Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with Cellular and cell Questions tagged with 'Cellular' and 'cell' at Ask MetaFilter. Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:57:34 -0800 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:57:34 -0800 en-us 60 Ahoy, bull manure on the Verizon! What can I do to bend Verizon to my will? Or is it time to head out in search of greener pastures? We just got back from a visit to the local Verizon store where basically everything we had in mind was shot down remorselessly. Here's the deal.<br> <br> Soon to be Mrs. Eld and I are on the same plan (700 mins, 2 lines) and we're both due for a phone upgrade/contract renewal. She has a dumbphone and I'm rocking a Droid X with a grandfathered in unlimited data plan. <br> <br> She wants a smartphone or iphone and I want her to take my plan and I'll simply use my phone as a dumb phone except when I have wifi access to see if I can live like that (I think I can, honestly, that's my battle, no need to berate this part of things).<br> <br> Basically the lady at the counter told us the following, which I guess I understand with regards to them being an evil company that wants your money and all:<br> <br> A) We can NOT transfer my data plan to her number if/when she gets a smart phone.<br> B) Any smartphone on their system MUST have a data plan.<br> C) We're already on the lowest priced plan they have and it's not likely to get any cheaper (we pay a little over $100/month iirc for both phones' calling, my $30 data plan, and $5 in texting).<br> D) They have a 'sale' going on for the older model iphones for $99 after contract deal which seems ok, but not all that blazing either.<br> <br> So what's the deal, does any of this make sense regarding the dataplans transferring/not and the requirement that all smartphones must have plan? What are the buzzwords I'm missing that lead me to all my wildest dreams with regards to getting things done at the Verizon place or on the phone with a customer rep. It seems like we should have lots of options to us at this point, including taking a walk to another company or buying our own phone to get activated without a contract. <br> <br> Any input would be great, thanks for your help with dealing with Verizon's inability to flex on these things for us.,2012:site.207038 Mon, 30 Jan 2012 21:57:34 -0800 RolandOfEld Is my iPhone screwed or just me? iPhone filter: iPhone 4 battery problem. Do I need a new phone, new battery or am I out of luck? Help me, hive-mind, you are my only hope. I have an iPhone 4 that I bought during launch week this year. I jailbroke it on 4.01 so I could use SBsettings and Lockinfo. Never had a problem and it's worked like a champ until last week. I went ahead and upgraded thru iTunes to 4.1. When I started using my phone, I saw that I was a victim of the notorious "battery-drain" problem on 4.1.<br> <br> My phone's battery would die within 6-8 hours of a full charge, even if I never used data and made only the minimal amount of calls needed. After looking around online and not finding anything, I decided to downgrade to 4.01 again. Now it seems I have the same problem, albeit it at a slightly slower rate. Still, at the rate it's going my phone dies within 9-12 hours, with no data usage and only 20-30 minutes phone calls.<br> <br> I've de-charged my battery and recharged it multiple times in hopes of "re-calibrating" it. Same result.<br> <br> I'd like to retain the ability to JB as I love SBsettings and Lockinfo. However, the JB site I follow said that when 4.2 comes out only those their SHSH blobs backed up from 4.1 will be able to jailbreak. Is my problem sounding like something in the battery where i can simply swap my battery out and be good or is it some manufacturing problem that I should get my phone replaced posthaste to get one with 4.1 on it? <br> <br> All the websites I've read, including apple-forum has so much confusing info on my battery drain issue, including some people saying it's a myth ... yet I can literally watch my battery dwindle while it just sits on my desk.