[Earl Sargent]

I have only had AT&T wireless since my first Motorola pager through all the Cingular nonsense now with my BlackBerry Z10 and like any marriage it has ups and downs. The customer service unless you start going off on twitter absolutely positively sucks.

But some of the services they offer rule. My whole gripe now is I grandfathered in my like 10 year old BlackBerry unlimited plan so i have unlimited data and unlimited texts. I looked into internet teathering or hotspot so i can use my BlackBerry to be a hotspot for my ipad when im not at home. They said i would have to cancel my UNLIMITED service to UPGRADE to a 5G a month plan to get the features since they don't offer the Unlimited data plan anymore and its not available.

How is that a upgrade its a downgrade and i know they want me to change my plan because just last month i hit over 8g and average about 6 or 7 depending on how much i do. My first month with my Z10 I did 12 lol.




Posted via CB10

[qbnkelt]

For me, I found that I cut my monthly bill by half by going to a family shared plan. I gladly gave up my unlimited.

[Earl Sargent]

I have family share to oh i forgot. My wife and son have iphones with 3g plan my daughter has a grandfathered in unlimited data like mine for her iphone and somehow its still cheaper to let my son get data overages with his 3g than up his to 5 but nobody can explain that one.

Posted via CB10

[Earl Sargent]

Wife has a Iphones 4 and kids 4s. Kids both say my Z10 is cool and kicks *** but everybody has iphones so it's cooler to have an iphone. Wtf?

Posted via CB10

[shawie]

I would try another store...my husband was grandfathered into the unlimited plan and they told him he could keep his plan because he's been with the company so long.

Posted via CB10

[anon(1035135)]

Same problem here Earl.. It's ridiculous really.. I have the grandfathered unlimited plan. Wife has a 200mb ($15 a month) and daughter has iPhone 4 with 300mb plan ($15). If I "upgrade" to a family 2gb shared data plan, I get bumped from $180 a month (5 phones total) to $220. BUT, I get to tether, video call, etc... Essentially, I get to use all of the available options that they currently take away from me because I'm on the unlimited plan. I mean, $220 a month for 5 phones? That's ridiculous. Makes me wanna bring back the pager...

My dilemma is that both my daughter and my wife struggle to stay under their limits which adds an extra $20 each time they go over. My second daughter is wanting to upgrade to a smartphone and eventually my third daughter will as well. If I do their "upgrade", the only extra cost I pay for is the phone. AND, I get to utilize all of the benefits the Z10 has to offer (hotspot, video calling, etc) now that my wife as one as well. It just adds $40 to an already outrageous monthly cost. I also know I avg around 2gig a month. Add 3 more smartphones to that and I have to bump the plan up 2 notches to $60 extra a month.

R I D I C U L O U S

[tw1g_007]

Same problem here Earl.. It's ridiculous really.. I have the grandfathered unlimited plan. Wife has a 200mb ($15 a month) and daughter has iPhone 4 with 300mb plan ($15). If I "upgrade" to a family 2gb shared data plan, I get bumped from $180 a month (5 phones total) to $220. BUT, I get to tether, video call, etc... Essentially, I get to use all of the available options that they currently take away from me because I'm on the unlimited plan. I mean, $220 a month for 5 phones? That's ridiculous. Makes me wanna bring back the pager...

My dilemma is that both my daughter and my wife struggle to stay under their limits which adds an extra $20 each time they go over. My second daughter is wanting to upgrade to a smartphone and eventually my third daughter will as well. If I do their "upgrade", the only extra cost I pay for is the phone. AND, I get to utilize all of the benefits the Z10 has to offer (hotspot, video calling, etc) now that my wife as one as well. It just adds $40 to an already outrageous monthly cost. I also know I avg around 2gig a month. Add 3 more smartphones to that and I have to bump the plan up 2 notches to $60 extra a month.

R I D I C U L O U S

And AT&T will continue to get away with murder like this because they can. It's a monopoly between them and Verizon. Charge outrageous prices because no one can do anything about it...

via CB10 (BB Z10 : BLK : OS 10.1) [ Channel @ C0012477B for BB News, MMA & Tech Updates ]

[curvezzz]

I would try another store...my husband was grandfathered into the unlimited plan and they told him he could keep his plan because he's been with the company so long.

Posted via CB10

Op can keep his unlm plan but not if he wants to teather.

