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AT&T Introduces New Data Plans Without Overage Charges

Malibu31 said:
You will lose your rollover allotment from the month before, so keep that in mind.
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Well, presumably at the point you'd do this you've already blown through your rollover allotment.

I do wonder how quickly you can change back to the lower tier (i.e., can you switch back at the end of the billing cycle?)

Note that for most plans, the jump up is more than $15:

1GB->3GB - $10
3 -> 6 - $20
6 -> 10 - $20
10 -> 16 - $10
16 -> 25 - $20
25 -> 30 - $25
 
Since the retention info came from a source that also made it sound like they'd be available, it makes me wonder about the price info since the availability isn't what was stated (so far half-wrong, but we're hoping the other half is true).
 
ftaok said:
I was saying that I feel it's fair for the carriers to charge a monthly fee for every active SIM card. If they didn't, I would put a SIM card in every device I have, but just in case. It's more overhead for the carriers.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't be prevented from moving your SIM card from one device to another whenever you want.
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No - it is not fair to charge a monthly fee for each SIM card! It is a one time systems setup!

No - there is no overhead extras for the carriers because a SIM is sitting in a different device! 2016's technology can be and is designed to extract more money from me, but, I am not drinking that cool-aid!

Your double negative in that sentence is confusing English - please say that again after removing them, so your message is clear. My view, one should be able to switch a SIM card whenever one pleases - the SIM card is setup already in the carriers' digital domain infrastructure.
 
KPandian1 said:
No - it is not fair to charge a monthly fee for each SIM card! It is a one time systems setup!
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I think what the general consensus for this thread is that people are not okay with getting charged a fee when upgrading/changing devices when you could very well take the SIM card out of one and put it in the other, but fine with paying a fee for every active line (there is overhead with keeping a phone number/line of service active). As of right now, AT&T charges you for each line you have accessing your data, but doesn't care if you take that SIM out of one phone and put it in another.

Otherwise, what's to stop me from buying 2GB of service and having 10 iPhones and iPads sharing that? I think there should be some skin in the game for each active line so people don't abuse taking too many phone numbers. Even taking the aspect of voice minutes and texts out of the equation (which some consider part of the "access fee" on phone lines), having a bunch of iPads sharing some bucket of data, each assigned a phone number still has more overhead for billing and support than just one.
 
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ecschwarz said:
I think what the general consensus for this thread is that people are not okay with getting charged a fee when upgrading/changing devices when you could very well take the SIM card out of one and put it in the other, but fine with paying a fee for every active line (there is overhead with keeping a phone number/line of service active). As of right now, AT&T charges you for each line you have accessing your data, but doesn't care if you take that SIM out of one phone and put it in another.

Otherwise, what's to stop me from buying 2GB of service and having 10 iPhones and iPads sharing that? I think there should be some skin in the game for each active line so people don't abuse taking too many phone numbers. Even taking the aspect of voice minutes and texts out of the equation (which some consider part of the "access fee" on phone lines), having a bunch of iPads sharing some bucket of data, each assigned a phone number still has more overhead for billing and support than just one.
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The limit there is you can't use the other devices when it doesn't have a SIM.

Tablets without voice access aren't assigned a phone number, so that's not an issue.
 
Malibu31 said:
Tablets do indeed use a phone number when added to a plan.
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Yep - all carriers do it. Some do it based on your billing address (so I had an AT&T one for the area code I currently live in, as opposed to the area code on all my phone lines), while some use nonexistent area codes (Sprint) to fake the system, and others just arbitrarily pick an area code (my T-Mobile 200MB/month "free" SIM has a New Jersey number). Most of the time it's buried in your account information, but almost always on the bill. Basically, tablets are treated like phones that just have data only instead of voice and data. When I was trying prepaid service on Verizon, they somehow have figured out a way to text alerts to iPads, too.
 
Le Big Mac said:
Got it - thanks for correcting my misimpression.

Do they have theoretical access to the voice network (or put differently could one take the SIM and put it in a phone and use it for voice)?
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Since the SIM isn't provisioned for calling/texting, it would not work. I believe the data will work, however.
 
