Hi,
in a few days I will be going in vacations (lucky me) in Mexico. But I don't want to pay for international Datas. I want to use my phone only has a phone and will contect thru Wifi when available.
ma question is: If the "Data roaming" (settings-wireless and network- mobile networks) is un checked, is that mean it will "cut" the datas as soon as I'm not with ATT?
Thanks
Yes, but you'll still be subject to roaming charges for voice and messaging.
- Dial *#*#INFO#*#* which is *#*#4636#*#*
- Go to Phone Info
- You can hit your "More" softkey and there will be a menu with an option called More
There should be an option that says disable data on boot. Now any time you restart your phone you should not be getting data network
LinuxNewb said:
- Dial *#*#INFO#*#* which is *#*#4636#*#*
- Go to Phone Info
- You can hit your "More" softkey and there will be a menu with an option called More
There should be an option that says disable data on boot. Now any time you restart your phone you should not be getting data network
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I tried this code but it doesn't seems to work on my captivate
xargs1 said:
Yes, but you'll still be subject to roaming charges for voice and messaging.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks, it was what I tough.
Just keep it in airplane mode. I travel mostly out of the country and that's what I do. You can enable wifi while in airplane mode.
a_fuegon said:
Just keep it in airplane mode. I travel mostly out of the country and that's what I do. You can enable wifi while in airplane mode.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes, but in my case I have to be able to anwer calls
Duh, I guess I selectively absorb content I read. I just get sim cards locally and pass that number to the people I need to stay in touch with. Granted it's only a select few though, perhaps that's why it's practical for me. It's the more cost efficient way for me. I do have an unlocked winmo phone that I use abroad for this.
Turn off data, and call at&t and sign up for the international plan. You can cancel it after the vacation and it is pro-rated. I went on a cruise to mexico and ended up paying like $120 on less than a half hour of calls back home.
I am on a trip in Brazil right now, and have the exact same requirements. I turn off Data Roaming so that I don't run up any data charges. Just to be safe, I also turned off sync for Google, Twitter, and Facebook. I signed up for the AT&T International Plan at $5.99 per month, which makes calls between US and Brazil at $1.99 per minute. Text messages are $.80 each. If you really want to save money on calls, take a laptop and use Skype. I can call a US landline from Skype for $.02 per minute, not quite free, but it feels like it compared to the AT&T rate.
just fff up your apn.. but remember settings.. that is what the disable/enable data widgets do anyway.. screw up something in the apn and you will get no data.
grmcgee said:
I am on a trip in Brazil right now, and have the exact same requirements. I turn off Data Roaming so that I don't run up any data charges. Just to be safe, I also turned off sync for Google, Twitter, and Facebook. I signed up for the AT&T International Plan at $5.99 per month, which makes calls between US and Brazil at $1.99 per minute. Text messages are $.80 each. If you really want to save money on calls, take a laptop and use Skype. I can call a US landline from Skype for $.02 per minute, not quite free, but it feels like it compared to the AT&T rate.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
you can use nimbuzz on your phone to connect to skype thru wifi
Simple as turning off data roaming, I went to Mexico City a few weeks ago and didn't incur any data charges. I've been there a few times with my iPhone and haven't had to pay anything extra either. Just make sure you get the AT&T Mexico feature. It's $4.99 a month and .59 a minute while roaming in Mexico.
Mexico Plans
I am currently travelling to Mexico every week for business and signed up for a voice plan.
Instead of the regular $59.99 plan giving 900 minutes, I have a $74.99 plan that allows me to use my minutes while in Mexico also. ATT has some weird scheming where they say, the first month you can use all of the 900 mins, 2nd month only 40% of the minutes, 3rd month again 900, 4th month 40% only, and so on. Go figure what the smartypants at ATT were dreaming when they created this plan.
But again, everytime I call ATT, the idiots give me a new answer. SMS and MMS, I have gotten multiple answers, so i try not to use it.
