$20 Unlimited Data with ZTE Mobley Device

[Bob_C]

Let us know both ways! lol

[Gadget Man]

I just received my first AT&T bill since purchasing my Mobley several weeks ago. I had some issues with it, as they were charging me a $10 monthly access fee, as well as over-charging me for my monthly data plan. In addition, they charged me a $45 activation fee, when I haven’t even activated it yet.

I called the AT&T customer service number on my bill and spoke to someone in the Philippines. The customer service rep had no idea what a Mobley was, and claimed that my device was an iPhone 8. I insisted that she remove the activation fee. I told her I would not be activating it unless they changed their data plans. After going back-and-forth for several minutes she finally credited back the activation fee. When I began discussing the data plan with her, she said I was being charged for the data plan I chose when I bought my “iPhone 8.” Kind of funny now, but it was pure frustration at the moment.

I hung up and called the Connected Car number, I should have called them in the first place. The rep I got spoke perfect English and said that for some reason, a great deal of Mobley devices are being registered as iPhone 8’s. She eliminated the $10 monthly access fee, and corrected my data plan fee. I could have sworn that when I purchased the Mobley on the AT&T website, the 1 GB data plan was $10 a month. The rep however said that plan hasn’t been available for months and that the 1 GB data plan is now $20 per month. Tired of arguing, I just accepted her word for it and moved on. I then asked her if AT&T in fact plans on bringing back the $20 monthly unlimited data plan. She said that she didn’t think it was going to happen. I guess it all depends on who you speak to.

All in all, I wish I had never heard of the Mobley. AT&T’s customer service is horrible. I should’ve just stuck with my Verizon Jet Pack.

[L0veless]

Just hung up from ATT, they called me back and just reinstated 20 month unlimited
Life is good

[okmunky]

Originally Posted by Gadget Man

All in all, I wish I had never heard of the Mobley. AT&T’s customer service is horrible. I should’ve just stuck with my Verizon Jet Pack.

I wish I had heard of Mobley several months earlier, coming late to the game is totally impossible.

I agree about the customer service. Their CS people are either very poorly trained or purposely given false information. They have destroyed any trust I ever had, or will ever have for doing business with them.

But ... is there anything better?

[smiller]

Originally Posted by powercat_ras

We have to face it, someone at ATT made a huge mistake including the ZTE Mobley Hotspot in the ATT Connected Car $ 20 per month for unlimited program, if that person had realized that it could become a general purpose mobile hotspot with a $ 20 cable, it never would have seen the light of day in the first place. As a retired Sprint principal network engineer, I'm still surprised it took ATT so long to admit their error and mark the price plan unavailable for new device activations.

From the research I have done in the past few days for a friend who is transitioning to full time RVing, even now priced at $ 90 per month it is still the best unlimited data plan with unlimited WiFi data that has nationwide including rural United States coverage. I believe it is the ONLY unlimited hotspot data plan available for new device activations that has nationwide coverage including rural.

It is still the way to go if you need more than 5 Gigabytes of data per month. If you need unlimited hotspot data but don't need rural coverage then there are some cheaper choices in the $ 50 to $ 60 range from resellers that use Tmobile or Sprint networks. Be sure to check their coverage where you need it to work with the device you bought, BEFORE your X days you are allowed to cancel the contract and not pay termination fees kick in. DON'T BELIEVE THEIR COVERAGE MAP, CHECK WITH YOUR DEVICE.

+1 on the first paragraph, one has to wonder whose brainchild the $20 unlimited plan was and why in the world the obvious potential for abuse wasn't considered.

Anyway, unfortunately the pendulum is swinging back hard and the 'old' AT&T is resurfacing as new hotspot devices will no longer be allowed on any unlimited plans as of Dec. 5, turning one of the better unlimited deals into a non-starter for RVers.

NOTICE OF DEVICE ELIGIBILITY

Please note that as of 12/05/2017, AT&T Wireless Home Phone & Internet and dedicated mobile hotspot devices will no longer be eligible devices for the AT&T Unlimited Plus or AT&T Unlimited Choice plan.

