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AT&T Wireless Home Phone (formerly, GoPhone) is designed to be your ultimate low-cost home calling solution. The service allows you to retain your handset and home phone number topped with the convenience that comes from portability and other benefits associated with wireless service.
As useful as the service proved to be for AT&T’s rural customers, the company no longer offers it to new customers. However, if you are an existing AT&T Wireless Home Phone customer, you can stay subscribed to the plan you locked in at the time, and continue using the service. In case, you are someone who couldn’t get a subscription to the service before it was discontinued and the device went out of the market, you can still find excellent alternatives with AT&T Wireless.
As an existing subscriber of AT&T Wireless Home Phone, you must be familiar with what the device can do and cannot do. However, since the service and the device have been discontinued, it may not be easy to find support. The reason why we have prepared an AT&T Wireless Home Phone review for you to refer to when experiencing trouble with your device.
The AT&T Wireless Home Phone already has a SIM inserted into the base device and lets its subscribers connect more than one, cordless or corded, telephone set in their house to it – each makes and receives calls through the AT&T mobile network. You can set up voicemail, check voicemail messages, and use all the other free phone features, however, the Wireless home phone service cannot be used for texting (SMS) or multimedia messaging (MMS), or data tethering. The accompanying rechargeable back-up battery, which lasts up to 3.5 hours, works as quite a useful back-up during power outages. Albeit for that, you may require a corded phone connected to your AT&T wireless home phone base – one that is not reliant on external power.
The call quality is much better as compared to that of a cell phone, and makes the service a lifesaver for residents in rural or remote areas with weak signals because the AT&T Wireless home phone service is prioritized over the cell phone by the network. Therefore, your calls through the AT&T home phone are less likely to disconnect despite high traffic on a cell tower.
You may already know that the AT&T Wireless Home Phone doesn’t require a subscription to AT&T Internet (for ESP user visit AT&T Internet Español) or any other broadband internet service for that matter, as the service is provided to you via the AT&T wireless network. This makes it portable and saves you hassle if you are relocating, provided your new address is in an area that has authorized AT&T wireless service.
Moreover, the service can be hooked up with other phone companies if they employ AT&T towers to offer their service such as H2O Wireless.
The unique wireless phone base service by AT&T (for ESP user AT&T Español) has proved to be exceptionally useful for those living in far-flung areas as their only alternative was the expensive satellite service, accompanied by a bulky satellite dish that leaves no room for portability.
The AT&T Wireless Home Phone plan is still way cheaper than any other phone service in the U.S. And for rural residents, the crystal clear call quality has always been the icing on the cake with this AT&T service.
Fortunate subscribers to this amazing AT&T service, get to avail themselves of unlimited minutes in 3 categories: Anytime, Night & Weekend, & Mobile to Mobile (applicable to calls made to AT&T Wireless customers) in the U.S., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
The plan came with a two-year contract period, for a minimum monthly fee, and provided unlimited usage. There used to be a one-time activation fee, and free shipping for the device when ordered online. Standard international calling rates and roaming charges would add to your monthly bill separately as applicable. However, you could always include the International Long Distance Add-On for instance, to your Wireless Home Phone service. This add-on would give you 1,000 minutes for landline calls to over 50 countries, and mobile calls to select countries.
The device utilized by the AT&T Wireless Home Phone & Internet service is different from the AT&T Wireless Home Phone Base discussed earlier. Unfortunately, this service is also unavailable to new customers. The base device used with the service supports both the internet and phone service from AT&T. It can be employed to furnish wired connectivity as well as Wi-Fi internet while allowing phone connectivity at the same time.
This service from AT&T brought consumers generous data plans via AT&T Wireless Home Phone & Internet Rural Plans. These plans are also no longer available, given the service has been discontinued – so if you are one of the fortunate existing customers, who locked in one of the Rural Plans from AT&T, we would recommend you do not make changes and stick to your “grandfathered” status.
The AT&T Wireless Home Phone Base came accompanied by a power cord, back-up battery, and an optional phone cable.
