Wayne Schulz » Cell Carriers

How to change your caller ID online – Verizon

Wayne Schulz — Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:04:03 +0000

Did you know that consumers have a free way to change the name that displays when you make a call on your Verizon Wireless Smartphone? This works for any type of cell phone on Verizon and you can make the change yourself for free (business users must pay $1.99 per month). Verizon calls this Share Name ID which enables you to customize the name that others see when they receive your call on a device enabled with Caller ID. It is a free service (except for business lines). Here is how to set it up on your account.

How To Set Caller ID / Share Name ID On Verizon

To set your caller ID on Verizon, first login to your Verizon account online.

Next click on Change Name ID.

On the following screen simply change your Caller ID Name (maximum 15 characters).

According to Verizon Wireless the changes may take up to 24 hours to update and become effective.

Verizon Share Name ID FAQ

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SIMPLE Mobile Unlimited $40 Plan – Up To 3G = 119 K Download?

Wayne Schulz — Sun, 25 Sep 2011 12:42:16 +0000

Late last week I spotted that prepaid MVNO SIMPLE Mobile (a T-Mobile service carrier ultimately) was offering a $40 unlimited plan. This pricing, while low, is extraordinary for two reasons:

It allows you to bring any unlocked GSM phone – including smartphones – to the plan.
It offers seemingly unlimited downloads of data at “up to 3G speeds”

According to some early adopters on the Howardforums site – the “up to 3G” might be exactly the catch that you would expect it to be. In other words your download speeds could be from 0 to 3G and still meet the advertised specifications. In other words even if you have a download speed of 0 — or no data — the plan technically meets the advertised speeds.

Howardforum member BCW48 has some speed tests to share on his recent SIMPLE Mobile based phone. And just as you might have expected his testing shows that the “up to 3G speeds” seems to have been put into the advertising for good reason.

Here’s what he had to say about his SIMPLE Mobile purchase:

Just changed my Simple Mobile service from my previous $60.00 4G plan to the new $40.00 3G plan today, thought that I will save some $$$, am I wrong, have using the new plan for three hours and was very upset about the data download speed.
When I had the $60.00 4G plan, the download speed was really 4G, average 1.5M to 2M, which was really great.
And now today after the plan switched, the so call 3G download speed is cap at 119 kbps, yes 119 kbps!!! I have tried 10 speedtest tests within one hour period time and all cap at the same download speed of 119 kps, no more and no less.
Then I tried played some Youtube videos, the speed is so slow that even the low quality ones buffers constantly, damn, what a diffrence with my previous 4G plan.
I will now stuck with this crappy 3G speed for at least a month, hope that Simple Mobile will raise the download speed so it is more useable.
After this month, I am planning to either going back to the $60.00 4G plan or change my service to Straight Talk $45.00 3G plan, which my friends said is pity good, at least useable.

He follows up with some images that he claims are captures of multiple speed tests showing repeated 119k download speeds – leading him to conclude that (at least in his area) the downloads on SIMPLE Mobile appear to be capped at a rather slow EDGE like 119k.

If you’re thinking of migrating your T-Mobile account over to SIMPLE Mobile – consider the potential impact that “speeds of up to 3G” might have on your mobile use. If you’re primarily on WiFi all day and need just some light web surfing – then a reported speed of 119 k download may not be an issue.

Read the full report

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Virgin Mobile BlackBerry 8530 Curve – $ 69 after Coupon

Wayne Schulz — Sun, 04 Sep 2011 12:17:51 +0000

OfficeMax this week (9/4/11 to 9/10/11) has the BlackBerry Curve 8520 on sale for $79. This is $50 off the normal $129. Expect that this model is likely going to be replaced within the next few months as RIM begins to roll out newer versions. Virgin Mobile is a prepaid (no contract) providers of cellular services owned by Sprint and uses their frequencies. What’s attractive about this prepaid carrier is data is included in the lowest monthly price of $35/mo for 300 minutes which includes your unlimited BlackBerry data and unlimited texting.

