Database Users

Unlimited Data Plan w/ Telus & Tethering to Laptop

I just recently resigned with Telus on a three year contract that gives me unlimited data for $30/month. Apparently it was offered around Xmas for $15/month. The only restriction is that you cannot use it to tether to your laptop for a data connection through the phone. My question is how do they know? Does the laptop broadcast a different MAC or something that enables Telus to identify whether or not your tethering?
By the way, Thanks to all contributers that have made this phone rock!

i dont think there is anyway they know besides observing the type of data youre transmitting/receiving and how much. been tethering for a long time now with no problems.

Which plan is it you are on exactly? i can`t find any info on this on the telus website. I would switch immediately if i can find the info.

It's not on the website but if you phone Telus they have it. My Apex rep in Surrey knew about it and set me up. I think it might expire today or tomorrow so hurry. My P4000 was stolen last month and I needed to replace it. I was only 18 months into a 3 year contract and only had a $200 bonus on my account for a new phone and contract. I was able to talk directly to Telus and get them to let me back into that phone for the $199 on a three year contract. The phone is around $550 without contract.
This is the first time I've seen unlimited data for a reasonable price in Canada.
I still think that there is a way they know your tethering. Perhaps the MAC address is the identifier. I hope someone can shed further light into this. It would be nice if Telus is just saying this to stop me but really don't have a mechanism to identify if you are tethering or not.

Offers available until May 4, 2008. Hurry UP!!!
Check on this page, and links on the right side.
http://www.telusmobility.com/bc/services/pcs/email_im_15.shtml

More detailed info on the link below
Select telus smartphones and select the phone you want and it'll show you available plan options for that particular model.
They were offering unlimited internet, email and IM for $15 during the xmas period thru till valentines day, now they re-packaged it for $30 or $45, whatever suits your taste. Way better than any other carrier in Canada.
Funny enough even though it says unlimited, there still is a cap on how much data you can use. It's capped, not quite too sure at how many gigs, but go over that and they will charge you $8/MB. A clause embedded in the plan stating that they have discretion over what they think is abuse of the service.
Only reason I know this is I have a friend of mine who got drunk of the service and used his pda to download content he would normally dl using his home pc, try guessing his reaction when his phone bill came up to $789!! they were courteous enough to send him an itemized bill tracking his usage to fully explain the charges. I thought it was freaking hilarious! I guess moral being If you MUST tether, do it reasonably or don't at all.
http://promo.telusmobility.com/smartphones/index.html?landing=rethink#gg=RatesWhySmartPhonesState

Thank you so much for detailed explanation. I didn't know too much about this, but went directly to $45 when I discovered that promo because that's what I need. Comparing with my initial $25 / 4MB, $45 isn't bad.
I believe as long as I stay on email checkup, and news, stock, and weather update, should be safe.
Question is, if this X-Max, the $15 plan comes back again, am I still eligible to change?

Coolpics said:
Thank you so much for detailed explanation. I didn't know too much about this, but went directly to $45 when I discovered that promo because that's what I need. Comparing with my initial $25 / 4MB, $45 isn't bad.
I believe as long as I stay on email checkup, and news, stock, and weather update, should be safe.
Question is, if this X-Max, the $15 plan comes back again, am I still eligible to change?
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Initially it was first introduced for new clients only but then they extended the offer to existing clients, I don't see why you shouldn't be able to sign up when and if they re-introduce it, it was such a huge success. It can be used as an add-on to your existing plan.
PS: xmas i meant christmas

I got the $15 unlimited internet plan around christmas-time. The only stipulation was that the voice+data plan had to go above $45. Originally it was just being offered for certain phones, then they opened it up to every smartphone. I told all my friends about it, only a couple got it. Now they raised the price to $30 and the ones that missed out are kicking themselves.
I use my phone connection with my laptop using PDANET. great program, invisible tethering.

No Fee for Tethering
Will Internet Connection Sharing ICS (found file on XDA Developers) do the same job as PDAnet at masking tethering to laptop?

Tmobile Unlimited data Plans

TMobile Data Plan
I called Tmobile Today May 31 2008 just to ask a few questions then she asked to look at my account and said they lowered the price of the unlimited data plan to 10 $ less so i have saved 10 bucks every month on my bill now .. want to let all t mobile Data hogs know lol enjoy

Hd2 t-mobile usa question, help please

hi everyone, i went to tmobile today 3-24-2010 and... they told me that i dont qualify for the 200 dollars discount because i must have 22 months contract in order to qualify and pay 200 dolares, other than that ill have to pay $350 and plus this phone requires internet... so it would be 30 a month.. is that all true??? i am in a family plan and i was like **** im not going to pay for the internet i just want the damn phone and they say this phone requires internet.. but i dont want internet on my hd2!! that sucks! can you guys help me.. is this true?? i didnt know this i might be stupid im sorry.. but i just want the damn phone.. so ill have to pay the no contract hd2 from tmobile????

