The very day after, they sent me a no-tethering notice. I tether, it was free on my plan when I got the Nexus One, but they changed the plan they say, and I could either pay more per month or leave.

I now have a SGSII on T-Mobile.

Someone give the FCC some teeth again. Also a few thousand lawsuits over this wouldn't be bad.

I've programmed my phone to stream porn when ever it goes idle. fark you AT&T.

What I really love is ATT demanding a $20 tethering fee for the Blackberry Playbook to use the bridged browser feature.

Me: But it is not tethering, and it is the only way to see my company's internal websites.

ATT: Too bad

Gig103: RoyBatty: The very day after, they sent me a no-tethering notice. I tether, it was free on my plan when I got the Nexus One, but they changed the plan they say, and I could either pay more per month or leave.

I now have a SGSII on T-Mobile.

Wow, they didn't grandfather you in? Good for you for leaving and voting with your wallet. I don't particularly like Verizon Wireless, but I think they are better than AT&T in policies.

I filed an FCC complaint, and an AT&T rep got back to me to basically confirm they are going after anyone that tethers, and then stating tethering was never allowed (but it was, it came with the phone, they supported it, and they had at that time no way to even buy tethering, meaning it was free), and then telling me if I wanted to leave they would waive the ETF.

This guy's experience is IDENTICAL to mine (and no, I am not him) http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=14172104#post14172104

But lots of folks got hit with this, and I do think the timing of this and the $4B loss is not coincidental. I think this was some MBA's plan on how to contain the loss and justify to themselves kicking us off.

They wanted me to buy a 2Gb data plan + play for 2Gb tethering, when before I had unlimited data and free tethering. And I paid before $85 per month and it would have gone up to $120 or something like that.

So I switched to T-Mobile and found out ... they are mostly incompetent as well.

But oh well, I am now on a T-Mobile DOT COM and Walmart (and definitely not a T-Mobile retail store) $30 per month Monthly4G plan with 5Gb of 4G data and free unlimited 2G data and 100 minutes of voice. There's nothing actually stopping me from buying 1 or 2 more sim cards, and signing those up as well, so theoretically for my $120, I could be getting 400 minutes and 20 Gb of data.

But actually between google voice and groove ip and wifi calling, this first month I've used about 50 minutes of voice and less than a Gb of data, so the $30 plan is making me pretty happy, since it saves me 40-50 per month and offers me "4G" data and not "3G" data.

The caveat is that when I signed up, the T-Mobile phone operators all assured me that that 5Gb of data was mine and I could tether with it. I mean, I asked about a dozen times, it's the most important feature for me. And they all said yes.

But on the SGSII, with the stock T-Mobile ROM, they actually disable tethering after the first 200Mb of data. Which is asinine, worrisome, and jeez, I just wish they could get some of their facts straight.

On any rooted ROM, of course, the TetheringManager app which kills tethering is taken out and tethering works just fine. But it does make me wonder if one day I'll get a nastygram from T-Mobile.

And the worse part is, since the $30 Monthly 4G plan is so cheap, I probably would buy tethering from them even though I think it violates net neutrality, but they won't even allow me to buy tethering from them on that plan.

So you listen to their representatives, you buy a phone, and then you find out you were lied to.

Well, as I've heard, they'll fark you in the drive through....

heavymetal: I am so glad they were not allowed to ruin T-Mobile.

Agreed, but I also worry about the future of T-Mobile. Deutsche Telekom has stated that it has reservations about spending the capital needed to expand coverage and increase cell density within the US. It is also going to become increasingly isolated - AT&T Mobility has been canceling roaming agreements for T-Mobile GSM and UMTS handsets. It doesn't help that AT&T and Verizon are going with LTE for 3G+ while T-Mobile goes with Evolved HSPA.

bailout?

RoyBatty: Gig103: RoyBatty: The very day after, they sent me a no-tethering notice. I tether, it was free on my plan when I got the Nexus One, but they changed the plan they say, and I could either pay more per month or leave.

I now have a SGSII on T-Mobile.

