Which is Best, Vonage, Skype or Magic Jack?

[George Puckett]

Whether you live in Mexico, Canada or the US, I would like to know your preference for VOIP- Internet phone calls.

I have tried Skype & Magic Jack. I found that Magic Jack worked quite well using my cable modem but when I tried it using my Verizon wireless modem the quality was less than satisfactory.

I went to Skype. I promote Skype on the site because I felt that it was the best. There is no hardware required, although I purchased a handset for privacy. It works perfectly with my Verizon modem and my Net Computer. You can have video chat with Skype and you can send files. However, I have a lot of contacts appearing on my contact list. I also receive many amorous offers from ladies. I delete those contacts.

I have never used Vonage because the monthly investment in the service is much greater than Skype or Magic Jack. However, Vonage has now started advertising a new program with mostly free International calls. However, if you are making excessive calls they will assume you are a business.

I believe they call the new program Vonage World. They now have a smaller piece of hardware to connect between your phone and computer. This is something you can carry in your pocket and it doesn't seem much larger than the Magic Jack, so Vonage is now poprtable.

Which service do you have, Vonage, Skype or Magic Jack or do you have some other totally different service?

George P

[Thomas Hellyer]

Hola! We use Skype and love it. It is affordable and easy to use. We pay $60 a year for: unlimited long distance to US/Canada and for a US number so our friends and family can call us just like they always did. We also purchased a Cordless Skype phone for about $100 that ensures that we don't have to be tethered to our laptop in order to make or receive a phone call. We use a local line and local cell phones for all of our calls within Mexico.

Our office uses Vonage--great quality but expensive. We have friends that use and swear by Magic Jack. It is a very cheap option. At the end of the day, I wanted something cheaper than Vonage and more secure than Magic Jack, Skype is owned by Ebay, so it won't disappear tomorrow. We are pleased with Skype and I recommend it to my clients when they buy a home down here.

I must add that Google Voice is a great complimentary service to Skype and it is FREE! Check it out too. It allows you to receive calls and direct them anywhere. It also sends voicemails to your email with the messages transcripted. There are many other features as well.

Thomas

[Carol Billups]

We've been using Vonage at the office and home for several years and have been pleased. I don't use the World plan, but they've never charged me for calls to Australia or Europe following my sis's sabatical journey. I think it's too small for them to mess with the accounting. The accounting is their achilles heel: we've had issues there, but once you solve the problem it's OK. As long as it's normal stuff it's fine (they were double-billing us for a while and trying to get someone intelligent enough and ambitious enough to fix it was a challenge). Sigh. Lightning either struck the house or veeeery close a few weeks ago, no warning of the storm. Fried the surge suppressor and everything attached to it including the Vonage box. New one coming down this weekend so I get to look forward to dealing with the accounting dept. again....

[Carol Billups]

PS: the reason we didn't use SKyppe was receiving calls. See from Thomas' post that's no longer true. Thomas, can you transfer an old number to the Skyppe account? Will be looking into this ASAP. THANKS

[Brenda Rivera]

I use Skype and have for years. I love it and it has always worked great but I also have my own phone number in Minneapolis so all my friends and family can call me. I typically use it to call landlines and cell phone in the U.S. and the cost is minimal. I also have a USB phone I can plug into my laptop that has background noise filter so the calls seem just like a normal phone to phone call and I also have a cordless Skype phone from Linksys, like Thomas, so I can walk around the phone and talk or recive calls.

[James Glover]

I have been using the Vonage for my business for many years adn while I use Skype or Yhaoo while traveling some I really like the Vonage wireless router that solves the problem of needing a computer on and making use of a regular handset as well as giving me a U.S. number to receive my calls directly on the phone and via emails.

There is no doubt that there are other sytems cheaper but the call quality and not needing a computer as well as the emailed voice messages has proven invaluable for someone who works in many places yet wants one phone number to receive calls on. If you are not in business and don't mind a head set or just having to have your computer booted all the time the Skype, Yhaoo and now Magic Jacks seem to work fine on most connections excet those of cell phone modems which can be too slow at times to keep the connection alive.

[George Puckett]

Jim,

Thanks for the comments on my forum post on VOIP services. I use Skype with my Netbook and my Verizon wireless modem/aircard because here in the US I have always been able to get on line with the combination. I tried MagicJack but the connection was never as good as with Skype. When I used my desktop and cable modem MagicJack was great.

I can also market the Skype service and that helps me to keep the membership and services free at Mexico-My Space.

George P
Founder Dude

[Jim Moore]

I have "Magic Jack" and find it very useful. I have a dedicated line and a U.S. # that I use for business. It works great!

