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Comment by drivebyacct2 | Hacker News Reader

I apologize, this is barely tangentially related... but I'm excited to endorse Google and T-Mobile...

I'm currently paying Verizon $40/month for an extra line on a family plan, and unlimited data with no tethering (though I do for free via CM6.1). I could have my own account with T-Mobile and get unlimited data for $50/month with no voice minutes.

I can use Google Voice and the Gizmo SIP Provider to be accessible via Voice Calls. I want the Nexus S. I am tired of Verizon, Motorola and HTC's nonsense with the locked NAND and the locked Bootloader. No new VZW phones have custom roms, in fact, hardly any since the Droid 1.

Go Google. Go T-Mobile. Thanks for not being (as) evil (as everyone else).

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Watch out -- this was my thinking exactly when I went with an N900 on Tmobile. Unfortunately... didn't quite work out. The latency just kills calls unless I'm on Wifi. Pinging google.com, I get around 300-350ms latency on 3G and over a 1000ms latency on GPRS, which I have about half the time. In Boston, FWIW, not sure how it is elsewhere.

Now, that could just be the N900, which I'm growing more and more irritated by, but I think in this case it's more reasonable to blame the network than the phone.

I'd like to say that with my N900 on wind mobile in Canada, I get 200ms and skype is basically all I use. It works great!

I typically see 70-150ms pings when I'm on HSPA+. 200-300ms if I'm connected to UMTS 3G.

I wish tmo wasn't the only major carrier without a 3g femtocell option. I can't even get tmobile 2g at my house.

I could easily overlook this if they rolled out UMA (aka Generic Network Access) on all handsets. Its been the saving grace for me on my Blackberry, especially in large convention centers with poor cell reception. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Generic_Access_Network

yeah. seems they've basically abandoned uma though. speculation is uma cannabalizes their 3g.

The U.S. arm of the German phone giant is a big supporter of Google’s Android OS, and last week, when I asked a T-Mobile USA representative if there were plans to add UMA to Android phones, he said T-Mobile will continue to support UMA on the current and forthcoming BlackBerry devices and Nokia E73. That’s four models in total. In other words, T-Mobile has no plans on adding UMA to Android phones.

http://gigaom.com/2010/09/13/is-t-mobile-backing-away-from-u...

I've also heard the abandonment attributed to lower overall fees from usage, especially say, when traveling.

The G2 got WiFi calling added with its first official firmware update, FWIW. I'd imagine the new Nexus will likely support this as well, nevermind the fact that 2.3 supports native SIP calling.

Really? Is this something different from UMA - tmobiles wifi based femto like service - that would be perfect for me but it seems they aren't putting it in new handsets anymore. Unless the G2 got UMA? That would be awesome.

Or does tmobile have some sort of official VOIP service now that allows you to receive calls on your cell # if you are up on wifi but aren't on the carrier network?

I know I could use gv+sip provider to get voice at home but at least in my mind the femto setup we have with verizon is nice - low muss, works with feature phones, people who visit etc. Well you can't have everything.

Wifi calling on the G2 is UMA based, AFAIK. Even works with your existing router, unlike the earlier T-Mo stuff where they wanted you to buy their router to do it. They've dropped the extra monthly charge for using it, as well, though it does still use plan minutes.

Sound quality is a little worse than 3G calling, IME, but it works very well. It's been handy in my office where T-Mo signal is a little spotty. (Yet, I step outside the front door and have 5 bars ;)).

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