Wow, they didn't grandfather you in? Good for you for leaving and voting with your wallet. I don't particularly like Verizon Wireless, but I think they are better than AT&T in policies.

I filed an FCC complaint, and an AT&T rep got back to me to basically confirm they are going after anyone that tethers, and then stating tethering was never allowed (but it was, it came with the phone, they supported it, and they had at that time no way to even buy tethering, meaning it was free), and then telling me if I wanted to leave they would waive the ETF.

This guy's experience is IDENTICAL to mine (and no, I am not him) http://forums.macrumors.com/showthread.php?p=14172104#post14172104

But lots of folks got hit with this, and I do think the timing of this and the $4B loss is not coincidental. I think this was some MBA's plan on how to contain the loss and justify to themselves kicking us off.

They wanted me to buy a 2Gb data plan + play for 2Gb tethering, when before I had unlimited data and free tethering. And I paid before $85 per month and it would have gone up to $120 or something like that.

So I switched to T-Mobile and found out ... they are mostly incompetent as well.

But oh well, I am now on a T-Mobile DOT COM and Walmart (and definitely not a T-Mobile retail store) $30 per month Monthly4G plan with 5Gb of 4G data and free unlimited 2G data and 100 minutes of voice. There's nothing actually stopping me from buying 1 or 2 more sim cards, and signing those up as well, so theoretically for my $120, I could be getting 400 minutes and 20 Gb of data.

But actually between google voice and groove ip and wifi calling, this first month I've used about 50 minutes of voice and less than a Gb of data, so the $30 plan is mak ...

Cliff notes version pls.

Ok all that seem expensive to me.

I've got Virgin Mobile. For $35 a month I get unlimited data and text and some number of phone minutes (can't remember but I never use them all). You do have to buy your own phone but for the $299 I paid for the phone I'm already ahead of the 'free' phone and the $79 a month the phone guy tried to sell me because the $45 per month difference adds up fast.

Is it the coverage that drives you to other telecoms? Why would you pay more than what I pay?

Hey - here's another trivia question...

When the government raises taxes paid by corporations, who pays for it?

(Hint: it's the same person who pays for the failed T-Mobile bid)

cirby: Hey - here's another trivia question...

When the government raises taxes paid by corporations, who pays for it?

(Hint: it's the same person who pays for the failed T-Mobile bid)


You should consider taking an econ course once your tea party lets you out for the day.

I would max out my monthly AT&T data allowance just on routine app updates. Are Blackberry users keeping them in business?

RoyBatty: cirby: Hey - here's another trivia question...

When the government raises taxes paid by corporations, who pays for it?

(Hint: it's the same person who pays for the failed T-Mobile bid)


You should consider taking an econ course once your tea party lets you out for the day.

Actually he's right...see corporations have accountants and actuaries who figure out this phenomenon called "tax incidence". They try and figure out how much they can charge to maximize their profit within a given bracket...without increasing their tax exposure.

tah dah.

you sir need to take a course in accounting and business management. Also law...and political science and possibly some more advanced things like lobbying and government collusion in the market.

cirby: Hey - here's another trivia question...

When the government raises taxes paid by corporations, who pays for it?

(Hint: it's the same person who pays for the failed T-Mobile bid)

Hey - here's another trivial question...

When you leave the house every day protected by police and firefighers and walk down the nicely paved street and are not attacked by foreign nations and you can find well-educated people to talk to, who paid for all that?

(Hint: you shouldn't need a hint.)

CujoQuarrel: Ok all that seem expensive to me.

I've got Virgin Mobile.
...
Is it the coverage that drives you to other telecoms? Why would you pay more than what I pay?

It's the coverage and the phones.

Virgin Mobile uses Sprint's network. Sprint's data speed, especially if you don't have a wimax phone in a wimax area suck pretty badly. It's pretty much the middle of the night here, and my phone on Sprint is getting 800kbps down. That's about all it ever gets, and downtown it gets much worse. In comparison, if you have a HSPA+ device on ATT in a '4G' area, quoted average speeds are 2~6mbps.

