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Did I get charged for WiFi? 5.3MB = $80? RIDICULOUS!
- Thread starter mrat93
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Oh, another "OMG I GOT CHARGED FOR ROAMING" thread.
Errr... Not quite. We all understand that USING the phone outside our normal coverage area (for example, the US) brings charges. The issue here is that even when we're not actually using the phone, it still transfers a significant amount of data. (For me, it's even more than a typical web browsing session!) We're used to taking a phone somewhere that would incur roaming charges, and pay those charges for the handful of calls/messages we make use of. But it's a new situation when the phone, all on its own, transmits $3000 worth of data in a week (based on one person's report.)
I just checked some random myspace pages some are easily as big as 3 mb. The charges can also appear on the bill later then they happened as the carrier takes time to report it to ATT. The big charge is probably the myspace visit.
Roaming is expensive no matter where you go. Mind you here in canada data is expensive for all of us. $25 for 500mb is what I pay.....
Roaming is expensive no matter where you go. Mind you here in canada data is expensive for all of us. $25 for 500mb is what I pay.....
My suggestion for international travellers without a data plan would be to call AT&T and request a data block for your line.
You're still able to make calls and use the data features on wifi. Once you leave wifi coverage, no data is transferred.
You're still able to make calls and use the data features on wifi. Once you leave wifi coverage, no data is transferred.
Why should it not be enough to turn off Data Roaming?
Yes, you may still get phone calls and SMS/MMS as long as you have EDGE enabled, but those will not show up as data usage.
[EDIT] Missed greenpaz's post right above.
I've checked by data usage online at wireless.att.com - there have been multiple instances of multi-MB transfers at times like 1am. I was definitely sleeping at those times, so it's something the phone does on its own. No idea what for, though.
So yeah, taking an iPhone out of the country seems to be a bad idea, even if all you do is keep it in your suitcase and never use it.
I guess Apple needs to implement a "Phone Calls Only" or "No EDGE" mode in addition to Airplane mode. Or, ATT stop charging for international data usage when you have the iPhone plan. (Yeah right, like that'll ever happen.
Wow, you guys are making a big deal out of this. You don't need to call AT&T to put a data block on your account, you don't need to turn off your phone, put it in airplane mode or take out its SIM card, you don't even need to disable your email accounts, or fetch or push. You just need to go to Network Settings on your iPhone and make sure Data Roaming is turned off. It is that simple.
You don't need Edge to make phone calls.
The iPhone does use some Data on it's own but no where near $3000. The guy that had a $3000 bill used his iPhone in roaming, probably didn't think that it would be that expensive and then decided to say it was the iPhone's fault. NOT TRUE!
Remember, the Data Roaming off feature didn't appear until iPhone 1.1.1 (September '07), which was about a month after most of these posts were posted (August '07).
They were making a big deal about it because two years ago (when 90% of this thread was active) there was no setting to disable international roaming or to turn off edge. Of course, there were ways to make sure you didn't incur roaming charges, but most people were not so savvy.
True, but a lot of people are still confused about it or don't trust that it will work.
$80 bucks... you got off cheap!
I made 9 calls home while roaming in the us and was charged over $1200 for roaming and Long distance.
I made 9 calls home while roaming in the us and was charged over $1200 for roaming and Long distance.
Ouch, that's nasty. Just curious -- what's your home carrier and do they have any international voice or data plans? What carrier did you roam with while in the US? Was $1200 solely for the voice calls? How many minutes? I'm just curious if you don't mind me asking but don't have to answer. Was there any data usage component involved? Most of the time when I hear about outrageous roaming bills, it's usually due to data usage.
Here, in AT&T-land, if we go somewhere like, say, Canada, we pay $24.95/mo for first 20 MB of data usage + $5/MB excess for some countries including Canada, but $20/MB for others. International voice plan for Canada reduces it by 20 cents/min (from 79 to 59) with a $4.99/mo AT&T Canada plan. Still pricey at 59 cents per minute but better than 79.
Also, when I'm in another country, I tend to turn off everything involving data transfers until needed. Ie: turn off wireless, bluetooth, pushing, fetching, location services, data roaming, etc. That tend to help a lot in keeping usage down to a level that is within my intl data plan. Side benefit is it improves battery life, too.
Cell phone carriers are so dirty with there excessive charging of there services. I don't understand why it costs so much to roam even when you set it up in advance....VZW charged me $400 for 15MB/s of data in the US and plus 5 minutes of talk time in the Dominican republic (I was on Claró which I thought verizon owned...?...). Such a rip off.
When my friend calls me to tell me some idiot kid posted a Myspace bulletin saying he's throwing a pool party at my house, I kind of felt it was necessary to check it.
This feature wasn't available till 1.1.1 came out a month after this incident.
...and that was in 2007 where this thread was dug up from. That's like $100+ in today's dollars.
Oh, another "OMG I GOT CHARGED FOR ROAMING" thread.
