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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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Click to collapse
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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Click to collapse
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.
When I got my GSII a week ago Sunday, the store rep assured me that my voice, data and messaging plans were all intact and good to go. I have the $5-200 messaging plan, since I don't use texting that often — 100 or so on a heavy month.
Today I was told that a cow-orker had sent me a text calling off work tonight. I didn't receive the message, so I tried sending him one, but didn't get a reply. I asked another person to send me a message, but with no result.
I went to the AT&T store, where they said for some unknown reason when my account was switched to the new phone, my messaging capabilities were killed outright. Because AT&T has decided that $20 unlimited messaging is the only true path to follow, the store reps have no option for re-adding my grandfathered plan. As it turns out, their overlords on the phone also aren't allowed to put it back.
They told me my options were to either go per-use or pay for the $20 plan. I told them their options were to give me back my old plan, credit my account for $360 (the $15 difference in plans for 24 months) or cancel my new contract so I can go to Verizon.
Another phone call later, the rep tells me that my problem has been moved up the chain and that some supreme overlord has to make the decision to reinstall my $5 plan. She said my plan should be restored on Thursday and that my per-use texts until then will be credited. It still sounds suspiciously like "<BLEEP> you and your crummy low-use texting."
Updates as they occur.
I told them their options were to give me back my old plan, credit my account for $360 (the $15 difference in plans for 24 months) or cancel my new contract so I can go to Verizon.
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Good for you, all three of these choices seem logical (not excessive) and for good reason. AT&T messed up, they need to make it right.
Or you could get free unlimited texting by using one of those free texting apps. I personally used Textfree and textPlus. I prefer textPlus much more because it actually notifies me when I receive a new message, unlike Textfree. It also looks better IMO. Of course all of these apps will use data, but it's neglectable since it uses so little.
Dr Triffid said:
When I got my GSII a week ago Sunday, the store rep assured me that my voice, data and messaging plans were all intact and good to go. I have the $5-200 messaging plan, since I don't use texting that often — 100 or so on a heavy month.
Today I was told that a cow-orker had sent me a text calling off work tonight. I didn't receive the message, so I tried sending him one, but didn't get a reply. I asked another person to send me a message, but with no result.
I went to the AT&T store, where they said for some unknown reason when my account was switched to the new phone, my messaging capabilities were killed outright. Because AT&T has decided that $20 unlimited messaging is the only true path to follow, the store reps have no option for re-adding my grandfathered plan. As it turns out, their overlords on the phone also aren't allowed to put it back.
They told me my options were to either go per-use or pay for the $20 plan. I told them their options were to give me back my old plan, credit my account for $360 (the $15 difference in plans for 24 months) or cancel my new contract so I can go to Verizon.
Another phone call later, the rep tells me that my problem has been moved up the chain and that some supreme overlord has to make the decision to reinstall my $5 plan. She said my plan should be restored on Thursday and that my per-use texts until then will be credited. It still sounds suspiciously like "<BLEEP> you and your crummy low-use texting."
Updates as they occur.
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Click to collapse
use google voice like me. I have unlimited texts now lol
Dude that's messed up-but at&t is notorious for doing stuff like that....
Sent from my Swagurious HTC Evo
Let us know how this resolves this is pretty bogus, but you are handling it a lot better then I would that is for sure.
I wonder if one can actually live w/o SMS plan at all? I mean you have google talk / email - covers the same... I noticed since on Android I tend to not use sms at all.
just a thought.
They did the same thing to me with my unlimited internet 3 months ago when i switched from my iphone 4 to the captivate while i was waiting for the Sgs2 to come out... Then 3 weeks ago they said i burned thru the 2gb a month plan they had put me in, in less than 2 days and also the extra 1gb they give you for 10 dollars... Im a very heavy user and i even tether and even in one year in one whole month i never got to 2gb... Finally when i said i wasnt dealing with that and i was going to cancel my account and head to sprint out of nowhere the "manager" can credit my account and put my unlimited plan that they took off 3 months ago
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
Antitribu said:
Let us know how this resolves this is pretty bogus, but you are handling it a lot better then I would that is for sure.
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I feel as though I have to be polite and controlled, otherwise my unlimited data plan will disappear.
It may indeed be time to consider a move to data-based SMS.
To be fair, it doesn't seem like it's AT&T's fault, but rather the retailer you got your phone from. Unless it was an AT&T retail store (Not an authorized retailer)..
But regardless, your suggestions are pretty logical, and aren't too hard to give from AT&T.
But I'm pretty sure you're going to get your plan back. They still have it available to higher-ups to add on.
Yes, it was an AT&T store. I tried Wally World once and it was a fiasco. I prefer to deal with the company directly because of situations just like this. I think the store rep called it a "core store" when she made her first call.
I must say that the in-store people have always been friendly and helpful to me.
Dr Triffid said:
When I got my GSII a week ago Sunday,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's what happened.. because AT&T wasn't ready to do all the switches. I learnt my lesson about 5 years ago... NEVER go get a phone on the day of release as AT&T and Partners have NOT gotten their "system" in "sync"
Example, if I was to "keep" my "grandfather" unlimited plan, I HAD to wait till their system is in sync. Why I didn't get my SGS2 phone till Monday. Because on Sunday, THAT OPTION wasn't available. And they didn't know if people wanted to keep the "grandfather" unlimited the only option on that Sunday was for the sale rep to CALL AT&T and make that change, because no one from AT&T told them that either.
I had exactly the same problem happen to me (except I bought my phone from Amazon Wireless). The first time I called they "fixed" the issue by putting me on the $20 unlimited plan. Later, my wife called back (she's the mean one in these situations) and my $5 plan was restored immediately.
Hopefully everything works out for you as well.
My 200/5 was removed as well. The way it was explained was that BestBuy (where I did the upgrade b/c they have SGS2 in stock), did not have the ability to process/retain the old plan. I did online chat with ATT and they re-add the plan in 10 min.
I noticed that in my online account now shows a $35 Smartphone plan with 200 messages. But, my current plan is still shown as $30 smartphone and $5 200 messages plan.
Good luck.
This happened to a buddy of mine. He's on a recent messaging feature so he didn't have the problem that you did.
I'm beginning to despise AT&T. Every time you turn around, they're trying to change your plan or not revert it back if its removed for some reason. They claim they'll honor your ability to keep features/plans, but jump through hoops trying to do the opposite.
I got my phone Friday from BB and confirmed with the guy I wanted to keep everything like it was. Well I sent text messages to two friends of mines about 30 mins after I got my phone. Didn't hear back. Talked to them today and they said they didn't get the messages. I tried ago and they still didn't get them. I had one of them text me and I didn't get it. I than text myself and didn't get that either.
