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AT&T starting to get on my nerves...

ODog4523

ODog4523

macrumors regular
Original poster
Apr 11, 2009
187
0
Anyone else?

OK, so I won't be qualified for the introductory price on the 3GS when it comes out next week. I understand all the economics and subsidies that are involved between carriers and device manufacturers in order to make the products affordable for us, so it's fair enough that I'll have to shell out an extra $200 if I want to pick up this phone before February next year.

Here's the problem.

First, AT&T cripples the SlingPlayer App, only allowing it to work over wi-fi, citing the strain it would create on their network. Meanwhile WinMo and other devices have been able to stream Sling content over AT&T's 3G service for how long now?

It was also the better part of a year before AT&T allowed users to connect to the mobile ITunes store over 3G.

Now with the 3GS and IPhone OS 3.0 coming next week, we find out that MMS and IPhone tethering won't available to AT&T customers until a few months down the road. What gives??

We found out in March that MMS capabilities were coming, so AT&T certainly knew even before that. Why are they not ready for this? I wouldn't be too surprised if they rolled out a new pricing scheme for an IPhone MMS plan either. I don't want to hear about them not anticipating the popularity of the IPhone or the strain on their network. This thing's been on the market for 2 years now and they've had all that time to beef up their infrastructure already. Even on the day Steve Jobs announced the very first IPhone, he said there were 3G phones and all sorts of other things on the way, so you know AT&T knew what was coming down the road.

So AT&T, you wanted the gem that is the IPhone, and you got it. Now man up and handle the task that you asked for. These handicaps are getting tiresome.

I would be hoping along with many others that the IPhone was going to Verizon if I didn't know they would nickel and dime the sh*t out of me :)
 
You act as if Apple and AT&T don't talk about things before they get added. AT&T knew months about all these features before the public did.

I'm not making an excuse for AT&T, I'm just letting you know that they don't just find out when all of us do.
 
Verizon nickel and dimes just as much if not more, whats even worse is they cripple their phones via software so they can make even more money off of you. Ive heard that they disable wifi on some of their phones for the specific reason of forcing you to use their data. Verizon isnt always the answer people, if you worked for them and saw how things were ran on both the wireless and landline side of the business like myself you would avoid them at all costs.
 
themoonisdown09 said:
You act as if Apple and AT&T don't talk about things before they get added. AT&T knew months about all these features before the public did.
Click to expand...

I know they talk before hand. That's why it seems so silly to me that these features aren't ready.

deimos256 said:
Verizon nickel and dimes just as much if not more, whats even worse is they cripple their phones via software so they can make even more money off of you. Ive heard that they disable wifi on some of their phones for the specific reason of forcing you to use their data. Verizon isnt always the answer people, if you worked for them and saw how things were ran on both the wireless and landline side of the business like myself you would avoid them at all costs.
Click to expand...

I've been on Verizon, so I know. I meant I would want the IPhone on Verizon, except I know they would tax the hell out of me...
 
They clearly haven't been ready for the demand placed on their network from day 1. Think of all of the headaches when the 3G launched. Their network was overwhelmed. Sounds like they know their network couldn't handle Sling, and are worried about the effect of MMS and tethering.
 
The iPhone is AT&T's cash cow... so of course they will treat it differently than their other "smart phones" because the customer base is so HUGE and they know they can take advantage of this and charge up the a**.

Esp all those die-hard I MUST GET THE NEW IPHONE type of people... who hate AT&T but will stay despite their "practices" but "go with the flow" to have the iPhone.

AT&T got rid of the included 200 messages... people still bought iPhone 3G's.
AT&T screwed over Sling Player... people outraged but for the most part will give their money to AT&T monthly.
AT&T slow on MMS and tethering... people are still pre-ordering 3GS phones.

$90-100+ a month for a smart phone plan is pretty ridiculous... but everyone from tweens to business pros have it... the iPhone appeals to a huge audience. AT&T needs to get dropped soon.

My first initial thought when Apple announced the iPhone back in 2007 was that they would introduce their own service like an Apple Mobile... instead of piggybacking on a carrier.
 
If you look at AT&T's website on the iPhone 3Gs pages you can find a note that mentions MMS coming soon at no additional cost or data plan.

I also read that AT&T is upgrading a different part of their system, not part of the 3G network, to provide and handle MMS features of the iPhone. Granted they had plety of time to prepare for this, but I honestly think AT&T is making it seamless for iPhone users and trying to get it right the first time rather than having to fix it later. Also in what I read the MMS protocol is looked upon as "ugly" to the newer cellular generation and Apple was hoping to weed MMS out along with AT&T and getting rid of the protocol all together. Their hope was that other phone makers would follow.
 
To the OP: Yes; I absolutely agree with you -- AT&T is getting on my nerves, too.

I actually just got a random, automated "how are we doing?" call from AT&T and I used the record-a-message thing to explain my ratings a bit better. I told them that while I've been pleased with general customer service and all that, I'm quickly becoming disappointed with their service as it pertains to support. I cited the deal with Sling Player, MMS, and tethering and just said I was very surprised to find these things happening when other carriers around the world are able to do it and they (AT&T) have had plenty of time to prepare for it. I told them I thought it was very sad that they staked a claim on such a phenomenal piece of technology but yet are unwilling to put forth the effort to support its features and capabilities and that I believe this is making them the laughing stock of all the mobile phone carriers right now.

It sure would have been nice for Apple to have put something in their contract with AT&T to the effect of "AT&T can only maintain exclusivity so long as they enable and support it's features."
 
As much as I hate restrictions, I think we need to appreciate how much the typical iPhone user sucks the bandwidth. We're a very big slice of a pie, and allow phone-X to do something is entirely different than letting iPhones do it.
 
This is to prevent much of the att subscribers from using a lot of bandwidth, thus increasing traffic and cause huge problems for the rest of att subscribers in that area.
 
ODog4523 said:
First, AT&T cripples the SlingPlayer App, only allowing it to work over wi-fi, citing the strain it would create on their network.
Click to expand...

It might be Apple that is crippling the slingplayer app because they want to introduce that feature into their Apple TV.
 
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