The prepaid phones suck too. You're not getting a Galaxy SII, or a Galaxy Nexus, or a new Droid RAZR. Even the best phones they have now look a little anemic compared to my EVO 4G which was released a year and a half ago and is getting pretty long in the tooth.

I have an iPhone on ATT and my contract will be up on my line on my parents family plan sometime over the summer. I will be moving off that plan and to a different wireless carrier once I am able. I am tired of ATT.

Sprint has terrible coverage in my hometown, but hopefully theirs is better in the place Ill be moving to because I really like their unlimited plan.

TDBoedy: tax incidence

You should wiki those words you use.

inigo-montoya.jpg

Taxes can be passed through to the consumer, but depending on how the market is structured, they also hit the stockholders. I suspect a telco with fixed towers represent inelastic supply, and hence, they cannot expect to pass all taxes onto the consumer, so percent will flow to the stockholder.

And yes, that will be minimized through the use of accountants and lobbying/bribery.

adenosine: CujoQuarrel: Ok all that seem expensive to me.

I've got Virgin Mobile.
...
Is it the coverage that drives you to other telecoms? Why would you pay more than what I pay?

It's the coverage and the phones.

Virgin Mobile uses Sprint's network. Sprint's data speed, especially if you don't have a wimax phone in a wimax area suck pretty badly. It's pretty much the middle of the night here, and my phone on Sprint is getting 800kbps down. That's about all it ever gets, and downtown it gets much worse. In comparison, if you have a HSPA+ device on ATT in a '4G' area, quoted average speeds are 2~6mbps.

The prepaid phones suck too. You're not getting a Galaxy SII, or a Galaxy Nexus, or a new Droid RAZR. Even the best phones they have now look a little anemic compared to my EVO 4G which was released a year and a half ago and is getting pretty long in the tooth.

I picked up a Moto Triumph and (it's my first smart phone so I don't have anything to compare it with). The only data intensive thing I do is YouTube or Netflix and it seems to handle that fine.

adenosine:

Virgin Mobile uses Sprint's network. Sprint's data speed, especially if you don't have a wimax phone in a wimax area suck pretty badly. It's pretty much the middle of the night here, and my phone on Sprint is getting 800kbps down. That's about all it ever gets, and downtown it gets much worse.

Might just be your phone or local coverage. My test just now showed 1300 kbps, and that was with the nearest test location 200 miles away.

only for new customers

only for new customers

only for new customers


glad I'm not a new customer

NewportBarGuy: Yeah, why are you so stupid? You big, fat stupid-head. Don't you understand that businesses pass 100% of taxes on to 120% of their customers. Theses are facts... that I've just pulled from my butthole, so hold them as you would the bible. What is wrong with you? How dare you suggest that businesses can only pass along what the market will bear. You're a jerk. Thanks for ruining a perfectly good theory! FOOL!

/ftfy

My first guess was actually "the taxpayers"

I'm glad I've got Sprint. Unlimited everything, and on a family plan it's less than $70 per person. I love my GalaxyS II.

Customers on the net. Faster to leave overpriced companies than a speeding bullet. Special Xray vision powers that allow them to see cash grabs by failed companies.

I went from Sprint to Verizon a couple of years ago and am seriously considering going back to Sprint.

adenosine: CujoQuarrel: Ok all that seem expensive to me.

I've got Virgin Mobile.
...
Is it the coverage that drives you to other telecoms? Why would you pay more than what I pay?

It's the coverage and the phones.

Virgin Mobile uses Sprint's network. Sprint's data speed, especially if you don't have a wimax phone in a wimax area suck pretty badly. It's pretty much the middle of the night here, and my phone on Sprint is getting 800kbps down. That's about all it ever gets, and downtown it gets much worse. In comparison, if you have a HSPA+ device on ATT in a '4G' area, quoted average speeds are 2~6mbps.

The prepaid phones suck too. You're not getting a Galaxy SII, or a Galaxy Nexus, or a new Droid RAZR. Even the best phones they have now look a little anemic compared to my EVO 4G which was released a year and a half ago and is getting pretty long in the tooth.

Just checked my EVO 3D. 1225 kbps up and 495 down. I also went into the EPST app and disabled Sprint's proxies...

