Use PCS for internect connection via laptop???

In article <[email protected]>,=20
[email protected] says...
>=20
> Thanks for information. Just visited local SPRINT store and want to
> share what they had to say.
>=20
> My Sansung A460 is a 3G talk but only 2G data. Said could connect but
> would be slow and result in extra charges.
>=20
> Suggested that I purchase a 3G phone like the Samsung A620/VGA1000.
> While costs $260, I'm entitled to a $150 credit in June when I'll have
> had present phone for 18 months. So, I could upgrade for about $110.
>=20
> Then, I could buy data cable and software from Radio Shack or
> elsewhere. Since my plan provides for unlimited Vision (2000 anytime
> minutes/mo which I share with my wife's phone =3D $80/mo), said I'm
> entitled to unlimited web connection at no additional costs. And,
> service is faster than dial-up!!!
>=20
> Sounds fantastic. Let me know if sounds right to you. Othersise, June
> 1st I'll swap phones with my wife, upgrade mine to the VGA1000 and
> solve my problem.
>=20
> What do you think???
>=20


What store told you this?

In six months, you're going to be calling us to cancel because that=20
Vision service got removed and now you're paying a penny per KB. =20
Doesn't sound bad until you think that an 80 MB game update would=20
cost you $800.

With the two phone you have right now, using SPCS as your ISP, so to=20
speak, you get max speeds, under ideal conditions, of 14.4kbps, and=20
pay $0.39/min while connected, unless you opt to include the Wireless=20
Web service pack on your phone(s). And if you add that pack, then=20
your web usage gets treated as a voice call, and so counts off as=20
voice minutes just like a regular call would do.

If you're talking about using the phones as a real modem, to dial=20
AOL, for example, then it's $0.39/min no matter what you do, and=20
still max out 14.4kbps. That's true of either 2G/Wireless Web=20
phones, or 3G/Vision phones.

Vision phones are capable of higher connection speeds, and far more=20
folks have reported pretty decent speeds than otherwise. However,=20
this kind of use of a Vision phone isn't supported. To use it that=20
way, with SPCS as your provider, will (if you get caught) get your=20
unlimited Vision pack removed, and then you pay that penny per KB I=20
mentioned above. For the wording that applies, look for "Terms &=20
Conditions" at the bottom of http://www.sprintpcs.com and then search=20
the page that pops up for "connection kit".

So far, the only customers I've seen enforced under this policy have=20
been obvious examples. One of them over 10GB in a month. Rumors=20
abound about where the limit is that gets attention. I'd do you a=20
disservice to add to those rumors, because that's all I have myself. =20
Just be aware of the consequences if you move to that Vision phone=20
and do it.
--=20
R=D8=DF
O/Siris
I work for Sprint PCS
I *don't* speak for them

---

› See More: Use PCS for internect connection via laptop???

In article <[email protected]>,
O/Siris <[email protected]> wrote:

> So far, the only customers I've seen enforced under this policy have
> been obvious examples. One of them over 10GB in a month. Rumors
> abound about where the limit is that gets attention.

Another secret SprintPCS policy.

"Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> O/Siris <[email protected]> wrote:
>
> > So far, the only customers I've seen enforced under this policy have
> > been obvious examples. One of them over 10GB in a month. Rumors
> > abound about where the limit is that gets attention.
>
> Another secret SprintPCS policy.


How can it be a secret if it in clear Elglish in the ToS?

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (TechGeek) wrote:

> "Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > In article <[email protected]>,
> > O/Siris <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > > So far, the only customers I've seen enforced under this policy have
> > > been obvious examples. One of them over 10GB in a month. Rumors
> > > abound about where the limit is that gets attention.
> >
> > Another secret SprintPCS policy.
>
>
> How can it be a secret if it in clear Elglish in the ToS?

Its secret cause you just said so. "Rumors"

The policy is not a secret, its sometimes enforcement is.

