AT&T 4G vs 3G plan with Titan

[prjkthack]

The plans may have different names in the billing system, but technology-wise, they are exactly the same. Having a 3G plan doesn't lock you out of using "4G" or the newly launched LTE network. AT&T has had HSPA+ for a while now, and you got the same exact speeds back before they launched the different naming of the data plans.

Its all just naming and marketing. The tech is all the same.

 

[Dr.Phil]

Just thought I would post this for all of those who are on an unlimited plan for AT&T. I read it off the XDA forum website.

"Since September of this year, if you have ANY "legacy unlimited data plan," users who exceed 5GB of usage on a regular basis: 1. on the first "offense" exceeding 5GB, will be throttled, but will not be charged any overages, and 2. upon the second offense, will receive a notice (usually via text or email) when they are nearing their 5GB threshold, and should they exceed that threshold, could have their service suspended. Should your service be suspended, "the customer has two options: Cancel their plan with a waived ETF (early termination fee) -OR- resume service on an up-to-date tiered plan which is subject to overage charges."

I have a feeling that within a year this will become even more stringent until almost everyone has adopted the 2 GB plan.

 

[palandri]

Just thought I would post this for all of those who are on an unlimited plan for AT&T. I read it off the XDA forum website.

"Since September of this year, if you have ANY "legacy unlimited data plan," users who exceed 5GB of usage on a regular basis: 1. on the first "offense" exceeding 5GB, will be throttled, but will not be charged any overages, and 2. upon the second offense, will receive a notice (usually via text or email) when they are nearing their 5GB threshold, and should they exceed that threshold, could have their service suspended. Should your service be suspended, "the customer has two options: Cancel their plan with a waived ETF (early termination fee) -OR- resume service on an up-to-date tiered plan which is subject to overage charges."

I have a feeling that within a year this will become even more stringent until almost everyone has adopted the 2 GB plan.

We are really getting taken to the cleaners by wireless carriers in the states. Here's what WeeBear pays in the UK on the 3 network. Who would have thought wireless service was this much cheaper in the UK:

Normal price is ?25 ($38.00) per month, I pay less with a loyalty bonus. (I pay ?15)

For the ?25 you get 5000 same network minutes, 2000 any network or landline minutes and 5000 texts

This also comes with truly unlimited data. (No caps or fair usage policy or throttling)

It's scary hearing about the US tariffs you mentioned previously palandri, Yikes!

Oh i forgot to mention tethering is allowed too, it's also included.

 

[Dr.Phil]

We are really getting taken to the cleaners by wireless carriers in the states. Here's what WeeBear pays in the UK on the 3 network. Who would have thought wireless service was this much cheaper in the UK:

Don't they also have to pay higher prices for their phones though too? I mean I would think it would be the equivalent of purchasing AT&T's GoPhone Plan $50 unlimited everything. With that you can purchase any phone you want you just have to pay full price.

 

[palandri]

Don't they also have to pay higher prices for their phones though too? I mean I would think it would be the equivalent of purchasing AT&T's GoPhone Plan $50 unlimited everything. With that you can purchase any phone you want you just have to pay full price.

WeeBear would have to answer that. I own my own phone and I pay AT&T $100 a month.

 

[Dr.Phil]

WeeBear would have to answer that. I own my own phone and I pay AT&T $100 a month.

See I'm thinking about doing pay-as-you-go because you pay $50 a month for unlimited everything. And all you have to do is buy an unlocked phone and slip in the SIM card. You pay more for the phone but you save monthly. And with Microsoft saying Windows Phones will soon cost just $300 (which they already do unlocked such as the Focus $240, HD7S $320, etc.) I don't think it's such a bad deal. Also if I'm not mistaken you don't have to pay all those taxes and fees you see on your AT&T bill.

 

[TheWeeBear]

If you wan't a new phone from the network you pay more of course, so say you want the Nokia Lumia 800 you pay ?37 per month. ($57)

Loads of handsets cheaper than this of course, and they start at ?27 ($42) including the phone. (Unlimited data plan)

 

[TaliZorah]

I really hate seeing Sprint (Wimax), T-Mobile and AT&T calling their HSDPA+ 4G data when it's not. It only causes confusion. 4G data is LTE. There aren't any WP7 with LTE yet.

It's all for marketing. Really they could call it 5G if they wanted to. Maybe they should? lol. I am sure somebody would sue then though. But nobody would have a legit case saying HSDPA+ isn't 4G really.

It's a lot faster than 3G no matter who you are with.

 

[palandri]

See I'm thinking about doing pay-as-you-go because you pay $50 a month for unlimited everything. And all you have to do is buy an unlocked phone and slip in the SIM card. You pay more for the phone but you save monthly. And with Microsoft saying Windows Phones will soon cost just $300 (which they already do unlocked such as the Focus $240, HD7S $320, etc.) I don't think it's such a bad deal. Also if I'm not mistaken you don't have to pay all those taxes and fees you see on your AT&T bill.

