Really, I have never had a harder time setting up an on-line account with any technology vendor for the simple purpose of paying a bill.
This is primarily rooted around Verizon's insistance on sending text messages for any activity to a device that does not accept them.
After two requests still awaiting for that snail mail that gives me a pin number so I can actually register on-line.
And all I see is grief in the future, whenever you want to do something, Verizon insists on sending a text. Sheesh.
mjpacheco said:
Really, I have never had a harder time setting up an on-line account with any technology vendor for the simple purpose of paying a bill.
This is primarily rooted around Verizon's insistance on sending text messages for any activity to a device that does not accept them.
After two requests still awaiting for that snail mail that gives me a pin number so I can actually register on-line.
And all I see is grief in the future, whenever you want to do something, Verizon insists on sending a text. Sheesh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What the tech did for me, was activate a test phone on the account, then have the text message sent to that phone.
Once I used that temporary password to set up the online account, he took the test phone off the account.
I had them waive my activation fee for my troubles, but that was back when they weren't automatically waiving them anyway.
gbenj said:
What the tech did for me, was activate a test phone on the account, then have the text message sent to that phone.
Once I used that temporary password to set up the online account, he took the test phone off the account.
I had them waive my activation fee for my troubles, but that was back when they weren't automatically waiving them anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
same issue.. dumb setup.. you would think they would have another way , not to mention, what they need to do is when you setup your tablet, they give you a pin in the box or set it up with a backup phone number.
there is a million ways to do it., its dumb that they forgot this setup
but then, I am still curious why they do not set these DATA only setups to NOT have pohone numbers. we all know that the US is running out of numbers, what is the use of the number?! Give me an account number, or hell, just a IP address or something that does not waste a phone number that I cant use.
eatonjb said:
same issue.. dumb setup.. you would think they would have another way , not to mention, what they need to do is when you setup your tablet, they give you a pin in the box or set it up with a backup phone number.
there is a million ways to do it., its dumb that they forgot this setup
but then, I am still curious why they do not set these DATA only setups to NOT have pohone numbers. we all know that the US is running out of numbers, what is the use of the number?! Give me an account number, or hell, just a IP address or something that does not waste a phone number that I cant use.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is a phone wireless provider. Initially the data was setup for a means of phones getting data. So built on top of that principal in order to communicate with the Verizon NOC your unique identifier is actually your phone number, thats how their system evolved and it would be silly to rewrite their entire setup so tablets, a small percentage of their devies on their network, don't have to have a unique number that isn't a phone number.
sleeplessninja said:
This is a phone wireless provider. Initially the data was setup for a means of phones getting data. So built on top of that principal in order to communicate with the Verizon NOC your unique identifier is actually your phone number, thats how their system evolved and it would be silly to rewrite their entire setup so tablets, a small percentage of their devies on their network, don't have to have a unique number that isn't a phone number.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I would accept that, but have you seen the iPad 2? You can signup for and pre-pay data ON THE DEVICE. This is on verizon, they have it setup already, they just didn't want to for the xoom.
Really man..?
mjpacheco said:
Really, I have never had a harder time setting up an on-line account with any technology vendor for the simple purpose of paying a bill.
This is primarily rooted around Verizon's insistance on sending text messages for any activity to a device that does not accept them.
After two requests still awaiting for that snail mail that gives me a pin number so I can actually register on-line.
And all I see is grief in the future, whenever you want to do something, Verizon insists on sending a text. Sheesh.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Last time I checked the moto xoom was not a phone. We have stores for people that cant handle the internet.
The text message feature is provisioned onto any and all devices, including aircards, its just the way the system was programmed pre-tablet'age.
Bunch of crap, I am currently waiting for my third PIN number to arrive by mail as the last two didnt work, I even called them and had THEM do it to make sure I wasnt screwing something up. I really wish I was inside of my 14day window or Id take it back and get the wifi and tether to my EVO and be done with it.
AJMetal87 said:
Last time I checked the moto xoom was not a phone. We have stores for people that cant handle the internet.
The text message feature is provisioned onto any and all devices, including aircards, its just the way the system was programmed pre-tablet'age.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
it might not make calls, but it is a device, I understand what he's talking about
but, lets face it, with the decent amount of tablets coming out, data cards, and other hardware and devices, getting rid of the number system might be advantagious in the near future.. but then, I actualy would not mind this thing having a number to text me too. but then with the costs, no way!
/rant.
AJMetal87 said:
Last time I checked the moto xoom was not a phone. We have stores for people that cant handle the internet.
The text message feature is provisioned onto any and all devices, including aircards, its just the way the system was programmed pre-tablet'age.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Don't be a dork. This has to do with setting up a Verizon account on the internet, not with any one persons skill in using the internet. During the process there is a step "we will now text you your PIN", which you need the pin in order to complete the setup so you have access to your account on-line.
This is where Verizon drops the ball. After looking through the "I didn't / cannot get a text", a reference is made that it will be snail mailed to you if you do not complete the registration in 24 hours.
Apparently 24 hours actually means two weeks, which is how long it took me to get the PIN, which arrived today after my original posting, which of course happened after I have called them again and they have generated a new one which will probably take two more weeks, and this one is presumably invalid.
sleeplessninja said:
This is a phone wireless provider. Initially the data was setup for a means of phones getting data. So built on top of that principal in order to communicate with the Verizon NOC your unique identifier is actually your phone number, thats how their system evolved and it would be silly to rewrite their entire setup so tablets, a small percentage of their devies on their network, don't have to have a unique number that isn't a phone number.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
A company is not defined by how they handle routine matters, but by how they handle exceptions.
