T-Mobile’s new HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Home will launch next week. You can read my earlier post for the details of the service, but in a nutshell, it is home telephone service. You install a wireless router which allows you to plug telehpones into it. You then have home service that uses your broadband connection. The router will allow you up to 2 phone lines. Each line will run $10 added onto your wireless plan that will get you unlimited calling in the US.

This is not bad if you currently have a wireless plan of $39.99 or greater through T-mobile which is a requirement to get the service. Right now Vonage costs $19.99, so this could replace Vonage or your current telephone service for only $10 a month. I am definetly going to sign up for this. Right now I currently use T-Mobile HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Mobile service that gets me free calls through my cell phone when using my broadband connerction. So pretty soon ALL my calls from home will be free.

T-mobile has become a pioneer with offering free calls through your high speed internet connection. I sure hope these services take off since quality has been great and you can’t beat the price.

Keep checking this HotSpot @Home Talk Forever Home Site for details on the launch if you are interested in the service.

Related posts:

1. Cut Cell Phone Costs With T-Mobile Loyalty Programs If you have had T-mobile service for more than...
2. Free Blackberry Curve 8900 From Wirefly Wirefly.com is having a promo Saturday July 11th through...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

magicJack is a device that you plug into an internet enabled PC that allows you to make phone calls to anywhere. It uses your original home phone. The draw here is that there are no monthly fees unlike other VoIP phone services. Here, you pay an initial $40 for the device and reveive unlimited calls for the first year, after that you’ll get unlimited calls for only $20 for the following years. You also get a phone number and a list of included features (see below). majicJack supports Windows PCs with XP and Visita as well as Macs.

Personally I haven’t tried majicJack, but the cost does look enticing. After doing some research there are reports that the sound quality is good. There is no 911 feature, so I DO NOT reccomend replacing your current service with this. You could however use it just for long distance while paring down your current home service. This is also great if you have a child on college or relatives that you talk to frequently.

Here is a quick list of the pros and cons as I see them:

Pros:

• Unlimited calls for only $40 the first year then $20 thereafter
• Use your current home phone
• FREE FEATURES: Phone Number, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Voicemail, Directory Assitance

Cons:

• You must plug this adapter into a PC with a broadband connection
• You need to plug in a regular analog phone, so if you travel you may need to take a phone with you

Overall this looks like a good deal. They are offering a 30-day risk free trial. I am thinking on giving this a whirl and see how it goes. I am always on the lookout for a good long distance deal!

Related posts:

1. Cut Cell Phone Costs With T-Mobile Loyalty Programs If you have had T-mobile service for more than...
2. Free Blackberry Curve 8900 From Wirefly Wirefly.com is having a promo Saturday July 11th through...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Sprint calls this the Simply Everything plan which gives subscribers unlimited voice calls, and also includes unlimited data, e-mail and Web surfing for $99.99 per month.

Here are the quick details on the plans from the other 3 carriers:

• AT&T Talk Unlimited – $99.99 Unlimited Calling Only (available: now)
• Verizon Truly Unlimited Calling – $99.99 Unlimited Calling (available: now)
• T-Mobile – $99.99 Unlimited Calling, Text Messaging, and Picture Messaging (available: TBD)

When you line it up against the other guys plans, Sprint clearly gives you the most features for the money. So you just need to make sure you have decent coverage in your area.

I don’t make enough cell phone calls to go this route. I currently use T-Mobile’s Hotspot @Home where I get unlimited WiFi calls for $9.99 added to my regular phone plan. This suits me fine. Besides Sprint coverage is horrible in my neighborhood, so I couldn’t go after this deal if I wanted to.

Related posts:

1. Cut Cell Phone Costs With T-Mobile Loyalty Programs If you have had T-mobile service for more than...
2. $25 Sign Up Bonus from Costco American Express Card If you are a Costco member, you may think...
3. How To Use A Gift Card Many people hate receiving gift cards since they dread trying...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I wanted to do a quick review on T-Mobile’s Hotspot @Home Talk Forever due to the fact that they have changed the name, pricing and also introduced new functionality. So I thought since it took me a while to figure out all the confusion, I would share it with you.

