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Hi:
Up until now, I have been using T-Mobile ever since the XDA came out.
Used a "visorphone" before that. I do NOT use T-Mobile's Internet access (T-zones) ever since I got hit with a $180+ overage charge the first month I used it.
So.
Here is my issue:
Starting a few months ago, I noticed that, even though I do NOT use T-Mobile for any Internet access (I call up my own ISP instead from the XDA), T-Mobile are charging me something like $.50 for every email sent or received from the XDA using my own ISP. I suppose they monitor the traffic or something. When I protested that they shouldn't charge me for anything Internet-related, only the minutes used to call my ISP, they told me basically that they don't give a damn what I think, and that I will continue to be charged $.50 for every email. They show up on my bill as "e-note" to the phone number "500."
I think that's ridiculous and possibly illegal since it doesn't involve their servers or their services at all, but I don't have the energy to deal with their untrained "Wireless Data Group." It would take years to explain this to them. Just getting them on the phone took over 1 hour. This is partly a warning post, that this is what T-Mobile is doing, and we should know about it. So, I am looking into switching to AT&T.
My questions for anyone reading this:
1) anyone else have that billing issue with t-mobile?
2) is at&t any better? do they charge for internet traffic even if you haven't signed up for their services?
3) i don't think i have simlock issues, the unlock util from this site says that it's already unlocked. rom is 4.00.21 ENG, radio stack 6.24.00
from yorch.net.
4) is there anything i should know? won't this t-mobile build of "windows mobile 2003" rom work with at&t ?
any info appreciated, you can email thomas at pullen.com (removed the @ for the spam bots).
thanks!
TMO is pretty bad, iv experienced their levels of ignorance too, but once in a while, u can incounter sumone who knows alot about what they do
you should have never used tzones (if it wasnt unlimited) for transfering big amounts of data, thats why u got charged so much, for going over the allowd data amount
when connecting to your own ISP, are u connecting using THEIR # ? ... if so, then i dont know where TMO gets these ideas 4 charging u extra + the phone call :roll:
to unlock u need to go back to a 2002 rom, with the unlock software
ur build will work, but it would be better to switch to 4.00.05 , since u wont need all the useless TMO apps and what not
Hey tpullen,
Sorry to hear about your terrible time with T-Mobile.
Q: What type of plan do you have with T-Mobile?
If its only a voice plan with no data the .50 sounds about right and will be the same if you move over to AT&T. As a matter of fact AT&T's data charges are higher.
It doesn't matter that you're calling your own ISP, the fact still remains you're sending/receiving data on a voice only plan. :wink:
HTH
thanks
hey:
thanks for the replies. to answer your questions:
i had the t-mobile 3,000 minutes for $49 plan. it is only free long distance for the southeast u.s.; i think it's called a 'neighborhood' plan.
no data at all in my plan; i would call my own isp and surf the web and check email. only about 3 months ago t-mobile started charging me to check email, but not for the web. my complaint is that i am using my own isp, and the call comes out of my minutes. yes, it's sending data with a voice-only plan, but hey! i have a dial-up phone line, nothing fancy, a land line in my house. it's voice-only. if i plug a modem into my home phone line and call my isp, should i expect to get a bill from my phone company for every email i look at? to my way of thinking, and anyone is free to disagree, if i'm not USING your services then i don't want to PAY for your services. unless it is a t-mobile email, web, or proxy server i'm talking to, i don't expect to pay t-mobile. the minutes were already being deducted from my available minutes. that's all i should have to pay.
i don't think that's so outrageous.
i did unlock my phone with the xda dev build, then went back to the same tmobile windows mobile 2003 build. i wasn't sure if the xda "stays unlocked" once you unlock it and then put a new rom on, but it does.
now i have an at&t sim, and it works well enough, but the sort-of-funny thing is that you apparantly can NOT just call your own isp with at&t.
i can't seem to get a connection to work. so i don't know. maybe i will stay with at&t since they, according to their sales literature anyway, have a data network that's like 3 times faster than t-mobile's data network.
of course it's more $ for them.
whatever the case, i have 30 days to try at&t with no obligation, cancel any time, owe them nothing. everyone has that option right now, in fact, due to the new ftc "local number port" thing happening.
i'll let ya'll know how it goes if i stick with at&t. i can always stay with t-mobile, but i'm not sure if that's a good idea.
