August 2007
Monthly Archive
Save money, buy a wifi Skype phone (part II AKA the part where it goes back)
Posted by David on 15 Aug 2007 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
I intended this phone to fill too large a need, and it proved quickly to be incapable of fulfilling that task. Replacement batteries are not available. The battery life on standby makes the device unuseable for someone who has access to a wifi network, but not a charger, and wants to be able to use the phone over the course of a day. I would need a minimum of two of these phones just to make sure I had one available to use. Recharging the battery took hours.
Additionally, the phone is a candybar-style one, and yet it has no keyboard lock. Press and hold the Back button and watch the endless loop!
The documentation states in two places, “This phone is for indoor use only!” I believe this is due to the limited range of the wireless device.
Suggestion to Linksys: If you’re interested in trading my $100 bills for your little computer bits, your next wifi phone should have four times the battery life, have replacement batteries available, not be uncomfortable to hold to my ear, support Bluetooth, have many of the features a cellphone does including external storage, support NTP, and be open source. And don’t think I’m kidding about four times the battery life. If that makes it big, then it’s big. If it has decent range (supports an external antenna if necessary to get that range) and good features, that will be enough. I know the cost will have to go up. Let’s see what you’ve got.
Save money, buy a wifi Skype phone (part I AKA the part before the power button)
Posted by David on 14 Aug 2007 | Tagged as: Uncategorized
I’m sick and tired of paying $50/mo for my $35/mo cell phone plan.
I’m sick and tired of the horrible reception my Sprint phone gets at work and at home.
Buying a land-line isn’t appealing, really…
I use Skype at home and at work, and the audio quality is great.
Enter the Linksys WIP320. Works wherever there’s a wifi connection. Namely, the two places I spend 90% of my time, work and home.
Seems like a decent shot. I can get a t-mobile pay-as-you-go phone for no monthly fee, buy $100 worth of minutes and they last a full year, no other charges. I can forward skype calls to it when I’m on vacation and send them to voicemail the rest of the time. Sometimes I could carry both phones, and find wifi access where I can, if I wanted to. If all goes well, this will save me $350 in the first year, $400 every year after, depending on PayGo phone useage.
It sounds great!
It’s charging on the desk as I speak. Needs 8 hours. The manual says, “This device is for indoor use only!” I’ll be the judge of that.