I called AT&T and they said that the reason I couldn't get or send text messages was because when I got my phone Friday my text option was removed. She said she wasn't sure if I could get my 200 for $5.00 plan back. She checked into it and called me back and sent me a text and said everything was set. I sent a test text to one of my friends and she got it. I also received a text from another friend so it works. It didn't take days to get it back. It took less than 1/2 hour.
Dark Shogun
Problem resolved.
Thank you for your recent AT&T inquiry. Your issue, #xxxxxxxxxx, has been resolved. We apologize for any inconvenience this may have caused you.
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Messaging 200 was added to your account effective 10/02. You can also manage features online at blah, blah, blah ...
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I got a mailer today about consumer cellular. This looks like another alternative for a carrier. I ordered 2 sim cards today and will let you know.
The sims are free, and you can use unlocked gsm phones or previously used phones on att( not unlocked?), with no activation fees- (at least not yet). They charge $35 activation on the phones they sell.
This leads me to believe it uses ATT towers. There was no $$ required to order sims. This carrier is marketed to the senior members of the USA touting AARP discounts- but they are 3rd party discounters, not AARP. It's only 5%. You do have taxes added on just like any other carrier.
Here is what grabbed my interest. Minutes are from PAYG- 25 cents/min, or up to 2400 minutes for $60, or anywhere in between. I'll go for 300 minutes for $20. These minute buckets can be shared by a family plan for an extra $10/phone.
Here is the grabber. You can also get data, the max is 500mb for $30- this includes 5000 text and mms to be shared. They also have 100 text/mms and 10 mb data for $2.50, and others in between. This can also be shared by the family for no extra charges. For non heavy users, this is great. I have not used more than 300 mb, and that was a lot for me. I'm going to set this up with my daughter, who needs ATT service at school and lots of texts. She tried an lg thrive on our ATT plan for less than a day, and they zapped a $30 data plan on- I was really mad. We are both out of contract, so we can leave ATT and try this.
I checked the data service map, and it says 4glte, 3g, and 2g, so maybe we can get lte on this carrier?
This may work well for us. For $55, plus extra taxes that I'm not quite sure of, we can have minutes and a good hunk of data with 5000 text/mms.
Did I mention no contract??? And you can change your plans as many times as you want to get the lowest plan for your needs for the month. Or increase if the need increases to avoid overage charges. And CC will send you notices of your use. I'll let you know how it goes, at least for 1 month.
I am in no way asso with consumer cellular, I don't know anyone who uses them, and would like some feedback from someone who does! But this looks like a good way to cut our ATT bill and get another smartphone on board.
Update- If you are using your own phones, there is no activation charges. The sims are free, and you have 30 days or 30 minutes to try out the service. If you are a member of AARP, it goes 45 days or 45 minutes for evaluation. You can cancel with no charges if it doesn't work out. I have 2 sims on their way. I spoke to a CR, I can port our numbers if it works for us.
If messaging was not bundled with the data connect, it wouldn't pay for us to switch. That's a bonus that ATT makes you pay more for. (my daughter's texts are in the 1000's). ATT costs- Family messaging $30- data for 2 smartphones- $30+$30=$60- plus your minute talk plan on top. Varies with your plan.We'll just call ours $10+$10=$20.(family add ons).
If this is how CC says, a better option $ wise. I will let you guys know. NJ taxes are about 14%.
Here's a link to ranking of hidden state and federal taxes tacked onto your wireless bill
http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/27059.html
I think the important part is you're excited and have your needs, coverage and usage calculated.
I used CS more than 10 years ago with very satisfactory results. Tmo came up with a family plan and phones I wanted so I switched and have stayed every since.
So while I can't address the plans or coverage, I can at least to CS reliability.
here's the deal
First- all the CSR are native english speakers. No problem in communicating.
2nd. I got my sims. The clock on the 30 day eval starts when you place your order. I got 2 different answers to this question- so play it safe if you just want to get the free 30 days to see if it works. If you are a single and don't need alot of data, the rates are good- not any better if you take the 500mb plan over t-mo or straight talk. If you have 2 or more, than this will be economical, only because txt, mms, and data are in a shared bucket. This will run less than 2 separate plans on straight talk, about the same with 2 $30 tmo plans.
Voice works right away. I played with my iphone 3gs OS 5.0.1 and got data and mms working without any help from CSR. unlockit.co.nz via safari apn changer. I am waiting on an email from apple to unlock it. New this month.
UPDATE- Got my email from att/apple. All I had to do is a shift/restore to keep my jailbreak on 5.0.1 via my sn0wbreeze restore file. It restores, reloads, and when it reboots, I got a congratulations- your iphone is unlocked! Still on 5.0.1 with cydia and jailbreak.
I know- this is not android- but a great way to reuse/sell/pass down an unlocked jailbroken phone.
On my daughters thrive, I couldn't get data or mms working, go thru their set up, you put in the imei of your phone that is non-consumer cellular and the set up will say problem with data- please call. On her thrive- which was bought as a PAYG att phone, no problem- he flipped a switch, had me turn her phone on, and it was up and running. Any android OS less than ICS, there is an app called Tweakker in the market- it will reset your apn for mms to work. If you get the message from this program your settings were not changed, there is a problem, you have to call and get your data turned on.
Here's is the potential problem. On my Note, I called with the same expectations of them flipping the switch and turning on data. NOT SO. She said non consumer cellular phones were not supported. I said that I just got it working on the thrive. She said they sell the thrive, but I told her this was an att thrive, not CC. I was told the Note is not supported and I will not be able to use it with their carrier. WHAT???? So I asked about terminating the billing- even tho it's no contract, you will get billed every month after your service is completed. That's where your 30 day free eval comes in and you shouldn't have to pay that 1st bill if you cancel your service with them before those 30 days. The CSR was quite indignant when I asked about this. She said,"You'll cancel just because 1 phone won't work with data?" I told her I got this service specifically for this phone and if it doesn't work, then I can't use it. She was quite exasperated and said fine. I told her I will not cancel now, I just wanted to know the specifics of how to avoid paying that first bill and thanked her and hung up.
Took my sim out of my Note- and put it into a thrive from ATT- and changed my imei # in the account status. I called again, and had them get data working on the sim with the thrive. This CSR asked me if I knew about changing the settings to get mms working. (well, she had a clue!) I said yes I did and thank you very much. My thrive's 3g kicked in, and I said thanks again. This trick should work with any unlocked gsm or locked att phone that is not on their restricted list. Any Messaging phone should work- we know the Iphone and the Note won't work for this work around. I wonder how many more ATT added to their restricted list- since CC runs on their towers.
Took out the sim from the thrive, put it in my Note, and WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
I have 4G data flowing on my note!!!!
One of the CSR that got the first thrive going with data was perplexed -said the iphone should not work on their system. I told him I knew how to change the settings and got it to work. I had data, mms, and voice working.