Re: thanks
tpullen said:
maybe i will stay with at&t since they, according to their sales literature anyway, have a data network that's like 3 times faster than t-mobile's data network. of course it's more $ for them.
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Sounds like you're talking about the EDGE service. Yeah, like 4 times the cost of T-Mobile's unlimited plan. I think I'll stick to the cheaper slower service.
tpullen said:
whatever the case, i have 30 days to try at&t with no obligation, cancel any time, owe them nothing. everyone has that option right now, in fact, due to the new ftc "local number port" thing happening.
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Owe them nothing?! You might want to read that literature again. You'll not pay a cancellation fee nor an activation fee, but you will owe them for the prorated amount of time you had service, and any other additional fees that you use. This is pretty standard in the wireless industry. So if you go over your prorated minutes for the month, you owe them airtime charges. Happened to me, so just be careful.
bye bye at&t
hi arkhangel:
yes, you are correct:
4. Every new customer gets a 30 day risk free trial. When you purchase a phone and activate service at an AT&T Wireless store or at attwireless.com, you can return your undamaged phone for a refund within the first 30 days and pay only for airtime and usage charges. It’s just one more way we can earn your trust.
so it is not without charge, and thank god i only made one 6-minute call.
as far as the EDGE network goes, it was so-so...i only viewed 2 webpages with it, they loaded pretty much as quickly as with any other data service over the xda...and the funny thing is that it consumed apparantly almost 2 mb to do so.
i am pretty frustrated now, the at&t customer service has been pretty rotten, but t-mobile isn't too great either.
i'm calling verizon next, to compare...
tpullen said:
They show up on my bill as "e-note" to the phone number "500."
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The phone is programmed to send an SMS to T-Mobile every time you reboot your PPCPE. These show up as e-notes to 500 just as you describe. Compare the timing of your email use vs. the timing of your reboots and see where the e-notes are coming from. I think you can purchase a bundle of a bunch (500?) of SMS messages (aka e-notes) for something like $2.99, so you could cap your cost that way.
You should also be aware that T-Mobile has gone to a flat rate for GPRS at $19.95 for unlimited internet. The comparable plan with AT&T is something like $80.
Going on a cruise that will take me to Key West and then Cozumel, Mexico. Anyone with cruise experience that can share the best way to avoid crazy fees?
phone fees? airplane mode. cruise fees? there are none. all you pay for is drinks and tips and sometimes your tips are even paid in advance. pour tequila in an empty listerine bottle (brown kind) to offset drink prices.
craig.pulliam said:
phone fees? airplane mode. cruise fees? there are none. all you pay for is drinks and tips and sometimes your tips are even paid in advance. pour tequila in an empty listerine bottle (brown kind) to offset drink prices.
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Yea phone/data fees.
This is what I found on Sprint's website:
Pricing
All cruise ship calls: $2.99/minute
Data: $0.020/kb (with capable device where available)
Text Pricing: Send: $0.50/recipient; Received $0.05/msg
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So looks like the phone will be left off and only turned on once or twice a day to check and see if any important text messages come through. I'll have to tell my friends to avoid texting me unless it is extremely important.
Transfer your cruise tickets to me... I'll take care of the charges...
Edit: seriously tho have fun!
Sent from 3D A.W.E.S.O.M-O
Some cruises also offer wifi. Turn on airplane mode then connect via wifi to check your email and websites. Not sure what the price for wifi is, but I'm sure it's not cheap.
Google Voice, if enabled, can be used over WiFi for your text messages... So if you have access to WiFi on the cruise..?
I thought the point of a cruise was to get away from it all?
When I was camping in the Sierra Nevada, I didn't expect and in fact enjoyed not having a signal.
Kept mine in airplane mode. While docked in St Thomas, was using it. Make sure you are away from the ship while in U.S. territory before you use a phone.
WiFi was close to unusable and a total wallet-rape on RCL's Oasis of the Seas.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
3 minute call on my account was $8 when I went on a cruise last year. I didn't use my phone at all.
I think Internet access is at least 1 per minute at the computer kiosks, which you have to buy in at least 15 or 30 minute packages. Google Voice would be useful for texting here.
Remember to change your mobile network setting to Sprint only if you don't want the phone to use the ship's transmitter when a Sprint tower is available. This can especially happen in port if the cruise ships cell phone transmitter is not turned off. Change it to roaming as needed.
