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£1170 pounds bill from o2

hi all just got my monthly bill from o2 today and the cheeky buggers have charged me over a grand for gprs . the funny thing is i dont even use the gprs on my xda2i . so first port of call was to call them and ask what do they think they r playing at . i stated to them i dont even use my gprs on my phone and never have . anyway after talking to 1 of there so called managers he said that the only thing it could be is that someone has hacked into my phone and used my gprs or my gprs is broke on my phone and somehow it has been sending and reciving data . anyway i said to them so what do i do as i am not going to pay this bill of over a grand not a chance . anyway he said i had to put it in wrighting to them stating what happend and send a copy of the bill also . and he also said to cancal my direct debit so i have . the cheek of them the guy said a thousand pound was a lot of gprs data and i said maybe it is a lot of data but it has nothing to do with me . so i have just typed up a 2 page letter to them and it will be in the post first thing in the morning . i will tell u how i get on in the near future when they get back to me . anyway direct debit cancled . o2 bunch of fools why o why did i go back to this company . i have had nothing but trouble with them . just thought i would share my thoughts with all of u

Wow. What rate have they supposedly charged you at? Is it physically possible to have used that much data?
£1120 lets say at £3 p/m is 350 meg or 10 meg a day. Hmmmmm.
But lets say it's £1 a meg for big contract customers, 30 meg a day? They've gotta be kidding!
Never heard of anyone 'hacking' gprs unless they have cloned your sim in which case Jupiter ( as was the o2 billing system) would have picked up 2 handsets on the network at the same time and flagged it.
Richard

maybe u r right i am not sure . either way i dont use the gprs . on my phone and never have i use the wireless while sitting about the house ats it . still i cant wait to see what o2 have to say . coz at the end of the day i am not going to pay this bill not a chance . if ppl cant hack into My phone then the gprs must be broke or something . god i am scared to use my phone as i dont no what else they think they can bi l me for ... still life goes on eh

are you sure the charge is for gprs and not actually for dial up WAP access?
my charmer for some reason, decided to connect to the net overnight (while i was asleep) via dial up WAP even though i have a permanent and unlimited GPRS access.
i noticed this immeadiately in the morning, checked my account online and saw the £37 plus vat charges applied for WAP, called them up and had WAP disabled and the charges refunded.
the most common reason for this to happen is your email/IM or some other prog you have installed set to automatically connect to the net.
on my charmer i suspect it was actually pocket weather doing the deed.
i have applied my own back up fix "just in case" and have taken out of the dial up settings all the "9"'s and replaced them with "x"'s so it cannot dial up at all but if i should need to, i can quickly undo this fix to connect

fluffcat1 said:
Wow. What rate have they supposedly charged you at? Is it physically possible to have used that much data?
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Click to collapse
When they incorrectly charged me for two days data in March (thanks O2!!) it came to £117*.
Of course they don't do refunds, but credits, which means they still want you to pay the incorrect bill, to be credited later. Fools.
Can't wait until T-Mobile brings out the Hermes, then I'm gone from O2 forever.
(*I stream radio a lot, and use push email a lot, and download from RSS feeds a lot.)

According to my online bill i'm still not getting charged for GPRS access.

fluffcat1 said:
Wow. What rate have they supposedly charged you at? Is it physically possible to have used that much data?
£1120 lets say at £3 p/m is 350 meg or 10 meg a day. Hmmmmm.
But lets say it's £1 a meg for big contract customers, 30 meg a day? They've gotta be kidding!
Never heard of anyone 'hacking' gprs unless they have cloned your sim in which case Jupiter ( as was the o2 billing system) would have picked up 2 handsets on the network at the same time and flagged it.
Richard
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm not actually suprised. When my corporate 9100 arrived at the beginning of using it I fortunately loaded the gprs monitor.
Our exchange support team had set the push mail up a bit heavily. In addition to email it tuned out they were pushing 700kb an hour to my phone regardless of my receiving any mail.
Until i started to read the gprs report i was running between 11-16mb a day (approx 700kb an hour background). Once I realised what it was doing I turned push off and had it running autosync every 10 mins 0700-2200 with every hour overnight (approx 40kb per hour background).
It may be corporate money, but until they sort it out 10 minute sync is good enough as at least I can control it.
Data dropped to 800k-2mb per day... much more sensible.
Its a bit like those pesky joke sms msgs, you don't know you've been charged until the end of them month.

