Database Info

Any way to NOT get reamed on phone+data+texting plans?

Just wondering if there are any good tricks or deals to minimize the monthly cost of owning and actually using one of these devices. I've been using LetsTalk for the last few years as I've not really found any cheaper way to get phones & plans, so most of my numbers are based on this. I did a quick spreadsheet for 24 month cost of ownership (ignoring taxes and fees for simplicity) and have attached that. Basically with AT&T you can go with the $40 voice plan and get the phone for $200, or the $60 plan and get it for free. Then add on $30 for data (the letstalk deal requires this for at least 6 months anyway) and another $5 for basic texting. I broke these down with comparisons to the iphone, sidekick 2008, the cricket slider my friend bought and the dirt-cheap samsung propel. I know this isn't exactly apples to apples but I'm doing this more to evaluate the cost/benefit of having a nice smartphone vs a decent voice/text platform with no data plan. Just kinda throwing this out there for feedback, I'm sure you guys know a lot more than I do about what is available and what can be done...

thats easy to answer..... nope. Im on ATT and my bill ends up ~150$ a month

behrouz said:
thats easy to answer..... nope. Im on ATT and my bill ends up ~150$ a month
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mine is unlimited EVERYTHING and 100% free, and so is the second, third, forth and fifth line.
Ohh yea the data card is also.
Sorry I couldn't resist.

Ok, to make a long story short, I pay $20 a mo for unlimited data. I have had it for years from when I was with Cingular. I pay $5 for 250 texts and 39 for the lowest minutes. I own my own phone and have always bought unlocked phones and haven't had a contract in years.
So I wanted the Fuze and went to the Att store and was willing to sign a 2 year contract to get the phone for $299 but wanted to keep my plan EXACTLY like it is. Hre said no prob....until he started ringing me up. Stated my data plan was not compatible with the Fuze and I had to upgrade to the $30 a mo. I said no, he said you can't get the speacil price with the $50 rebate if I didn't. I said stuffit.
So, I am willing to pay $500 for the unlocked, no commitment phone from Att and will leave my plan as it is.
Question.....Does anyone know if the phone will be COMPLELTY unlocked or uncripled if I buy it for full price from Att? I want to take my sim out, put it in the new Fuze and keep on keepin on as I have for years.
Thanks

techspy said:
Ok, to make a long story short, I pay $20 a mo for unlimited data. I have had it for years from when I was with Cingular. I pay $5 for 250 texts and 39 for the lowest minutes. I own my own phone and have always bought unlocked phones and haven't had a contract in years.
So I wanted the Fuze and went to the Att store and was willing to sign a 2 year contract to get the phone for $299 but wanted to keep my plan EXACTLY like it is. Hre said no prob....until he started ringing me up. Stated my data plan was not compatible with the Fuze and I had to upgrade to the $30 a mo. I said no, he said you can't get the speacil price with the $50 rebate if I didn't. I said stuffit.
So, I am willing to pay $500 for the unlocked, no commitment phone from Att and will leave my plan as it is.
Question.....Does anyone know if the phone will be COMPLELTY unlocked or uncripled if I buy it for full price from Att? I want to take my sim out, put it in the new Fuze and keep on keepin on as I have for years.
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Search for my threads regarding media net. It will tell you all about it.
As for the device (full price) or (with contract renewal) its the same phone, it will be locked.

I don't know how but ATT knows what phone you're using on their network and will probably make you change it anyway. It happened to me when I got a Tilt.

behrouz said:
I don't know how but ATT knows what phone you're using on their network and will probably make you change it anyway. It happened to me when I got a Tilt.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I happen to know a thing or two about how AT&T works.

Thanks for the info KD8DNS. I sent you a PM

KD8DNS said:
Mine is unlimited EVERYTHING and 100% free, and so is the second, third, forth and fifth line.
Ohh yea the data card is also.
Sorry I couldn't resist.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah well enjoy trying to procriate with all that radation from your high and mighty tower!
*coveting your glowing in the darkness right about now*

telegraph0000 said:
Yeah well enjoy trying to procriate with all that radation from your high and mighty tower!
*coveting your glowing in the darkness right about now*
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My procreating happened to yield 2 kids. So Im the least bit concerned.

HA!!!!!! Look at me!! I'm teary eyed!! That's one of the funniest thints I've seen!!!!

Tiered Data - 7-7-11

http://phandroid.com/2011/06/20/tie...th-will-get-extremely-pricey-for-power-users/
Just stumbled across this and figured I would ruin a few peoples days.
Prices are outrageous, just a little FYI.

