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AW3 true monthly cost AT&T?

M

madferret

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Mar 16, 2014
8
2
I just received an AW3 LTE as a gift and loving it of course. I'm unsure whether adding it to our cellular plan is worth it. I've heard the taxes and fees on AT&T add up to quite a bit. What is your true monthly cost for adding the AW3 to your plan?

I'm on AT&T in CA. Thanks!
 
I'm also in MA, it's $13.83 per month ($10 for the service, $3.83 in miscellaneous fees and taxes) for me with AT&T. I also got mine as a gift for Christmas and love it far more than the Series 0 model it replaced.
 
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madferret said:
I just received an AW3 LTE as a gift and loving it of course. I'm unsure whether adding it to our cellular plan is worth it. I've heard the taxes and fees on AT&T add up to quite a bit. What is your true monthly cost for adding the AW3 to your plan?

I'm on AT&T in CA. Thanks!
Click to expand...

I'm on AT&T in CA, my S3 LTE monthly cost with surcharges, taxes, and fees is $12.79
 
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I am California (Placer County) and I am at $13.40 with this breakdown:

Surcharges and Other Fees
Administrative Fee 0.76
Federal Universal Service Charge 0.80
Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge 1.25
State Public Utility Surcharge 0.02
Total Surcharges and Other Fees 2.83

Government Fees and Taxes
CHCF A 0.02
Relay Service Device Fund 0.03
State 911 Tax 0.06
Teleconnect Fund 0.09
Universal Lifeline 0.37
Total Government Fees and Taxes 0.57
 
Is adding the LTE plan worth it? I'm trying to think of a scenario where I'd need/want it and haven't been able to come up with a use case. I can see it being great for runners.
 
Daniel L said:
Is adding the LTE plan worth it? I'm trying to think of a scenario where I'd need/want it and haven't been able to come up with a use case. I can see it being great for runners.
Click to expand...
I know there are other threads that cover this, but for me, having LTE on my watch means I do not always have to carry my phone where ever I go. It's a level of freedom I am really getting used to...
 
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Daniel L said:
Is adding the LTE plan worth it? I'm trying to think of a scenario where I'd need/want it and haven't been able to come up with a use case. I can see it being great for runners.
Click to expand...
Depends on your lifestyle and whether having your phone on you all the time is ever an inconvenience.

For me, (and i'm female- don't know if that makes a difference)
  • Don't have to worry about where to put my phone if I don't have pockets
  • Therefor no longer have to make sure clothes I buy have pockets
  • It also frees me up to the possibility of getting a larger screen phone. I was turned off by the giant ones cause it would be a burden to carry around at times such as walking/hiking.
  • As a bonus, it'll come in handy on the rare occasions I leave home without my phone or possibly get locked out of the house? though I assume it would still connect to a phone from outside...
  • my phone plan is so cheap on t-mobile and with my line discounts the watch only costs me $8 a month so between that and being able to walk the dogs without my phone I was sold.
 
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Mine is around $13. I called on Sunday to cancel it because I really don’t use it. The guy offered me a ‘special’ deal. As long as I keep my current plan they will take $40 off my monthly bill. The stipulation was I have to keep the same plan and the watch has to stay active on there. So now they are paying me to kept it active. Worth it now.
 
I live in So. Cal. and my bill was $13 and change. I cancelled it after the free trial. I had promised myself when it was first announced that if it was anywhere over $5 a month, it would not be worth it for me, so I cancelled. I only used the cellular twice in the 3 month trial and that was just to see how well it worked. (slow). I am not a runner which is just about the only thing I can see this useful for and maybe a cyclist? I thought it would be GREAT not to have to take my iPhone with me at times but it just wasn't worth the cost. YMMV
 
shox2k2 said:
Mine is around $13. I called on Sunday to cancel it because I really don’t use it. The guy offered me a ‘special’ deal. As long as I keep my current plan they will take $40 off my monthly bill. The stipulation was I have to keep the same plan and the watch has to stay active on there. So now they are paying me to kept it active. Worth it now.
Click to expand...
Wow, that is a nice cellphone company you have,, they are paying you?
 
shox2k2 said:
Mine is around $13. I called on Sunday to cancel it because I really don’t use it. The guy offered me a ‘special’ deal. As long as I keep my current plan they will take $40 off my monthly bill. The stipulation was I have to keep the same plan and the watch has to stay active on there. So now they are paying me to kept it active. Worth it now.
Click to expand...
Who is "they"? AT&T?
 
forecheck said:
I am California (Placer County) and I am at $13.40 with this breakdown:

Surcharges and Other Fees
Administrative Fee 0.76
Federal Universal Service Charge 0.80
Regulatory Cost Recovery Charge 1.25
State Public Utility Surcharge 0.02
Total Surcharges and Other Fees 2.83

Government Fees and Taxes
CHCF A 0.02
Relay Service Device Fund 0.03
State 911 Tax 0.06
Teleconnect Fund 0.09
Universal Lifeline 0.37
Total Government Fees and Taxes 0.57
Click to expand...

