3rd party U.K. T-Mobile data contracts crippled.

[Goots]

TehPriest you could well be the person that spearheads a revolt against Tmob.

At the very least they should make it clearer/force the 3rd party resellers to make it clear about the restriction.

In a way I'm glad I get a poor signal around here from Tmob. I would have definitely gone through a 3rd party reseller if I had chosen to go with them.

On a side note, a work colleague of mine is in dispute with them regarding the whole Tmob/Orange debacle, but that's off topic.

[hasankamal]

I haven't noticed any difference on mine compared to the one from t-mobile

[Matt Muir]

Hi, Just thought I'd add to this thread as I seem to be having the same issues. I got my phone (motorola defy) on a t-mobile contract from http://www.buymobilephones.net/ in january and have never experienced download speeds of over 350kbps. The fact that I ever get lower than this when (supposedly) running hsdpa. As with everyone else, I've been passed from pillar to post and advisers on the support lines have done umpteen different tests and reset things etc. As everyone else seems to be finding, operators deny all knowledge of any speed throttling.

I've now been escalated to the tech support team who are monitoring by download speeds over a 24 hour period.

It's ridiculous that this should be happening in secret, having spoken to a really helpful lady in carphone warehouse it would seem that even some of the 3rd party sellers are often unaware of this happening!

[gooner_SGS]

Hi,

I ordered an SGS with T Mobile from buymobilephones.net - the next day I stumble across this forum and was horrified by reading this thread. I have cancelled the order...phew! I am an existing T Mobile customer and have indeed noticed my 3G speeds not going above 350 kbs so decided to cancel this new contrat. Which carrier would you recommend for 3G speeds? If I go with Orange (via phones4u) will I get the same problem as they are the same as company as T Mobile now? Thanks for your help guys.

Btw I cant wait to get my SGS....a big jump from the HTC legend don't you think?

[jonny blond]

I upgraded directly with t-mobile to the SGS and experienced speeds of 355ish every test. i called up and on the seconed call got put throught to tear 2. the guy knew exacly what the isue was. uprgaded my contract to web & walk PLUS. and imediatly the speeds went up to 1.8mb ( best test ).

My advice do a few speed tests record results call up help. explain the problem & Soulution that you need to be on W&W+. and ask for tear 2 help. they will sort it.

[TehPriest]

Again please read.

Hi Roger,

I have investigated this further and it appears that the information T-Mobile have given you below is correct, although contrary to the information I have been given previously by T-Mobile.

At the time of ordering, the T-Mobile 'Web and Walk Plus' booster was only available to customers not purchasing directly from T-Mobile at an extra cost. This addition not only has a higher data allowance under their fair use policy but also gives increased data speeds above those of 3G where coverage allows. Customers purchasing Android handsets directly from T-Mobile received this at no extra cost. This has now changed and T-Mobile have brought their offerings regarding data inline with what is available through independent retailers.

I have discussed this with senior management here and we have only ever specified the quantity of data considered as fair use in our advertising and not the data rate so there is nothing we can do. If you feel that T-Mobile have misled you through their publicly accessible information/advertising then I would suggest submitting a complaint to the relevant ombudsman as it appears further dialogue with them directly may be pointless.

I'm sorry there is nothing more I can do to help but I do hope now the confusion surrounding this issue has been removed.

Kind regards,

Dave
Customer Technical Support Manager

Good morning Roger

We do understand your position, we have had other buymobilephones.co.uk as well as customer from other online resellers approach us in the same manor as they we’re not provisioned with the same data package that a customer purchasing direct from T-Mobile would be.

It appears you have uncapped 3G speeds, which is standard across the internet on your phone’ booster, the provision of HSDPA included with ‘internet on your phone plus’ booster however, will only come as standard on Android devices purchased directly from T-Mobile or at an additional monthly cost.

We are truly sorry buymobilephones.co.uk didn’t make clear what they were providing you with when you accepted their contract and based on previous 3rd party reseller customers who have contacted us, the best advice I can offer is to go back to buymobilephones.co.uk and explain you didn’t get what you feel you are entitled to. Unfortunately there’s nothing more we can do to help you resolve this.

Best regards

Barry
T-Mobile twitter team

[Fennie]

Again please read.

Hi there,

I read the rather interesting thread about your experiences with T-mobile and their data capping. Unfortunately the reason for me taking a active interest, is that I'm also involved in a running debate with Phones4u and T-mobile over my Galaxy S2 contract that I took out with its "500meg data".

After initially ringing them, it looked like they had no problem about removing the cap but it appears all they did was remove my data cap, which was to prevent me from being charged up to £1 for going over my allowance.Was talking to a phones4u customer service rep via livechat at work yesterday and she said she had never heard of any cap. She than rang me to discuss it over the phone and said that even asking all her colleagues none of them have ever heard of it or had any complaints about it.

