Fuck you AT&T

[Moonlitherial]

Just got home from a weekend in the States and I swear I'll never* complain about Rogers again.

I use my iPad for GPS so the plan was simple - cross the border, stop at an Apple store for a new SIM card, register for a data plan and off we go. Apple can't sell me the SIM card. Weird, but okay. I wait at the AT&T store for the slowest sales person in the world, explain that I'm in the US for the weekend only and that I want a data plan for my iPad. He sells me a SIM card for $15 fucking dollars (I paid $0.10 for the original one) and says just subscribe through your iPad for the data plan.

I leave the store and fill in the subscription details as we drive along, only to find out that a Canadian credit card won't work. Fuckers. The friends we are heading to visit save me with their credit card when I call and beg. The rest of the weekend is a torture of lousy reception and horrible page load times. I'm sorry for all the horrible things I said about you in the past Rogers.

*A value of never that will probably not exceed a couple weeks

[Sattua]

They'll be sending you monthly bills for $0.00 for about two years after you leave the country.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Dear Moonlitherial:

Can you really not function without your iPad for two days?

[tumbleddown]

I've come to the conclusion that everyone's experience with their wireless company is X% horrible, where the value of X is exceeded only by their previous wireless company, whose horribleness is X+1%, and so on.

[Really Not All That Bright]

It's really not the case. It's just that phone service is something nobody feels compelled to crow about when it's good. Unless a customer service rep comps your bill, or something.

I have T-Mobile. I like T-Mobile. I am satisfied with my service, and have been for seven years. In fact, until I switched to a no-contract plan last year, I had only ever had one cell phone service plan.

[Moonlitherial]

Originally Posted by Really Not All That Bright

Dear Moonlitherial:

Can you really not function without your iPad for two days?

Dear Really Not All That Bright:
Did you miss the first line where I explained that my GPS software runs on my iPad.

Normally I wouldn't bother even with the GPS but we were taking our time and wandering side roads and it seemed wise to have a voice of reason along to show us the way when we started running low on time.

[Really Not All That Bright]

No, I didn't miss that. I missed the part where your GPS software requires a data plan. Mine doesn't.

[Bryan Ekers]

What, nobody knows how to use maps any more? Kids today....

[LilyoftheField]

Originally Posted by Sattua

They'll be sending you monthly bills for $0.00 for about two years after you leave the country.

I'm pretty sure that it won't take two years before he's in collections for that $0.00...

[Chimera]

GPS is done one of three ways;

1> GPS hardware that gets your location from the actual GPS satellites.
2> Cellular. It gets your location from the nearest cell tower and is therefore less accurate.
3> Wifi. It gets your location from your wifi router.

In this case, the OP is trying to sign up for a data plan with AT&T then return to Canada to get data from a non-AT&T network. He's a moron. AT&T won't let you sign up unless you have a valid address in a 3G service area, because you're not going to get the service you paid for and they know you won't be happy about it.

And as for paying $15 for the SIM... The price is highly variable and can be anywhere from $5 to $30. I can't find a solid price by googling it.

[Dag Otto]

Originally Posted by Bryan Ekers

What, nobody knows how to use maps any more? Kids today....

A US map would be in miles. The OP would only be confused.

[Chimera]

I prefer my maps in Rods and Leagues.

[Really Not All That Bright]

Originally Posted by Chimera

1> GPS hardware that gets your location from the actual GPS satellites.
2> Cellular. It gets your location from the nearest cell tower and is therefore less accurate.
3> Wifi. It gets your location from your wifi router.

Dunno about the iPad, but my cellphone doesn't use cell towers for GPS, it uses satellite data.

[Chimera]

What kind of phone?

Some have GPS hardware, some are "assisted GPS", which uses cell towers.

(I loves me that fucking "please try again in 2 seconds" posting warning crap.)

[Really Not All That Bright]

T-Mobile G1 (rebranded HTC Dream).

[Moonlitherial]

Originally Posted by Chimera

GPS is done one of three ways;

1> GPS hardware that gets your location from the actual GPS satellites.
2> Cellular. It gets your location from the nearest cell tower and is therefore less accurate.
3> Wifi. It gets your location from your wifi router.

In this case, the OP is trying to sign up for a data plan with AT&T then return to Canada to get data from a non-AT&T network. He's a moron. AT&T won't let you sign up unless you have a valid address in a 3G service area, because you're not going to get the service you paid for and they know you won't be happy about it.

And as for paying $15 for the SIM... The price is highly variable and can be anywhere from $5 to $30. I can't find a solid price by googling it.

Actually the OP was trying to sign up for a US data plan for use while in the US. She already has a perfectly serviceable plan for use at home in Canada. The GPS software I use downloads maps via whatever Internet connection I have and tracks via GPS satellites. Although telcos have managed to work out roaming agreements for phone data plans hay have not done the same for ipads yet hence the need for travelers to deal with AT&T. I could have provided them my destination address but their system of credit card verification requires a US credit card only and the big annoyance they did not tell me that when I was purchasing the SIM card.

Had the salesman actually paid attention and known what I needed I would have been much less annoyed.

[kbear]

The cell phone companies really need to come to grips with the fact that people travel and sometimes would like to use their iPads in a foreign country without paying the exorbitant roaming fees charged by their home provider.
I spent a month in Canada this summer and wanted a local SIM to use while I was there. Luckily I was served in the Apple store by two really nice sales reps who were already run off their feet as unbeknownst to me, it was iPhone 4 launch day in Canada. I had first been given the Rogers SIM because you were supposed to be able to set it up right on the iPad. When I couldn't make it work, and after the Rogers phone rep told me I would have to jailbreak my iPad I went back to the store. Eventually they got the onscreen setup to work but when I got to the end of the process, we discovered Rogers wouldn't take my Canadian credit card because it didn't have a Canadian billing address.
Then we tried the Bell Sim which has to be done over the phone and the sales guy stayed on hold with Bell the whole time and made sure that the transaction went through even though there were 1000 people lined up for the iPhone.
Don't know why the Apple store in the US couldn't give you the SIM but kudos to the lovely guys at Apple on St Catherine's St in Montreal for their terrific service. Still, it should have been easier for everyone considering one of the points behind the iPad is its supposed ease of use for travelling.

[PlainJain]

My iPhone 3G uses satellite data.