It should not require rewriting the entire setup, the process should be smart enough to know when a device is not text capable, and provide an alternative flow... like maybe an e-mail?
gbenj said:
What the tech did for me, was activate a test phone on the account, then have the text message sent to that phone.
Once I used that temporary password to set up the online account, he took the test phone off the account.
I had them waive my activation fee for my troubles, but that was back when they weren't automatically waiving them anyway.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is a good tech who knows a work around. Unfortunately I waited a day or two before trying to set up my access to my on-line acount.
Hate VZW? In a word: Sprint. I bought mine a week ago. After getting confirmation of the sprint version, this one is boxed up and being returned. Can you find anyone willing to purchase your Xoom and transfer it over to another guy?
you could also go the Mifi way.
Virgin has a great deal. 10 days and 100mb for $10, or unlimited for a month for for $40 and no contracts, no nothing!
I still have the 20$ Verizon plan for now, just for the convenence, and since I use mostly Wifi, I can either use that, or call them up for one month to give me a GB of bandwitch.
but , no matter how i look at it, I think Verizon and Sprint, and T-Mo AND AT&T prices are CRAZy, exp if you dont use it all that much.
As sad as this may sound, I found that there is no speed difference between Verizon 3G and using my Nexus S wifi hotpot. So was kinda regretting getting the 3G version.
It took me about five minutes to do it in person
Related
Is there a way to change a device's name, such that a carrier can't tell what kind of device it is?
I'm a bit concerned that Cingular is showing which of my phones I'm using when I login to their site. I'd rather not have them know I'm using an 8125 most of the time, instead of the 2125 I purchased with a data plan and such.
I'm running one of molski's roms now, so if there's something that could be changed and reflashed, I'd do that too...
Ideas? Or is it all IMEI based, and is being determined from that?
Miwa said:
Is there a way to change a device's name, such that a carrier can't tell what kind of device it is?
I'm a bit concerned that Cingular is showing which of my phones I'm using when I login to their site. I'd rather not have them know I'm using an 8125 most of the time, instead of the 2125 I purchased with a data plan and such.
I'm running one of molski's roms now, so if there's something that could be changed and reflashed, I'd do that too...
Ideas? Or is it all IMEI based, and is being determined from that?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Hush and don't fret about the website, it's in the User-Agent portion of the HTTP call to the server. It intelligently pulls the name of the device from it and then displays information relevant to you. Kind of like if you go to Google.com while in japan, it redirects you to google.co.jp, they traced the IP back and found it was based/located out of Japan and forwarded the client accordingly.
It's all IMEI based for device authentication, and unless they bothered to write down the IMEI number from your 2125, they won't be able to tell. I had a SideKick2, an NGage, and SE K750i all at the same time on my account. They couldn't tell what was what, but knew I was a phone fanatic, most carriers aren't alarmed when you have 2 or 3 IMEI number associated with your SIM card, it's not weird, however they will start to wonder when your SIM is tied to say, 10 IMEI numbers, all recently.
The only other way they might be able to tell, is if the device has a "heartbeat" where it connects to the network to pull data down for one reason or another, and is very specific about where it gets the data from. Then they might be able to track what device you have, but that level of scrutiny into your packets, is illegal for any provider, and only obtainable by FBI or other such agency, and only if you're a bad bad evil person.
So now the question comes down to, do you have 10 phones you plug your SIM into, OR, are you a bad bad person who deserves to be in jail? If the answer is 'no' to both. Breathe a sigh of relief just as much as we all do, because we know then we don't have a criminal in our midsts.
I'n not terribly worried about legality, more them bumping my plan to the $40 PDA connect, instead of the $20 Smartphone connect. Or even worse, disabling the data plan, and setting it pay-as-you-go. That'd be a nasty suprise.
It's just a bit weird to have the 8125 show up, when they shouldn't know I have one.
Some strange events happened to me yesterday. I've had my g1 since december of 2008. I bought it off someone at craigslist because I am on a AT&T family plan and didn't want to switch carriers. I unlocked the phone soon after and have been using my phone happily since then. I also do no have a data plan and make sure to remove all APN information after each flash.
I have been happily flashing roms going from 1.1 to 1.5 and to 1.6. Lately I was using "NonSense Cupcake revolution" but yesterday I decided to update to cyanogen 5. Right after the upgrade, I got a text from AT&T congratulating me on my new smartphone and telling me that I now need a data plan. 10 minutes later we found out that AT&T deactivated all our sim cards and none of my family were able to make phone calls.
Does anyone have any idea what the heck happened? How did AT&T know all of a sudden I was using a smartphone. Is there something about android 2.1 that raises a red flag? I really DO NOT want a data plan and will rather stop using my g1 than pay $350+/year on one. My current plan is to give them my old Nokia IMEI when I get my new SIM card and then pop it into my g1 after downgrading back to the 1.5 rom I was using.
Thanks for reading and I look forward to hearing your ideas.
