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Hey guys, like you, even though we have to manually do alot to get our HD2's in perfect condition. I wanted to hip you all to something that I'm currently taking advantage of, which is saving me major money each month.
Went to Wal-Mart on the lauch date of the infamous HD2, and paid full price for one, thinking that it would end up saving me money in the long run, because I had my own equiptment, therefore, I wasn't under a 2 year aggreement for T-Mobile.
Went to the T-Mobile store to get setup with service. Deciding on getting the T-Mobile unlimited everything plan (voice,sms,data) it ended up costing me around $92 a month (including taxes, fee's, and the $5 discount). So, I began thinking, "this is not the significant discount I was looking for". I asked the salesman what was the benefit of me purchasing this phone outright, he told me that if I got the same package and features, with the phone discount, under contract, it would cost me around $120-$130 a month. I began to seek other options to lower my bill. However, I was hesitant to lower anything, because I did one time, and got fuked over with crazy overage charges! I even thought about switching it over to AT&T, but then realized I'd be loosing out on the high speed data, because of the incompatibilities of the 3G radios between the 2 networks (and who wants edge speed on a smartphone these days!).
Then I did some research and found out about Simple Mobile, this is a Virtual carrier of T-Mobile (like how Virgin is to Verizon, and Boost is to Sprint). Anyway, after a couple of emails, and phone calls, I decided to make the switch. I found a nearby retailer (or u can check them out online) And I never looked back!
I now play EXACTLY $60 a month, for unlimited everything (voice,sms,data). And I was able to port and keep my same number. While this is truly great in of itself. Another great feature is because it's still a subsiary of T-Mobile, I didn't have to software unlock the HD2 at all. It was literally a matter of taking the old Sim card out and putting the new one in. The only thing that I did have to reconfig was the internet settings and the MMS settings to be able to have those 2 things function correctly. (which is very easy, I provided a link to the instructions below)
Instructions on changing internet settings and MMS settings.
http://www.mobile-files.us/showthread.php?2245-HD2-wap-mms-settings-for-SimpMo
The internet is exactly the same, I'm still getting the H icon at the top, with about 4 MB sec speeds. Call quality and range is the same, and so is the txting features. Because it's using the same T-Mobile towers as before. (which T-Mobile is very good, in Costa Mesa, CA )
Don't know about you all, but especially in these times, when money is tight, I have to really buckle down to budget and plan for big ticket items. So when I spend $400+ on a device. I truly want to be able to see more of the savings, in the long run. And thats how I cut my bill in half! They even offer plans at $30 and $40 if you don't want or need unlimited data for your phone, therefore saving your even more money.
This may not help some of you guys out there, but if your like me, and not in a contract, or you may be in a contract, and thinking this may be a better route for you in the long run (make sure you do your math beforehand, and make sure your savings outweigh your ETF from T-Mobile) I just wanted to let you know, that you do have an option out there.
Simple Mobile
http://www.mysimplemobile.com/
Hope it helps!
Eddie
so are you truly getting 3g speed? this sounds promising.
smokeingit said:
so are you truly getting 3g speed? this sounds promising.
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Yes sir, I sure am, it displays the H icon, so I know its the HSDPA speed, which is alittle faster then 3G...however, i'm not sure if its the new HSDPA+ that you might have been hearing lately. I say that because, I dont believe WM have a status icon to show you that (because the technology is so new), so my theory is that, IF the HD2 supports it, AND its is getting the HSDPA+ signal, it'll still show the H icon at the top right of the device. But to answer your question, its DEFINITELY gets the high speed, because its still using the same towers!
I have friend that works in one of those smokes, cell, and gun stores and he has been trying to get me into this program.
It's good to go and legit.
Unfortunately I am only 6 months into my new 2 year contract...had to for my $190 Leo.
dangit.
I believe this has been discussed many times already.....
Simple mobile does not provide unlimited data. I believe it's still capped at 1GB/month. Which is a big no no for people who like to tether and abuse the network.....
calc said:
I believe this has been discussed many times already.....
Simple mobile does not provide unlimited data. I believe it's still capped at 1GB/month. Which is a big no no for people who like to tether and abuse the network.....
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So your saying their "Unlimited Everything Talk, Text & Web" plan, which is labeled as "New", is not actually unlimited?
Paten said:
So your saying their "Unlimited Everything Talk, Text & Web" plan, which is labeled as "New", is not actually unlimited?
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http://consumerist.com/2010/07/simple-mobile-unlimited-data-plan-is-of-course-secretly-limited.html
http://www.prepaidreviews.com/blog/mvno/simple-mobile-limits-unlimited-data-plan-36148/
Both reported and the end of July of this year.... so unless something has changed in 3 months time, NO it is not unlimited.
I was suckered into a new mobile phone plan with a new company called Simple Mobile. They are a T-mobile MVNO (essentially a reseller) claiming to offer UNLIMITED talk, text, and data for $60/mo.
The reality is... Their $60 plan is NOT unlimited. When you hit 1000MB in one month your data service is simply terminated without warning.
They will offer to sell you an additional 100MB for $10. This policy is not stated anywhere on their website. If you call or write and complain, they will simply tell you to go elsewhere and will not provide any refund.
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I mean really............. just think about it for a minute, do you really think T-Mobile is going to allow another company to use their network and infrastructure all the while having them undercut their own prices too.....not to mention the toll and expense of all pushing out all that bandwidth at "unlimited" rates.
calc said:
I believe this has been discussed many times already.....
