• After 15+ years, we've made a big change: Android Forums is now Early Bird Club. Learn more here.

Cheating the web system?

E

explosive

Newbie
So I don't want to pay for T-Mobile's web so I'm buying the phone by itself. But the store I went to said that once T-Mobile finds out that I'm using the phone without web, they'll tack it onto the phone.

I thought the whole point of buying the phone by itself was so they don't tack on the webs?

Please don't leave "THE PHONE DOESNT REALLY WORK WITHOUT WEB" comments. Thanks.
 
explosive said:
So I don't want to pay for T-Mobile's web so I'm buying the phone by itself. But the store I went to said that once T-Mobile finds out that I'm using the phone without web, they'll tack it onto the phone.

I thought the whole point of buying the phone by itself was so they don't tack on the webs?

Please don't leave "THE PHONE DOESNT REALLY WORK WITHOUT WEB" comments. Thanks.
Click to expand...

If you are purchasing the phone at full retail, with no update subsidy, and you are out of contract, then you do NOT need a web plan. This is how I understand it, and I'm 99 percent certain my statement is correct, unless someone want's to correct me.

Additionally, the phone has built in wifi capability, therefore you can utilize the wifi to gain access to the net, and other Google services, wherever you have access to a wifi signal.

Keep in mind, some features, such as Google Navigation/Maps will not work without data access, because Google Navigation downloads maps on the fly. However, there are other navigation options, such as programs with pre-loaded maps that do not utilize data on the fly.

I would call T-Mobile, and ask them to clarify.
 
Don't ask T-mobile to clarify anything because all they will tell you is that your phone needs the web to function. This is what I believe is bull and only a way to get you to party for an extra service. When my mother purchased my brothers phone she purchased the data plan, but shortly after she canceled it and he has been using it ever since without any problems and without T-mobile adding the data plan back because he is using a Vibrant.
 
DavDroid said:
Don't ask T-mobile to clarify anything because all they will tell you is that your phone needs the web to function. This is what I believe is bull and only a way to get you to party for an extra service. When my mother purchased my brothers phone she purchased the data plan, but shortly after she canceled it and he has been using it ever since without any problems and without T-mobile adding the data plan back because he is using a Vibrant.
Click to expand...

Umm, why wouldn't you ask T-mobile to clarify. T-Mobile has to direct their business in a moral and ethical fashion. They can not give you false information on purpose.

Also, if you initially agreed to a 2 yr data plan, this data plan is part of your contract, you can't then decide 5 months later to cancel the data and only keep the voice.

To the OP, call T-mobile and get accurate information. Don't go by what we are saying here, we may be unknowingly giving you false information.
 
explosive said:
So I don't want to pay for T-Mobile's web so I'm buying the phone by itself. But the store I went to said that once T-Mobile finds out that I'm using the phone without web, they'll tack it onto the phone.

I thought the whole point of buying the phone by itself was so they don't tack on the webs?
Click to expand...


Ok, by law, they can't just "tack" on an extra charge without either (a) notifying you prior to doing it, or (b) getting your confirmation (agreement) to add on a web service to your plan.

I have to agree with the above post though; call T-mobile and ask them and see what they say. But again, they can't just add a service and charge you for it without your consent.
 
SamsungVibrant said:
Umm, why wouldn't you ask T-mobile to clarify. T-Mobile has to direct their business in a moral and ethical fashion. They can not give you false information on purpose.

Also, if you initially agreed to a 2 yr data plan, this data plan is part of your contract, you can't then decide 5 months later to cancel the data and only keep the voice.

To the OP, call T-mobile and get accurate information. Don't go by what we are saying here, we may be unknowingly giving you false information.
Click to expand...


They can and will.

They told me that i needed the $19.99 internet service with my iPhone (before they changed their web packages) and the $5.99 T-Zones wouldnt work with it and i knew it would. So i didnt get their $19.99 service and kept my T-Zones and it worked just fine till i got my Vibrant and upgraded it.

Id call and ask but just tell them you are weighing your options and ask what you can do. I just dont trust them to tell you what will work because they want you to sign up with their data plan.

Also when i was looking to get my Wife a Blackberry 8520( i think thats the model) , it said "need data plan OR unlimited text messaging with phone" when i looked at it at a Walmart where i got my Vibrant and her Gravity T. Well we already have unlimited texts on our plan wiith all phones but the guy on the phone with T-Mobile said i needed a data plan and wouldnt let me exchange her Gravity T for that one because she didnt have a data plan on her phone and she didnt want it.
 
Part of the subsidized pricing on a smartphone is locking you into a data plan (making up fire the reduced up front price). But if you bought the phone outright you would not need to sign up for a plan or go with an even more + plan.

Now if you have a smartphone and you have the $10 data plan and it is working to give you data access from your 3G phone you are in violation of the end user agreement and then they can tack on the more expensive data plan.

So from that do whatever you wish but with the EM+ there is no contact you can close at any point.
 
I have owned the G1, myTouch 3G Slide and currently own the Vibrant. On each of the phones, I have not had the data plan with either phone. This is how:

First, I am on the Even More Plus Plan (No contract). I don't buy TMobile's subsidized phones. By not doing so, I am not locked in to their agreement to have the data plan. I have never had the data plan added at Tmobile's sole will. Whenever I call customer service about other issues, they will give me a hard sell about how you can't use your phone without the service. Ignore them.

Secondly, I am running data through wifi on the go with CLEAR, a wimax service. This device is a personal hotspot that travels with me and connects me to 4G (only works if you have Springt 4G in your area). In addition to my phone, it will connect up to 8 other devices (other wifi phones, laptop, desktop).

This benefits me because I only pay for ONE internet service and can use it at home and on-the-go. My wife and son use the same data when we are together at home and out and about. The good part is that I only pay about $40/month and the data travels with me for use and is sharable with up to 8 devices. I was able to discontinue home cable internet and t-mobile's data plans on 3 phones with the addition of this single device. Count the savings.

I have added the link for the device. It is called a Clear Spot. By the way, I previously had Charter Cable Internet at 10mbps and the clear wimax service is much faster than the cable internet.
 
I'm surprised you get 10Mbps+ on Clearwire considering most Sprint (I think they piggyback off Clearwire's network) gets like 6Mbps in most cases. In any case, I'll imagine they will try to throttle you if you do too much download. Regular ISPs are a lot more lenient about these stuff if you say download 200GB a month over wire than say wireless.

I would be wary if I were you to not abuse the service too much, on the bandwidth-heavy side.

@OP:
They are wrong. If you are out of contract and buy your own smartphone then you are not required to have a data plan as someone else already pointed out. I've been doing this since July. I have also added a data plan to see what the hype is about and disconnected it the next month no problem. For me, having a data plan is redundant and expensive for so little it adds. Around me is Optimum Wifi I get from my cable and there's Wifi at work so pretty much moot for me.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom