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Merv Burger
Jan 3, 2008

According to T-Mobile, non-Simple Choice plans get "Data Maximizer," which does the optimization of video like BingeOn, but it does count against your data plan.

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Meldonox
Jan 13, 2006

Hey, are you listening to a word I'm saying?
I'm pretty tempted to replace my Nexus 5 with an S7, but I haven't shopped for a phone in ages, and when I got my last it was direct through Google. I don't get an upgrade discount or anything since I'm on the nerd plan, so is there anywhere I can look to get a good deal, or should I just give in and pick something up at the brick and mortar?

END OF AN ERROR
May 16, 2003

IT'S LEGO, not Legos. Heh


Meldonox posted:

I'm pretty tempted to replace my Nexus 5 with an S7, but I haven't shopped for a phone in ages, and when I got my last it was direct through Google. I don't get an upgrade discount or anything since I'm on the nerd plan, so is there anywhere I can look to get a good deal, or should I just give in and pick something up at the brick and mortar?


You'll just be paying full retail price at the store. Go on eBay or something and find a company selling them brand new for less.

hotsauce
Jan 14, 2007
When I had the nerd plan (no more) it certainly had binge-on and music freedom. The internet always argued with me saying it isn't included and I was wrong, but after streaming music every day and watching literal series of Netflix (all on LTE) I only used like 3gigs/month. Yeah, seems included to me. The math just doesn't work otherwise.

SymmetryrtemmyS
Jul 13, 2013

I got super tired of seeing your avatar throwing those fuckin' glasses around in the astrology thread so I fixed it to a .jpg
I am currently on the nerd plan. I'm going to switch to postpaid soon because I use less data than I used to and I will be using a lot of minutes in my new job, and also I need a new phone because mine's getting pretty terrible (I'm just waiting for the Note 7 announcement to see what it's like, then deciding between that and the HTC 10), but in the meantime, here's verification of Binge On eligibility:



I've also called T-Mo to confirm that I get music freedom, and yes, it's included with this plan.

Nerd plan still reigns supreme for value if you don't use many minutes.

EugeneJ
Feb 5, 2012

by FactsAreUseless
If you call/text/use data internationally on the Nerd Plan, do you get dinged hard for roaming? I visit Canada occasionally, and I'm deciding between either this or Project Fi.

net cafe scandal
Mar 18, 2011

So, uh, how do I access this nerd plan? Googling it seems to bring up a bunch of outdated info.

Capt. Morgan
Feb 23, 2006

You just need to purchase an activation kit, you can buy one on ebay, T-Mobile, amazon, etc.

When you go to activate, you'll select the plan you want, the nerd plan is the last plan listed towards the bottom of the page.

hotsauce
Jan 14, 2007

Capt. Morgan posted:

You just need to purchase an activation kit, you can buy one on ebay, T-Mobile, amazon, etc.

When you go to activate, you'll select the plan you want, the nerd plan is the last plan listed towards the bottom of the page.

You may also be able to find the kits in Walmart. The box must specifically say it's eligible for the 30 Dollar 5 GB plan. A few months ago they were extremely hard to find, so maybe Walmart is stopping carrying them.

EugeneJ
Feb 5, 2012

by FactsAreUseless

net cafe scandal posted:

So, uh, how do I access this nerd plan? Googling it seems to bring up a bunch of outdated info.

https://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/other-prepaid-plans

Quidthulhu
Dec 17, 2003

Stand down, men! It's only smooching!

I'm looking at having T-Mobile pay off my remaining stuff at Sprint so I can jump over to them. Problem is, I am not sure when I walk into Sprint tomorrow to get the info they want that I'll have an Termination Fee attached, as I have no contract with Sprint currently (to my knowledge), just a bunch of devices I am paying off.

The rep at T-Mobile told me that that should be fine as long as I get a printout that has information about the Early Termination Fee on it from Sprint before I start the switch process and get my new device. Can someone who knows tell me if this sounds on the up and up? I only have around $350 left on my devices at Sprint and I've love to have T-Mobile pay for it instead of me.

