atcomsystems.ca/forum Forums General Telecom News MagicJack Femtocell Gates Cell Traffic to VoIP

MagicJack is demonstrating a femtocell device at CES that will allow any GSM phone (locked or unlocked) to place free phone calls over the internet using VOIP. The device costs $40 and includes free service for 1 year. It supposedly will cover a 3,000 sq ft house.

to view the original Slashdot story, click here

BTW - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femtocell

In telecommunications, a femtocell—originally known as an Access Point Base Station—is a small cellular base station, typically designed for use in a home or small business. It connects to the service provider’s network via broadband (such as DSL or cable); current designs typically support 2 to 4 active mobile phones in a residential setting, and 8 to 16 active mobile phones in enterprise settings. A femtocell allows service providers to extend service coverage indoors, especially where access would otherwise be limited or unavailable.

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I had to look that one up!

I was looking at that but all it really does is allow you to use your cell like a cordless phone while at home

from a technical point its pretty neat , from a reality perspective not that big a deal

your still faced with the "iffy " magic jack performance

(GTE had a cell phone in the late 80'that had a base unit that was supposed to link up when you where at home and allow you to use it to place calls with the cell over your land line

thing is the base unit was unreliable and people where getting big cell phone bills for calls they made at home that they thought where free over copper but actually went out to the cell and where billed as Cell minutes

we had quite a few service calls to go out and confirm that, yes the base unit was installed correctly it just wasn't functioning correctly)

Like Skip said, i don't see why wireless carriers would give a hoot about this, all this device is doing is allow magic jack calls be made over your cell as long as your within ear shot of your pc, rather than a single line phone.

Because lots of people have elected to "cut the cord" and rely upon their cell phones for all of their calling. If this allows them to do this with no charge against their account's allotment, then it would cut into the cellular provider's bottom line. Of course, that would only apply if a customer went over their limit, but they could still lower their monthly plan if much of their calling occurs at home. I think that the cellular providers won't like this at all. Besides, even if this thing only covers half of the extimated 3,000 square foot range, that still covers most residential environments.

Im already using my magic jack to do just that , only diffrence is I use a SL phone rather than my cell for calls

I could easily add a cordless phone to accommodate the same task and cover the residence

I think what MJ is selling here is convenience. You can just mingle around your house with one phone attached to your hip. That is my guess.

would both cell calls and Magic jack calls ring to the cell phone ?

I would think once your cell connected to the MJ Femtocell (great scrabble word ) you would no longer be able to receive calls from the cell carrier but only magic jack calls

seems to me that would be a definite disadvantage

That and the separate phone number. I suppose you could get and "publish" a Google Voice number, and use the simultaneous ringing feature.

If they pack this technology into a MJ, in the same form-factor as used now, that's probably the most amazing thing of this whole story.

Justin