"TechGeek" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:[email protected]...
> "Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> > In article <[email protected]>,
> > O/Siris <[email protected]> wrote:
> >
> > > So far, the only customers I've seen enforced under this policy have
> > > been obvious examples. One of them over 10GB in a month. Rumors
> > > abound about where the limit is that gets attention.
> >
> > Another secret SprintPCS policy.
>
>
> How can it be a secret if it in clear Elglish in the ToS?

The secret is the limit in MB/GB that it takes for SprintPCS to actually
enforce its ToS policy.
We all know that SprintPCS tacitly permits low volume data use on
voice plans, contrary to the stated ToS.

--

John Richards

John Richards wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> We all know that SprintPCS tacitly permits low volume data use on
> voice plans, contrary to the stated ToS.

And for that, we thank them!

Larry

"Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] (TechGeek) wrote:
>
> > "Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:<[email protected]>...
> > > In article <[email protected]>,
> > > O/Siris <[email protected]> wrote:
> > >
> > > > So far, the only customers I've seen enforced under this policy have
> > > > been obvious examples. One of them over 10GB in a month. Rumors
> > > > abound about where the limit is that gets attention.
> > >
> > > Another secret SprintPCS policy.
> >
> >
> > How can it be a secret if it in clear Elglish in the ToS?
>
> Its secret cause you just said so. "Rumors"
>
> The policy is not a secret, its sometimes enforcement is.

So then you expect a company to put a policy out then not enforce it?

That makes no sense whatsoever. They put the policy in the ToS and it
is expected ot be enforced.

The KB limits are not what's stated, because it states ALL USAGE of
3rd party equipment and using it to connect a laptop / PDA is a
violation of the ToS, so according to that you hook it to a laptop and
download 1KB, you're in violation.


Also, learn how to read who posted what, I didn't say it was a rummor,
O/Sirus did.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (TechGeek) wrote:

> "Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> news:<[email protected]>...
> > In article <[email protected]>,
> > [email protected] (TechGeek) wrote:
> >
> > > "Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > > news:<[email protected]>...
> > > > In article <[email protected]>,
> > > > O/Siris <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > So far, the only customers I've seen enforced under this policy have
> > > > > been obvious examples. One of them over 10GB in a month. Rumors
> > > > > abound about where the limit is that gets attention.
> > > >
> > > > Another secret SprintPCS policy.
> > >
> > >
> > > How can it be a secret if it in clear Elglish in the ToS?
> >
> > Its secret cause you just said so. "Rumors"
> >
> > The policy is not a secret, its sometimes enforcement is.
>
> So then you expect a company to put a policy out then not enforce it?

No, but that is EXACTLY what SprintPCS is doing.

In article <[email protected]>,
"John Richards" <[email protected]> wrote:

> The secret is the limit in MB/GB that it takes for SprintPCS to actually
> enforce its ToS policy.
> We all know that SprintPCS tacitly permits low volume data use on
> voice plans, contrary to the stated ToS.

Thank you for more clearly stating what I was driving at.

In article <rmarkoff-F58461.05380821042004
@news02.east.earthlink.net>, [email protected] says...
> Another secret SprintPCS policy.
>=20
>=20

How is something posted in the Terms & Conditions a secret?

--=20
R=D8=DF
O/Siris
I work for Sprint PCS
I *don't* speak for them

In article <[email protected]>,
O/Siris <0siris@sprîntpcs.com> wrote:

> n article <rmarkoff-F58461.05380821042004
> @news02.east.earthlink.net>, [email protected] says...
> > Another secret SprintPCS policy.
> >
> >
>
> How is something posted in the Terms & Conditions a secret?


Because as you said:

"We don't prohibit that usage"

It was discussed at length in this thread. The secret is that its not
enforced till you get to a SECRET level (which is a 2nd secret)..