Thanks!

bobfather
Sep 20, 2001

I will analyze your nervous system for beer money
When you port over, your Sprint contract will be cancelled and either an ETF will be due, or you'll be charged for your devices. Either way, those charges are not billed on the spot and get attached to your final bill, which is generated after your current billing period ends.

Then you send TMo the information from that bill and 4-6 weeks later they send you the ETF/equipment reimbursement in the form of a prepaid debit card.

Quidthulhu
Dec 17, 2003

Stand down, men! It's only smooching!

Cool. Thank you! Looking forward to switching over~

Astro7x
Aug 4, 2004
Thinks It's All Real
Aww... was hoping to get another Vudu rental today.

net cafe scandal
Mar 18, 2011

Capt. Morgan posted:

You just need to purchase an activation kit, you can buy one on ebay, T-Mobile, amazon, etc.

When you go to activate, you'll select the plan you want, the nerd plan is the last plan listed towards the bottom of the page.


hotsauce posted:

You may also be able to find the kits in Walmart. The box must specifically say it's eligible for the 30 Dollar 5 GB plan. A few months ago they were extremely hard to find, so maybe Walmart is stopping carrying them.

Am I misunderstanding or would this work? http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/T-Mobile-Prepaid-3-in-1-SIM-Starter-Kit

Bentai
Jul 8, 2004


NERF THIS!


Astro7x posted:

Aww... was hoping to get another Vudu rental today.
I miss the free pizza. Was hoping they'd move to a 50% off coupon as opposed to dropping out entirely.

Island Nation
Jun 20, 2006
Trust No One

Astro7x posted:

Aww... was hoping to get another Vudu rental today.

You and me both. Wal-Mart must've gotten wise to it and stopped the program. Shame since I was using it to get 2 movies a week

Qu Appelle
Nov 3, 2005

"If a COVID-19 pandemic occurs, public health officials may have additional instructions, such as avoiding close contact with others as much as possible, and staying home if someone in your household is sick." - Official insights from Public Health: Seattle & King County staff

Is the Pokemon Go promotion only for Pokemon Go, or will it work with Ingress as well? I play both games, and it'd be great if both were covered. They're both by Niantic.

(I nabbed it, even if Ingress isn't.)

hotsauce
Jan 14, 2007
I'm looking to leave AT&T after like 10 years. Complicated ~life issues~ that means I'm going to be giving up this AT&T plan:

3 lines
23% FAN discount
15->30 (promo doubled) rollover data...it's a poo poo ton of fully tetherable data (like 40 gigs/month for me)
$161/month all in after taxes.

So now I'm looking at T-Mobile because I no longer travel to bumfuck Montana, etc and it should provide enough coverage where I mainly am (UT/CO, sometimes rural parts of each state).

I mainly stream music and media, so the binge-on and music freedom are attractive. I've combed T-Mobile's plans and have basically rationalized the $95 unlimited plan. The main reason? The 14 gigs of tethering. I am frequently in lovely hotel rooms and tethering has saved my sanity on many occasions because their networks are often crap.

With binge-on/music freedom, paying for unlimited seems kind of dumb, but if I can't tether with any other plan, unlimited is basically my only choice.

Question: is tethering, say, to an iPad Pro allowed via binge-on...as in does it operate on the binge-on plan or come out of the 14gigs of tethering? I know tethering to a computer will use the 14gig bucket, but didn't know if an iOS device was classified as a "phone" somehow. If not and I get the unlimited plan, I may as well turn binge-on off and go nuts streaming? Seems like a silly idea to use binge-on with unlimited if you can't tether an iPad for free streaming. I don't really care about the Tuesday freebies that seem to be ending as fast as they start.

For some reason, I'm super nervous about going to T-Mo...I tried the nerd plan in the past with horrible results. Much of my usage at that time was in the sticks of the Western US, and I understand, band 12 has addressed a lot of this. That and pre-paid coverage seemed pretty limited (no roaming at all).

Any guidance on the tethering/logic of moving to a fully unlimited plan? Just trying to save some cash here and not babysit my data.