<br> <br> Any ideas from the hivemind?,2010:site.169885 Sun, 07 Nov 2010 19:33:06 -0800 damiano99 ET, phone roam. Best way for a Canadian to have a cell phone in the US? I'm a Canadian who travels to the US for about a week every 2-3 months, usually to NYC, Pennsylvania or Los Angeles. The roaming charges on my Canadian cell phone (the name of the specific carrier rhymes with Hell) are exorbitant. I do not understand what SIM cards are or how they work, and my current cell phone is a crappy free one that came with my plan, so I don't know if it's "unlockable" or whatever. I would like to have easy, cheap cell phone access while I'm in the States. <br> <br> Should I buy a cheap phone and a prepaid plan, then just carry that phone when I travel? I looked at the prepaid options on offer at one company (rhymes with Pee Mobile) and it was about $20 for a phone, then between 10-30 cents / minute for airtime (those minutes expire after 90 days) depending on how many minutes I were to buy at a time, and 5-10 cents per text message. <br> I have no context; Is this a good deal? Is there a better deal to be had, or a better strategy?<br> <br> If your advice involves my having to physically open up my phone and tinker with things to switch it, please explain it to me like I'm six years old.<br> Thanks.,2010:site.156114 Mon, 07 Jun 2010 19:49:35 -0800 pseudostrabismus put me out of my cell phone misery Boston Cell Phone Filter: Please help me with this seemingly simple cell phone decision. Hi there,<br> <br> Apologies for cell phone questions. I'll get a STD next week or something and ask about that to make up for it.<br> <br> I lived in Maine for a few years and have US Cellular cell phone and plan. Service has been good, my monthly bill ends up being $62 a month for 650 minutes, unlimited incoming calls and free nights and weekends. I've never gone over, but I think that might be because of the free incoming calls. <br> <br> My usage for the last month:<br> 360 regular minutes<br> 46 texts<br> 287 free incoming minutes<br> <br> Overall I've been happy with the service. US Cellular does not generally cover Boston, where I live now, but I think they rent from Verizon down here and it's been fine, no dropped calls or anything.<br> <br> The problem is that my phone, a <a href="">Motorola V323i</a> has a dead battery. Actually 3 of them, because I bought two OEM batteries online which died quickly. It appears that these batteries age whether you use them or not, so new-old-stock batteries are pretty much dead anyway. At least that's what I understand.<br> <br> So I get one long call on my battery and then the phone is dead. I'm currently working 12 hour shifts and this is really annoying. Well, it's just annoying anyway.<br> <br> Other notes: I hate, hate, hate the idea of contracts.<br> <br> So my options, as I see them are:<br> 1) Re-up with US Cellular for another 2 years, get a new free phone.<br> 2) Perhaps figure out this battery thing, can I get a new battery that isn't dead for my phone?<br> 3) Get a new phone on ebay, but it appears US Cellular uses some other kind of technology than most of the carriers so phones are a little harder to find.<br> 4) Get a plan with Verizon, pay more money, get a new phone and another 2 year contract?<br> 5) Some pay-as-you-go thing?<br> <br> I don't have much need for features other than good signal, durability and maybe, just maybe some way to check my email. I wouldn't mind a crude internet browser, maybe being able to check google maps, but not really willing to pay too much extra to get it.<br> <br> I've been hemming and hawing on this for months, and now my phone is becoming totally inoperable. Can you help me flesh out some ideas about what to do? Verizon seems to have the best service around here.,2010:site.154769 Mon, 24 May 2010 12:34:23 -0800 sully75 Cell me a phone (hur!) Recommendations for a minimalist cellular phone and rate plan in Canada (specifically southern Ontario)? My three-year contract with Bell is finally coming to an end in a couple of months and I am in the market for a new cell phone and a new provider. I'm pretty sure Bell is ripping me off completely. My latest bill was $40 for their "Uber 20" plan (100 daytime minutes plus 1000 evening and weekend minutes), plus three text message "events," and voicemail, plus the $8.95 "system access fee."<br> <br> For this, the service seems really touchy; I don't get very good reception in many locations that other people have no trouble with, and frequently incoming calls just don't make phone (a Samsung A920) ring. (The phone will be sitting in the same place for an extended period of time, and then I get a voicemail notification from ten minutes ago.) I've also had a few frustrating experiences with their customer service and will be glad to be shot of them.