I pitty you Americans. Those prices are a rape to everyone's ass! Look at what I spend for UNLIMITED internet in Ireland:
I need to top up by €20 once every month and I get:
1) UNLIMITED internet
2) Free Skype to Skype calls/messages (which makes no sense after it's already unlimited)
3) By toping up over internet I get extra €2 and at the end of each month I get free €10 credit
4) Hotspot is enabled and I don't need to pay extra
I managed to use that much over one month only by using iPad over iPhone's hotspot feature. Streaming videos from my laptop via Air Video app watching Netflix and so on...
Sticking with our 'unlimited' plans or jumping to Verizon.
Do you really think Verizon's new shared plan is any better? Depending on how many devices you have, and how much data you choose, Verizon's is probably worse. New customers are forced into the Share Everything plan.
You'd be better off going with Straight Talk. That's what I'll be doing very soon.
We have the family plan for 550 minutes of which we use about 100 per month for talk and about 150 MB data.
2 iPhones $50 + $10 no texting no tethering, data $30 + $30 unlimited. Total is $120 + taxes.
2 iPads 4G, one unlimited $30, one occasional use $15. Cellular iPad use is 3GB over 4 months. Total with phones and iPads is $165.
Under the new plan, with 1GB data shared, including unlimited texting and tethering, which could be used with the iPads, as well as a MacBook Pro.
$40 + $45 + $45 =$130
With 4GB data shared, including both iPads
$70 + $40 + $40 + $10 + $10 = $170
Tethering is useful for iPad use in the car, but my car has a wifi hotspot from T-Mobile for $30 per month, so we probably don't need the iPads enrolled.
But typically you can call the carrier during that billing cycle to get the plan adjusted thus removing egregious overage costs.
Personally, I think it would go a long way to give customers peace of mind and to increase overall usage by auto-adjusting plans for customers that do go over their plan limits so they are charged something "fair" on each bill cycle. Even if the increased plan was automatic but going to a decreased plan required a user to request it at least they'd know they'd never be charged, at most and only if they used it, more than the Unlimited/Unlimited/Unlimited plan in a month instead of thousands of dollars.
The problem with that is the prorated change on the next bill. It isn't like it used to be, back in the days of the old Cellular One before the old AT&T bought them out and screwed over everyone.
I think you're putting the BS hat on the wrong head. Your son has never heard of WiFi? Carriers are throttling precisely because people like that are sucking up limited cellular capacity.
I'd make you a bet that if he paid his own cellular data bill he'd be using a whole bunch less.
I don't think 9GB is unfathomable. I've used as much as 100GB in a month back when I had Unlimited access. AT&T did drop me to a tiered plan after warning me not to tether. I tried to find ways around it but I can't fault them for find ways around my ways. After all I did agree to not tether to a PC when I signed up.
Even without tethering streaming video from Dropbox, Netflix or other places could give you 9GB. Imagine if this guy has a dull job, like a night door guard. There might not be WiFi available and being able to stream media for all those hours might be a way to pass the time.
The problem with that is the prorated change on the next bill. It isn't like it used to be, back in the days of the old Cellular One before the old AT&T bought them out and screwed over everyone.
You lost me. Prorated? Whenever I've called they've asked me if I wanted to start it today, next billing cycle or backdate it to the beginning of the billing cycle.
I bought a smartphone, thus I'm FORCED to buy a data plan.
The past months data prices had skyrocketed.
So, they get $40 for voice, but then they charge another 20$. That is 50%. If I had it my will I would just get voice, and use data on wifi. Can I do that? No.
It is like buying a car and being forced to just fill it with gas at the dealer.
I had a jailbroken iPhone once. All I had to do was get to AT&T and ask them for a SIM card with the phone number. I wish I could do that again, to be totally honest.
