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Warning - TMO trying to force upgrade to expensive Internet plan to get upgrade price

I have an unlimited $14.99 internet plan, and at the TMo store, I was told I had to upgrade it to a $30/month plan to get the upgrade price for the phone. I just walked out.
If anyone finds a good way around this BS, please post.

Are you available for an upgrade? Typically they will grandfather in plans if you are available for your regular upgrade, but if you try to ask for an upgrade early they will force you to more expensive plans.
Your best bet is to call up T-Mobile and talk to their Customer Loyalty/Retention department. Depending on how long you have been with T-Mobile, they work wonders for you, albeit you would have to wait for your phone to arrive in the mail.

I need to fight with them today myself. I have a family plan and already had one phone with a $25 unlimited plan on it. When I added this line they put me on a $30 plan and did not grandfather in the $25 rate.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

DarkAgent said:
Are you available for an upgrade? Typically they will grandfather in plans if you are available for your regular upgrade, but if you try to ask for an upgrade early they will force you to more expensive plans.
Your best bet is to call up T-Mobile and talk to their Customer Loyalty/Retention department. Depending on how long you have been with T-Mobile, they work wonders for you, albeit you would have to wait for your phone to arrive in the mail.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Will try calling. I was eligible on this line, but they want to force people off the cheaper plans (some nexus users are still on $5.99 plan).
PS - went to their website, and it offered the upgrade, but when I started the process, it popped up a "warning" that I would have to revisit their website after they shipped it and set up an "android" plan.
Tempted to go through the process on my credit card (not on my TMo account credit - so they cannot pull back the upgrade "discount"), and when I get the phone - just put the SIM in and see what happens.
AT $180/year more for the data plan, it would be better for me to just pay the full price. Will get most of it back from my Nexus on eBay if I decide to keep the phone past the remorse period.

Fight harder -- depending on how long you have been with T-Mobile, they will give you their new Android Premium Web for $20 a month.

I have been with them before they officially started up in the US (used them in Germany).
On hold - will see....
Guess what - from customer retention - $99 for the upgrade (not $199), and the $30 "android" plan for $20/month. I also have a 20 day period to return and restore my existing data plan.
From this and one other experience, it appears customer retention should be the way to go as a normal upgrade route (that is how I got the $14.99 unlimited plan a while back).

What's this Android Premium Web? I have been with them for over 5 years on the family account. My work account has been with them since the voicestream days.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

Android Premium Web is just the official name for the $30/month unlimited data plan for Android phones.

That unlimited stuff is bs because its not truly unlimited any how u use over 3gigs for a certain month they drop udown to edge speeds but the only way u will know is if u do a speed test
Sent from my HTC Magic using XDA App

jovan285 said:
That unlimited stuff is bs because its not truly unlimited any how u use over 3gigs for a certain month they drop udown to edge speeds but the only way u will know is if u do a speed test
Sent from my HTC Magic using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would they also be doing that to existing $5.99 - $14.99 "unlimited" plans?

jovan285 said:
That unlimited stuff is bs because its not truly unlimited any how u use over 3gigs for a certain month they drop udown to edge speeds but the only way u will know is if u do a speed test
Sent from my HTC Magic using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
First of all, the soft cap is 5 GB, not 3 GB. Secondly, I hear if you live in an area where there is HSPA+, after 5 GB they will drop you to 3G, then after 10 GB they will drop you to edge.
Secondly, it is still "unlimited" because you can still use the Internet -- just at slower speeds.
Lastly, they send you a text message telling you they throttled your speed, so you know. If you have been a customer with T-Mobile for a while, and/or this only happens to you once in a while, calling up T-Mobile can typically get them to remove the throttle.

gaww said:
Would they also be doing that to existing $5.99 - $14.99 "unlimited" plans?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not sure, but they probably do.

i pay $20.00 for unl. inter. you need to call customer care and order your phone from them in order to keep your cheap inter.