The other thing with the prepay phones that use Sprint's network is that they are using an older and slower version of the EVDO network.

I had Virgin. The network was always having outages. For some reason, I have yet to experience an outage with Sprint. Plus, I can tether for free with my rooted phone.

twat_waffle: adenosine: CujoQuarrel: Ok all that seem expensive to me.

I've got Virgin Mobile.
...
Is it the coverage that drives you to other telecoms? Why would you pay more than what I pay?

It's the coverage and the phones.

Virgin Mobile uses Sprint's network. Sprint's data speed, especially if you don't have a wimax phone in a wimax area suck pretty badly. It's pretty much the middle of the night here, and my phone on Sprint is getting 800kbps down. That's about all it ever gets, and downtown it gets much worse. In comparison, if you have a HSPA+ device on ATT in a '4G' area, quoted average speeds are 2~6mbps.

The prepaid phones suck too. You're not getting a Galaxy SII, or a Galaxy Nexus, or a new Droid RAZR. Even the best phones they have now look a little anemic compared to my EVO 4G which was released a year and a half ago and is getting pretty long in the tooth.

Just checked my EVO 3D. 1225 kbps up and 495 down. I also went into the EPST app and disabled Sprint's proxies...

The other thing with the prepay phones that use Sprint's network is that they are using an older and slower version of the EVDO network.

I had Virgin. The network was always having outages. For some reason, I have yet to experience an outage with Sprint. Plus, I can tether for free with my rooted phone.

Never seen an outage but I don't use it that often since I'm almost always near a internet capable computer. Never had it not able to make a phone call.

HempHead: Cliff notes version pls.

His entire post can be summarized by the following:

RoyBatty: So you listen to their representatives, you buy a phone, and then you find out you were lied to.

Well, as I've heard, they'll fark you in the drive through....

In other words, every Farking cell company is incompetent, has lying sales people and will Fark you one way or another.

"AT&T says the move is not a reaction to the Federal Communications Commission's blocking of its planned T-Mobile Inc. takeover last year, which CEO Randall Stephenson warned would cause price increases if it failed."

I"m not saying it was because of the failed merger...but...

clancifer: Sprint isn't perfect, I'm glad I don't have to put up with this shiat.

same here...my iphone blazes around here while i'm on their network and it's truly unlimited. I seriously doubt I'd ever get CLOSE to a cap limit..most of my serious streaming is done off wifi anyway. But when i do use the phone, it's nice to know I don't have to worry about a massive bill showing up because I exceeded my limit or something.

TDBoedy: advanced things like lobbying and government collusion in the market.

That's where all the magic REALLY happens. Fancy accounting a lot of it, but damn those lobbyists are powerful. Screw all that "by the people, of the people, for the people" crap...it's all about who lines their pockets the most.

What the hell...you people pulling 1000kbps+ on Sprint are doing far better than me. Just ran 5 tests over 3G (EVO 4G running CM7.1).......

1) 310down / 60up.
2) 261down / 165up
3) 437 down / 303 up
4) 254 down / 270 up
5) 283 down / 51 up

Average: 309 down / 169 up

fredbox: My first guess was actually "the taxpayers"

Me, too. I mean, god forbid a large corporation would have to deal with the consequences of its own screw-ups. I'm pretty sure it's against the American Constitution not to privatize the profit and socialize the risk.

bemis23: What the hell...you people pulling 1000kbps+ on Sprint are doing far better than me. Just ran 5 tests over 3G (EVO 4G running CM7.1).......

1) 310down / 60up.
2) 261down / 165up
3) 437 down / 303 up
4) 254 down / 270 up
5) 283 down / 51 up

Average: 309 down / 169 up

I'm on Sprint with an EVO 4G and 3g data I usually average around 900kbps-1mbps down and 500-600kbps up.

If I turn on the wimax I can use it to play my Xbox online. Get roughly 12mbps down and 2 up. Its faster than my DSL so I cancelled the DSL and just tether.

CujoQuarrel: Ok all that seem expensive to me.

