Tech Spotlight

Skype has become the leader with there clean and clear voice technology using the peer-to-peer specification.  There are literally hundreds of USB based phones that require a computer.  This post is dedicated to the phones that DO NOT require a computer and either connect through a CAT cable (Ethernet) or wireless through the G spec.  Please be aware you need high speed Internet for there to be enough bandwidth for your phone calls.  These devices are connected directly to your wired or wireless router.

I’m sure you heard of Vonage which is the most popular VOIP Company today with there many TV advertisements.  Vonage and Digital Voice you get from your cable company employ the same type of setup as these Skype phones do.  You get an external box that hooks up from your modem to let you make phone calls.  The problem with Vonage and services like that is you pay a high monthly fee usually $24.99-$49.99 per month for unlimited nationwide calls.  Skype can save you a bunch of money as it is usually much cheaper than this.  You can check there current fees by visiting there website.

The positives about the computer-less Skype phones are it is much cheaper than other VOIP providers, you can see your contacts from the Skype phone itself and everything is done from the handset like voicemail, call forwarding, call waiting and caller id.  The downside is if your high speed connection goes out than your phone will be useless and there is no emergency number access.

I have listed 3 phones below which have excellent voice quality.  Please note a Skype account is needed for these phones which is free but to make incoming and outgoing calls you will need to pay for Skype-In and Skype-Out.

Picture	Model	List Price
	Philips VOIP841	$149.99
	Linksys CIT400	$139.99
	NetGear WiFi SPH200W-100NAS	$149.99