iPhone 4S Data Only No Contract vs. Contract

[vancitygl]

You should have some nice even numbered pay per use fees when you cross into the next tier of data usage. That part is good and normal for this plan.

With the flex plan you start at $5 for up to 10MB as your base plan. When you cross 10MB of usage you get billed $5.
Next tier is at 100MB. When you cross that tier you get billed for $10.
The next tier is at 500MB. When you cross that tier you get billed for $15
The final tier is 5GB. If you go over that you will start getting pay per use on all usage above that point.
If you have SMS data usage notifications turned on it will warn you about exceeding your plan when you get to 10MB. Not sure if it will send any more notices if you blow through the 10MB or get close to the 5GB limit but I don't think so. You only get notified on the base amount.

If your data session ends up crossing two tiers then the amounts are combined into a single charge. But they should be nice round numbers like that.

If you are on true pay per use data on the wrong APN it would be variable amounts for each and every data session. ($3/MB up to 5MB and $1/MB after that for PPU rates with a $3 flat rate on the first usage of less than 1MB)
$1/MB for that pay per use rate.
Also if you click on the date in the data usage it will show the detailed sessions for that date and the details column will say PDA. (It should always say Aircard if you are using the correct APN in this case)

It's definitely pay per use then. Attached is the usage:

[Que_Ball]

Yep. PDA.

You might have to try using the online APN changer tool to set up a new APN.

Visit the following URL using safari on the phone over wifi:
http://www.unlockit.co.nz/unlockit/

Pick the CA- Telus (isp.telus.com) carrier and install that package to force the phone to switch it's APN.


Almost certainly having the wrong APN might be the main reason why you got that phone call. They might be checking new tablet accounts for pay per use charges and then calling people who are trying to use a phone incorrectly on the plan. The iphone automatically grabs it's carrier settings update when it gets activated on a Telus SIM with the sp.telus.com APN. Using the unlockit site will over-ride the carrier settings file applied to the phone automatically.

[vancitygl]

Alright.. I got yet another email today:
" From a purely technical perspective, you may use your iPhone for voice calls on a tablet data plan and TELUS is aware of this. From a business perspective, it was necessary to introduce an airtime rate of $1.00 per minute, which by the way, far exceeds the regular $0.40 cents additional airtime rate for a regular voice rate plan, to plug this apparent loophole. TELUS has already thought out the possibility that a voice device may be activated on a data only plan either in error or as a result of a deliberate and conscious choice.

The warnings expressed by previous representatives in their e-mail replies regarding the incompatibility of the device and your data plan stems from the very real possibility of billing errors. In fact, your account has already been flagged by our automated billing systems. In the event of a billing dispute, TELUS will not debate any data or airtime usage charges or apply any credits for these as they shall be deemed valid and legitimate charges. In short, the billing is at your own personal risk.

In addition, the TELUS Service Agreement indicates on Section 5 under "Use of the service" which reads in part:

"You will use the service in compliance with law and with service rules adopted by TELUS. You will use the service for customary voice, messaging and wireless mobile Internet usage purposes only... You agree that you will not abuse any flat rate or unlimited use service plan offered by TELUS. You will use only compatible equipment on the service...Equipment and software may have to meet certain TELUS standards... You agree that TELUS may suspend or restrict the service temporarily if we reasonably believe it is desirable or necessary to do so..."

Aside from the technical and business perspectives mentioned above, there is also a legal aspect governing the relationship between TELUS and its clients.

In response to your question, TELUS does not offer data only plans for voice devices. There are data add-ons which may be added only when a voice rate plan is already existing on the account. Again, as indicated in our previous e-mail replies, you may subscribe to a Voice & Data rate plan and the instructions on how to change your rate plan has already been provided."

So I called them today and told them I had switched the sim into an iPad. They were fine w/ that, but when I asked when the system/account would update and revert from pay per use to flex, the rep. said that the system only recognizes the first phone that the sim is inserted into but the system should recognize the plan and table are compatible and work fine. She said my other option was to buy a new sim for the iPad. I'm just wary of the account still seeing an iPhone and continuing to charge ppu. I'm hoping that due to the call everything should work fine for otherwise once my dad comes back I'll try the unlockit site.

[Que_Ball]

The pay per use charges are a direct result of using the wrong APN.

There is no other reason.

The ONLY reason it will ever claim PDA usage is when you are using the sp.telus.com setting.

And that response from Telus was very reasonable. They are not responsible for you using the wrong APN. They are telling you that complaining about the pay per use charges because you were using a phone will not result in a credit. They are warning you that making phone calls will result in a $1/min charge. They do not block voice usage on the data only plan but make it expensive.

The claim that they do not offer data only plans for phones is false though. They do have data only plans intended for use on phones but they are only available for Business clients and not personal accounts.

The one interesting bit is when they say that you were flagged because you used the wrong APN. If you setup the phone correctly in the first place they would not have phoned you about it at all. Fix the APN and everything should be fine.

[vancitygl]

Hello once again Que_Ball. So just to confirm, although the iPhone's APN displays that it's on the isp.telus.com, it is somehow still on sp.telus.com (which I fix by using the unlockit site). After it's switched to isp.telus.com, everything should work fine and the iPhone should be recognized by the system as an iPad even if it's still listed as the iPhone. Lastly, if the phone's on the flex plan, in the details column of the data usage it'll display Aircard, while if it's still on the dreaded pay per use it'll say PDA?

Thank you so much for your help; it is greatly appreciated. Hopefully I won't cause you any more trouble by answering anymore of my questions (after this one of course ahah).

[Que_Ball]

You got it.

If it's saying PDA usage your APN is wrong for sure. I'm not sure why, but I always need to use the unlockit site to sucessfully change the APN on my old software unlocked iphone 3G when it's connected to an official carrier. (Any carrier that is authorized by Apple to sell the device is an official carrier and seems to get it's settings from the Apple central activation server in a carrier settings file)

You will not change anything about your device type in the Telus system. But that detail isn't even important.

[vancitygl]

Second last question I promise (there may be one if I need help with the unlockit site). Does PDA vs. Aircard usage update almost instantly once the APN is changed (just for so I can have evidence if it's on the flex plan)?

[Que_Ball]

Yes. Once changed any new usage after that point will be posted with the new type. As soon as the usage numbers from any sessions done after the switch are posted on the billing page it will show up with the new usage type.

The times on the usage data are in GMT time zone so you will have to convert that to your local time but it's usually only about 4 hours before billing data posts which isn't too bad.

[vancitygl]

Hopefully the last post in this thread. So I finally had the chance to switch the APN using the unlockit site. Looks like it works:


So as long as I don't tinker with the APN, it should remain as isp.telus.com and Aircard should show up? Because as you can see, pay per use is really really expensive (in just under a week)!

[Que_Ball]

Hopefully the last post in this thread. So I finally had the chance to switch the APN using the unlockit site. Looks like it works:


So as long as I don't tinker with the APN, it should remain as isp.telus.com and Aircard should show up? Because as you can see, pay per use is really really expensive (in just under a week)!

You got it now. If you un-install the unlockit apn profile you will go back to the wrong apn and pay per use. If you keep it as is you will be just fine.