MichaelWacey
OwlSaver
Premium
join:2005-01-30
Berwyn, PA
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Comcast
| What I would like to see
I would like to be able to use the same handset on the road, in my home and at my office. This way, I would truly have one phone book. Right now, I have a directory in my home cordless system, a phone book in my work phone, and a phone book in my cell phone. If WiMAX or Femtocell can provide this, I do not care, I just want it now.
A part of this would be that my cell phone handset would respond to calls to my home number, calls to my work number, and calls to my cell number. In addition, all members of my family would share the same home number.
Lastly, the quality must be the same as a land line when at home or at the office. Mobile quality is OK for on the road. |
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youngmoore
join:2001-03-16
Marietta, GA
 ·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| Man you couldn't be more right. I have been begging Sprint to send me one of their "airwaves" or wt ever its called. I have a mountain home that I'm at more that in the city. Problem is
I roam on VZ and the call clarity from VZ's 800mhz -> sprints 1900 is well bad. Doesn't take a genius to get that if I get one of their Airwaves then I'm no longer roaming and I will be much happier.
ym |
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NOCMan
Verizon Fios User
Premium
join:2004-09-30
Flower Mound, TX
| said by youngmoore  :Man you couldn't be more right. I have been begging Sprint to send me one of their "airwaves" or wt ever its called. I have a mountain home that I'm at more that in the city. Problem is I roam on VZ and the call clarity from VZ's 800mhz -> sprints 1900 is well bad. Doesn't take a genius to get that if I get one of their Airwaves then I'm no longer roaming and I will be much happier. ym That call quality drops when you hit 1900mhz pcs bands is not Sprints fault. 800mhz penetrates foliage and buildings better and that is the big deal with the 700mhz auction. Even better penetration when it comes to obsticles. |
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youngmoore
join:2001-03-16
Marietta, GA
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
| I think you misunderstood me or I didn't explain it correctly.
If I'm roaming on VZ "800" the call clarity is horrible! compared to sprints 1900. I'm sure most couldn't tell the difference but I can. BTW there's no Sprint towers with in a
15 miles radius from where I am up here. We have even offered sprint to put a tower on our land which they turned us down.
Our land is prime since we live in the mountains and the coverage they could get at the top of one of the mountains would be crazy but what are you going to do "shrug".
ym |
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Matt
Take me down to the paradise city
Premium
join:2003-07-20
Jamestown, NC | reply to MichaelWacey
I always thought this looked neat.
»www.home-electronics.net/ge/pc/v···roduct=3 |
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jimbo2150
join:2004-05-10
Youngstown, OH
| Are you kidding me?
No wonder I never heard of this technolgy, it's a rip off! You are telling me that I will have to pay (most likely a monthly fee) to get some ugly humming box put in my house that will hijack my internet connection all to get slightly better cell phone coverage at home? Not my mention the neighbor who is close enough to jack in too? Hell why not put it on the outside and let my whole neighborhood hijack (and possibly create security holes in) my internet connection for their phone calls?
The only way I would use this is if the wireless phone company PAID ME to provide better coverage in my neighborhood.
This is the biggest phone company ripoff I have seen in a while!
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- "Techie" Jim |
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stufried
Premium
join:2003-10-13 | reply to youngmoore
Re: What I would like to see
The problem with Sprint's femtocell is that it uses GPS to make sure that you are in an area where Sprint has a license. That summer home that is in someone else's territory is probably excluded. |
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Akademiks
I rather die enormous than live dormant
join:2001-04-19
Plainfield, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
1 edit | reply to jimbo2150
Re: Are you kidding me?
said by jimbo2150 :No wonder I never heard of this technolgy, it's a rip off! You are telling me that I will have to pay (most likely a monthly fee) to get some ugly humming box put in my house that will hijack my internet connection all to get slightly better cell phone coverage at home? Not my mention the neighbor who is close enough to jack in too? Hell why not put it on the outside and let my whole neighborhood hijack (and possibly create security holes in) my internet connection for their phone calls? The only way I would use this is if the wireless phone company PAID ME to provide better coverage in my neighborhood. This is the biggest phone company ripoff I have seen in a while! In the sprint box (not sure about others) it lets the customer configure up to 10 DID's to use with the box if the telephone number is not programed then the neighbors can't use it. Also since it uses the internet the voice quality will be as good as your ISP connection is (not sure which codec it uses yet as that matters as well).