She then phoned tmobile and spoke to their rep there and their technical department, who both denied of any cap and the last resort was that she got a one of their reps on a conference call with me to explain that basically they split their internet packages into 2 tiers. With 1 for 3G speeds (free internet booster or web and walk standard) and 1 for 3G+HSDPA (internet booster + or web and walk +). They said though buying a android phone direct through them, they currently offer by promotion free web and walk + as standard but this is only a promotion. The phones4u rep then stated that their responsibility is just to sell the contract and it's not up to them to make us (the consumer) aware of any caveats to a networks policy.

The even more annoying thing is that for the life of me I can't see any reference to this web and walk + / internet booster + nor where you can purchase it online.

The only alternative they left me was to pay the £5 for the upgrade or leave, I stated that I'm still within my 7 day grace period and that I would be looking around and considering my options. The annoying thing is that even if I had to pay the £5 a month more, than factoring in the 2 lots of cashback their deal is still competitive.

Out of principle I really should tell them where to go but money talks these days... plus the alternatives of Vodaphone don't seem too appealing in my area, as a test of my partners original S1 shows that vodaphone is even worst for my area and this is despite both coverage maps for both networks showing that I have more than enough signal for HSDPA.

Did you ever get anywhere with either party in the end?

[hazi1964]

I don't think the web'n'walk tarrifs are available any more. I have been with t-mobile for several years and used to be on the web'n'walk. I am now on the internet booster which gives me 1gb of data usage which is usually more than enough each month.

When I took my contract out, I had a couple of booster options, one of the boosters is free (which I chose to be my internet) the other one I paid £5 for (unlimited text). My monthly line rental totalled £25 per month plus vat and for that I get 600 mins anytime any network, unlimited text and 1gb of data. It is capped, it states in my paperwork. I bought from a t-mobile shop in town.

I have never gone over my gigabyte of data and am constantly using my phone for various things.

I hope this clarifies some things for people.
Alison

[Fennie]

I don't think the web'n'walk tarrifs are available any more. I have been with t-mobile for several years and used to be on the web'n'walk. I am now on the internet booster which gives me 1gb of data usage which is usually more than enough each month.

When I took my contract out, I had a couple of booster options, one of the boosters is free (which I chose to be my internet) the other one I paid £5 for (unlimited text). My monthly line rental totalled £25 per month plus vat and for that I get 600 mins anytime any network, unlimited text and 1gb of data. It is capped, it states in my paperwork. I bought from a t-mobile shop in town.

I have never gone over my gigabyte of data and am constantly using my phone for various things.

I hope this clarifies some things for people.
Alison

Hi Alison,

From what I gather from your post is that you joined T-mobile directly via one of their retail outlets, phone lines or website(s)?

T-mobile widely advertise now that they have unlimited browsing but this is exactly what it is, unlimited browsing of webpages but downloads (once limit is reached) will be prevented i.e. no downloading of apps, streaming of videos until your next months allowance.

The cap or throttling that is discussed in this thread concerns not the amount of data that is transferred but the speed at which the data is transferred. It would appear that T-mobile bundles the standard internet booster (or what they call web and walk internally) to those that are buying via a 3rd party rep acting on behalf on T-mobile e.g. Carphonewarehouse and Phones4u etc, which has a speed limit to 384kbps, which is just at the legal limit to call it a 3G data service.

Whilst going direct, android handsets like the Galaxy S1 and S2 are bundled with a uncapped/non-throttled service that takes advantage of the HSDPA network which allows speeds of up to 2000kbps.

Most people (including myself until recently) would not and do not know the difference until it is examined closely but to the casual end user you will see that your browsing speeds will be slower, your downloads will be slower but most will put this down to it being to the network being poor rather than the actual speed being capped/throttled.

The only alternative for people that brought 3rd party is to pay the exta for a booster that they only seem to advertise when you complain.... (web and walk +).

I can see why T-mobile went for this approach (encourages direct sales, less commission paid out to 3rdparties, less chance of network spikes) but to the casual user, their user experience of T-mobile and their data/browsing speeds is unrepresentative of how good can be, as it is uncomparable to other networks where others benefit from the use of 3G and HSDPA speeds as standard and not as a hidden extra.

Many thanks

Fen

[postmanfw]

Thought i would post my victory in case it helps anyone else out.

Basicaly i was gettimng capped at 350/70 down/up speeds even though i am on a hsdpa network and the fone indicates that what it using.

Short version is i moaned to tmobile thru various emails then got phone calls and ran speed tests. Finally they put me thru to a uk tech guy who told me that he would update my account details as i had a new android fone that was capable of faster speeds.

3 mins later and i am getting around 1000/450 speeds so thats triple the download and 6 times the upload.

Even saw it hit 1250kbps down in one test!!

Moral of the story....it pays to moan!! They even gave me unlimited free test for rest of 2 year contract!!!

Price plan is the 900mins 500 texts and unlimited no fup internet which is now also uncapped and running at proper hsdpa speeds.

Happy customer