Skype Wi-Fi Phones

I am currently in the market to buy a new phone and being fan of Skype software I have been seriously contemplating buying a Skype Wi-Fi phone instead of a standard cell phone. The following is a few pros and cons as well as a list of Skype-enabled Wi-Fi phones:

Pros

1. You can make phone calls anywhere there is Wi-Fi access (secure or non-secure). For example, it would be easy to use the phone at home, the office, a friend’s house, etc.
2. You can easily manage the same contact list at home, work, or anywhere you are connected because your contact list is stored online with your Skype account.
3. A SkypeIn phone number, which is a phone number anyone can call you with using any type of connection (i.e. LAN line, cell, VIOP, etc), is roughly $40 a year for a subscription. Oh, and voice-mail is included for free with this subscription.
4. SkypeOut calling, which is a call placed from your computer to a LAN or cell phone, used to be free in the United States and Canada but is now moving to a subscription based service where it costs $30 a year to use (although if you sign up before the end of the month you can get a year’s subscription for $15).
5. The cost of a standard cell phone subscription is $40/month (approximately). That means that a single person spends a total of $480 a year in subscription fees. However, with Skype (using both SkypeIn and SkypeOut) services you only end up spending $70 a year (or $55 is you act before the end of the month). That’s a savings of $410 (or $425 before end of month)!

Cons

1. You can send or receive phone calls only in areas where you have Wi-Fi access.
2. Connectivity might be problematic or intermittent due to network traffic.
3. Sometimes you can experience delay in conversation due to hickups in the network or connection issues. This is a bit more noticable than cell phone.
4. Sometimes you can’t have a conversation with the other person at all due to network traffic and connectivity.
5. You can not use Skype in case of an emergency due to the nature of the internet. There are more issues with connections, software, etc. when using telelphony over the internet versus a dedicated LAN or cell line.

Phones

Most manufacturers started developing phones for Skype last year and so this technology is relatively new. Here are a few of the major players:

• Sony Mylo - Not only does this support Skype but it supports e-mail, web browsing, pictures, movies, and music. I have to admit that it has my interest and will be keeping tabs on this product. The only thing holding me back is that I wish it had personal information management capabilities like managing lists, calendars, contacts, etc. It does support note taking in the form of text files but that only goes so far.
• SMC WSKP100 - A very basic phone with basic capabilities. Nothing to get excited about but is one of the cheaper phones. Supports both 802.11b and 802.11g networks.
• NETGEAR SPH101 - A slight improvement over the SMC phone but not by much. Supports both 802.11b and 802.11g networks.
• Belkin F1PP000GN-SK - Much like the the SMC and NETGEAR phones but with a better finish and design to the phone. To me this phone does everything correctly. Has all the features needed for using a phone along with the necessary buttons for using Skype, polished and stylized finish, and supports both 802.11b and 802.11g networks. I would buy this phone.
• Linksys WIP320 - Similar to the SMC, NETGEAR, and Belkin phones. Supports 802.11b and 802.11g networks.

Conclusion

I have been using Skype for quite a while now and really like it. The ability to chat, call, send files, even share screen sessions with others for tutorial purposes (via a plugin), and host chat/call confererences is really nice. The fact that you can take Skype mobile is even more attractive now that more and more manufacturers are starting to develop new and interesting devices. Obviously, replacing your LAN and/or cell phone with Skype could be a dangerous solution but possibly getting rid of the cell phone and using using both Skype and a LAN phone might work. In my case, maybe I’ll use Skype and the girlfriend can keep the cell phone. Although, I doubt she will find that very amusing…

3 Comments to Skype Wi-Fi Phones

1. 

   I’ve been thinking about these as well. Didya look at the Linksys iPhones?
Patrick Mueller on January 6th, 2007
2. 

   Thanks, Patrick. I had overlooked the Linksys product line. They have a few other interesting phones that do not use Skype but have Wi-Fi and web browser capabilities too. I have updated my original post to include the Linksys WIP320 phone as it has potential.
Brooke Kuhlmann on January 7th, 2007
3. 

   While I am eager to buy one of these phone it seems that it is just too early to adopt just yet. Since making the original post I have been reading reviews and watching the market for further developments. These first generations phones just have too many problems.

   There are two major concerns I have with the first generation of phones:

   1. Short battery life (less than hour in some cases).
   2. No web browser support for signing on to networks you must pay for (rather important when traveling).

   I guess I’m stuck using my computer for the time being and shall have to wait a bit longer. I’ll post further info as I find it.
Brooke Kuhlmann on February 27th, 2007

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