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Cisco (Linksys) Internet Phone Adapters

The Cisco ATAs. These adapters all basically have one or two phone ports to which you can hook up one or two regular phones (actually phone lines – for example you could connect this into your household wiring. See the how-to section above.) As they are highly configurable and also “industry standard” they will have a useful life for a long time, and could be easily resold, used in different roles, etc. Cisco acquired Linksys in 2003 and slowly migrated away from the Linksys name. Recently they’ve started to just use the Cisco name. You’ll see the Linksys name on older equipment.

Cisco (Linksys) PAP2T – 2 Port Phone Adapter

The Cisco PAP2T – is a phone adapter only. It provides two phone ports and is useful if you have ample internet inside your house. This is a highly-configurable, solid and reliable adapter.

Cisco (Linksys) SPA2102 2 Port Phone Adapter With Router

This is the same as the PAP2T but with a router built in. This router can handle your internet connection. You’ll still need a wireless router “behind” this device if you want to distribute wireless in your home. But the major advantage of daisy-chining this device between your modem and the rest of your internet connections is that it can serve as a traffic cop – allowing all the voice traffic to go before other traffic – ensuring good sound quality in tight bandwidth situations. For this reason and the fact that it acts as a 2 port adapter (like the PAP2T) means that I’d highly recommend spending the extra money over the PAP2T

Cisco SPA3102 – Voice Gateway with Router

Linksys SPA3102.This is an interesting device for more advanced users but it allows for some interesting flexibility. There is only one port for an internet phone but there is a place to plug in a regular phone linee – that’s right, you can plug in a regular phone line.

Basically this allows for many bridging arrangements between the regular phone line and internet phone line. Like you could call in on one line and get the other. Why would you want to do that? Say you have an unlimited plan for the city you are living in but are always phoneing back to another city in a distant land (read: expensive long distance). So you can phone in from your cell, get outside access and save big. Also, it allows you to treat the internet as a huge extension cord. Have your local land line ring in two places – like at home, and your winter home in Buenos Aries.

This device also has a router (like the SPA2102) above and can manage your internet traffic the same way. So, because of it’s incredible flexibilty of bridging between two worlds, this is a good buy if you plan to experiment with internet phones or want the flexibility to forward phone lines, etc.

The Belkin Desktop Phone For Skype

This phone requires power but connects to wireless networks. It allows you to use Skype without a computer running – a big plus. If you use a regular phone number(SkypeIn) and/or phone regular phone numbers(SkypeOut) with Skype – this may be the phone for you. Some people complain that the plastic is a little cheap and the design is a little off but I think it is great for its functionality.

Line Splitters

These are the thing if you want to add a second line throughout the house. See the how-to about using the existing wiring to run your internet phone on. If you are avoiding changing the wall plates, these are just the thing. You could have some rooms with two phones and some with one. See the How-to about setting running internet phones though your home’s telephone wiring.

The Nettalk Duo

I love this little device. It’s like the best of both worlds – a MagicJack-like device for your computer (great for travelling when all you can get is Wifi) and an ATA-adapter – that you plug into a router. Read the review under the US providers menu. They don’t really distribute directly through Amazon but Amazon is selling the Dell channel. You’ll probably save a few bucks by going to Walmart.

Network Optimizers

Both of these devices are discontinued and the links may be for used items. I like these because they are self configuring. You just daisy chain them into your home network and they give priority to the voice (and gaming – probably irrelevant) packets. They figure out themselves how much they need to choke other traffic – and it is for that reason that I include them here. If the links don’t work, try searching by the product name in Amazon. You never know you could try Craigslist.org or eBay too – they were slightly popular with gamers a few years back – they should sell in the $70-$110 range.

Linksys OGV200 Network Optimizer for Gaming and VoIP

Linksys OGV200 Network Optimizer for Gaming and VoIP Linksys always makes good stuff – which is why they were acquired by Cisco.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

D-Link DI-102 – Voip Internet Accelerator Intelligent Packet Priority Engine

D-Link DI 102 Most reviews say this is great and a couple say it doesn’t work at all. My guess is that it works on OK networks. The reviews that said it didn’t work both mentioned that they are doing massive amounts of downloading when it doesn’t work. If you don’t do massive downloading it’ll probably work for you. At least there is a strong secondary market in both these devices.

Cellular Phone Adapters – to allow a regular (wired) phone to use your cell phone

This device is useful in addressing two issues. One is lousy cellular coverage in your home…and you still want to use your cell phone to make calls. You set this device up in a location that has the best cellular coverage (the most bars) and plug it into your home telephone cabling (see the How-To section for a step-by-step guide). You could just plug a wireless phone into this device to keep it really simple…but that would counter the second issue that this device solves – protecting yourself from cellular and cordless phone radiation – something that the WTO has said can be as dangerous as gasoline car fumes and the pesticide DDT.
Basically this device can be used with a bluetooth adapter to hook up with a bluetooth phone. Once it was set up, I just needed to drop my phone in close enough proximity for the bluetooth to pick it up. I would just pick up my cell phone on the way out the door and it both the connection and dis-connection were automatic. I never had to play with it after I get it set-up. Brilliant.