Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception

itweakios.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

91–100 of 128 posts

Re: Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception

#91

Post by CatMtKing »

sethco wrote: post #71
nivla wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have had great experience being on T-mobile for about 5 years. Their customer service is exceptional and they also allow you to unlock your phone after 3 months. However there are a couple of things that do irritate me: [1] They sniff the header of every web-request looking for desktop browser string. If found they sent you a warning text threatening to cut off your service. It sucks especially when you move to a n…

I have a Galaxy Nexus on T-Mobile which I occasionally use to tether my laptop and I have never gotten a warning like that. I have the unlimited voice/data/text plan but don't pay for tethering (which stock Android supports natively of course).

Last I checked, their unlimited data plan came with 2 gigs to tether with. Maybe that's what you got?

Re: Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception

#92

Post by dangrossman »

anonymoushn wrote: post #32
sdkmvx wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> > Note: In order for opt-out to work properly, you need to accept a "cookie" indicating that you have opted out of this service. If you use a program that removes cookies, you will have to repeat this opt-out process when the cookie is deleted. The cookie placed on your computer will contain the site name: " http://tmob.search-help.net . Do you have more information about how this works? I cannot imagine how a cook…

I hadn't actually tried using the opt-out, but I did think it was impossible for it to work as described. I tried it just now, and it just replaces the ads with a 404. So it would be more correct to say "There is no opt-out for the DNS hijacking."

Sure there's an opt-out -- don't use their DNS servers. Throw Google's or OpenDNS's into your device's settings.

Re: Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception

#93

Post by nivla »

unsignedint wrote: post #88
nivla wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I had my contract renewed back in Jan and it din't include any tethering option. So I guess I am stuck for the next 1 1/2 years. However its great to see the new bundling option being offered. It really comes in handy when you are on the move or on vacation.

When I inquired the rep about how accounts that would still be under their contract plans -- what they told me was you'll still have locked to contract for full-term of the contract, however, adjusting rate plan / service (probably with some limitation -- like reducing lines) won't affect your remaining contract -- so you may want to check to see if there's any way you can make adjustments without any consequences.

Awesome! Will give that a try. Thanks :)

Re: Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception

#94

Post by 30thElement »

TylerE wrote: post #87
anonymoushn wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In the peninsula where many Hacker News readers probably reside, their network is pretty great. In Austin, using T-Mobile is a lot like not having a data plan and having a phone with only moderately high probability. People who call you will sometimes get some message saying that your number doesn't exist. The opt-out process for T-Mobile's DNS hijacking is not satisfactory: > Note: In order for opt-out to work prope…

To play devil's advocate, how exactly do you propose they store such a user preference? And keep in mind cellphones don't have stable IPs.

Unless you're telling me the text message, minutes, and data usage numbers on my bill are all made up, I'm pretty sure the carriers have a way to track whose phone belongs to who. Or, if they can't provide a working opt-out, it should be opt-in only (using the cookie).

Re: Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception

#95

Post by kbutler »

nivla wrote: post #58
fencepost wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is the browser sniffing still an issue? What sort of plan are you on? T-Mobile changed some things last month ( http://www.tmonews.com/2013/04/t-mobile-will-begin-bundling-... ). You may be able to shift to a plan that includes (limited) tethering at no real cost. The default includes only 500MB of "high speed" tethered data, but you can add higher amounts.

I had my contract renewed back in Jan and it din't include any tethering option. So I guess I am stuck for the next 1 1/2 years. However its great to see the new bundling option being offered. It really comes in handy when you are on the move or on vacation.

You can generally change rate plans within t-mobile, as long as you keep all your lines of service that are under contract.

If your offer included promotional discounts on the monthly rates, you will lose those discounts.

