Sick of ATT service? Operation Chokehold on Friday :)

[shortylickens]

Meh. Load balancing FTW. I bet nothing happens.

This.
Not to mention a giant corporation isnt as stupid as people would like to believe. The fact this is being posted publically pretty much promises they know about it already.
They will be ready.

 

[shortylickens]

oops

 

[sourceninja]

They already have. On T-mobile. Just switch service over to AT&T.

T-mobile 3g phones are not compatible with ATT 3g networks. They are on different frequencies. This is why you can't unlock at iphone 3g and use it on t-mobile 3g. If I bought a t-mobile android phone, I would only have access to edge with ATT.

 

[geno]

AT&T has 82 million subscribers. New Zealand has 4 million people. The economies of scale are way different, so don't bitch about American cell service when you have no idea how it really works.

Seriously. The big problem here is AT&T bought exclusive rights to the iPhone in the US. So they ponied up the big bucks to get the cool image and exclusive, must-have phone, but is now backing it up with a network many deem inadequate. Many feel they aren't investing enough in their own infrastructure. Does AT&T have an obligation here? That's debatable, but the fact remains that AT&T's customers are feeling like they're not following through. It's just shitty they charge top dollar for the phone, plan and service, but deliver mediocre results. So, Godless, it's not as easy as "change carriers" for those who are in love with the phone, but not the service.

For the record, I have a G1 with T-Mobile and I'm perfectly happy

 

[radioouman]

What are you guys complaining about? I have AT&T wireless with an HTC smart phone and I really like the service that I get. 1.5 mbps downloads in good signal areas is perfect for me. I can tolerate browsing on EDGE if I have to.

 

[Pliablemoose]

This.
Not to mention a giant corporation isnt as stupid as people would like to believe. The fact this is being posted publically pretty much promises they know about it already.
They will be ready.

Here's the thing though, they're having meetings doing damage control because people think they have a shitty network.

 

[Parasitic]

It's just shitty they charge top dollar for the phone, plan and service, but deliver mediocre results.

Nevertheless though, this is not a fair statement. With iPhone 2G, AT&T's required data plan @ $20 was actually cheaper than how much they charged other data-centric devices @ $30-$35/month. Sure, people got away with unlimited MediaWorks and MediaNet packages on other devices, but officially they shouldn't have.

With iPhone 3G, AT&T raised the data requirement to be on par with the rest of its smartphone offerings, and gave it a subsidy so it also cost on par with other smartphones. Sure, they didn't have as many sales or reduced prices on the iPhone 3G compared to other data devices, but other than that it wasn't really any more expensive.

Am I defending AT&T for sitting on its ass and hoarding the profits instead of spending proper amounts of money to upgrade its network? No. They really need to suck it and fix the network instead of doing all this damage control like suing Verizon for their ads, enforcing data caps (although VWZ did it first with their data cards), and now in the process of implementing different tiered data plans (which would no doubt be more expensive per kilobyte than before).

However, they're not the only one who does this. T-Mobile still doesn't have real or nationwide 3G, does not prorate their ETF (AFAIK) and also forces all smartphone users to have a data plan. Verizon now assesses a $350 ETF on advanced devices. Sprint also suffers through a similar situation with oversold bandwidth and not enough capacity with their new and aggressive pricings based on similar claims and "rationale" for 5GB data caps.

What am I saying? It's an oligopoly by telecoms, not simply AT&T.

 

[Pliablemoose]

I think a little civil disobedience is a good thing...

And the telecoms are a good target.

 

[Gibsons]

This.
Not to mention a giant corporation isnt as stupid as people would like to believe. The fact this is being posted publically pretty much promises they know about it already.
They will be ready.

What can they do about it?

Long term they could upgrade the network, but short term?

 

[darkswordsman17]

Government authorized monopolies, just like the cable companies who split up territories and eliminate choices make it hard to just change.

Cell phones do not share uniform standards, I can't just buy a CDMA phone or a GSM phone and have it work on respective networks.

Contracts and subsidies on phone make certain phones only available from certain carriers, with exorbitant or unavailable pricing outside the carrier.

Lock codes hinder transfer of phones to different carriers.

Refusal to activiate foreign (aka different carrier, phones from other countries) EIN's.

Non-standard use of GSM prevents tri-band and quad-band functionality like it is supposed to work.

etc..etc..

