Need to use Ethernet Only VOIP Phone at hotel

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CPRSavesLives

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Apr 25, 2015
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Hi I am middle to high end tech savvy and I have hit a brick wall.

I am a Mac only user. Using MacBook Pro and Air both Yosemite 10.10.2 and I need to use a VOIP phone called Polycom Soundpoint IP335 which is Ethernet only at a most likely (because I have tried for about a year to find a hotel with an ethernet port and I just end up using my PTO time to teach classes for my side gig and I can't do that anymore) all wireless internet hotel, because 99% of hotels are now wireless.

Now I have read about Repeaters, Bridges, Adapters and such. I heard bad reviews about Linksys and fair to good about Buffalo. I can't pay $500-$1000 but I can sacrifice and try to make the investment if I can travel to work and make a return. But I need this to work my day job at the hotel or it all falls flat.

Thanks.
 
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Who provides your VoIP service for the phone? A lot of VoIP providers also support softphones - a software VoIP phone which runs on your computer or smartphone. You may have to dig around a bit or talk with tech support to help set it up. But once you do, you can just make VoIP calls on the road using your laptop or smartphone.
 
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What will work in most cases is a wireless bridge. You need it to support client-bridge mode. The difference being that it can connect to a wireless router/ap rather than act as one.

Many things called repeater or range extenders have this function. The main issue would be making sure it does not repeat the wireless signal since most hotel don't allow that.

Its been a while since I used one of these most I use are designed for outdoor use. Engenius sells a number of device. You could use a outdoor device inside and most are under $75.

The big BUT in all this is the above solve the wireless connectivity issue and will work in simple installs.

A lot of hotel use what is called a captive portal. It requires you to fill some information in on some web page and then you gain access for some period of time. This makes it very hard for a any device that does not support one of the supported web browsers. It blocks many game machines and some simple tables.

There are creative ways to get around this like hooking a pc and the other device to a router and then sharing the mac address of the router allowing the pc to authenticate and then the other device to piggy back on that since they share the mac. Still you pretty much have to find a way to get around the security restrictions and it is not a standard thing, each hotel will likely be a little different. Generally the hotel will not care since you are a authorized user but their people will not have a clue and since it can be used for example to share your access with unauthorized people they may not be willing to help even if they know.
 
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No this is the phone selected by the owner of the company with whom I have done this training with for 3 years now. It integrates with a system called 8x8 for the conferencing so no I can not simply Skype. Thanks.
 
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Ok, then your next cheapest option is a travel router with client/adapter mode as g90814 suggested. Something like this:

http://www.tp-link.com/en/products/details/cat-9_TL-WR710N.html

The router will connect to the wireless network, and you can plug your phone into the ethernet port in the router to use it over wireless.
 
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I just ignored your recommendation and did not try to correct it because you are trying to be helpful and likely have never worked with VoIP phones systems. I almost fell on the floor laughing when I first saw this. That phone only works a on a cisco VoIP platform it is almost the worst pick you could find. You need to go learn what SCCP, SIP, and H323 are. VoIP is far from standard.

Even I who have worked with a huge number of large VoIP systems know enough to not try to recommend a different device for a Polycom system. People who spend the huge money for Polycom devices almost always use them for some form of conferencing since that is Polycom main business. Although most Polycom is standard SIP they generally add a bunch of custom option that only work with their platforms.

 
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I give up you can go back to winning the tomshardware first to post wrong answers contest for your trophy.

You would not even read a link if I posted it here. All you had to do is look up what SCCP means and you would know you were wrong but you want to win...so you win.




 
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