I was hoping to get my 7-21-11 upgrade before it happened. Well they better upgrade me early before the tiered pricing or I'm leaving them when my contract is up in November.

they should offer at least 5GB for 30 bucks.. if not, come renewal time.. I'm looking at sprint.

kriskmk said:
they should offer at least 5GB for 30 bucks.. if not, come renewal time.. I'm looking at sprint.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was thinking of doing it before renewal time. Even if I am grandfathered in. Just getting tired of Verizon and all they are doing, especially to rooters/hacktivists. I am tired of always looking over my shoulder.

Glad I just signed a 2 year agreement 2 months ago.

Disappointing that they aren't even going the AT&T route and lowering the price slightly for the 2GB plan.
They say that customers want tiered pricing, but then set the current unlimited price as the 2GB plan. Yeah...that is really looking out for customer choice.

2 words
grandfathered in unlimited 4G

So it looks like it's finally time to upgrade my Eris. Is the Thunderbolt the way to go? I want 4G, but was hoping for something a little smaller...
Thanks,
CJ

The thunderbolt is like the eris big brother that went to college, graduated and now owns a fortune 500 company...
Go for it

You know what it is at&t are gonna rape them come conversion time. So they wanna rape who ever then can get. So I'm happy I just started a 2 year agreement. So basically when is done I'm going to at&t and get charged the extra few bucks a month. **** there gonna have service everywhere now.

g00s3y said:
2 words
grandfathered in unlimited 4G
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got 4 words (maybe 5, depends on how you count the /)
Unlimited 4G for $10/month

**** Verizon. Once my two year contract is over I'm taking my business somewhere else

Sprint, I know your coverage sucks, but keep unlimited for another year and a half and I promise I will switch to you!

Zinsko said:
You know what it is at&t are gonna rape them come conversion time. So they wanna rape who ever then can get. So I'm happy I just started a 2 year agreement. So basically when is done I'm going to at&t and get charged the extra few bucks a month. **** there gonna have service everywhere now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Oh yeah, adding T-Mobile is just going to expand their service so much .
Anyone notice AT&T cannot do simple math. They say they cover 97% of all Americans (about the time the commercial started, total population was about 310 million). 97% comes to about 301 million. But somehow by adding T-Mobile, they say they will cover another 50 million Amercians. which would equal about 360 million

KnightCrusader said:
I got 4 words (maybe 5, depends on how you count the /)
Unlimited 4G for $10/month
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sorry you fell for it. They offered the discounts for a year to get people off of the unlimited plans. After the year you are stuck with their current pricing plans. That's why I declined that "great offer"

Yes.. let's all switch companies when our contracts are up even though half of you won't be changing your plan and thus will be paying the same as you are now..
And if you read the original article, the same people that said the switch is coming are also saying you can renew your same plan for and get a subsidized phone while keeping unlimited data.
Sent from my ThunderBolt using XDA Premium App

g00s3y said:
Anyone notice AT&T cannot do simple math. They say they cover 97% of all Americans (about the time the commercial started, total population was about 310 million). 97% comes to about 301 million. But somehow by adding T-Mobile, they say they will cover another 50 million Amercians. which would equal about 360 million
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Counting people multiple times apparently counts with them. Same way I can say that I've slept with 13,438 girls.

This is gonna be bad for business with Amazon, netflix and Google all using streaming services. Even if you don't stream a lot of data or tether.. you can EASILY use upto 3 GB of data per month on normal usage. So 30 bucks for 2GB means we'll all have 4G phones with superfast broadband.. but use it only check emails or maps to find directions occasionally.
and why the **** does Verizon want to charge 20 bucks extra for tethering when it is ALREADY a limited data plan?? How the heck does it matter to verizon if I am paying 50 bucks for 5GB data and I use it over the phone or on my PC thru the phone???
that's just plain greedy...(assuming this is all true information of course.. if it's just a rumour and VZW keeps up with unlimited data for 30 bucks.. I LOVE YOU VERIZON!).

necosino said:
Counting people multiple times apparently counts with them. Same way I can say that I've slept with 13,438 girls.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
2 more than me. I will catch up this weekend.

Make sure to read the fine print make sure it doesn't say up to like 600mega bites becausethey offer you full speed up to that amount then it goes slow. Yeah its unlimited but it goes slow after a amount is used. What company though.

Which Carrier has the Best Monthly Plan?

