ASUS AiGuru S1: Features
The ASUS AiGuru S1 has the basic features required for a VoIP phone and will retail around the US $100 mark. The phone currently supports Windows 2000 (SP4) or Windows XP (SP2) only at this time. Unlike the upcoming NETGEAR WiFi phone for Skype, the ASUS phone does not have a full color screen, full chat capability, or icon based menu, and it must have an active connection through an available PC. However, it also does not come with the $299 price tag.
This phone comes in a pearl color with the power button on the left side of the phone, external headset connector on the right side, and a speaker on the rear of the phone above the battery door that contains a 750mAh lithium ion rechargeable battery. The USB connection port is on the bottom of the phone. The phone is slightly larger than current cellular phones but still fit comfortably in our hands. However, after ten minutes of talk time the phone did become warm to the touch and stayed this way until we disconnected and let it cool for a few minutes.
The speaker is used for both the ringer and to playback music. The phone has the capability to control the playback features in Windows Media Player 10 and will sync with the song output in WMP10. The audio quality was decent and it was interesting to hear the selected song playing back on the phone. However, we found the feature to be just that, interesting but not anything most users would use past the gee-whiz stage. We wish ASUS would have dropped this feature and added the ability to see the actual online status of the contacts in the Address Book. At this time, you only know if the contact is online or not, not if they have marked their status as away or not available.
The unit comes with a phone cradle and an AC adapter that allows charging of the phone while it is in the cradle. The included USB cable is used to charge the phone through the USB 2.0 port and/or for connection to the ASUS utility program for configuring the phone and installation of firmware updates. You will want to make sure the phone is completely charged before installing and configuring the ASUS utility program.
The proprietary Wireless Link module connects to the USB adapter cable that can be adjusted depending upon the type of system it is attached to. The Link module sets up a separate wireless 802.11G connection and the phone will not work without it. On both our desktop and mobile systems we adjusted the cable so the Wireless Link module was at a near 90 degree position.
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The install CD comes with version 2.08 of Skype. We downloaded and installed version 2.5 first and suggest this version or later being installed prior to the ASUS utilities. You will also want to set up a Skype account before loading the utilities and configuring the phone. The included installation instructions are fairly simple as are the online instructions when loading the utility program or performing a firmware upgrade. We upgraded our firmware to version 1.04D.
Once our phone was configured and the system rebooted, we checked our Network Connection Status and found throughout testing that our speed stayed at 54Mbps while we were within close proximity of the computer. Our wireless connection speed degraded to 36Mbps when we were about 75 feet from our base connection. Our phone conversations at this range were usually acceptable, but we noticed some fall out issues when the network was being saturated with traffic from other clients. As we traveled beyond 75 feet from the base station, the voice quality rapidly dropped off until it became essentially unusable at 100 feet, despite the fact that we still showed a connection.
| Asus AiGuru S1 | |
| Connection: | 802.11G @ 54Mbps |
| Display: | LCM 128x64 Dot-Matrix LCD |
| Keypad: | Standard phone layout, LED backlight |
| Talk Time: | Average 2 hours |
| Stand-By Time: | Average 25 hours |
| Charging: | USB port connection to the PC AC adpator connection via the Phone Cradle |
| Features: | Rear Speaker Headphone Output Remote Link to WMP10 for playback options. |
The ASUS AiGuru S1 has the basic features required for a VoIP phone and will retail around the US $100 mark. The phone currently supports Windows 2000 (SP4) or Windows XP (SP2) only at this time. Unlike the upcoming NETGEAR WiFi phone for Skype, the ASUS phone does not have a full color screen, full chat capability, or icon based menu, and it must have an active connection through an available PC. However, it also does not come with the $299 price tag.
This phone comes in a pearl color with the power button on the left side of the phone, external headset connector on the right side, and a speaker on the rear of the phone above the battery door that contains a 750mAh lithium ion rechargeable battery. The USB connection port is on the bottom of the phone. The phone is slightly larger than current cellular phones but still fit comfortably in our hands. However, after ten minutes of talk time the phone did become warm to the touch and stayed this way until we disconnected and let it cool for a few minutes.
The speaker is used for both the ringer and to playback music. The phone has the capability to control the playback features in Windows Media Player 10 and will sync with the song output in WMP10. The audio quality was decent and it was interesting to hear the selected song playing back on the phone. However, we found the feature to be just that, interesting but not anything most users would use past the gee-whiz stage. We wish ASUS would have dropped this feature and added the ability to see the actual online status of the contacts in the Address Book. At this time, you only know if the contact is online or not, not if they have marked their status as away or not available.
The unit comes with a phone cradle and an AC adapter that allows charging of the phone while it is in the cradle. The included USB cable is used to charge the phone through the USB 2.0 port and/or for connection to the ASUS utility program for configuring the phone and installation of firmware updates. You will want to make sure the phone is completely charged before installing and configuring the ASUS utility program.
