My first impression of the D-Link DPH-50U in the store was good - nice, simple packaging.

After I had purchased my USB phone adapter, I took it home and set it up.

Installation was really simple, provided you know how to plug in a USB cable and the phone cable.

Next, you install the software (and Skype if you haven't done it yet) and that is about it. After a reboot, you are set to go.

After I had finished installing and getting everything going it was time for me to test out the product. For the test I decided that I would try making a local call, and then a long distance call.

I called a friend's house and the call was clear, though there was a faint echo. The echo could be attributed to my phone, or to the effects of my wireless network.

My next call was to my sister 600 Km away. By the second call, I was getting the hang of the button pressing sequence to make calls with the box. You would push "##" then the country code, and then dial the number as you normally would. At the end, you push " * " so that the box knows to use Skype to make the call.

The clarity of the long distance call was okay, with a slight delay between me talking and my sister hearing it - more noticeable than using a regular land line phone.

All in all, the phone adapter proved itself to be useful and true to what the product was supposed to be.

We did encounter some problems a couple weeks later with dropped calls - but it was Christmas season, and it could just be that the lines were busy.

So, after four months of use since I took it out of the package, I would give the product "two thumbs up" for quality, usefulness and reliability - it is something I would recommend without hesitation to my friends.