Audi Connect and AT&T 4G
10-03-2015, 05:14 PM
#151
This may be news to some AT&T customers, but AT&T sets up "foundation accounts" with many organizations. A foundation account gets a discount based on the volume it is linked to. An AARP member can now get 10% off their AT&T charges, AARP just joined. Many alumni groups, university students/staff, affinity groups, major corporations, also have a "Foundation Account" and last I heard, the postal workers union got a whopping 20% off for that.
If you're using AT&T, it can pay to try chasing one down.
If you're using AT&T, it can pay to try chasing one down.
10-07-2015, 11:56 AM
#153
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I saw in another thread in another subforum here that some people have had luck getting T-Mobile's lifetime 200MB free tablet plan in their Audi's. So I went ahead and ordered a $1 SIM from them to try to see if I could swing it on my A3. Haven't even gotten the SIM yet, but I ran my car's IMEI through an online database and sure enough it comes up as being in an Audi. So something tells me T-Mobile won't buy that my car is a tablet.
I don't suppose any one has tried?
I don't suppose any one has tried?
10-07-2015, 01:49 PM
#154
AudiWorld Super User
I saw in another thread in another subforum here that some people have had luck getting T-Mobile's lifetime 200MB free tablet plan in their Audi's. So I went ahead and ordered a $1 SIM from them to try to see if I could swing it on my A3. Haven't even gotten the SIM yet, but I ran my car's IMEI through an online database and sure enough it comes up as being in an Audi. So something tells me T-Mobile won't buy that my car is a tablet.
I don't suppose any one has tried?
I don't suppose any one has tried?
10-07-2015, 02:06 PM
#155
AudiWorld Super User
Postal workers know about that--or else they can punch out their shop steward for not mentioning their benefits. The USPS got a sweet deal way back when they contracted with AT&T for the bar code delivery scanners on trucks and an incredible amount of equipment. Probably an exclusive and long-term contract. Anyone else, is unlikely to get more than a 15% discount from any Foundation Account. That AARP could only squeeze 10% out of them should give you an idea how AT&T feels about the whole concept of Foundation Accounts, which date back to the "30 dollars for 30 minutes" plan days.
Also, when you use an NVMO (Network Virtual Operator) for your phone service, just because they buy service from one of the Big Four does NOT mean you will get the same service. Some NVMO's for AT&T will not provide you with three-way calling. Some are not contracted for LTE service. Some of Sprint-Nextel's NVMO's (Like Boost Mobile) were on the old slow Nextel service long after Sprint had stopped using it, with the result that on weekends you heard "all circuits are busy" if you tried to call into one.
These guys all operate under resell contracts that are totally negotiable, so roaming, speed, capacity, coverage, all may vary. For instance, if a cell tower can handle 100 calls and the actual operator has 100 of their customers on it? The NVMO's customers may not be able to get a call through at all.
If the cell phone industry ever disclosed ALL of the games they play, you'd take up pitchforks and torches. Among other things you never get a busy signal when you call a cell phone. Busy signals are not connected calls--so there's no money in them. Instead the cell carriers ALL send the call to voicemail (which used your minutes on every plan, originally, although some don't now) and then you have to retrieve the voicemail (using more of your minutes) and then you have to place a third call to get back to the party. So the carrier gets to charge for three calls, instead of making nothing by generating a busy signal. And if the network is busy? Right, it doesn't generate a busy signal either. You're sitting waiting for a call, and your phone never rings, because the network is busy. You don't get notified that you've missed a call, the voicemail indicator may not even come on until hours later, when the network isn't busy any more.
Every carrier sets their own policies--but they're all equally slimeballs. They actually make the traditional "used car salesman" look like Mother Teresa by comparison.
Also, when you use an NVMO (Network Virtual Operator) for your phone service, just because they buy service from one of the Big Four does NOT mean you will get the same service. Some NVMO's for AT&T will not provide you with three-way calling. Some are not contracted for LTE service. Some of Sprint-Nextel's NVMO's (Like Boost Mobile) were on the old slow Nextel service long after Sprint had stopped using it, with the result that on weekends you heard "all circuits are busy" if you tried to call into one.
These guys all operate under resell contracts that are totally negotiable, so roaming, speed, capacity, coverage, all may vary. For instance, if a cell tower can handle 100 calls and the actual operator has 100 of their customers on it? The NVMO's customers may not be able to get a call through at all.
If the cell phone industry ever disclosed ALL of the games they play, you'd take up pitchforks and torches. Among other things you never get a busy signal when you call a cell phone. Busy signals are not connected calls--so there's no money in them. Instead the cell carriers ALL send the call to voicemail (which used your minutes on every plan, originally, although some don't now) and then you have to retrieve the voicemail (using more of your minutes) and then you have to place a third call to get back to the party. So the carrier gets to charge for three calls, instead of making nothing by generating a busy signal. And if the network is busy? Right, it doesn't generate a busy signal either. You're sitting waiting for a call, and your phone never rings, because the network is busy. You don't get notified that you've missed a call, the voicemail indicator may not even come on until hours later, when the network isn't busy any more.
Every carrier sets their own policies--but they're all equally slimeballs. They actually make the traditional "used car salesman" look like Mother Teresa by comparison.
10-12-2015, 07:54 PM
#156
Postal workers know about that--or else they can punch out their shop steward for not mentioning their benefits. The USPS got a sweet deal way back when they contracted with AT&T for the bar code delivery scanners on trucks and an incredible amount of equipment. Probably an exclusive and long-term contract. Anyone else, is unlikely to get more than a 15% discount from any Foundation Account. That AARP could only squeeze 10% out of them should give you an idea how AT&T feels about the whole concept of Foundation Accounts, which date back to the "30 dollars for 30 minutes" plan days.
