DECT phones GAP compatible with Orcon Genius built-in base station...?

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › DECT phones GAP compatible with Orcon Genius built-in base station...?

BadBadBadMonkey

87 posts

Master Geek

#137977 15-Dec-2013 19:29

I know there are a few existing threads, the most I've gathered from them is that Panasonic is supposed to have a better standards-compliancy reputation than Uniden.

I want to get some cordless handsets at the cheaper end of the range that will register with and connect to the Orcon Genius DECT base station. To be clear, I am not talking about plugging the phone's own base station into the Orcon ATA jack!

I have had a look at the range in retail shops at the moment. Either of these would be a good option -

We are happy to up the budget if required but otherwise there's no need for the more flashy digital features.

My problem is I can find no mention of Generic Access Protocol anywhere on the retail packaging or in the specs in the user guides, even for the more expensive options. I understand that GAP is required for cross-compatibility with other base stations.

I see that the "DECT 6" splashed across the Uniden phones is criticized on Wikipedia and said not be GAP compliant so I guess that rules them out.

Anyway - recommendations on the Panasonic models or others for DECT + GAP compatibility?

BadBadBadMonkey

87 posts

Master Geek

#952682 15-Dec-2013 19:53

Update: apologies have just found a mention of GAP compatibility in the Panasonic TG1612 instructions. I guess that's promising. Would still appreciate confirming feedback from anyone.

charsleysa

597 posts

Ultimate Geek

#952711 15-Dec-2013 20:52

I'm pretty sure Uniden won't be compatible because they use DECT 6.0 which is special version for the USA market because they like to be special. So in short, DECT 6.0 is not compatible with normal DECT.

Regards
Stefan Andres Charsley

BadBadBadMonkey

87 posts

Master Geek

#952828 16-Dec-2013 00:19

Yeah. And then you go the Panasonic website and see this...
"...Cordless telephones for the home including the new range of DECT 6.0 Plus (1.8Ghz) phones..."
http://www.panasonic.co.nz/products/phones-and-phone-systems/home-phones/

If you select the filter for DECT 6 the TG161x phones all remain... however as above their user guide does say GAP compatible... then I found a comment here on Geekzone from a guy saying his TG1611 wouldn't talk to Genius... argh this is horrible. This sh!t should be simple!

old3eyes

9120 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#952875 16-Dec-2013 08:40

charsleysa: I'm pretty sure Uniden won't be compatible because they use DECT 6.0 which is special version for the USA market because they like to be special. So in short, DECT 6.0 is not compatible with normal DECT.

Uniden cordless were never GAP compliant unlike everyone else in the market.. Gap compliant meaning that they can be registered on to other DECT base stations.

Regards,

Old3eyes

charsleysa

597 posts

Ultimate Geek

#952950 16-Dec-2013 10:49

old3eyes:
charsleysa: I'm pretty sure Uniden won't be compatible because they use DECT 6.0 which is special version for the USA market because they like to be special. So in short, DECT 6.0 is not compatible with normal DECT.

Uniden cordless were never GAP compliant unlike everyone else in the market.. Gap compliant meaning that they can be registered on to other DECT base stations.

All DECT 6.0 products do not support GAP, it doesn't matter who the manufacturer is or whether they wanted to support GAP, DECT 6.0 are incompatible with other DECT products, with the exception of other DECT 6.0 products from the same manufacturer.

Regards
Stefan Andres Charsley

cshaun

402 posts

Ultimate Geek

ID Verified

#953018 16-Dec-2013 12:21

Some GAP phones...
http://www.eventphone.de/wiki/index.php/DECT_Phone_Compatibility_List

BadBadBadMonkey

87 posts

Master Geek

#953233 16-Dec-2013 18:39

The problem with those sorts of lists is that the phones listed are horribly out-of-date. The Panasonic section above for example lists a handful of phones in an international context, of course none of which is a realistic option today in NZ.

I am also disturbed by the mention of "DECT 6" on the Panasonic website per above link, the filter for which seems to apply to most any model of interest available now. However the instruction manual for e.g. the TG161x does mention GAP and 1.88-1.9 kHz.

