I guess there is no such thing as a decent home intercom system

[gigahertz20]

How many of you own homes and want a way to talk to people in other rooms without having to yell or go and get them constantly? Especially kids/wives that may be in another room on a different floor, it gets annoying having to get everybody when dinner is ready. Anyways, I wanted to solve this problem in my house so I bought an intercom system.

So I purchased an Intertalk intercom system from Amazon months ago, 2 of the units made that power line buzzing sound similar to when you stand near a power transformer and hold your ear to it. So I had to return them and get new ones, new ones I got didn't buzz but they still are horrible. Most of the time you can't even hear the person on the other end because of the static. The problem is most of the "wireless" intercom systems that are sold rely on sending the signal through your homes electrical wiring, so basically they really are POWERLINE intercom systems (like powerline networking products), calling them wireless is basically false advertising but I guess they get away with it.

So I went onto Amazon to see what else I could buy, and there are no products that have really good reviews. The closest thing I could find that is actually wireless are these, but if you read the reviews, alot of people are complaining about the voice quality being shit.

http://www.amazon.com/Wireless-Porta...1884604&sr=8-1

What's amazing to me is we have technology that lets us talk to people across the world clearly, yet I cannot find an in-home intercom system that works flawlessly. If someone created a truly wireless intercom system that could work perfectly in any home no matter the size, they would make bank if they could market it correctly. I know many parents would love to be able to communicate with their spouse/children in their house that might be on a different floor without having to run all around. It would be a great product for disabled and elderly people as well.

What do most of you do? Alot of people I know just call/text each others cell phones but that becomes a pain when you have several people in 1 house.

 

[luv2liv]

heres a suggestion: walkie talkie. but i can see replacing batteries will be a pain

 

[alent1234]

i bet they all operate on 2.4 or some other unregulated frequency band which is why you get the interference

 

[Lifted]

This phone can be used as a phone and intercom with up to 10 cordless handsets. You can call individual handsets with the intercom, and I think page all of them as well.

http://telephones.att.com/att/index.cfm/product-detail/?event=ehCatalog.productDetail&ProductID=1568

You can use these DECT repeaters to extend the range. I found they work pretty far out of the box though, and that is in NYC where wireless ranges suck.

 

[Phokus]

This phone can be used as a phone and intercom with up to 10 cordless handsets. You can call individual handsets with the intercom, and I think page all of them as well.

http://telephones.att.com/att/index.cfm/product-detail/?event=ehCatalog.productDetail&ProductID=1568

You can use these DECT repeaters to extend the range. I found they work pretty far out of the box though, and that is in NYC where wireless ranges suck.

Yeah i have a couple cordless phones (vtech i think?) that does this as well: push a button and it rings the other cordless phone.

 

[MaxFusion16]

cellphone text?
twitter feed?
or just ring the door bell?

 

[MrGlobe]

Texting seems like less of a headache than installing an intercom system. What about the Nextel push-to-talk style phones? I'd say the phone based intercom would be the easiest. Otherwise grab an Asimo robot to walk around and let everyone know it's dinner time.

 

[thecoolnessrune]

heres a suggestion: walkie talkie. but i can see replacing batteries will be a pain

This is what my grandparents use.

My grandmother has a autoimmune disease similar to muscular dystrophy that makes it very difficult to do simple tasks like getting a glass of water or measuring her medication. In the need of a solution I got them a set of 4 radios that she keeps at the main rooms in the house. They use that to communicate with each other (and with me and my brother when we're home visiting or helping out).

 

[gsaldivar]

Pick yourself up some ground loop isolators. Also available at Radio Shack, etc.

"Hum" problem solved.

 

[gorcorps]

Text

-or-

Overly complicated 2012 solution:
Instead of intercoms, buy Android tablets. Mount them onto wall. Use tablet to skype with other tablets. Boom... video intercom (if you get front facing camera tablet)

 

[gigahertz20]

heres a suggestion: walkie talkie. but i can see replacing batteries will be a pain

Walkie Talkies would be a pain, they would all have to be on the same channel. If you're in the basement and you want to speak to your wife upstairs, then everybody else that has a walkie talkie on the same channel would hear everything.

This phone can be used as a phone and intercom with up to 10 cordless handsets. You can call individual handsets with the intercom, and I think page all of them as well.

http://telephones.att.com/att/index.cfm/product-detail/?event=ehCatalog.productDetail&ProductID=1568

You can use these DECT repeaters to extend the range. I found they work pretty far out of the box though, and that is in NYC where wireless ranges suck.

Pretty expensive to be used just as an intercom system. Also, I bet when you call the other handsets, someone has to answer them. I want something so that you can just press a button and talk, and the person on the other end will hear you without having to answer anything.

