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?
Related
Hi everyone,
I just bought unlocked HTC fuze and using it on T-mobile's 3G? However, I all i get is Edge connection although I'm in area where there's great 3g coverage?
I called t-mobile's customer care and they're telling me that t-mobile's 3g is nothing but fast Edge???
I read about the radios update and all the stuff here in this forum and I thought that might be the issue, right? wrong? please help.
(( I searched the forum and I didn't find anything related))
somebody correct me if im wrong but that tmobile rep was exactly right. all you can get is E with tmobile.
my buddy is kinda opposite... he has a tmobile g1 on att and it can only get E. the 2 3g networks arent compatible.
im also a fellow t-mobile fuze owner.. i bought my fuze knowing t-mobiles 3g would never work.. only edge.. thats fine with me as my cost is only $6/mo and not $30 for those of you still wondering why and havent run across the answer yet its because t-mobile US 3G uses a one off special frequency at that unfortunately will forever limit the good world phones that everyone else will have
oh man, is that true?
so with t-mobile I will never see 3G on my phone.! besides, I'm paying $30 for the internet. why are you paying less, what's the plan?
When you buy a phone that isn't from your carrier, you should always check which bands it has. The Touch Pro had quadband GSM (EDGE) and only the 3G bands for Europe. The Fuze has tri band 3G which supports AT&T's bands and Europe. No Raphael supports T-Mobile's bands.
thanks to you all.
T-Mobile (US) uses 1700Mhz for there 3G.... AT&T uses 850/1900Mhz... an AT&T Fuze will never connect to T-Mobiles 3G.... the limitations are in the hardware not the software.... so there won't be any "tricks" to make it work....
and bragging about the $6 internet over ATT's $30 internet... is like bragging about having dial-up at home.... yeah,... you pay less..... but for a much slower connection
the frequency on the fuze is different from tmobile so 3g on tmobile wouldn't work on the fuze..its made for att frequency
Dash305 said:
and bragging about the $6 internet over ATT's $30 internet... is like bragging about having dial-up at home.... yeah,... you pay less..... but for a much slower connection
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
well my $6 internet nets me about 200kbps raw and close to 600k over my custom compression proxy server.. its fast enough for me, streams music and youtube content fine.. theres only so much you can do on a 2.8" screen right?
Black6spdZ said:
well my $6 internet nets me about 200kbps raw and close to 600k over my custom compression proxy server.. its fast enough for me, streams music and youtube content fine.. theres only so much you can do on a 2.8" screen right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i get ATTs 30 dollar internet, 20 dollar text and 2000 minutes for only 20 dollars
I'm also on T-mobile with the $5.99 EDGE plan for my Touch Pro. Another perk is that keeping the connection on EDGE only (and using Wifi only when absolutely necessary), I get about 72hr battery life per charge.
If anyone is on the fence about switching to Tmo for the $5.99 plan (versus ditching the Fuze for a G1, or hesitant about paying $30 for AT&T 3G), you may want to act soon. Tmo will grandfather the $5.99 plan for existing users, but will stop offering it to new customers in favor of their new $15 plans.
lbhocky19 said:
i get ATTs 30 dollar internet, 20 dollar text and 2000 minutes for only 20 dollars
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
how is this possible??
Dash305 said:
and bragging about the $6 internet over ATT's $30 internet... is like bragging about having dial-up at home.... yeah,... you pay less..... but for a much slower connection
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yeah, that may be true now but I've been paying that same $6/mo for years even while Cingular/AT&T only had edge and still charged anywhere from $30-50/mo.. and it was slower than T-Mobile's edge service
lbhocky19 said:
i get ATTs 30 dollar internet, 20 dollar text and 2000 minutes for only 20 dollars
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Black6spdZ said:
how is this possible??
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
LMAO....i have this too!.... it's called an ANR (employee) Line... but i have to pay an additional $10 for Blackberry Connect because i have to switch back and forth between my Blackberry Bold and my ATT Fuze and Push E-Mail doesn't work on a BB unless you have the proper plan... it's ok though,... for $30 a month we get:
2000 Daytime minutes
Unlimited Text
Unlimited International Text
Unlimited Picture Messaging
Unlimited Media Net
Unlimited Mobile to Mobile
Unlimited Night and Weekends
unlimited BlackBerry Internet
really can't complain.... i really love using every possible feature on my phones... and this plan would kill me financially if i had to pay retail for it..