Cheaper solution is to look into buying a gsm phone and pre-paid international sim card for use on the ship and in port. It's also useful to have a couple of these phones between a couple or group of people as its easy to get separated on the ship and while on excursions in port.
Cheapest solution is to turn the phone off and experience the cruise lifestyle for a few days. It's a vacation!
walk to room...enter...open closet....open safe...put in your cell phone...close and lock safe....go outside to lido deck and proceed to drink and eat.
enjoy your cruise
I did the airplane mode the whole time it wasnt worth the cost and it was nice to not worry about calls or text.... On another note my Original Evo lasted 5 days in airplane mode with no charging and still used it for games.
Funnel deck, no phone, no clothes, no worries
Check out google voice if they have wifi (they should) They charge like $.02 for mexico and like $.06 for japan(not sure if that applies for both incoming and outgoing but I know they say google voice is US only right now). Not exactly sure how it works, but its worth looking into. You can definitely use google voice to text though, keep yourself in airplane mode with wifi on. That's if they have free wifi on the ship, I havnt been on a cruise in many years.
We tried to stick to just texting on board ship. Saves a little.
Watch out though, we would send a text and it would repeat 10-20-30 times and they bill you for it! Receiving texts was the same deal.
When we got back last December, there was more than $100 worth of texts on our bill!!! Called Sprint and they could see the problem and said that it was a "known problem," it took me three tries to get it back to what it really was, about $20.
Enjoy.
I would just leave it at home.
heres what i dont understand, if your going on a cruise why would you even want to use your phone, if i was going I wouldnt be touching my phone unless it was for emergencys
you can also call up sprint and ask them to put a bill cap on your account, so it can not exceed 100 or whatever you tell them
Surely the boat has wifi. You could then intergrate with Google voice while on the boat so atleast u can text and see any important calls. Then use gmail to call people I suppose
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
ITS A VACATION.. LEAVE YOUR DAMN PHONE AT THE DOCK.. that is all. all contact information for loved ones is left on the kitchen counter for contact via the ships administrators. Forget the damn phone and have good time. lol
What I did when we spent some time in Mexico is use wifi for Google Voice texts and emails and use Groove IP to make calls. This uses your Google Voice account/number and your phone to make VOIP calls.
Best single app on my phone IMO. Both for these international issues as well as when I can get a 4G signal but no 3G/Voice.
So when I go to the local Sprint store, they recommend the PDANet app as a way to tether for free. Great. I use it on the laptop. Works fine. But if I simply want to eliminate the USB cable and do exactly the same thing, they charge a dollar a day to eliminate the USB cable? I can't be the only one who thinks this is excessive!
So what are we really paying for when we pay for Sprint Hotspot? Whenever someone mentions rooting and using free wifi tether, there's always the "but you're stealing from Sprint" excuse. How can that be? My free wired tether (officially recommended by Sprint employees) is using exactly the same amount of Sprint's 3G bandwidth as it is when I use a free wireless tether app on root. So we know it isn't the data we're paying for. We're paying Sprint $30/mo for the privilege of not using a USB cable? I know it's possible that several (potentially many) devices could connect via a wifi access point, but technically if you know what you are doing, you can share an access point on a laptop easily too once you've connected the phone via the USB cable.
So I guess I don't get it. What am I missing? Why couldn't Sprint at least offer a single-connection hotspot option for FREE? It's obvious that Sprint wants to be seen as the "unlimited" provider. Giving the option to at least wirelessly tether a single device would put them in the lead. DO IT SPRINT!
Mike
mikeyxda said:
So when I go to the local Sprint store, they recommend the PDANet app as a way to tether for free. Great. I use it on the laptop. Works fine. But if I simply want to eliminate the USB cable and do exactly the same thing, they charge a dollar a day to eliminate the USB cable? I can't be the only one who thinks this is excessive!
So what are we really paying for when we pay for Sprint Hotspot? Whenever someone mentions rooting and using free wifi tether, there's always the "but you're stealing from Sprint" excuse. How can that be? My free wired tether (officially recommended by Sprint employees) is using exactly the same amount of Sprint's 3G bandwidth as it is when I use a free wireless tether app on root. So we know it isn't the data we're paying for. We're paying Sprint $30/mo for the privilege of not using a USB cable? I know it's possible that several (potentially many) devices could connect via a wifi access point, but technically if you know what you are doing, you can share an access point on a laptop easily too once you've connected the phone via the USB cable.