Simple mobile does not provide unlimited data. I believe it's still capped at 1GB/month. Which is a big no no for people who like to tether and abuse the network.....
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All I can do , is speak from my experience. Since having this service, I KNOW that I used more than 1GB (stream music all day, watch YouTube, use it for general internet browsing, and logging into my Orb media server at home, and streaming TV from my PC). So I would definitely consider myself a above average data user, and have not once, been capped or throttled (trust, I would be *****ing and complaining, with everyone else). I've even checked my usage online to see it and its a little under 2Gigs of data transfer, and everything is ok. I not sure if maybe I have a magic bean, VIP, IMEI on my device (joke-e-joke ) , which is given unlimited data usage, without penalty, or maybe they've modified their contract and upped the data usage cap or something. Again, I can only speak from my personal experiences, within the last 3 months, reguarding my device and service. I don't use my phone for tethering, but I do consider myself a heavy data usage user and not had any problems regarding their quality of service thus far.
Get rid of the unlimited voice and txt, then with this guide I wrote:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=19619155#post19619155
You can cut your phone bill even more sharply. I'm paying about ~$20/month right now depending on my voice usage when out and about.
In my area, Sprint's towers are messed up (for alot of ppl) and my wife and I are roaming. We both like tunein Radio and stream radio stations from out of state. I noticed that we are both using a considerable amount of roaming data. Will they terminate me or send me a letter to "knock it off" ?? If they'd fix their damn towers, I wouldn't be using roaming data LOL..
I know it's not necessarily Epic related, but I am using an Epic LOL
Not at all. Roaming is a free service with Sprint. In fact, if you are rooted I highly reccomend an app called Roam Control. It allows you to manually switch over to Verizon's towrs if you ever find yourself in an area with little to no coverage from Sprint. Its a great way to save battery to as your phone will not be trying so hrd to find the signal. I tend to only have one or two bars at my mom's house so I use Roam Control everytime I visit her which is almost everyday for long periods of time. The only disadvantage is that at this time you will not get 3g coverage though you will still be able to have EVDO coverage which is still fine for casual web browsing.
stir fry a lot said:
Not at all. Roaming is a free service with Sprint.
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Not quite true - roaming is free up to 300mb of data; if you use a majority of your minutes while roaming or go significantly over 300mb, they have the right to strongly suggest you 'reevaluate your options'.
So... it's free, and there's no problem with using it, just don't go crazy. And if it's a problem with their towers (or, more likely, PRL) and it affects many people, they can't really say anything about it.
k0nane said:
Not quite true - roaming is free up to 300mb of data; if you use a majority of your minutes while roaming or go significantly over 300mb, they have the right to strongly suggest you 'reevaluate your options'.
So... it's free, and there's no problem with using it, just don't go crazy. And if it's a problem with their towers (or, more likely, PRL) and it affects many people, they can't really say anything about it.
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my wife's roaming data usage for last month was 3.2 Gigs, mine was 2.3gigs
I called and complained about texts showing not sent, then the recipient receiving them 3 times (sometimes days later).. very sporadic data.. their suggestion was to "reset" the lines on their end, then for my wife and I to power cycle our devices. Needless to say, this didn't help.
We're not the only ones complaining though.. Yesterday afternoon they called my wife for something (survey, customer service evaluation or something like that ??).. they asked if she used her phone primarily for personal and business etc.. she also complained to whomever called her and asked about the signal problem, they suggested the airave for $120 plus another $10/mo. She refused by telling them that we can't afford the $120 nor the add'l per month fee. "If we're already paying for service that we can't use, it's not fair to make us pay additional money to use your service". they said "we're going to note your account that you refused the airave".. bastards..
Anyhow.. I'm gonna call again and speak to someone because this is a bit ridiculous
/rant
(thanks WDM for the insight though.. it's appreciated)
If you read the thread on PRLs Sprint is having lots of roaming issues right now so I wouldn't worry about it until they straighten their crap out. 3G roaming will be removed from us commoners and replaced with 1xrtt service. Business customers will still have 3G roaming. 2 different prls are being released.
Do you BONSAI?
If your signal is bad, I remember reading some posts where people were able to get a free Airave. Might want to search the threads on info about that.
adelmundo said:
If your signal is bad, I remember reading some posts where people were able to get a free Airave. Might want to search the threads on info about that.
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I just got off the phone w/ CS.. I was told that the outage is a pretty bad one and is expected to last until July !! pretty major outages/problems in pultiple counties is what I'm told.
The did offer a credit for our service for next month, then he transferred me to someone that has the ability to discount the airave...
I'm now getting a free airave and they're waiving the monthly fee for the airave as well AND no 2 yr contract on the Airave.. I can keep it, or send it back or whatever i wanna do w/ it.
They're not too shabby IMO
YMMV
adelmundo said:
If your signal is bad, I remember reading some posts where people were able to get a free Airave. Might want to search the threads on info about that.
