Related
Has anyone confirmed that this package can be added to the EVO? I have heard that it cannot be added, however it show as an option in my account. I will be traveling to Canada in a month and would like to know.
Will not work. On my evo so don't feel like searching and finding the thread but I spike to numerous sprint reps and their supervisors because they told me it would with before coming to korea, but they they left me numerous voice mails saying they are sorry for the misunderstanding and the evo is not a world phone.
I had a Touch Pro 2 on SERO and upgraded on Friday to the Epic 4G Touch with SERO Premium. It took Sprint reps in the store 3.5 hours to do the switch because two reps who didn't know what they were doing switched the E4GT on my account before allowing me to purchase it. It resulted in an upgrade to my 2-year contract. I lost my upgrade eligibility which gives you the discounts allowing you to pay the $200 price for the phone. This Sprint Corporate Store spent the 3.5 hours calling National Sprint Service (NSS) and Sprint Customer Service (SCS). No one could resolve the problem because no one took ownership of the problem. By 7:55pm (I came into the store at 5:30pm), right before closing, one of the reps called both NSS and SCS in a three-way call so that someone would reverse the error to allow me the upgrade eligibility. I finally got the phone activated by 8:05pm. They activated my phone on a Everything Data plan so I had to call in and get it changed to SERO Premium. My plan went from SERO --> Everything Messaging --> SERO --> Everything Data --> SERO-P (by calling in).
If anyone is upgrading, call in to change your plan to SERO-P at the store so that they know you did it in their presence but do not provide the phone ESN to Sprint Customer Care before purchasing the phone because you WILL experience the same headache.
One thing that really pissed me off was that the manager of the Sprint CORPORATE store was not even there and the Epic 4G Touch released. WTF?
/rant
JAmerican said:
I had a Touch Pro 2 on SERO and upgraded on Friday to the Epic 4G Touch with SERO Premium. It took Sprint reps in the store 3.5 hours to do the switch because two reps who didn't know what they were doing switched the E4GT on my account before allowing me to purchase it. It resulted in an upgrade to my 2-year contract. I lost my upgrade eligibility which gives you the discounts allowing you to pay the $200 price for the phone. This Sprint Corporate Store spent the 3.5 hours calling National Sprint Service (NSS) and Sprint Customer Service (SCS). No one could resolve the problem because no one took ownership of the problem. By 7:55pm (I came into the store at 5:30pm), right before closing, one of the reps called both NSS and SCS in a three-way call so that someone would reverse the error to allow me the upgrade eligibility. I finally got the phone activated by 8:05pm. They activated my phone on a Everything Data plan so I had to call in and get it changed to SERO Premium. My plan went from SERO --> Everything Messaging --> SERO --> Everything Data --> SERO-P (by calling in).
If anyone is upgrading, call in to change your plan to SERO-P at the store so that they know you did it in their presence but do not provide the phone ESN to Sprint Customer Care before purchasing the phone because you WILL experience the same headache.
One thing that really pissed me off was that the manager of the Sprint CORPORATE store was not even there and the Epic 4G Touch released. WTF?
/rant
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I was about to ask you if the manager was there, then got to the end of your message.
This phone was not a major release for sprint. We did not get any traffic whatsoever until about 2 days before launch at my store. Sold our stock within 2 hours of opening however, and I'm sure I'm going to go in tomorrow and find out that we had a lot more upset people. The internet hype on this phone is pretty high but most CO reps have a bad taste in their mouths from all the problems with the NS4G and basically every other Samsung phone dating back to the moment. So no one pushed it. Sucks, but the only person in my store that was pushing it was me.
Just wanted to give people a heads up on my horror story with AT&T. I don't want anyone else to wind up in my situation. I just received a message stating I had been charged in excess of $100 dollars in data charges and please call AT&T to prevent service disruptions or future charges.
Background: I have had unlimited Data since 2008 because I had an iPhone 3g. In the meantime I've used several Android devices. On the 9th of last month I decided I was ready for a new device. I did some searching and decided to get a Galaxy Note. I used it briefly until the GNex was announced by Google in the US. I decided to buy the GNex as well and return the device I was least satisfied with. After some use, I loved the LTE but decided I preferred the community behind the GNex and the AOSP roms. So on the 7th of this month I returned the Note before my 30 days.
Issue: The drama starts on the 7th. After returning my Note my unlimited data plan was dropped without telling me because I was no longer using an AT&T recognized smartphone. I was careful to ask in store if returning the Note would affect my unlimited data, and the salesperson said it would not. Since I no longer have a data plan, AT&T has been charging me $1 per megabyte. So in two days I have racked up over $250 dollars in data charges. The AT&T reps refuse to reactivate my Unlimited data until I put my SIM in (and presumably keep it in) an AT&T recognized smartphone. I discussed with the rep and she stated that I can use smartphone data on a non-AT&T smartphone if the system recognizes it. The Catch-22 here is that the system only recognizes AT&T sold devices. So now I have to put my SIM back in my old Infuse and contact the Rep again to have them reverse my charges and reactivate my unlimited data. I am now afraid to use the GNex for fear of losing my data again.
tl:dr: AT&T dropped my unlimited data because their system doesn't recognize the GNex as a compatible smartphone. They won't reactivate my data plan until my SIM is in an AT&T recognized smartphone.
