T-Mobile’s hot-spot plan shifts mobile-com paradigm
Being in the center of the Pacific has never been easy when it comes to communications with the outside world.
In the old days it took weeks for mail get here from the mainland, and as a grade-school kid I remember how we always saw delayed national TV news reports because they had to be delivered by airplane. It wasn't until Hawaii got satellite coverage that we were able to watch mainland TV news in real time.
After satellites came fiber-optic cables, which have allowed for developments such as the Internet, digital phones, e-mail and other technologies.
For example I enjoy using my laptop as a radio, TV and virtual newspaper while on the road. I can listen to Hawaii Public Radio, which has streaming audio, or read the Star Bulletin online for local news. I can also watch TV clips from local stations or tap into international events by listening to the BBC.
In the Road Warrior department, one of the more interesting technologies I've come across recently is Hotspot@Home, which uses a cell phone that doubles as a Wi-Fi phone. It allows you to make and receive phone calls over any open Wi-Fi network. The phones with this technology come in a variety of flavors--Blackberry, Samsung and Nokia and all are Wi-Fi ready.
The main advantage is cost savings. If you use your cell phone a great deal or travel and leverage wireless networks, savings could be considerable. For Wi-Fi access, you pay $20 a month extra, which gives you unlimited domestic U.S. calling. The phone works well from the official T-Mobile hot spots (such as Starbucks) but from non T-Mobile hot spots as well.
I first became aware of the T-Mobile service when a colleague called me from Spain on his T-Mobile Nokia phone from a Wi-Fi connection. I had an opportunity to road test a Samsung phone locally at various hot spots around town and from my own home network. I even had friends call me using T-Mobile Wi-Fi phones from wireless home networks in Seattle and Tahiti.
The results were very impressive. Voice quality, even from the South Pacific, was very good.
The phone comes with its own wireless router, which is engineered to work with the T-Mobile hand set. The chief advantage of the router is that it saps less energy from the phone.
Therein lies the chief disadvantage of using the Wi-Fi mode all the time--it runs the phone down more quickly than using it on a conventional cellular network. That's because there are two chipsets need to operate both the conventional and Wi Fi modes. Thus if you're going to spend a lot of time away from your router or in a non- T-Mobile wireless hot spot, make sure your battery stays charged.
Setting up the phone was easy. Simply go through the menu and click on "Wi-Fi." The phone will find the nearby networks and, once you save the setting, it will automatically access the hot spot when you're in range.
T-Mobile has done nothing less than create a paradigm shift in mobile communications. By creating an open system around Hotspot@Home, T-Mobile is leveraging the existing Internet infrastructure so that anyone can make a phone call from anywhere you've got bandwidth. (For example, one friend of mine who uses this service takes a portable router with him anywhere he travels.)
It also allows people who already use Wi-Fi at home or at their office to further take advantage of their investment.