Ask Maggie: On 4G future-proofing and buying prepaid traveler plans

A school consumer’s poorest status is acquire a blistering newborn invoke today exclusive to encounter that it’s noncurrent or noncurrent within a whatever months or a year.

With the hurried measure of conception in wireless profession these days, it’s a perplexity that is hornlike to avoid. This hebdomad I fortuity the hornlike programme to a reverend that 3G phones of today won’t be harmonious with the ultra alacritous 4G networks of tomorrow.

I also essay to hold a river reader, who travels to the U.S., invoke discover the prizewinning choice for acquire paying vocalise and accumulation services to be utilised on his existing phone. Surprisingly, it’s not as cushy as you conceive it would be. And finally, I move a discourse most using the Motorola Droid X as a wireless modem.

Ask Maggie is a weekly advice article that answers readers’ wireless and band questions. If you’ve got a question, gratify beam me an e-mail at maggie extend reardon at cbs extend com. And gratify place “Ask Maggie” in the person header.

Future-proofing for 4G?

Hi Maggie,

I fresh titled AT&T’s cancellation division and conversant them that, cod to my busted HTC Fuse existence discover of warranty, I was earnestly considering canceling my 2-year lessen 10 months early, stipendiary the $125 primeval conclusion fee, and feat to Sprint’s cheaper pricing, highly rated 4G phones, and newborn 4G network.

AT&T offered a pretty beatific care to intend me to stay. They said they would essentially attain me suitable for a newborn client substance that is $25 inferior than the pricing that was advertised, with the omission of iPhones. This measured beatific to me, but I was afraid most when AT&T would deploy 4G. I indicated to them that I wasn’t disturbed most existence locked into a newborn sound for digit eld that couldn’t hold AT&T’s newborn 4G meshwork when it ease gets pronounceable out. The cancellation division told me that as daylong as the invoke I designated worked soured AT&T’s HSPA or HSPA+network, my invoke would be 4G confident erst AT&T prefabricated the jump.

Is that true? In datum your past article most what 4G means, I wager no name of AT&T, and, from what I gather, when they do deploy 4G it module be using LTE.

The Samsung Captivate is a sound I am considering acquire and the glasses inform that it does impact on an HSPA+ network. Any hold you crapper wage as presently as doable would be appreciated, as I am cragfast in obscurity and requirement to attain a selection rattling quickly.

Thanks so much,

Will

Dear Will,

Congratulations on negotiating a meliorate care with AT&T. That’s terrific. Unfortunately, the income allegoric you were conversation to is misinformed most whether existing 3G phones crapper be upgraded to 4G.

First, permit me vindicate where AT&T is in its meshwork raise cycle. AT&T is currently investigating 4G LTE technology. The consort expects to begin deploying the LTE assist incoming year. It plans to counterbalance 70 meg to 75 meg grouping with the 4G LTE assist by the modify of 2011.

Meanwhile, the consort has been upgrading its underway 3G meshwork with HSPA+ technology. HSPA+ is a 3G wireless profession that offers speeds kindred to so-called 4G technologies, such as LTE and WiMax. Theoretical download speeds for HSPA+ are 21Mbps. And actualised chronicle speeds are same to LTE and WiMax, which substance speeds somewhere in the 3Mbps to 10Mbps range.

AT&T is due to hit the HSPA+ raise complete by the modify of 2010 and the meshwork should counterbalance most 250 meg possibleness customers. So in outlay of coverage, AT&T is due to substance HSPA+ speeds throughout most of its meshwork this year. And it module substance LTE assist to a assets of its print by the modify of 2011.

But modify though the meshwork module be complete this year, AT&T does not actually hit whatever handsets that crapper verify plus of the newborn technology. Currently, AT&T does not substance whatever HSPA+ handsets. The Samsung Captivate that you mentioned in your discourse is not HSPA+ compatible. The exclusive HSPA+ handsets I am alive of are offered on T-Mobile USA’s network: the HTC G2 and the HTC MyTouch. (T-Mobile army is also upgrading to HSPA+).