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Yeah I got one but they have their problems too. Unless your internet is perfect you will get problems calling. To test your internet they sent me to voiptest.packet8.net. Biggest problem on Brighthouse is jitter and occasionally quality of service. But the Airwave costs like $1.50 a month in additional taxes, that's it. 3G is great on it.
kennyglass123 said:
Yeah I got one but they have their problems too. Unless your internet is perfect you will get problems calling. To test your internet they sent me to voiptest.packet8.net. Biggest problem on Brighthouse is jitter and occasionally quality of service. But the Airwave costs like $1.50 a month in additional taxes, that's it. 3G is great on it.
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Thanks for the test site. I checked and my connection is EXCELLENT.. (sucks that it's comcast, but whatever LOL)
I don't mind the taxes.. I have a 20MBps connection w/ average of 5.6 down stream and 2.7 upstream.. 1.9% jitter.. heh.. Can't wait to use my phone like a phone again (at least at home)
daddymikey1975 said:
Thanks for the test site. I checked and my connection is EXCELLENT.. (sucks that it's comcast, but whatever LOL)
I don't mind the taxes.. I have a 20MBps connection w/ average of 5.6 down stream and 2.7 upstream.. 1.9% jitter.. heh.. Can't wait to use my phone like a phone again (at least at home)
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That is awesome. Brighthouse had no clue about how to reduce jitter. Best I got was 125msec. Needs to be below 5msec.
kennyglass123 said:
That is awesome. Brighthouse had no clue about how to reduce jitter. Best I got was 125msec. Needs to be below 5msec.
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my jitter was higher when my wife's file sharing software was running so i asked her to turn it off for comparison.. heh.. (shhh... don't ask don't tell )
Open a ticket by emailing [email protected]. 4 or 5 of us have had tickets open for over 8 months for our downtown tower by the state capital building. Roaming over 1 gig a month sometimes with no phone calls or letters.
digiblur said:
Open a ticket by emailing [email protected]. 4 or 5 of us have had tickets open for over 8 months for our downtown tower by the state capital building. Roaming over 1 gig a month sometimes with no phone calls or letters.
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they're already aware of the problem and "expect" to have it resolved by the end of July.. seems pretty long time but they're aware of it.
Idunno where you guys are, im in the Seattle area, and the double triple messages are annoying as hell, mms not sending...
As far as the airrave, its a ***** because it 1)uses your home internet, and 2) in my case, I have a 2 line fam plan and dont qualify for another phone, so no airrave, even though im in an admitted dead zone... so until sprint decides my credit is better, I have a 'credit' for an airrave and free service 'noted' on my account... dont pay for em!! Does anyone pay for em?? I read on here that they will give em up for free if you ask and are out of coverage at home, and yeah, he tried to get me to pay and I said I read it was free on some tech blog... he said 'let me see what I can do' put me on hold, got a coffee refill, and said yes, his mgr said it was ok... oh well... moving soon, im in a 5 sq mile dead zone... sux... hopefully I can use 4g where I move!
ungovernable1977 said:
Idunno where you guys are, im in the Seattle area, and the double triple messages are annoying as hell, mms not sending...
As far as the airrave, its a ***** because it 1)uses your home internet, and 2) in my case, I have a 2 line fam plan and dont qualify for another phone, so no airrave, even though im in an admitted dead zone... so until sprint decides my credit is better, I have a 'credit' for an airrave and free service 'noted' on my account... dont pay for em!! Does anyone pay for em?? I read on here that they will give em up for free if you ask and are out of coverage at home, and yeah, he tried to get me to pay and I said I read it was free on some tech blog... he said 'let me see what I can do' put me on hold, got a coffee refill, and said yes, his mgr said it was ok... oh well... moving soon, im in a 5 sq mile dead zone... sux... hopefully I can use 4g where I move!
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That's BS! I have a 2 line share and got an Airave as soon as I told them I had signal drop. They practically forced me to take it. Free, just the additional tax per month, no contract...just call for them to send a return postage ticket when I don't need it anymore. Yell at them about you paying for no service in your area, speak to supervisor's and managers. It is not a line that will have minutes on it so it shouldn't require credit approval.
ungovernable1977 said:
Idunno where you guys are, im in the Seattle area, and the double triple messages are annoying as hell, mms not sending...
As far as the airrave, its a ***** because it 1)uses your home internet, and 2) in my case, I have a 2 line fam plan and dont qualify for another phone, so no airrave, even though im in an admitted dead zone... so until sprint decides my credit is better, I have a 'credit' for an airrave and free service 'noted' on my account... dont pay for em!! Does anyone pay for em?? I read on here that they will give em up for free if you ask and are out of coverage at home, and yeah, he tried to get me to pay and I said I read it was free on some tech blog... he said 'let me see what I can do' put me on hold, got a coffee refill, and said yes, his mgr said it was ok... oh well... moving soon, im in a 5 sq mile dead zone... sux... hopefully I can use 4g where I move!
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my home internet has plenty of room for the traffic.
I'm in Northern Indiana (barely south east of lake Michigan)
They did tell me that it would show up as an extra line on our account. We are approved for a total of 5 and have 3 now (not including the Airave)
yep according to the phone rep I talked to the airrave counts as a device, I think he even said its assigned a phone number... its retarded, probly just for bookkeeping, but you would think they could have a workaround for situations like mine... I pay my bill... eventually Not a big deal, I tried to resolve the issue with their services, even willing to use my FIOS to supplement their network... but I solved the issue with Roam Control... I just need to make sure calls come in at night, etc... although with the ISI and mms issues, sprint better be making some serious infrastructure progress... I am about 3 miles from I-5, not in the sticks. The phone guy also said that you have to be above the base of the towers elevation to get reception, idunno if thats true.. but if it were it makes sense, im on an incline down to the water, probly at 300' elevation... I just cant wait till I move... in the Seattle area CDMA is the best... the others are crap... maybe a lil better the past couple years, but I cant stand static on a phone like im on a CB or something...