<br> <br> But enough ranting. I'm interesting in thoughts on a low-cost, low-frills cellular phone provider that is preferably not Bell. I don't use my cell phone all that often. Most of the calls I make and receive are short, with the odd exception. I also receive far more calls than I make. I use text messages infrequently (three times in the last month, for instance). I don't make a lot of long distance calls, but when I do, I do it through Yak, a service I am happy with.<br> <br> I have no interest in a phone that is also an mp3 player, web browser, or even a camera. It seems that all phones have at least some of these features now, but I'd be happy with one that is just, well, a phone. I am interested in call display and possibly voicemail. <br> <br> What should I do? Pay-as-you go? A minimal rate plan? What company? I am in London, Ontario.,2009:site.124061 Sat, 06 Jun 2009 16:18:39 -0800 synecdoche Stuck with overseas cell contract I moved to Germany and then moved back to the USA after three weeks. While I was there, I signed up for a two year T-Mobile iPhone contract, because at the time I thought I was staying in Germany. Now I am stuck with an expensive 2 year contract that I can't use. Now that I'm back in the states, I have an expensive paperweight that I am getting no benefit from. I've contacted T-Mobile Germany and the only option they are giving me is to pay for the entire 2 years up-front and then they'll let me cancel. That seems hardly fair, because I am not receiving service for those two years. The only benefit to me is that I get to keep the iPhone. <br> <br> In my mind, a fair solution would be to pay them for one month of service, and reimburse them for their cost of the iPhone hardware, or to return the phone. It seems they are unjustly gaining from this arrangement since they don't have to provide service. <br> <br> How should I proceed? Should I just suck-it-up and pay for the whole two years? Should I try to fight it? How? Should I get T-Mobile USA involved?,2008:site.104988 Thu, 23 Oct 2008 08:44:47 -0800 Witherwings Prepaid MP3-capable cellphone Looking for recommendations for a prepaid cellular service that has a cellphone that can play mp3s. I have Virgin prepaid at the moment, but they only have one phone that can play MP3s and from what I've read it's terrible. <br> <br> The phones available in stores around here are basic phones plus a few camera phones. I could not find one prepaid phone that could play mp3s. Verizone, AT&amp;T, T-Mobile, and Sprint are all available where I live and I'm open to any prepaid service running on their or other networks.<br> <br> A big bonus would be a phone that doesn't require specialized software to transfer and manage files/works with linux.,2008:site.88613 Sat, 12 Apr 2008 16:53:38 -0800 aerotive Nokia N95: is it better than a stick in the eye? I have serious tech lust. I think I want to get the American version of the Nokia N95. Please help me decide if this is the phone for me. Pros: combines several functions (mp3 player, 5 megapixel camera, 30 fps video, gps, FM stereo, some great applications, pocket version of a VOIP client, web browser, works on 3G on AT&amp;T, bluetooth, micro SD, 1 gig.<br> <br> Cons: Cost! ($619-$699), have to get an AT&amp;T plan, have to use a sim card from the AT&amp;T plan<br> <br> I am uncertain about how the phone will function in the states. Nokia has released an American Version (N95-3) which has some nice (extended battery life) features and has done some things that seem not so nice (gotten rid of the sliding lens cover for the camera).<br> <br> So, if any of you have this phone, would you buy it again? What do you like best? What is a pain? Any support issues on using it in America? Any apps that are "must have"?,2007:site.79159 Thu, 20 Dec 2007 12:17:07 -0800 zerobyproxy Yet another cellular-data phone recommendation question. Can anyone recommend a phone for tethered EDGE data use with a PC, and basic voice calls? GSM, T-Mobile, Motorola preferred but not absolutely required. I've done some research but I'm a bit confused. I've decided to join the world of mobile not-quite-broadband, and I want to get a phone that I can tether to my notebook (sometimes a Mac, sometimes PC) and use for Internet access. I've actually gotten the tethered-data thing working with my current phone, a first-generation Motorola Razr V3, but it's GPRS-only and almost unusably slow once I get the office VPN up and running. All I want is to do email and light (image-disabled) web browsing, plus phone calls. I don't care about the other features, and I don't care about looks as long as it's small enough to fit into a dress-shirt pocket.