Black6spdZ said:
well my $6 internet nets me about 200kbps raw and close to 600k over my custom compression proxy server.. its fast enough for me, streams music and youtube content fine.. theres only so much you can do on a 2.8" screen right?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
if your satisfied with your current speed then great.. i was just trying to justify the reason for the $30 ATT Internet charge... as for me i have been able to test 1.4Mbs (www.dslreports.com/mspeed tested with 1MB file) on my Fuze... and i STILL think that's wwwaayyyy to slow.. i stream satellite radio (on Fuze) while driving using an AUX connection (through car speakers).. with just an EDGE connection you'd be buffering much more than actually being able to here the music...
fhsieh said:
I'm also on T-mobile with the $5.99 EDGE plan for my Touch Pro. Another perk is that keeping the connection on EDGE only (and using Wifi only when absolutely necessary), I get about 72hr battery life per charge.
If anyone is on the fence about switching to Tmo for the $5.99 plan (versus ditching the Fuze for a G1, or hesitant about paying $30 for AT&T 3G), you may want to act soon. Tmo will grandfather the $5.99 plan for existing users, but will stop offering it to new customers in favor of their new $15 plans.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
After looking at this post, I called Tmobile to add the 5.99 service to my account. The lady that I speaked to said you must had it before to be able to resume the service since they don't even see that as a option for them to choose from. Lucky that I had a lot of lines open with my name and one of them had one of the older internet data plan I signed up for $19.99 and I just B/S with her that it wasn't that expansive and I only paid 5.99 with it. Then she manually added the 5.99 tzone for me. So its right that only existed customer will be able to get it and if you lucky like me to get a nice rep who can help you to add it even you never had it. Now I am waiting for them to set it up and try will it work to use internet with it. My friend told me he used to be able to surf the web but can't received email with it but for the past few months it went the other way around. He only can get email but can't surf the web anymore.
Dash305 said:
LMAO....i have this too!.... it's called an ANR (employee) Line... but i have to pay an additional $10 for Blackberry Connect because i have to switch back and forth between my Blackberry Bold and my ATT Fuze and Push E-Mail doesn't work on a BB unless you have the proper plan... it's ok though,... for $30 a month we get:
2000 Daytime minutes
Unlimited Text
Unlimited International Text
Unlimited Picture Messaging
Unlimited Media Net
Unlimited Mobile to Mobile
Unlimited Night and Weekends
unlimited BlackBerry Internet
really can't complain.... i really love using every possible feature on my phones... and this plan would kill me financially if i had to pay retail for it..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Feel like bragging huh?
Well lemme tell you what I got mr ANR.
UNLIMITED EVERYTHING on all 5 lines and 2 data connect cards.
Wanna know how much I pay
ABSOLUTELY NADA
Same with my Directv, Dsl, Home phone.
Oh Yea, I even have a FEM-TO-CELL Im testing, wanna know what I pay for that?
Yep you guessed it NADA.
Now, wanna guess who I work for?
Sorry I like bragging to.
KD8DNS said:
Feel like bragging huh?
Well lemme tell you what I got mr ANR.
UNLIMITED EVERYTHING on all 5 lines and 2 data connect cards.
Wanna know how much I pay
ABSOLUTELY NADA
Same with my Directv, Dsl, Home phone.
Oh Yea, I even have a FEM-TO-CELL Im testing, wanna know what I pay for that?
Yep you guessed it NADA.
Now, wanna guess who I work for?
Sorry I like bragging to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
How did you get all that? lol
How did you get the fuze to work with the 6 per month? I got the service but my fuze is acting like I don't have the service. Is there a special setup for the fuze to get it to work?
KD8DNS said:
.
Now, wanna guess who I work for?
Sorry I like bragging to.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can I take a guess?
Of course that might be cheating.
First off I dont have to worry about it because I already have the TBolt.. However, if friends or family ever switch over, it could be an issue for them...
That being said - if they are going to have this implemented, they need to make some changes to the android OS.
First off - when you buy a new phone, the employee types in your gmail address and syncs your phone. This is done over 3/4G since they rarely bother to put you on wifi for doing this. Not to mention you probably want to leave the store... Therefore you will be syncing all your apps on your wireless account consuming your bandwidth.
