Tes Ted. Reviewed. veRdic Tizedreviews
W
e love the value and sound quality of
free Skype calls, but we really don’t
like wearing a goofy headset to make
them. Sure, there are more phone-like USB
headsets available (we reviewed a couple in the
September 2006 issue), but they require your
PC to be on 24/7 to work. That’s just a drag.
Now there’s another option for Skype
users—the Wi-Fi Skype phone. These new
devices connect directly to your Wi-Fi access
point and serve as their own client, so you can
make Skype-to-Skype calls in addition to mak-
ing and receiving calls across normal phone
lines, without the need for a powered PC. And
even better, you can easily take the phone with
you when you’re outside your home. Très cool.
—Will Smith
SmC WSKP100
SMC’s Skype phone is proof positive that
consumer electronics design in 2006 is largely
inspired by the iPod. Shiny, white plastic
design? Check. Rounded edges? Check.
Flat face? Check. Poor user interface that
frequently doesn’t work right, and a screen
that sometimes shuts off at random? Oh wait,
Apple’s products don’t have that.
And that’s the crux of the problem with the
WSKP100. When it works, it sounds great, is
comfortable to use, and performs as prom-
ised. If you jostle it the wrong way, however,
the screen turns off—making it difficult to dial,
hang up, or even tell if the phone is on. Even
worse, some of the soft keypad buttons inex-
plicably don’t work. In order to dial a 9, you
sometimes have to mash the button three or
four times. Boo, hiss.
On the brighter side, the SMC phone
handily beat Netgear’s product by being 100
percent compatible with the access points
we tested it with—including commercial APs
designed for public use, as well as a variety
of 802.11b, 802.11g, and Draft-N hardware
you’ll find in people’s homes. The phone
also worked fine with APs that use WPA2-
PSK encryption.
Expect to get a full day’s use from this
phone on a single charge—and recharge
anywhere you want using a standard mini-
USB connector.Netgear SPh101
Now this phone is sexy. And its tiny candy-bar
formfactor, shiny, white fascia, and knobby
plastic buttons make it not only attractive,
but easy to use—plus its sound quality was
noticeably better than the SMC phone’s.
Battery life is roughly the same as a good cell
phone—about three hours of talk time; 15-20
hours of standby.
The SPH101 uses the same interface
as the SMC phone, which should be famil-
iar to Skype users. After the initial con-
figuration, you’re presented with an easily
navigable interface, which mimics theSkype software interface.
The only problem we had with the
SPH101 was in compatibility with certain
post-802.11g Wi-Fi hardware. Despite our
best efforts, we just couldn’t get the phone to
connect to a Linksys WRT54GX4—a router
that was eventually deemed incompatible by
Netgear. That said, we were able to connect
the SPH101 using a wide variety of other
hardware without a problem, so it’s possible
this is an isolated problem.
For Skype-aholics who need a Wi-Fi fix
today, this is the phone to buy. But we’re
going to wait for second-generation hardware
before spending our cash.Skype Phone Fandango
Can you hear me? Can you hear me now?
Netgear’s SPh101 delivers awesome Skype
sound quality in a cute, pocket-size package. $280, http://www.netgear.comnetgear sph101guglielmo marCoNi
Everything works and sounds
great! Call anyone in the world
(who has Skype) for free!
david alter^8
Pretty expensive; compatibility
problems.$200, http://www.smc.comsmc wskp1002.4ghz
Decent sound quality;
cheaper than the competi-
tion; worked with all routers.
6
Buttons work inconsistently
and screen randomly shuts off.900 mhzSmC subscribes to the apple school
of design, but the keypad problems
and twitchy screen rob this phone of
a recommendation.1.9"4.5"1.8"4.3"december 2006 MAXIMUMPC 81