<br> <br> I've heard that EDGE is a step up in speed from GPRS, and the best I can really do right now on T-Mobile's network. (Or so I've been led to believe. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.) And for that, I need a new phone.<br> <br> Aside from the slow data, I'm very happy with my current pairing of Motorola phone and T-Mobile as a provider. (I've used Motorola phones since they came with shoulder straps, and have never had a problem.) Plus, I got tethered data working on my non-EDGE Motorola pretty easily. Therefore I've been mostly looking at Motorola phones, but I'm open to other suggestions in the same price range.<br> <br> According to <a href="">what I can find</a>, the Motorola phones that support EDGE are the newest Razr model (the V3xx), the KRZR K1, the RIZR Z3, and something called the W510. They all seem to retail for about $200USD, unlocked. However, I've read some <a href="">anecdotal reports</a> that EDGE support in some models is disabled, flaky, or non-functional. Can anyone vouch for them? If you have one, do you like it? Do you wish you'd gotten something else?<br> <br> I've read their spec sheets and they seem to support different 'versions' of EDGE (e.g. the V3xx is EDGE version 10, the KRZR is version 12); should I care? <br> <br> Also, I'm not sure if I should be buying a phone today that supports 3G data (HSPDA? UMTS?) so that I won't be repeating this business next year.<br> <br> As you can probably tell, I'm in a bit over my head. Help me get squared away, MeFi! Thanks!<br> <br> <small>P.S.: I've read the <a href="">past</a> <a href="">threads</a> on this topic, but none seemed to discuss phones with this particular set of requirements.</small>,2007:site.73385 Mon, 08 Oct 2007 22:50:59 -0800 Kadin2048 Help! What happened to my cell phone? Help! What happened to my cell phone the other day? While on vacation in San Francisco, I had the bad luck to be caught in a rainstorm with my cell phone (A Samsung a650 using Verizon) in my jacket pocket. Now I thought that my jacket would be a nice, dry place to store it... but...<br> <br> Cut about 24 hours past the storm.<br> <br> All of the sudden, I realize that my cell phone is vibrating uncontrollably. Given that my phone is set to ring mode and that I never used the vibrate option before, it's a bit odd. I turn the phone off and turn it back on.<br> <br> This is where all the fun begins. Suddenly when I turn my cell phone turns back on, it gets caught on the "searching for carrier" screen. When I press the clear button, I go back to the main screen. I get a big textbox saying "INITIAL PROGRAMMING NEEDED"<br> <br> Then I check my contacts and all my contacts are gone.<br> <br> I'm at a bit of a loss as my phone worked fine after the storm. Moreso, I'm worried because I used my cell for business often and had some rather important numbers stored on there.<br> <br> Now when I try to make calls with the phone, it searches for a carrier (I use Verizon). I can't retrieve my contacts list for anything and the whole phone just seems conked.<br> <br> Is there any way to get this phone usable again or will I be forced to buy a new one? Moreso, is there any way to get my contacts back? Any way at all?<br> <br> Help this cell phone-inept fella out, folks.,2007:site.57052 Thu, 15 Feb 2007 10:10:17 -0800 huskerdont Can I buy a used or unlocked phone for my plan with Verizon, or is this a right given only to those blessed with GSM carriers? Can I buy a used or unlocked phone for my plan with Verizon, or is this a right given only to those blessed with GSM carriers? Ok, so I have tried to research this a bit and I still can't get a clear answer. There seems to be a lot of information online about all the different cell phone technologies, but no one seems ready to break it down simply and answer my question. Can I buy an unlocked phone for my plan with Verizon, and if so what are my limitations? I know I can't buy a GSM phone, but can I get some other kind? I recently slipped on the ice and split the phone I had before in half and its not time for me to get a hardware upgrade according to the contract so if I were to buy a new phone from Verizon I would have to pay full price and I am not about to do that.,2007:site.57048 Thu, 15 Feb 2007 09:18:38 -0800 Bengston Is a Blackberry 