I think its good option other than the unlimited plan or if you don't get good reception inside of your house (and works everywhere else) but you will need to have a good stable Internet connection (just like with other VoIP providers).
Most providers will start moving over to either Femtocell, WiFi or WiMax (voice services) bundled in with the phones as it saves the carriers money and will allow customers unlimited talk time through the Internet.
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Life's a b***h in mini-skirts and big chests, so how can I not flirt with death... |
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youngmoore
join:2001-03-16
Marietta, GA | reply to stufried
Re: What I would like to see
humm interesting, wasn't what they told me. They said that the GPS was for 911 calling to provide location since its actually a Voip call. If it ever comes out guess we shall see
you may be correct.
ym |
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MichaelWacey
OwlSaver
Premium
join:2005-01-30
Berwyn, PA
·Verizon FIOS
·Comcast
| reply to Matt
That is nice, but not what I am looking for. I want to be able to use my cell handset to make calls on my landline. That device lets me use my cordless handset to make a call using my cellular phone service.
That does not work for me since my landline quality is so much better than my cellular quality at home. |
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centsofhumor
join:2007-01-20
Two Rivers, WI | derrr....
Why turn off analog then if they are worried about coverage. |
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tc1uscg
join:2005-03-09
Saint Clair Shores, MI
| reply to Matt
Re: What I would like to see
The problem with that product is, it will still use land line and your cell. You can't plug it into your "wired" home and get ALL your phones to ring at the same time. I've just started looking into such products and am considering DOC-N-Talk. It works like the VoIP boxes. Just plug it into your d-marc (I use a 66 block myself) and it will ring ALL your phones connected to that block. No need to buy proprietary phones like the GE or AT&T phones.
I would keep opening network tickets on your problem and complain about dropped calls (don't forget to pop out your battery while talking to get this affect). The worst that can happen is they will wave your term fee so you can go to VZW instead, since you implied they have coverage in your area.  |
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patcat88
join:2002-04-05
Jamaica, NY
| reply to jimbo2150
Re: Are you kidding me?
Hell yeah. Why should I have 5, 10, 30, 100 sucking my broadband connection with Voice and 3G until I get a call from the ISP's security dept that I am being terminated for overusage?
Cellphones with wifi are fine, femtocells aren't unless they are on dedicated backhauls. Perhaps Sprint should have a website where you can volunteer your house/apt/location for one. They pay for the SDSL/T1 line to run it, that way everyone can use it, and it won't bog down my line, maybe Sprint can give a $10 credit each month for having a femtocell on your property. |
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BF69
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN
| reply to centsofhumor
Re: derrr....
said by centsofhumor :Why turn off analog then if they are worried about coverage. That was a government madate. They really didn't have a choice. |
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Akademiks
I rather die enormous than live dormant
join:2001-04-19
Plainfield, NJ
·Sprint Mobile Broa..
1 edit | reply to patcat88
Re: Are you kidding me?
said by patcat88 :Hell yeah. Why should I have 5, 10, 30, 100 sucking my broadband connection with Voice and 3G until I get a call from the ISP's security dept that I am being terminated for overusage? "In the sprint box (not sure about others) it lets the customer configure up to 10 DID's to use with the box if the telephone number is not programed then the neighbors can't use it. Also since it uses the internet the voice quality will be as good as your ISP connection is (not sure which codec it uses yet as that matters as well)."
In Short - If you add all of your neighbors phone numbers to your box that is the customers fault not Sprint's.
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Life's a b***h in mini-skirts and big chests, so how can I not flirt with death... |
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RockyBB
Premium
join:2005-01-31
Longmont, CO
| I have a Sprint Airave femtocell box
here are my experiences ...
this is for the legacy Sprint CDMA side of the house ... it is not for the legacy Nextel iDEN handsets. I have not tried to force a Verizon CDMA handset to use the box.
it is very simple to install ... plug into electric and IP, takes up to 60 minutes for everything to sync up (mine took 25 minutes). place near a window to make the GPS come right up ... if you don't have a window near your router, they include an extension antenna that I did not have to use.
