[skunark]

Strangely I live in a decent size city where none of the key cellular providers could careless about coverage.   I've had Sprint, AT&T and currently Verizon, which I get zero coverage at work and very little coverage at home.   As a die-hard iPhone user, i'm curious about the VOIP features for the T-Mobile users out there for Android.    Is it easy to set up?  Easy to migrate between WiFi hotspots?     I see myself switching to T-Mobile as soon as IOS 8 and iPhone 6 is available just so I can use the VOIP features.   It is Time.   Honestly I see this as a huge gain for T-Mobile, most folks I know with iPhones on the bigger three are all planning to switch.

I hope this is acceptable, but the only reason why I can't switch to Android phones is because of Top Gear.   Just wanted to lay that out there..


--Jim

[TrungT]

Are you talking about WiFi calling?
The WiFi Calling on T-Mobile is a great option, work great on Windows and Android phone. (don't have iPhone)
Very easy to use, just connect the WiFi, then turn ON the WiFi Calling, will work with text too.
Hope that help.

[skunark]

Effectively the WIFI calling.   I guess it equates to VOIP, but is it WIFI calling.    Do you have to set up the location for 911 service?   I had the AT&T microcell that never really worked.  (picture the 'office space' scene but swap printer with a cable sized box to understand how well that worked.)   I can access Wifi at work and of course at home but cellular coverage is poor at best.   

[TrungT]

Nothing to setup as I know of.
Just connected to WiFi, turn on WiFi calling, and make a call and talk. 

[skunark]

Can't wait to switch.    I really hope Apple makes this VOIP work without a cellular provider and I hope Google follows.   Of course I just got my bill with tons of taxes on top of the 'low rate".    I'm really shocked that more haven't switched to T-Mobile.    Wifi connection is clearly better than cellular in the Pacific NW

[skunark]

I've been using tmobile for a few weeks now and i'm rather impressed with the WiFi calling feature, it's as simple as you said.   At times it sounds better than a landline, but the only gotcha is that  i'm still limited to wireless range in the house.   

Thanks
Jim

[shadowlight]

I've been using tmobile for a few weeks now and i'm rather impressed with the WiFi calling feature, it's as simple as you said.   At times it sounds better than a landline, but the only gotcha is that  i'm still limited to wireless range in the house.   

Thanks
Jim

Call T-Mobile and inquire about Wi-Fi Cellspot or something similar.  They will provide you with a Asus wireless router which has support for g/n/ac wireless connectivity option for $25 deposit.  My existing wireless router was spotty so I called them about it think I will get turned down.  I did mention that my cell connection did not work or was very weak in the basement and the customer rep signed me up.

[jpm]

T-Mo has been waiving the $25 deposit for some on the Wireless router. They also offer a conventional signal booster, but you need a location with minimal LTE signal to install it and they prefer to offer the router first. The router itself is a relatively high end Asus RT-AC68, a highly regarded $200 model.

WiFi calling is a huge boost for those of us with locations that have a weak signal. I've found it very reliable over the last 18 months with the exception of calling from the UK to the US recently where folks said I was breaking up badly. That may well have been down to a slow broadband connection, old router or both. 

Incidentally, anyone who wants to use their cell phone outside the US is nuts not to switch to T-Mobile. I recently got to compare my $4.26 of charges (18 days in the UK, phone used freely with no self imposed restrictions) to those of friends who used their AT&T iPhones for a 10 minute, $300 video chat from Austria ...

More good info at this site:

http://www.tmonews.com/2014/09/t-mobile-cellspot-routers-and-signal-boosters-not-available-today-pushed-back-to-friday/

[richidoo]

I have 5 Lumia 521s on TMbile. They are a nice little phone, but there are some software issues with the wifi calling. Hopefully 8.1 update will cure them, but we still don't have the official Tmbile sanctioned 8.1 for download. I know i can get it from store, but then I lose support if it breaks. Tech said a few more weeks for public 8.1 release.

We have marginal 4G at my house, but decent signal all around me. So I got the 4G booster, it works well.

I had to call them to request bumping me from 1GB data per month  up to 2.5GB month. 
I leave my wifi turned off to avoid the wifi issues on this phone, and I don't need much data. My kids burn the data quickly so they stay on wifi all the time. But hey are not affected by the wifi issues, like no notification of voicemail.

I switched from Sprint to TM and could not be happier. They are smart, fair and empowered to help. they told me that in my area at least, there is a big network improvement coming online this fall/winter. maybe I won't need the booster anymore. he said it was nationwide upgrade.   They are buying up a lot of Verizon's old towers and gear.

I would like to dicth ATT DSL, and go with 4G through a router. Data is cheaper, but it is throttled. My kids on 4G would burn twice as much  as they do now and that would be 30GB+/mo, which would cost more than DSL. But I'd like to have the speed.

[mrlittlejeans]

I have a Galaxy S3 and, for the most part, the wifi calling has worked very well.  It's one of the reasons I went with T Mobile as I was traveling to Canada a fair bit and didn't want to deal with international roaming charges.  No matter where in the world you are, as long as you make the call via WIFI calling, there are no charges.

Sometimes you get weird errors where it won't connect but they are mostly fixed by restarting the phone.

[ctviggen]

T-Mo has been waiving the $25 deposit for some on the Wireless router. They also offer a conventional signal booster, but you need a location with minimal LTE signal to install it and they prefer to offer the router first. The router itself is a relatively high end Asus RT-AC68, a highly regarded $200 model.

WiFi calling is a huge boost for those of us with locations that have a weak signal. I've found it very reliable over the last 18 months with the exception of calling from the UK to the US recently where folks said I was breaking up badly. That may well have been down to a slow broadband connection, old router or both. 

Incidentally, anyone who wants to use their cell phone outside the US is nuts not to switch to T-Mobile. I recently got to compare my $4.26 of charges (18 days in the UK, phone used freely with no self imposed restrictions) to those of friends who used their AT&T iPhones for a 10 minute, $300 video chat from Austria ...

More good info at this site:

http://www.tmonews.com/2014/09/t-mobile-cellspot-routers-and-signal-boosters-not-available-today-pushed-back-to-friday/

Or you could do what I did and buy an unlocked phone (for my wife, iphone, and a Nokia 1020 for me).  Then, you just buy a SIM card when you get to Europe.  T-Mobile does make it easier, but we bought an AT&T femto cell, so we're basically stuck with AT&T for a while.

I've heard the wi-fi calling isn't too bad, depending on the phone.

[skunark]

Call T-Mobile and inquire about Wi-Fi Cellspot or something similar.  They will provide you with a Asus wireless router which has support for g/n/ac wireless connectivity option for $25 deposit.  My existing wireless router was spotty so I called them about it think I will get turned down.  I did mention that my cell connection did not work or was very weak in the basement and the customer rep signed me up.

Thanks for the tip!

I have an AC router currently and even though mine's not as strong as the ASUS one, it's still unlikely to cover the entire house.  However, i could make one an access point, so it's still an option if my house was wired for ethernet.   I have another thread where I'm considering a power over ethernet (PoE) AC access point ($250, yikes)  that looks like a smoke detector which should give me coverage.  Base on the lack of response, it looks like no one has tried those on this forum.

Jim

[jpm]

Or you could do what I did and buy an unlocked phone (for my wife, iphone, and a Nokia 1020 for me).  Then, you just buy a SIM card when you get to Europe.  T-Mobile does make it easier, but we bought an AT&T femto cell, so we're basically stuck with AT&T for a while.

I've heard the wi-fi calling isn't too bad, depending on the phone.

Best thing about keeping using your T-Mo phone "native" is that you use your same phone # for calls, texts etc.  Since I use Google Voice for international calling out from the US, I tried to see if it would save me the 20c per minute cost for voice calls, but no dice. 

Google is getting very good at determining your location and restricting service availablity accordingly. Some times it's worth pursuing a workaround (BBC iPlayer + Google regional app store + VPN + Chromecast conundrum ... workaround in progress) other times not so much!