I'm not sure why you guys think you deserve the right for an early upgrade when you are currently locked into a 2 year contract. If you try to talk them into it they have no choice but to force you to get the new prices.
I've never understood the purpose of locking yourself into a new 2 year contract every time a new phone comes out. If a new phone is coming out, and you KNOW for a fact you want it, then save up ahead of time and buy it full price. That way you can keep your old grandfather plans with the much cheaper pricing. Or you can do what I'm doing and go with their EM+ solutions, which only T-Mobile offers, and have a much cheaper monthly bill but buy your phones outright. It saves much more money, just sell your current phone on craigslist and pay the difference.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App

I was not locked in on the line I upgraded with.
Currently using Nexus from eBay - will be selling it back there IF I decide to keep the 4G. If not, I have 20 days to return and go back to grandfathered plan.
I had been thinking about just paying full price and keeping my $14.99 plan if they had stuck with $30 for the plan.
What is their EM+ solutions and do you know what the EM+ price would be on this device?

Arcadia310 said:
I've never understood the purpose of locking yourself into a new 2 year contract every time a new phone comes out. If a new phone is coming out, and you KNOW for a fact you want it, then save up ahead of time and buy it full price. That way you can keep your old grandfather plans with the much cheaper pricing. Or you can do what I'm doing and go with their EM+ solutions, which only T-Mobile offers, and have a much cheaper monthly bill but buy your phones outright. It saves much more money, just sell your current phone on craigslist and pay the difference.
Sent from my T-Mobile G2 using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Well, it can't get any cheaper than what I'm paying - $30 voice and $20 data. I may get more minutes with EM+, but I don't need them. And, by upgrading I don't have to change plans or anything. So, I get the phone at subsidized pricing as I know I'll be with T-Mo anyway. Furthermore, if I DO need to change providers for any extreme reason, the ETF drops over time, so nothing is lost and everything is gained, at least for me.

My t mobile rep let me stay with my hd2 data plan as long as it worked with the phone. Which it did.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Scoop24 said:
My t mobile rep let me stay with my hd2 data plan as long as it worked with the phone. Which it did.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App
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Click to collapse
Was that at full price or "upgrade" price?

gaww said:
Was that at full price or "upgrade" price?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I upgraded
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

I didn't have this problem at all

I got $20 data plan on my new lines

I called Customer Loyalty and got a nice lady and was friendly to her. I didn't threaten to cancel or anything, here is a paraphrasing of the conversation:
Me: "I have a friend who recommended T-Mobile to me, and he has a Vibrant with a $20 data and when I asked about it in the store they said they could only activate me under the $30 plan, but I could talk to a customer service to change my plan."
Rep: I don't see that option being available on your account.
Me: <silence>
Rep: Well let me see what I can find....(10 seconds later)...I can definitely make that change on your account for you.
Me: Thank you so much, that really helps out. Have a great day.
Obviously there was some paraphrasing but it was pretty much as simple as "I know someone who has this, can I have it?" I now have 2 MT4G's with $20 data plans on a contract that is a week old.

But what did you pay for the phone?
I went entirely through retention and they offered (I did not ask) the phone for $99 in addition to the $20 plan.

gaww said:
But what did you pay for the phone?
I went entirely through retention and they offered (I did not ask) the phone for $99 in addition to the $20 plan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I got the phones for 79.99 each both with a $50 rebate in-store after I showed them the Wirefly/Bank of America deal.
So 29.99 after rebate a piece.

I too have the $20 android data plan on my MT4g. I've had it for a few months with my other android devices.

itmustbejj said:
I got the phones for 79.99 each both with a $50 rebate in-store after I showed them the Wirefly/Bank of America deal.
So 29.99 after rebate a piece.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice (but with $20 plan)? Also, upgrade or new plan?
I am surprised you got the deal at a store - as they were wining about how they were not allowed to do deals there - especially with respect to the plans. I went through retention because of this.

Maybe it's the 2gig plan and not the unlimited plan?

