Crave

T-Mobile @Home HiPort router

(Credit: T-Mobile)

The news has broke that T-Mobile will be offering a VoIP service called T-Mobile @Home in select cities nationwide. However, yours truly had a chance to get some hands-on time with the specially built T-Mobile HotSpot @Home HiPort wireless Linksys router made especially for this service. T-Mobile also sent me an optional VTech cordless phone so I can test it out.

Setting up the router is the same procedure as setting up any other router, save for one difference: You need to install a SIM card. T-Mobile provided me with one, which I then snapped into place in the back of the router. There are two SIM card slots and two phone jacks, so you have the capability to use this with up to two lines. After installing the SIM card, simply attach the Ethernet cable from the modem to the router, and then connect the router to your computer. You can now attach your home phone (or cordless phone in my case) to the router. Note: If you inserted a SIM card in the Line 1 slot, you should connect your home phone to the corresponding Phone 1 jack. If you wish to change settings, such as passwords and WPA security, you can do so via a Web browser. Voila! You're ready to go. The process took maybe five minutes, if not less.

Making calls feels just like any other plain old telephone service. Just pick up the phone, dial, and you're on your way. Call quality was about the same as landline, though we did pick up a tiny bit of hiss the further we moved the cordless phone away from the base. As we mentioned, the VTech cordless phone system is completely optional; according to T-Mobile, you can use the router with any touch-tone phone. If you do wish to get the VTech phone, it's about $59.99.

Overall, we thought it was a great deal. The router does cost $149.99, but you can get it for $49.99 if you agree to a two-year contract. You also have to pay $10 a month for the @Home service, which really isn't too bad. The fee includes unlimited nationwide long-distance, caller ID, voice mail, call waiting, three-way conferencing, and more. You can also port over your home phone number if you like.

T-Mobile USA plans to announce Wednesday that its new @Home voice service will be available nationwide starting July 2.

The cell phone operator has been testing the new Internet telephony service since February in Dallas and Seattle. And now the new service, which is meant to replace traditional home phones, will be offered to any T-Mobile cell phone customer.

Subscribers will be able to connect any regular home telephone to a T-Mobile router that will send calls over the Internet much the same way as services like Vonage operate. The service costs $10 a month plus taxes and fees for unlimited domestic local and long-distance calls.

Only T-Mobile wireless customers who subscribe to at least a $39.99 individual calling plan or families subscribing to at least the $49.99 monthly T-Mobile calling plan can get the service. The @Home service also requires that users subscribe to a separate broadband service from a cable operator or telecom provider. And they are required to use a special T-Mobile router, which also provides Wi-Fi Internet access throughout the home.

This router can also be used to provide T-Mobile's HotSpot @Home phone service. This service, launched last year, allows T-Mobile subscribers to use dual-mode cellular and Wi-Fi phones that switch between both networks. When subscribers are near their home Wi-Fi hot spot, they use the broadband network to make unlimited domestic calls. And when they are outside the home, the phone seamlessly switches to T-Mobile's cellular network.

The service, which also costs $10 extra per month, serves two purposes. It helps provide better in-home cell phone coverage and also helps reduce the number of minutes used on the T-Mobile cellular network.

Britt Wehrman, director of product development for T-Mobile says the service, which launched a little over a year ago, has been a big success. The company hasn't disclosed subscriber numbers for the service, but Wehrman said that 45 percent of the hot-spot customers are leaving competitors to get the T-Mobile service. T-Mobile currently has eight dual-mode handsets that work with the service, two of which were announced earlier this week. And it has four more to announce by the end of the year, bringing the total to 12 dual-mode handsets.

The @Home VoIP (voice over Internet Protocol) service is meant to work with the hot-spot phone service, Wehrman said. When the hot-spot service was first introduced, the company found that families were interested in the plan. But they weren't willing to cut the cord on their home phones.

"The hot-spot service offers parents a good way to limit overage charges, because the kids can talk on their cell phones while they're at home without eating up minutes," he said. "But we found that many families didn't want to get rid of their traditional phones. They still wanted one phone in the house for the whole family."

So the @Home VoIP service was created to give families who don't want to get rid of their traditional landlines a low-cost option for retaining that line while still using the hot-spot service. To ensure that E911 service works with the VoIP service, T-Mobile is requiring all users to register their home address before service can be activated.

But because it is an Internet-based phone service that is dependent upon a broadband modem for connectivity, families will still have to consider the risks of power outages and Internet interruptions that will make the VoIP service and E911 unavailable during those outages. But Wehrman said that the fact that T-Mobile requires that subscribers of the @Home service also have a T-Mobile cell phone subscription limits the safety concerns.

Nokia 6301

(Credit: T-Mobile)

T-Mobile announced two new cell phones for its HotSpot @Home service today. The Nokia 6301 is a silver candy bar phone and the SGH-T339 is flip phone in bright red. Both handsets offer integrated Wi-Fi so you'll be able to make calls on T-Mobile's standard cellular network and your home wireless broadband network. And like T-Mobile's other HotSpot @Home handsets, the Nokia 6086, Samsung Katalyst, and Samsung SGH-T409, you can switch between regular and Wi-Fi calls without interruption. Features for both phones are functional without being flashy. The 6301 includes a music player, stereo Bluetooth, a 2-megapixel camera, a speakerphone, messaging, an expandable memory slot, and an FM radio. It also comes with a docking/charging station. The SGH-T339 offers a music player, stereo Bluetooth, a 1.3-megapixel camera, a speakerphone, an expandable memory slot, and messaging. The 6301 is $79.99 with service and the T339 is $49 with service.

