AT&T Rolls Out Wireless Home Phone Base – phone and Internet via cellular

AT&T Wireless Home Phone Base now rolled out – A device for phone and Internet service nationwide starting May 23 following a trial launched in select markets in 2013.

Dallas — AT&T is rolling out its Wireless Home Phone & Internet device and service nationwide starting May 23 through all sales channels following a trial launched in select Northeast markets in 2013.

The product, called Home Base, enables users to complete calls from existing home phones over the AT&T cellular network. Users can keep their existing landline number. Home Base also delivers 4G HSPA+/LTE Internet access simultaneously to up to 10 Wi-Fi capable devices and one Ethernet-connected device. Home Base provides download speeds of around 5Mbps to 12Mbps in most LTE markets.

In 2012, AT&T launched a Wireless Home Phone service and product offering only voice service.

Home Base is free with a two-year contract.

Users can take Home Base with them on vacation, to a remote work location, to a second home or to any other location so they can be reached through their home phone number. AT&T wireless service reaches 99 percent of the U.S. population.

To place calls from multiple home handsets throughout the house, users must connect a cordless base station directly to the Home Base, which does not connect directly to a home’s inside phone wiring.

Home Base is not compatible with fax machines, home alarm systems, credit card machines, medical alert/monitoring systems, IP/PBX Phone systems or dial-up Internet service. Because 911 calls are routed via a wireless network’s automatic location technology, users might have to give their address to a 911 operator, the company said. Text messaging isn’t supported. A backup battery allows for up to 1.5 hours of talk time and 18 hours of standby time during a power outage.

For a stand-alone plan, service costs $20/month for unlimited calling plus $60/month for 10GB of data, $90/month for 20GB, or $120/month for 30GB. Additional data costs $10 per GB.

AT&T wireless subscribers with a Mobile Share Unlimited Talk and Text plan with at least 10GB of shared data can add Home Base to the plan for $30/month. Customers can also add a World Connect Value plan for $5/month to get 1 cent per minute calling from the U.S. to Canada, Mexico and more than 35 other countries.