FREE Cellular with Vonage UTStarcom Portable WI-FI Handset

Posts: 2251 · Last edited by dconnor on Fri May 20, 2005 8:10 pm; edited 2 times in total

I have been thinking more and more about the Vonage UTStarcom Portable WI-FI Handset. I have not read the technical specs on the unit, but I am thinking..., if only it could hop networks much like cellular does.

Story: Today I dropped off my laptop at the local PC repair shop for a 1/2 gig memory upgrade. On the way home I defraged, because this is the only time I have to do such a thing as I am always working the little mate. The entire way home my integrated wireless kept connecting to "open" networks and pulling down emails. I even viewed this site at a stop light.

Now I am not sure why I was connected the whole way home. I know my wireless network is secure. Do some people just leave the backdoor wide open? Not me. But people do, either willingly or by ignorance.

So I am thinking, could Vonage become (or already is) a cellular service on a free frequency? hmm. Smile

UTStarcom Unveils Its First Portable WI-FI Handset

New SIP-Enabled Handset Features Unparalleled Talk and Standby Time When Compared with Competitive Wi-Fi Phones

ALAMEDA, Calif., Jan. 4, 2005 - UTStarcom, Inc. (Nasdaq: UTSI), a global leader in IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions and services, today announced the debut of its F1000 portable Wi-Fi handset for the U.S. market.

(For more information on the F1000 Wi-Fi handset, please visit http://www.utstar.com/Solutions/Handsets/WiFi_Handsets/)

In addition, the company also announced today a partnership with Vonage to provide the handset to Vonage customers nationwide beginning in the Spring/Summer 2005.

(For more information on the UTStarcom/Vonage partnership, see the joint announcement Vonage and UTStarcom Partner to Introduce Wi-Fi Portable Handset, also released today.)

UTStarcom's F1000 Wi-Fi handset untethers consumers from their traditional phone lines, allowing them to make calls from anywhere there is a Wi-Fi hot spot's at home, at work, around the town; in airports, coffee shops, and hotels; and even internationally. The F1000 handset, which has received U.S. regulatory approval, provides all the features and functionality of a Voip terminal adapter together with a standard cordless telephone, but has the advantage of letting the user talk from any available Wi-Fi access point instead of just the base that they have at home. The F1000 features a sleek form factor similar to today¡¦s cellular phones, has increased talk and standby times, and is priced significantly lower compared to other models on the market today.

UTStarcom believes that the features and price point of the F1000 Wi-Fi portable handset will be disruptive in the local telephone service market,¨ said Howard Frisch, product manager, UTStarcom.

Consumers with Wi-Fi access in their home can replace their traditional home phone with the F1000 and start reaping the benefits of wireless Voip phone service right away. Voip service providers that have seen the F1000 have been interested in its capabilities and impressed by its competitive pricing. Now they can offer mobile Voip services with a handset that supports the features they need, at a consumer-based price point.¨

Unique power management features, combined with an energy efficient design, give the F1000 handset a standby time of up to 80 hours while typical Wi-Fi phones have a standby time of about 8 hours.

At three to four hours, talk time is 6 to 8 times longer than the 30-minute talk time of other Wi-Fi phones. And when the battery runs low, the F1000 recharges in only 2 to 3 hours.

The F1000 Wi-Fi portable handset supports a wide variety of Voip features and functions, based on the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP). Service providers can offer high-value call features, such as three-way calling, call waiting, and call transfer, and more, based on the capabilities of their call servers. The F1000 also enables voice processes, including comfort noise generation, voice activity detection, and echo cancellation, as well as IP protocol features such as Real-Time Transfer Protocol (RTP), Session Description Protocol, Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP), and Point-to-Point over Ethernet (PPPoE) authentication.

Vonage First to Introduce New Handset

UTStarcom will offer the F1000 through service providers and operators, similar to the way cell phones are offered. Vonage, North America's leading broadband telephony company, will be the first company to offer the new phone as part of their home broadband communications service during 2005.

UTStarcom and Vonage collaborated closely on the development of this handset to incorporate advanced feature sets and applications that Vonage customers desire.

UTStarcom's F1000 Wi-Fi handset offers Vonage subscribers the ability to take advantage of the cost-effectiveness of broadband telephony service, without having to be tethered to a traditional home phone line or modem," said Jeffrey Citron, chairman and chief executive officer for Vonage Holdings Corp. The consumer-friendly look and feel to UTStarcom's F1000, when compared with other competing Wi-Fi handsets, coupled with its advanced feature set and competitive pricing, made it the obvious choice for introduction to our subscribers.

Until now, Wi-Fi phones have been considered to be capital equipment that enterprises purchased with a PBX or LAN, said Frisch. The F1000 is priced and sold as a consumer product. People can buy one, use it like they use a cell phone, and replace it when a more advanced phone comes on the market.