So, If you know how to work the system, you can get the Note working with Consumer cellular. This might be a good work around till a reliable t-mo radio is released after the Note moves to tmobile. Only thing is you are limited to 500 mb of data. They don't sell more than that and will hit you with huge overage charges if you do go over so I wouldn't recommend streaming video and radio all the time. I never went over 300 mb with ATT with my data on all the time for email and occaisional web browsing, and an occ. tether session.
I hope I have answered some of the questions you might have had about this carrier Consumer Cellular. Again, the only reason I checked them out was ATT tacked on a $30 data plan when my daughter tried out the thrive for 1 day. I was not too happy. Between just the 2 of us, this $30+$30 for data alone covers the cost of the highest bill we would get from CC cause the data, text, and minutes are shared. That's for 300 min., 5000 text/mms, and 500 mb data.
Works out to about $57. with the 14% extras here in NJ. Still better than with ATT when you start adding smartphone data. It may be better this summer when ATT adds family shared data buckets. There is no price structure out on that yet.
sashusmom said:
I got a mailer today about consumer cellular. This looks like another alternative for a carrier. I ordered 2 sim cards today and will let you know.
The sims are free, and you can use unlocked gsm phones or previously used phones on att( not unlocked?), with no activation fees- (at least not yet). They charge $35 activation on the phones they sell.
This leads me to believe it uses ATT towers. There was no $$ required to order sims. This carrier is marketed to the senior members of the USA touting AARP discounts- but they are 3rd party discounters, not AARP. It's only 5%. You do have taxes added on just like any other carrier.
Here is what grabbed my interest. Minutes are from PAYG- 25 cents/min, or up to 2400 minutes for $60, or anywhere in between. I'll go for 300 minutes for $20. These minute buckets can be shared by a family plan for an extra $10/phone.
Here is the grabber. You can also get data, the max is 500mb for $30- this includes 5000 text and mms to be shared. They also have 100 text/mms and 10 mb data for $2.50, and others in between. This can also be shared by the family for no extra charges. For non heavy users, this is great. I have not used more than 300 mb, and that was a lot for me. I'm going to set this up with my daughter, who needs ATT service at school and lots of texts. She tried an lg thrive on our ATT plan for less than a day, and they zapped a $30 data plan on- I was really mad. We are both out of contract, so we can leave ATT and try this.
I checked the data service map, and it says 4glte, 3g, and 2g, so maybe we can get lte on this carrier?
This may work well for us. For $55, plus extra taxes that I'm not quite sure of, we can have minutes and a good hunk of data with 5000 text/mms.
Did I mention no contract??? And you can change your plans as many times as you want to get the lowest plan for your needs for the month. Or increase if the need increases to avoid overage charges. And CC will send you notices of your use. I'll let you know how it goes, at least for 1 month.
I am in no way asso with consumer cellular, I don't know anyone who uses them, and would like some feedback from someone who does! But this looks like a good way to cut our ATT bill and get another smartphone on board.
Update- If you are using your own phones, there is no activation charges. The sims are free, and you have 30 days or 30 minutes to try out the service. If you are a member of AARP, it goes 45 days or 45 minutes for evaluation. You can cancel with no charges if it doesn't work out. I have 2 sims on their way. I spoke to a CR, I can port our numbers if it works for us.
If messaging was not bundled with the data connect, it wouldn't pay for us to switch. That's a bonus that ATT makes you pay more for. (my daughter's texts are in the 1000's). ATT costs- Family messaging $30- data for 2 smartphones- $30+$30=$60- plus your minute talk plan on top. Varies with your plan.We'll just call ours $10+$10=$20.(family add ons).
If this is how CC says, a better option $ wise. I will let you guys know. NJ taxes are about 14%.
Here's a link to ranking of hidden state and federal taxes tacked onto your wireless bill
http://www.taxfoundation.org/research/show/27059.html
First- all the CSR are native english speakers. No problem in communicating.
2nd. I got my sims. The clock on the 30 day eval starts when you place your order. I got 2 different answers to this question- so play it safe if you just want to get the free 30 days to see if it works. If you are a single and don't need alot of data, the rates are good- not any better if you take the 500mb plan over t-mo or straight talk. If you have 2 or more, than this will be economical, only because txt, mms, and data are in a shared bucket. This will run less than 2 separate plans on straight talk, about the same with 2 $30 tmo plans.
Voice works right away. I played with my iphone 3gs OS 5.0.1 and got data and mms working without any help from CSR. unlockit.co.nz via safari apn changer. I am waiting on an email from apple to unlock it. New this month.
UPDATE- Got my email from att/apple. All I had to do is a shift/restore to keep my jailbreak on 5.0.1 via my sn0wbreeze restore file. It restores, reloads, and when it reboots, I got a congratulations- your iphone is unlocked! Still on 5.0.1 with cydia and jailbreak.
I know- this is not android- but a great way to reuse/sell/pass down an unlocked jailbroken phone.
On my daughters thrive, I couldn't get data or mms working, go thru their set up, you put in the imei of your phone that is non-consumer cellular and the set up will say problem with data- please call. On her thrive- which was bought as a PAYG att phone, no problem- he flipped a switch, had me turn her phone on, and it was up and running. Any android OS less than ICS, there is an app called Tweakker in the market- it will reset your apn for mms to work. If you get the message from this program your settings were not changed, there is a problem, you have to call and get your data turned on.
Here's is the potential problem. On my Note, I called with the same expectations of them flipping the switch and turning on data. NOT SO. She said non consumer cellular phones were not supported. I said that I just got it working on the thrive. She said they sell the thrive, but I told her this was an att thrive, not CC. I was told the Note is not supported and I will not be able to use it with their carrier. WHAT???? So I asked about terminating the billing- even tho it's no contract, you will get billed every month after your service is completed. That's where your 30 day free eval comes in and you shouldn't have to pay that 1st bill if you cancel your service with them before those 30 days. The CSR was quite indignant when I asked about this. She said,"You'll cancel just because 1 phone won't work with data?" I told her I got this service specifically for this phone and if it doesn't work, then I can't use it. She was quite exasperated and said fine. I told her I will not cancel now, I just wanted to know the specifics of how to avoid paying that first bill and thanked her and hung up.
Took my sim out of my Note- and put it into a thrive from ATT- and changed my imei # in the account status. I called again, and had them get data working on the sim with the thrive. This CSR asked me if I knew about changing the settings to get mms working. (well, she had a clue!) I said yes I did and thank you very much. My thrive's 3g kicked in, and I said thanks again. This trick should work with any unlocked gsm or locked att phone that is not on their restricted list. Any Messaging phone should work- we know the Iphone and the Note won't work for this work around. I wonder how many more ATT added to their restricted list- since CC runs on their towers.
