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Make Cell Calls Over Wi-Fi & Save Minutes

by Terrence O'Brien on June 27, 2007 at 02:14 PM

Engadget Hands On With T-Mobile's Hot Spot @ Home
Our pals over at Engadget got their tech-greedy mitts on T-Mobile's new Hot Spot @ Home service and have some early impressions. Hot Spot @ Home uses a phone with Wi-Fi to switch between the standard cellular GSM network and Wi-Fi connections for unlimited voice over IP minutes. This basically means that you can potentially save mega money and minutes by using WiFi instead of your cell phone provider's network.

T-Mobile provides you with a Linksys router, but if you already have a Wi-Fi router (and you should) you can simply use yours by entering the network ID and key. Hot-Spot @ Home also comes packaged with free access to all of T-Mobile's hot spots around the country, like those at airports and a certain ubiquitous coffee chain. Seems like a pretty good deal for only $10 a month.

The Engadget folks were pretty pleased with the service -- though it wasn't with out its quirks. Switching from GSM to Wi-Fi wasn't exactly seamless. There was usually a delay of a second or more, and they experienced a few dropped calls. Also, all data is transfered over T-Mobile's cellular network, even when the phone is connected to Wi-Fi.

T-Mobile's Hot Spot @ Home will initially be available with either the Nokia 8086 or Samsung's SGH-T409. Both are pretty standard flip phones (Bluetooth, cameras etc.) with Wi-Fi built in.

Check out the complete review and a hands on gallery at Engadget.

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Tags: cellular, GSM, hot spot, hot spot at home, HotSpot, HotSpotAtHome, mobile, t-mobile, tmobile, VOIP, wi-fi, wifi

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