The back-up battery with the device would take up to five hours to recharge and would come in handy during power outages. It would keep the device working during power failures, and allow you to make calls with a corded phone supported by the phone base. Cordless phones, however, due to being dependent on the power supply, would not work in such instances.
AT&T offered two models for its Wireless Home Phone Base, manufactured by the ZTE Corporation, with a 12-month limited warranty.
Here is a side by side comparison for both AT&T home phone base models, WF720 and WF721.
WF720 Specifications | WF721 Specifications | |
---|---|---|
Dimensions (W×D×H) | 6.3" (W) × 4.37" (D) × 1.05" (H) | 5.51" (W) × 4.33" (D) × 1.18" (H) |
Weight | 14.11 oz. (including back-up battery) | 8.26 oz. (including antenna and battery) |
Back-up Battery | 1,500 mAh | 1,900 mAh |
Standby time | 36 hours | Up to 25 hours |
Talk time* | 3.5 hours (GSM) 1.5 hours (WCDMA) | Approximately 3 hours (2G and 3G) |
*The value of the talk time or standby time varies with the actual environment.
There was a slight difference between both models in terms of make, installation setup, and phone functionality, but the newer model proved to be less clunky than its predecessor and supported better battery back-up and talk time. Given the earlier model came with a longer standby time, it did not make much of a difference if you owned the older one or the newer.
For this reason, the features and working of both are described as one here.
Both devices displayed similar LED indicators at the front - for Power on/off, Voicemail received, battery charge, and signal strength. At the back, each came adorned with an on/off button, two telephone ports, power input, antenna, and service port. In case you were not aware let us add, the service port must not be tampered with – it is not intended for customer use rather diagnostic purposes only. The back-up battery slot on these devices was at the bottom – that is where the provided back-up battery got placed. And as you probably already know, for the battery to function it must remain inside the slot at all times.
The best thing about AT&T Wireless Home Phone Base is the portability aspect. You don’t have to pay for a professional installation with this service in case you relocate. Order your self-install kit by calling AT&T customer service at 855-925-2541.
Here’s how you can go about the installation process of your AT&T Wireless Home Phone.
Despite diligently following instructions and command prompts, an annoying problem could pop up with your wireless home phone device from AT&T. No worries though, AT&T is always fully prepared for any such instances you may come to face. As the device is no longer sold by the company, AT&T makes sure you have access to the wireless home phone manual online. This manual not only offers a step-by-step guide for installation and usage (which can come handy if you need to relocate or are unable to recall a detail) but troubleshooting tips too (for when you encounter an issue).
You can find answers to any of these problems in the AT&T Wireless Home Phone Base guide: dial tone, battery LED is off, caller ID only shows the name, only the Power LED is working, signal strength indicator keeps blinking, the indicator is red or blinking, voicemail indicator is not working, SIM card does work for the mobile device, bad voice quality, can’t connect to the 3G MicroCell, no ringing upon incoming call, answer machine not picking up calls, or any unusual dial tones.
Here is a full list of what you can do and not do with your AT&T Wireless Home Phone.
The service does not require an internet connection to work. It’s completely independent of it so when the internet connectivity lines are broken due to a storm, your Wireless Home Phone keeps working.
A Voicemail is a must-have with any phone service, and you have it for free with the AT&T Wireless Home Phone service.
Talk to two people at once via your AT&T Wireless home phone base. Just press Flash (or Talk) key on your phone – this will put the first party on hold. Upon hearing the dial tone, input the second person’s number, as they answer press the Flash (or Talk) key again to get started with your 3-Way conference call.
The Call Waiting feature enables you to hold the current call and accept a new incoming one by pressing the Flash (or Talk) key. The key can be used to go back and forth between both calls. Moreover, you can accept or reject the current or incoming call.
The Call Forwarding feature is seriously useful in many an instance, where you may have to forward calls to another number you are going to be at. You can forward calls by dialing *21*, the 10-digit number you want to forward the calls to, and finally the # key. You can also reverse the process by dialing #21#.
