Related
new to android... currently using N1 on att edge... contemplating a switch to Tmobile... latest "speed tests" by PC World show ATT as a clear leader for download speeds, plus they have better spectrum and in my exp. allow better penetration though walls. I live in seattle but travel to many major cities on east coast... anyone offer any suggestions with their exp with Tmob vs. ATT? How biased is Pcworld?
My goal is the use the N1 on ATT until they get a proper android device... couple months I hope, or do I switch now and save the trouble...any advice would be appreciated
tmobile and att both have their ups and down
but tmobile now clearly has AMAZINGLY BETTER unlimited min data and text plans for a very low low LOW price
check it out
not a tmobile rep lol
just a very long time tmo user
and tmo's 3g aint that bad
i dont notice any problems with it
thanks for the reply
yeah im aware of the potential $$ savings, however for me that is not the case...im more looking into who will provide the best speeds/least amount of hassle over the next year or so...i have few friends who work at ATT store who are managers, and I can always get anything done to my account I need to...
I understand Tmobile has "great" service, but my experience with them both online and in the stores has been horrible. The sales reps Ive spoken with at several stores have been sorely uninformed and have outright lied to my (by making up answers that are not true about many things, so probably not malicious lies but if you dont know TELL ME!). The latest episode was when a sales rep told me that they would be carrying the HTC Desire in April, and that It will have a physical keyboard and dual core processor!
in my area, as posted by pcworld, ATT completely smokes tmobile in average DL speeds (1400vs 900)... plus im able to pay $60 a month right now and have everything i need..granted i am stuck on att edge with my n1, but its not as bad as i thought...my plan was to keep the phone until att finally got one, but their whole "backflip" ordeal has left me concerned with their openness to google... I love my N1, even the trackball, and would be hard pressed to pick a desire over it... Im rambling now so Ill stop, but last point is that i would have to cancel my att contract, which at only $175 isnt that bad, considering i just last month bought a 3gs for $220 and sold it for $530...
T-Mo this summer is going to smoke AT&T as the fastest 3g network.But as far as coverage AT&T is a little better,plus is true that lower frequency is better penetrating to buildings,that's one problem i'm dealing now with T-Mo,but the price is right,so I guess at the end you have to look for the best one for your needs.
tmobile plans
just talked with a very knowledgeable Tmobile reap... apparently seattle is #11 to receive fiber upgrades, and will receive HSPA+ around may 18th... of course this is all hearsay... they will also be selling HD2s for BOGO $199 contract... amazing deal... very nice phone, they had one today I was able to play with. Perfect size for me... just waiting for a more perfect android port and ill make the switch from nexus one...
just ported my number to tmobile today...hopefully i wont be disappointed
ieon said:
just talked with a very knowledgeable Tmobile reap... apparently seattle is #11 to receive fiber upgrades, and will receive HSPA+ around may 18th... of course this is all hearsay... they will also be selling HD2s for BOGO $199 contract... amazing deal... very nice phone, they had one today I was able to play with. Perfect size for me... just waiting for a more perfect android port and ill make the switch from nexus one...
just ported my number to tmobile today...hopefully i wont be disappointed
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you talk to a rep online? Or was it a friend or something? I would LOVE to have some more info on St. Louis expansion further southward and any other plans in the area. I'm currently on AT&T about 10 miles outside T-Mo's 3G bubble. I have AT&T 3G since last October, but am using an ADP1, since my unlocked Roger's Dream broke. I think I am going to switch to T-Mo when I get my free Nexus, but I would love to have 3G.
Anyway, the point is where'd you get the info, and if you can find out anything about St. Louis from that rep (if its in person, if not tell me its online I'll try some more).
K thx bye
Lol just playin, but thanks. Please let me know
Here in vegas t-mo 3g speeds are better then AT&T so TMo was the clear choice for me. The fastest 3g speeds in town here though are with verizon
We tested using 4 phones:
Tmobile G1
Tmobile MyTouch 3g
Verizon Blackberry
At&T Iphone
The results were pretty staggering:
Tmobile G1 - 970kbps
Tmobile MyTouch 3g - 1023 kbps
Verizon Blackberry - 1876 kbps
At&T Iphone - 200 kbps
Funny noone mentioned sprint. You, being number for reliability and all that.
T-Mobile FTW!
I live in the Bay Area and I have done several speed test all over with both an iPhone 3GS and Nexus One. For the most part AT&T gets around 1400-2400 kbps down and about 200-300 kbps up with a 1000-3000ms ping. T-Mobile gets about 1000-1500 kbps down and 300-600 kbps up with a 60-100ms ping. In most cases AT&T does get slightly faster speeds and has more 3G coverage but is not as reliable. Sometimes the data connection disappears or takes forever to start loading. Once both phone do start loading there isn't much difference loading web sites. As far as downloading files AT&T is slightly faster but doesn't seem to have the bandwidth that T-Mobile when downloading multiple files at the same time. I used to be a long time customer of AT&T but got fed up paying $100/month for data/texting/voice and getting unreliable data service where I work (Financial District - San Francisco). Personally I would recommend that anyone who is on the fence to go with T-Mobile. They don't have perfect service but for the price its a much better value than AT&T. I haven't had any problems or issues besides a few select areas with poor 3G reception since I have switched to T-Mobile.
Cities tested:
Concord/Walnut Creek Area: Both worked really well. AT&T what quite a bit faster in speed tests but loading regular web sites was about the same.
Marin: AT&T = Good - Some areas get dropped calls and no 3G | T-Mobile works good as well. Some areas get poor reception for 3G and Edge | Speeds are about the same... AT&T is slightly faster. (Lots of testing)
Pleasonton: Both worked really well. (Limited testing)
San Francisco: AT&T = Horrible... didn't work at all in my building with full 3G | T-Mobile works great... works perfect in the same place AT&T didn't | Speeds are about the same... when AT&T works.
Vallejo: About the same as Marin.
Hope this helps,
- Victor
neoelectrex said:
Funny noone mentioned sprint. You, being number for reliability and all that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The reason is that OP has a GSM device and Sprint is CDMA...
T-Mobile because AT&T network is lame. They actually told their iFail users to don't use internet as much because of their weak ass network and they are locking down their android phones so T-Mobile wins of course.
Sigh
Ok Ok I know location plays a huge part in this but let me say this, AT&T is 100% trash compared to Tmobile (based on New Jersey), They pay millions to say they cover 97% of US and they have the fastest 3G in the US. When? 8 Years AGO? I did a test with my friends iphone 3GS (new Jersey) with an app called SPEEDTEST, also did the same test (SAME PLACE MY HOUSE NJ) with the same exact APP SPEED TEST on my nexus one,
Results
Iphone3GS AT&T = 99kbits/sec (test was done 2 times each.) Similar results he was pinging about 4000-5000
Nexus one Tmobile = 1,740Kbits/sec (test was done 2 times each.) Similar results I was pinging about 88=97
I then tested my 2G (same place + same app) = 210kbits/s
This means my 2g was faster than his so called 3G, funny thing is, his iphone 3GS doesnt even say when its on Edge or 3G, My nexus one says when its on Edge (2G), 3G Or HSPDA (which I'm on all day HSPDA full bars in NJ). DO NOT FORGET HOW TRAFFIC IMPACTS A NETWORK, it's horrible. You are paying more, you have worse call quality (both network and phone) considering the 2 microphones of the N1 and clarity of Tmobile. So you pay more? Do less, both apple and AT&T limit you, and you have the nerve to compare? Apple is ditching AT&T for few reasons, 1 of them being 30% dropped calls in major cities, and allowing android phones (better phones) than Iphone on their exclusive network.
My point? Why the hell would you pay more and get less? Not only get less, but slower, and sloppier? The comparison boggles my mind, Maybe Tmobile doens't cover as much, this is a fact as well, but man check their coverage map and see if its available in your area, because it's way better in every possible way.
