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-   General (https://talk.maemo.org/forumdisplay.php?f=7)
-   -   The $20 unlimited data plan (https://talk.maemo.org/showthread.php?t=7036)

RogerS 2007-06-27 18:54
The $20 unlimited data plan
 
Quote:
From day one of the Internet Tablet era*, I've been a believer in the WiFi path. As broadband has increased its penetration wildly over the last few years, this has seemed reasonable. And I attribute the failure of the many Linux tablet predecessors of the Nokia 770 in great part to having preceded the era of easy-to-use, cheap wireless routers and widely available broadband.

We've entered that era, and if WiFi clouds aren't covering all the cities as they should, well, that day is coming.

And yet.

And yet. "WiFi everywhere" is still an aspiration, not a description.

Last week, when I was comparing video-over-internet cam calls to high-priced "video share"; cellphone calls, I had to jog myself to include information that you could in fact use your Nokia Internet Tablet from anywhere, not just within range of a wireless access point if you connected to the internet through a cellphone data plan.

This kind of thinking wasn't native. NIT use = WiFi area is how I instinctively thought about it.

But Ari Jaaksi wrote about being really really untethered from the desktop way back in September 2005 when he described his daughter noodling away on his 770 on a car trip, connected to the internet via the Bluetooth phone in his pocket. And a couple months after that, I got to experience "internet everywhere" firsthand when Nokia lent me a phone and I surfed on the train ride into New York City and then walking downtown to work.

"Internet everywhere" takes the Internet Tablet to a far higher level of usefulness. It really does.

Still I haven't treated that as an option. U.S. cellphone data plans seem to be ridiculously priced, with all kinds of gotcha's. Apparently if you level with the telecom rep as to what you intend to do with your NIT and the cellphone, you're unambiguously determined to require an $80- or $100-a-month plan. I can't justify that kind of money, or even half that.

That's why, in the midst of all today's hullabaloo about the iPhone, the datum that leaped out at me was that you're paying only $20 for an unlimited data plan when you go the iPhone route.**

That's the first reasonable price I've ever heard of.

When do the rest of us get $20 internet? Why can't we get it now? Hey, AT&T, I'll switch to you tomorrow if you give me the same deal!

__________
* That would be May 25, 2005. I exaggerate by a couple weeks -- I wasn't a convert till mid-June.
** Not transferrable, not usable by your laptop using the iPhone to connect to the internet, etc. Reviewer David Pogue says Treo owners at AT&T are paying about $40 for unlimited Internet.
Read the full article.

geneven 2007-06-27 19:40
Re: The $20 unlimited data plan
 
If you are ripped off enough to begin with, you can get a lot of stuff for $20. I think that you are required to have a phone plan before you can get the data plan. That is what the deal was when I worked with Sprint a while back.

aleksandyr 2007-06-27 19:41
Re: The $20 unlimited data plan
 
On Verizon, unlimited data is called VCAST and is a $15/month charge.

Every provider, with the exception of T-Mobile, has a separate tier for Smartphones, since they expect higher data usage. Usually it's nearly $20/month for unlimited data on a "phone" and $40/month for unlimited smartphone data.

These all, of course, just like the iPhone, require an existing cellular contract for voice.

The only revelation here is that the iPhone isn't being considered as a smartphone. There are rather good reasons for this: it has no 3G. :) Reviews have called the cellular internet "painfully slow" (NYTimes) and have otherwise lead me to believe it's just as unusable as I'd expect!

phi 2007-06-27 19:50
Re: The $20 unlimited data plan
 
I'm paying unlimited EDGE data on T-mobile for 20 bucks a month but its a grandfather plan. Although I've heard you can get the blackberry plan for the same price and use it to tether.

RogerS 2007-06-27 19:57
Re: The $20 unlimited data plan
 
Correct me if I'm wrong, but doesn't V Cast basically restrict you to videos that Verizon offers you?

And doesn't allow you to access the web on your Nokia Internet Tablet but only on the phone?

And actually has a cap on usage, even though it's called "unlimited"?

I don't want "video on my phone" but "access to the internet by connecting my tablet via my phone."

If Verizon offers that in VCast, I really don't see it.

Roger

testerj 2007-06-27 19:59
Re: The $20 unlimited data plan
 
Internet Data Plans from Cell Companies are absolutely stupid, the US Data Plans are actually some of the best in the World...

Here in Toronto they have "OneZone" which covers an approx 5 mile radius for wifi internet access in the metro area. This unlimited access costs around $30 CDN ($25USD) per month, except it is not limited to a particular device.

The only downside to it, is inside office buildings the receptions rather average.

Now if you are on Rogers/Fido the data plans are ridiculous, you can get great "music" downloads etc but other data plans are just there to milk the consumer DRY...

It's really a big joke, it is amazing to me how companies just treat people to plans these days that suit them rather than the customer....

Not enough consumer approved organizations ensuring the regular people are protected from these ridiculous contracts and such.

Anyhow... your better off walking down the street and accessing someones home connection at least that way the data speed may be alright.

nef919 2007-06-27 21:02
Re: The $20 unlimited data plan
 
Actually on AT&T you can get a pda with a stand alone data plan same with blackberries. I don't however believe that this is applicable to the iPhone or any of the smartphones of which AT&T only considers non qwerty devices as such. At least among the current line up.


Yes I work for the company. No I did not drink the kool-aide.

Milhouse 2007-06-27 23:16
Re: The $20 unlimited data plan
 
A $20 "unlimited" data plan that can only be used by the 2G iPhone and cannot be used by a laptop doesn't sound like such a great deal to be honest - you're hardly likely to rack up much bandwidth with such a pitiful cellular connection, so the carriers aren't giving much away. The $20 deal looks good on the surface but when you realise the shortcomings of the iPhone to which this plan is locked it loses some of it's sheen.

On the other hand in the UK, for $25 (on top of any voice plan) I can surf a countrywide 3G HSDPA (3.6Mb/s) cellular network (T-Mobile) using my laptop or NIT (or desktop PC and bluetooth dongle!) with a 3GB monthly cap. Now that's a good deal, and is good enough for some people to give up their landline based broadband connection entirely.

A US carrier offering 3G/HSDPA unlimited - realistically speaking this means a fair use cap - access for ~$20-30 would really be something, particularly if "laptop" access is allowed. I doubt it will happen any time soon though as the US cellular networks seem to be a long, long way behind the European networks for some reason.

nef919 2007-06-27 23:38
Re: The $20 unlimited data plan
 
I believe that the main reason that the us cell carriers are behind in this area is due to an unspoken agreement between carriers in part. Also the lack of competition. Same with broadband.

sylver78 2007-06-27 23:58
Re: The $20 unlimited data plan
 
I have Cingular/ATT, for "unlimited" bluetooth connection while I am driving etc which data plan should I pick. This device isn't a PDA and its certainly not a notebook so it is unclear as to which plan one needs to pick. Obviously I'd prefer the PDA unlimited, but even at $40/month its not easy on the wallet but certainly easier to do than $60 for the laptop data connect which is all on top of VOICE service :(


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