
iPad from T-Mobile with free monthly 200MB data for life - cygwin98
http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251624&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1867397
======
ghshephard
I'm guessing the median lifespan of an iPad is about 3 years, and 95% of them
will reach their end of life in about 6 years.

So, we are talking about, on average, 7.2 GBytes of wireless data, 14
Gigabytes on the outside - spread over a number of years, and, at 200
MBytes/month, very low impact to their LTE networks.

Of course, nowadays, 200 MBytes lasts the average LTE user about 3-4 days,
even if they are trying to be conservative.

I'm guessing there will be a lot of upselling ot bigger data packages.

What is cool about this, though - no contract, and you don't even have to be a
TMobile customer.

~~~
yeukhon
Yes. Your point is fair and true. But I think as people begin to realize their
data usage is going up, they will reluctant to use data usage if they could
just use wifi. But on the other hand, free 200MB is good enough for a lot of
normal browsing.

My phone has 200MB data and I can barely use up every month even though I read
HN like at least 2-3 times a week. And it's easier if I can use data plan on
the go when wifi is not a option.

 _edit_ and I think it would be interesting to see study on how much mobile
version benefits users over regular desktop version of an web app.

~~~
masklinn
> My phone has 200MB data and I can barely use up every month even though I
> read HN like at least 2-3 times a week.

Meanwhile mine has 2GB and I generally use 80~90% of it.

~~~
dspillett
This is definitely one of those "everyone is different" situations.

I know people who have an expensive unlimited data plan (usually because they
got the iDevice for nothing if they signed up for it, not bothering to work
out that they could buy the device for 9-months of what the 24 month contract
costs) and probably only use a couple of hundred Mb of it because they are on
home or public wireless most of the time. They are the sort of people I see
benefiting from this unless the price is significantly higher than the
standard Apple price for the same device.

I'm on a plan that gives me 1.5Gb. Despite being a fairly heavy user a lot of
my use is also over WiFi. Many months I use no more than 0.5Gb, but when I'm
out and about more I sometimes get close to the full 1.5.

Conversely I know someone who blows through several Gb every month without
fail. To be honest I'm not entirely sure how given his lifestyle (from a
technology PoV at least) isn't particularly different to mine, but it shows
that one size certainly does not fit all.

~~~
masklinn
> To be honest I'm not entirely sure how given his lifestyle (from a
> technology PoV at least) isn't particularly different to mine, but it shows
> that one size certainly does not fit all.

Might just be that he doesn't use much wifi for some reason. Because of my
pretty high data cap, I've never bothered to setup a wifi AP in my flat, my
computers are all wired so the AP would mostly be useful for the phone, which
can generally use 3G/LTE.

------
x0054
It's not just for iPad, any tablet, and not just new once. I brought my iPad 3
in yesterday and got the SIM card, and off I was. 10$ for the SIM and that's
it! The guy in front of me had an old samsung tablet, same thing. You don't
have to be a T-Mobile customer to get this. No credit checks or contract. They
are counting on you running out of the 200mb some time and giving them money
then. But other than that, it's free.

~~~
mindslight
They must have some idea of 'appropriate' devices, no? For instance, I'm
wondering about a mini pcie gsm modems for laptops.

~~~
matwood
A laptop is even better for them. 200mb of LTE would be gone in an instant
with a laptop. "Did you just like the sample of T-Mobiles LTE service? Buy
more here."

~~~
tedmiston
Has anyone tried tethering a laptop from this free plan yet?

~~~
AsymetricCom
I maybe misunderstanding your use of "teather" here but most laptops already
have a port for sim chips under the battery.

~~~
hrrsn
Most laptops certainly do not have built in UMTS modems.

------
jbuzbee
T-Mobile seems to be pushing the SOP for carriers in the US. I can't imagine
this happening if the AT&T purchase of T-Mobile went through. Competition's a
a good-thing and may cause the bigger carriers to start making adjustments as
well. And to those who say that 200MB is nothing, I would guess that most
people use their iPads on WiFi at home so this would mostly be used for
catching up when out and about. Go T-Mobile!

