Belkin Wi Fi Phone for Skype with Boingo Hot Spot Manager F1PP000GN SK
Belkin Wi Fi Phone for Skype with Boingo Hot Spot Manager F1PP000GN SK
If you’re a Skype subscriber, you’re probably very happy with the cheap calls you can make to overseas land lines and mobile phones, and you’re probably ecstatic over the free calls you can make 24/7 to your fellow Skype subscribers around the world. But you’re probably not overjoyed having to be tethered to your computer in order to make those calls.
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Thankfully, Belkin has come to your rescue. With the Belkin Wi-Fi Phone for Skype, not only are you free to roam away from your computer as you talk turkey with Istanbul, you don’t even need a computer to make calls. As long as you have access to a Wi-Fi network — any hot spot will do — you can use your Belkin Wi-Fi phone to connect to your Skype account and talk to your heart’s content.
We recently put a beta model of the Belkin Wi-Fi phone to the test, and we walked away impressed with its potential. While there are a few wrinkles still to iron out, the Belkin Wi-Fi has a promising future with Skype subscribers.
How Skype Works
For the uninitiated, Skype is a free service that allows you to use your computer’s broadband connection to make phone calls to anywhere in the world. You simply create a free account on the Skype web site, download software to your computer, and once you have a microphone and headset, you can call land lines, mobile numbers or other Skype users through your computer. The Belkin Wi-Fi for Skype takes the computer, headphones and headset out the equation, but this is generally how the service works.
With Skype, your calls to overseas non-Skype users are substantially cheaper than most cell phone or land-line services, and your calls to your fellow Skype users, regardless of where they are in the world, are absolutely free. So if you’re in a business that requires extensive overseas communication, or you’re trekking the globe, Skype is a service you’ll want to consider.
The Belkin Wi-Fi Phone Design
At about the same dimensions and weight of an average open-faced cell phone, such as the Sony Ericsson T637, the Belkin easily passes the transportability test. The phone features a durable black shell and a bright screen that offers a soft blue and white background with crisp black text. While adequate in low-light or office conditions, the screen doesn’t fare well in bright sunshine, but it’s still readable. Because the phone is only intended to be used for calls, it does not include any advanced media options. This interface is designed simply to get you connected to your Skype account. An easy-to-use center control toggle makes it a snap to navigate through the phone menu, and the number pad is similar in size to cell phone. The charging port and headphone connection are provided on the bottom of the phone, while the volume control is set to the side. Overall, it’s a straightforward design, without any bells or whistles, that gets the job done.
How the Belkin Wi-Fi Phone Works
Although you initially need a computer to sign up for a Skype account, the Belkin only needs an open 802.11 b/g-compatible wireless access point to get you connected.
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Without exception, the quality of our overseas Skype-to-Skype calls was as clear as any land line we’d ever used. There were no lags in the conversation, and nothing resembling static. |
Once you power up, you can easily configure your Belkin Wi-Fi phone to auto-connect so that within seconds you’ll be ready to talk. But if you’re on the road, you’ll want the option of connecting manually to the strongest available network. Using the center toggle, it’s easy enough to navigate to the network settings where you’ll see the full list of available networks and their relative signal strengths. You simply choose the one you want to connect to. If the Wi-Fi network offers open access, the Belkin will connect to it automatically; if it requires a password, you’ll be prompted to submit it via the phone’s keypad.
Once you’re connected, the phone will sign you into your Skype account, and you’ll be ready to talk. Your “contacts” folder will give you direct access to all of your Skype contacts. Simply navigate to the person you want to call, and if they’re signed in, you can be talking to them within seconds. If you want to call a land line, you use the key pad to dial the number the old fashioned way. And while you lose some of the Skype features with the Belkin that you otherwise have with your computer, such as the ability to initiate conference calls, you gain the freedom of being able to roam within the range of any accessible wireless network as you talk.
Connection Quality and Convenience
We tested the Belkin Wi-Fi for Skype by calling land lines and cell phones in the continental United States, and by calling overseas to other Skype subscribers. While the quality of the connections within the U.S. to non-Skype users varied, the voice clarity was generally adequate on our end, though in each case the recipient of our calls did not immediately recognize our voice. Also, in each case there was a perceivable lag in the conversation that was intrusive at times.
However, we would normally not use Skype to make non-Skype calls within the U.S. With more than 80 percent of its subscribers outside of the U.S., Skype is ideal for international calls, and it’s truly optimized for Skype-to-Skype calling. In our third set of tests, we called fellow Skype subscribers in Europe. Without exception, the quality of our overseas Skype-to-Skype calls was as clear as any land line we’d ever used. There were no lags in the conversation, and nothing resembling static.
