Cordless telephones?

northcreek2624 · Feb 6, 2003

Needed a cheap cordless for the garage,bought a Vtech and it has taken more abuse and worked better than any of the other makes I've had,which has been quite a few.........Mike

rockyridgefarm · Feb 6, 2003

We use lots of cordless phones at work. The 900MHz really do go the farthest, but a great 2.4GHz will do better than a cheap 900. Wirless networks are at 2.4GHz, so 900MHz or 5.8 GHz will pose less trouble. Each new spectrum is usually an improvement, util it gets cluttered.

Brand wise, Panasonics have been the best for our money on the lower end. They sound great and hold up well. We use Engenius phones for the really important jobs. They are 900 MHz and are rated at 5.5 MILES. And they aren't kidding.... But at $350.00 thay are a little higher than most folks will ante up....

Cacinok · Feb 6, 2003

I've had Sony, GE, Vtech and Panasonic and ATT. I had problems with the Sony and GE, both amplified every room noise to the point that I couldn't hear the other person. I'm sold on Panasonics.

One thing to make sure of, though, is that whatever you buy make sure it says "Digital." I noticed with the 900's that many companies were selling "900 Mhz Digital Answering Machine" you had to read closely to find that it was 900 mhz analog w/ a digital answering machine. I haven't noticed this problem much w/ the 2.4s.

As an aside, I've come to depend on the "locator" feature (to find the phone). As soon as my wife hit the half way point in her pregnancy she forgets were she leaves the phone. She says it's the baby's fault.

Clint.

mikim · Feb 7, 2003

where does one find those engenius phones? -- if they last and hold up to abuse, I'd be very willing to spend the bigger bucks -

Gary_in_Indiana · Feb 7, 2003

Here's a different take on the cordless phone. I quit using them. The only reason I had one was so that I could get calls when I was outside or away from my desk during the day and I solved that problem.

My cellular provider offered unlimited free incoming calls and I took advantage of that offer. Now I use call forwarding to forward all of my calls from either line to my cell phone. It's smaller and has better "range" than any cordless would. Even when I'm sitting at my desk I use it simply because there's no advantage to using the corded desk phone to answer a call.

I've been 100% call forwarded to my cell phone for about six months now and have no complaints whatsoever. It's also eliminated the need for an answering machine as the voice mail feature on the cell phone covers that as well. /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

TedLynn · Feb 7, 2003

EnGenius Phones:

http://www.engeniustelephones.com/

These look really good! Ted

ns_in_tex · Feb 8, 2003

Try www.futurecom.com or www.cordlessmart.com.

I have a couple of the EnGenius SN-920 phones. I like them a lot because of the distance (but only about 1000'/2000' in my application.
Only had mine about 1-1/2 yr. Needing repairs now. I have dropped them too much. I think you will have to treat them kindly for them to hold up.

cmsedore · Feb 8, 2003

( Don't want to buy a new am because I swear one of these days I'm going to get rid of the landline - but right now DirecTV still wants one. )

Just FYI if you did not know, DirecTV only needs a landline if you want to use pay-per-view without a steep surcharge. If you don't use PPV, you can disconnect the land line. Mine does not have a landline attached.

-Chris

Anonymous Poster · Feb 8, 2003

I researched this a couple of years ago, with some interesting findings.

For max distance you need digital spread spectrum (DSS). DSS phones far outdistance the others. The 900 MHz DSS seems superior to the other frequency bands on the market. DSS phones have a longer range because they are authorized a higher transmit power than non DSS phones.

You also need DSS for maximum privacy from scanner buffs. At a minimum, you absolutely need a phone that has digital voice in both directions, unless you don't mind someone listening to your phone calls (of course, that's harder in the country than it is in the city).

I originally bought an AT&T 900 MHz DSS phone. It had superb range, but it also had an annoying habit of garbling certain long distance calls. I returned it and got another, identical unit. It too garbled some long distance calls.

I was never able to discover a satisfactory explanation for the phone's behaviour, but I did find a number of web references to individuals who had exactly the same experience with that model phone.

I returned the second unit, after getting an AT&T rep to admit there seemed to be some sort of problem.

I then bought a Toshiba 900 MHz DSS cordless. It has been superb, and has about a 1/4 mile range in flat country. I couldn't be happier with it. Unfortunately, Toshiba seems to have dropped out of the cordless phone market.

BTW, some of the non DSS phones marketed as digital are actually digital in only one direction. They are analog in the other, with all its vulnerabilities. You have to be very careful when reading the marketing hype on the box. Some aren't even digital at all.

For example, a couple of days ago I was looking at a phone in the local Wally World. The box virtually screamed, "Digital answering machine and cordless phone combination." A careful examination of the claims on the box revealed that only the anwering machine portion was digital. The cordless phone itself was analog. I watched a couple buy one, thinking they were buying a digital cordless phone.

2.4 GHz and higher phones are getting into the microwave frequency bands. 2.4 GHZ phones compete with wireless LANs for spectrum, among other things, and I personally don't much like radio frequency emissions at that high a frequency right next to my head--theoretically safe or not.

My advice in a nutshell: Buy a 900 MHZ DSS phone from a major name, other than AT&T. If you can find a Toshiba, that would be my first choice. V-Tech would be my second.

SnowRidge

JATO_RaT · Feb 9, 2003

ns_in_tex, I learnd a bunch from this post. I checked into Engenius and if they could only build the phone more along the lines of a cell phone in size, they'd have one incredible phone. Although a bit pricey, they appear to be THE phone for folks that need the most distance out of a cordless phone. They even go as far as to offer an external mast mount antenna for the base. I'm still thinking about it. I have a shop that is about 500 feet from the house and have no phone line to it. I could eventually run a conduit and install one or go cordless with an EnGenius type phone. The other folks have brought up that the 900 MHz goes the farthest, that has been the opposite of my experience but it could very well have simply been my model of phone. Now I'm going tohave to do some investigating. Circuit City is a option for me because they allow you to return the phone if its not what you want and no restocking fee. I like that option and always make sure I keep everything together and brand new. Thanks to all who have and are contributing to this post. Great ideas and comments, RaT...