I've been using
Skype for about two and half years now and I love it. I use it to call friends and family for free and I also use
SkypeOut to call my friends who haven't installed
Skype yet or to reach my wife on her cell phone.
The biggest problem I had with
Skype was that I had to be connected to my PC with my headset in order to use it. Last month, I was in CompUSA looking for
Skype gadgets and unfortunately, the salesperson barely new what I was talking about when I asked about VoIP or
Skype products. Anyway, I walked around the store and next to the cordless telephones I found a cool device from
D-Link called the
DPH-50U Skype USB phone adapter. It connects to my PC through the USB port. I connected my Motorola cordless phone base station to it and I also connected the
DPH-50U to the phone line.
When I got home, I installed the adapter by running a setup utility from the CD-ROM that came in the box. Even though, I got a Windows unsigned driver warning message, the setup was pretty simply. At the end of the installation,
Skype asked me if it was OK for the D-Link Agent to use
Skype. I answered yes and that's all there was to it. I took a picture of my setup. You can see it below.

Now, when I receive a
Skype call, my cordless phones ring. I can see the
Skype username on the phone's caller ID display and answer the call as if it were a normal phone call. This is slick! When I want to make a
Skype call, I pick up the phone, press ## and dial the SkypeOut number and press the * key. I am now using
Skype around the house. The best part is that my phone still acts as it normally does for making and receiving regular phone calls.
One of the coolest features is that while I am on a regular call, I can still make and receive
Skype calls. When I receive a
Skype call, I hear a call waiting tone in the phone and can switch between my regular call and the
Skype call I can even connect the two together into a conference call.
The user's manual talks about being to use my mobile phone with my
Skype account but I haven't played around with it yet. So far, I love the
DPH-50U.