Related
Free T-Mobile msg: Your usage has reached the data threshold for your rate plan this month. Your speed has been reduced for the rest of this billing cycle.
Anyone else hit this "threshold" ?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
How can there be a threshold when it's advertised as unlimited service? You might consider a complaint to your states AG. Especially with elections coming up.
wow! you must tethering and d/l lots of porn or something. They will limit you after 10gbs. I think. With heavy usage I rarely go over 1gb.
thunderstruck! said:
How can there be a threshold when it's advertised as unlimited service? You might consider a complaint to your states AG. Especially with elections coming up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
From a T-Mobile store manager, please... read the fine print.
This is directly from T-Mobile.com
Android Unlimited Web*
Includes:
* Unlimited Web access
* Unlimited personal e-mail
*To provide the best network experience for all of our customers we may temporarily reduce data throughput for a small fraction of customers who use a disproportionate amount of bandwidth. Your data session, plan, or service may be suspended, terminated, or restricted for significant roaming or if you use your service in a way that interferes with our network or ability to provide quality service to other users. Some devices require specific data plans; if you do not have the right plan for your device, you may not be able to use data services. 3G coverage is available only in certain markets and on certain devices. Taxes, fees, and additional charges may apply. Domestic use only. See your data plan terms and T-Mobile's Terms and Conditions on T-Mobile.com.
You gotta love marketing and the fine print. Still 10 gb is a lot, and if you go over you get crippled service instead of fees.
thunderstruck! said:
How can there be a threshold when it's advertised as unlimited service? You might consider a complaint to your states AG. Especially with elections coming up.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is unlimited service, they're not shutting his data down they are just slowing it down. No where does it say about unlimited 3G service. The only people who are reaching this are the ones tethering and even then they are most likely downloading music or movies.
Yea, I know. The thing is, it's either unlimited or it's not. They are saying both. You should not have to read any fine print, instead of saying unlimited in big letters it needs to say Android 10GB monthly Web. F*** the fine print.
There's actually a lawsuit going on about this: http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2010/08/tmobile_suit.html
Unlimited isn't really unlimited. They just throttle your internet and make it run slower. How the hell do you pass 10GB of bandwidth? You must be tethering or downloading A LOT on it
It's marketing. How can you advertise a 10gb cap? You can't, some of us will understand the concept and will appreciate the forwardness of the carrier, but an average Joe will just get confused and will start asking questions which are not.needed as most average data users on Tmobile will not hit that cap. I am streaming Pandora at the gym 3 hours a day, sometimes tether, browse the web on 3g, I have etc to even get close to the cap.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
thunderstruck! said:
Yea, I know. The thing is, it's either unlimited or it's not. They are saying both. You should not have to read any fine print, instead of saying unlimited in big letters it needs to say Android 10GB monthly Web. F*** the fine print.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you charged overages for using too much data? No. Can you not use your data if you go over 10GB? No. Its unlimited data, T-mobile puts that clause in there to cover themselves so if someone is abusing the service they can restrict them if need be.
rjwisniewski said:
From a T-Mobile store manager, please... read the fine print.
This is directly from T-Mobile.com
Android Unlimited Web*
Includes:
* Unlimited Web access
* Unlimited personal e-mail
*To provide the best network experience for all of our customers we may temporarily reduce data throughput for a small fraction of customers who use a disproportionate amount of bandwidth. Your data session, plan, or service may be suspended, terminated, or restricted for significant roaming or if you use your service in a way that interferes with our network or ability to provide quality service to other users. Some devices require specific data plans; if you do not have the right plan for your device, you may not be able to use data services. 3G coverage is available only in certain markets and on certain devices. Taxes, fees, and additional charges may apply. Domestic use only. See your data plan terms and T-Mobile's Terms and Conditions on T-Mobile.com.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hey, store manager, don't get so cocky, and try to throw contract statements in peoples face. I come from a family of attorneys, and just because something is stated in contract doesn't mean the consumer is wrong.
If a cell phone company runs advertisements on tv talking about their unlimited fast 3g, runs print ads talking about their unlimted fast 3g, has store reps advertise unlimited 3g to walk in customers, etc ... you get my point, the average person expects unlimited 3G, not edge. The law in all states specifically says there should be no ambiguity and ambiguity is based upon understanding from a resonable person. I'm resonable, and so are thousands of others who assume when they see advetisements for unlimited 3G, that means unlimited 3g!
I'm happy you have an understanding, but you also work for the company.
All it takes is 1 person, 1 person to fight t-mobile, start a class action law suit, and your pretty little statements are useless.
Now, going back to the person who got the t-mobile message. ARE YOU TETHERING? IF SO, YOU DESERVE TO BE KICKED OFF THE NETWORK FOR LIFE.
