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ZyXel P-2000W VoIP WLAN Phone Reviewed
prostoalex writes "MSNBC reviews ZyXel's P-2000W, a VoIP-over-WLAN phone that supports 802.11b and 802.11g. Gary Krakow tests the $200 phone with a VoIP account from T-Glo (his phone came pre-programmed with that). Looks like a pretty decent solution for anyone who's on the go, but has consistent access to Wi-Fi networks: 'I took the phone with me to a number of friends' homes and tried it there. All I had to do is ask the phone to find nearby networks and join them. It was even able to find others' WiFi networks as I walked though Manhattan (no, I didn't try connecting).'"
War Talking!
Did anyone else misread that model number as a 2000 watt phone and think that would be a little excessive?
Remember RFC 873!
I know there are companies like Packet 8, that allow you to take your VOIP box with you, but you still need a regular phone and cables to go with it. This is most excellent.
what the hell kind of name is ZyXel? How is that even pronounced? Zai-shell? Zai-chel? (with or without the German ch) Zai-excel? Gimme a break.
*braces for negative modding*
"I would say that 99 per cent of what my father has written about his own life is false." - L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
Maybe someday we'll have small portable phones we can take anywhere without worrying about needing 802.11b access! I can't wait for that to happen!
"So far everything works perfectly - fluctuating summertime electrical services haven't affected my phone service at all. "
This guy is talking such shit. If he did have a proper power outage, I'm sure his VoIP is going to break.
When we had our big power outage in the NE of N. America a couple of summers back, my land line carried on flawlessly. My internet went down and stayed down longer then the power was off. That would definitely break a VoIP phone, methinks.
What ever you have to say about the baby Bells, they've had to maintain higher standards than other alternative providers of telephony. Or at least that how it seems here in Canada.
slash dotted.
I put up an asterisk exchange at home last month - I'd love to toss wifi phones thru the house ... but at $200/pop they still cost too much - maybe at ~$50 I think they get interesting
Is anyone else thinking that with a national broadband WiFi system, these could replace cell phones?
For that matter, will the current telcos let this stand or will this get lobbied out of our hands?
Sadly, I fear that this country would establish some type of law to kill it, even if WiFi efforts create a national network. Damn the man!
Congress if of teh suck!I'm in a situation where we have a VOIP phone system in-house with between 3 and 7 APs across a 2 square mile radius. I'd be curious to know if it drops the call when it switches APs. I know most proxim cards don't if you're on a laptop but d-links do. I won't get into the quality of dlink wireless products. ugh
Anywho, with a standby time of 24 hours and a 4 hour talk time its not too bad. It doesn't look like the radio is very sensitive so I imagine this thing requires a quality signal but thats really to be expected.I work for a large company...I think I just need to say our products are green and Yellow and you can figure out who we are...but never the less, a lot of our dealers are actually using these phones between their locations in order to cut down on their long distance costs. The range on these phones is pretty good and are a breeze to setup. Zyxel isn't very big in the US yet but they are huge in Taiwan. IF you want to find out what they are all about, check out their Zywall Firewalls. These things are absolutely fantastic firewalls and blow sonic walls out of the water. Hopefully Zyxel starts making it big and can bring more great products to the market.
and funnily enough it failed, why ? lack of connection points (it was relativly cheap too)
BBC story about it , would be wise to read it before praising Wifi phones just yet
The loop hole in telecommunications regulation. A non-telephony mobile phone network. I'm sooo impressed, and worried that these things will have the FCC or whatever regulator applies to your country, making up new laws governing VoIP, simply because it is just so simple to use, vs computer and software. The key is the Wi-Fi.
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Wow! How revolutionary! A phone that doesn't need wires, that you can use almost anywhere, that doesn't have long distance charges! Honestly, who cares if it's VOIP? People still complain about quality of regular cell service. I can't imagine VOIP over 802.11x. It brings new meaning to, "Can you hear me now?"
That's kinda' like geeks who buy a powerful PC with a video card so that they can watch TV on their PC's.
I don't respond to AC's.
I have one of these and while it is pretty neat, it still is pretty clearly a first generation product, despite being version 2 of the model.
The largest problem is that you can't use these phones in places where you have to log onto a service provider in order to use the wifi connection - for example at a Starbucks. You can only use it on wifi access points that are wide open or for which you have the WEP key. Both 64 & 128 bit WEP are supported though.
The firmware is still a little flaky. Once in a while, it randomly reboot itself. Also, it sometimes has trouble connecting with access points that use MAC address filtering, even if the phone's MAC address is correctly entered on the allowed list.
The phone is easy enough to configure via its web interface. There appear to be a few features that are only configurable via web interface and a few that are only configurable via the phone's menus.