There are too many instances that the OS contacts the net for this to be viable and pointless if you turn them off. My iPhone on at&t never went over 900mb a month and I use it the same amount as this android phone. The difference? The iPhone doesnt sync over the web and pull all of your apps back down for you if you factory reset or load a custom rom. On the TBolt, I regularly hit over 10gb per month.
I believe Verizon must limit bandwidth after you reach your paid allowance, not charge overages. The FCC really needs to step in here as this is literally the internet form of rape.
I guess Sprint is smiling now?
psufan5 said:
First off I dont have to worry about it because I already have the TBolt.. However, if friends or family ever switch over, it could be an issue for them...
That being said - if they are going to have this implemented, they need to make some changes to the android OS.
First off - when you buy a new phone, the employee types in your gmail address and syncs your phone. This is done over 3/4G since they rarely bother to put you on wifi for doing this. Not to mention you probably want to leave the store... Therefore you will be syncing all your apps on your wireless account consuming your bandwidth.
There are too many instances that the OS contacts the net for this to be viable and pointless if you turn them off. My iPhone on at&t never went over 900mb a month and I use it the same amount as this android phone. The difference? The iPhone doesnt sync over the web and pull all of your apps back down for you if you factory reset or load a custom rom. On the TBolt, I regularly hit over 10gb per month.
I believe Verizon must limit bandwidth after you reach your paid allowance, not charge overages. The FCC really needs to step in here as this is literally the internet form of rape.
I guess Sprint is smiling now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
most people aren't loading custom roms (not to mention it's not Verizon's problem, technically they don't condone it), or downloading them over 3G/4G, but rather via the computer and transferring over USB. How you hit 10 GB without netflix is beyond me. If you're using LTE as a home internet sub than that's a whole different topic.
Streaming music for ~2hours a day except on the weekend, and moderate use each day, only puts me at max around 4GB.
psufan5 said:
First off I dont have to worry about it because I already have the TBolt.. However, if friends or family ever switch over, it could be an issue for them...
That being said - if they are going to have this implemented, they need to make some changes to the android OS.
First off - when you buy a new phone, the employee types in your gmail address and syncs your phone. This is done over 3/4G since they rarely bother to put you on wifi for doing this. Not to mention you probably want to leave the store... Therefore you will be syncing all your apps on your wireless account consuming your bandwidth.
There are too many instances that the OS contacts the net for this to be viable and pointless if you turn them off. My iPhone on at&t never went over 900mb a month and I use it the same amount as this android phone. The difference? The iPhone doesnt sync over the web and pull all of your apps back down for you if you factory reset or load a custom rom. On the TBolt, I regularly hit over 10gb per month.
I believe Verizon must limit bandwidth after you reach your paid allowance, not charge overages. The FCC really needs to step in here as this is literally the internet form of rape.
I guess Sprint is smiling now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well several things. No one has to let the vzw employees set up their phones. No one is required to sync their apps or even download any. And why should vzw, if /once they go to tiered plans simply throttle instead of charge overage. Go over you cell minutes you pay extra. Same for txt. And how is it any concern of the FCC if vzw changes their plans?
My main issue with the plans as rumored is that they do not include tethering. Most normal users will be fine with a 2g cap. My gf, on a rooted DX with Netflix, has used 700 megs this month. Just for example.
das BAMF sense 3.0 rocking the bolt
JBAeroEngineer said:
most people aren't loading custom roms (not to mention it's not Verizon's problem, technically they don't condone it), or downloading them over 3G/4G, but rather via the computer and transferring over USB. How you hit 10 GB without netflix is beyond me. If you're using LTE as a home internet sub than that's a whole different topic.
Streaming music for ~2hours a day except on the weekend, and moderate use each day, only puts me at max around 4GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? I haven't been able to stay under 10 gigs since Amazon Cloud / Google Music came out. And that is about 2-3 hours a day. Although I do use TuneIn Radio the other 90% of the time...
Yeah, lucky for most of us TB users, we are grandfathered in to the "unlimited" plans. I have been a VZ customer for over 15 years now, and there is no question that their services is the best....
But when the time comes for me to sign another contract, if these are the terms I will probably be forced to switch carriers...
Sprint looks appealing, they have strong data coverage in my area...and I am not concerned about "dropped calls" because I almost never use the phone any more...
