T-Mobile has three different services that apparently for which couldn't think of other unique names.
HotSpot = Internet service through Wi-Fi at specific locations (Starbucks, Borders, Airports, etc.) HotSpot@Home = UMA on your cell phone through Wi-Fi HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Home Phone Service = way too long of a name but gives you your landline service through Wi-Fi/VoIP but on a T-Mobile bill instead of your current carrier.
They're 3 distinct product offerings with unfortunately similar names. The main difference according to the information above is that unlike Hotspot which is available either without a T-Mobile mobile phone line (aka "GSM line") -or- on the bill as a T-Mobile mobile phone line, HS@HTFHPS is not available stand-alone - it's only available as an add-on to an already-existing mobile subscriber account.
This isn't just a HotSpot@Home on steroids. It's a totally different product with a different phone # other than your mobile #. The SIM Card "support" in the router is because that's how it stores your information.
The SIM Card for the "Talk Forever" line goes *IN* the router. Your phone plugs *IN* to the router. You use it like you would use your regular landline - at your home. You're NOT using your cell phone. You're NOT using your cell phone number. It's a separate phone line entirely.
"Customers may use their existing home phone unit with the HotSpot @Home Wireless Router with Home Phone Connection." (i.e. NOT your cell phone) "The Wireless Router is capable of handling up to two SIM cards and two separate home phone lines."
For example, if I have my landline through comcast (say 555-555-1212) and I have my mobile phone through T-Mobile (say 555-555-1313), I can port the 1212 number to T-Mobile, get this service, and have 2 lines through T-Mobile - one landline through VoIP with unlimited calling (like Vonage) and one mobile phone through GSM. Now the GSM line may be able to use UMA if the phone supports it, but that's through the @Home service, not the Talk Forever Home Phone service.
A good way to think of this is like getting Vonage (they even compare it in the info above) but only available to T-Mobile customers.
Your analysis is much appreciated. But what this tells me is that this plan is complex to the point of being unintelligible to the majority of subscribers.
Suppose I want to keep my Verizon landline (which is independent of my ISP and not VoIP-based). Will these new routers allow for that? I keep a low-budget Verizon account because there is NO internet service ANYWHERE that does not occasionally go down.
John, the answer to your question is a resounding "Maybe" - LOL.
The "New routers" that allow for the Home Phone part, if you want to keep your landline with Verizon, would not be something you would want to purchase - instead you would just purchase the standard HotSpot@Home router like you currently can today, and continue to use your UMA-capable cell phone.
Although it's tough to tell from the specs given above, I would imagine that the new router would still allow for the standard @Home service as well as the new Home Phone service. Otherwise that would force a person to have 2 routers, which seems a bit excessive. Just like with standard UMA @Home service you don't have to have a GSM phone and a UMA phone, it's one phone with both capabilities. But you would need to get a UMA-capable phone instead of an existing GSM-only phone. In a similar way, I would imagine that the Home Phone routers would still allow the standard @Home service along with the Home Phone service, but if you didn't want the Home Phone service you wouldn't have to buy one of the new routers.
“There's a certain feeling of wading through water with this phone, as every time we went exploring the menus, we were met with a delay long enough to make us doubt our keystrokes registered.”
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Did everyone miss the "Home Phone" Part of this?
T-Mobile has three different services that apparently for which couldn't think of other unique names.
HotSpot = Internet service through Wi-Fi at specific locations (Starbucks, Borders, Airports, etc.)
HotSpot@Home = UMA on your cell phone through Wi-Fi
HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Home Phone Service = way too long of a name but gives you your landline service through Wi-Fi/VoIP but on a T-Mobile bill instead of your current carrier.
They're 3 distinct product offerings with unfortunately similar names. The main difference according to the information above is that unlike Hotspot which is available either without a T-Mobile mobile phone line (aka "GSM line") -or- on the bill as a T-Mobile mobile phone line, HS@HTFHPS is not available stand-alone - it's only available as an add-on to an already-existing mobile subscriber account.
This isn't just a HotSpot@Home on steroids. It's a totally different product with a different phone # other than your mobile #. The SIM Card "support" in the router is because that's how it stores your information.
The SIM Card for the "Talk Forever" line goes *IN* the router. Your phone plugs *IN* to the router. You use it like you would use your regular landline - at your home. You're NOT using your cell phone. You're NOT using your cell phone number. It's a separate phone line entirely.
"Customers may use their existing home phone unit with the HotSpot @Home Wireless Router with Home Phone Connection." (i.e. NOT your cell phone)
"The Wireless Router is capable of handling up to two SIM cards and two separate home phone lines."
For example, if I have my landline through comcast (say 555-555-1212) and I have my mobile phone through T-Mobile (say 555-555-1313), I can port the 1212 number to T-Mobile, get this service, and have 2 lines through T-Mobile - one landline through VoIP with unlimited calling (like Vonage) and one mobile phone through GSM. Now the GSM line may be able to use UMA if the phone supports it, but that's through the @Home service, not the Talk Forever Home Phone service.
A good way to think of this is like getting Vonage (they even compare it in the info above) but only available to T-Mobile customers.
Tito:
Your analysis is much appreciated. But what this tells me is that this plan is complex to the point of being unintelligible to the majority of subscribers.
Suppose I want to keep my Verizon landline (which is independent of my ISP and not VoIP-based). Will these new routers allow for that? I keep a low-budget Verizon account because there is NO internet service ANYWHERE that does not occasionally go down.
John, the answer to your question is a resounding "Maybe" - LOL.
The "New routers" that allow for the Home Phone part, if you want to keep your landline with Verizon, would not be something you would want to purchase - instead you would just purchase the standard HotSpot@Home router like you currently can today, and continue to use your UMA-capable cell phone.
Although it's tough to tell from the specs given above, I would imagine that the new router would still allow for the standard @Home service as well as the new Home Phone service. Otherwise that would force a person to have 2 routers, which seems a bit excessive. Just like with standard UMA @Home service you don't have to have a GSM phone and a UMA phone, it's one phone with both capabilities. But you would need to get a UMA-capable phone instead of an existing GSM-only phone. In a similar way, I would imagine that the Home Phone routers would still allow the standard @Home service along with the Home Phone service, but if you didn't want the Home Phone service you wouldn't have to buy one of the new routers.