The notice does not include the $20 Mobley standalone data plan that is the subject of this thread and it appears that plan will be grandfathered, as will anyone with a hotspot device on their Unlimited Plus plan prior to Dec. 5. So... if you currently are on the Unlimited Plus plan and want a hotspot, add it now. As has been discussed earlier the $20 standalone plan is already gone for good for new customers.

[aether_one]

OnStar used to use Verizon as their cell service provider. When they were looking at adding data to the cars, AT&T got the contract. I can't tell you how much, but AT&T subsidized the hardware figuring they'd recoup it on the subscriptions.

So OnStar had "rolling WIFI" but the data plans were so expensive almost nobody subscribed after the free 30 day trial period. With most people already having hotspot capable 4G phones with data it just didn't make sense to add another subscription for data at those prices.

So after some research and focus groups they decided that to get the subscription numbers they wanted, they had to have a $20 price point. And to compete with Verizon's OBD device they decided to add the Mobley to the mix to bump their subscriptions even more for those that didn't have a modern GM OnStar vehicle.

It was pretty short-sighted to not see the potential for "hacking" the Mobley to be used as an anywhere hotspot, not to mention the "unlimited" abuse, and I suspect that is where a majority of the $20 plan subscriptions came from. That's the reason I got a Mobley instead on activating the $20 plan on my OnStar vehicle.

So when AT&T finally saw their problem they had to kill the $20 plan for new devices.

[Bill Scott]

Originally Posted by bob caldwell

Wait'n to see how mine works this winter in the desert.....have tried and true Verison as a back up......will know by next Sunday...

I live in a rural area with really poor cell phone reception. I purchased a cell phone amplifier system for $1,300 that included putting an antenna on the roof and it gave me a couple of bars in the house with 20MB download and about 1MB upload with no latency errors. I know this to be true, because I work on a host computer that requires a constant connection or I get booted. I think if I tweak the external antenna a little bit, I will get even better reception. When the leaves stop dropping from the trees this fall I am expecting it to get better.

The only problem I have with the amplifier is the repeater antennas do not work around corners, so you pretty much have to see the repeater antennas to get a signal. In my vehicles I have yet to find a place I couldn't get on the net.

I received an offer in the mail last week from ATT that would give me cell service in my house for $50, but I purchased 2-Mobleys before the $20 Unlimited plan was discontinued. So, if they raise the cost on the Mobleys, I'll just move to that plan. Going totally wireless has saved me about $600/month. It appears the Mobley works even when voice calls will not. If I can get 1 bar on my cell phone consistently, the Mobley will keep working.

ATT may raise their price, but the competition is so fierce, I am expecting it to get cheaper over the long term.

[LarryJB]

Looks like our $20 4G unlimited plan may be obsolete by the time AT&T decides to drop it for us who already have it.

https://www.pcmag.com/article/345387/what-is-5g

I wonder what an unlimited 5G plan will cost?

[cwk]

Originally Posted by LarryJB

Looks like our $20 4G unlimited plan may be obsolete by the time AT&T decides to drop it for us who already have it.

https://www.pcmag.com/article/345387/what-is-5g

I wonder what an unlimited 5G plan will cost?

Years ago, (1965 to be exact), Intel co-founder Gordon Moore made an observation about the trend of computer technology. He noticed that the number of transistors per square inch on integrated circuits had doubled every year since their invention. Moore's Law predicts that this trend will continue into the foreseeable future. (Taken in part from Wikipedia.)

This trend has continued for 50+ years. Along with it computer processing speeds, communications speeds (e.g., modems), etc. have continually progressed exponentially as well. What this means is that computers are being made faster (the electrical paths that signals need to travel on a computer chip are shorter, so overall speed is faster), less expensive (more computing power fits on the same size piece of silicon, or, more chips can be manufactured on the same size "wafer" so the cost per chip is lower), and computers can be used for applications we only dreamt about not that long ago.


For example, how many folks, when cell phones first were introduced, could imagine that we would be able to watch movies on a hand-held device called a "smartphone" (smaller than a paper-back novel) while riding a bus, waiting at the airport, or standing in the grocery check-out line? Or, watch live coverage of news and sporting events at the "touch of a button..."?

