Skypegear Roadtest: Netgear SPH200D Cordless Skype Phone

The Netgear SPH200D is designed to let you do two things: make Skype calls, and make 'normal' calls via your landline. And not only is it cordless, it also doesn't even need a computer in order to make Skype calls as it just plugs straight into your wifi or normal ethernet router.

We've seen a few of these cordless phones pop up, and because they offer a 'one phone does all' solution they have proved very popular with Skypers whenever they come out. So how does the SPH200D stack up?

Setup

The SPH200D comes with three main pieces: the phone itself, a charging cradle and the basestation. The basestation (see below) plugs straight into the router with the supplied cable, and then it's just a case of popping the telephone cable straight in the back as well. This means you can put the phone itself and the charging cradle pretty much anywhere in your house.

Once the power's on it takes a little while for the phone to pick up the basestation first time around, but once connected it didn't seem to drop the connection at all. Then it's just a matter of entering your Skype user name and password, and the little green tick tells you you're ready to go.

Like some other Skype cordless phones such as Philips' VoIP841, the Netgear uses twin AAA rechargeable batteries rather than a proprietary battery, making it cheap and easy to replace them if they begin to stop holding their charge as all batteries do eventually.

In use

You can use the SPH200D just like a normal phone: just dial the number and hit the green button. The only difference is that when you hit the button, it will just ask you to confirm whether you want to make the call using Skype or your landline. This is handy if you like to keep this control, or you can use the options to default to using Skype if you'd prefer.

Uniquely, Netgear's phone has three buttons at the bottom: one for the intercom feature (which lets you page additional Netgear SPH150D handsets if you have them), one for the volume mute and one for the speakerphone. The speakerphone is very loud and clear, and uses a separate speaker housed in the back of the phone. There is also a headphone socket tucked away in the side under a rubber cover if you prefer to use a headset.

Ringtone-wise there are quite a few to choose from; one thing I have noticed with a few Skype phones is the lack of a nice, simple "ring ring" tone like a regular DECT phone - I guess I'm old-fashioned but I do kind of miss it

The basestation includes a 'paging' button which is useful for those "phone down the side of the sofa" moments, as well as twin lights to indicate when a Skype or landline call is in progress.

Call quality was similar to other Skype cordless phones I've tested, ie about the same as you would expect from a normal Skype call on your PC (although obviously there is an inherent improvement using a Skype phone based on the fact that the mic is right by your mouth and the speaker right by your ear!).

Whilst you can't yet use Skype text chat from the phone or send text messages, you can set your Skype status, access your contacts, accept and send new buddy requests, and access both your Skype and landline voicemail.

Conclusion

The SPH200D is a nice-looking Skype phone which really can take the place of your old 'central' home phone. Not having to power up your PC to make a Skype call is great, as is being able to choose whether to make the call via the landline or via Skype. Whilst some users may prefer the wire-free setup offered by a wifi phone such as the Belkin or SMC offerings, Netgear's phone offers a great deal of flexibility.

Pricewise the SPH200D is available in the US Skype Store now for $149.99 with a mail-in rebate, with free shipping, down from $199 plus shipping. Old Skype hands Amperordirect are selling additional handsets right now for $86.88, which includes shipping for US customers.

In the UK it will soon be available via the UK Skype Store, but in the meantime Expansys can offer you one for £103.95, with LambdaTek offering the additional SPH150D handsets for just £46.01.

In Europe it should be available soon via the appropriate Skype Store for your country.

Technorati tags: Skype calling, Skype, Netgear, Netgear SPH200D, Netgear SPH150D, Cordless telephone, DECT, internet calling, Internet telephony, VoIP

Comments

Hello,
I was wondering if the phone must be connected to a landline to be operational? I would like to take the equipment with me to Germany for use, and not sure of the compatibility of the landline connection with the base station unit.
Thanks
Judy

YES! I have the same question.

In the Philippines ... I don't have a landline in the apartment I'm renting, but I do have DSL Internet connection. Can't use SKYPE on my 8-year-old MAC laptop. Buying this would be much more economical than buying a new laptop. So, can this unit work with just a DSL connection?
Thank you,
JM

Hi guys,
Landline is strictly optional - you can use this without plugging in the landline no probs. Hope that helps!

Hello,
just wondering if the skype store offers shipping in the Philippines? (not sure, but i think they dont)

Well, hope somebody could answer my question. Been longing to buy a gadget like this but couldn't find 1 in my country...

I bought the 200 as soon as it came out along with 2 ea 150 separate handsets. I may be getting 1 more handset soon - they are going all around the house where phonelines don't run.

What I like the most is that it's synchronized - your pc and your handsets agree on your contact list info, time, funds available, etc.

If you are an old circuit switched guy it's a basic cordless phone with alot of options you'll never use and this one big RJ-45 jack you'll someday use when you become a packet switched guy.

If you have broadband already - just hook it up to both lines. I have run a landline and skype call simultaneously through the base. I need another handset to try running an intercom but that would be wild!

You can buy some decent batteries and double the handset life - I haven't done it yet but I plan to this weekend. As for the user interface, while linksys was first out of the gate, netgear gives you a 5 minute option for backlight (probably why I need better batteries) or none at all - but while charging the light dims to be able to find your handset at night in the dark - in your media room or bedroom it is great to have a charger.

I bought a skype in and set it up tonight - the handsets found it right away. I plan to use it for people to reach me and at least 1/2 of the call will be secure. I've had my lines tapped before and am confident skype will offer 100x the protection of a landline call.

The SPH200D is the best of the bunch. They all run the same chipset which cisco designed as I understand, which is why linksys got an 8 week headstart to market -but now everyone has the same chipset and the user interface is what differentiates the phones. Example - the buttons on the linksys are black plastic with a white number - but are backlit with LEDs. All you see at night are a bunch of circles - the numbers don't show through! How dumb can they be??? The Netgear uses translucent white keys with green backlight and black letters so you can see them at night. Smart.

Any 2.5 mm headset for CELLULAR phones (motorola, ex) will work on the skype set - they are NOT compatible with the garmin RINO radio handset which uses the same connector.

That's all - go call

I have a cordless Netgear for Skype as well as land line services. Since Monday night with the spread of this virus the phone has packed up with a display that reads "System is starting up". Could someone please let me know how to fix this problem.

Thanks.

Fernando

I have a Linksys CT400 and it worls very well. Except that I have a PABX at my home and the phone cannot store land line numbers with the pabx pre fix and yet allow you to call other internal extentions on the PABX.The problem is that unlike a regular cordless phones, phone book the Linksys tries to be smart and requires that you store your country code,area code and pabx access code on the phone. This confuses the system and puts the pabx access code in front of every number that you use including internal extentions.
Customer support has admitted that this is a product defect and have said that they have no plans to rectify the problem. Question I have is does the Netgear phone have the same issue?Can someone test and let me know? Thanks

I bought a Cordless Netgear 200 at the beggining of this month, since yesterday night I cannot use it at all, it says on the screem "SYSTEM IS STARTING UP", please let me know what should I do to get this working, otherwise I will return it.