So I guess I don't get it. What am I missing? Why couldn't Sprint at least offer a single-connection hotspot option for FREE? It's obvious that Sprint wants to be seen as the "unlimited" provider. Giving the option to at least wirelessly tether a single device would put them in the lead. DO IT SPRINT!
Mike
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You probably got the one either retarded, or just nice and down to earth rep. Spring does not sanction the use of any tethering app, that's why they charge to use the built in one. Whoever told you that shouldn't have done so.
joehunni said:
You probably got the one either retarded, or just nice and down to earth rep. Spring does not sanction the use of any tethering app, that's why they charge to use the built in one. Whoever told you that shouldn't have done so.
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The app is in the market and doesn't require root. If they have a problem with Google's market and the apps within, then they should not run the Android OS. Sprint is just trying to sucker people by charging for this free feature.
fmedina2 said:
The app is in the market and doesn't require root. If they have a problem with Google's market and the apps within, then they should not run the Android OS. Sprint is just trying to sucker people by charging for this free feature.
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While this is true, they still don't condone tethering without paying for the hotspot. It's not unheard of for Sprint to drop customers over excessive data usage due to tethering.
joehunni said:
While this is true, they still don't condone tethering without paying for the hotspot. It's not unheard of for Sprint to drop customers over excessive data usage due to tethering.
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How would that work legally? It is a free app in the marketplace.
Sprint, and all other ISPs, have to pay for the bandwidth we use. When they offer us an "unlimited" plan they make a calculated guess as to how much data we may actually use and price their plan accordingly. They then hope we don't use too much.
However, the ability to tether throws the isps for a loop because of the potential for using so much more data. So they charge us an additional fee to cover the "excessive" bandwidth costs!
Of course they will never admit that the cost is for bandwidth since we are supposedly getting "unlimited". Its a catch-22 of lies for everyone.
Frankly, I get that bandwidth costs money. But I think its BS for a company to sell us unlimited data and then charge extra if we actually use it.
Either way, once this thing is rooted we will get around it.
Richard
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA Premium App
mikeyxda said:
So when I go to the local Sprint store, they recommend the PDANet app as a way to tether for free. Great. I use it on the laptop. Works fine. But if I simply want to eliminate the USB cable and do exactly the same thing, they charge a dollar a day to eliminate the USB cable? I can't be the only one who thinks this is excessive!
So what are we really paying for when we pay for Sprint Hotspot? Whenever someone mentions rooting and using free wifi tether, there's always the "but you're stealing from Sprint" excuse. How can that be? My free wired tether (officially recommended by Sprint employees) is using exactly the same amount of Sprint's 3G bandwidth as it is when I use a free wireless tether app on root. So we know it isn't the data we're paying for. We're paying Sprint $30/mo for the privilege of not using a USB cable? I know it's possible that several (potentially many) devices could connect via a wifi access point, but technically if you know what you are doing, you can share an access point on a laptop easily too once you've connected the phone via the USB cable.
So I guess I don't get it. What am I missing? Why couldn't Sprint at least offer a single-connection hotspot option for FREE? It's obvious that Sprint wants to be seen as the "unlimited" provider. Giving the option to at least wirelessly tether a single device would put them in the lead. DO IT SPRINT!
Mike
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Sprint's terms & conditions specifically prohibit tethering, unless paying for a plan that specifically allows for tethering. A Sprint rep telling you that you can tether for free doesn't suddenly change this fact. It might give you some leeway if you're caught tethering, but you're still against the T&C of your service.
I would prefer legitimately being able to tether without paying extra, but Sprint has the right to charge for it.
fmedina2 said:
How would that work legally? It is a free app in the marketplace.
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PDAnet isn't free, you have to buy the app or at least the full version. And Sprint can't ban the app because it can be used on many platforms and many devices so how do you think Sprint can ban it from the Android Market, Sprint doesn't own the Market, Google does.
Your whole argument in this thread is invalid. Sprint has every right to charge for its services and if you don't want to pay for them don't. If there are legit ways to get around the charges than do it. Don't whine here.
Good points and that's kinda why I brought it up. You have to wonder about both the present and the future of paid wireless tethering. I'm hoping soon that Sprint will lead the way to free tethering by announcing that they are the only company who now offers free wifi hotspots. Imagine how many people would switch THEN!
