Comments on: Updated: Verizon Hub is Not a Femtocell

By: Femtocell market update for week of 9 Feb 2009 « 3G In The Home

Femtocell market update for week of 9 Feb 2009 « 3G In The Home — Sun, 17 May 2009 12:49:50 +0000

[...] Recent reports that the Verizon Hub contains a femtocell prove to be unfounded. [...]

By: jkmwiest

jkmwiest — Wed, 13 May 2009 16:39:01 +0000

What, you don’t like the phone? (btw, cost is $149 at Verizon Wireless centers)

By: Monday Evening Links - | remove the labels | Gadgets and Life

Monday Evening Links - | remove the labels | Gadgets and Life — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:44:36 +0000

[...] Techdirt.com Independent Cable Holds the Answer to Broadband Divide Santa Barbara News-Press Verizon Hub Is Not A Femtocell GigaOm.com EU Presses Ahead With .5 Billion Plan For Broadband And Energy Projects To Battle [...]

By: Stacey Higginbotham

Stacey Higginbotham — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 20:57:10 +0000

OMReader, the intent isn’t to insult the reader, but rather provide transparency. I screwed up, and when we screw up, we use a strikethru to make clear exactly what we got wrong — and leave in what we got right. I hope some people still find the information such as the Hub’s available memory and inability to connect to an 802.11n network useful — despite the initial premise of the post being wrong.

By: OMReader

OMReader — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 14:42:59 +0000

Seems like this correction on a product should have warranted more than a redline? I think it’s insulting to GigaOm to reissue a product evalution by simply erasing major faulty assumptions in the initial evaluation. And, kind of insulting to the reader to be told this remnant is still worth reading.

By: Calema Perosa

Calema Perosa — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 23:54:41 +0000

Hi, I tried the Verizon hub in a store today. It was actually a good experience. Femtocell notwithstanding, I was able to search for local movies, view trailers, send directions to my cellphone and use the phone (great speakerphone quality) as well as the advanced features.

Being a busy mom, this phone is useful as it centralizes all my activity on my kitchen counter. I was also told (but have not tried) the online web portal for the service. So maybe I could be at work, and leave a post it note on the phone saying I’ll be delayed or dinner is in the fridge. Now that’s convergence!

To summarize, I think there is some untapped value here. It runs laps around my chumby for sure. I dont know if it has news headlines or customizable widgets. It would be cool if it supported a standard widget framework like Widgetbox(??).

Very bold of Verizon to innovate in this tough times. And Stacey, no worries about the snafu about the femto vs. non femto, this is a blog after all, not a *fine* manual :)

By: greg

greg — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 20:46:24 +0000

mistakes like this make your reporting below par….my recommendation to you is that if you want to be a good blogger then read the facts and try out the product before you write your opinion on it. As we say in the technical community RTFM

By: Stacey Higginbotham

Stacey Higginbotham — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:22:56 +0000

Okay, guys, I screwed up in a massive way here. Updating the post, which will go live shortly. Sorry for the confusion.

By: Flimflamaroo

Flimflamaroo — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:04:11 +0000

One slight, well major, error with that story- as far as I can tell the Hub is quite separate from the ‘Network Extender’ femtocell they launched around the same time a couple of weeks back…

The product release for the Hub make no mention of a CDMA chip, bluetooth or 802.11 anything -its a jazzed up fixed VoIP handset with a limited internet browser. Integration with Verizon services and wireless handsets occurs through wide area network (WAN) not the LAN e.g. by sending an MMS or logging onto shared web services. It does however seem to require a wireless router to operate.. not sure how that fits in.

The hub and the extender should have been integrated into one product (which might have some shot at creating that seamless connectivity thing and building a market) but unless you know otherwise they weren’t, go figure..

Anyone figure out why its VZW rather than VZ offerring it? my only thought is that the wireless side has a larger operational footprint and it can cream off some of AT&T’s fixed line telco clients as well as Verizon Comm’s.

By: David R.

David R. — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:02:15 +0000

The Verizon Hub is in no way, shape or form a femtocell. A femtocell is a small cellular base station that broadcasts using a CDMA or GSM signal. The Verizon Hub uses Wi-Fi, making it more akin to the T-Mobile HotSpot@Home. The benefits of a femtocell consist almost entirely of better indoors cell phone coverage. The Verizon Hub does nothing to boost cell phone coverage.

By: Karl

Karl — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 17:00:26 +0000

I didn’t think the Hub included a femtocell? I thought their “Network Extender” was their femtocell device, and a separate unit?

By: eatswedishfish

eatswedishfish — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:34:13 +0000

I’m sure the wireless carrier’s legal teams are all set to sue the broadband carrier if their femtocell traffic is being disrupted. Look at the heat the cablecos (Comcast, Cox) are receiving due to their bandwidth management practices. This is the new broadband stimulus package! :)

By: VZHubber

VZHubber — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:30:54 +0000

The Verizon hub is not a femtocell. It has no CDMA. It is DECT 6 and 802.11g only.

By: Andy Freeman

Andy Freeman — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:25:12 +0000

Are any of these femtocells for folks who get their broadband from one carrier and their cell service from a different carrier?

I ask because I’d be surprised if AT&T DSL (for example) provided decent bandwidth for a Verizon femtocell without some money changing hands.

Yes, the broadband provider can figure out that it’s being used for a competitor’s femtocell; it just looks for traffic going to/from the relevant IPs.

By: Tom R

Tom R — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 16:07:32 +0000

You would think the wireless carriers would not be charging customers a monthly fee, seeing that this moves some of their wireless traffic off their cell towers and improves their customer’s experience! It is fine to charge for DSL or other value added services (if provided), but to add a monthly service fee when you are already being charged for mobile services, just doesn’t sound like a solid business plan.