UTStarcom expects that the major markets for the F1000 Wi-Fi portable handset will be North and South America, where many consumers already have Wi-Fi capability bundled into their home computers and can use the handset without having to purchase more equipment.

F1000 Leverages UTStarcom's PAS Expertise

UTStarcom has built on its experience with its Personal Access System (PAS„·) solution in China, which was also a disruptive technology, to create a new market segment with the F1000 handset. PAS wireless access network solutions enable network migration from wireline to wireless so service providers can offer consumers mobile wireless voice and data services within a city or community. As of November 2004, the company had more than 36 million PAS subscribers in China alone. The F1000 is designed to leverage UTStarcom's low cost design and manufacturing skills from PAS handsets as well as some power management features originally developed for UTStarcom's PAS handsets to help achieve its long battery life.

In addition, the F1000 benefits from UTStarcom's experience in building Wi-Fi Customer Premises Equipment (CPE) and Wi-Fi access points. The company was also able to leverage its extensive experience in high-volume handset manufacturing to achieve a price breakthrough for the F1000.

Pricing and Availability

The F1000 Wi-Fi handset will be available for shipping in the first quarter of 2005. For further information on pricing and availability, contact your regional UTStarcom office.

About UTStarcom, Inc.

UTStarcom is a global leader in IP-based, end-to-end networking solutions and international service and support. The company sells its wireline, wireless, optical and switching solutions to operators in both fast growth and established telecommunications markets around the world. UTStarcom enables its customers to rapidly deploy revenue-generating access services using their existing infrastructure, while providing a migration path to cost-efficient end-to-end IP networks. Founded in 1991 and headquartered in Alameda, California, the company has research and design operations in New Jersey, China, and India. UTStarcom is a FORTUNE 1000 company.

For more information about UTStarcom, visit the company's Web site at www.utstar.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

The foregoing statements regarding, without limitation, those regarding the anticipated availability of UTStarcom Wi-Fi mobile handsets configured with Vonage's Voip phone service in Spring/Summer 2005, ability of F1000 handsets to allow calls from anywhere there is a Wi-Fi hot spot, prices at which F1000 handsets will be sold and the relation of such prices to existing market, disruptiveness of the F1000 handset to local telephone service markets, ability of Voip service providers to offer consumer handsets with full functionality and at a consumer-based price point and the expected popularity of the F1000 handset in the North and South American Markets are forward-looking in nature and are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially. These factors include rapidly changing technology, the changing nature of the telecommunications market in general and the Wi-Fi and handset markets in particular, the possibility of slower than expected growth in the telecommunications market, evolving product and application standards, changes or delays in product introductions and deployments (including, but not limited to, the introduction of Wi-Fi mobile handsets configured with Vonage's Voip phone services), the termination or material amendment of significant contracts, partnerships or alliances, including those with Vonage, and other uncertainties, such as changes in government regulation and licensing requirements in relevant markets. UTStarcom also refers readers to the risk factors identified in its Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Related topic

Posts: 448

dconnor wrote:

Now I am not sure why I was connected the whole way home. I know my wireless network is secure. Do some people just leave the backdoor wide open?

Unfortunately, yes. Most people don't have a clue. They'll install personal firewalls, antivirus, popup blockers, spyware cleaners, etc., and think they're safe as kittens-- yet, they will plug in a wireless access point without a hint of security and inadvertently give everyone within range unrestricted access to the back side of their network.

Recently spammers have begun exploiting that, driving neighborhood to neighborhood dumping spam via open WiFi access points, and letting Grandma take the heat from the broadband company.

dconnor wrote:

So I am thinking, could Vonage become (or already is) a cellular service on a free frequency? hmm. Smile

Once the issue of constantly changing source IP addresses is solved, making hand-off from IP hot-spot to IP hot-spot smooth and transparent as it is on today's cellular networks, my guess would be Yes, it will eventually happen.

Posts: 34 · Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 9:31 am Post subject:

/agree with Rebus Smile

When I was troubleshooting my line for latency / interference issues, I disabled my WiFi (thinking maybe frequency between WiFi and Cordless and Motorola perhaps contributed to call quality)...

Anyways, with having my WiFi disabled for days, I was STILL able to have WiFi access on my laptops courtesy of several neighbors... WinXP found several unsecured networks that allowed me to VPN to the office, surf ect.

Craziness!

Posts: 448 · Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 11:21 am Post subject:

chrisp wrote:

Anyways, with having my WiFi disabled for days, I was STILL able to have WiFi access on my laptops courtesy of several neighbors... WinXP found several unsecured networks that allowed me to VPN to the office, surf ect.