I've had the $20 data plans for a while now (unlimited data) for all 3 of my data using lines. They are AWESOME. But I got to pay $125 (after instant rebate) for my mytouch4g which is fine because they've hooked me up sooooooooooooooo much in the past few years that I am not about to complain about what better pricing they offer me. They are truly awesome and the best part is.... most of the time, like 99% of the time, they offer me these deals and I don't have to ask them for a damned thing. Now THAT is rare.
I've been with them also since 2002 so that helps a bit lol.

It was on new contract activations and I got the unlimited plan for $20
Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk

Hopefully this will be able to tether Hope that its truely "unlimited"

I tried this also but I was told it was not available for me. I was told it was for long term customers.

i had the umlimited android plan for $25. i called the Rentention just now and they upgraded me to the new 4g unlimited data plan for the same $25. saving me $5 according to the rep.

For those thats wondering it is noticably faster.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Scoop24 said:
i had the umlimited android plan for $25. i called the Rentention just now and they upgraded me to the new 4g unlimited data plan for the same $25. saving me $5 according to the rep.
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Click to collapse
Odd, because I just called them as well and they told me there is no need to change my package because either way I have unlimited data and that includes 4G network where I live. As part of their unlimited data package it includes, edge, 2g, 3g, and 4g so my $20 unlimited data package is just fine...esp. considering my phone is a 4G phone. Hmmmmm =/
It's basically just a rename as I take it then. They both said the package operates the exact same way.

likeitnot said:
Odd, because I just called them as well and they told me there is no need to change my package because either way I have unlimited data and that includes 4G network where I live. As part of their unlimited data package it includes, edge, 2g, 3g, and 4g so my $20 unlimited data package is just fine...esp. considering my phone is a 4G phone. Hmmmmm =/
It's basically just a rename as I take it then. They both said the package operates the exact same way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same plan, but when I go to my account at their website and check on services for that line, it pops up a message that I need to convert to the 4G plan (for $30 of course).
I will not do it, as I agreed to going from a $15 unlimited data plan to the unlimited "android" plan for $20 only 2 weeks ago to get the upgrade MT4G.
I may have to get the retention dept to "fix" this (they can do a lot of things the regular support cannot do - like activate a new line on my @home service - which is otherwise no longer supported)

gaww said:
I have the same plan, but when I go to my account at their website and check on services for that line, it pops up a message that I need to convert to the 4G plan (for $30 of course).
I will not do it, as I agreed to going from a $15 unlimited data plan to the unlimited "android" plan for $20 only 2 weeks ago to get the upgrade MT4G.
I may have to get the retention dept to "fix" this (they can do a lot of things the regular support cannot do - like activate a new line on my @home service - which is otherwise no longer supported)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yeah it's actually been like that for me for months now. For some reason the loyalty dept.s data package doesn't show online for me as well. And every time I tried to go in to change services (well to add visual voicemail) it popped up.
They expressed to me our packages are no different then those with the name of 4G. I would hope so lol.
I might call them and see if they can fix that too online though for future use.
*edit* I just called he said it has something to do with the fact that the data package given to us thru loyalty (the pricing being the difference) doesn't appropriate with the system for some odd reason but they put in a request to have it fixed, ALSO He assured me "200%" that our package is "exact same" as this so called 4G package but simply for better lack of understanding "renamed to 4G package" because before they had 5 or 6 different types, now its simply 2.

itmustbejj said:
I called Customer Loyalty and got a nice lady and was friendly to her. I didn't threaten to cancel or anything, here is a paraphrasing of the conversation:
Me: "I have a friend who recommended T-Mobile to me, and he has a Vibrant with a $20 data and when I asked about it in the store they said they could only activate me under the $30 plan, but I could talk to a customer service to change my plan."
Rep: I don't see that option being available on your account.
Me: <silence>
Rep: Well let me see what I can find....(10 seconds later)...I can definitely make that change on your account for you.
Me: Thank you so much, that really helps out. Have a great day.
Obviously there was some paraphrasing but it was pretty much as simple as "I know someone who has this, can I have it?" I now have 2 MT4G's with $20 data plans on a contract that is a week old.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Most people can't make use of unlimited data. If you look at your data usage you might want to take the 200 mb (there is no 2 gb plan as suggest by JCorpornicus). On my 3 lines we were using at the max about 80,000 kb on one of the phones (the 200 mb plan is for each phone) so we took the $10 200 mb plan on each phone. Saved a lot of money!

