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T-Mobile Launches UMA Service
Save your minutes by using Wi-Fi....

As had been leaked, T-Mobile today nationally launched their Hotspot@Home UMA service, which lets users seamlessly transfer calls between the company's traditional cellular network and Wi-Fi routers. In addition to regular service fee, Hotspot@Home costs T-Mobile users $19.99 per month for a single line (there is a $10 introductory rate currently running) or $24.99 per month for up to five lines. So far it only supports two phones: the Samsung t409 and the Nokia 6086.

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Users can then use T-Mobile's network of 8,500 hotspots to make calls. Our users tell us the service also works on residential routers, unlike the recent service launched by Cincinatti Bell, which restricts users to just their Wi-Fi network. T-Mobile offers users a branded D-Link or Linksys WRT54G for home use.

During the service's early trial run in the Northwest, there were complaints of flaky switching between cellular and Wi-Fi networks, though opinions on whether GSM to Wi-Fi handoffs are smooth vary in impression pieces from Crunch Gear and Engadget.
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montee4
Premium Member
join:2004-02-15
Chicago, IL

4 edits

montee4

Premium Member

QoS?

I wonder how they are going to address QoS issues going through a customers ISP.

I can see quite a few complaints on this that are truly out of T-Mobile's control.

Anyone that has VoIP and downloads a large file can attest to the degraded call quality unless some sort of QoS is in place.

What kind of voice quality can I expect when making a call over a congested free Wi-Fi network?

$19.99 is great for unlimited calls, but they better have decent quality. I just hope they thought this one through.
reelbigfish
join:2002-06-06
Boston, MA

reelbigfish

Member

Re: QoS?

I believe they meant $19.99 in addition to the calling plan the customer already has. So for me it would bump my bill up to $135, but I could probably also drop down to the 700min plan since I would be using less minutes, so it's pretty much a wash.

N3OGH
Yo Soy Col. "Bat" Guano
Premium Member
join:2003-11-11
Philly burbs

N3OGH

Premium Member

Re: QoS?

I really think it all depends on your reasons for getting this particular service.

If you're wanting a wireless signal in your home, like the author of the Crunch Gear article, then the $20 might be worth it, especially if you don't have a home phone. The ability to use this particular service at open hot spots would just be a bonus.

There's no way anyone is looking at this as a money saver, though. If you all ready have a broadband connection, you may as well get a decent VoIP provider set up, and use a cordless phone.

In the end, this will end up being a niche product, IMHO.

FFH5
Premium Member
join:2002-03-03
Tavistock NJ

FFH5

Premium Member

Re: QoS?

Nice writeup by someone who tested it and what are the ups and downs of the product:
»www.infosyncworld.com/ne ··· 045.html

PolarBear03
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium Member
join:2005-01-03

PolarBear03 to montee4

Premium Member

to montee4
said by montee4:

I wonder how they are going to address QoS issues going through a customers ISP.

I can see quite a few complaints on this that are truly out of T-Mobile's control.

Anyone that has VoIP and downloads a large file can attest to the degraded call quality unless some sort of QoS is in place.
The ISP isn't so much an issue, as how much of the home connection is being used. That is why T-Mobile is selling their own branded routers. These routers give QOS priority to the phone.

Personally, I don't have one of the routers. I simply make sure I limit the DL and UL of Azureus!

jtudor
MVM
join:2002-12-07
Morganton, NC

jtudor

MVM

Who cares

Nobody in my neck of the woods cares about this at all.

Why?

Because you cannot get T-Mobile service anywhere in North Carolina, not even in Charlotte. It's available in a couple of cities in South Carolina but nowhere in north Carolina. You can use T-Mobile here while roaming, you just can't live here and be a subscriber.

So Whoopee big fat hairy deal!!!
MightyPez
join:2002-05-01
Saint Paul, MN

MightyPez

Member

Re: Who cares

I just found that out last week while vacationing in Asheville. I would either be roaming on SunCom or Cingular. And my Nextel Blackberry was spotty in the mountains (naturally).

Though I will say T-Mobile service in the Twin Cities is phenomenal.

Transmaster
Don't Blame Me I Voted For Bill and Opus
join:2001-06-20
Cheyenne, WY

1 recommendation

Transmaster

Member

Re: Who cares

what I am waiting for are the first post that goes something like; I paid 600 bucks for a Iphone, and..........

1, it sucks
2, hard to text message
3, no memory
4, I have already scratched it
5, no battery life.
6. I wish I still had T-Mobile service
etc, etc, etc.

Of course the average Apple zealot will not admit this
Ahrenl
join:2004-10-26
North Andover, MA

Ahrenl

Member

Re: Who cares

Really? An IPhone post? Why?

Although I don't own Apple products on principal (alternatives with same functionality are always cheaper) for people who have the money they do a fairly good job. Also they have glass faces, so will be pretty scratch resistant. I would think you'd crack it before your would scratch it. Battery life has been reviewed as beyond expectations. It has plenty of memory if you're not trying to replace your Ipod. I only use about 9GB's on my Zen for music. Video may be what really limits it.

