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Review by jmikey 
UPDATED: 12 days ago
member for 2.9 years, 661 visits, last login: a few hours ago
 Springfield,Greene,MO
 $72 per month (24 month contract)
 about 3 days
 "I like the mobility"
 "Over congestion can cause bad speed drops and data loss"
 "They need to update to higher speeds and new tower nodes"
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I couldn't get DSL out here because I am in a rural area and cable is only good if you bundle. I took the 881USB Air card because it is all I can get here. Speeds are usually good except when the nodes are congested. The mobility is fantastic, but the sales rep lied to me about the rebate on the card, she said I would get a Visa worth for $100.00 when the card arrived, well that didn't happen. After over a month and several calls I finally got them to send me the form to fill out, now they are saying it will take up to 12 weeks to get it back, that wasn't the deal because I told the rep I couldn't afford the 99 dollar charge for the card on my bill. I told her right off that I needed something that I could use full time for broadband since I am home bound so she told me that with the Unlimited MB package I could stay on 24/7 with no extra charges. Well, so far no overage charges with the 5 GB soft cap she failed to mention to me.She also said they would drop the 35 dollar activation fee, well that was a lie too.
Over all the card itself is great, but AT&T will lie through their teeth just to get you to take it. There should be a law somewhere against that.
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Review by Landin_CH
UPDATED: 37 days ago
member for 5.6 years, 510 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Fredericksburg,Spotsylvania,VA
$70 per month (24 month contract)
about 1 days
"available almost everywhere"
"sometimes connects as G3 but then drops to EDGE"
"Seems like a good alternative to fixed internet access."
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04SEP2008 ... writing from Baton Rouge LA, where I have been for a few days with the Hurricane Gustav Bus Evacuation operations ... 3G has been working all along whereas my Nextel has not really been stable anywhere. No issues going online almost anywhere I went or needed to. Can't say the same for my issued Nextel! Lost of No Service or just can't connect. Same after Katrina, handed my Cingular phone around for Red Cross and Urban Search and Rescue so they can call out. Great Job, BTW.
= [ Original Review ] =
AT&T 3G GSM/AT&T Mobility/Cingular Wireless/AT&T Wireless = HSI on the go
Visited several provider stores, talked to users I know, read online reviews, etc. prior to actually ordering service (3-day full-refund cancellations). Tried several mobile broadband cards and providers and settled on AT&T (Cingular) 3G MobileHSI and SierraWireless USBConnect 881 broadband card. 3G with one or two bars faster than EDGE with four bars ... but wanted to check mail (often), surf internet when needed, download construction and/or traffic updates to my hpTX2110 when travelling througout the Lower-48 and Canada. Although I have signed up for unlimited internet, understand (artificial/in-house/realistic) limit may be 5Gigs/month.
Have CavTel.Net DSL in Fredericksburg, VA and Wi-Fi capabilities, too, but really like the independence of mobile broadband.
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 Review by SSidlov
UPDATED: 46 days ago
member for 8.6 years, 1308 visits, last login: 2 days ago
Pompton Lakes,Passaic,NJ
$125 per month (24 month contract)
about 1 days
"3G is interesting if you can get it, moderate to pricy plans"
"Crippleware phones with logo,"
"good coverage in metro corridors, weak in very rural/mountainous areas"
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With the repurchase of Cingular by ATT, I have returned again to ATT which was my first wireless cellular carrier. The pricing above is for 3 phones in a $59 550/mo minute plan with rollover, I have 3800 minutes rolling over. The $39 350min/mo plan is not available to me for some reason.
I have had the same service since the late 90's. The same phone numbers, etc. I still have my first cell phone a GE Pocketfone which is walkie talkie sized and weights in at 12.5oz. My first Internet capable phone was a Mitsubishi T series whose screen could be used as flashlight (really) and then several Siemens S series phones. Since the Mitsubishi all have been modem/tether capable. Once I got burned with a $100 extra charge (back when $100 was worth several tanks of gas) for downloading too much when tethered. (I needed a file for work, and went directly to it, without browsing, free wifi and dialup were not available to me at the time.)
I have a new Sony Ericsson Z750a which has HSDPA support (aka 3G for ATT) and I actually live near a 3G enabled tower in the suburbs of NYC. The phone has both HSDPA 850/1900/2100 and UMTS 850/1900/2100 MHz. 3G is a battery life drainer, but ATT blocked the Z750a's ability to be 2G. Unbranding the this particular phone may be a plus. (Unbranding did unlock the type of network connection settings.)
