The End of an Era-- No More Data for Me (Resolved)

[Hook]

I guess we all just have to roll with it and you've already figured out your new route.

My solution is still working for me and I was actually able to spend less because Page Plus started offering a $12/mo. plan so I no longer have to pay for voice minutes I never use.

Here in the less-civilized parts, wifi is still thin on the ground so I will have to stick with my prepaid Tmo plan for data but that's OK.

If only I had a T-mobile radio in my Nexus One. T-Mobile offers a $30 plan with unlimited Data (and 100 minutes voice). I'd take it in a minute, because at least I would be paying that $30 for a resource I might use (instead of paying for voice and then having to nickel and dime on Data).

[LandSurveyor]

I can say that it works pretty well for me. It would be my only phone if Tmo had better reception in the outlands.

[weegie]

Annoying for you Hook , but as you say life will go on without it.

If I had to have a specific plan for data and couldn't use one prepaid account for data, text, calls, I wouldn't have a sim in a pda at all, I'm much the same where my small overall usage of mobile networks doesn't justify having a plan currently.

[Hook]

Very bizarre. I bought a $5 rollover of my data today to extend my data another 30 days. Supposedly, if I go to do the same tomorrow, I will no longer beoffered the data packages. However, ther is still nothing about it anywhere on AT&T's go phone plan pages or in my account. 24 hours before it is supposed to happen, this is still basically a rumor.

We shall see...

[r0k]

Maybe you can keep going for a while "under the radar". At&t has a tendency to grandfather things. I have a couple of friends walking around with the old "unlimited" data. My family is still walking around with the old $15 250 MB data. Neither of these is available today and yet we still get them. Perhaps you can keep yours up until you decide not to roll anything over and then you'll be stuck with the new policy.

[Hook]

Maybe you can keep going for a while "under the radar". At&t has a tendency to grandfather things. I have a couple of friends walking around with the old "unlimited" data. My family is still walking around with the old $15 250 MB data. Neither of these is available today and yet we still get them. Perhaps you can keep yours up until you decide not to roll anything over and then you'll be stuck with the new policy.

The trouble is, I believe that they will disable the buy data option for those on the 10 cent/per minute plan, so there will be no option to roll over or buy data. Certainly, if they forget to disable that option, I'll keep going as long as I can. AT&T has certainly done dumber things, so there is always hope,

[Varjak]

You think you'll NEVER be able to buy a data package? That would be odd. I could see ending the PAYG data option, but preventing you from ever buying a package because you roll over a day later doesn't make much sense. At some point, I expect that they hope to convert at least some users to the data package.

[Hook]

You think you'll NEVER be able to buy a data package? That would be odd. I could see ending the PAYG data option, but preventing you from ever buying a package because you roll over a day later doesn't make much sense. At some point, I expect that they hope to convert at least some users to the data package.

What is supposed to happen tomorrow (April 18th) is that the account manager on the web site or when you call 611 will no longer offer people that don't have a monthly package ($25 or $50) the option to buy a Data feature package. If you can't buy, there is no way to roll over.

I bought a $5 data package today (April 17th) to roll over my data an additional 30 days on the (allegedly) last day I can roll over. If they do what they say, I will no longer be able to add to my data and whatever I have left will disappear on May 17th if I stay on the 10 cents a minute plan.

[Hook]

And here is what actually happened today (From the PAYG Data thread):

So here is the deal. It turns out to actually not be so bad. I have no idea why they handled the whole thing so badly by not putting more information out there earlier. What they are doing is offering trade-off. Here is a quick gloss. I'll do a more complete description and analysis this weekend.

Indeed, you now have to have one of the monthly plans ($25 or $50) to buy data. If you are not on one of those two plans, data packages are disabled in your "Buy Feature Pckages" section in your account.

However, they have also made data much cheaper. Data is now:
$5 for 50Mb (formerly 10Mb)
$15 for 200Mb (Formerly 100Mb)
$25 fir 1Gb (Formerly 500Mb)

So, indeed, if I want to keep my mifi abilities, I have to pay more each month basically for calls I don't use, but in fact, the trade off is they have given me the ability to have a more data-centric Gophone. I would think this is a pretty nice setup for someone with an out-of-contract iPhone.

As of yesterday, about $15/month got me:

Whatever calling minutes I used, probably 30 or so.
200 text messages (send or receive)
10Mb Data

If I go to the cheapest Monthly Plan, for $30/Month I get:

250 minutes (most of which I won't use)
Unlimited texts (Yes, more waste)
50Mb data

Plus the privledge of adding up to 1Gb when I travel or for other special purposes if and when I want it. So I pay more, but I actually do get more of what I want.

If I forgo data, I put away my still quite useful Nexus One, pull out my flip phone and probably pay less than $10/month.

In a roundabout way, AT&T has given me what I wanted 3 years ago-- the ability to be data centric with a Gophone account. They are extracting a price for my being able to do that, but they may have just sweetened the pot enough to get me to go for it. I don't have to do anything until May 16, but, I will probably make the switch. The mifi may not be absolutely necessary but it is awfully nice and the Nexus One has far from outlived its usefulness.

I just don't get how they handled this, letting the worst part of the deal get out almost as a rumor, getting people pissed off, but releasing no information on the good part of the deal.

As I said above, it's a trade off, but I guess it's one I'll make because I've found nothing out there that works as well and that doensn't involve paying even more or buying a new device.

So, I guess the title of this thread is a little melodramatic now, huh.

[r0k]

And here is what actually happened today (From the PAYG Data thread):



I just don't get how they handled this, letting the worst part of the deal get out almost as a rumor, getting people pissed off, but releasing no information on the good part of the deal.

As I said above, it's a trade off, but I guess it's one I'll make because I've found nothing out there that works as well and that doensn't involve paying even more or buying a new device.

So, I guess the title of this thread is a little melodramatic now, huh.

At&t is notoriously sloppy about changing rate plans. A few months back, after my work email pushed me above my 200 mb data cap and I found myself hit with a $15 overage fee for less than 24 hours data usage, I made the decision to move my entire family to the higher tier data plan once I found out it would really only cost me an extra $5 per line. Before I could act on the idea, rumors hit about new plans which offered a gig more data but at what would have cost me $10 more per line. I decided to stop and wait. Now I have one line sitting at 2mb and 3 lines sitting at 200 mb when if At&t had been able to answer my questions honestly and openly I would now have 4 lines at 2gb.

I hate dealing with carriers and contracts. Obfuscated pricing only exists to convince (or force) us to buy stuff we don't need. Just as you now find yourself buying 250 voice minutes and messaging you'll never use, I find myself paying for 2 gig of data when I average 200.05 mb and my family members are suffocating on 200 mb when if I'd known better (whether my discount applies to any but the highest data tier) I could have moved them to the same plan I now have rather than biting my nails at the end of each billing cycle and wondering if I'll get a $15 "surprise" on one of their lines this month.