Edit: New theory; found this elsewhere:
"Note: If an AT&T customer puts their SIM card into a Nexus One device, our smartphone data requirement policy and control rules will apply; this allows customers to enjoy the benefit of using data services from AT&T. The following welcome message will be delivered:
Your Smartphone is active! A data plan is required and if omitted, will be added to your account. For details, see your sales rep or att.com/smartphoneplans."
So AT&T thinks I put my sim in a nexus one so I think if I downgrade I should be fine. Any way to make a 2.1 rom look like a 1.6 one? build.prop maybe? I cant test anything myself until I get my new sim.
Call them and tell them you put your sim card in a borrowed phone lol. Push a build.prop from any 1.6 to change your id. For fun, open the build.prop with notepad and change g1 to Nokia 1100. If you don't use data they can't charge you
mejorguille said:
Call them and tell them you put your sim card in a borrowed phone lol. Push a build.prop from any 1.6 to change your id. For fun, open the build.prop with notepad and change g1 to Nokia 1100. If you don't use data they can't charge you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ha we think alike; I told them exactly that yesterday. What value of the build.prop would I need to change to make it look like a nokia?
There you go=p I just changed every time it said dream, htc, or passion and changed it to nokia=p I don't think that market will work right though. You could try pushing the build.prop from a 1.6 build to cm5 but then i don't think video would work, so you will probably need to merge the 1.6 build.prop with the 2.1 build.prop.
Rename to build.prop and push to /system/
mejorguille said:
There you go=p I just changed every time it said dream, htc, or passion and changed it to nokia=p I don't think that market will work right though. You could try pushing the build.prop from a 1.6 build to cm5 but then i don't think video would work, so you will probably need to merge the 1.6 build.prop with the 2.1 build.prop.
Rename to build.prop and push to /system/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks dude. I'll be sure to report back on Tuesday or Wednesday and tell you guys what happened.
Odd. I never had this issue.
I've been using my G1 with AT&T for some time now.
The update to 2.1 (CyanogenMod) didn't result in any variation for me.
Of course, I am using AT&T's "dumb-phone" unlimited internet... even still, there appears to be no indication on their side that I have a smart phone let alone a Nexus One.
Same with me. I am also using the $15 dumb phone data plan and a switch to CM5 did not trigger any notification from AT&T's side.
Quick update: I wussed out and flashed the backup I made of the 1.5 rom I was using. I didn't feel like risking getting "caught" again. I got to play with cyanogen's new rom for a few days and while great it did not drastically give me anything I didn't have before. I ended up giving them an old nokia imei as my phone and putting the new sim in my g1 shortly after. No texts forcing me to get a smartphone plan yet. I doubt I'm the only one that will have this problem so I'll just give a warning:
If you have AT&T with a g1 without any kind of data plan, after updating to android 2.1 they might try to force one on you.
Thanks for the help and ideas. I'll post again if they try to get me to get a plan again.
If AT&T actually offered 3G coverage in my area (a major city, imo) I might consider it. Otherwise, they can polish my knob.
This doesn't have anything to do with the version of android you are running. They can't detect that. They CAN detect your IMEI and compare it to the database to determine if it is a smartphone or not.
Alternatively, the thing tried to connect to a data service when you plugged your card into it, and they looked at the data and determined that it was consistent with a smartphone, i.e., dumbphones don't try to connect to google on port 5228.
Very likely the reason this happened so suddenly is one of the two things;
1) it corresponds to the end of their infinite data plans.
2) it corresponds to you "activating" your google account on your phone.
lbcoder said:
This doesn't have anything to do with the version of android you are running. They can't detect that. They CAN detect your IMEI and compare it to the database to determine if it is a smartphone or not.
Alternatively, the thing tried to connect to a data service when you plugged your card into it, and they looked at the data and determined that it was consistent with a smartphone, i.e., dumbphones don't try to connect to google on port 5228.
Very likely the reason this happened so suddenly is one of the two things;
1) it corresponds to the end of their infinite data plans.
2) it corresponds to you "activating" your google account on your phone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. I'm not sure about the IMEI thing since it is a t-mobile phone runnning on an AT&T network. I just find it too much of a coincidence that the problem occured right after updating so I doubt its that. They also haven't reported anything since putting my new sim in my phone 2 days ago.
I guess you're right about them not knowing what version of android I'm running but there must be something in 2.1 that raised a red flag. I deleted an APN file from /system/ before I even booted the rom for the first time so I don't even think its possible that it tried to connect to them. Strange stuff.
d00m said:
Interesting. I'm not sure about the IMEI thing since it is a t-mobile phone runnning on an AT&T network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You don't think that ATT can read the IMEI from a phone sold by tmobile? I can guarantee that they can. Or if you're worried about ATT being able to link up an IMEI to a type of phone... they can link the IMEI to a lot more than that.... I'm not sure if you realize this, but the IMEI exists ***FOR A REASON*** and it isn't just to look pretty....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Type_Allocation_Code
wikipedia said:
The Type Allocation Code (TAC) is a portion of the 15-digit IMEI code used to uniquely identify wireless devices.
The Type Allocation Code is an 8-digit number that identifies a particular model (and often revision) of wireless telephone for use on a GSM, UMTS, or other IMEI-supporting wireless network.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
http://www.radioraiders.com/gsm-IMEI-TAC.php
I just find it too much of a coincidence that the problem occured right after updating so I doubt its that.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The coincidence is that you happen to be updating your phone when ATT happened to be changing their policies.