A few months ago I was at someone's house and, since I'm a tech guy by trade, they picked my brain as to why their DSL was "soooo slow". I logged into their wireless router's admin area (they hadn't even changed the default password) and found several unknown machines which had associated to the access point and were issued IP addresses via DHCP. Pinging each address showed each of the devices was still active. Obviously some neighbors were sponging off their connection.

I did the usual basic security steps... strong WEP key, MAC filtering, changed the SSID and disabled broadcasts, after which their DSL started running like a raped ape again.

In the "Sad but Funny" department, I once took a support call from a guy who lost his ability to use the internet. Long story short, he bought a WiFi router, plugged it in and used it without changing any of the defaults. Someone eventually discovered it, hijacked it, locked him out, and judging by the amount of upstream traffic coming from his VC to our (ISP's) router interface, they were probably using it as a warez or P2P server.

He learned his lesson the hard way....

Posts: 41 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jan 19, 2005 Posts: 41

Funny story, I was out of town on business for a week, staying in a condo in Colorado. They had high speed in the condo, but no wireless. I went to Staples and bought a 54g router, and plugged it in and was wireless. I came home from work the next day and noticed a guy sitting in the parking lot with his laptop on. When I got upstairs I wanted to see if he was on my network, so I went to log in to the Linksys, and the password was changed! I didn't bother to setup any WEP or even change the default password, so I had to do a hard reset on the thing and then I changed the PW right away...

Doh!

Posts: 70 · Full Forum Member Joined: Jun 17, 2004 Posts: 70

A neighbor of mine called the other night. They just bought a Media Center PC & a Linksys MC Extender that connects via 802.11G. So I setup the router/access point, changed the password, & enabled WEP. Everything went fine so I looked for the network from a laptop (SSID broadcast still enabled) & found ours plus 3 other networks. The networks belong to a wireless broadband co. who sells in the area. But you can't authenticate to their network since they don't allow your MAC address till you subscribe.

So I assume that these WiFi phones are not going to work on networks like this...... subscriber only type networks, whether they be a utility, an airport, a Kinkos, or any place that locks their network down for subscribers only. True?

Posts: 448 · Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 9:51 pm Post subject:

AirJunky wrote:

So I assume that these WiFi phones are not going to work on networks like this...... subscriber only type networks, whether they be a utility, an airport, a Kinkos, or any place that locks their network down for subscribers only. True?

True.

Posts: 448 · Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 10:00 pm Post subject:

murphyrulez wrote:

I came home from work the next day and noticed a guy sitting in the parking lot with his laptop on. When I got upstairs I wanted to see if he was on my network, so I went to log in to the Linksys, and the password was changed! I didn't bother to setup any WEP or even change the default password, so I had to do a hard reset on the thing and then I changed the PW right away...

I'd be concerned not only with what someone did to your router, but what they may have done to the rest of your network. If someone can associate with your wireless access point, they are entering your LAN on the back side of any perimeter security. It's the same as if they walked through your door and plugged their machine directly into your switch. Most home users have Windows file sharing enabled by default, so if nothing else, they could use that easily exploitable hole as a vector of attack to install malware/trojans, or take whatever personal information/files they wanted.

Posts: 98 · Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 10:59 pm Post subject:

All of this is exactly why I've stayed away from wireless networking in my house!

As for Vonage's Wi-Fi phone, I couldn't care less about that. I'd rather they worked on things such as Do Not Disturb and Anonymous Call Rejection as well as faster implementation of E911

Posts: 448 · Posted: Sat Jan 22, 2005 11:26 am Post subject:

Medic63 wrote:

All of this is exactly why I've stayed away from wireless networking in my house!

WiFe can be made reasonably secure for household or SMB use. I'm a senior-level network admin at an ISP and it's my job to be paranoid about security, but I admit to having one of those infernal wireless access points in my house for my laptop. There are those who will (correctly) argue that even the strongest WEP can be cracked, MAC addresses can be spoofed, etc., if someone is hell-bent on getting in. So I compromise by powering up the access point only when I need it, and unplugging it when I'm done. Convenience of wireless meets the security of an unplugged device. Worker

Medic63 wrote:

As for Vonage's Wi-Fi phone, I couldn't care less about that.

Yeah, me either. I don't even have a cell phone. (I can hear the collective gasps.) I had one from 1991-1998 until I made the conscious decision to liberate myself from the expense. Just about anywhere I am (except in my car) has a phone available, payphone or otherwise, and I decided there were much better uses for that $40-50 a month just for the sake of making a phone call. In the 7 years since then, I've saved over $4000 in cellular bills I haven't had to pay.

Medic63 wrote:

I'd rather they worked on things such as Do Not Disturb and Anonymous Call Rejection as well as faster implementation of E911

100% agree. E911 is at the very top of my wishlist, for the safety of my family. Anonymous rejection and DND would also be quite welcome.