T-Mobile's @Home Phone Service with Unlimited Calling for $10/mo

T-Mobile @Home

T-Mobile @Home

T-Mobile @Home

T-Mobile @Home

Today T-Mobile announced that its new @Home VoIP "landline" service is being rolled out nationwide. The @Home service provides landline-like access to consumers by utilizing their existing broadband internet connection. @Home is a $10 per month optional service that can be added to qualifying T-Mobile cell phone plans. Users can then enjoy unlimited long distance calling from their home phone for that cost.

The service uses a special Linksys WRTU54g-TM router, which costs $49.99 with a two year agreement, that can provide up to two dial-tone RJ-11 analog phone ports that can be used with regular corded or cordless phone sets. Each line requires its own SIM card that gets inserted into the router. The router also supports T-Mobile's UMA capable WiFi phones like the BlackBerry Curve 8320 as well as other WiFi compatible devices, such as laptop computers.

We tested the system with a pair of VTech cordless DECT phones, an option that costs an additional $59.99 for the two phones and their associated docking stations. The PC based installation wizard for the router was a bit less than optimal, since it made some assumptions about my home network that were incorrect and reconfigured my desktop PC when it shouldn't have, but overall it worked sufficiently well without me needing to break out the manual. Once the router booted up and was connected to the internet, the phone service required nothing more than plugging a cord into the back of the router. In addition to sockets for two analog phone lines, the Linksys router also has 4 regular network ports for non-WiFi capable devices that use Cat 5 RJ-45 network cables.

In terms of call quality, everything seemed to be perfect. Calls sounded as good as on our existing Vonage system, and certainly were more clear than a typical cell phone connection. The only thing that we feel the need to point out on the down side is that the service did not appear to be able to support fax machine transmissions, something we are able to do with Vonage.

Overall the new @Home deal seems like a steal for only $10 per month. Unless you are tied to a fax machine, this is probably something that all T-Mobile customers should consider. More information is available at the T-Mobile @Home website. The new service and hardware will be available to customers on Wednesday, July 2nd.

T-Mobile @Home

T-Mobile @Home