14 replies to this topic

[bugmenot111]

I really like the shadow, and I thought it'd be awesome if I could use it to connect to my college's wifi.  However, the T-mobile sales rep told me I'd still have to pay $20 a month to have the t-mobile internet plan.  He said that somehow through my sim card they would still know that I was using wifi, and so even if I was connecting to my school's wifi and not t-mobile, they would charge me an obscene amount (like $1.15/minute).  Is this true?  I'm not sure how something like that could even be legal.

Can I not just sign on to my own network with this phone and use it for free?  Thanks.

[Shuflie]

bugmenot111, on Mar 15 2008, 21:12, said:

I really like the shadow, and I thought it'd be awesome if I could use it to connect to my college's wifi.  However, the T-mobile sales rep told me I'd still have to pay $20 a month to have the t-mobile internet plan.  He said that somehow through my sim card they would still know that I was using wifi, and so even if I was connecting to my school's wifi and not t-mobile, they would charge me an obscene amount (like $1.15/minute).  Is this true?  I'm not sure how something like that could even be legal.

Can I not just sign on to my own network with this phone and use it for free?  Thanks.

Of course its not true, salesmen will sometimes lie to sell you stuff, how could they possibly charge you for something provided by your school? You would need to make sure though that you weren't connecting to t-mobile's gprs connection if you don't want to run up a big bill, look for modaco nodata.

Edited by Shuflie, 15 March 2008 - 09:41 PM.

[the_matrixx]

bugmenot111, on Mar 15 2008, 14:12, said:

I really like the shadow, and I thought it'd be awesome if I could use it to connect to my college's wifi. However, the T-mobile sales rep told me I'd still have to pay $20 a month to have the t-mobile internet plan. He said that somehow through my sim card they would still know that I was using wifi, and so even if I was connecting to my school's wifi and not t-mobile, they would charge me an obscene amount (like $1.15/minute). Is this true? I'm not sure how something like that could even be legal.

Can I not just sign on to my own network with this phone and use it for free? Thanks.

No it isn't true. You can use your school's wifi without being charged, unless your school charges.

[badbob001]

Was the rep totally lying? I'm not aware of any per-minute Internet plans from t-mobile, unless you're using your phone like an analog phone to access dial-up internet, which would use voice minutes. Or maybe if you're roaming?

[tissle]

Find the name of the sales rep, and call t-mobile abuse department.
Get this jackass fired, before he scams anyone else.

[jimbouk]

Firstly as the others hve said, he was talking rubbish and secondly he probably meant per mb rather than per minute.

The important points are: 1) wifi charges are set by the wifi provider - so free wifi is free! 2) as posted above, be careful not to use gprs data by mistake.

[blewer]

bugmenot111, on Mar 15 2008, 21:12, said:

I really like the shadow, and I thought it'd be awesome if I could use it to connect to my college's wifi.  However, the T-mobile sales rep told me I'd still have to pay $20 a month to have the t-mobile internet plan.  He said that somehow through my sim card they would still know that I was using wifi, and so even if I was connecting to my school's wifi and not t-mobile, they would charge me an obscene amount (like $1.15/minute).  Is this true?  I'm not sure how something like that could even be legal.

Can I not just sign on to my own network with this phone and use it for free?  Thanks.

Someone's telling porkies  

[badbob001]

jimbouk, on Mar 16 2008, 05:20, said:

Firstly as the others hve said, he was talking rubbish and secondly he probably meant per mb rather than per minute.

I'm not aware of any t-mobile data plans that charge per bit. Of course, I only know t-mobile USA so I guess it could be different in another country.

[Bipin Sen]

badbob001, on Mar 16 2008, 06:24, said:

I'm not aware of any t-mobile data plans that charge per bit. Of course, I only know t-mobile USA so I guess it could be different in another country.

When I bought my Shadow my sales guy told me the exact thing. Must be some sales sheet they are reading off of. I told him to just stick with his current job of entering in my customer information. He got quiet after that, and I never heard any more of it. After using the SDA with 2+ years of Wi-Fi connectivity, I can report with certainty that no charges are made to your account.

[bugmenot111]

Bipin Sen, on Mar 17 2008, 16:50, said:

When I bought my Shadow my sales guy told me the exact thing. Must be some sales sheet they are reading off of. I told him to just stick with his current job of entering in my customer information. He got quiet after that, and I never heard any more of it. After using the SDA with 2+ years of Wi-Fi connectivity, I can report with certainty that no charges are made to your account.

haha you guys are awesome.  ok so i just got home today with my new shadow.  it took about an hour for me to convince the sales person of my plan.  
but the best part was when i first go there, the rep goes "how can i help you?"
i reply, "id like to upgrade to a shadow"
first thing he says "well just so you know that phone only works with a $20 a month data plan"  
I respond "no thats not true. ill just use my schools wifi. id like just the phone, no data package."
he continues to try and convince me.  finally i explain what i plan to do and so he says "well basically most customers arent as 'astute' as you are so its easier to tell them they have to have the data plan"  
i almost lost it right there.  so he pretty much told me he assumes his customers are stupid and can't figure out anything on their own. then he refered me to the other person working because they were also 'astute' about this area of tmobile service.
so then i had to convince another person of what i wanted to do.  the first thing she asked was how did i even think this was possible
i said "well it seems unfair that tmobile could possibly charge me for NOT using their service." obviously she did not have any kind of response.  she also told me that the customer service people i spoke with on the phone were probably new/stupid and didn't know what they were talking about.  but in the end she ended up agreeing with them/me that I could in fact use my shadow w/o tmobiles data plan, but she says the phone might not work properly with out it.

