Prepaid Data with T-Mobile US

[Schlips1]

Hello,

there is a prepaid data service from T-Mobile available now:

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The stick is from Huawei and got 1700 MHz UMTS and 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900 MHz GSM / EDGE.

Because of that, the Stick may not (!) be used for AT&T UMTS....

I have not found many informations about validity. Afaik, you only have to use it once a year (witch would be good). 1GB is 50 USD (+tax).

[adam917]

In addition to this, their prepaid division has data options for phones. There are several monthly options & one daily option. 2 GB + unlimited talk & messaging for 70 USD/month, 100 MB + unlimited talk & messaging for 50/month, 30 MB + 1500 minutes or messages for 30/month, or unlimited messages alone for 15/month. The daily option is 1.49/24 hours for data.

More details are at: Unsupported Browser

[Schlips1]

I am not sure, if it is that easy!

I tried my (voice) prepaid sim and put in

In the Access point field, type epc.tmobile.com.
In the Username field, type GPRS.
In the Password field, type GPRS.
In the Additional intialization commands field, type *99***1#.

and got a (fast) connection.

BUT:
It does not matter, which URL I put in, I always get directed to

https://my.t-mobile.com/Login/?rc=&d...2fDefault.aspx

Here, I may connect to (my) account informations, but that's it!
There is no "options" or something like that to activate data service...

[adam917]

Originally Posted by Schlips1

I am not sure, if it is that easy!

I tried my (voice) prepaid sim and put in

In the Access point field, type epc.tmobile.com.
In the Username field, type GPRS.
In the Password field, type GPRS.
In the Additional intialization commands field, type *99***1#.

and got a (fast) connection.

BUT:
It does not matter, which URL I put in, I always get directed to

https://my.t-mobile.com/Login/?rc=&d...2fDefault.aspx

Here, I may connect to (my) account informations, but that's it!
There is no "options" or something like that to activate data service...

Have you tried using your phone's data connection instead? I'm not sure if standard phone data will work on a laptop w/ these new plans, hence they mention separate mobile broadband plans below.

[Schlips1]

Hello,

sorry, it took a while to answer. It worked - once - to use a phone as a modem with the 1,49 USD daypass. The bad thing about that is, most phones not coming from T-Mobile US do not have AWS (UMTS 1700 MHz). So you only get EDGE and no high-speed.

The easiest way to use high speed access was to get a stick from Radio Shack (was on sale for 79,99 USD) and activate an other T-Mobile US Simcard. Even w/o credit you get directed to the My T-Mobile pages (you get an other menue for data Sims) and to choose a pass. There are no restrictions, eg. you may use it for VoIP.

So there are in fact two data plans:
- The 1,49 USD plan for voice prepaid (planed for use on mobile devices)
- The volume plan (10 USD for 7 days or 100 MB, 30 USD for 30 days or 300 MB or 50 USD for 30 days or 1 MB) for data prepaid (planed for use on a laptop / pc)

You have to use a Sim with a data volume plan once a year, otherwise it gets deactivated. But a new data sim is for free....

[Schlips1]

I finally found the stick's information on

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[PhotoJim]

I picked up one of these Jet sticks yesterday here in San Diego. I'm on 3G right now but at my hotel (Shelter Island, Point Loma) the 3G service is weak. The good news is that the stick seems capable of handing off between 3G and 2G (unlike Rogers at home) and the IP stays the same.

(Rogers will hand off voice calls, but not data.)

And here we are, handed off to EDGE already. The 3G in my hotel is very flakey.

I'll take my netbook out with the stick and play a bit later today.

If the SIMs are good for a year, that will be perfect actually. I am in the US a couple of times a year or more.

The other issue I have is about roaming. I'm assuming these won't roam in areas where T-Mobile has no native coverage, but I haven't had a chance to try yet.