BUT YOU KNOW THAT ALREADY, you posted it:

=====================

From: O/Siris ([email protected])
Subject: Re: Vision plan as a modem.
Date: 2003-11-16 11:06:19 PST



The PCS Connection Manager software remains on the web site because,
technically, we don't prohibit that usage. All we've done is stop
covering it. No tech support, and no "package" to cover its usage.


============================

"Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] (TechGeek) wrote:
>
> > "Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > news:<[email protected]>...
> > > In article <[email protected]>,
> > > [email protected] (TechGeek) wrote:
> > >
> > > > "Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > > > news:<[email protected]>...
> > > > > In article <[email protected]>,
> > > > > O/Siris <[email protected]> wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > > > So far, the only customers I've seen enforced under this policy have
> > > > > > been obvious examples. One of them over 10GB in a month. Rumors
> > > > > > abound about where the limit is that gets attention.
> > > > >
> > > > > Another secret SprintPCS policy.
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > How can it be a secret if it in clear Elglish in the ToS?
> > >
> > > Its secret cause you just said so. "Rumors"
> > >
> > > The policy is not a secret, its sometimes enforcement is.
> >
> > So then you expect a company to put a policy out then not enforce it?
>
> No, but that is EXACTLY what SprintPCS is doing.

But your complaint is like driving 5-10 MpH over the speed limit.
Everyone does it, the police usualy don't enforce it too much with
that, but they CAN stop you and write you a ticket for it.

Honestly, I do not know what 'flags' your account for them to look
into it for abuse, if it's a % of talk vs. data, or if it's a flat out
KB thresh hold, average KB usage per day, amount of data transferred
in one session, but something is there. I haven't seen a huge outcry
in my stores over this, so I don't think it's anything that most
casual users would get hit on (occasional email, little browsing
etc..).

I honestly think they're mainly going after the abusers with this, the
people running FTP servers over the PCS connection, constantly running
streaming video / music, etc. It is killing the bandwidth and is
rather unfair to the people who get the correct equipment and plans
(the PCMCIA cards & data only plans) that are getting cheated out with
this (like voice, there is a limit to the data stream over the
network).

If you really want to have the wireless internet connection, and will
be a heave user of it, just get the card and data only plan and you'll
have nohting to worry about.

In article <[email protected]>,
[email protected] (TechGeek) wrote:

> But your complaint is like driving 5-10 MpH over the speed limit.
> Everyone does it, the police usualy don't enforce it too much with
> that, but they CAN stop you and write you a ticket for it.

You may be right there, but everyone assumes its 10 mph, and the valid
reason for that is the imprecision of car speedometers.

>
> Honestly, I do not know what 'flags' your account for them to look
> into it for abuse, if it's a % of talk vs. data, or if it's a flat out
> KB thresh hold, average KB usage per day, amount of data transferred
> in one session, but something is there. I haven't seen a huge outcry
> in my stores over this, so I don't think it's anything that most
> casual users would get hit on (occasional email, little browsing
> etc..).

Most casual users don't user their phone as a modem.

>
> I honestly think they're mainly going after the abusers with this,

I think you are 100% right, but they encourage abuse by having the
wink-wink policy of never going after casual users.



> the
> people running FTP servers over the PCS connection, constantly running
> streaming video / music, etc. It is killing the bandwidth and is
> rather unfair to the people who get the correct equipment and plans
> (the PCMCIA cards & data only plans) that are getting cheated out with
> this (like voice, there is a limit to the data stream over the
> network).
>
> If you really want to have the wireless internet connection, and will
> be a heave user of it, just get the card and data only plan and you'll
> have nohting to worry about.


But then we agree that

- the TOS policy is not always enforced

- The fact that its not enforced is a secret

- The break point where it is enforced is a secret


And I am not complaining, just stating the situation, which apparently
we agree on.

I have **NEVER** used a phone as a modem, but do agree some folks have a
leg to stand on when they complain that Sprint on the one hand will sell
a connection kit, and then say you can't use it.