~~~
e28eta
T-Mobile's $70 unlimited everything plan for smartphones includes 2.5 GB of
tethering.

So I'm expecting to use the iPad's free 200 MB when I want to do something
quickly on the iPad, but use WiFi or tethering for extended browsing.

------
martingordon
I accidentally blew through my free 200 MB shortly after signing up for
service. I disabled WiFi in order to run a speed test having forgotten that I
had a few apps updating in the background and a few minutes later, I got an
email saying I ran out of data.

I have 9 days left in my billing period and my Verizon iPad mini and it
reports cellular data usage of 422 MB, with 98 MB being System Services. The
mini is on WiFi 95% of the time, except when I'm walking to/from school (and I
don't carry it every day) carrying it or the WiFi networks I connect to are
acting up.

Speed: I'm in Manhattan and I got 5.35 Mbps on T-Mobile LTE, compared to 5-8
Mbps on my AT&T iPhone 5s and 11-21 Mbps on my Verizon iPad mini.

Price: The rates mentioned in the press release apply only to voice customers.
If the iPad is your only T-Mobile device, then you're looking at:

    
    
      One time passes:
      500 MB for 1 day - $10
      1 GB for 1 week - $15
      2.5 GB for 30 days - $30
      
      Recurring (30 day plans):
      700 MB - $20
      2.7 GB - $30
      4.7 GB - $40

~~~
ingenium
Doesn't the iPad have some way to limit data usage on mobile networks like
Android? I can even tell it that certain wifi APs are using mobile data and to
conserve bandwidth when connected to them. It works very well, I would imagine
Apple has something similar.

~~~
mikeash
You can block individual apps from using the cellular connection, or block
cellular data entirely. Unfortunately, there's no way to configure this stuff
for WiFi access points that I know of.

Edit: I know it's impolite to complain about downvotes, but I'm genuinely
curious. This comment is currently at 0 points, even though I just stated
something completely factual without any loaded language whatsoever. What's
the deal?

~~~
ingenium
Hmm, interesting. Android by default notifies apps that it's on a limited data
connection, and they restrict background updates and such. For example, I can
install apps from the Play Store on cellular, but they won't auto-update
themselves. Same with apps like Pocket, Currents, Google Music (different
bitrates for cellular and non-cellular backed wifi, pre-caching), etc. Gmail
won't download images/attachments automatically on cellular, but will on wifi.
For all of these though, you can usually override this in an individual app's
settings, such as telling Google Music to always stream high quality or Gmail
to always download attachments.

My tablet barely uses any data (with syncing enabled) in the background on
cellular data. This despite having background syncing turned on and quite a
few apps that use it. I take it with me most places and do casual browsing on
the cellular connection (public transit and airports mostly), and the most
I've used was 150MB/month. It just waits to do anything bandwidth intensive
until it's back on wifi.

I'm really surprised Apple hasn't done this yet. I guess that's the reason why
carriers complain iDevices use so much data.

~~~
erichocean
_Android by default notifies apps_

So does iOS.

~~~
mangotree
Well, it doesn't, but you can find out.

~~~
spartango
To be specific about it, iOS has APIs that notify the application (rather than
the user) about the device's network state, whether its cellular/wifi/absent.
Application developers are expected to control app behavior given this
information, but only some subset do.

~~~
andrewaylett
This is still not quite as fine-grained: Android allows you to specify that
some WiFi connections should be treated as 'expensive' in the same way that 3G
connections are expensive, so even if you are tethering over WiFi you can
still limit your data use. My S3 also has (I'm not certain it's stock)
functionality to limit applications' background data use to WiFi only. I've
turned that on for a couple of data-hogs.

------
nonchalance
Expected some price shenanigans, and found one:

> * If you cancel wireless service, remaining balance on device becomes due.
> Total for iPad Air 16 GB $630.00

Strictly speaking, it's $629.00 for the iPad Air directly, so in fact this
"free monthly 200MB data for life" costs $1

~~~
potatolicious
I switched to T-Mobile with the iPhone 5S, and I couldn't be happier. My
coverage in the city has gotten better, I'm saving $20+ a month, and the
satisfaction of flipping the bird to AT&T is incomparable.

