Linksys is undoubtably skyrocketing to the top of the VoIP product hill and products like the WBP54G are proof that Linksys is listening to their clients and coming out with products that people want. The WBP54G Wireless bridge allows placement of an IP phone in locations where pulling CAT5 cable isn’t feasible. As long as you are within range of an 802.11G signal, the WBP54G can connect up and allow your phone to register. Are there pros and cons? Of course, so let’s get down to it.

Features
The WBP54G is a realitivly simple device, it is simple a wireless device that connects to a wireless access point and has an ethernet cable that you can plug into any network port to get remote connectivity. While the WBP54G is specifically designed to work with Linksys’s line of IP phones, the fact is, with the correct AC adapter, it can be used with any network device, we will cover the caveats to this later.

• Put your IP Phone wherever you want, with no cabling hassle
• Connects your IP Phone to your Wireless-G network
• Shares power with the IP Phone — only one AC Adapter necessary
• Wireless connection protected by WEP, WPA or WPA2 encryption

When used with the recommended Linksys phones, you simply take the power cable that came with the phone and plug it into the WBP54G and then plug the power connection from the WBP54G into your phone, and plug the network cable into the phone, and you are all set.

Setup
Of course, its not quite that simple to get it working, but its not difficult either. You actually start by powering the device with the phone’s power adapter and then plugging the network cable from the WBP54G into your switch or directly into the network jack on your computer. Launch the CD that came with the device and step right through the setup process.

The setup program will detect any available wireless networks and allow you to connect to them. Once, the setup is complete, disconnect the network cable and plug it into the phone along with the power and you are all set to configure your phone.

As shown here, the WBP54G fits nicely into the phone stand on the Linksys SPA-941/942 phones leaving only the power cable coming out of the back. This makes for a nice clean setup and hides the devices and extra wires.

Usage
When I first discussed this idea with Linksys months ago i had some very distinct purposes in mind, because of the design of our house, it is very difficult to bring cabling into the main living room and the master bedroom so my remote office phone sits inconvieniently on the opposite side of the house. With the WBP54G I now have phones in these locations without having to string any wires. While this works great for me, the possibilities are endless for many offices where cabling is not feasible or desired, or for temporary phone installations where stringing cable would be too costly.

As mentioned earlier, the WBP54G is designed to work with any of the Linksys phones and ATA devices, but what else can it work with? As far as other phones go, the Grandstream GXP-2000 uses the same voltage as the Linksys phones so it is a good fit for that phone. For other phones such as Polycom and Cisco phones, you would need to supply the correct power adapter for the WBP54G and a seperate power adapter for the phone as well. While this may be a little inconvienent, it is still a better bet than wireing in many cases.

Summary
At a retail price of $44.95, the WBP54G is an excellent choice for those situations where cabling just isn’t an option. The device is simple to setup and works perfectly. Kudos to Linksys for coming up with such an affordable option and an innovative product.

Linksys
http://www.linksys.com