Okay, I just had a very interesting experience. I have mixed feelings about it because I have effectively circumvented my carrier's wishes for me to pay for a service that my device supports natively. Let me explain.
My phone, a Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch SPH-D710 (Sprint).
Its a big, powerful, beautifully designed phone with a dual core processor capable of being used as a complete computer in itself (which I have modified it to do using Ubuntu). I love the Galaxy SIII even more because of its quad core processor. But that is a different subject. This is the deal...I wanted to use my beautiful Epic 4G Touch as a hotspot, and I added the service which was $29.95/month for unlimited data over the hotspot. I paid it religiously and used the hell out of it to the tune of 6-20GB/month depending on what I was doing. But then May of this year (for my account and all others who had my plan), Sprint put a cap on the hotspot data at 5GB/month, and an overage charge of $0.5/mb. For a reference, the average hi-res photo is about 35mb. This means that downloading a picture over the hotspot could cost $1.75 But the data on the PHONE itself is still unlimited.
WTF?
They still call this plan the "Unlimited Everything" plan, but ignoring the sleazy, misleading details is what led me to doing what I have done. More later in this post. Here is the ad they are using:
The plan looks great in that ad. In Southern CA, however, the base plan is $99.95, not $79. They even boast that they do not throttle the data, and they dont. But what they dont tell you is:
So, my dilemma was...should I be trying to find ways to remove the forced escalation of my wireless carrier's charges by pulling sleazy moves of my own? I fought with this and thus the reason for this thread. My personal ethics wanted to comply with the escalating charges, but my sensibilities kicked in. Sprint used misleading tactics to get me into a CONTRACT lasting two years (with an early termination fee of $350.00), they changed the parameters of my plan so that it would cost me considerably more money, and they charge me for "premium" services I cannot access at home.
I chose to fight back using fire with fire. About 6 hours ago, I canceled my hotspot feature from Sprint, thus reducing my rate by an extra $29.95/mo. But I am posting this message from my computer which is using the hotspot feature BUILT IN to the phone which is a basic function of the device which was never meant to be charged for by any carrier. The only thing allowing them to charge is the software they put on my phone in the form of a Sprint ICS ROM. But changing the ROM to a different generic ICS build allowed me to gain access to root (full base control). With root access, you can access all the features of your phone. I am not feeling guilty about this act of rebellion at all. Sprint is RIPPING ME OFF.
Imagine using your home computer connected to your wired internet. Lets say that Cable Monster Company, Inc. decides they will now cap your internet usage to 100GB/month, and the way they do it is to install software on your computer which turns off your BUILT IN network port (hey, it used to work!). Would your ethics allow you to accept this limit and the software, or would you look for a way to gain control of your computer back?
My phone, a Samsung Galaxy S2 Epic 4G Touch SPH-D710 (Sprint).
Its a big, powerful, beautifully designed phone with a dual core processor capable of being used as a complete computer in itself (which I have modified it to do using Ubuntu). I love the Galaxy SIII even more because of its quad core processor. But that is a different subject. This is the deal...I wanted to use my beautiful Epic 4G Touch as a hotspot, and I added the service which was $29.95/month for unlimited data over the hotspot. I paid it religiously and used the hell out of it to the tune of 6-20GB/month depending on what I was doing. But then May of this year (for my account and all others who had my plan), Sprint put a cap on the hotspot data at 5GB/month, and an overage charge of $0.5/mb. For a reference, the average hi-res photo is about 35mb. This means that downloading a picture over the hotspot could cost $1.75 But the data on the PHONE itself is still unlimited.
WTF?
They still call this plan the "Unlimited Everything" plan, but ignoring the sleazy, misleading details is what led me to doing what I have done. More later in this post. Here is the ad they are using:
The plan looks great in that ad. In Southern CA, however, the base plan is $99.95, not $79. They even boast that they do not throttle the data, and they dont. But what they dont tell you is:
- When I signed up, the $79.95/mo applied, now the base cost is $99.95.
- If you purchase a smartphone, then you will be paying $109.00/mo, which is because any smartphone will automatically add something called a "premium data plan" which is supposed to be for the 4G connectivity. You pay this even if you live in an area where 4G does not cover like where I live. I can get 4G most everywhere in the city, but at home its a no go. .
- The hotspot capability added $29.95 to my bill, and when I signed up it was unlimited. Now it has a 5GB/mo cap.
- The taxes and surcharges and phone insurance (wise for any phone like this or an iPhone which costs around $600.00 to replace) will bring the monthly charge to about $170/mo
So, my dilemma was...should I be trying to find ways to remove the forced escalation of my wireless carrier's charges by pulling sleazy moves of my own? I fought with this and thus the reason for this thread. My personal ethics wanted to comply with the escalating charges, but my sensibilities kicked in. Sprint used misleading tactics to get me into a CONTRACT lasting two years (with an early termination fee of $350.00), they changed the parameters of my plan so that it would cost me considerably more money, and they charge me for "premium" services I cannot access at home.
I chose to fight back using fire with fire. About 6 hours ago, I canceled my hotspot feature from Sprint, thus reducing my rate by an extra $29.95/mo. But I am posting this message from my computer which is using the hotspot feature BUILT IN to the phone which is a basic function of the device which was never meant to be charged for by any carrier. The only thing allowing them to charge is the software they put on my phone in the form of a Sprint ICS ROM. But changing the ROM to a different generic ICS build allowed me to gain access to root (full base control). With root access, you can access all the features of your phone. I am not feeling guilty about this act of rebellion at all. Sprint is RIPPING ME OFF.
Imagine using your home computer connected to your wired internet. Lets say that Cable Monster Company, Inc. decides they will now cap your internet usage to 100GB/month, and the way they do it is to install software on your computer which turns off your BUILT IN network port (hey, it used to work!). Would your ethics allow you to accept this limit and the software, or would you look for a way to gain control of your computer back?