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Apple Broke My iPhone, and Their Policies Prevent Them from Fixing It

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Re: Apple Broke My iPhone, and Their Policies Prevent Them from Fixing It

#61

Post by dunham »

nathana wrote: post #13
jarrettcoggin wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is also a problem with Simple Mobile (a MVNO that I'm trying out with a carrier and development unlocked AT&T Branded HTC Titan). Repeatedly, it will default to T-Mobile or AT&T APN and Cell settings, causing me to lose cell service and internet access. Oddly enough, when they've switched settings and cell/internet is supposedly down, I will get MMS messages. There is no way to set the settings correctly and loc…

That does suck, but if it is an AT&T-branded phone, it is less surprising (although no more acceptable) that you've encountered this problem. If you go into an Apple retail store and buy an off-the-shelf carrier-unlocked no-brand-stickers-anywhere-on-the-device Apple iPhone 4 or 4S at full price ($450/$550), you will still run into this, which is ridiculous .

Would getting the FCC involved help? It wouldn't hurt to file a complaint. I think they've forced phone companies to enable unlocking in the past, and Apple needs their approval to sell the iPhone in this country. So they may be willing to get involved.

Re: Apple Broke My iPhone, and Their Policies Prevent Them from Fixing It

#62

Post by sneak »

saurik wrote: post #56
sneak wrote: post #3

Apple also willingly blocks Facetime over 3G and tethering at the carrier's request (on a per-account basis) so that the carriers can upsell you. It really pisses me off that Apple is actively assisting the carriers in screwing me out of using the data that I'm already paying for. If I've paid the carrier for x GB, I should be able to use that for Facetime, wifi tethering, or whatever the hell else my phone is capabl…

You are actually paying for a probability distribution of how much data you are using: if you were paying for the data you weren't using, then the plan would be much more expensive than it is; this is due to insistence from customers to not be billed per-kB combined with competition between carriers. The result is that if you just let FaceTime be used by everyone with an existing plan, enough more data will be used t…

No, that's how the value prop from the carrier works out across all of their subscribers. _I_ am paying for my x GB in a monthly fee, and I am resultantly entitled to all of it, as are everyone else who pays them.

Now, we all know their network doesn't have that sort of capacity, and that most don't use their x GB, and that's how they turn a profit... but that doesn't change the fact that, having paid them, I am now entitled to using all of my allowance.

It also doesn't help that the carrier in question is effectively prosecuting (by way of the DoJ) one of my best friends in federal court today for publicly shaming them for having poor security practices surrounding their users' PII.

Re: Apple Broke My iPhone, and Their Policies Prevent Them from Fixing It

#63

Post by sneak »

recuter wrote: post #57
sneak wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

All iPads are unlocked. My iPad won't let me Facetime over 3G, and instead gives me a dialog telling me to call AT&T. This is after "Facetime over 3G" was promoted (by Apple) as one of the big features of iOS6. I'm almost willing to switch to a shittier UI/software just to not have to deal with thieving fucks like this.

Curios, so I checked the website: "iPad with Wi-Fi + Cellular can roam worldwide on GSM/UMTS networks. .. When you travel internationally, you can use a micro-SIM card from a local carrier." However, they still make you specify your carrier (at&t/verizon/sprint). So, you are getting a carrier-flavored version when you buy an iPad in the US and it is only unlocked for travel? That is terrible. I am vexed.

A few things:

1) Your iPad, purchased in the US with a carrier selection, comes from the factory with a SIM card in it. This can be used to activate a prepaid data plan _on the device_ right out of the box - via that same carrier's network. (They are minimally provisioned before you get it.)

2) The Sprint/VZW iPads also support CDMA for 3G in addition to LTE (4G) and HSPA+ (GSM 3G). The "ATT" ones do not. (They are different hardware models.)

3) They are all unlocked, GSM-wise.

Re: Apple Broke My iPhone, and Their Policies Prevent Them from Fixing It

#64

Post by lesterbuck »

The interesting thing about "unlocked" iPhones is that there are several definitions of "unlocked", viz:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/marcwebertobias/2011/12/22/how-u...

Here's the summary, at least as of the date of that article:

1. The only fully unlocked iPhones are the ones you buy directly from Apple, not from any carrier or reseller (BestBuy, etc.).

2. Your phone may be unlocked for European SIMs but not unlocked for another US carrier.

3. No US CDMA carrier will ever activate an "unlocked" phone previously activated on another CDMA carrier's network.

Re: Apple Broke My iPhone, and Their Policies Prevent Them from Fixing It

#66

Post by saurik »

sneak wrote: post #62
saurik wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You are actually paying for a probability distribution of how much data you are using: if you were paying for the data you weren't using, then the plan would be much more expensive than it is; this is due to insistence from customers to not be billed per-kB combined with competition between carriers. The result is that if you just let FaceTime be used by everyone with an existing plan, enough more data will be used t…

No, that's how the value prop from the carrier works out across all of their subscribers. _I_ am paying for my x GB in a monthly fee, and I am resultantly entitled to all of it, as are everyone else who pays them. Now, we all know their network doesn't have that sort of capacity, and that most don't use their x GB, and that's how they turn a profit... but that doesn't change the fact that, having paid them, I am now…

And to the extent to which that is false advertising, I agree with you: I even mention so much in the talk. However, you aren't paying them enough to actually get that service, and it isn't because they are screwing you. ...and no, I'm sorry, but the fact that the carrier in question is prosecuting your friend is off-topic and entirely irrelevant to this pricing problem.

You thereby have to frame these kinds of things inside of the larger framework: you can't just say "oh yeah, Apple is evil because they are allowing this FaceTime charge thing" unless you are willing to also accept things like "everyone should be paying more for bandwidth" or "users should be paying for bandwidth in much smaller slices": this is a complex issue.

Re: Apple Broke My iPhone, and Their Policies Prevent Them from Fixing It

#67

Post by rb2k_ »

The last time I went to the US, I used "Red Pocket", another AT&T reseller.

For data connections to work, they just generate an APN settings profile for you (http://goredpocket.com/configure)

Seeing as they can't seem to push For MMS settings, they give you the instructions:

http://redpocket.wdsglobal.com/mms?contractId=503&countr...

Worked fine for me.

Re: Apple Broke My iPhone, and Their Policies Prevent Them from Fixing It

#70

Post by nathana »

rb2k_ wrote: post #67

The last time I went to the US, I used "Red Pocket", another AT&T reseller. For data connections to work, they just generate an APN settings profile for you ( http://goredpocket.com/configure ) Seeing as they can't seem to push For MMS settings, they give you the instructions: http://redpocket.wdsglobal.com/mms?contractId=503&countr... Worked fine for me.

How long ago was this, and what iPhone model and iOS version were you using? The instructions they give are exactly the ones that I need to be able to execute on my "unlocked" phone, but the menu they reference is being suppressed by AT&T's carrier profile. I don't see how it is possible that these instructions could work for anybody that was using Red Pocket on an iPhone that wasn't jailbroken and that didn't have a tweak installed that reveals that Cellular/Mobile Data Network settings menu.
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