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YoDude is offline YoDude
2009-12-04 , 16:36
Posts: 2,869 | Thanked: 1,784 times | Joined on Feb 2007 @ Po' Bo'. PA
#1
I'm looking for the cheapest pre-paid SIM plan that will work with the N900 and provide at least edge speeds. Coverage is important, 3G not so much.
Voice not required.

Any actual users of such out there?

So far this might be it >> http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/c...rnet-Rate-Plan

The question is... will it work?
Last edited by YoDude; 2009-12-04 at 16:46.
 

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lemmyslender is offline lemmyslender
2009-12-04 , 17:24
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#2
I don't know if it will work on the Sidekick plan for t-mobile, if it does it'd be $1 per day for unlimited data and texts. I plan on trying that if I ever get my N900 from Dell. It charges $1 every day that you are on the plan. You can switch back and forth between voice prepaid and save a couple buck here and there for days you wouldn't need data.

It seems as if they booted a lot of iphone/android users off, but not sure how they are limiting it. If they did IMEI ranges for iphone/android, the N900's might slip through.
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GeraldKo is offline GeraldKo
2009-12-04 , 17:38
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#3
Originally Posted by lemmyslender View Post
I don't know if it will work on the Sidekick plan for t-mobile, if it does it'd be $1 per day for unlimited data and texts. I plan on trying that if I ever get my N900 from Dell. It charges $1 every day that you are on the plan. You can switch back and forth between voice prepaid and save a couple buck here and there for days you wouldn't need data.

It seems as if they booted a lot of iphone/android users off, but not sure how they are limiting it. If they did IMEI ranges for iphone/android, the N900's might slip through.
This seems to be the relevant page, though I don't understand it's details (and don't have an N900).

(If this actually meant I could browse with the N900 for $1 per day only on days I used the cell network for browsing, I'd be more tempted to buy one.)
 
lemmyslender is offline lemmyslender
2009-12-04 , 18:02
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#4
Well, I wasn't going to get one (at least until they got cheaper), but couldn't resist the Dell $442 deal, particularly if I get another $50 off from the rebate.

That is the page in question. My understanding of the Sidekick plan is that it charges you $1 per day, every day you are on it ($30/month). However, you can flip back and forth to voice as often as you like.

Heck if I'm out somewhere, call 611 change plans, browse, change back to voice later on (before 12AM) only $1.

Unfortunately it seems a lot of Iphone/android users were "unoffically" using it. I think around Aug 09 they got locked out. Not sure how T-Mobile is handling how they are locking people out (ie banning Iphone/android IMEI groups or whitelisting Sidekick IMEI #'s).

I already bought a Nokia 1661 prepaid to get a sim card prior to the N900 arriving. It was only $20 with an extra $25 airtime credit (figured it'd be good to have a cheapy backup phone). I'll try switching that to the Sidekick plan and see if it works on it, later tonight.
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sjgadsby is offline sjgadsby
2009-12-04 , 18:39
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#5
Originally Posted by lemmyslender View Post
Not sure how T-Mobile is handling how they are locking people out (ie banning Iphone/android IMEI groups or whitelisting Sidekick IMEI #'s).
From what I've read, T-Mobile hasn't been checking IMEIs. Instead, as Sidekicks pull everything through their own special servers anyway, T-Mobile is simply blocking all traffic on common ports (25, 80, etc.).

So, if you want to use the Sidekick plan, you'll need a VPN server listening on a high, unblocked port somewhere on the Internet and a VPN client on your N900. Alternatively, you may be able to bypass at least some of the port blocks by running a proxy server instead of the VPN server. Not all applications follow the proxy settings in Maemo though.
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lemmyslender is offline lemmyslender
2009-12-04 , 20:41
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#6
It appears after some more reading that they are blocking port 80 (no web) imap gmail is working though.

