XPost: sci.electronics.repair, alt.home.repair   
   From: harold@example.com   
      
   In the other thread, "The Real Bev" wrote:   
      
   > Does it have a wall-wart with a USB socket?  OTOH, I have a   
   > couple of converters...   
      
   It's 12VDC at 1.5 Amps but we don't know how well regulated it needs to be.   
      
   However, the end of the wall wort looks like the standard circle:dot plugs.   
   So it's trivial to wire the power to work in a vehicle.   
   (This assumes the EMF isn't too high nor automotive voltage fluctuation.)   
      
   >> For the repeater, they might not be able to tell, unless the repeater   
   >> itself sends a signal *back* to the tower since I've already seen using the   
   >> debugging tools on the Android phone that the repeater just repeats the   
   >> *same* tower information to the phone.   
   >   
   > Why would they bother?  Why would they even care?   
      
   Heh heh heh... because everyone would want to carry around their own   
   personal cell tower, I suspect.   
      
   But I really do not know why they made me agree, over the phone, as I   
   recall, to not moving it without telling them. Dunno why they would care,   
   but, they did give them to me based on my particular location and they have   
   to cost them money - so - it seems consistent that they'd want me to use it   
   for the same purpose that they gave it to me for.   
      
   I'm not arguing against their rationale at all.   
   I'm just wondering what you wondered, which is whether it would *continue*   
   to work, longer term, while traveling.   
      
   I feel it's almost certain, if not certain, that it would work anywhere,   
   short term, just as putting a SIM card into a smart phone on the olden days   
   on AT&T would work for a while and then AT&T would slam you with data   
   charges even though you have a data block on the line.   
      
   It would just depend on how long T-Mobile would take to catch that you   
   moved it, and whether they cared that you did.   
      
   Can they remotely turn it off? The femtocell, probably. The repeater?   
   Probably not.   
      
   >> In summary, for the free T-Mobile cellular femtocell:   
   >> A. The free femtocell uses 12 volts DC input at 2.0 Amps of current   
   >> B. But it needs to be connected, via Ethernet cable, to 'something'   
   >> C. In a car, I don't know of that 'something' to connect to (do you?)   
   >   
   > I have USB and earphone sockets, but no ethernet :-(  Does it normally   
   > plug into 110V with a wallwart?  I have a converter.  Doesn't solve the   
   > ethernet problem, though, which presumes a router :-(  Never mind...   
      
   The wall wart isn't the problem, as long as you end up with reasonably well   
   regulated 12VDC at about 1.5 to 2.0 Amps without too much EMF.   
      
   The femtotower would work wonders anywhere where you have a WiFi access   
   point handy, and 120VAC, but if you want it to work inside a vehicle, then   
   the femtocell isn't your first choice becuase it requires an Internet   
   connection via RJ45.   
      
   So, for your purpose, of working in a car, only the repeater is potentially   
   viable.   
      
   > You'd think they'd provide a simple cigarette-lighter plug-in unit.   
   > It's to their advantage that you be able to connect with T-Mobile as   
   > often as possible -- otherwise you might choose Verizon.  Maybe even a   
   > rechargeable battery-operated unit so I could phone from the ski slope :-)   
      
   I'm not going to argue with you.   
   Probably the FCC has something to say about "roving cell towers" though, as   
   that's what it would be.   
      
   BTW, *anyone* can connect to the repeated amplified cellular tower that is   
   in your house ... (even the femtotower), so in the case of the femtowoer,   
   you're offloading T-Mobile's cellular traffic onto your ISP and in the case   
   of the repeater, you're acting as a free cellular tower for T-Mobile's   
   customers to use.   
      
   It doesn't go all that far though. Maybe a few hundred feet, at best for   
   those high-decibel signal strengths I posted earlier.   
      
   >> D. Certainly it could be used camping or at a hotel if you have an AP   
   >> E. But would T-Mobile know that you moved it?   
   >> F. Probably. The femtocell has a unique tower number & your IP address   
   >> G. However, you can change your IP address so, maybe T-Mobile won't notice?   
   >> H. But the IP address has a "geolookup" location - which they 'could' see   
   >   
   > Perhaps run a VPN on your phone.  No idea how practical this is.   
      
   VPN at the *router* would probably "confuse" T-Mobile, I agree.   
      
   >> All I know is that T-Mobile gave me both, even though they normally only   
   >> give you one, because I have a large house and I get my Internet over the   
   >> air via WISP which Jeff Liebermann is intimately familiar with, so they   
   >> gave me both, for redundancy, for free, with zero deposit required.   
   >   
   > I NEED to visit the T-M store.   
      
   I've had these things for a few years, so here's all I can tell you.   
      
   T-Mobile offered me three choices, of which I took two (but normally you   
   only get one choice):   
   1. Free no-deposit Wi-Fi router, or,   
   2. Free no-deposit Femto tower (connected to your router), or,   
   3. Free no-deposit cellular repeater (two units, one window, one tower).   
      
   The first one "is" a router, while the second connects "to" a router and   
   acts like a tower inside your house, while the third grabs a signal from a   
   tower outside your house and re-broadcasts that signal as a "tower" inside   
   your house.   
      
   Anyone in the vicinity on T-Mobile can use that signal.   
      
   I don't know more than this, and even some of this "can" be wrong, which is   
   why I asked the folks on s.e.r and a.h.r for additional advice for you.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)