Edit: Cricket's truly unlimited for $65 after autopay is tempting, but doesn't allow tethering (I know I can hack around it, don't want to) so that's out. And don't even mention Sprint. gently caress that.

hotsauce fucked around with this message at 03:59 on Jul 20, 2016

hiddenriverninja
May 10, 2013

life is locomotion
keep moving
trust that you'll find your way

If you have Binge On activated and have unlimited high speed streaming stuff shouldn't count against your tethering bucket.

Astro7x
Aug 4, 2004
Thinks It's All Real

Bentai posted:

I miss the free pizza. Was hoping they'd move to a 50% off coupon as opposed to dropping out entirely.

Can't you get 50% off pretty much any time? That's like the standard coupon.


Speaking of 50% off, what the hell is with that accessory deal? I thought that they weren't going to do BOGO or % off deals, that they were supposed to all be legit free stuff.

This promotion is already lacking

hotsauce
Jan 14, 2007

hiddenriverninja posted:

If you have Binge On activated and have unlimited high speed streaming stuff shouldn't count against your tethering bucket.

Thanks. Guess I'll have to how poo poo the video quality is on my 12.9" iPad. My guess is horrible.

Sarah Problem
Sep 24, 2002

Because, if you confess with your mouth that Witten is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved

hotsauce posted:

Thanks. Guess I'll have to how poo poo the video quality is on my 12.9" iPad. My guess is horrible.

It will be 480p quality with binge on turned on. If you turn it off, which may make sense for you with unlimited plan, then you won't have the throttling done to those streams and can have whatever quality is available.

hotsauce
Jan 14, 2007

CrudMonkey posted:

It will be 480p quality with binge on turned on. If you turn it off, which may make sense for you with unlimited plan, then you won't have the throttling done to those streams and can have whatever quality is available.

Wouldn't turning off binge on and tethering to an iPad for, say Netflix then use the 14 gig bucket?

PRADA SLUT
Mar 14, 2006

Inexperienced,
heartless,
but even so

hotsauce posted:

Wouldn't turning off binge on and tethering to an iPad for, say Netflix then use the 14 gig bucket?

Yes

Heavy Lobster
Oct 24, 2010

:gowron::m10:
Couldn't seem to find a thread specifically for this sorta thing, so I figured I'd ask it here:

Recently got a friend's old phone because my current one has a huge dead zone in the touch screen. I'm T-mobile, but they're AT&T, and now I need a PIN for the SIM card to use it in the new phone. Is there any way to do this without having to pay a third party service? Most google results are wishy washy about what to do because of the apparent gray legality of it, so I'm not really sure what my options are and figured I'd ask goons. Phone is a Galaxy S5 if that's at all relevant.

Burden
Jul 25, 2006

Heavy Lobster posted:

Couldn't seem to find a thread specifically for this sorta thing, so I figured I'd ask it here:

Recently got a friend's old phone because my current one has a huge dead zone in the touch screen. I'm T-mobile, but they're AT&T, and now I need a PIN for the SIM card to use it in the new phone. Is there any way to do this without having to pay a third party service? Most google results are wishy washy about what to do because of the apparent gray legality of it, so I'm not really sure what my options are and figured I'd ask goons. Phone is a Galaxy S5 if that's at all relevant.

Go to https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/#/ and say you aren't an AT&T customer and request the unlock. It should work and you should get the unlock in 24 hours.

Heavy Lobster
Oct 24, 2010

:gowron::m10:

Burden posted:

Go to https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/#/ and say you aren't an AT&T customer and request the unlock. It should work and you should get the unlock in 24 hours.

Oh wow, that's incredibly simple! Thanks a ton, looks like I was just overthinking the whole process.

Ever Disappointing
May 4, 2004

Can someone explain this Binge-On stuff? I just switched to T-Mobile and I want to figure out how to best use my data. I got the $95 plan, whatever that is. OP is super old and thread is long, sorry if my questions are basic.

IOwnCalculus
Apr 2, 2003





Most music streaming services don't count towards your actual data allotment. Likewise, you can opt in to have TMobile compress most streaming video further, and have it not count towards your actual data usage either.

It's basically a way for TMobile to offer something approaching unlimited, without having to spell out "yes, it's unlimited, but don't loving use it for torrenting 24x7".

Ever Disappointing
May 4, 2004

I see that I have the option on for video. Does it work in browser on my phone, or do I have to use the app for any applicable streaming service for Binge On to apply? It's really unclear how this works.

