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Activated UMA, blown away with service.

Discussion in 'GENERAL Wireless Discussion' started by rjniles, Apr 20, 2009.

  1. rjniles

    rjniles Member
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    Location:
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    I live in a rural area and have no wireless service at home. I am presently with Verizon but have tried other carriers and no one has service in this area (although all their coverage maps indicate minimal coverage). I bought a cheap T-Mobile prepaid phone to try the service; as I suspected - no coverage at my house. I then bought a used Samsung T339 phone on eBay (it has UMA calling - a form of WIFI that uses my cable modem service instead of a cell tower). I moved the SIM card from the prepaid to the T339 and activated the UMA on my existing wireless router. I am blown away by the service! I have full service at my house and a good portion of my yard (I am using a Linksys N band router). In a few months when my contract is up, my wife and I are moving to T-Mobile to take advantage of the feature. The feature can be used a any location that has an unsecured wireless network or certain designated T-Mobile HotSpots (like Starbucks).

    My point in this is really a question: Why are not all of the carriers looking at implementing this feature? Seems like it is really a low cost no-brainer as many of us have wireless routers at home and it would flesh out a carriers network without adding expensive cell towers. Also much cheaper for the customer than a fetmo-cell.
     
    #1 rjniles, Apr 20, 2009
  2. Jay2TheRescue

    Jay2TheRescue Resident Spamslayer
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    T-Mobile is using Wi-Fi enabled phones. Sprint, Verizon (And coming soon to AT&T) all use a device called a Femtocell. Its basically a mini cell tower that you plug into your wireless network and give you service in your home.

    -Jay
     
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    #2 Jay2TheRescue, Apr 20, 2009
  3. ComicalMoodyDan

    ComicalMoodyDan Gold Senior Member
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    Well as Jay stated above Verizon and Sprint also have a device that uses your internet connection to improve wireless coverage at your house. Personally I prefer Sprint/Verizon's device as it works with any phone on the carriers network while the T-Mobile service requires select devices.
     
    #3 ComicalMoodyDan, Apr 20, 2009
  4. RadioRaiders

    RadioRaiders RF Black-Belt
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    Yea, as jay said, most of the other carriers use femtocells, which is like having a little cell-phone tower in your home (same frequencies and technology). I guess femtos are easier, since you can use any phone with them, and not need a special wifi-enabled phone like with the UMA one. Plus the carrier has more control over the frequency, unlike wifi which is a free-for-all band that gets alot of interference (other wifi routers, cordless phones, microwave ovens, etc.). But if you're in a rural area, that shouldn't be a problem (just don't talk on the phone while cooking dinner ;) Personally, I'd get a femto for home, but get a UMA enabled phone if possible, just to keep all options available.

    Is you phone also 802.11n? If not, then you are using 802.11g.
     
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    #4 RadioRaiders, Apr 20, 2009
  5. Kalimotxo

    Kalimotxo Bronze Senior Member
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    The advantage to T-Mobile's UMA calling service is that it is totally free (however it still uses your minutes). If you want, for $10 a month, you can get "unlimited calling" which doesn't use your plan minutes.

    I believe all of the other carriers have some type of cost associated with their comparable services. I don't know the specifics, but I believe most of them require you to pay for the equipment (which can run several hundred dollars) or they charge you a monthly fee. I could be completely wrong though.
     
    #5 Kalimotxo, Apr 20, 2009
  6. Kalimotxo

    Kalimotxo Bronze Senior Member
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    Also, some of the femtocells do not support 3G (I believe this is an issue on the CDMA side). This means that you'll be stuck with 1X service.

    Whereas if you are just using your router for service, you'll have a super fast connection.
     
    #6 Kalimotxo, Apr 20, 2009
  7. tmobileman

    tmobileman Iphone Hater
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    Thats good to hear, my wife uses the BB curve 8320 and utilizes the UMA calling from home as well and loves it. The BB 8900 also smokes with the service.
     
    #7 tmobileman, Apr 20, 2009
  8. ComicalMoodyDan

    ComicalMoodyDan Gold Senior Member
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    Verizon's Network Extender device costs $250 but there is no monthly fee. However you still use your package minutes.
     
    #8 ComicalMoodyDan, Apr 20, 2009
  9. COtech

    COtech Bronze Senior Member
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    I am amazed at your luck! in being in a weak or no signal rural area, that has broadband cable modem service available!

    COtech
     
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    #9 COtech, Apr 20, 2009
  10. foofighter

    foofighter Junior Member
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    glad you like it, it's one of our best kept secret IMO i wish more people knew about it it would really help w/ their inbuilding reception at home
     
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    #10 foofighter, Apr 22, 2009
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