Starting July 2nd, existing T-Mobile customers will be able to add unlimited VOIP home phone service for $10 extra per month, plus a one-time outlay of $50 for a T-Mobile-branded Linksys wireless router with built-in VOIP functionality. The router has two SIM card slots inside and, as such, can handle two separate phone numbers.
You’ll get an additional number on top of your current cell phone number or you can port your existing landline number over if you have one. The offer is available for individual mobile plans running $39.99 and up per month or family plans over $49.99 per month. The VOIP service requires a broadband connection and includes unlimited local and nationwide calling, voicemail, call waiting, and caller ID.
I’ve been testing the service for the past couple of weeks and I’ve been very impressed. The setup was dead simple and the call quality has been outstanding. I’ve had Vonage, SunRocket, and Lingo in the past and there have always been occasional hiccups and audio dropouts here and there but this is the first service I’ve used that’s actually been mostly transparent. I had the whole system up and running in about 15 minutes and haven’t touched it since, which is a good sign.
If I were a T-Mobile customer, I’d absolutely add this to my account for $10 per month. It’s a no-brainer unless you’re on an unlimited mobile plan. And if you’re on a plan with a ton of minutes that you don’t end up using each month, you could even drop down to a cheaper calling plan and then add the @Home service to make up for the difference in minutes.
The service has been available in Seattle and Dallas for a while now but will be available nationwide on July 2nd. It’ll be interesting to see how (or if) other carriers react with similar offerings. The pricing is really aggressive for something like this so I wouldn’t be surprised to see current and new customers adding it to their accounts.
HotSpot @Home [T-Mobile.com]
So, this will connect with my home phones and work like that, just making sure I understand. If so, sign me up.
Very Nice option! I’ve been waiting for sometime since they launch the test in Dallas and Seattle.
Now my RBOC (ATT Local, ne PacBell) will be gone. I will be savings money and no need for Vonage. Me happy!
Why does it need sim cards when it is voip?
To secure a telephone number.
Can it deal with FAX transmition ?
I could fax with vontage. i havent tried with T-Mobile, yet. i will get back to u on that.
were you able to fax with tmobile@home?
No Fax because it’s thru Digital like VOIP.
The SIM card slots are for each Home Phone line(number).
International calls will use Tmobile Cell Phone Rate unless you use Calling Cards.
Supposedly, the $10 will include Data(ISP).
Only problem is that the TMobile@Home 2-year service contract will prolong your Tmobile Cellphone Contract since this will be under Tmobile Cell Phone Plan.
Great for people who want to renew their 2 year Tmobile Cell phone contract or just getting into Tmobile.
The “9-1-1 service may not be available or reliable and your ability to receive emergency services may be impeded.”
Data(ISP) probably not very fast compare to DSL or Cable.
This would probably compete with the VOIP services out there. Definitely worth a try.
^^Fax transmission should work on this no matter that this is VOIP. I have Vonage which is VOIP and am able to send and receive faxes. But I’m not sure how the sim cards might affect the fax line.
I spoke with a T-Mobile rep about this. They have the info ready to go! No fax at this time but they expect it to be ready within 12 months. Boo hoo to those who really need a dedicated fax and not internet fax. Internet fax works fine for me.
911 service will work fine as long as your internet connection is alive and well. Otherwise, use your T-Mobile cell since you have to have that service to get this one! T-Mobile will require that you register your address with e911 to get this service so the 911 will work with the service.
$10 bucks a month - what’s not to love. Have you noticed the numbers of Vonage ads on TV the last couple weeks? They are worried - they are pushing $9.95 a month with “for the first 3 months” in fine print.
I’ll be at T-Mobile’s door when they open in the morning! I currently pay $25 a month (but that includes taxes and fees that will also be added by T-Mobile)for the bare minimum Qwest plan. No caller ID,call forwarding, voice mail, etc.
vonage for all people with out t mobile is just $24.99 a month no catch 24/7 to all your phones to anywhere in the usa as many calls as u like,and hooks up to yourhome computer,just also know tax makes it $30 and change.