Took out the sim from the thrive, put it in my Note, and WHAT DO YOU KNOW?
I have 4G data flowing on my note!!!!
One of the CSR that got the first thrive going with data was perplexed -said the iphone should not work on their system. I told him I knew how to change the settings and got it to work. I had data, mms, and voice working.
So, If you know how to work the system, you can get the Note working with Consumer cellular. This might be a good work around till a reliable t-mo radio is released after the Note moves to tmobile. Only thing is you are limited to 500 mb of data. They don't sell more than that and will hit you with huge overage charges if you do go over so I wouldn't recommend streaming video and radio all the time. I never went over 300 mb with ATT with my data on all the time for email and occaisional web browsing, and an occ. tether session.
I hope I have answered some of the questions you might have had about this carrier Consumer Cellular. Again, the only reason I checked them out was ATT tacked on a $30 data plan when my daughter tried out the thrive for 1 day. I was not too happy. Between just the 2 of us, this $30+$30 for data alone covers the cost of the highest bill we would get from CC cause the data, text, and minutes are shared. That's for 300 min., 5000 text/mms, and 500 mb data.
Works out to about $57. with the 14% extras here in NJ. Still better than with ATT when you start adding smartphone data. It may be better this summer when ATT adds family shared data buckets. There is no price structure out on that yet.
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HOLY DISSERTATION!...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA
tyler79durdan said:
HOLY DISSERTATION!...
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using XDA
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LOL.....I try to be thorough if I put it out here. And only 1 response, so I kept adding on!!!!!! Only way I can give back Batman! Thanks for reading the WHOLE thing. HaHa
This experiment works OK. I have a small problem with speed tests. Out of 4 tests, every DL speed was .01 mbps with decent uploads of 1-2.19
Tim suggested I try a different radio, but not sure which one, or how to get back to this one- I have the original att stock radio file from GB, but not the ICS one.
So I bit and ported out of my (off-contract) nearly 12yr+ VerizonWireless service a few days ago and went for this phone and Sprint's unlimitted data, ect... on a 3 line plan which included a base LGE Android Rezound for my girlfriend & was also talked into their "Home Connect" box since I already had long ago dropped my home line since Verizon's coverage was superb in my home and I don't make enough calls outside of the network to bother with a home phone.
Here I am, All modded up running [ROM] Sep-13 MeanROM ICS v4.2 | 2.13.651.1 | Mods | Batt saver and a happy camper with my EVO other than:
-I only get about 1 bar in my house if any and numerous dropped calls.
-My Phone is stuck on "Roaming" even in a top/solid GREEN area on the Verizon coverage map where I work.
-The "Home Connect" is being shipped to me and won't arrive until Monday (This isn't a problem in itself). I just expect to have the same ****ty service with it as my home phone since I'm told it still uses the Sprint towers. (Note: My home is on the frings of good/fair regarding my address and Sprint's Coverage map which has been ruthlessly pointed out to me by the Sprint support techs I've talked to as of late)... Thus their excuse as to maybe I should just switch to another provider. (Insert another sarcasm smiley ---> )
So my first discussion with a Sprint Agent via *2 yesterday sounded promising. Immediately she recgonized and sympathized with my problem at home and mentioned/recommended a "Free" AirAve box system to plug into my highspeed cable wifi in order to boost my signal. She also had me try a "Profile" update just for kicks which did absolutely nothing. This agent felt like I was a strong candidate for one of these boxes and advised that it would likely be approved free of charge in order to retain me as a new customer.
Today, A whole new story. I first get a call back from that former agent that was working on the approval for the AirAve. She felt again, after I reported having several dropped calls today, one while we were attempting to converse, that I would get one of these shipped out. I told her about my concerns of the 14-day trial I was in and wanted to assure I would get and know if this device would benefit me before that was up and I would have no recourse then on getting a refund and out of my 2yr contract. She assured me she was working on getting it approved with her supervisor as we spoke and was just about to read me a confirmation number of some sorts when (*BINGO*) my call dropped yet again.
So back I go on the phone dialing *2 and going through all the bs steps to connect with yet another agent (you never get the same one, nor do they have the ability to connect you to that other one even when you give them their name...) This agent takes a new turn with me after I go through my dilema. I am told absolutely no free AirAve until I am with Sprint for 90 days. I tell her I can't accept this as I'm not going to chance waiting out my 14day return window in hopes to months later find out if I can actually have phone conversations whilst at home. She puts me on hold to connect to her supervisor to discuss but (*BOING*), yet another dropped call.
I call back several more times and speak to several different agents while not as harsh as the last, inform me that their normal policy is 90 days to qualify for an AirAve assist device BUT that their supervisors can sometimes over-ride this depending on the conditions. So things are left at their records indicating that the original Agent from yesterday whom is in my corner in trying to get me the AirAve has submitted for supervisor approval, however, they won't be making that decision until a weekday (Monday) at the earliest.
-----------------------------
So here I am pondering what to do.
-Keep having faith and patience with this run-around in hopes that this AirAve will solve my problems even if I do qualify to get one.
-Start shopping other providers: AT&T or back to Verizon which I don't really want to do. :crying:
Anyone have opinions on this or a similar experience?
Sprint is great but do not put yourself in a service crunch. The 14 days are there for you to review this. I suggest trying, T-Mobile & *cringe* AT&T before crawling back to Verizon.
Whatever carrier, just make sure you have reliable coverage where you frequent.
The cost will be restocking fees, .vs getting locked in a 2 year agreement you're unhappy with.
Sent from my EVO using xda premium
Did you have LTE coverage with Verizon at your house?? I'd be tempted to go back even if their data plans are getting ridiculous. AT&T basically just announced an almost identical sharing plan as Verizon so I guess the lessor of the 2 evils will depend on 4g coverage. At least AT&T has the HTC One so you can get close to the same phone as the EVO LTE. It really does suck being on fringe coverage and you definitely don't want to get locked in to 2 years.
cruise350 said:
Did you have LTE coverage with Verizon at your house?? I'd be tempted to go back even if their data plans are getting ridiculous. AT&T basically just announced an almost identical sharing plan as Verizon so I guess the lessor of the 2 evils will depend on 4g coverage. At least AT&T has the HTC One so you can get close to the same phone as the EVO LTE. It really does suck being on fringe coverage and you definitely don't want to get locked in to 2 years.
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Yep, I believe Verizon did/does have the LTE coverage at my house if you mean the 4G. I had the Droid X so never benefited by that though. I'm really at a toss as to what to do. I never chewed through that much data even when on Verizon, it was just the fact of them screwing us former subscribers updating to the Non-Unlimited along with the "New every 2 perks" ending up being a $30 off but +$30 upgrade fee and **** like that had me burned. I even had my Ford motor company 20% discount with Verizon. Wonder if I could even get back to where I was with that if I went back. :crying: Sprint was going to be giving me a 23% discount.'
