[jiqbal]

Hi, I recently received a few Blackberry Curves for my family plan, and have been reading about the UMA feature which allows calls over wifi at a significant savings.

I have 4 family lines and my questions are:

1. What is the difference between Hotspot@home and T-Mobile@home? From what I read, it seems, that T-Mobile@home is suppose to be a additional line to act as your land line with calls going over wifi, where as Hotspot@home is a feature added to your cell phone to be able to make calls over wifi.

So is there really any difference or advantage of one vs. the other?

2. Does Hotspot@home cost $19.99 for all lines (up to 5) for the family plan? Does that mean, as long as wifi is connected in any location, whether it be in the U.S or abroad, calls can me made within the U.S. for free?

3. Does Hotspot@home require a comittment? It seems T-Mobile@home requires a 2 year agreement?

4. Is a router from T-Mobile necessary for either service?

I would appreciate the input.

Thank you!

[oakie]

Hi, I recently received a few Blackberry Curves for my family plan, and have been reading about the UMA feature which allows calls over wifi at a significant savings.

I have 4 family lines and my questions are:

1. What is the difference between Hotspot@home and T-Mobile@home? From what I read, it seems, that T-Mobile@home is suppose to be a additional line to act as your land line with calls going over wifi, where as Hotspot@home is a feature added to your cell phone to be able to make calls over wifi.

So is there really any difference or advantage of one vs. the other?

2. Does Hotspot@home cost $19.99 for all lines (up to 5) for the family plan? Does that mean, as long as wifi is connected in any location, whether it be in the U.S or abroad, calls can me made within the U.S. for free?

3. Does Hotspot@home require a comittment? It seems T-Mobile@home requires a 2 year agreement?

4. Is a router from T-Mobile necessary for either service?

I would appreciate the input.

Thank you!

1. incorrect. tmobile@home is for a landline, broadband phone line. has nothing to do with wifi except the broadband modem has an integrated wifi access point.

2. if you're paying $20/mo, it's not free. it's unlimited calling while connected to a wifi access point using UMA calling technology. this is still listed under your account services as "hotspot@home" but the name is changing to "talk forever mobile to reduce confusion with their previously mentioned "tmobile@home" broadband phone product. the cost is $10/mo for each phone or $20/mo to cover all phones on a family plan.

3. no commitment required beyond paying your bill. the tmobile@home service requires a 2-year commitment simply because it's a new line of service added to your plan.

4. a router is required for tmobile@home service since your landline phone will have to be plugged into it to work... they hardware has 2 phone jacks for phones to be plugged in. hotspot@home/talk forever mobile UMA calling can be done on any 802.11g wireless router that has Quality of Service settings to prioritize voice calling over data connections to prevent dropped calls. if your router doesnt have the QoS setting, you can purchase the t-mobile router for $30 from any store.

the tmobile router also has a few other settings to help conserve your phone's battery as on a normal router, your phone will constantly ping the router to maintain the connection... tmobile's router has been set to not do this and assume a live connection. this increases your battery life compared to being connected to any other wireless router.

[txtechkid87]

Hi, I recently received a few Blackberry Curves for my family plan, and have been reading about the UMA feature which allows calls over wifi at a significant savings.

I have 4 family lines and my questions are:

1. What is the difference between Hotspot@home and T-Mobile@home? From what I read, it seems, that T-Mobile@home is suppose to be a additional line to act as your land line with calls going over wifi, where as Hotspot@home is a feature added to your cell phone to be able to make calls over wifi.

So is there really any difference or advantage of one vs. the other?

2. Does Hotspot@home cost $19.99 for all lines (up to 5) for the family plan? Does that mean, as long as wifi is connected in any location, whether it be in the U.S or abroad, calls can me made within the U.S. for free?

3. Does Hotspot@home require a comittment? It seems T-Mobile@home requires a 2 year agreement?

4. Is a router from T-Mobile necessary for either service?

I would appreciate the input.

Thank you!

1. Tmobile@home is a service which you make phone calls over wifi (just like you said) This feature is for a land line for your residence. In other words it would replace your home phone, you have a separate phone number, and you have an actual house phone device. You don't use your cell to make phone calls with tmobile@home. Hotspots@home is a feature added to your cell phone which enables you to make phone calls from your cell phone through your router(you need to buy one) and tmobile hotspots (ex; starbucks, borders, your house router etc...) for free!!! When your connect to wifi with your cell phone over your router/tmobile hotspot on your cell phone your minutes from your plan are not used. In other words you get free minutes!! and of course you get excellent signal. Think about it this way, tmobile@home is a whole different things compare to your cell phone. It's a regular phone line, but tmobile offers it.