My plan is 500 minutes with everything else unlimited (mobile to mobile, text, data, weekends, nights) Most the people I speak with have tmobile, so I never even go past 200 minutes ever. This costs me 65.34 a month after taxes and I use my nexus one every hour of the day literally. if you want the pictures to my tests, I'm glad to show my proof, email me at [email protected] or go to my youtube page and see my nexus one vids. I'll be uploading some videos when my friend returns to my house, yes speeds vary even by the day or hour due to traffic, but I'm normally getting over 1mbit/s all day long, he gets very bad lag in his network, he pays 120 a month which is about twice what I pay and his calling/data/all around sucks. Why argue? why bother? I've asked my friends with nexus one in jersey city to test his network and it's almost as fast as mine, so i'm not in luck here, tmobile simply rocks after their network upgrade december 2009, don't forget they'll be doing another upgrade for intense speeds before 2010 ends.
Signing off Gslick, email me for pictures of the tests.
Youtube chan with my rooted nexus one = www.youtube.com/user/exclusivegslick might as well sub if you like the phone and/or android.
i am in columbus area and here tmobile 3G is bad, i dont get 3G at all in my house.
i have a iphone 3gs and it gets 3G coverage everywhere.
as soon as i get off the highway 3g bars with tmobile starts going down.
the funny thing is that even in tmobile store i get EDGE with tmobile phones and the att 3gs gets 3G
and no i donot work with att.
my advice check 3G coverage to whatever city you travel the most.
i would go with mediocre 3G speed but better coverage, instead of blazing fast 3G with no coverage
This all depends on where you live and what type of service quality you are looking for.... I've heard ATT and T-Mobile trashed on forums for various reasons.
I live in Austin, Texas, USA... I can't speak for data service as I'm using a T-Mobile frequency G1 on ATT network - so, I'm restricted to Edge data service.
However, my wife has several friends who are on T-mobile and they constantly drop calls. Which DOES NOT happen to us on ATT. Also, ATT has MUCH better reception in the rural areas where I work than T-Mobile (which is VERY spotty in the rural areas).
So, my wife and I refuse to leave ATT for now. Despite my near clinical depression over not being able to upgrade my G1!
Data may or may not be better for T-mobile in the urban area here - I don't know.
I would check with your friends and family who travel the same areas that you do - who also have service with both carriers and have decent phones.
The claims from store reps will almost always be biased - however, if you have a friend who is a store rep who will give you an honest opinion - I would ask them what kind of complaints they hear "in store" regarding the other carriers.
Don't just take someone else's word from a post on this forum if that person DOES NOT live in your area - as they could have a completely different experience and the carriers' infrastructure could be very different.
jongie123 said:
T-Mo this summer is going to smoke AT&T as the fastest 3g network.But as far as coverage AT&T is a little better,plus is true that lower frequency is better penetrating to buildings,that's one problem i'm dealing now with T-Mo,but the price is right,so I guess at the end you have to look for the best one for your needs.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T coverage is not a little better than T-MO, it's a lot better, for both data and voice.
I have no idea what make anyone think T-MO America, who is in dire financial straits right now, has the money to keep up with AT&T's massive mobile network build-out. The truth is, they can't. AT&T has steadily been improving backhaul and connection speeds, is getting ready for 4G deployment and has that capacity in place in many places already.
AT&T's network has been improving faster than anyone else's, and that's why they currently have the fastest 3G speeds on the nation's #2 3G network for coverage. But they are far from done, and any competitor who thinks they're sitting still to be leapfrogged had better be prepared to spend a boatload of money to build, because AT&T is. T-MO just does not have the resources (revenue) to keep up.
Gslick said:
Ok Ok I know location plays a huge part in this but let me say this, AT&T is 100% trash compared to Tmobile (based on New Jersey), They pay millions to say they cover 97% of US and they have the fastest 3G in the US. When? 8 Years AGO?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're talking out your butthole, pure and simple. Your narrow view of the network is a paradigm child of your limited experience with it. It's nothing more than crap folklore.
Wow, I live in Lewiston, ID. There isn't much around here and I have hit 3.5mb down and 1mb up with my Hero. For some reason lately I can't hit Liberty Lake with Speedtest. Is a couple hours away up by Spokane WA. For some reason it thinks I am 45mi away from Wichita, KS. Still hit almost 2.97mb down and 1.07mb up with a 348 ping.
some ppl. here are getting biased here.
for me i live in columbus and i bought the HD2 was waiting for it for months if not longer, but was sooooooo disappointed when i got it really bad 3G, next to nothing.
call quality soooooo bad, many ppl. are saying that its the HD2 thats at fault.
but i dont know, i have a 3GS in the house and that gets 3G even in tmobile store where the HD2 didnt
so i will think twice before taking tmobile in the future, asleast FOR AS LONG AS I LIVE IN COLUMBUS.
thats my personal experience, i cannot speak for other US cities or locations.
UberMario said:
T-Mobile because AT&T network is lame. They actually told their iFail users to don't use internet as much because of their weak ass network and they are locking down their android phones so T-Mobile wins of course.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's a complete load of crap. It's an outright lie. Maybe you didn't start it, but it's still a lie.
geronemo said:
some ppl. here are getting biased here.
for me i live in columbus and i bought the HD2 was waiting for it for months if not longer, but was sooooooo disappointed when i got it really bad 3G, next to nothing.
call quality soooooo bad, many ppl. are saying that its the HD2 thats at fault.
but i dont know, i have a 3GS in the house and that gets 3G even in tmobile store where the HD2 didnt
so i will think twice before taking tmobile in the future, asleast FOR AS LONG AS I LIVE IN COLUMBUS.
thats my personal experience, i cannot speak for other US cities or locations.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Columbus, OHIO- right? I live in the upper left corner of Ohio (Williams County) and want to get a nexus one. However, everyone I know has Verizon. I am sick of waiting so I am going to get one now. According to tmobile's and att's websites, att has the better coverage. I was also considering the palm pre plus ($50 bucks for two!), but I want the sexy nexus one.
Ok right now i am with verizon and they got great service, but it is really expensive. I have a smartphone and a regular ol flip-phone.
Smartphone: unlimited data, 5000 messages a month and a split of 500 min.
Flip-Phone: Split of 500 min
My bill right now is around 140.00 a month, Is this right? Are there any other carriers that can offer this at a better price than what i'm getting? I would like to see the 500 min stay the same or more, and i need unlimited txtin on the smartphone. The second phone can stay as a add a line phone.
I just cant afford this right now, it's killing me inside every month i have to pay this bill. Any help would be much appreciated.
garage_man said:
Ok right now i am with verizon and they got great service, but it is really expensive. I have a smartphone and a regular ol flip-phone.
Smartphone: unlimited data, 5000 messages a month and a split of 500 min.
Flip-Phone: Split of 500 min
My bill right now is around 140.00 a month, Is this right? Are there any other carriers that can offer this at a better price than what i'm getting? I would like to see the 500 min stay the same or more, and i need unlimited txtin on the smartphone. The second phone can stay as a add a line phone.
I just cant afford this right now, it's killing me inside every month i have to pay this bill. Any help would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I have 2 lines on T-Mobile, unlimited voice and text on both, and unlimited data on one line (mine, other is my daughter's dumbphone), and it's $120/month...and I believe they have plans matching yours now (or close) for even less.
However, I would only recommend them if you know their service is solid in your area. In their major markets where they have more solid coverage, they're great, but in other places quite the opposite.
Sprint is also very cheap and there coverage in most places is very good. Im south of dallas have very good coverage and in some areas near me no other carrier has service, not verizon, tmobile or att. But it all depends on your area.
Family plan with 2 phones for $130 a month you get...
1600 shared mins- Free mobile to mobile, doesnt matter what carrier the others on.
Unlimited text
Unlimited data
Unlimited picture mail
4g network is a separate charge.. only htc evo
Also we are getting the HTC Evo on June 4. Which will be one of the best android/smart phone available, but i guess that can be argued. Sprint also is the first nation wide carrier to carry 4g network. If its in your area, it might be something to look into.
Wow
I can't believe i am getting ripped off this bad. I should've mentioned that I live in northern michigan right around traverse city. Verizon seem to have a good 3g connection around here which is very important as i use my phone as the modem for my house. Also if i change do you think i can get away with large data usage. My bill varies from as little as 40gb a month to as much as 180-190gb.
