T-Mobile HotSpot

Looking to buy or upgrade your @Home or HotSpot phone? Here's one place to start. They use UMA technology and not every phone has it.
What is UMA?
UMA is the acronym for Unlicensed Mobile Access.
This is the technology that allows your telephone handset to freely switch between the GSM base station-tower and the wireless router-Internet networks for the transmission of voice and packet data. It is sometimes referred to loosely asWi-Fi and sometimes as 802.11 or to the very techie as IEEE 802.11b/g/n (draft)
Prior to UMA you had to be within fairly close proximity to a mobile carrier's antenna tower to be able to make and receive a phone call on your mobile device.Blackberry 8820 a full featuredUMA device.
If you were in an area that did not have your carrier's coverage you would have to roam on another carrier's network. If no tower was available you would have to find a pay phone or do without. With UMA and a wireless router you are able to make phone calls at any location where you are able to connect to the wireless router with Internet access. Generally, and now that 802.11n (draft) routers are begeing more gemon, a good signal throughout the house is the rule. Frequently you'll have a good signal from your neighbor's router as well. Which is why people need to enable the security function on their home wireless networks or you'll be snarfing up their bandwidth with your endless phone calls and Katy Perry ringtone purchases.Samsaung Katalyst a slider formatlow level UMA device.
UMA is an implementation of the Generic Access Network (GAN) standard.
This is the standard that allows mobile voice, and mobile data to access Internet Protocol (IP) based networks. It is done over a secure connection between the handset and the wireless router. The carrier recognizes the connection as being another base station, much like they have at a tower, and handles the call and data requests in much the same way. When you are in motion your call is handed off from base station to base station based upon which towers you are "lighting up" the most. Your UMA call is handed off from tower to tower with your wireless router seen as another tower in the system. T-Mobile's Unlimited HotSpot calling plan makes use of this with an UMA enabled phone and a wireless router. The phone must have the correct settings so T-Mobile can recognize the phone and subscriber in addition to being able to handle the GSMto WiFi signal hand-off. A UMA capable phone, if it doesn't have T-Mobile's settings installed, will not operate on an Unlimited HotSpot Calling plan. A Nokia 6301b set up for FIDO in Canada will not work as a UMA phone on T-Mobile's network, although it should do fine on FIDO's once you get to a wireless router.Nokia 6301b nice candy bar styleUMA phone. With 8.22 firmwarethis device works quite well.
Why Have a UMA Phone?
The advantage to the end user is an expansion in coverage. The end usercan make calls where they formerly had limited or no coverage. There is also an improvement in signal. Most people are going to be quite close to the antenna.They can sit next to it if they want. Data speeds over the wireless router are frequently greater (~54Mbps possible between handset and router) than from tower based connections. Some carriers also offer financial incentives for UMA use. This can include offering free routers, free UMA minutes and other incentives to use UMA services.
What Are Some UMA Capable Phones?The Samsung SGH-T339, one of the easiestto set up UMA devices out there.
The following phones are UMA capable. With all phones youneed to make sure they can be configured for your carrier. Not only do you have to be concerned about the phone accepting your SIM but also you need to ensure that the UMA settings in the phone can be configured so your phone and routercan be recognized by your carrieras a base station. Check with your mobile service provider prior to acquiring any UMA device unless you are into playing with them and reselling them on okay. Not all providers offer UMA services. T-Mobile devices are linked to searches for those devices.The Nokia 6086, a capable, low featureUMA phone.
T-Mobile For Sure
Samsung SGH-T709Samsung SGH-T409Samsung SGH-T339Samsung Katalyst SGH-T739Research In Motion BlackBerry Curve 8320Research In Motion BlackBerry Curve - SunsetResearch In Motion BlackBerry Curve 8900Research In Motion BlackBerry Pearl 8120 - Black Emerald, Frost, Indigo, TitantiumResearch In Motion BlackBerry 8820Research In Motion BlackBerry Curve 8520 - Black, White, Frost, FuschiaResearch In Motion BlackBerry 8820 - BlackResearch In Motion BlackBerry Bold 9700 T-Mobile Dash 3GNokia 6301Nokia 6301b(Fido in Canada)Nokia 6300i (not the Nokia 6300 or 6300b)Nokia 6136Nokia 7510T-Mobile ShadowT-Mobile Dash 3G (gees up on T-Mobile web site as wi-fi calling capable but specifications do not mention this ability nor does the Owner's Guide - get clarification from T-Mobile before purchasing this for UMA access.)
Sunge Only
HP iPAQ 510 Voice Messenger
T-Mobile, AT