In any case, lets not bring up completely unrelated topics, even if you're responding to some pretty rediculous posts. (Why are you commenting on a service that isn't available to you? I can't get Sushi delivered to me, therefore I hate sushi delivery companies. wtf?)

PolarBear03
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium Member
join:2005-01-03

PolarBear03 to jtudor

Premium Member

to jtudor
said by jtudor:

Because you cannot get T-Mobile service anywhere in North Carolina, not even in Charlotte. It's available in a couple of cities in South Carolina but nowhere in north Carolina. You can use T-Mobile here while roaming, you just can't live here and be a subscriber.
Why not? I live in an area where there are NO T-mobile towers (only Unicel), and my T-Mobile service works fine. I just don't have a local number, but I could care less about that.

jtudor
MVM
join:2002-12-07
Morganton, NC

jtudor

MVM

Re: Who cares

I didn't say that it will not work, just that as a resident of NC I cannot be a subscriber.

I know that I could go to another state and sign up there and have a non local number, but most carriers will not allow you to do that, and if they catch you doing it, your account will be terminated.

They do that because most require you to make over 50% of your calls on their network, not roaming.

PolarBear03
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium Member
join:2005-01-03

PolarBear03

Premium Member

Re: Who cares

said by jtudor:

I know that I could go to another state and sign up there and have a non local number, but most carriers will not allow you to do that, and if they catch you doing it, your account will be terminated.

They do that because most require you to make over 50% of your calls on their network, not roaming.
You are correct, regarding Cingular. I have a personal friend who ordered Cingular online (it let him), then one day they simply cut him off for using more than 50% of his minutes in the Unicel network.

Conversely, I've been living in a Unicel-only area for two years and T-Mobile is THRILLED to have me (I've had 4 lines for 4 years).

So you can get T-Mobile, but you would have to do it online, or go for a drive. So I completely understand why you would not.
xrobertcmx
Premium Member
join:2001-06-18
White Plains, MD

xrobertcmx

Premium Member

I would be interested in this

But it doesn't seem that the site has been updated or that it is available here yet.

kapil
The Kapil
join:2000-04-26
Chicago, IL

kapil

Member

Re: I would be interested in this

same here. Neither the T-Mo site nor the onlyphoneyouneed site appear to reflect the product release? Did someone jump the gun on an embargoed press release?
Draganta
join:2004-12-16
Oakland Gardens, NY

Draganta to xrobertcmx

Member

to xrobertcmx
said by xrobertcmx:

But it doesn't seem that the site has been updated or that it is available here yet.
Look again. It as there since last night. For sure I know you are not doing it right. First pick a plan. Next screen you will see additional services. There you will see it.

If you are an exisiting member, just go to edit plan and services.
xrobertcmx
Premium Member
join:2001-06-18
White Plains, MD

xrobertcmx

Premium Member

Re: I would be interested in this

I just logged in and tried, no joy. Nothing there.

rupst2
join:2003-01-07
Columbia, MO

rupst2

Member

tmobile scam

Tmobile doesn't pay phone companies call termination charges. So much so a local small telco cut off all termination of Tmobile orginated calls to service numbers in their territory. If the legal stuff ever gets resolved(they owe millions upon millions to over 500 telco's in a lawsuit) I wouldn't expect to see Tmobile around in a few years.

FiL25
Premium Member
join:2005-08-16
Silver Spring, MD

FiL25

Premium Member

Re: tmobile scam

bah...their one of the best in terms of minutes-to-price ratio and coverage. They ain't going nowhere.

dmeyer6
join:2002-08-14
Austin, TX

dmeyer6

Member

Waste of money

T-Mobile should be paying its customers to use UMA, not the other way around. You might as well bump up your rate plan up two tiers and get more "anywhere" minutes instead of paying $20/mo to use WiFi hotspots for calls. T-Mobile wants people to use UMA to free up spectrum for calls on their cell sites, therefore if they really want this to be adopted, they should at least give people a discount on their phone bills.

Simple and pure ripoff.
Draganta
join:2004-12-16
Oakland Gardens, NY

Draganta

Member

Re: Waste of money

said by dmeyer6:

T-Mobile should be paying its customers to use UMA, not the other way around. You might as well bump up your rate plan up two tiers and get more "anywhere" minutes instead of paying $20/mo to use WiFi hotspots for calls. T-Mobile wants people to use UMA to free up spectrum for calls on their cell sites, therefore if they really want this to be adopted, they should at least give people a discount on their phone bills.

Simple and pure ripoff.
You sound a little bitter. It sounds like a) you are not a T-Mobile member and have decided to flame the new service; b) You have no need for the service so it doesn't justify the cost and still decided to flame the new service; c) you posted thinking you are smart but have no clue on who the service is geared to.

I work in a converted hanger in JFK. I get no service because of all the metal and concrete (all services are affected). However I do have Wi-Fi all around the area and would be able to make calls. This is a great service for a person like me.

inteller
Sociopaths always win.
join:2003-12-08
Tulsa, OK

inteller

Member

Re: Waste of money

Well hopefully for tmobile everyone will work in a converted hangar.
Draganta
join:2004-12-16
Oakland Gardens, NY

1 edit

Draganta

Member

Re: Waste of money

said by inteller:

Well hopefully for tmobile everyone will work in a converted hangar.
An educated statement would have been, customers who don't get a strong signal looking for alternatives. And an alternative to other VoIP services.

