vB Easy Archive - Switch or not? (advice request)

Pages: 1

Switch or not? (advice request)
(Click here to view the original thread with full colors/images)

Posted by: planetlanham

Hey all,

Short version: Is there a good way to tether a PDA to a cell phone on the AT&T network that allows us to use Minutes of Use (MOU) instead of a pricey data plan? (without breaking any rules and risk getting booted)

Long version:
I'm waiting for my Verizon contract to finish (November) so I can have a little more freedom to make decisions.

My wife and I currently have a family plan at Verizon, but the plan only allows us to upgrade one of our phones every two years. We're using the BT dialup to Verizon's QNC network with our iPaqs to do occasional internet for mou. We're very happy with that and don't need much more. However....... enter the iPhone. Want and need are two very different things.

In an ideal world, here is what we want:
I want to get an iPhone (probably wait for 2nd generation) and let it replace my ol' 3rd gen ipod, my 2 year old cell phone and my (fairly new) iPaq - all at once.
My wife just wants a regular ol' cell phone (picture & video capable, we have Motorola E815s now) and the ability to dial up to the internet on her iPaq through her cell phone. Occasional & slow internet are just fine.

Depending on who you talk to, Verizon doesn't have an option to get on the internet without a $60/month data plan. It wasn't until I talked to someone in data technical support that I finally was able to get the green light to dialup via QNC for mou. The support guy even put a note in my account giving me permission to keep doing this.

I want to get an iPhone, but I want my wife to continue to be able to tether her PDA for mou like we do now. I also don't want to risk getting booted off the network by doing something AT&T doesn't allow. (ie, try to stay under the radar & hope they don't mind - I want more of a "sure thing")

I suppose a cheap data plan might be doable too...

Any thoughts or ideas?

Posted by: VTECaddict

no, you have to get a data plan. or you can just do pay per use data, but it racks up really quick at $0.01/kb, especially when you're tethering. but for occasional light usage it might be cheaper in the long run than adding a data plan.

same for the iphone. if you dont want to get a data plan for it you have to activate the iphone using third party programs and NOT with itunes/at&t. but the same as above applies.

Posted by: planetlanham

Quote:

Originally Posted by VTECaddict

no, you have to get a data plan. or you can just do pay per use data, but it racks up really quick at $0.01/kb, especially when you're tethering. but for occasional light usage it might be cheaper in the long run than adding a data plan.

same for the iphone. if you dont want to get a data plan for it you have to activate the iphone using third party programs and NOT with itunes/at&t. but the same as above applies.

I was ok with a data plan for the iphone, but I was hoping for a mou dialup for my wife's phone.

On the wireless.att.com site, I see some pretty expensive data plans that include tethering. Way too expensive. I looked at a normal voice plan and there is a service called "MEdia™ Net". Is this just for viewing web pages on your phone? Can it be used for tethering a pda?

Looking at the Apple Store online, I see that the 450 minute plan for the iPhone is $59.99. The normal 450 minute plan (on wireless.att.com) is $39.99. This makes it look like I could add a data plan to her phone (non iPhone) for $20/month. Is this true? Even though that's cheaper than the pda data plans I saw, it's still pretty steep for occasional use.

Hmm... What about using the phone for dialup to our local ISP - like a modem? (bellsouth)

Posted by: pgsmith

Quote:

Originally Posted by planetlanham

Dial-up to an ISP is painfully slow, I have tried it on Verizon I am in the same boat as you wife and I have E815's and use with dell AXIM for mou, I also hate the fact that Verizon will only allow one upgrade per family plan.
I am planning on dropping the internet use and go with at&t, I have done the looking around and US Cellular may allow what you want for the IPAQ under the radar as you put it