Use one of the readily available $10 coupons to bring your cost to $69.

Fatwallet

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Amazon Wireless offers TerreStar Dual Mode Satellite Phone For AT&T – $24.99/mo plus .65 minute

Wayne Schulz — Thu, 25 Aug 2011 10:50:13 +0000

I just spotted this dual mode cellular / satellite phone up for sale on Amazon Wireless. With a price (on contract) of $799 the phone is definitely not for everyday use. Sadly the OS is stuck back on Windows Mobile 6.5 – so it’s not something that you’d probably invest in for everyday around town use.

What’s neat is how much satellite phone size has shrunk. Gone apparently are the days of brick sized phones with 4 inch long thick extending antenna.

Apparently this model offers dual high speed AT&T cellular service as well:

Enabled for use on AT&T’s lightning quick HSPDA 3G network, you’ll be able to easily access the Internet as well as quickly download video, music and more. Additionally, with AT&T’s 3G network, you can make a call while simultaneously receiving picture/text messages and e-mail or viewing Web pages.

The GENUS also connects to TerreStar-1 for satellite communications when not within range of cellular connectivity. It is a geosynchronous satellite covering North America and supports the delivery of advanced all IP-based mobile data and voice services.

The TerreStar GENUS with AT&T’s Satellite Augmented Mobile Service is available for consumers as well as for enterprise, government and small business customers. It’s a great choice for outdoor enthusiasts, recreational boaters, emergency personnel and anyone who needs backup satellite communications capabilities.

Pricing on the service plan seems unusually reasonable too (provided you aren’t using too much data):

AT&T Satellite Augmented Mobile service (“SAM”) provides customers with an integrated cellular and satellite mobile communications solution. Customers with compatible TerreStar GENUS™ devices are able to use their AT&T cellular wireless voice, messaging and data services for primary communications and access a satellite network for voice, messaging and data service when the cellular wireless service is unavailable.

Monthly Recurring Charge:

$24.99 Satellite Network

Pay-Per-Use Charges:

$0.65/min for satellite voice calls
$0.40/message for satellite SMS
$5.00/MB for satellite data usage

TerreStar AT&T Satellite Smartphone

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Sprint’s 9/9/11 $1.50 Administrative Fee Increase May Waive Your ETF

Wayne Schulz — Sun, 21 Aug 2011 12:09:27 +0000

On September 9, 2011 Sprint is reportedly slated to increase their administrative fee on some subscribers to $1.50.

A few members of SprintForum have called Sprint and been told that this increase will indeed (provided that it applies to your account) qualify for early release from Sprint contract without any early termination fee (ETF).

According to the members who have received notification this $1.50 Administrative Charge is for:

The Administrative Charge is applied per line, per month by Sprint to help defray various costs imposed on Sprint by other telecommunications carriers, including, but not limited to, charges imposed by local telephone companies for delivery of calls from our customers to their landline customers and for certain network facilities and services we must purchase from them. The Administrative Charge is not a tax and is not an amount we are required to collect from you by law. The Administrative Charge and the components used to calculate this charge are subject to change from time to time.

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Trup Saves on Overseas Cell Phone Roaming Costs

Wayne Schulz — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 01:02:51 +0000

One of the hidden secrets of traveling overseas is that it costs an arm and a leg to use your cell phone. While not all cell phones can be used overseas – most that use GSM technology (like T-Mobile or AT&T) can be made to roam on the overseas GSM networks. Roaming is where the real fun starts.

If you think text messaging rates in the United States are a rip off – wait until you see what the overseas carriers want to charge you for the privilege of using your phone on their networks.

Judie at Geardiary computes that she would have spent about $233 extra on AT&T charges had she not used a special overseas roaming package offered by Tru. The cost of the overseas roaming varies by where you are traveling but Judie figures that for most roaming she would have cut her fee down to about $105 had she been enrolled in Truphone’s most efficient plan and been in a native Truphone service area.

