Yeah, just from the outset without seeing the video, this seems like an alternative to WiFi Calling. WiFi Calling is free. (WiFi basically just lets you route regular cell phone calls or text messages through the WiFi connection if there is little to no cell service where you are.) Also, if this is an ad, you need to specify #ad in the title.
Sounds cool but you should make small residential plans free, with maybe a one-time set up charge. Let us geeks play with it at home - decent method for customer acquisition. I can see how it could be abused though.
@@Anand-tu2wr that’s fair, if you want to manually enable Wi-Fi calling and everyone in your family is already connecting to your network. But if you’re in a spot where you have a bunch of guests coming over, or relatives who visit you and you don’t want to have to configure their phones, this could be helpful then too. At least that’s what I see at my house.
Absolutely love what you've built but $40 a month is incredibly steep for a residential product like this. Considering that the geeks who would tinker with this stuff at home are typically the same ones who support other organizations IT needs, I would imagine offering this service free for residential users would lead to a dramatic increase in mid-market & Enterprise adoption. Open up to channel and help them help you!
@@arcataslacker I love your take on it. I commented earlier that even at 40 bucks a month this is still 1/3 of the cost of a traditional cell phone repeater system from Wilson or any other competitors, and as a huge nerd, I deployed one of those in my house. For the markets that need it, I think it offers a tremendous value, like the cost of landline, especially considering that you’re not tied to any single Cell generation
@@WirelessNerd thanks for the response! I see what you mean on the value prop, but with Wi-Fi calling and most nerds investing heavily in waps we are talking $40 a month or $480 a year to boost the cell connection for neighbors and guests. That's $480 a year that could go into the home lab. On a good year I can get away with $1,500 of nerd spend at home without the wife raising an eyebrow. I don't think that's a unique problem to have. My challenge to you would be to try a full 3 months at $3 a month or $30 a year for residential use. That places it in the no-brainer category, and would probably get mentioned on level 1 techs or LTT. Price it so aggressively in the hobbyist space that every homelab techie turns into a word of mouth referral in the commercial space. What is your current cost to acquire a qualified commercial lead? I currently sell teleco in the mid-market space while also operating a growing MSP and would absolutely love to see this take off.
@@arcataslacker I see what you are saying, however the market this affects the most is the cellular repeater market that charges $1500 per device .. and that's for a fixed device with no projection for future tech enhancements. We think at 1/3 of the cost of that, plus it's ability use any and all Wi-Fi revisions, is a good place to start, for now. $30 a year, while absolutely appealing, doesn't cover the costs to be able to operate this service, unfortunately.
@@DuaneAlleman wi-Fi calling requires you to do the following: 1. Enable Wi-Fi calling through your service provider on your device 2. When you get near a Wi-Fi network that you wish to connect to you, open up your settings and connect to the network. 3. It’s an open Wi-Fi network with no passcode, you are attaching to an unsecured open network that places your device in danger by making your susceptible to a number of different attacks. 4. When you outside of the Wi-Fi coverage area and switch back over to the tower provided by the mobile operator, sometimes there is no session persistence in your call might drop. This alleviates all of those things. 1. Your T-Mobile device automatically recognizes that the wireless network being broadcast is supported by the carrier. 2. Your device automatically is accepted to the wireless network, using the device credentials to securely connect and receive an 802.1x certificate. 3. You don’t have to access access to settings, understand the password and key, or worry about connecting to an open unsecured network 4. When you from the Wi-Fi network to the outdoor network session, persistent remains because your device is registered with the carrier.
So it's not actually improving/repeating the signal, it's just a wifi signal with no passwords.... I'll stick to my home network so I can access my pc and servers and such via my phone to access/play media.
LEAD OFF with the fact you have to pay. "Very Simple", "Very Secure", "don't have to do this", "Dont have to do that" yada yada yada. Oh but you do have to pay $70. Totally misleading..
