Wi-Fi Skype Phones from ASUS and Netgear

If you haven't tried Skype yet, then you should go and download it and see what the hype is about before you continue to read this review.

Skype has become something of a standard when it come to free PC to PC VoIP (Voice over IP) telephone calls and with an easy to use user interface and a free downloadable client, it's not going to take a genius to figure out why this is the case. But had it been PC to PC only, Skype would most likely never have taken off to the extent it has today. What makes Skype even better is the fact that you can call standard telephones with it, although this isn't free. You can even get an incoming number in certain countries and voice mail can also be added for a fee.

However, there is one drawback with Skype, you have to sit in front of your computer and use a headset to talk to people, hardly the most intuitive way of making a call. However, there are options available, ranging from cheap USB connected handsets which still keep you in close vicinity to your computer, to what we'll be looking a bit closer to today, Wi-Fi enabled Skype handsets. You might wonder why you'd want a Wi-Fi telephone, although in this case it's a lot more than just a simple telephone as you'll see, but consider these handsets as a cordless phone and you'll see why they're so clever.

The downside is that Wi-Fi technology is a lot more expensive than cordless telephone technology, or is it? Let's now take a closer look at a couple of Wi-Fi Skype phones from ASUS and Netgear and see where we stand.