Cool Technology of the Week

Yesterday, I wrote about the technology I own. I'm constantly evaluating what works and what does not work. Call it my personal application of Kaizen.

Of all the technologies that I outlined yesterday, only one is having significant quality issues - the AT&T 3G cellular signal on my cell phone. Since I rarely use a land line, this can be particularly challenging during winter months. It's 20 degrees outside and I have to stand in 3 feet of snow on the front lawn to make or receive a call from my home.

I absolutely understand AT&T's issue. There are only 5000 households in Wellesley, MA. Implementing a robust cell phone network in a suburban community is less profitable than in a dense urban work environment. As I tell my staff, AT&T is the best network in the world, just not Wellesley.

What can I do? The answer is a home micro-cell tower which plugs into my FIOS internet connection and offers 5000 square feet of cellular coverage, enabling my home cell phones to communicate via voice over IP to the micro-cell tower, then link over broadband to the AT&T network.

The cool technology of the week is the Cisco/AT&T personal 3G mini cellular tower for home
Features include:

* Seamless roaming from the micro-cell to a real cell tower when I leave home
* Works with any AT&T supported 3G cell phone (Blackberry Bold, iPhone 3G)
* Available unlimited minute plans when connected to the micro-cell

No details have been released on the availability date or pricing structure, but I'll be watching this cool technology very closely.