AT&T Z10

[anon(7915689)]

In the same boat Earl. I have been with AT&T since my first phone which was a Motorola SCN2396A Bag Cell Phone. I still have my unlimited data plan from my first BB purchase in 2000 of a RIM 957. Current phone is a Q10 and I love it, although I would like to see 10.2 ASAP. What can I say, I guess I'm old school (hardware). My AT&T consultant (work) let me know that AT&T is right in the middle of trying to rid themselves of all unlimited plans. Not enough ROI from the heavy users. Tethering options are few and far between for anyone that uses a significant amount of data. I am "grandfathered" for my BB data plan on a family plan. I have to call and have that conversation every time I update.

Your only choices with AT&T may be something like the AT&T Mobile Hotspot MiFi� Liberate. You will still be capped at 5G, and it will cost you a $50 per month for the data plan. Wish I had better news.

[kfehling]

I was grandfathered as well but finally gave in and got a family plan just so I could tether. After several months and four of us on a 10GB plan, we have never come close to exceeding our limit. In fact, I may drop down a plan or two and save some bucks. Ultimately, it comes down to the new data plan's cost to get tethering vs what you used to pay. For me, it was worth it

[Alicia Erlich]

I have a similar issue. I have an unlimited data plan for years on AT&T. Customer service hinted that if/when I upgrade they may not me able to keep it for me if they can't locate it in the system. I've been trying to avoid upgrading my account as long as I can. It's bad enough if I go over 3GB they send me a text that they will throttle my speeds until the new billing month.

Posted via CB10

[curvezzz]

I have a similar issue. I have an unlimited data plan for years on AT&T. Customer service hinted that if/when I upgrade they may not me able to keep it for me if they can't locate it in the system. I've been trying to avoid upgrading my account as long as I can. It's bad enough if I go over 3GB they send me a text that they will throttle my speeds until the new billing month.

Posted via CB10

They will be able to "find" it! I have upgraded 4 -5 times since I had it. Every now and then u get an incompetent agent on the phone and they say stuff like that to get u to switch.

[anon(7915689)]

They will be able to "find" it! I have upgraded 4 -5 times since I had it. Every now and then u get an incompetent agent on the phone and they say stuff like that to get u to switch.

Right on the money. This is the 5th upgrade for me. It may take some time on the phone, and I have to go to a "Supervisor" on occasion, but they can always "find it".

[OJ4HIRE]

Look if you think a limit on your data is better than unlimited, then u are the kind of dummy at&t loves, a sucker!!!

[Mister Xiado]

If you wanted to tether with a BlackBerry in 2008, you could have selected the SIXTY DOLLAR unlimited cellular data + 5GB tethering plan and stick with it through this very day, although there may be hiccups since there's no LTE version of it. Also, if you are a wizard, you can swap back and forth between unlimited data and tethering... but it HAS to be done by support, because it requires switching you to an alternate version of unlimited data, then back to the standard version, then swapping out the alternate plan once its start and end periods have been defined. But perhaps I've said too much.

You're not required to drop unlimited data just because you're getting another smartphone. Stores screw it up all the time because their sales systems don't auto-include it. This can still be fixed by asking support to make a case to restore the unlimited data. Asking to talk to a supervisor is about the most idiotic thing you can do, since the very LAST thing a supervisor wants to do is talk to you. If you simply ask if a supervisor can do something, odds are, the answer will be yes. Supervisors ARE allowed to say "no", and are permitted to call your bluff when you demand to cancel. So don't be a jerk. For more reasons than your cell service.

Also, you get throttled at 5GB if you use an LTE phone, as opposed to 3GB for a 3G/HSPA/HSPA+ phone.

[Earl Sargent]

They wanted me to drop unlimited to get tethering. They said as long as I have a Blackberry I can keep my unlimited plan (which is no problem I refuse to buy anything else) but if I wanted teathering it would be dropped. I even asked what if i didn't like the plan and wanted to go back they said "no we don't offer any unlimited plans anymore sorry" so I'll keep my unlimited plan and run it up best I can.

They have to hate my data usage.

Posted via CB10

[Mister Xiado]

You will be throttled if you persistently exceed 5GB of cellular data usage. AT&T doesn't care who uses what. If you find some other means of tethering without changing your plan, you will at least be warned before the system auto-swaps you, so there's that.

[joeldf]

My wife and I have always done our upgrades online. I had no problem keeping my grandfathered unlimited plan when I upgraded from my old 9800 to the Z10 at the end of last July.

I have never had a need for tethering or hot spot. The only places I might ever need it is at home or work, and I've got regular wi-fi in both places.

Posted via CB10

[OJ4HIRE]

I use an ipad unlimited plan with my Mifi hotspot a great work around to get unlimited data for only $29.99 a month! Plus I have unlimited iphone plan!


Sincerely,Orenthal