[Sandy Coffen]

I just moved to La Crux de Huanacaxtle and got quite lucky.1st there is competition between Telmex and the telecable company here and we were able to get phone and internet for 389 peso a month. With the telmex 1 mb internet service I just hooked up a vonage phone with Vonage world which is unlimited call to over 60 countries and includes all cellphones for 24.99 a month.To call a cell phone from telmex to telcell in a lot. In the long run for us to have this to call all over Mex and to call the statesI think it s a good deal and the service is great.
The thing about Skype is that it runs through your computer and I dont know if you know but skype is using your computer to bounce messages to other skypers. If you dont turn the skype program off they will use your computer as much as they can. Its all in the contract.
Vonage runs through your modem and your computer can be turned off.

[Mexico Mike]

I use Vonage, just switching from Packet8 after 6 years. I have always believed that you get what you pay for and the free services each had problems. While some services may be 'free' to you, they cost the listener. I hated getting calls from someone on Skype. Vonage plan has unlimited calls to Mexico (or if you live in Mexico, unlimited calling within Mexico, since with a US number, technically you are 'in' the USA). I could be wrong about this, but Vonage, Packet8 etc. won't ship to Mexico, but you can bring the modem/router they provide in with you. It has worked for many, many friends throughout the Republic for many years.

I found the phone quality on Vonage to be somewhat better than Packet8, but it was the unlimited Mexico calling that made me switch.

[Mary Baines]

I have had them all and have gone thru the usual problems. I have had magicjack a year and am very happy with it. I have an Arizona number and only use it for US calls. I
take it with my laptop and can use it anywhere. I got a phone from Walmart that does not need electicity to wrok. It is $5.47.

Mary

[Bob Phippen]

Morning George,
We have been a semi regular residents (snowbirds) for almost 20 years now and I have both Skype as
well as a Vonage number. The Skype on my lap top is used because of the video component mostly, not necessarily because of the phone side of it. The Vonage line is because of the simplicity for those folks at home here in the lower mainland (Vancouver) area. When you get a Vonage number, you can maintain a local phone number....in our case with a 604 area code so therefore there is no long distance calling either in or out if you want to have an extended conversation with some one at home. The bonus factor with Vonage is that you can have a time frame of "toll free" calling through out North America and in our case we use the $19.00 (CDN) plan which gives 500 minutes every month. Anything over that (I used to say "who uses 500 minutes a month on the phone?" Not any more so we watch it every month using the calling log) has a very acceptable per minute additional fee added to your billing every month which is done on a credit card.
With Vonage, there is a small "voice adapter" 3" x 3" x 1" that you take with you any where and as long as you have a "High Speed" connection, you have your "local" telephone number working. It does work any where in the world. Have used it in Eurpoe as well as Africa so Mexico is no problem either. One might have to have your settings readjusted by the support staff but only because the "high speed" in Mexico is not truly high speed and with Vonage you can confirm that by using their speed tester which measures both upload and download speeds. Telmex has 2 versions of "High Speed," both 512 and 1 GB and ours is on the 512 speed which is good enough for both lap top and the phone to work simultaneously. The cost is lower for the "mid range" high speed every month as well. We have been through the issues of losing our Meican phone number in the past, so now I don't even cut off our internet connection while we are gone, we simply accept the fact that it is an ongoing monthly cost and I pay our bill over the computer every month.
So, bottom line is if you only want to be able to talk with those persons in your home area, and video calling is not an issue then I would highly reccomend using Vonage. If the preferance is to have "face to face" time then I would suggest using Skype over any of the others like Messenger or something else.
Hope this helps out.
Cheers,
Bob

[Mercy Stirling de Duenas]

Ohhhh I love my Magic Jack!!! It was about 40 USD at Radio Shack (a present so I am not real sure) and it included the first year! I can take this little apparatus as big as a match box with me anywhere - use it on ANY COMPUTER (it does need to download a little program but no big deal - and it is inside the MJ not on some CD) plus I do need to connect a phone. I have a cheap little phone I just take with me too! Then, I can make phone calls anywhere in the US via high speed internet and perfect connection. My sister has one for her computer down in Penasco - so I can call her from Gdl. to Penasco and chat away. If I am not on line when a call comes in - it goes to voicemail and I get an WVM file with the voice recording on an email! My phone is a local Tucson number so my family in Tucson doesn't even need to make a long distance call. My brother's wife took her MJ with her to TURKEY and called from Turkey to Phoenix from internet at her hotel - perfect sound! So in our family we are happy with the MJ. I have had SKYPE..and it was pretty bad - even the paid SKYPE program I had. We used VONAGE in Penasco at Re/Max and it was seamless - but I think it was much more expensive than MJ.