The modern world is largely cordless. That’s a good thing for businesses, especially when it comes to telephony.
A cordless phone offers great advantages in office and other commercial situations – as it does in the home – allowing the user to move around while taking or making a call.
The question is: are long-range cordless phones really what they say? Let’s look at this in greater detail.
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What is the Range of a Long-Range Cordless Phone?
Let’s consider your average indoor-use cordless phone. You’ll find it comes with a promised range of perhaps 50 – 80 metres indoors and up to 300 metres outdoors. That’s pretty good for a medium sized home or office use, but once you factor in obstacles such as thick walls that will obstruct the signal transmitting to the handset from a static base unit, or electrical signals from devices in and around the room (Microwaves and Lighting can interfere with radio waves), for some applications where range is a key factor, you may find the actual range of your standard Cordless phone may be somewhat shorter than you’d hoped.
The Long-Range Cordless Phone Explained
Cordless phones are not a new technology, but there have been advances in their design. This has enabled some manufacturers to produce genuine long-range cordless phones suitable for use in situations where the caller may be a long way from the base unit, and where a repeater may not be convenient. This those in the agricultural sector who may spend a lot of time working outdoors, operatives in large factories and industrial units, or where an office building or retail unit covers a large floor area.
All cordless phones use radio frequency technology, with most using the DECT standard which uses the 2.4GHz spectrum. It is the power of this function along with the frequency used that enables distances between of between 50-80 metres indoors and up to 300 metres outdoors. The DECT standard is amazing and presents many benefits with devices being compatible across different platforms, however, what if you need more range?
Turn up the frequency
You’re going to need a handset that is capabale of using a higher frequency radio band which requires more power to transmit and recieve the signals – with some long range Cordless Phones using up to 19GHz and others going as far as 900MHz
Communcations and networking manufacturer EnGenius is a leading specialist in long-range cordless technology and has a selection of long-range cordless phones to offer.
Long range Phones for industry / professional use
The EnGenius Durafon and Freestyl range of long-range cordless phones represent a good example of what these devices are all about. These sets come with a single base unit and can be paired with multiple handsets – there are options for fewer or more – and has a range of up to 2 kilometres.
| Freestyl | Durafon | |
| Open Land | Up to 10 acres | Up to 3,000 acres |
| Warehouse / Retail | Up to 25,000 sq ft | Up to 250,000 sq ft |
| Building Penetration | Up to 6 Floors | Up to 12 Floors |
The Durafon and Freestyl, and others in the EnGenius range, are also equipped with digital technology that minimises the possibility of dropped signals, and has advanced features including intercom broadcast usage and multi-channel durability.
The Engenius range are Ideal for industrial sites or the likes of car sales showrooms where large distances need covering, for use in agricultural situations and in very large department stores, and anywhere that requires telecoms on the move over a large area, the technology developed in the EnGenius cordless phones and in a number of other brands takes cordless telephones to a new level.
Long range phones for the home
For some time the undesputed king of long range DECT phones for home use was the BT Elements, howver recently being discontinued, Motorola have stepped up with the Motorola O2 DECT Cordless Phone which is ideal for larger homes or small businesses where range is still important. The Motorola O2’s have a specified range of up to 1km in ideal conditions. The handsets are sealed and come with an IP67 rating, so can be used outdoors and would also work well for Farm shops, Activity centres, or other small businesses where a Cordless Handset would need to be outside exposed to the elements.
Choosing a Long-Range Cordless Telephone
The long-range cordless phone package you choose will depend upon the usage, in terms of the area that needs to be covered and the number of handsets you need.
The models mentioned above can be expanded to acomodate more handsets. The options start with a single handset, so you will be able to fit your budget to the package you need.
Genuine long-range cordless handsets do cover large distances and are very versatile in industrial, commercial, agricultural and retail situations, and allow for seamless communication while on the move and a long way from the base.
Why You Might Need a Repeater
One answer to this is to install a DECT repeater. This is a device that is placed a distance away from the base unit, within the range but close to the outer perimeter. The repeater takes the signal from the base unit, then transmits that signal further outside the range of the original base unit. and therefore extends the range of the device.