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Technical Details
- Call anyone else on Skype, anywhere in the world for free
- No PC required
- Make and receive calls wherever you have WiFi access
- Manage your Skype contact list and view who is available to talk
- Forward calls to your mobile, landline or to another Skype name
- Communicates with ordinary phones WW for pennies a minute
Product details
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Product Description
Manufacturer's Description
NETGEAR's Skype WiFi Phone is the world's first wireless Internet phone that can make free calls to other Skype users anywhere in the world, anytime you have WiFi access, without a PC. All of your contacts are shown right on the phone's color display so you will know exactly who is on-line. You will also be more available for your friends to call, because you no longer have to be on your PC to be connected. You can even make calls to ordinary phones using Skype-Out for just pennies a minute and no monthly fees. With the Skype WiFi Phone, NETGEAR makes true mobile wireless Internet telephony a reality.
Product Description
NETGEAR's Skype WiFi Phone is the first device to let you make free domestic and international calls to other Skype users over a wireless network without being tied to a PC. It is great to use at home or work where you already have wireless access, whether or not it is WEP encrypted. For a small fee, you can have voicemail, or even talk with non-Skype users on ordinary phones at deep discounts. With Skype WiFi Phone, NETGEAR makes mobile wireless Internet telephony a reality.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
53 of 54 people found the following review helpful
I took umbrage with a magazine which reviewed this model and marked it down because of short battery life and the fact that it can't hook up to networks which need browser authentication. They were treating it as a possible mobile replacement and that's a job that it simply can't do. Apart from anything else, the open wireless infrastructure is too patchy to allow seamless accessibility. Think of where mobile phones were 20 years ago and that's where this is as far as on-the-go access is concerned.
You could certainly carry it around with you so long as the networks you intend to access are either open or you know the keys, which rules out hotspots which usually require a browser which this doesn't have.
The reason I bought it was to allow my wife to call me using Skype without having to switch on the PC. She's not a great fan of "silly computers" though she has come to terms with them over the years at work but loved using this. What it does is simple enough - it hooks up to your wireless network and allows you to make and receive Skype calls without having to turn on the PC.
Think of it as being a cordless phone that uses Skype. The battery life is not great but that doesn't matter so long as you remember to connect it to charge when you're not using it. You also need to bear in mind that, like any VOIP connection, the quality of the call depends on a lot of factors because the call is routed via the internet.
Working out of the country and spending a fortune on phone calls (you only realise how far the telecoms industry still has to go in terms of opening up competition when you see how exorbitant international rates remain) it was exactly what we needed. I've since bought a combined landline and Skype phone from Skype for use by my wife and taken this with me so now we can both make and receive Skype calls without the inconvenience of being at the computer.
If you recognise it's limitations and spend enough on calls to make the purchase cost worthwhile then you won't be disappointed. It works straight out of the box, has the familiar Skype interface and does exactly what is claimed. Try and pretend it's something else - e.g. a mobile - then you will definitely be disappointed...
You could certainly carry it around with you so long as the networks you intend to access are either open or you know the keys, which rules out hotspots which usually require a browser which this doesn't have.
The reason I bought it was to allow my wife to call me using Skype without having to switch on the PC. She's not a great fan of "silly computers" though she has come to terms with them over the years at work but loved using this. What it does is simple enough - it hooks up to your wireless network and allows you to make and receive Skype calls without having to turn on the PC.
Think of it as being a cordless phone that uses Skype. The battery life is not great but that doesn't matter so long as you remember to connect it to charge when you're not using it. You also need to bear in mind that, like any VOIP connection, the quality of the call depends on a lot of factors because the call is routed via the internet.
Working out of the country and spending a fortune on phone calls (you only realise how far the telecoms industry still has to go in terms of opening up competition when you see how exorbitant international rates remain) it was exactly what we needed. I've since bought a combined landline and Skype phone from Skype for use by my wife and taken this with me so now we can both make and receive Skype calls without the inconvenience of being at the computer.
If you recognise it's limitations and spend enough on calls to make the purchase cost worthwhile then you won't be disappointed. It works straight out of the box, has the familiar Skype interface and does exactly what is claimed. Try and pretend it's something else - e.g. a mobile - then you will definitely be disappointed...
18 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Battery life on standby seems to be 10 hours or less. Even in the home it needs to be on charge regularly. Out of the home you can connect to some hotspots (mycloud are doing a free trial) but it takes some time to connect and not always reliable.
