Internet on Mobile = $476 for 5 Minutes! - Page 2

Yellow_Festiva · 31-01-2011, 12:30 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtfpv

ok so when i was out at sea , and had no signal /service . it was because the airplane mode was off . i tried to get a signal by switching on data raoming to no effect , is it the airplane mode that gets the signal when switched on and then the high bills come accordingly . ? i thought it was the data roaming.

When you are out at sea the reason you have no service is because you are too far away from an antenna. Having said that, there is a carrier that provides a signal at sea but the name escapes me at the moment (MCP????). I was on a cruise in December and I kept finding the network but couldn't connect. Upon return, Vodaphone said they never heard of them, yet the carrier lists Vodaphone as a 'partner' on its site.

Regarding airplane mode. I think you have mis-understood it. Airplane mode turns off the phones ability to receive any signal. When airplane mode is on, your phone is no longer able to communicate in any way it is no longer a 'phone'. Your handset can then be left on (in theory) during the flight with no ill effects.

When you land, your turn off airplane mode and your phones antenna becomes activated. You can then search for a signal and connect to a network.

Fool around with your phone. Turn on airplane mode (on my Nokia it is referred to as 'Offline') and you will see you have no signal. You will also not be able to connect to Wifi etc.

If you try to send a msg, or communicate in any way it will tell you that you can't due to the airplane mode.

Turning it off will make everything work as normal.

Thanks for the Rep points BTW ;)

SilentDave · 31-01-2011, 12:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtfpv

ok so when i was out at sea , and had no signal /service . it was because the airplane mode was off . i tried to get a signal by switching on data raoming to no effect , is it the airplane mode that gets the signal when switched on and then the high bills come accordingly . ? i thought it was the data roaming.

When Airplane Mode is set on it will disable the phone in a way that you can still use the music,games etc but can't make calls,sms or internet. You proberly didn't get reception out at sea because you were out of the service area of the Telco you use.

Rodp · 31-01-2011, 12:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gtfpv

ok so when i was out at sea , and had no signal /service . it was because the airplane mode was off . i tried to get a signal by switching on data raoming to no effect , is it the airplane mode that gets the signal when switched on and then the high bills come accordingly . ? i thought it was the data roaming.

As stated, Airplane mode only toggles all network communications on or off. That's all it does.

Roaming is when you're outside the coverage area of your network provider. It'll connect to another provider to give you access. For instance, if you travel to the US and you have roaming enabled on your plan and on your phone, you'll be using carriers in the US and billed through your local provider at an extreme rate. You'll also be charged for calls made to you.

balthazarr · 31-01-2011, 12:24 PM

158MB in 5 mins is absolutely doable, even with Optus' (generally) slow speed... I find Optus really variable... at home, I get stellar wireless speeds, but at work, it's barely above dialup (and the latency is terrible).

One other thing to consider is background processes - it's possible that the process continued in the background, utilising the data connection without your knowledge.

You didn't mention what phone you're using, apparently there's a known issue with Windows Phone 7 data usage: http://arstechnica.com/microsoft/new...data-usage.ars (though that's probably not your issue)

Kieron · 01-02-2011, 11:44 PM

Got a nasty $750 bill a few months back. I have my iPhone checking email every 30 mins which is fine in Aus, but when I was in Malaysia, the thieves charge you $15 per MB on each connection.

Luckily for most of the time I was around my families home and hooked into the wifi. Now of course I turn email checking off when O/S.

Currently i'm in Mumbai and they apparently don't have 3G so I didn't bother turning it off. Was in a meeting and felt a vibration on my pocket - the damn thing pulled thru over 1,000 emails and not by wifi so I guess i'll face another unknown bill now!

Rodp · 02-02-2011, 08:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kieron

Currently i'm in Mumbai and they apparently don't have 3G so I didn't bother turning it off. Was in a meeting and felt a vibration on my pocket - the damn thing pulled thru over 1,000 emails and not by wifi so I guess i'll face another unknown bill now!