Well, he still has data access so I guess that makes it unlimited. I don't see anything unfair about it to be honest. I don't want my data access borked just because a bunch of kids are using their phones to download music and movies from the pirate bay all night.
When you see * it means there's some sort of caveat, and it pays to read to read the fine print.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
r6kid said:
Free T-Mobile msg: Your usage has reached the data threshold for your rate plan this month. Your speed has been reduced for the rest of this billing cycle.
Anyone else hit this "threshold" ?
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Curious .. are you using it for your daily internet use with tether?
Wow, I go over 10Gigs a month all the time... Internet at home got shut off here from roomate downloading movies off of bittorrent. I tether with it all the time, pandora, heck I even play battlefield on my ps3 with it...
Never got a message like that from t-mobile and hope I never do. I totally understand why they would do that though. Did this message come in the mail or via text message?
SamsungGalaxySVibrant said:
Hey, store manager, don't get so cocky, and try to throw contract statements in peoples face. I come from a family of attorneys, and just because something is stated in contract doesn't mean the consumer is wrong.
If a cell phone company runs advertisements on tv talking about their unlimited fast 3g, runs print ads talking about their unlimted fast 3g, has store reps advertise unlimited 3g to walk in customers, etc ... you get my point, the average person expects unlimited 3G, not edge. The law in all states specifically says there should be no ambiguity and ambiguity is based upon understanding from a resonable person. I'm resonable, and so are thousands of others who assume when they see advetisements for unlimited 3G, that means unlimited 3g!
I'm happy you have an understanding, but you also work for the company.
All it takes is 1 person, 1 person to fight t-mobile, start a class action law suit, and your pretty little statements are useless.
Now, going back to the person who got the t-mobile message. ARE YOU TETHERING? IF SO, YOU DESERVE TO BE KICKED OFF THE NETWORK FOR LIFE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only one cocky is you Mr. my dad is an attorney. It all depends on how you interpret "unlimited." Although his speed is crippled, he no doubt has unlimited data--as advertised. It is still via the 3g network. I personally see no legitimate grounds for any suit.
SamsungGalaxySVibrant said:
Hey, store manager, don't get so cocky, and try to throw contract statements in peoples face. I come from a family of attorneys, and just because something is stated in contract doesn't mean the consumer is wrong.
If a cell phone company runs advertisements on tv talking about their unlimited fast 3g, runs print ads talking about their unlimted fast 3g, has store reps advertise unlimited 3g to walk in customers, etc ... you get my point, the average person expects unlimited 3G, not edge. The law in all states specifically says there should be no ambiguity and ambiguity is based upon understanding from a resonable person. I'm resonable, and so are thousands of others who assume when they see advetisements for unlimited 3G, that means unlimited 3g!
I'm happy you have an understanding, but you also work for the company.
All it takes is 1 person, 1 person to fight t-mobile, start a class action law suit, and your pretty little statements are useless.
Now, going back to the person who got the t-mobile message. ARE YOU TETHERING? IF SO, YOU DESERVE TO BE KICKED OFF THE NETWORK FOR LIFE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Uhm...What?
It is not advertised as unlimited 3g you should get that strait first. Your whole argument is flawed.
It is advertised as unlimited internet and indeed unlimited internet it is.
Is the op still receiving internet access through his phone? Yes.
Thus it is unlimited.
ARE YOU TETHERING? IF SO, YOU DESERVE TO BE KICKED OFF THE NETWORK FOR LIFE.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have a very narrow view on things. For life? really?
All contracts have fine print. OP signed the contract so OP is abided by the contract. If he does not like it he can take this to court but ofcourse was OP breaking the contract? If the contracts states no tethering and the OP is tethering than the OP has no chance of winning.
Tmobile is not doing anything wrong here at all.
If they did however cut off his service or charged extra fees then Tmobile is wrong.
Why is everyone here rushing to tmobiles aid? Kicked off for life? Really? The OP never even said anything negative he just asked if anyone else got the same message.
You all realize tmobile makes plenty of cash right?
Everyone here has a point. Not everything has to be a flame war.
While it might be easier and even more profitable for them to only put this in the fine print they need to be ready to deal with the consequences of misleading consumers. Which I'm sure they are.
Texted While Driving
My concern is that if people star challenging this that we will end up with tiered pricing and hard caps similar to AT&T.
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
SamsungGalaxySVibrant said:
Hey, store manager, don't get so cocky, and try to throw contract statements in peoples face. I come from a family of attorneys, and just because something is stated in contract doesn't mean the consumer is wrong.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I am an attorney myself, and people really need to stop assuming it's a spectator sport. Any lawsuit over this issue is probably bull****, but who knows how it would actually come out - there's a heck of a lot of relevant background you would need to know. It's very difficult to predict. And if assholes with porn addictions or who use 3G data as a substitute for home internet start suing Tmo, we are very quickly going to end up with tiered data plans. Is that what you want?