Update: I got a better service rep today and she restored my Unlimited data and confirmed that using an unlocked device is allowed, but the combination of returning an AT&T device then picking up an unknown IMEI may be to blame. I got a verbal agreement to reverse the charges, but the rep was unable to do so until a bill with them is generated. So I will call back on my bill date to confirm.
Tell them its BS, as I've used Euro phones on AT&T for years and they never dropped my data.
Also, I've since left AT&T in December for Verizon, the network seems better/more stable, but the nexus has had voice quality issues for 5 months and they've been procrastinating on fixing it. (yay for xda, which has solved most of my issues)
VinceT3 said:
Tell them its BS, as I've used Euro phones on AT&T for years and they never dropped my data.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What gets me is that this is clearly a customer service rep that messed me up. I had the SIM in the GNex prior to the 7th when I returned the Note. My data wasn't changed until after I returned the Note.
Also I had an N1 for over a year just after it was released. This never happened then. My suspicion is that I got a bad combo of a stupid rep and AT&T trying to crack down on users with unlimited plans.
I have at&t also. They are a bunch of money grubbing... well...
Here is your solution...
If this is your own line, itll still work, but is cheaper with a family plan.
Step one: Quit buying ATT Branded Phones. This is stupid, you pay more over the course of use. 30 bucks for 3 gigs? fuuuuck that.
Step two: get a IMEI From ANY Other non ATT Phone. Buy a 20 dollar junker off ebay. It HAS TO be a dumb phone. with a WAP Browser.
Step three: register that with ATT, tell them you want the wap data plan for your dumb phone. This is your primary and only phone as far as they are concerned. With a family plan, Unlimited WAP is 10 bucks. On your own, its 15.
Step four: wait a few days for your account to settle, or month, whenever your bill stabilizes. this is important. Dont make any more changes, as you can get hosed on price at this point.
Step five: Buy your GNEX. or Korean Galaxy Note. Or any other non ATT phone.
Step Six: Swap Sim's and setup the APN's if your rom does not come with them.
Step Seven: Enjoy your new unlimited data 10/15 dollar a month data plan on your smart phone.
a important note: Dont show any asshole at ATT your phone. Dont even mention it. Tell them you have a dumb phone. If they ask to do trouble shooting, play along. Dont do that ****. If they press for what phone you have, tell them you have a old ass Nokia. If they say your lying, tell em where to shove it.
I have 5 lines on my family plan. 1400 minutes. Unlimited messaging. Unlimited Data on all lines. 194 a month. And you get the "A list", free calls to any other network phone numbers you specify, up to 10. Needless to say, i hardly use my anytime. The only headache is getting the other idiots to pay me, even though its 38 bucks a person... peices of ****.
Have fun, dont be dumb with the ATT Reps. Make no mistake, No matter how smart you are, Stupidity will ALWAYS outsmart you.
I've never had this issue before. So what I assume happened is that the Rep cleared my IMEI on my account rather than reverting it to the one that was there before the Note.
I never had an issue when using my N1. I've never had an issue when using a dumbphone temporarily (when traveling or something like hiking where I don't want to risk damage) nor when testing my SIM in friend's phones. My guess is all other times AT&T account just used the IMEI on file, not the one it detects. If there is no IMEI on file it probably detects yours and then uses it.
Still, after I talk to the Rep tomorrow and hopefully get this cleared up I am sort of afraid to use my GNex again. I am seriously considering T-Mobile and seeing if I can get them to waive my ETF since I can't use my phone.
Also advise them they it is ILLEGAL for them to change your plan without your consent. They will correct the billing error and fix it for you. (My friend had a 6000 dollar bill for the same reason, they ate the bill as they should)
Just one of the many reasons I left AT&T 3 years ago and went to T-Mobile.
If you follow what i told you to do, you'll be a much happier ATT user... LOL
Forget the current IMEI on file. it does not matter. you need to update it to one that ATT does not have in thier database.
Trust me on this. Im a internet professional.
wyefye said:
If you follow what i told you to do, you'll be a much happier ATT user... LOL
Forget the current IMEI on file. it does not matter. you need to update it to one that ATT does not have in thier database.
Trust me on this. Im a internet professional.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well they need to have one on file. You simply had them add the dumbphone as their IMEI on file so that when you swapped your SIM you kept that data plan.
They tell me that IMEI is unrecgonized as well. Because of that they dropped my smartphone unlimited plan. I am not trying to go to the the $15 dumbphone plan because I want to be able to keep my unlimited data if I ever choose to go LTE. 5Gb of LTE for $30 before throttling is pretty amazing.
Well they need to have one on file. You simply had them add the dumbphone as their IMEI on file so that when you swapped your SIM you kept that data plan.
They tell me that IMEI is unrecgonized as well. Because of that they dropped my smartphone unlimited plan. I am not trying to go to the the $15 dumbphone plan because I want to be able to keep my unlimited data if I ever choose to go LTE. 5Gb of LTE for $30 before throttling is pretty amazing.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What? you'll be transferring to a unlimited plan.
also, you realize that ATT 4G is just HSPA+, right? Everyone gets this already. they just changed the speed the 3G runs at. Plenty of documents sources on this. This is the EXACT reason ATT wanted to buy T-mobile; they have the 4G LTE Spectrum for GSM - Registered to them. In the Buyout, ATT would have acquired it, and Charged us higher prices... for upgrades... though the infrastructure already existed.
If you want REAL 4G, go for VZ.
