I believe I asked this question of the Borg Collective a while ago, but maybe not...

Mother has been admitted to a facility for Skilled Nursing Rehab and will transition to long-term care in the same facility once Skilled Nursing is complete. We are looking for a telephone solution for her, as a cell phone is NOT...NOT...an option due to her inability to operate the phone with her stage of arthritis and there is SOME cognitive issue with "them new, fangle-dangled cell phones", as she would put it.

The facility where she will live from now on has an Ethernet port in each of their rooms. From what I gather on magicJack's website, we need to purchase a wireless router that will serve as the WiFi conduit to the magicJack device, which is ultimately plugged into the Ethernet port in her room. And of course a phone of ANY type would be plugged into the magicJack device as well. I also read in magicJack's set up requirements that Network Ports 5060 and 5070 UDP have to be opened.

As a side note, there will NOT be a computer of any sort in mother's room. If anything needs to be set up on the router or magicJack device, I would do that via my personal laptop.

I will purchase this phone from Amazon to hook up to the magicJack:

Link

So for those that have set this up for their use or for the use of others as I've described, does it sound like I have a pretty good picture of what I need to procure? What set-up pitfalls can y'all identify to help me avoid in setting all of this up? Oh...the BIG thing...once this is all set up, I will be 4 hours away and my brother 10 hours away, as neither of us live where mother will be spending the rest of her days. Once set up, is this system pretty automated and zero need of maintenance? We would be there almost monthly to check in on her and make sure everything is OK. If something needed to be updated on the magicJack, we'd do it during these visits.

TIA for any suggestions/tips...

I think I remember you asking this, but I don't remember the details of that thread.
I apologize if this was already answered:

My question would be if the facility will allow that setup on their network.
Has it been cleared with them?
I wouldn't buy anything until all the details were OK'd by them.

Get a cell phone.

This one is huge, with big buttons. No different than a cordless phone of 90's vintage.

USHINING 4G LTE Unlocked Senior Cell Phone Big Button Type-C Charger Seniors Feature Phone SOS Calling Basic Phone for Elderly Unlocked Feature Cell Phone with Charging Dock (Black) https://a.co/d/1Oe45nZ

^^^^^
As much as I appreciate that advice, Aeteocles, a cell-phone of ANY kind is just not a viable solution. This may have worked for someone in your family, but I'm dealing with my soon-to-be 88-year old stubborn, Italian mother and know her mental hang ups and limitations. Thanks for the suggestion, though. [two thumbs up...]

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
My question would be if the facility will allow that setup on their network.
Has it been cleared with them?
I wouldn't buy anything until all the details were OK'd by them.

Thanks! Just sent an e-mail to the Admissions Supervisor asking those very questions...

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
^^^^^
As much as I appreciate that advice, Aeteocles, a cell-phone of ANY kind is just not a viable solution. This may have worked for someone in your family, but I'm dealing with my soon-to-be 88-year old stubborn, Italian mother and know her mental hang ups and limitations. Thanks for the suggestion, though. [two thumbs up...]

quote:

Originally posted by WaterburyBob:
My question would be if the facility will allow that setup on their network.
Has it been cleared with them?
I wouldn't buy anything until all the details were OK'd by them.

Thanks! Just sent an e-mail to the Admissions Supervisor asking those very questions...

Is the hangup the idea that data is traveling wirelessly through the air, or is it because she needs a dial tone when she picks up the handset?

They've got LTE phones that look like desktop phones, with corded handsets.

The reason I keep suggesting a LTE/cell phone is that voice over IP (like the magic jack) can get pretty finicky with how the rest of the network is setup.

OK...looks like magicJack got nixed by the facility. This is the Admission Supervisor's response:

If you can please look into setting up a wireless home phone account for her through Straighttalk, AT&T, or Verizon; those operate off of wireless routers and are what other residents who prefer home phones rather than cell phones use.

I'll look into that...

Assuming the facility allows whatever to connect to their ethernet (and if they do, they are dumb), all you need as a VOIP adapter + VOIP service, which can run from as little as $100 for the equipment & $5/month for service. It will be like having a landline. You will need to be on the same network (wifi?) to set it up & make any changes. If she is that against a cell phone, she's probably not using a computer on the ethernet.

This is the re-incarnation of the Obi products I've used previously. I had a House-to-house connection between my house & my in-laws in MX before cell phones had free international calling, as well as a google voice number for home calls. While in MX, I could connect to my house, then call out through the google voice number 'locally'. Poly Obi312

I've had MagicJack for nearly a decade, using it for my home phone. All you have to do it connect a hardline from MagicJack to a wireless router. It's not perfect every time, but it's a 95% solution most of the time. Sometimes with bad weather you may need to reset it, but this doesn't seem to be frequent. I restart mine every so often whenever I remember to just to force it to reset and reconnect.

With that said, many wireless home phones now come with Bluetooth that can be linked to a cell phone...aka "Link-to-Cell". So you basically use the cell phone like a wireless router connected via Bluetooth to the home handset. Panasonic makes several phones like this. Any other vendor I have tried SUCKS when it comes to call quality!! Just make sure the cell phone is within 20-30 feet of the home phone base station or right next to it.

I have had one almost since they came out.

You need your computer to set up the MagicJack to register it and get a phone number.

It updates itself when you plug it into the computer. You run the software and register it and get your phone number and you are done needing the computer.

Without a computer, they need three connections.
Power, network, and phone.

Depending on where the power, the router, and the phone are located depends on what length cords will work best.

MagicJack supplies the power supply, just a small charger with a USB female connection.
They also give you a 6-inch USB cord you can use to power it.

I would run an electrical extension to where you are planning to put the phone, it needs power too, and plug the MagicJack power and the phone into the extension.

Run your network cable to the router from the MagicJack and plug your phone into the magicJack. In a few seconds, you should have a dial tone.

I agree that Panasonic makes one of the best phones.

I am really surprised they are letting anyone connect to their router.

I would double and triple-check this before I wasted time and effort getting the stuff you need to make this work. Also, check if there is actually a place to plug in the network cable.

I would also check the ports are not blocked.
Lots of places only have web and mail ports open.

Good luck.