I can't find an official link for this but I figured I would spread the word. I read that you were able to order the CellSpot early by calling in and I was able to do so today. I just told them that I was having trouble when using WiFi Calling while browsing the web and was hoping that I could request a CellSpot as I heard that would help with the issue. They processed the order today and are not charging me a deposit. I would assume that once the order process "officially" launches tomorrow they will start enforcing the deposit.
T-Mobile CellSpot free with no deposit today
- Thread starter raptir
- Start date
You can just ask them for one and they'll give it to you. During the keynote they said any customer can grab these.. Even if you don't have issues 
.
.You can just ask them for one and they'll give it to you. During the keynote they said any customer can grab these.. Even if you don't have issues
Right, but that's with a $25 deposit.
Has anyone confirmed if these routers are basically a custom asus ac66/ac68 with modified QOS?
Tmobile customer or not, for $99, if I was with att/verizon/sprint, I'd still buy one of these routers.
Tmobile customer or not, for $99, if I was with att/verizon/sprint, I'd still buy one of these routers.
T-Mobile Personal CellSpot review - CNET
Cnet confirmed that it is a rebranded AC68U with a different firmware. There are a couple features missing because of the firmware (specifically, only 2 guest networks + 1 main network per band vs 3 + 1 on the original, and no support for dual WAN which allows you to run two modems on one network) but it's the same hardware.
The WiFi calling prioritization does not occur in the QoS settings but instead uses "Evolved Packet Data Gateway" which to me sounds like a buzzword for a non-standard QoS implementation. What that means is that you cannot disable it, if that is a concern of yours.
The lack of an additional guest network and dual wan isn't a deal breaker for most. No doubt the 3rd party firmware (i.e. tomato) is heating up over the cheap cost of this router.
Still a steal for $99. Right now the ac68 is $200 on amazon.
Not for the first couple of days. Most can get it without one for now. One of our ambassadors walked in and just said he wanted one and got it with no deposit.
I ordered mine back on the 17th but as of yesterday it is back order. Very disappointed. The local store said they have 2 items in stock but since their system is messed up they can't process it for me
Posted via Android Central App
Posted via Android Central App
Old Stoneface
Well-known member
So... it's not a kind of femtocell that uses your own broadband connection for the backhaul, after all? All it is is a hopped-up WiFi router that has some TMO-specialized code in it for QOS?
Booorrring.
Booorrring.
The router itself is amazing... Not going to lie. I own the actual version of it.. It's a really powerful router with tons of features and great wifi range.
Yeah, a femtocell would have been great but there are a lot of regulations involved with those, especially with E911 requirements. They could not have offered them freely to all users like they can with the wireless routers. And considering T-Mobile has had WiFi calling support on most Android and Windows Phone devices for some time and it is now available on the iPhone I think offering free wireless routers is a good compromise.
And it may be "boring," but I'll take a top-of-the-line $200 wireless router for free any day.
Old Stoneface
Well-known member
Most branded devices. Unbranded devices, such as the N5 and Moto X/G/E devices: Nope. As such: WiFi calling is uninteresting to me.
Now if, as some suggest, TMO and Google have been working out how to get WiFi calling baked into Android: Then WiFi calling may be interesting again. Especially if it works right. It did not work correctly on my TMO-branded HTC Sensation 4G, which was one reason losing it didn't matter much to me.
Yeah, I use a Nexus 5 so I don't get to take advantage of WiFi Calling, but I used it on a Galaxy S3 and it worked great. Old HTC phones seem to have had a problem with WiFi Calling but old Samsung/LG and current from all brands seem to have the kinks worked out. I, too, hope that Google follows Apple's lead here and integrates it to the OS as a whole. T-Mobile released their IMS code to open source a while back, so I'm wondering where the disconnect is.
https://code.google.com/p/the-ims-open-source-project-for-android/
Still, I think it's fairly safe to say that the majority (read: not all) of T-Mobile users are on a phone that supports WiFi Calling (a T-mobile branded phone or an unlocked iPhone). Given that it wouldn't be possible for T-Mobile to provide femtocells as freely as they can provide these routers (which you ignored when you responded to my post) it still seems more than fair to give away $200 routers for their customers.
Anyway, when it comes down to it T-Mobile is offering a solution for indoor coverage issues and doing so via a feature of the phones they offer. If you are bringing your own phone to their network, you need to accept that it may not support all features of said network. I'll probably keep using Nexus devices, and I definitely wish that they would support WiFi Calling, but at the same time I understand that it's not T-Mobile's responsibility to make sure that unlocked phones support their network.
Old Stoneface
Well-known member
I wasn't ignoring it. I simply had no response. I presume your assertion is correct, so what's to say?
*shrug* But, in the end, it's still just a WiFi router, even if it is a good one and it's free.
Look, I wish T-Mobile would give us magical pink unicorns that can grant us each infinite wishes, too. But until they can get some low frequency spectrum this is basically the best they can do to help with in-home coverage.
I'm this close to picking up this router to use as a wifi repeater to replace my fairly old asus rt-n12/d1 router i've been using as a wifi repeater for about a year now.
bkeaver
Well-known member
I received mine today and it's pretty solid. Stable connection and better range than my old RT-n53. The only issue I'm running into is that I am failing to access any websites using a custom DNS server (Google's, specifically).
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