Is a cell phone gateway what we need, and have you used one you would recommend?
April 18, 2009 1:23 PM   Subscribe

Is a cell phone gateway what we need, and have you used one you would recommend?

My husband and I have been living with just cell phones (no landline) for a few years now. When we lived in our one story, 2 bedroom apartment, everything was fine. However, now that we have a 2-story house we've run into a problem: When one of our cell phones rings, odds are it will be on the floor that we are not on, which means a lot of sprinting up/down stairs to get the phone. That is IF we even hear it ringing in the first place.

I've done a little research and discovered cell phone docking gateways, which would theoretically let us dock our cell phones while at home and have them ring through to cordless handsets throughout the house. The reviews I've read have been mixed, at best.

So my questions are: Is a cell phone gateway the best way to improve our phone situation? Do you have one that works well that you would recommend? Are there any drawbacks that I should be aware of?

(FWIW, we're both on Verizon and due to get new cell phones this summer.)
posted by geeky to Technology (3 answers total) 3 users marked this as a favorite
 
I posted about this in an earlier thread (I erroneously stated that I spent $30; it was more like $50 on sale). I've been using a GE Cell Fusion Bluetooth Gateway for just about a year now and I'm pretty happy with it. The only oddities that I had to get used to:

1. Dialing out - You need to prepend a number with: #1# (this selects line 1 on the BT gateway. #2# would select line 2 if you have it set up). If you get decent cordless phones, you can easily setup a speed dial for this.

2. Answering - There's about a 1 second delay between answering the cordless phone and the gateway switching the call over. This MAY be wonkiness with the crappy cordless phones that I have.

Otherwise, it's one of the best telecom purchases that I've ever made.
posted by zerokey at 6:54 PM on April 18, 2009


I forgot to add - caller ID passes through to the handsets cleanly.
posted by zerokey at 6:55 PM on April 18, 2009


Can you try harder to keep your phone on you? Mine is on me or next to me at almost all times. You could buy a Cliphanger and the Auto Hooks and hang several hooks around the house to hang them on. I have a couple in different places in my house. You could also buy multiple chargers so you don't have to worry about moving chargers around. I have extras because I always get Sony Ericsson phones and my phones all have had the same charger.
posted by IndigoRain at 10:41 PM on April 18, 2009


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