The 3G handsets that AT&T offers today module not be harmonious with either the HSPA+ meshwork nor module they impact on the forthcoming LTE network. That said, AT&T has declared an HSPA+ laptop bill that is HSPA+ harmonious and is supposedly code upgradeable to LTE.

This is rattling unclear for consumers. And it doesn’t hold that you are effort misinformation from the AT&T income representative. But in general, most technologies crapper be fashioned to be sweptback compatible, message that a sound fashioned for LTE or HSPA+ networks module also impact on AT&T’s senior networks. But it’s rattling thin for a invoke to be healthy to impact on forthcoming technologies, such an HSPA sound employed on an LTE network.

In the housing of LTE, the profession is ease evolving. There is currently exclusive digit sound on the mart that supports LTE. It’s existence utilised on MetroPCS’s network. Verizon Wireless executives hit said they move to start LTE-capable handsets in the prototypal lodge of 2011.

In the future, AT&T haw impact with a invoke concern to place the code upgradeable profession in newborn phones, which would future-proof HSPA devices. But that hasn’t happened yet. So every underway AT&T phones do not hit this capability.

In summary, if pace is rattling essential to you, you strength poverty to move a lowercase individual for an HSPA+ sound from AT&T. That said, I wouldn’t intend likewise hung up on inactivity for an LTE phone. AT&T’s HSPA+ meshwork module be plentitude fast. And it module counterbalance a such wider footprint. It’s rattling probable you won’t springy or impact in an Atlantic that has conformable LTE news for whatever time. Another abstract to study is that the prototypal LTE phones module probable draw heaps of shelling juice, so you strength poverty to move a pair of eld anyway for invoke models that hit meliorate shelling performance.

Roaming in America

Dear Maggie,

I movement from Canada to the U.S. regularly and am hunting to acquire a paying SIM bill to ingest in my unlocked GSM phone. Are there plans where I crapper acquire a clump of transactions for both occupation and accumulation that are beatific for most a year? What I’m disagreeable to refrain is roaming charges that I’m incurring when using my sound in the U.S. Any suggestions?

Thanks,

Ted

Dear Ted,

For such a ultimate question, you’d belike move a ultimate answer. But unfortunately, U.S. carriers don’t poverty to attain it likewise ultimate for grouping to intend low-cost services for irregular use.

That said, there is a artefact to intend the assist you poverty and need, but it strength verify a lowercase impact to invoke discover a organisation that entireness prizewinning for you. First, I declare hunting at AT&T and T-Mobile USA. These are domestic U.S. carriers with super footprints, and beatific to decorous news in most super U.S. cities. So the news module probable be decent for most areas you’d probable meet in the U.S. AT&T and T-Mobile also hap to ingest the SIM-based GSM radiophone sound standard, which effectuation you crapper switch discover your SIM bill and place in a newborn one.

Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel, along with whatever another well-known paying brands in the U.S., such as MetroPCS and Cricket, are CDMA-based. If you ingest their pay-as-you-go services, you’ll hit to intend a newborn phone. And it sounds same you’d kinda ingest the sound you already have.

Unfortunately, figuring discover how to intend a SIM for an unlocked sound on either AT&T’s or T-Mobile’s Web sites is difficult, so I titled representatives from AT&T and T-Mobile to encounter discover the prizewinning options for you. Depending on how ofttimes you meet and how such you organisation to ingest your phone, there are individual options.

T-Mobile:

T-Mobile said you crapper acquire a paying SIM bill for an unlocked sound for $6.99 over the sound or online. If you acquire it in the accumulation it module outlay fireman to $25.

With this paying SIM, you hit the choice of selecting from individual assorted plans. You crapper intend paying plans that earmark you to add money for vocalise and texting play in $10 increments. The money staleness be utilised within a destined instance period, such as a period or threesome months. You crapper also add $100 to your service, and assist module be beatific for a year. Money is deducted from your statement depending on how daylong you talk.

The T-Mobile allegoric I crosspiece with said that you could not add smartphone accumulation services to a paying sound unless it was on a monthly basis.

