Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)T-Mobile sent this unit to me for use with their "AtHome" service. Setup is pretty straightforward, plug in your SIM card, notify T-Mobile so they can activate it (arrange for 911 location service), plug in your RJ-11 phone and you're in business.
You get a nice landline phone with a dial-tone, clear connection, rj-11 plug for any standard kind of phone, 911 service, etc. However, there are two BIG problems.
The first is that the RJ-11 interface is a very low power one. In other words, it will only power one phone at the most -and even that phone must use very little landline power or it will cause problems where you suddenly find yourself without service. Originally I tried connecting two phones to the unit with a splitter. The ring voltage on the Linksys is not enough to power two ringing phones. As a result, if a call comes in the phones will not ring properly and cause a power loss that messes up the router, dropping it's connection to the internet and disabling your phone service until you give it a restart. Even if you have only one phone, it better not have a loud ringer or a lighted keypad or you'll have similar problems. I ended up having to shell out an extra $300 for a ring & line voltage booster (from Viking). I now have 4 phones connected without issue.
The other problem is Wifi range. My original router was a Netgear which I was very happy with. In order to use the AtHome service I have to replace my old router & Wifi with this Linksys. The Netgear used to give me 4 full bars all over my house where with the Linksys, I can only get two bars if I'm anything over 20 feet away from it. I tried connecting a better antenna which only slightly helped. Wifi output power is simply too low (and unlike other Wifi devices, the Linksys doesn't offer configuration settings to increase or decrease transmit power).
Cisco/Linksys would have saved a lot of people a lot of aggravation if they only designed the thing with a little more power from the get go.
T-Mobile's At Home service is a decent value until you add in all the time, effort and additional equipment needed to make it work properly. They require a two year commitment and I have to say at this point I'm sorry I ever signed up for it.
Click Here to see more reviews about: T-Mobile Linksys RJ-11 Router - Wireless router - 4-port switch - 802.11b/g - VoIP phone adapter - desktop - T-Mobile
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