Re: Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception

#96

Post by MBCook »

sneak wrote: post #90
Zak wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't seem at all reasonable to throttle a particular device and not other comparable devices. It seems more reasonable to have the tower/router adjust the bandwidth made available to each device in real-time to ensure there's enough bandwidth for all users in the face of capacity issues. I think it's fine to advertise peak speeds if those are regularly attainable even if sometimes they are not. It's not OK to a…

The blame here lies squarely with Apple for allowing the carriers to pull this sort of bullshit with their customers. They're the ones who implemented this whole carrier profile mess on their platform. They could take a lesson from Tron.

Really?

Carriers have been doing this stuff every since the first feature phone came out. I remember Verizon disabling things like USB access to storage so you'd have to use their gateways to get pictures off your phone at $1.50 each.

Why do carrier Android updates take so long? One of the reasons is probably so they can put these kind of "features" in.

Apple has done a lot for the wireless market. They were able to strong-arm AT&T into allowing them to ship a phone without all the standard preloaded carrier crud. My guess is this was a totally non-negotiable point on the carrier's side.

Re: Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception

#97

Post by untog »

danielweber wrote: post #15
kgermino wrote: post #2

Another win for T-Mobile. I have to say, for all the negative things I've heard about them in past years, the more I hear about the company the harder I think about switching from Verizon. No contracts for service, they separated phone subsidies from phone service, and reasonably priced data plans. Does anyone use T-Mobile? How is their network?

I switched from AT&T to T-Mobile because AT&T just pissed me off with mandatory data plans. T-Mobile's network is nowhere near as good for me as AT&T's was. I hope that it improves. The biggest problem is looking at my phone and seeing "0 bars." Also, the data plan doesn't work with one of my phones. Ironically, the same phone AT&T forced me to have a data plan for. Maybe it would have never worked.

Also, the data plan doesn't work with one of my phones.

If its an AT&T phone, it's likely because AT&T uses different frequencies to T-Mobile. This is likely also the reason for your 0 bars- many AT&T phones will only ever get EDGE at best.

Re: Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception

#98

Post by untog »

kgermino wrote: post #2

Another win for T-Mobile. I have to say, for all the negative things I've heard about them in past years, the more I hear about the company the harder I think about switching from Verizon. No contracts for service, they separated phone subsidies from phone service, and reasonably priced data plans. Does anyone use T-Mobile? How is their network?

I use them in NYC, and I'm never looking back. I pay $30 a month for unlimited data, unlimited texts and 100 minutes of calls. I bought my phone (Nexus 4) outright for $350. I even tried out hacking LTE to work with it, and I get T-Mobile LTE in Brooklyn (though not in Manhattan).

In summary; it's awesome. However, when I leave the city, coverage is definitely limited. I do so very infrequently, so it's fine for me.

Re: Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception

#99

Post by interpol_p »

sneak wrote: post #90
Zak wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It doesn't seem at all reasonable to throttle a particular device and not other comparable devices. It seems more reasonable to have the tower/router adjust the bandwidth made available to each device in real-time to ensure there's enough bandwidth for all users in the face of capacity issues. I think it's fine to advertise peak speeds if those are regularly attainable even if sometimes they are not. It's not OK to a…

The blame here lies squarely with Apple for allowing the carriers to pull this sort of bullshit with their customers. They're the ones who implemented this whole carrier profile mess on their platform. They could take a lesson from Tron.

I'm sure if Apple didn't agree to those terms they wouldn't be selling the iPhone at all. They probably had to fight pretty hard just to avoid carrier branding on their phones.

Carriers are also allowed to do it to Android phones, but choose not to do so. Why is that? Do they make more money from Android phones, and are incentivised to make them appear better performing?

Re: Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception

#100

Post by rayiner »

Zak wrote: post #52
rayiner wrote: post #13

Newsflash: many of your cars are governor limited to 120 or 130 miles per hour, even though the car could go faster. The vast conspiracy!

Those cars do not advertise a top speed higher than the governor allows. They would likely be subject to liability for false advertising if they did.

They don't advertise any speed. Nerds look at what the chipset supports and assume that's what they're buying.
Post reply on HN