[asterisk-users] [OT] Wifi SIP phones - LinkSys WIP330

[Alex Robar]

Hi Wayne,

I was a very lucky guy this christmas, and received a D-Link DPH-540.
Despite the very "first gen" feel of the phone, I have been very impressed
so far.

You are correct in thinking that it can act as an extension external to your
network. So long as the place you're in has a decent router, it shouldn't be
a problem. I have tested the phone within my local network, as well as on
three other wifi networks that my friends gave me the WEP keys for, and I
was able to register fine, as well make and receive calls without issue. On
one network, I needed to turn the registration refresh down to 90 seconds
(down from one hour) to keep the NAT hole open (but I have to do that with
my Polycom 501 at the office too).

I set the phone to use G729 (to lower bandwidth usage), and I've found the
quality to be great. Depending on where I was, there was a slight delay, but
that's typical of any IP phone outside the local net if the router is QoSing
VoIP or the net connection isn't up to snuff.

The only negative things I have to say about the phone are:

1) You can only store 6 network profiles. I can think of 5 off the top of my
head that I visit frequently. If the 6th is left unused for open APs, what
happens when I find a sixth wifi enabled venue that I visit? Hopefully this
is an artificial limit that will be upped with a firmware upgrade.

2) The refresh rate is _terrible_. It's not really an issue since you're
generally not looking at the screen except for dialing, but it would be nice
to see some type of fluid refresh.

3) Data entry is rough. There are only two input modes: text or numeric. The
text mode defaults to uppercase characters, and if you want to enter a
lowercase character, you have to cycle through all the uppercase characters
on a key before you reach the lowercase ones. For example, a lowercase "a"
takes four taps of the 2 key. WEP keys are case-insensitive, so that doesn't
matter, but phone book entries are a nightmare. The only saving grace for
this is that you can access the phone via a web interface and edit your
phone book from there. I've found that I get a number from someone, type
their name quickly in uppercase and then fix it later via PC when I'm
connected at home.

Cheers,
Alex

On 12/28/06, Wayne <Wayne at planetwayne.com> wrote:
>
> Hi List,
> Hope everyone is recovering from the festive season :) (ok we still have
> new years i guess!)
>
> Anyways, I was wondering if anyone has had any successful dealings with
> WiFi phones and operation with '*' at all?
>
> I've been keeping my eye on the LinkSys WIP330 (
> http://preview.tinyurl.com/nccxn ) and wondered your collective thoughts?
>
> Would I be correct in thinking that (as long as the relevant ports were
> open on the firewall) it would be possible to still be an extension to *
> if you could access the internet from, say, a wifi hot spot that was not
> a part of the lan?
>
> Thanks
> Wayne
>
> .
>
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-- 
Alex Robar
alex.robar at gmail.com
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