Their phone "contracts" are the same no-bullshit deals. You get $X off the
phone initially, after which you pay back the debt at $20/month. If you quit
at any time you simply pay the remaining balance.

Compare with AT&T where the early-termination fees are punitive and _far_ in
excess of the "loan" they gave you to begin with.

------
mililani
Wow, so 2GB of data for just $15 a month? How do I get that as a pre-paid
plan?

I currently spend $30 a month for 5GB of 4G data. I rarely even go above 1GB.
I would kill to have just 1GB of data for only $10 a month.

~~~
msarchet
T-Mobile doesn't have "contracts" any more. Everything is effectively a
prepaid plan, no cancellation fees

------
ingenium
It also works on any 3G tablet that supports T-mobile's frequencies. I
successfully activated a SIM on my 2012 Nexus 7 (no LTE) and got the 200MB
free per month. I'm not a current T-mobile customer.

I was using AT&T prepaid for 250MB/month. At least where I am in the Bay Area,
T-Mobile actually had a better signal and speeds that were twice as fast. Good
deal all around.

------
D9u
200 MB is nothing... I have a prepaid T-Mobile "Mobile Hotspot" and it's $50
for 5 GB which runs out in 2 months from the date of purchase. I was spending
$100 a month and it was a burn. I stopped using it because it appeared that my
connection was being throttled, as when I first got the device I was getting
download speeds of nearly 1 MB/s, but after awhile (2 weeks?) I noticed that I
rarely saw download speeds greater than 100 KBytes/s. When I complained to
customer care they said some BS about "Backhaul" (NSA Back Hall?) and that my
area was a fringe coverage zone, which I doubt due to my initial assessment of
speeds.

I also had a Sprint PCS phone on an "Unlimited Talk Text & Web" prepaid plan
($45 monthly) which I would tether to my netbook. (against ToU) Sprint cut me
off after they noticed that I used 20+ GB data in less than 3 weeks, but it
took them awhile to notice that I was tethering.

------
jdsnape
I'm always wary of 'for life' claims.

A few years back Three in the UK did a 'free Skype calls for life' promotion
to encourage 3g take-up, of course they have now stopped honouring that
promise

~~~
mikeash
I agree, but there's little downside when it's free. If you use this and they
cut it off a few years later, you've lost nothing.

~~~
RobAley
You have lost something if :

\- you paid more for the plan than you otherwise would have \- went through
"early adopter" pains as three rolled out \- weaved Skype into your
business/personal processes, and now have to pay for it, whereas you may have
taken another route if the offer were not available \- based financial
arrangements around having it available for free \- factor in the time for
finding/learning something new and converting your contacts to it if you now
abandon skype.

------
redindian75
I was able to order the nano SIM card for FREE from the tmobile website

\-- [http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/T-Mobile-
Na...](http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/T-Mobile-Nano-SIM-
Card-Prepaid)

news: [http://www.androidcentral.com/t-mobile-prepaid-sim-cards-
cur...](http://www.androidcentral.com/t-mobile-prepaid-sim-cards-currently-
free-free-shipping)

------
rrhyne
200mb free plan is not available to business accounts.

As a SaaS who's customers sometimes purchase iPads for an entire small
business team, I was dismayed to learn this from a Tmob sales rep.

------
discardorama
This is interesting. Can you use the SIM in some other project?

Here's the use case: there are applications where some sensor needs to
communicate its readings at a very low bandwidth (say, < 10B per second). It
would be great if a $10 SIM would allow me to place this sensor anywhere, and
not just within range of WiFi.

------
qwerta
In Ireland you get free unlimited mobile data, if you top-up 20 euro each
month on prepaid. Last month I used 35GB.