Data plan - ATT will rip you naked in a few minutes of data usage. It's like $20 per 10MB or something like that - that's if you sign up for a plan before hand. If not, it gets even more ridiculous.
So, bottom line, if you need to make/receive calls on your US #, signup for one of those international plans. Forget data. SMS - I don't know.
Turnoff data roaming - settings --> Wireless Networks --> Mobile networks --> Data roaming uncheck.
Verizon has a $35 unlimited data plan (on top of your regular plan), if you have a choice.
edit: btw, I am unable to call any toll free #s while in Mexico. Whether those calls are allowed or not seems to be dependent on the combination of ATT and local carrier (for me Telcel). Didn't have this problem with Verizon.
For what it's worth, the international plans and the flip flopping of at&t reps is what drove me to simply give up using my phone abroad. I am somewhere south of the US almost weekly, so for me it is a big issue. I eventually resorted to picking up local sim cards, which works for me. I usually spend max of $10 for the sim and a bucket of mins, which also includes texting if need be. All incoming calls are free, which is what makes it work for me.
Enough of the thread jacking for me.
Related
I seem to be able to get internet and go to any site I want to when I connect T-Zones. But I do not pay for any data plans at all, just my Get More 600 plan. Is this normal? Am I going to get billed if I use it? It is using minutes instead?
Be carefull. T-Mobile will let you access what you like without a data plan but charge you a fortune for it!!!!
First time I did it, I downloaded a few emails and before I knew it my data cost was over 90 pounds!
Ring them and check your current bill/plan.
same happened here on cingular. It adds up fast. (im currently looking into how to prevent the un-intentional ussage of such a feature. ITs on by default. Scarry.
Be very careful! Many providers do that, if you did not purchase data plan then you will most likely pay much more than expected.
If you disconnect very often then it will make it worse because they count data transfer in big blocks for example 50KB instead of real usage.
Some even round up data blocks every hour, so if you use 10KB and stay connected then in an hour they will round up for you, as if you used 50KB - which you did not.
I don't know about T-Mo USA, but T-Mo Hungary has a default data plan pretty much for everyone. It has no monthly fees but the data is very expensive and has a daily activation fee.
I too appear to be getting free internet/wap/gprs. I sent in a message to T-mobile USA and they said that I was NOT getting charged for my usage and that they were probably doing work in my area.
I expected them to say "Oh, you are getting free service! Well lets fix that right away. Please forgive us for this heinous inconvenience, sir." but the gut just shrugged it off.
Despite this, I don't use it incessantly. I figure they'll surprise me with charges sooner or later.
prepaid
I been getting free internet by using a prepaid sim(no charge to credit in account) for the past week or two but i havent had a chance to test this on another wizard and a different sim. I think its a problem with tmobile like when you could send free sms through gprs on some nokia phones and tmobile could not notice how many you were sending. if you tried this pim me with the results
im using energy rom 3.0 50109 on my fuze and got this outrageous bill from att stating i used excessive data. if i ever got on the internet was using wifi. i know the data connections button was always off and the gprs auto connect disabled. is there another setting i missed?
It's gotta be a mistake on their part.
Look at your bill line-by-line and compare it against your previous bills so see if the data usage is about the same.
Also review your sign-up plan to see what you're data rate per month is. If it turns out you're not on a 3G (Enhanced Data Plan) then it's possible that you were billed at the Cellphone Data Plan rate - here in Canada we have:
Enhanced Mobile Data Plan (aka 3G) = 1Gb/mo, $30/mo
Mobile Data Plan = 2Kb/mo, $15/mo (intended for basic WAP phones, goes through a proxy)
Good luck,
i will do that. i know i dont have a data plan but i do have unlimited sms/mms and when i signed up att said their media net/ gprs needed to be enabled in order for me to send pics and video. like i said, any data was through wifi. But i will take your advice and thanks for the reply hilaireg!
Its definitley a mistake on their part. I started using Energy Rom 3.0 and I haven't gotten an outrageous bill like that. And I pretty much went through all the settings in the rom to disbale GPRS use.