I’ve been beta testing this product in Seattle for about two months now, and it is NOT ready for prime time. There is a laundry list of problems with this service. Primary among them is the setup, which will not work properly out of the box for anyone running more than one computer. The installation cd and poster actually contradict each other, and the installer will cause T-mobile’s Linksys brand router to automatically turn off any existing wireless connections you may have on your PCs (Macs block the installer). Repeated calls to T-mobile proved to be all but futile. Five hours (yes five!) of tech support calls finally saw me reach a tech who understood and could fix the problem. You have to go through a rather cryptic pc-only Linksys software dialog to be able to fix this problem. The thing is, four of T-mobile’s techs told me that the problem was my network, not their equipment or software. The fifth tech proved them all to be wrong. Do you have five hours to waste with T-mobile?
It gets worse from there.
The service has never worked quite right, with people complaining that they can’t hear me clearly. The Linksys router light blinks nonstop, calls get inexplicably dropped. I’ve spent another five hours trying to talk with tech support, but every single time I have called, T-mobile says the connection is poor, and they can’t hear. They offer to call back, but they never do call back.
Save your time and money. Keep your land line or cell plan. One day, perhaps T-mobile will get their VOIP service dialed in, but that time has not yet arrived. Give them a few years. Maybe they’ll figure it out.
I am not electronic savvy - I currently have T-Mobile and am very happy with their cell service. Will this new Home thing work with my Dish network, so I can order pay per view movies through the tv via the Dish receiver? Also we have one regular pc and 3 lap tops - will that bother our wireless connection through Verizon DSL?
Teresa, The T-Mobile router which you would need to buy for 50 bucks up front replaces your old wireless router, so you won’t have any 802.11g problems, your wireless devices should sink perfectly. As for dish network, I’m not sure, but I think it would be OK, as I’m a cable customer.
I am a Network Administrator with Micro Soft and Cisco certs.
I have T-Mobile @ Home service, out of the box I could not get the router to connect to there VOIP service. I troubleshooted my network and found nothing wrong.
I called T-Mobile to inform them I had a faulty router. Customer service transferred my to @ Home support. 3 1/2 hr wait time, I opted to have them call me back. 4hrs later they did call, the tech i spoke with was not knowledgeable in networking what so ever. I had to go through there troubleshooting process (which was a nightmare) and took over an hour.
The process consist of unplugging the T-mobile router repeatedly, tacking simcard out and switch slots, trying simcard in my cellphone and vise versa. Then they move on to having you (If you already have a router) removing your router and using only the tmobile router. Now they have you remove all other devices off your network and then you unplug your Broad band router(Modem) and your tmobile router over and over again. which in my case did nothing. lastly they have you login to the interface for your router, and check all the settings.
No here comes the fun part, then they say they will conference in a tech from lynksis which really means they are passing you off to them because they get them on the phone and the @ home tech hangs up!
Be prepared to repeat everything you previously done with the @ home tech. Yes that means at least another hour. After an hour of speaking to a tech in India I guess(whom didn’t speak good English at all)My router still would not connect to T-mobiles VOIP service, I hung up! I called T-Mobiles Customer Service back and did not let them transfer me to the @ home department.
(( I found the best piece of information all of you should know I YOU ARE STILL UNDER YOUR 14 DAY BUYERS REMORSE PERIOD the best thing to do is call customer Service and report to the that you are sending your router back, then actually do so get a confirmation that they have received it and call them back and reorder the service. You will get a new router and a new 14 day buyers remorse period. ))
I would recommend that you try the steps I talked about above, if your router still don’t work send it back and don’t call @ home for service.
Actually try this unplug your broadband router(Modem) connect the modem to your router and connect one PC / or laptop to the T-mobile router. then power on the modem wait a second and power on the T-mobile router. wait tell the power light stops blinking and then power on your PC. by the time your PC powers up you should have the blue light on for your VOIP service if it is not repeat the steps again. If it still don’t come on you could try resting the t-mobile router. if that don’t work call customer service and return your router.
Here is the funny part, Before i could return my router i had it sitting on top of one of my servers. I was unplugging the cable to my laptop and the T-mobile router fell (aprox. 4 feet) to the ground. in the time it took me to come from behind my server and pick it up. THE BLUE LIGHT CAME ON!!!
So I found that the simcard wasn’t seating properly in the slots (The plastic hold downs were slightly warped). Now that the simcard is seated properly I have @ home service.
Service quality:
Slight delay in voice transmission, and dead spots.
The sound Quality is OK you can tel it is digital, slight sound like your under water. That is bearable. i say sound quality of 7-8 out of ten.