But please people, stop speculating about lawsuits and holding forth on what the law is if you're not a lawyer. And no, having friends and family who are lawyers doesn't qualify you.
sl0play said:
Kicked off for life? Really? The OP never even said anything negative he just asked if anyone else got the same message.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, im no attorney but personally I think that's too lenient. I feel that anyone caught tethering should be buried up to their necks in mud and stoned to death, and left there for the crows to pick away the remains, and it should be broadcast via real-time web cam as an example to others who might try the same.
If the offending party were to admit guilt only then would there be some leniency, and they would be sentenced to life in prison.
And by life I mean they put you in the cell and weld the door shut.... and that's that. No clothes, no blankets, just a blackberry curve with edge connection.
I'm from the old school.
Tmo for life, bro!
;-)
Sent from my SGH-T959 using XDA App
Hello everyone,
I am concerned that some mobile carriers restrict tethering or offer tethering to their plans for a fee, how this is legal , i am paying for the bandwidth , and this is my pipe i will do whatever i want with it.
I understand forcing speed limit and threshold , ISPs uses "shared" pipes, downloading too much will impact the network .
But downloading 5 MB Image have the same impact on the network whither i do it from my mobile,laptop or desktop.
This definitely break Network neutrality , Wikipedia definition:
Network neutrality (also net neutrality, Internet neutrality) is a principle which advocates no restrictions by Internet service providers or governments on consumers' access to networks that participate in the internet. Specifically, network neutrality would prevent restrictions on content, sites, platforms, the kinds of equipment that may be attached, or the modes of communication.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I see this as starting point for a growing trend, I think some ISPs already give you advantage to access Netflix over other on demand video providers (same practice also for VOIP), who knows when ISPs will start charging you different fees for different sites , maybe they will offer "Facebook" plan, or "Youtube" plan ... the thought of this is a scary one.
We need some kind of campaign to stop mobile providers from charging extra for tethering.
What's your point of view.
i agree 100%. Its plain and simple greed.
I think in all honesty, all companies should just give us our unlimited data back for a flat fee, and give the people that don't use data as much, the option for like.. a 200MB/month plan or however you want to look at it.
As for tethering fees and stuff like that. I just recently rooted my phone with a custom ROM, so obviously I do have that option for use if I absolutely need it. As for people not comfortable. I definitely agree with providers breaking the network neutrality.
Just my personal thought.
I like t-mobile's approach to the situation. All mobile data is unlimited over all, but it comes with a speed cap, so if bandwidth hogs decided to ruin the mobile experience for the rest of us they get throttled til the bill cycle is up. For the people who need a higher cap, there is a higher option at a higher price. even with tethering to my laptop to play online (MMO) games for hours on end and such I have never hit my 5gb cap.
hmmm may be thats good sometimes!!!
The Dutch have a law for it now !! They RuLe!
I agree very scary. Glad I'm rooted.
Sent from my PC36100 using XDA App
I just want to continue to add a note of encouragement to my fellow colleagues even though monsur has already done an incredibly good job.
pyrator said:
i agree 100%. Its plain and simple greed.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would agree
i agree with you 100% as well
We need to get one network to do this and everyone else would follow suit. No way is one of them going to stick the the old charging plan if everyone else is offering it for free! Healthy competition baby!
This is for anyone who uses a wireless headset to listen to Pandora or a similar streaming app. I have been served with several notices about my illegal tethering but i have never tethered or use that feature nor do i use my webtop or the hdmi on my phone. I found out after talking with AT&T to resolve this, that they consider it tethering when you use your Bluetooth, whether it be to a headset or car stereo or even your TV to listen to streaming music you are tethering. AT&T claims that even if you are at home and you are on your home wifi network that they are still requiring you to have a tethering plan to stream to a Bluetooth device. Yes absurd it is and completely ridiculous in my eyes.
Please respond with your comments
If they did that to me I would cancel that day.
Had the same conversation with them today, only the rep said that Pandora--->BT headphones is NOT tethering, but Pandora--->BT car stereo IS tethering. I think she was just reading from a script because when I told her I was using Bluetooth headphones, she wanted to know what kind of cable I used for that...
At&t is continuing to get more and more absurd with their definition of "tethering" and rules regarding it.
What? How would they detect that you're using BT at all? And if they can tell that you're using BT, how can they tell what you're using it for??
rhys42 said:
Had the same conversation with them today, only the rep said that Pandora--->BT headphones is NOT tethering, but Pandora--->BT car stereo IS tethering. I think she was just reading from a script because when I told her I was using Bluetooth headphones, she wanted to know what kind of cable I used for that...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
She apparently didn't know what Bluetooth means, and thought instead that you were talking about a wired set of headphones. Regardless, Bluetooth streaming has as little (nothing) to do with AT&T as a wired connection does. The reason they can tell when you use Bluetooth or use your phone as a wifi hotspot is because the data sent to your phone sends a sort of "receipt" back to the carrier. Included in this uplink packet is a number which decreases by one everytime the signal is bounced to and returned from another device. If they see this number has been decreased more than your device does on its own, they can assume you are "tethering" wirelessly.