They also haven't reported anything since putting my new sim in my phone 2 days ago.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's because they probably do it cyclically, or they put your account into a freeze period after a manual adjustment.
It may ALSO have related to rebooting the device -- connecting to their network that first time after they initiated a policy change may have triggered a routine.
I guess you're right about them not knowing what version of android I'm running but there must be something in 2.1 that raised a red flag. I deleted an APN file from /system/ before I even booted the rom for the first time so I don't even think its possible that it tried to connect to them. Strange stuff.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Nothing special in 2.1. In fact, it would be quite a security violation if it were to broadcast itself out to them.
So I guess it's only a matter of time before they detect my g1. Pitty since I was using my phone for over a year before all this happened. It's weird that they make you read out your IMEI to them while activating a sim card as if they can't see it. I'm just going to keep using my phone as is for as long as I can. The vibration on it no longer functions so I won't be supper crushed if I have to change phones to avoid a data plan.
I have 3-4 friends who have t-mobile branded blackberrys and android phones without a data plan on AT&T. Our school has wifi everywhere so it is truly unneeded. I guess their "check" cycle is fairly slow as none of them have had problems yet. Maybe the process isn't automated yet.
I really do appreciate the information although it's not exactly what I wanted to hear.
edit: http://androidandme.com/2010/06/carriers/att-introduces-new-lower-priced-tiered-data-plans-june-7th/
This isn't terrible. I can always do this but there's no rush I guess.
edit 2: Is it possible that an attempted apn connection (data) is what caused the detection? I said I deleted a file but looking back on it, it may not have been the correct one to prevent connections.
d00m said:
edit: http://androidandme.com/2010/06/carriers/att-introduces-new-lower-priced-tiered-data-plans-june-7th/
This isn't terrible. I can always do this but there's no rush I guess.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep, that's what I was referring to.
edit 2: Is it possible that an attempted apn connection (data) is what caused the detection? I said I deleted a file but looking back on it, it may not have been the correct one to prevent connections.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It is possible.
Note that the rep you read the IMEI out to may NOT have had a read-out of the device model ID. In fact, doing that might freak some people out -- you know, the whole big brother knows too much thing.
Finally some resolution. Turns out a woman stole my mom's identity and went to a wal-mart and bought 5 blackberries under our AT&T account (probably to sell on the black market). Our SIMs where soon deactivated like I said in the OP and the smart phone text had to do with those phones rather than my phone. Upgrading to android 2.1 had NOTHING to do with it (of course). It was all just a coincidence. The strange thing is that AT&T never told us about these new numbers, even when we were reactivating our new SIMs, and we found out when checking our monthly bill.
Now we have to go to the wal-mart where the people committed fraud and try to find out who did it and file a police report. We might end up being charged $400 in deactivation fees. Well that's how it all went down. Funny. I upgraded to android 2.1 at 4:30 on that day and booted my phone at the EXACT moment they bought the fraud blackberries. Ugh. I know this is largely unrelated to android or my g1 but I thought I would let you guys know in case you were curious.
Sorry to hear about that. Your mom might have to pay the fees but as long as the individual(s) in question are found, you can always take civil action.
Surprised no one brought this up but, ATT and all the other services can't turn your service off just because you're using a smartphone and don't have a data plan. That is an optional addition to your monthly bill and as long as you are not using data, they can't charge you or force you to buy the data.
If you're dumb enough to sign a two year contract that requires a data charge monthly for the duration of the contract..well, yeah.
If the phones were added by someone other than the account owner, the service provider has no legal grounds to hold you accountable for it. Fact is that this was a failure in THEIR security and/or walmart's. The service provider should have some procedure to make sure that the person adding the phones is actually who they claim to be.
If not, then you sue ATT AND WALMART for this.
I know a lot of folks plan on tethering their Xooms, but I thought I would actually try activating it since I'm not on contract and can cancel/suspend at any time.
I go into Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile networks > Activate device, I touch 'activate', it works for a moment, then errors out saying "Unable to activate mobile data service. To try activation again, touch Try Again."
I've seen other folks complain about this, but I didn't see a solution. Is it something obvious I'm missing, or do I actually have to call in to VZW and do it over the phone? If the latter, that's really a letdown, considering I can activate a new phone in seconds without talking to a CS rep. Just thought I'd ask to see if I'm missing something before I call.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
Did you activate it with Verizon? ie, do you have a Verizon account and have activated it either with BestBuy, Costco, Verizon store, or over the phone? You have to register the device with the company first. Phones are the same way on Verizon. AT&T and T-Mobile use Sim cards instead, and they are already 'active'.
If not, press the SKIP button on the bottom right to activate over WiFi. It's not worth the $20/mo for 1GB and $35 activation fee.
Yup, I was one of people that was having a lot of trouble with this. The device wont activate by it self,this is what you have to do you have to go to the verizon website and go to their phone activation page and enter your Xooms MEID HEX number (found on the plastic wrap which was covering the back, when you first unboxed it, so make sure you didnt throw away the plastic wraping). From there, you just have to follow the on screen instructions. Also the website asks for your SSN and your Drivers license number for credit approval (this took a whole day) after that they will contact you saying you are ready and that now you can go into settings and network and click activate device.
