Analog, Digital & Digital Spread Spectrum

In the world of cordless phones, there are three types of units.  They are analog, digital, and digital spread spectrum.

Analog phones are generally the cheapest option in terms of price.  Analog transmits a decent signal and an acceptable range of movement.  A downside to analog technology is that it tends do have some degree of static and buzz the further away from the base station the user moves.  Security can also be an issue as analog signals are more susceptible to signal scanners.

Digital cordless phones cost more generally than do analog phones.  Digital technology offers a strong signal and improved security over the analog models.  Digital models also have an advantage in that they can switch among various channels to avoid interference.

The way the digital spread spectrum cordless works is by digitizing the speaker’s voice and distributing the signal over a few different frequencies.  Because of the more complex technology, they do cost more.  The tradeoff for greater cost is excellent range, sound, and security.