Had my eye on that damn Droid Razr Maxx to, damnit!!! Actually, the girlfriend doesn't really even need a smartphone, just something to text with and I could do without a home phone since with Verizon my coverage was good.
Oh, what to do..... I'm still erked about having to leave Spring behind. Especially the EVO :crying:
Sprint provided us with an Airave because after 7+ years, all of a sudden we were getting poor signal strength at our house. My EVO didn't seem to be affected but my wife's flip phone was dropping calls so often it was pointless to use. Really just wanted to let you know that the Airave does work well (at least in our case) always 4+ bars and no more dropped calls. Doesn't do anything for data transfer though.
Hope you can get yours free, we did but have been with Sprint for 10+ years.
Good Luck!
Welcome to sprint..I have spent countless hours of non pleasure dealing with them on the phone.
Tip #1. Get it in writing...they hardly ever follow thru... I record our conversations and tell them up front that I am..2 out of 3 agents hang up ( accidental disconnect) as soon as I tell them
Sent from my EVO using Tapatalk 2
Sprint Airave
I was having horrible signal and dropped calls in my house for almost 18 months. I wasn't aware of the airave and was close to cancelling my contract. After finally taking on the issue (which was prolonged via work, kids, etc) I came across information on the airave. I called sprint and gave them the old sob story on service and how disappointed I was. The supervisor spoke with me about my issue and explained the airave further. 10 minutes later I had an airave shipped out to me for free and no service charge (4.99/m). It absolutely makes a difference. I went from having like 0-1 bars and dropping calls to 5-6 bars instantly. Call quality is great and data moves like it should (I got the 3g airave that does voice and data)...it's absolutely worth it. Keep on pressing them...you should be able to qualify and get the device with service for free..Good Luck
cheeb said:
I was having horrible signal and dropped calls in my house for almost 18 months. I wasn't aware of the airave and was close to cancelling my contract. After finally taking on the issue (which was prolonged via work, kids, etc) I came across information on the airave. I called sprint and gave them the old sob story on service and how disappointed I was. The supervisor spoke with me about my issue and explained the airave further. 10 minutes later I had an airave shipped out to me for free and no service charge (4.99/m). It absolutely makes a difference. I went from having like 0-1 bars and dropping calls to 5-6 bars instantly. Call quality is great and data moves like it should (I got the 3g airave that does voice and data)...it's absolutely worth it. Keep on pressing them...you should be able to qualify and get the device with service for free..Good Luck
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Thanks for your post. It gives me some hope, althought admittedly I'm currently on hold with the Verizon Winback Dept to check out my options in coming back to their service. The last thing I wanted to do but unfortunately Sprint CS has drivin me away and hard with last night's described communications as per the OP. I'll keep you all dated.
If your service is that bad and the Airave does not help out any(which if on fringe of signal it might b/c its able to pull more power to get signal as its not worried about battery life we are with cell phones...amongst other differences)....
If that doesn't help out and you can't get through the current time with it, then you might be best off switching to anyone else at least till Sprint makes it's NetworkVision upgrades in your area....After they are done you very well might see a signal increase as the upgrades will make some big changes to the markets overall...Sprint is set to have these completed by end of 2013, and you market isn't one of the early ones I dont think....thats why I suggest switch till then if the airave doesn't help...
sgt. slaughter said:
If your service is that bad and the Airave does not help out any(which if on fringe of signal it might b/c its able to pull more power to get signal as its not worried about battery life we are with cell phones...amongst other differences)....
If that doesn't help out and you can't get through the current time with it, then you might be best off switching to anyone else at least till Sprint makes it's NetworkVision upgrades in your area....After they are done you very well might see a signal increase as the upgrades will make some big changes to the markets overall...Sprint is set to have these completed by end of 2013, and you market isn't one of the early ones I dont think....thats why I suggest switch till then if the airave doesn't help...
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Oh, I agree 100%. My real problem seems to be even having the chance at obtaining the Airave device at this point and I'm not willing to wait out the 90days I'm being told in order to acquire it on the whim it may or may not work if that is their stance I am prepared to go back to Verizon I guess the way it looks at this point. I will know by the end of tmrw on my decision and based on whether Sprint gets back in touch with me with a final answer and/or Verizon "Win Back" dept. gives me satisifaction and reason to come back. Their "limited" data pisses me off though. That is my biggest drawback, however, having non-limited data with Sprint as per how my service is now is useless. And no, I'm not looking or expecting to have the data necessarily at home as I have a strong Time Warner Cable Internet connection with Wi-Fi for that and also Comcast business for Wi-Fi at work, it's the situations like when streaming music whilst driving and/or out and about with no Wi-Fit/hotspots and wanting to watch Netflix, ect... where the "Un-limited" becomes viable to me.
This thing has totally consumed my time the past few days and my nerves are so shot. Why Sprint, Oh why..... Please treat the customer better and not give multiple conflicting answers between your agents that are misleading.
Just an update. I've called Verizon and had much better luck with their "Winback" department. Activation fees waived and all, even got my previous company discount re-enstated Phone on the way so a fair goodbye to Sprint, they had there chance and blew it. Never could cooperate between the reps in authorizing me an Airave device so I'm going with the coverage I know that works for me.
Farewell and thanks for the help! :angel:
word to the wise
lazer9 said:
Just an update. I've called Verizon and had much better luck with their "Winback" department. Activation fees waived and all, even got my previous company discount re-enstated Phone on the way so a fair goodbye to Sprint, they had there chance and blew it. Never could cooperate between the reps in authorizing me an Airave device so I'm going with the coverage I know that works for me.
Farewell and thanks for the help! :angel:
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The Sprint 14 day return policy is really a 13 day, plus the remainder of the day you activated policy..
If you you activated on a tuesday you have a week from monday to return the phones.
redwings23 said:
The Sprint 14 day return policy is really a 13 day, plus the remainder of the day you activated policy..
If you you activated on a tuesday you have a week from monday to return the phones.
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Thanks, Signed on with Sprint on 9/12/12 (Last Wednesday). Verizon Phones due either tomorrow or Thursday so I should have plenty of time. I plan on wrapping this up this week.
Read down below :d
---------- Post added at 05:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:14 PM ----------
lazer9 said:
Anyone have opinions on this or a similar experience?
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Just a heads up, if you decide not to stay with Sprint. And go with any other carrier. Not that you might have the same problem with other networks. And note that if you go with AT&T, they no longer carry Unlimited Data. From experience 4+ years...If you had Unlimited Data with AT&T and you use more then 3GB they will Slow down your Data Speed. I know this because I was a victim and got notitied by text messages.
That is one of the reason I canceled and came to Sprint.