In the past, occasionly AT&T has done retarted things, like charging me $30 for going over my SMS plan. What they did was the they combined the number of texts I sent/recieved for 2 months and billed me on that.
And it is really frustrating that I still haven't gotten my $30 back to a point where I don't care anymore. They can have it. I'll just think of charity.
Now 1 grand is a different story...unless you REALLY feel like being generous and helping the CEOs out
It isn't a mistake on their part, your phone must have somehow used the data connection without you knowing it. 100MB at the PPU rate is $1000. It is possible that you thought WiFi was on but really wasn't connected.
petard said:
It isn't a mistake on their part, your phone must have somehow used the data connection without you knowing it. 100MB at the PPU rate is $1000. It is possible that you thought WiFi was on but really wasn't connected.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i think if his wifi was off it he would know cuz when ur wifi comes on, immediately it pops up all the wifi within the area and ask which one to connect, unless he is using a existing one, which should of showed the wifi icon regardless, our bill *am under a family plan* was recently over charged apperent for something i downloaded said att, but my mother never got to the buttom of it.
funny thing is i dont even use att service, expect maybe for mms which is unlimited and so is sms
oh and am using energy rom am using xECK29x Premier Series
The same thing happened to me. I called them, spoke to possibly the nicest woman in the world and she fixed everything and then gave me 40 dollars off. It worked out for me... give it a try. can't hurt.
Remember that even when you are on WiFi, default for AT&T (if you run connection manager) is to go through mediaNet to download data, not WiFi. Even so, speak to CS and they will most likely take that off. Also, remember to ask them to put data block on your plan if you are not planning on subscribing to unlimited data. Peace of mind.
i had about $300 in data usage once, and they removed it when i said ill add unlimited data, so maybe try that....
energy roms have 3g turned on as preset, you have to disable it from the comm manager. you can see it's on and you can see it connecting -sometimes even when the wifi is on too. NRG also has an application called "disable data" which does exactly that, never allowing 3g or other stuff to connect if you don't want them to. good luck!
Thing I did after freaking out at a $3 bill--I called them and had them completely disable data (picture messaging included) from my account--
Problem solved.
Super Bill!
Here's what you can do to add data.
First off, get yourself a POS phone like an LG Shine or some other dumbphone that can get on the internet.
Pop your sim card in, wait a few minutes, and then call at&t.
If you have unlimited texting, data is only $10/month. If you don't have texting, data will be $15/month. Once it is added, just switch your sim card back to your fuze.
I've been doing this with the Fuze and iphone with no overages for about eight months.
I've always liked the versatility of a PDA/smartphone but I could never justify the cost of a voice plan that I barely use and a data plan. It occurred to me to try getting a data only plan and running Skype with a subscription for the few voice calls I get. I'm hoping someone here has tried this before and can give me some feedback on their experience.
AT&T's coverage maps claim Houston is blanketed in 3G/HSPDA. For the majority of my day I'm in a WiFi area and not really mobile too much, but the quality of both the call and 3G service when driving around Houston is still a slight concern.
What will happen to my phone number when I switch to a data only plan? If I keep it, what happens when someone tries to call it or send me a text message?
I can't really upgrade to a smartphone to try it out and drop the data plan if it doesn't work, considering AT&T has made data plans mandatory for smartphones, and I'll be stuck paying for one.
Huh, that's very nice!
nathanpc said:
Huh, that's very nice!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes I suppose it is. Instead of paying $50 for a bunch of minutes I don't use, I can pay $35 for unlimited data and messaging and a couple $ more for unlimited calling and a phone number with Skype. I end up paying about the same amount but getting a much better deal.
IF it works. I've been able to test a call on Verizon but that doesn't tell me anything about AT&T's data network. I tried streaming Pandora while driving when I got my current phone and that was a disappointment - though I think the Pandora app was the majority of the problem. Still, I have no idea if the call quality will be terrible or if calls will be dropping on me while having full signal, etc, etc. Has anyone tried this recently?