I have just received a letter, a phone call, and a text message about this myself. I have a Bluetooth head unit in my car and adapter for my computer with which I listen to streaming music. Needless to say, I am outraged. It's the same sort of crap we went through before with forced data plans for smartphones: these days you can't even buy a smartphone, not even from a third party, and use only 2G voice. Maybe you want a smartphone for its functionality as a pda, or maybe you would like to use wifi once in a while. Nope. It's almost like Exxon charging me for NOT driving my car.
From what I gather, T-Mobile does offer more value with no restrictions, while using Android you don't incur fees for using the hotspot features. That is Malarkey, for the carriers to restrict functionality devices. Hopefully, AT&T will honor the Tmobile contract if the succeed in their acquisition. If not, then will be looking for a reasonable MVNO.
Sent from my HD2 using XDA Windows Phone 7 App
Iwould ask the same question how do they know that you are using bluetooth. Big brother theroy If I had that provider and they did that i would to them to stick it. Thats why I am with MetroPCS no questions and dont expect much lol
It seems pretty clear to me that MOST of you probably incurred abnormally high data usage due to lots of Pandora streaming causing you to be automatically flagged as a likely candidate for internet tethering/internet sharing without paying for it.
The reps likely had a 30 minute info session on what internet tethering is and heard that it can occur via USB, WiFi, or Bluetooth. So lacking any real knowledge about these things they heard you say you connected your phone via bluetooth to your car, etc. and thought bluetooth tethering/internet sharing instead of seeing it for what it is... a simple audio connection.
sonus said:
It seems pretty clear to me that MOST of you probably incurred abnormally high data usage due to lots of Pandora streaming causing you to be automatically flagged as a likely candidate for internet tethering/internet sharing without paying for it.
The reps likely had a 30 minute info session on what internet tethering is and heard that it can occur via USB, WiFi, or Bluetooth. So lacking any real knowledge about these things they heard you say you connected your phone via bluetooth to your car, etc. and thought bluetooth tethering/internet sharing instead of seeing it for what it is... a simple audio connection.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Would have to agree with him.
I agree as well. I was flagged for tethering because i download ROMs and what not on my phone. I was grandfathered in with my old unlimited data plan. So my data is ultra high all the time. Once i went over all my months of service and the high data they dropped the tethering from my bill. It is nuts how they watch us now
Well either just pay whatever AT&T ask you to pay or get out and use some sort of prepaid service such as Straight Talk or the new tmo plan for $30 a month.
Nagging around will get you nowhere and you'd still have to pay.
greenstuffs said:
Well either just pay whatever AT&T ask you to pay or get out and use some sort of prepaid service such as Straight Talk or the new tmo plan for $30 a month.
Nagging around will get you nowhere and you'd still have to pay.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Honestly, that's true.
I know that all carriers will go after you for tethering (minus T-Mobile, they don't seem to give a ****) if they charge for it, and you do it without paying.
All these people saying "We shouldn't have to pay for using our same data!", look at it this way, the $45 data plan w/ tethering has 4GB, the $25 data plan without tethering is 2GB, basically your only paying for the extra 2GB if you went over on the $25 plan, AND they won't say anything about you tethering, so it's really a win/win.
More data + ability to tether without AT&T *****ing.
Its not the data they look at, back when i had an unlimited plan and a laptop with a mobile bb built in card id slip my sim in that, fire my lappy up, and have mobile broadband with a unlimited data plan (non-smartphone). AT&T never questioned me, even though my usage chart had enormous spikes occasionally, im talking like >100mb to a few GB. I have a captivate now and have been tethering it occasionally since i got it, suddenly last month i started getting texts saying they were gonna add tethering to my plan if i didnt stop, support rep, no TWO support reps tried to tell me it was because i was streaming pandora to my car stereo with the line in port and headphone jack. I knew that was TOTAL BS, and finally a rep in a different dept. agreed with me, said the reps who said that were idiots, and that they can tell you are tethering by like the user agent strings in your computer and the way your phone is communicating with the network. Im sorta dissapointed about their crackdown, but i was clearly in the wrong, violating my contract, probably breaking several laws. AT&T is cracking down on tetherers not to be mean, but to keep the network flowing smooth and provide the best, most reliable wireless service in america. In short my POV comes from the simple fact that radio towers are like garden hoses, only so much data can flow through at once. Mobile broadband was not designed for high loads that tethering puts on them, it was designed to allow a cellular phone to recieve and transmit data OTA. As new technology comes out (3g, 4g, etc.) the networks are able to handle more and more, in the future i can see mobile broadband replacing DSL and Satellite internet. Especially as 4G gets established. The reason AT&T has a reputation for poor service in metropolitian areas is because of the high load on the towers. Im sure every single tower in NYC is overloaded, especially during morning and evening commutes, just look at all the people sucking water through the garden hose
Or......they just want everyone off the unlimited plan to get more money? Its always about the money.