I can see how these plans might help for those users with smartphones and iPads but I'm not there yet so all of these plans will be more expensive than what I now pay. I understand this includes unlimited talk so no more worrying about rollover minutes. The problem is, I don't care about rollover minutes because once AT&T added any cellular to any cellular to the Family Plan shared messaging, we dropped our plan to 700 minutes and haven't gone anywhere near that many minutes since. Of course, I really should think about dropping my land line since I wouldn't have to worry about using our cell phones for everything.
Currently, my Family Plan monthly cost is around $267.43 (it varies for unknown reasons as do all utility bills). This includes 4 iPhones (1-unl, 3x2GB data) and one simple phone. I calculated my taxes and other non-phone charges at 12% ($32.47/mo).
This works out to the following:
1GB w/tax $280/mo
4GB w/tax $291.20/mo
6GB w/tax $291.20/mo
10GB w/tax 302.40/mo
rest are higher still
Currently, I use Comcast for everything so dropping voice, which would cause internet and TV to increase, would save me (maybe) $20-$30 (just checked and Comcast has a promotion for current users so I need to call them).
None of the phones have used more than 1GB in their lifetime since we try and use WiFi as much as possible. The 1GB plan would be too low and since the 4 and 6GB plans come out the same, I would be looking at the 6GB plan for future growth. This means my "cost savings" using AT&T's new and improved shared data, even including dropping Comcast voice, would still be no batter than a wash but probably $20/mo more.
Guys just check out ATT's website it clarifies everything.
*Smartphone required. 3G, HSPA+, LTE devices only. Up to ten devices per plan. Additional monthly charge per device. Tablets sold at a discounted,
2-year contract price not eligible. $15 per GB for add'l data. Activation fee may apply. Additional deposits and other restrictions may apply. Access to
corporate email, company intranet sites and/or business applications requires an Enterprise DataPro plan.
This makes no sense... So I'm paying $70 per month for unlimited talk/text with 4gb of data. But I have 2 phones (mine and my wife's).. so that's $40 per phone. That puts me at $150 per month before taxes and fees.. and all the other BS that gets added to the phone. In my quick glance that is more expensive, and give me less data... but more minutes. I have 1400 minutes shared, and I never come close to using them.
This is stupid..
A cell phone with unlimited data, text, and talk shouldn't cost more than 50 bucks a month.
How on earth do you feel that they should provide you with unlimited data, text, and talk for $50 per month? Are you out of your mind?
How on earth do you feel that they should provide you with unlimited data, text, and talk for $50 per month? Are you out of your mind?
While I agree... I think 120/month is a bit steep (one iPhone, 4GB of data, iPad) for one person.
The question is, will they spend it to make their network better, or will they spend it on bonuses and dividends?
If I got 3-5mb/sec download on my 3G usage everywhere and 1-4mb/s upload... I'd might say it's worth it. I don't, so it isn't.
They've basically eliminated the family plan for calling, and wrapped us around sharing data, and then get us from both ends... the per month per phone cost (sans data), is for the privilege of using their spectrum, and to make calls. That used to be $9.99 for an 'add a line' It's apparent that like the 'landline' they want to charge $30-45 for the line you may never use.
You do not have to pay another $30 for unlimited text as that comes with the plan.
For me currently:
two iPhones comes to about $240 with taxes (unlimited text, voice and data, throttled at 3GB which happens to me most of the time since I tether my iPad)
New plan would be
6GB plan with unlimited text and voice = 90+35+35 = $160 plus taxes
This to me seems like a better deal (as I do not think I will use more than 6GB a month) and I can add my iPad for another $10
So two iPhones with 6GB = $160 ($35 + $35 + $90), which I had said before. I didn't really go into talk/text, but when I read it, I interpreted it as $30 a month PER device for unlimited talk and texting. So that is then another $60. Total is now $210.
It says right on the chart in the description of the $90 "Mobile Share with Unlimited Talk and Text" so I have no idea how you could have interpreted that. It's even repeated a few times, including...
Quote:
Originally Posted by commandercrash
I don't see anything on tethering
...in the fifth paragraph: "The plans include tethering and unlimited domestic calls and texts for smartphones."