Agree with u on 02 incompetence. They could not tell me which speed/size of SD cards are compatible with my EXec. Asked me to phone Sandisk!! Incompetence exemplified - after I held on for over an hour for technical support. Plus voicemail is not time stamped, u can't tell when they r left nor can u repeat a current msg without getting to the end of all the new messages first!!

belfast-biker said:
When they incorrectly charged me for two days data in March (thanks O2!!) it came to £117*.
Of course they don't do refunds, but credits, which means they still want you to pay the incorrect bill, to be credited later. Fools.
Can't wait until T-Mobile brings out the Hermes, then I'm gone from O2 forever.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
O2 strike again. Didn't pay last months bill (my fault) of £120, and this months bill with those arrears, is £407. ON a basic rental of £35 and not going over miutes or texts.
£120 arrears (fair enough)
£35 rental
£80 data (jesus, and this is with push email turned off)
And the rest? They now want me to pay out the remainder of my contract, presumably because of my non payment last month? I don't know. They didn't say. But they do say in the email:
"The balance on your account shows that you do not owe us any money." and;
"You will see that your first bill contains two line rental charges, one for your first month and the second for the next month (in advance). "
Which is... bizarre. Total fools.
Anyhow, could not wait any longer with that level of sheer stupidity, so I've just gone and sorted myself out with the monthly £7.50/50minutes contract with T-Mobile, to wihch I'll add the £7.50 webnwalk unlimited data bundle.
Bliss.

tmobile web'n'walk is an invention of genius
£7.50 a month, as much data as you can possibly get out of it provided it's not p2p or streaming video
makes push email unnecessary when you can set your email to check every couple of minutes

agentp said:
tmobile web'n'walk is an invention of genius
£7.50 a month, as much data as you can possibly get out of it provided it's not p2p or streaming video
makes push email unnecessary when you can set your email to check every couple of minutes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I thought that too, but push email gives you OTA syncing of your calendar, contacts and tasks too...

Verizon Wireless USB Card

I'm new to Android and picked up a G Tablet have a question on if you can use the USB for a Verizon Wirelss card.

I was wondering this also. Does anyone know if this is possible? I have to admint that I have not searched too much as I just took my G tablet out of the box and my Verizon card is sitting here and I was thinking 'wonder if I can make that work"???

I remember seeing in a few other threads that people weren't able to get a 3G card to work. Not sure about this particular Verizon card though.

The usb wireless dongle wont work. You would need something like mifi.
There is a thread in development on this I think. He was working on it but put it on hold.
Found the thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=935810

ketjr81 is correct. Unless you have a Huawei card you have almost no chance of it working at the moment. I have discontinued development as I mentioned in the thread referenced. If you want, you can spend 70 dollars or so and get a wireless hotspot that uses the USB dongle and a battery for 5+ devices.

I picked up a Verizon MiFi Hotspot today... figured that it was a good investment, that way I can use it for my laptop, GTab, and anything else I find myself in need of connecting. It will connect up to 5 devices at a time. I looked at the Sprint and Virgin Mobile models too.
The Sprint model actually has 4G and GPS capability, and the plan looked good on paper; the same price as the Verizon for 5GB ($60/month), plus unlimited 4G downloading. However, when I looked at the coverage map, Sprint doesn't have anywhere near the coverage area that Verizon does, and there are only a handfull of 4G towers out there.
Then I looked at Virgin Mobile. Seemed like a great deal; they use the same hotspot device that Verizon does (and Sprint used to), and you don't have to commit to a contract. You buy the device for something like $160, and for $40/month you get unlimited 3G downloading through the Sprint network. I headed out today to get one, only to find out that as of next week, Virgin will be capping monthly downloads to 5GB like the rest of them. After 5GB, data will slow to a crawl.
Then I found out that Verizon is offering new data plan options for a limited time, starting this weekend I think. There are monthly plans for 1GB ($20) , 3GB ($35), 5GB ($50), and 10GB ($80). For every GB you go over your plan, you pay an extra $10. The hotspot is free with a 2-year plan, or $70 with a 1-year plan. I went with a 3GB plan, even it I get up to 5GB one month that's still gonna run me less than the Sprint plan.
So I brought one home, had it set up pretty quick (it took longer to run the updates than to set it up), and it works great. The hotspot is smaller than I thought it would be, even after looking at the pictures. About as wide as a business card, a little taller, and a bit over 1/4" thick. Best thing is, I'll be able to use it with any tablet I get my hands on as long as it has WiFi, plus my laptop and even my iPhone if find myself in the boondocks again where AT&T doesn't reach.
MiFi is the way to go with a GTab; just turn it on, put it back in your pocket or bag, and surf away.