Please watch your language. Yep, you gotta pay full price. I'm not sure why you're complaining. Just ask some of us what we gave for our unlocked, unbranded HTC Leo's!

if youre in a family plan--
DO NOT UPGRADE THE PHONE WITHOUT CONSULTING WITH YOUR PARENTS!
upgrading requires a new contract. don't do something stupid.

Unfortunately most new smart phones will REQUIRE data plans now. It's a great cash cow for carriers and people do actually like to have data plans. So it's a win-win situation. It's not really that cheap, but no choice if you want it.

If you are buying on contract you are locked to their network, and instead of your phone using the network and racking up data loosely they require you have a plan so you dont over do it on accident.
Most phones now require this in the smart phone genre due to the automatic things like weather and stocks and face book which will constantly update.
I'm sure you can set everything to filter over wifi (dunno for sure) but unless your paying full price for it they will require you to have certain things on the account for everything to be ship shape.

im sorry.. so there's no choice i could get it without internet..? my only choice will be buying it unlocked right?

adrian_nene16 said:
im sorry.. so there's no choice i could get it without internet..? my only choice will be buying it unlocked right?
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The T-mobile rep told me when I got mine this morning that they have codes in their system that tell them what kind of phone you are using. All of their recent smartphones require data plans and they can see the phone type and force you to buy the data plan in order for the phone to work.
I am not sure if an unlocked (non-TMob branded HD2) would be able to circumvent this requirement.

adrian_nene16 said:
hi everyone, i went to tmobile today 3-24-2010 and... they told me that i dont qualify for the 200 dollars discount because i must have 22 months contract in order to qualify and pay 200 dolares, other than that ill have to pay $350 and plus this phone requires internet... so it would be 30 a month.. is that all true??? i am in a family plan and i was like **** im not going to pay for the internet i just want the damn phone and they say this phone requires internet.. but i dont want internet on my hd2!! that sucks! can you guys help me.. is this true?? i didnt know this i might be stupid im sorry.. but i just want the damn phone.. so ill have to pay the no contract hd2 from tmobile????
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Call T-mobile, ask for a supervisor/plan specialist and they will be able to give you the full upgrade price as long as you're within 3-4 months of your end of contract.
EDIT: Never mind, I'm an idiot and didn't read the whole post.

okay i get it.. so this guy was like "oh u dont qualify for the discount ($200) because you must have the 22 months contract" okay i get that.. so the regular price for me would be 350 of course with data right? because i dont remember if he said 350 or 250.. does anybody know? this is my last question

adrian_nene16 said:
okay i get it.. so this guy was like "oh u dont qualify for the discount ($200) because you must have the 22 months contract" okay i get that.. so the regular price for me would be 350 of course with data right? because i dont remember if he said 350 or 250.. does anybody know? this is my last question
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No contract is 450.

I believe Even More Plus plans (the cheap ones without contracts) allow you to get the phone without a data plan. I could be wrong about that, though. If you're in a contract plan right now, you can't switch to Even More Plus anyway.

but i am a tmobile customer..
this guy said 350 or 250 i dont remember what he exactly said but im pretty sure it is not 450 or maybe i had problems.. ill call tmobile tomorrow and ask i probably have some problems i also heard that if you have lets say an iphone running on tmobile and you want the hd2 you can give them your iphone and you will get a discount?? is that true??

T-Mo Rep here
T Mobile offers 2 types of plans (well, 3 really)
1) Even More Plus - No Contract, you get the phone at Full Retail Price (HD2 - 449.99 + Tax) but you do Not need to add Data and you can request an unlock code within 3-5 days of usage (we need to see the IMEI of the phone register on your account.)
2) Even More - 2 year contract, you get the phone for 199.99 + Tax (on 449.99). You need to add a data feature (30) for the Entire length of your 2 year contract. If you try and remove the data feature they cancel your contract and you pay 200.
YOU ARE NOW ELIGIBLE FOR A FULL UPGRADE TOWARDS A SMARTPHONE AFTER ONLY 12 MONTHS (24 for a phone first device). Even if you are on a grandfathered (myfavs) plan so GO IN AND CHECK even if you have 11 months left!!!!
3) Grandfather Plans - You will need to resign a 2 year contract and add a 24.99 data plan for the entire 2 years. Other than that, nothing on your plan changes.
With option 1, based on your credit class, T Mo will extend a credit line (can go from 120-1200) and you can split the cost of the phone into 20 payments with NO interest and No finance charge.
With option 2 and 3 you can split the cost into 4 payments (no APR and no finance charge)
Its pretty straitforward. Nothing to be confused about.
If you have less than 13 months on your plan, make no mistake, you Are elligible for a full upgrade towards the HD2 (199.99 + Tax).
There are NO trade-in options so keep your iPhone.
As for the data soc indicating what type of phone you have, that is true, we can also see the make and model as well as your IMEI.

