Wireless Home Networking - Index of

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Part IV: Using a Wireless Network
� Security support: As mentioned, most of these Wi-Fi phones will not
work in a WPA2 Enterprise/802.1X network. Most do support WPA and
WPA2 Personal, the minimum level of security you should shoot for.
� Web browser support: If you plan on using the Wi-Fi phone in a lot of
hot spot environments, consider a model that includes a built-in Web
browser to provide a mechanism for logging into hot spots that require
use of a captive portal log-in page.
� Codec support: The codec is the voice compression algorithm used by
a VoIP system. A number of different codecs are used by VoIP service
providers. A Wi-Fi VoIP phone must support the codecs (such as G.711)
used by your service provider. (The best way to determine these codecs
is to look in the support section of your VoIP provider’s Web site or to
call tech support.)
� Form factor: Form factor (the shape and look and feel of the phone) is
unimportant to some folks and vitally important to others. VoIP Wi-Fi
phones can be big and bulky (the early ones were) or small and sleek.
The biggest distinction you’ll find is between flip phones (similar in size
and shape to flip mobile phones) and candy bar–style phones. Which
you prefer is, of course, up to you.
� Everything else: Finally, a lot of little things may or may not be important
to you as you examine Wi-Fi VoIP phones. Examples here could include
the size and quality of the screen, support for additional applications
on the phone (such as e-mail or IM), button and keypad quality, and the
user interface and menus.
The most important criteria of a Wi-Fi VoIP phone is whether or not it will work
with your VoIP service. SIP VoIP services are based on standards, and any SIPcompliant
phone should work with any SIP-compliant VoIP service (which is
most services). Many VoIP service providers, however — in an attempt to
keep their support overhead to a minimum — don’t explicitly support phones
and devices on their network beyond the phones they sell or provide to their
customers. Some providers may even make it hard for you to find the information
about their service’s servers and IP addresses needed to configure
your phone.
There are a number of manufacturers of Wi-Fi VoIP phones, ranging from big
networking companies down to small specialist companies you’ve never
heard of. Some of the more popular include
� Linksys (www.linksys.com)
� SMC Networks (www.smc.com)
� Zyxel (www.zyxel.com)
� D-Link (www.dlink.com)