Pirelli GSM/WiFi VoIP Phone! Friction No Longer Applies When You are Wireless
As an insider at ABP I frequently get first shot at trying out new products. So I was excited when I was the one to get a real world test of our new Pirelli DP-L10 Dual Mode phone. This DP-L10 allows connectivity to a GSM (Cingular or T-Mobile Network) and a built-in SIP client for connectivity through the 802.11b/g wireless standard. That means that you can carry one integrated phone for both your cell calls and your WiFi calls. (By the way there is lot’s of noise about the new 802.11n standard. Good news is the n will work with all preceding bands. So this DualMode phone is future proof.)
Features
-Integrated SMTP/POP3 e-mail clients
-Calculator
-Currency Calculator
-VGA Camera
-PC client to synchronize your Outlook contacts, polyphonic ring tones, and images
-SMS and MMS Messaging
-WAP Browsing with mini browser
-G.711, G.729, and G.726 Codecs
-WEP, WPA-PSK TKIP, WPA2-PSK AES, EAP-TLS Security Support
Voice Quality
Now that the description is out of the way, I will get to the actual review. I was pretty skeptical about this device since I have been jaded by sub-par cellular phones in the past. I never thought that a device could offer quality voice on both networks; however, I have been blown away by the voice quality of this phone!
Tom Driscoll from Integrated Technology Solutions said I bought this phone and had to test it before I sold it to my customer. I placed my T-Mobile SIM card in the Pirelli and called my wife. Normally, I cannot hear her well at all and through the Pirelli I could hear her very well and she sounded very clear! I wish that I did not have to sell this phone to my customer.
Ease of Use
The Pirelli DP-L10 is incredibly easy to use. It was design for the consumer in mind so the menus are intuitive and very easy to navigate. To setup the Cellular function, all you have to do is the following:
1) Open the battery case and remove the battery.
2) Then insert your SIM card from your GSM service into the SIM slot.
3) Replace the battery and power on the phone.
The phone will boot up and all of your settings will be ready to make and receive GSM calls. In order to setup the VoIP client, you will have to know a thing or two about SIP and Wireless access points. I would suggest that you enter the WAP information in first.
To accomplish this, perform a site scan and selecting the correct WAP and enter the relevant security information if required. Once you have an IP address, you will enter the VoIP client authentication information and you will have crystal clear VoIP and GSM calls at your finger tips.
My next question was Can I choose between GSM and VoIP when I’m placing calls? The answer is YES! You will start dialing and press the Options button. You will be given a choice of which origination method you would like to use. The Pirelli also allows you to select which Default network you will use (when available). I love Least Cost Routing.
Battery Life
Cellular and WiFi phones are only as good as the battery that powers the device. If your phone is not on, you cannot make calls.
The Pirelli DP-L10 has a great battery life and we have performed real tests. We tested the device by leaving it connected to WiFi from a Friday evening to Monday afternoon before we had to place the phone on a charger. I tested the talk time metric by using the device for 2 hours (on a Cellular call) and I still had half of the battery indicator left.
A word of caution though, when you are using WiFi, the battery life will decrease more quickly due to the nature of the 802.11 standard. WiFi requires a constant connection to the AP so the radio is always on. When you think always on, you need to think power consumption. In this case, you should get about 2 hours of talk time with WiFi. Since I use the phone as a VoIP and a GSM phone most of the time, I have used the included charging cradle every day when I leave the office. Once I formed this habit, I have not had any trouble. If I need to conserve battery life while traveling, I just turn the WiFi portion off in the car and I talk to my hearts content using GSM.
Overall, the Pirelli DP-L10 Dual mode phone performs as a great solution for the customer that wants to combine the recent VoIP technology and GSM into one unit. I also find that this device performs better then most cellular phones on the market today and provides the voice clarity that you receive from a good TDM connection. After using the Pirelli as my primary wireless device, I will say that it would be hard to go back to the horrible sound and reception of my standard cellular telephone. When you think about just the cellular quality and then you factor in the VoIP quality sound just as good, you will definitely enjoy this nice piece of technology. For more details check out the Pirelli DP-L10 Product Information Page. (The phone is on the left and my hair is not an AP.)
Jeff Ogden
ABP Technology is the Master Distributor for Pirelli so order today! ABP Technology also has other Wireless Solutions so please check out our Wireless Solutions Page.