After installing Opera Mini 4.5, I went to our mobile speed test here, and tried to use it up to 1mb downloads. The first time I did this I got failure messages. A couple days later, I got results typical of 1.3mbps (970kB) and a Opera AJAX test got over 5000 kB which is also ''too fast' as the network is supposed to be only capable of up to 5mb, and it's questionable if the phone itself has more than 1.3mbps capability but elsehwere people have reported speeds up to 5.6 mbps. The increased speed I found out is due to caching by Opera's servers.
After unbranding the phone, and some updates to the mobile speed test here, I can run the iPhone test. Here's what I got at 10am on a Tuesday:
Latency: 3012, 884, 888, 844, 840, 828, 876, 836, 840 and a speed of 2618kbps
When I downloaded themes from SE's web site, they ranged from 110k to 250k and took only a 'second' or so when they actually started. SE's website is flaky and slow to respond even on a 'real computer" IME. Opera's download took two seconds. Google Maps is a PITA to run on this phone, for some reason, there is no 'allow for session' Internet access connection, and you get constantly interrupted with the 'do you want to allow this application to connect to the Internet' question.
The phone could be tethered to my laptop via bluetooth, but I have not tried to use it this way at this time as it would be limited to the speed of bluetooth. A USB cable is on its way, and I will test tethering with that when it comes.
Current Personal Data Plans from ATT are $15/mo for unlimited data/media net/TV. Enterprise Unlimited Data Plan is $45. Tethering is allowed with the Enterprise version according to reports. I suppose that you could occasionally tether with the personal plan but it's not available with some phone models particularly the so-called 'smartphones.' ATT lists this phone as being tetherable and has instructions on how to do it. Using the HSPDA function while tethered may not be allowed, but the phone created something called "Wireless UMTS and Wireless High Speed" modem profiles.
The z750a also does ATT's new video services. You can have HBO for an additional $6/mo. They offer FOX, CNN, NBC, CBS and NBC/MSNBC offerings along with Disney, CN, and others.
I just watched a Today Show segment, and there was no stuttering and the sound/picture were fairly good. Landscape mode showed some artifacts in the lowest 1/8th of the screen, but it filled the screen vs portrait mode viewing. My phone says it downloaded 1444977 B for the session in which I watched the 2min video. That should be Bytes (since the phone shows a capital b), and I calc that at 11mb or 1.3mB. After the iPhone was released, the service was shot to hell as there were many more phones on 3G than before, TV service was not the same as the streaming broke up. Now that the iPhone people have stopped playing with the service, the TV is again stable.
I downloaded 53mb on the phone during my first few weeks. I have the $15/mo unlimited data plan, thats 10x what I normally used. Also, with the unbranded version I have a RSS powered desktop, when the I open the phone, the RSS feeds (NYT, Google, BBC etc) come up on a Ticker that I can read and select articles from. It updates hourly on it's own.
ATT is offering a personal Mega MediaNet service plan for $30/mo. Unlimited SMS, MMS, IM, DATA/TV etc. It's the price of unlimited MediaNet ($15) and Unlimited Messaging ($15) for a single phone, Unlimited Family plan messaging is $30/mo -thats one price for all phones in family plan which is good if you have two or more phone users with heavy messaging which can cost $10-15 for 1500 messages to Unlimited. 200 SMS are $5/mo. After much debate, I left my 16yr old's phone with her old MediaNet bundle of 500 sms and 50 MMS with 5MB of data for $10.
The Z750a is a interesting phone. A clamshell, it has the full 3G capability, TV streaming, XM Radio (additional subscription), FM- RDS enabled radio, plays MP3 and AFC music, and has a 2megapixel camera (no flash, no self portrait mirror). Using the SE's software, rather than Windows Mobile, can be a bit a a challenge since it always seems that the option you want is hidden, but you will get used to it quickly. SE supplies on their website, software to sync to Outlook (or Notes). The phone supports 1,000 contacts, with both business/home addresses, and multiple phone numbers for each. (Using Bluetooth, you can voice command enable each different phone number stored, so Jim at the office, Jim at home, Jim's Mobile, Jim's wife's mobile, etc. )
An organizer, task manager, notes, and your bookmarks can be sync'd back to Outlook and IE. They also supply ripping software for the music, installing podcasts (audio and video) and I read audio-books too. The phone doesn't come with a USB cable though it will show as a USB storage device. The cable can be purchased online for as little as $3 before shipping. The USB cable is the only way to get updated firmware/os as ATT disabled the 'no cable' wireless function to do this which is in SE's manual and website. Even after debranding, SE updated my firmware with some fixes that make the phone a bit easier to use.
