Skypegear Roadtest: Panasonic KX-WP1050 Wi-fi Skype phone with Wireless Travel Router

By Stephen Pinches on February 23, 2007 in Business, Panasonic, Wifi phones.

So you arrive at your hotel, exhausted after a long flight in a far-flung part of the world, unpack your bags, power up your phone to call home only to discover: no wifi network. This doesn't have to be Kazakhstan; as any road warrior knows there are many major hotel chains in Europe and the US who only offer cable-based internet access rather than having any kind of wireless internet.

This is where the Panasonic KX-WP1050 (to give it its true title) comes into its own. Yes; Panasonic have packed into their neat little travel box not only a slim little wifi Skype phone, but also a little mini travel wireless router, which you can use both for the phone and, if needs be, for your PC or other wifi-equipped devices. Available now to US customers, Skypegear got to test it at home and away...

Out of the box

The phone comes in a very James Bond-style leather-effect case. What's inside...a wifi phone? A shaver? In fact, it could just as easily be a set of Tiffany jewels. Opening it up shows the array of different connectors and wires that Panasonic have supplied. They squash easily enough into the case, alongside the phone and the router, and everything is held tightly in place with Velcro straps.

What is really noticeable is the weight of the kit. I didn't weigh it but it is remarkably light - in fact I'd say the router weighs less than the phone itself, which is already very light.

As you can see, alongside the phone and router a number of cables are included. These consist of a power cord and adapter, a USB-mini USB cord for charging the phone, a very short Ethernet cable for attaching the router to the RJ45 network port, and a little plastic stand for the phone.

Set up

The router has a little switch marked 'Home' and 'Hotel'. When switched to 'Hotel', the router can be plugged straight into the Ethernet connection in the hotel and can then be used as a wifi base for both the phone and for your PC. In 'Home' mode, the router can be plugged either into a DSL modem or a router and used as your primary wifi router across the house.

It's important to note that a little one-time setup is required for both modes first, which involves connecting the router to the laptop and registering the network settings for both types of connection as separate profiles.

In Use

The first thing that I noticed on powering the phone up was the brightness and clarity of the screen. The icons are significantly larger than on other Skype phones I have tested, and the keyboard is incredibly responsive.

Using the wifi phone at home using your regular wifi router is as simple as selecting your network name from the list on the phone, entering the security key and logging into Skype. This phone betrays its purpose as a travellers' tool in that to type a phone number you do have to enter the country code, but quite cleverly it automatically adds the necessary '+' at the beginning of the number.

I had the opportunity to use it in my room on a recent trip to Marrakech, and to put the router through its paces. Although the initial setup does take a little while, once set up, logging on to the network from the phone is as simple as choosing 'Base unit' as your preferred network, and you're ready to go. No more nasty Moroccan mobile roaming costs for me!

It was also nice not to be tied to my desk whilst using my laptop as well. Call quality was very good both Skype-to-Skype and Skype-to-landline, with no noticeable lag or echo. I had fully intended to also use it on my recent trip to the 3GSM mobile conference in Barcelona, only to discover my apartment had absolutely no connectivity whatsoever. Whoops.

Conclusion

The Panasonic is by no means a cheap phone (the RRP is $399.95, although it can be picked up for less, for example $293.43 from Buy.com). However, there's the thing: this isn't a phone, it's a wifi router, a phone and all the cables you need for on-the-move connectivity, all wrapped into a very neat, portable package. Skype is about 2 main things: saving money, and enabling interesting and useful new ways of communicating. Anyone who has got their mobile phone bill after an overseas business trip will appreciate the advantages of a phone such as this, and the relatively short amount of time in which that $293 or even $399 investment could be recouped.

There are also some more interesting enterprise-wide applications for a piece of kit such as this. For a globally mobile sales force needing to keep in touch with head office, a bunch of these phones could dramatically affect the phone bills coming in. And there is a huge 'smug factor' in setting up your own wifi network within a hotel, and sitting on the bed doing your email whilst all your buddies are chained to their desk connections...:)

The KX-WP1050 wifi phone and router package is available now in the US from online retailers such as Buy.com for $293.43 or from Office Depot via Amazon marketplace for $275.95 plus any shipping (with a longer lead time), and should be available from the US Skype Store very shortly.

Technorati tags: Panasonic, KX-WP1050, Wifi Phone, Wifi router, VoIP, Skype for Business, Skype, Internet calling, Internet telephony, Business travel, Ethernet

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Comments

There is a world outside of US. You should seriously consider Testing the instruments in buildings which are made of bricks, mortar & cement. I have been disappointed with a number of devices where the signals do not penetrate the brick walls but work well with US type hollow dry walls.

hi there pmshah,
Just to set the record straight I am based out of the UK (plenty of bricks here!), and as I mentioned in the review also used the phone in Morocco. I haven't noticed any Skype phones performing significantly better/worse than my standard 802.11g wifi connection in respect to brick walls; they always preset a problem to wireless signals, though, of course. Be interested to hear if anyone else has experienced similar problems but certainly a brick wall can reduce the signal strength of a wireless phone or wifi connection.