Balerathon said:
T-Mo Rep here
T Mobile offers 2 types of plans (well, 3 really)
1) Even More Plus - No Contract, you get the phone at Full Retail Price (HD2 - 499.99 + Tax) but you do Not need to add Data and you can request an unlock code within 3-5 days of usage (we need to see the IMEI of the phone register on your account.
2) Even More - 2 year contract, you get the phone for 199.99 + Tax (on 499.99). You need to add a data feature (30) for the Entire length of your 2 year contract. If you try and remove the data feature they cancel your contract and you pay 200 (for a net of over 450 obviously).
YOU ARE NOT ELLIGIBLE FOR A FULL UPGRADE TOWARDS A SMARTPHONE AFTER ONLY 12 MONTHS (24 for a phone first device). Even if you are on a grandfathered (myfavs) plan so GO IN AND CHECK even if you have 11 months left!!!!
3) Grandfather Plans - You will need to resign a 2 year contract and add a 24.99 data plan for the entire 2 years. Other than that, nothing on your plan changes.
With option 1, based on your credit class, T Mo will extend a credit line (can go from 120-1200) and you can split the cost of the phone into 20 payments with NO interest and No finance charge.
With option 2 and 3 you can split the cost into 4 payments (no APR and no finance charge)
Its pretty straitforward. Nothing to be confused about.
If you have less than 13 months on your plan, make no mistake, you Are elligible for a full upgrade towards the HD2 (199.99 + Tax).
There are NO trade-in options so keep your iPhone.
As for the data soc indicating what type of phone you have, that is true, we can also see the make and model as well as your IMEI.
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Isn't retail price for this phone on Tmobile $449.99???

Shoot!
Yes!!! 449.99!!!
Changing my post now!
Great catch! (argh! It's late! )

eenbox said:
Isn't retail price for this phone on Tmobile $449.99???
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thank you balarathon so you said "If you have less than 13 months on your plan, make no mistake, you Are elligible for a full upgrade towards the HD2 (199.99 + Tax)" i have family plan and i have 11 months with my contract, the guy told me i dont qualify to the discount (199.99) and you saying i do?

I paid 450 for mine and was the first person in line. I love this phone its great!

adrian_nene16 said:
thank you balarathon so you said "If you have less than 13 months on your plan, make no mistake, you Are elligible for a full upgrade towards the HD2 (199.99 + Tax)" i have family plan and i have 11 months with my contract, the guy told me i dont qualify to the discount (199.99) and you saying i do?
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In January of 2010 T Mobile changed the policy of Upgrades to allow for a full upgrade after 12 months as posted here:
tmonews(.)com/2010/01/t-mobile-partial-upgrade-pricing-discount-goes-live-tomorrow
This "early upgrade" only applies towards a Smartphone (not a phone first) so you should be good.
Go back and ask again or call Customer Care 611 and ask. If you walked into my store and we had an HD2 in stock, you'd get it for 199.99 unless you have some odd circumstances.

Balerathon said:
In January of 2010 T Mobile changed the policy of Upgrades to allow for a full upgrade after 12 months as posted here:
tmonews(.)com/2010/01/t-mobile-partial-upgrade-pricing-discount-goes-live-tomorrow
This "early upgrade" only applies towards a Smartphone (not a phone first) so you should be good.
Go back and ask again or call Customer Care 611 and ask. If you walked into my store and we had an HD2 in stock, you'd get it for 199.99 unless you have some odd circumstances.
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okay thank you very much i will call tmobile tomorrow your awesome thanks for your help.

adrian_nene16 said:
okay thank you very much i will call tmobile tomorrow your awesome thanks for your help.
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I really hope it works out for you!
Make sure you have the Account Holder's approval, and you'll need to at Least be an authorized user on the account.
Cheers!
Bale

Upgrade a phone for another line?