So I finally had enough of AT&T's promises of fixing the cell towers near me and finally getting me a decent signal at home so I can at least receive calls. I decided to call them up to ask for more information regarding the micro cell. This is what I found out.
1) The Micro Cell costs 199.99 with no discount what so ever (I don't consider mail in rebates a discount even if it's 100 bucks, which still means I have to pay 99.99 for one).
2) If you do not pay them 19.99 a month, regardless of the fact that you are using your own home network for the service and have paid a ridiculous amount already, you will use your cell minutes as normal. So basically I get better reception for using VOIP technology over my own home network and still end up using my minutes.
3) If you don't want to use your minutes, you have to pony up 20.00 a month in addition to the ridiculous amounts you already pay these guys for unlimited use of a device you have purchased.
What is with these guys?
I am a big fan of AT&T as they typically have some of the best devices before anyone else and have the capacity to have the fastest data networks and sure as hell give better deals on hardware in my experiance, but are they really so ****ing greedy?
Oh well, just had to vent a bit. If I could afford the disruption of moving all my business and personal accounts to another provider who was a little more customer friendly (and don't say verizon is as I know better), I would.
Anyways, back to trolling the forums.
That doesn't sound right, I think whoever you spoke to didn't do there homework:
Last time I checked if you use micro cell since it's going through your network it does NOT use your minutes, and if your signal is bad enough I hear that AT&T will give you a free micro-cell granted you are telling the truth and they're unwilling to provide better coverage in your area (threatening with lawsuits, FCC complains etc will help you).
roharia said:
That doesn't sound right, I think whoever you spoke to didn't do there homework:
Last time I checked if you use micro cell since it's going through your network it does NOT use your minutes, and if your signal is bad enough I hear that AT&T will give you a free micro-cell granted you are telling the truth and they're unwilling to provide better coverage in your area (threatening with lawsuits, FCC complains etc will help you).
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I've been back and forth with them on this issue. I am near two towers (nerd jokes allowed), and both have issues. I see the trucks in the area all the time (AT&T just sucks down here in the south).
I spoke with both an instore rep and two different customer service reps on the 611 customer service. The first was just a standard over seas employee who couldn't tell me much and the second was from the Micro Cell group named Mrs. Jones (wish I could make that name up) who told me the information from above).
When the Micro Cells first came out and people said enough complaints would net you a free one, well I did indeed try and try and try. I would sit on the phone with the tech people and they could watch me get signal, drop signal, get signal....back and forth for over an hour each go.
Finally I gave up and decided to just try some advice I found here on these forums and leave my phone where I got the best signal (2 bars of edge) and just use my blue tooth in the house. It's worked so far, but it's more than I should have to deal with.
The problems have only gotten worse since the .83 update that keeps me on edge for about a mile around my house (the update apparently keeps you on the network with the best signal). This causes the phone to constantly try and connect to the H+ network (laugh) and due to this, my battery goes to crap.
If anyone has a better experience with their local stores, please let me know. Maybe I was just told wrong or misheard the details, but to have misheard the information 3 times from 3 different people is pushing it.
This was pulled from the terms and conditions from their website:
This device is sold for use on AT&T systems and is not compatible with other wireless systems. Broadband Internet access service of at least 1.5 Mbps downstream/256 kbps upstream required. To take advantage of all the benefits and service features, you may need to purchase additional hardware or software, pay monthly access and/or per-use charges. Usage generated by 3G MicroCell counts toward your wireless data usage plan limit and may be subject to applicable charges from your ISP. Normal charges apply for mobility data plans and features when using the AT&T 3G MicroCell. The maximum coverage of the AT&T 3G MicroCell is approximately 40 linear feet. Actual coverage will be limited by the density of obstructions. Calls will transfer to a cell tower if you leave the MicroCell coverage area, but calls may drop if you return to the Microcell coverage area. Device may not support all location-based wireless services or video share services. 3G MicroCell is not compatible with Apple iPad™. Device must be operated in a location AT&T is authorized to provide wireless service. AT&T authorized areas are labeled best, good, moderate or partner on the AT&T coverage viewer located at att.com/wireless.att.com/coverageviewer.
It is true that the Microcell will use your minutes without the $20 plan. However, most of the time, when I am at home, it is during nights and weekends. I only paid $150 for mine (without rebates) and it was worth it to me.
It is basically just like having a signal booster. This is all I need it to be.
naplesbill said:
It is true that the Microcell will use your minutes without the $20 plan. However, most of the time, when I am at home, it is during nights and weekends. I only paid $150 for mine (without rebates) and it was worth it to me.
It is basically just like having a signal booster. This is all I need it to be.
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But see that right there is what gets me. I have crappy ass service in my area and the only solution for it is to pay them *currently* 199.99 and use my own home network internet to improve it. If I do this, I am getting screwed as the calls are routed via my internet and causes strain on my broadband vs. their towers and I still have to use my minutes unless I pay them more.
