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Wi-Fi calling app means T-Mobile Android phones are best choice for travel
Starting with their new G2 and myTouch 4G handsets, T-Mobile is bringing Wi-Fi calling to Android phones. Wi-Fi calling allows you to access the T-Mobile network using Wi-Fi instead of a cellular connection. Once connected to Wi-Fi, you can make and receive calls without any noticeable difference.
Now, using the Internet to make phone calls is by no means anything special - Skype has been doing this for years - what makes this new feature so handy is that you don't need to configure anything, you don't need an account and calls are made using your own phone number.
Once you turn the app on, it instantly searches for Wi-Fi, and you can make and receive calls. The technology is called UMA, and it was first introduced on T-Mobile Blackberry devices back in 2007. It took some time for the service to reach Android devices, but the wait was well worth it.
The advantages of Wi-Fi calling are especially convenient for travelers - instead of spending upwards of $2/minute for a call, you simply find a Wi-Fi hotspot, and you'll be able to call back home using nothing more than the minutes from your regular calling plan.
I've tested the new app extensively on the G2 and the myTouch 4G, and it works absolutely flawlessly. One feature missing from the Android flavor of UMA is the ability to do a "seamless handoff" between cellular and Wi-Fi. This means your phone call will drop as soon as you are out of range of the Wi-Fi hotspot.
Despite this minor issue, if you are regularly abroad and in need of a cheap and reliable way to make phone calls, the new handsets with the T-Mobile Wi-Fi calling app are definitely worth checking out. For more on the new Wi-Fi calling app, mozy on over to the T-Mobile support pages.
Filed under: Gadling Gear Review
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Santosh Krishnan Nov 9th 2010 4:59PM
I've been using UMA for overseas phone calls for sometime now. One shortcoming when you travel overseas is the bandwidth required, which may not be available. UMA uses less bandwidth than traditional VoIP solutions such as Skype. This can be found in the specifications document of UMA.
What this means is that even on a poor Wi-Fi connection, your UMA phone will work whereas your Skype connection will not work properly.
The downside is that if Wi-Fi is unavailable, then you're stuck. To get around that, I purchased cheap Wi-Fi routers from WalMart and I take them with me. However I've also learned that you can't just plug in these routers, as we learned in Amsterdam, where I shut down the electricity on the entire floor after I plugged in my router, and the room smelled of burned wires.
Anyway, UMA works. The seamless handoff feature isn't all that big a deal, since it doesn't work very well even on the Blackberry, where it's supposed to work. I was working at T-Mobile when they were testing this out prior to their launch in 2007, and during that time, had the opportunity to interact with a number of the testers. It's fundamentally difficult to do a seamless handoff unless you have strong signal on the Cell signal, with a weak signal on the Wi-Fi, and anything in between may result in a dropped call.
All in all, I love UMA, and T-Mobile is all the better for it.
xs11e Nov 11th 2010 2:38PM
UMA has been available on Blackberry phones for several years, now. I'm glad to see it coming to Android, now how about Windows Mobile? I'd like to see it on all platforms and all carriers, not just T-Mobile and a very few others...
Anthony Jan 4th 2011 12:51PM
This is one of those things which is cool, but not for everybody. It has come in handy when I'm in an office with really spotty tower coverage, but a strong wifi signal because I'm buried in the data room next to a router. It has also come in ridiculously handy when traveling abroad. I was able to sit in my office in Manila and receive calls and texts from people who didn't even know I was traveling. That is super helpful.
One thing I have found is that some wifi networks won't let you use wifi calling. For example, in my hotel in Manila I have a strong signal and can do anything I want on the web, but when my phone connects to it I am not able to use the wifi calling. Some networks may have security in place which prevents the use since I'm sure it sucks up a lot of data and could bog down a slower network. Just kind of a heads up... Don't expect it to work EVERYWHERE there is a wifi signal, but it certainly comes in handy when there is one. It has saved me literally thousands of dollars in the past two months by not having to get an international calling plan for my travels.