Under AT&T new plan I would be paying $70 for voice and $40 for 1GB and text which is less than what I have today, plus $45 x 2 = $90 so the grant total would be $200 a month for less than I have today.
Yeah, that's entirely not right at all. You'd be paying $70 for voice, text, and 1GB shared amongst however many phones are on your plan, plus $40 x 2 for your two phones, for a total of $150. So that's the same as you're paying now, plus you would also be getting tethering and unlimited SMS which you're not getting now.
He as and uses Wifi, but he uses his phone like some people use a computer. When he's t school, the wifi network would be overloaded and almost crawling on the web. I used to have AT&T DSL and I can tell you, the phone was faster off the wifi.
A surpringly large number of people don't name their wifi network and they don't change the password. So when visiting them, it's a pain in the butt to join their networks. When I changed to Comcast as an ISP, the dude who installed it swore to me that you couldn't change the network name or the password. And he swore it up and down. Before he left I had chaned the SSID and the password.
I say that to say, when he would visit friends, they didn't know their SSID or password to log into their networks. We live on the south side of Chicago and there's not nearly as much free wifi in our community as there are in other communities. No Apple Stores, a few McDonalds, two Starbucks (about 4miles apart), no Argo Tea houses, it simply isn't as ubiquitous as it is in other communities.
i knew at&t was going to do this once verizon did it
going prepaid with my wife, even paying an ETF for my 4S. going to straight talk. $40 a month unlimited everything. already gave a heads up to my inlaws who are on the same plan that they are on their own starting in september.
my wife is keeping her iphone 4 for probably another year and i'll be keeping my 4s for 3 years as well.
the app store is like windows software, 2-3 years behind the hardware
i'm reading a lot about prepaid now and this is bad news for apple and samsung. its a bigger nut to spend $650 or more on a phone than the $199 minus the trade in of your old phone
Comments
I need to top up by €20 once every month and I get:
1) UNLIMITED internet
2) Free Skype to Skype calls/messages (which makes no sense after it's already unlimited)
3) By toping up over internet I get extra €2 and at the end of each month I get free €10 credit
4) Hotspot is enabled and I don't need to pay extra
I managed to use that much over one month only by using iPad over iPhone's hotspot feature. Streaming videos from my laptop via Air Video app
Quote:
Originally Posted by AppleZilla
Ahem....
BOOOOOOOOO!
Sticking with our 'unlimited' plans or jumping to Verizon.
Do you really think Verizon's new shared plan is any better? Depending on how many devices you have, and how much data you choose, Verizon's is probably worse. New customers are forced into the Share Everything plan.
You'd be better off going with Straight Talk. That's what I'll be doing very soon.
We have the family plan for 550 minutes of which we use about 100 per month for talk and about 150 MB data.
2 iPhones $50 + $10 no texting no tethering, data $30 + $30 unlimited. Total is $120 + taxes.
2 iPads 4G, one unlimited $30, one occasional use $15. Cellular iPad use is 3GB over 4 months. Total with phones and iPads is $165.
Under the new plan, with 1GB data shared, including unlimited texting and tethering, which could be used with the iPads, as well as a MacBook Pro.
$40 + $45 + $45 =$130
With 4GB data shared, including both iPads
$70 + $40 + $40 + $10 + $10 = $170
Tethering is useful for iPad use in the car, but my car has a wifi hotspot from T-Mobile for $30 per month, so we probably don't need the iPads enrolled.
Quote:
Originally Posted by SolipsismX
But typically you can call the carrier during that billing cycle to get the plan adjusted thus removing egregious overage costs.
Personally, I think it would go a long way to give customers peace of mind and to increase overall usage by auto-adjusting plans for customers that do go over their plan limits so they are charged something "fair" on each bill cycle. Even if the increased plan was automatic but going to a decreased plan required a user to request it at least they'd know they'd never be charged, at most and only if they used it, more than the Unlimited/Unlimited/Unlimited plan in a month instead of thousands of dollars.
