It may seem rare nowadays, but there was a time where some areas of the US, even large cities and major areas, had no cell coverage. It was so common that in 2015 T-Mobile released a device called a 4G LTE CellSpot to fill in the gaps.
The 4G LTE CellSpot created your own personal mini cell tower using your existing home internet services. The device connected to your internet via ethernet and broadcast a short-range LTE signal for phones to pick up.
In mid-2021, the company stopped offering the device for free, and instead required a $99 one-time purchase for new customers interested in the device.
While the LTE CellSpot was probably the most popular option, some customers opted for the “Personal WiFi CellSpot” instead. Released a year prior to the LTE CellSpot back in 2014, the device was actually an Asus AC-1900 WiFi Router rebranded with T-Mobile logos.
The WiFi unit was basically a way of giving customers a free path to help them use newly released WiFi calling and texting features at home.
Finally there was the CellSpot “Signal Booster”, a two-piece unit that extended T-Mobile’s native coverage from a window unit wirelessly to a separate unit further inside the home. It was ideal for customers in areas with some native T-Mobile coverage, but that struggled to receive that signal indoors.
Now, as of early to mid February of this year, all three of these devices are now end-of-life. Not only are they no longer available to acquire from T-Mobile, but the company doesn’t even want them back.
According to sources from within T-Mobile, the “NRF”, or “Non-Return Fee” for all three devices is now $0. This means that, upon cancellation of T-Mobile services, a customer that still has any of these devices won’t have to bother returning them to the company.
This is good, because as recently as late 2023, customers complained of fees upwards of $500 for failing to return a CellSpot, even though T-Mobile wasn’t even really using them anymore.
It’s unclear if customers who still have LTE CellSpots still have working service on them, but we’d imagine that if they do, it won’t last for much longer. The devices don’t support 5G, and most native coverage now from T-Mobile includes both 5G and low-band frequencies that reach indoors pretty well.
Do you still have any of T-Mobile’s coverage devices? Let us know in the comments!