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None of this is to say that the beta phone we tested was without flaws. In our first round of testing, the phone powered up and connected to our office network seamlessly. However, in subsequent calls using the same network, we had some connection difficulties. Although the Belkin phone could “see” the network, and the password was configured correctly, it simply wouldn’t connect. But once we took the phone to a public hot spot, it once again performed flawlessly.
One design problem we encountered involved the phone’s power-saving mode. After 30 seconds of inactivity, the screen goes completely dark and the phone appears to be shut down. Changing the screen’s “time out” settings had no effect on this. This would not be an issue if the phone had a feature such as a continuous time display or screen saver that indicated that the phone was still powered up. As it stands, however, it’s too easy to assume the phone is shut down when the screen is black, and it’s therefore easy to inadvertently drain the battery.
But that’s a glitch that should easily be rectified, and it did little to take away from our overall conclusion that the Belkin Wi-Fi for Skype is a phone that has the potential of turning your free Skype subscription into an invaluable asset.
Pros
- Durable, compact design
- Exceptional clarity with Skype-to-Skype calls
- Eliminates the need for a computer while making Skype calls
Cons
- Inconsistent quality of non-Skype calls
- Regulating the power-down mode is problematic
- Phone offers no other multi-media features
User Ratings and Reviews
5 Stars Skype Phone by Belkin
This phone does exactly what it says it will do. It is simple to set up and super simple to use. Before I went to Mexico for vacation, I loaded my skype account with about $20. This would allow me to call home via Skype to landlines. ( Skype to Skype is always free). Whenever I wanted to call home, I would turn on the phone at the hotel. As soon as I turn on the phone, even from my room, the phone asks what network you would like to join. I joined the hotel network with one click and I could now make calls. The calls were crystal clear sounding, and might I add, very cheap. Calling from the Skype phone to a pc was even better…Free! And all the while, I could be in my hotel room, or lounging by the pool instead of being tied to a computer while I made calls. This is a great way to be able to use Skype without having to lug around an expensve laptop, microphones, and earpieces, which can be cumbersome.
I loved this product so much, I bought another one for my son who is doing volunteer work in Chile this summer. He has been able to use this phone successfully from hotels, restaurants, and anywhere there is wifi.
I would definitely recommend this product.
3 Stars Expected much more
I bought the phone because skype.com recommended it and I wanted to get a reliable phone. Sadly, I did not get a reliable one. First, the design of the phone is not that good. It look much better on the picture. Personally to me, it feels cheap. The worst thing is that it tends to disconnect once in 1-2 hours from my wi-fi network, which is almost in front of the phone and router has an antenna booster. I cannot disable the sound that is associated with the disconnect, so it becomes pretty annoying, especially during the night. Battery life is rather short — 2 days without using, so I pretty much keep it plugged to the power all the time. The sound quality is not that good but I do not get any echoes. It has a plug for headphone/mic but I did not find any references on where to get a compatible set.
It is an OK phone but for $100+ I would not recommend it and would recommend to wait for the next generations of the phones.
1 Star HORRIBLE… get the NetGear one instead
This product is the worst. I should’ve read the reviews before getting it. Plug-n-play… not even close. Would not connect to my LinkSys router even with my settings as wide open as Lindsay Lohan. The user interface is clumsy and the tech support was a joke. When I started asking some tough questions about the device, the poor guy on the other line I think started to cry. Anyway, I bought the NetGear SPH200w and it worked right out of the box. Excellent job, nicely done. User interface was intuitive and setup was a piece of cake. I am an IT guy and I probably could’ve forced the Belkin device to work but that was not the point… the point was that Belkin represents this product as something my technophobiac parents could use and that is simply just not true. Again, get the NetGear.
1 Star Sound quality is terrible I ended up returning this phone twice!
This is a terrible phone I wasted my time twice, thinking the first one I got was just a lemon and returned it. The second one arrived and the sound quality was the same as the first phone. Each conversation I had on the phones was basically one-sided, I could hear the other person but they could not hear me. The phone was extremely easy to connect to my att installed wireless router and took less than 2 minutes to get it working and downloading my Skype address book. So after getting the second one that was doing the same thing I thought that it might be my internet connection speed. I so I ran a speed test with my notebook in the same location as the phone and the speed far exceeded what Skype requires, in fact when I use Skype on my notebook it works anywhere in my house perfectly. The phone is a great concept, and I would like to find one that works just as good as using Skype on the computer. It seems that several companies are selling the same phone with just a few minor changes to the case, so I am not sure if it is worth wasting my time and buying a the same thing, but by a different company. As far as I am concerned, unless lightening strikes twice, this phone is not worthless.
3 Stars Belkin Skype phone
Good product. It does however drop the signal and lose the network constantly. Its very poor voice quality on international skype out calls, and I have to revert back to my computer and headset to make important calls – that kind of defeats the object of having the phone.