YOU CAN NOT USE FAX and if you have a alarm system on your home that uses the phone line YOU CAN NOT USE IT!
911 service is different then land line, but the same as any other VOIP service. (if you move call T-mobile and report new address.
The only downside besides support is I have had to unplug router 1 time in the last 3 weeks to get it to reconnect to VOIP service. (So after it is working if you notice the blue light is off or your phone doesn’t work unplug wait 5 sec. and plug in.
So if you can get it to work, it is worth the 10.00 a month…
WebPub, you may be a certified network technician, but your grammar needs quite a bit of work. I suggest you pursue certification in the English language. Good luck.
Lol, which company is ‘Micro Soft’ and what do they make?
Hello I have a comcast modem and a wireless linksys wrt54gs I pulled the power on all devices. I put the Tmobile HI port behind the comcast modem. I pluged the comcast modem in first waited til it fully connected. Then I pluged the Hi Port in waited a couple of minutes. Then I Pluged My Wireless Linksys in and plugged in all my computers and plugged the phone line in that I ran to my outside box and everything works fine.
How did you plugg your phone line in and run it to your outside box? i don’t understand. Does that mean you can plug your home phones to the phone outlets on the wall? I am currently with Cox cable for telephone service and I am interested in switching to tmobile@home. Unfortunately, the phne needs to be hooked up to the router versus the wall jacks. I need more phones around my house.
salina
Salina - If you have Cox VoIP right now, then you have what is called an EMTA (House). Your EMTA is connected via Coax cable, then a phone line comes out of your EMTA and connects to the wall jacks, which back feeds your phone service throughout your entire house. As long as that is the way Cox setup your service, then you can just do the same thing with your T-Mobile VoIP box. Check with Cox, and confirm that they did in fact install it that way (The correct way). If they simply connected your phone to the back of your EMTA, then call them back out to your house, and have them fix it properly…. then cancel :D
EMTA = (Modem)…. not house ;) sorry
I’ve had the T-Mobile@Home service for about 3 months or so now, and I am very pleased. On my blog I have many comments from folks in response to the service. Most are pleased with the service, but those who try to do things ‘out of the ordinary’ sometimes run into issues. By ‘out of the ordinary’ I mean:
a. Trying to send faxes
b. Running the T-Mobile/LinkSys router behind other routers
c. Trying to use older/non DECT 6.0 phones
Yes, T-Mobile will publicly say you can do a and b above, but based on the emails and comments left on my blog lots of folks report issues with them. As for the faxing…I’m happy to hear that faxing will eventually be supported by T-Mobile@Home, based on the comment above, but I still don’t see that as a big deal in this day and age, with all the faxing service options on the internet, and of course email.
More information about the T-Mobile@Home service can be found on my blog at http://www.elearninglive.com
I urge anyone who is looking to purchase or research the service to check out the info on there before making a decision.
mark
I switched to tmobile@ home on April 10, 2009. Great service and only costs $9.99/month. Tmobile rep stated faxing not supported. I have tried to fax and it does not work.
I’m a new T-Mobile mobile customer. Transferred from Verizon after many years with them(Central California coast). Family plan, 4 phones, and I added the T-Mobile@Home service. It works flawlessly.
Now, for the interesting part. My broadband connection spans my own private wireless 802.xx network utilizing 4 small single board computers and linux router software. This is a 20 mile wireless route. The termination is a plain vanilla DSL connection.
I manually configured the Linksys/T-Mobile router in 5 minutes. About 2 minutes later, I had a T-Mobile hotspot, and unlimited nationwide calling, along with the BlackBerry phone’s uma capability using the T-Mobile@Home service.
I’m very impressed. Try to top that Verizon.
I’m a new T-Mobile mobile customer. Transferred from Verizon after many years with them(Central California coast). Family plan, 4 phones, and I added the T-Mobile@Home service. It works flawlessly.
Now, for the interesting part. My broadband connection spans my own private wireless 802.xx network utilizing 4 small single board computers and linux router software. This is a 20 mile wireless route. The termination is a plain vanilla DSL connection.
I manually configured the Linksys/T-Mobile router in 5 minutes. About 2 minutes later, I had a T-Mobile hotspot, and unlimited nationwide calling, along with the BlackBerry phone’s uma capability using the T-Mobile@Home service.