I've got Virgin Mobile. For $35 a month I get unlimited data and text and some number of phone minutes (can't remember but I never use them all). You do have to buy your own phone but for the $299 I paid for the phone I'm already ahead of the 'free' phone and the $79 a month the phone guy tried to sell me because the $45 per month difference adds up fast.

Is it the coverage that drives you to other telecoms? Why would you pay more than what I pay?

yeah, about that unlimited data... (new window)

I dropped AT&T about a month after I heard the first "We're merging with T-Mobile, and bringing 9,000 jobs back to America. This will mean more choice and better prices." commercial.

9,000 jobs will be "brought home" and axed the day after. Fewer companies means fewer choices (if AT&T had merged with Sprint, for example, I couldn't get unlimited data). Fewer companies means less competitive prices.

I'll take Sprint's unlimited plan.

// though I wish I'd sprung for the GII

Helen_Arigby: Me, too. I mean, god forbid a large corporation would have to deal with the consequences of its own screw-ups. I'm pretty sure it's against the American Constitution not to privatize the profit and socialize the risk.

I'm happy to know it's not bailout money but the money ultimately comes from the consumer, well, those consumers who choose to use AT&T.

AT&T really is a poorly run wireless carrier but the real problem is the endless focus on short-term shareholder value not that they are technically clueless. VZW has deployed a 3G technology network wide and is doing a damn good job of deploying a true 4G network across their full footprint. AT&T can hardly cobble together a proper 3G network, has the audacity to brand a properly deployed 3G network as 4G, and complains about having spectrum shortages instead of deploying more spectrally efficient technologies because it costs money.

And now's where I say I still have AT&T - I'm grandfathered on Unlimited International Data for my iPhone and I intend to stay on this plan as long as I can. Once I lose it I'm also losing AT&T and their amateur hour network.

there their theyre: bemis23: What the hell...you people pulling 1000kbps+ on Sprint are doing far better than me. Just ran 5 tests over 3G (EVO 4G running CM7.1).......

1) 310down / 60up.
2) 261down / 165up
3) 437 down / 303 up
4) 254 down / 270 up
5) 283 down / 51 up

Average: 309 down / 169 up

I'm on Sprint with an EVO 4G and 3g data I usually average around 900kbps-1mbps down and 500-600kbps up.

If I turn on the wimax I can use it to play my Xbox online. Get roughly 12mbps down and 2 up. Its faster than my DSL so I cancelled the DSL and just tether.

WTF, how does service in Ft. Worth suck ass this badly when service in Dallas is that good? I've contemplated going to VZW and dealing with the massive price increase just to get a data plan that's actually worth paying for.

If I'm reading the article right, it would appear a smart phone is now cheaper with Verizon (the BMW of wireless in the US) than ATT (the Chrysler of wireless in the US).

/may not have read it right
//figuring out wireless pricing is an endless nightmare
///does any wireless provider anywhere have one where it isn't all hidden fees, bizarre usage rules, and unmentioned taxes?

Damn, only for new customers.

If they hit existing customers as well, that'd be a material change to the contract, and you could leave without paying an ETF.

/did that with sprint
//was hoping to do that again.. nuts. AT&T is too smart to allow that.

schief2: You mean you have as much data usage as you want, anywhere in the world?

[mother of god]

By Cellphone Company Math, you've probably gotten at least $2.5 trillion dollars worth of benefits out of that by now.

Yes - I just got back from Asia and used 700 MB - my total usage charges for roaming were $3.30 - four SMS and an MMS. Everything else I ran through data. I even snuck in about 20 minutes of slingbox while in Hong Kong to watch the end of a hockey game.

If you look at their best intl plan now that'd be $200 worth of data - pay per use at $0.0195/kB would be almost $14,000. There used to be an Unlimited International Blackberry plan at $65/mo and I think some "bonehead" at AT&T got the idea they should offer the same for iPhone - I couldn't believe it was available so I snapped it up. No more hunting for prepaid SIMs that support data and trying to figure out how to unlock my subsidized iPhone. This plan is also *worldwide*. If I can get packet data on a network it's included - the new plans are limited to only ~100 countries.

It's a total score and is the only reason I am still with AT&T.