Ordered and received new MagicJack PLus (MJ). Have an older MJ but wanted the new capability to use without attaching to computer. It worked fine when attached to the computer which you have to do to activate it and get it set up in your online account (a subscription they call it) but when plugged into the wall/router/phone it didn't work at all.
I can tell from looking at my router it isn't even recognized. This thing has to obtain an IP address in order to work. It SHOULD be assigned an IP address automatically via DHCP, just like any other computing device being hard-wired to the router via ethernet cable and a solid light should be activated for the port it is plugged into. If that light doesn't come on it means the router doesn't recognize a "network ready" device to assign an IP address to and if that happens then kaput. I switched to a known good cable and tried different ports on the router. No luck. Tried every troubleshooting technique possible.
MJ support, which is ONLY available via online chat, wanted to do a "livelook" where they would use remote control software to access my computer and look at the configuration of my system but they didn't have anyone available at the time and I waited close to an hour and finally gave up. What would they look at? It is connected to my router in the other room, not my computer. I don't think they really understood my problem and that it is due to the router not "seeing" the device even though I explained all that at length. I have a standard Linksys router, nothing special. I know how to administer the router and set up port forwarding rules etc but based on their advertising it doesn't seem like any of that should even be necessary. The run of the mill user is not going to know how to configure that kind of thing let alone troubleshoot this kind of problem.
The blue light blinks when it is plugged in so it is definitely getting power but the folks I "talked to" couldn't tell me what that indicates or what the "normal" state of the light should be. When plugged into the computer usb port it was a solid blue light. Does blinking mean there's power but not "connected"? Don't know.
So given that the functionality I wanted is not available I decided to stick with my old MJ and return the MJ. You need a RMA from MagicJack in order to return it. So I found from their support pages how to obtain one and filled everything out. When I submitted it to get the RMA I need to include in the return package I found that "Due to system maintenance, we are unable to process you request at this time. Please try again later." I assume the site will allow me to submit all this later but be forewarned. If you order this thing it may not work as intended and by then you will have paid for shipping and handling, etc and return postage which is NOT refundable. Since I'm doing the 30 day trial I expect that they'll just cancel my order but if you value the time spent and money paid for postage etc, it's a lot of trouble to go to and possibly a waste of time if you want the "disconnected" functionality.
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