The phone can hold only one set of SIP settings (i.e only one VOIP provider account) at a time.
Battery life sucks. The manual suggests something like 20 hours standby and 3-4 hours talk. I'm guessing that the real numbers are around half of that.
I bought mine at an Office Depot office supplies store (US$199), and it came with a sticker on the box promoting tglo and promising a $50 rebate if you signed up for tglo service. The phone is NOT locked to tglo and I have tried mine on Freeworld Dialup and SipPhone among others.
The Zyxel website provides firmware downloads and a fairly comprehensive manual.
Other than that, it pretty much works as advertised.
What kind of ringtones does that bad boy got?!
Here we set ourselves up again to be arrested by buying another device that is set out of the box to be able to access networks without security.
) Human Kind Vs Human Creation
) It'd be interesting to see how many humans would survive to serve us.
Maybe things have changed a lot with the new firmware version, but Nugget of distributed.net fame really doesn't like his:
http://slacker.com/~nugget/asterisk3.php
Keep reading past that page, and he says he doesn't use it at all anymore due to it being so terrible.
I'd looked into these a month ago and this is the most positive review I've seen. Most reviews rate it as ok but flawed. I'm a geek and work for a VOIP provider. I'd like one just because it'd be fun to roam around work, home, and who knows where else without paying roaming or using cell time. I live in a rural area thought and wifi just doesn't reach far enough to get service in a whole lot of places either in the country or in town around a brick wall. I just don't see it as much more than a toy unless you live in an urban area dense with wifi points. And plan to remain on that AP for the duration of the call.
"I may disagree with what you have to say, but I shall defend, to the death, your right to say it." -Voltaire
My ideal wifi handset would automatically find an open network and connect. And if it could not find an open network it would commence hacking into the least secured closed one. Not to mention logging anything financial that goes accross the line, and decrypting data in real time...
Well, first voip handset provider to supply this has my business!
----
sarcasm ( P ) Pronunciation Key (särkzm)
n.
A cutting, often ironic remark intended to wound.
A form of wit that is marked by the use of sarcastic language and is intended to make its victim the butt of contempt or ridicule.
The use of sarcasm.
"A learning experience is one of those things that says, 'You know that thing you just did? Don't do that.'" - DNA
Although neither of these are quite realeased yet,
Truphone + a Nokia N91
VoIP Over 802.11b when you can, and cellular when you can't.
(sorry about the N91 link. It's as close as I could get on their stupid flash site)
When WiMAX becomes widely available, these things will be really nice.
VoIP enables you to use the Internet to make telephone calls by sending your voice as data packets over the Web.
Can someone who works in VOIP confirm that we're not sending out http packets?? When will people learn. *shakes head*
Neither the article nor any comments I saw so far have mentioned any encryption. WPA-PSK? WEP? Cisco? Is VoIP by nature encrypted? Are there any privacy issues?
Dings against this device:
1. No WPA support!
2. This device can't give user credentials for a T-Mobile hotspot account or other similar types of roaming Wi-Fi accounts
So basically, I like the idea but its security needs massive improvement and it needs to be able to work on authenticated gateways that you find at most mobile wi-fi hotspots. Sure this device will work great on any insecure or unsecured WiFi network but I certain refuse to use any WiFi device that doesnt support at least WPA security these days.
Why is it that my cellphone can render 3D graphics and record video but it can't perform a simple point to point encryption algorithm? There is obviously a conspiracy...
The P-2002W (the phone reviewed) looks way cooler than the 2002W I have, which has the feel of an early 90s cordless phone. The only other differences, besides looks seems to be the support for 802.11g and a portable charger to replace the bulky dock one has to carry around with the 2002W. I also noticed that the new model (like the 2002W) does not have support for WPA encryption, which is mandatory in some hotels and labs.
One major complaint I have about the 2002W is that it heats up a lot, and one can only hope that they've brought this factor under control in the new model. The 2002W will give you an unpleasant reminder that you've talked more than 45 minutes if you accidentally bring it in contact with your ear.
A great feature in both phones is support for traversing NATs through outbound SIP proxies and other things (usually requires support from the provider as well, since NAT traversal is not natively part of SIP). This explains why the author of the article was able to get it working everywhere.
It was a present from me but I use it sometimes. It's the v.1 less slick model.
What it really needs is a tiny browser to accept the splash page on free AP's (e.g. Panera bread). Or just a function that retrieves a random webpage and "presses" any OK/I_Agree/Accept buttons.
On a few occations I have brought a laptop, changed the MAC address to match the phone, started a browser, accepted the terms of use, turned the laptop off, and turned the phone on. Then it works.
What it really needs is an open source firmware.
Then there's towns out in the deserts of eastern Oregon and Washington which do not have speck one of cellular coverage on any network, but *does* have high speed wifi internet access covering every last square inch of the town.
