VoIP communications (and especially the Skype service, which was among the first to popularize voice over Internet protocol calls) have become extremely popular over the past few years, simply because they allow users to make voice calls at very long distances and for very low fees (or even for free, in some cases).



However, VoIP calls are generally associated with computers, but this thing has changed over the past few years, and a very good example is represented by Netgear's SPH200W WiFi Phone with Skype, launched back in August 2007, a device that allows users to make and receive Skype calls wherever they have WiFi access.



Thus, the device is capable of connecting to 802.11b or 802.11g networks right out of the box and lets user log in directly to their Skype account, make free calls or access some of Skype's premium services, as for example SkypeOut, SkypeIn and Voicemail. Moreover, it sports a very intuitive menu, which allows the person using the device to see exactly which of their contacts are online. And speaking of contacts, it's worth mentioning the fact that this device can manage quite a lot of them, up to 500, to be more precise.



Wireless security is quite an important issue nowadays, and the people over at Netgear took care of this particular aspect as well. Thus, their phone provides hardware support for the Wired Equivalent Privacy (WEP) 64/128 bit, WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK security protocols, which should be enough to assure the fact that the user's calls are always made in very good security conditions.



The SPH200W also incorporates a built-in speaker phone module for hands-free talk and is powered by rechargeable internal battery that provides up to 4 hours of talking time or up to 48 hours of functioning in stand-by mode.