Also, when you use an NVMO (Network Virtual Operator) for your phone service, just because they buy service from one of the Big Four does NOT mean you will get the same service. Some NVMO's for AT&T will not provide you with three-way calling. Some are not contracted for LTE service. Some of Sprint-Nextel's NVMO's (Like Boost Mobile) were on the old slow Nextel service long after Sprint had stopped using it, with the result that on weekends you heard "all circuits are busy" if you tried to call into one.
These guys all operate under resell contracts that are totally negotiable, so roaming, speed, capacity, coverage, all may vary. For instance, if a cell tower can handle 100 calls and the actual operator has 100 of their customers on it? The NVMO's customers may not be able to get a call through at all.
If the cell phone industry ever disclosed ALL of the games they play, you'd take up pitchforks and torches. Among other things you never get a busy signal when you call a cell phone. Busy signals are not connected calls--so there's no money in them. Instead the cell carriers ALL send the call to voicemail (which used your minutes on every plan, originally, although some don't now) and then you have to retrieve the voicemail (using more of your minutes) and then you have to place a third call to get back to the party. So the carrier gets to charge for three calls, instead of making nothing by generating a busy signal. And if the network is busy? Right, it doesn't generate a busy signal either. You're sitting waiting for a call, and your phone never rings, because the network is busy. You don't get notified that you've missed a call, the voicemail indicator may not even come on until hours later, when the network isn't busy any more.
Every carrier sets their own policies--but they're all equally slimeballs. They actually make the traditional "used car salesman" look like Mother Teresa by comparison.
Also, when you use an NVMO (Network Virtual Operator) for your phone service, just because they buy service from one of the Big Four does NOT mean you will get the same service. Some NVMO's for AT&T will not provide you with three-way calling. Some are not contracted for LTE service. Some of Sprint-Nextel's NVMO's (Like Boost Mobile) were on the old slow Nextel service long after Sprint had stopped using it, with the result that on weekends you heard "all circuits are busy" if you tried to call into one.
These guys all operate under resell contracts that are totally negotiable, so roaming, speed, capacity, coverage, all may vary. For instance, if a cell tower can handle 100 calls and the actual operator has 100 of their customers on it? The NVMO's customers may not be able to get a call through at all.
If the cell phone industry ever disclosed ALL of the games they play, you'd take up pitchforks and torches. Among other things you never get a busy signal when you call a cell phone. Busy signals are not connected calls--so there's no money in them. Instead the cell carriers ALL send the call to voicemail (which used your minutes on every plan, originally, although some don't now) and then you have to retrieve the voicemail (using more of your minutes) and then you have to place a third call to get back to the party. So the carrier gets to charge for three calls, instead of making nothing by generating a busy signal. And if the network is busy? Right, it doesn't generate a busy signal either. You're sitting waiting for a call, and your phone never rings, because the network is busy. You don't get notified that you've missed a call, the voicemail indicator may not even come on until hours later, when the network isn't busy any more.
Every carrier sets their own policies--but they're all equally slimeballs. They actually make the traditional "used car salesman" look like Mother Teresa by comparison.
10-12-2015, 07:58 PM
#157
that looks like my former sprint speeds. att has been fantastic here and depending on the handset it ranges from 15-20mbs to my alltime record a couple of months ago with my new [yes its new even though its not the note 5 because I didnt want the limitations of the note 5 and we had a tax free weekend] note 4: 70mbs. never thought I would be a booster of att but their performance 99.9% of the time for me has been fantastic. better still with a nexus phone.
10-13-2015, 04:48 AM
#158
AudiWorld Super User
your information regarding postal workers and cell providers is so off as to be useless. postal workers and most large corporations have significant discounts. the lowest postal discount for cell phones is actually t-mobiles at 15-20% depending on their myriad plans. att is 25% sprint is 25% and I am pretty sure the despised verizon is 25%.
10-13-2015, 09:45 AM
#159
AudiWorld Super User
Considering that none of the carriers will publish this proprietary negotiated information, it is hard to say what they do. Especially hard because legacy deals, such as yours for IBM and the ones for the USPS, area llowed to continue when NEW DEALS, the ones at question here, ARE NOT AS LARGE.
If you take out a new policy and your employer or affinity group entitles you to the old rate, taht's all well and good. But as T-Mobile dropped their pants two year ago and changed the rate structure for everyone, many carriers dropped discount plans significantly. Bottom line, you can LOOK for higher discounts, but you can't always get them for new plans.
And yes, I've seen Verizon offer a 50% discount to an individual customer, after they had screwed up his rate changes and plans so many times that only their FCC response team (aka "Executive offices") was allowed to pick up the phone and talk to him. Every one of the carriers has a similar team, and they're the ones who truly have god-like powers to "just make it go away". Complaints to the FCC result in demerits being handed out (literally) to the carriers, and those demerits can haunt them when they ask for rate increases.
If you take out a new policy and your employer or affinity group entitles you to the old rate, taht's all well and good. But as T-Mobile dropped their pants two year ago and changed the rate structure for everyone, many carriers dropped discount plans significantly. Bottom line, you can LOOK for higher discounts, but you can't always get them for new plans.
And yes, I've seen Verizon offer a 50% discount to an individual customer, after they had screwed up his rate changes and plans so many times that only their FCC response team (aka "Executive offices") was allowed to pick up the phone and talk to him. Every one of the carriers has a similar team, and they're the ones who truly have god-like powers to "just make it go away". Complaints to the FCC result in demerits being handed out (literally) to the carriers, and those demerits can haunt them when they ask for rate increases.