Which Cingular Data Plan are you using?

[Stillrockin]

Originally Posted by jzajzz

What is the difference between MEDIA net and UNLIMITED DATA PLAN

I get 23903432439 different answers from different forums and even CINGULAR reps... actually cingular reps seem to be more clueless aobut it...

Man is it not confusing?? OK, I will try and give you my spin on it. Please note that I might be confused myself. Cingular set up "media Net" mainly for consumers. Then they took the same archetecture and for Business users called that PDA connect. So its the same speed, no matter what you signed up for, and what device you are using to access it with . . . . . . Then, to give the consumer more choices, they set up different levels of medianet. You have media net basic, medianet something else, medianet works, which limits your data, but throws in instant messaging, and then unlimited MediaNet, which is unlimited data, but IM's aren't covered . . . . .

Now to make it even fuzzier . . . . . Cingular reps have been instructed not to sell you medianet for a device such as the Treo. They are told to push the more expensive PDA connect, even though its the same service, because Cingular feels that a PDA is going to use more bandwidth, than say a Cingular 2125. One can argue that fact, but don't bother . . . . I have heard of countless people calling Cingular and having the unlimited medianet activated for their Treo through CS. I personally used Sprint as a bargaining chip when I bought my Treo. I told the rep that I would not pay $40 + for Data, and was thinking about going to sprint. I ended up getting my Treo for $250, and unlimited medianet for $20 per month. But to keep me out of trouble, she activated the unlimited medianet on my old nokia before ringing me up with the Treo, just so she could transfer my new sim card and keep her clean with the corporate office . . .

I hope this helps . . . I know its very confusing . . .

unlimited medianet = all the data you can eat in a month, but doesn't cover instant messaging
mediaworks = a large data plan and lots of IM's (I can't remember specific numbers)
Unlimited Data Plan = PDA connect- Same service as medianet, but twice as much per month- so don't let them sign you up for it!

Coming soon-HSPDA- Broadband wireless- Current Cingular Treos are not compatible. Supposed to be faster than Verizon's highspeed. Supposed to be widely available across the USA by the end of this year . . .

[jzajzz]

Originally Posted by Stillrockin

Man is it not confusing?? OK, I will try and give you my spin on it. Please note that I might be confused myself. Cingular set up "media Net" mainly for consumers. Then they took the same archetecture and for Business users called that PDA connect. So its the same speed, no matter what you signed up for, and what device you are using to access it with . . . . . . Then, to give the consumer more choices, they set up different levels of medianet. You have media net basic, medianet something else, medianet works, which limits your data, but throws in instant messaging, and then unlimited MediaNet, which is unlimited data, but IM's aren't covered . . . . .

Now to make it even fuzzier . . . . . Cingular reps have been instructed not to sell you medianet for a device such as the Treo. They are told to push the more expensive PDA connect, even though its the same service, because Cingular feels that a PDA is going to use more bandwidth, than say a Cingular 2125. One can argue that fact, but don't bother . . . . I have heard of countless people calling Cingular and having the unlimited medianet activated for their Treo through CS. I personally used Sprint as a bargaining chip when I bought my Treo. I told the rep that I would not pay $40 + for Data, and was thinking about going to sprint. I ended up getting my Treo for $250, and unlimited medianet for $20 per month. But to keep me out of trouble, she activated the unlimited medianet on my old nokia before ringing me up with the Treo, just so she could transfer my new sim card and keep her clean with the corporate office . . .

I hope this helps . . . I know its very confusing . . .

unlimited medianet = all the data you can eat in a month, but doesn't cover instant messaging
mediaworks = a large data plan and lots of IM's (I can't remember specific numbers)
Unlimited Data Plan = PDA connect- Same service as medianet, but twice as much per month- so don't let them sign you up for it!

Coming soon-HSPDA- Broadband wireless- Current Cingular Treos are not compatible. Supposed to be faster than Verizon's highspeed. Supposed to be widely available across the USA by the end of this year . . .