8800 on T-Mobile my best choice for a data-heavy cell plan starting in spring 2007? My (non-existent) ideal device is a Treo -- with wifi, GSM/GPRS, and either EDGE or HSDPA -- on a service plan that includes flat-rate unlimited data, flat-rate international data roaming, and a small amount of voice usage inside the U.S. (say 100 mins/month). So, in the real world, is a Blackberry 8800 on T-Mobile my best choice for a plan starting in spring 2007? I want to use wifi, cellular-data, and cellular-voice, in that order of usage/importance. (Cellular-voice calls would only happen when there's no wifi available for VoIP.) I've been tethering my Sprint phones as laptop modems for six years -- ever since the first-generation data network where you were lucky to get 10k or 12k down -- so I'm looking forward to having EDGE-or-better speed on my next device.<br> <br> Cost of the PLAN is the biggest factor for me. T-Mobile is cheaper &amp; more flexible than Cingular for data (more below). Sprint and Verizon are out, since they're CDMA and I want GSM/GPRS for international voice &amp; data roaming (esp. in remote areas that currently have GPRS and aren't likely to have any other data coverage for years). <br> <br> Cost of the DEVICE is less important (since investing in a device that works with T-Mobile will save me money overall vs. any other carrier's data plan). I already own a basic PDA-only Palm device, and I've accepted that I'll need to keep carrying that along with the new data/phone device (since my biggest musts, Palm OS and GSM+GPRS+wifi connectivity, seem to be mutually exclusive for now [I need Palm OS itself, not just an OS that can sync with my Palm data]).<br> <br> <b>---- Here's what I want in a PLAN:</b><br> • flat-rate data plan, covering both unlimited data on the device and unlimited tethering (such as T-Mobile's <a href="">$30/mo Blackberry plan for non-corporate users</a>)<br> • EITHER a very cheap add-on for voice calls (like $10/mo for 100 mins/mo [not available at T-Mobile]) OR the ability, if you're on a data plan, to make voice calls billed per minute (as in T-Mobile's $0.20/min voice calls with data-only plans)<br> • flat-rate international data roaming with no annual commitment (such as T-Mobile's $20/mo international add-on, which you start &amp; stop anytime [billed at $0.66/day] and which doesn't officially include free web access, tethering, or anything other than "email" [I've found many dozens of anecdotal reports to the contrary, but those experiences are apparently due to communication gaps between T-Moblie and its partners which I have to assume will be closed sometime soon]).<br> <br> <b>---- Here's what I want in a DEVICE:</b><br> • available from T-Mobile by June 2007<br> • non-Windows OS<br> • quad-band<br> • QWERTY keyboard<br> • uses GSM and GPRS and any EDGE-or-faster data standard<br> • has wifi (WPA-compatible) and will run at least one VoIP client (preferably many clients)<br> • can be unlocked and used with a new SIM card (for any travels where cheap-voice is more important than cheap-data)<br> • ringtones can be user-supplied mp3s (it's fine if that requires third-party software and/or lots of fiddling)<br> • no unsolveable incompatibilities with Mac OS (again, third-party &amp; fiddling are fine).<br> <br> Am I right that T-Mobile is my best provider and a <a href="">Blackberry 8800</a> is my best device (assuming it turns out to have most of the features that are now being leaked -- most importantly wifi)? Am I missing any better ideas? (There are lots of mefi threads with info on older Blackberries/etc., but none specific to my situation.) Thanks for any reactions!,2006:site.53000 Tue, 12 Dec 2006 12:47:22 -0800 allterrainbrain Special Cell Phone I am trying to find a cell phone suited to someone with osteo arthritis and reduced vision [more inside] My partner's mother is reluctant to use her cell phone because the buttons are tiny and hard to press, the display is very small, and it has a thousand and one unwanted functions. <br> <br> Can anyone recommend a model of phone with larger buttons and fewer functions? Preferably something available in Australia, but any manufacturer and model details will help.,2005:site.14418 Tue, 25 Jan 2005 14:45:09 -0800 tomble incoming cell calls When receiving an incoming phone call on a cellular phone, is there any way to differentiate between in-network and out-of-network?,2004:site.12786 Fri, 10 Dec 2004 15:08:07 -0800 mr_crash_davis