So basically the T-Mobile Hotspot @Home Talk Forever is now comprised of two services:

• HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Mobile
• HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Home

Lets start with HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Mobile. This was the original Hotspot @Home service T-Mobile released last year. Basically it allows you to use a WiFi enabled phone to make free calls when you originate those calls from a WiFi router, be it your home router, T-Mobile HotSpot, or any place you can jump on WiFi. The calls could jump seamlessly from WiFi to the towers as you left a WiFi area and back. There are certain phones that can be used with this. (Do a filter on HotSpot @Home Phones)
You must also add on the Hotspot @Home Add-on plan (now called HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Mobile Add-on) to your current plan to be able to get unlimited WiFi calls. The plan used to be $9.99 for a single user and $19.99 for a family plan. It was then raised to $19.99 for a single user and $29.99 for a family, now it is $9.99 for a single user and a family. So that means when you add on the $9.99 HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Mobile plan anyone on your family plan with a Hotspot @Home enabled phone can make unlimited wifi calls. I think this is a pretty good deal, especially if you have teenagers. I currently have this service and love it. The calls are very clear and I hardly ever use minutes anymore since most of my calls are wifi calls. (See my original Hotspot @Home Review Post for more detail)

Ok, now lets discuss T-Mobile’s new HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Home Service. You can think of this as more like Vonage or Comcast VoiP. This service does not use your cell phone but rather a router which a regular telephone plugs into. This new router (Linksys WRTU54G-TM) , which will cost $50 with a 2 year contract extension, basically replaces any current router that you have. It has wireless as well so you shouldn’t miss anything from your current setup. What makes this router unique is that you can plug in regular telephones into the back of it and make calls. The router supports up to two phone lines. These phone lines each have their own number. You do however need to add the $9.99 per line HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Home Add-on plan to your wireless plan for each line that you want. So you must have T-Mobile wireless service to be able to get this feature. This is basically giving you an additional phone line with unlimited calling for $9.99. The service also comes with Domestic long distance, Call forwarding, 3-way conference calling, Voicemail, Call Holding and Call Waiting. This obviously beats Vonage’s $24.99 unlimited plan. This service is currently in Beta in Seattle and Dallas with a planned national roll-out soon. One thing I am anxious to see is if these lines can handle faxing as faxing has been as issue when I had Vonage. (UPDATE: I am not able to get faxing to work over T-mobile @home, so I signed up for this cheap fax service instead)

One thing to note, to be able to add either of the 2 plans you must have a current individual wireless plan that is 39.99 or higher, or any FamilyTime mobile plan $49.99 or higher.

The HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Home Service is more for people that would want to replace their land-line phone with a cheaper alternative. Since I have the HotSpot @Home Talk Forever Mobile family plan I don’t think I would get this since we never use a land line phone anymore. So it is really up to you to determine how you use your phones. I also like the HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Mobile plan since I only have one phone number. However if you have a small business at home adding a HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Home line might be an option for you. This is also a good alternative to Vonage if you are not happy with their service.

I hope this kind of cleared up the confusion with all the changes to these plans. Please let me know if you have any questions!

Related posts:

1. Cut Cell Phone Costs With T-Mobile Loyalty Programs If you have had T-mobile service for more than...
2. Free Blackberry Curve 8900 From Wirefly Wirefly.com is having a promo Saturday July 11th through...
3. OptionsXpress Review December 2009 I decided to do a review on OptionsXpress for those...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

• AT&T – $99.99 Unlimited Calling (available: 2/22)
• Verizon – $99.99 Unlimited Calling (available: now)
• Sprint – $119 Unlimited Calling, Text Messaging, Web, eMail and Picture Messaging (available: limited areas)
• T-Mobile – $99.99 Unlimited Calling, Text Messaging, and Picture Messaging (available: TBD)

All of these plans will require an extra data plan if you have a smartphone. If you really only use minutes and send text messages, which I imagine is most of us, the T-Mobile plan looks like the best way to go once it is released.