I use tmobile prepaid plan and i pay 70.00 per month for 500 anytime min. unlimited data,free nights and weekends,free tmob to tmob. Hope this helps, oh i get like 300 or 500 texts included also or maybe its unlimited.
You think that's bad? I have;
Line 1: HTC Eris - 1400 minutes shared; Unlimited Messaging; Unlimited Data; TEC
Line 2: LG EnV3 - Shared minutes w/ above; Unlimited Messaging; Pay Per KB Data (none is ever used); TEC
Line 3: Samsung Smooth - Shared minutes w/ above
On average, I pay $192 a month. Now my fiance wants the LG Ally, which will tack another $30 on per month LOL
We're up for renewel, though, so I'll try to talk them into a month of free service which will offset the monthly cost a bit for the next 2 years.
-mak
edit: Sprint has a similar plan for $129; 1500 minutes, Any Mobile Anytime (Unlimited Mobile2Mobile on any network), Unlimited Messaging & Unlimited Data for all lines on the account. With insurance and two lines it would be $153 + tax a month.. but the phone selection isn't anything spectacular as of now, other than the Evo which will run you $299 -$100 MIR.
garage_man said:
I can't believe i am getting ripped off this bad. I should've mentioned that I live in northern michigan right around traverse city. Verizon seem to have a good 3g connection around here which is very important as i use my phone as the modem for my house. Also if i change do you think i can get away with large data usage. My bill varies from as little as 40gb a month to as much as 180-190gb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T-Mobile seems to be roaming coverage in Traverse, MI, so you won't be getting a 3G connection.
Sprint on the other hand has native coverage, as well as 3G. It may be a very good idea to look into Sprint as their coverage is very comparable with Verizon in some cities, and it seems that you live in one of them.
gsvnet said:
T-Mobile seems to be roaming coverage in Traverse, MI, so you won't be getting a 3G connection.
Sprint on the other hand has native coverage, as well as 3G. It may be a very good idea to look into Sprint as their coverage is very comparable with Verizon in some cities, and it seems that you live in one of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thats what i was wondering cause as this is my internet i need a 3g connection at all times. I would like to see around 1mb or a little more cause right now i pull 1.3mb
garage_man, I think your best bet is to do the following:
-First, determine which carriers have adequate data coverage in your exact location. Best way to do this is to find some friends on other carriers (with smartphones preferrably) and test them at your location
-Let us know which carriers make the cut, and then I'm sure there'll be users on here who have tips on how to pay the least for the most with any of them, and then you can choose from there.
Are you sharing the connection thorough a wifi-router app, or by connecting by USB to one PC and sharing it out from there? I'm just curious really.
Ur gonna love this
sirphunkee said:
garage_man, I think your best bet is to do the following:
-First, determine which carriers have adequate data coverage in your exact location. Best way to do this is to find some friends on other carriers (with smartphones preferrably) and test them at your location
-Let us know which carriers make the cut, and then I'm sure there'll be users on here who have tips on how to pay the least for the most with any of them, and then you can choose from there.
Are you sharing the connection thorough a wifi-router app, or by connecting by USB to one PC and sharing it out from there? I'm just curious really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hook the phone up through internet sharing to my server. I have the connections bridged to my network card. From there it goes to my router/wifi. I use the wifi for my laptops and PS3. From the wifi router it goes to a switch to connect my gaming rig and tv. The switch gives me the ability to expand my network when needed. It's a little confusing and not the fastest internet but it gets the job done lol.
garage_man said:
I hook the phone up through internet sharing to my server. I have the connections bridged to my network card. From there it goes to my router/wifi. I use the wifi for my laptops and PS3. From the wifi router it goes to a switch to connect my gaming rig and tv. The switch gives me the ability to expand my network when needed. It's a little confusing and not the fastest internet but it gets the job done lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's cool, thanks. I kinda thought you had something a little more complex going on there lol. That's farily impressive though that your phone's connection can support all that...although I don't know if the unstable ping usually associated with a cell data connection would be ideal for gaming.
I guess then you also need to consider what phones each network has that can handle the way you having things setup. There's a bunch that can, but it may affect your choice in carriers.
sirphunkee said:
That's cool, thanks. I kinda thought you had something a little more complex going on there lol. That's farily impressive though that your phone's connection can support all that...although I don't know if the unstable ping usually associated with a cell data connection would be ideal for gaming.
I guess then you also need to consider what phones each network has that can handle the way you having things setup. There's a bunch that can, but it may affect your choice in carriers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the ping isnt the best for gaming. It is a pretty consistent 150 to 100 ping lately. There are of course times when i can get it as low as 80 and other times 1000 lol, but verizon upgraded there notwork and i get around 150 every time. To keep things running smooth I usually i keep it down to one thing like playing a game, or watching a movie. It cant do all them things rly well.
If i change carriers i will most likely get another tp2. Unless there is a good android phone out there that can so the same internet sharing as windows mobile and have a awesome keyboard of a tp2 lol. Does anyone know of such phones.
sirphunkee said:
garage_man, I think your best bet is to do the following:
-First, determine which carriers have adequate data coverage in your exact location. Best way to do this is to find some friends on other carriers (with smartphones preferrably) and test them at your location
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good advice. Also, CNET has a map where you can look up your network coverage with each carriers . It may help you as well.
I think the first thing you need to determine is where you have coverage because it won't do you any good to get a better plan and no coverage.
Sprint seems to have the best deals (though not necessarily the best customer service).
I have TMO and I like them a lot but its like another member says, if you have coverage in your area, they're great, if not, then it's frustrating. they have great plans (no-contract plans as well) and great customer service.
Hope that helps.
hmmm... I wanted to post a direct link but I guess I can't because I'm a new user.
google "root wireless cnet reviews" or "CNET compare carrier coverage in your area " and hopefully that'll take you to the right place
CNET has an interactive map where you can enter your area code and see the coverage by carriers.
Hope that helps.
Wouldn't ya know it
MyTomato said:
hmmm... I wanted to post a direct link but I guess I can't because I'm a new user.
google "root wireless cnet reviews" or "CNET compare carrier coverage in your area " and hopefully that'll take you to the right place
CNET has an interactive map where you can enter your area code and see the coverage by carriers.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They have no data where i live lol.
Wouldn't ya know it
MyTomato said:
hmmm... I wanted to post a direct link but I guess I can't because I'm a new user.
google "root wireless cnet reviews" or "CNET compare carrier coverage in your area " and hopefully that'll take you to the right place
CNET has an interactive map where you can enter your area code and see the coverage by carriers.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They have no data where i live lol.
.mak said:
You think that's bad? I have;
Line 1: HTC Eris - 1400 minutes shared; Unlimited Messaging; Unlimited Data; TEC
Line 2: LG EnV3 - Shared minutes w/ above; Unlimited Messaging; Pay Per KB Data (none is ever used); TEC
Line 3: Samsung Smooth - Shared minutes w/ above
On average, I pay $192 a month. Now my fiance wants the LG Ally, which will tack another $30 on per month LOL
We're up for renewel, though, so I'll try to talk them into a month of free service which will offset the monthly cost a bit for the next 2 years.
-mak
edit: Sprint has a similar plan for $129; 1500 minutes, Any Mobile Anytime (Unlimited Mobile2Mobile on any network), Unlimited Messaging & Unlimited Data for all lines on the account. With insurance and two lines it would be $153 + tax a month.. but the phone selection isn't anything spectacular as of now, other than the Evo which will run you $299 -$100 MIR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That plan sounds nice, is there anyway for me to sim unlock my verizon tp2 to allow it to be used on the sprint network?
Yes this info is from a brick and mortar company store, but I absolutely love my company store here. It's what I guess they consider a "Premier" store and it featured in their many in-store live feeds around the country... they always seem to have some higher level people working the floor.
So I'm there picking up a new device to replace my wife's total'd Aria (Inspire 4G) and was chatting with one of these "higher-ups". He saw my Cappy and asked to see it (presumably to see if I had updated to KB1 thinking if I didn't he'd do me a favor and upgrade to the newest Android )
The look on his face was priceless.
Higher-up: "This is a Captivate?"