PolarBear03
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium Member
join:2005-01-03

PolarBear03 to Draganta

Premium Member

to Draganta
said by Draganta:

I work in a converted hanger in JFK. I get no service because of all the metal and concrete (all services are affected). However I do have Wi-Fi all around the area and would be able to make calls. This is a great service for a person like me.
Precisely. I live on the Canadian border. I can only get service from Rogers, and that is about $1.00 per minute. I've have this service from T-Mobile since November, and it's been beautiful.
Draganta
join:2004-12-16
Oakland Gardens, NY

1 edit

Draganta

Member

Re: Waste of money

said by PolarBear03:

Precisely. I live on the Canadian border. I can only get service from Rogers, and that is about $1.00 per minute. I've have this service from T-Mobile since November, and it's been beautiful.
I plan on getting this service. The phone are horrible. Thank God it is GSM and you can just switch the card on the phones. Hopefully the second generation of the Motorola RAZR V2 is capable of UMA.

An additional $10 is not bad at all for the service

Toadman
Hypnotoad
join:2001-11-28
Mystery

Toadman to PolarBear03

Member

to PolarBear03
said by PolarBear03:

said by Draganta:

I work in a converted hanger in JFK. I get no service because of all the metal and concrete (all services are affected). However I do have Wi-Fi all around the area and would be able to make calls. This is a great service for a person like me.
Precisely. I live on the Canadian border. I can only get service from Rogers, and that is about $1.00 per minute. I've have this service from T-Mobile since November, and it's been beautiful.
Actually you struck a good cord with me, this could be a viable solution to the international roaming costs of .99 to 4.99 that T-mobile charges per minute for international calls. Wonder if it works internationally or if they block all foreign IP requests?

PolarBear03
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium Member
join:2005-01-03

PolarBear03

Premium Member

Re: Waste of money

said by Toadman:

Actually you struck a good cord with me, this could be a viable solution to the international roaming costs of .99 to 4.99 that T-mobile charges per minute for international calls. Wonder if it works internationally or if they block all foreign IP requests?
WOW, I am surprised I never thought of that. I don't see why they would; roaming is expensive because they have to pay that other provide to use their towers. Using UMA, it all goes over the internet, so why would they give a d@mn where you were connecting from?
Draganta
join:2004-12-16
Oakland Gardens, NY

1 edit

Draganta to Toadman

Member

to Toadman
said by Toadman:

Actually you struck a good cord with me, this could be a viable solution to the international roaming costs of .99 to 4.99 that T-mobile charges per minute for international calls. Wonder if it works internationally or if they block all foreign IP requests?
As soon as I get the service, I will test this out. I never thought of that. If T-Mobile doesn't filter IP Addresses then that will be a great alternative when you are overseas.

Also if this works, I would recomend all who have this service and travel overseas to buy this product:
»www.linksys.com/servlet/ ··· 39789B01 and conversion plugs.

NOCMan
MadMacHatter
Premium Member
join:2004-09-30
Colorado Springs, CO

NOCMan to Draganta

Premium Member

to Draganta
Go throw your money away then. The pure fact is that you're paying 60 dollars for the broadband connection. 50 dollars for the tmobile service, then another 20 dollars to terminate calls over your internet connection back to their network.

PolarBear03
The bear formerly known as aaron8301
Premium Member
join:2005-01-03

PolarBear03

Premium Member

Re: Waste of money

said by NOCMan:

Go throw your money away then. The pure fact is that you're paying 60 dollars for the broadband connection. 50 dollars for the tmobile service, then another 20 dollars to terminate calls over your internet connection back to their network.
I pay $40 for broadband, and 95% of it gets used by my computers. Two and a half percent is used by Vonage, and the final 2.5% by T-Mobile. I pay $140 a month for FOUR T-Mobile lines, and the $20 for the UMA service. The $40 for internet is something I am going to have anyway, UMA and Vonage or not. And paying the $20 for the UMA was cancelled out by dropping my rate plan $20 because I now use far less minutes.

If you think I am wasting money, you must not be very good with math.
PolarBear03

1 edit

PolarBear03

Premium Member

New phone or typo


So far it only supports two phones: the Samsung t409 and the Nokia 6086.
Either that is a typo, or there are now THREE phones capable of this service, because I have the Nokia 6136 currently connected to my wireless router.

EDIT: I checked the website: the two phones they offer for this service are different than the two they were offering during the Seattle test phase.

So not a typo. But I can say I have one of the originals that no one else can get! Like that says anything... blah.

Yborg
Premium Member
join:2002-01-01
Bavaria

Yborg

Premium Member

Will it work with other Wi-Fi enabled phones?

I currently have T-Mobile HTC Dash and it is wifi capable. Does anyone know if this phone could or will be able to function for this service? Maybe with a software upgrade? I could not find any info regarding this.

It would be nice if it could work .