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VoIP, or Voice over IP is crudely a service that allows the exchange of voice data over the Internet protocol. It is one of the modern technologies and it comes with many benefits and some risks. The main benefit of VoIP is its easier implantation compared to a regular circuit-based phone system. To put it simply, VoIP allows communication between two people who have the VoIP service established on their respective ends. Various products allow the use of the VoIP service, many of those are provided by large communication technology companies like Nextiva and RingCentral.

VoIP service has revolutionized modern SOHO (small office/home office) phone systems. By taking two different services and combining them into one, VoIP has cut the costs of telecommunication services. In the past, companies used to have separate services for both internet and conventional phone system; just like the ability to send an email over the internet, VoIP allows the real-time exchange of voice notes and phone calls. Instead of having a computer and a conventional phone, you can use a SOHO VoIP phone that uses your already established internet connection without the need for an extra circuit.

In this article, we will take a general look over SOHO VoIP phones and dive deep into one of their important features. We will also talk about the different ethernet ports a VoIP phone can use.

Contents

MAIN FEATURES OF VOIP

ETHERNET PORT: A CLOSER LOOK

10 Mbps – Obsolete

100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet)

1000 Mbps (Gigabit Ethernet) – PoE incompatible

10,000 Mbps (10 Gigabit Ethernet) – PoE incompatible

Power over Ethernet for VoIP phones

Main features of VoIP

Various features make VoIP service a must. Those features cluster into two areas, the first one is vastly reducing the telecommunication costs, the second one is its reliability and effect on productivity.

VoIP saves you good money:

Instead of maintaining two different networks, each with its respective maintenance and operative cost, VoIP uses the internet network.

Costs associated with the employee additions, transfers, and changes are eliminated with VoIP.

With the ongoing competition among VoIP service providers, the cost of VoIP implementation has significantly dropped over the past decade.

VoIP saves time for your employees.

Traditional phone systems are spatially constrained to the building of the company or where the phone network is established. Contrary to that, VoIP service can be accessed via virtually any internet connection.

Anytime you have an internet connection, there is no need for the customers to call on your personal phone; the SOHO VoIP phone is available, and it saves your precious time.

Improved and advanced sound quality

Many SOHO VoIP phones have a feature called Power over Ethernet (PoE). You can power your VoIP phone using an Ethernet cable instead of an AC adapter.

Ethernet port: a closer look

Two properties of SOHO VoIP phones come to mind when we speak of its Ethernet port, the port speed, and the PoE feature. The ethernet port on the back of the SOHO VoIP phone supports specific internet speeds that range from 10 Mbps to 10,000 Mbps. Each speed category defines correlates with the activities you use the VoIP phones for. Let us take a closer look at each of those speed categories:

10 Mbps – Obsolete

The cheapest and the oldest, yet it can hold up to 100 VoIP calls in real-time. 10 Mbps technology is old, and it uses obsolete routers, switches, and cables. For instance, this speed doesn’t exist in last decade products. With the fast progression of technological development, using 10 Mbps devices and cables puts your network at the risk of incompatibility and as a result, you will need to reestablish your network with newer technology; a process that can both be costly and time-consuming. Furthermore, 10 Mbps speed supports minimal web services like phone calls, emails, and web surfing, it is insufficient to stream video or uses large web apps.

100 Mbps (Fast Ethernet)

Conventional and fast. 100 Mbps speed provides good speed and extensive availability on many devices.  Almost all tech devices use the 100 Mbps port. Fast Ethernet uses a copper twisted-pair and fiber-optic cables. 100 Mbps connection is fast and provides reliable access to multimedia, video, and large-sized data. This is the go-to speed for SOHO VoIP phone systems

1000 Mbps (Gigabit Ethernet) – PoE incompatible

If your business is going big, you need big guns. With Gigabit ethernet, you will virtually have access to the full potential of the VoIP phone system, you will be able to stream videos, conferences, and company-wide meetings without any latency or drop in quality. This connection speed also has backward compatibly, meaning that it uses the same port as 100 Mbps connection, and plugging in a VoIP phone to the network will not slow or interrupt the normal flow of the network.

10,000 Mbps (10 Gigabit Ethernet) – PoE incompatible

Your business is covering large geographical areas, that is what you need. It is 10 times faster than its predecessor, and it is also backward compatible with both Gigabit and Fast Ethernet ports.  For big companies and businesses, this connection will ensure that everyone can access all VoIP services in real-time.

Power over Ethernet for VoIP phones

As the name implies, PoE means the transmission of electrical power using the ethernet cable. What does that mean for SOHO VoIP phones? It means that with a single cable, you can provide both data and electrical power to your VoIP phones. This reduces the overall cost of VoIP service integration and also allows more mobility; you can easily use your VoIP with an ethernet cable anywhere. There are four types of PoE: types 1,2,3, and 4. They vary in power capabilities. Each of them can deliver power up to 15.4, 30, 60, 100 Watts, respectively. Most PoE phones work using a 100Mbps connection, it’s the most reliable and convenient.

Establishing VoIP service in your company can be overwhelming, but with the right knowledge, you can easily pick up the ethernet connection that your company needs, inject PoE, and choose the right VoIP phone.