Question about AT&T cell phone plans

[Mears]

I noticed that a lot of people here prefer AT&T to Verizon. I've been a Verizon user for about four years now and am not currently under contract.

The one thing that I really like about Verizon is that I can plug my phone into a computer via a data cable and use it as a modem to connect to the internet or send faxes. That might not sound like anything special, but the neat thing is that it uses my regular voice minutes, including free nights and weekends, and you don't need a data or web plan.

Does AT&T offer similar functionality? If so, will those data network minutes count towards the normal voice minute quota and what is the access speed?

 

[onlyCOpunk]

I've never heard of a company exchanging minutes for data. But suppose a quick call or stop in to an ATT store will clear things up. Knowing ATT you'll probably need a data plan for this.

 

[boomhower]

They will make you get a data plan. There is no way they are going to let you use your minutes for data, especially for night and weekends. AT&T's overpriced data plans is why I left I went to Sprint.

 

[intogamer]

What OP is doing is using dial up with his minutes. You technically using the voice network as a 56K data modem. You can do it on any carrier, but you'll get sub par dial up speeds. I would recommend getting T-Mobile. The $5.99 T-Zones plan offers you wap internet. Actual data plans by T-Mobile are completely unlimited and you are allowed to tether.

 

[Mears]

Originally posted by: intogamer
What OP is doing is using dial up with his minutes. You technically using the voice network as a 56K data modem. You can do it on any carrier, but you'll get sub par dial up speeds. I would recommend getting T-Mobile. The $5.99 T-Zones plan offers you wap internet. Actual data plans by T-Mobile are completely unlimited and you are allowed to tether.

It's actually 115k, but yeah, it's pretty slow.

 

[intogamer]

Originally posted by: Mears

Originally posted by: intogamer
What OP is doing is using dial up with his minutes. You technically using the voice network as a 56K data modem. You can do it on any carrier, but you'll get sub par dial up speeds. I would recommend getting T-Mobile. The $5.99 T-Zones plan offers you wap internet. Actual data plans by T-Mobile are completely unlimited and you are allowed to tether.

It's actually 115k, but yeah, it's pretty slow.

That could be your USB line. dial up = 56k man.. plus a whole lot of extra latency

You could go for 5MB data packages but they aren't worth it compared to unlimited. You'll eat 5MB quick.