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WiFi Phone Calls. How does it work, and is it free?

Ha, this is the old, old TMO @Home service (2nd gen was Voip from a router). It is also called UMA (unlicensed mobile access), but is really only available for Blackberry devices. Basically it was TMO attempt to use femtocells.

So it was free to use (all other carriers charge you for hardware and a monthly fee) but you used your minutes, or they had a $10 add on that gave you free calls over wifi.

UMA on Android is a top issue (#26 by number of stars) Issue 6242 - android - UMA enable Android OS - Project Hosting on Google Code
So vote for it!

But there are reports that this is coming to TMO Android devices later this year.
 
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Ha, this is the old, old TMO @Home service (2nd gen was Voip from a router). It is also called UMA (unlicensed mobile access), but is really only available for Blackberry devices. Basically it was TMO attempt to use femtocells.

So it was free to use (all other carriers charge you for hardware and a monthly fee) but you used your minutes, or they had a $10 add on that gave you free calls over wifi.

UMA on Android is a top issue (#26 by number of stars) Issue 6242 - android - UMA enable Android OS - Project Hosting on Google Code
So vote for it!

But there are reports that this is coming to TMO Android devices later this year.

Umm I don't think so, if you click the link I gave, and click on wifi calling... it says you just need a wifi phone, router and broadband internet, doesn't mention anything about a tmobile @home service.
 
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What chadmd23 is old school. The @Home was great for saving minutes but they did away with that around when they got rid of the myFaves service.

What I believe you are talking about it simply using a wireless connection to make calls in areas where there is limited or no signal. This is something my friend does with her Blackberry. In her office, there is simply 0 signal, so she connects to the network and has full signal.

It is free for her, however I am pretty sure that at the moment this is only a Blackberry thing. If you follow the Wi-Fi calling enabled phone link under "Here's what you need" on the site you posted, all the compatible phone are Blackberries and they all have "Mobile and WiFi Calling" listed under the features. The Slide does not have this listed.
 
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It's true it was the biggest loss switching from Blackberry 9700 since my apt gets almost no signal I depended on wifi calling a lot. It's a good thing I'll be moving soon. WIFI calling is amazing but it's simply not an option in this phone :(

hi i have a blackberry 9700 also, can you please teach me how to make wifi calls? is it totally free? can i call long distance? out of state? does it use up minutes?? thanks
 
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I just have moved from a BB 8320 to a 3G Slide. I was living in an area that had essentially no TMO signal. I worked with tech support for the last 2 years trying to get a better signal to no avail. I was directed to the WiFi option on the BB but was told that it was for data only, it would not help the calls. And that was my experience.

Maybe it is different for the later BBs but not for mine. And the BB 8320 only was set up for edge anyhow so the phone was useless as a browser.
 
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hi i have a blackberry 9700 also, can you please teach me how to make wifi calls? is it totally free? can i call long distance? out of state? does it use up minutes?? thanks

It is only on Blackberry phones (UMA) and maybe a couple of others and it is NOT free. It goes against your minutes of use. The good part of it for me (when I had a BB) was being able to make calls in WiFi areas that had bad/no signal such as my house. All you have to do it create the WiFi connection on your phone but how you do it is dependent on how your home network is setup. If you are in a hotspot, just search for a WiFi signal. You MAY have to go into the browser to login to the local network (I had to do this at local Tech school). When enabled, you will see a small "UMA" on top status bar. Definitely miss this from my BB days but hopefully Android will get it in the future.
 
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