Unrecognized is not the same as "Unsupported". you dont need a recognized phone to use thier "4G" services. You do need a recognized phone for them to tick that checkbox so you can PRETEND you have 4G, and pay more for the facade.
Your Choice.
p.s. 30 bucks for 5gb is NOT Amazing. its a ****ing scam.
OCZ RevoDrive SSD 960GB @ $3,149(most expensive SSD currently)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227742
$3.2 a GB.
ATT 5GB
$8 a GB
8 bucks a GB for false 4G? Yeah.....
The issue started when you purchased an at&t Mobility branded Galaxy Note, that IMEI became associated with your account and the DATA plan became associated to that IMEI (this is the key).
If you had simply removed the SIM from the Galaxy Note (and NOT RETURNED IT), placed it into your GNex there would not have been any issues as at&t's network could care less as you had a DATA plan and the GNex comes back as unknown to at&t's internal IMEI database.
It was the act of returning the device (which you have every right to do and I would have done the same) and not replacing it with another branded device that caused your DATA plan to fall off your account. Essentially, when you returned your NOTE, the computer saw the device removed from your account and since another device was not added to your account, the system dumped your DATA plan because nothing was re-attached to the account. If the GNex was recognized internally by at&t's systems and that IMEI was associated as a smartphone on your account, your DATA plan would have been preserved.
I had a similar issue and it took a bunch of labor on my part to fix the issue including speaking with an Engineer at at&t Mobility who had to work within the system to re-add my DATA plan without attaching an at&t Mobility branded device.
Eventually he was able to get things corrected as best I understand it, he had to find my device in the "global database" and then pull it into at&t's internal database and code it as a smartphone so that the system would re-attach my DATA plan. However, he said that some non-carrier branded smartphones do show up in at&t's internal database, but it is up to a certain department to add them and apparently that department selectively chooses devices.
I am not sure what to say, I have the luxury of working for an employer who has a personal at&t Mobility Corp Sales Rep who we can call when things go pear shaped and whose general job is to ensure that we are happy with at&t. When I had my DATA plan disappear she cut through the red tape and got me in contact with correct people to fix the issue.
I had tried to deal with normal CS at first and that was totally useless, not that I am surprised, normal CS is only capable of dealing with a certain select issues, not back end engineering which requires a different skill set and an understanding of how the system functions as a whole (this generally requires somebody with a specialized degree) to fix more complicated tasks.
Dan
wyefye said:
What? you'll be transferring to a unlimited plan.
also, you realize that ATT 4G is just HSPA+, right? Everyone gets this already. they just changed the speed the 3G runs at. Plenty of documents sources on this. This is the EXACT reason ATT wanted to buy T-mobile; they have the 4G LTE Spectrum for GSM - Registered to them. In the Buyout, ATT would have acquired it, and Charged us higher prices... for upgrades... though the infrastructure already existed.
If you want REAL 4G, go for VZ.
Unrecognized is not the same as "Unsupported". you dont need a recognized phone to use thier "4G" services. You do need a recognized phone for them to tick that checkbox so you can PRETEND you have 4G, and pay more for the facade.
Your Choice.
p.s. 30 bucks for 5gb is NOT Amazing. its a ****ing scam.
OCZ RevoDrive SSD 960GB @ $3,149(most expensive SSD currently)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227742
$3.2 a GB.
ATT 5GB
$8 a GB
8 bucks a GB for false 4G? Yeah.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T is deploying (and is fairly far along) an LTE network. IDK what speeds are like, but it is definitely not the same as their HSPA+ network.
AT&T is deploying (and is fairly far along) an LTE network. IDK what speeds are like, but it is definitely not the same as their HSPA+ network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you, but... when i look at ATT's att.com/network page, and see advertised LTE HSPA+ 4G, im far from inspired to switch.
GSM standards allow any GSM device on any GSM network. End of story.
Contact a lawyer and watch AT&T squirm. They are everything wrong with the wireless industry and overdue for a reality check.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
At&t sucks! I'll pay any other carrier double before I ever send At&t a check again. You can get those fees waved, you just have to talk to the right person. If you get someone stuck on no just hang up and call back. If its easier on you to put your sim in your other phone and then swap it back to the GN after your data plan is restored than you should do that.
Its easier to call retentions. If they can't fix it, they'll find somebody who can. Usually.
let it be.
wyefye said:
I have at&t also. They are a bunch of money grubbing... well...
Here is your solution...
If this is your own line, itll still work, but is cheaper with a family plan.
Step one: Quit buying ATT Branded Phones. This is stupid, you pay more over the course of use. 30 bucks for 3 gigs? fuuuuck that.
Step two: get a IMEI From ANY Other non ATT Phone. Buy a 20 dollar junker off ebay. It HAS TO be a dumb phone. with a WAP Browser.
Step three: register that with ATT, tell them you want the wap data plan for your dumb phone. This is your primary and only phone as far as they are concerned. With a family plan, Unlimited WAP is 10 bucks. On your own, its 15.
Step four: wait a few days for your account to settle, or month, whenever your bill stabilizes. this is important. Dont make any more changes, as you can get hosed on price at this point.
Step five: Buy your GNEX. or Korean Galaxy Note. Or any other non ATT phone.
Step Six: Swap Sim's and setup the APN's if your rom does not come with them.
