What are my rights? AT&T and iPhone4

[s44]

i'd stick to an unlimited minutes/text plan, which many of the prepaid options are. you can still use GV for your voicemail, which is great.

Note that the T-Mo WalMart plan does *not* let you use GV voicemail without porting your number to it. No conditional call forwarding.

 

[vshah]

Note that the T-Mo WalMart plan does *not* let you use GV voicemail without porting your number to it. No conditional call forwarding.

ah, good to know. what about straight talk att/tmo? i know tmo's prepaid monthly4g allows it.

 

[noblemo]

Well, before I go offline. In my case, I do not need a data plan. (does data plan include texting?) But if data refers to web serfing, emails, downloads, etc. those are all done in wi-fi. Literally, there is no reason for me to check emails or read forums while driving, and wherever I go there is wi-fi.

If text is considered data, I would try using a phone without texting. Also, I've heard of Google voice - How does it exactly work? Does it work like Skype?

T-Mobile has a Monthly4G plan that might meet your needs: 1500 minutes or messages and 30MB data for $30/month. Depending on your requirements, you should also consider an AT&T prepaid plan with 250 minutes talk and unlimited texting for $25 per month, or a simple prepaid voice plan on either AT&T or T-Mobile for 10 cents per minute.

 

[lopri]

I got some gas yesterday for the power generator and my car*, so I figured I could spare some on my pc and the internet. I am going to read through the thread and references everyone provided. Will have more questions, but I wanted to thank everyone ahead.

*Stood on line to get gas for almost 2 hours yesterday for the power generator and my car. This is the worst blackout experience in my life. Cops are doing traffic control at every gas station here, lol. Thankfully gas price is stable. There must be a government intervention (fed or state, maybe both)

 

[ponyo]

ah, good to know. what about straight talk att/tmo? i know tmo's prepaid monthly4g allows it.

Straight Talk AT&T works fine with Google Voicemail. That's what I'm using now. I'm not using Straight Talk voicemail since no one knows my actual Straight Talk number including myself. And I have no idea how to setup Straight Talk voicemail. But since I have Google Voicemail, it doesn't matter.

I read Straight Talk T-Mobile is missing the conditional forwarding so Google Voice voicemail will not work.

 

[lopri]

I've quickly glean off the site Jpeyton referred me to (howardforums) - it's an understatement that I was pleasantly surprised to learn of so many options. I could have saved thousands of dollars! Even AT&T has its pay-as-you-go plan called (AT&T GoPhone)! Of course AT&T rep never mentioned it to me when I discussed my plans back then. Though to be fair I was getting a new phone with a 2 year contract, so such a plan was a non-starter, I suppose.

Thanks to everyone, now I know I can unlock my iPhone 4 and use whichever service that I decide on according to my needs. Oh and I now understand the difference between cellular network and the Internet! Thank you again for enlightening me. I still don't know what the heck 3G, 4G, LTE, HSPA+, etc., stand for. (MMS/SMS still confuse me as well. What do they do exactly? I remember the days I could use text messages without either of them)

The reason I thought of cellular network as the Internet was because I could make phone calls disabling "Cellular Data" and "Enable 3G" options in my iPhone. Now I have a better understanding, and I suppose "Cellular Data" is different from "Cellular Voice."

I checked out Google Voice a little more, and it offers a service that let me keep my phone number forever for $20. Is it worth getting, just in case? Now that I am going on my own without an ongoing contract.

Choosing among these prepaid plans, I think I really do not need Data plans if Data plans can simply be covered by Wi-Fi. If that is the case, how much data a plan offers or how fast one is should be irrelevant to my choice, correct? All I need is a voice plan - so what matters is rather a stable coverage, not fast network (LTE?) or how much data a plan offers. I would like to be sure about this.

 

[lopri]

Oh, and as a thought experiment - Assume that I were 100% under Wi-Fi, wherever & whenever. This is an assumption of course. (there are still times I need a cellular network on the go)

But assuming that I were in a 100% Wi-Fi wonderland, can services like Google Voice or Skype completely replace Cellular networks? When I used Skype a couple years ago , you needed the client software for both/multple ends of callers (for free calls) But at the same time, Skype offered calling service to any number for a fee. Does Google Voice work the same way? Free between Google Voice numbers, fees for outside numbers (Cellular network, I suppose)?

 

[sm625]

The number of people who shell out triple digits for a frickin phone bill is staggering. These people simply cannot and will not take the time to do the very simple and basic math that lets you see how much it costs in terms of dollars per year. To spend $1000, $2000, or even $3 frickin thousand a year on a frickin phone is absolutely certifiably nuts. But companies like apple and AT&T are making a killing off these idiots who obviously dont work for their money.

 

[lopri]

Yes, I was/am one of those dummies. I am trying to learn. Better late than never, in this case, wouldn't you agree?

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

anyone here worried about ST unexpectedly cancelling their service, and then losing their number?

Also, how does ST feel about the occasional tether? (and pandora, netflix, google play music, etc)

 

[lopri]

Going offline again. (to save earth) Hope others chime in and share more knowledge. Will be able to log again.. hopefully tomorrow.

 

[Capt Caveman]

anyone here worried about ST unexpectedly cancelling their service, and then losing their number?

Also, how does ST feel about the occasional tether? (and pandora, netflix, google play music, etc)

Already having a GV number, I was thinking of just porting my current phone's number to ST so I could have both numbers but I don't want to lose it if ST were to cancel my number. Not sure what to do.

I've had my current phone number for 10+ years and my GV number has a local area code which is almost impossible to get nowadays.

 

[lothar]

anyone here worried about ST unexpectedly cancelling their service, and then losing their number?

Also, how does ST feel about the occasional tether? (and pandora, netflix, google play music, etc)

1.) No, as long as you adhere to the 2GB data limit for the AT&T Straight Talk plan.
2.) Google has my number, not Straight Talk. Hell, I don't even know what my Straight Talk phone number is.
3.) I've tethered lots of times on Straight Talk with no problems. Just adhere to the 2GB data limit and you will be fine.

 

[lothar]

Already having a GV number, I was thinking of just porting my current phone's number to ST so I could have both numbers but I don't want to lose it if ST were to cancel my number. Not sure what to do.

I've had my current phone number for 10+ years and my GV number has a local area code which is almost impossible to get nowadays.

I would port the more important number to your Google account, and port the lesser one out if possible, or just get rid of it if not.

I'm not sure if you can create a second Google account and port the less important number from your primary account to that account so you can port your more important number(the one you've had for 10+ years) to your primary Google account instead? Find out if it's possible.

 

[lopri]

Finally got power back! I was worried about prolonged blackout.

Anyhow, could anyone give a feedback on my posts #31 and #32? (Scroll above)

 

[TheStu]

The number of people who shell out triple digits for a frickin phone bill is staggering. These people simply cannot and will not take the time to do the very simple and basic math that lets you see how much it costs in terms of dollars per year. To spend $1000, $2000, or even $3 frickin thousand a year on a frickin phone is absolutely certifiably nuts. But companies like apple and AT&T are making a killing off these idiots who obviously dont work for their money.

It has only recently become possible for people everywhere in this country to get very affordable worthwhile pre-paid service with phones that didn't totally blow. You need the two together.

And you can talk about the math all you want, but the reason why people are happy to get a phone for 'free' and then shell out $100/mo for 2 years is the same as why $99 looks better than $100.