So i have a family plan with my parents... We have a 1500 minute account, i have unlimited text and web, they are old school and dont like texting or webing. So i upgrade my phone to a mytouch 7 months ago.. My parents are both elegible to upgrade price.. And i really like the Vibrant.. but t-mobile wants you to put a data plan on the line that you upgrade the phone... So my question is if i get the Vibrant using my moms phone number, Do i have to put Web on her line?? even tough she will not be using the phone.. I will Thanks

There should be a workaround for this, I would visit a store and ask a rep.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

The Data has to be added to the line that is upgraded. and the data has to stay on that line for the required 2 years or untill you do another upgrade.

deviusdragger said:
The Data has to be added to the line that is upgraded. and the data has to stay on that line for the required 2 years or untill you do another upgrade.
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this doesnt make sense how about if some one looses the phone, and gets a non internet capable phone? they are going to pay for a service that they cant use??
I mean the disconnected price is because you are increasing your contract 2 years more..
How about if i just want the phone for testing purposes and i dont want internet on it... or i want to use it as an ipod..
This suks

there is a way around it, upgrade the line to a vibrant on your moms line....then go into the store a day later and upgrade the same line to the cheapest dumb phone, you will have to pay full price, should be about 50-60 bucks, that line no longer requires a data contract

turbosix said:
There should be a workaround for this, I would visit a store and ask a rep.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
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I called a tmo store, and wold told the same thing, that the data plan has to stick with the line that it was upgrade it, that i can use the phone with my other number, but i would have to play internet double :S WTF and that if i call tmobile and try to cancel that internet that they would charge a cancellation fee ($200) to remove this...
How stupid is this??

PolishDude said:
there is a way around it, upgrade the line to a vibrant on your moms line....then go into the store a day later and upgrade the same line to the cheapest dumb phone, you will have to pay full price, should be about 50-60 bucks, that line no longer requires a data contract
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ummm will they be mad about this since ?? like can they say no?

The data is required for 2 years. If you switch to a non data phone they'll make you switch to unlimited messaging for $15 on that line (best case scenario)
Sent from my Samsung Vibrant using XDA App

Wait a minute. I though data plans only went in to effect once TMO detected the IMEI number for a particular SIM? I've done this in the past, and I understood I could do this in the future when speaking to TMO last week.

well seems like if i buy a phone make a 2 year contract and then later on i buy a full price phone trough t-mobile i dont have to keep that data plan...

well i just purchase it for $164 on the t-mo site.. Lets see what happens... You guys want me to update with the resolution??
btw if everything goes wrong i have 30 days to return the device correct???

I work for T-mobile, there is a work around to this. but you'll be paying full price for the vibrant. the $199 price for the vibrant is so cheap because of the internet and the data plan is locked in for 2 years regarless if you buy a cheaper phone, theres no way to take it out unless you want to pay the $200 early termination fee, its call "Required data plan". its better just to buy the phone out right. if you really want the vibrant as an upgrade PM and ill tell you what to do.

SuperMiguel said:
well i just purchase it for $164 on the t-mo site.. Lets see what happens... You guys want me to update with the resolution??
btw if everything goes wrong i have 30 days to return the device correct???
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I believe their return policy is now only 14 days.

just to let everyone know, any smartphone you get you are locked in for a 2 year data plan regarless if you get a dumb phone, that data plan is locked in. I work for T-mobile so I know, there is a way to do this, its my company secret so I can't say it here.

lmfaznboi said:
just to let everyone know, any smartphone you get you are locked in for a 2 year data plan regarless if you get a dumb phone, that data plan is locked in. I work for T-mobile so I know, there is a way to do this, its my company secret so I can't say it here.
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Well i called t-mo and they told me that if i buy a dumb phone for full price that i didnt have to keep playing data plan...

if you data plan was before november of 2009 your free to take it off without cancellation anything after that it is required. you can try calling in but I gaurentee you that there will be a $200 cancellation fee on your next bill

lmfaznboi said:
if you data plan was before november of 2009 your free to take it off without cancellation anything after that it is required. you can try calling in but I gaurentee you that there will be a $200 cancellation fee on your next bill
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you said to PM you, that you know a way to get around this.. i pm you already...