Me: "Yup"
Higher-up: "But your running an I9000 ROM and modem?"
Me: "Yup, with a custom Kernel as well"
Higher-up: "Looks like your on HSPA. How"
Me: "Yup, and it was a ton faster about a month ago as well what you guys do throttle it back or something? It was almost like you threw a switch or something."
Higher-up: "They did. It should open back up this summer when all the system upgrades are done."
So... those lower speed net numbers.... their real.
I knew it. I just came from Huntsville, AL and the hotel I always stay in overlooks the apple store. My speed used to be higher (July/August) and the past two weeks they seem much slower. I mean I had never seen speeds like I saw this past summer.
modmyphone said:
Yes this info is from a brick and mortar company store, but I absolutely love my company store here. It's what I guess they consider a "Premier" store and it featured in their many in-store live feeds around the country... they always seem to have some higher level people working the floor.
So I'm there picking up a new device to replace my wife's total'd Aria (Inspire 4G) and was chatting with one of these "higher-ups". He saw my Cappy and asked to see it (presumably to see if I had updated to KB1 thinking if I didn't he'd do me a favor and upgrade to the newest Android )
The look on his face was priceless.
Higher-up: "This is a Captivate?"
Me: "Yup"
Higher-up: "But your running an I9000 ROM and modem?"
Me: "Yup, with a custom Kernel as well"
Higher-up: "Looks like your on HSPA. How"
Me: "Yup, and it was a ton faster about a month ago as well what you guys do throttle it back or something? It was almost like you threw a switch or something."
Higher-up: "They did. It should open back up this summer when all the system upgrades are done."
So... those lower speed net numbers.... their real.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You sir, are my hero. Thank you for a good laugh to start my day. Now... off to study for my test tonight...
sent from my porcelain throne.
Interesting... I have also seen slower speeds for the past month...as well as a huge increase in dropped connections (both voice and data). I have been a happy Cingular/AT&T customer for 6 years, but I have recently been considering switching because it has been so bad...hopefully there are improvements soon.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I897 using XDA App
yeap I was wondering. Noticed this as well over the past few weeks...
I also live in Alabama and live 2 blocks from the Apple store and AT&T store, used to have fantastic speeds but now I don't
This guy has been a great source of reliable information when it comes to the network, so I have no reason to doubt him (he sucks when it comes to device support as most in-store folks do). He couldn't go into any details about what the upgrades included since his superior was there next to us assisting someone else. I'll go back in a couple of days and see what I can find out.
For quite some time AT&T has been throttling HSPA access (up and down) in markets where their backhaul is saturated. BTW, it is also possible but less likely that AT&T has set a policy in their PCRF function to throttle back HSPA for certain device types (e.g. Captivate TACs).
BTW, it isn't standard ops for retail employees to be informed about HSPA throttling or just about any other network function so whatever your retail guy hears is through a long and unofficial grapevine and most likely rumor. Network changes at the core are kept quiet for several reasons.
maybe they throttled it down to work on upgrading their system to HSPA+ to support the new 4g devices. if the source is reliable, it could make sense since when the floor manager said the speeds would return mid summer, that is right before AT&t is allegedly supposed to have their LTE network ready (think they said Q3 or Q4... could be wrong)
So basicly you guys are saying its at&t's network that there slowing down causing slow I net speeds and a spike from almost no dropped calls to weekly dropped calls and that its not the ROMs?
We need to investigate with the google.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using XDA App
Yeah, I agree, I doubt this guy knows anything. Higher up in retail customer service still knows very little about how AT&T actually runs their network. Plus, it makes no sense that they would throttle the speeds for the upgrade. Nothing about the upgrade needs speeds throttled. All they have to do is update the software at the towers to support HSPA+, then ADD bandwidth. I think he's talking out of his ass personally.
AJerman said:
Yeah, I agree, I doubt this guy knows anything. Higher up in retail customer service still knows very little about how AT&T actually runs their network. Plus, it makes no sense that they would throttle the speeds for the upgrade. Nothing about the upgrade needs speeds throttled. All they have to do is update the software at the towers to support HSPA+, then ADD bandwidth. I think he's talking out of his ass personally.
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No, you get it backwards . Add bandwidth to a tower means lay out new fiber cables which means $$$.
So, in order to support the added speed of HSPA+ devices, while not adding any new bandwidth to the backhaul, they have to throttle down everyone that's not on HSPA+ (that's us) so that there is enough bandwidth left for HSPA+ phones.
For business point of view throwing money into HSPA+ network right now is not a good investment. AT&T will rather save that money towards LTE deployement (which will be new infrastructure).
Just to clarify, his first job is not customer service. I'm lucky enough to have what AT&T considers a "Premier" store. So on staff at all times are your normal sales people plus a supervisor, a Network technician and/or supervisor , dedicated U-verse techs and supervisor and usually someone higher than that in store. Walking into the store is kinda like walking into a corporate meeting.
Like I said earlier, he has never wronged me yet with the information that he has given out. Lots of things he'll skirt because he has to, but if you hit him with some leading questions, he'll usually divulge... to a point. Kinda like a smirking nod while telling you he doesn't have that information.
foxbat121 said:
No, you get it backwards . Add bandwidth to a tower means lay out new fiber cables which means $$$.
So, in order to support the added speed of HSPA+ devices, while not adding any new bandwidth to the backhaul, they have to throttle down everyone that's not on HSPA+ (that's us) so that there is enough bandwidth left for HSPA+ phones.
For business point of view throwing money into HSPA+ network right now is not a good investment. AT&T will rather save that money towards LTE deployement (which will be new infrastructure).
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I think you're a little over the edge on how evil AT&T is. Besides, they need the bandwidth for LTE as well, just like they need it for HSPA+. HSPA+ is just a software upgrade on the towers, plus more bandwidth, so investing in building HSPA+ is logical while building LTE, which is why they are doing both.
foxbat121 said:
No, you get it backwards . Add bandwidth to a tower means lay out new fiber cables which means $$$.
So, in order to support the added speed of HSPA+ devices, while not adding any new bandwidth to the backhaul, they have to throttle down everyone that's not on HSPA+ (that's us) so that there is enough bandwidth left for HSPA+ phones.
For business point of view throwing money into HSPA+ network right now is not a good investment. AT&T will rather save that money towards LTE deployement (which will be new infrastructure).
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Couldn't have put it better myself.
AJerman said:
I think you're a little over the edge on how evil AT&T is. Besides, they need the bandwidth for LTE as well, just like they need it for HSPA+. HSPA+ is just a software upgrade on the towers, plus more bandwidth, so investing in building HSPA+ is logical while building LTE, which is why they are doing both.
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Not evil, just bad network planning. They famously got up at a conference in NYC over a year ago and said "stop using so much bandwidth!" (http://www.businessinsider.com/att-ceo-iphone-data-hogs-were-coming-after-you-2009-12). They thought they could get to LTE without having to put more into HSPA. Well, their CTO should have been fired in my opinion.
Bottom line is don't underestimate the cost of backhaul. And software upgrades to HSPA+ radios are still not cheap. It is pretty well known in the industry that AT&T is turning off and/or throttling specific HSPA services market by market depending on backhaul constraints and other congestion issues. And Foxbat is 100% correct in saying they would rather hold off on further HSPA investments and focus on LTE which is more efficient at both radio access and wired transport.
I have a friend that manages a corporate store. I asked him when I got the Attix, why the speeds were about the same as the Captivate. He said basically the same thing. Until the backhaul is completed we are stuck with the current speeds.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
AJerman said:
I think you're a little over the edge on how evil AT&T is.
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Then, tell me why AT&T goes out of its way to disable HSUPA on our phones via firmware (all except iPhones).
Besides, they need the bandwidth for LTE as well, just like they need it for HSPA+. HSPA+ is just a software upgrade on the towers, plus more bandwidth, so investing in building HSPA+ is logical while building LTE, which is why they are doing both.
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As I said, LTE is a different deployment project and different network. They will have to keep both LTE and HSPA/HSPA+ running in parallel. And for all we know, LTE deployment probably hasn't started yet.
