The History Of Cordless Phone Radio Frequencies

Filed Under Electronics 


Though the first patent for a cordless communication device was submitted in 1966 and finally granted in 1969, it wasn’t until 1980 that cordless telephones were finally available for purchase by the general public for household use. These early phones were primitive by today’s standards, so bad that eavesdropping was as easy as simply picking up another handset nearby! One could also just use a radio scanner and drop in on the right frequency. After all, cordless phones were just radios themselves, in effect, operating over a very limited range of frequencies. You see, a cordless telephone is comprised of a base and its receiver, the handset. Radio signals are transmitted between the base and receiver, and the frequency of the signals determines such characteristics as their strength.

By being limited to very low frequencies early on, cordless phones were inevitably limited in range, offered no security whatsoever, and subject to interference from common household appliances like refrigerators and radios.

Nevertheless, wireless phoning even if only within the confines of one own home caught on so much that the government was forced many times to increase the ceiling on radio frequencies. From the early forty-some-odd megahertz’s of yesteryear to this century’s five gigahertz limits. But for much of its early product-life, cordless phones were expensive and of restricted utility. Oftentimes signals would be lost simply between one end of a small apartment to the other! Yet their popularity ensured regular improvements, and fifteen years after their introduction the security problem was finally solved, virtually, with the implementation of Digital Spectrum Spread (DSS) technology. This meant that signals were scrambled in pieces over several frequencies, and accidental eavesdropping was a thing of the past. Only sophisticated equipment can now pick up a cordless telephone conversation intact.

Granting higher frequencies, however, has become something of a double-edged sword with many of today’s Wi-Fi networks operating in the same frequency bands. By operating at ever-higher frequencies, the phones were able to escape interference from other devices around the home and office until the general adoption of the wireless ethos of a world free of wires just after the turn of the century. Higher frequencies also meant shorter handset battery lives, not to mention hotter handsets from all the heat generated. But for all the shortcomings, cordless phones are still commonly sold almost thirty years after their introduction in the marketplace, despite fifteen years of cell phone usage.

Article by William Gold. He writes about the radio frequencies found on cordless telephones. For Panasonic cordless phones visit http://www.e-worlddirect.com they have the best prices and selection on the web.

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