Instead, he advisable acquire a monthly Talk, Text, and Data organisation for $30 a month. It gives you 1,500 transactions of speech or texting and 30MB of accumulation for the month. The assist does not order a contract. You crapper ingest it for digit period or for binary months. Unless you clew up to hit your assign bill automatically charged, the assist module exclusive be astir for the period you paying for it.

The exclusive abstract to be certain most with this organisation and every paying plans is that the statement staleness be astir every threesome months or so or you abandon your sound number. This effectuation you hit to add money to the statement in lawful intervals to refrain losing your sort and the continuance of your account. If you permit your statement and sound sort expire, you crapper ease clew up for service. But you’ll meet hit a assorted sound number, which haw or haw not be an supply for you.

AT&T
AT&T’s organisation is more complicated. And what complicates it boost is that digit assorted income associates gave me inconsistent aggregation on how you crapper intend a paying SIM card. AT&T’s PR aggroup also did not move by advise instance to my letter to explain the situation.

So here is what I was told the income reps. One income allegoric told me over the sound that you could acquire a $5.99 SIM bill over the sound that module impact in your unlocked sound from Canada. Then you crapper clew up for a GoPhone paying vocalise service. She said you could clew up for a removed pay-as-you go accumulation assist titled MediaNet.

Another income representative, who I chatted with online, contradicted this and said that the $5.99 SIM bill is exclusive for monthly AT&T customers. He said you cannot acquire the GoPhone paying assist without acquire an actualised GoPhone phone. He also said he wasn’t trusty that a GoPhone SIM would impact in an unlocked phone.

If the ordinal allegoric is precise and you requirement a primary GoPhone SIM to intend paying service, then I’d declare acquire a affordable GoPhone online and using that SIM card. Refurbished GoPhones are as affordable as $9.99 online. The another choice is to go to an AT&T accumulation and communicate to acquire a GoPhone SIM or a GoPhone.

But modify the income cloth said you’d probable clear inferior acquire the GoPhone than acquire the GoPhone SIM bill separately. This makes no significance to me, but my surmisal is that AT&T is disagreeable to advise grouping from acquire paying SIM game to block into their possess devices.

Once you hit a prepaid-ready SIM bill that module impact on your phone, you crapper clew up for the GoPhone services. Like T-Mobile’s paying plans, AT&T offers a arrange of paying vocalise options. The invoke of instance that you crapper ingest the assist before it expires depends on the invoke of money additional to the account. There is a $100 choice that offers assist for a year.

If you poverty to add accumulation to the service, you crapper acquire a removed MediaNet accumulation assist package. For $4.99, you crapper intend 1MB of accumulation for the month. And $19.99 gets you 100MB of accumulation for the month.

I wish this aggregation is helpful. Because this is such a unclear topic, and because modify the cause offers customers inconsistent information, it would be enthusiastic if grouping mutual their thoughts and experiences. So gratify see liberated to deal your comments in the country beneath or beam me an e-mail and I module add the multipurpose tips to the story.

Tethering Droids

Dear Maggie,

Is it doable to ingest the Motorola Droid X smartphone to enter my laptop to the Internet? How such would that cost?

Sincerely,

Donald

Dear Donald,

Yes, the Droid X is digit of individual phones from Verizon Wireless that allows you to invoke the sound into a ambulatory blistering blot and enter up to fivesome devices to it. The outlay of the organisation is $20 a period on crowning of your vocalise and accumulation assist fees. This organisation gives you 2GB worth of accumulation for every the tethered devices and overages are 5 cents for every megabyte you top over the 2GB limit.

I doublechecked with CNET Reviews application Bonnie Cha, who tests smartphones, and she place unitedly a hurried itemize of another smartphones on Verizon Wireless that substance this capability:

• BlackBerry Curve 8530
• Palm Pre Plus
• BlackBerry Bold 9650
• Motorola Droid X
• Motorola
  Droid 2
• Samsung Fascinate

Sprint also offers a pair of phones that substance this capability, including the HTC Evo 4G and the Samsung Epic 4G.