Also if you by any chance threw away the plastic wrapping, you can find the MEID HEX number on the Xooms box itself. Also to get to the verizon activation site faster al you have to do is google "verizon activation" ----> then click on the second link "Activate Your Verizon Phone | Verizon Wireless" then just enter your Xooms MEID HEX number.
sunnyd119 said:
Yup, I was one of people that was having a lot of trouble with this. The device wont activate by it self,this is what you have to do you have to go to the verizon website and go to their phone activation page and enter your Xooms MEID HEX number (found on the plastic wrap which was covering the back, when you first unboxed it, so make sure you didnt throw away the plastic wraping). From there, you just have to follow the on screen instructions. Also the website asks for your SSN and your Drivers license number for credit approval (this took a whole day) after that they will contact you saying you are ready and that now you can go into settings and network and click activate device.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
THANK YOU, this is what I was looking for! I had tried logging into my VZW account to activate a new device, and all it would allow was for a new phone, not a new device/data package on our account. I couldn't even enter an MEID.
Found the link in question, I can enter the MEID and establish new service.
For anyone else wondering:
http://www.verizonwireless.com/activate-phone.shtml
I still find it a bit strange that the entire activation process can't be handled through the Xoom itself - seems like you should be able to enter your VZW account into (if you have one already), pick a plan, click through, etc. Activating a phone on an existing line of service is trivially easy via *228, you don't even need to enter an MEID. Not to mention, I do believe you can activate service directly on the iPad, can you not?
I received my Xoom yesterday and after it found my network and I entered the pass key it connected and worked without issue all night. Just got home from work today and it says "no internet connection." It keeps trying to obtain an IP address but just times out and tries again. Its been doing this for a half hour. I tried rebooting it but still the same. Any ideas?
JasonU said:
I still find it a bit strange that the entire activation process can't be handled through the Xoom itself - seems like you should be able to enter your VZW account into (if you have one already), pick a plan, click through, etc. Activating a phone on an existing line of service is trivially easy via *228, you don't even need to enter an MEID. Not to mention, I do believe you can activate service directly on the iPad, can you not?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That was exactly my question as well, i think what happened was that Verizon setup according to their original plan, which was to have people activate in store so people would pay for the activation fee and have a credit approval done so that they would have no problems in the future. But due to the recent uproar from the android community about the "required 1 month plan" they decided to drop the plan at the last minute. So hence the reason why you have to go through all this trouble to activate 3g, because it was never set to be an out of the box activation or at least that is what I would conclude through my experience. iPad on the other hand (was an owner of the iPad) AT&T set it up according to apples request, which was to have the device out of the box ready for activation. They made it simple by allowing people to just create an account and enter their credit card information, and pick their plan. Reasons to why these companies have such a different approach to this situation.....I have no idea. But there probably is a reason, but iam just not aware of it.
broadwayblue said:
I received my Xoom yesterday and after it found my network and I entered the pass key it connected and worked without issue all night. Just got home from work today and it says "no internet connection." It keeps trying to obtain an IP address but just times out and tries again. Its been doing this for a half hour. I tried rebooting it but still the same. Any ideas?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
1.) I'm in no way calling you stupid, but have you made sure that airplane mode isnt on?
2.) Since you said you tried a restart and that seemed to not work, try restarting your wireless router.
3.) If that doesnt work, just try and disconnect and reconnect to the network.
If none of these work then you might have to call motorola.
I did not realize I would have to pay the activation fee everytime I wanted to have a data plan. That's very frustrating considering it's the same cost as a months data for 3GB. I wanted to turn it off an on as I needed (on a month-to-month basis) but I will probably just leave it off now...kinda makes me want to sell my 3G model and get a wifi only...unless I'm understanding this wrong?
tlogank said:
I did not realize I would have to pay the activation fee everytime I wanted to have a data plan. That's very frustrating considering it's the same cost as a months data for 3GB. I wanted to turn it off an on as I needed (on a month-to-month basis) but I will probably just leave it off now...kinda makes me want to sell my 3G model and get a wifi only...unless I'm understanding this wrong?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I read somewhere that you can suspend your account instead of cancelling which will avoid this but I am not sure if this works since I have never had Verizon.
keitht said:
I read somewhere that you can suspend your account instead of cancelling which will avoid this but I am not sure if this works since I have never had Verizon.
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Click to collapse
I looked into that, but it looks like you can only do it for a couple of months, and also only once a year.
Seriously, that sucks. Why charge an activation fee for something that can be done completely automated online? Not like there's some dude sitting there setting all these up manually...just a way to make quick and easy money on VZW's part.
tlogank said:
I looked into that, but it looks like you can only do it for a couple of months, and also only once a year.
Seriously, that sucks. Why charge an activation fee for something that can be done completely automated online? Not like there's some dude sitting there setting all these up manually...just a way to make quick and easy money on VZW's part.
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I wish they had rollover data like AT&T rollover minutes. That would make it more appealing to keep the month to month service. Verizon is just way expensive.
You can indeed suspend your account here : http://support.vzw.com/clc/plan/
I have not been able to activate my device by the previous link. It gives me a number to call. Anyone else seeing this?
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
bmbriefs said:
You can indeed suspend your account here : http://support.vzw.com/clc/plan/
I have not been able to activate my device by the previous link. It gives me a number to call. Anyone else seeing this?
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk
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Yes, I know you can, but I have read that you can only do it once per year...that's the issue.