Sent from my GT-I9000 using xda premium
chschris2011 said:
and finally a rep in a different dept. agreed with me, said the reps who said that were idiots, and that they can tell you are tethering by like the user agent strings in your computer and the way your phone is communicating with the network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If they are using the browser user-agent to identify people who are tethering, doesn't that mean that they are looking at the information you are sending/recieving? That packet could just as easily have a credit card number instead of a user-agent string (assuming you are using a shady site that doesn't encrypt it to begin with).
Can anyone confirm/deny if this would constitute wiretapping and thus be illegal?
I would think that if they're looking into your data deep enough to see the agent string, that they could easily look at other data, too. I would be interested in knowing if it's legal for them to do that.
Also, if they're checking up on you by looking at your data, I would think that you could defeat that by using an encrypted proxy. I would be very interested in knowing if anybody has tested any of these approaches and knows for sure what AT&T is up to and what we can do about it.
I think that the user agent is included plaintext initially before the encryption starts. I may wrong on that point though. I have sent a query to att about this and we will see what they say.
Sent from my SGH-I997 using xda premium
It really makes me sick when people defend the mobile carriers. "If you don't like it leave." Ya like that is really possible for many people. Ever heard of a 2 yr contract and termination fees?
Look if you are tethering you should pay for it, I agree. However, saying that using your Bluetooth is considered tethering your data is absurd.
The government needs to get involved quickly and regulate the mobile industry with more than just taxes. How about some regulation that protects the customer?
Clearly there is some type of oligopoly going on.
At&t is forcing everyone with a smartphone to have a data plan. That is fine if you have a new contract with a subsidized phone, however At&t continues to force you to pay for a data plan even when your 2 yr contract is up. Even if you buy a phone at full retail with no subsidy, as soon as they detect a smartphone on their network they will add a mandatory data plan on your account. You don't like it? You have no choice, the industry is price-fixing, policy-fixing, and a slew of other unethical practices and the government is letting it happen.
It's like the heads of these companies got together in a secret meeting and planned out this entire thing. Let's charge crazy fees and have crazy policies, let's lock them in for 2 years, and when they get fed up with me and want to switch to you, they will see you do the same exact thing! Having no choices, no competition, it's going to make us rich.
Did you hear what T-mobile UK has done? Read this from Wikipedia and prepare to be shocked:
"Effective February 1, 2011 T-Mobile UK lowered their fair-use capacity limit on Internet usage from 3GB to 500MB per month and clarified that Internet access using their mobile broadband service in reality only allows browsing the Internet using static websites. T-Mobile says:
"Browsing means looking at websites and checking email, but not watching videos, downloading files or playing games. We've got a fair use policy but ours means that you'll always be able to browse the Internet, it's only when you go over the fair use amount that you won't be able to download, stream and watch video clips."
Soon the U.S. carriers will do this. That Youtube video you watch or music you listen to, ya that's not a static site sorry! Aww you are going to complain and cry and switch carriers? Be my guest because we already had a secret meeting and we all put this policy in place. Plus we decided to increase prices just for the fun of it. Also next year we decided you are going to sign your life over.
I wish I was exaggerating but this is how bad the industry is getting.
Imagine how great things will get when the At&t and T-Mobile merger goes through. The 4th largest carrier will be out of the picture, At&t will be larger than ever, they will increase prices and make absurd policy demands. Verizon will LOVE IT because they will do the same thing, and when customers complain they will laugh and laugh and laugh and tell you "You can switch to At&t, oh wait they do the same thing!" Then they swill spit in your face.
Once this happens I will get rid of my smartphone and instead get a feature phone
So with all the U.S. Carriers either severely limiting or capping Data on their phone/tablet plans(only a matter time for sprint too) why all the focus on cloud based services like google music/ iCloud etc. I would think that these 2 are in direct opposition to each other. I am currently on Sprint and enjoying the unlimited data but not holding breath on it staying around forever. I use Google Music and Netflix/Hulu+ as well as Pandora. I have a premium account where possible and have used others in the past like rhapsody and spotify. What incentive do I have to keep using these services if my data is limited. I see very little point to using them if I have to "triage" my data usage based upon priority. For reference I typically use 4-6gb a month on my sprint account and no I don't tether, I have a Time Warner Cable connection at home rated at 30+MBPS.
.
Thread moved to Q&A due to it being a question. Would advise you to read forum rules and post in correct section.
Failure to comply with forum rules will result in an infraction and/or ban depending on severity of rule break.