Now if I didn't have to pay for the micro cell or use my wireless minutes while using it, I don't think I would have an issue, but as it stands, it feels like those who really need one (I work from home and need cell service) are getting bent over and screwed and AT&T isn't sing any lube.
When this came out I called foul. They sell you back your own bandwidth to fix their problem rather than using the money you pay to them for service to improve their network.
Also... if you use "Data" from the mircocell (mind you your own network data) They charge you data usage...
jsteelm said:
When this came out I called foul. They sell you back your own bandwidth to fix their problem rather than using the money you pay to them for service to improve their network.
Also... if you use "Data" from the mircocell (mind you your own network data) They charge you data usage...
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Yup. Maybe I am just over reacting to this, but to be charged data and voice usage for using my own home network is just ridiculous.
Oh well, maybe they'll let me use my own lube next time.
Frankly if I could, I'd make them sign a service agreement to charge them $30/month for data access. That'd be some funny stuff if you could do that
AT&T gave me a MicroCell for free after I threaten them with breach of contract. We had no cell signal in our house and I explained to them that we had a contract together were their part was to provide me with cell signal and my part of the contract was to pay for that signal. Since they did not hold up their part of the contract I told them that I wanted to cancel contract and after a few minutes of arguing with them, they offered me to buy a MicroCell? After telling them the absurdity of me paying more money to AT&T just so I could pay them according to our contract they agree to give it to me for free.
Cheers
pederb said:
AT&T gave me a MicroCell for free after I threaten them with breach of contract. We had no cell signal in our house and I explained to them that we had a contract together were their part was to provide me with cell signal and my part of the contract was to pay for that signal. Since they did not hold up their part of the contract I told them that I wanted to cancel contract and after a few minutes of arguing with them, they offered me to buy a MicroCell? After telling them the absurdity of me paying more money to AT&T just so I could pay them according to our contract they agree to give it to me for free.
Cheers
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nice.. they successfully solved their problem by pawning it off to you. Now if your signal is weak, its YOUR fault
pederb said:
AT&T gave me a MicroCell for free after I threaten them with breach of contract. We had no cell signal in our house and I explained to them that we had a contract together were their part was to provide me with cell signal and my part of the contract was to pay for that signal. Since they did not hold up their part of the contract I told them that I wanted to cancel contract and after a few minutes of arguing with them, they offered me to buy a MicroCell? After telling them the absurdity of me paying more money to AT&T just so I could pay them according to our contract they agree to give it to me for free.
Cheers
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While I am glad you were able to get one for free, this is just another example. They are giving some away for free while charging others for them.
jsteelm said:
Nice.. they successfully solved their problem by pawning it off to you. Now if your signal is weak, its YOUR fault
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considering he now has a free microcell, i don't think his signal will be weak.
OP - did you try threatening to cancel your account?
dLo GSR said:
considering he now has a free microcell, i don't think his signal will be weak.
OP - did you try threatening to cancel your account?
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Even if I could cancel all my accounts, they know I can't. I have 5 personal lines and 2 business lines with them.
Lets not even get into the two laptops that I got through them...
I am just going to have to raise hell which is what I normally do not like to do to the folks working the phones as the rules are not their fault. They are just pawns that have to do the dirty work.
dLo GSR said:
considering he now has a free microcell, i don't think his signal will be weak.
OP - did you try threatening to cancel your account?
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This is true, I just hope his internet never goes out.
pederb said:
AT&T gave me a MicroCell for free after I threaten them with breach of contract. We had no cell signal in our house and I explained to them that we had a contract together were their part was to provide me with cell signal and my part of the contract was to pay for that signal. Since they did not hold up their part of the contract I told them that I wanted to cancel contract and after a few minutes of arguing with them, they offered me to buy a MicroCell? After telling them the absurdity of me paying more money to AT&T just so I could pay them according to our contract they agree to give it to me for free.
Cheers
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You not having signal everywhere or at your house is not a breach of contact. It actually says in your terms of service that you are not always guaranteed to have service. You just got lucky....
My dad somehow got one for 50 no rebate. He did want to pay the 20 a month though. he works from home and we were already running out of minutes.
Sent from the bowels of hell...
blindguyinanorgy said:
My dad somehow got one for 50 no rebate. He did want to pay the 20 a month though. he works from home and we were already running out of minutes.
Sent from the bowels of hell...
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So I called Customer Care back and spent the last 2 hours (no exaggeration) on the phone with them. I called to make a formal complaint to them regarding the pricing and the whole scam as I like to see it.
In response to my situation, they did not give me a free microcell, but did give me a credit for $105.00 towards my current bill. While this is not what I wanted, I will not look a gift horse in the mouth and will accept it.
The customer care agent also told me of a rating system that they use to rate their customers. Currently the system is a 1 to 5 scale with 1 being the worst and 5 being the best. The agent told me that I was ranked a 4, which is the highest he has seen in the time he has been at the company.
While I like the fact I am rated a 4, I am not certain that being ranked by a company that is taking us all for a ride with their policies and their rates is a good thing at all. I hate to know what they would rank some of us here on these forums if they knew what we do with our phones.
Ultimately I have to say I am a little happier with AT&T at the moment for no other reason than the fact that they have some great employees who if you are nice and respectful to will be the same way back.
The agent (no I don't want to name names as that could cause him trouble and he doesn't deserve it) did also mention that they have received many calls similar to mine and that if enough people do complain about it then they may just go ahead and change the problem.