3G overseas
I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to activate the 3G overseas. I bought my Xoom a week ago at BestBuy, but I live in Bolivia, so came back to my country and now I'm trying to find out if there is a way I can activate the 3G service here. Anyone? Thanks!
blimpa said:
I'm trying to figure out if there is a way to activate the 3G overseas. I bought my Xoom a week ago at BestBuy, but I live in Bolivia, so came back to my country and now I'm trying to find out if there is a way I can activate the 3G service here. Anyone? Thanks!
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Click to collapse
You need to find a carrier that uses CDMA and ask them if they can activate it. There is no other option really. My first guess would be that there are no carriers like that.
-Bauxite
Sent from my Evo 4G
sunnyd119 said:
Also if you by any chance threw away the plastic wrapping, you can find the MEID HEX number on the Xooms box itself. Also to get to the verizon activation site faster al you have to do is google "verizon activation" ----> then click on the second link "Activate Your Verizon Phone | Verizon Wireless" then just enter your Xooms MEID HEX number.
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You can find the MEID number by going to settings-->about tablet-->status. It will open a new scrollable window with all sorts of info.
Bauxite said:
You need to find a carrier that uses CDMA and ask them if they can activate it. There is no other option really. My first guess would be that there are no carriers like that.
-Bauxite
Sent from my Evo 4G
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I think that I have same issue. I bought my XOOM in bestbuy ( US ) and brought it to Europe. Here I have O2 SIM card with 3G Data program. I am trying to use it with XOOM but no success so far.
Bauxite - are you trying to say that 3G module inside of XOOM is different for US as is requred in EU? Are there some different standards of 3G? I am worried that I could save couple of hundreds $ if I bought only WIFI version
moriakoj said:
I think that I have same issue. I bought my XOOM in bestbuy ( US ) and brought it to Europe. Here I have O2 SIM card with 3G Data program. I am trying to use it with XOOM but no success so far.
Bauxite - are you trying to say that 3G module inside of XOOM is different for US as is requred in EU? Are there some different standards of 3G? I am worried that I could save couple of hundreds $ if I bought only WIFI version
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Click to collapse
Why didn't you research what you were buying before spending more than $800? The Xoom you bought is a CDMA device and will not work on GSM networks.
We just got the Xoom from Verizon a few days ago and it's the only device that we have with Verizon. Apparently the password reset for the Verizon online account can only send a text message to the device. There's no email option online or when calling customer service. A temporary password will have to be mailed instead.
That's what the site says, but it's been 12 days and I never got a letter, but my account did get charged for 2 text messages. And Verizon customer support is a bunch of idiots that just repeat over and over that I should have gotten the letter in 3 to 5 business days. Only letter I got is the billing statement.
Did you call customer service to initiate a letter to be sent and now 12 days later there's nothing?
i called customer service and had them transfer my service to one of there test devices that could get text messages. once he did that i gave him the password i wanted and he set it all up for me. took about 20 min but it worked.
gnahc79 said:
Did you call customer service to initiate a letter to be sent and now 12 days later there's nothing?
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I did call them, twice actually. Still nothing. They have no idea what they are doing over there.
Ryououki said:
I did call them, twice actually. Still nothing. They have no idea what they are doing over there.
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sounds like AT&T . I'll give it a week or so and then call back and try what g2theno posted.
Do what I did.
I went into the verizon store to complain about it (I didn't know about the mail option). They called the customer service people in front of me and had them give them the passord while I sat on my Xoom and logged in. It took about fifteen minutes and I was able to change my password before I walked out Verizon's store.
I bought the 800$ Xoom so I actually went in to verizon to start my service. The guy there who acted like he knew everything told me I was going to get a text. When I told him I for sure wasn't going to get one because this isn't a phone he for sure guarenteed me that since it was a free text from verizon I would receive, he was being so certain of himself I put my logic away an left.
So when I went back the next day he end up looking really stupid. He was even trying to tell me that if I sign up for unlimited data now I was guarenteed it for life. And I politely told him that I would be guarenteed it for the duration of the two year contract but he wouldn't listen to me and kept insisting "We (verizon) wouldn't take the data plan from you at the end of your contract" . Can anyone verify this for me? I'm pretty much certain that you only get it for the contract even if you sign up for another at the end of it.
RadDudeTommy said:
They called the customer service people in front of me and had them give them the password while I sat on my Xoom and logged in.
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YMMV, 'cause I tried this at two VZ stores and got nowhere. Maybe since I tried this on the 25th and 26th that by now they've got a workaround in CS, but I had to wait for my letter to show up.
I wonder what they're going to do when the iPad 2 comes to VZ; those can't get texts either, and if they've suddenly worked up a fix for those guys and not us I'm going to hate VZ just a little more.
He was even trying to tell me that if I sign up for unlimited data
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Um, what "unlimited" data plan is that? AFAIC, VZ has no such plan for non-phone devices.
g2theno said:
i called customer service and had them transfer my service to one of there test devices that could get text messages. once he did that i gave him the password i wanted and he set it all up for me. took about 20 min but it worked.
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Did the same and about 15 minutes later I was all set. The problem I now have is the Verizon app won't connect with the new password. Only works on 3G. I can still log in on the website though. The rep I worked with was very nice and said she would submit a ticket on the app. Apparently I wasn't the first Xoom owner to have this issue.
got the letter, password did not work. went to a verizon store, one rep said the xoom gets text msgs. Once he realized he was wrong, another rep called customer service...waited on hold for 15-20 min and they just opened a problem ticket, i.e. "i have no clue what to do let's hand it off to someone else". I offered the test device option but neither rep knew the ph# of one of the test devices. I'll call customer service again tomorrow....yay.