Step Seven: Enjoy your new unlimited data 10/15 dollar a month data plan on your smart phone.
a important note: Dont show any asshole at ATT your phone. Dont even mention it. Tell them you have a dumb phone. If they ask to do trouble shooting, play along. Dont do that ****. If they press for what phone you have, tell them you have a old ass Nokia. If they say your lying, tell em where to shove it.
I have 5 lines on my family plan. 1400 minutes. Unlimited messaging. Unlimited Data on all lines. 194 a month. And you get the "A list", free calls to any other network phone numbers you specify, up to 10. Needless to say, i hardly use my anytime. The only headache is getting the other idiots to pay me, even though its 38 bucks a person... peices of ****.
Have fun, dont be dumb with the ATT Reps. Make no mistake, No matter how smart you are, Stupidity will ALWAYS outsmart you.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I did EXACTLY this when I bought my Nokia 5800 xpressmusic and my Nokia C6-01.. works like a charm and the speeds are the same.
wyefye said:
What? you'll be transferring to a unlimited plan.
also, you realize that ATT 4G is just HSPA+, right? Everyone gets this already. they just changed the speed the 3G runs at. Plenty of documents sources on this. This is the EXACT reason ATT wanted to buy T-mobile; they have the 4G LTE Spectrum for GSM - Registered to them. In the Buyout, ATT would have acquired it, and Charged us higher prices... for upgrades... though the infrastructure already existed.
If you want REAL 4G, go for VZ.
Unrecognized is not the same as "Unsupported". you dont need a recognized phone to use thier "4G" services. You do need a recognized phone for them to tick that checkbox so you can PRETEND you have 4G, and pay more for the facade.
Your Choice.
p.s. 30 bucks for 5gb is NOT Amazing. its a ****ing scam.
OCZ RevoDrive SSD 960GB @ $3,149(most expensive SSD currently)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227742
$3.2 a GB.
ATT 5GB
$8 a GB
8 bucks a GB for false 4G? Yeah.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is false information. AT&T LTE exists and is very real. HSPA+ and LTE are very different on AT&T. With my Infuse and GNex (and the Note when not in LTE) I get about 5-7Mbps. My area has LTE and when in LTE coverage on the Note I was regularly getting 35Mbps or higher. My highest speed was 52Mbps.
Also comparing the cost of storage on an SSD to the cost of internet bandwidth is a nonsense comparison. Solid state storage should always be cheaper than data transfer. Why didn't you compare a 500Gb platter? That should run you about $0.10 per gigabyte. And you've missed the mark on the AT&T pricing we are discussing. The LTE unlimited still costs $30 and throttles at 5Gb. So that is actually $6 per Gb unthrottled. Try comparing it to home internet providers maybe.
wyefye said:
What? you'll be transferring to a unlimited plan.
also, you realize that ATT 4G is just HSPA+, right? Everyone gets this already. they just changed the speed the 3G runs at. Plenty of documents sources on this. This is the EXACT reason ATT wanted to buy T-mobile; they have the 4G LTE Spectrum for GSM - Registered to them. In the Buyout, ATT would have acquired it, and Charged us higher prices... for upgrades... though the infrastructure already existed.
If you want REAL 4G, go for VZ.
Unrecognized is not the same as "Unsupported". you dont need a recognized phone to use thier "4G" services. You do need a recognized phone for them to tick that checkbox so you can PRETEND you have 4G, and pay more for the facade.
Your Choice.
p.s. 30 bucks for 5gb is NOT Amazing. its a ****ing scam.
OCZ RevoDrive SSD 960GB @ $3,149(most expensive SSD currently)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820227742
$3.2 a GB.
ATT 5GB
$8 a GB
8 bucks a GB for false 4G? Yeah.....
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T 4G LTE is much faster than Verizon 4G LTE in my experience. (I have both)
This is false information. AT&T LTE exists and is very real. HSPA+ and LTE are very different on AT&T. With my Infuse and GNex (and the Note when not in LTE) I get about 5-7Mbps. My area has LTE and when in LTE coverage on the Note I was regularly getting 35Mbps or higher. My highest speed was 52Mbps.
Also comparing the cost of storage on an SSD to the cost of internet bandwidth is a nonsense comparison. Solid state storage should always be cheaper than data transfer. Why didn't you compare a 500Gb platter? That should run you about $1 per gigabyte. And you've missed the mark on the AT&T pricing we are discussing. The LTE unlimited still costs $30 and throttles at 5Gb. So that is actually $6 per Gb unthrottled. Try comparing it to home internet providers maybe.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Your right, it is "Real", and does "Exist". Congrats. Not all of us live in the city, though.
I chose a SSD simply because the platter device is cheaper, for one. two, Lets compare a strictly home based internet data plan, to price per GB on ATT. Lets go with Comcast XFINITY since their similar in throttling and whatnot.
50meg is 114 a month, then add taxes and fees.
the month of May is 2,678,400 seconds...
convert 50mbps to MB a second is 6.25 MB/s
2,678,400 Seconds x 6.25MB/s
16,740,000 MB in the month...
16,347.6562 GB in a month...
15.964508 TB in a month...(just for scale)
Total cost per GB of home internet provided you are fully maxed out and no throttling....
0.0069622572370832 cents per GB.
Compared to ATT's...
$8 dollars per GB?!?! (op's 5BG)
But... lets not forget operating costs, upgrade fees, costs of network towers... and all that expensive throttling equipment. needs to be payed for somehow, right?
dont forget how much the CEO's Pockets cost!