- There pretty similar, but in our family case. My father cancel the landline at home, and add hotspots@home because when we are at home and connected to the router we receive free minutes therefore paying $80 for a landline is pointless. To be honest with you its just taste of preference and of course! saving money is the major advantages.

2. Yes, hotspots@home cost $19.99 for your whole family. On that second part I'm not sure. I know if your connected to your router/tmobile authorize hotspots then minutes are free.

3. Hotspots@home is for your cell phone theres no committment. So you can added it, and remove it at any given time. Tmobile@home you must sign a 2 year contract.

4. Yes you need a router for both services, but not speciafically a tmobile router.We have hotspots@home, and our current router (linksys) was compatible. You need to check with tmobile, or you can purchase one from tmobile for $50 bucks.

[ricky99797]

1. incorrect. tmobile@home is for a landline, broadband phone line. has nothing to do with wifi except the broadband modem has an integrated wifi access point.

2. if you're paying $20/mo, it's not free. it's unlimited calling while connected to a wifi access point using UMA calling technology. this is still listed under your account services as "hotspot@home" but the name is changing to "talk forever mobile to reduce confusion with their previously mentioned "tmobile@home" broadband phone product. the cost is $10/mo for each phone or $20/mo to cover all phones on a family plan.

3. no commitment required beyond paying your bill. the tmobile@home service requires a 2-year commitment simply because it's a new line of service added to your plan.

4. a router is required for tmobile@home service since your landline phone will have to be plugged into it to work... they hardware has 2 phone jacks for phones to be plugged in. hotspot@home/talk forever mobile UMA calling can be done on any 802.11g wireless router that has Quality of Service settings to prioritize voice calling over data connections to prevent dropped calls. if your router doesnt have the QoS setting, you can purchase the t-mobile router for $30 from any store.

the tmobile router also has a few other settings to help conserve your phone's battery as on a normal router, your phone will constantly ping the router to maintain the connection... tmobile's router has been set to not do this and assume a live connection. this increases your battery life compared to being connected to any other wireless router.

What store sells them for $30?
My store wants $49.99.

[oakie]

What store sells them for $30?
My store wants $49.99.

T-Mobile Routers

[candidgyal]

T-Mobile Hotspot@home is an awesome service. For $10 a month you get unlimited calls - now that's a bargain. No more need for a home phone. Thank goodness.

[smaug]

4. a router is required for tmobile@home service since your landline phone will have to be plugged into it to work... they hardware has 2 phone jacks for phones to be plugged in. hotspot@home/talk forever mobile UMA calling can be done on any 802.11g wireless router that has Quality of Service settings to prioritize voice calling over data connections to prevent dropped calls. if your router doesnt have the QoS setting, you can purchase the t-mobile router for $30 from any store.

You don't need QoS for the UMA to work. I have a crappy old Linksys WRT54G and it works fine. QoS is only really necessary if you're using a lot of your bandwidth constantly. Your router shapes the info so that all of it can get through smoothly. If you aren't using all of your bandwidth(most people won't), the shaping of the traffic isn't necessary.

[wulfjr]

Ok so does the Tmobile@home have call waiting, caller ID, and the like on it as well as the unl. long distance calling?

[toadyy]

Ok so does the Tmobile@home have call waiting, caller ID, and the like on it as well as the unl. long distance calling?

Yes, it does.

T-Mo@Home Info

[fatboy97]

Ok so does the Tmobile@home have call waiting, caller ID, and the like on it as well as the unl. long distance calling?

Plus voice mail, and all on one bill from TMO.

[trees247]

ok say you don't have the hotspot and tmobile at home, do you still get free min with the wifi cause your not on the network?

[toadyy]

ok say you don't have the hotspot and tmobile at home, do you still get free min with the wifi cause your not on the network?

No, you will use your allotted minutes on your plan.

[stxeph]

Not everywhere will sell the router for $30. It depends where you go. Tmobile corp store will sell them for around $50 and most the time it will vary depending on maybe a promo. If you go say to a best buy they first had it free then went up but also vary on promo. Of course all these prices are for 2 year new contracts.

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