I wonder if they charge you overage on the 200mb plan once you go over, or if they cap it like the 5gb plan. If its the latter, I would totally switch to save money, as I'm always around wifi anyway.
It also doesn't make sense that they charge $20 for 5gb and $10 for just 200mb o__O something seems off about that.
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

I just called in hopes of getting this deal and the rep told me the $20 data plan does not include text messages and to add text messages it would be $5 for 300 or $14 for unlimited.
The current plan I am on right now is 400 text messages and unlimited data for $25
I called and tried to sound calm and nice just asking for help but they only offered that or unlimited text/data for $30
I have been with them for 8 years now. Am I missing something here?

itmustbejj said:
I called Customer Loyalty and got a nice lady and was friendly to her. I didn't threaten to cancel or anything, here is a paraphrasing of the conversation:
Me: "I have a friend who recommended T-Mobile to me, and he has a Vibrant with a $20 data and when I asked about it in the store they said they could only activate me under the $30 plan, but I could talk to a customer service to change my plan".
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what is the NAME OF THIS PLAN FOR THE VIBRANT..... (crickets?)

Scoop24 said:
i had the umlimited android plan for $25. i called the Rentention just now and they upgraded me to the new 4g unlimited data plan for the same $25. saving me $5 according to the rep.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Whats thw diffrence between the two? I am currently on the unlimited android plan is yhe 4g unlimited better? Been a tmobile customer since 1999. Thanks!
Sent from my HTC Glacier using XDA App

Contract vs. No contract

As the title says, on no contract right now $79 unlimited everything plan with a G2, and want to get a G2x.
Amazon is selling it for $509 outright (no tax and shipping included).
Or sign a contract on the same $79 plan and get it for $149 and port my # over to the contract line and cancel the no contract one.
Now here's my theory. I looked it up and Tmo's ETF is $200. $149+200=$349. Much cheaper than $509 and the same plan I have now. Yes, I know 2gb data before throttling but I checked my history and I havent used more than 6-700mb at the most, so its a non-issue.
Any thoughts if going contract is the best way since the ETF + on contract phone price is cheaper and getting the same plan for the same price anyways? BTW, no plans to cancel Tmo anytime soon (not trying any sing contract and cancel gimmick), I just mean as an insurance policy down the road to get out if need be.

ive thought about signing a 2 year contract, keeping my unlimited data (3g, dont care for 4g) then canceling.

I don't know if your in the united stated but I got mine at a Radioshack for $499.99 plus tax. Also they have a trade and save program so i traded in my hd2 and got $95 for it so that helped a bit.

If you are not signing the contract, you can get Even More Plus unlimited plan for 59.99 and save 20$ per month.
1 yr in the off-contract, you would have saved 240$. Cheaper compared to the contract price. I got mine directly from tmo store for full price.

It's $80 a month for unlimited talk, text, and data. $60 is for talk only. Thing is if you use Google Voice for texting you don't need a text plan.

The 59.99 unlimited everything plan existed, but only for about a day before Tmo shut it down.
Its the same on or off contract right now $79.99.
The question really is $509 from Amazon or $149 with a contract (if the tmo ETF is $200 as I believe it still is).
Seems like off contract and pay $500 for a phone isnt cheaper anymore now that they dropped the contract plan to $79.99 also and the discount on the phone is more than the ETF.

