Our cordless phones review (member content) looks at sound quality, price and ease of use among other handset features. We also have a cordless phone buying guide, including information about your phone and the NBN.
Have a question? Post it in the comments below.
Looking to get NBN at some point in the future, and perhaps having to replace our cordless phones (base + two handsets). Are the tested phones all NBN compatible? Or are all phones NBN compatible?)
You plug your base set (phone) into the VOIP port of your NBN modem and off you go.
Thanks Phil.
I just wasn’t sure that all cordless phones would work, as back when I first got VOIP (a long time ago in a place far far away) not all cordless phones worked on VOIP.
Something worth considering is a lightning surge arrester with phone line protection (or a phone line spike protector) for the phone line as cordless phones are susceptible to lightning strikes… frying the base station.
Over the last decade, we have lost two base stations (most recent strike about 3 years ago our Panasonic base station was fried due to a phone line spike, about 4 years earlier we lost a Doro base station due to a lightning strike) due to lightning strikes near our underground phone line in the locality of our house. We also lost our dial up modem in the first strike and ADSL2 router + network card in the second strike. We now also have a lightning surge protector with phone line strike protector for the phone lines attached to the router as well.
On the next update (if there is one considering the declining popularity of landlines) it would be nice if the review stated which handsets/phones are GAP compatible and which are not. Some (non-GAP) DECT phones will register to a ‘foreign’ base or modem but they will not work
A GAP compatible phone will connect to any GAP compatible base, or as is preferred directly to a GAP compatible modem such as a TP-Link VR600v without the phone base.
How their various features do and do not function when so connected can be variable but a GAP compatible handset will minimally make and receive calls and usually display caller-IDs (eg the basics).
Many of the manufacturers avoid providing information about anything GAP. Panasonic is an exception. From the Panasonic web site:
That compatibility is generally not reflected on any retailer web site and sales people tend to get get glassy eyed when asked about GAP compatibility.
Also part of a more efficient solution for our home phone which would save 2 extra devices. Currently the NBN NTD (ie Fixed Wireless Modem), WiFi router, VoIP adapter and Cordless phone base, all running off a UPS for backup when the power goes out.
As an aside and not related to why we purchased Uniden 8355 cordless phones for our home, the product marketing claims included ‘NBN Ready’. It’s not immediately evident how the product might differ from any other handset. I’ve observed a variety of ancient Telstra push button handsets working fine with an NBN supplied FTTN and HFC service devices.
Hi Phil, the 2021 review that is currently online has this information. If you select products for comparison, the fourth listed Feature is whether or not they are GAP compatible.
My bad! Missed that. Maybe a trip to Specsavers? Excepting for Panasonic it seems a rare one! It would be a handy one in the filters.
It is. I’ve passed on your suggestion so that we add the filter for any future review.
We have a few cordless phones at home. All are Panasonic owing to their GAP-compatability, except for one ‘outdoor’ model that is a Fritz!Fon ( our Fritz!Box router has an in-built DECT base station ).