I recently moved to a new home about two weeks now and noticed that when I had At&t. I could not get a signal for shut while I was indoors with the iPhone 4 I had. Now being a proud owner of a EVO I can use the phone indoors but to tell you the truth I am having issues with Internet. If I go upstairs or chilling in the living downstairs I can get decent Network speed to surf the web. At least its better then the no Data with the iPhone. Its weird cause my girl has the iPhone 4S with At&t. (she stayed with them cause she just upgraded to the iPhone 4S) She can not use the phone downstairs but can rock it upstairs with no problem. Internet and all..Well as we tested only in our room. Don't know about the other rooms. But yea she still needs to go out side to use her phone when making calls or surfing facebook when down stairs. So my point is, either check your other resource before pushing out on Sprint. Btw, at work I wasn't able to use my iPhone with ATT due to service. But now I can go all the way with this Sprint EVO at work. That's how I'm writing to you. Lol... Well even though I'm having Internet problems at my Casa, Im not that concern cause I will be getting WiFi soon from Comcast. Also check this link out:
http://now.sprint.com/airave/?INTCID=TSC:MyS:ICP:IHCC:062512
You can check your self if your location qualify. Click on CHECK COVERAGE AREA. Then call them here
1-855-752-2066
TAKE THE BLUE PiLL THE STORY ENDS, YOU WAKE UP IN YOUR BED AND CONTINUE ON WITH YOUR BORING LiFE. TAKE RED PiLL, YOU STAY IN WONDERLAND & I SHOW YOU HOW DEEP THE RABBiT HOLE GOES.
SENT FROM EVO - THE MATRIX
dreammaker23 said:
Just a heads up, if you decide not to stay with Sprint. And go with any other carrier. Not that you might have the same problem with other networks. And note that if you go with AT&T, they no longer carry Unlimited Data. From experience 4+ years...If you had Unlimited Data with AT&T and you use more then 3GB they will Slow down your Data Speed. I know this because I was a victim and got notitied by text messages.
That is one of the reason I canceled and came to Sprint.
I recently moved to a new home about two weeks now and noticed that when I had At&t. I could not get a signal for shut while I was indoors with the iPhone 4 I had. Now being a proud owner of a EVO I can use the phone indoors but to tell you the truth I am having issues with Internet. If I go upstairs or chilling in the living downstairs I can get decent Network speed to surf the web. At least its better then the no Data with the iPhone. Its weird cause my girl has the iPhone 4S with At&t. (she stayed with them cause she just upgraded to the iPhone 4S) She can not use the phone downstairs but can rock it upstairs with no problem. Internet and all..Well as we tested only in our room. Don't know about the other rooms. But yea she still needs to go out side to use her phone when making calls or surfing facebook when down stairs. So my point is, either check your other resource before pushing out on Sprint. Btw, at work I wasn't able to use my iPhone with ATT due to service. But now I can go all the way with this Sprint EVO at work. That's how I'm writing to you. Lol... Well even though I'm having Internet problems at my Casa, Im not that concern cause I will be getting WiFi soon from Comcast. Also check this link out:
http://now.sprint.com/airave/?INTCID=TSC:MyS:ICP:IHCC:062512
You can check your self if your location qualify. Click on CHECK COVERAGE AREA. Then call them here
1-855-752-2066
TAKE THE BLUE PiLL THE STORY ENDS, YOU WAKE UP IN YOUR BED AND CONTINUE ON WITH YOUR BORING LiFE. TAKE RED PiLL, YOU STAY IN WONDERLAND & I SHOW YOU HOW DEEP THE RABBiT HOLE GOES.
SENT FROM EVO - THE MATRIX
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Click to collapse
Thanks for the reply and concerns along with the suggestions and help. Much more than SPRINT CS offered me other than the one lady whom disappeared into the wind...
I already have re-committed to Verizon. And I'm rather stoked and happy as they have waived the activation fees on the two lines and also upon me receiving an email from their winback dept after the fact, have granted me another $50 discount to be applied on my first bill for the purchase of my DROID RAZR MAXX of $199 so -$50 net cost will be $149 and my girlfriends phone will net out free after the $50 rebate.
I know I get great coverage with Verizon and will now even benefit from their LTE/4G expansion in my areas which SPRINT doesn't yet offer not is on their road map.
The Verizon winback rep even went over my previous account over the years and the max data usage I ever had (1-line though was just on a data plan then) was 2GB and my base plan includes Unlimited calling to anyone landline or cell / Unlimited Text to anyone / and 4GB Data which I can always upgrade/downgrade to an extra 2GB per month for $15
All in all I'm getting what I would have got with SPRINT regarding the price end of things. Aprox $160 a month plus the benefits I've stated above.
Again, SPRINT could have kept me IF they would have been more understanding and open with getting me an AIRAVE device and better explaining what roaming really meant on my plan. The store kiosk manager claimed I would incur absolutely no roaming charges ever no matter what and the last CS rep I spoke with at SPRINT claimed I would incur a .41 cent per minute charge beyond 800 min. per month roaming.
I'm roaming at work and roaming with very little signal at home. On their coverage map ironically, my work area shows in one of their Excellent/Good areas whilst my home shows Good/Fair.
Nothing makes sense with them. I have no idea why all this went south so quick but glad it did as it gave me the opportunity to return to a known reliable provider with good coverage and some extra perks/incentives for coming back. :highfive:
lazer9 said:
Thanks for the reply and concerns along with the suggestions and help. Much more than SPRINT CS offered me other than the one lady whom disappeared into the wind...
Nothing makes sense with them. I have no idea why all this went south so quick but glad it did as it gave me the opportunity to return to a known reliable provider with good coverage and some extra perks/incentives for coming back. :highfive:
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Aight bud..Good it worked out for you!
Enjoy your New toy... Peace!
BTW: Enjoy this video..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L7flsHhQxY&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Hodge Twins are Hella Funny!
TAKE THE BLUE PiLL THE STORY ENDS, YOU WAKE UP IN YOUR BED AND CONTINUE ON WITH YOUR BORING LiFE. TAKE RED PiLL, YOU STAY IN WONDERLAND & I SHOW YOU HOW DEEP THE RABBiT HOLE GOES.
SENT FROM EVO - THE MATRIX
dreammaker23 said:
Aight bud..Good it worked out for you!
Enjoy your New toy... Peace!
BTW: Enjoy this video..
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L7flsHhQxY&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Hodge Twins are Hella Funny!
TAKE THE BLUE PiLL THE STORY ENDS, YOU WAKE UP IN YOUR BED AND CONTINUE ON WITH YOUR BORING LiFE. TAKE RED PiLL, YOU STAY IN WONDERLAND & I SHOW YOU HOW DEEP THE RABBiT HOLE GOES.
