Two big data plan questions (could you check...)

[DesignDawg]

Hello all,

I have 2 things going on that I wonder if they are interrelated:

First, I don't seem to be able to use the TMobile network on my phone. Weirdly, if I am away from WiFi, I see the EDGE or 3G indicator at the top, and if I got into status, it says I am connected. But I get nothing. I can't browse the internet, google map, or market. This is regardless if I am in EDGE or 3G. The progress bar goes a tiny distance, and it just sits there, while the arrows on the EDGE or 3G indicator flash as if it is transmitting and receiving. As soon as I switch to WiFi, it's all good.

Now, here's an important detail: THIS IS NOT THE LINE I ORDERED THE G1 WITH. My wife's line was eligible for the full discount, so I ordered it on hers, but it's my phone. She got my old phone.

Is it possible that because of this, I don't have data, and even though it sees the network and "connects" to it, it won't let me use it?

Another question is this: We've never had a data plan of any kind on our account. Right now, I can sign in on either line, and it still doesn't show any data plans. It does recognize each of our phones correctly (G1 for me, Samsung T429 for her). There is an option to add services, and the G1 data plan is in there, but I'm nervous about adding it. Is it already "on" our account, but not showing up because of the "free data plan" for the next few days? I don't want to double up by accident. Can you do me a favor, if you have never had a data plan before, will you log in and see if it shows on your plan?

Hope to get to the bottom of this soon...

Thanks,

[DesignDawg]

Also wondering...

With this "free data plan" for the first few days...does that "blanket" the account, meaning all lines would have it available? I just don't have access to her SIM right now, so I can't just swap them out and see if data works on hers. I just think it odd that it connects on both networks and seems to show data movement, but it doesn't work...

[Stewartwi]

I know I was having the same problem. I ended up having to call T-Mobile and have them go through a bunch of stuff on their end till someone there finally clicked the right option or something to that effect at least. Wish I could be more helpful but whatever they did fixed it.

[johncz6]

i have changed my phone back and 2 my black berry the last couple of days having the g1 with my sim card it works on black berry data and the g1 so i would say no to your ? it should not matter whoes sim card in the phone the net work should see the sim card and use it

[legaleye3000]

For the two people above, READ:

Whatever line you ordered the phone with (like your wife's), that is where the data plan was added to. She has the data plan while you have the data phone. You need to call up T-Mobile, have them remove the data plan from your wife's and then add the plan to your line.

And it does not "blanket" the account. Its only on the lines you specify to have it on. Hope that helps.

[Habitat]

You have to tell TMobile to switch the data plan to your account. All I'm saying is I'm going through the same bs and it's pissing me off. You're not alone.

[bclark07]

I Ordered mine off of my sisters plan because she was eligible for the upgrade. I just called tmobile and explained the situation and they were fine with switching the Data plan over to my line.

[DesignDawg]

i have changed my phone back and 2 my black berry the last couple of days having the g1 with my sim card it works on black berry data and the g1 so i would say no to your ? it should not matter whoes sim card in the phone the net work should see the sim card and use it

Yeah, but you had a data plan already with your blackberry, right? It has been established that the bb data plan seems to work find on the G1. So considering we never had any kind of plan, I think the situation is different.


For the two people above, READ:

Whatever line you ordered the phone with (like your wife's), that is where the data plan was added to. She has the data plan while you have the data phone. You need to call up T-Mobile, have them remove the data plan from your wife's and then add the plan to your line.

And it does not "blanket" the account. Its only on the lines you specify to have it on. Hope that helps.

I hope it helps, too. I'll prob. call, but I doubt I'll get anywhere, since she's the primary line. Does it seem odd to you that I am connected to the network but it just doesn't work? Also, when I sign on the accounts, I can only add the G1 plan to my line, since it knows I'm using the G1. On her line, not only is the plan not there, but it's not available, because that phone has no data features...