The thing is, that technologies like HSPA+ and EV-DO can't handle the amount of data that is pushed through them, that's why Verizon and AT&T are going to LTE, because it CAN handle the amount of data they push now, and more, which is why they give you such high speeds, because it can handle it.
As time progresses, and carriers realize that Unlimited data can easily be offered, they'll switch back to that.
I don't know. I would like to think that way but corporations have repeatedly shown that they will do anything they can to get us to pay more. I don't see them offering unlimited data regardless of the network's capability. It frustrates me to no end to try to get someone on an android phone to use any of the cloud services from drop box to Google docs and music and then realizing they are not on a data plan that allows for what is in my opinion one of the major benefits of the platform.
I own a Nexus S and I think I am one of the very few I have seen or talked to that has no problem with only 16gb storage, the cloud negates the need for a massive memory card but the data limitations on carriers trump that.
I have no illusions of my Sprint plan staying unlimited much longer either and once it is gone I am gonna to adjust my android experience to accomodate and use it in a way that I am forced to, not the way I prefer.
ktt4510 said:
I don't know. I would like to think that way but corporations have repeatedly shown that they will do anything they can to get us to pay more. I don't see them offering unlimited data regardless of the network's capability. It frustrates me to no end to try to get someone on an android phone to use any of the cloud services from drop box to Google docs and music and then realizing they are not on a data plan that allows for what is in my opinion one of the major benefits of the platform.
I own a Nexus S and I think I am one of the very few I have seen or talked to that has no problem with only 16gb storage, the cloud negates the need for a massive memory card but the data limitations on carriers trump that.
I have no illusions of my Sprint plan staying unlimited much longer either and once it is gone I am gonna to adjust my android experience to accomodate and use it in a way that I am forced to, not the way I prefer.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Just give it time. Eventually the FCC will sue the carriers. That will be a fun day.
Sent from my SGH-I727 using xda premium
Longcat14 said:
The thing is, that technologies like HSPA+ and EV-DO can't handle the amount of data that is pushed through them, that's why Verizon and AT&T are going to LTE, because it CAN handle the amount of data they push now, and more, which is why they give you such high speeds, because it can handle it.
As time progresses, and carriers realize that Unlimited data can easily be offered, they'll switch back to that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I disagree. You'll see that Verizon and ATT's data tiers for 3G and 4G phones are the exact same, same price for the same amount of data. However, Verizon is running a limited time promo where 4G customers get twice the data for the same price, eg. $30 for 2gb turns to 4gb. They launched this promo right after ATT launched their first LTE smartphone last month, certainly not a coincidence. Thank goodness for competition!
The main reason is the carriers realize how hooked we are to our smartphones, many of us couldn't go back to a feature-phone and want to take advantage of our addiction by having us pay more and more to keep using them.
Sadly, I think unlimited plans will never come back. One reason tiers have been implemented is because of exploding data demand and capacity and strain issues. But really, the main reason is just pure greed. Why do you think after you pass your monthly allowance, ATT and Verizon charge you for each extra gig instead of throttling your speed like T-Mobile? They want to get you hooked on bandwidth intensive applications like NetFlix and after you go over your allowance, they hope you'll keep ponying up more cash for data overages to continue using your phone.
There was even a public interview recently with a Verizon executive stating he wishes for as many customers as possible to move up from the $30/2gb plan to their higher $50/5gb and $80/10gb plans just to gain increasingly more revenue each quarter.
I see quite a few posts about the note IMEI not being in AT&T systems and how you can get around smartphone data plans or what not....
The note IMEI is in AT&T systems, we had to because our systems for whatever reason categorized out as a tablet mistakingly and caused a lot of people to lose their data plans as they were "incorrect"
Just a heads up for anyone.
This is old news and not true anymore.
Tapatalk is good
This was fixed more than a month ago, and isn't true anymore.
Enjoy your Note!
JFizDaWiz said:
I see quite a few posts about the note IMEI not being in AT&T systems and how you can get around smartphone data plans or what not....
The note IMEI is in AT&T systems, we had to because our systems for whatever reason categorized out as a tablet mistakingly and caused a lot of people to lose their data plans as they were "incorrect"
Just a heads up for anyone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Our IMEI's are not in AT&T's system. What had happened is that some of our Note's (not all) happened to coincide with an erroneously entered range of IMEI's in AT&T's database. It was down to human error.
I work for AT&T And I talk to note users and it shows up as the n7000
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
As an AT&T employee, I can also confirm this.
Although this has been well documented for the last couple months.
Right now the best way around it is to backup and then wipe your EFS folder.
Maroon Mushroom said:
As an AT&T employee, I can also confirm this.
Although this has been well documented for the last couple months.