However, not many people need unlimited calling and are just looking for a better deal. If this is you, look into these alternatives as well:

• T-Mobile Hotspot @Home
• Sprint SERO Plan

Related posts:

1. Cut Cell Phone Costs With T-Mobile Loyalty Programs If you have had T-mobile service for more than...
2. Free Blackberry Curve 8900 From Wirefly Wirefly.com is having a promo Saturday July 11th through...
3. $25 Sign Up Bonus from Costco American Express Card If you are a Costco member, you may think...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Back in December I did a quick review on T-Mobile’s Hotspot @Home (now called HotSpot@Home Talk Forever Mobile Add-on) service where you can make unlimited calling on your cell phone plan using WiFi. They offered a price for $9.99 per month for a single phone and $19.99 per month for a family in addition to your normal monthly minutes plan. Apparently those were promo prices, since shortly after my review they went to $19.99 per month for a single phone and $29.99 per month for a family. Well it appears T-Mobile has thought twice about this change and have made things even simplier and cheaper. Now it is only $9.99 for unlimited WiFi calls for a single phone AND family.

This isn’t bad considering if you have a bunch phones on a family plan all those people can make unlimited WiFi calls for only ten bucks a month extra. Now this essentialy does replace your current home phone. Plus it lets you keep your teenagers from plowing through their minutes while at home or near a T-Mobile hotspot. One question people ask is that does this service give you access to all the T-Mobile hotspots? The answer is yes, but for phone calls only. All T-Mobiles Hotspot @Home phones are preprogrammed to automatically connect to T-Mobile hotspots for placing and receiving calls. If you want to use your laptop at one you will still need to pay for the service like usual.

 I have been using this service and I love it. The calls are very clear and I like having the flexibility of only one phone number. If you think to yourself, well I hate having that phone up to my head all day, try one of these:

The xlink connects to your home phone and your cell phone via bluetooth. This allows you to use your original home phone to make and receive calls on your cell phone. I love this thing. Both my and my wife’s phone hook up to it (it supports up to 3 cell phones at once). So when we are at home we can use your cordless phone instead of having to use the actual cell phone. Plus when an inbound cell phone call comes in it rings all of our cordless phones so we don’t have to race through the house trying to find where we left the cell phone. The xlink makes the connection to your home phone seamless, you just pick up your phone and start dialing. Call waiting/caller id all work with your existing home phone like normal. This in addition to the Hotspot @Home Service makes us not miss our old SBC line at all.


I am happy to see that T-Moblie is differientiating themselves from the other wireless carriers by offering these types of services. I have been a long time customer and plan to be for much longer.

Related posts:

1. Cut Cell Phone Costs With T-Mobile Loyalty Programs If you have had T-mobile service for more than...
2. Free Blackberry Curve 8900 From Wirefly Wirefly.com is having a promo Saturday July 11th through...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Instead, try programming 1-800-FREE-411 (800 373 3411) into your speed dial instead.

You’ll have to listen to two ads. One at the beginning of your call, and another just before you receive the number you are looking for. I tried this a few time and it found every residential and business number I was looking for. Unfortunately, there is no option to be automatically connected to the call, but with the way I use directory assitance, this will save me over $10 a month.

 Another good one to try is Google’s Free 411. (1-800-GOOG-411). They will automatically connect you to your number, however they only provide assistance with businesses and commercial properties.

Related posts:

1. Cut Cell Phone Costs With T-Mobile Loyalty Programs If you have had T-mobile service for more than...
2. Saving Made Easy A bunch of my friends and I were sitting around...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

I was about to embark on a very interesting ride from what I gathered by reading about earlier horror stories of people being on hold for hours before they can reach someone. So reluctantly, I called the customer service number. After navigating through the web of voice prompts I selected the “Cancel My Service”. I figured this one takes you to a hold queue of 40 minutes then to some person that will do whatever they can to not let you cancel.

To my surprise I was only on hold for 5 minutes until I reached Debra (ID: E25293). Here is where the fun begins. She asked the usual account verification questions, then asked my why I wanted to cancel. I told her that I have this new cell phone. (I wasn’t about to explain to her what Hotspot @Home was since I knew she would never understand it). She then started to tell me how much more my cell phone costs than Vonage. I let her go on for a bit, before I started to become agitated and asked her if she heard what I was saying “I WANT TO CANCEL!” She would just ignore that and tell me what a great customer I have been. This went on for about 10 minutes as she asked a list of questions, which I wrote down. I started asking for her supervisor and each time she told me she was an account manager and then proceeded to offer me more free service. I think I was up to about 4 free months before I told her I was calling their corporate office hung up on her. I was pissed. What a waste of 15 minutes!