Maybe a few more phone calls with complaints will change some minds and turn some heads over at AT&T. It's a shame that I didn't get a survey on the person who helped me. He would have received high marks.
I know its not much help to people here, but AT&T sent me a letter roughly six months ago, without me ever once calling them, with an instant rebate form to get a microcell for free. I ignored it as I was debating on switching back to Verizon at the time due to the piss-poor data coverage in my area. Three months later I got the notice once again just as the ATRIX arrived at the local AT&T store. I never once called AT&T about the issue and had literally no coverage inside of my house (not sure if my metal roof has anything to do with that...).
I think they must periodically look at their records to see how well people's phones are connecting to their network as they had no way of knowing I had an issue if they didn't. My neighbors, if you can call them that a quarter mile away, have fine reception and the coverage maps all show that my house has "strong" coverage.
Regarding the customer rating system I'm not sure how they would rate customers except perhaps on their profitability to AT&T. Are you regularly using your minutes and data? I ask because I use next to none of my minutes and hardly scratch my data most months as I have access to WiFi nearly everywhere I go.
While I understand the frustation and disdain toward AT&T over this, it is still better than the solution I was offered by Sprint, Verizon, and Nextel when I had them. In other words, no solution. My house is in a coverage hole for all the carriers. I have tried all of them and the only one that works in my house at all is AT&T.
I was able to get out of my contracts with Sprint and Verizon because they stated I had coverage at my house, but I did not have it with either carrier. Even without the Microcell, I have coverage with AT&T. I only added the Microcell so that I would have full coverage everywhere in my house.
The impact on my broadband is entirely negligible. Since I am already paying for broadband, this has not caused me any further costs. I also do not have any problem staying within my minute usage. I have a family plan with 5 lines and 1400 minutes.
Yes, I would rather have gotten the Microcell for free, but $150 is not much for peace of mind. If I wanted to extend my own wireless system with a repeater, it would cost me nearly that much as well. I also use regular wireless data while at home. Not only is it faster, it doesn't affect my data plan usage.
Any solution is better than no solution.
naplesbill said:
While I understand the frustation and disdain toward AT&T over this, it is still better than the solution I was offered by Sprint, Verizon, and Nextel when I had them. In other words, no solution. My house is in a coverage hole for all the carriers. I have tried all of them and the only one that works in my house at all is AT&T.
I was able to get out of my contracts with Sprint and Verizon because they stated I had coverage at my house, but I did not have it with either carrier. Even without the Microcell, I have coverage with AT&T. I only added the Microcell so that I would have full coverage everywhere in my house.
The impact on my broadband is entirely negligible. Since I am already paying for broadband, this has not caused me any further costs. I also do not have any problem staying within my minute usage. I have a family plan with 5 lines and 1400 minutes.
Yes, I would rather have gotten the Microcell for free, but $150 is not much for peace of mind. If I wanted to extend my own wireless system with a repeater, it would cost me nearly that much as well.
Any solution is better than no solution.
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Agreed that 150.00 is not much for peace of mind, but it's is a lot of money when you consider the service you already pay 300+ a month should include decent service for where you live.
Just thought I would share my experience for whatever it's worth.
I should start off with saying that I live in the country and never had the best service with AT&T. I used their Microcell to subsidize my reception and it worked okay. I imagine if I lived in a big city or an area with excellent AT&T reception my story would be different.
Problems I had with AT&T that were well documented on my account: poor reception, duplicate text message issue that came and went (only real way to stop it was battery pull and/or sim transfer to the Captivate), last two months data usage was waaaay off as in AT&T thought I was using substantial more data than I was (3G Watchdog / common sense) and no amount of hours spent on the phone with customer service resolved my issue.
So after being a slave customer of AT&T's for almost two years, and two different phones with them my ETF was $110. I decided I would gladly pay the $110 and go get a SGN from Verizon, who I know through my roommate and former roommate to have excellent service both at my home and work. I realize that this differs thoughout the country but make no mistake about it, in Northern Alabama VZW is the ONLY carrier to have excellent reception everywhere I go.
So I went to the Verizon store and bought a Galaxy Nexus. I provided my AT&T customer number and of course my phone number to the VZW salesman, no call to AT&T was needed to cancel my service. Side note: I brought them a 6 year old PoS phone my sister was kind enough to provide me and they gave me $50 off. I also asked the rep before letting him know I was buying the phone, "if I do decide to buy this from you today and pay my AT&T ETF can you wave the activation fee to help me out?" he did.
So I get my last bill from AT&T and even with my service cancelled they were trying to charge me an extra $20 data fee, either for the next month or an additional fee I don't know but I know it wasnt a legitimate charge (surprise, surprise). I called AT&T customer service and explained to the guy that my service had been cancelled for a week and the $20 data charge should not be on my bill, he agreed. I then mentioned in passing that "AT&T was not able to provide me with reception and I felt it was unfair of them to charge me an ETF when I had been a good customer and was not recieving what I was paying for". That phrase was not even fully out of my mouth when he said "I agree with you, let me go talk to my manager." he was gone for 2 minutes or less and came back to the phone saying, "I spoke with my manager and we are able to wave your $110 early termination fee." I couldn't believe it! That wasn't even why I called, I was only mentioning that in passing because that is how I felt. I was absolutely going to pay the ETF and be done with AT&T forever! But this man, prob the one and only customer service rep at AT&T that would have been willing to do that for me, didn't even let me get the whole sentance out of my mouth before jumping into action and going above and beyond to help me out! I honestly feel like I could have called AT&T a hundred more times and not get the same experience. I was so happy that I payed my remaining balance instantly through ACH.