It's a little bit expansive...
Just to make sure, I'll drop it after this: There is no one out there who has tried this already?
haven't / cant try it here, often wondered about this too. id say double check att's buyer remorse policy (i think its 30 days return) make sure you can undo any contract changes, but take the phone and try it. all you would stand to lose is the time lost with returning bureaucracy, a small risk given the potential reward
Sprint sell smartphones with data only plans
including plam pre and touch pro 1 & 2 with 2 year contract what's great about it's the data plan is just $30
http://www.sprintrelaystore.com/
they don't ask for proof that you are really are deaf
Still being under contract with AT&T kind of limits me to sticking with them. As soon as I can get some pricing for upgrade on the LG Expo's, I'll probably be moving ahead with this. I spoke with three people at AT&T to make sure there wouldn't be any trouble and confirmed I'll be able to get the data only plan on a smartphone and fulfill the data plan requirement.
The plan isn't actually just data with voice disabled, it's really the reverse of a regular voice plan: package with minutes, billed per Kb of data usage VS unlimited data package, voice/messages billed per minute/message. Beauty of it is that you can forward incoming calls on your cellphone and you won't be charged - which solves the problem of everyone still calling me on my cellphone.
Unfortunately sms/mms will still go through and I'll be charged. Still working out the kinks on that. I figure I'll have to start giving out a different number at some point in time so I'll probably use Google Voice for this and forward SMS to email, but that doesn't work for MMS. Maybe I'll just have to get the cheap messaging plan, or maybe just eat the cost of the occasional MMS. Unless I can also forward messages to a different number or email from the phone which would just solve everything.
Of course, none of this is a problem for me, but trying to make this seamless and hassle free for people calling me is the goal.
llvllerlin said:
I've always liked the versatility of a PDA/smartphone but I could never justify the cost of a voice plan that I barely use and a data plan. It occurred to me to try getting a data only plan and running Skype with a subscription for the few voice calls I get. I'm hoping someone here has tried this before and can give me some feedback on their experience.
AT&T's coverage maps claim Houston is blanketed in 3G/HSPDA. For the majority of my day I'm in a WiFi area and not really mobile too much, but the quality of both the call and 3G service when driving around Houston is still a slight concern.
What will happen to my phone number when I switch to a data only plan? If I keep it, what happens when someone tries to call it or send me a text message?
I can't really upgrade to a smartphone to try it out and drop the data plan if it doesn't work, considering AT&T has made data plans mandatory for smartphones, and I'll be stuck paying for one.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
does not work very well.
also - skype absolutely drains the battery. we are talking 1-2 hours of standby time before the battery goes from 100% to 0%.
llvllerlin said:
Still being under contract with AT&T kind of limits me to sticking with them. As soon as I can get some pricing for upgrade on the LG Expo's, I'll probably be moving ahead with this. I spoke with three people at AT&T to make sure there wouldn't be any trouble and confirmed I'll be able to get the data only plan on a smartphone and fulfill the data plan requirement.
The plan isn't actually just data with voice disabled, it's really the reverse of a regular voice plan: package with minutes, billed per Kb of data usage VS unlimited data package, voice/messages billed per minute/message. Beauty of it is that you can forward incoming calls on your cellphone and you won't be charged - which solves the problem of everyone still calling me on my cellphone.
Unfortunately sms/mms will still go through and I'll be charged. Still working out the kinks on that. I figure I'll have to start giving out a different number at some point in time so I'll probably use Google Voice for this and forward SMS to email, but that doesn't work for MMS. Maybe I'll just have to get the cheap messaging plan, or maybe just eat the cost of the occasional MMS. Unless I can also forward messages to a different number or email from the phone which would just solve everything.
Of course, none of this is a problem for me, but trying to make this seamless and hassle free for people calling me is the goal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FYI, AT&T still doesn't have the eXpo, but RadioShack is selling it right now. I upgraded mine for $149.