Hopefully this kind of pricing will force more competition. Maybe if they offered unlimited texting and cheaper (lower than 450 minute) phone plans along with it, that would soften the blow.
I am also finding that 4G speeds really only matter to me when tethering, other than that 3G does everything I need just fine with better battery life. I could definitely do with "slower" 4G speeds with another carrier.
JBAeroEngineer said:
most people aren't loading custom roms (not to mention it's not Verizon's problem, technically they don't condone it), or downloading them over 3G/4G, but rather via the computer and transferring over USB. How you hit 10 GB without netflix is beyond me. If you're using LTE as a home internet sub than that's a whole different topic.
Streaming music for ~2hours a day except on the weekend, and moderate use each day, only puts me at max around 4GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FTP transfer for work on the fly while traveling around town. My phone is on the car charger or my desk charger most of the day. And I have an Unlimited Verizon 3G mobile modem for my laptop, so no it isn't tethering.
turbosrrgood said:
Yeah, lucky for most of us TB users, we are grandfathered in to the "unlimited" plans. I have been a VZ customer for over 15 years now, and there is no question that their services is the best....
But when the time comes for me to sign another contract, if these are the terms I will probably be forced to switch carriers...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why switch carriers? Since they did away with the 1-year commitment earlier this year, I made the decision just to buy my phones without a subsidy. Therefore, no need for a new contract. I got my TBolt on eBay for a pretty decent price and it's like new.
bogatyr said:
FTP transfer for work on the fly while traveling around town. My phone is on the car charger or my desk charger most of the day. And I have an Unlimited Verizon 3G mobile modem for my laptop, so no it isn't tethering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
way to use a completely off base scenario
JBAeroEngineer said:
way to use a completely off base scenario
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you did say:
How you hit 10 GB without netflix is beyond me. If you're using LTE as a home internet sub than that's a whole different topic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was just giving you an example that doesn't involve tethering I use 50-70GB/mo on my phone. A lot less on my grandfathered laptop modem - mostly VPN/Remote desktop/Console work.
10GB a month? wtf?
I just averaged up my last 6 months and i average .21 GB a month. and i stream pandora, have all my accounts syncing and look on the net, facebook and twitter all day. When i get my tablet (hopefully the amazon hollywood) this will go down evenmore bc i'll be using it at home on my wifi.
I use mine heavily with netflix....and i was around 4 gigs this month
I also call shenanigans on 10gigs a month just by synching. I use about 6gigs a month but I use my LTE for a lot of things.
turbosrrgood said:
Yeah, lucky for most of us TB users, we are grandfathered in to the "unlimited" plans. I have been a VZ customer for over 15 years now, and there is no question that their services is the best....
But when the time comes for me to sign another contract, if these are the terms I will probably be forced to switch carriers...
Sprint looks appealing, they have strong data coverage in my area...and I am not concerned about "dropped calls" because I almost never use the phone any more...
Hopefully this kind of pricing will force more competition. Maybe if they offered unlimited texting and cheaper (lower than 450 minute) phone plans along with it, that would soften the blow.
I am also finding that 4G speeds really only matter to me when tethering, other than that 3G does everything I need just fine with better battery life. I could definitely do with "slower" 4G speeds with another carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint coverage maps are a joke, yes they have coverage but the towers are so overloaded you are lucky to break 200/kbps (yes, 200k) downstream on rev A. EVDO during the day.
WiMax is great if you are on top of your roof or in an open field, but as soon as you get into any structure with more integrity than a tree house your signal tanks (Charlotte, SC has the best Wimax from my observation) because it operates at such a high frequency.
After being a customer for 11 years I jumped ship from Sprint over the weekend and picked up two TBs to replace my 2 EVO's. Sprint 3G is horrendous, not just in South Carolina, but in NYC, Charlotte, Atlanta, San Francisco, Detroit---I have traveled to all of these places in the last 6 months, and in each location I test between the hacked Verizon PRL for the EVO and the most recent Sprint PRL both in a Sense ROM and on Cyanogen...without fail, the year old hacked Verizon 3G PRL is faster, and more consistent. I was hoping my contract would just be canceled for having 5+ gigs of roaming data every month (not supposed to exceed 300 megs), but alas I was grandfathered into unlimited roaming data.