Now the volume of the person on the other end is not always optimal. Adjust the call volume as per your need by pressing ** or ## to access Volume Settings during a call. Use * to decrease volume and # to increase.
The AT&T Wireless Home Phone may just be the device that proves to be your most reliable friend in case of an emergency, courtesy of the back-up battery that allows it to work during power outages. You can call the 911 services through the Wireless Phone during an emergency, but you must relay your address to the 911 operators so they can send the medical, police, or fire assistance at your location.
Moreover, you can also make 411 and 611 calls through the Wireless Phone Base.
The AT&T Wireless Home Phone service comes with a TTY (Text Telephony) and TDD (Telecommunications Device for the Deaf) compatibility.
For the TTY network, you are required to have a TTY- compatible phone device and enter the TTY mode. Dial *983*889*n# to access the TTY mode.
So better not let go of your current AT&T Wireless Home Phone service. For people seeking an alternative to this now-discontinued service, we recommend they check out AT&T Wireless and AT&T Phone Services . You may just find a deal that you love!
Where AT&T takes back something, it rewards you with something ten times better. If you happen to be looking for an alternative to the AT&T Wireless home phone, you may just love what AT&T Home Phone has to offer in terms of variety and flexibility.
The plan comes with a digital phone service that doesn’t require a wireless signal, gives you unlimited nationwide minutes, and allows unlimited calling to Canada, Mexico, and the U.S. Territories. For international calls, you get charged at per-minute rates. The digital home phone from AT&T offers 25 modern calling features such as Voicemail, Voice to Text, Call Waiting, Three-Way Calling, and much more. You can even forward call to a new number if you are elsewhere.
Check out more AT&T Phone options here .
The Home Base service, which played a critical role in making phone and internet services conveniently accessible to rural America, may have a comparable alternative, albeit in the greater variety offered by AT&T Wireless.
The Wireless service from AT&T offers several types of plans, so you can choose the one that best suits your lifestyle and connectivity needs. You can buy more than one line with an AT&T Wireless plan, and lower your bill as you add more lines.
Most AT&T Wireless plans offer Unlimited talk and text, alongside mobile data which could feed your entire family. Plus, you get to stream videos in SD or HD depending on your plan, you can benefit from the available security features, mobile hotspot data, data rollover included in most plans, and a lot more!
Here are some popular AT&T Wireless plans you can subscribe to:
The AT&T Wireless home phone offered multi-phone connectivity (corded or cordless) in your house while retaining an existing phone number through a super-affordable Wireless Home Phone plan.
The service works with the AT&T Wireless Home Phone device, which captures signals from the nearby AT&T cellular tower, and is connected to your home phone system through the phone ports it carries.
You can call 1-855-820-1220 to get support regarding the AT&T home phone service.
Yes. The AT&T Wireless Home Phone Base allows you to connect your cordless phone system to the base, and enjoy the crystal clear call quality of a landline combined with the convenience and flexibility of a cellphone.
The AT&T Wireless Home Phone Unlimited Plan is for $20/month and offers unlimited Anytime, Night & Weekend Minutes, as well as Mobile to Mobile minutes to AT&T Wireless customers, as long as you are in the U.S., Puerto Rico, or the U.S. Virgin Islands. The plan used to come with a two-year contract term along with a one-time activation fee.
The warranty for the AT&T Wireless Home Phone Base device was for 12-months.
Yes. You can move your AT&T Wireless Home Phone Base to another location, and it would work as long as it can connect to an AT&T authorized wireless service. In case of the device employing another carrier’s service, AT&T may apply off-net usage restrictions.
No. The AT&T Wireless Home Phone doesn’t need broadband or dial-up internet connection to work as it is only dependent on the AT&T cellular network.
No. The AT&T Wireless home phone plan can only be used within the U.S., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands. However, you can include an add-on international plan to your service, which provides 1000 minutes of landline calls in over 50 countries.
Look up the Troubleshooting section in your AT&T Wireless Home Phone Base guide. If you require further assistance, contact 1-855-820-1220.
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