Sprint ETF - Got a mobile Hotspot or Hotspot add-on for you phone? Get out of your contract.

Sprint has nixed the unlimited bandwidth for their mobile Hotspots and Hotspot add-on for your mobile phone. This was most likely done to make room for the added bandwidth for the new iPhone plans. The change happens Nov 1, and there is no 'grandfathered' unlimited plan. The change applies to all. Smartphone data is not affected, but the add-on for turning your smartphone into a mobile Hotspot is.

http://www.intomobile.com/2011/10/21/sprint-kills-unlimited-4g-d...

http://gizmodo.com/5852068/this-sucks-sprint-just-killed-unlimit...

The new plan is more expensive ( $45 for 3GB, $60 for 5GB, and $90 for 10GB of combined 3G/4G data) than the faster and more available Verizon data plan ($50 for 5g at 4G).

http://support.sprint.com/support/article/Mobile_Broadband_Plan_...

This should constitute a "Material Change" for those with contracts.

Couple this with their spotty 4g coverage and mandatory 4g surcharge for capable phones: Their Hotspot service is much less desirable. Avoid future billshock by addressing it now. YMMV (but not by much).

The hotspot add-on for a phone can be added or removed at any time and is not part of the contract. Hence, changing its terms is not a change to the contract.

Sprint won't have any real advantage over Verizon if they take away the unlimited data with phones. Sprint is slightly cheaper, but with much slower 4G service that is pretty darn spotty anyway. Too much to make it really useful in my case.

For the ETF issue, I don't care. Got my new 4G phone from Sprint a couple of months ago and convinced them to remove the ETF from my account completely from the start. They agreed, so I can leave anytime. But I'm liking the monthly savings over Verizon plus when I tether using an app the 3G is dependable and the 4G has good and bad days. I can live with it for now. But if they take away the unlimited data on my phone? Bye-Bye-Bye!

Sprint is going down, i'm afraid, and I hate it because I'm a customer. Last week they announced they are taking away the Sprint Premier program. You can't keep taking things away from customers and expect them to stay.

Why not? Everyone else is. In the last year Verizon got rid of unlimited data for new customers and early upgrades for existing customers. Which raises my next question, if you are on Sprint and decide to leave, where are you going to go? Pay more for a 2GB data cap on VZW or ATT?

I'll tell you where I am going (at least till the merger):

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

It's the new SERO

ProzacBoy said:   Why not? Everyone else is. In the last year Verizon got rid of unlimited data for new customers and early upgrades for existing customers. Which raises my next question, if you are on Sprint and decide to leave, where are you going to go? Pay more for a 2GB data cap on VZW or ATT?

I'll tell you where I am going (at least till the merger):

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

It's the new SERO

I've always considered T-Mo as an option, but once the AT&T takeover was announced I've crossed them off my list. I guess I'd rather hold on to my unlimited data here than be swallowed up by AT&T in a year and get handed a 2GB plan with more expensive calling and texts.

The Optimus Q on Straight Talk actually looks like something I'd be interested in. Android 2.3 and a real keyboard isn't bad for what they charge.

VicVinegar said:   

Which raises my next question, if you are on Sprint and decide to leave, where are you going to go? Pay more for a 2GB data cap on VZW or ATT?

I left Sprint last month as soon as my contract ended. I had a great deal with Sprint, but couldn't access most of my services half the time. Not sure if it was the service, or my Palm Pre that was the issue, but i decided to try Verizon. So far I am very happy at having made the change

VicVinegar said:   ProzacBoy said:   Why not? Everyone else is. In the last year Verizon got rid of unlimited data for new customers and early upgrades for existing customers. Which raises my next question, if you are on Sprint and decide to leave, where are you going to go? Pay more for a 2GB data cap on VZW or ATT?

I'll tell you where I am going (at least till the merger):

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

It's the new SERO

I've always considered T-Mo as an option, but once the AT&T takeover was announced I've crossed them off my list. I guess I'd rather hold on to my unlimited data here than be swallowed up by AT&T in a year and get handed a 2GB plan with more expensive calling and texts.

The Optimus Q on Straight Talk actually looks like something I'd be interested in. Android 2.3 and a real keyboard isn't bad for what they charge.The problem with Straight Talk is that it's still really Tracfone. So is Net10. Tracfone has a bunch of brand names they purchased and they keep using them, but it's really all their same lousy service by a different name. Last year when I had to use Tracfone for a short period of time, the reception and call quality was consistently horrible. Roaming was....what roaming? Tracfone's so-called "customer service" actually makes Sprint's (which totally sucks) look pretty good.