The problem with that is the prorated change on the next bill. It isn't like it used to be, back in the days of the old Cellular One before the old AT&T bought them out and screwed over everyone.
I don't think 9GB is unfathomable. I've used as much as 100GB in a month back when I had Unlimited access. AT&T did drop me to a tiered plan after warning me not to tether. I tried to find ways around it but I can't fault them for find ways around my ways. After all I did agree to not tether to a PC when I signed up.
Even without tethering streaming video from Dropbox, Netflix or other places could give you 9GB. Imagine if this guy has a dull job, like a night door guard. There might not be WiFi available and being able to stream media for all those hours might be a way to pass the time.
You lost me. Prorated? Whenever I've called they've asked me if I wanted to start it today, next billing cycle or backdate it to the beginning of the billing cycle.
I really feel robbed by AT&T.
I bought a smartphone, thus I'm FORCED to buy a data plan.
The past months data prices had skyrocketed.
So, they get $40 for voice, but then they charge another 20$. That is 50%. If I had it my will I would just get voice, and use data on wifi. Can I do that? No.
It is like buying a car and being forced to just fill it with gas at the dealer.
I had a jailbroken iPhone once. All I had to do was get to AT&T and ask them for a SIM card with the phone number. I wish I could do that again, to be totally honest.
Of course they didn't note anything about charging for Facetime - perhaps an extra $20 per month to enable it over cellular
I am assuming if I have an iPad Wifi, I could use this plan using the HOTSPOT plan,
however if i have an iPAD 3G, then Id need the tablet plan. Correct?
anyone?
Quote:
Originally Posted by caba
I pitty you Americans. Those prices are a rape to everyone's ass! Look at what I spend for UNLIMITED internet in Ireland:
You are right if the United States was the size of the state of West Virginia. Otherwise, you should keep your sorry ass out of the conversation.
I can see how these plans might help for those users with smartphones and iPads but I'm not there yet so all of these plans will be more expensive than what I now pay. I understand this includes unlimited talk so no more worrying about rollover minutes. The problem is, I don't care about rollover minutes because once AT&T added any cellular to any cellular to the Family Plan shared messaging, we dropped our plan to 700 minutes and haven't gone anywhere near that many minutes since. Of course, I really should think about dropping my land line since I wouldn't have to worry about using our cell phones for everything.
Currently, my Family Plan monthly cost is around $267.43 (it varies for unknown reasons as do all utility bills). This includes 4 iPhones (1-unl, 3x2GB data) and one simple phone. I calculated my taxes and other non-phone charges at 12% ($32.47/mo).
This works out to the following:
1GB w/tax $280/mo
4GB w/tax $291.20/mo
6GB w/tax $291.20/mo
10GB w/tax 302.40/mo
rest are higher still
Currently, I use Comcast for everything so dropping voice, which would cause internet and TV to increase, would save me (maybe) $20-$30 (just checked and Comcast has a promotion for current users so I need to call them).
None of the phones have used more than 1GB in their lifetime since we try and use WiFi as much as possible. The 1GB plan would be too low and since the 4 and 6GB plans come out the same, I would be looking at the 6GB plan for future growth. This means my "cost savings" using AT&T's new and improved shared data, even including dropping Comcast voice, would still be no batter than a wash but probably $20/mo more.
Guys just check out ATT's website it clarifies everything.
*Smartphone required. 3G, HSPA+, LTE devices only. Up to ten devices per plan. Additional monthly charge per device. Tablets sold at a discounted,
2-year contract price not eligible. $15 per GB for add'l data. Activation fee may apply. Additional deposits and other restrictions may apply. Access to
corporate email, company intranet sites and/or business applications requires an Enterprise DataPro plan.
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacVertigo
This is stupid..
A cell phone with unlimited data, text, and talk shouldn't cost more than 50 bucks a month.
A cellphone also shouldn't cost $600 or more...