For now, we have free wired tethering that Sprint employees are (maybe "unofficially") supporting but yet you have to pay to do the same thing without the wire. And then there's the Nexus S which can do free wireless tether right out of the box as a standard feature. Sprint sets those up for you too, activates the phone, and you walk out of the store with a phone that does for free what they are charging us Evo 3D owners $30/mo for.
You gotta wonder WTF is up with the status of wireless tethering here.
Mike
mikeyxda said:
Good points and that's kinda why I brought it up. You have to wonder about both the present and the future of paid wireless tethering. I'm hoping soon that Sprint will lead the way to free tethering by announcing that they are the only company who now offers free wifi hotspots. Imagine how many people would switch THEN!
For now, we have free wired tethering that Sprint employees are (maybe "unofficially") supporting but yet you have to pay to do the same thing without the wire. And then there's the Nexus S which can do free wireless tether right out of the box as a standard feature. Sprint sets those up for you too, activates the phone, and you walk out of the store with a phone that does for free what they are charging us Evo 3D owners $30/mo for.
You gotta wonder WTF is up with the status of wireless tethering here.
Mike
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They charge you because they can. There is no other reason. They set the price as high as they think they can and still get a decent number of people to bite. The only reason the Nexus S does it for free out of the box is because Google didn't let Sprint tamper with the software and disable the feature.
cruise350 said:
PDAnet isn't free, you have to buy the app or at least the full version. And Sprint can't ban the app because it can be used on many platforms and many devices so how do you think Sprint can ban it from the Android Market, Sprint doesn't own the Market, Google does.
Your whole argument in this thread is invalid. Sprint has every right to charge for its services and if you don't want to pay for them don't. If there are legit ways to get around the charges than do it. Don't whine here.
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AT&T & Verizon (from what I know) do in fact have tethering apps filtered out of the market on their service...
...I recall hearing that Sprint had a non-anti-tether-app policy, officially. I'm pretty sure I heard that on Androidcentral, but don't remember specifically.
Just don't abuse your tethering.
Though, truth be told, I could saturate that wimpy 3G connection with pandora and basic web surfing--on my phone....so I don't see what the big deal is...and 4G isn't metered by Sprint.
I say keep tethering, hopefully Sprint will overcompensate for the extra bandwidth people are abusing.
I've used the wireless tethering before sprint even started charging for it so screw them. If anything they're stealing from the devs who made the original app by charging such a ridiculous amount for something that's available for free.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
XxDjbluexX said:
I've used the wireless tethering before sprint even started charging for it so screw them. If anything they're stealing from the devs who made the original app by charging such a ridiculous amount for something that's available for free.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
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That's some jacked up logic, dude.
fmedina2 said:
The app is in the market and doesn't require root. If they have a problem with Google's market and the apps within, then they should not run the Android OS. Sprint is just trying to sucker people by charging for this free feature.
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rofl your on their network though and you sign a contract stating you won't.
Bottom line is this: There is only so much bandwidth to go around. You can't just pretend that the airwaves are limitless and "corporate greed" is the reason we can't go nuts with data usage. Fact is that if everybody did this, nobody would be able to have decent quality of service. It would be like trying to have a hundred people squeeze through a door at once. It's just a matter of physics, it can't be done.
Right now when it comes to wireless tethering, sprint is simply looking the other way. There are many things that they could be doing to stop it, and they are aware of these things (verizon and at&t implement many countermeasures) but they don't use any of them. Why exactly this is, I don't really know, but I'd wager to guess that they want to appeal to users like us who don't want to go to other carriers just because of the little things like this.
However they can't go to the opposite extreme and outright allow it, simply because if they did this, people WOULD go nuts with their data usage, and sprint couldn't afford that. So this is their middle ground: saying don't do it, but looking the other way when you do, and if you go overboard, they tell you to go with another provider.
And personally, I wouldn't have it any other way, and I give props to sprint for doing that.
cruise350 said:
PDAnet isn't free, you have to buy the app or at least the full version. And Sprint can't ban the app because it can be used on many platforms and many devices so how do you think Sprint can ban it from the Android Market, Sprint doesn't own the Market, Google does.
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Sprint can ask Google to hide the app from sprint users, much in the same way that at&t and verizon asked google to hide the wifi tethering apps from their respective users, and google did exactly that.
