VoWiFi with Fanvil W611W

VoWiFi vs. DECT

Cordless phones at home are widely used and DECT established as a standard since many years. Having a good WLAN with several access points at home, you might think of using VoWiFi instead of DECT to achieve an extended coverage.

Fritz!Box

The Fritz!Box is used in many homes and offers a high level of convenience with the integrated telephone system. Due to the built-in DECT module, this is very comfortable and the Fritz!Fons offer many functions in the interaction. IP phones can also be registered and used with the Fritz!Box. While the WLAN can be expanded very easy with additional access points, for DECT only repeaters are available. You could also use a second Fritz!Box for this purpose but since there is no roaming, i.e. the change of the DECT base during the call is impossible. Another use case can be when the Fritz!Box is connected to the DSL line in the basement and does not reach the attic. A rather rare, but with extensive IT equipment possible case is, installing the Fritz!Box in a rack that strongly shields the radio. The problem can be solved by using a Wi-Fi IP phone.

Fanvil W611W

Fanvil offers VoWiFi phone models W610W and W611W. Model W611W is more modern.

Setup

First, connect the IP phone to the WLAN. On the phone menu ▸ Wi-Fi ▸ available network, select the network and password. Then in the Fritz!Box under Telephony ▸ Phone devices ▸ Set up new device ▸ Phone ▸ Select LAN/WLAN IP phone and enter assign a Username and a Password. After that, access the web interface of the IP phone by entering its IP address in the browser. The IP address is displayed in the phone's menu ▸ Wi-Fi ▸ Wi-Fi Status ▸ IP Address. Now log in as admin and password admin. In the menu under Line ▸ SIP Server 1▸ Server address enter the IP address of the Fritz!Box. Enter any value as display name that you want to appear on the display later. For username and user authentication the username defined in the last step when setting up the Fritz!Box and the password defined for this under authentication password must be entered.

Answering Machine

In order for messages from the answering machine to be signaled on the phone, the username@fritz.box selected when setting up the IP phone in the Fritz!Box must be activated under Line ▸ Basic Settings ▸ Assignment of voice messages and on the same page under Voice message box number.

Ringtones

It's possible to create own ringtones according to the manual and upload then at System Menu ▸ Update ▸ Ringtones. The format that can be used is a WAV file with a sampling rate of 16,000, 16-bit mono with approx. 30 seconds length, maximum 256 KB.

Phone Book

In addition to a local phone book, an XML file on a server can also be used. This can be stored, for example, on a NAS in the local network. I have written a small converter in PHP for an XML exported Fritz!Box phone book into the Fanvil XML format. It is available at the end of this page as a download.

Pros & Cons

Wi-Fi 6
IP67
Bluetooth 5.0
Proximity sensor for screen dimming while making calls
Configuration in browser via web interface
USB-C Connector
Speakerphone
Own Ringtones
240x320 pixels LCD
Background picture for screen
Motion Sensor
CardDAV Phone Book
Contact Photos
Display on in base
Configurable Buttons for door station
Configurable video source for door station