First off, I have yet to experience any of the issues mentioned in this post. I live in Michigan and I have excellent HSDPA and 3G speeds on my Captivate. They have not changed since before I even had an Android device... (I'm thinkin back to my iPhone3GS...)
Not to mention the fact that, if they were to reduce anyones bandwidth access below the rate that you pay for, you'd be entitled to free service or some other compensation. You pay for a service. That service is required to be consistent or you do not have to pay. (with regard to downed lines and other technical malfunctions)
They cannot just randomly go into their servers and start limiting bandwidth access below what people are paying for simply because they think they will require more bandwidth for some update of some sort. That is a crime. I doubt AT&T wants to flirt with that...
Not to mention, the latest firmware update that went out for Captivate devices was not OverTheAir. Thus that does not apply in this situation.
Also, they do not require increased bandwidth for OTA updates for that matter. Any time an OTA update is scheduled they account for the updates requirements prior to making it live. On scheduled OTA updates they configure the update itself so you can easily obtain the update on your normal 3G connection.
IF there ever was a situation where more bandwidth was required for an update of any kind AT&T would recommend and/or require WiFi access before they would mess around with bandwidth access to their customers!
And if you didn't have access to a WiFi AP then they would recommend taking a trip up to the AT&T store, nearest you.
So all this hoopla about them slowing down bandwidth access and yadda yadda is exactly that, a bunch of hoopla...
It's more than likely either technical maintenance in your area or you're device is not operating properly.
foxbat121 said:
Then, tell me why AT&T goes out of its way to disable HSUPA on our phones via firmware (all except iPhones).
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HSUPA is High Speed UPLOAD Packet Access. It's very rare that your device would require these speeds for uploading data. HSUPA is also not part of your contract agreement. Only the download speeds are. Look into it.
foxbat121 said:
As I said, LTE is a different deployment project and different network. They will have to keep both LTE and HSPA/HSPA+ running in parallel. And for all we know, LTE deployment probably hasn't started yet.
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Thus how would this type of update affect any of our bandwidth access? Simply put, it wouldn't. Service interruptions are something I'm more than positive AT&T would much rather avoid.
RaptorOne3 said:
First off, I have yet to experience any of the issues mentioned in this post. I live in Michigan and I have excellent HSDPA and 3G speeds on my Captivate. They have not changed since before I even had an Android device... (I'm thinkin back to my iPhone3GS...)
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The congestion of the AT&T network varies city by city. If you have excellent connection, good for you because you happen to live in a area that does not have a lot of smartphone traffics. Not so in big cities.
Not to mention the fact that, if they were to reduce anyones bandwidth access below the rate that you pay for, you'd be entitled to free service or some other compensation. You pay for a service. That service is required to be consistent or you do not have to pay. (with regard to downed lines and other technical malfunctions)
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You're living in fantasy land, my friend. No ISP in US ever guarantees connection speed for consumer grade services. On the contrary, all ISPs oversells its bandwidth (the only way to make money).
They only guarantee bandwidth for commerical grade services. Hence why business pay thousands per month for essential the same bandwidth while individuals pay less than 1/10 of that. So, if a company pays for 10mbps connection, the ISP must ensure the QoS and preserve enough bandwidth for that customer. However, if a consumer pays for 10mbps connection, ISP put 10 or 20 or even more accounts on the same 10mbps pipe to share the bandwidth. So, if you're the only one on line that time, you get all 10mbps. But if 20 ppl is online at the same time, your effective bandwidth is about 500kbps.
RaptorOne3 said:
First off, I have yet to experience any of the issues mentioned in this post. I live in Michigan and I have excellent HSDPA and 3G speeds on my Captivate.
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Like I said, it's only in specific markets where the backhaul is reaching congestion thresholds on a regular basis. I would venture a guess that smartphone density in Detroit is lower than some other parts of the country.
RaptorOne3 said:
Not to mention the fact that, if they were to reduce anyones bandwidth access below the rate that you pay for, you'd be entitled to free service or some other compensation. You pay for a service. That service is required to be consistent or you do not have to pay. (with regard to downed lines and other technical malfunctions)
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Really? What data rate did you pay for? Is it in your contract? I think you'll find that you have no guaranteed data rate unless you are signed up to some sort of QoS plan that I've never heard of. You are on what everyone else is on and it's called "best effort data" meaning it could be 7.2Mbps or it could be 1kbps. Check the agreed service levels in your contract before making such a claim.
RaptorOne3 said:
They cannot just randomly go into their servers and start limiting bandwidth access below what people are paying for simply because they think they will require more bandwidth for some update of some sort. That is a crime. I doubt AT&T wants to flirt with that...
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Uhhh, they do. They have whole systems dedicated to doing exactly that.
Hi,
I've been looking through GS4G threads and haven't seen any posts on the GS4G threads about this. I'm pretty disappointed with this phone, but I have a lot of confidence that with the mods that can come out it'll be a good investment. I originally was informed that the phone can be rooted and rommed to make it its own wifi without needing to pay for internet access through the carriers and that's why I bought it. (I think it was by using Busybox? I don't remember) - but has anyone done this and is it really possible to do this? So many sales points made by the TM guys have proven to be wrong, I am now questioning this point also.
My phone was unlocked by a local service for $30 after 3 minutes work. I now have Simple Mobile and I'm happier than I was with TM. It does still seem that everything has to be routed through Goog, nearly every function must pass through the cloud and that's why so much data use is sucked up so quickly and my experience so far is that the Android platform is either surprisingly unstable or so far advanced that a simple mind such my own cannot quite grasp it's nuances...yet.
But I digress - can this phone be made into it's own internet AP without having to pay TM, ATT, etc?
All helpful comments welcomed and acknowleged.
Cheers,
Moved to proper forum
I search a wiget hotspot on market n work very good for wifi tether
Sent from my SGH-T959V using XDA App
built in wifi
The Mobile AP works without being charged.
Hmm...
So are you saying that you want to be able to use data service on your phone without paying for the data service...or are you saying that you have data service and want to tether or use your phone as a hotspot to use your data plan on another device without paying the AP fee?
If it's the former...I really don't think that that is possible...because everyone would be doing it. The data part of my family plan is something like 60 bucks...I'd love to be saving that every month. The fact is, none of the carriers would allow that. The data is tracked and I can't imagine it would be possible to sneak it under their radars without getting a nasty letter.
If it's the latter, yes. Root your phone (In most cases) and download a free tethering or wifi app (I use EasyTether, but there are several out there). Follow instructions. Easy Peasy. Tethering and/or Mobile AP without paying the $15 or whatever fee. But (And someone correct me if I'm wrong here) I do not think that you can use tethering or mobile AP without having a paid for data service from a carrier. Sorry.
There are also people saying that if you use the built in tethering/mobile AP ability on your device without having paid for the service through T-mo, that as long as use it lightly, T-mo will ignore it. I have heard accounts of people using it too much and getting an email from T-mo basically saying "Hey quit that...pay for it, you greedy bastard" (Paraphrased).
Also...What exactly is your disappointment with this device? If you let us know exactly what your issues with it are...there is a chance that we can give you advice or a workaround to get the most of your device...that's what we're for. At very least we can point you to a thread that already exists to help you out.
Pretty simple... the mobile ap included within the phone works fine.... use it as an AP as much as you like.. tmobile's fine with it cuz they know as soon as you hit the 5gb thresh your gonna be throttled down. Doesn't matter if you root and download 3rd party AP software cuz as soon as you hit the 5gb your all done.
In my opinion I think this is totally fine for TMOBile to do.. although I wish they were clear about the 5gb cap when you sign the 2year agreement. I had Sprint 4g before this and Att before that and this is the first internet connection I would drop my home internet for.... of course if it had true unlimited bandwidth. At work and at home I get a steady 7+mbps down and 1.5mpbs up with a 65 to 100 ping... when I'm using it at home it hardly seems noticeably slower or less snappy than my 20mbps comcast connection.
I think ultimately if they are going to throttle they should raise the limitation to about 15gb or so and be very upfront to the customer when they sign... That would take away about 99 percent of the complaints they get and give us some headroom.. also would still guarantee no one's gonna be running their website or downloading 100's of gigs of torrents over a cell tower..
