Product Review : UTstarcom F3000 WiFi VoIP Phone
Impulse buying is a bad thing, but I had no choice because no one has yet written an in depth review on this device and I really REALLY wanted it. I bought it from voipsupply because I have done a lot of business with them in the past and they always make me a happy camper.
The Phone
Remember, this is only my opinion…
So we will start with the Cons
- Horrible wireless range, 60 feet indoor max!
- Outdoor quality suffers greatly, I have yet to be able to terminate a clear enough connection outdoors to even check my voicemails.
- Battery life is puss, 4 hours maximum talk time, 60 hour standby (without roaming)
- Wireless roaming takes FOREVER and usually fails to connect to AP… in TORONTO!
- GUI looks like the first full colour Nokia back in 1988…
- Intermittent restart, maybe new firmware fix soon?
- No Radius (web authentication) support == no Cogeco WIFI, this is a bad thing!
Enough negative stuff, here are the Pros
- When you actually can connect to a solid AP, voice quality is PERFECT.
- Integrates beautifully with any asterisk powered appliance / server.
- Great call features support including three transfer modes and voicemail notification.
- Great PDF documentation and very easy to configure.
- Web interface for simplified configuration and TFTP provisioning!
- Decent Email and Asterisk command texting, emails are somewhat difficult to read on that little screen.
- Save $$$ monthly on telecommunications.
The Verdict
Great for any geek who is generally stationary for several hours at a time and doesn’t mind configuring a new AP everywhere he / she goes. Also OK in big cities where AP’s and Starbucks are a plenty. Also fun to show off to your friends when you call a California number from New York on your “cell phone”.
This device is not for the non-tech-savvy, it’s just not yet polished enough. Grandma wouldn’t know whether to bury it in the garden or feed it to the squirrels. But that doesn’t mean people can’t learn to use it, simply put : most people are just too lazy to learn something new.
I’ve tinkered with my f3000 for days and cannot get it to register with my asterisk server. I wonder if you or anyone reading this might have saved your configuration from the http configuration of your f3000. I presume there is some minor thing I am overlooking.
I am using linksys wrt54g router if that makes any difference.
Tom
I spent around 20 hours trying to get it to connect with or without security and failed to ever get a connection.
Its another challenge trying to enter in the SIP information to actually be able to make a call.
I never got past username, password, as you tap it in, you see ***** so you don’t know which letter, upper or lower case, or number you have typed in.
A major sanfu, of such proportions it begs the question of if this unit was actually tested after production or even prototype.
I thought well maybe I could use it as an alarm clock, well, after setting it several times, I’ve yet to hear it go off.
it will however search for networks and tell you what SID’s it can see but don’t expect to be able to log on. I used it with a WRT54G and put an incredible effort into trying to see it work.
My advice is treat this phone as junk, its only value is the USB AC adapter.
Maybe the battery will fit another make but it looks unique.
Now, the bad news is that there is absolutely no product support available.
I tried, and each time, got sent on a chain of 6 phone numbers, each sends you to another which finally sends you back to the first one.
Eventually I got their head office and was told that they stopped production and support for that phone.
Apparently it is being used by certain wifi companies but locked with contracts who still get product support. I can’t see that lasting very long. Obviously, its a different version and locked to that company.