Try to top that Verizon.
I’m a new T-Mobile mobile customer. Transferred from Verizon after many years with them(Central California coast). Family plan, 4 phones, and I added the T-Mobile@Home service. It works flawlessly.
Now, for the interesting part. My broadband connection spans my own private wireless 802.xx network utilizing 4 small single board computers and linux router software. This is a 20 mile wireless route. The termination is a plain vanilla DSL connection.
I manually configured the Linksys/T-Mobile router in 5 minutes. About 2 minutes later, I had a T-Mobile hotspot, and unlimited nationwide calling, along with the BlackBerry phone’s uma capability using the T-Mobile@Home service.
Try to top that Verizon.
I’m thinking of acquiring the T-mobile VoIP service but have reservations. I’m currently with AT&T and paying an arm and a leg for local, long distance and DSL service each month. My greatest concerns are about connectivity, quality and supporting current home monitoring alarm system.
With regards to connectivity, I currently have a home wireless computer network using a Belkin router. Will anything change?
Will the T-mobile router work seamlessly with my present router?
Will I be able to have a conversation without feeling I’m talking to the other person underwater?
Lastly, will the t-mobile home VoIP service support my home alarm monitoring system?
Hello I have a comcast modem and a wireless linksys wrt54gs I pulled the power on all devices. I put the Tmobile HI port behind the comcast modem. I pluged the comcast modem in first waited til it fully connected. Then I pluged the Hi Port in waited a couple of minutes. Then I Pluged My Wireless Linksys in and plugged in all my computers and plugged the phone line in that I ran to my outside box and everything works fine
Franklin,
My advice to you is to not sign up for the service at this time. I have many posts/discussions/comments on my blog regarding the T-Mobile@Home service. I personally like the service. But I made sure to ’simplify’ my setup. Once that was done, and the first firmware patch applied, everything has been running perfectly.
I get emails almost daily from people, via my blog, asking me about the service. The rule of thumb I have gleaned after so many discussions/comments from other subscribers, is that if you are not trying to do anything out-of-the-ordinary then it’s a great service. By ‘out-of-the-ordinary’ I mean:
a. Trying to piggyback routers. This causes people problems. The Linksys router that T-Mobile requires you to buy is a very good router. It has one major drawback though - it is wireless G and not wireless N. For the vast majority of people this is not an issue. I had a D-Link wireless N router before switching to the Linksys and I find that the Linksys gives a better signal and the speeds are the same, since my wife’s laptop runs Ubuntu linux (which doesn’t support N at all) and my work laptop only has a G card in it.
b. Lots of people have all kinds of wacky settings in the router. Like DMZ, gaming setups, etc. Those people consistently have problems.
c. Lots of people insist on keeping their old phones. Yeah, T-Mobile Support/Sales will tell you it works fine with old phones, and it probably does for the most part. But lots of people have problems with it so I recommend against it.
d. Lots of people are angry that it doesn’t support a fax machine. Why anyone is using a traditional fax machine in the year 2008 I don’t know. A scanner and efax combo is better. People who resist modern technology shouldn’t be signing up for the T-Mobile@Home service.
T-Mobile will tell you it works fine and lasts a long time. Piggyback a router? No problem! Use your existing phones? No problem!
The reality is, the comments and the feedback I get from my blog consistently show that the people who have the problems with it are the folks who DO NOT do the following:
1. Use only one router - the T-Mobile/Linksys one.
2. Leave the settings, other than security, at the defaults.
3. Use new DECT6 phones. I recommend the ones T-Mobile sells - they’re great phones and the price is fair. Unfortunately those boobs don’t offer additional handsets, so if you need a 3rd (like most modern homes do) then you’ll need to order it direct from VTECH for ~$40.
If you do the above, then once you apply the latest firmware update then the system will work great.
If you want to get cute with it, or if you insist on setting all kind of stuff up in the router admin….then you’ll be up the creek.
My 2 cents. YMMV.
mark
blog with the most T-Mobile@Home service info anywhere:
http://www.elearninglive.com
This is what I did. I have a comcast modem and a wireless linksys wrt54gs I pulled the power on all devices. I put the Tmobile HI port behind the comcast modem. I pluged the comcast modem in first waited til it fully connected. Then I pluged the Hi Port in waited a couple of minutes. Then I Pluged My Wireless Linksys in and plugged in all my computers then plugged the phone line in that I ran to my outside box and everything works fine
I just got this service yesterday. I am piggybacking it behind a linux pc acting as a router, and the linux router is connected to my DSL connection. It works flawlessly. Setup worked without a hitch.
