For most typical users, cordless phones offer more than enough range. Most models allow you to move freely around an average-sized home of office. However, some may find that the standard range of a cordless phone just isn't enough for them.
Most Read: Top 10 Best Long Range Cordless Phones
For example, large office buildings will naturally need a longer range. Otherwise, there will be areas in the building where the phone signal can't reach. There's nothing more annoying than taking an important business call, only for the signal to cut out on you. The same thing goes for a job site with various locations across large distances, such as a building site. The ability to move freely while still one the phone can be incredibly useful in these cases. So- just what its the longest range you can get on a cordless phone?
The Maximum Range
Most cordless phones offer about the same range. That's because they all use DECT technology to send out a signal from the base to the handset. As a result, you can expect up to 50 meters range for indoor usage, and up to 300 meters outdoors. This assumes that both the phone base and the handset are either indoors or outdoors. Typically the range of a specific device will be included with its information or located inside its manual. But are these ratings always accurate?
There are many different factors which can affect cordless phone range. Naturally, manufacturers aren't able to test for every possible environment and set up. However, most of the bigger brands like Gigaset and Panasonic do perform in-depth tests on their models. But in many cases, the surrounding environment will have an impact on maximum range. Thick walls and electrical interference from other devices are often the source of these problems. In practise, it's rare to find a cordless phone that can offer that full 50m indoor coverage.
Some phones, like the BT Elements 1K, come with a longer range- at least, in theory. That's because this particular model comes with a special base station with a more powerful transmitter. While it often makes a difference outdoors, it still isn't powerful enough to overcome those indoor obstacles. Thankfully, though, there is a device that can effectively double your cordless phone range: a repeater.
The Cordless Phone Repeater
How cordless phones work is actually fairly simple. The phone line sends out an electrical signal to the base station. The base translates that into a radio signal, and then broadcasts it to the phones handsets. Finally, the handset turns the signal into audio heard by the user. When you speak into the handset, your voice is sent back in exactly the same way- just in reverse. All it takes to boost that signal is a well-placed repeater, which can then extend the range and capabilities of a cordless phone.
Placed in an optimal position, the repeater picks up the signal from the phone or its base transceiver. It then boosts that signal back to virtually full power, and re-broadcasts them to be picked up by both phone and base. You can even buy a long range bundle that includes a repeater if you know that you're going to need that extra range.
By placing repeaters in certain positions, you can vastly increase the range of a cordless phone. While you can't daisy chain repeaters, you can connect more than one of them to a single base station. So, you could put one repeater east of your base, and one west of it. You'd then have up to double the range in both directions!
Summing It All Up
So just what is the absolute maximum distance a cordless phone could operate at? For a standard cordless phone with no additional technology, the maximum range is probably somewhere around the 50 meter indoor/300 meter outdoor range. With the help of a well-placed repeater, it is in theory possible to double that. You could therefore achieve to 100 meters indoors and 600 meters outdoors. With multiple repeaters in different directions, it's possible to push that range even further. However, we recommend that you only use up to three repeaters- any more than this won't usually make a difference.
Check out our full selection of long-range bundles here.
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