Data Cap Update

[Jef_Leppard]

im still pissed because i bought a data card after being told " we are truly unlimited, not like the others who cap their unlimited plans" and also was told " you can run your whole home network instead of cable" which i did , all of this being done at the end of april when i signed up.

[nick aguas]

Originally Posted by Jef_Leppard

im still pissed because i bought a data card after being told " we are truly unlimited, not like the others who cap their unlimited plans" and also was told " you can run your whole home network instead of cable" which i did , all of this being done at the end of april when i signed up.

well, you can almost certainly get out of that agreement for your data card. because its a change of their terms of use policy, they probably will not charge you (or b**ch at you) for ending the contract early. its a great time to get out of it while you can.

[[sammich]]

Also, maybe retentions could work something out with you...

MAYBE just MAYBE you could have them flag your account as truly unlimited if that is what you were told by the rep... Its a long shot, but worth it.

And like nick said, you can cancel without an ETF because of a change in rates.

[holo]

heh, sprint will just cancel you on their own without ETF anyways if they think your usage is too high, that's the only reprocussion, they will not just start charging you extra...

[jmcgee]

Originally Posted by holo

heh, sprint will just cancel you on their own without ETF anyways if they think your usage is too high, that's the only reprocussion, they will not just start charging you extra...

By law they can't just cancel your account without first contacting the customer. Also I work for Verizon and the cap is for the data cards. They're capping the Data because people are doing more streaming movies and playing online games which ties up the network for other users. that's what they're telling us anyway. But for now if you have a pda phone you can tether and it won't affect you for now anyways.

[itsan01tiburon]

Just thought I'd put my 2 cents in on this.

Just a few weeks ago my laptop fried, quite literally smoke from beneath the keyboard and the whole nine yards. Anyway I purchased a new laptop from TigerDirect and stupid me forgot to pay attention to the available slots and 'thought' it had a pcmcia slot so that I could continue using my Pantech PX500. In reality it has a Express slot which requires a different card altogether. I contacted sprint and worked out a deal with them where they would give me $75.00 off a new card and also credit my account 1/2 of the price of whichever card I chose. I then selected the Sierra 597 (compass) for a few reasons...it has gps, its revA, and I've put a 4gb microsd card in it and now have a 4gb usb drive as well. I then went back to the Sprint store I try to deal with on a regular basis and they actually gave me the aircard for 50 bucks, provided I extended my entire contract 2 years...this was June 10th.

I called them on June 17th and talked to technical support and informed them I'd been made aware of the change in terms and I'd like out of my contract due to this fact. The rep replied not a problem and within minutes my wireless card was out of contract, not even two weeks into a 2 year agreement. I then asked if the 5gb cap was for all devices with internet access and he put me on hold for a good 10 minutes while he checked with his supervisors. He replied that NO it did not affect cellphones and I questioned him again for confirmation reminding him that I had a PPC-6800 which is a PDA phone and not a standard phone...ten more minutes on hold....it turns out in fact the 5gb limit DOES apply to PDA phones as well as Data Cards he told me it included anything capable of "internet sharing" and that they do monitor quite a number of phones for excessive traffic they claim would only be caused by illegal activities such as torrents.

I asked to be taken out of my contract on my Mogul as well since the 5gb limit was being applied to that also. So long story short I wasn't even 2 weeks into a 2 year agreement on two devices and both of them are now out of contract.

On a side note I called back the next day to verify that both devices were out of contract and sure enough they were. I also stressed the fact that the aircard is my ONLY form of internet connection and that I use the internet on a regular basis and the CS Supervisor removed the 5gb limit off of my account. I verified this through Sprints website where I can check to see which plan the device is on. Prior to the call back it said "5GB" after I talked to the rep and the system updated it now says "UNL" for the plan.

I'm not really sure if that helps anyone but I figured since we were told "unlimited" that we should receive "unlimited" and ESPECIALLY if it's your only form of internet access it wouldn't make sense to pay for a "capped" plan.

Hope somehow someway this helps someone

[WhollyMindless]

I don't remember seeing a 5GB on my plan at sprint.com, and given their awesome site, I can't check right now.

Can anyone else confirm that the site shows that you're capped? (maybe I just snuck in before the cap applied).

[vesty16277]

I only ever got contacted for roaming consistenly at my address. They just shut me off and claimed that they sent me multiple letters that I never received. I just *****ed and said I sell thier product. I just said "How can I promote something I can't use myself?" They appologized and no problems. Roaming constantly 3 years strong! I've been tethering my a900 prior to my mogul and also my 6600. No problems.

[shaggylive]

no the phones will not be capped. dan wants us to use the phones without worrying about the meter running. laptops are different.

hmm, maybe he see's a future without laptops, just cell (sprint) phones.
isn't that what we all (ppc geeks) want/see in the future.

@ itsan01tiburon , yes they let you out of the contract within 30 days (technically 14 I think, but still..) did you keep the phone/card and still have service? or did you return the phone? Watch out most likely any rebates you think you will be getting have been canceled or charged to you bill, as you didn't fulfill the terms.

I don't blame you for wanting out of the data card contract, but remeber contracts are 2-way. they just wanted an out for problem customers. if you roam @ home and they don't have plans for a new tower nearby, they would rather you go to "the other guy" (exeption for vesty somehow... no that's awesome dude)

edit... wondering if all this somehow ties into the tidbits we've been hearing about some home cell tower that connects to the internet....

[itsan01tiburon]

Yes I still have service on both the phone and card...I live in a big city, I just don't have a home phone or cable/satellite service so my aircard was my only source for internet personally (not my only option) I take my laptop with me 90% of the places I go so the fact that my internet can travel with me was a huge plus when I first moved and was considering my options for internet. My Mogul is on the Simply Everything plan and the aircard is on the unlimited data. To get broadband at my home would have been cheapest through the cable company however they wanted $10.00/month for basic cable and also another $40-45.00/month for 10mb internet which is their "base package" I figured by the time I spent that kind of money for general surfing I may as well spend the extra $10-15.00 a month for the unlimited plan and take it with me wherever I go since I still travel a few places where dialup is the only option and I still get Sprint RevA coverage.

I from time to time fix friends computers where they also just use dialup and if I have to reformat a system, while NOT optimal the wireless card provides a must faster download of the windows updates after format than I could ever get from a dialup connection.

The TRUInstall cd-less drivers that come with the Compass make this whole process a breeze now. Plus just about any system I work on has USB ports.


The Rep I spoke to said they had experienced people using their data cards to run servers and such off of, which depending on the content contained on the server could easily bog down Sprints network with ease. I just like the fact that I'm out of contract on both of my devices, mainly because it allows me to get the "new contract" pricing on upgrading my Mogul to something new if HTC makes anything that tickles my fancy in the next year or so. Also if it does turn out that PDA's are indeed capped and they start to charge overages I can cancel without a termination fee. Sprint has been GREAT in the past about telling you one thing on the phone @ Customer Service and something TOTALLY different when you actually receive your bill, since in all reality they can't see the "current" charges on your bill until it actually cylces at which point the charges are already there.