Sprint has been "upgrading its network" for years now yet the service still seems completely overburdened. I'm going to spend 40 bucks more a month going to Verizon for two lines, but I don't really care at this point, I would rather pay to play than save and suffer...
bogatyr said:
Well you did say:
Was just giving you an example that doesn't involve tethering I use 50-70GB/mo on my phone. A lot less on my grandfathered laptop modem - mostly VPN/Remote desktop/Console work.
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that's something that most companies should/would/could pay for. you're clearly an outlier in phone usage.
velopirate said:
Why switch carriers? Since they did away with the 1-year commitment earlier this year, I made the decision just to buy my phones without a subsidy. Therefore, no need for a new contract. I got my TBolt on eBay for a pretty decent price and it's like new.
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Did you have a 4g plan or is the unlimited data plan independent of 3/4g? Are you able to use the 4gon th e TB without having upgrade?
I use 6-8GB per month.
I know I could cut that more than in half if I wasn't ROM Flash happy and dl'd them on my PC instead of the phone.
I have 12 down and 1 up at home...I often get faster with my LTE/Bolt.
I can survive...somehow...with downloading ROMs, etc., on my PC...lol.
Update via Droid-Life
Hopefully this is the case:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/06/2...-by-tiered-data-only-new-customers-and-lines/
The prices for data are criminal. The prices for tethering are even more so. I'm happy I'm grandfathered in, but I doubt I'll ever go over the 2GB since I'm on WiFi 99% of the time. I didn't even want a data plan because I have so little use for one.
Taykiin said:
Hopefully this is the case:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/06/2...-by-tiered-data-only-new-customers-and-lines/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope this is truth I barely got my TB for the same. Reason
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk
Well I drive a truck and use the phone for everything, on my imago I was lucky to stay under 8gigs, with the bolt I am at 20gigs
Transmitted using my Sagem 835 mobile communication device.
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.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using xda app-developers app
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
If you found this information helpful feel free to hit the thanks button!
Has anyone heard of it? I know they are a sister company to att and they use their towers. But I have a sprint Nexus 5 if I switch and put their sim in my phone will it work?
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
AIO is AT&T's prepaid subsidiary and yes it will work. All Nexus 5's are the same no matter where you purchased them from. There is no carrier branding or carrier locking on the N5. From what I hear, AT&T severly throttles date for AIO customers, so if data speed is important, you might want to consider T-Mobile prepaid or StraightTalk.
I use it now. As you probably know, they have a $40, $55, and a $70 plan, with data amounts of 250MB, 2GB, and 7GB, respectively. You get throttled to 2G after you hit your soft cap. Unlimited texts and minutes are included in all plans.
I've had it for 4 months now and can't complain. Their service in my area is good, and the speeds are up to snuff what what I need at least. The most data-intensive thing I do is stream "High quality" music from Pandora One, and it does that without a hitch. Can't comment on streaming video because I never do. One thing to keep in mind though, they cap your data speeds even before hitting you soft-cap. From their website:
If you run out of high speed data access in a given month, your access speeds will be reduced for the remainder of your month of service. But once your next month of service begins, you will once again have access to download speeds up to 4 Mbps on our 4G HSPA+ service or up to 8 Mbps with our LTE service.
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So no matter what, the fastest download speeds you can get is up to 4Mbps on HSPA+ and 8Mbps on LTE. Again, if that affects you then that's something to consider. It is good enough for me though.
I've used their $70 plan now for 2 months on the N5. It works fine except for at work. It's known at my work that att frequency is blocked by the buildings structure (metal walls, ceiling and metallic tinted windows) so I literally have 2 bars outside and zero signal inside. I will be switching to T-Mobile because of this. If it weren't for that I'd definitely stay.
Cool thanks for all the help. I might be getting a job at an Aio store and they have an employee plan $55 for 5gb so I was thinking if I get the job I might switch cuz sprint sucks haha
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
vwgti18 said:
Cool thanks for all the help. I might be getting a job at an Aio store and they have an employee plan $55 for 5gb so I was thinking if I get the job I might switch cuz sprint sucks haha
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
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Heh I didn't know they even had brick and mortar Aio stores...
I switched from Verizon (had unlimited data) to AIO and have been enjoying it for 3 months now with no issues. Speeds are fast and I love it. I'm on the $55 a month plan.
I should tell you though that ATT is about to roll AIO into the Cricket brand. ATT owns Cricket now and it will be nationwide LTE just like AIO (if it's not already).
