T-Mobile released its new Hotspot @ Home service in July, which allows you to make cell phone calls over GSM and Wi-Fi networks. As long as you have normal cell reception or if you're within range of a Wi-Fi network, like Hotspot, you can make a call.
For someone like me, who gets no reception at home, this product could really work. The deal sweetener here is that when you're making calls on any Wi-Fi network, those minutes are free and don't count against your normal plan minutes.
To use this service, you have to go to your T-Mobile dealer and pick up a Hotspot @ Home package, which includes a Nokia 6086 or Samsung t409 phone and a Linksys or D-Link router, which cost $49.99. If you aren't already with T-Mobile, then you need to sign up for a new one year service plan.
If you already have a T-Mobile plan, you just need to add the Hotspot @ Home plan for $9.99 a month to get those unlimited Wi-Fi minutes (Note: If you don't get the plan, you can still make calls over Wi-Fi, and it will just count against your normal plan minutes, but you'll still have the benefit of good reception).
I have a 2000 minutes-per-month plan, Hotspot @ Home and MyFaves (unlimited calling to any five numbers), and I find that I don't really use much of my plan at all, normally hovering around 300-400 minutes. So if you make a lot of calls at home or on any other Wi-Fi networks (regular T-mobile Hotspots like Starbucks count) then the plan is worth the $9.99.
Setting up the router is simple: just plug it into your cable or DSL modem, and your phone instantly picks it up and connects to it. Your phone can also transition networks, from Wi-Fi to GSM and vice versa, in the middle of a call. This means that if you start a call on Wi-Fi at home and jump into your car for a drive, your call will stay connected. It works surprisingly well here and I've had no dropped calls or dead pauses when I transition from network to network.
One big issue for some people is the quality of the phones offered. I have the Nokia 6086 and I can tell you that while the phone looks very cheap, it's surprisingly durable and has great battery life. It does have features most phones carry today, like Bluetooth, MicroSD slot, a VGA camera and a media player, and they're all just decent. Nothing spectacular.
One of the phone's more striking problems is the way it connects to the Internet: Even when you're on a Wi-Fi network, the phone doesn't connect to the Internet with Wi-Fi, but instead relies on the slower GPRS data network.
On the subject of Wi-Fi networks, the security settings for joining different networks are limited to the relatively basic WEP, WPA-PSK and WPA2-PSK. Networks that require a splash page to login will not work; you can't use this phone to connect to the free Wi-Fi networks on the Hopkins Homewood campus.
Overall though, I'm impressed with this technology and service offering from T-Mobile. This can be a cheap solution for those of you who don't have reception or have only weak reception in your homes, and it can really save a lot of minutes for heavy phone users.
The selection of compatible phones is currently limited, but I'm hoping T-Mobile will release more phones in the future for this service (they usually do). And since calling over the Internet is so cheap, I'd like to see international plans available on this service. The service has room to grow, but it's a good buy now.