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Malibu31 said:
Since the SIM isn't provisioned for calling/texting, it would not work. I believe the data will work, however.
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I haven't tried it, but I've heard that depending on the carrier, some might re-provision the SIMs based on the IMEI of the device when it's periodically read (so, in theory, you couldn't set up an old iPhone with a tablet-style data plan and use FaceTime/iMessage only). I've heard that AT&T will do this, and I'm guessing most others would too (since a lot of us could do without voice minutes on every iPhone).
 
Malibu31 said:
Here are the new RETENTION plans that some of you may be interested in, available Monday, August 22nd:
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?p=16707714

My post on Reddit:
http://reddit.com/r/ATT/comments/4yv68g/new_mobile_share_advantage_retention_plans_are/

If the links don't work, it's as follows:

$30/2GB
$40/6GB
$60/12GB
$80/20GB
$90/32GB
$110/50GB
$135/60GB

Additional info:
The line access fee on these plans is $20.
Your FAN discount will still apply to the data portion.
This includes Mexico AND Canada LTE Roaming.

You get to Retentions by calling 611 and when prompted, say "cancel." When the rep comes on then line, explain your situation. **Threatening to cancel isn't required.** You can say that your bill is too high or if you could get more data for what you pay. Be polite and they'll come through for you. Didn't work out? *Try again.*

I have a reliable source on this, so let's hope this is true.

Edit 8/22: These new retention plans are not live yet. Will update when it is!
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Man, the increased line fees are really killing any chance I have of getting a deal on these new plans, even the retention plans.

We currently pay...

$75 for 20GB ($100 - 25% FAN) + 3 x $15 per line = $120

Retention plan:

$60 for 20GB ($80 - 25% FAN) + 3 x $20 per line = $120

ETA: Actually my FAN discount is 25%, not 20%, retention deal comes out to exactly to what I currently have.
 
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kilcher said:
Man, the increased line fees are really killing any chance I have of getting a deal on these new plans, even the retention plans.

We currently pay...

$80 for 20GB ($100 - 20% FAN) + 3 x $15 per line = $125

Retention plan:

$64 for 20GB ($80 - 20% FAN) + 3 x $20 per line = $124
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They really become a bargain with the higher data pools. Also, it does include Canada Roaming, but who knows if they're tweaking that as we speak. I'll keep you guys posted on the progress I hear.
 
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KPandian1 said:
No - it is not fair to charge a monthly fee for each SIM card! It is a one time systems setup!

No - there is no overhead extras for the carriers because a SIM is sitting in a different device! 2016's technology can be and is designed to extract more money from me, but, I am not drinking that cool-aid!

Your double negative in that sentence is confusing English - please say that again after removing them, so your message is clear. My view, one should be able to switch a SIM card whenever one pleases - the SIM card is setup already in the carriers' digital domain infrastructure.
Click to expand...
Dude,

No need to get hostile if you disagree. You have your opinion, I have mine.

And sorry for the typo. I meant it to say ...

"I'm not saying that you should be prevented from moving your SIM card from one device to another whenever you want."
 
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If you are using a tablet and you are on the value shared plan, why get the 3G/4G ready tablet, so you can pay extra to AT&T, Verizon, etc. On those plans, tethering is allowed, so just tether your tablet to your phone and your done. No extra fees, and you are still using the same data as if you had a 3g/4g ready tablet, just saving the device fee that AT&T, Verizon, etc want to charge for a NON-PHONE device.
 
There are a handful of plans (obviously not Mobile Share Value/Advantage) that have tethering blocked and it may be cheaper/easier to add a tablet (mostly looking at AT&T's unlimited options, old and new). Additionally, some people don't want to risk running down their battery on two device tethering. The last, which really is the one that makes the most sense, is getting another carrier on your tablet - gives you the ability to use either device if you travel to areas where one carrier may work better than the other (I know Casey Liss does it with Verizon and T-Mobile on his iPad, while his iPhone has AT&T).

But yeah, for most people, tethering makes a lot of sense.