SENT FROM EVO - THE MATRIX
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Lol That video was nutz. I couldn't even watch the end. :laugh:
My phone was flashed to Verizon prepaid since November of last year and everything(3g mobile data, text, MMS) and all of a sudden today I got a data call failure error message 89 and the mobile data is not working all of a sudden and my phone can only make calls and text while roaming. Is there something I can do to fix this?
Verizon Wireless send new A-Key and AAA Password to combat flashing
So you know im in a wireless family.
I work at T-Mobile Corporate in Redmond, And my brother in New Jersey at verizon.
I personally use an optimus G SPRINT on Verizon Prepaid, Not that I dont like the T-Mobile speed, But lets be honest coverage sucks.
So the 1.5 to 2.5 MBPS nationwide I get on verizon is better. OK Back on point.
So my brother tells me Verizon is actively trying to combat the MIFI flashed to verizon prepaid, On mulitple fronts.
They have contacted ebay, and ebay sellers have been suspended.
And here is the one that sucks for all of us that use verizon prepaid.... They renew and send a new AAA Key every 4 to 7 days.....
And may also resend or renew the A-Key.
What that means for you if you are a verizon prepaid user and have a flashed phone but not the donor...... You sadly are screwed.
But I'm going to give you an easy fix, I have had to do it now twice.
You can also use QPST build 355 works for me, and copy all the data from the gusto to the other device.
Sadly my brother said they are not doing this targeting phone users, Verizon is not stupid they know people flash phones.
But they are targeting JETPACK and MIFI users.
He says in recent weeks they have seen Prepaid accounts that are using over 80GB of data a month on these supposed GUSTO's
So naturally verizon is now cracking down, This is similar to what Sprint and Boost Mobile did with ERROR 16.
Just giving you a heads up, And to flashers who flash the MiFi devices, Verizon is actively searching Craigslist and eBay, One eBay seller is now being sued by verizon and they found him on Craigslist in Salem, Oregon.
Just be careful, I use about 15GB a month on my Optimus and dont have any issues, Beyond having to reflash the info using the guide above once a week or so.
I also have seen less AAA resets when I keep the ROM Stock, And more resets and having to reflash when I got to a custom rom.
Hope this helps.
Yeah, it's a pain in the ass for sure...I have, let's say, X Amount of flashed phones around the country...and have been racking my brain trying to make sense out of it...and there's definitely theories all over the place but as this gentleman has described, the phones losing 3g is just collateral damage. I will say that less than 20% of my phones seem to be affected...I have found certain areas to be more troublesome than others, but if flashed correctly the data use doesn't even show up on Verizons side...but that's a different discussion all together. I've seen phones that had to have the data reprogrammed only once about 2 months ago & have not been bothered since, some that have only lasted a few hours each time it was done...it's completely up to Verizon at this point - I think they're rolling the keys based off tower output more than on a schedule though...if a particular tower seems to be sucking up a lot of data (because they can see it from an infastructure level) then they roll the keys on everything connected to that tower. I'm sure they're doing it on some sort of schedule as well, but the truth is, out of all of the devices that I have access to and have been logging behavior on, there is no real pattern at this point.
I honestly don't think they'll keep it up though after they find the heavy duty data abusers. Fiscally it will hurt them badly. As an example, in the past month I've moved about 30 customers from VZPP to an alternate carrier...I'm certain it's a safe assumption that I'm probably one of 10,000 (at least) in the US that do this type of thing on the same scale. If each of us move 30 accounts per month, that's 1.5 million per month in lost revenue per month that they're going to sustain just based off my estimate. That's not counting the 5 here, 5 there, couple over there, etc that are DIYers, etc. I'm guessing my estimate is probably very low...but for the sake of argument it's 1.5 Million in revenue a month that they don't have to advertise for, they don't have to provide tech support for, no customer service, no out of pocket cost except maintenance that they already do anyway. The network is still super fast & reliable, so they're nowhere near capacity obviously, so the beancounters at some point are going to have to evaluate which is the lesser of the two evils and I think the key rolling is going to be the greater. If my estimate is correct, that's 18 million per year in recurring revenue that they get on a total "no sweat" deal - I don't care how big a company is, you can't afford that loss.
It's also a safe assumption that they don't care much about the phones...I know, with my own infastructure knowledge, that given a month with their internal network and I could easily identify 80% or more of the flashed phones operating on it and remove them...considering they have a huge team of IT people and endless resources if they wanted them gone, they would be gone.
I honestly believe that this will eventually blow over as long as the flagrant abusers aren't shoving it in their faces and neener neener neenering them to death with the MiFi's which I've even seen for sale "No Bill" style on Amazon...
and people wonder why it's getting harder & harder to get answers, guides, etc from people that frontline this type of thing....hell I've seen laptops for sale on eBay with downloaded software & guides from this very site as well as others on how to flash "Item X" in a complete do it yourself bundle...then people that selfishly made a couple hundred bucks doing it cry because their stuff don't work anymore.
I figured out a couple of alternate ways to combat it very quickly, and some other solutions to keep people in the unlimited plans cheap but am afraid if I share it openly then it's just going to go viral and cause the same problems again...it wouldn't upset me at all if there were a more advanced "pay section" of this site for the serious people to share with each other & keep this type of thing under control. Just a thought.
androidjunkie71 said:
Yeah, it's a pain in the ass for sure...I have, let's say, X Amount of flashed phones around the country...and have been racking my brain trying to make sense out of it...and there's definitely theories all over the place but as this gentleman has described, the phones losing 3g is just collateral damage. I will say that less than 20% of my phones seem to be affected...I have found certain areas to be more troublesome than others, but if flashed correctly the data use doesn't even show up on Verizons side...but that's a different discussion all together. I've seen phones that had to have the data reprogrammed only once about 2 months ago & have not been bothered since, some that have only lasted a few hours each time it was done...it's completely up to Verizon at this point - I think they're rolling the keys based off tower output more than on a schedule though...if a particular tower seems to be sucking up a lot of data (because they can see it from an infastructure level) then they roll the keys on everything connected to that tower. I'm sure they're doing it on some sort of schedule as well, but the truth is, out of all of the devices that I have access to and have been logging behavior on, there is no real pattern at this point.
I honestly don't think they'll keep it up though after they find the heavy duty data abusers. Fiscally it will hurt them badly. As an example, in the past month I've moved about 30 customers from VZPP to an alternate carrier...I'm certain it's a safe assumption that I'm probably one of 10,000 (at least) in the US that do this type of thing on the same scale. If each of us move 30 accounts per month, that's 1.5 million per month in lost revenue per month that they're going to sustain just based off my estimate. That's not counting the 5 here, 5 there, couple over there, etc that are DIYers, etc. I'm guessing my estimate is probably very low...but for the sake of argument it's 1.5 Million in revenue a month that they don't have to advertise for, they don't have to provide tech support for, no customer service, no out of pocket cost except maintenance that they already do anyway. The network is still super fast & reliable, so they're nowhere near capacity obviously, so the beancounters at some point are going to have to evaluate which is the lesser of the two evils and I think the key rolling is going to be the greater. If my estimate is correct, that's 18 million per year in recurring revenue that they get on a total "no sweat" deal - I don't care how big a company is, you can't afford that loss.
