Customer Reviews

Phonex PX-211D Wireless Web Jack System

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(23)

 

 

I bought a Phonex Easy Jack 2 PX-211d Wireless Phone Jack in February, 2007, about one year ago. It's used to provide a phone connection for a Dish satellite HD DVR receiver and was recommended by Dish. It is never used for regular voice communication. The Phonex extension unit is located about two feet from a surge protector which is used to power several items of a home theater system, including a Dish satellite HD DVR receiver, HDTV, DVD, A/V receiver, VCR and a subwoofer. The Phonex extension unit is plugged into the same electrical outlet as the surge protector and is connected to the Dish satellite receiver with a high-quality 4-wire telephone cable.

The product worked very well for seven months. In month eight, Dish charged me $5 for not having a continuous phone hook-up. At this point, the product has failed in four out of the last five months. Dish has charged me $5 each month it has failed to detect a phone hookup. When I test the extension unit for dial tone (by connecting a telephone) the unit does provide an audible dial tone and it does it every time without fail. It seems a bit weak but I can hear it. When I reconnect it to the Dish satellite receiver, the receiver cannot find dial tone about 85% of the time.

The product started to fail after only seven months and is essentially worn out after a year. Phonex tech support admits that electrical interference from devices in the room and particularly from the surge protector may have degraded the product to the point where the dial tone is too weak for the Dish satellite receiver to detect.

The owners manual that came with the unit is fairly comprehensive but does not say anything about locating the unit away from surge protectors. It does warn that neither the base unit nor the extension unit should be plugged directly into a surge protector. On the Phonex website, buried pretty deep in the FAQ section there is a warning about locating the extension unit "near a surge protector or plug strip". When I asked tech support what that meant, they said "4-6 feet away".

With the help of Phonex tech support (very cooperative and helpful) the other possible causes of this problem have been eliminated: faulty phone cord, faulty Dish satellite receiver, bad electrical outlet, worn out surge protector, more distance between the extension unit and surge protector. At this point, the unit is out of warranty by a few weeks and Phonex wants $25 plus S&H to test/repair the unit.

My conclusion is that the product failed due to the cumulative effect of electrical interference from the surge protector and other electrical devices on the same circuit. As such, this product may not be appropriate for a satellite receiver in a home theater setup because a surge protector or plug strip is almost always required in such a multiple box environment.

One last thing. There is another type of wireless jack (RTX Dualjack Wireless Phone Jack) which does not use the electrical wiring in the home. The RTX unit is true wireless and works like a cordless phone, using 2.4 GHz. When reading the customer reviews of the RTX unit, virtually all of the reviews indicated they changed to the RTX unit after Phonex units (or similar units that use the home's electrical wiring) failed. Consider yourself warned.

Here is the one big rule you need to follow, follow the instructions and plug THEM directly into the wall outlet. Even a little 3-way adapter will act as a noise antenna. Also think about what may be near the adapters in making good choices or changes. I used it to connect my HP Officejet fax to a line. I am completely satisfied with this product.

I purchased this item to work with my TIVO unit via DirecTV. It was recommended by DirecTV as completely compatible, and it is. This is the only way to use your DVR when there is no telephone jack in the room where the TIVO unit is to be used, unless you want to run telephone wire and a install a jack (which I did not want to do)

Very easy to set-up, install and use, and it works perfectly and flawlessly as described. Your DVR must be hooked up to a phone line 24 hours a day / 7 days a week and it must make periodic phone calls to collect data and/or information. In fact, TIVO service will discontinue to operate correctly if a phone line is not connected after 30 days of interrupted connectivity. It will shut down completely and you will lose all ability to record, schedule, purchase, download, etc.....

The fact that DirecTV recommended this particular model, make and type convinced me to buy it. According to DirecTV, it must be described as a wireless jack for a modem.

I bought this because I did not have a phone jack close to the place where I wanted to put my fax machine and there would have been no easy way to install a jack there. It works beautifully. Faxes come in and go out without any problems and at the same speed that I previously experienced when I use a wired connection. I recommend this device as a good alternative to a conventional wired phone jack.

If you are a novice to this type of system, I suggest you do more research before buying. The premise is a good one but there are two types of this system. One for data only and one for voice and data. I needed the voice/data type and so this one, since it is data only, was not a good choice for me.

I bought this model with the intention of using one extension as a fax line and another extension for a phone in my wifes office. One thing you will notice is the product is marketed to serve both uses. But once you get it you'll find you have the "Data Only" model. How do you know? Because it will say it on the side of the unit when you open it up. Then you'll scan the packaging. Nope no hints there, infact a nice little picture of a phone plugged into it suggesting this unit supports voice. If you read enough reviews you'll find that the model number is the only clue. You need a "V" at the end to get the voice version. Otherwise you'll be getting hissing on your voice line. I am glad I only purchased the one extension. Even though I know the big secret on how to pick the right one now the misleading packaging has earned a boycott from this consumer. If a company is too cheap to make unique packaging for their units maybe they shouldn't be selling two different units. Especially since the Voice one supposedly supports Data and Voice. I am also very disappointed with Amazon for not updating their description after so many complaints. I suppose they don't care since we (the consumer) get to pay for the return shipping if we weren't lucky enough to only need a data version. Anyways there are plenty of other brands to choose from I recommend picking one with a better business strategy then lying and misleading their customers. I know I will be replacing this when I set up my wifes office.

I bought this so i could move my fax/print/scan machine without running wires. I didn't even read the directions and this wireless jack extension works fine. There's a pic on the box. All i had to do was plug the jacks in and my fax in. We've got a wireless network, wireless phone & intercom, other electronics and use cell phones in our office and no interference problems.
Recommended

I purchased this because I was tired of getting the $5 per month fee from Dish Network for not having my receivers hooked up to a phone line. I live in an older house, with only two working phone jacks, neither of which are located in the rooms where my Dish network receivers are located. So- I purchased these to fill the gap.

They work great. They DO NOT interfere with my AT&T DSL service, either - that was something I was originally concerned about.

I have been paying the $5 per month penalty to DishNetwork since I first got their service because I had no phone line near my DVR. But when we added a second TV and DVR, I balked at paying $10 a month just because they think I need one-button access to pay per view. So I bought a Phonex base and two extension units so I could hook up the DVR's to the phone line. As described, the installation is quick and easy. The system works fine, even the caller ID. When I am watching TV and the phone rings, a window pops up on the screen telling me who is calling. This allows me to decide if I want to answer the phone without having to hunt for my glasses and pick up the phone.

This device did not work for me. They use the electrical wiring in your home to send and receive the sound signal. That electrical wiring can also carry a lot of noise from electrical appliances and even from light dimmers. In an apartment the noise is increased by all the electrical devices used by the neighbours, so in my case it was very noisy making the RCA adapters a total waist of money. I found a similar device that uses 2.4GHz and it works great for me. But the device called DualJack could potentially interfere with other 2.4GHz signals like a computer wireless land or even wireless phones, so far I have not had any interference. You have to try them and see what works for you. Joaquin Arosemena