All carriers throttle...no carriers have "true" unlimited data. T-Mo is pretty upfront about the throttling. I mean...it's there...in black in white. I knew about it when I signed up for my service. There's no reason that anyone doing any form of research before just jumping into a two-year contract would not be able to find that information as well.
Also...the reason they throttle is to keep users from using it as their home internet. That's not what it is intended for and if everyone was doing that...it would prolly have cataclysmic effects on the network (Again...correct me if I'm wrong here).
I have a hard time believing that your mobile connection is faster than your home cable internet...But I can't prove my suspicion...so that aside, the 5gb limit is way more than enough if you are using your mobile internet for just browsing and downloading apps or streaming media. I would consider myself I pretty hard-core mobile internet user and I have never hit 5gb in a month...that being said...I'm also not trying to use it as my home internet. I don't use it to download torrents or stream entire movies or play online games. Besides...T-mo only throttles your bandwidth after hitting 5gb...at least they don't shut you down like other carriers.
The fact is...there is no Unlimited mobile data...but as far as it goes...T-Mo has the best plan out there. Great coverage, 4g, 5gb limit and only then they throttle you back a bit.
Sigh...I should be working in the mobile technology business...instead I'm working a mind-numbing production job for **** pay. Not applicable to the thread...but I really felt like pining.
wmikemoon said:
All carriers throttle...no carriers have "true" unlimited data. T-Mo is pretty upfront about the throttling. I mean...it's there...in black in white. I knew about it when I signed up for my service. There's no reason that anyone doing any form of research before just jumping into a two-year contract would not be able to find that information as well.
Also...the reason they throttle is to keep users from using it as their home internet. That's not what it is intended for and if everyone was doing that...it would prolly have cataclysmic effects on the network (Again...correct me if I'm wrong here).
I have a hard time believing that your mobile connection is faster than your home cable internet...But I can't prove my suspicion...so that aside, the 5gb limit is way more than enough if you are using your mobile internet for just browsing and downloading apps or streaming media. I would consider myself I pretty hard-core mobile internet user and I have never hit 5gb in a month...that being said...I'm also not trying to use it as my home internet. I don't use it to download torrents or stream entire movies or play online games. Besides...T-mo only throttles your bandwidth after hitting 5gb...at least they don't shut you down like other carriers.
The fact is...there is no Unlimited mobile data...but as far as it goes...T-Mo has the best plan out there. Great coverage, 4g, 5gb limit and only then they throttle you back a bit.
Sigh...I should be working in the mobile technology business...instead I'm working a mind-numbing production job for **** pay. Not applicable to the thread...but I really felt like pining.
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A lot of what you say is true but, I was not told about the throttling when I got my UNLIMITED DATA plan. I came from a company that had truly UNLIMITED DATA. I was with them since 2006 and never once had a letter about my data use nor was I EVER throttled. I had excellent Download speeds and could easily use streaming media. That company was Alltel. It is the BEST cell phone service I have ever had. Unfortunately, they sold out in my area first to Verizon in Maricopa county then AT&T in Pinal county Arizona. This is a great loss. With TMO I get 2G Edge speed at best unless I drive 40 miles into town. On my laptop it takes 3 to 5 minutes to load my gmail account. Where I am at I can get satellite or cell service only for internet. I am a truck driver so it doesn’t pay to get satellite because I am not home enough to use it. At best I get 16 t0 20KB/SEC down. I reached my 5GB limit this weekend and am being throttled for the next week or so. I talked to customer service and explained my situation to a supervisor and her comment was “It looks like we are throttling all the time and now throttling you even more. When I talk to the rep at the TMO store a week or so ago about the throttling he failed to tell me about he admitted that TMO would slow my service from 4G down to 2G. What TMO has done to me was slow me down to 1G. Right now it takes 3 to 4 minutes’ to download 1MB. I had faster download speeds with NETZERO dialup for $8.00 a month back in the 90’s. I was miss-lead by TMO both in their advertising and thru representation. I can’t say I blame my rep so much because I’m sure they are trained to only give you enough information to make the sale, which means they are trained to withhold the TRUTH or at least not disclose the meaning on “UNLIMITED” unless you pry it out of them. Truthfully, I like the people at my TMO store. They are very helpful. It’s just they are bound by the corporate Greed that makes their paycheck. I will likely not be with TMO much longer. I like my phone but the service sucks.
It works just fine.
Don't abuse it, use it only when needed and you will be fine. Otherwise, they will "recommend" you to add the whatever-is-called-tethering add on.
In fact, everyone: Don't abuse it and they will probably leave it as it is... Until the att takeover takes place (ouch)
fosormic said:
It works just fine.
Don't abuse it, use it only when needed and you will be fine. Otherwise, they will "recommend" you to add the whatever-is-called-tethering add on.
In fact, everyone: Don't abuse it and they will probably leave it as it is... Until the att takeover takes place (ouch)
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With that attitude you will conform to whatever these corporations want to shove down our throats. Every day corporations are charging us more and more and giving us less and less. Then they buy up the few companies left that are giving us value for our money. Soon we will back to one choice like back in the Ma Bell days and you will be standing right up front saluting the Beast.
Like I said...All carriers throttle. I'm glad that a company that is not around anymore didn't throttle...but that was also before mobile data really took off. I'm pretty sure what happened is people started using mobile data for their home internet and started clogging the tubes (or you know...airwaves or whatever) and the major carriers did what they had to do...which means throttling. If they didn't throttle...people would be using mobile data for their home use and making it so people, like myself who pay for cable internet but like to browse or whatever on the go, would suffer...which isn't fair considering me and people like me are using (and paying for) the mobile data for what it is intended for.
In your last post you berated a fellow poster for saying to use the tethering but not to abuse it. You basically said that his attitude was that of a conformer to major corporations...This boggles my mind. Really and truly...T-mo wants you to pay for the tethering and if you use it without paying for it...you are rebelling to corporate standards...so your comment makes no sense.
The fact that T-mo takes the stance that they do on the tethering without paying for tethering thing earns my respect. They're basically saying "You know what...we ****ed up and made it so you can use the tethering option without paying for it...just don't be a **** and we'll look the other way."
Also, If you root and or mod your phone in any way...and something happens and you have to send your phone in to T-mo...they tend to look the other way. Can Verizon or Att say that? Hell no...Att is trying to make it so their phones CAN'T be rooted or modded in anyway. Ask an Atrix user.
Sounds like to me you are just whining because T-mo didn't tell you about the throttling. Again, I stand by my earlier statement...Do your research before jumping into a Two-Year contract. It's there...everything is...you just have to READ it. That goes for ANYTHING that you sign a contract for. When you buy a new car...do you just skip everything the contract says and sign it? Of course not. You read that **** because you don't wanna be screwed. Companies exist to make money off of you...plain and simple...so if they make you sign a contract...you best do your research to know exactly what they are offering...and if you don't....I have absolutely no sympathy for you what-so-ever. It's you with the egg on your face...just because you didn't take the time to read.
I agree with tmobile on Throttling to a degree.. and I understand the reasoning BUT.. I still believe their advertising and plans are a bit misleading... For example I went to a tmobile store here in Eugene.. talked about plans and speeds with a tmo rep and was told nothing about the limits. Also I bought my galaxy 4g at Radio Shack and also was told nothing about it.. I looked on TMO's website and found in their agreement this>>>>>>> "Your data session, plan, or service may be slowed, suspended, terminated, or restricted if you use your service in a way that interferes with or impacts our network or ability to provide quality service to other users"
That is pretty vague when in reality there is a solid 5gb max.. whether it's on your 1st day of service or 2nd to last day...
I knew about the limits before only because of these message forums... but even after reading the fine print i wouldn't have known for sure
Protective Measures: To provide a good experience for the majority of our customers and minimize capacity issues and degradation in network performance, we may take measures including temporarily reducing data throughput for a subset of customers who use a disproportionate amount of bandwidth. If your total usage exceeds 5GB (amount is subject to change without notice; please check T-Mobile’s T&Cs on www.T-Mobile.com for updates) during a billing cycle, we may reduce your data speed for the remainder of that billing cycle. If you use your Data Plan in a manner that could interfere with other customers’ service, affect our ability to allocate network capacity among customers, or degrade service quality for other customers, we may suspend, terminate, or restrict your data session, or switch you to a more appropriate Data Plan.