I bought mine from amazon because tmobile refused to sell it to me w/o upgrading my plan. Im on an old g1 plan @ $59. So i ponied up the $509, and recieved a g2x a few days later. Unfortunately the one i got has screen bleed pretty badly so called amazon and they are sending out a replacement and labels to ship old one back for free. They also said i could wait up to 30 days to ship back the old one...pretty nice. So the one thing i can say about going with amazon is they have great customer service...at least for me.
I just refuse to pay 80 a month for phone service. Its just too rich for my blood.

At T-Mobile store I got no contract family plan for 2 lines for 110 750 minutes unlimited text and data. Also they offered 500 bucks credit with no apr which I used to get my g2x. So um paying 130 a month for unlimited without contract
Sent from my G2x

I bought mine Saturday from a T-Mobile store without a contract and use my Simple Mobile SIM in it, which does not require you to SIM unlock the phone since its still tied to T-Mobiles infrastructure. $60/month for unlimited talk,text and internet.
You do have to set a custom APN in order to get proper service.

klmsu19 said:
As the title says, on no contract right now $79 unlimited everything plan with a G2, and want to get a G2x.
Amazon is selling it for $509 outright (no tax and shipping included).
Or sign a contract on the same $79 plan and get it for $149 and port my # over to the contract line and cancel the no contract one.
Now here's my theory. I looked it up and Tmo's ETF is $200. $149+200=$349. Much cheaper than $509 and the same plan I have now. Yes, I know 2gb data before throttling but I checked my history and I havent used more than 6-700mb at the most, so its a non-issue.
Any thoughts if going contract is the best way since the ETF + on contract phone price is cheaper and getting the same plan for the same price anyways? BTW, no plans to cancel Tmo anytime soon (not trying any sing contract and cancel gimmick), I just mean as an insurance policy down the road to get out if need be.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If you cancel your plan, don't you also have to pay the difference between the full retail price of the phone and what you originally paid for it?
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk

Do you really think T-Mobile and its sellers are not smart enough to do the math on this?
Read the contracts....here is what Amazon Wireless says:
$150.00 for phone
$ 35.00 for activation
$ 1.50 for taxes
$200.00 for T-Mobile early termination
$250.00 for Amazon wireless early termination
$636.50 vs $509 for just buying the phone without a contact....

yukkerz said:
I don't know if your in the united stated but I got mine at a Radioshack for $499.99 plus tax. Also they have a trade and save program so i traded in my hd2 and got $95 for it so that helped a bit.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
HD2's are selling for 200+ on Craigslist. Why not sell it there?

rotohammer said:
You do have to set a custom APN in order to get proper service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And what would that be? (Mine works fine, just asking for those that choose to go this route.)

rotohammer said:
I bought mine Saturday from a T-Mobile store without a contract and use my Simple Mobile SIM in it, which does not require you to SIM unlock the phone since its still tied to T-Mobiles infrastructure. $60/month for unlimited talk,text and internet.
You do have to set a custom APN in order to get proper service.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Never heard of Simple Mobile until now. It seems like a great deal from looking at the website. So it's basically just like having T-Mobile service? What's the catch?

If you sign a contract with t-mobile and cancel, I know they make you either return the phone or pay the difference between what you bought it for and the full price of the phone. I'm not sure how long you have to be on the contract so they won't charge you that difference.
There is an even more plus plan that is $60/month with 500 min, m2m, unlimited text and web. Unless you need more minutes, that's a pretty good deal.

TurboTsi said:
There is an even more plus plan that is $60/month with 500 min, m2m, unlimited text and web. Unless you need more minutes, that's a pretty good deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not anymore, unfortunately. They axed the EM+ plans a couple weeks ago.