Everyone who is planning on bailing; $30/mo. no-contract T-Mobile/WalMart unlimited text, 5gb of 3g/4g data +100 minutes. Even if it's just for a tablet that's not bad, I know I'll be taking my android and VOIPing on that badass plan. ANY T-Mobile compatible phone, not restricted like on many other pre-paid discount offerings. Best plan out there for smartphones, just went live a week ago. I'm switching from Sprint in a week or two.

http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/deal-discussion/1128739/

ProzacBoy said:   Why not? Everyone else is. In the last year Verizon got rid of unlimited data for new customers and early upgrades for existing customers. Which raises my next question, if you are on Sprint and decide to leave, where are you going to go? Pay more for a 2GB data cap on VZW or ATT?

I'll tell you where I am going (at least till the merger):

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

It's the new SERO

I don't know why you'd get downvoted for sharing valuable money-saving information. The T-Mobile $30 pre-paid plan is killer. If T-Mobile gets the Galaxy Nexus, I'm dumping my SERO plan and switching.

Sonofspam said:   VicVinegar said:   ProzacBoy said:   Why not? Everyone else is. In the last year Verizon got rid of unlimited data for new customers and early upgrades for existing customers. Which raises my next question, if you are on Sprint and decide to leave, where are you going to go? Pay more for a 2GB data cap on VZW or ATT?

I'll tell you where I am going (at least till the merger):

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

It's the new SERO

I've always considered T-Mo as an option, but once the AT&T takeover was announced I've crossed them off my list. I guess I'd rather hold on to my unlimited data here than be swallowed up by AT&T in a year and get handed a 2GB plan with more expensive calling and texts.

The Optimus Q on Straight Talk actually looks like something I'd be interested in. Android 2.3 and a real keyboard isn't bad for what they charge.The problem with Straight Talk is that it's still really Tracfone. So is Net10. Tracfone has a bunch of brand names they purchased and they keep using them, but it's really all their same lousy service by a different name. Last year when I had to use Tracfone for a short period of time, the reception and call quality was consistently horrible. Roaming was....what roaming? Tracfone's so-called "customer service" actually makes Sprint's (which totally sucks) look pretty good.

Tracfone does not have their own network, but are resellers of others' networks. Thus, the statement that Tracefone "reception and call quality was consistently horrible" does not make sense. Tracefone resells T-Mobile, ATT and Verizon, the latte rin limited quntitiies / areas and with the oldest phones. Which network were you on that had the bad coverage?

POST OF THE DAY!!!

Sept1967 said:   Once companies realized that smartphones, are the new crack, they will gouge you as much as they like.
Everyone has to have the newest gadget, the latest fad, and you will pay thru the nose for it.
iPhones showed them the way. People were trained to pay $100+ a month for a phone - a phone, with gimicks

Even Sprint realized they were offering too much, and are now pulling everything back. They are usually the last one to upgrade (was with 3G, will be with 4G - in national coverage)

TheSaint said:   ProzacBoy said:   Why not? Everyone else is. In the last year Verizon got rid of unlimited data for new customers and early upgrades for existing customers. Which raises my next question, if you are on Sprint and decide to leave, where are you going to go? Pay more for a 2GB data cap on VZW or ATT?

I'll tell you where I am going (at least till the merger):

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

It's the new SERO

I don't know why you'd get downvoted for sharing valuable money-saving information. The T-Mobile $30 pre-paid plan is killer. If T-Mobile gets the Galaxy Nexus, I'm dumping my SERO plan and switching.

Cause peoples is jealous.

Comcast has Internet 2go Nationwide Preferred (4G-3G) for $40 per month as long you already have their high speed internet. Anyone have any experience with this product??

Sonofspam said:   kenwallet said:   I am using Sprint unlimited everything. Some time I can not watch the video on my phone. I used the Tether and wifi to my Touchpad to watch video. After I used the Tethering for long time, then My phone popped up a message said" DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING?"

I am checking out this plan http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/hot-deals/1126640/
Currently my plan cost me about $200/month. The Sprint wants an addition $10/month for each new phone if I update the phone.

If any member have any better cell phone plan, please advise.You are paying $200 a month for a single phone and line with Sprint? HOW? The Simply Everything plan is $99 a month plus the $10 data fee, plus those miscellaneous fees, should come to about $120 or so based on where you are, since some of those miscellaneous fees are state and city driven.