Pay As You Go is a pretty good deal.

I have a regular AT&T account for my personal phone and an AT&T Pay As You Go SIM card for my work phone. On my work phone I basically buy 100MB of Data ($15.00) and 200 Texts ($4.99) each month. I rarely make calls from it. My shop texts us in the field, so I basically pay $19.99 a month for my Pay As You Go account.

 

[pseudoware]

I really hate seeing Sprint (Wimax), T-Mobile and AT&T calling their HSDPA+ 4G data when it's not. It only causes confusion. 4G data is LTE. There aren't any WP7 with LTE yet.

And they have devices called "Atrix 4G" and "Inspire 4G" that aren't LTE compatible. And to add to the confusion, prior to releasing the SG2 that you got, they said it would be LTE compatible. And now, they've quietly gone back on that. Releasing the Skyrocket confirms this.

 

[DanSmithKY]

AT&T's sytem was down the day that I bought the Focus S, so they weren't able to switch my plan to "4G" at the time. I can personally attest that you will not get data service at all with a "4G" phone if you don't have a "4G" plan. I figured that I would still get 3G service, since the phone supposts it anyway, but that was not the case. Of course, there is no upcharge for 4G on AT&T so it isn't a big deal anyway.

 

[Reflexx]

AT&T's sytem was down the day that I bought the Focus S, so they weren't able to switch my plan to "4G" at the time. I can personally attest that you will not get data service at all with a "4G" phone if you don't have a "4G" plan. I figured that I would still get 3G service, since the phone supposts it anyway, but that was not the case. Of course, there is no upcharge for 4G on AT&T so it isn't a big deal anyway.

That's interesting.

Do you know if you can still get data service on a 4G plan with a 3G phone?

My wife and I both have the original Focuses, and the Titan will be coming in on Wednesday.

But we've heard sketchy things about reception in general with the Titan. We would like the option of being able to switch back and forth between phones.

 

[Billone]

That's interesting.

Do you know if you can still get data service on a 4G plan with a 3G phone?

My wife and I both have the original Focuses, and the Titan will be coming in on Wednesday.

But we've heard sketchy things about reception in general with the Titan. We would like the option of being able to switch back and forth between phones.

Yes, this does seem to add a wrinkle to "swap your SIM to any phone". I always keep an "old" phone around as a backup.

 

[Duvi]

And they have devices called "Atrix 4G" and "Inspire 4G" that aren't LTE compatible. And to add to the confusion, prior to releasing the SG2 that you got, they said it would be LTE compatible. And now, they've quietly gone back on that. Releasing the Skyrocket confirms this.

The SkyRocket is an SG2. So not sure they went back on anything.

 

[prjkthack]

The SkyRocket is an SG2. So not sure they went back on anything.

I'm sure what he was saying is that the very first SGS2 was supposed to be 4G LTE. The Skyrocket is the 2nd SGS2 device available on AT&T now.

 

[Duvi]

I'm sure what he was saying is that the very first SGS2 was supposed to be 4G LTE. The Skyrocket is the 2nd SGS2 device available on AT&T now.

Not sure where he got that info from, especially since LTE wasn't even out when the original SG2 was released.

I don't think AT&T ever publicly said that the LTE SG2 was gonna come before the HSPA+ SG2. Doesn't even sound like a smart business move on AT&T's part if that were to be the case.

 

[jeremyshaw]

Not sure where he got that info from, especially since LTE wasn't even out when the original SG2 was released.

I don't think AT&T ever publicly said that the LTE SG2 was gonna come before the HSPA+ SG2. Doesn't even sound like a smart business move on AT&T's part if that were to be the case.

Well, wasn't out on AT&T, though Verizon already had it

But yeah, I don't think there was an announced LTE Galaxy SII variant until recently. Maybe rumors, though.

 

[pseudoware]

I recall reading somewhere that, when first announced, AT&T's variant of the original SG2 was thought to be LTE compatible. Of course, it could have been just a rumor. And unfortunately, me mis-remembering isn't out of the realm, either.

 

[jeremyshaw]

I recall reading somewhere that, when first announced, AT&T's variant of the original SG2 was thought to be LTE compatible. Of course, it could have been just a rumor. And unfortunately, me mis-remembering isn't out of the realm, either.

There likely were rumors of a LTE Galaxy SII at the time. Only logical way to account for the long delay from the Asia-->USA release, at the time, IMO. I was already rocking a Galaxy SII (TW version - if it's any different in HW from the "prime version," I dunno) back in June

 

[naplesbill]

The original AT&T SG2 has an SoC that is incompatible with LTE. This is why the Skyrocket is using a Qualcomm SoC. I am sure the next Samsung based SoC will support LTE.

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