GPS is a hot topic in the phone. ATT says no, but SE says that using Google Maps Location function should tell you were you are, I'm right next to a tower, but the function doesn't work. Unbranded versions of the phone allow GPS location by using A-GPS. Iit's just not enabled with the standard ATT version software. SE's manual says that there is a "Locations/Enable GPS" option in the General settings tab - it doesn't show in ATT's version. The phone is listed as NOT COMPATIBLE with SE's GPS external add-on.
A 2G M2 Micro card can be installed. Some websites suggest that it will take up to 8G card, YMMV, it's not listed as capable of more than 2G on SE's charts but many phones listed as 2G (w580i as an example) will take 4G. Additionally, the phone's manual lists Podcasts as viewable, and RSS feeds as standard, though these seem either hidden or disabled to me at this time due to branding from ATT. The phone also has settings for sharing on networks (not WiFI, but via Bluetooth). There is a place to signon with a Userid/Password/Domain name as well.
ATT has fairly good coverage, I've driven from NY/NJ to Nashville TN and always had service along the highways and elsewhere. Even where my in-laws live in NW Md./SE Pa. and they are big Verizon customers, I have service and they don't for the most part. Though I can go a bit 10miles northwest of where I live and lose signals in NJ due to limitations on cell towers in various towns and leasing by wireless competitors.
Unbranding: This is NOT unlocking, it is removing the ATT custom firmware and applications for the mfgr's firmware and application set. I debranded the phone, and the GPS is fully enabled, but I can't use TV apps or other ATT media store apps or purchases. Please see »[AT&T] de-Branded SE z750a - with photos for more information on what changed. I do get the full GPS service (though the phone can be slow to find the sats) and I have installed AmAze GPS software so I can actually get turn by turn directions on the phone. Just like other portable GPS hardware/software it's not meant to be used by the driver. GPS can be accurate to 10m but often it's about 50-100m depending on the number of satellites used.
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Review by roughstuff99
UPDATED: 62 days ago
member for 72 days, 41 visits, last login: 42 days ago
Springfield,Greene,MO
$60 per month (24 month contract)
about 3 days
"Good speeds for service, more upgrades coming"
"Pricey"
"All I can get here in a rural area for the cost"
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I live on the Northern outskirts of Springfield MO, so DSL is not available. I took ATT wireless broadband which uses the USBConnect 881U because it is all I could get for the price. I like it and I understand there are more speed upgrades coming. I usually hit around 2 Mbps down and close to 1Mbps up. I did have to download a firmware upgrade because the speeds were reversed. I get a great signal on my home PC so that makes a big difference too. Over all I enjoy it, and anything is better than dial up.
A few things I forgot to mention were that what I have is an Air Card, it hooks directly into my USB port and it runs off of the 3G network. It is now free after rebate, so you really can't beat the price. I use it on my home pc but it is also mobile, which means I can use it anywhere. I am on the unlimited plan which also means no limit on usage. Also of note is that my throughput is considered exceptional for the area.
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Review by freak200169
Posted: 108 days ago
member for 1.1 years, 4 visits, last login: 106 days ago
Kansas City,Clay,MO
Contract price not specified. (24 month contract)
"Phone I got was not extra."
"Though they say they have the fewest dropped calls, I guess that doesn't include Kansas City, MO"
"Can't use phone without dropping or static"
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Have had this service for 2 years. Had t-mobile before and I must say, it was much more reliable. I am a pc consultant, so I drive most of the day. Using this service, I never knew when or where I would be disconnected, I just knew it was going to happen. Pretty much anywhere in the KC metro area is the same.
Their catch phrase of having the 'fewest dropped calls', doesn't apply here.
Am currently switching to Verizon, will review down the road.
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Review by dierksjr
UPDATED: 117 days ago
member for 278 days, 28 visits, last login: 16 days ago
Sardinia,Brown,OH
$59 per month (24 month contract)
about 2 days
"Better than Dialup, Better coverage than expected"
"Only EDGE network in my immediate area, slow upload."
"Great value for travelers or rural folk (who can get a signal)"
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I recently moved on from satellite going directly back to dialup after having been burnt by Wildblue a year ago. I have been checking into getting wireless from a local company, however, they have yet to come to the area. I heard about AT&T/Cingular from a friend who lives in an area that has 3G and gets a fairly good download/upload rate so I decided to order. I knew that I would not be able to get 3G, but I figured the other network would be good enough, and it is thus far; the EDGE network is still much faster than my dialup is/was, and pings are lower than on dialup and much lower than Wildblue.