I'm surprised more people don't just tether their G-Tabs from their cell phone data plans. I've got a Verizon Eris (about a year old) and it's modded, with wireless tether. I pay $30 a month for unlimited data (on the phone, of course, but they don't know I'm tethering, nor do they probably care since I don't actually download much data).
It's fast and cheap.

lostpilot28 said:
I'm surprised more people don't just tether their G-Tabs from their cell phone data plans. I've got a Verizon Eris (about a year old) and it's modded, with wireless tether. I pay $30 a month for unlimited data (on the phone, of course, but they don't know I'm tethering, nor do they probably care since I don't actually download much data).
It's fast and cheap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I use Wireless hotspot on my Rooted Sprint Evo

Just a comment....
Most of us don't take the wireless mifis, etc. serious because of the limits.
My tablets, laptops and computers -- yes, I have a bunch -- usually result in my downloading a month's worth of wireless limits in a night. I have several programs that the updates run in the GBs just for one program.
I'm happy for people that can use them, but I always warn them to watch the usage and avoid the overages.
Good luck!!!
Rev

Cradlepoint
I am using my Virgin Mobile USB (Walmart special) plugged into the Cradlepoint. Lasts about 2 hours and warms the pocket...
****

lostpilot28 said:
I'm surprised more people don't just tether their G-Tabs from their cell phone data plans. I've got a Verizon Eris (about a year old) and it's modded, with wireless tether. I pay $30 a month for unlimited data (on the phone, of course, but they don't know I'm tethering, nor do they probably care since I don't actually download much data).
It's fast and cheap.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You and many other people say that. I personally don't want to kill my phone's battery and its just more work to turn the hotspot on and off every time I want access on the tab. Its surely cheaper, but not faster.

Thunderbolt for home ISP

I was curious to know if anyone was using their Thunderbolt for their home ISP. I have been using it today as a trial run since it worked so well for me when I was out of town. If I can save a few hundred dollars a year and get close to the same, if not the same speeds with LTE as my source of home internet access, it doesn't really make much sense to me to keep Comcast around. I am rooted and using Wireless Tether. Mobile Hotspot and its data cap can suck it. I called Comcast and asked how much data I used, the past 3 months were all under 25GB. Thoughts?

All I can say is do it while you can - I know I would be if I lived in an area that had better than 3G coverage.
Desire Cm7
CR-48

I've been thinking about the same exact solution for about a month. Time Warner is charging us $99 for 50/5mbps "wideband" connection, and I'm pretty much getting the same speeds at home on my Bolt. Actually my uploads goes up to 10mbps so it's even better. I think I will probably end up downgrading the cable service to the cheapest $30 a month and see how the Bolt is holding up during the next billing cycle. I've used 53GB on my Bolt during the past month. Speeds still going strong.

nice thoughts, but when there are a few million devices on the network I don't think reliability will be there to be honest. It all depends on what you are doing, and how many computers you have at home.
If you are me and have 10 devices that have internet access at your house, I doubt thunderbolt will be the solution for me. I doubt the hotspot will give me enough range to cover my whole house, if I was alone then it would be a different scenario to be honest and I would probably do it.
I have 2 NAS servers at home that is used for remote access so that right there kills it for me since me and my thunderbolt cant be in two different places at the same time.
even if I was able to get a 4g lte router to plug my thunderbolt in to, they just dont have the horsepower as other routers to provide enough bandwidth for my home network.

nkd said:
nice thoughts, but when there are a few million devices on the network I don't think reliability will be there to be honest. It all depends on what you are doing, and how many computers you have at home.
If you are me and have 10 devices that have internet access at your house, I doubt thunderbolt will be the solution for me. I doubt the hotspot will give me enough range to cover my whole house, if I was alone then it would be a different scenario to be honest and I would probably do it.
I have 2 NAS servers at home that is used for remote access so that right there kills it for me since me and my thunderbolt cant be in two different places at the same time.
even if I was able to get a 4g lte router to plug my thunderbolt in to, they just dont have the horsepower as other routers to provide enough bandwidth for my home network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I should have clarified that. I usually only have one thing connected at a time. Mostly my Macbook, sometimes I might connect my PS3 and watch netflix or something. My internet demands aren't really that high.