It's also a safe assumption that they don't care much about the phones...I know, with my own infastructure knowledge, that given a month with their internal network and I could easily identify 80% or more of the flashed phones operating on it and remove them...considering they have a huge team of IT people and endless resources if they wanted them gone, they would be gone.
I honestly believe that this will eventually blow over as long as the flagrant abusers aren't shoving it in their faces and neener neener neenering them to death with the MiFi's which I've even seen for sale "No Bill" style on Amazon...
and people wonder why it's getting harder & harder to get answers, guides, etc from people that frontline this type of thing....hell I've seen laptops for sale on eBay with downloaded software & guides from this very site as well as others on how to flash "Item X" in a complete do it yourself bundle...then people that selfishly made a couple hundred bucks doing it cry because their stuff don't work anymore.
I figured out a couple of alternate ways to combat it very quickly, and some other solutions to keep people in the unlimited plans cheap but am afraid if I share it openly then it's just going to go viral and cause the same problems again...it wouldn't upset me at all if there were a more advanced "pay section" of this site for the serious people to share with each other & keep this type of thing under control. Just a thought.
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Click to collapse
And your whole point is? This poor individual is trying to find some help and apparently he is not getting anything. Instead you should write a guide on how to extract more data from the Gusto in order to receive the new keys properly. It has happened to me before but speed increased after unlocking the phone. I was on the 35/plan before and it gave me the same error, it lasts for about 2 days and then error 89 shows up, sometimes a day, that was before. I'm unsure why they keep doing this and why isn't the flashed phone getting the new key automatically like the Gusto 2. There must be a way to make this work.
I'm still trying to figure out why Verizon is cracking down on flashed phones when that's clearly more customers.
Sent from my EVO using xda app-developers app
Sprint code
I gota the error 16 code when I obtained s-off. Everything worked but text an call it took me to sprint. I just told the lady I did a hard reset to clear all my data. She said ok you r all set now have a good day. RT away text starting coming thru. I did read the due security with radio firmware. Someone else said it's just a way to log users. Idk myself I due know she ask no questions She already knew why I was calling.
so..mmm, where is the easy fix???
TechSoft said:
What that means for you if you are a verizon prepaid user and have a flashed phone but not the donor...... You sadly are screwed.
But I'm going to give you an easy fix, I have had to do it now twice.
You can also use QPST build 355 works for me, and copy all the data from the gusto to the other device.
I also have seen less AAA resets when I keep the ROM Stock, And more resets and having to reflash when I got to a custom rom.
hope this helps.
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Click to collapse
i have a vzw 3g phone wich i used to pull the data settings and i have the gusto in its package.
so what can I do... how does the easy fix works??
error 8998 unknown fix!
I USED A VERIZON 3G PHONE (a galaxy 1) I changed the esn/meid using dfs .
It went to the activation process.. no data
did factory reset.
Once rebooted I got 3g.
put it on the computer again and using DFS i looked and there was like 6 new PASSWORDS!!!
PAP, PPP, HDR AN, HDR AN LONG , HDR AN PPP AND The ones where the profile is edited.
i simply reflashed my d710 with the new info and got go sms for the mms.
Working good as usual
gigaferz said:
I USED A VERIZON 3G PHONE (a galaxy 1) I changed the esn/meid using dfs .
It went to the activation process.. no data
did factory reset.
Once rebooted I got 3g.
put it on the computer again and using DFS i looked and there was like 6 new PASSWORDS!!!
PAP, PPP, HDR AN, HDR AN LONG , HDR AN PPP AND The ones where the profile is edited.
i simply reflashed my d710 with the new info and got go sms for the mms.
Working good as usual
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Click to collapse
Verizon changed again the passwords.... thanks to my fascinate i got everything again... but the flash doesnt work anymore with my d710 sprint phone... looks like verizon added more security..
im stuck using my old i500...
susy1990 said:
My phone was flashed to Verizon prepaid since November of last year and everything(3g mobile data, text, MMS) and all of a sudden today I got a data call failure error message 89 and the mobile data is not working all of a sudden and my phone can only make calls and text while roaming. Is there something I can do to fix this?
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Click to collapse
I'm on the same boot, i keep getting error 89 and my phone is on roaming, unfortunately i don't have the donor
---------- Post added at 03:32 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:29 PM ----------
susy1990 said:
My phone was flashed to Verizon prepaid since November of last year and everything(3g mobile data, text, MMS) and all of a sudden today I got a data call failure error message 89 and the mobile data is not working all of a sudden and my phone can only make calls and text while roaming. Is there something I can do to fix this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
TechSoft said:
So you know im in a wireless family.
I work at T-Mobile Corporate in Redmond, And my brother in New Jersey at verizon.
I personally use an optimus G SPRINT on Verizon Prepaid, Not that I dont like the T-Mobile speed, But lets be honest coverage sucks.
So the 1.5 to 2.5 MBPS nationwide I get on verizon is better. OK Back on point.
So my brother tells me Verizon is actively trying to combat the MIFI flashed to verizon prepaid, On mulitple fronts.
They have contacted ebay, and ebay sellers have been suspended.
And here is the one that sucks for all of us that use verizon prepaid.... They renew and send a new AAA Key every 4 to 7 days.....
And may also resend or renew the A-Key.
What that means for you if you are a verizon prepaid user and have a flashed phone but not the donor...... You sadly are screwed.
But I'm going to give you an easy fix, I have had to do it now twice.
You can also use QPST build 355 works for me, and copy all the data from the gusto to the other device.
Sadly my brother said they are not doing this targeting phone users, Verizon is not stupid they know people flash phones.
But they are targeting JETPACK and MIFI users.
He says in recent weeks they have seen Prepaid accounts that are using over 80GB of data a month on these supposed GUSTO's
So naturally verizon is now cracking down, This is similar to what Sprint and Boost Mobile did with ERROR 16.
Just giving you a heads up, And to flashers who flash the MiFi devices, Verizon is actively searching Craigslist and eBay, One eBay seller is now being sued by verizon and they found him on Craigslist in Salem, Oregon.
Just be careful, I use about 15GB a month on my Optimus and dont have any issues, Beyond having to reflash the info using the guide above once a week or so.
I also have seen less AAA resets when I keep the ROM Stock, And more resets and having to reflash when I got to a custom rom.
Hope this helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's not what the OP asked