Settings seem to get forgotten and have to be re-entered. On a couple of occasions the phone has got very hot for no apparent reason. It works with Skypeout and it originally displayed my credit balance on the main screen but now it always shows a zero credit balance. Sometimes this stops me making a Skypeout call even when I know I have credit.
On the positive side I have made calls where the recipient has commented on the good audio quality without knowing it was a Skype call.
Try waiting until Netgear have sorted out the poor battery life and all the bugs.
Settings seem to get forgotten and have to be re-entered. On a couple of occasions the phone has got very hot for no apparent reason. It works with Skypeout and it originally displayed my credit balance on the main screen but now it always shows a zero credit balance. Sometimes this stops me making a Skypeout call even when I know I have credit.
On the positive side I have made calls where the recipient has commented on the good audio quality without knowing it was a Skype call.
Try waiting until Netgear have sorted out the poor battery life and all the bugs.
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful
Quite a few things wrong with this phone, but overall, when it works, it works great. Audio quality is excellent. Just wish it wasn't so quirky.
Battery life is poor - less than a day. It should have a cradle to plug back into to keep it topped up, but there isn't one. Just a firewire socket for power. I have to keep logging in, because the 'automatically log in' feature doesn't work. Ringing tones are awful and anything above zero (you can hear it at zero), distorts. Changing volume produces the loudest beep in your ear that you and the other person at the end of the line can hear.
But on the good side, the audio quality is superb.
Battery life is poor - less than a day. It should have a cradle to plug back into to keep it topped up, but there isn't one. Just a firewire socket for power. I have to keep logging in, because the 'automatically log in' feature doesn't work. Ringing tones are awful and anything above zero (you can hear it at zero), distorts. Changing volume produces the loudest beep in your ear that you and the other person at the end of the line can hear.
But on the good side, the audio quality is superb.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Freedom around the office
WiFi Internet phones seem to be difficult to find. This one works fine around the office and means I don't have to be in front of the computer to get the benefits of Skype. Read more
Published on 6 July 2009 by M. G. Anderson
quite good
Bought as a christmas present for my mum to talk to my dad for free on skype.
Its not bad and considering it was one of the first skype phones and it does the job. Read more
Its not bad and considering it was one of the first skype phones and it does the job. Read more
Published on 24 May 2009 by Ollie
Netgear SPH101
A good product but somewhat unreliable...
The overall functionality of the device is good, has the full range of features that I had expected and is compact and... Read more
The overall functionality of the device is good, has the full range of features that I had expected and is compact and... Read more
Published on 22 May 2009 by C. Hooker
TERRIBLE PHONE - DO NOT BUY!!
I started using this phone three days ago and already I've had a host of major problems - poor connectivity even when very close to the router, very poor reception on the phone... Read more
Published on 27 Sep 2007 by C. Richards
Works great for me.
As the title says .. Works great for me. When it arrived it took 5 mins to get it up and away and since then it has worked 100%. No problems at all. Read more
Published on 2 Sep 2007 by Ken Baker
Nice face, shame it it doesn't work well
Looks good, feels good and a real treat when you get it out of the box. I have a Netgear Router and it connected first time and life looked good. Read more
Published on 20 Jun 2007 by Mr. N. J. Palliser
Nice concept, but badly let down by battery life
I'm a big Netgear hardware fan, and so was eager to use their W-fi enabled Skype phone.
However, battery life makes this near to unusable as a 'wireless' device. Read more
However, battery life makes this near to unusable as a 'wireless' device. Read more
Published on 30 Jan 2007 by Dr. S. McANDREW
Principle is great, practically it's rubbish
Great idea in principle, however:
Key problems:
1. When you click the option to save settings, it appears to do nothing as it loses the settings. Read more
Key problems:
1. When you click the option to save settings, it appears to do nothing as it loses the settings. Read more
Published on 7 Jan 2007 by Richard Jones
It was worth the wait!
Firstly, it has been reported that Battery life when new is only a day! True, but as with new mobile phones, the batteries this handset uses holds the charge just like a mobile... Read more
Published on 11 Dec 2006 by Frederick Orchard
Great idea - shame it doesn't work better!
Terrible battery life and no drop-in charger. Loses its connection to Hub or to Skype very often, and doesn't reconnect as it says it should. Read more
Published on 11 Dec 2006 by Inspector Gadget