Rakeesh_j said:
Bottom line is this: There is only so much bandwidth to go around. You can't just pretend that the airwaves are limitless and "corporate greed" is the reason we can't go nuts with data usage. Fact is that if everybody did this, nobody would be able to have decent quality of service. It would be like trying to have a hundred people squeeze through a door at once. It's just a matter of physics, it can't be done.
Right now when it comes to wireless tethering, sprint is simply looking the other way. There are many things that they could be doing to stop it, and they are aware of these things (verizon and at&t implement many countermeasures) but they don't use any of them. Why exactly this is, I don't really know, but I'd wager to guess that they want to appeal to users like us who don't want to go to other carriers just because of the little things like this.
However they can't go to the opposite extreme and outright allow it, simply because if they did this, people WOULD go nuts with their data usage, and sprint couldn't afford that. So this is their middle ground: saying don't do it, but looking the other way when you do, and if you go overboard, they tell you to go with another provider.
And personally, I wouldn't have it any other way, and I give props to sprint for doing that.
Sprint can ask Google to hide the app from sprint users, much in the same way that at&t and verizon asked google to hide the wifi tethering apps from their respective users, and google did exactly that.
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Well said...
What about how the nexus s 4G (which I had for a couple weeks) that has wired and wireless tether built into the stock android, without sprint blocking it? Hoe come that is exempt from the t&c?
Sent from my Shooter
if you need justification to pay 30 bucks, good luck. You will never get it, atleast not from sprint. Everyone does it, atleast sprint gives you unlimited for 30 bucks.
it is what it is and it has been for a while now. If you want to legally use the phone as a hotspot you have to shell out 30 bucks. Yes its a *****, so is life.
tjb3401 said:
What about how the nexus s 4G (which I had for a couple weeks) that has wired and wireless tether built into the stock android, without sprint blocking it? Hoe come that is exempt from the t&c?
Sent from my Shooter
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Not sure but seeing as its built in to the phone, since Google doesn't let them touch the software, you can use it on the NS.
I figured that the WiFi tether root app should work fine with temp root, what I don't know is if Verizon can tell if we use it and thus, bill us for hotspot use? I remember that there was some concern with the Incredible that Verizon had somehow set it up where there could detect this, just wondering if anyone knows for sure if its safe on the Rez?
bast525 said:
I figured that the WiFi tether root app should work fine with temp root, what I don't know is if Verizon can tell if we use it and thus, bill us for hotspot use? I remember that there was some concern with the Incredible that Verizon had somehow set it up where there could detect this, just wondering if anyone knows for sure if its safe on the Rez?
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Click to collapse
I have saw plenty of customers coming in to my location being billed or shut off until they remove the program. Why risk it? Right now they are being nice, you are stealing. Pay the $30, get unlimited hotspot, and don't worry about it. Back to the old saying, if you gotta ask, you shouldn't do it.
Been doing it on my Droid incredible for a long time. Doing it right now from my boys nook color at wrestling practice. Never been charged, or shut off. Don't feel like I am stealing, but others will. If they catch me, there is always other carriers. Would be rocking out on my resound overclocked, and undervolted with a nice cm7 theme, but they have that door locked. They r breaking the rules there, so we r even.
Sent from my SPH-P100 using Tapatalk
brockeverly said:
I have saw plenty of customers coming in to my location being billed or shut off until they remove the program. Why risk it? Right now they are being nice, you are stealing. Pay the $30, get unlimited hotspot, and don't worry about it. Back to the old saying, if you gotta ask, you shouldn't do it.
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I fail to see how it's stealing. You pay for your data, so you should be able to use it.
I Don't See At All How It Is Stealing.
The Only Difference Between My Netbook And Cellphone Is Screensize.
Both Are Dual-Core.
Both Are HD Screens, One Is 4.3in And The Other Is 11.6in.
HDMI Out On Both.
Both Use USB Connections.
Both Have Headphones Jack.
Both Have Wi-Fi Antennas.
Netbook Can Use Skype Or Google Voice For Calling If I Wanted To. (Also Could Buy A 3G Wireless Card Instead Of Just Using Wi-Fi)
Both Are Charged By Plugging A Cable In.
Both Have Okay Battery Life.
Both Run Linux OS.
Google put the feature in froyo, and the carriers blocked it to make money. It's not stealing. At all. I know they have a tether guard apk on the thunderbolt. Havnt looked for it yet, and I don't know what it does
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using xda premium
Yeah locking the bootloaders on phones has been questioned legally multiple times. It's like the carriers are trying to control your smartphone experience.
zetsumeikuro said:
It's like the carriers are trying to control your smartphone experience.
