Hey phone geeks

well-temperedforum.groupee.net

Hey phone geeks - UPDATE

This topic can be found at:
https://well-temperedforum.groupee.net/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9130004433/m/6593949397

05 March 2020, 04:51 PM

RealPlayer

Hey phone geeks - UPDATE

Anyone heard of ways to extend smartphone service (via Bluetooth or otherwise) to multiple phone units, as we used to do with landlines?

I'd like to get rid of our expensive landline and just use our 2 smartphones. But instead of carrying the phones around our 3-story house, it would be nice to have handsets in various places. (Is that just obsolete thinking?)

So far, all I can think to do is buy a cordless phone set, which does allow you to connect your cell phones to it, and has 3 to 5 handsets in different rooms.

But I would think there's a more elegant solution since smartphones came along. Any ideas?

Or is VOIP a better idea?

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray

05 March 2020, 04:55 PM

wtg

I was going to suggest the cordless set solution.

https://www.costco.com/panason...oduct.100494433.html

What would be more elegant/what functionality are you looking for that the cordless phone solution doesn't provide?

VOIP means that you can only use that phone number at home. Not sure why you'd want to limit yourself. A lot of people are getting completely away from landlines....

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We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love… and then we return home. - Australian Aboriginal proverb

Bazootiehead-in-training

05 March 2020, 04:58 PM

RealPlayer

Funny, wtg, we were just looking at those Panasonics at Costco yesterday.

I can't think of more functionality. I just thought cordless phones are sort of old tech, and that maybe the marketplace has produced smartphone-specific gadgetry that's more elegant.

BTW, we already have an older Panasonic set we use with our landline, and you can use it with two cell lines, but the old bluetooth technology prohibits you from connecting any other bluetooth device to your phone...that's why we'd need a new model.

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray

05 March 2020, 05:08 PM

wtg

Hmmm...we have the previous generation of the Panasonic set and have both of our cell phones connected to it; I'm guessing it's about five years old.

I routinely Bluetooth my Motorola Moto phone to other devices, like when I download photos from my phone to my computer.

Are you sure you can't connect your phone to other devices when it's connected to the Panasonic?

05 March 2020, 05:19 PM

RealPlayer

Yes, wtg, our set must be older than yours. I've tried pairing our phones but they don't connect and the base unit gives an error message. (Both smartphones are also bluetooth-connected to other devices, like the car and my hearing aids.) Just for fun, I paired my old flip phone to the Panasonic and it DID pair just fine, because it wasn't paired with anything else.

There's a sentence in the Panasonic user manual saying the cell must not be paired with any other bluetooth device. I'm assuming that's not the case with the newer models.

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray

05 March 2020, 05:31 PM

wtg

Sounds like you've done the right tests. Plus that bit in the manual does seem to indicate that there's a limitation.

I keep thinking I remember that at one time I couldn't connect my very old cell phone to the Panasonic and to my computer at the same time. But that was a limitation on the phone side that went away when I replaced it. So it could be that your Panasonic is just a few too many Bluetooth generations back.

The new Panasonic devices also have a bunch of new features that I know we don't have. I was almost tempted to buy a new one when Costco had them on sale a while back, but ours works fine.

It's Costco. You have 90 days to try out electronics.

05 March 2020, 05:43 PM

RealPlayer

I looked up the manual for the new Panasonic online. It says you can connect two cell phones and a bluetooth headset, total 3, and no mention of limitations. So I think we're in business.

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray

05 March 2020, 06:45 PM

CHAS

Please report on how the new setup works.

10 March 2020, 12:18 PM

RealPlayer

Update -- so I bought the model KX-TG833SK at Costco the other day, set it up and...I wasn't able to pair the iPhone with it.

Then, after judicious online searching, Panasonic has a page that says our iPhones are not compatible with that model! (Who knew there was such a page??) But it says the other model Costco sells (twice as expensive) WILL pair with it.

So then, I found the manual online for that model from the Panasonic site (KX-TG985SK) and it contains the same language as the 833: namely, that you cannot pair a cell phone that is connected to any other bluetooth device. So I'm screwed either way, unless we un-pair our cell phones from everything else.

Will try to return the 833 model and start from zero, I guess.

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray

10 March 2020, 12:52 PM

wtg

Is there anything here that is helpful?

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/6664798

10 March 2020, 06:06 PM

RealPlayer

Thanks, I will try to see of any of that works...though they speak of doing an unpairing procedure before pairing. No previous pairing had been done on these new phones.

But I'll try it as a Hail Mary and see if anything happens.

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“It's hard to win an argument with a smart person. It's damn near impossible to win an argument with a stupid person." -- Bill Murray