Cellular and Wi-Fi, a perfect marriage? What about VoIP?

Coming soon to the USA?

T-Mobile bundles Wi-Fi with Web 'n Walk
<http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/09/t_mobile_bundling_wi_fi/>

T-Mobile customers signing up to Web 'n Walk Plus (or Max) will get
free access to the operator's 39,000 hot spots from January. So for
£12.50 a month users can get 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, and be
allowed to use instant messaging too...

Web 'n Walk is already one of the more attractive options for users
wanting mobile internet access, though usage restrictions on the
basic service limit it to general web browsing. The Plus, and Max,
services offer a higher fair-use level and permission to use instant
messaging and such like. Charging users again for T-Mobile-branded
Wi-Fi access always seemed harsh, even if it comes with truly
unlimited quantities of data.

Of course, 3G networks are expensive to run, and moving punters onto
Wi-Fi with cheap back-haul (over ADSL lines) should save T-Mobile
money. But that's only true if the users would have been using their
data connections anyway, so offering it as an addition to Web 'n Walk
makes sense.

Users get faster connections, while T-Mobile saves money - the
wonders that convergence can bring! As long as punters don't start
using the service for VoIP - that would still be against the terms
and conditions.

--
Best regards, FAQ FOR CINGULAR WIRELESS:
John Navas <http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cingular_Wireless_FAQ>

John Navas wrote:

> Coming soon to the USA?
>
> T-Mobile bundles Wi-Fi with Web 'n Walk
> <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/09/t_mobile_bundling_wi_fi/>


Coming soon... Two years ago! ;-)

T-Mo's current cellular "Total Internet" data plans already include access
to T-Mo's tens of thousands of US WiFi "Hotspots." Your username is your
phone number, and your password (until you change it) is the last 4 of your
SSN.

The service works on any WiFi enabled device- your phone, your laptop, etc.
(Only one simultaneous login allowed, of course.)

It's $19.99/month if added to a voice plan, $29.99 "standalone" on a phone
(plus $0.20/minute for any voice calls you might make), or $39.99 on a GPRS
laptop PC card. (The $29.99-39.99 price difference makes as little sense
as AT&T's PDA/smartphone distinction, since the $29.99 on-a-phone plan
allows tethering.)

Although T-Mo USA has been pretty silent about their upcoming 3G deployment
this coming year, I don't think they plan to separate the WiFi from future
3G plans- the Hotspot network has long been used as a "value add" for
adoption of their data plans. (As well as a Band-Aid for being the only
national US carrier without 3G!)

I'm surprised, however, T-Mo hasn't expanded their "Hotspots@Home" UMA
service (GSM voice calls over the internet from your, or any open access
point or T-Mo's Hotspot network) into Europe yet.

UMA (Unlicensed Mobile Access) is sort of T-Mo's answer to femtocells- it
uses a UMA WiFi-enabled cellphone to transmit and receive GSM voice packets
over the internet instead of the cell network. This eliminates
international roaming if you can place a UMA call instead of a GSM call
overseas, in addition to the obvious benefit of allowing "cellular" service
in any non-served area where there's broadband available without the
hassles of using VoIP (yet another phone number, separate VM box, dealing
with forwading one service to another, etc.)

UMA would've been handy for me last week when I was in Cancun- I could've
seemlessly "roamed" for free on the hotel's free WiFi instead of forwarding
my cell to my VoIP number and using the sub-par voice quality VoIP client
on my WinMo phone to escape T-Mo's "generous" $1.49/minute roaming rates on
Telcel and Movistar.

In alt.internet.wireless Todd Allcock <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> I'm surprised, however, T-Mo hasn't expanded their "Hotspots@Home" UMA
> service (GSM voice calls over the internet from your, or any open access
> point or T-Mo's Hotspot network) into Europe yet.

That does seem like the cool setup for someone like me, living in a valley
with poor cell coverage, but excellent WiFi in the house ;-)
T-Mobile isn't offered here, although they can roam onto the local "Edge
Wireless (AT&T partner)".

> This eliminates international roaming if you can place a UMA call instead
> of a GSM call overseas,

Really? Do you know it works that way? That could be worth buying a
T-Mobile phone all by itself.

--
Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley Lake, CA, USA GPS: 38.8,-122.5

In article <fm3tug$pmf$(E-Mail Removed)>,
Todd Allcock <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> > T-Mobile bundles Wi-Fi with Web 'n Walk
> > <http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/01/09/t_mobile_bundling_wi_fi/>
>
>
> Coming soon... Two years ago! ;-)
>

Whatever happened to the bi-mode phones that were both cellular and
wifi, and when near a wifi spot switched seamlessly over to your T-Mo
VoIP account?

In <fm3ubj$f34$(E-Mail Removed)> (E-Mail Removed) writes:

>In alt.internet.wireless Todd Allcock <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
>> I'm surprised, however, T-Mo hasn't expanded their "Hotspots@Home" UMA
>> service (GSM voice calls over the internet from your, or any open access
>> point or T-Mo's Hotspot network) into Europe yet.

>That does seem like the cool setup for someone like me, living in a valley
>with poor cell coverage, but excellent WiFi in the house ;-)
>T-Mobile isn't offered here, although they can roam onto the local "Edge
>Wireless (AT&T partner)".