~~~
arrrg
But not everywhere in Europe is great. Germany sucks with soft-caps everywhere
and throttling to useless 64 kbit/s after 500 MB or so on prepaid plans, and
postpaid plans aren’t much better. Plus, the most you can get before some sort
of soft-cap kicks in is something like 10 GB or so.

Unlimited plans straight up do not exist in Germany (only that soft-cap crap),
no matter how much you want to pay and the soft-caps kick in obscenely early
if you are not willing to pay a lot of money.

------
venomsnake
The sad part is that 200 MB is considered something ... that it is a sale
point is even worse.

Mobile has stagnated brutally.

~~~
hyperbovine
Haven't done the math, but it seems like I could check my GMail pretty
regularly on 200mb/month, no? For that and the occasional I'm-lost-helpme-
GMaps situation, I'm somewhat tempted by this offer.

~~~
btgeekboy
I'm a private pilot who bought the LTE-enabled iPad in order to get the GPS
chip built in. I don't use AT&T's SIM that was included.

For me, this means I can check TFRs/METARs/etc before I fly in Foreflight
without dealing with tethering each time. It'll also let me evaluate
T-Mobile's coverage.

Since the starter kit on the TM site is $1, I'm gonna go ahead and give it a
whirl.

~~~
btgeekboy
Update: That's it. $1 out the door, up and running.

------
bluedino
That's what, about a half hour of video streaming at 3G speeds?

~~~
masterofmasters
Only about 10 minutes of streaming HD video.

Or about 50,000 emails, or 1,000 websites (gzip compressed), or 50 Google
searches every single day, or a hi-res photo of your loved ones every morning
you wake up, or the confidence of never getting lost again.

I know you're being sarcastic, but for several years I was on a t-mobile plan
with 200MB per month limit on my Nexus S, and I used without worry and only
went over the limit once.

------
Polarity
200MB? thats just one email from my mother with some pics.

~~~
Zoomla
What email service do you use that allows 200mb?

------
nayefc
Who are the "qualified customers" for $0 iPads?

~~~
dangrossman
They're not offering $0 iPads, they're offering $0 down payment on 24 months
financing. Qualified customer means you don't have bad credit when they pull
your report.

> T-Mobile will offer iPad Air starting at an introductory price of $0 down
> with 24 equal monthly payments of $26.25* for the 16 GB model; iPad mini
> with Retina display starting at an introductory price of $0 down with 24
> equal monthly payments of $22.08* for the 16 GB model; and iPad mini
> starting at an introductory price of $0 down with 24 equal monthly payments
> of $17.91* for the 16 GB model (plus taxes & fees). T-Mobile will also offer
> a program enabling customers to make their new iPad even more affordable by
> applying the trade-in value of an eligible tablet, even if that old tablet
> is Wi-Fi only.

------
s0rce
Do I need a T-mobile phone with data to use this offer?

~~~
alexmr
No

------
__m
wow 200MB, someone should tell t-mobile what year it is. i think they are
stuck somewhere in 199x

~~~
corin_
It's 200mb _absolutely free_ , if you want more you're welcome to pay them, or
anyone else, to get more.

------
jheriko
so, almost enough data to support the enormous 'by default' internet
consumption of iOS.

certainly little enough that everyone will pay for more internets.

clever marketing strategy. people like free stuff. :)

------
Larrikin
If I put this in my iPad and go abroad, what will happen?

------
cygwin98
Wish T-Mobile came over to Canada and take Wind Mobile.

~~~
derefr
I think T-Mobile was the inspiration for Koodo, Virgin Mobile Canada, and all
the others which in the last few years have issued enough competition to take
my phone bill from $95/mo to $35/mo. Hopefully they'll copy this new move,
too.

~~~
sprawl2
Except Koodo, Virgin and Fido have always been owned and operated by the big
three, just targeted towards customers with smaller budgets. It's just the
illusion of competition.