Right now the best way around it is to backup and then wipe your EFS folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
As already mentioned above, one of the members here contacted some AT&T execs and made them aware of the problem. AT&T discovered that when entering IMEI numbers for a certain 10" galaxy tab into their database, they messed one up, transposing 2 digits. This erroneous number range just so happened to coincide with a range of Galaxy Note IMEIs. That caused some Note owners to have their device identified as a 10" galaxy tab. They have since fixed the database error, so Notes are no longer being identified as tablets.
Whether or not the proper IMEIs for international Notes are in their system, I don't know. However, when I log onto my online account management, the system doesn't recognize my phone. It shows a generic flip phone. When I go to manage features, the only data options it gives me are the dumbphone data plans; $15 for unlimited. This leads me to believe that AT&T does NOT have the international Notes' IMEIs in their system. Sure, the system may somehow be capable of telling the rep that the phone model is reported as N-7000, but the system clearly doesn't "know" that it's a smartphone.
maxh said:
As already mentioned above, one of the members here contacted some AT&T execs and made them aware of the problem. AT&T discovered that when entering IMEI numbers for a certain 10" galaxy tab into their database, they messed one up, transposing 2 digits. This erroneous number range just so happened to coincide with a range of Galaxy Note IMEIs. That caused some Note owners to have their device identified as a 10" galaxy tab. They have since fixed the database error, so Notes are no longer being identified as tablets.
Whether or not the proper IMEIs for international Notes are in their system, I don't know. However, when I log onto my online account management, the system doesn't recognize my phone. It shows a generic flip phone. When I go to manage features, the only data options it gives me are the dumbphone data plans; $15 for unlimited. This leads me to believe that AT&T does NOT have the international Notes' IMEIs in their system. Sure, the system may somehow be capable of telling the rep that the phone model is reported as N-7000, but the system clearly doesn't "know" that it's a smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
And your EFS folder hasn't been wiped? When did you get your phone?
I personally experienced the issue on my own Galaxy Note just 3 weeks ago where it was showing up as a tablet.
maxh said:
Whether or not the proper IMEIs for international Notes are in their system, I don't know. However, when I log onto my online account management, the system doesn't recognize my phone. It shows a generic flip phone. When I go to manage features, the only data options it gives me are the dumbphone data plans; $15 for unlimited. This leads me to believe that AT&T does NOT have the international Notes' IMEIs in their system. Sure, the system may somehow be capable of telling the rep that the phone model is reported as N-7000, but the system clearly doesn't "know" that it's a smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You summed it up perfectly. My experience as well.
Maroon Mushroom said:
And your EFS folder hasn't been wiped? When did you get your phone?
I personally experienced the issue on my own Galaxy Note just 3 weeks ago where it was showing up as a tablet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My EFS folder is virgin, untouched. I got my Note at the beginning of November.
I talked personally with an AT&T product manager about this very issue. Here was his response:
********
I just spoke with our supply chain team and we figured out the issue – a digit was transposed when we loaded in a set of IMEI TAC ranges to our systems in October and this resulted in classifying a subset of Samsung Galaxy Note products erroneously. Your IMEI range was not impacted and your product will work without issue and without concern of losing your unlimited smartphone data plan experience.
To be clear, you have not actually received any “alerts” from AT&T about data plan eligibility because you have not moved your SIM card into the Samsung Galaxy Note product as of yet? You can do so without issue at this time.
*****
As if the imminent launch news hasn't confirmed this, despite what people think on the internet, it's not a tablet according to AT&T. No EFS trickery necessary.
Maroon Mushroom said:
As an AT&T employee, I can also confirm this.
Although this has been well documented for the last couple months.
Right now the best way around it is to backup and then wipe your EFS folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not all international IMEI's were affected. I too have an untouched /efs folder, and I haven't run into any issues. Been two weeks so far. The system does however know that I have a GT-N7000 though.
Jade Eyed Wolf said:
Not all international IMEI's were affected. I too have an untouched /efs folder, and I haven't run into any issues. Been two weeks so far. The system does however know that I have a GT-N7000 though.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
AT&T knows what devices we are using. The IMEI is logged every time your phone turns on and connects to a tower. Just because OLAM may show a generic flip phone when you are using an unlocked device doesn't mean that AT&T doesn't really know what it is. They just haven't chosen to tie the two systems together for billing/tracking purposes.
There was a thread on HoFo a few years back where folks were bragging about AT&T having no clue about their unlocked unbranded smartphones while on the $15 MediaNet plan. A CSR posted the link to an AT&T/Cingular website (it was publicly available) where you input either your phone number or the IMEI and it returned exactly what device you were using. So they know.