SuperMiguel said:
I called a tmo store, and wold told the same thing, that the data plan has to stick with the line that it was upgrade it, that i can use the phone with my other number, but i would have to play internet double :S WTF and that if i call tmobile and try to cancel that internet that they would charge a cancellation fee ($200) to remove this...
How stupid is this??
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Click to collapse
SuperMiguel said:
So i have a family plan with my parents... We have a 1500 minute account, i have unlimited text and web, they are old school and dont like texting or webing. So i upgrade my phone to a mytouch 7 months ago.. My parents are both elegible to upgrade price.. And i really like the Vibrant.. but t-mobile wants you to put a data plan on the line that you upgrade the phone... So my question is if i get the Vibrant using my moms phone number, Do i have to put Web on her line?? even tough she will not be using the phone.. I will Thanks
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I called the loyalty department at t-mobile.
Upgraded my father-in laws liine and got ordered the vibrant to put on my account.
The cost??? $149!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Call the loyalty department!!
They even took off the web on my father-in law's line.
I had to call in a couple times though.
Depends on who you talk to.
Hope this helps.

On your line, give that to one of your parents, take one of their lines upgrade it get the vibrant add text and web, and then remove all web and text services from your old line.simple. Hit my google voice number and I'll explain better for you, 2158217393. Tone.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App

I had that happen to me when I upgraded a different line for my MyTouch. They will let you do it you just have to keep telling them you want to talk to a supervisor until one will give permission.

[Q] Best pay-as-you-go data plan?

I have a Blackberry supplied by my employer. I can't use it for personal e-mail and Web content is very limited. I'd like to get a smart phone for personal use but wouldn't use it enough to warrant a full plan under my wireless carrier (AT&T). Does anyone have any pay-as-you-go or cheap data-only plan and carrier suggestions? My MB usage would be low as it's really just for e-mail and a small amount of Web use. I'm located in Florida.

i wud say THREE 3 , there best for price plans , but signal isnt all that well . its certain areas .
i pay 15 pound a month and get 600 mins, 3000 texts, 1gb internet . i dont use 600 mins so i wanna go down to £10 a month 300 mins 3000 texts 1gb internet .
hope this helped
just seen ur in florida . sorry , any1 else this may help

three do a good deal for 15.00 a month like the other poster states , but it now offers unlimited internet (yep truely unlimited) same minutes and texts etc, good deal , plus if you buy through say quidco or topcashback websites , you will get a nice rebate also

Virgin Mobile may be your best bet. $25 for unlimited text, data, email etc. and 300 minutes.
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-plans.jsp

three in uk is best for data plan..
I have the £15 month all you can eat (its not unlimited as most think see the terms and conditions) 80gig data a month yep 80 gig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have the normal pay and go topup monthly (not rolling contract) which is 300 mins 3000 texts and 80gig a month the rolling contract is 600 mins and 6000 texts and 80gig a month data.. its £15 no matter which plan you go for..., so pick best for you.
signal is not always the best but data speed is best every had. And does tend to work most every where I go(inc most mountain areas but not all but this is same across the networks)....
word of warning they will soon be stopping the all you can eat sim!!!(friend works for them and told me after I bought it) so get it whilst you can...

Sometimes I wish I was in the UK but I am in the States (Florida). Virgin seems to be the best bet for now. I will go by a local AT&T store to see if they will offer me an unadvertised deal, though. Thanks!

Florida resident here, I'm with tmobile, have 5 phones and a broadband stick. Pay about $200 a month, data, unlimited voice and text on even more plus plan. I'm decently happy with the service. For me, I work at a car dealership, and tmobile gives me a discount for being a "Kia" employee although I technically work for many different dealerships.

Straight Talk I think would be a good choice for you. They have a nice $30/month plan that would work well for you. Check out the Howard Forums Straight Talk threads for info on how to use one of their sim cards in a phone of your choice.
AT&T just took away my unlimited data plan since I upgraded to a Nexus One... I will likely be switching to Straight Talk at the end of the month.
Edit: I forgot to mention that they use AT&T's towers!

If all of this is true Straight Talk may just take over the market I know once get my hands the right equipment they might just win me over!!
Sent from my Synergy Rom using XDA App

styndall said:
Straight Talk I think would be a good choice for you. They have a nice $30/month plan that would work well for you. Check out the Howard Forums Straight Talk threads for info on how to use one of their sim cards in a phone of your choice.
AT&T just took away my unlimited data plan since I upgraded to a Nexus One... I will likely be switching to Straight Talk at the end of the month.
Edit: I forgot to mention that they use AT&T's towers!
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Do you by chance have a link for this I've searched and haven't found it? Thank you in advance
Sent from my Synergy Rom using XDA App

Ack, sorry I took forever to reply.
Here is the link to the threads: http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php/551-Straight-Talk