Don't know if anyone has seen this. AT&T is going to release their own femtocell, the AT&T 3G MicroCell. It will cost $150 with no plan, $100 dollars if you decided to add an optional $20 dollar plan that allows unlimited domestic calling, and free if you sign up both for the $20 dollar plan and a broadband plan. It will offer 5,000 square feet of coverage and will allow up to 10 devices to be authorized. What I don't get is, if you call another AT&T customer, does it use your wireless minutes or it doesn't. Still, took AT&T long enough. I probably won't get it because both at my house and my apartment here at college I get full signal throughout and never go below 4 bars. It would still be a good thing to have and drop the land line my parents still have. Also, I haven't been on in a while because of college. It's starting to catch up to me. Engadget: Unless you've been in one of a few key test markets, you've been pretty much out of luck boosting your AT&T signal in the comfortable confines of your home since the 3G MicroCell first launched -- until now. Starting in the middle of next month in a deployment that spans "several" months, customers across the country should expect to see MicroCells pop up in their local regions. The device itself will run a one-time fee of $149.99 before a $100 mail-in rebate (when purchased with a "3G MicroCell calling plan," though we don't yet know what that constitutes). Separately, there'll be a $19.99 plan bolt-on that offers unlimited calling when connected to the device -- and anyone tacking on a new U-verse or DSL line of 1.5Mbps or higher will get another $50 rebate. It's not the end of AT&T's spectrum or backhaul concerns, we're sure, but it's a start. AT&T 3G MicroCell starting nationwide roll-out in mid-April -- Engadget AT&T Microcell Deployment Begins In April - $150. $100 if you sign up for $20 a month plan. $0 for new AT&T broadband users. - dslreports.com
Nice. It's too bad (for me) Sprint seems to be dragging their heels getting out their own 3G capable device.
All the same. I really don't feel like upgrading both my Airaves, lol. That is a $200 expense I will not be paying.
I don't know about GSM, but on CDMA phones, 3G data is much less of a battery hog than Wi-Fi. I can kill my phone probably twice as fast with Wi-Fi enabled. For only occasional use, I agree with you.
With my iPhone I can kill my battery in half a day with Wi-Fi on. But with 3G it is less of a hog like you said. I personally wouldn't get a femtocell because when I'm at home, besides having full signal, I use my computer for internet and such. But it would be nice to have it and not have to rely on the carrier's crappy coverage.
I use my computer 99% of the time at home too. My problem is that on Sprint's phones, you cannot disable 3G (without hacking). I live in a poor signal area and need the femtocell. The issue for me is that my device wants to connect to the 3G network for every bit of data, so it bounces back and forth all the time between the femtocell and the regular network, which actually drains my battery faster than when I just had lousy signal all the time. The trade-off is that I can make and receive calls a lot more reliably now. A 3G capable femtocell would work wonders for me just in the battery life department.
That sucks Sprint phones can't do that. I know what you mean by attempting to connect to the network killing your battery life. While at school, my phone bounces between no signal and pulling little signal, so sometimes by lunch I have less than 40% battery left. I don't know it would work for SMS or MMS messages, but you can try forwarding your calls to google voice? I'm not sure if they're allowing sign ups yet, but I have two invites left if you'd like one, just pm me.
Thanks for the GV offer. I do have it already, but I don't have a landline to forward to at home, so I only use GV for voicemail. :wink:
No Problem, and I see, I wonder when they'll allow you to initiate a voice call over it like with Skype or if they ever will. But it seems like Tmoblie is the only one left to release a true femtocell, not the @home hotspot, which used UMA, I think.
