Borg collective…good afternoon,

Mother will soon be admitted to a long-term care facility. The administrator with whom I’ve been working said we can purchase a wireless router that will connect to their guest WiFi, and then get either a phone capable of WiFi calling or physically plug a standard cordless phone into the router to make/receive calls.

Anyone ever hook anything up like this, and if so, what hardware did you buy? My mind is having trouble picturing how I would login to their WiFi on the router, unless it doesn’t require a password and connects automatically. Color me confused.

Thanks for any help and suggestions.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:
...we can purchase a wireless router that will connect to their guest WiFi...

This part doesn't make sense. If you get a phone with WiFi calling and the administrator gives you the password to the facility's guest network, then you don't need anything extra as the phone connects to the guest network.

I set my dad's phone to use WiFi calling in his house because the cell signal is intermittent there. I just put the SSID and password into his phone and it connects wirelessly but directly to his WiFi network. No extra boxes needed. That's the way it works for me and my family when we are at campgrounds with poor cell service as well.

You are talking about two different things.

If you want a landline type phone, ie non smartphone/cell phone then you will most likely need a VOIP phone that connects to their network.

Sounds like the easiest way to go about this is to just get a simple cell phone that has Wi-Fi calling and you don’t need a data plan then if she’s not going outside the facility.

This is very confusing.

quote:

The administrator with whom I’ve been working said we can purchase a wireless router that will connect to their guest WiFi, and then get either a phone capable of WiFi calling or physically plug a standard cordless phone into the router to make/receive calls.

I THINK you may be looking for a way to use their guest wifi and get a standard POTS phone working on the guest wifi.

I looked into this about 4 years ago for a relative who was moving to a care facility locally.

At the time where was such a device from Ooma. but that was some time ago, and eventually it was determined that a cheap cell plan was better anyway.

is there a concern that the person won't be able to nagivate a cell phone?


Edit: Here's the Ooma thing. Not sure if they still sell these:

Ooma’s had a single box for a while called Ooma Telo that doesn’t use that dongle and will connect to Wifi. I’ve used one for several years and you can plug a standard phone into it to create a VOIP system. If you get their no frills calling plan, you pay whatever the government taxes & fees are for a phone each month. It’s about 5 or 6 bucks in my area with no contract. You do have to buy the Telo box and it’s a little over $100 last time I checked.

WiFi/IP network calling is more commonly known as VoIP (Voice over IP) most often using SIP (Session Initiation Protocol). You can buy a SIP phone and plug it into a network port, or one that connects to a WiFi network. The benefit of this is that the user will probably be familiar with making and taking calls "just like" a traditional phone. You can also connect what is known as an ATA (Analog Telephone Adapter), these allow a old-style telephone set (which you may already own) to connect via SIP to a SIP provider. Generally speaking, a dedicated SIP phone will provide more features (speed dial, caller ID, etc.) than an ATA-analogue phone combo, but both require a certain amount of setup. There are wired and wireless ATAs, but wired is far more common, and, of course, the connection to a POTS (Plain Old Telephone Service) network requires a "phone cord" and sufficient power to activate the ring circuit.

WRT the SIP provider, these guys interface their SIP network with the global telephone network. If you want to receive arbitrary incoming calls, you will need to acquire a DiD (Dedicated inward Dialing) number (AKA "a line") and configure things to route incoming calls to your telephone set. There will also be a monthly or usage fee for the service, but it is generally much less than what you used to pay the "telephone company."

The way "WiFI calling" works on a mobile phone is that your cell phone provider maintains a SIP server that handles the calls through the IP network from a "softphone" implementation running on the mobile device. The mobile providers have designed these softphones to be fully integrated with their cell phone calling software, but it is the same, in principle, as the SIP phones described in the first paragraph above. There are any number of third-party softphone packages, many of them free, that will run on various devices. So, if you prefer, you can use a laptop or tablet as your handset instead of a dedicated SIP phone or mobile phone. Of course, for someone who only knows how to make a call by picking up a handset, and dialing a number, there will be a learning curve, but it isn't a steep one.

One of the biggest attractions of VoIP technology is that you can take your telephony equipment with you, and plug it in to any IP network, and have your "landline" with you wherever you might be.

I am happy to provide specific recommendations for SIP providers, SIP phones, software, etc. via the e-mail in my profile.

If you want a real landline-type telephone I recommend MagicJack.

Used them for years for $43.00 a year.

You need a place to plug in the ethernet cable and the power charger. Then plug your phone into the MagicJack and you are up and running.

You should not need a router but one would not hurt, The facility may require one.

I have one in my travel bag, if cell service goes down or is unreachable but the internet is up, I just plug it into my computer and I have a phone line.

Just plugging a phone into a router will not give you phone service. You need a VOIP provider. Think of it as you need someone to provide a dial tone.

https://www.magicjack.com/acco...do?page=how-it-works

^^^^^^
Giddy up! Thanks, everyone!

Some other good options have been presented.

To answer your specific question, you could use the wifi router as a wifi client, then be able to plug into the ethernet ports of the switch - basically, it will connect to the internet via wifi instead of a wire. You can provide the Wifi network name & password in the security settings & it will use that to connect to the wifi network.
Some will also work in 'repeater' mode, which will connect to the wifi as it WAN connection & then create a new wifi network name that you can connect to. Google your model + 'repeater' or 'client bridge' to get specifics. Many mfgs use different names for the settings & you may have issues if the 'routing' aspect of the router is used (double NAT, depending on the facility setup).

MagicJack
Ooma
Obi
have all been around for years. If they have wifi, you could just use an old smartphone/tablet as the 'phone' with a VOIP service, all 3 mentioned have an app. I used 2 Obi's as an international 'batphone' for my wife & her mom before cellular long distance was "free".

If she already has a cell phone, it might be time to let the 'landline' go the way of the dinosaurs. Using VOIP, it will likely be more complex to set up & use than just using the cell. If she doesn't have a smartphone, video calling might be a good reason to get one. Covid visitation restrictions can suck. My 80yo grandma can't hear shit, but she can video call me at 7am -the morning we arrived home at 3AM from an international trip- to congratulate us on the 'new addition to the family' - except the person expecting is my cousin's wife with nearly the same name as mine. My wife was not amused when I pulled the phone away from my ear, pointed the camera at her & asked her if she was pregnant. Technology is fun.

^^^^^^^
Thanks!

Mother does not have the hand dexterity to use a cell/smart phone. Unfortunately, she is EXTREMELY arthritic in both hands and has lost some function in her right/dominant hand. Hence the push to maintain her land line and the cordless phone with which she is comfortable.