I figured I'd ask for some Advice before I actually went ahead and Bought the Sprint Evo 3D...
I've been on Sprint for a while now and admit I've been pretty Satisfied with the Service, and Monthly Bills! As we speak, I'm currently on the $69.99 a month plan. I was on a More Expensive monthly plan, but believe it or Not I was Actually Advised to Switch to a Less Expensive plan by Sprint!!
I think I get like 600 Landline minutes a month Free, and ALL other Calls to ANY Mobile phone/Carrier are Free Without Restrictions! Oh and Texts, Internet, and Whatever else I'm Forgetting is Also Free!
Anyways because I've been with Sprint So Long... I'm really Not even up on other carriers Monthly plans that May Compare.
Can Anyone gimme some Advise? Basically Should I Stay put with Sprint? Or have I been Missing out on a Better Carrier?
Feel Free to List your Current Monthly Plan/Carrier!!
Thanx in Advance!

That sounds like a pretty good deal, I'm on verizon and a comparable plan would be around $80. I think t-mobile's "unlimited" plan is $80 (2GB data cap), and I'm not sure about AT&T.

Returning phones when no ETF?

Hi,
I am exploring my options with Sprint to end my contract because their data service in my area and in most of the places that I travel just sucks. I am trying to figure out whether it's reasonable for them to ask for the phones if they waive the ETF.
Assuming that their data service isn't what they advertised (3G between 600K and 1.3M), I feel like I shouldn't have to return the phones even if they waive the ETF because I paid $300 (iPhone) and $199 (Galaxy S2) when I upgraded, and it is really their service that's lacking. Whichever service provider I go to next I will incur the same cost once again, which wouldn't have been the case if their service was up to par. If I keep the phones then I can sell them on craigslist/ebay and recover most of what I would have to pay to the next provider.
So, if they waive the ETF, what's reasonable for me to ask/expect as far as the phones are concerned?

I asked the same question on the Epic 4G Touch forum. Take a look if you are interested
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1812650

600k - 1.3mb on 3g is average to good, full blown 3g maxed out is 3.1mb tops, Verizon won't be any better than 2mb. And with speeds in that range sprints not gonna let you out etf free regardless if you give them the phones or not cuz you really don't have an issue other than fast isn't fast enough for you. You gotta remember its a cell phone not computer with broadband internet. If you really want out flash a Verizon PrL and stream a lot of video and eat up all the data u can, they will kick your ass to the curb etf free and you can keep your phones,.just make sure you force roaming and stay roaming on the vzw PrL, then you can wait for the letter saying GTFO or you can call after a month and tell them you're always roaming and they will prob release your contract
We are legion, for we are many.
Sent from the DarkSide of the GalaXy with a MEK device

My goal with the last post was not to move the flame war from the other thread to this one It was just so everyone knew where/how this thread ended.
FYI, I have been patiently and reasonably working with Sprint to troubleshoot my issue and they have finally decided to waive the ETF and let me go. I do like their customer service, but, unfortunately, their speeds aren't up to par (generally <200k), especially when considering that Verizon has 4G in my area.

Vzw customer service sucks ass, and the prices might as well come with a gun to the head. So be prepared for that, your single line plan is gonna be around 150 + tax if you want 10gb of data and that's the biggest data block you can buy. Its $100 for 10gb data and unlimited SMS and voice plus a $40 per line access charge
We are legion, for we are many.
Sent from the DarkSide of the GalaXy with a MEK device

Most carriers will force an etf if they don't get the equipment back.

AT&T GoPhone going up to 2.5GB of data!

I upgraded my GoPhone plan to the $60/mo plan and was told it included 2.5GB of data so I said sure. After upgrading I noticed it only showed 2GB and asked the rep on the phone and he said he would check. About 5 seconds later he hangs up. So I call back and speak to another rep and she mentioned that the plan currently offers 2GB/mo but that on April 23rd, the data goes up to 2.5GB/mo. I explained what happened on the last call and the lady said she would give me an extra 1GB for the month because of this misinformation the other rep gave me.
Kind of cool of them to do, but just wanted to pass this along to anyone on ST or a lower rate plan that has been hesitating to switch. 2.5GB + unlimited talk & text seems like a decent deal IMO considering their coverage. If T-Mobile had more than 2G in the whole county I live in, I'd switch to their $30/mo plan which is even better (5GB) but this will do for now.
On a side note, if this was posted elsewhere, sorry! I did a quick search and nothing came up in this General forum.

I've confirmed this as well. 2.5GB is coming! Also heard they are going to include Mobile Hotspot tethering to compete with Verizon's Allset plan.
I switched from ST to GoPhone last month and couldn't be happier. The ping alone makes up for the price increase. And considering I just load up on refills at CallingMart for $54, it's only $9 more for a much better service, a price I'm willing to pay.