Also, in reality, you cant compare HD's or Home internet... they are not the same technology....
I will start by saying I am a very happy Samsung Galaxy S III owner and an extremely un-happy Sprint customer (due to the lack of 4G and my paying for 4G for the past 3 years). I have started looking at terminating my contract with Sprint and doing a prepaid service like StraightTalk, that is until I recently read on Android Central that T-Mobile now has unlimited prepaid service. I spent some time tonight at a T-mobile store and the sales rep told me some things I would like to run past you fine people who may no more than this guy (I know he works for them, but they will also say anything to get you to buy what they want you to buy... er at least Sprint does). So here are the things he told me that I would like your input on.
1) The highest prepaid plan is unlimited talk, text and data at $70/month. However, your HSPA+ data ends after 5GB of data and beyond that amount, your data speeds will be throttled to "go so slow that web pages will time-out before they load, yes I am serious" (I am quoting the sales rep here)
2) "T-mobile has separate towers that are specific for pre-paid customers. They are fewer and more far between then our contract towers and as such, your coverage area is decreased and the data speeds you can achieve on HSPA+ (up to 5GB) is slower. You cannot access the towers that our contracted customers use, these towers cover more area and with greater bandwidth"
3) "With pre-paid you cannot roam. Period." He told me that with contract service you have truly, un-throttled, uncapped data on any T-mobile tower and truly unlimited roaming (voice, text and data) on any AT&T tower.
All in all, the sales rep was quite intent on stating how terrible and useless the prepaid service is, and that I can have all the amazing, truly unlimited, un-throttled, roam-anywhere, zoom-bang-wow service at the exact same cost of a contract plan ($70/month - since I am bringing my own device - I have an unlocked GSII Skyrocket). I just don't know if this guy is lying to me about some of these things in order to make me go contract or if he really is telling all truth here. After all, it is better for T-Mobile if I guarantee I pay them the cost of service for 2 years (or a contract cancellation fee) as opposed to having me on a string for only 1 month at which time I can leave at no cost.
I believe the no roaming part (what I mean to say, is that I can see how this can and would be possible) but I really cannot see how they have separate towers for the pre-paid and contract customers as they all operate on the same GSM frequencies (to my knowledge at least). This is only my idle speculation of course, I am hoping some of you can confirm/dispel some if not all of these statements I heard today and help me make an informed decision on where I go next with my service provider.
As a final note, I should explain to you that the truly unlimited and un-throttled data is important to me as I stream almost all my content and upload (via DropBox) a high volume of photos, all in addition to the usual stuff that eats up data (lots of email, video chatting, VoIP, MMS, etc). I currently use between 6-8GB of Sprint data per month. That is saying something considering how awfully slow their data is in my area (Denver, CO). So I anticipate needing even more than that once I am on a network with greater speeds as I naturally will be using it even more.
Thanks for all your input!
I do not believe anything I just read was correct..lol not to you, but to the rep.. Starting on January 9 their $70 unlimited plan was upped from 5gb to truly unlimited uncapped data.. Also I am not positive on the roaming as I do not leave.. And as far as them having their own towers go that is a lie because when a phone gets blacklisted because you haven't paid you bill you can't just put it on prepaid.. You have to unlock the phone and go on another carrier.
Sent from my SCH-I535 using xda premium
I am on the $30/mo plan available from walmart. It includes unlimited text and data (4g up to 5gb) and 100 minutes. I believe it is by far the best deal going for cell service. At $.10 a minute if you go over it's still the best deal going if you use under ~600 minutes a month on average.
The $70 plan you are talking about is actually unlimited 4G AFAIK.
Why not just buy a month or so of pre-paid, try it out - see how it goes - and if you think the contract service would work better for you, switch - there's no penalty for switching from pre-paid to contract, so why not ?
You're throttled to 50kb/s after your limit. Yes, it's slow, but pages not loading before they time out ? Maybe if you're loading super-heavy pages, but the guest WIFI at my school is throttled to the same and it's quite easy to browse the web. No, you're not going to be streaming video or anything on 50kb/s, but it's not the end of the world, either.
It looks like the $70/mo pre-paid doesn't have a data limit. If they're being sneaky and hiding it, I don't know - read the contract, but the ones where throttling does happen are worded differently.
I'm on pre-paid T-Mobile and never had coverage issues. Pretty sure there is some roaming. No, you're not going to get data-roaming, but that's kind of a given for any pre-paid service.
Don't forget. $70 plus taxes (~$10~) plus activation fee ($35 and only if done in-store). Your first month bill will skyrocket (I chose the value plan with two lines + down payment ($170/mo) when I extended my service with T-Mobile; the bill for the first month came to a close total of $300). Afterwards you'll pay a flat rate of ~$80~(taxes).
What the rep said were both true and false. The Value Plan (unlimited text + call + data with no throttle) is the better plan of the two options provided to you if you're looking for long-term but the only difference between the two is there will be a data throttle (5GB) for the Prepaid and unlimited data with no data for The Value Plan but only acquirable with a 2 year contract.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
Thanks for everyone's input. I took the plunge and went with T-Mobile prepaid $70/month. I did a lot of reading and went back to a different store. Turns out that as of 1/9/13 the $70/month prepaid is unlimited data and no throttle. Your sim gets service from the exact same towers as a contracted T Mobile customer. There also was not an activation fee. I had an approx. $6 sim start fee and then taxes. After everything it was $81.56 out the door. I do also get roaming on AT&T but I have yet to use it. I plan on using it for the rest of the month that I paid for before making any final decisions. This is about $25/month cheaper than what I am paying for sprint service right now AND I have HSPA+ data. The speeds are nothing to brag about at all but SOOO much faster than sprints data. Glad I researched this further before looking elsewhere.