"Robert M." <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> In article <[email protected]>,
> [email protected] (TechGeek) wrote:
>
> > But your complaint is like driving 5-10 MpH over the speed limit.
> > Everyone does it, the police usualy don't enforce it too much with
> > that, but they CAN stop you and write you a ticket for it.
>
> You may be right there, but everyone assumes its 10 mph, and the valid
> reason for that is the imprecision of car speedometers.
>

But the police can still write you a ticket if you're doing 1 MpH over
the limit.

> >
> > Honestly, I do not know what 'flags' your account for them to look
> > into it for abuse, if it's a % of talk vs. data, or if it's a flat out
> > KB thresh hold, average KB usage per day, amount of data transferred
> > in one session, but something is there. I haven't seen a huge outcry
> > in my stores over this, so I don't think it's anything that most
> > casual users would get hit on (occasional email, little browsing
> > etc..).
>
> Most casual users don't user their phone as a modem.
>

I'm talking about casual data users, the people who use it to just
check email while on the road etc..

> >
> > I honestly think they're mainly going after the abusers with this,
>
> I think you are 100% right, but they encourage abuse by having the
> wink-wink policy of never going after casual users.
>
>
Because the casual users are most likely causing as much congestion on
the data stream as the people accessing the web though their phones,
thus not creating a huge issue, but when people start downloading
gigabytes on a month, then that's a bit more. I've seen numbers of
users, and these people tell me what they do (connect to a laptop, use
the SPrint PDA phone, use the Sprint phone) and trust me, even people
who think they're heavy users don't use that much.


>
> > the
> > people running FTP servers over the PCS connection, constantly running
> > streaming video / music, etc. It is killing the bandwidth and is
> > rather unfair to the people who get the correct equipment and plans
> > (the PCMCIA cards & data only plans) that are getting cheated out with
> > this (like voice, there is a limit to the data stream over the
> > network).
> >
> > If you really want to have the wireless internet connection, and will
> > be a heave user of it, just get the card and data only plan and you'll
> > have nohting to worry about.
>
>
> But then we agree that
>
> - the TOS policy is not always enforced
>
True, they're going after the people who are abusing it and
exponentially increasing the data traffic. Casual users use about the
same, or less, then most people (who use the data services regularly)
who use their phones the legal way.

> - The fact that its not enforced is a secret
>
You can rob a store, and if you have a clean record, you'll most
likely get slapped on the wrist. What about a second? Third? How
many literal get out of jail free cards will the judge hand you? That
isn't open.

People have done it and nothing is said, I think that's enough to say
that it isn't as enforced as they'd like it to be, and if they didn't
put up this disclaimer in the ToS, then there would be a lot more
abuse.


> - The break point where it is enforced is a secret
>
Because it's still variable. It's not just total kilobytes of
downloads, it's talk vs. data ratio, it's session lengths, it's total
KB per session, it's the account itself, it's how much is being
reuqested in each session.


>
> And I am not complaining, just stating the situation, which apparently
> we agree on.
>
> I have **NEVER** used a phone as a modem, but do agree some folks have a
> leg to stand on when they complain that Sprint on the one hand will sell
> a connection kit, and then say you can't use it.

Sprint only sold the kits for a month or two, and then were asked not
to sell them and return them to the warehouse, PLUS, those kits were
for syncing your phonebook etc, NOT for connecting them to the web
(I'm not talking about the 2G web connection kits, either). Sprint
*never* promoted this with the only exception being the PCMCIA cards.

Also,

This enforcement does NOT include the people on data only plans with
the PCMCIA cards, nor does it include the 2G wireless web connection
kits.

Lawrence Glasser wrote:

>> We all know that SprintPCS tacitly permits low volume data use on
>> voice plans, contrary to the stated ToS.

> And for that, we thank them!

Indeed we do.


--
da
~~
"OE Quotefix" http://flash.to/oe-quotefix
to fix Outlook Express' broken quoting.