I almost called their corporate office, but wasn’t sure which number would get me anywhere. After calming down a little I thought about it and came up with the right strategy … Don’t give them a reason to try to keep you. And that means lie if you have to!

Here was the plan. (I wrote down all the questions I was asked on the previous call and devised answers that would not make it easy for them to keep me).  There are the responses I would use on the next call to cancel:

• When asked why I was cancelling: “I don’t use the service anymore” (This was true since I haven’t had the device plugged in for about 2 months)
• When asked what am I using instead of Vonage: “I am using a cell phone” (Truth)
• When asked how much are you paying for a cell phone: “My company pays for it” (Total lie here)
• When asked if I wanted to keep it for a backup: “My wife has a company paid cell phone that we use as a backup” (Again, another lie)
• When asked if I want to transfer my service to any friends or family: “My family all died in a horrific plane crash on the way to a family reunion and my friends are now homeless after the stock market crash” (Some of my finest work ever)
• When asked about the quality of Vonage when I did use it: “There were so many outages. And the wait time to talk to support was ridiculous!” (Partial Truth)
• When asked if there is anything more she can do to help me keep the service: “No Thank You”

Again I placed the dreaded call to their customer service line and the wait time was less then 5 minutes. This time Christine was my account manager. I didn’t even bother to ask for her ID in the beginning since I thought I wouldn’t need it. So I went through all the questions above her and she noted down my responses. Don’t know if she bought the plane crash one or not! After the last question, that was it! She cancelled it, I got a verification email and no more service. Damn they were persistent though. I guess when you are hit with multiple patent lawsuits you need to keep your customers!

I hope this helps anyone trying to get away from that crazy company!!! Just preplan what you are going to say. Don’t give them a reason to try to keep you as a customer. Don’t elaborate on your answers make them short and sweet. And getting angry and asking for a supervisor did nothing. Just keep calm and keep saying “No Thank You!”, if you can last.

 All I can say here is that Vonage wasn’t a bad service, but with that kind of customer service, I will never touch them again!!!!

Related posts:

1. Cut Cell Phone Costs With T-Mobile Loyalty Programs If you have had T-mobile service for more than...
2. Account Fee Updates I have had a few people email in about various...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

Stuck in a wireless contract with Sprint Wireless and you would like to go with another wireless carrier and don’t want to pay the $200 early termination fee?

Solution:

Call their customer service once a day until they terminate you!

I was reading this post and thought I would share with you. $200 can be a pretty steep fee to pay if you are past your 30 day refund period but are having issues with your service. Many carries are now offering pro-rated termination fees based on how close you are to your contract expiring, but this one is still funy nonetheless.

Update: Hustler $$$ Blog has a good post on upcoming changes to Sprint’s terms that should allow you out of your contract, rather than having to piss off customer service reps!

This post reminded me of INGDirect.com who has a history of dropping customers based on the amount of times you call customer service. Now how is that for a great customer experience?

Related posts:

1. Cut Cell Phone Costs With T-Mobile Loyalty Programs If you have had T-mobile service for more than...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.

A few people have emailed me to let me know at that the Sprint SERO plan has unlimited text messages if you sign up by 12/31. The cost for unlimited text messages is normally $10.00 / month with this plan.

 So as a recap:

• 500 minutes (larger minute plans available)
• Unlimited Nationwide long distance
• Unlimited Mobile to Mobile (Sprint to Sprint calls only)
• Unlimited Web/Data Access
• Unlimited Picture Mail (with compatible devices)
• and now Unlimited Text Messages

all for $30 per month? Can you possibly find anything cheaper?!?!?!

See my original Sprint SERO Post for more details and how to sign up for this deal.

Related posts:

1. Cut Cell Phone Costs With T-Mobile Loyalty Programs If you have had T-mobile service for more than...

Related posts brought to you by Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.