SUGGESTIONS Wireless Phone Options

[Brian Simmons]

I am looking for some wireless phone options for my PIAF set up. These would be used in a home setting, so just keep that in mind (ie they don't have to survive 5 burly guys in a factory). I'm looking for something that is going to be easy to use so everyone in the family will intuitively know how to use it. I would also like it to have auto-answer intercom functionality since we use this feature pretty often with our other endpoints.

I've thought about the Snom M9, Grandstream DP715, and the Yealink W52P, but I have no first hand knowledge of any of these options.

I'd love to hear the pros and cons of these sets or any other suggestions as well. Thanks everyone!

PS - I searched but didn't find any similar threads on this topic since at least before the big crash. Therefore the threads that do exist seem to be several years out of date. So I thought I would start another thread since there surely are some more options available today.

 

[It's all good]

I have the WP52. It works very well. I noticed the latest version of FreePBX Endpoint Manager supports it.

 

[wardmundy]

Still don't think you can beat an OBi100 with one of the state-of-the art Panasonic DECT cordless phone sets that even include automatic linking to two cellphones. For about $120 - $160 (including OBi), you've got 3, 4, or 5 near perfect cordless phones for your house. Or you can go the two-line route and add another OBi for two separate lines connected to your PIAF server.... but you lose the link-to-cell functionality.

 

[Jake]

I've loved my Panasonic KX-TGP550. It is SIP based with wireless DECT handsets. It's not the cheapest but has more features (if you need them) then just an Obi with a cordless phone.

 

[rjaiswal]

I've loved my Panasonic KX-TGP550. It is SIP based with wireless DECT handsets. It's not the cheapest but has more features (if you need them) then just an Obi with a cordless phone.

I have to second the kx-tgp550. I have two handsets, and have separate extensions assigned to each. The range is awesome, and the battery lasts for 3-4 days with moderate use.

 

[wardmundy]

That's the tradeoff. $90 per extension for the SIP edition or $30-$40 for the PSTN equivalent. It's only money.

 

[rjaiswal]

If you don't need a handset at the base, you can save a couple of bucks and get this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-K...IP_Business_Phones_IP_PBX&hash=item2ec94f9e81

 

[leemason]

Have a look at the Gigaset N300IP based with A510H handsets. I use these all of the time and they have proved to be pretty reliable. Good quality and good value.

 

[phonebuff]

I vote for Ward's solution. I have had that for years with Panasonic 9600 phones in the house, and recently (about a year ago) upgraded to the Panasonic KX-TG7644M set, which I purchased at Costco, for my wife. She loves just dropping the cell phone near the base and having the ability to answer or call out on either the SIP trunks or the Cell phone from any handset spread through out the house.

WAF = Yes.
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[Trimline2]

I've thought about the Snom M9, Grandstream DP715, and the Yealink W52P, but I have no first hand knowledge of any of these options.

I'd love to hear the pros and cons of these sets or any other suggestions as well. Thanks everyone!

I'd stay away from the SNOM M9's. I have a set of these in the closet that I bring out every few months to run the upgrade against them. Still have the same issues of choppy/dropped calls, and a klugey interface. You can pick up a handset, start dialing and it drops the first number entered. They have fixed the range though. I do have 4 SNOM 821's with wifi adapters and give them a 5 stars, they work extremely well and like being attached to Asterisk as built in functions like call recording, etc. all just work.

For the pass around phones, we use the Panasonic TGP550 - have had them since May 2010 without issue. Great little handsets, especially for a family as you can define which handsets use certain lines.

 

[Brian Simmons]

I didn't know you could buy the Panasonic without the handset/dialer base station. I'd prefer that it not have it and just put the normal base station in the wiring closet with just the handsets out in the house. That might be an option. It seems that while the system is more expensive than some of the other options, it is universally liked by those that have used it.

Thanks for the advice and recommendations. Keep them coming if you have anything else.