Moorepheus said:
If you are using a tablet and you are on the value shared plan, why get the 3G/4G ready tablet, so you can pay extra to AT&T, Verizon, etc. On those plans, tethering is allowed, so just tether your tablet to your phone and your done. No extra fees, and you are still using the same data as if you had a 3g/4g ready tablet, just saving the device fee that AT&T, Verizon, etc want to charge for a NON-PHONE device.
Click to expand...
 
ecschwarz said:
There are a handful of plans (obviously not Mobile Share Value/Advantage) that have tethering blocked and it may be cheaper/easier to add a tablet (mostly looking at AT&T's unlimited options, old and new). Additionally, some people don't want to risk running down their battery on two device tethering. The last, which really is the one that makes the most sense, is getting another carrier on your tablet - gives you the ability to use either device if you travel to areas where one carrier may work better than the other (I know Casey Liss does it with Verizon and T-Mobile on his iPad, while his iPhone has AT&T).

But yeah, for most people, tethering makes a lot of sense.
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I get your point, but again don't see how adding a Tablet with Wireless 3G/4G on any plan is a cost savings. If you use the grandfathered Unlimited plan, the last time I looked, to add tethering to your account, was what, $25-$30 a month for just 5GB (this might have changed). Again, that's up to $30 extra a month. In those cases, you have no choice. But my message was for anyone on the Value Shared plans, where tethering is allowed, why would you ever buy a 3G/4G ready tablet other than the reason you stated above? You can by a Mophie for the money you spent that the tablets manufactures want extra for the 3G/4G built in if battery life is your issue and still saved on the monthly service charge that the wireless carriers are charging for these tablets to be on the account. Yea, I know you are carrying around another item, but I guess there is a trade off. Just thought I would bring this up is all. People are going to do what they want to do anyway.
 
Moorepheus said:
Yea, I know you are carrying around another item, but I guess there is a trade off. Just thought I would bring this up is all. People are going to do what they want to do anyway.
Click to expand...

Generally agree, although consider the situation of a family with devices, and junior wants to use the iPad but you're not around to tether it to (maybe it's an electronic babysitter at the beach).
 
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Le Big Mac said:
Generally agree, although consider the situation of a family with devices, and junior wants to use the iPad but you're not around to tether it to (maybe it's an electronic babysitter at the beach).
Click to expand...

I think that is a good point - tethering makes sense if you own and use both devices, but if the device is used by someone without a phone, a cellular iPad mini can be a great option for families.
 
I already went over my data and my speed still 49mbps, when they gonna slow down my speed
 
Moorepheus said:
If you are using a tablet and you are on the value shared plan, why get the 3G/4G ready tablet, so you can pay extra to AT&T, Verizon, etc. On those plans, tethering is allowed, so just tether your tablet to your phone and your done. No extra fees, and you are still using the same data as if you had a 3g/4g ready tablet, just saving the device fee that AT&T, Verizon, etc want to charge for a NON-PHONE device.
Click to expand...

I did this when I carried an iPad, but this is not a "wife friendly" solution. My wife has an iPad and iPhone its well worth the $10/month to avoid all the problems that I would get called about as she tried to use it in the wild. Also, it is much more convenient. I switched to an iPhone "plus" model and stopped carrying the iPad mini. She got an SE iPhone and uses it and her iPad Air regularly.
 
convergent said:
I did this when I carried an iPad, but this is not a "wife friendly" solution. My wife has an iPad and iPhone its well worth the $10/month to avoid all the problems that I would get called about as she tried to use it in the wild. Also, it is much more convenient. I switched to an iPhone "plus" model and stopped carrying the iPad mini. She got an SE iPhone and uses it and her iPad Air regularly.
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Yep, I can see all everyone's point about this. I am not saying it won't be different for people. I just know in my family situation, Me and my better half have iPhones 6s (mines a plus and hers is not). She also has an iPad Air. She will never use both at the same time and she will always have her iPhone on her, even with her iPad. So, it only made since to get the non-cellular model. Once I showed her how to tether her iPad, she was tickled pink. Also with the amount of time she uses the iPad tethered to her iPhone is only when we are on the road, I am not too concerned about battery life on either device. I do agree there are going to be cases where you want a cellular version of a tablet, but to me, it's just a waste of $120 a year, but not to others, and that is cool. Just thought I would bring it up.
 
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