Femotocell
Those of you “Cell phone Signal Badithulu” on Sprint and ATT can buy this new thing called “Femtocell” to fix the signal issue at your home. Some of you tech savvy Teluglobe readers might already know about SPRINT Airave which has been around for at least 2 years. Currently SPRINT gives it for free.
For those on ATT, you are getting a Femtocell in mid April 2010. Talk to ATT and ask about this tower if you have signal issues using your iPhone. It will cost your $ 150.00.
Basically the Femtocell is a GSM/ CDMA tower (depends on your carrier) which covers 2000 feet area with a good signal. It is simple to install. Power it on. Connect the tower to your router via ethernet cable. Hook the GPS tracking cable to the back of the tower. Bingo. You just installed a cell tower in your home. The way it works is no different than a regular tower. A cell phone is always connected to a nearest tower. So at your home, your phone connects to the nearest tower, which is your Femtocell. The call you make from your cellphone is now routed via this tower. The mini tower will convert your voice signal to VOIP and routes it further. The only issue here is you must have a broadband connection. Which means you have to pay for the internet. I am sure most of us have broadband connections at home. So no worries there. On the positive side you will have a solid cellphone connection. sometimes it feels ridiculous to create infrastructure on your own rather than the cellphone provider doing it. But it works.
If you are on Verizon, hello can you hear me ? You don’t need this one.
Bhanu prakash garu, Apple played it’s counter-check 🙂 by introducing an app which uses the WiFi to run a second phone line on iPhone. $15/month after 30-day trial
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/25/technology/personaltech/25pogue.html?src=me&ref=general
why do we want to install femtocell or the iPhone app mentioned when we have wifi around! use google voice app. you get your number and you can forward calls to that number to any phone you want, say your land line. It has free SMS as well.
Does Google app works on the iPhone when the cellular connection is turned off but WiFi is on ? I doubt it will , but if it works , then sure why not. No Need for Femtocell.
Like Skype, Google voice is also blocked by Apple on iPhone.
IMO and from what I could gather from above about femtocell, it is only usable only if the cellphone is within the coverage area of the airwave device. If we install it at home, then we can’t use the cellphone elsewhere for example at office, inside a building etc, where the signal might be weak. And if it is only at home we can as well use something like vonage, the only disadvantages being the contacts not being available on the phone, right ?
Whereas the apple app can be used wherever there’s WiFi. I’m only thinking out loud and not contesting any of what you say. Honestly, I don’t have the requisite experience nor knowledge about these technologies.
Sandeep garu, thanks for the info. However skype has a similar model for some time. Only issue is APPLE didn’t let the their app. I used it a year back on windows phone. The quality was not great. Now they are official with Verizon on Android and BB platform. VOIP on mobile is a big market and sure will explode.
The Femtocell is a good option for folks with weak signal. If you complain with carrier, they might give you a free device plus not charge you a monthly cost. I am on Sprint. Two years back I paid for this femtocell plus 5 dollars a month as service charge for keeping this thing. Which , IMO is ridiculous, because you are paying for the carrier for improving their infrastructure. But now Sprint is giving these things for free plus no service charge. I doubt ATT will give it for free.