Pre-paid is only charged state sales tax - which is usually much less than the taxes imposed on the contract plans. They still pay the taxes - you're just not paying for them on top of your bill.
My taxes on my $40 Sprint bill were like, $6. I pay only $1-something in state sales tax on the $30 refills. Not a huge difference but would add up quite a bit if the bills were higher.
$70/unlimited is a great deal if you have good coverage in your area (we have 4G all over the city here).
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app
There are Classic, Value, and Prepaid options.
Classic - You get a subsidised phone + a 2yr contract.
Value - You take the same phone subsidy that classic has but you apply it to your montly bill. As such you have the option to buy a phone at full price or bring your own. You still have the 2 yr contract.
Prepaid - No Contract.
Classic and Value are exactly the same.
The prepaid plan does have an unlimited data package, but the difference between the other packages is that prepaid customers DO NOT get ROAMING.
Over here in chicago, tmobile is partnered with ATT. If i go to an area that does not have tmobile service, I am allowed to use ATT towers. With prepaid you will simply have no service in this area.
(Note that roaming includes VOICE+TEXT but not high speed DATA. This means you will only get 1G or EDGE while roaming)
I am not sure about getting access to less tmobile towers, but less towers sounds like bull****. Keep in mind you still DO NOT get access to ROAMING towers. The rep might of misunderstood the tower explanation when she was in training but who knows, it might be true. I doubt it.
I do not work for Tmboile. Hope I explained everything.
I have a galaxy s4 sgh-m919 t-mobile variant I bought without a contract.
I purchased tmobile prepaid unlimted 70 a month plan.
While I am in the city I get 4g data, ive never seen the LTE badge appear.
My tmobile account says I have an incompatiable data plan for my device.
My actual home is about 13 miles outside town and I get extremely bad signal issues. My phone will connect to at&t and verizon towers but I do not get a data connection at all, sms is hit or miss, phone calls seem to work okay most of the time.
I am very upset with my tmobile service and plan to try net10 prepaid unlimited 4g, for 50 a month. Net10 uses at&t towers so I should get much better service at my home.
I wish there was a way to force data roaming.
I'm paying 70 a month, I should at least get 3g wherever I go.
I am open to suggestion, thanks; just wanted to share my tmobile opinion.
Slower test is tmobile prepaid 4g
faster is net10 at&t 4g
Late to the zombie thread. Our experience as a Tmobile customer, is you'll roam most likely onto ATT. Our 2nd home is in Montana, where Tmo doesn't exist. First, your data is throttled on roam from the get go, to what's tantamount to HSPA. After you use a few hundred megs (turning on your plan) bam, throttle down to G2. It's not a pretty picture ... but for some, it beats paying ATT's higher monthly fee.
So I received a letter today.....
Dear Laharl,
In November 2012 we contacted you to make sure that you were aware of the terms of your voice plan.
As a reminder, the roaming terms and conditions for Sprint roaming-included plans are:
Not available with single-band phones, or to the customers residing outside an area covered by the Nationwide Sprint Network.
Sprint may terminate service if (1) more than 800 minutes, (2) a majority of minutes, or (3) a majority of data kilobytes in a given month are used while roaming.
As part of our last communication with you, we also pointed out that your level of voice roaming use violated the terms of our roaming-included service plans.
Our intent in contacting you previously to give you an opportunity to change your usage habits to be in line with the terms of your plan
Because your overall usage continues to exceed off network roaming limits in violation of your voice plan we regret to inform you that your wireless service will be terminated effective on July 9th 2013.
We understand that switching to another wireless carrier may be inconvenient, which is why we are giving you until July 9, 2013 to make the transition easier.
In addition, we will waive any applicable Early Termination Fee and monthly recurring charges for your voice plan on your last month's bill.
Please note that you will be responsible for all other charges reflected on your invoice for your account.
You may transfer or port your existing wireless number to another carrier. If you choose this option, you will need to initiate the transfer of your number with the new carrier of your choice before July 9,2013 because the number will no longer be available as of that date.
If you have any questions regarding your final bill, the adjustments we made to your account or transferring your number, please call Sprint Customer care, 7am to 7pm CT.
Sincerely,
Sprint.
So I called them and asked and they said that because I use 200 to 300 roaming minutes which is more than the 150 to 200 sprint minutes I use they are going to terminate the line even though I am also paying for 4 other lines and when I spoke with a rep they basicly said that I should be thankful that they are just removing the one line and not all 5.
If I didn't use 15gb a month on my main lines I would leave for AT&T which has 4G in my town.
;42260890 said:
So I called them and asked and they said that because I use 200 to 300 roaming minutes which is more than the 150 to 200 sprint minutes I use they are going to terminate the line even though I am also paying for 4 other lines and when I spoke with a rep they basicly said that I should be thankful that they are just removing the one line and not all 5.