I have the $55 plan and service has been great, LTE at home, work and the commute. Streaming music and tethering works fine. Customer service has also been great as they helped me with the APN settings, which should be posted on their website, but are not. Some negatives are the slow ping on speed tests, a few second delay for the connection on phone calls and the Cricket factor.
Sprint and T-mobile signals are non-existent at work, so my options were limited.
what's the speed of the throttle
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
I just got off phone and online chat with AIO customer service... It is the worst, they couldn't get mms to work on my Note 2 and made me power cycle thinking it would work. I am done and want to warn everyone I can.
Sent from my SGH-T889 using Tapatalk
I considered the $55 AIO plan when I got my nexus 5, but ultimately went with the $60 AT&T GoPhone plan instead. Same amount of data, essentially the same price, same AT&T network, and no throttling of speeds.
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
I too have AIO, after finding out they don't allow VPN on cellular data I'm probably going to switch to AT&T Go Phone after I get my free month unless one of the other "unlimited" prepaid carriers that uses AT&T towers supports VPN usage. I don't often go over the 2GB amount, but I did about 1/3 of the time on VZW with unlimited, part of that was tethering due to slow hotel internet and stupidly fast LTE and unlimited data. So guess I'll put in chat sessions with tech support to find out if VPN is supported over cellular data before I commit.
Also, going to chime in and mention that it took me about 10 minutes of back and forth with tech support on the phone to get them to understand what my problem was. Also, setting up SMS was slightly annoying as they didn't tell me the exact correct thing to put into the phone. However, I simply had to click "Refresh" then "Update" for the SMSC(?) number to self populate and then work fine. Prior to that I had MMS working fine both ways (after inputting the APN settings from around the web and now their site).
I'd consider T-mo but I go to many rural areas where they simply don't have coverage for work and would like to be able to stay in touch.
METDeath said:
I too have AIO, after finding out they don't allow VPN on cellular data I'm probably going to switch to AT&T Go Phone after I get my free month unless one of the other "unlimited" prepaid carriers that uses AT&T towers supports VPN usage. I don't often go over the 2GB amount, but I did about 1/3 of the time on VZW with unlimited, part of that was tethering due to slow hotel internet and stupidly fast LTE and unlimited data. So guess I'll put in chat sessions with tech support to find out if VPN is supported over cellular data before I commit.
Also, going to chime in and mention that it took me about 10 minutes of back and forth with tech support on the phone to get them to understand what my problem was. Also, setting up SMS was slightly annoying as they didn't tell me the exact correct thing to put into the phone. However, I simply had to click "Refresh" then "Update" for the SMSC(?) number to self populate and then work fine. Prior to that I had MMS working fine both ways (after inputting the APN settings from around the web and now their site).
I'd consider T-mo but I go to many rural areas where they simply don't have coverage for work and would like to be able to stay in touch.
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Have you found any that will allow VPN? I'm on Straight talk ATT currently and it does not allow VPN either.
I cannot speak to what AIO's actual policy is on VPN traffic but I can say that I've been on their network for almost 2 months now and have had no issues using VPNs. Perhaps they just have not caught it yet but so far so good. YMMV.
Edit: So I've been looking through their terms and can't find anything specifically mentioning VPNs or tunnels but they do have some pretty standard clauses about only using your data connection for approved activities. This certainly gives them the right to block types of traffic they don't approve of but it doesn't mean they are actively policing it either. Would love to find a more solid answer on this.
Data Services Permitted Uses
Aio provides wireless data and messaging Services, including, but not limited to, features that may be used with Data Services and wireless content and applications ( Data Services ). Our Data Services are intended to be used for the following permitted activities: (a) web browsing; (b) email; (c) intranet access; (d) uploading and downloading applications and content to and from the Internet; and (e) using applications and content without excessively contributing to network congestion. You agree that Aio may engage in any reasonable network management practice and that you will use Aios Data Services only for these permitted activities.
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Well, the one rep I spoke to on the phone said they didn't allow it. I will try talking to a chat tech when I'm home again and can test it. I know I have the VPN working because I can connect over Wi-Fi (not at home) and it works perfectly. I've tried to connect over cellular at home, and on the road, never worked. I've got all the APN settings correct and SMS working, so I don't believe it to be a configuration issue.
Hey XDA-lers,
I think it's an unusual question because it's not directly related to tech... But maybe it can be answered here (hope it's the right forum?).
