dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
uniqs
20

NetFixer
From My Cold Dead Hands
Premium Member
join:2004-06-24
The Boro
Netgear CM500
Pace 5268AC
TRENDnet TEW-829DRU

NetFixer to TheSMJ

Premium Member

to TheSMJ

Re: Anyone using a bluetooth gateway?

The GE Cell Fusion™ products are possibly overkill for your needs since they will accommodate two cell phones and an optional land line service. I have been using their Cell Fusion™ Cell Manager DECT 6.0 system for several years. Their Cell Fusion™ Gateway box might be more what you are looking for since it uses your in-house telco wiring and standard telephones instead of wireless DECT phones.

I use it for two cell phones and a Vonage VoIP connection and the only "problem" I have had with it was that its automatic bluetooth association did not work reliably with the Samsung cell phones that I use. In theory you can associate your cell phones with the Cell Fusion™ controller, and the cell phones will automatically connect anytime they are within range, but I have found that I usually needed to manually remake the bluetooth connection anytime I come home (which I prefer to do anyway, so I have simply disabled the auto connect feature for consistency).

The only other "problem" I had was getting used to the idea of answering my cell phone with the DECT handset instead of the cell phone. The confusion factor was that (at least with the Samsung cell phones I use) both the cell phone and the DECT phones ring at the same time, but the cell phones can't actually be used to answer a call when their bluetooth radios are connected to the Cell Fusion™controller. Possibly other cell phone models might either disable ringing, or also allow local answering to minimize that confusion factor.
TheSMJ
join:2009-08-19
Farmington, MI

TheSMJ

Member

I ended up getting the Panasonic phones I linked to in the OP. I received them today and got them all set up in the new house.

After I got the base station linked to my cell phone, and set it for "Cell Only Mode*", it was smooth sailing. Everyone I called said they could hear me crystal clear, and I had no trouble hearing them. While I've only had the phones for less than a day and made maybe 3 calls on it total, I can say I'm very satisfied so far.

* Using cell only mode means you lose features like the phone's built in answering machine. Since your cell phone more than likely has voicemail capabilities already, its no great loss.