Copied from the Terms and Conditions which has a link on literally every single page on T-Mo's website and is clearly marked in the section titled "Data Plans and Other Features".
Alternatively, on Verizon's site...You can only get to the details about their data package after adding a voice plan and phone to your cart...at which point it gives a vague description of their throttling rules that do not mention exact amounts. It just says that it can throttle your speed whenever it feels like.
So again...not seeing a problem here...
Using GS4G as hot spot
Thanks for all your replies. It took me a while to find where the thread went.
Yes, I did mean turning the phone into it's own router/internet AP without tethering. My BB used Tether and it was great and that of course used my data plan from SPrint. No problem with that - I'm a very light user. But Android is different - just about every app uses the web so it's a data hog, even though I'm a light user.
I know that TM and others permit tethering as a built in or as a work around with a third party app. But I was told - apparently incorrectly - that the GS4G could do the same thing as a router without any cap set by the carrier. Hmm. Maybe there's a way to develop and independent app to do just that... but that's way beyond my pay grade.
Misc - 1). I guess I filed this thread under the wrong heading. Sorry, Mr. C and thanks for the course correction; 2). What issues do I have with the phone? Well, the biggest one is that suddenly - after I changed to Simple Mobile from TM, I can no longer access the login page to my third party office scheduler. Previously, I could at least access the login page, login and view the appointments, but it crashed every time I tried to make an app using the phone (but not using a laptop). Support told me that a mobile Android app has to be customized in order to work because of the page loading limitations of the Android system - whatever that means - and that maybe in a few months they'll have an app. In the meantime, they recommend using a sync with GooCal. But GC seems to flub the time zone differences between when you post an appointment online and when it is synced to the phone. I thought that Goo had fixed that, but I still see West Coast time on the GooCal website and the correct East Coast time on the phone. I'm so confused! Does anyone know if GooCal is HIPAA compliant for a medical practice? If not; anyone use another service that IS compliant on their Annie device? Another problem I had - now resolved by my ISP provider - was that Android didn't support the wav file for my voice mails. Now it does. If not, that would've been a deal breaker. Also, I was told - apparently ALSO incorrectly by TM - that visual voice mail was a speech to text app. Nope. It just plays an audio and you can see the date and time and phone number and pause it. Big whoop. I'm told that Google Voice IS a real, but perhaps flawed, speech to text voice mail conversion, but I don't think it will work for business purposes. I thought about Line two, but was told their visual voice mail is only like TM's visual voice, not speech to text. Lastly, TM said you could dictate reports with a pre-loaded, stock dictation/speech to text app. Nope again. Um, I think that covers it. Any experience with any of these glitches?
I think that his site rocks and everyone thinking of buying any cell or service should come here first and just not even bother with any of the carriers' sales personnel. But the carriers aren't interested in selling to folks like us, are they? They want the masses who just plug and play. OK. No quarrel with that. I'm just glad we're not ALL forced to PnP and this site, we don't have to. I do think that adding Mods and rooting are the way to go, but I'm a Mac guy and everything here seems PCentric. so I may have to wait till I get my hands on a Win 7 machine for half an hour. (No, I don't run Parallels - had a bad experience with a couple of early versions).
I'm still a GS4G booster to date and I'm going to try new things with it. But so far it makes me wish it was more intuitive.
Cheers,
wmikemoon said:
Protective Measures: To provide a good experience for the majority of our customers and minimize capacity issues and degradation in network performance, we may take measures including temporarily reducing data throughput for a subset of customers who use a disproportionate amount of bandwidth. If your total usage exceeds 5GB (amount is subject to change without notice; please check T-Mobile’s T&Cs on www.T-Mobile.com for updates) during a billing cycle, we may reduce your data speed for the remainder of that billing cycle. If you use your Data Plan in a manner that could interfere with other customers’ service, affect our ability to allocate network capacity among customers, or degrade service quality for other customers, we may suspend, terminate, or restrict your data session, or switch you to a more appropriate Data Plan.
Copied from the Terms and Conditions which has a link on literally every single page on T-Mo's website and is clearly marked in the section titled "Data Plans and Other Features".
Alternatively, on Verizon's site...You can only get to the details about their data package after adding a voice plan and phone to your cart...at which point it gives a vague description of their throttling rules that do not mention exact amounts. It just says that it can throttle your speed whenever it feels like.
So again...not seeing a problem here...
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When I asked the TMO rep “This data plan has UNLIMITED DATA”? He said YES. He made no mention of the 5GB “LIMIT”. Therefore he misrepresented the product. These companies falsely advertise their products with misleading information to make it look bigger than life in an attempt to lock us in to a two year contract. You are saying that because they hide the gory details somewhere in their web pages that makes it OK. You speculate that the reason Alltel went out of business is because of over usage by their customers clogging their lines. I don’t know where you did your research but I never had any issues with service failure due to over usage or any other issues for that matter. You said “All carriers throttle”. I was never throttled ONCE by Alltel. I guess that may be true now, since the only decent service provider has been acquired by their Big Brother Corporations. If they were still in business I would still be there. Would it not be a novel Idea to invest in their network so they can handle the added throughput, and provide a robust network that gives us the service they promised us in their advertising? I don’t have any problem with paying for a product or service I want. I do have a problem with companies that lie or mislead about their product. TMO puts it out there in LARGE WORDS “UNLIMITED DATA” then hides the gory details in other places. Your attitude is that’s just fine with you. If more people would not take the BULL-onie that these Corporations are shoving down our throats and demand HONISTY in advertising we would be getting a better value for our money. You are dam right when you say I am rebelling to corporate standards. Corporations do not have our best interests in mind. They are only concerned about profit. If they can do away with competition, there is more profit for the higher-ups. Then you lose your job and the public looses their choice and gets less value. You choose to justify what these corporations are doing to our nation and put on blindfolds to the truth.
I gladly respect and give fosormic his right to his opinion. I just think that attitude promotes the passive nature that has allowed this country to go down the tubes and be taken over by greedy corporate money barons. People in this country have to have the Balls to stand up and be heard if this nation is to survive.
If you want to get worked up about something look into "'net neutrality" -- that's a cause worth fighting.
Yes, it is "easy" to hit a 5 GB cap. Yes, it is very clearly called out in the T&C of the phone -- You had 14 days in most states (30 days in California) to read that and get a full refund if you didn't agree.
The T-Mobile data service is arguably "unlimited" -- once you hit the cap, you are free to continue.
As speeds increase and more people have a phone capable of sustained and reliable rates over 1 Mbps, then you will see consumer pressure for higher caps. Until then, welcome to the bleeding edge...
Dude...you are getting way too bent over this.
You keep making T-mo out to be a terrible carrier...I'm just trying to convince you that they are the lesser of the evils.
nwpro3 said:
When I asked the TMO rep “This data plan has UNLIMITED DATA”? He said YES. He made no mention of the 5GB “LIMIT”. Therefore he misrepresented the product.
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No...he told the truth. It is unlimited data. The alternative to unlimited data is what Att does which is set a limit and then charge you when you go over that limit. It is (or should be at this point) common knowledge that if you have a mobile data plan that is unlimited...your carrier will throttle you if you use too much.
nwpro3 said:
You are saying that because they hide the gory details somewhere in their web pages that makes it OK. You speculate that the reason Alltel went out of business is because of over usage by their customers clogging their lines.
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Um...no and no. I'm saying that it's there for you to read in the place that you should read before committing to a two-year contract. We're not talking about fine print locked away in a website that can only be found by searching one specific term...It's the TERMS & CONDITIONS and there is LITERALLY A LINK ON EVERY SINGLE PAGE ON THEIR WEBSITE. They are not hiding it...I really don't see why you think they are. Also...I never speculated why Alltel went out of business...I don't know why and I don't really care. They are not around anymore and have not been for a while so there really is no point in talking about it.
nwpro3 said:
Would it not be a novel Idea to invest in their network so they can handle the added throughput, and provide a robust network that gives us the service they promised us in their advertising? I don’t have any problem with paying for a product or service I want. I do have a problem with companies that lie or mislead about their product. TMO puts it out there in LARGE WORDS “UNLIMITED DATA” then hides the gory details in other places.
