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Best Phone For a Wi-Fi-Only Location?
bendodge writes "I am planning on heading to a university in a remote area with very poor cellular service (the only signal is spotty Verizon voice, no data). However, the entire campus is thoroughly blanketed in Wi-Fi. I am trying to find the best and most economical 'Wi-Fi phone' or else hack one together. Belkin/Netgear sell what is essentially a portable Skype device for $180. These folks recommend outfitting an iPod Touch with a mic and VoIP apps. I am looking for something that can make and receive calls to and from landlines with incoming call notification. What experiences have Slashdot readers had and what would you recommend?"
Have you considered getting a T-Mobile phone with UMA? It's certainly not the cheapest option with standard mobile pricing of ~$30/mo and ~$5 of various taxes, but you have the added advantage of being able to have a "normal" phone when you're outside of Wi-Fi coverage.
If you're looking for the best value, you can get an Ipevo Wi-Fi Skype phone for ~$140 (a bit less than Netgear/Belkin; works fine). Add $3/mo unlimited US calling and $30 for SkypeIn so landlines can call you, and your total cost is $66/yr... That's tough to beat, and what I would do if I were you. The only downside is that the batteries for these devices may be a challenge to source, and as far as the phone, it's certainly no-frills.
The iPod Touch is not a solution I can recommend due to the lack of on-device microphone -- not to mention its battery on Wi-Fi being rather poor.
Good luck, and way to go on saving some cash! ;)
If you want to lug around a netbook anyway I would get a MacBook or at least something with excellent Bluetooth support. Then you can use a good bluetooth earpiece (I use a JawBone) to make calls, just as you would on a regular phone.
"I am planning on heading to a university ...
(deleted plan to spend hundreds of dollars to talk on the phone)
... what would you recommend?"
My other post gave a technical recommendation to answer your exact question.
My "real" recommendation is your priorities are totally screwed up. Hundreds of dollars equals about a hundred six-packs of tolerable beer or bottles of cheap booze, and college girls like parties with alcohol. Hundreds of dollars equals around a hundred or so keg parties (you know, a plastic cup costs $5, and the keg is over there surrounded by lonely college girls). Trust me that "traditional dating" of college girls is somewhat cheaper than post-college girls, so hundreds of dollars equals at least dozens of traditional movie and dinner dates. Hundreds of dollars equals some nice wardrobe additions, and college girls like a well dressed stylish man (but don't go all overboard). Hundreds of dollars would easily pay for a year long gym membership, and college girls like a healthy looking guy and they like to talk to guys at the gym. You may notice a common theme to my numerous examples of better ways to spend your money. Now decades later, you can reminisce about all the fun you had with your numerous girlfriends in those wild and crazy college years, or you can have an obsolete broken phone with a dead battery in a box in the basement, your choice... And if you're trying to meet guys, my advice stays the same, with different pronoun genders or whatever.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
I agree, but there should be a device for less than US$100. All my kid - "needs" (and yes, all that I as a parent will pay for) is text and there are plenty of free-wifi spots. No way would I buy a "plan" for a 12 year old... (just me the cheapskate I suppose). Once the iTouch 8G goes below $100, I will buy one. Archos=$200, iTouch=$200, Zune=$200. Too much for just sending text which is a huge market in itself.
I would absolutely not purchase anything without seeing how it works on campus first. There should be enough people around with enough different options to get a feel for things over the first couple of weeks (or less). My advice prior to that (and afterwards) is to get a Google Voice number and use that as your number - that way you can have it forward to whatever number you end up with, get text messages via email, etc. If you decide long-term to move away from GV you can do so after you have a phone that works.
I use UMA on my Blackberry regularly, but at least on my device I've seen times where it seems like it'll refuse to connect via UMA until it's seen a regular mobile signal. That may just be me (there are people using it internationally where they're definitely not getting a T-Mobile USA signal), but it's something to be aware of. There are other things that may keep it from working as well - UMA requires TCP connections on ports 500 and 4500, so if those are blocked it'll cause problems. There's a variety of information available from a few years ago when UMA first showed up about what needs to be open for it to function.
fencepost
just a little off