Good cordless phone?

big t · Oct 30, 2004

Hey everyone,

I am in the market for a new cordless house phone. I have a wireless lan on 802.11g and want a phone that will not interfear with that or be interfeared with by that. My old phone was a 900mhz GE had a good overall range, but the reception would get really scratchy and people had a hard time hearing us. We started buying new phones and taking them back 3 or 4 months ago

We started with a panasonic, it sucked because it had a terrible digital echo, and I have now heard this is pretty much how panasonics are. We then took it back and bought a Vtech, it wasn't good enough because you couldn't use the speed dial when you were already on the phone. So we were back to the old GE, but now it broke down completely and we got a different Vtech, this had good sound/reception all thru my house but sucked because the answering machine didn't work and the range didn't make it nearly as far away from the house as the GE. So now all we have is a corded phone and i am looking online and asking your opinion before I get another one. I would like digital, clear sound and a range that will go 100yards outside my house. I am willing to pay up to $150 or so. Any experts or anyone have a great experience lately with a new phone?

Thanks

mattseattle · Oct 30, 2004

well mine isn't exactly new but i bought a 2.4 gigahertz cordless phone from Radio Shack. it'll let me walk out front, walk out back, down into the basement and no interference. doesn't mess with the wireless network in the house either. battery stays charged for a long time when not on the charger. the rings are not annoying like most cordless phones. i'm pleased with it.

has speed dial, flash, redial, and other standard features......it was pretty cheap as well.

The Apprentice · Oct 30, 2004

stay with the 2.4 gigahertz

Hi tom I too have a GE 2.4 gigahertz cordless phone with a combo extra phone that will accept a slide on wall jack it also has a digital recorder as well
got it at wal-mart cost around 65$( about the cost of a good coral colony) have had good luck with the battery lasting and it carries a signal into my shop (metal building) in my back yard
good luck happy shopping ...Jeff

Llarian · Oct 30, 2004

900Mhz has a better ability to penetrate solid objects like walls than 2.4Ghz, so that's one thing to consider.

Honestly, you're probably better off with multiple 900Mhz phones if coverage is an issue. The problem with 2.4Ghz is that your 802.11 WLAN runs on the same spectrum, as do things like microwaves.

I found that my 2.4Ghz cordless got significantly interference when I installed my wireless AP and ended up going back to a 900Mhz one.

Best option, of course, it to find a place with a good return policy and try it out.

-Dylan

Llarian · Oct 30, 2004

I figured I'd augment on that a little bit, since this is a board with some root in science. =)

The freespace loss calculation is (in dB loss):
20 * Log10 (frequency in MHz) + 20 * Log10 (Distance in Miles) + 36.6

So, all other things being equal, a lower frequency will transmit much farther given line of sight than a higher one at the same power.

Also, due to the wider wavelength, the signal has a much greater ability to "bend" around corners and such than a higher frequency will.

I was never quite certain as to why, but lower frequencies attenuate significantly less passing through objects and being reflected. If somebody has a good scientific reason for that, I'd be curious to hear it. I'm not a radio operator.

The important thing is to compare the Tx and Rx power and attenuation between a 900Mhz phone and a 2.4Ghz one. If you can find a similar powered 900Mhz phone, it should always outperform the 2.4Ghz one unless the antenna on one of both ends is really bad.

-Dylan