I pay about $77 (total) a month for my SE plan because I chose the 450 anytime minutes plan, plus I asked for, and got, the bonus 300 free anytime minutes Sprint was giving to new customers even though I wasn't new. So the breakdown for my plan is $69.99 + the $10 data fee + $8 for equipment insurance + miscellaneous fees would come to about $95 - except I asked for the discount I had heard about for my employer, and I got it. A whopping 25% discount off my basic $69.99 fee, then the other charges on top of that.

On top of that, because of Sprint's "Any Mobile, Any Time" plan that my (and yours) plan includes, there are many months where I have had ZERO anytime minutes usage, because the phones I call are other mobiles, and I'll have close to a thousand minutes to mobiles. Maybe even more. Some months I'll have 300 anytime minutes or so, and a hundreds of minutes of Nights & Weekends (starting at 7PM) because I end up calling some land lines, but that isn't the norm for me. Most of my usage is in calling other mobiles, so I don't pay for more minutes than I need by having the $99 SE plan you are on.

Explain how your bill breaks down and maybe we can figure something out, because you haven't really given me enough information.

My $200 is for five lines, which breaks down to $40/line. In the future it will be $50/line x 5 = $250. Which I don't think it no long is a good deal.

I agree with Pupator, my speeds on Verizon LTE are running anywhere from 11.5-14mbps download and 9.5-10.5mbps upload compared to 1.5-5mbps download and .5-1.0mbps upload for Sprint. When I called to cancel they told me that they would give me a free month and upgrade me to 10GB a month for $10 more. They also told me they aving ot waving the ETF at this time. I ended up getting it waved once the rep spoke to the manager. It sucks losing unlimited but I'm loving the speeds on Verizon.

m2go said:   Sonofspam said:   VicVinegar said:   ProzacBoy said:   Why not? Everyone else is. In the last year Verizon got rid of unlimited data for new customers and early upgrades for existing customers. Which raises my next question, if you are on Sprint and decide to leave, where are you going to go? Pay more for a 2GB data cap on VZW or ATT?

I'll tell you where I am going (at least till the merger):

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

It's the new SERO

I've always considered T-Mo as an option, but once the AT&T takeover was announced I've crossed them off my list. I guess I'd rather hold on to my unlimited data here than be swallowed up by AT&T in a year and get handed a 2GB plan with more expensive calling and texts.

The Optimus Q on Straight Talk actually looks like something I'd be interested in. Android 2.3 and a real keyboard isn't bad for what they charge.The problem with Straight Talk is that it's still really Tracfone. So is Net10. Tracfone has a bunch of brand names they purchased and they keep using them, but it's really all their same lousy service by a different name. Last year when I had to use Tracfone for a short period of time, the reception and call quality was consistently horrible. Roaming was....what roaming? Tracfone's so-called "customer service" actually makes Sprint's (which totally sucks) look pretty good.

Tracfone does not have their own network, but are resellers of others' networks. Thus, the statement that Tracefone "reception and call quality was consistently horrible" does not make sense. Tracefone resells T-Mobile, ATT and Verizon, the latte rin limited quntitiies / areas and with the oldest phones. Which network were you on that had the bad coverage?It makes sense when you realize that those networks like Verizon, AT&T, T-Mob that Tracfone is piggybacking off of are not the prime, top-tier network coverage areas that those networks reserve for provision of their own customers. Kind of like Virgin with Sprint, even though they're a wholly-owned Sprint subsidiary, Virgin has no roaming and does not get the top-tier network coverage of Sprint.

The consistently horrible coverage I experienced with Tracfone was over several states and many large and small cities. Never did I get good call quality. A lot (too many) of my calls were dropped, too. Have you ever tried dealing with Tracfone's *cough* 'customer service' *cough*? Trust me, you would have a better chance of a good outcome trusting a drunk monkey to remove your appendix. I never figured out which network I was on and Tracfone told me - after a few days of emailing them with the same question over and over due to NO responses from them - that since I was traveling around I was switching networks as I entered new areas. So it's safe to say the coverage was consistently horrible just as I did.

I don't have HOT SPOT feature.Using EVO

and Using 4G network sometimes to connect to my laptop through an Free App.

I've unlimited data plan
and the post says that it'll affect to Hot spot ad on.
Will regular plan also get affected?

I have called a few times to Sprint that I want to take a look at the contract I signed, but they kept telling me
there is no contract. I am mentioning this because I see many times "contract" in this thread. Initially, I want to
cancel "my contract" on the ground that Sprint started charging more on some fee on this site (or slickdeals?) last month and wanted to see which list was violating againt the current "contract" or terms and condition. They kept telling me there is no contract
that I signed or even voice record over the phone, and I can take a look at the terms and condition. I don't really understand.
They can always change the terms and condition... I obviously asked what kind of legal obligation I have to pay for the charge, and they reply I need to pay the service I use even without a contract. I assume the contract says that I need to pay if I use the service. It sounds like they do just like some scam businesses do. But having "contract" is there to prevent the fraud, so that consummers and business are binded by the mutual agreement.

