ring if you do not answer your landline within 20 seconds.
Call History
Enable the call history feature and access information on incoming and outgoing calls to and from your Community Phone landline.
You can use this feature to
1. Return missed calls from known contacts
2. Store legitimate contacts
3. Check caller information against known contacts
4. Send a message or
5. Block spam calls.
Caller ID
On Outgoing Calls
Opt for the caller ID feature so the recipient can see your number or name when you make outbound calls. This feature can help loved ones answer your call or return missed calls without mistaking them as spam.
Incoming Calls
You will be able to see the caller ID of the person calling you if:
1. The person has enabled caller ID
2. Has registered in the national register
3. Your phone can support the caller ID feature.
Community Phone does not use third-party apps to provide the caller ID feature.
Landline Texting
Studies reveal that millennials and later generations prefer texting to talking. Stay in touch with younger children or grandchildren by texting them from your Community Phone landline through the landline texting feature. The unlimited text feature and 2-way messaging enable you to see the messages from the recipient and continue the conversation.
3-way Calling
Connect with 2 or more of your loved ones simultaneously with the 3-way calling feature, spend some great moments, and create memorable experiences. You can connect with your loved ones on the same call and hear them speak simultaneously without worrying about free calling apps, internet bandwidth, or patchy and dropped internet calls.
Benefits of Switching to Community Phone
Besides having a reliable landline service that does not require internet, Community Phone members enjoy the following benefits:
Unlimited nationwide calling and text: Stay in touch with loved ones across the U.S. with Community Phone's unlimited talk and text.
No internet needed: The Community Phone landline base works off cell towers without tying your phone to the internet. Since your phones are not dependent on the internet, they will continue working during an internet outage or maintenance.
Number choice: You can get a new local number FREE when you sign up with Community Phone. You can also transfer your existing number through their unique hand-held porting process.
Zero-cost Installation: The landline base does not require a technician to install it. You or anyone in your business or household can install your Community Phone landline in under 30 seconds and be ready to make calls in 5 mins.
24/7 reliable customer support: Contact Community Phone customer support via phone, email, and live chat 24/7 to experience world-class support from live agents. Glowing customer reviews on BBB and Trustpilot are testimonies of their commitment to customers.
Works during power outages: The 12-hour backup battery in the landline base ensures your phones continue working during power outages and blackouts.
How to get a Community Phone landline?
Follow these steps to get a Community Phone landline:
1. Call Community Phone at (866)-340-6256 and speak with a specialist.
2. The rep will check your area for coverage. Since Community Phone covers 99% of the US, this should not be an issue.
3. You get a local number FREE when you signup. Choose a new number or port your existing number. The specialist will help you get a similar number if your preferred number is unavailable.
4. Choose a plan to suit your needs.
5. Complete the signup process
6. Wait for your landline base, and install it per instructions. You can contact Community Phone support if you have challenges or questions.
7. Wait until the base completes the setup. Make a test call to check if your landline works as intended.
FAQs
What are the drawbacks of magicJack VoIP Landline?
The main drawbacks of magicJack VoIP Landline are
1. You have to buy the magicJack device
2. The high-speed internet requirement
3. Unfriendly customer cancelation policies
4. Contracts and Hidden charges
5. Upgrade fee to move from magicIN or magicOUT to include both services.
What is the best alternative to magicJack VoIP Landline?
Community Phone landlines work off local cell towers, eliminating the need for copper connections or internet. With great calling features, the reliability of a conventional landline, freedom of wireless access, and affordable plans, Community Phone is the best alternative to magicJack VoIP landlines.
Conclusion
Community Phone is the best alternative to magicJack VoIP landlines. They provide unlimited local and long-distance calling in the USA, and great features such as spam call blocking, caller ID, call forwarding, call waiting, 3-way calling, voicemail, and more at affordable prices.
With no hidden charges and world-class support, Community Phone is the best landline service in the US. Switch today and see the difference!