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charsleysa

597 posts

Ultimate Geek

#953244 16-Dec-2013 18:51

BadBadBadMonkey: The problem with those sorts of lists is that the phones listed are horribly out-of-date. The Panasonic section above for example lists a handful of phones in an international context, of course none of which is a realistic option today in NZ.

I am also disturbed by the mention of "DECT 6" on the Panasonic website per above link, the filter for which seems to apply to most any model of interest available now. However the instruction manual for e.g. the TG161x does mention GAP and 1.88-1.9 kHz.

Don't get anything with DECT 6.0, it won't work. Look at other brands that aren't as popular. This link to pricespy list a few that I'm fairly certain are compatible.

http://pricespy.co.nz/category.php?k=300#rparams=l=s153506257

Regards
Stefan Andres Charsley

BadBadBadMonkey

87 posts

Master Geek

#953274 16-Dec-2013 19:17

I appreciate that but the information is totally contradictory. Yes as above these phones are listed as GAP compatible even in their own instructions books. OK. BUT if you look at the Panasonic website
http://www.panasonic.co.nz/products/phones-and-phone-systems/home-phones/
and select the "DECT 6.0" filter on the left, you will notice that all of those phones filtered on your PriceSpy search, the TG671x and TG672x for example, remain in the list. Same applies to the TG161x as above.

The Gigaset phones might be a better option but you are certainly paying for it. Do we know for sure that they are in fact more DECT/GAP compliant than the Panasonic models?

charsleysa

597 posts

Ultimate Geek

#953277 16-Dec-2013 19:23

BadBadBadMonkey: I appreciate that but the information is totally contradictory. Yes as above these phones are listed as GAP compatible even in their own instructions books. OK. BUT if you look at the Panasonic website
http://www.panasonic.co.nz/products/phones-and-phone-systems/home-phones/
and select the "DECT 6.0" filter on the left, you will notice that all of those phones filtered on your PriceSpy search, the TG671x and TG672x for example, remain in the list. Same applies to the TG161x as above.

The Gigaset phones might be a better option but you are certainly paying for it. Do we know for sure that they are in fact more DECT/GAP compliant than the Panasonic models?

Sorry for the muckup with the Panasonic ones, I was going off Pricespy information but as we know it's not always accurate.

Going off brand is probably your best bet, the one we have is some brand called vtech and I can confirm it works.

Regards
Stefan Andres Charsley

old3eyes

9120 posts

Uber Geek

Subscriber

#953279 16-Dec-2013 19:28

I'm rather suprized to see DECT 6.0 allowed here as they seem to run on the US 1900 band rather than the 1800 band we use now. Maybe it's a marketing thing here . DECT 6 sounds better than DECT 1.8..

Regards,

Old3eyes

charsleysa

597 posts

Ultimate Geek

#953282 16-Dec-2013 19:33

old3eyes: I'm rather suprized to see DECT 6.0 allowed here as they seem to run on the US 1900 band rather than the 1800 band we use now. Maybe it's a marketing thing here . DECT 6 sounds better than DECT 1.8..

That's basically it, people considered a higher number to be newer hence why it's called DECT 6.0

Regards
Stefan Andres Charsley

BadBadBadMonkey

87 posts

Master Geek

#953284 16-Dec-2013 19:40

Wikipedia says that "DECT 6.0 is also sometimes inappropriately used in Australia - which uses the same allocated spectrum frequencies as Europe". As New Zealand is part of Australia this is clearly pertinent. LOL.

BadBadBadMonkey

87 posts

Master Geek

#953286 16-Dec-2013 19:45

charsleysa:Sorry for the muckup with the Panasonic ones, I was going off Pricespy information but as we know it's not always accurate.

Going off brand is probably your best bet, the one we have is some brand called vtech and I can confirm it works.

I think it probably is accurate as GAP is clearly mentioned in their user books, and as above the DECT 6 thing in Australasia is possibly meaningless. The question is how gappy does "GAP" mean when Panasonic say it, because Google finds lots of complaints from people trying to connect supposedly GAP compliant phones to the likes of the FritzBox. The Orcon Genius is unsurprisingly harder to find feedback on.