The GPS is for E911 purposes. It has nothing to do with licensing or regulatory restrictions about "territory."
it is not an unattractive humming box. its about the size of a boxed set of DVDs. it's white, with 4 blue lights. for some reason, you have to install it upright, minimal footprint. one unintended benefit of the box is the "system" light ... you'll know at a glance if your internet is working or not!
you can choose to leave the system open to all comers (I do), or restrict it to only certain handsets. I'm not aware of how to "configure" it, to my knowledge this has to be done on the phone through Airave help desk. there is a limit to the number of simultaneous calls it can handle -- it's either 5 or 10. the whole neighborhood will not be hijacking your broadband. if a handset is on your Sprint account, then any calling minutes used do not increment against your plan allowance. if an unknown neighbor calls through the box, they get the better transmission (using your broadband), but their minutes count against their own allowance. Airave customers can't use too many minutes through the box. the whole ideal of the Airave is to move minutes off the towers onto the internet.
Call detail of calls made through the Airave do not seem to be making it to the invoice. Criminals and marriage cheaters should like that. I have no idea if Sprint retains those call records.
I've not found a way to opt-out of using the box on any individual call. If I'm in range of the box, the call will go through the box. Perhaps Sprint has a * code to do that, but I'm not aware of it and haven't asked.
If your handset uses the older Vision data services (not the EVDO stuff) your internet on the handset will be faster than going through the towers.
You know that you're using the device because it adds a quick double tone after pressing SEND. On the handsets I have, there is no icon on the screen telling me that I'm in range of the Airave.
After I tried it out at my place, I gave it to my step daughter off at school to cut down on her usage minutes -- not even a single complaint (and I would definitely hear about it, too). it does not impact sound quality. no extra latency, either. calls are more stable because you're close to the device.
I'm in the Denver area test market. I have not taken the device to another city outside Denver to see if it would work. When the device first came out, Sprint did a lot of publicity about it. Today, outside their stores, they don't seem to be making any effort at publicizing it.
No, I won't mail you mine to test it outside the Denver area. And no, I can't go to a Sprint store and try to get you one to put on your account -- I did try that for someone, but the box is linked to the subscriber and they're not fulfilling outside Denver and Indy to my knowledge. |
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disc
join:2005-12-31
Raleigh, NC
| Service bundles
I think the original article is more about service bundles than service plans.
said by ABIresearch :
A service bundle that encompasses a comprehensive set of wrap-around services – and links devices into a connected home concept – will be a clear differentiator going forward. Moreover, it is imperative that service providers capitalize on Web 2.0 services by embracing service concepts such as “cache and carry,” where rich media files are swapped within the femtocell where service quality and cost are more favorable.
Sounds intriguing, but it's sort of nebulous. |
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net1492
join:2005-08-31
Ballwin, MO
| reply to RockyBB
Re: I have a Sprint Airave femtocell box
Is there an additional monthly fee associated with having the Airave equipment and service?
Do you use the EVDO data service and if so did you notice any difference in speed?
I wonder if you will be able to get multiple Airave boxes so you can send one or more off to college with your kids. |
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RockyBB
Premium
join:2005-01-31
Longmont, CO
| I have a family share plan, so the Airave costs $30/month and allows free daytime calling from all of those handsets. for those with a single handset subscription, the monthly rate is $15. I was not charged a startup fee, though the published startup fee is $50. The Airave does not support EVDO through the handset ... only the original Vision speed (I thought I said that but looking at it again I wasn't clear). I have not asked the question about multiple Airave boxes on a single account. |
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ReVeLaTeD
Premium
join:2001-11-10
San Diego, CA | reply to MichaelWacey
Re: What I would like to see
Sounds like you need Hotspot@Home, from T-mo, coupled with a good VoIP service. Basically the same thing. |
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