$9.99 "Unlimited Web" - deal or dud?

[RobertB]

The September "Scoop" email from T-Mobile includes an interesting blurb:

Sign up for Unlimited Web. FREE for the first 30 days.

Imagine the Web at your fingertips: E-mail, maps, the latest headlines or weather reports. Well, you can do all that and much more. And the best part? You may be able to do it all on the phone you've already got, even if it's not a "smartphone."

Sounds pretty sweet, huh? Upgrade your phone without upgrading. Sign up for Unlimited Web and get it FREE for the first 30 days.

After that it's a low $9.99 a month. If you don't want to keep it, just tell us before your 30 days are up.

To sign up for Unlimited Web, text SCOOP to 1611

Yadda yadda yadda, buncha marketing crap, I know. My questions:

* I thought unlimited web browsing was $19.99. Is this the same thing, or is it a crippled version?

* The URL I got from texting SCOOP actually worked on my phone, a venerable Samsung T-609. (Don't worry, you have to confirm that you want to sign up, which I didn't.) I may upgrade to an unlocked smartphone in the next month or so -- will it keep working if I sign up now?

* There's a thread a little further down the list that says you can get $5.99 T-Zones if you don't mind pushing and pushing and pushing on the CS rep. I'd gladly pay $4 a month to *avoid* that sort of hassle. Unless there's some other compelling reason to push for the $5.99 plan?

* (I won't even bother asking about tethering until I have a laptop that's less than 10 years old.)

[sendpaulmailat]

. . . . I may upgrade to an unlocked smartphone in the next month or so -- will it keep working if I sign up now? . . . .

No. There are also threads below about how T-Mobile is blocking smartphones from the $9.99 plan. It also blocks any non-branded phone because they are treated as a smartphone.

This plan is intended only for T-Mobile branded dumb phones.

[RobertB]

Thanks for the tip -- it helped me find the "Well, I tried" thread. From that, I learned that T-Mo will be able to see that I put my SIM in a different phone, and treat me like crap if I upgrade. :P

The Terms and Conditions that would have applied if I'd signed up, though, don't mention anything about phone types. That seems like something for the FTC or BBB, though I won't have time to poke the system just to stick it to The Magenta Man.

I guess I might try this sequence of events:

* Sign up for the "Free 30 days" on the dumbphone
* Enjoy small-screen fun for a day or two
* Pop the SIM into the smartphone
* Wait for the sky to fall
* Call up and bi- er, complain, with no harm done because I'm in the 30 day window

Of course, they could get cute and not cut me off for 30 days. Then, all I could do is wave my contract termination date at them and hope for a miracle. It's not like there's anywhere else to go -- the JD Power award shows that they're the least vile of the vilest industry in the country.

[ladykaya]

I currently have an unlock nokia on the shadow plan and its working fine. Most people have found it works better with un-branded phones than the regular 9.99 plan.

[Antenna]

NOTICE: anyone with the $19.99 Total Internet Plan or the $5.99 T-Zone plan do not switch to these plans.....your grandfathered plans are still better.

If you do not have Total Internet or T-zones sign up for the shadow $9.99 plan and use the internet2.

[RobertB]

NOTICE: anyone with the $19.99 Total Internet Plan or the $5.99 T-Zone plan do not switch to these plans.....your grandfathered plans are still better.

If you do not have Total Internet or T-zones sign up for the shadow $9.99 plan and use the internet2.

Sorry to be such a n00b ... but by "shadow $9.99 plan", do you mean the one that T-Mobile is offering for my "dumbphone"? And is "use the internet2" something I need to hack/configure, or do you just mean "use the internet, too"?

[jet1000]

The Terms and Conditions that would have applied if I'd signed up, though, don't mention anything about phone types. That seems like something for the FTC or BBB, though I won't have time to poke the system just to stick it to The Magenta Man.

The Scoop however clearly says " *Offer available on select phones."

Sorry to be such a n00b ... but by "shadow $9.99 plan", do you mean the one that T-Mobile is offering for my "dumbphone"? And is "use the internet2" something I need to hack/configure, or do you just mean "use the internet, too"?

The Shadow plan is for the Shadow phone that T-Mobile offers. Log into your account at T-Mobile.com and change the phone you're using to a Shadow. When you go back to change services, you'll see the data plan that specifically references a Shadow. I don't know if the free 30 day offer applies to that as well. And I don't know that it gives you something more than web2go. But perhaps people have been having better luck using the shadow plan with smartphones.

And is "use the internet2" something I need to hack/configure, or do you just mean "use the internet, too"?

internet2 is an abbreviation for the APN setting that tells your phone where to connect for data. The full setting is internet2.voicestream.com. You should have someplace in the data settings of your phone where you'll find this. It may be set to wap.voicestream.com or epc.tmobile.com.

All 3 should work with a dumbphone. With a smartphone, people have been able to use the $9.99 plan by using internet2.