Help us build a better map!
... a mixed-mode phone - one that will work over WiFi AND also over one (or many) standard cellular technologies - for instance I would love a small WiFi + GSM phone !!!
Most public access points want a userid/password to get on their network. There no way to enter that info from the phone itself. Maybe this next gen phone has a way. The article didn't mention.
Article: "I followed the instructions and asked the phone to find nearby 802.11b or 802.11g wireless networks. After a few tries it found my home access point. I typed in my network's security code - the phone re-booted and was ready to make clear sounding phone calls. "
According to a user on Vonage Forum, Vonage has requested that Zyxel not provide assistance to owners seeking to use this phone with Vonage's SoftPhone service.
See Vonage restricting use of ZyXEL P2000
This is probably because of Vonage's investment in the competing product from UTStarcom.
ZyXEL is currently in violation of the GPL. They sell consumer grade equipment that runs Linux, Busybox and the webs web server (all GPL). However, they never mention the GPL in any docs or on their web site, and they refuse to provide source code.
Can You Say Linux? I Knew That You Could.
At this point, the majority of WiFi VoIP phones are supporting WEP and only WEP, which seriously limits their utility as more and more people (and corporations!) move to WPA. Heck, the bleeding edge have already moved from WPA to WPA2, leaving such phones even farther in the back of the dusty closet. Cisco apparently added WPA support to the 7920 firmware at some point, but even that phone was WEP-only for a good long while.
Better yet, you don't have to look very hard to find stories about non-Cisco handsets barfing on WEP 128, and stories about handsets being basically unusable with any form of WEP enabled.
As for voice encryption: SIP as it's commonly used right now merrily transmits unencrypted data via RTP. It wouldn't be difficult to record both sides of a conversation unnoticed. You wouldn't want to do, say, telephone banking transactions at a public hotspot with your WiFi phone.
Not about this phone in particular, or even Wi-Fi SIP phones in general, but rather about SIP phones in general: I don't see a lot of discussion or concern about the possibility of someone cloning my SIP phone's identity, making lots of international calls, and running up my {Vonage, Packet8, whatever} bill. Given that I have seen no VoIP provider that will bill (like a landline provider) for service, but instead they all insist on tying the VoIP account to a credit card, this could turn into a nightmare. How could I prove that it wasn't me (or my authorized agent) in AfghaniKazakistan making all those calls to this cute chick in LowerSwampozia? Has this never happened? I can imagine a company like Vonage sweeping it under the rug at first (i.e., cancelling the bill) to avoid bad publicity for VoIP, but it seems like it's gonna bite somebody someday. Or am I just a paranoid anonymous coward?
I could not give higher praise to this manufacturer for the quality of build, updates and support of theri communications gear. My ZyXel modem is still going strong.
-r
the average open Wi-fi Network AP with the default Linksys settings will not have propper QoS settings to enable acceptable voice quaility.
Forget it if they average AP has a file sharring application running through it.
An average MOS score of 2.6 or greater would be an overwhelming surprise.
Zyxel stuff supports a lot of technology -- if you include the "future software upgrade" -- and lot less out of the box. Don't count too much on the "future software upgrade" though, or be prepared to wait a long time.
We're talking here same number that can go with me almost everywhere.
holy crap, you mean i can have the same number "almost everywhere"! damn, i am so going to chuck my cell phone and its multiplicity of phone numbers! i am just so tired of having to use a different number at each cell tower i access...
I got my parents to switch to Vonage over their cable modem. Some high winds after the hurricanes came along this past summer knocked several trees down onto the phone lines, cutting out their POTS line that they keep because they want to keep the #.
Well guess what, it took two days to fix the wires from all the felled trees while that buried cable and vonage service kept chugging away.
If you were really worried about realiability like all the slashdot nuts seem to be (what did people do in 1920 when there was a fire and no phone? Run up and down the streets screaming, that's right, and it'd work today too) you'd have both a POTS, Cell, Sat. Cell, VoIP, Ham Radio, Smoke Signals and reduntant internet. Safety at any price afterall!
On the topic, the ZyXel phone doesn't do too well with G.711. Documentation recommends g.729a, and for a good reason. I have been using one for the better part of a year now, and performance (over my symmetric 10mbps link to home) was abominable using the 64kbps codec - I think the phone just couldn't handle it. It is passable using g.729a, but it's still nothing special.
Or am I just a paranoid anonymous coward?
Yes, you are a paranoid AC. That doesn't mean you're wrong, though.
Remember: Just because you aren't paranoid doesn't mean that they aren't out to get you.
Isn't this the same phone which was covered 1.5 years ago in Slashdot?
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http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/03/12/13462