Long range cordless phone

jsbbroady

I recently bought 4 new cordless hand sets from Eircom (probably my first mistake) but the range on these sets is horrific, they will only do about 10 metres. These units are being used is office/warehouse environment, we have tried putting the base units high in open air (warehouse) and low on shop floors but it seems that floors and walls are killing the signals.
I have seen this but they are 550USD, well over my budget.

Has anyone experience with commercial long range cordless sets? Any advise or info would be great!

JB

zeka

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BoB_BoT

hey jsbbroady, unfortunately standard cordless phones have an indoor range of 50meters and an outdoor of 300meters (i'm assuming that means line of sight/no interference from walls etc..). On top of that I think each phone is tuned into a certain base station so you can't use it like a roaming network. If you're only getting 10meters from the base station (even with a wall in between) there's a possibility the walls are filled with something blocking the signal, or perhaps just too thick. Try and check the range without any impediments.

Your only real option then is an industrial grade phone setup which would have the signal boosted from the base station. What kinda space/range you need are we talking here?

I personally can't give you an recommendations on brands/products, but just browsing around a lot of them look to be in that price range and higher.

FusionNet

Hi there. What you need is a proper commercial dect system or else look at a voip system. There commercial dects use relays and boosters placed around your warehouse or where ever you need them. They are very good and its what a lot of the big companies would use. The problem is a proper dect system aint cheap..

Another option would be to use wi-fi and voip cordless handsets.. These can be a cheaper solution as you will be using wi-fi points and possibly high gain antenna. If you would like more info I could look into getting you some brand names to look up?

ISOT

jsbbroady wrote: »

I recently bought 4 new cordless hand sets from Eircom (probably my first mistake) but the range on these sets is horrific, they will only do about 10 metres. These units are being used is office/warehouse environment, we have tried putting the base units high in open air (warehouse) and low on shop floors but it seems that floors and walls are killing the signals.
I have seen this but they are 550USD, well over my budget.

Has anyone experience with commercial long range cordless sets? Any advise or info would be great!

JB

We use a brand called senao in our warehouse for about 4 years now. Great range and no need for repeaters anywhere. We have a lot of steel and walls in our warehouse. I have tried many different models and these are the only ones that work. They are not cheap, approx €400 for base station and handset and handsets about €200 each after that. Unfortunately you will not solve this problem cheaply but in my opinion this is the simplest way to do it.
If you want details on where we get the phones I can give them to you.
if you google" senao sn-358" you will see the model i use. They also have a very large range in open air.

Alun

ISOT wrote: »

We use a brand called senao in our warehouse for about 4 years now. Great range and no need for repeaters anywhere. We have a lot of steel and walls in our warehouse. I have tried many different models and these are the only ones that work. They are not cheap, approx €400 for base station and handset and handsets about €200 each after that. Unfortunately you will not solve this problem cheaply but in my opinion this is the simplest way to do it.
If you want details on where we get the phones I can give them to you.
if you google" senao sn-358" you will see the model i use. They also have a very large range in open air.

Given that they're a Canadian company, did you check on the legality of using these in Ireland? I see they use 394MHz and 268MHz, but can't find any information online about whether those frequencies are licensed for this use in Ireland.

ISOT

Alun wrote: »

Given that they're a Canadian company, did you check on the legality of using these in Ireland? I see they use 394MHz and 268MHz, but can't find any information online about whether those frequencies are licensed for this use in Ireland.

Never checked or thought of that. We originally got them from and irish supplier so I presumed that they would be ok on the frequency issue.
It was my understanding that they are a taiwan based company.
The irish supplier was taking so long to get outer ones that I found a supplier in the UK instead.

Alun

ISOT wrote: »

Never checked or thought of that. We originally got them from and irish supplier so I presumed that they would be ok on the frequency issue.
It was my understanding that they are a taiwan based company.
The irish supplier was taking so long to get outer ones that I found a supplier in the UK instead.

Sorry, I just googled the phone name and the first company that came up was a Canadian one, but they weren't the original manufacturer but a distributor or something.

Anyway, after a bit of Googling I found this document on the www.comreg.ie website

http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg0781R2.pdf

Take a look at pages 64 and 67. The frequency range 267-272MHz is reserved for Aeronautical communications, and 390-399.9MHz is reserved for the new Emergency Services TETRA radio system. So it looks like you could get into trouble there.

FusionNet

Thats why I think so many people use the wifi voip option. Wi-fi voip phones are for the cheap one about 50 sterling ish which isnt bad. The repeaters arent too expensive either. I think where the expense gathers is the possiblity of having to have a voip pbx and the installation. Worth looking into. We arent offering Voip yet but if this is an avenue you would like to explore I could point you in the right direction of a firm that could offer it to you..

ISOT

Alun wrote: »

Sorry, I just googled the phone name and the first company that came up was a Canadian one, but they weren't the original manufacturer but a distributor or something.

Anyway, after a bit of Googling I found this document on the www.comreg.ie website

http://www.comreg.ie/_fileupload/publications/ComReg0781R2.pdf

Take a look at pages 64 and 67. The frequency range 267-272MHz is reserved for Aeronautical communications, and 390-399.9MHz is reserved for the new Emergency Services TETRA radio system. So it looks like you could get into trouble there.

Alun, thanks for going to the trouble of getting that info. Looks like we will have to look at another system regarding our communications as the frequency is clearly in the reserved allocation for both the handset and base station.:(

joePC

Hi, Another solution would be to use IP Dect phones like the Snom M3 with a couple of repeaters to extend your coverage.

VoipSupply.ie supply and fit these units.

mackerooney

ISOT wrote: »

Alun, thanks for going to the trouble of getting that info. Looks like we will have to look at another system regarding our communications as the frequency is clearly in the reserved allocation for both the handset and base station.:(

Steer clear of the Senao and indeed any of the long range cordless on the market at the moment. ComReg are confisicating any in use and are chasing the original suppliers or dealers to recall any supplied in the last number of years.
Only option now is DECT or WiFi.

Alun

mackerooney wrote: »

Steer clear of the Senao and indeed any of the long range cordless on the market at the moment. ComReg are confiscating any in use and are chasing the original suppliers or dealers to recall any supplied in the last number of years.

Interesting. Are they actively scanning for transmissions on the frequencies involved do you know?

mackerooney

They are actively scanning on the frequency. They will only pick it up when you're on a call.