Aastra MBU 400

Product description

Provides a DECT base station for up to 8 wireless handsets.

Can be used as a SIP to DECT gateway, or standalone connected to PSTN using an inbuilt FXO port.

Links

Aastra MBU-400 product webpage

Configuration

The MBU-400 doesn’t seem to be an Aastra designed product, because the system configuration is very similar to the Snom m9 product. I used the Snom configuration guide with the Aastra MBU-400 and everything worked fine – I suspect they have the same OEM supplier.

Product Issues

Firmware versions

The default firmware that came on my unit (version 1.08) was HORRIBLE. It crashed several times a day, and the Web user interface was slow and timed out frequently. In addition, the voice quality over the PSTN port was very poor. Other users have similar experiences, ref the comments from bbarnett below.

Upgrading to firmware 1.30 improved the voice quality issues for me, but the WebUI was still timing out a lot, and not 100% stable. The latest firmware on the Aastra website is 2.20, but I haven’t tried that yet:

Caution: Upgrading to 2.20 is a one-way street. The MBU will not let you reload the older firmware after you have upgraded.
Does anyone else have experience with 2.20 and whether it is an improvement over 1.30 ?

First experiences bbarnett 28/Jan/2009

I recently bought the MBU-400, it typically comes with a DECT cordless phone + the MBU-400 gateway itself.

However, the phone itself was horrible. Its noise cancellation cuts in and distorts your voice if you talk in even a slightly loud voice. The speakerphone is quiet… it is hard to hear unless you are in a quiet room.

I had to return this product because no one could understand me unless I was constantly moderating my voice volume.

Worse, is that my calls to Aastra resulted in almost zero response. I essentially called three times, and each time did not receive a callback, an email, or any reply what so ever… even though support assured me that a response would be forthcoming.

In frustration, I demanded to speak to tech support on the 4th call. A ‘manager’ came on the phone, and was very polite and seemed to be helpful. However, again, no response, no followup, nothing.

Note that during this entire time, I was not asking for Aastra to fix things immediately.. that would be absurd. However, I was willing to keep the phone (and even beta new firmware! Talk about free labour!), if I only had assurances that they would attempt to fix the issue. I believe that when a customer is willing to go so far out of their way to help a firm, the firm should pull out all the stops and at least communicate their intentions back to that same customer.

I have to give Aastra customer support a 1/10 for their responsiveness. I have to give this phone + base combo a 4/10.

It is a shame really. The phone seems quite nice, outside of these issues. The form factor is pleasing, and the menus are not unusable. I would have preferred to keep the phone then return it and lose 15% on restocking costs. :/