Smart phone wi-fi question

I had a question about these new fangled smart phones that I was certain someone here could help with.
The short version: I am looking to drop my land line and switch to a cell phone. Nothing special there I know but in my case I live in a complete dead zone for cell service. The best I could hope for might be very spotty service through verizon.
My main concern is how many of these phones actually work through wi-fi? And I mean solidly work as in take and receive calls every time they need to. What suggestions would you have with that in mind?
I have no brand loyalty to apple, android, or whatever else. I did briefly play with my dads' iPhone when he visited recently and it connected fine data wise through wi-fi but was unable to make any calls.

 

The closest I can get to an answer for you is that I use my phones WiFi connection all the time for my netbook. I've only had trouble connecting in 2 instances so far. Once deep inside a large building and once at a clients house that was in a cell dead zone.
I've never tried making a WiFi call on it.
(T-Mobil 4G phone for the record)

 

Do you have good cell coverage when you leave home, and it is just when you are at home that it is a problem? I think AT&T sells micro-towers that you can use to create signal in your house.

 

most of the town in a valley and is totally dead for service, with at&t at least. Verizon and some other providers seems to get better service but nowhere near reliable enough to use as the only phone service. Smoke signals would be more reliable. I was absolutely shocked once several years ago when my phone actually rang for an incoming call in the alley where we live. And that was just enough to take the signal to ring, and nothing else.
If you go up the hill to the one side of town with some elevation then full service kicks in for a small area. Of course I have to make short walk or drive up there just to get that service, and I only do that for special occasions. Which has usually been when Time Warner phone service is down yet again.
What i need to do is "try out" a phone to make sure it works first, but I have never heard of such things .

 

I don't think that you can take and receive calls via WiFi, but I might be wrong. I have used my phone both as a mobile hotspot and through tethering to provide internet service for my laptop, but that depends upon a strong signal.

It seems like you have a good internet connection at home, have a cell phone with poor signal, and just want to drop the home phone line. Have you looked into any internet phone services to cover your calls at home (skype, etc.)? Otherwise, have you looked into other mobile carriers to see if they get better coverage at your place?

 

T-Mobile can do what you want, though it is a service that you pay for. My wife tried it for a bit and we were less than impressed. It was ok as a secondary service; but not something I'd rely on. ATT sells a mini tower, never tried it.

Since ATT bought T-Mobile there's no telling where their service is headed.

 

that is useful information. thank you so much
That is not a foreign term to me, I just have no practical experience with any of that and was obviously not looking in that direction.
might give vonage a call then, already used to losing phone service when the internet is down.

 

I looked at vonage again and this caught my eye:
"U.S. & Canada
Unlimited
$14.99/mo.
for 3 months then $24.99/mo.†
plus taxes & fees
Unlimited1 local and long distance in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico.
NEW Vonage Extensions™ - extend this calling plan to any phone, even mobiles, at no extra charge.
Unlimited readable voicemail transcriptions sent via text and email≠.
Voicemail, Caller ID, Call Waiting, Anonymous Call Block, 3-Way-Calling and tons of other standard features."

I shall have to consider some long term/short term costs - not planning on staying here, will likely move to cell phone land at some point. And also a bit hesitant to commit to $80/month for a fancy phone without looking at everything.

 

alright, this was a useful thread, after getting clarification here and chatting with a vonage agent in a handy browser window I have established:
> The Vonage extensions requires the mobile device to have a signal which mean buying one of those mini cell towers for more money than I care to
> they have no contracts or cancellation fees and offer free shipping of the phone phone adapter, priority shipping, and activation
so probably going to ditch time warner's phone service for vonage and stick with the straight talk phone for now. 'Social networking' is the last thing I need on a phone and and $32 including tax beats whatever naaaasty bill they want to give me with a 2 year contract.

 

My work bought me one of those mini cell towers (wireless network extender) when my cell phone started getting bad reception in my home. I still get bad reception (it's probably the phone).

I use google voice on my computer for all outgoing calls. I encourage everyone from work and otherwise to call me on my google voice number. It has worked well so far.

 

Last I heard, Sprint will give you a free femtocell if you have spotty home service.

As far as VOIP, Ooma seems to have the best quality and uptime. They've only had two outages and their basic service includes unlimited calling with no monthly charge other than taxes once you purchase the equipment for an up-front cost. I suggest looking into the company, though, as there has been some inner turmoil after the death of their CEO. Clark Howard and Consumer Reports have spoken highly of them, with both rating them the best choice for VOIP.

 

This hasn't happened yet (thankfully.) Hopefully the FCC will actually do something that is in the consumers best interest and stop it.

 

FCC won't block it. Hoping the courts will.

 

I just love that AT&T is trying to tell us how it's going to create more competition and provide lower rates to its and T-Mobile's customers. Exactly how does eliminating a competitor increase competition? I think AT&T forgot to carry the 2, either that or they divided by zero again....

 

The Sherman Antitrust Act just popped into my head. Not saying it applies it here though.

 

Isn't that what the feds used to break up AT&T the last time?
AT&T is like the T1000 of dysfunction corporations.

 

typing without checking facts - I believe Ma Bell was broken up under the auspices of that act.

 

I have an Android phone and use an app called GrooVe IP (was $3, not I think it's $5), which allows you to place/receive calls for free over WiFi using a free Google Voice number. It's not too bad, but isn't better than using cell towers in an area with good reception.

 

that sounds interesting. May still consider a fancy new phone if something like that would actually work.
Will see how vonage works for now.