[legaleye3000]

DesignDog- That is completely normal. It will show Edge or 3G because it is picking up signal and it is "available" to your phone if you had the proper plan. The plan is the "key" to getting in on the data network and you don't have the key. Everything you're saying is completely normal. I would just call up (or have your wife call if you are not authorized on the account) and have them switch the data plan from her line to yours.

Its not like a "bad" thing that you used her line for an upgrade. Us employees do it all the time. Just call and the rep on the phone will be happy to help you and it will take 2 mins.

[DesignDawg]

Thanks a bunch for the clarification. You and the lady I just spoke with on the phone are the reason T-Mo is always high on the customer satisfaction charts. She was very friendly, very knowledgeable, and though I'm not authorized on the account (my wife is too lazy to call), she helped me as much as she could, even putting me on hold to call my wife and leave her a voicemail telling her to call in and authorize me. In the end, she told me that since she can't switch it for me right now, I should add it online, and have my wife call in before they start charging on the 29th, and authorize me and take it off her line. Nice.

Thanks again. You've answered all my Q's 100%. Hope this has been helpful info for everyone else, too.

[legaleye3000]

No Prob :)

[RegGuheert]

Just some more anecdotal evidence about my.t-mobile.com: My wife and I each ordered G1s with the $25 data plan. We are on separate ACCOUNTS, not just lines. I just checked and her account shows her phone as G1, while mine still shows my BlackBerry Pearl. Neither shows the add-on data service, which I think you have already explained.

Funny thing, I've used one of the G1s on a third line on my wife's plan which does not have data and it was able to do setup and use Edge. Strange.

[DesignDawg]

Update:

I added the plan online. Now I wait. It said it could tak eup to 24 hours, but...really? it's not going to be 24 hours, right?

Also, I've noticed that the plan said "up to 400 text...(other things)...emails". --And I totally had email this whole time, no matter where I was. SO it seems that they ARE counting emails against our text amounts? Is this just sends maybe? Also, I did have Googletalk while I didn't have any other data, so I'm confused about that as well. I thought Gtalk was not counted as text...but maybe it still works on that network? Very confusing.

Thanks,

[legaleye3000]

When you say "use" Edge, do you mean it just shows up as Edge, or you were able to do some browsing? If you were able to do browsing, then I'm guessing there is some type of data plan on there that is allowing some functionality. As of right now (I heard its about to get fixed though), the blackberry plan and possibly others work on there. So who knows if something like that is going on....

[legaleye3000]

Plan usually happends within 15 mins, but up to 24 hours. You had GTalk on a phone before that was using TEXTS. On the G1, as like the Sidekick, IMing uses data instead of texts. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong)

[RegGuheert]

Update:

I added the plan online. Now I wait. It said it could tak eup to 24 hours, but...really? it's not going to be 24 hours, right?I've added and removed data plans quite a few times in the past. I don't recall it ever taking 24 hours to add OR remove data. 1 or 2 seems right.


Also, I've noticed that the plan said "up to 400 text...(other things)...emails". --And I totally had email this whole time, no matter where I was. SO it seems that they ARE counting emails against our text amounts? Is this just sends maybe? Also, I did have Googletalk while I didn't have any other data, so I'm confused about that as well. I thought Gtalk was not counted as text...but maybe it still works on that network? Very confusing.

Thanks,I've been wondering if this thing is using SMS extensively for emails, etc. I hope you don't get hit with a bunch of SMS charges.

[legaleye3000]

Emails do NOT use sms

[DesignDawg]

Plan usually happends within 15 mins, but up to 24 hours. You had GTalk on a phone before that was using TEXTS. On the G1, as like the Sidekick, IMing uses data instead of texts. (Someone correct me if I'm wrong)
Plan is working now thanks. :) As for the text stuff, according to all documentation, this is wrong. IMs on the G1 also uses texts, EXCEPT for Googletalk. Gtalk is the only one that isn't supposed to count against your text amounts. All others do. --But they were working for me, which is confusing. --As were at least Gmails...
I'm about to use the #674# feature to do some testing.

[legaleye3000]

Let me know what you find out about the texts.