Most people probably bite the bullet on a one time trip and just turn their cell phone off when traveling overseas. If you’re gong to be traveling overseas and roaming frequently (voice, text, data) have a look at Judie’s post where she summarizes the details and savings.

Truphone saves on overseas roaming

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Virgin Mobile Data Down For Some (ALL?)

Wayne Schulz — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 01:10:57 +0000

Judging by message threads on their Facebook Page and an extensive 37 page chain of messages complaining about lack of consistent Virgin Mobile data coverage it appears the prepaid division of Sprint may be undergoing some sort of catastrophic spectrum meltdown. The company has recently made a market for themselves with a dirt cheap $25/mo plan marketed to Android and BlackBerry smartphone users which includes unlimited data, text and SMS.

Users on various forums are complaining loudly and constantly about problems getting a consistent data signal and calls to Virgin Mobile customer care seem to all go through the same routine – power the phone down, take the battery out, count to 10, pray, reboot.

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T-Mobile 3G Signal Booster Free

Wayne Schulz — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 21:02:34 +0000

Here’s a hot deal for those of you with T-Mobile who live in a house, have a landline and are within a 3G signal area. For a limited time call 877-724-4659 and ask for a free T-Mobile 3G signal booster shipped to your house. Other carriers charge upwards of $249 (Verizon) for the same functionality.

Qualifications for this deal:

T-Mobile existing post paid customer

Mobile bill of over $75 (My bill is about $70 so I’m not sure if this is a firm $)

Live in a home without shared walls (ie – no apartments or townhouses)

Have a landline phone (for 911 calls)

If you qualify the device will be free and you will be charged $4.99 for shipping – and there is NO monthly service charge. Hurry though as this deal is probably too good to last more than a day or two.

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ATT UVerse Poor Picture Quality, Pixelated, Freezes – 3 Strikes Yer Out

Wayne Schulz — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 21:02:15 +0000

When ATT Uverse was first put into my house at the end of October 2010 the service was pretty good. I liked that the DVR included with the service eliminated my need to pay TIVO a monthly fee for a similar service.

Then one day my neighbor came over. He told me how he’d had ATT Uverse and had to ditch it because of poor picture quality where the image was all pixelated and it froze often.

I guess my day has come. Starting toward the middle of January 2011 we noticed our ATT Uverse service severely degraded. The image would free. Become pixelated. It was basically unwatchable.

To their credit AT&T sent out two on-site repair people. The first one showed me how to unplug the router that seems to power the entire system. That seems to fix things for about 4 hours. The next repairman gave me assurance that my signal quality was great. Provided a filter just in case. Four hours later? Yes – pixelated TV.

Basically the ATT Uverse price difference isn’t that great — especially if you factor in that you won’t be able to watch the service so any savings is basically a waste of money.

Buyer beware. If you take up with ATT Uverse I recommend that you don’t enter into any lengthy contracts. Thankfully ours is month to month so after the third on-site ATT Tech shows me how plug and unplug some cables I’ll just revert back to cable.

Perhaps this whole experience wouldn’t be so awful and frustrating if every time you need to speak with someone at ATT you’re essentially forced to wade an extremely lengthy voice prompt system to explain your problem all over again to someone on a long distance chat (image above).

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Meet The HTC Shift EVO 4G: Coming January 9 To Sprint

Wayne Schulz — Sat, 08 Jan 2011 12:14:52 +0000

I was a little surprised to read in this PC World article that the HTC EVO Shift 4G was one of only two QWERTY sporting Android phones unveiled at CES 20110. Built on the wildly popular HTC EVO, the Shift sports a smaller screen (it’s only 3.6″) and slide out QWERTY keyboard. This review also takes it to task for skimping on memory (512 mb) and processor (800MHz) which is ok but not on track with the next generation dual core processors that promise even beefier speeds. Look for this to hit Sprint January 9 for $150 with a two year contract).

HTC EVO Shift 4G: First Impressions

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