The proprietary Wireless Link module connects to the USB adapter cable that can be adjusted depending upon the type of system it is attached to. The Link module sets up a separate wireless 802.11G connection and the phone will not work without it. On both our desktop and mobile systems we adjusted the cable so the Wireless Link module was at a near 90 degree position.
.
The install CD comes with version 2.08 of Skype. We downloaded and installed version 2.5 first and suggest this version or later being installed prior to the ASUS utilities. You will also want to set up a Skype account before loading the utilities and configuring the phone. The included installation instructions are fairly simple as are the online instructions when loading the utility program or performing a firmware upgrade. We upgraded our firmware to version 1.04D.
Once our phone was configured and the system rebooted, we checked our Network Connection Status and found throughout testing that our speed stayed at 54Mbps while we were within close proximity of the computer. Our wireless connection speed degraded to 36Mbps when we were about 75 feet from our base connection. Our phone conversations at this range were usually acceptable, but we noticed some fall out issues when the network was being saturated with traffic from other clients. As we traveled beyond 75 feet from the base station, the voice quality rapidly dropped off until it became essentially unusable at 100 feet, despite the fact that we still showed a connection.
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PokerGuy - Tuesday, July 18, 2006 - link
Thanks for the article, I'm glad to see this kind of review on my favorite tech site. There's a lot of interest in VoIP and Skype and lots of products are hitting the market now: we need AT to help us figure out what's junk and what really works.Also, another product that you might want to review is the Vosky Call Center (from Actiontec). It's basically a little box that plugs into the USB port on the PC and allows you to simply plug your own analog cordless phone (5.8ghz, 2.4ghz or 900mhz) into the box. That way, you use a 'regular' phone with skype, and you can make calls uing both skype or your regular landline with a single cordless phone anywhere in the house. Very convenient.
jamawass - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
The review doesn't address whether you can do all skype functionality with the phone. ie do all skype contacts appear in the phone's address book, does skype to skype calling function the same way as skypeout? Can one chat with this phone? Also do all the pc sounds go through this phone? One problem I have with skype is that I can't listen or watch anything else on my pc as all the sounds are transmitted over line. Does the phone have this problem?budsan - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
This was the most comprehensive and fascinating article on Skype and this new phone by ASUS. I am looking forward to more reviews from you on other Wifi phones. For those that are unfamiliar with VOIP technology, you made it a pleasure to read!soydios - Tuesday, July 11, 2006 - link
"We might have been able to go further but did not trust our ability to outrun the person who kept a keen eye on our notebook while inching closer to our table during extended distance testing."=D
Good article, especially for people like me who haven't looked much into Skype.
Schugy - Tuesday, July 11, 2006 - link
I would call these things Peripherals.I think a phone is something like the Siemens C450 IP (+Router) or the AVM FT 7150 D.
Then you don't need a PC, save 150W energy and you have talk times between 10 and 17 hours.
JNo - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
unfortunately, Skype uses proprietary protocol, not VOIP SIPs like other providers, and so wouldn't work with the Siemens C450 IP etc as it only supports VOIP SIPSSchugy - Wednesday, July 12, 2006 - link
But using SIPS is one of the biggest advantages. If your provider has problems or bad support you can easily change it. There's maximum competition.But what is when Skype makes trouble and you have paid 300$ for a phone (this isn't a PC independent phone anyway) that you can't use with others? Well, I prefer throwing a 300$ phone out of the window over being locked into skype.
heulenwolf - Tuesday, July 11, 2006 - link
I'm a bit confused about the wireless connection. Does the USB dongle connect to the phone over its own, separate 802.11g connection? Living in a densely populated neighborhood, there are already more 802.11g networks in my area than there are non-interfering channels and interference is a significant problem. Would the phone-computer connection add yet another wireless network to the mix or would it work over my pre-existing 802.11g network? When testing the phone, how many pre-existing wireless networks were there?Gary Key - Tuesday, July 11, 2006 - link
The USB Wireless Link from Asus is a separate 802.11G connection. It will not work over an existing wireless network as the interface between the phone and the wireless link dongle is proprietary. In regards to the testing, there was an active 802.11G network via our DSL modem, an active Draft-N wireless network being tested, and a wireless 802.11G network in the building next door. We did not experience any cross-talk or interference during testing with the other networks. I will retest tomorrow with two active 802.11G routers in the same room.Gigahertz19 - Tuesday, July 11, 2006 - link
Glad to see a review like this, I'm moving into a new house this Thursday and have to set up a phone service. Not sure to go with Skype or Vonage, no more standard expensive phone service for me. So Gary could you see this phone replace your landline as a permanent solution?Only thing I wish they could somehow do is find a way to still use Skype on your phone without your computer always turned on. That's why Vonage might be a little more attractive as a permanent solution. They need to come out with a adapter to plug into your router or something for Skype, that would be nice.