My girlfriend and me want to travel to USA next month for 5 weeks. We want to rent a car and drive through california, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho - typical touristic thing everybody does .
Since we need internet (for navigation and everything else), we search for a data plan. We don't need SMS or phone - only data. 5gb would be perfect.
Does anybody know a cheap plan with good coverage in this region?
I found this one:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tmobile-30-Wireless-Airtime-Card/15443357
But I think, you need to buy a phone at Walmart to get it?!
Something in this direction would be perfect!
Thank you very much!
snoK
snoK123 said:
Hey XDA-lers,
I think it's an unusual question because it's not directly related to tech... But maybe it can be answered here (hope it's the right forum?).
My girlfriend and me want to travel to USA next month for 5 weeks. We want to rent a car and drive through california, Nevada, Arizona, Utah, Wyoming, Idaho - typical touristic thing everybody does .
Since we need internet (for navigation and everything else), we search for a data plan. We don't need SMS or phone - only data. 5gb would be perfect.
Does anybody know a cheap plan with good coverage in this region?
I found this one:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tmobile-30-Wireless-Airtime-Card/15443357
But I think, you need to buy a phone at Walmart to get it?!
Something in this direction would be perfect!
Thank you very much!
snoK
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is not what you want or need. This is merely a plan/minutes refill to an existing pre-paid account.
First you need a pre-paid SIM. Often called a "starter kit". You'll have to pick one up somewhere, like a Wal-Mart or a cell-phone store. I'd be very surprised if you couldn't find them for sale within 100 feet of baggage claim. And then you'd have to chose a plan. Most pre-paid plans that have 4G data allotments already include unlimited talk/text. Not necessary, as you say, but it might be helpful if you and your girlfriend get separated.
Whatever service you go with, the actual network will be either T-Mobile or AT&T. Your phone will be a GSM phone (I'm assuming), and AT&T and T-Mo are GSM networks. So assuming your phone isn't locked to a carrier within Germany/EU, it'll work just fine on AT&T or T-Mo or their MVNOs and you don't have to buy a new phone.
I would definitely recommend using an AT&T MVNO. The American West has huge tracks of land, deserts, mountains, etc. AT&T will have plenty of dead zones, but it'll be way better than T-Mobile. For what it's worth, you can get data in T-Mobile's dead-zones because they partner with AT&T with them for coverage. But it'll be "roaming" (T-Mobile doesn't charge for roaming), and at 2G speeds. I honestly don't know if this carriers over to T-Mobile's MVNOs though.
With that in mind, there are a number of AT&T MVNOs (as well as AT&T's GoPhone). I would recommend Cricket Wireless. They have outlets everywhere. Right now you can get set up with pre-paid SIM for $.99, and then choose the $50/mo plan which gives you 4gb of high-speed data, after which you get throttled to 2G speeds. If you need more high-speed, you can purchase another GB for $10. Don't let them charge you an activation fee - you can do it yourself (unless you can't).
Unfortunately, any plan with data will be monthly and will be purchased along with talk/text. Perhaps it's possible in the EU, but you can't simply purchase 5gb data that lasts until you use it up regardless of how long it takes. Unless there's something I'm unaware of. So that means in a 5 week trip you're pretty much stuck paying for 2 months unless you go a few days without service.
Regarding data and GPS navigation though, remember that navigation requires either the map to be downloaded beforehand, or a data connection. Using Google Maps on your phone to find a restaurant, site-of-interest, or hotel within a city is one thing. Using GPS to drive from Los Angeles to the Grand Canyon is another thing. Get a rental car with GPS and make sure the maps are all pre-loaded. You won't be able to rely on a phone's GPS for this unless you get an app that allows you to purchase the maps for the states you'll be traveling through and download them to your phone before you embark (find a public hotspot for this). Google Maps allows you to download maps for off-line use, but you're rather limited in the size. For example, I can fit all of Tucson in one map, but that's it. A city like LA or Phoenix wouldn't fit. Never mind all the miles inbetween.
Any questions, I'm happy to answer as best I can. Hope you enjoy your stay. I've lived in both Arizona and Colorado for many years, and I'm sure you'll be impressed by the west half of the US.
Wow, thank you very very much for this great explanation!
Cricket Wireless sounds great, think we will get it there.
Have a nice weekend!
snoK