So that is my story, whether it's helpful or even an interesting read to anyone else I am not sure. I know it will get down voted, and especially by ClearFire because I pissed him off and now he down votes all my posts no matter how helpful lol. But I am not holding grudges, not towards any member of this forum that I might have had disagreements with and not towards AT&T who I formerly hated, err, well maybe I still do hate AT&T lol. I will never go back to AT&T as long as I live, I am extremely happy with VZW! At home when I was getting <5 down and maybe 1 up on a good day and one bar of service with AT&T, I now get >15 down and >4 up and full bars from Verizon. Again this is my experience and I realize that reception differs greatly in dif geographical areas. I guess this is my "goodbye Atrix community" thread. Mostly it was a good time here with you, I will be sending some of you friend requests and I will check back in at the Atrix forums. Have a great day all of you and I hope something I said was helpful.
Good stuff. I'm in a very good area for att. Wifi at home and work. Nothing to complain about. Does Verizon have unlimited mobile to mobile as well?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
Deggy said:
Good stuff. I'm in a very good area for att. Wifi at home and work. Nothing to complain about. Does Verizon have unlimited mobile to mobile as well?
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
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No sadly Verizon does not have unlimited mobile to mobile. I am on the 900 minute plan and that includes 5 "friends and family" numbers for unlimited calling, the numbers can be mobile or landline.. I am actually thinking of downgrading to the 450 minute plan to save $20/mo and using GrooVe IP + my Google Voice number during peak hours. At home and at work I have WiFi so I'm thinking this will be a good idea I just have to get in the habit of doing it. I included my data speeds in the OP more of a reference of what I dealt with as soon as I left the house.
Congrats! I had an experience with att a while back... I think it was because I moved out of their coverage area, let's just say it wasn't as painless as your story. Good for you.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
per policy if your less than 12 months in your contact and ltv 1 your etf gets waived. that is prolly why they did it. ltv = life time value, or tech has to note the account about the service issues, those are the only two ways to get it done.
twayneo said:
per policy if your less than 12 months in your contact and ltv 1 your etf gets waived. that is prolly why they did it. ltv = life time value, or tech has to note the account about the service issues, those are the only two ways to get it done.
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another way is to be military that just got deployed. this happened to a family member with 3 months left on the contract. it's a shame that you have to know the information yourself because a lot of customer service reps don't. ended up renewing a 2 year contract and finding out that we could have terminated the account without any fees, of course by then we were already 3 months into the new contract and it took me about 1 month of fighting to get it terminated.
the service that is provided often depends on the rep that picks up. that's why a lot of times i just hang up on a rep that's not being helpful and try again.
autumn_leaf said:
the service that is provided often depends on the rep that picks up. that's why a lot of times i just hang up on a rep that's not being helpful and try again.
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THIS!! Is the best end all advice ever. And I know through personal experience. Not just AT&T but all companies and all services.
autumn_leaf said:
the service that is provided often depends on the rep that picks up. that's why a lot of times i just hang up on a rep that's not being helpful and try again.
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+1
10char
autumn_leaf said:
the service that is provided often depends on the rep that picks up. that's why a lot of times i just hang up on a rep that's not being helpful and try again.
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I should really do that more often.
Sent from my MB860 using XDA App
You wouldn't believe the amount of waivers/credits AT&T give out daily.
The best way to get what you want is to ask for a manager.. Most managers are so lazy that they'd rather just give you a credit than talk to you.
If you get no luck through customer care - dial 611, wait for option to cancel service - you'll be connected to retentions, and they are allowed to give a lot more.
They have changed things up recently, though.. If you've had a number of credits in the past then you're likely to be declined when requesting further credits..
A while back, I was checking my phone bill online and noticed that I didn't have the unlimited text plan I thought I did. So I added the service with their website. The next month I looked at my bill, and I noticed a $150.00 for text messaging, for going over my plan.
So I call AT&T and the young woman I spoke with looked up my account, and then said she would get a manager. The manager I spoke with verified that I had made the change to unlimited text plan, but it wasn't put into effect. So she immediately credited my account for the text overage.
Both people were very helpful and nice. In fact I haven't had any bad experiences with AT&T's customer service. Maybe it's my voice, and they decide to be nice to me. IDK.
dratsablive said:
A while back, I was checking my phone bill online and noticed that I didn't have the unlimited text plan I thought I did. So I added the service with their website. The next month I looked at my bill, and I noticed a $150.00 for text messaging, for going over my plan.
So I call AT&T and the young woman I spoke with looked up my account, and then said she would get a manager. The manager I spoke with verified that I had made the change to unlimited text plan, but it wasn't put into effect. So she immediately credited my account for the text overage.
Both people were very helpful and nice. In fact I haven't had any bad experiences with AT&T's customer service. Maybe it's my voice, and they decide to be nice to me. IDK.
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I worked there for about 8 months - it's really luck of the draw. There are so many grey areas in their policies, and not everybody is made aware of some of the less common issues/procedures to deal with them.