When I first requested my temp password I was told to wait for a mail in the mailbox. So I kept going back the online account. I retry to send the mail and still nothing in the mailbox after three weeks. So I called then up again and was told not to resend the reset password online. He resent the reset passwords and told me to wait for it again in the mail with in a week. Surely within there four days I got pain old envelope in the mail with verizon logo. It had my password. So the lesson is, only reset your password once.
Sent from my Nexus S using XDA App
RadDudeTommy said:
So when I went back the next day he end up looking really stupid. He was even trying to tell me that if I sign up for unlimited data now I was guarenteed it for life. And I politely told him that I would be guarenteed it for the duration of the two year contract but he wouldn't listen to me and kept insisting "We (verizon) wouldn't take the data plan from you at the end of your contract" . Can anyone verify this for me? I'm pretty much certain that you only get it for the contract even if you sign up for another at the end of it.
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Click to collapse
Verizon doesn't drop plans when your contract is up. However, they will weasel you out of your plan when you do upgrades or changes. At least this has been my experience.
Though, the Xoom doesn't have an unlimited plan that I'm aware of so the point is moot.
I just cancelled my contract with Verizon and returned the Xoom (and have the Wifi one coming next week). I must have spend 2+ hours on the phone with them over the past 2 weeks. They sent me two passwords in the mail, both did not work. And they kept trying to send me text messaging. The Xoom was great, but VZ just pissed me off with the lack of planning for this device. If I am spending that amount of money, I want to be able to see data usage on line.
WiFi here I come!
I called and was told to wait for a snail mail for my password. I got it in 3 days. Set up my account and changed my password. Ymmv I guess. No text charges incurred.
Sent from my Xoom using XDA App
I did it over the phone.. took 20 minutes to do though. She changed the plan for my Xoom to voice service, put a dummy esn on my cell (which is on a different account, in a different name.. but I'm an authorized user for that acc.) I then activated the Xoom number on my cell, went online did a password reset. Got it on my cell, setup my password, she then changed my Xoom acc back to a tablet plan and noted the acc just in case I somehow get billed incorrectly, but I won't since it was within a 24 hour window (20 minutes really) then she set my cell esn back to my cell number. It was a hassle, but well worth it, because I found out they entered my address into their system wrong haha. Did this all over a landline, even used my tablet tog o online and do a password reset, which is odd since my tablet shouldn't have been activated since my cell was using the same number :/
parrotheadmjb said:
I did it over the phone.. took 20 minutes to do though. She changed the plan for my Xoom to voice service, put a dummy esn on my cell (which is on a different account, in a different name.. but I'm an authorized user for that acc.) I then activated the Xoom number on my cell, went online did a password reset. Got it on my cell, setup my password, she then changed my Xoom acc back to a tablet plan and noted the acc just in case I somehow get billed incorrectly, but I won't since it was within a 24 hour window (20 minutes really) then she set my cell esn back to my cell number. It was a hassle, but well worth it, because I found out they entered my address into their system wrong haha. Did this all over a landline, even used my tablet tog o online and do a password reset, which is odd since my tablet shouldn't have been activated since my cell was using the same number :/
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You got a very competent CSR! I don't have Verizon for my phone so that's not an option. Even if I did there's so many things that could go wrong with that process, yikes.
Is there any updated resolution on this? Last month I spent around 2 hours talking to 4+ CSRs, nobody could help me change my password. They kept telling me to just reset online and wait for it in the mail. I did that originally and the password they sent me didn't work (guessing that I must have reset it again before I got it in the mail). Eventually they comped me a free month and told me to reset it once more online, wait in the mail, guarantee it will work... Well here I am 3 weeks later and I've gotten nothing in the mail.
I'm really dreading another 2 hour phone call with Verizon... is there an easier way? I suggested switching my # to one of their test devices w/ each of 4 CSRs and all of them said that was impossible.
The mail in password DOES work, you just have to be patient . Once you call Verizon to mail a password, make note of the date of when you placed the call. You should get a letter up to a week later with the temporary password. Be sure the date on the letter is the day of or 1-2 days after you placed the call.
The temporary passwords wipe out each other, meaning only the latest generated password will work. I kept resetting myself by calling Verizon to send a letter, using an old temporary password, locking the account after too many attempts, which requires another temporary password to be sent etc etc.
kcrudup said:
I wonder what they're going to do when the iPad 2 comes to VZ; those can't get texts either, and if they've suddenly worked up a fix for those guys and not us I'm going to hate VZ just a little more.
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... so last week I went over to the VZ forums iPad2 section to see just how VZ handled this for iPad users?
Yup, just as I'd suspected, they gave them an applet for using in settings that lets them automatically manage their accounts from the get-go. No such love (and it wouldn't have been that hard to implement!) for us Xoom folks.
If you root your Xoom and go into the development forum, replace your framework then you'll be able to receive texts on your Xoom, that's the quickest way to reset your account password.
I have been a Verizon Customer for longer that it has been Verizon.
Service in my area has been great... up until the last year or so. Basically since they put 4G here. I no longer have service in my office, or several other places that I frequent. I travel alot and most always have verizon service where I go.