Quote:
Originally Posted by MacVertigo
This makes no sense... So I'm paying $70 per month for unlimited talk/text with 4gb of data. But I have 2 phones (mine and my wife's).. so that's $40 per phone. That puts me at $150 per month before taxes and fees.. and all the other BS that gets added to the phone. In my quick glance that is more expensive, and give me less data... but more minutes. I have 1400 minutes shared, and I never come close to using them.
This is stupid..
A cell phone with unlimited data, text, and talk shouldn't cost more than 50 bucks a month.
How on earth do you feel that they should provide you with unlimited data, text, and talk for $50 per month? Are you out of your mind?
Quote:
Originally Posted by DustinLH00
How on earth do you feel that they should provide you with unlimited data, text, and talk for $50 per month? Are you out of your mind?
While I agree... I think 120/month is a bit steep (one iPhone, 4GB of data, iPad) for one person.
The question is, will they spend it to make their network better, or will they spend it on bonuses and dividends?
If I got 3-5mb/sec download on my 3G usage everywhere and 1-4mb/s upload... I'd might say it's worth it. I don't, so it isn't.
They've basically eliminated the family plan for calling, and wrapped us around sharing data, and then get us from both ends... the per month per phone cost (sans data), is for the privilege of using their spectrum, and to make calls. That used to be $9.99 for an 'add a line' It's apparent that like the 'landline' they want to charge $30-45 for the line you may never use.
You do not have to pay another $30 for unlimited text as that comes with the plan.
For me currently:
two iPhones comes to about $240 with taxes (unlimited text, voice and data, throttled at 3GB which happens to me most of the time since I tether my iPad)
New plan would be
6GB plan with unlimited text and voice = 90+35+35 = $160 plus taxes
This to me seems like a better deal (as I do not think I will use more than 6GB a month) and I can add my iPad for another $10
I do not think it is that bad actually.
-Rippey
Quote:
Originally Posted by commandercrash
So two iPhones with 6GB = $160 ($35 + $35 + $90), which I had said before. I didn't really go into talk/text, but when I read it, I interpreted it as $30 a month PER device for unlimited talk and texting. So that is then another $60. Total is now $210.
It says right on the chart in the description of the $90 "Mobile Share with Unlimited Talk and Text" so I have no idea how you could have interpreted that. It's even repeated a few times, including...
Quote:
Originally Posted by commandercrash
I don't see anything on tethering
...in the fifth paragraph: "The plans include tethering and unlimited domestic calls and texts for smartphones."
Quote:
Originally Posted by Maestro64
Under AT&T new plan I would be paying $70 for voice and $40 for 1GB and text which is less than what I have today, plus $45 x 2 = $90 so the grant total would be $200 a month for less than I have today.
Yeah, that's entirely not right at all. You'd be paying $70 for voice, text, and 1GB shared amongst however many phones are on your plan, plus $40 x 2 for your two phones, for a total of $150. So that's the same as you're paying now, plus you would also be getting tethering and unlimited SMS which you're not getting now.
A surpringly large number of people don't name their wifi network and they don't change the password. So when visiting them, it's a pain in the butt to join their networks. When I changed to Comcast as an ISP, the dude who installed it swore to me that you couldn't change the network name or the password. And he swore it up and down. Before he left I had chaned the SSID and the password.
I say that to say, when he would visit friends, they didn't know their SSID or password to log into their networks. We live on the south side of Chicago and there's not nearly as much free wifi in our community as there are in other communities. No Apple Stores, a few McDonalds, two Starbucks (about 4miles apart), no Argo Tea houses, it simply isn't as ubiquitous as it is in other communities.
i knew at&t was going to do this once verizon did it
going prepaid with my wife, even paying an ETF for my 4S. going to straight talk. $40 a month unlimited everything. already gave a heads up to my inlaws who are on the same plan that they are on their own starting in september.
my wife is keeping her iphone 4 for probably another year and i'll be keeping my 4s for 3 years as well.
the app store is like windows software, 2-3 years behind the hardware
i'm reading a lot about prepaid now and this is bad news for apple and samsung. its a bigger nut to spend $650 or more on a phone than the $199 minus the trade in of your old phone