Monday's announcement that Starbucks will end its Wi-Fi partnership with T-Mobile had some HotSpot subscribers worried. After all, Starbucks locations are a significant source of T-Mobile HotSpots. One of the key attractions of T-Mobile's HotSpot @Home service is the ubiquity of such HotSpots (HotSpot @Home is a service that lets T-Mobile subscribers make unlimited phone calls via Wi-Fi).

However, according to a T-Mobile news release, existing HotSpot customers will not be impacted by the switch for at least another five years. AT&T Wi-Fi operations have yet to begin, and even after the transition, customers can take advantage of a roaming agreement between T-Mobile USA and AT&T. HotSpot and HotSpot @Home customers who want to use the Starbucks Wi-Fi can do so without additional charge. That said, it's still a blow to T-Mobile, as customers may attempt to crawl out of their existing HotSpot subscriptions.

WRTU54G T-Mobile-Linksys router

(Credit: FCC)

T-Mobile may be extending its Hotspot@Home service to offer voice over IP for fixed-line users.

The company is working with Linksys to make a router that integrates home phone lines into the service along with providing VoIP service over cell phones, according to recently filed documents with the Federal Communications Commission.

In June, T-Mobile launched its Hotspot@Home service, which allows T-Mobile cell phone subscribers to transfer calls seamlessly between the T-Mobile cellular network and a Wi-Fi hot spot in the home. The service is being offered for an introductory rate of $9.99 for a single cell phone. So far, it only supports two phones: the Samsung t409 and the Nokia 6086. Subscribers are also able to use the service with T-Mobile's more than 8,500 hot spots around the country.

With the Hotspot@Home service, subscribers get a D-Link or Linksys home router that is optimized for the service. The router also provides Wi-Fi service that can be used to connect PCs and laptops.

The way it works is that when subscribers are in the home and picking up a Wi-Fi signal, their voice calls use voice over IP technology to connect calls over the Wi-Fi network. And when they're on the T-Mobile network, the calls go over the traditional T-Mobile network.

According to the FCC documents, the new router, which hasn't been officially introduced, has two ports in the back that can be used to attach regular phones to the router. This would allow Hotspot@Home users to add regular home phones to the service.

The new router, which uses the moniker WRTU54G, also has two slots that support two GSM SIM cards. This would also allow users to add up to two additional cell phone lines.

If T-Mobile brings the router to market, it could put the cell phone operator in a much better position to compete with the two largest phone companies in the country, AT&T and Verizon. While T-Mobile has no fixed phone infrastructure in the U.S., AT&T and Verizon do. They also offer cell phone service, which they are bundling into larger packages of service. Cable operators are also offering home phone service using VoIP technology. And four of the major operators, including Comcast and Time Warner, are launching wireless service with Sprint Nextel. By extending the Hotspot@Home service to include regular home phones, T-Mobile, which is currently ranked fourth out of the top four U.S. mobile operators, could also offer a bundle of services to attract customers and keep existing customers from fleeing to other carriers.

This seems like a much more strategic use of VoIP technology than simply offering a standalone VoIP service, like Vonage is doing or like now-defunct SunRocket had been doing. Those services are simply a cheap replacement for regular phone service. But when residential VoIP is bundled with other services, I can see it appealing to more customers.

Representatives from Linksys and T-Mobile declined to comment on the new device. A Linksys spokeswoman said the company can't comment on unannounced products. So stay tuned for further developments on what T-Mobile might be up to.

T-Mobile HotSpot @Home configured Linksys router

(Credit: T-Mobile)

T-Mobile has just rolled out a service called HotSpot @Home that allows you to use a WiFi-enabled cell phone to make calls via a wireless network. You'll still use the phone with regular cellular airwaves while on the move, but once you're in range of a T-Mobile Hotspot or a pre-configured WiFi access point, the phone will know to automatically switch over. The best part? Call minutes made via WiFi aren't deducted from your plan. That's right -- as long as you're within range of a wireless broadband network, you'll have unlimited calls. An added benefit to this is that you're almost guaranteed great signal strength when you're in a place with good WiFi coverage. And since T-Mobile is providing special T-Mobile configured D-Link and Linksys wireless routers that offer optimal @Home coverage, you might as well say Sayonara to that old-fashioned landline at home.

Compatible handsets at launch are the Samsung T409 and the Nokia 6086, which cost $49.99 each with a contract. When you sign up with the service, you'll get one of the aforementioned wireless routers for free after rebate, but any 802.11b-compatible router should work. The service is an additional $9.99 per month on top of your existing T-Mobile plan, and an additional $19.99 per month on family plans that have up to five handsets. Personally, I think it's a pretty cool idea, though I don't know if such a service will make up for the fact that T-Mobile has yet to roll out a proper 3G service like the rest of its competitors. We currently have the Samsung t409 plus a Hotspot-configured Linksys router in house, and will let you know what we think of it soon.