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For most people that is a good thing. I am sure it helps mobile device security for the general population. If a webpage could execute a root method and then wipe your system partition, that would be terrible for the average user, so it gets nand-locked.
zetsumeikuro said:
Yeah locking the bootloaders on phones has been questioned legally multiple times. It's like the carriers are trying to control your smartphone experience.
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It's the "smart" check for the 4g hotspot. Hotspot won't work as long as that apk is disabled or missing.
Are they able to read it on the resound though? That hasn't been answered here. Do they know we are tethering on temp root?
Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk
I froze the TetheringGuard.apk. I haven't even tried to use the WiFi tether app yet.
I don't think they can tell if you are tethering with root unless they are looking really closely.
I'm on the fence about hotspot. I think for occasional use (tablets), I'm ok with not paying for it, but if you are trying to use it as your home internet service, you should pay for it. Wireless broadband is not unlimited.
on my Inc I used it very rarely. I don't have a tablet and my laptop never leaves the house where I have cable WiFi. My data usage on Verizon averages 2-3 GB a month. I haven't tethered since getting the rez the day they came out. I use it on my work laptop once in a blue moon because they are Nazis and block EVERYTHING on their network.
Sleek69 said:
I fail to see how it's stealing. You pay for your data, so you should be able to use it.
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If someone charges for something, and you find a way around being charged for it and use it free, how is that not stealing? Not worth the debate, all of you that don't see it will not see it. You probably think getting music from p2p is also not stealing, until you get caught and thrown in prison.
brockeverly said:
If someone charges for something, and you find a way around being charged for it and use it free, how is that not stealing? Not worth the debate, all of you that don't see it will not see it. You probably think getting music from p2p is also not stealing, until you get caught and thrown in prison.
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I see where you are coming from, but I don't think you quite understand what is going on behind the scenes. It seems like the carriers are trying to see how much they can get away with, and letting them do so is the worst thing for consumers. We aren't getting something for free, we have already paid for it; the carrier is trying to charge you for the same thing twice. It is like buying tickets to a game or concert, then being told you have to pay an extra fee if you want to use your own binoculars. Or buying a nice meal but being given a plastic spork to eat it with, and being charged more if you want to use your own fork and knife.
Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA App
I have unlimited data from bring grandfatherrd in. unlimited means unlimited no matter how u look at it. and if they say otherwise then they better change the wording around.
Sent from my HTC Rezound using XDA premium.
what if your home cable or DSL broadband said that you could only use desktop computers with a physical connection, but charged you an extra $30 if you wanted to use a laptop over wifi? Its the same thing.. you are already paying for a certain allotment of data... Verizon has no right (in my opinion) to tell you on what devices you can use that data that you've paid for.
a.mcdear said:
what if your home cable or DSL broadband said that you could only use desktop computers with a physical connection, but charged you an extra $30 if you wanted to use a laptop over wifi? Its the same thing.. you are already paying for a certain allotment of data... Verizon has no right (in my opinion) to tell you on what devices you can use that data that you've paid for.
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I agree and don't agree. Mobile data should be that, for mobile devices. My problem is with those that use it to run their home networks.
I'm curious to see how verizon structures the shared data next year. Unless its unlimited or some ungodly amount (100gb), I'll keep my current plans.
nrfitchett4 said:
I agree and don't agree. Mobile data should be that, for mobile devices. My problem is with those that use it to run their home networks.
I'm curious to see how verizon structures the shared data next year. Unless its unlimited or some ungodly amount (100gb), I'll keep my current plans.
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What About The Mobile Data Cards They Wanna Sell For Laptops Or Home Computers?
Agreed
nrfitchett4 said:
I agree and don't agree. Mobile data should be that, for mobile devices. My problem is with those that use it to run their home networks.
I'm curious to see how verizon structures the shared data next year. Unless its unlimited or some ungodly amount (100gb), I'll keep my current plans.
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+1 On mobile data being for mobile devices.
I can see using wireless teether when you have other devices needing internet in a pinch.
On my HTC Incredible, I used wireless teether on very few occassions. Sometime we lost power here alot within the last year, and I turned on teether so the fiance could use her laptop to get work done (she work alot as a social worker).