So, technically, when you guys are saying "contract", you and Sprint actually do not have a legally binded contract. It doesn't really make sense. But they can always move the matter to credit collection agency and eventually you may be on the black list of not paying a fee. However, I don't know if they can do that when we are not even obligated to be paying to Sprint.

I know I know, so I asked for some kind of material evidence on what I signed for. It is usually
a paper or the voiced-recorded "yes" agreement so that I can see what promises I was supposed to have agreed with.

It seems like a very legitimate requrest when company is charging for out-of contract fee, isn't it???
When you rent an apartment and want to get out of the apartment earlier, then you negotiate with landlord
or apartment complex according to the contract the mutual parites signed. Then, you can renegociate
if something comes up. I just wanted to do the some type of thing with Sprint. Then, they proudly say
that there is a contract but there is no material evidence on what kind of binding agreements we agreed upon
at the moment (21 months ago).

I just wanted to decide whether keeping Sprint or get out of contract by examining what kind of contract I signed up for. They said that they sent a contract I signed to my address when I recieved the phone. But I don't think many people keep it and they said they don't have it either... I recived the phone as a replacement of the insurance program from Sprint, so I dont' know how it applies to me. They can track down the Sprint store down and ask them to send me a copy of signed contract, which I in fact asked, but somehow they refused. I asked for an address in KC (I live in near KC) to send a letter to a Sprint's legal department on this, but the manager refused to give me the address.

Would you get shocked to hear that there is no contract when you are thinking how you can get out of the contract??? This is a big corporation like Sprint, so they can have scanned signed document on the database for my account.

Sonofspam said:   TheGhoul said:   coolmind said:   I don't have HOT SPOT feature.Using EVO

and Using 4G network sometimes to connect to my laptop through an Free App.

I've unlimited data plan
and the post says that it'll affect to Hot spot ad on.
Will regular plan also get affected?

No, Sprint is keeping that unlimited everything plan (for now). This only affects the on-phone and separate device Hot spots. Also, beware of tethering (connecting your laptop). Word around the camp fire is that they know who does this (AT&T does http://www.informationweek.com/news/mobility/smart_phones/231300... ). It would logical to address the tethering people circumventing the Hotspot with the advent of the new restrictions of the data plans.That is for the iPhone, not Android phones. It's easy for AT&T to identify their traffic over the iPhones but not over the Android devices. I forget all the technical details why, but AT&T is trying to use what they can do with the iPhone traffic to scare Android users on their network.

That said, I really don't understand how AT&T or any network can legally get away with charging you twice for the same, single product they are supplying - data. Think of it this way: AT&T supplies you with 2G, 5G, etc. of data that they charge you for. You use the data you have paid for with your device and use all of your data each month. Now you decide you want to use an app to tether your phone to your laptop so you can use a bigger screen and keyboard. You are using your same data - AT&T hasn't supplied you with anything more or extra - and you use it all just as you did before. But AT&T decides that since you are tethering then you owe them $40 more each month even though they aren't doing anything more for you, giving you anything more, or increasing the amount or speed of the data you are consuming. How can they get by with this? I get it that they will get away with murder until enough people start complaining and some people fight back in court. I just don't see how AT&T or any network can make you pay twice for the same thing you already paid for.

Still, it does violate their terms and aggreement. And yes, Android can be detected in a few ways. Think browser ID and Mac address when using NAT on your tethering app or even TTL (extra device hop) and OS ID (windows,mac). Albeit its harder, but its possible. But, I aggree, its the same traffic so why bother.

From their T&C

Specific Terms & Restrictions On Using Data Services
In addition to the rules for using all of our other Services, unless we identify the Service or Device you have selected as specifically intended for that purpose (for example, wireless routers, Data Link, etc.), you can't use our data Services: (1) with server devices or host computer applications, or other systems that drive continuous heavy traffic or data sessions; (2) as a substitute or backup for private lines or frame relay connections; or (3) for any other unintended use as we determine in our sole discretion. We reserve the right to limit, suspend or constrain any heavy, continuous data usage that adversely impacts our network performance or hinders access to our network. If your Services include web or data access, you also can't use your Device as a modem for computers or other equipment, unless we identify the Service or Device you have selected as specifically intended for that purpose (for example, with "phone as modem" plans, Sprint Mobile Broadband card plans, wireless router plans, etc.).