That sucks. I'm on EM+ $79 (1000 min, unlimited SMS/Data, 5gb cap).
Guess I better not change it any time soon.
I sold my Nexus One for $250. Bought the G2x outright. So $250 out of pocket.

karnovaran said:
Never heard of Simple Mobile until now. It seems like a great deal from looking at the website. So it's basically just like having T-Mobile service? What's the catch?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simple Mobile sounds amazing on the surface. The catch is that they lie about their "unlimited" plans. After 1 GB they throttle you. I've heard this in multiple places, but a quick Google search brings up many results:
- http://www.phonenews.com/simple-mob...b-accounts-terminated-when-cap-reached-11989/
- http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=909359
- etc

TurboTsi said:
There is an even more plus plan that is $60/month with 500 min, m2m, unlimited text and web. Unless you need more minutes, that's a pretty good deal.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is the plan i am using now.

karnovaran said:
Not anymore, unfortunately. They axed the EM+ plans a couple weeks ago.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nah.
They just removed them from the website.
They did this to "reduce confusion". Iin reality, they just wanted to make people think that they're gone (and succeeded for the most part), so that people sign up for higher rate plans and 2 year contracts.
Check out the FlexPay page:
http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/flexpayplans.aspx
Even More Plus™ 500 Talk + Unlimited Text + Unlimited Web w/FlexPay®
$59.99​

Stay with Prepaid or go on Contract?

I currently have Tmobiles $60 monthly 4G prepaid plan. I have been using an HTC G2 I bought off of craigslist. I just sold a Galaxy S and my G2 on ebay and have enough money to get an HTC Sensation 4G.
Will it be better to open a contract with Tmobile and get the phone for $100, or buy the phone off of ebay or the BST here for around $300. I do not know if there are any hidden fees or anything, and don't want to stray to far from $60 a month. What would you guys do? Im leaning towards buying the Sensation 4G off of ebay.
Extra: What phones are like the Sensation 4G and work with Tmobile 4G?

Screw the contracts. I'm on Simple and pay on $40 a month.
Pay cash for all of my phones.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

Stay
Stay where you're at if you're happy with it - I pay about $180/month on contract with Verizon for just 2 phones....

I would stay on prepaid. My spouse was with US Cellular and the plan was supposed to be $79.99 a month for unlimited everything. It always came out to be about $140 with all the extra charges. Fees for this, fees for that. We're both on Simple Mobile now and pay $40 each... can't beat that!

if your on Prepaid Stay with it, one of the best things about T-mobile was the use of any phone on prepaid. Still kicking myself over going to a contract

Saito2185 said:
Still kicking myself over going to a contract
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Haha! Same...

pputhoo quoted
I vote for prepaid! No more unwanted bills, just pay and play each month

Especially if you get free extra bonus for extending your account balance with prepaid

Contract ends up cheaper in the long run.

I pay 29EUR a month. For me cheaper as prepaid... With prepaid i was at 60EUR or more a month... And i got a HTC Sensation XE but SGS 2 is better
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App

I vote prepaid. I was on their monthly plan and it felt good being able to go to Verizon without paying them anything.
Sent from my Transformer TF101 using XDA Premium HD app

Depends on where you use it for. Contracts in my country are obvious cheaper when you call alot, but if you only use mobile internet like me and almost never use up my montly call & sms limit then you might as well stay with prepaid, unless you can score a new phone without having pay high contract costs.
WiFi and voip are the combo I use, I just pay € 10 exclusive tax and then I call for 120 days free with a fup ofcourse and after those 120 days I just start using my credit and pay € 0,02 per min.
But my contract was with a free new phone on that moment worth about € 500 so that;s reason I have a contract with mobile internet, because it just cost me about € 4 each month, so I don't mind that I don't call so much.
But next time I will just stick with WiFi and use no sim card or prepaid as I think in my country the contracts are not cheap any more.

Yeah
I definitely think you should stay with what you have if your happy with it. I'm paying about $155/month on Sprint for 2 phones.

