Customer Rating: 
Summary: Lame sound quality
Comment: This unit was all fine for me to use, but the other callers reported that it sounded like I was in
Australia. In a box. Under water.
I tried 2 x laptops, and spent hours faffing with the
settings with a colleague on the line, to no avail.
Tried the manufacturer, but they
didn't seem to want to diagnose over the actual phone, strangely, so I sent it back.
My
10 quid microphone from Staples and speakers are absolutely CRYSTAL clear on the same setups - so no
other option but a fault with the unit.
Manufacturer reported it was working to
specification. Ergo, afaic, these are rrrrrubbish - I can conclude nothing else.
Customer Rating: Summary: Very good product; could be easily improved by manufacturer
Comment: I have been using this cordless phone with Windows XP and Skype version 4.1.0.179 for about 5 weeks
and I consider that this is a good product and does what it is intended for. Yet, it has a few
drawbacks, just as any other one would have.
My main complaint is that its working
range is very limited. Here at my apartment I can use it in the room the computer is and, at
maximum, in the adjacent rooms. I think that the reasons for this are two:
1 - The
working frequency band is 2.4 GHz, which has very short wavelength, so the signals are easily
blocked by any obstructing structure, mainly metalic objects.
2 - The antenna of the
base unit is very inefficient. It is a simple vertical half dipole located inside the plastic
case.
For much better performance, Sogatel design engineers should have employed (at
least) a more efficient, external antenna, directly attached to the base, just like those used in
900 MHz cordless phones.
Yet, a much better idea would be Sogatel to offer an optional
facility:
- A connector on the back of the base unit for attaching an externa antenna; and
/>- A higher-gain external antenna, with a 2 meter-long cable, so that the user could properly
position the antenna for better signal coverage.
These are very simple modifications
that would be easy for the manufacturer to implement.
Of course, the final solution
would be (in addition to the previous suggestions) to decrease the operating frequency of the device
to a lower band, but I don't know if there are legal / technical regulations preventing the change
of the frequency band.
Now, regarding the SkypeMate software that comes with the
unit.
It installed flawlessly in my Windows XP. Absolutely no problems at all.
I
downloaded the the most recent (4.0.0.4) version of SkypeMate from Sogatel's site.
/>Important:
When you run SkypeMate, it opens a small window showing a sketch of two
airplanes... a little bit above this figure are two sliding controls. These are for speaker volume
and microphone gain. You have to adjust these in order to get comfortable levels on the handset.
Once set, these adjustments are retained forever.
At first, I did not even noticed
these controls. Result: everytime I started a call, I heard nothing, because the volume was at ZERO.
Then I realized that I could increase the handset speaker volume by pushing the ^ button on the
handset, but this only works *after* the call is initiated. A nightmare! So, do not forget: adjust
the volume on the SkypeMate window!
It is nice that this phone does not need any
external power adapters! The base unit is powered by the USB cable. Besides, the base unit charges
the handset. All you have to do is to insert the handset vertically on the base unit's "cradle"
(however, the handset does not stay firm there; it swings and sometimes there may be poor contact
when charging - Sogatel's engineers would have to drastically alter the design to improve on
this).
I would like to install a connector on the back of the base unit in order to
attach a better antenna there (perhaps a high gain antenna, marketed for improving wireless
routers). Nevertheless, I would need some additional information on this and I don't believe Sogatel
would help in any way. Perhaps somebody with hardware hacking experience might help.
I
hope this review, despite very incomplete, may be of use to somebody.