In the UK we have "Three", They allow skype calls on their mobile phones and offer plans for as little as £15 with unlimited texts, unlimited internet, 200 minutes and unlimited skype usage (I believe it comes with "SkypeOUt" or whatever it's called). Skype to skype calls are always free even if you are on pay as you go (Prepay) and have no credit!
If you don't have something similar in the US then it will more than likely come soon as this sort of thing is starting to catch on. It's actually quite encouraging because if Google Voice does launch over here and google plans on having a "google voice" only mobile phone then three would be a network willing to consider it.
coolVariable said:
does not work very well.
also - skype absolutely drains the battery. we are talking 1-2 hours of standby time before the battery goes from 100% to 0%.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I take it you've tried it out then. My phones are usually docked while I'm at work and when I get home they might go 3 hours before it's back on the charger for the night.
If you don't mind, what carrier and city, and around when did you try it out? Was it over WiFi or 3G?
SPIDERTECH said:
FYI, AT&T still doesn't have the eXpo, but RadioShack is selling it right now. I upgraded mine for $149.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll have to check it out then. I still haven't seen a single word on availability yet and RadioShack's website shows nothing about it. What city?
llvllerlin said:
I take it you've tried it out then. My phones are usually docked while I'm at work and when I get home they might go 3 hours before it's back on the charger for the night.
If you don't mind, what carrier and city, and around when did you try it out? Was it over WiFi or 3G?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
3G. AT&T. Tried it pretty much all over SoCal, primarily LA, San Diego and Santa Barbara.
Just doesn't work.
My Mom recently purchased a D2G and is planing on taking it with her on a trip to Europe soon. She is budget conscience and mostly wants to use her D2G for phone calls and MMS. I showed her how to disable just her data, but she occasionally wants to check her email as well and is worried that all of her other apps that sync will use up a lot of data in the background. What is the best way to set up her phone for this trip so that she can easily enable/disable data and when her data is enabled limit it to checking email?
I used to be a big supporter of Verizon's Unlimited Global Data Plans at around $65/month. But now the plans are horrible ($30 for 25MB, $100 for $70). If she wasn't planning on making phone calls, I would suggest she stick with Wi-Fi for data. Since she wants to use the phone for voice I think she should call Verizon, have them unlock the device, and purchase a pre-paid SIM when she gets to Europe. Otherwise, she'll be paying about $.50 per message and between $1-$1.50 a minute for voice:
http://b2b.vzw.com/international/Global_Phone/plans_coverage.html
I agree with audiomixman. The best thing would be to have the phone unlocked and then get a local SIM card once she gets there. Even if it's prepaid it would still be cheaper than paying roaming fees. Besides, that's the whole point of having a global phone.
For data she can use Wi-Fi where available or simply disable Background Data and Auto-sync from the settings. This should allow her to only use data when she specifically is running an app that needs data (like her email).
Go easy on me as ive never taken my mobile on holiday before.
So I'm from the UK, and flying to Orlando Florida on 6th august, with partner.
I will be wanting to use my phone to call my girlfriend in case we get lost, so I'll be phoning my provider to sort that out..
But as I believe you now use an app to plan your day at disneyland, in which I'll require data enabled?
Is it normal to use your data when abroad, and I'll be fine with regards to data roaming if its unchecked in the settings? I'm terrified of being charged £££ when I get back..
If you switch off Roaming in the Data settings you will not get an internet connection, unless of course you use WiFi.
If you're with Three network, you can actually use your phone in the USA with no extra costs, even your data.
Sent from my Nexus 5
dkconor said:
If you switch off Roaming in the Data settings you will not get an internet connection, unless of course you use WiFi.
If you're with Three network, you can actually use your phone in the USA with no extra costs, even your data.
Sent from my Nexus 5
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If not already with 3 it would be too late for the original poster join up as they require customers to be with them for 30 days before they can use the free roaming. Also if they are with 3 data roaming will be disabled by default so they need to phone them and get it enabled.
In general the rules for roaming data vary so much by provider and contract that it is impossible to give much advice beyond check what your contract says.