Qwijib0
Apr 10, 2007

Who needs on-field skills when you can dance like this?

Fun Shoe

Tir McDohl posted:

I see that I have the option on for video. Does it work in browser on my phone, or do I have to use the app for any applicable streaming service for Binge On to apply? It's really unclear how this works.

Binge on works in browser, as well as on a tethered device.

hotsauce
Jan 14, 2007

Qwijib0 posted:

Binge on works in browser, as well as on a tethered device.

I signed up for the $95 plan on Friday and am starting to think it really doesn't make sense. I mean I tethered my iPad Pro 12.9 to my phone and poo poo if "480p" didn't look just fine. Checked my data today and I've used 0 tethering. I can't imagine using over 6 GB just on the Internet each month.

The 6gig plan would probably be just fine since most music/video streaming is free with BO and MF.

I'm trying to find a way to justify unlimited I guess. Maybe I need to presume binge on and music freedom won't last forever and I'll regret canceling unlimited?

hotsauce fucked around with this message at 02:03 on Jul 25, 2016

Ever Disappointing
May 4, 2004

Thanks for the clarifications. I'm going to use the gently caress out of this.

Dr. Fishopolis
Aug 31, 2004

ROBOT

hotsauce posted:


I'm trying to find a way to justify unlimited I guess. Maybe I need to presume binge on and music freedom won't last forever and I'll regret canceling unlimited?

A more likely scenario is T Mo eventually regretting unlimited data and quietly shoving you out the door like Verizon is doing right now. Actually needing an unlimited mobile plan is a pretty atypical use case, and if you don't immediately know why you need it you're probably wasting money.

Quidthulhu
Dec 17, 2003

Stand down, men! It's only smooching!

The only thing I think you'd really need unlimited for is if you're using a Plex Server or something similar to stream a lot of media constantly. I am having to change my habits from that to just enjoying Spotify, and so far I am loving the free music & video services, but I am also going to sit on my 10gb plan for 1 or 2 months to see how far under I go before I drop to a lower gig plan.

The other nice thing is that any data you don't use each month rolls over to a pool for usage your next month, capping at I think 10gb? (Someone can correct me). So my plan is to do this for 2 months, build that pool, switch to a lower data plan, and see how I do.

And also there are no overages so even if I do end up going over I'm just getting slower internet, not a bunch of charges. Wooo~

Please tell me if anything is wrong I am a new and happy customer :3:

hiddenriverninja
May 10, 2013

life is locomotion
keep moving
trust that you'll find your way

Quidnose posted:

The only thing I think you'd really need unlimited for is if you're using a Plex Server or something similar to stream a lot of media constantly. I am having to change my habits from that to just enjoying Spotify, and so far I am loving the free music & video services, but I am also going to sit on my 10gb plan for 1 or 2 months to see how far under I go before I drop to a lower gig plan.

The other nice thing is that any data you don't use each month rolls over to a pool for usage your next month, capping at I think 10gb? (Someone can correct me). So my plan is to do this for 2 months, build that pool, switch to a lower data plan, and see how I do.

And also there are no overages so even if I do end up going over I'm just getting slower internet, not a bunch of charges. Wooo~

Please tell me if anything is wrong I am a new and happy customer :3:

I believe the softcap for unlimited is 21 gigs? I can't believe anyone's gotten that close.

To Vex a Stranger
Mar 15, 2004
Rawr!

hiddenriverninja posted:

I believe the softcap for unlimited is 21 gigs? I can't believe anyone's gotten that close.

In two months I've hit 9.78 gigs data stash. I work from home and am not using much data on my 6 gig plan. I'll let you know august tenth what my stash looks like (if capped at 10 or continuing to climb).

badjohny
Oct 6, 2005



What do I need to do (if anything) to set my phone up for the international stuff the offer? I thought there was free calling to a bunch of countries. My mom is heading to Italy this weekend and I would like to setup her phone if possible.

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PRADA SLUT
Mar 14, 2006

Inexperienced,
heartless,
but even so
When I was in the UK, I didn't have to do anything to get the free data and the like.

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