long-range cordless phone?

Up to 5 miles, though that takes _really_ good conditions. Like from a silo to a cornfield inside a radio dead zone. Mine did half a mile with good reliability, and I got 3 miles on a "clear line of sight" path (but was out of contact for most of that, until I hiked up the mountain far enough for clear line of sight). Probably not nearly as much in an urban environment - I'm in a more rural area.

Downside - you actually had to look for it, as it was not the best advertised item in the world, and it costs serious money. The fact that it meant I didn't need to get a cell phone for a several years made the money worth it, to me, especially since cell providers were (and still are) lying about how much it would cost you to have a cell phone...

EnGenius.

The version they sell now is a step up from my system. Mine lasted through the 5 year warranty, but eventually started flaking badly. Supposedly it could be sent back for refurb for less than $100, but by that point I had developed a need for an actual cell phone, and gotten one.

Nice... thanks!

Not the best advertised... no kidding...

I did some Googling after I posted, and found something similar that did up to 25 miles, but it's discontinued (?) and apparently illegal in the US...???

Michael

Well, the not discontinued and legal current version of EnGenius's product will probably do as well as anything that is actually legal, better than most, and pretty much should do what you asked for in the first place, or close to it.

One warning on the range - it does not work though dirt, so if you expect it (or much of anything else) to work on the opposite side of a hill from your base station (house, office whatever), you'll be disappointed. A good product for what it does.

K, thanks for the tips.

Doesn't work through dirt, but apparently works through buildings, eh?

Michael

I think they claim 12 floors worth - I don't have high-rise construction here, but no problem with the base inside one building and being inside another building - even concrete ones. Or through 2 floors worth of the building it was in. I have not looked too closely at the new version, but if they give you two antennas for the handset, the bigger one works better, not surprisingly. I never did use the external antenna on the base station, which should help with range, but might invite lightning strikes, too.