OT - Cordless Phone Question.

[Ray Thompson]

I stopped to get a new phone for the shop and tried to ask a couple of questions of the office store help. Ha, what a fool I was, so I will ask here. What are the advantages, disadvantages, etc. of the 5.8ghz phones over the rest of the pack.

Ray

[Jim Becker]

No huge advantage to the 5.8ghz units, IMHO. They are relatively new, so you may pay a cost premium, too. 2.4ghz has fallen in cost considerably, making it very attractive.

I've been using a multi-line 2.4ghz system for a couple of years now and easily get close to 1000' range with it. If it weren't for the "lay of the land", I could go hang out at my neighbor's cabinet shop and still have phone service! I've had no interference with my wireless LAN gear, either, and it also runs on frequencies in the 2.4ghz range.

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Ray. I suspect that the 5.8 Ghz phone is no more than a marketing gimmick. The higher the frequency, the more your distance may be reduced, and the more that obstacles will reduce your coverage. If I were going to buy a phone today, I would go with the 2.4 Ghz with spread spectrum . The spread spectrum, due to its nature of dividing your signal over many frequencies, gives you a good level of security. We have a Uniden 2.4 Ghz with spread spectrum, got it from the Uniden website as a factory rebuilt unit. It works just great.

[Jason Roehl]

Ray,

I have a Panasonid 2.4GHz cordless, which we've had for about 3 years. I thought the Sony 900MHz phone I had before was great, but this one blows it out of the water. Range is at least a couple blocks, plus it has the "digital spread spectrum" for security, speakerphone and digital answering machine, caller ID, and basically all the bells and whistles except the base keypad or multi-line and -phone capability. A word of note, though. Make sure that at least one phone per line at your residence or shop is just a plain-jane phone for when there are power outages!

[Jim Becker]

Yea, mine is a Panasonic system, too. My only complaint...and I mean only...is the lack of a mute button on the sets, including the base. Given the model I have is sold as a business phone system (multi-line, up to 8 stations), one would think that feature would be standard. I do a LOT of conference calls (my office is at home) and mute is an essential capability to be courteous to others. Unfortunately, I didn't notice it before I had it installed. The solution was a headset that includes the mute feature.

Panasonic recently introduced similar systems more for consumer use (sold at Radio Shack and others) and they continue to lack the mute button! I can't imagine I'm the only one who ever complained about this... But still, a two-line 2.4ghz system expandable to 8 stations and including sophisticated voice mail that starts at $199 is a pretty good deal if you want to go whole-house wireless (except for the aforementioned emergency analog station).

At any rate, I agree with the commentary about digital spread spectrum being highly desirable. These systems are not at all like the cordless phones of the past--they are top notch in sound, reception and features.

[Charles McKinley]

I bought a 2.4 Ghz phone that has a base unit and two remote units that just need an electric outlet. The phones all run off of the base unit. It has a page function that allows LOML to page me in the shop. It has speaker phone capabilities and a mute button. The real selling point was being able to put a phone in the shop with put having to run a line from the house. I got it at Sams club about 8 months ago. The sound is clear. No problems so far.

[Jerry Hazen]

I have the Vtech 2.4 Ghz system with multiple "plug in only" handsets. It's an improvement over every other cordless I've ever had and can honestly say I don't see a way to improve it. Works perfectly. Range and clarity are never a problem. No gigahertz-envy here!

Jerry