Wi-Fi calling, Hotspots and other valuable tools on your cell phone

Wi Fi calling is connecting wirelessly to a phone service that is not related to your cell phone service. If your carrier is At&T, Verizon or T-Mobile, these would be your phone carriers you normally make your calls through. Wi Fi can be available through a publically offered Wi Fi  such as restaurants, airports, car dealerships, libraries and government offices, work places, hotels and also your own home cable or internet service provider. Why is Wi Fi so important? When you are making calls over Wi Fi, you are using your minutes, but not paying the long distance rates associated with calls to other countries. Most carriers offer free calling to friends or family members phones that use the same carrier. Charges occur when you call outside of that carrier between specific times of the day depending on your service.

Why does this matter if I'm already paying for cell service, or have unlimited cell service? Sometimes people live near lakes or are in areas where there is limited coverage,and or their service is limited due to poor receivership of signal etc. If your phone is dropping calls frequently, missing calls or has little or no service in certain locations, Wi Fi can help.

Wi Fi will connect your phone through your home internet or tv service for free once you log into the proper channels.This means getting the numeric passcode off the side of your modem for your home or work internet service. Cable service can work as well. Now your calls are going through the WiFi airways, not your cellular carrier and will not be affected by location. This is a good way to boost signal and service to your phone calling when you feel the need to drop service or pay for a higher company service.

Will my phone do WiFi calling? A smart phone will have the icon that is a blue colored, chat shaped cloud labeled Wi-Fi calling. When you click on this icon and turn this feature on, your phone now makes Wi Fi calls. Wi Fi is not always private at a hotel or coffee shop so precaution needs to be taken here. Hackers patiently wait for opportunities such as this to attack computers and phones(mini-computers) through this public portal. However through a secure Wi FI line, such as home or office; it is just like being on a private call. Calls made when traveling overseas back home through Wi Fi calling can be made without paying expensive international rates, only using your local minutes. If your cell phone does not have security of some sort, or a firewall, now is the time to investigate this option. Chips are already developed to handle this and are being installed on most of the newer phones and computer tablets. Smartphones that are capable of doing microsoft exchange email are more secure and desirable/

Hotspot is the icon on your phone that looks like a bullseye/spiral or radar tower receiving signals around it. Hotspot is another under-used feature of a smart phone. When your cell phone turns on it's hotspot, it becomes a WiFi for any other devices(usually up to 5) that you decide to let access your hotspot. Why is this useful? You are traveling in a car and only one smartphone has internet. You want to log on with your computer and check some emails while your child plays a phone game. You turn on your hotspot, log in and your son plays happily while you get some work done returning emails. Or your kids want to play nintendo in the back while you talk on the phone; turning on this service really helps. You are meeting a study group at a coffee shop to work together and the shops wi fi is already too busy. Have everyone log into your personal hotspot and you can continue as usual. Your service will slow down depending on the number of devices attached though. 4G signal strength is the best option for this service. Would this help you traveling or on vacation?

New hotspot devices that you can carry in your pocket are also arriving in cell phone stores. They look like a small phone that doesn't open. It's like having your own personal router with you all the time. You can pay for as much internet service as you need, so you don't have to have it turned on all the time, or pay the minimum if you are using it occassionally. No worries on lapsticks breaking off, or getting lost; these devices can be thrown into a purse or pocket and left in the glovebox. A car charger works good to recharge them as well as an inside wall charger.

Cell phone carriers are catching on to this ability and are starting to charge now for tethering or using your hotspot. Some of the new phones don't have this option on them and would have to be added or downloaded through the market apps. Tethering usually means connecting your phone directly to say your computer to use it's internet that way which keeps data more secure. Wireless applications are more common though and easier to use.

There are companies urgently trying to get radio transmitters put into more cell phones. Why would this matter? First off, the ability to log into a computer radio station such as iHeart radio, Pandora or Slacker, then tune your car radio to a static station number and play your personal choice music through nice car stereo speakers is a listening luxury. Say forgot those expensive satelite radio charges. Coupons and geo-tagging for services would then be available. But on the more serious side, in the case of a hurricane like in New Orleans or tsunami like in Japan where cell towers are knocked over and have no service; radio waves can still be broadcast much easier. Public service announcements and emergency broadcast messages could be distributed much easier getting important health issues such as water safety, radiation levels and food drop areas to needed areas. Nokia, Motorola and Evo already have this on phones. This is something we will be hearing more about in newer phones if it is pushed through.

Finally internet security. I can't say enough-your smartphone is not just a phone anymore, it is truly a small computer. Treat it like one and guard your data zealoulsy. New security apps and even Asurion, the phone companies insurance company, will be moving towards more phone security this summer. The ability to locate a missing phone or wipe clean it's contents remotely will become more reassuring when we truly are using all the capabilities our phones are offering us.