 

[Brian Simmons]

For those that do have the Panasonic system, can you use a non-Panasonic endpoint to place an intercom call to the extension assigned to the Panasonic handset and have the handset auto-answer? All the literature talks about the Panasonic's ability to intercom between handsets, but I want to make sure it works with other endpoints too. In the same way, I want to verify that I can dial *80 and a non-Panasonic extension and have it work as expected. I'll only have one or two wireless devices and the rest of the phones are hardwired and other brands.

Thanks!

 

[phonebuff]

Brian, I have never tried, I just dial the extension assigned to the OBI that the base is connected to. But I would guess the answer is NO. As your other end points would be coming in as "calls" via the PSTN port and Intercom would be a device to device function.

On the other hand if you went for the more advanced SIP models that in fact MIGHT allow an Intercom feature since the "base" would be your Asterisk box.


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[rjaiswal]

For those that do have the Panasonic system, can you use a non-Panasonic endpoint to place an intercom call to the extension assigned to the Panasonic handset and have the handset auto-answer? All the literature talks about the Panasonic's ability to intercom between handsets, but I want to make sure it works with other endpoints too. In the same way, I want to verify that I can dial *80 and a non-Panasonic extension and have it work as expected. I'll only have one or two wireless devices and the rest of the phones are hardwired and other brands.

Thanks!

Hi Brian,

I could never get my panasonics to auto answer. I tried every conceivable configuration. The panasonics would ignore the auto answer and just ring. :-(

 

[Jake]

I have not tried to do paging outside of the Panasonic system but *80 should work for the other endpoints you have. There is some deep configuration settings that can be made through a config file and pushed out to the phone but I've only had to use the GUI to setup what I needed. It took a little bit of time to get setup but it is rock solid once I had it down.

 

[mp3geek]

I have had horrible luck with the Snom M9 and its predecessor the M3. Lost digits, and generally flaky behavior that is simply not acceptable in a phone that costs that much. However I have had very good luck with the Grandstream DP715. Sounds good, lightweight and easy to provision. The only 2 issues I have with them are battery life (about a day) and relatively short range. The battery life issue is easily remedied since they use a pair of off the shelf 500MAh NiMh AAA cells (not a proprietary pack), so simply replace them with a pair of 1000MAh AAA's. The range isn't really a problem if you centrally locate the base, and at slightly north of $50 for the main unit and $30 for add on handsets(up to 4 additional) they are a steal!

 

[w1ve]

If you don't need a handset at the base, you can save a couple of bucks and get this:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Panasonic-K...IP_Business_Phones_IP_PBX&hash=item2ec94f9e81


View attachment 862

Well, that's the power of eBay!! I bought Two TGP550 systems -- two bases and 4 handsets -- for $110. They were used, but in mint condition (the guy was a dealer). I really like the phones, and they have good WAF (Wife Approval Factor).
So, if you don't mind used (which is usually fine in a home situation), scan the ebay listings. Ward's suggestion is very valid... The nice thing about the 550's though, is you have six selectable VoIP lines -- and I have three daughters with two still in the house. Each get their own handset with their own DID, plus the house plus one for me. Works nicely.

 

[leemason]

Totally agree with mp3geek about the batteries. I've replaced them in my gigaset handsets as well with 1000MaH batteries. Much better!

 

[jmcman]

I know this thread is a bit old, but a warning about the DP715's... I deployed a 5-handset DP715 setup about 2 months ago and as of last Saturday, it completely stopped receiving calls. Outgoing works fine, but incoming doesn't work at all and it's not a PBX-side issue, since the setup doesn't work on another PBX either. Registration is fine, everything is fine except incoming calls. I had been testing the beta firmware (to try and combat other serious issues) for approximately 1 week prior to them taking a dive and reverted back to the current stable release after the issue arose. Nothing as of yet has recovered incoming calls working, so I had to pull all 5 out of service.

 

[jmcman]

OK, I'm looking for replacements for the DP715 setup here... Looking at the KX-TGP500B04 and wondering why you can have only 3 concurrent voice calls through the system when you can have up to 8 total handsets (each with a different extension). Can someone who has experience with these chime in?