[WERA 39]

10 year Verizon customer here, love the service, great coverage, but deciding to finally get a BB, so im on the phone with V customer service, was gonna sign up for the personal unlimited data plan for $29, all is good. Then i ask about the so called "unlimited data plan". Im told yes, it is unlimited, only the aircard is limited to a 5 gig max deal. So i ask, if im out somewhere and want to tether my phone to the laptop, will i still be good to go, the answer i got is no, if i want to do that, its another $15/month. wtf????? the big V wants to friggin nickel and dime me to death.

Ive been told AT&T doesnt charge extra for this service, nor do they charge to unlock the phone to use the GPS, ie: using google maps.

The GPS wasnt a deal breaker for me, but popping me to tether to the laptop is. Am i correct that ATT doesnt charge EXTRA to do this??

Im just about ready to make the jump as soon as my contract expires in a few months.

[ezrunner]

ATT does charge for tethering

however GPS is open to be used freely with google maps or BB maps or whichever gps app you like

[JSanders]

AT&T does charge extra for tethering, TMo does not.

The GPS deal, while new to you, has thousands of posts here on the subject.

[customshopkv1]

Do your homework before you change.

[scott_perry]

sprint also does not charge for tethering

[strike2tamu]

Wirelessly posted (8100 Strike 2)

Tmo. How great are they? Nice title.

[takeshi]

Originally Posted by WERA 39

the big V wants to friggin nickel and dime me to death.

Wow -- you're just now figuring that out?

at&t's not the way to go if you don't want to pay extra for tethering.

[WERA 39]

Originally Posted by takeshi

Wow -- you're just now figuring that out?

at&t's not the way to go if you don't want to pay extra for tethering.

yea, im finding that out.

[WERA 39]

Originally Posted by JSanders

AT&T does charge extra for tethering, TMo does not.

The GPS deal, while new to you, has thousands of posts here on the subject.

yep, ive read alot of those posts. posting this here as well as reading is part of my homework on this.

[heffman]

...i really hope you tether a lot, b/c if that is more important that coverage / signal, you're in for a long haul. good luck.

[WERA 39]

Wirelessly posted

naaa, i dont think its gonna be a deal breaker. The only other carrier i'd go with is ATT, and finding out they charge for it too, then its not a big deal. Im a newb when it comes to the BB/smart phone stuff, so i just wanna make sure im not getting screwed, and wanting to make sure its worth paying the xtra for. Tethering was just something that i would like to do from time to time and if it was included in the plan would be fine. I wouldnt be doing it enough to warrant paying the xtra money for.

[Huntersplc]

Oh, and by the way you are gettin screwed by the big V. It's just who they are and what they do. I'm still pissed about the whole GPS thing.

[ArgonNJ]

Originally Posted by scott_perry

sprint also does not charge for tethering

Yes and no. With the $30 BIS plan, tethering is not included. You have to get the $39 plan to get that.

[Dawg]

Originally Posted by Huntersplc

Oh, and by the way you are gettin screwed by the big V. It's just who they are and what they do. I'm still pissed about the whole GPS thing.

Be pissed at your self not a company trying to make money. Its a well known fact that you have to pay for GPS on VZW and alltel.

[andrews240]

Why is always Verizon or AT&T for most people. You couldn't pay me enough to use AT&T. And Verizon is usually late to the game with the nicer handsets and services are far more expensive. T-Mobile is great for me. It's the best balance of all things for me with great customer service, which for me is key.

[dualsub2006]

Originally Posted by andrews240

Why is always Verizon or AT&T for most people. You couldn't pay me enough to use AT&T. And Verizon is usually late to the game with the nicer handsets and services are far more expensive. T-Mobile is great for me. It's the best balance of all things for me with great customer service, which for me is key.

T-Mobile service to match what I have with VZW would be exactly the same amount of money. To the penny. I do get a huge discount on my voice plan because of my wife's corporate discount, but at normal pricing the cost is the same.

T-Mobile service where I am is awful. Horrible. My son's room mate in college has a T-Mo BlackBerry that he can't use. There service where we are is that bad.

I am sure in major areas T-Mo is great, but I can chuck a rock across the Ohio river and hit Cincinnati from my front porch but I wouldn't be able to use a T-Mo phone to call and find out where it landed from here.

[Huntersplc]

Well, Actually I dont guess that I am going to be pissed at myself. As a consumer I looked at my options and made, what I though was the best decision. The world will not stop if I can not use my GPS without paying extra. I just dont agree with a company disabling a phones ability and then charging extra to use it. And thats not even the worst part. I would like to be able to use the third party app. of my choice, not the one they want me to use. I would gladly pay extra, but would like to use the app. of my choice. There may be some things I dont know about this that would allow me to do just that. And thats what I would rather your repond with than " Be pissed at yourself". Unless thats just how you roll. And thats Okay.

Its sounds like I may have hit a nerve Blackberry God. And if so I appologize. Have a great day

[hnsimpson]

Wirelessly posted (8703e)

A lot of complaints about paying extra for the GPS option on Verizon. But then again, we also see a lot of questions about getting a phone plan without BlackBerry service. These are two sides of the same equation.
If a company allows you to go 'a la carte' for services then each service would be more expensive than if they grouped them together.

For what you pay for service, it would be 20-30% higher [I would guess] if you could pick and choose.



If that is what you need to be happy, the get a Boost phone, prepay for only the minutes you use. Then get a pda with Wi-Fi and pay to rent bandwith each time you want to check email.



-simpson



/mods, please cut and paste to rants & raves

[fonejunkie]

Originally Posted by WERA 39

the big V wants to friggin nickel and dime me to death.

They pretty much all do that - or at least try to do that.

[pshift]

To solve the GPS issue on VZ, get a GPS BT puck. They work great and can be had for about $50-100. My Holux GPSlim240 works fine with my 8330 from the Big V. For me, coverage is king. I get services when a lot of other people do not get anything at all.