dolari: (Andrea)
[personal profile] dolari
Our DNS servers were moved over the Japanese DNS servers - in the process the web-filter has managed to block absolutely anything and everything that could remotely be offensive. Which means all I can get are pages about how the Japanese work ethic is WORK TILL YOU DIE HONORABLY.

Thank goodness I have my little Sidekick to take me where I need to go. :D Wish it did Youtube, though.

Speaking of which, I called TMobile to get the skinny on what the prices for roaming in Canada would be. After much shuffling about, they told me the prices - $.49 a minute for a call in Canada to Canada. $.69 a minute for a Canada to US call. Data...well...let me check on that because...huh...well...let me take you to another department [click] Hi, I'm the new department you were transferred to. Canada to Canada calling is $.49 a minute and Canada to US calls are $69.

And Data?

Um...yes...data. There's uh no charge for data on your plan.

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

I don't believe them and totally for the right reasons. I also don't blame them for totally the right reasons.

When I got my Sidekick 3 (after almost six years of longing for a sidekick phone), I walked into a TMobile store, picked one up and then began the contract wierdness. TMobile has three plans available - one is your standard "Here's your phone, here's your minutes, enjoy!" plan. Their third plan is the "Ghetto" plan - "I see you're 16 with three kids already, and you're wearing a shirt with faded pictures of the Dukes of Hazzard your mom gave you...we'll need 150 dollars up front, thanks."

Thankfully, I got the middle solution. The "Oh, you don't have any credit, but you've got a good face" plan. In this plan, they don't make you pay for your minutes up front, but put a cap on what you can do - my cap being $150 a month. Anything over that, your phone is shut off till you get under the $150 cap. But one of the problems with this plan is that the phone has no "Data" plan. You can't get the internet on the Smart Access and Ghetto plans.

When I mentioned I was NOT going to get the Sidekick without the Data plan, and would NOT get any other mobile phone, and even began inching for the door, the TMobile rep "pulled a few strings" got a few managers to sign off on things, and had an authorization check by TMobile's HQ themselves, they gave me the Data Plan. I paid my $300 for the phone, and walked away a happy gal.

However, that Data Plan is always a pain. It's not bad - $20 a month for unlimited internet. The problem is, I'm not really supposed to have it. It's not illegal or a hack or anything, everything had their Is dotted and Ts crossed. But anytime I call for anything, I usually end up having to wait ten minutes while they figure out why I have a data plan on a service agreement that doesn't come with one. Thankfully, I don't call too often.

So today, when I asked the first rep about how much Data cost in Canada, her first look was "This is that SmartAccess plan, there's no Data...but...she obviously HAS it...let me pass this to the SmartAccess group and let them worry about it." The SmartAccess group (hesitantly) told me there was no charge on data under their plan and didn't offer anymore info beyond that - obviously because there WAS no Data plan on Smart Access.

I got my REAL answer a few minutes ago. I sent an Email without giving any info on what kind of plan I had or who I was, and was told:

Canada to Canada calls are $.49 a minute.
Canada to US calls are $.69 a minute.
Data plans are $.01 per KB or $10.24 per meg.

I'm glad I got that correct pricing, or I would have prolly ended up paying a quarter everytime I loaded my webpage. It's times like this I wish I could shell into my account again - text is so cheap...

[Wait...don't I still have that TMOK shell account? ::checks:: YES! Unfettered text based Internet, here I come!]

I don't blame them, though. I'm a special case, and if there's anything I've learned about working on call centers - you don't say anything, because your word becomes law. And after two years, if you've paid your bills on time (I have) they usually move you up to the non-capped plans.

So I'm good. Ready to go, I think. :D

Date: 2007-07-25 10:15 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] kisai.livejournal.com
FYI, 'unlimited internet' plans, at least on former attws service, never took canada into account. When people hit the border, they were then charged the roaming data rate. My suggestion would be to simply minimize data usage. Use text messaging where possible since the most it would cost is 50 cents with or without a text messaging plan.

Date: 2007-07-25 06:11 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jenndolari.livejournal.com
::nods:: I'm hoping to have the phone in "airplane mode" most of the time I'm there, checking EMail/phone maybe once or twice a day. The problem with the Sidekick is a lot of the applications are auto-updating, and I don't really need up to the minute weather information from San MArcos in Vancouver. :)

They can be shut off, but it's so many that I'm not sure I'd get them all. On top of that, EMail can't be shut off - if I get a "spam attack" wile I'm there, I may as well write off my next paycheck.

Date: 2007-07-25 01:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] drkbish.livejournal.com
Hell, if worst came to worst, I would have been happy to let you have a shell account on my own Linux server. Just let me know if you need one and I'll be happy to get something arranged for you. :-)

(Hell, with all of the crap I have loaded on it, you may even find it to be a BETTER solution. :-) )

Date: 2007-07-25 06:03 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jenndolari.livejournal.com
For right now I'm fine - I just totally forgot I had that old Tmok server (I've had it for about ten years now). I just need Lynx to allow me to FTP to dragondata since it's now disallowing shell access.

Date: 2007-07-25 04:38 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] emilydm.livejournal.com
:: wonders if there's a way to force it to use a Port Angeles WA cell tower while we're in Victoria - hopefully there's a fuzzy area in the lower mainland too, but with new phones having GPS I'm not so sure::

Date: 2007-07-25 05:58 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jenndolari.livejournal.com
The wierd thing about the Sidekick is that it has no GPS in it. No one knows why it was removed (considering everything else on it) but no GPS on it.

Not connected, but...

Date: 2007-07-25 07:54 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] laura-seabrook.livejournal.com
just a "Happy Birthday" for you (it already is the 26th here in Oz)!Image

Date: 2007-07-26 03:57 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] gidget-ca.livejournal.com
wow...

just checked and my tmok shell is still alive too, haven't logged in since 2004...(!)

eep.

Date: 2007-08-08 06:50 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] jenndolari.livejournal.com
You were on Tmok as well? Wow...i've been on since at least the mid 90s.

January 2026

S M T W T F S
     1 2 3
4 567 8 910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031

Most Popular Tags

Style Credit

Expand Cut Tags

No cut tags
Page generated Jan. 12th, 2026 12:36 am
Powered by Dreamwidth Studios