Airplane mode FTW!

balthazarr · 02-02-2011, 03:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kieron

Got a nasty $750 bill a few months back. I have my iPhone checking email every 30 mins which is fine in Aus, but when I was in Malaysia, the thieves charge you $15 per MB on each connection.

Luckily for most of the time I was around my families home and hooked into the wifi. Now of course I turn email checking off when O/S.

Currently i'm in Mumbai and they apparently don't have 3G so I didn't bother turning it off. Was in a meeting and felt a vibration on my pocket - the damn thing pulled thru over 1,000 emails and not by wifi so I guess i'll face another unknown bill now!

You can turn off Data Roaming on the iPhone, which will prevent any cellular data connection outside your home network.

cool65 · 02-02-2011, 07:45 PM

Went to gold coast for a week back in September and the kids tethered my phone for a couple of hours a night over 6 nights and we warned them to take it easy (facebook ok but no youtube or video type downloads) KACHING! Only 1.4 GIG and it came to a $1458 bill. The boss thought he had me by the left one and was about to squeeze.
I spoke with our Tel*** rep and they tried to blow smoke up my a***. So we took our $100,000+ account across to Optus, who paid ALL early contract dismissal fees. We then rang telecommunications ombudsman and got 100% credit back from Tel***. My left one is also happy with how it all went.

mwhit43 · 02-02-2011, 10:24 PM

we got a new iphone 4g and telstra called and said can you please go back to the store because they stuffed something up... a week later we got there and they said we need to put you on a new contract (we only had the phone for a week) we got the bill and it was $1400. we called them they fixed it, so where happy

Kieron · 03-02-2011, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodp

Airplane mode FTW!

Airplane mode stops it functioning as a phone so you can run apps in the plane without falling foul of the 'turn of all mobiles' rule

Thanks balthazarr, I do need to use data/email normally when O/S so I just set the phone to not auto check email, that way I can control use when O/S. Mumbai caught me out though as it's not supposed to have 3g, I suspect the area I was in (high tech) is being used for 3g testing.

Rodp · 03-02-2011, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kieron

Airplane mode stops it functioning as a phone so you can run apps in the plane without falling foul of the 'turn of all mobiles' rule

It also stops massive bills when you come back to Australia. While roaming, if someone calls or SMS's, you get charged too - at highly inflated rates, let alone the extreme data rates.

Rodp · 03-02-2011, 09:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cool65

Went to gold coast for a week back in September and the kids tethered my phone for a couple of hours a night over 6 nights and we warned them to take it easy (facebook ok but no youtube or video type downloads) KACHING! Only 1.4 GIG and it came to a $1458 bill. The boss thought he had me by the left one and was about to squeeze.
I spoke with our Tel*** rep and they tried to blow smoke up my a***. So we took our $100,000+ account across to Optus, who paid ALL early contract dismissal fees. We then rang telecommunications ombudsman and got 100% credit back from Tel***. My left one is also happy with how it all went.

I don't quite understand the angst. You used the service and were billed for the service...? Data rates are expensive if you either don't have a cap or go over your cap - and they're clearly written out in the contract. Sure, $1458 is expensive but clearly it was a concern enough to tell your kids to watch what they're doing on the net...?

XRtowcar · 03-02-2011, 01:20 PM

Slightly off topic question, but does GPS attract a usage charge?
Apparently i cab download maps into my phone at home on Wifi for free and when i'm away, find out where i am using GPS, but haven't figured whether i get charged for doing it.

Rodp · 03-02-2011, 04:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by XRtowcar

Slightly off topic question, but does GPS attract a usage charge?
Apparently i cab download maps into my phone at home on Wifi for free and when i'm away, find out where i am using GPS, but haven't figured whether i get charged for doing it.

No. GPS is free. If you roam into an area where you don't have maps downloaded, your phone may then attempt to retrieve the data from the net.

Kieron · 05-02-2011, 01:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rodp

It also stops massive bills when you come back to Australia. While roaming, if someone calls or SMS's, you get charged too - at highly inflated rates, let alone the extreme data rates.

True. But in my case, I need the phone operational. I also need to receive emails but when O/S I now have it on manual rather than auto email every 30 mins.