Verizon does offer prepaid for smartphones too, you just need to bring your own device. But, it's gonna run you $80.
Now, you can stay on Tmobile prepaid and use any GSM phone that's locked to Tmobile, or unlocked for any GSM provider(Granted that the phone has the right bands to support Tmobiles HSPA+ connection for full data speeds), but like any prepaid service you're gonna get the bottom of the barrel service. You do pay more with contracts 9/10, but you get so much better service and support. Sprint is going to be the cheapest and most flexible contract service at about $75-$85 after taxes with the starting 450 data plan(unlimited mobile talk, text, and data, 450 land line minutes nights and weekends start at 7), and phone selection isn't too bad either. Now you will be limited on 4g, since Sprint's Wimax service is next to nothing. If you don't have credit, you're looking at $50-$100 for a deposit.
AT&T is known to be the more expensive one out of the 3 carriers, but AT&T is actually just as much as Verizon would be. If you have no credit, you're looking at maybe $200-$400 for a deposit. For $90 a month, you get 450 land line minutes plus any minutes you don't use roll over to the next month, 5000 night and weekend minutes with rollover, unlimited texting, and 3gb of data. For service, it's hit or miss. AT&T will claim they have service in one area, but how AT&T does it is if they can even pull a single bar of service and connect to their towers, it counts as having service. Their LTE network isn't so big right now, but it's growing. Device selection is actually pretty decent right now, about the same as Sprint with the SII, the GS, a dual core Motorola device, a single core HTC phone, a dual core HTC phone, and the Iphones.
Verizon hands down has had the best service, and if you don't have credit maybe $125-$200 for a deposit. Verizon does have the biggest LTE network, and has a deal right now where you can get 4gb for the price of 2gb until the 31st of March on any LTE phone(but it has to be an LTE phone). Their plans are kind of limited though, $90 for 450 minutes, unlimited texts, and assuming you're going for an LTE phone 4gb of data. You only get unlimited to verizon phones, and nights and weekends start off at 9pm instead of 7 like Sprint. You can go up to 900 minutes for $20 more and get 10 numbers to get free minutes to however. Device selection is pretty decent for Verizon, but expensive. The cheapest LTE device Verizon pretty much has that's worth anything is the Stratosphere, but there's hardly any development for it. I love the service I get with Verizon, they're the only company in the Toledo area that has any type of 4g service, but the only reason I have Verizon now is because of the dealer plan Verizon offers to Radioshack employees.
If you're looking for your first contract phone, I wouldn't recommend Tmobile right now, but after they get the spectrum they got from AT&T setup then I would probably consider them, but easily for first contract go Sprint. Flexible, requires almost nothing to be approved, and decent service for Sprint. EVO 3d right now through Radioshack is $50 as well as the Photon, which would be the 2 most cost effective phones on Sprint right now.

vbetts said:
You do pay more with contracts 9/10, but you get so much better service and support.
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If by "service" you mean connection, are there any stats for this? I'm about to switch to their $30 prepaid, and would love to know if there's a catch.

i pay about $100.00 a month with AT&T and i don't have unlimited data. i'm about thinking about switching to prepaid as well when my contract ends.

thebobp said:
If by "service" you mean connection, are there any stats for this? I'm about to switch to their $30 prepaid, and would love to know if there's a catch.
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Most prepaid services are only going to have access to certain towers, meaning you couldn't use a Boost mobile phone that uses Sprint towers and roam off of Verizon or Clearwire, or any CDMA towers.

vbetts said:
Most prepaid services are only going to have access to certain towers, meaning you couldn't use a Boost mobile phone that uses Sprint towers and roam off of Verizon or Clearwire, or any CDMA towers.
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Is this a limitation for GSM-only phones (like mine)?
Edit: or is there any other limitation that you know of?