I'm not convinced it's a huge issue for them either, beyond going after huge data users/tetherers. The percent of customers using unlocked phones on their network is likely tiny. The vast majority of cellular users in the US aren't even aware of unlocked phones and even if they were, most wouldn't pay the upfront costs to buy one. De la Vega said as much in the Engadget interview a couple of years ago. This is a problem for enthusiasts only. As much as AT&T gets maligned in the press (mostly due to the old iPhone/network issues which I'm convinced were 100% the fault of the iPhone and it's lousy "air interface"), I'm impressed that they took care of this issue with the unlocked Notes and the incorrect IMEIs so quickly. They really had no reason or incentive to do so, especially with their own version of the Note coming so quickly thereafter.
dwboston said:
AT&T knows what devices we are using. The IMEI is logged every time your phone turns on and connects to a tower. Just because OLAM may show a generic flip phone when you are using an unlocked device doesn't mean that AT&T doesn't really know what it is. They just haven't chosen to tie the two systems together for billing/tracking purposes.
There was a thread on HoFo a few years back where folks were bragging about AT&T having no clue about their unlocked unbranded smartphones while on the $15 MediaNet plan. A CSR posted the link to an AT&T/Cingular website (it was publicly available) where you input either your phone number or the IMEI and it returned exactly what device you were using. So they know.
I'm not convinced it's a huge issue for them either, beyond going after huge data users/tetherers. The percent of customers using unlocked phones on their network is likely tiny. The vast majority of cellular users in the US aren't even aware of unlocked phones and even if they were, most wouldn't pay the upfront costs to buy one. De la Vega said as much in the Engadget interview a couple of years ago. This is a problem for enthusiasts only. As much as AT&T gets maligned in the press (mostly due to the old iPhone/network issues which I'm convinced were 100% the fault of the iPhone and it's lousy "air interface"), I'm impressed that they took care of this issue with the unlocked Notes and the incorrect IMEIs so quickly. They really had no reason or incentive to do so, especially with their own version of the Note coming so quickly thereafter.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not that it affects me directly, yet, but as an unlimited data user, I really do dislike US carriers' move towards tiered data policies and throttling, at least in principle. That said, I guess I'm not really opposed to it as long as it is merely a stop-gap solution to buy them some time while they simply focus on upgrading their capacity in order to be capable of managing the ensuing tsunami of high-volume mobile data users.
I guarantee that if carriers (not just AT&T) re-introduced unlimited data access devoid of any kind of throttling and so forth, the "top 5% of data users" figure would jump significantly, especially with LTE. More and more, wireless carriers are becoming common ISP's, and voice and text features are getting less important to people as the importance of data rises in the general public.
Personally, I think the best solution for consumers would be service bought and paid for through Google or Apple or RIM or Nokia, but on carrier agnostic devices.
Think about it this way:
Imagine you buy a Google Nexus device, and rather than paying VZW, or Sprint, or AT&T, or T-Mobile for your service, you pay Google instead. Google would in turn have service agreements with the carriers, so you wouldn't have direct interaction with them anymore. And now, your phone simply connects to whatever network is providing you the best service in any particular area, whether it be any of the carriers mentioned above, or maybe even to just a WiFi hotspot, and the transition to and from all those different carriers and technologies would be totally transparent to the user. It'd be like the ultimate MNVO!
Republic of Wireless is already headed in this direction, and it would be amazing to see it gain some traction and get even bigger!
Jade Eyed Wolf said:
Not that it affects me directly, yet, but as an unlimited data user, I really do dislike US carriers' move towards tiered data policies and throttling, at least in principle. That said, I guess I'm not really opposed to it as long as it is merely a stop-gap solution to buy them some time while they simply focus on upgrading their capacity in order to be capable of managing the ensuing tsunami of high-volume mobile data users.
I guarantee that if carriers (not just AT&T) re-introduced unlimited data access devoid of any kind of throttling and so forth, the "top 5% of data users" figure would jump significantly, especially with LTE. More and more, wireless carriers are becoming common ISP's, and voice and text features are getting less important to people as the importance of data rises in the general public.
Personally, I think the best solution for consumers would be service bought and paid for through Google or Apple or RIM or Nokia, but on carrier agnostic devices.
Think about it this way:
Imagine you buy a Google Nexus device, and rather than paying VZW, or Sprint, or AT&T, or T-Mobile for your service, you pay Google instead. Google would in turn have service agreements with the carriers, so you wouldn't have direct interaction with them anymore. And now, your phone simply connects to whatever network is providing you the best service in any particular area, whether it be any of the carriers mentioned above, or maybe even to just a WiFi hotspot, and the transition to and from all those different carriers and technologies would be totally transparent to the user. It'd be like the ultimate MNVO!
Republic of Wireless is already headed in this direction, and it would be amazing to see it gain some traction and get even bigger!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree it would be fantastic. The US wireless carriers are deathly afraid of becoming dumb pipes. It's their own fault they haven't managed to come up with a value-added service beyond the network itself.
I think it's more likely that Google does something like buy T-Mobile and combine that network with Google's fiber optic network to get nationwide coverage. It's unlikely, but one can dream right?