D-Link Skype USB Phone Adapter
by D-Link
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Our Price: $149.99 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $24.95 (click here) Category: CE See more product details |
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Customers in the UK,
Buy this product at amazon.co.uk
for British Pounds
Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of D-Link Skype USB Phone Adapter
Customer Review: Works perfectly on 32 bit, but not at all on a 64 bit system
Summary: 5 Stars
I purchased this item for around $[...] with a $[...] [...] from D-Link. I read the reviews here skipped the included disc and went directly to the US Robotics site to get their drivers. I had Windows 7 and Vista64 running on my PC and neither OS would recognize the adapter, no matter how hard I tried. I then fired up an old PC that was running Windows XP 32 bit and voila, instantly it worked perfectly. I can call out to regular lines and all my calls in ring my old phone. One bit of advice open your skype window while installing as it may prompt you there, not with a pop-up like USR's install guide suggests. USR's site says there is no compatibility with 64 bit systems for this device, so check your OS before buying this unless you want to change your OS just to save a few bucks. You can find other more expensive options that will work for your 64 bit OS, and they will pay for themselves within a few months anyway. If you don't know how to tell what you have just google it, or go to "http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/41531554-d5ef-4f2c-8fb9-149bdc5c8a701033.mspx" When all is said and done for a one time $15 accessory my phone bill has gone from $40/month to $10, and I'm sure we can all use that extra dough right about now. Lastly, you have to think if enough of us jump ship the telecoms will eventually lower their prices or go the way of the dodo.Customer Review: Good alternative to a regular phone line
Summary: 5 Stars
** Your computer has to be on in order to make a phone call** If you are someone who does not use their home phone for much and are tired of paying the basic phone bill, this unit would be a good choice for you. Most of our phone calls are made with our cell phones and our home line seemed that it was mostly used to receive unwanted solicitations for various things. We have been running this unit along side our regular phone service to make sure it works. It does. Many of the reviews were helpful in deciding to purchase this product - I tried using the other drivers suggested in previous reviews with no success - Against the recommendations of some reviewers, I used the software drivers that came with the unit and everything works well. Check their website for driver updates. When making a call, make sure you remember to dial: ##001(area code)(the number your calling) then the (*) button on your phone. The first couple of times, I kept forgetting to hit the (*) button to complete the dialing process. People on the other end were unable to tell the difference between the sound quality compared to a land line or cell. Buying Skype credit costs 2 cents a minute and can be bought in $10 increments. When calling, the receiving person sees your phone as a (unregistered number). Cant beat the price for $10 for the unit! Good luckCustomer Review: Works great. Gets the job done.
Summary: 5 Stars
There were a lot of mixed reviews on this item, so I was somewhat hesitant, but since this was one of the cheaper USB->PSTN devices, I thought I'd try it out.
I didn't even bother with the DLINK drivers. From the get-go, I used the AU-600 drivers.
The drivers installed just fine and everything looked like it worked. I tested by calling ECHO123, and that worked just fine.
Then I ran into a bit of a snag. I was trying to call out to a landline using Skype out. I couldn't get it to work.
The key was that I needed to precede the call with "001". So a local call in the US would be "001"+(area code)+(local number)+"*". If you are using PSTN and VOIP, then you need to precede with "##" before anything else, then add "*" to the end. If you do not connect a PSTN line to the device, then it defaults to VOIP mode and you can leave out the "##" in the front.
So far, it works very well, very reliably. My only complaint is that the Skype window pops-up in front when I initiate or terminate a call. Not sure if there is a setting to stop this from happening, but that would make this solution perfect. I just want Skype to say minimized in the system tray.
Anyways, it's very good, it all works well, IMHO.
Customer Review: Easily a 5 star product (if you do it right)
Summary: 5 Stars
First of all read Affordabletech's review. It has everything to get you going. I will summarize:
1. Throw away the CD that came with the product.
2. Get the latest Vista driver (even if you have XP) from the dlink website.
3. Unzip it to some folder. Double click on Setup.exe
4. Some driver-installation windows will pop-up, point them to the location where you unzipped the zip file.
5. Now connect your dlink hardware to the computer.
It works flawlessly. (I tried it with XP-SP2). I cannot praise it enough.
Another tip: To call a US phone, dial 001-area-code-phone-number followed by #. (Configure the dlink software to use # as a transmit character, it defaults to * on mine). OR you could leave the default and press * on the handset to transmit the number to dial. And make sure Skype is configured to use this new device for incoming/outgoing sounds and also the ringing tone.
I subscribed to skype's unlimited US&Canada calling and also got myself a skype-in number and I am in VOIP heaven. Bye bye land phone-lines.
For the price (10 bux AR), it's really a 7-8 star product.
Customer Review: Well Worth the Effort
Summary: 5 Stars
This gadget is 3 years old. It was gathering dust from when Skype made it's big push to be a phone provider. I've been using Skype on and off for 2 or 3 years, but this last year I finally decided to dump my long distance carrier. So I wanted to get serious about making calls and wanted to dump the headset/microphone combo on my computer.
This is the perfect device. You get normal POTS and internet calls by your old handset. I've got a nice Uniden wireless handset and it works great! The only hassle is you'll have to download drives from d-link directly to support Vista. Plus the driver has not passed M$ certification so you get a big warning before you load it. Just make sure you use the "VOIPCapture" and "VOIPPlayback" for your Microphone/Speaker playback so it'll go trough your handset.
Unfortunately Skype will change these settings whenever you unplug/plug a new audio device on your computer so you need to check the settings often. Other than that the sound quality is awesome and it gives you freedom to wander the house again when you're on the phone.
Great buy!