Another arrogant, immature little punk trying to point the blame at the innocent consumer who plunks their hard-earned money down, instead of at the greedy multi-billion dollar phone companies who rob us with these blind charges.
Another arrogant, immature little punk trying to point the blame at the innocent consumer who plunks their hard-earned money down, instead of at the greedy multi-billion dollar phone companies who rob us with these blind charges.
Stop it!!!! This is a very old thread, go look at the dates
This is correct. If you turn on Airplane Mode for the duration of the trip you will be fine, and you can still use Wifi. If you have an SIP client, like the free one in the app Fring, you can even make calls over the internet. I tested this on my trip to England over the summer, and was not charged a penny (and was able to make international calls for free rather surprisingly).
Also, and I haven't tried it, but TheSpaz informed me of this little website that will allow you to actually turn off EDGE while allowing the cell antenna to stay on:
http://www.unlockit.co.nz
hope this helps.
THis is an old thread, but it bears enlightening some newer folks about international data roaming.
As has been said before, with the current iPhone software all you need to do is turn off Data Roaming. You don't need to turn off the phone, or turn of EDGE or put it in airplane mode. Simply turning off Data Roaming in the Network Settings of the phone will keep you from running up a big tab. If you disable Data Roaming, no data transfers take place. Period. You can still use your phone as a normal phone.
Now apparently there's an issue if people call you and the call goes to voice mail. I've read that can result in a charge as if you had picked up the call. I haven't had the issue happen to me yet, but this is separate from the original data roaming charges anyway. The only way around this seems to be to turn off the phone (power off, Airplane Mode, etc). The other thing that is expensive is text messaging. AT&T charges $0.50 per message (both incoming and outgoing) while roaming abroad.
By the way, I find that just a few pages of web browsing can result in many MB of data transfer. It is possible that the OP just went to one or two pages and transferred all the 5.3 MB of data. At close to $0.02/kb it is easy to accumulate a $50-$100 bill even with just a page or two of browsing. We just don't think how much data web browsing uses. The rates for international data usage are atrocious at close to $20/MB.
When I go to Europe I turn on an international data plan through my AT&T online account manager. It costs something like $25 for 20 MB of data transfer and there are plans for more data usage. I keep data roaming off most of the time, but turn it on to download e-mail from time to time and to use instant messaging as needed. I have my e-mail set to only get a portion of the messages so if I get a large file I don't download it through the cellular network. In Europe many hotels charge up to 25 Euro/~$40 for 24 hours of internet usage. Having the data plan helps manage my costs and relieves the need for WiFi access every day. There are also free hotspots available, but it takes more effort to find them and I am not always sure of the security implications of using some of the places. I do use them when at a reputable location. I like the additional flexibility provided by the international data plan. Occasionally I do need a quick Google search and other light web services and it is worth the $25/trip to me to have 3G access.
Now all I need is for Skype to update its application so I can use VoIP over the 3G network and I'll be all set.
As has been said before, with the current iPhone software all you need to do is turn off Data Roaming. You don't need to turn off the phone, or turn of EDGE or put it in airplane mode. Simply turning off Data Roaming in the Network Settings of the phone will keep you from running up a big tab. If you disable Data Roaming, no data transfers take place. Period. You can still use your phone as a normal phone.
Now apparently there's an issue if people call you and the call goes to voice mail. I've read that can result in a charge as if you had picked up the call. I haven't had the issue happen to me yet, but this is separate from the original data roaming charges anyway. The only way around this seems to be to turn off the phone (power off, Airplane Mode, etc). The other thing that is expensive is text messaging. AT&T charges $0.50 per message (both incoming and outgoing) while roaming abroad.
By the way, I find that just a few pages of web browsing can result in many MB of data transfer. It is possible that the OP just went to one or two pages and transferred all the 5.3 MB of data. At close to $0.02/kb it is easy to accumulate a $50-$100 bill even with just a page or two of browsing. We just don't think how much data web browsing uses. The rates for international data usage are atrocious at close to $20/MB.
When I go to Europe I turn on an international data plan through my AT&T online account manager. It costs something like $25 for 20 MB of data transfer and there are plans for more data usage. I keep data roaming off most of the time, but turn it on to download e-mail from time to time and to use instant messaging as needed. I have my e-mail set to only get a portion of the messages so if I get a large file I don't download it through the cellular network. In Europe many hotels charge up to 25 Euro/~$40 for 24 hours of internet usage. Having the data plan helps manage my costs and relieves the need for WiFi access every day. There are also free hotspots available, but it takes more effort to find them and I am not always sure of the security implications of using some of the places. I do use them when at a reputable location. I like the additional flexibility provided by the international data plan. Occasionally I do need a quick Google search and other light web services and it is worth the $25/trip to me to have 3G access.
Now all I need is for Skype to update its application so I can use VoIP over the 3G network and I'll be all set.