VoIP Cuts the Cord
Photograph: Marc SimonIf you like saving big bucks on long-distance and international calls with a Voice-over-IP phone plan (typically around $15 to $30 per month for unlimited U.S. calling), you'd probably love being able to use it with a Wi-Fi handset that lets you enjoy wireless freedom. Since Wi-Fi is available all over the world, you could bring a Wi-Fi handset on your European grand tour, yet pay no more than your normal U.S. monthly fee for all the calls home you care to make. Others could call you, too, at your regular number, anywhere in the world, at domestic prices. Just try that trick with a cell phone.
The snag, of course, is that Wi-Fi is nowhere near as ubiquitous as cell network coverage--and the first-generation handsets we tried don't yet support the log-in screens found at most public hotspots. A Wi-Fi travel router will let you use the phone (and your Wi-Fi-enabled laptop) in hotel rooms with wired broadband access via ethernet, though.
It's worth noting that if you expect to use the phone only at home, you're probably better off using a less expensive, more feature-filled regular cordless phone with your VoIP box or router. But even if you take a relatively bells-and-whistles-free Wi-Fi phone just to work, it could help trim your cell phone bill. Keep an eye out as well for new models with more features and functionality, such as UTStarcom's upcoming hybrid phone that can make and receive calls over both Wi-Fi and cell networks. However, it can't switch one call between the two networks.
The phones we tried were the UTStarcom F1000 VoIP and the ZyXel Prestige P2000W VoIP V2 Phone. An "unlocked" F1000 model that can operate with any VoIP service provider willing to divulge your normally hidden account connection details (not all providers will) costs $195; an unlocked Prestige runs $249.
UTStarcom F1000
The alternative is to get your phone from a VoIP service provider; doing so is cheaper and easier but ties you to that company. Our F1000 came from Vonage, which sells the model for $80. (You can also buy the F1000 through BroadVoice and VoIPTalk.) We got the phone registered and running in a few minutes, and though it dropped the line on the first call we made, it worked perfectly during the rest of our testing.
Voice quality was comparable to that of a cellular or cordless phone, and we wandered more than a full city block from our Belkin Pre-N router with no noticeable degradation in the quality of the call.
ZyXel Prestige P2000W
By contrast, our unlocked ZyXel handset was harder to set up since it wasn't tied to a specific VoIP provider. It also took longer to connect calls than the UTStarcom did, and it emitted three annoying dings before the phone on the other end started to ring. And unlike the UTStarcom, the ZyXel lacks WPA support and is too large and clunky to fit in your pocket.
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