Pinging www.l.google.com [74.125.19.147] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 74.125.19.147: bytes=32 time=283ms TTL=241
Reply from 74.125.19.147: bytes=32 time=282ms TTL=241
Reply from 74.125.19.147: bytes=32 time=281ms TTL=241
Reply from 74.125.19.147: bytes=32 time=278ms TTL=241
Ping statistics for 74.125.19.147:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 278ms, Maximum = 283ms, Average = 281ms
Downloads are running anywhere from 130 - 150 kb/s
Uploads are running anywhere from the teens on up--I dont upload much so it is okay.
I purchased the GT MAX 3.6 Express and unlimited data plan and pulling two to three bars.
UPDATE: I will be canceling ATT/Cingular plan this month as Verizon DSL is available. Will be paying the $175 termination fee. New review coming for the DSL service...exciting!
Followup comments:  iansltx
join:2007-02-19
Fredericksburg, TX | CellTradeUSA? Why not give your data plan to someone else, via celltradeusa.com? That way you could save yourself the ETF and give someone the service with less of a contract than usual. | |
| | roughstuff99
join:2008-07-31
Springfield, MO
 ·Cingular Wireless
| Re: CellTradeUSA? That is a shame about your speeds. I live on the outskirts of Springfield MO in a rural area. I am on the 3G network and get 1.7 to 1.8Mbps down with an average of 1.4Mbps up. I also read they are getting ready to unleash higher speeds here, I am on the unlimited package also because I am on most of the time. | |
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Review by ravensfan55
Posted: 117 days ago
member for 117 days, 3 visits, last login: 48 days ago
undisclosed location
$100 per month
"Clear calling, fast broadband"
"None I can think of"
"Great wireless service."
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After previous stints with Verizon and Sprint, I have to say that AT&T/Cingular has been the best wireless service I have had. Verizon was reliable, but the horrid software and locking of features drove me crazy. Sprint on the other hand was full of problems and have the most incompetent customer service of any company in any sector. I canceled in 15 days. Cingular has great phones, and great plans. Calls are crystal clear and they have great coverage, it's always 4 or 5 bars for me. 3G speeds are very fast. Our business uses them for mobile broadband and we have no compaints. All the phones I have had with them have been great. I give an A+ for Cingular/AT&T.
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 Review by armyvet
UPDATED: 137 days ago
member for 1.9 years, 393 visits, last login: 1 days ago
Owensboro,Daviess,KY
$39 per month
about 1 days
"non since att take over"
"att take over"
"after 16 yrs i am about ready to leave"
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if you are thinking of
switching to att wait untill the bugs have been worked out,
i have had to call tech support more in the 10 days then i ever
called cingular in 16 yrs. stay away for now.
since my last review this service just keep getting worse
as off 4/28/08 i'm gone, ported to alltel, should have done this
a long time ago. BUYER BEWARE OF ATT
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Review by obricko
Posted: 218 days ago
member for 1.5 years, 6 visits, last login: 214 days ago
Westland,Wayne,MI
$79 per month (24 month contract)
about 1 days
"Cost of Express card (USB)"
"Speed, monthly fees"
"slow speeds for 3G"
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I used this broadband card for about a month and was never pleased with the speeds I received. Seemed to equal dial-up speeds. USB modem would take about 3-5 time of inserting and removing before the connection manager would recognize it and connect. I have recently switched to sprint wireless broadband and have been very satisfied with the speeds which seem to be at least 3 times faster than that of AT&T.
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 Review by Jeepster93
UPDATED: 256 days ago
member for 7.9 years, 1408 visits, last login: a few hours ago
Springfield,Greene,MO
$59 per month (24 month contract)
about 2 days
"Highly Portable"
"Pricey"
"Beats Dial-up"
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Checked in to Hughes-Net way over priced, Wild Blue was oversold at the time and We have too many tall trees between our Location and the closest WISP tower, which would have mandated a some sort of a tower and more added expenses.
So checked into Cingular as we have their Cell service already. So far very happy with the service only getting EDGE speeds at this time but when compared to ATT-Yahoo Dial-up which on a sunny day with the wind from the south we might get a 26.4 kbps connection.
As this this was the cheapest less hassle option for us to connect with semi Broadband speeds it is worth the money.
Sold the Cards on Ebay and Went with AllTel
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