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It's for MOBILE DATA. That's what the network is intended for...NOT HOME INTERNET. The service you want is HOME BROADBAND. If that's what you want...get that. They offer unlimited downloads and never throttle your speed because their service is intended to be used on a massive scale. What you are doing is like...Going to McDonalds and wondering why they aren't serving high class food. It's a restaurant...They serve food...gotta be the same as a 5-star restaurant...WHY AREN'T THEY SERVING 5-STAR FOOD!? Because you're looking in the wrong place, dude. If you want home internet...get home internet...stop expecting all of the carriers to conform to what you want when they are clearly just not set up for it.
Stop dissing T-mo...T-mo is the best carrier out there for what people on this site want from a carrier. Basically...they love nerds and are very very fair. Yes...the T-mo Customer Service people in store aren't the brightest people in the world...But it's because they are hired based on customer service experience not technology knowledge (Techknowledgy!? COINED IT!)...if they were A) I wouldn't be working on a Production Line making 8 an hour and B) Mobile phone customer service reps would know what the **** they were talking about.
Word?
@Whiskey Tango - Go to Menu>settings>Wireless Network>Mobile AP> Activate Mobile AP. This is what works for me, idk if maybe simple mobile is any different then tmobile or not.
So if you already have a data plan, you should be able to make your phone a "router". I have let many friends (w/iphones & att) use my mobile AP and it was 10 x's faster than there data connection.
I also tether my pc to my phone and have been able to load any page I went to.
Maybe I'm totally missing the question. Wouldn't be the first time.
wmikemoon said:
Dude...you are getting way too bent over this.
You keep making T-mo out to be a terrible carrier...I'm just trying to convince you that they are the lesser of the evils.
No...he told the truth. It is unlimited data. The alternative to unlimited data is what Att does which is set a limit and then charge you when you go over that limit. It is (or should be at this point) common knowledge that if you have a mobile data plan that is unlimited...your carrier will throttle you if you use too much.
Um...no and no. I'm saying that it's there for you to read in the place that you should read before committing to a two-year contract. We're not talking about fine print locked away in a website that can only be found by searching one specific term...It's the TERMS & CONDITIONS and there is LITERALLY A LINK ON EVERY SINGLE PAGE ON THEIR WEBSITE. They are not hiding it...I really don't see why you think they are. Also...I never speculated why Alltel went out of business...I don't know why and I don't really care. They are not around anymore and have not been for a while so there really is no point in talking about it.
It's for MOBILE DATA. That's what the network is intended for...NOT HOME INTERNET. The service you want is HOME BROADBAND. If that's what you want...get that. They offer unlimited downloads and never throttle your speed because their service is intended to be used on a massive scale. What you are doing is like...Going to McDonalds and wondering why they aren't serving high class food. It's a restaurant...They serve food...gotta be the same as a 5-star restaurant...WHY AREN'T THEY SERVING 5-STAR FOOD!? Because you're looking in the wrong place, dude. If you want home internet...get home internet...stop expecting all of the carriers to conform to what you want when they are clearly just not set up for it.
Stop dissing T-mo...T-mo is the best carrier out there for what people on this site want from a carrier. Basically...they love nerds and are very very fair. Yes...the T-mo Customer Service people in store aren't the brightest people in the world...But it's because they are hired based on customer service experience not technology knowledge (Techknowledgy!? COINED IT!)...if they were A) I wouldn't be working on a Production Line making 8 an hour and B) Mobile phone customer service reps would know what the **** they were talking about.
Word?
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I agree with the statement TMO is the lesser of two evils. I have had cell service with all the majors: Verizon, Sprint, Cingular/ATT, Alltel and now TMO. Unfortunately the only one that gave me decent service is no longer around. I went to TMO because they advertise unlimited data and when I talked to the rep he said they also have an unlimited voice plan. I am looking for the best value I can get. I’ve been around a long time and have watched this corporate mentality lower the standards of living for most Americans. Part of why this is happening is the passive nature of people in America. We have become complacent. We are not demanding enough on these companies that deceive us with their advertising and then don’t give us what they promise.
I am using this as my primary internet as I said because I drive truck and not home enough to warrant getting satellite service, which is my only other option where I live. Realistically when I am on the road I probably will not hit the 5GB limit very often. What sucks is while I am at home I get this lousy EDGE speed. After further checking, Sprint, ATT and Verizon all have 3G from the same tower that TMO gives me 2G and then TMO throttles that to 1G or less. So yes, I’m pissed off. But then I have taken action and voiced my concern to TMO. The result is I’ve been released from my contract. I have the option of going to another provider. The problem is I’m already with the lesser of the evils and next year there will be even less choice. I haven’t been out on the road yet to see what TMO will provide for service then. I will probably keep the service for a while until I see what kind of service I get on the road, and then decide my next move.
Hey guys, anybody else having problem once they activate the AP settings on there phone? I can get my computer to connect to the phone, and yet i can't get access to the internet on my laptop (vista).
With my OG Evo coming to a slow end in support (Thanks to ALL the devs btw for the BEAUTIFUL roms) and my contract coming to an end in March, I'm looking to decide to either stay on Sprint, or switch to the other two widely known markets.
I would like some pros and cons from REAL users and devs here please. Any dope can google, but I trust only those said in XDA. I would like to get a GS3 for xmas, but I need to decide to either get it for sprint, or wait and see what I can do when my contract comes up. A close friend of mine says ATT atm is the way to go with their HSPA+ networks as 4g is old, and LTE isn't as widely available yet. But I'm worried about dropped calls and customer support... AND/OR pricing plans. I'd like something under 100$/mo as my sprint atm is only 85.
It really depends on your area and the infrastructure. Personally, switching to T-Mobile was a great choice for me - I have great coverage all over my city. I'm on the $30/mo plan with 100 minutes, unlimited texting and 5Gb of data at 4G speeds (throttled after). It's great for me because I used an average of 100 minutes a month (all minutes factored in) - some people use VOIP to make that go farther, but it depends on your needs.
What carrier offers what you need ? Do you really want to enter another contract ? Does a contract offer give you any benefits (roaming, mobile-to-mobile, et cetera) ? What do you actually need and use ? How many minutes / texts / data ?
As for network technology and "the future", I don't know. Do you use tons of data ? Does it have to be super-fast ? Chances are that by the time a contract is up or a phone has seen better days, the technology is going to be in a different place, anyway. Streaming Netflix is about as heavy use as I do and it only uses 1/5 of the bandwidth available to me. I'm sure data and use will be changing in the future, but who knows what it will be like when it's time to get a new phone / contract ? Who knows what mergers and agreements will happen between then and now ?
I never experienced a "dropped call" on any network - and although I spend most of the time in the city (where there's great coverage on any network), I live in the boonies and routinely made calls on my way to and from work - and I've done so on every network but ATT. But clearly I don't make THAT many calls if I'm only using an average of 100 minutes a month.
I would think for that kind of information, it would be best to ask locally. When I was shopping around for a new phone-plan, I asked all my co-workers who they had and if they liked it.
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Stay with Sprint!!
Hey there,
Stick with Sprint for sure. Although other carriers are presently better in coverage in certain areas, you can't beat what is on the horizon for Sprint!! Nextel is being decomissioned, towers being migrated to Sprint, LTE being integrated into them as well as existing towers. Exciting frontier of change coming from Sprint. Sprint also has the most spectrum (essentially air rights regulated by the fcc inhibiting wireless growth) aka wireless realestate! Sprint comes in slightly higher than double the nearest carrier being verizon. Once what Sprint calls Network Vision (their network overhall) is complete, we will be so far advanced compared to nearest competitor. Not to mention the prices in correlation to being the only carrier who offers truly unlimited, unthrottled data blows it all up out of the water. This is both publicized and internal information known in correlation to recent and soon mergers. Trust me
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