If you can establish a t-mobile account (find a friend
or workplace address...) then you can set up the 802.11
base in your home and talk away to your heaart's content.

Note that you've got to use one of the t-mobile phones
that incorporates the wifi ability.

>> This eliminates international roaming if you can place a UMA call instead
>> of a GSM call overseas,

>Really? Do you know it works that way? That could be worth buying a
>T-Mobile phone all by itself.

Eyup. Haven't used it myself but I've had friends
who've doen so in Europe and in Israel. Call quality
ranged from excellent to decent, although there were
some with annoying lag times.

Caller ID said they were calling from their US number.

(That's presumably due to the extra distance, so
to speak, that the signal takes. Not only is there
the 10,000 mile wire length, but add in the various
delays from internet routing).


--
__________________________________________________ ___
Knowledge may be power, but communications is the key
(E-Mail Removed)
[to foil spammers, my address has been double rot-13 encoded]

John Navas <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
news:(E-Mail Removed):

> Coming soon to the USA?
>

Not if SELLular can stop it. Their political hacks in the FCC, holding
their fingers on all the switches, will do everything in their power to
make SURE your wifi never reaches the other end of the house.

Europe is covered with SELLphone REPEATERS to fill in the gaping holes
Americans take for granted. That was very successfully squashed in the USA
for decades, now. Same idea.

SELLphone companies want to go back to selling bandwidth by the byte....you
know, like SMS messages. 15c/156 character message = $961,538.46/gigabyte,
the most expensive bandwidth on the PLANET! I bet that costs more than
sending data to Voyager 1!

Larry
--
As the price of Monopoly money rises, at some point it will equal
Federal Reserve Private Bank fake banknotes in value!

At 09 Jan 2008 21:14:03 -0500 Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
>
> Whatever happened to the bi-mode phones that were both cellular and
> wifi, and when near a wifi spot switched seamlessly over to your T-Mo
> VoIP account?

Those are the UMA "Hotspot@Home" phones I mentioned.

Just to clarify, the system is not really VoIP- it transmits and receives
the GSM packets over the net- it's "GoIP" rather than VoIP... ;-) This is
what allows the calls to switch seamlessly between cellular and WiFi.

On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 05:54:06 +0000, Larry <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
<Xns9A21A34ECA14noonehomecom@208.49.80.253>:

>John Navas <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
>news:(E-Mail Removed) :
>
>> Coming soon to the USA?
>
>Not if SELLular can stop it. Their political hacks in the FCC, holding
>their fingers on all the switches, will do everything in their power to
>make SURE your wifi never reaches the other end of the house.

In what way? I see nothing like that from the FCC.

>Europe is covered with SELLphone REPEATERS to fill in the gaping holes
>Americans take for granted. That was very successfully squashed in the USA
>for decades, now. Same idea.

Not really -- the big differences are (a) single government-mandated
standard and (b) much smaller geography.

>SELLphone companies want to go back to selling bandwidth by the byte....you
>know, like SMS messages. 15c/156 character message = $961,538.46/gigabyte,
>the most expensive bandwidth on the PLANET! I bet that costs more than
>sending data to Voyager 1!

You would be wrong, but that's not the point, which is that packages are
much more efficient than pay-as-you-go.

--
Best regards, FAQ for Wireless Internet: <http://Wireless.wikia.com>
John Navas FAQ for Wi-Fi: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi>
Wi-Fi How To: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_HowTo>
Fixes to Wi-Fi Problems: <http://wireless.wikia.com/wiki/Wi-Fi_Fixes>

At 10 Jan 2008 02:02:27 +0000 (E-Mail Removed) wrote:
> > I'm surprised, however, T-Mo hasn't expanded their "Hotspots@Home" UMA
> > service (GSM voice calls over the internet from your, or any open access
> > point or T-Mo's Hotspot network) into Europe yet.
>
> That does seem like the cool setup for someone like me, living in a valley
> with poor cell coverage, but excellent WiFi in the house ;-)
> T-Mobile isn't offered here, although they can roam onto the local "Edge
> Wireless (AT&T partner)".


If you'd accept a phone number from the nearest T-Mo rate center, you could
probably establish service and use the "Hotspot" service at home. Keep in
mind that unless you spring for the $20 "Hotspot@Home" add-on, any WiFi
calls will count against your bucket of included minutes just as if you
called via cellular. (Which would be fine with me- I'm interested in H@H
for expanded coverage, not "free" calls.)

> > This eliminates international roaming if you can place a UMA call
instead
> > of a GSM call overseas,
>
> Really? Do you know it works that way? That could be worth buying a
> T-Mobile phone all by itself.

Yep- but overseas calls will not seamless transfer from WiFi to Cellular
like they do here, and access to T-Mo European WiFi Hotspots aren't
included (the domestic T-Mo Hotspots at Starbucks, bookstores, airports,
Kinkos, etc. are.)

In article <Xns9A21A34ECA14noonehomecom@208.49.80.253>,
Larry <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:

> > Coming soon to the USA?
> >
>
> Not if SELLular can stop it.

You disparage the wireless carriers and their users every time you write
the word "SELLular", yet you yourself have thrown yourself into the ring
voluntarily as a victim to this disease by paying for wireless service.

You do know that you're showing yourself to be the same asshole as you
declare the rest of the world to be, right?