Thanks man... the worst thing about the reps is that they tell you to use Unlimited Data plan for a PDA phone but when you ask them why ... they can't give you a reason...

but I think I got to the bottom of this issue... this guy on another forum kept telling me that it's agains the TOS to use a PDA for Media net... and he pointed me out to it on the cingular website...

so apparently if you use media net on your pda ... you might get charge 19.99 causethey dont know ..but if they found out... that you're using a pda they will charge you a bunch of overages....

the guy who told me that knew some people who face that situation.. and data overages are nothing to sneeze at

[Shady]

Yes MediaNet is against TOS for any PDA including Treo.
If you get caught, you will switched to PDA Connect, or worse, be charged per KB usage.
That being said, you want to switch as quietly as possible.

Also, for all the people getting the $100 rebate on their Treo 650's, if you read the fine print, you can only get the rebate if you are signed up for PDA Connect at $40 per month.

It takes 3 months to get the rebate, so by then you've already burned through $120 to get the $100 rebate. Nothing is for free, not even Cingular rebates.

[freezingprocess]

Originally Posted by Shady

Yes MediaNet is against TOS for any PDA including Treo.
If you get caught, you will switched to PDA Connect, or worse, be charged per KB usage.
That being said, you want to switch as quietly as possible.
.

See, this is what is strange. I wanted to do it as quietly as possible too, but there is no way the Cingy CAN'T know that that is what I have. I bought the Treo through their website. And I added the Unlimited MediaNet through the website. Plus, at the time, they still had the demo of the Treo using it.

I feel like they are trying to maintain this awkward atmosphere around it to keep customers confused. And I bet it remains this way until they finally drop their 3G network. Who knows what will happen then, but it HAS to make more sense.

[Stillrockin]

Thats my point exactly FP! Cingular HAS to know! Look at this poll. More of us are using Unlimited MediaNet with our Treos than any other plan. The corporate office knows it, the Field employeess know it, and we know it. They say that its against their policy, but even they break their own rules to sale you a Treo! Call their 800 number and tell them what you want, and they make it happen. In their stores, they will tell you they can't do it, but call them, and it happens with a reboot of your Treo! Even in my experience, it happened in the store, just not in typical order. And it was the Field Employee's idea to make the sale.

Its no wonder we all get confused!

[freezingprocess]

Exactly. I'd even go so far as to say that they just weren't prepared to for the "smartphone craze." They were behind in rolling out the 3g network and were probably expecting to be prepared when the "smartphone craze" or mulitmedia craze hit. It could have even been an internal concession. Maybe even an internal power struggle between managers or something like that. How many times have you seen a stupid decision made just because a couple managers were fighting. I've seen it a lot.

[Shady]

I'd say it's just that they have clueless marketing people and sometimes status quo is good enough. Eventually, all the BS the carriers put us through will back fire. Someday, somehow, at some time, we will all have alternatives. WiMAX phones, wireless local loop, WiFi, something. And when that day comes, I will have no loyalty to any of these carriers that want to rip me off on data.
Look at the telco's now trying to compete with Skype, Yahoo, Google, and AOL. VoIP has changed the whole paradigm of phones calls. Calls should be free. We pay for data already, so our voices should be carried in that data stream.
Anyway, I guess the question is can we use MediaNet unlimited, no one really knows, but I agree with Stillrockin, Cingular knows and since they send out a mixed message, go with the cheaper plan.

Remember, you can move your sim card to any phone you want to. So they can not prove that you are on a Treo or anyother device. As soon as my rebate comes, I'm switching to MediaNEt.

[Stillrockin]

Hey Shady, this isn't the answer your looking for. I found it interesting though. Its a WiFi Skype phone. Will only work on a WiFi network, and there is some question about if it even can work on a public WiFi system, and right now IMHO, its priced too high. $300 but you can pre-order on Amazon for $250. Honestly, if this baby was priced at below $90, I believe it could start a new trend! But for $299, I only see a niche market moving to this type of tech . . . World Travelers who need a cheap way to "Phone Home" and Tech hobbyists, with access to several WiFi networks in a day. Who knows, what this will look like by the time it reaches its 4th or 5th incarnation . . . . . Maybe legit alternatives to Cingular/Sprint/Verizon/T-Mobile . . . . .

[Shady]

That's pretty cool stuff Stillrockin.
Gotta love technology.

[Target]

I use the Cingular Unimited Data plan for $39.95 per month.