If I didn't use 15gb a month on my main lines I would leave for AT&T which has 4G in my town.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sounds like you need to elevate. 300 roaming minutes is not excessive. Point out how much business you do with sprint, and that if they terminate that one line you will take all your lines to another carrier.
Sent from my GNote2 using Tapatalk 2
So this is what that line used last month and they said we had almost 375 AM off network minutes
Anytime Minutes Shared 1,129 --
Any Mobile, Anytime Unlimited 6,575 --
Text Unlimited 7,761 --
Night & Weekend Unlimited 3,297 --
Picture Mail Unlimited 619 --
Sprint 3G Data Unlimited 493,279kb --
Sprint 3G Data Roaming See Terms 69,258kb -- Limit per Terms is 300MB (67.6348MB used)
Sprint 4G Data Unlimited 0 - (I'm Paying the 10.00 Premium Data since 2010 and still no 4g)
I talked for almost 2 hours to a rep who would not budge and said that even though they are forcing me out on July 9th they will pay the Early Termination Fee's (the contract runs out July First so there are none) and that I can not use the Device upgrade on the line either because if i do I will have to pay the fee for the line getting disconnected because I would not have the device for 6months.
I love how 3 years of paying for 4g without ever getting any 4g doesn't factor in at all. Nice. Big companies suck. I doubt AT&T or Verizon will turn out to be loving angels of mercy, but yeah I'd be pissed myself. ALL lines would go. Maybe only to a Sprint reseller like Boost though, so I could keep using my same devices.
The root problem though is universal and is simply market forces and the extreme difference between you and any bezillion dollar international company. They don't have to care, so they don't care.
There is only one way individuals (in a way) can bring a grievance to a big company and make them answer for it, and that's class-action lawsuits. And gee whaddya know? The last few years big companies have added "You agree you can't class action us. Or even sue us at all. Just non binding arbitration and only individually." right into their terms of service! Amazing eh? What a great gig it is to be a big company!
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
That does not sound excessive at all.
Hopefully you didn't use the 00001 prl.
However that being said, there are folks who would LOVE to be in your shoes right now.
<Laharl> said:
... Sprint 3G Data Roaming See Terms 69,258kb -- Limit per Terms is 300MB (67.6348MB used) ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I forgot the the "limit" on the 3G roaming, but I've had months where I had no 4G used, because it wasn't available, had 3G roaming, and no issue. But I did have GB of data transfer on roaming, no issues.
I believe they have like a 500MB limit on international data roaming. Plus, I could have sworn, at least on the within the USA, you unlimited roaming voice and data, overall.
I found this for Family Everything plans
Voice/Data Usage Limitation: Sprint reserves the right, without notice, to limit throughput speeds, and to deny, terminate, modify, disconnect or suspend service if off-network usage in a month exceeds: (1) voice: 800 min. or a majority of minutes; or (2) data: 300 megabytes or a majority of kilobytes. For 3G/4G Mobile Broadband Plans, monthly off-network allowance varies by plan. 100MB plan allwance: 25MB/Mo.; 300MB or 3GB plan allowance: 100MB/mo.; 6GB and 12GB plan allowance: 300MB/mo. Additional off-network data: 25c/MB. Unlimited features are while on the Sprint network. Prohibited network use rules apply. See in-store materials or sprint.com/termsandconditions for specific prohibited uses.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And based on the numbers you gave, you're not exceeding. You used approximately 69MB out of 300MB. So, I'm assuming it has to be voice or text where you're exceeding. The bill should break it down. If not, I would make them give you a break down, and do it for the last six months. The later should show a pattern. And if it does end up being true, then I would look at the coverage area and compared it to where that one is used on a regular basis. I'm thinking the phone frequents a big Sprint dead zone. Not sure how much ground you have to argue in that regard. But it the pattern shows it was just the two months, I would definitely argue they're being draconian over a situation that rarely occurs.
;42260890 said:
So I received a letter today.....
Dear Laharl,
In November 2012 we contacted you to make sure that you were aware of the terms of your voice plan.
As a reminder, the roaming terms and conditions for Sprint roaming-included plans are:
Not available with single-band phones, or to the customers residing outside an area covered by the Nationwide Sprint Network.
Sprint may terminate service if (1) more than 800 minutes, (2) a majority of minutes, or (3) a majority of data kilobytes in a given month are used while roaming.
As part of our last communication with you, we also pointed out that your level of voice roaming use violated the terms of our roaming-included service plans.
Our intent in contacting you previously to give you an opportunity to change your usage habits to be in line with the terms of your plan
Because your overall usage continues to exceed off network roaming limits in violation of your voice plan we regret to inform you that your wireless service will be terminated effective on July 9th 2013.
We understand that switching to another wireless carrier may be inconvenient, which is why we are giving you until July 9, 2013 to make the transition easier.
In addition, we will waive any applicable Early Termination Fee and monthly recurring charges for your voice plan on your last month's bill.
Please note that you will be responsible for all other charges reflected on your invoice for your account.
You may transfer or port your existing wireless number to another carrier. If you choose this option, you will need to initiate the transfer of your number with the new carrier of your choice before July 9,2013 because the number will no longer be available as of that date.
If you have any questions regarding your final bill, the adjustments we made to your account or transferring your number, please call Sprint Customer care, 7am to 7pm CT.
Sincerely,
Sprint.
So I called them and asked and they said that because I use 200 to 300 roaming minutes which is more than the 150 to 200 sprint minutes I use they are going to terminate the line even though I am also paying for 4 other lines and when I spoke with a rep they basicly said that I should be thankful that they are just removing the one line and not all 5.