^ no he's referring to CDMA. Death to contracts.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

Yeah... I regret going into a contract.. Paying around $100 a month just for 1 line and its not even unlimited data.
Luckily its up in July and I can hopefully go prepaid

How I got a discount on the gs3 from Verizon

I didn't want to lose unlimited data because my kids are old enough to use tablets now and I wanted to have a hotspot in the car. Sprint does not work in my area. I called Verizon and told the rep I wanted 50 off the gs3 32gb.
Then I said I can walk into a store start a new line for 250 and then cancel the line the same day, pay 350 termination fee and be out 600 instead of 650. So please save me the trouble and just give me the 50 off.
I tried 4 times till I got it.
They don't have the ability to discount the phone but they can do a one time credit of 89.99 to your line. So after taxes and the 89.99 discount I paid 600 for the gs3 32 gb for vzw.

gingi999 said:
I didn't want to lose unlimited data because my kids are old enough to use tablets now and I wanted to have a hotspot in the car. Sprint does not work in my area. I called Verizon and told the rep I wanted 50 off the gs3 32gb.
Then I said I can walk into a store start a new line for 250 and then cancel the line the same day, pay 350 termination fee and be out 600 instead of 650. So please save me the trouble and just give me the 50 off.
I tried 4 times till I got it.
They don't have the ability to discount the phone but they can do a one time credit of 89.99 to your line. So after taxes and the 89.99 discount I paid 600 for the gs3 32 gb for vzw.
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I didn't want to lose my unlimited data that I had for my original Dinc either so I added a line to our family plan and got the SGS3 (16gb) at Best Buy for $150 after they price matched wal mart. Then I swapped the SGS3 for an old basic phone (thus removing the data package) and then swapped the new SGS3 for my old Dinc and Voila, new SGS3 for $150 with unlimited data and my brother will just take over the new $10/month line when he moves back home in a couple months. Worked like a charm!!

I did't want to lose my unlimited data either. I was ready to upgrade from my Incredible, but was irritated about the $30 upgrade fee. I called to get the fee waived, but was told that couldn't be done. Instead, I was given a free month of service, which for me is $89.99, plus my $50 ne2 discount. I got a 32 GB for less than $250.00. It's still a lot of money and I had to pay the ridiculous upgrade fee, but I am thrilled to have the SGSIII on an unlimited data plan!

Yeah. Usually when you call and complain they give you credit. However, if you work for a company that gets Verizon discounts you can usually just use your work email and get the activation fees waived
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

I preorderd the device. On my receipt when I got the phone it said if I cancel within 2 years i could face a etf of up to 175.00. Did anyone else notice?.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk 2

Loving my unlimited data plan as wells. I just want to know if I tether a tablet or PC to my GS3 and really start burning some GB over 4G will Verizon see I am tethering by looking at the packets somehow and start dropping the hammer by rate-limiting the device?

rerouted said:
Loving my unlimited data plan as wells. I just want to know if I tether a tablet or PC to my GS3 and really start burning some GB over 4G will Verizon see I am tethering by looking at the packets somehow and start dropping the hammer by rate-limiting the device?
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I've never had a problem and some guy on the Rezound forums got to 1tb of data so I don't think so.

k0t0g said:
Yeah. Usually when you call and complain they give you credit. However, if you work for a company that gets Verizon discounts you can usually just use your work email and get the activation fees waived
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app
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I get a discount through work where do you enter your email to get the fee waived?
Sent from my Kindle Fire

Mark930 said:
I get a discount through work where do you enter your email to get the fee waived?
Sent from my Kindle Fire
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Link below. Call once you get approved to get activation waived.
Verizonwireless.com/discounts
Or
https://www.verizonwireless.com/b2c/support/employee-discount-email
Enjoy
**Edit** Calling is the only way to get fees waived outside of the stores. They usually have to submit the waiver for approval and then authorize it later.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda app-developers app

taihard said:
I didn't want to lose my unlimited data that I had for my original Dinc either so I added a line to our family plan and got the SGS3 (16gb) at Best Buy for $150 after they price matched wal mart. Then I swapped the SGS3 for an old basic phone (thus removing the data package) and then swapped the new SGS3 for my old Dinc and Voila, new SGS3 for $150 with unlimited data and my brother will just take over the new $10/month line when he moves back home in a couple months. Worked like a charm!!
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I tried to do that originally but the $10 a mo plans dont exist anymore, no for a non smartphone to share a plan (for my wife who is new to verizon) its $30 a month, the math didnt work