With AT&T raising their "administrative fee" to $1.99, my monthly fee will now be $14.63. I know $1.23 increase isn't going to kill me, but when you get to close to 50% in taxes and fees it becomes more of a principal of it and might finally move me to cancel it.
 
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With AT&T raising their "administrative fee" to $1.99, my monthly fee will now be $14.63. I know $1.23 increase isn't going to kill me, but when you get to close to 50% in taxes and fees it becomes more of a principal of it and might finally move me to cancel it.
Click to expand...

I pay exactly $10 with T-Mobile. I was a long time AT&T customer but couldn't handle it anymore. I've been with T-Mobile for over a year and couldn't be happier. The coverage may be a little less but it's getting better everyday and the coverage is about 95% of AT&T in my area.
 
GRT89521 said:
I pay exactly $10 with T-Mobile. I was a long time AT&T customer but couldn't handle it anymore. I've been with T-Mobile for over a year and couldn't be happier. The coverage may be a little less but it's getting better everyday and the coverage is about 95% of AT&T in my area.
Click to expand...

I did the same this past Sunday after 15 or so years with AT&T.
 
Speaking of having the service on the watch I think you have to get an additional line, which is usually a random number right?
Anyhow how does the watch link with the phone I am sure it is a carrier back end think correct?
Can you still use the external number as a 2nd number as well?

Now lets say your iPhone is off will you still receive calls & texts to the watch?
 
Dodgeman said:
Speaking of having the service on the watch I think you have to get an additional line, which is usually a random number right?
Anyhow how does the watch link with the phone I am sure it is a carrier back end think correct?
Can you still use the external number as a 2nd number as well?

Now lets say your iPhone is off will you still receive calls & texts to the watch?
Click to expand...

You do get an additional number but you can't do anything with it. If you call it you get a message saying the user is not available. At&T uses it's Numbersync service to link the watch to your phone's number, you don't have to do anything. If your phone is off, then only the watch will ring.
 
forecheck said:
You do get an additional number but you can't do anything with it. If you call it you get a message saying the user is not available. At&T uses it's Numbersync service to link the watch to your phone's number, you don't have to do anything. If your phone is off, then only the watch will ring.
Click to expand...

If you ever deactivate the watch you just loose that number and everything with phone and original number remains the same?
 
Daniel L said:
Is adding the LTE plan worth it? I'm trying to think of a scenario where I'd need/want it and haven't been able to come up with a use case. I can see it being great for runners.
Click to expand...
If an elderly person breaks their hip during a fall they could use the LTE watch to call for help.
 
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borgranta said:
If an elderly person breaks their hip during a fall they could use the LTE watch to call for help.
Click to expand...

Don’t even have to be elderly to take a tumble! When I was 19 (about a thousand years ago), I was leaving an exam in a mostly empty building, slipped and fell halfway down a flight of stairs. Fortunately, my professor had left the classroom door open and thought he heard a noise. He came to check on it and found me unconscious.

That was years before cell phones, but a tumble alone can happen any time, anywhere to anyone. Once I got a pocket-sized phone, it went with me everywhere, and I am really happy with the watch’s convenience!
 
I pay $13.18 in Georgia. I use my AW3 without the iPhone frequently. My early morning walk. I don’t carry the iPhone X, just the AW3 and my AirPods. Often during the work day, I’ll leave my iPhone on the desk.

Oddly, Georgia’s new hands free driving law allows smart watches to be used but not phones.
 
scmill said:
Don’t even have to be elderly to take a tumble! When I was 19 (about a thousand years ago), I was leaving an exam in a mostly empty building, slipped and fell halfway down a flight of stairs. Fortunately, my professor had left the classroom door open and thought he heard a noise. He came to check on it and found me unconscious.

That was years before cell phones, but a tumble alone can happen any time, anywhere to anyone. Once I got a pocket-sized phone, it went with me everywhere, and I am really happy with the watch’s convenience!
Click to expand...
So, I do not want to pick apart your post. But a couple of things:
If you have / had your phone everywhere, why do you need LTE on a watch; you have your phone? If you are unconscious, having neither a phone nor LTE watch will do you any good.

Someone a post above you mentioned ‘to have it all the times you forget your phone’. Am I just addicted to my phone so much that I rarely leave it behind?

I just am struggling to see the benefit. I do have a coworker that has one and says she loves being able to walk away from her desk and leave her phone and have the cellphone / messaging capabilities - I totally buy that. But beyond that, how often are people without their phone?

My biggest usage will be not having to whip my phone out for notifications and messages. I can easily flick my wrist, read, swipe to clear.

Full disclosure, I do not have an Apple Watch and plan to get a series 4. I do not plan to get an LTE, unless stainless steel only comes in LTE. And I am undecided if I will pilot LTE or not. Likely only planning to if they offer a trial period again.
 
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