I have a small but public parking lot right next to my house. Would people in that parking lot automatically connect to this network? (The street that my house is on is in a bit of a ravine which results in reduced strength for cellphone signals)
Depending on if you have Wi-Fi equipmnet outside of your home and it's cranked up to where they can associate. We recommend disabling 2.4GHz to be safe, that should keep it within your walls for the most part if you're indoor only.⭐
@@Dsstaov2 this provides a way for people to seamlessly and securely connect to a carrier-approved Wi-Fi network that enables them to have a better user experience by automating the association, authentication, and communication components. You don’t have to supply either free open Wi-Fi or some long password, it is automatic and secure for on-boarding.
Interesting, I can see the benefits of using this type of set up. But you are basically setting up a Small Cell site without the cell phone carries having to pay for a small cell site being installed in or near your location and you have to use your internet data to provide the service. A good case in point. I have a bowling alley I go to and cell service inside the metal building as expected is horrible. Their internet isn't much better LOL even after logging in its bad. Being able to walk in and my cell staying connected would be great. Having to enter email address and click boxes if you want on or off their mailing list and agreeing to use their open network at your own risk is not great. So I guess it depends on how nice the business wants to be to their employees and or customers as well as how much info they want to try and get from their customers.
Dang. I thought this was somehow going to use some feature in the Unifi U7 APs to broadcast an actual cell signal or something like an Extender. Since it is instead broadcasting a special wifi SSID that is pretty useless in any residential setting like I was hoping to use it for.
@@LordSaliss wouldn’t that be cool? Maybe someday we’ll get to the point where there’s multiple radios like that in a single device. It’s not useless in a whole bunch of residential settings - cell edge, no coverage, rural areas, etc - but might not be for you.
@@who2u333 the ability for clients to seamlessly and securely auto connect without having to fumble around with passwords or keys, keeping the user and their data protected and secured, while offering the ease of use as a transition to and from the mobile tower network without missing a beat is one. But in areas like the one I live in, where I’m at the edge of a cell and so are many businesses, this provides, the basic functionality of letting AT&T and T-Mobile users have a usable service inside .. and that’s great for homes, businesses, schools, hospitals, anywhere that people gather.
I get more attacks through cell carrier than I do a residential provider. the only security is through a private network that is firewalled and hardend . The only security your dealing with is the handshake at the toll booth to get onto the highway as an already paiding consumer don't confuse yourself here.
so i can pay more to use my cell that i already pay for should be the other way around they should be paying you for offering your hardware to do this for them
Yes 45 a month is steep! Set yourself up on Helium Mobile hot spot and only have to pay the month SAS fee of 15.00 and then any mobile carrier that offloads to your hotspot then has to pay YOU for the data transfer that your hotspot provided over your network. "Same principle but you get paid as the cell tower provider" Its a simple setup Plug and play with a low monthly fee to uncle sam for the airwaves permit SAS fee. Mobile providers love this because they don't have to deploy millions of dollars to install a tower in fringe areas where they will never get a ROI and aids them in keeping customers.
Maybe lead with that this is a paid service that is $70 a month and that many of us will type a password a few times for that price.
@@audguy residential starts at $40/month
I was excited until I heard you shill for them and mention the price.
@@WirelessNerd I don't see it on their website, and it needs to be in the range of 40 a year.
@@audguy not listed yet. Waiting for it to be updated :)
Yeah, just from the outset without seeing the video, this seems like an alternative to WiFi Calling. WiFi Calling is free.
(WiFi basically just lets you route regular cell phone calls or text messages through the WiFi connection if there is little to no cell service where you are.)
Also, if this is an ad, you need to specify #ad in the title.
Sounds cool but you should make small residential plans free, with maybe a one-time set up charge.
Let us geeks play with it at home - decent method for customer acquisition.
I can see how it could be abused though.
@@PeterLisanti residential starts at $40/month. Let me know if you wanna try it out for a few days!
@@WirelessNerd $40/month is insane for those that just want to play with it in a homelab environment 😂 wifi calling works just fine for free
$5 month I'll be in
Wifi calling just works....and i only care about my family phones. This might be useful in a coffee shop
@@Anand-tu2wr that’s fair, if you want to manually enable Wi-Fi calling and everyone in your family is already connecting to your network. But if you’re in a spot where you have a bunch of guests coming over, or relatives who visit you and you don’t want to have to configure their phones, this could be helpful then too. At least that’s what I see at my house.