If I didn't use 15gb a month on my main lines I would leave for AT&T which has 4G in my town.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's crazy. I wish I would have gotten this letter. I'm trying to switch to T-Mobile.
Sent from the Great Galaxy Note 2 using Tapatalk 2
Damn.
Please tell me what you did.
I absolutely hate Sprint!
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
;42260890 said:
So I received a letter today.....
Dear Laharl,
In November 2012 we contacted you to make sure that you were aware of the terms of your voice plan.
As a reminder, the roaming terms and conditions for Sprint roaming-included plans are:
Not available with single-band phones, or to the customers residing outside an area covered by the Nationwide Sprint Network.
Sprint may terminate service if (1) more than 800 minutes, (2) a majority of minutes, or (3) a majority of data kilobytes in a given month are used while roaming.
As part of our last communication with you, we also pointed out that your level of voice roaming use violated the terms of our roaming-included service plans.
Our intent in contacting you previously to give you an opportunity to change your usage habits to be in line with the terms of your plan
Because your overall usage continues to exceed off network roaming limits in violation of your voice plan we regret to inform you that your wireless service will be terminated effective on July 9th 2013.
We understand that switching to another wireless carrier may be inconvenient, which is why we are giving you until July 9, 2013 to make the transition easier.
In addition, we will waive any applicable Early Termination Fee and monthly recurring charges for your voice plan on your last month's bill.
Please note that you will be responsible for all other charges reflected on your invoice for your account.
You may transfer or port your existing wireless number to another carrier. If you choose this option, you will need to initiate the transfer of your number with the new carrier of your choice before July 9,2013 because the number will no longer be available as of that date.
If you have any questions regarding your final bill, the adjustments we made to your account or transferring your number, please call Sprint Customer care, 7am to 7pm CT.
Sincerely,
Sprint.
So I called them and asked and they said that because I use 200 to 300 roaming minutes which is more than the 150 to 200 sprint minutes I use they are going to terminate the line even though I am also paying for 4 other lines and when I spoke with a rep they basicly said that I should be thankful that they are just removing the one line and not all 5.
If I didn't use 15gb a month on my main lines I would leave for AT&T which has 4G in my town.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I received the exact same one for my bro in laws line today. Literally exact same dates and everything. So yeah, he's done. I guess it's my fault that Sprint has no towers where he goes to school......
D
Do they black list the esn of your handsets or do they stay clean so you can sell the equipment? Id love to get booted sell my handets and move to a 4g carrier
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
So when the termination occurs will you be forever banned from sprint? Because I use the PRL 0001 and I just wanted to know
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app
joe1blue said:
So when the termination occurs will you be forever banned from sprint? Because I use the PRL 0001 and I just wanted to know
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have no idea. I guess I can add a line again but loose that number. I never modified the phone at all but he works in a big warehouse and apparently it hampers his signal and that is the whole problem.
I still can't get over the rep telling me well we could have canceled all the lines but we are only canceling the one line so I should be grateful for that.
fatboypup said:
Do they black list the esn of your handsets or do they stay clean so you can sell the equipment? Id love to get booted sell my handets and move to a 4g carrier
Sent from my SPH-L900 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No the Esn isnt blacklisted because the rep said I could still use the Galaxy S3 on another line.
Compusmurf said:
Hopefully you didn't use the 00001 prl.
However that being said, there are folks who would LOVE to be in your shoes right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
according to everything I read on the forums here all they have to do is Root the phone and use the 1337 PRL and it will start roaming and in 6 months they will get the boot.
<Laharl> said:
according to everything I read on the forums here all they have to do is Root the phone and use the 1337 PRL and it will start roaming and in 6 months they will get the boot.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that what you did? Use altered PRL to force roam?
I have no signal with sprint where I live. I rooted my galaxy note 2 and forced it to roam on the verizon 3g network. Me and another phone on my plan roamed for 2 years and used over 5gb a month on each phone streaming pandora and etc trying to get sprint to drop us. first I received a letter saying that they are watching my usage then about a year later finally got the letter that they are terminating me so I took my 3 lines and programmed my phones to pageplus.
johntheman_692003 said:
I have no signal with sprint where I live. I rooted my galaxy note 2 and forced it to roam on the verizon 3g network. Me and another phone on my plan roamed for 2 years and used over 5gb a month on each phone streaming pandora and etc trying to get sprint to drop us. first I received a letter saying that they are watching my usage then about a year later finally got the letter that they are terminating me so I took my 3 lines and programmed my phones to pageplus.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just curious....if you don't mind me asking... How much time did you have left on your contract when they terminated you?
Sprint service in my area has gotten terrible over the last few months (eventhough they are supposedly "upgrading" the network) and I'm starting to think about leaving, but I am only 5 months into my contract right now.
Compusmurf said:
Is that what you did? Use altered PRL to force roam?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No the phone has never been rooted at all I didn't want to take the risk of getting into trouble but apparently it didn't matter.
jprecon said:
Just curious....if you don't mind me asking... How much time did you have left on your contract when they terminated you?
Sprint service in my area has gotten terrible over the last few months (eventhough they are supposedly "upgrading" the network) and I'm starting to think about leaving, but I am only 5 months into my contract right now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Contract runs out July 1st they are terminating me July 9th.