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A comment on Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception. Parent comment

Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by nivla on Wednesday June 05, 2013 @06:40PM (#5829140)
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 new home with no immediate internet service and want to tether for a few days.

[2] Non-existent domains redirect to a page with ads (Similar to OpenDNS). Sucks on a mobile since you have to wait for it to load to find out while adding to your data usage.

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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by paragonred on Wednesday June 05, 2013 @07:15PM (#5829302)
I've been using T-mobile for about 5 years as well and have been tethering for about 3 years with no issue. I just have a regular data plan. No hotspot option or anything.

I wonder why this isn't happening to everyone?

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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by nivla on Wednesday June 05, 2013 @07:43PM (#5829433)
Interesting, din't know it was uncommon. Could they be targeting certain areas, maybe the ones with high data usage? It happened to me when I moved to NYC and found myself stuck in an apt with no internet for the first few days.
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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by eropple on Wednesday June 05, 2013 @10:01PM (#5829929)
I had the same thing happen when I moved, after I racked up around 800MB of data on my tethering (easier than you think). I didn't get a text, but I'd get redirected to an "upgrade now!" page. I spoofed my user agent on my laptop for the next couple days (because, shit, I'm paying for it, I'm going to use it), and had to do the same when I tethered for about a month or it'd redirect me. Since then, nothing.
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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by xur17 on Thursday June 06, 2013 @01:31AM (#5830631)
I've noticed that it redirects when I use a largish amount of data (100mb?) with a desktop useragent. It redirects me to the "upgrade now" page for the rest of the month.
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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by sethco on Wednesday June 05, 2013 @08:17PM (#5829572)
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).
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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by CatMtKing on Wednesday June 05, 2013 @10:37PM (#5830044)
Last I checked, their unlimited data plan came with 2 gigs to tether with. Maybe that's what you got?
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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by fencepost on Wednesday June 05, 2013 @06:51PM (#5829188)
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.

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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by nivla on Wednesday June 05, 2013 @07:32PM (#5829382)
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.
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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by unsignedint on Wednesday June 05, 2013 @10:19PM (#5829986)
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.
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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by nivla on Wednesday June 05, 2013 @10:57PM (#5830110)
Awesome! Will give that a try. Thanks :)
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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by kbutler on Wednesday June 05, 2013 @11:03PM (#5830136)
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.

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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by 0x0 on Wednesday June 05, 2013 @06:58PM (#5829209)
Wow, that's pretty evil. I wonder what would happen if a reasonably popular ios app started using a desktop-like User-Agent in communications to its server!
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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by baggachipz on Thursday June 06, 2013 @07:18AM (#5831665)
I tether all the time and have never gotten any flak (monthly4g plan). Also, have never seen an ad on a 404. Odd.
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Re:Your iPhone and iPad Are Limited. T-Mobile is the Exception by dowskitest on Wednesday June 05, 2013 @07:49PM (#5829459)
I'm on one of their pre-paid plans with a Nexus 4. I don't see any DNS hijacking and tether occasionally without issue.

I'm in the Midwest and the coverage is good in urban areas (HSPA+ and good voice). Voice at best in rural areas though.

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