Absolutely love what you've built but $40 a month is incredibly steep for a residential product like this.
Considering that the geeks who would tinker with this stuff at home are typically the same ones who support other organizations IT needs, I would imagine offering this service free for residential users would lead to a dramatic increase in mid-market & Enterprise adoption.
Open up to channel and help them help you!
@@arcataslacker I love your take on it. I commented earlier that even at 40 bucks a month this is still 1/3 of the cost of a traditional cell phone repeater system from Wilson or any other competitors, and as a huge nerd, I deployed one of those in my house. For the markets that need it, I think it offers a tremendous value, like the cost of landline, especially considering that you’re not tied to any single Cell generation
@@WirelessNerd thanks for the response! I see what you mean on the value prop, but with Wi-Fi calling and most nerds investing heavily in waps we are talking $40 a month or $480 a year to boost the cell connection for neighbors and guests. That's $480 a year that could go into the home lab. On a good year I can get away with $1,500 of nerd spend at home without the wife raising an eyebrow. I don't think that's a unique problem to have.
My challenge to you would be to try a full 3 months at $3 a month or $30 a year for residential use. That places it in the no-brainer category, and would probably get mentioned on level 1 techs or LTT.
Price it so aggressively in the hobbyist space that every homelab techie turns into a word of mouth referral in the commercial space. What is your current cost to acquire a qualified commercial lead?
I currently sell teleco in the mid-market space while also operating a growing MSP and would absolutely love to see this take off.
@@arcataslacker I see what you are saying, however the market this affects the most is the cellular repeater market that charges $1500 per device .. and that's for a fixed device with no projection for future tech enhancements. We think at 1/3 of the cost of that, plus it's ability use any and all Wi-Fi revisions, is a good place to start, for now. $30 a year, while absolutely appealing, doesn't cover the costs to be able to operate this service, unfortunately.
How is this different from WiFi calling on the phones (TMobile)?
@@DuaneAlleman wi-Fi calling requires you to do the following:
1. Enable Wi-Fi calling through your service provider on your device
2. When you get near a Wi-Fi network that you wish to connect to you, open up your settings and connect to the network.
3. It’s an open Wi-Fi network with no passcode, you are attaching to an unsecured open network that places your device in danger by making your susceptible to a number of different attacks.
4. When you outside of the Wi-Fi coverage area and switch back over to the tower provided by the mobile operator, sometimes there is no session persistence in your call might drop.
This alleviates all of those things.
1. Your T-Mobile device automatically recognizes that the wireless network being broadcast is supported by the carrier.
2. Your device automatically is accepted to the wireless network, using the device credentials to securely connect and receive an 802.1x certificate.
3. You don’t have to access access to settings, understand the password and key, or worry about connecting to an open unsecured network
4. When you from the Wi-Fi network to the outdoor network session, persistent remains because your device is registered with the carrier.
$40 a month so a guest to my house doesn't have to type in a wifi password (once)? What am I missing here?
So it's not actually improving/repeating the signal, it's just a wifi signal with no passwords.... I'll stick to my home network so I can access my pc and servers and such via my phone to access/play media.
@@AceBoy2099 for you that’s perfect. For guests, this offers a great way for them to auto connect securely.
LEAD OFF with the fact you have to pay. "Very Simple", "Very Secure", "don't have to do this", "Dont have to do that" yada yada yada. Oh but you do have to pay $70. Totally misleading..
Thanks for the video! Does this also support SMS and MMS messaging?
Yes it does!
I have a small but public parking lot right next to my house. Would people in that parking lot automatically connect to this network?
(The street that my house is on is in a bit of a ravine which results in reduced strength for cellphone signals)
Depending on if you have Wi-Fi equipmnet outside of your home and it's cranked up to where they can associate. We recommend disabling 2.4GHz to be safe, that should keep it within your walls for the most part if you're indoor only.⭐
Not sure I understand the need and was hoping for clarification. Don’t cell providers already support service over regular WiFi today?
