Ugh, cell phone companies

[altivo]

Gary got antsy and went and signed a contract with Verizon for 3G/EVDO service. His brother was here at New Year's with a laptop and a similar connection that apparently worked. That overrode all my cautious advice, I guess.

So they gave him a USB modem (USB760) and 5GB per month for $60 a month on a 24 month contract. I have no idea how fast he'll eat that up, but I suspect if he starts diddling with Google Earth and you-boob it won't take long. The instructions for installing the thing stink. The specs are nonexistent. Linux is not only unsupported, but not even mentioned. Likewise, connection sharing, unless possibly if you buy a wireless router (we do not use wi-fi in the house and I don't want to start.)

Worse, if he is connected via Verizon with this thing, any activity on the local ethernet LAN by my PC seems to cause it to disconnect from Verizon. I suspect this has to do with the way his Windows XP was configured for ICS using an ordinary dialup modem, but who knows. Microsoft is singularly obtuse about these things.

Since the USB760 is essentially a cell phone, and has provisions for sending and receiving text or connecting a voice handset of some sort. it seems at least possible that ICS could be activated for it by linking Windows' own dial up networking to the 3G modem in the device, and bypassing Verizon's VZAccess software (which is brain dead anyway) but I'm not sure how to begin. As for borrowing the device and connecting it to my Linux workstation, that's probably hopeless in the extreme.

He's got three days in which he can cancel and get a full refund, and 30 days in which he can cancel by paying $70. After that the impossible cell phone contract kicks in and we're stuck with the thing for two years.

I'm irritated because it only gets one bar out of four for signal strength. Even my cheap VM cell phone gets two here. I have no idea whether he could have done better with Sprint/Nextel or AT&T, and neither does he. Sigh.

Comments

[altivo.livejournal.com]

They call the fee an "activation fee" which is "non-refundable." I have firmly resisted all cell phone and wireless contracts because they are so complex and sneaky. Anything that can't be canceled without paying huge fees is crooked in my opinion. It's like saying you can't cancel your newspaper or magazine subscription unless you pay it up through the rest of two years anyway.

[marzolan.livejournal.com]

$70 activation fee? That's insane. I do not understand why people complain of AT&Ts pricing in that case, their associated fees and costs seem far more reasonable in that light.

[altivo.livejournal.com]

The activation fee is $35 and the other $35 is a "restocking fee" for the modem device. I agree, this is a ripoff, but in my research it also looks about typical for most cell phone operators. Some or all of the charge is waived if you keep the contract, but it becomes effective if you cancel during the first 30 days.

AT&T's contract looks no better to me. I haven't seen Sprint's.

Considering that a land line phone installation now runs as high as $250 (unrefundable) or more, this doesn't seem so surprising to me.