Other times I have used teether while on the road and she needed to use the laptop on our 2 1/2 hour trips up north.
People that use teether to be their sole internet for all their pc's at home, to the point of dropping their actual broadband provider, I do not agree with.
A guy I work with uses the teether to provide internet now to 4 computersand 2 xbox360s in his house. Yikes.
This is my opinion only, I don't speak for others, and I don't hate. I'm aware when verizon now offers 4g unlimited hotspot, that people will say well it's unlimited and I will do with it what I want. I truly don't believe it is meant to replace Uverse, Comcast, etc, since that is what Verizon Fios is for.
I can only imagine the big stink that would happen if Verizon changed the small print for the 4g Unlimited Hotspot to say "Only to be used to supply internet for other mobile device ie laptops, tablets, etc and it is not meant to replace your actual Broadband Provider."
hey guys, I'm gonna be visiting France for a month (I'm from the usa) so what's I'm wondering is what I can do for phone/data over there? what options does someone visiting for a month have? I know the airport will sell you a $.01/KB dataplan, that'll rape you after 5 minutes of web browsing.. are there any real options available in France?
I'm just looking for a sim
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
soraxd said:
hey guys, I'm gonna be visiting France for a month (I'm from the usa) so what's I'm wondering is what I can do for phone/data over there? what options does someone visiting for a month have? I know the airport will sell you a $.01/KB dataplan, that'll rape you after 5 minutes of web browsing.. are there any real options available in France?
I'm just looking for a sim
Sent from my GT-I9100 using XDA App
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Of course! Look for O2 or Orange. I believe both offer pre-paid SIMs with 500MB of data for only about $13(USD or ~10€). There will be loads of pre-paid plans to choose from, although they might charge 10€ for the SIM. If 500MBs not enough, you can always top it up (recharge or reload your plan). You can get them in almost any kiosk in any commercial district anywhere. It probably won't be enough to tether, and Skype home with video everyday but it should be plenty to check email/FB/XDA. Hell, it might even be enough to Skype a few times per week. Basically, the $.01/KB is a joke...steer clear, but you won't have a problem finding a reasonable prepay when you get to a major city.
What's your normal monthly data consumption like?
sean is here. said:
Of course! Look for O2 or Orange. I believe both offer pre-paid SIMs with 500MB of data for only about $13(USD or ~10€). There will be loads of pre-paid plans to choose from, although they might charge 10€ for the SIM. If 500MBs not enough, you can always top it up (recharge or reload your plan). You can get them in almost any kiosk in any commercial district anywhere. It probably won't be enough to tether, and Skype home with video everyday but it should be plenty to check email/FB/XDA. Hell, it might even be enough to Skype a few times per week. Basically, the $.01/KB is a joke...steer clear, but you won't have a problem finding a reasonable prepay when you get to a major city.
What's your normal monthly data consumption like?
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thanks so much for the info
I want to be as minimal as possible on the trip, so I plan to only use data for Google maps, and maybe looking up hostels. I will do a little bit of phone calling, to a friend ill be staying with (very very little, only if we get separated), and probably no texting.
is there roaming in France?
soraxd said:
thanks so much for the info
I want to be as minimal as possible on the trip, so I plan to only use data for Google maps, and maybe looking up hostels. I will do a little bit of phone calling, to a friend ill be staying with (very very little, only if we get separated), and probably no texting.
is there roaming in France?
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Yes there is roamimg in france.
Just avoid Orange and SFR, as they just are real crooks.
Try this : http://www.free.fr/adsl/index.html
They just started yesterday as the third national provider, and they really are cheaper. Do not hesitate, go FREE.
soraxd said:
thanks so much for the info
I want to be as minimal as possible on the trip, so I plan to only use data for Google maps, and maybe looking up hostels. I will do a little bit of phone calling, to a friend ill be staying with (very very little, only if we get separated), and probably no texting.
is there roaming in France?
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No problem. There is roaming, but if you're staying in city centers it shouldn't be a problem. I have an SGS2 as well, just set it to not use data on the roam. If you buy an app called "GrooveIP" (I think it's like $3 or sth) you'll be able to make calls over your gVoice account via wifi or data, if you have one. I've been living in Germany for about 4 years (until a few months back, now I'm in the UK) and I still have a US landline so I can call mom in FL and sis in OR. You might also check for "What's App". It lets you send SMSs over the internet. So you'll be able to text back home for almost nothing.