Is this available to Mobile that is travelling UK users and if so where, how?

to clarify: will this phone function in UK as well as other countries?

esomerset: this phone will work fine in the UK, although the one I had to test only had a US power lead, so you'd need to just buy a US/UK plug adaptor as well. I'm not sure on plans for actually selling the phone in the UK or Cont. Europe though; at present it's only available in the US - hope that helps.

Good article.

From your review it wasn't clear to me whether the KX-WP1050 will work without the travel router. In other words, can I use it on my existing WiFi network or do I have to also plug their WiFi travel router into my network?

Thanks!

Greg

For hotel usage, why not connect your laptop to the internet and use a bluetooth headset to chat in your room. The same idea can be used for home usage as well.

Greg,

Just to clarify I tried this and you can indeed use this phone on your home network without having to use the Panasonic travel wifi router at all.

I'd like to buy this phone, does anyone know how to get this delivered to the UK? I've looked at a number of US sites but none will ship out of the US?
Many Thanks to anyone who can help out with this!

If it worked well in UK & Morocco I don't see any reason why it should not work in India. However US$ 400/- would be too much of a risk for international mail order without first hand testing. I guess I will have to wait till my next trip to UK.

I however wish they came up with something that has an RJ45 connector for internet, RJ11 for conventional pstn land line & uses the standard communication technology as is used on conventional cordless phones. Range problem & brick wall problems would be eliminated.

Call forwarding from skype to land line WITHOUT a PC would be an added bonus. I can guarantee you there would be a huge demand for it.

pmshah,
There are a number of Skype phones which do exactly what you describe. The four that spring to mind are the Philips VoIP841 (which is on special offer at the moment - check out the Skype store for details), the DUALPhone 3088 (also reviewed on Skypehear - just choose 'RTX' from the manufacturer menu on the right hand of the site at the top of the blog), the Netgear SPH200D (which I will review hopefully early next week), and the Linksys CIT400 (although this is only available in the US at present I believe).

All of these phones have a basestation you can plug your landline AND your router into, and then act like a normal DECT phone to communicate from the basestation to the handset itself, avoiding the interference problems you mention. Hope that helps - if you need more info let me know.

The Panasonic KX-WP1050 Wi-fi Skype phone is available at http://www.NYCommsDirect.com as is the Linksys CIT400, SPH200D and the Philips VoIP841, however the DUALphone 3088 is not being sold in the US.

I have been looking for a Skype phone for my home. This one is great but Panasonic needs to fix a few things. First, they should sell the handset separately as an option (something like $99 or less). I have an Apple Airport Base Station and I do not need theirs. Even if I did, I still want to have multiple phones for my several Skype accounts and buying the whole package several times is too expensive. They would sell thousands of handsets if they sold them separately, because this is a great phone. Second, they need to offer a charging cradle/dock. The battery life is very short and it is a hassle to have to hook up the handset to the base station or some computer through USB every other day. Third, they should upgrade the software on the phone so that you can have a list of identities and easily flip between them to check/enable your various accounts. You should also be able to set each identity individually so that no password need be reentered every time you switch to that identity. Overall, a very nice phone but be mindful of the limitations described above, especially as pertains to the charging cradle. I will be waiting for the second iteration before I buy another one. Panasonic, are you listening (there is zero possibility of customer interaction on your black box site)?

Does any one who used this phone believe that it would make a decent cell phone replacement? I would be using it mostly on a college campus.

Hello. First, this is by far the most comprehensive and well-written review I've seen as of yet. Thank you for that. Cost not being an issue, and for use only within the U.S., do you feel that this specific model (among all others which you have used/seen/heard of) is the best? I would like to purchase one of these Wi-Fi phones as soon as possible, but I would like to purchase the one with the best signal quality, options, user interface (including the address book), etc. I do not mind paying a premium for the accompanying router. I simply prefer to have the best Skype phone on the market, because I will be replacing my cellular service with one of these devices. Could you provide me with your personal opinion as to which model I should purchase. Thank you much!

Great Review

* I need a cordless home phone, and while I do like Skype but my OLD destop is not really good enough.
* I also like the idea of a Nokia N800, But I'd need a headset or something
* So too,Panasonic offers a dual Skype-Cordless. It has a USB "plug-in" rings when Skpe of a land line is calling.
* I also like the mobile PC option.

Tanks ... so many e-options... so much money ... so little time !

Just back from Singapore. The phone was available there. So not only the US and UK.

Hi,
Very nice review. Thank you. I am still left wondering about whether this phone is able to connect to WiFi Hot Spot or hotel wireless system that requires the user to select "Yes" to agree to users acknowlegement page that would normally be accessed with a web browser. A lot of hotels that I stay in have wireless systems that require the user to first answer "Yes" to some legalese about use. Having a "key" or password is only half of the sign-on. Those same hotels do not offer LAN/Cat5 wired connector in the room for the router. Seems like I'd be better off with a WiFi enabled PDA/smartphone running Skype. Cheers!

hey, does the phone have a jack for a headset? Can you talk into it or just hear through it?