A review of the EnGenius SN-920 by a user, 1/15/2001
Let me state immediately that right out of the box, carelessly plunked down on my desk, the EnGenius SN-920 had better range than any cordless phone I have ever used. This is impressive. This is cool. But its range was NOWHERE NEAR the advertised "one mile in urban areas".
In order to test the range of the phone, I got on my bicycle and pedaled off through my suburban Virginia neighborhood first in one direction, then in the other, testing the EnGenius 920 for reception at various intervals.
If the phone is in range, it connects to the base station. If you are not in range, the phone does not connect and displays a "no connection" message on the LCD panel. This is a simple and unambiguous test: it connects, or it doesn't connect at a given range.
Results: with no outdoor antenna the EnGenius SN-920 connected at a range of 1,000 feet. Beyond 1,000 feet the phone did not connect. This actual range is less than one fifth the advertised range of one mile (though installation of the outdoor antenna saves the day later, as you will see!)
Now a word about clarity. The further away from the base station I went, the worse the signal became. Do you know how a crappy cell phone connection sounds? That's the way the 920 sounded at the furthest extent of its range. At 1,000 feet the EnGenius SN-920 did connect to the base station, but the sound was broken and static-y just like a crappy cell phone connection. The phone features a graphical signal strength meter, whose readings exactly mirrored my perceived degradation of the signal. In conclusion about clarity: at 1,000 feet range I could call in an emergency, but conversation would be difficult.
So should I say that the result of my test yielded an actual range of 1,000 feet? I will leave this up to you, the gentle reader.
Since EnGenius recommends in the manual that you mount the phone up high, I next tried two variations. First, I installed the base station in my upstairs bedroom, rather than on my desk downstairs. The results: 100-200 feet more range. Next, I then installed the base station even higher, in my attic. The results: an additional 100-200 feet of range. Do you see a pattern here? When installing the base station without the outdoor antenna, THE HIGHER THE BETTER!
One final word. Although the best continuous range I was able to get without the external antenna was about 1,200 feet, consider the following anomaly. When I climbed up nearby "O Hill" where the University of Virginia's observatory is situated, the EnGenius SN-920 connected with tolerable clarity almost one mile away from the base station. Again, the higher the better! Here's the observatory, a beautiful old building in its own right:
EnGenius SN-920 User Review Home Page
1) Purchasing the EnGenius SN-920
2) Installation Without Outdoor Antenna
3) Testing the Range Without the Outdoor Antenna
4) Installation With the Outdoor Antenna
5) Testing the Range With the Outdoor Antenna
6) Technical Details and Miscellaneous Observations
8) Conclusions about the EnGenius SN-920
10) Ten years later, the Project Ends
copyright Eric Geilker geilker5@aol.com