Eforcity Phone Adapter for Skype, Vonage, USB VOIP Interface connects your home phone to network

Discount Price: $24.84

Customer Reviews:

works well, after ignoring documentation (as usual) [Posted on 2008-02-13]
trivial to install software and hardware, but
couldn't hear voice in telephone handset.
book said to check skype settings and select
your sound card for speaker/mic. well, what
works is to select 'usb device' (which makes
sense!) for the speakers but leave the mic.
to windows default device - which would have
been the pc mic input, i'd think but it worked
so I stopped fixing it. Sound quality actually
a bit better than my land line, but I have a
noisy line. soooo nice to no longer be tied to my
pc!! works much better than i expected it would.
would recommend for sure! btw, i'm using it with
a cordless phone w/ speaker phone so it's really
handy. you can easily dial out from skype directly from
your phone to save on long distance charges. just have
to hit * first to switch it from land line to skype.
only downside is your pc has to be on, but that's the
way it has to be. get one.

Highly recommended product [Posted on 2008-03-30]
Great Phone to USB adapter for Skype. I got this great device about 2 weeks ago and I'm very happy with purchase. Very clear connection with cordless phone. Highly recommended product.

Will stop working [Posted on 2008-04-07]
Although this is a pretty neat little device, but BEWARE it will definitely stop working after 2-3 months. Me and my friend got it some time back, and we both had the same problem. One day it just stopped working.

Works fine, but is buggy - beware if you have a high-pitched voice!! [Posted on 2008-05-30]
We have been using the eforcity phone adapter for skype for about 2 months now and we can tell you this: it does what it's supposed to do, but is far from perfect. Sound quality is pretty good, you hook up your regular phone to the device and you can use it for Skype calls. Set up was fairly easy, there is a small program that runs on your computer that interfaces with the device to allow you to connect to Skype.

The bad part is, whoever designed this wasn't a very good engineer, as there are occasions where the adapter stops recognizing the phone, and you hear no dial tone and can't make any calls. Unplugging the device from the computer and plugging it back in fixes the issue, but this happens nearly once a week, so it is quite annoying.

Another issue with this device (and apparently all other devices such as these), is that if you are on the line with a woman with a high pitched voice, or are someone who has a high pitched voice, certain words and sounds you or the callee make are interpreted by the adapter as key pad entries - resulting in a beeping sound, as if you are pressing the keypad. This is a known issue with all adapters, and is apparently better on some adapters than others. This one in particular is pretty bad - whenever my wife is on the phone, she or the person on the other end of the line always hears the beeping sound, as if someone is pressing a button on the key pad! You can find more information about this issue here: http://unofficialmagicjack.forum2u.org/post8424.html

The other issue is that it does not easily switch between the Skype and landline - if you want to use this primarily for Skype, you must set the default line in the SkypeMate software on your computer!

Pros
- easy to setup
- works as expected
- use corded/cordless phone with Skype/VOIP
- affordable (when buying from other sellers)

Cons
- Beeping sound as if someone presses dial pad when on the phone with a person that has a high pitched voice
- Occasionally phone / adapter stops working with Skype - you need to unplug it and plug it back in to get it working
- If you are using it primarily for Skype, you need to switch the line via the software, and cannot use the way they say in the instruction manual (pressing one of the key pad buttons)
- No tech support, driver fixes for any of the issues mentioned above

Very buggy & poor software makes this product useless. [Posted on 2008-06-17]
This type of USB to RJ-11 converter is a relatively new item (just the last few years). I've come to learn it takes at least 4 years for such new technologies to get the bugs worked out of them.

I purchased this device because I wanted to cancel my POTS landline (Verizon) and use Skype in my home exclusively. This adapter is designed to let you use Skype ALONG with a regular landline. The result is that if you don't have a landline to plug into this device (and try using only Skype) it will not work. The Enforcity adapter uses your landline dialtone as a foundation to make Skype calls... you pick up your regular house phone and hit "*" to switch to Skype calling. The problem is, if you don't have a landline that generates a dial tone, the device won't allow you to dial anything, let alone "*" in order to engage Skype. So basically, you still need landline service in order to make this thing work.

Another issue is receiving calls. When a call comes in via Skype, you don't hear it ring. The device does NOT generate a ring signal that will make your phone ring when a call comes in. So, if you're not near your computer, you won't know that a call is coming in.

There are also a few issues with "Skypemate" regarding sound settings. Once it configures Skype to work through your RJ-11 connection, switching back to regular- through your computer speakers & mic- is a pain. Unplugging the USB cord will not change this, you have to go into your sound settings, reconfigure them- and then restart your computer before Skype will work normally (through your computer speakers) again.

I did manage to get the device working after hooking up a POTS line and making all the configurations- and it sounded pretty good. Still, I doubt I will use this converter because there are just too many limitations for my needs.

An addendum to this review after having the unit for about a week:

DON'T buy this unit, it eventually becomes a paperweight (I tried reducing my rating to one star but apparently Amazon won't allow it). The software bugs are so problematic as to eventually make the unit worthless (sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't). I now understand what one of the other reviewers said about the device ceasing to work after a while. It comes from the basically useless software.

"Skypemate" is VERY buggy. Sometimes it lets you dial directly from your phone, sometimes it stops working and only lets you dial from your computer (probably because of glitches with your PC's sound settings). I really should return the unit, but frankly I'm too lazy and will just eat the $30 I paid. Don't make the same mistake I did.

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