These are the intercom units I have now, and they have the perfect look but just don't work well since they transmit the signal over electrical wires and there is just too much interference. The thing I like though is the channels A-D. You place the 4 units around your house and each one on a different channel. If you want to yell at your younger son to wake-up for school but don't want to wake-up your older daughter, you can just select the channel he is on and talk. The system would be perfect if it just worked, too bad they didn't make it truly wireless instead of powerline.



http://www.amazon.com/Intertalk-FM24...1928013&sr=8-5

 

[gigahertz20]

Text

-or-

Overly complicated 2012 solution:
Instead of intercoms, buy Android tablets. Mount them onto wall. Use tablet to skype with other tablets. Boom... video intercom (if you get front facing camera tablet)

Text doesn't work that great when you have younger kids you need to yell at to wake-up in the morning. Also, not everybody carries their cell phone around with them in the house.

 

[MotionMan]

We use our wireless landline phones. There are three of them, plus the base, and they reside in the rooms where people are about 95% of the time.

I have also resorted to calling my wife on her mobile phone if one of us was not near a wireless phone

MotionMan

 

[gigahertz20]

Anybody else have anything?

 

[gorcorps]

Text doesn't work that great when you have younger kids you need to yell at to wake-up in the morning. Also, not everybody carries their cell phone around with them in the house.

So tablets it is!

 

[mammador]

There are some systems out there, which can use telephones to hook into wall panel door phones.

I think most of these are for the commerical sector though, not for home users.

 

[nmcbrid]

My understanding is that these intercoms - http://www.absoluteautomation.ca/chamberlain-intercoms-s/1871.htm (which I think are the same as the first ones posted) are actually a 900 mhz system. The reviews I'm reading are pretty good, has anyone got any recent feedback on these? Have they been updated at all>

 

[MotionMan]

My understanding is that these intercoms - http://www.absoluteautomation.ca/chamberlain-intercoms-s/1871.htm (which I think are the same as the first ones posted) are actually a 900 mhz system. The reviews I'm reading are pretty good, has anyone got any recent feedback on these? Have they been updated at all>

An almost 3 year necro.

Well done, sir.

MotionMan

 

[RossMAN]

 

[nmcbrid]

An almost 3 year necro.

Well done, sir.

MotionMan

I was looking for a post on using tin cans and string, but this was the oldest I could find.

But seriously, any feedback?

 

[notposting]

Well, based on what I've seen with baby monitors, you're looking for something with digital ( :awe: ) transmission. Otherwise you have a good chance of that terrible powerline interference buzzing.

 

[Bock]

What happened to good old fashioned yelling? It's FREE & the other party has no excuse{other than headphones}

 

[SOFTengCOMPelec]

Warning: This thread has been NECRO'ED by nearly three years.

EDIT:

I was looking for a post on using tin cans and string, but this was the oldest I could find.

But seriously, any feedback?

You would be better off starting a new thread. By "Necro'ing" this old one, many forum users will probably just take a quick look at the title, and first few posts, and then possibly reply. i.e. NEVER seeing your attempt at changing this thread.

EXAMPLE

 

[Awesmazing]

Warning: This thread has been NECRO'ED by nearly three years.

EDIT:


You would be better off starting a new thread. By "Necro'ing" this old one, many forum users will probably just take a quick look at the title, and first few posts, and then possibly reply. i.e. NEVER seeing your attempt at changing this thread.

EXAMPLE

I just randomly found this post in the top 4 google results for in home intercom. So yes, three years later and after reading this entire thread my Christmas gift idea can't be fulfilled easily. If someone just did as op said they'd make bank.

 

[Kaido]

I just randomly found this post in the top 4 google results for in home intercom. So yes, three years later and after reading this entire thread my Christmas gift idea can't be fulfilled easily. If someone just did as op said they'd make bank.

It's not wireless, but the HTD Lync intercom system is pretty good & is probably by far the best you can get for the money: (and it ain't cheap!)

http://www.htd.com/Products/Lync

Legrand has something similar:

http://www.legrand.us/intercoms-and-door-entry.aspx

Alternatively, most of the new cordless phones have an intercom system in them, which works great: ($120, pretty reasonable compared to the ones above)

http://www.amazon.com/Panasonic-KX-TG7745S-Link2Cell-Bluetooth-Convergence/dp/B0073W729K

Or you could DIY with cheap tablets or other mobile devices:

http://www.zello.com/

The trouble with fixed in-wall models is that you have to run power to them somehow, so they're going to require installation, and it's going to cost money for all of that hardware (plus labor, unless you DIY). Afaik, there's only one company even working on something easier, Nucleus:

http://nucleuslife.com/

Problem is that they don't ship until Spring of 2016:

http://www.technobuffalo.com/2015/11/28/get-your-nucleus-smart-home-intercom-now/\

Plus they're not just audio-only. I'm sure it could be made...you can get long-range walkie talkies for a reasonable price these days...there's just not much demand for it, otherwise it would exist (for a relatively cheap price, and at places like Home Depot).