I suppose the next option is to look at AT&T. $20/100mb/month. I think that you can add $5/1mb/month every month and rollover any unused mb. If used sparsely, this could work (at least for me).
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sjgadsby is offline sjgadsby
2009-12-04 , 21:09
Posts: 5,335 | Thanked: 8,187 times | Joined on Mar 2007 @ Pennsylvania, USA
#7
Originally Posted by lemmyslender View Post
I suppose the next option is to look at AT&T. $20/100mb/month. I think that you can add $5/1mb/month every month and rollover any unused mb. If used sparsely, this could work (at least for me).
This is exactly what I'm doing with my N900.
  1. new AT&T Go Phone SIM from eBay for less than $4 shipped
  2. $100 AT&T Go Phone refill card from eBay for just under $80 shipped
  3. both activated/added on AT&T's web site
  4. bonus $10 credit added to my account by AT&T for adding a bulk refill soon after opening the account
  5. purchased a 100 MB block of data for $19.99 deducted from my account
  6. signed up for the 1 MB/month data renewal for $4.99/month deducted from my account to keep the available data from expiring

Other notes:
  • I've read multiple sources online that claim AT&T will not allow the same data or SMS add-on package to be purchased on a Go Phone account more than twice in a row. So, you need to do 1MB-1MB-100MB or 100MB-100MB-1MB, for instance. I think enrolling in the automatic re-purchase service avoids this though.
  • According to AT&T, a Go Phone account can only have a maximum of 300 MB of data available at any time. Anything purchased above that is simply lost.
  • Avoid running out of pre-purchased data, of course. AT&T will happily burn through all the remaining money in your account with their insane per-KB data charges otherwise.
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Last edited by sjgadsby; 2009-12-04 at 21:13.
 

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YoDude is offline YoDude
2009-12-04 , 21:58
Posts: 2,869 | Thanked: 1,784 times | Joined on Feb 2007 @ Po' Bo'. PA
#8
Originally Posted by sjgadsby View Post
This is exactly what I'm doing with my N900.
  1. new AT&T Go Phone SIM from eBay for less than $4 shipped
  2. $100 AT&T Go Phone refill card from eBay for just under $80 shipped
  3. both activated/added on AT&T's web site
  4. bonus $10 credit added to my account by AT&T for adding a bulk refill soon after opening the account
  5. purchased a 100 MB block of data for $19.99 deducted from my account
  6. signed up for the 1 MB/month data renewal for $4.99/month deducted from my account to keep the available data from expiring

Other notes:
  • I've read multiple sources online that claim AT&T will not allow the same data or SMS add-on package to be purchased on a Go Phone account more than twice in a row. So, you need to do 1MB-1MB-100MB or 100MB-100MB-1MB, for instance. I think enrolling in the automatic re-purchase service avoids this though.
  • According to AT&T, a Go Phone account can only have a maximum of 300 MB of data available at any time. Anything purchased above that is simply lost.
  • Avoid running out of pre-purchased data, of course. AT&T will happily burn through all the remaining money in your account with their insane per-KB data charges otherwise.
Thanks! How about speed and feed?
That is, what is the typical connection speed and how long does 100 MB last you in your estimate.

I'm not looking for all day browsing, just access to daily news and information when I need it.
 
zfarooq is offline zfarooq
2009-12-04 , 22:02
Posts: 174 | Thanked: 69 times | Joined on Jun 2009
#9
att has better coverage than tmobile, i only switched to tmob for 3G. the lack of coverage (esp indoors) is anooyinh...go for go phone
 
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daperl is offline daperl
2009-12-04 , 22:42
Posts: 2,427 | Thanked: 2,986 times | Joined on Dec 2007
#10
Originally Posted by sjgadsby View Post
  • Avoid running out of pre-purchased data, of course. AT&T will happily burn through all the remaining money in your account with their insane per-KB data charges otherwise.
Uh oh, I can already see the headline: "Pennsylvania man surfs web for $10000 in December. Also found cheating on wife with Tiger Woods"

But this is your lucky day, because for the low, low price of just $5000, I will build you an automatic pre-purchase/disconnect monitoring applet.

Whew, glad I caught you in time; 2010 could have been a disaster.
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