You don't understand. It's like telling a North Korean to go to another country if they want to watch television. (That's a bit extreme but meh)

These are not necessities. They are luxuries. You need to understand this and learn that the only way you'll ever get the point across is to stop paying them for service you hate.

Seriously. The big problem here is AT&T bought exclusive rights to the iPhone in the US. So they ponied up the big bucks to get the cool image and exclusive, must-have phone, but is now backing it up with a network many deem inadequate. Many feel they aren't investing enough in their own infrastructure. Does AT&T have an obligation here? That's debatable, but the fact remains that AT&T's customers are feeling like they're not following through. It's just shitty they charge top dollar for the phone, plan and service, but deliver mediocre results. So, Godless, it's not as easy as "change carriers" for those who are in love with the phone, but not the service.

For the record, I have a G1 with T-Mobile and I'm perfectly happy

People need to think decisions through. I have no sympathy for people that lock themselves into contracts without actually assessing the situation first. There's no other way to look at this, you willingly allowed them to fuck you over. You the customer are at fault for letting them do this, for paying to let them do this, and not willing to back up your complaints with canceling. You should have looked at the overall picture before signing up. Not to mention, I know some of you have pointed out that early adopters get fucked over anyways, I'm not sure why you thought this would be any different.

I think a little civil disobedience is a good thing...

And the telecoms are a good target.

Well then actually do something instead of idiotic schemes like this. The fact that you consider this civil disobedience is absurdly laughable. I would love for there to be fine print in your contracts that allows AT&T to fuck you over even more than they do now.

The bottom line is, you knew you were going to be getting fucked over before you even signed up for their service, and now you want to whine about it. Well, you need to put up or shutup, and speak the only language they'll understand: money. If you're not willing to pony up and/or quit using their service, then shut up and take it like the dumb consumer whores that you are.

 

[Wonderful Pork]

This.
Not to mention a giant corporation isnt as stupid as people would like to believe. The fact this is being posted publically pretty much promises they know about it already.
They will be ready.

If they can upgrade their network to handle all of the traffic then that is a good thing. In fact, that is all that the users want, a better network. They aren't asking for cheaper prices or more minutes, or even complaining about the 5GB soft-cap on data (in Operation Chokehold anyway). They just want the network to work. All the time, in as many places as possible.

The problem isn't that they don't get coverage in rural Montana, its that they don't get coverage in downtown NYC or San Francisco. Or they drop calls, or data just shuts off because the network can't handle the load.

 

[TallBill]

Another GA, my life sucks donkey dick so I'll be an ass, thread. If you lived here, you'd be stuck with the same choices as us. Sure, not signing a contract would be an option, but then you'd never have a phone you fucking moron. You can't "stick it" to the phone company as an individual.

 

[alevasseur14]

Maybe it's the cold weather that's come to some parts of this country lately. People here are so angry all the time!

 

[TallBill]

When you post it, it's common sense. When I post it, idiotfucks around here interpret it as an anti-American rant. *boggle*

Because he didn't post it like a cockbag. Go curl up in a ball and cry.

 

[Pliablemoose]

Godless Astronomer, tell me what telecos operate in New Zeland?

What smartphone do you have?

What's your contract/service plan like?

Show us all what carrier in the US to use that doesn't rape it's customers on prices or contracts.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Another GA, my life sucks donkey dick so I'll be an ass, thread. If you lived here, you'd be stuck with the same choices as us. Sure, not signing a contract would be an option, but then you'd never have a phone you fucking moron. You can't "stick it" to the phone company as an individual.

You do have a choice in allowing them to stick it to you though.

I'm being just as abrasive, but no vitriol for me? His and my response is justified, I feel. Did you actually read what these idiots are proposing? This is Fleabag level of stupidity.

 

[TallBill]

You do have a choice in allowing them to stick it to you though.

I'm being just as abrasive, but no vitriol for me? His and my response is justified, I feel. Did you actually read what these idiots are proposing? This is Fleabag level of stupidity.

Yes, well you can pick the best option but different people have different needs/wants. Personally I'm on my mom's Verizon family plan. I pay $40 a month for unlimited data/text and 400 minutes for my Tour. Network is reasonably fast and barely ever slows.

Also, geography plays a huge part in it. I guarantee that your networks are experiencing different loads out in Kansas.

 

[darkswordsman17]

Godless Astronomer, tell me what telecos operate in New Zeland?

What smartphone do you have?

What's your contract/service plan like?

Show us all what carrier in the US to use that doesn't rape it's customers on prices or contracts.