Been thinking along these same lines. Time Warner Cable - what a rip off. I barely watch TV and have only basic cable. That plus the ISP and speed boost is $100+/mo. What we need is someway to have the Tbolt provide network access to an existing or new type of wireless router. The Bolt would basically replace the cable modem but not the WiFI router (if you have two different boxes). This would make the transition for folks who have multiple computers, NAS, DLNA devices, etc. almost transparent and probably totally workable.

Cradlepoint? If you can plug in a USB cellular modem, perhaps you can connect your phone. I have an MBR-1000 here at work that I may spend some time playing with later if I have some time. . .
Seth

Dont expect to get away with it forever... once the wireless hotspot trial runs out I think Verizon will be cracking down on rooted users using tethering. If you really want to replace your cable line with LTE through the Thunderbolt your going to have to pay the $20 a month and then I believe you only get 2GB

You do realize that using your phone as a hotspot was never intended to replace your home ISP, right?
Why do you think all these companies are now starting to do tiered data?

I have a netgear wnr3500l and flashed dd-wrt to it. It allows you to bridge two wireless connections or have it join another wireless network. That would allow you to use your TB as your ISP on your home network.
I work from home so its not an option for me, and I have nearly 20 devices on my network.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA Premium App

nkd said:
If you are me and have 10 devices that have internet access at your house, I doubt thunderbolt will be the solution for me. I doubt the hotspot will give me enough range to cover my whole house, if I was alone then it would be a different scenario to be honest and I would probably do it.
I have 2 NAS servers at home that is used for remote access so that right there kills it for me since me and my thunderbolt cant be in two different places at the same time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Me, too. The Thunderbolt as an ISP is a decent idea, and very fast when used, but unless you live alone and have no "always on" internet devices (Servers/Netflix Streaming) then everytime you leave with your cell phone, no one at your house has internet (assuming you got rid of your other ISP - of course, if you didn't you would still be paying for two and defeating the purpose)

I guess it depends on the individuals scenario. I have a maximum of 2 devices connected at a time and they are in the same room. I only live with my dog so I don't need a stationary ISP. Obviously it wouldn't really work for a family or a person with a very high demand such as a home office.

meowlamp said:
I guess it depends on the individuals scenario. I have a maximum of 2 devices connected at a time and they are in the same room. I only live with my dog so I don't need a stationary ISP. Obviously it wouldn't really work for a family or a person with a very high demand such as a home office.
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Agreed - If I wouldn't get in trouble from the Mrs. about taking the internet with me, I'd be all over this provided that $20 still gets unlimited tethering and not the 2GB cap some were talking about. Guess it's more of a wait-and-see approach.

Engenius EOR7550 does it
I start out by saying please do not everyone start dumping your fixed ISP bandwidth needs on the TB because it will cause problems from system and bandwidth issues to policy changes with how VZW deals with all of us, resulting in a bad experience with a good system. That said, the EOR7550 is a dual radio commercial grade outdoor repeater. It would be the perfect device for such a test as it is meant to establish a link with one wireless network and repeat it out as another. I use these units quite often to make RV park wi-fi go all over the place.

What is the big deal..
If you can live with the total pain in the ass of always having your phone be your internet then go for it.
I like to have my internet always on and on (to download stuff) when my phone and I are not there.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

If you are just going to browse web pages, maybe check email.. then its something to consider.
But 25gig? I'm guessing you download files, stream stuff, etc.
So then you have to think...
Well the mobile hot spot feature on the TB is only FREE until May 15. After that they will likely charge... either $20 for 2gig like 3G MHS is, or possibly more. i.e. more data used = more $$ per month, so that could add up quick.
VZW's TOS for using the "unlimited data" plan with smart phones stipulates that it is not for tethering, and meant to only be used for the phone, and has some other things around "acceptable use". Rooting and doing "un-authorized tethering" and racking up 25 gig per month might draw attention to yourself. So if VZW does start cracking down on this, you'll be right in the cross hairs and violating their TOS.
Then there is the rumor that VZW is throttling data for the higher data users... so where does 25gig come in? will you be able to live with being throttled if it hits you?
Not to mention having to keep your phone plugged in at all times, since battery wont last long using data constantly.
At that point is it still worth it?
I might suggest you'd be better if you think about brokering a deal with your neighbor to share his/her internet via wifi and splitting the cost instead...

KidJoe said:
If you are just going to browse web pages, maybe check email.. then its something to consider.
But 25gig? I'm guessing you download files, stream stuff, etc.
So then you have to think...
Well the mobile hot spot feature on the TB is only FREE until May 15. After that they will likely charge... either $20 for 2gig like 3G MHS is, or possibly more. i.e. more data used = more $$ per month, so that could add up quick.
VZW's TOS for using the "unlimited data" plan with smart phones stipulates that it is not for tethering, and meant to only be used for the phone, and has some other things around "acceptable use". Rooting and doing "un-authorized tethering" and racking up 25 gig per month might draw attention to yourself. So if VZW does start cracking down on this, you'll be right in the cross hairs and violating their TOS.
Then there is the rumor that VZW is throttling data for the higher data users... so where does 25gig come in? will you be able to live with being throttled if it hits you?
Not to mention having to keep your phone plugged in at all times, since battery wont last long using data constantly.
At that point is it still worth it?
I might suggest you'd be better if you think about brokering a deal with your neighbor to share his/her internet via wifi and splitting the cost instead...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1. Just the thought is a recipe for disaster. Tiered data is on it's way and suggestions such as this are a good part of the reason why.
My $0.02

KidJoe said:
If you are just going to browse web pages, maybe check email.. then its something to consider.
But 25gig? I'm guessing you download files, stream stuff, etc.
So then you have to think...
Well the mobile hot spot feature on the TB is only FREE until May 15. After that they will likely charge... either $20 for 2gig like 3G MHS is, or possibly more. i.e. more data used = more $$ per month, so that could add up quick.
VZW's TOS for using the "unlimited data" plan with smart phones stipulates that it is not for tethering, and meant to only be used for the phone, and has some other things around "acceptable use". Rooting and doing "un-authorized tethering" and racking up 25 gig per month might draw attention to yourself. So if VZW does start cracking down on this, you'll be right in the cross hairs and violating their TOS.
Then there is the rumor that VZW is throttling data for the higher data users... so where does 25gig come in? will you be able to live with being throttled if it hits you?
Not to mention having to keep your phone plugged in at all times, since battery wont last long using data constantly.
At that point is it still worth it?
I might suggest you'd be better if you think about brokering a deal with your neighbor to share his/her internet via wifi and splitting the cost instead...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+2 keep your isp.
Sent from my ADR6400L using XDA App

So Verizon charged me for data?

So I obviously HAVE a data plan, who doesn't? I login to My Verizon today to see if my brother had paid his half of the bill yet and I see a $282.58 charge. WTF?! It was for 142 MB of data. I had messed up my girlfriend's eris (didn't know you weren't supposed to use Clockwork on an eris lol) so I was letting her use my DroidX while I was fixing it. Therefore, I went back to an old motorola flip phone.
Well I just called about this charge and her reasoning was that data was still "lingering out there" when the phone was switched to a dumbphone (which I also had unlimited data on so it shouldn't have mattered anyways). So once that data was loggged, it was then charged to my account as dumphone data.
I call bull****!
They were trying to take advantage of a customer by charging them for data that they "couldn't stop" and blame it on them for switching from their expensive plan to their less expensive plan. I straight up said to her "Look, I'm a computer engineering student. I'm not an idiot when it comes to things like this. Take the charge off or we'll drop Verizon right now. The early termination fee is about as much as the damn bill anyways."
Put me on hold for a minute and came back to happily say "Since you're a long time customer with steady on time bill payment I was able to take the charge off of your account." I said "thank you, have a nice day" and hung up.
Let me know if any of this has happened to you and maybe we can send Verizon a link to the thread so they can change their process a little.

man i hate verizon they are just getting worse and worse lol.

[Q] Anyone else sick of the outages?

This seems to be a regular thing with Verizon lately. Data on a smartphone is just as (if not more) important than signal for texting/calling. I'm seriously getting fed up with this... why can't they get their act together? Especially when they're charging an arm and a leg for service.
This on top of the problems the Droid Charge already has is becoming a real pain in the a**

Rather than complaining to us. Let VZW know you are upset, you might even get something for your suffering. Of course data outages are a pain, no one is happy when they look down and see no data connection.

I have on multiple occasions, and all they do is offer their apologies. I guess more of what I was getting at was if someone else had complained and at least ended up with a credit to their account, or an early termination of their contract without charge.

daniel142005 said:
I have on multiple occasions, and all they do is offer their apologies. I guess more of what I was getting at was if someone else had complained and at least ended up with a credit to their account, or an early termination of their contract without charge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, yes, I have had issues with data the whole time I've had this phone, with the exception of the last couple weeks. They gave me a "managers upgrade" after I got my 2nd charge and 3rd sim card in 3 months. Waiting not so patiently for the nexus.....