Skype is a fantastic creation and keeping in touch all over the world is made so much easier with Skype. What really bugs 
me though is the USB phones, not Skypes fault obviously! The way they will interfere with your PC sound settings and despite getting all the settings perfect so you can listen to music and then easily use the phone, it still goes wrong. Because of that I don’t use Skype as much as i’d like.
For a while I have been watching the reviews and developments of phones that connect to Skype but actually bypass the computer altogether i.e. NOT USB! These phones are gadgets that connect to your internet connection wirelessly! Either by configuring them directly to connect to your encrypted/non-encrypted wireless connection, or by coming with a piece of kit that plugs into an Ethernet port on your router which the phone then connects to wirelessly.
There are a number of these types of Skype/VoIP phone already on the market, with the big guys like Belkin, Netgear, Philips and Linksys making an offering to this. The one that stands out to me after reading a lot of reviews and looking through the technical specifications of many is the Netgear VoIP Skype Dual Mode Cordless Phone.
The way this one works – it comes with a base station that you plug into an Ethernet port on your router and away you go! Oh you do have to enter your Skype details into the phone, but then away you go! You can also have up to 3 additional handsets on this setup as well. The other great feature about this particular model is that it is ‘dual mode’. This means that you can connect the base station to your normal phone line as well and therefore use the same phone for calls from your normal landline as well.
No..not yet anyway but I certainly plan to. For anyone who uses Skype a lot, or maybe don’t use Skype for a reason like mine, how about considering one of these!
To summarise then:
Pros -
- Easy to setup – one use review I read said “ever fallen off a log”. I think that sums up how easy it is!
- Avoids the PC! Nice
- You can have up to 4 phones connected to the unit
- Dual Mode so you can use your normal phone line too
Cons –
- It isn’t cheap. At time of writing the cost is around the £90 mark. 10 x that of the cheap USB phones. Then again I am one who believes in the saying “you get what you pay for!”
- I’m yet to own one!
Related Links: Skype.com || Netgear SkypePhone