[Asterisk-Users] Which phones are good, or at least acceptable, for home and office

[M.Hockings]

I am looking to replace all of the old "Bell" (POTS) phones in my home 
and office with IP phones.  As you can imagine I don't have a huge 
budget to work with but I want phones that will provide acceptable voice 
quality and durability.

There are basically three categories as I see it
1. satellite phones (low cost, low function)
2. primary domestic phone (good quality, POE capable, headset capable)
3. primary office phone (good quality, headset, speaker phone)

In most places the LAN wiring is already in place so the phone would 
need to be able to provide a LAN port for an existing computer.  POE 
would be desirable in a couple of places due to limited power outlets.

What I have considered is the Grandstream BudgeTone BT-102 or BT-200 for 
the satellite phones, a Grandstream GXP-2000 for the domestic phone as 
it has all the requirements and there is a POE device available for it. 
My alternative pick for this would be a Polycom 301.  And for my office 
I was considering a Polycom 501.

Are any of these choices known to be bad performers, hard to configure 
with Asterisk, etc.  I have read that it is difficult or not possible to 
get the message waiting indicator to show for the BT-102.  Is this a 
problem with the GXP-2000 or Polycom phones ?

Also is it possible to use the Linksys POE injector/splitter to power a 
BT-102 ? Or are there other solutions for POE?

Some Web references follow for the keen.

Thanks for any thoughts or input on this.

Mike

Linksys POE Injector/Splitter
http://www.insight.ca/apps/productpresentation/index.php?format=print&product_id=LNKPPOE12



BT-102
http://www.canadianvoipstore.com/product_info.php?cPath=95_105&products_id=40

GXP-2000
http://www.canadianvoipstore.com/product_info.php?cPath=95_106&products_id=331

Polycom 301
http://www.canadianvoipstore.com/product_info.php?products_id=757

Polycom 501
http://www.canadianvoipstore.com/product_info.php?products_id=758