Damn you're dumb. He's not even making comparisons between New Zealand and here, so just drop that entire side of arguing. He's saying, and this holds true regardless of place or time, that if you don't like something, then stop using/doing it. Here its doubly stupid because you're paying for that, and are unwilling to stop paying for it even though it apparently pisses you off enough to commit a criminal act (DDoS).

 

[Parasitic]

Godless Astronomer, tell me what telecos operate in New Zeland?

What smartphone do you have?

What's your contract/service plan like?

Show us all what carrier in the US to use that doesn't rape it's customers on prices or contracts.

Vodafone NZ's iPhone plan doesn't look any cheaper than the US:
http://www.vodafone.co.nz/iphone/16gb-iphone-3gs.jsp
16GB 3GS is $99, plus $250/month for 600 minutes, 600 texts and 1GB of data. 2-year contract.

Here's their internet plans:
http://www.vodafone.co.nz/mobile-data/3g-broadband-plans.jsp
1GB of data per month for NZ$50/month, 2 year contract.

Here's Telecom NZ:
http://store.telecom.co.nz/mobile/pay-monthly/plans

240MB of data for NZ$18. 400 minutes a month for $150/month.

US$1 = NZ$1.39.

 

[TallBill]

Damn you're dumb. He's not even making comparisons between New Zealand and here, so just drop that entire side of arguing. He's saying, and this holds true regardless of place or time, that if you don't like something, then stop using/doing it. Here its doubly stupid because you're paying for that, and are unwilling to stop paying for it even though it apparently pisses you off enough to commit a criminal act (DDoS).

So if I have 3 choices for a phone company and none of them are exactly what I want, I should just not have a phone?

 

[darkswordsman17]

Yes, well you can pick the best option but different people have different needs/wants. Personally I'm on my mom's Verizon family plan. I pay $40 a month for unlimited data/text and 400 minutes for my Tour. Network is reasonably fast and barely ever slows.

Also, geography plays a huge part in it. I guarantee that your networks are experiencing different loads out in Kansas.

Look, that's all fine and good, but clearly AT&T is not fulfilling these people's wants (no way you can claim its a need, otherwise they would have already switched), so why are they continuing to use it? Ok, so no other carrier will be able to either. Basically, they do have a choice still though. Not use any of them. Sure, it leaves them the worst off, but if none of them meet what they want, why pay, out the ass I might add, to use them? Instead, they bitch and moan to everyone about it when you have control over this. If they didn't want to be locked into a contract, they should have been willing to pony up so they weren't, but of course they refused to do that. So why exactly should they be allowed to bitch when they had clear options to not put themselves in this situation?

I'm not even sure what your point of me being in Kansas has to do with this. Personally, I don't pay for cellular service because I feel its a huge ripoff. When the cable company was having issues with their Internet, I switched to DSL. Imagine that, I don't like the service, I change it.

 

[Parasitic]

Damn you're dumb. He's not even making comparisons between New Zealand and here, so just drop that entire side of arguing. He's saying, and this holds true regardless of place or time, that if you don't like something, then stop using/doing it. Here its doubly stupid because you're paying for that, and are unwilling to stop paying for it even though it apparently pisses you off enough to commit a criminal act (DDoS).

GA's posts, in both this and other threads, have an inherent nature to ridicule everything American, while in actual situations there is little difference in things like, say, mobile rates charged by telecoms in both countries.

If the rates are similar if not more in NZ compared to the US, and he bashes AT&T specifically, doesn't that seem unjust?

 

[TallBill]

Personally, I don't pay for cellular service because I feel its a huge ripoff.

lol, then get the fuck out of this thread. :awe:

 

[Pliablemoose]

Personally, I don't pay for cellular service because I feel its a huge ripoff. When the cable company was having issues with their Internet, I switched to DSL. Imagine that, I don't like the service, I change it.

LOL, the guy without a cell phone, living in bumfuck Kansas keeps posting in a thread about cell phones/service.

Cell phones are many people's only phone service nowdays, but you living in the middle of nowhere without a cell phone, I guess don't get that.

Get a life.

darkswordsman17 has not made any friends yet

 

[TallBill]

Instead, they bitch and moan to everyone about it when you have control over this.

Well unfortunately 2-year contracts are not going anywhere. If you want a smartphone you pretty much have to get one. For those of us that are not amish, we have to make a choice and then hope that it doesn't suck. People can make the choice now to avoid the AT&T network, but quite a few people are locked in.