@@Dsstaov2 this provides a way for people to seamlessly and securely connect to a carrier-approved Wi-Fi network that enables them to have a better user experience by automating the association, authentication, and communication components. You don’t have to supply either free open Wi-Fi or some long password, it is automatic and secure for on-boarding.
would this also support if the there is no cell phone signal, and the user needs to send SMS?
Yes.
We have a problem with Verizon on our campus so hopefully in 2025. Does SignalRoam have educational discounts for a community college?
Not something that is fixed, it's pretty inexpensive compared to other solutions .. drop me a contact on signalroam.com and I'll work with ya!
Great info. Thanks. Question, if we have a good firewall already in place, would PassPoint work if we install a Cloud Key instead a UniFi gateway?
Passpoint is a mechanism of the Wi-Fi for association to the AP and doesn't involve the firewall or Cloud Key, except for configuration of the network
Interesting, I can see the benefits of using this type of set up. But you are basically setting up a Small Cell site without the cell phone carries having to pay for a small cell site being installed in or near your location and you have to use your internet data to provide the service. A good case in point. I have a bowling alley I go to and cell service inside the metal building as expected is horrible. Their internet isn't much better LOL even after logging in its bad. Being able to walk in and my cell staying connected would be great. Having to enter email address and click boxes if you want on or off their mailing list and agreeing to use their open network at your own risk is not great.
So I guess it depends on how nice the business wants to be to their employees and or customers as well as how much info they want to try and get from their customers.
Would this work in the UK
EE / THREE or VODA
@@VibinEssentials it would if the contracts with the operators were in place. They currently are not.
Dang. I thought this was somehow going to use some feature in the Unifi U7 APs to broadcast an actual cell signal or something like an Extender. Since it is instead broadcasting a special wifi SSID that is pretty useless in any residential setting like I was hoping to use it for.
@@LordSaliss wouldn’t that be cool? Maybe someday we’ll get to the point where there’s multiple radios like that in a single device. It’s not useless in a whole bunch of residential settings - cell edge, no coverage, rural areas, etc - but might not be for you.
What value does this add relative to connecting to the WiFi. Is it just the auto-connect feature?
@@who2u333 the ability for clients to seamlessly and securely auto connect without having to fumble around with passwords or keys, keeping the user and their data protected and secured, while offering the ease of use as a transition to and from the mobile tower network without missing a beat is one. But in areas like the one I live in, where I’m at the edge of a cell and so are many businesses, this provides, the basic functionality of letting AT&T and T-Mobile users have a usable service inside .. and that’s great for homes, businesses, schools, hospitals, anywhere that people gather.
Nothing is "absolutely" secure.
@@VenomKen using WPA2 with 802.1X the communications between the device and the AP is secured vs an open SSID with no encryption on traffic.
I get more attacks through cell carrier than I do a residential provider. the only security is through a private network that is firewalled and hardend .
The only security your dealing with is the handshake at the toll booth to get onto the highway as an already paiding consumer don't confuse yourself here.
so i can pay more to use my cell that i already pay for should be the other way around they should be paying you for offering your hardware to do this for them
If your coverage is poor at your home or office, this offers a solution that economically better than anything else on the market.
Wow😮 that is incredible
Right?!?! You should see it work!
hmm PassPoint technology with unifi using things like SignalRoam
Yes 45 a month is steep!
Set yourself up on Helium Mobile hot spot and only have to pay the month SAS fee of 15.00 and then any mobile carrier that offloads to your hotspot then has to pay YOU for the data transfer that your hotspot provided over your network. "Same principle but you get paid as the cell tower provider" Its a simple setup Plug and play with a low monthly fee to uncle sam for the airwaves permit SAS fee. Mobile providers love this because they don't have to deploy millions of dollars to install a tower in fringe areas where they will never get a ROI and aids them in keeping customers.
If I have a wifi, what is the point ? Why should I use this useless thing when other service providers are paying me for the same thing?