One poster said she was having call problems and that the router light was always flashing. I’ll bet that she didn’t secure the wireless access, and a bunch of people have hopped on her router and are using her connection. This always happens in neighborhoods with apartment buildings close together.
I have noticed that the QoS is not flawless, but I don’t think it is T-Mobile’s or Linksys’s fault. I have a laptop connecting wirelessly to the T-Mobile router. When I am in a call and not using the Internet for anything else I have no call problems or lag/latency at all - it is as good as a regular landline. It is the best VoIP I have ever used, in fact. But, when I do something data intensive through the wirelessly connected laptop, like watching a YouTube video, call quality degrades quickly. The QoS in the router is supposed to prioritize the voice traffic - so I should see no call degradation - and, if anything, the YouTube download should degrade. However this is not the case. I even pulled out the linux router and configured the system in the “ideal” plain vanilla setup that T-Mobile says is optimum, but nothing changes. I think what happens is that some Internet sites, especially video sites, respond to requests with large sets of packets. When these hit my home network there is no way for QoS to stop them from competing to get in the door. For QoS to work perfectly, there would have to be corresponding QoS at my DSL providers central office that my router could tell to prioritize incoming packets that are VoIP (as if AT&T would have any incentive to support that!) Without that I am still forced to stay off of high demand Internet sites when I am in phone calls, but that’s an OK tradeoff for $10/month unlimited nationwide calling.
Here’s the silly thing: I haven’t gotten my first post-installation bill yet, but it seems that T-Mobile is not counting calls from my @Home setup to my T-Mobile mobile phones as free mobile-to-mobile calls! They should - since it all stays in the T-Mobile network - but it looks like the calls from my mobile phone to and from my @Home line are counting against the mobile phone’s minute count. So, to get free mobile-mobile when I call another T-Mobile customer, I have to use my mobile phone instead of my @Home phone to call thise other people on T-Mobile (like my Family Plan members)! Silly, huh? Especially since it uses less expensive T-Mobile resources when an @Home line is calling a mobile line than when 2 mobile lines communicate.
Update on free mobile-to-mobile:
It looks like I may be wrong. The FAQ at http://www.t-mobileathome.com says, “Q. Is T-Mobile-T-Mobile calling available? A. If your mobile phone plan includes this feature, calls made to your T-Mobile @Home phone are already unlimited. You can also call any T-Mobile customer who has T-Mobile-T-Mobile calling from your T-Mobile @Home phone and they will not be charged for these minutes.”
So, at least if the minutes get deducted from my plan minutes on my next bill I can refer to this FAQ and say “no way!”
I am considering the t-mobile @home service for my home and office but must be able to connect it to my existing land line network of phones in my apartment. I am also using a Dect phone set up but I have dead zones where only a wired phone can reach.
Can I jut plug in the Linksys modem to my existing TelCo (Verizon & ATT) via RJ11 splitter.
Has anyone got this service to work with home security systems yet? I have had the T-Mobile at home service for 5 months, the phone service is not bad for the price, since I am not on the phone a lot. I would like to buy a home security system (ADT, Gaurdian) but they are telling me it will not work with T-Mobile, but it will work with Vontage. If that is true what is the difference between Vontage and T-Mobile? Why will Vontage work and not T-Mobile
Thanks
I asked brinks and they said they can do it. Check with them.
I recently switched from Vonage to T-mobile @Home.
I have a security system–no paid monitoring but the system checks for dialtone everyday–and it worked with Vonage but not T-mobile. I even have a structured wiring panel with a telephone board specifically for security systems.
Does anyone know why the difference with Vonage and T-mobile @Home and security systems? Perhaps an @Home upgrade to enable faxing will also enable security systems to work like Vonage.
hi,
nay one knows what should I do to connect t-mobile router with dish network receiver?
Thanks
i lost my 911 service here in palm springs with t-mobile at home service, the engineering dept has been working to repair it now for 72 hrs with no results, if u have this service yest your 911, it may not be working
correction: test your 911 service
Can you make calls to Canada?
How much does it cost to call Canada?