12-29-2004, 01:00 AM
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Magi
Join Date: Feb 2004
Posts: 2,186
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T-Mobile to BlackBerry Users: No Internet For You!
"On December 1, 2004, T-Mobile made a network change intended to prevent some users from taking advantage of a wide open hole in their network. PDA and Smartphone users could get full, unlimited GPRS (TCP) access by subscribing to the $4.99 T-Zones plan, rather than the $19.99 GPRS plan. This was possible because up until now, the wap.voicestream.com APN (Access Point Name - the server used to provide network access), used by T-Zones, allowed the same wide-open full GPRS connectivity as the internet2.voicestream.com and internet3.voicestream.com APNs that the full $19.99 GPRS plans use. In response to this, T-Mobile shut down TCP access via wap.voicestream.com by blocking all ports except those used for WAP access. The problem is that paying Blackberry customers are configured to use wap.voicestream.com for TCP access, and they were cut off, too. This has caused any application that needs TCP connectivity to the internet (IM applications, 3rd party web browsers and mail clients, etc.) to stop working."
Hey, way to go, T-Mobile! I'm SURE that the amount of money you're losing from port-restricted access is FAR greater than what you get from all of those pesky enterprise clients. I mention this because a few of us have been using that exact loophole for months now. Personally, I always expected it to close, at which point I'd pony up the cash for full access, instead of the port-limited access available for free. In fact, I can honestly say that it was because of the free access that I switched from Cingular to T-Mobile, and I'll bet that a lot of other people did the same. What do you think about this? Boneheaded move, or justified action?
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12-29-2004, 01:13 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Sep 2002
Posts: 143
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I'm just hoping that the US carriers keep an affordable all-you-can-eat option at all.
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12-29-2004, 01:41 AM
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Thinker
Join Date: May 2006
Posts: 367
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I figured it was just a matter of time before this happened. Of course I didn't find out about it until after I got the full plan, but again, figured T-Mobile would figure it out eventually and shut if off.
I have to wonder though how much it was really used. Except for the Blackberries, how many T-Mobile phone customers actually used a PDA to acccess the Internet this way? I'll bet it was only a small fraction of customers. Let's face it - most PDA/Phone users just aren't that savvy.
What surprises me is that this has been known about for months - and they're only just now shutting it down? I guess no one at T-Mobile reads the enthusiasts sites. :roll:
__________________
XBox 360 S, 16GB iPhone 4S, iPod Classic 160 GB, Dell Inspiron Mini 1018; Macs: Mac Mini 2.4 GHz 6 GB RAM; Macbook 2.0 GHz 3 GB RAM; MacBook Air 11", 24" Cinema Display
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12-29-2004, 01:52 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 241
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more than months 
My plan is 1 month from being done, and it was old news when i got the plan (actually it was the reason i got the plan).
As a result of this i switched to lowest possible plan and will not renew the contract.at the connection speed they supply, they could provide every customer in ohio free net access from a single cable\dsl connection.
If they provided 500kb connection speed (note im not crazy, kb, not KB ) then i would consider 20 bucks a month, but thats just too expensive for a connection that barely has enough speed to stream scratchy music.
I can live without it.
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12-29-2004, 02:00 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 130
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Well... I spuupose now Cingular will close down their loophole that allows unlimited access on their $19.99 plan.
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12-29-2004, 02:11 AM
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Intellectual
Join Date: Jul 2003
Posts: 148
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I decided to live dangerously and switch to sprint. 8O
Amuzing to think back when Tmo first decided to offer all you can eat internet hordes of us were beside ourselves with glee, not caring how fast it was. Now, I for one, think $19.99 mo for 30kps is not such a good deal when compared to Sprint's 100k or Edge from Verizon or Cingular. How times change.
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12-29-2004, 02:52 AM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 540
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Re: T-Mobile to BlackBerry Users: No Internet For You!
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Originally Posted by Pat Logsdon
[i]"In response to this, T-Mobile shut down TCP access via wap.voicestream.com by blocking all ports except those used for WAP access. The problem is that paying Blackberry customers are configured to use wap.voicestream.com for TCP access, and they were cut off, too.
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Not totally correct.
In addition to WAP access, T-Mobile's t-zones plans also allows unlimited GPRS access to SMTP, POP3, IMAP4, POP3S and IMAP4S.
There's more in play than "wap.voicestream.com" being port blocked because anyone with a $19.99/month unlimited Internet plan can use that APN with no blocked ports. i.e. there's something else controlling access now
And finally, BB users on HowardForums are reporting that their access has been restored, although nobody's sure if that's a temporary glitch or an official fix.
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12-29-2004, 02:55 AM
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Ponderer
Join Date: Jul 2002
Posts: 74
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T-Mobile is on its way to going down in a mighty burning heap.
They just lit another match... :twisted:
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12-29-2004, 03:02 AM
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Contributing Editor Emeritus
Join Date: Aug 2006
Posts: 8,228
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Re: T-Mobile to BlackBerry Users: No Internet For You!
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Originally Posted by aristoBrat
In addition to WAP access, T-Mobile's t-zones plans also allows unlimited GPRS access to SMTP, POP3, IMAP4, POP3S and IMAP4S.
There's more in play than "wap.voicestream.com" being port blocked because anyone with a $19.99/month unlimited Internet plan can use that APN with no blocked ports. i.e. there's something else controlling access now
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That explains it. I pay $20 for unlimited access and use WAP.voice* vs internet3.* because I couldn't figure out how to get MMS over internetX.*. wap.* seem to bethe most powerful and versital APN. Even allows VPN. :-)
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12-29-2004, 03:02 AM
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Philosopher
Join Date: Oct 2003
Posts: 540
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by tourdewolf
Now, I for one, think $19.99 mo for 30kps is not such a good deal when compared to Sprint's 100k or Edge from Verizon or Cingular. How times change.
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I guess "good deal" depends on how you're using it.
T-Mobile's $19.99/mo unlimited Internet plan is for phones and tethering PDAs and laptops. But as you said, it's slow -- 30-40kbps.
Tethering a laptop on Cingular, Verizon or Sprint is faster, but costs 4x more ($79.99/month).
Tethering a PDA on Cingular is ambigious. Some say you can do it on the $19.99/mo MEdia Works plan, others say no, you need a $25/mo plan that nobody's heard of. Sprint charges $30/mo for Vision to tether Windows Mobile devices, and Verizon charges $45/mo for unlimited PDA data.
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