WTF: AT&T wants you to pay extra to fix their failures
AT&T’s network is basically a huge failure. And if you want to fix their incompetence in your area, you’ll need to pay an additional $20 a month for a 3G MicroCell. I call BS.
Danny touched on this earlier, but the logic here is blowing my mind. How little regard for your customers do you have to have to offer a product that fixes your own product for an additional fee every month? Seriously, somebody explain to me how this is going to fly.
Leaks point to the MicroCell costing $20 a month to people who want to fix the dead spot in their apartment by running their phone through the internet. Let’s break this down.
Basically, AT&T didn’t have a strong enough network to handle the iPhone. It still doesn’t. Yet they still charge about $100 per month on average to iPhone customers, who have to deal with dropped calls, delayed voicemails and unreliable 3G speeds. If you are in a particularly bad spot, the 3G MicroCell will let you run your calls and data through your internet connection rather than over their shit network.
Where do they get off charging for this? Femtocells will actually reduce the load on their networks. It shifts the traffic over to the internet provider you’re already paying for (which I’m sure ISPs will just love). How does this earn AT&T $20 per month?
Read the full story at Gizmodo.com
All wireless companies are offering that same service. They are all the same! Just pick one and deal with it. They all have their issues. Used them all from Verizon to Tmobile
Verizon has been offering the same device for a while now…
As seen here:
http://www.engadget.com/2009/01/25/verizon-gets-official-with-network-extender-249-no-monthly-fe/
The 3G Network is relatively modern, so you have to take it with a grain of salt and use EDGE primarily. It’s not as if you could take the first portable Macintosh laptop and expect it to replace the longevity and performance of your mainframe (back in the day).
What worries me more is the potential radiation and how it may affect our families/kids/pets/etc.
I don’t see how the isps are going to be ok with this. They will have to ration the bandwidth away from customers who use the microcell since they put a disporportionate burden on the network, so microcell users will encounter spotty internet coverage to go with their spotty cell service, all for just 20 bucks a month. Sweet deal.
“WTF?” Is this supposed to be an unbiased news article from a professional journalist? Or have the stoopid kids taken over the “News Desk”? A new low for In Denver Times…
Everything will be sold this way now. you can thank the computer industry and all the computer users and businesses who accept this shit. And the more we move everyday products onto networks with software conflicts, etc, the more of this you will find. I’ve been saying since computers first came out why does everyone stand for this? If you bought a car would you find it acceptable when you got home that the windshield wipers and signals on the left side didnt work and the radio only worked while the defog was on? (There were also reports of the brakes intermittently working but that was only for a few users who got the GT model so we arent going to address that, I hear a third party has a solution though.) The manufacturer would contact you and say they realize none of those features work even though you already paid for them but if you pay another thousand dollars and bring the car in several months or maybe even a year later, we’ll fix the bugs for you. But we are perfectly willing to accept that in most software, every single operating system that was ever released and often times hardware. Why is that acceptable?
I just read some of the other comments, lets imagine using my same example….”All car companies are offering that same product. They are all the same! Just pick one and deal with it. They all have faulty radios, wipers and signals. Used them all from Dodge to Toyota”…..”The electric window and intermitent wiper is relatively modern, so you have to take it with a grain of salt and use a third party wiper motor in the rain. It’s not as if you could take the first Model T laptop and expect it to replace the longevity and performance of your horse and buggy (back in the day).” Do you see what sheep you are being?
Most of us agree that with new technology, there are bugs, and as an IT professional, that’s something I understand and have had to deal with before I retired. In the same breath, it’s unconscionable that AT&T is leasing out the “Microcell” and charging an extra $20.00 per month to piggyback off your ISP. The solution for this will be revealed if AT&T users are identified by their ISP’s and sue AT&T for the extra bandwidth that will begin to slow down competitive networks. AT&T is essentially charging to offload their excess bandwidth on other ISP’s – and if you place yourself in the shoes of those ISP’s, I think that you would find this solution to AT&T’s problems at the best absurd and at worst – essentially charging their customers to “steal” bandwidth from competitors to run AT&T products that are not up to par. I see a lawsuit against AT&T brewing in the background to stop this nefarious behavior which is essentially theft of bandwidth from their competitors.
I do not understand why InDenverTimes runs articles promoting graffiti or articles that start out with WTF. (assuming WTF means What the Fuck) Seem like they could do better.
The3g microcell is no different than any other application that you run on your system than say Kazaa or maybe Warcraft or watching online video thru a medi player. I wouldnt pay 20 bucks a month for something that should be sold like a wireless router. As for the iphone, I think its just an overpriced pair of Nike sneakers whose value was created by clever advertising.
I will unabashedly stand behind Steve Jobs for whatever he creates.
If you don’t like it go out and create something better, Einsteins.