T-Mobile is sending me their 4G LTE CellSpot because I have a bad signal at my home and get dropped calls. My question is, since the CellSpot uses the internet to make calls, how is this any different than activating the setting on my iPhone 7 for Wifi Calling?
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iPhone 7 Plus Wifi Calling
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The 4G LTE Cellspot takes a tower signal and amplifies it, it doesn't use your internet like the Cellspot router (rebadged Asus ac66u with QoS optimizations for VoIP) or the Sprint Airave. I have a T-Mobile LTE Cellspot myself, though I no longer need it.
However the communications between the receiver and distribution units uses 5Ghz band for inter communication, which can on occcasion cause interference on the 5Ghz WiFi band.
However the communications between the receiver and distribution units uses 5Ghz band for inter communication, which can on occcasion cause interference on the 5Ghz WiFi band.
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There's really no reason NOT to turn on Wifi calling. You should have that on, OP.
I disable WiFi calling because it causes a slightly increased battery drain. On my Xperia Z3 cellular would automatically shut off if WiFi calling was active which saved battery unfortunately the iPhone doesn't do that by itself, probably to prevent call drops when moving out of WiFi range.
For me, there have been plenty of reasons. Having WiFi Calling enabled has caused many call drops to happen around my house because if I'm in my driveway, Garage, backyard, I am on the edge of my WiFi and my iPhone 7 Plus tries to route the call over WiFi and the call should go thru cell instead. I just keep it off because of that
Then you have the Cellspot router maybe or something like the Sprint Airave. The 4G LTE unit T-Mobile gave me doesn't require the internet. Ask T-Mobile to give you that instead and return whatever they gave you. I had a Sprint Airave which needed internet and distributed an LTE signal and it sucked.
Never mind I see what you have on TMO site, my mistake. I have the LTE booster. You should get that if you have at least 1 bar.
I normally only have 1 bar in my house. Why do you have an LTE Booster? I ask because it's my understanding the CellSpot provides a better signal.
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At the time my Xperia Z3 was the only phone that supported "long range" Band 12, rest of my family had an iPhone and two other Androids that didn't support band 12 and would have 2 bars or below signal with occasional call drops so I called TMO and they sent me a booster. I told them I didn't want the Cellspot router which would be a waste as I could turn on WiFi calling without it but ISP was as bit unstable. Also I had a terrible time with Sprint's Airave which is pretty much like your LTE Cell spot, and is useless if your internet is very slow on occasion or goes down, therefore the TMO LTE Booster in my case was the best option, they give you an option if you have preference between the router, cell spot and booster.
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I love WiFi calling. Calls connect and sound perfect no matter what part of the house and no matter if carrier signal is good or not.
I would prefer to use WiFi calling instead of a carrier signal booster device.
I would prefer to use WiFi calling instead of a carrier signal booster device.
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Why not upgrade your wifi network to give you better coverage over the property? Wifi calling is the best thing ever. Adding a cell booster only helps your cell phone, upgrade your wifi network and benefit all your devices.
As I said earlier nothing to do with WiFi coverage (I get a new high end router every months as a Beta tester 
) its the ISP instability on occasion with the rare disconnect. Plus with 40/2 speeds (36/1.8 effective) when the upload is saturated it's not a fun thing, though I suppose you could setup QoS, but why bother, when you can have a cell booster.
I also found that the iPhone eats more battery not by much but still with WiFi calling. The Xperia and Galaxy would disable cellular to save battery automatically with WiFi calling, but transition from WiFi to cellular wasn't great and calls drop when leaving WiFi range, regardless of phone model. Right outside my home I could get a decent cellular signal. At the moment our phones support band 12 well except the iPhone 6 but TMO also improved the network in terms of the other bands so no more indoor issues.
) its the ISP instability on occasion with the rare disconnect. Plus with 40/2 speeds (36/1.8 effective) when the upload is saturated it's not a fun thing, though I suppose you could setup QoS, but why bother, when you can have a cell booster.I also found that the iPhone eats more battery not by much but still with WiFi calling. The Xperia and Galaxy would disable cellular to save battery automatically with WiFi calling, but transition from WiFi to cellular wasn't great and calls drop when leaving WiFi range, regardless of phone model. Right outside my home I could get a decent cellular signal. At the moment our phones support band 12 well except the iPhone 6 but TMO also improved the network in terms of the other bands so no more indoor issues.
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Not really true. I had quite a few issues with wifi calling in quality and reliability, so I disabled it.
My VZW signal is strong (even in interior basement bathrooms), but when I would make wifi-enabled calls walking away from my router or out in the yard of my home, those I was speaking to frequently had trouble hearing me and me them.
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I been using WiFi calling at home for years with various iPhone models and now the iPhone 7 plus.
I notice no additional battery loss with WiFi calling enabled.
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If you have a a good and strong wifi connection with decent speeds then there is no reason to turn it off. Obviously if you walk far away from your router and go out in the yard you will have connection issues.
Also If you're connecting to an iffy open WiFi that is slow, over crowded or down then you will have reliability issues.
I definitely don't disagree with that. The user I quoted though said there was no reason not to, which, based on my experience at work and home, I definitely disagreed with.
I just found a really bad thing about using a 4G LTE CellSpot. Anyone on a T-Mobile phone could end up using my internet for calls, if they are close enough to my CellSpot's coverage area. There is no way to prevent this. I find it insane that this device wouldn't have some sort of password encryption.
The other bad thing is that I would in essence, be paying T-Mobile for calls that I'm placing over an internet connection that I'm paying my cable company for. An even though it's unlimited calls with T-Mobile, it just doesn't seem right that I have to pay them anything, when they're using my internet.
The other bad thing is that I would in essence, be paying T-Mobile for calls that I'm placing over an internet connection that I'm paying my cable company for. An even though it's unlimited calls with T-Mobile, it just doesn't seem right that I have to pay them anything, when they're using my internet.
There must be an option somewhere to allow only certain numbers, I remember the Sprint Airave had that option. Calls don't use very much data it's like 90-150 Kbps I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, but if someone used it for data (abused it) then yeah you may have an issue with your internet bandwidth/caps.
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Well unlike the Cellspot that you have there's no reason for the LTE Booster to have that option (it doesn't have it) as it's just an amplifier effectively so no one would be using your internet so why block.
The Sprint Airave (When I was with Sprint) however that I mentioned is basically like your Cellspot that's why it had the blocking option so as to prevent your internet from being overburdened.
EDIT: Lol seems like you are right unlike other carriers cell spot equivalents TMO has no blocking function.
https://arstechnica.com/business/20...nder-lets-anyone-use-your-internet-bandwidth/
Suppose you should ask them to give you the booster, transition between it to the cell towers is better than WiFi to Cellular (if WiFi calling). WiFi calling seems to be fine for many others so you could also just stick to that.
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