So here is the dilema... I don't want to lose my phone number! I was thinking about porting my number to another service, cause I do not want to lose my number... I have had it forever. But at the same time I do not want to lose my verizon line until I know that the other service is ok for me. primarily the unlimited data.
Anyone have any ideas?
Chris
cseeley said:
I have been a Verizon Customer for longer that it has been Verizon.
Service in my area has been great... up until the last year or so. Basically since they put 4G here. I no longer have service in my office, or several other places that I frequent. I travel alot and most always have verizon service where I go.
So here is the dilema... I don't want to lose my phone number! I was thinking about porting my number to another service, cause I do not want to lose my number... I have had it forever. But at the same time I do not want to lose my verizon line until I know that the other service is ok for me. primarily the unlimited data.
Anyone have any ideas?
Chris
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This is a issue a growing number people are encountering now a days. I would suggest that you take look into T-Mobile network Test Drive offer an see if they are for you.I know that in my area T-Mobile is terrible so I'm with Verizon till I get kicked off Unlimited then it looks like it's Sprint time. The porting of the number won't be too much of a issue as most company's do that now. I don't know what happened when they flipped the 4G switch but their towers weren't ready.
cseeley said:
I have been a Verizon Customer for longer that it has been Verizon.
Service in my area has been great... up until the last year or so. Basically since they put 4G here. I no longer have service in my office, or several other places that I frequent. I travel alot and most always have verizon service where I go.
So here is the dilema... I don't want to lose my phone number! I was thinking about porting my number to another service, cause I do not want to lose my number... I have had it forever. But at the same time I do not want to lose my verizon line until I know that the other service is ok for me. primarily the unlimited data.
Anyone have any ideas?
Chris
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go get a new number from some other carrier then forward your Verizon number to it till you get it figured out then port or not
cseeley said:
I have been a Verizon Customer for longer that it has been Verizon.
Service in my area has been great... up until the last year or so. Basically since they put 4G here. I no longer have service in my office, or several other places that I frequent. I travel alot and most always have verizon service where I go.
So here is the dilema... I don't want to lose my phone number! I was thinking about porting my number to another service, cause I do not want to lose my number... I have had it forever. But at the same time I do not want to lose my verizon line until I know that the other service is ok for me. primarily the unlimited data.
Anyone have any ideas?
Chris
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Click to collapse
This one's easy. Port your phone number to Google Voice. Then get a new number from Verizon for your existing phone. Install the Google Voice app on your phone and all of the incoming and outgoing calls will be via Google Voice using the number your ported there.
I've had Google Voice as my primary number for years and I'm completely independent of any carrier or single phone. In fact, when someone calls my phone number it rings on my cell phone, my home phone, my office phone, my tablet and my PC. My wife giggles every time I get a call because it sounds like I'm in a clock store with all the alarms going off at once.
If you get a new phone from another carrier just install Google Voice on it and both your old cell phone and new phone will ring at once. You will be completely independent of a carrier. I am so independent of the carrier that I have no idea what phone number is on my current cell phone. I'd have to look in the settings to see what it is.
Two caveats:
1) You will need to use Google Voice for text messaging. If you use any other text messaging app it will show that the message came from the cell phone's number and not Google Voice's number.
2) Google Voice messaging doesn't handle MMS texts. You can't send/receive photos or videos.
One huge advantage:
You can send/receive texts on your PC by going to Voice.Google.com and logging in. In fact, your entire text messaging history is stored in the cloud. Get a text and it shows up on your phone, on your tablet and in your browser. Immediately. When I'm on my computer and I hear my phone chime that a text has arrived, I never take my phone out, I just look at the text in my browser. It's so much more convenient than any other messaging app that I would never change.
Yeah... I already use google voice quite a bit with a different number.
Here is the problem, if I port my number out of Verizon, their system automatically closes the line when the port is complete. It is no problem getting it turned back on, but then I lose the unlimited data.
That is where my problem lies.
Chris
TabGuy said:
This one's easy. Port your phone number to Google Voice. Then get a new number from Verizon for your existing phone. Install the Google Voice app on your phone and all of the incoming and outgoing calls will be via Google Voice using the number your ported there.
I've had Google Voice as my primary number for years and I'm completely independent of any carrier or single phone. In fact, when someone calls my phone number it rings on my cell phone, my home phone, my office phone, my tablet and my PC. My wife giggles every time I get a call because it sounds like I'm in a clock store with all the alarms going off at once.
If you get a new phone from another carrier just install Google Voice on it and both your old cell phone and new phone will ring at once. You will be completely independent of a carrier. I am so independent of the carrier that I have no idea what phone number is on my current cell phone. I'd have to look in the settings to see what it is.
Two caveats:
1) You will need to use Google Voice for text messaging. If you use any other text messaging app it will show that the message came from the cell phone's number and not Google Voice's number.
2) Google Voice messaging doesn't handle MMS texts. You can't send/receive photos or videos.
One huge advantage:
You can send/receive texts on your PC by going to Voice.Google.com and logging in. In fact, your entire text messaging history is stored in the cloud. Get a text and it shows up on your phone, on your tablet and in your browser. Immediately. When I'm on my computer and I hear my phone chime that a text has arrived, I never take my phone out, I just look at the text in my browser. It's so much more convenient than any other messaging app that I would never change.
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Click to collapse