1) has anyone using a shadow w/o tmobiles data package had any trouble?

2) also, i just wanted to double check before retarded tmobile tries to charge me anything: to disable edge service (and prevent getting charged), all i need to do is delete GPRS/edge/tmobilenet connections in the network connections


the tmobile store people are really irritating.  im really considering calling their support line and filing a complaint.  i feel like they lied to sell me more than i needed, and in the end either basically admitted that, or they had no clue what they were talking about.

[jimbouk]

badbob001, on Mar 16 2008, 12:24, said:

I'm not aware of any t-mobile data plans that charge per bit. Of course, I only know t-mobile USA so I guess it could be different in another country.

All networks charge for the data throughput not the time connected as long as you are using GPRS/3G rather than using the phone to call a modem.

[badbob001]

I'm sure many computer sellers were totally convinced that your PC would not work (may explode even) if not purchased with a contract for an internet dial-up package. I'm still alive. Don't give in to the pitch.

[clow]

I have a data plan curerently, but I've also gone without.  What you are wanting to do will work perfectly fine. The shadow is fully operational without a data plan and you won't get charged for wifi.  

It sucks ass that tmobile  reps give out such misinformation.

[buck bull stallion]

bugmenot111, on Mar 20 2008, 20:36, said:

1) has anyone using a shadow w/o tmobiles data package had any trouble?

2) also, i just wanted to double check before retarded tmobile tries to charge me anything: to disable edge service (and prevent getting charged), all i need to do is delete GPRS/edge/tmobilenet connections in the network connections


the tmobile store people are really irritating.  im really considering calling their support line and filing a complaint.  i feel like they lied to sell me more than i needed, and in the end either basically admitted that, or they had no clue what they were talking about.

I just want to note that there are ways to access gprs/edge using the t-zones plan witch is much cheaper it like 5.99 a month. altho not all the apps work with it, some do i enjoy using google maps and yahoo with it even my skype works with it but not like it does with wifi as the connection speed really blows. i think becuase im using the t-zones proxy it slows down a bit but for getting directions and using yahoo it works great. this is how you would set up your device

http://forum.xda-dev...p/t-306361.html

check out this thread for more information regarding using t-zones for data usage it rocks!!!

[D8LOM]

bugmenot111, on Mar 21 2008, 04:36, said:

haha you guys are awesome. ok so i just got home today with my new shadow. it took about an hour for me to convince the sales person of my plan.
but the best part was when i first go there, the rep goes "how can i help you?"
i reply, "id like to upgrade to a shadow"
first thing he says "well just so you know that phone only works with a $20 a month data plan"
I respond "no thats not true. ill just use my schools wifi. id like just the phone, no data package."
he continues to try and convince me. finally i explain what i plan to do and so he says "well basically most customers arent as 'astute' as you are so its easier to tell them they have to have the data plan"
i almost lost it right there. so he pretty much told me he assumes his customers are stupid and can't figure out anything on their own. then he refered me to the other person working because they were also 'astute' about this area of tmobile service.
so then i had to convince another person of what i wanted to do. the first thing she asked was how did i even think this was possible
i said "well it seems unfair that tmobile could possibly charge me for NOT using their service." obviously she did not have any kind of response. she also told me that the customer service people i spoke with on the phone were probably new/stupid and didn't know what they were talking about. but in the end she ended up agreeing with them/me that I could in fact use my shadow w/o tmobiles data plan, but she says the phone might not work properly with out it.

1) has anyone using a shadow w/o tmobiles data package had any trouble?

2) also, i just wanted to double check before retarded tmobile tries to charge me anything: to disable edge service (and prevent getting charged), all i need to do is delete GPRS/edge/tmobilenet connections in the network connections


the tmobile store people are really irritating. im really considering calling their support line and filing a complaint. i feel like they lied to sell me more than i needed, and in the end either basically admitted that, or they had no clue what they were talking about.

I really don't understand where do they get their staffs from, surely they interview and pick-up the fact that prospective employee does't have any knowledge about mobile phones? I phoned them couple of weeks ago here in T-Mobile UK customer service and they didn't have a clue what I was refering to and one of them (just to get out of it) said he'll take my details (alternative numbers) and call me back but he never did so I figured it out myself with a tiny bit of help for you guys at MoDaCo.

Thank you all!