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The $10/month LTE cost
- Thread starter John-F
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They make an android phone that can't tether? Saying you don't have tethering is saying you don't have a phone.
If one were to purchase the LTE add-on service, if I wanted to only carry airpods and my watch, am I only able to use Apple Music to stream music or can I also use Spotify?
I don’t have any use for android phones, but it’s my understanding that tethering is a matter of the plan, not just the device.
AT&T, specifically, the last time I looked had cheaper plans that didn’t allow tethering, even if the phone is capable of it, so having a phone with you in that scenario wouldn’t be helpful in getting an iPad online.
I had my AW series 3 with ATT for almost a year and it was a waste of money. I think it depends on what you do that it may be a great tool, but for me it wasn't! I do agree that $10 is a lot for an AW. I'm back to GPS only, I got the series 4 and I haven't missed my wireless connection at all.
Could you talk a photo of the bill and cross out any identifying information? It would be useful for people to see what gets added in, and by whom.
Well, I’d like to see it, at least.
Could you talk a photo of the bill and cross out any identifying information? It would be useful for people to see what gets added in, and by whom.
Well, I’d like to see it, at least.
iPhone
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Could you talk a photo of the bill and cross out any identifying information? It would be useful for people to see what gets added in, and by whom.
Well, I’d like to see it, at least.
Apple Watch
So, those Administrative Charges, are just made up charges. Verizon, ATT and your cable company and whomever else will peddle some BS about them being something meaningful but the truth is they are 100% profit. So the price of your $10 plan is actually $12.46 if I read your bills correctly.
I’ve seen cable bills inflated by $6.00 or more for broadcast fees and other crap like this.
I have no idea why this isn’t illegal because it’s really blatant false advertising. It cries out for a class action lawsuit, except we’ve all signed arbitration clauses. I guess the only way out is don’t buy cable or deal with any <bleeps> who pull this stuff. I say that as someone whose cell service is on a month-to-month plan with one of the <bleeps> because I don’t really have a better choice. No admin fees the last time I looked, however.
Maybe Ajit Pai will save us? LOLOLOLOLOLOLLOLOLOLOL!
I believe the answer is no concerning Spotify. It was when I moved from Spotify Premium to Apple Music and from what I understand is still the case. Following thread might be useful to you:
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/moving-from-spotify-to-apple-music.2091034/
You do realize that although you're paying for the hardware, you are in no way obligated to add the Watch to your wireless service account, so you don't HAVE to pay the wireless provider anything for LTE service?
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100% profit? For whom? Not for VZW, ATT or other providers. Unless you think that the carriers get to keep all those fees?
We have a free T-Mobile line or I would have skipped the cellular version. Of course, by the time it finally ships I still might skip it!
Maybe I’m wrong, but aren’t those taxes and fees for the entire bill put together and not just the watch? Meaning you’d pay those anyway?
I was referring to the admin fee's / charges, which are 100% made up, and 100% profit. It's a way to say your price is $10 but charge you $12.46. Like I said, it should be illegal, and would be in a fair world.
I'll save you the trouble of googling them. Here's something from slashdot, take it for what it's worth.
https://news.slashdot.org/story/18/...wing-customers-by-almost-tripling-a-bogus-fee
It's pure greedy double-dipping. Plain and simple. There's not even a real argument for saying "oh well people will stream more with Apple Watches than other smart watches." While that's very true, overall data use for those users, who are already paying for full line and data plans, is more likely to slightly drop than even just say the same. Even if you stream music and listen to podcasts, you're not going to be doing any major web browsing or watching movies like you would on a phone. And that's the kicker, the number of people using their phone and watch to stream meaningful data at the same time is close to zero. I'd be willing to pay $5/mo after taxes & fees as pretty much an impulse no-brainer. But $10 + fees is almost more embarrassing than when texts cost $0.10 to send and $0.50 to receive. You are already paying for every single kilobyte and minute with your main bill. They are literally just charging that much for access alone... not to mention the line access fee! They are literally charging you a $14/mo line access fee for your watch after they get you for $30 to onboard.
TL;DR: They are charging you more just to use the same data you're already paying for. Just like SMS used to be, it's practically 100% profit off the back of an insane markup for carriers. $5/mo is definitely that magic number that would see their Apple Watch subscriber numbers probably quadruple overnight.
I'm hoping we're just still in an early adopter phase and eventually it will settle out. I have an LTE watch but refuse to activate it at these prices.
TL;DR: They are charging you more just to use the same data you're already paying for. Just like SMS used to be, it's practically 100% profit off the back of an insane markup for carriers. $5/mo is definitely that magic number that would see their Apple Watch subscriber numbers probably quadruple overnight.
I'm hoping we're just still in an early adopter phase and eventually it will settle out. I have an LTE watch but refuse to activate it at these prices.
Got it, you're right. I was thinking of the long list of various governmental charges, mostly state (CA), which are mostly small amounts. The federal universal service charge is also pretty shocking, especially since it's much higher on the watch than on the iPhone.
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That's how it looks to me. How many devices can I use at once?
Pai.... hah what a shill for the big communication companies!
mine was $6.79 per month added to the $10 here in WV. Our 911 org is ridiculous. They are funding s new facility and personnel from those fees. I pay it times 5 each month for my lines. if you have any voice service at all (Apple Watch qualifies) you get zapped for a $3.34 per month fee. Add on ATT's stuff and there you go. Luckily hotspots don't qualify or I would bear that too. Just local fees are $16 and change a month for me. The watch made it over $20.
I agree the cost seems high, we have two new watches on TMO for 3 months free. Not sure if we will keep it after that. If it was half the cost I don't think I would mind nearly as much but having cellular on the watch is just a nice to have. I can only think of a handful of times a year where it would actually be handy to have.
I setup cellular on my series 3 last year. During the 3mo trial period used it twice so cancelled it. Did not even consider setting it up on my series 4.