For my personal use, the Mobley at $20/month is a great deal. I agree with LarryJB that, by the time ATT decides to drop the service, a newer, faster, less expensive option will very likely be available. The $99 I paid for the Mobley was a small price to pay to get the $20 plan. If it lasts for only two years, I will have saved $1-2K over the previous service I was using. In fact, I opted to not sign up for the 2 year contract. Something else better will be there, most likely before the two years expire. Although, the cost of the entire 2 year contract is only $240. That is well below the savings I am realizing.

LarryJB, thanks for the link to the 5G article. It made for interesting (although techie) reading. (I have a computer background, so I enjoyed it. )

For those of you who missed the $20 Mobley "unlimited" deal, just keep an eye on the market. I learned about it right here on iRV2 by scanning through this sub-forum about once a week or so. There will be new deals in the future. My theory is to a) stay away from long-term contracts, and b) always keep an eye out for a better deal.

My thanks to my fellow RV'ers who willingly share their knowledge and experiences with our RV community.

[LarryJB]

Originally Posted by cwk

For those of you who missed the $20 Mobley "unlimited" deal, just keep an eye on the market. I learned about it right here on iRV2 by scanning through this sub-forum about once a week or so. There will be new deals in the future. My theory is to a) stay away from long-term contracts, and b) always keep an eye out for a better deal.

My thanks to my fellow RV'ers who willingly share their knowledge and experiences with our RV community.

+1 to this!
BTW, there are many articles about the new coming 5G, just google "5G wireless"

[Vanslam]

My brother just got his Mobely from AT&T. He tried to set it up with the $20 plan but they said it was not available. He then told them to take back the Mobley since it was not available. (He has a AT&T account) After a supervisor got on, they said they would try to set him up on the $20 plan. They said they would get back to him in a couple days if they could do it. Hmm lets see what happens. He says if they fail to do so he will move all of his business away from AT&T. He hates dealing with people who fail to stand by their word.

[DrDaveMA]

Originally Posted by Vanslam

My brother just got his Mobely from AT&T. He tried to set it up with the $20 plan but they said it was not available. He then told them to take back the Mobley since it was not available. (He has a AT&T account) After a supervisor got on, they said they would try to set him up on the $20 plan. They said they would get back to him in a couple days if they could do it. Hmm lets see what happens. He says if they fail to do so he will move all of his business away from AT&T. He hates dealing with people who fail to stand by their word.

If your brother just got his Mobley from AT&T he probably ordered it within the last 2 weeks (when AT&T has them they ship out fast). The $20 offer started around March or April and while they were out of stock quite a bit in the last few months the offer ended in mid September. Instead of faulting the supervisor who is obviously trying to help get your brother cover under a plan that was closed 4-6 weeks ago, you should thank that supervisor for going above and beyond, probably because your brother is an existing AT&T customer. It sounds like they are bending over backwards trying to help.

I see you are the OP on this thread, I wonder why your brother took from 4/28 until just recently to order his Mobley. When you first posted the Mobleys were in stock, in fact I got mine the end of May.

[phil-t]

Originally Posted by Vanslam

He says if they fail to do so he will move all of his business away from AT&T. He hates dealing with people who fail to stand by their word.

Ha, I been there, done that. All the major carriers are the same when it comes to making changes. It's just plain good business and what makes them money. "Free" rides are few and far between; and they don't last long.
I hope your brother finds the deal he is looking for.
For me, it's been AT&T with a corporate discount and a plan with six devices, in the family, sharing the data.
No doubt the Mobley-$20/month data thing was a good deal, but folks used it in ways it was not intended. If AT&T could have made it so the OBD vehicle port was the only option for use, it would still be here today.

[evereddie]

Originally Posted by phil-t

.......No doubt the Mobley-$20/month data thing was a good deal, but folks used it in ways it was not intended. If AT&T could have made it so the OBD vehicle port was the only option for use, it would still be here today.

Yup! There are posters on this thread who were PROUD of the fact that they were using more than 100 gigs and sounded like they thought it was so funny to be using all that bandwidth. They were trying to use as much as they can like it was some big game. Thanks guys.