You just have to hope that you get a hold of somebody who knows what they're talking about (or has a manager who does), & that they're in a good mood Honestly, there are very few things that they can not do (without a transfer)
My experience with AT&T has been positive. I have had accidental international data overages and have been credited.
I had another long conversation with AT&T today after having barely any data service for the past week even though I have the "unlimited" data plan. My billing cycle started 2/17 and they started to throttle me on 2/18 because I was in the top 5% of users.
AT&T claims I have used close to 6GB worth of data in the last 6 days, 3 days of which I was in an area with no service! My service won't be restored to normal until 3/17!!! She told me I should consider moving to another plan and thats after I accused them of trying to force people off their grand fathered unlimited plans, which she denied.
And their claim that I have service but that it's just slower is a load of bs. With a modern phone a certain amount of bandwidth is required and apparently I'm getting so little I can't access anything for hours at a time. The fact that I use my phone for work makes this completely unacceptable.
Install a traffic monitor to prove their lies. I pity you guys that have to put up with US operator madness.
Sent from my superior GT-N7000 using Tapatalk
Is there a traffic monitor you recommend?
Onavo seems pretty good.. I don't use much data so I can't say how good long term it is.. It also lets you stop apps from accessing mobile data, and make them wifi only per individual app.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I727 using xda premium
Maybe its my area but I've never had my data service discontinued for X number of days. I have however received several letters from att stating my plan needs an upgrade (move from unlimited to their limited plans. upgrade my Arse) I actually had a rep tell me, it would be faster! lol.
I am grandfathered in on the unlimited data plan. and I generally use 10gb a month. The most I have ever used, in recent memory was 30gb. I got a tether notice once, called them to have them prove it (since i wasn't tethering). I never heard a response back.
I am a civilian contractor for the marines. When we go out on a training op, I bring my phone, a solar battery pack, and we watch Netflix, and a lot of it. lol.
songokussm: They tried the "honey" with their "upgrade to our faster plan" spiel. Now they are using the stick. They will now proceed to jerk you around until you either give in or quit them. Nice eh?
Moderator------Please note my phone is NOT AT&T I717. It's the unlocked version I purchase several months ago. Please move the post back to the correct forum. Thank you.
Maybe its my area but I've never had my data service discontinued for X number of days.
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They are not stopping my data service but they are making it so slow it rarely works.
Perhaps if you are heavy user you get on the **** list and they will may your service terrible. After all, they don't need or want you if you are a heavy user.
They would probably pay you to leave their service.
The only way to fight this would be to switch service.
I suggest you go to Verizon (until they kick you off)
amv13 said:
They are not stopping my data service but they are making it so slow it rarely works.
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There are some ways to get your speeds back, you should search these forums.
amv13 said:
Moderator------Please note my phone is NOT AT&T I717. It's the unlocked version I purchase several months ago. Please move the post back to the correct forum. Thank you.
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I would imagine he moved it because it's about AT&T service with the note.
amv13 said:
I had another long conversation with AT&T today after having barely any data service for the past week even though I have the "unlimited" data plan. My billing cycle started 2/17 and they started to throttle me on 2/18 because I was in the top 5% of users.
AT&T claims I have used close to 6GB worth of data in the last 6 days, 3 days of which I was in an area with no service! My service won't be restored to normal until 3/17!!! She told me I should consider moving to another plan and thats after I accused them of trying to force people off their grand fathered unlimited plans, which she denied.
And their claim that I have service but that it's just slower is a load of bs. With a modern phone a certain amount of bandwidth is required and apparently I'm getting so little I can't access anything for hours at a time. The fact that I use my phone for work makes this completely unacceptable.
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Those CSR's are probably trained to lie to customers calling in to complain about the throttling that applies to the unlimited. Unfortunately, the way they talk makes that rather obvious.
Besides, the corporate clearly wants to force as many people as possible onto tiered data...thinking the insanely heavy data users will go over their limit multiple times each month...to milk more money from them.
Dont give in, unlimited people, Dont give in......
Believe me I'm NOT giving in. I have a feeling AT&T is going to be feeling more heat on this issue.
I would consider going to Verizon for a number of reasons, including their service in my area is much better, but that would mean giving up the Note. Something I'm not prepared to do.
amv13 said:
Believe me I'm NOT giving in. I have a feeling AT&T is going to be feeling more heat on this issue.
I would consider going to Verizon for a number of reasons, including their service in my area is much better, but that would mean giving up the Note. Something I'm not prepared to do.
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I feel the same as well, doesnt make sense to throtlle unlimited people at 2gb but 3gb plan people dont get throttled at 2gb and essentially we are paying the same thing and for more.
#LAWSUITS #CREDIT #LAWSUITS #
you should prbly pm the mod
Can't you get around this by creating the new access point with the settings I saw elsewhere in this forum? Seems like that was working for other people.
Apn change works sometimes...
I just kept calling and complaining and now unthrottled...at least for the time being
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I downloaded Radioopt Traffic monitor earlier today and so far I've used 1GB today, almost all email! 430mb via wireless and 365mb via AT&T Data.
I have numerous email accounts but only two were set for frequent updates, one at every 5 minutes, one at every 30 minutes. I've adjusted them all to see if my usage goes down.
Att looses in data throttling case!
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/12/02/24/iphone_user_successfully_sues_att_over_3g_throttling.html