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                Is your Unlimited Plan really Unlimited?

10/26/2016

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T-Mobile OneThe base unlimited plan (which is actually quite limited) starts at $70 per month for the first line. The price drops to $50 per month for the second line and $20 per month (with autopay turned on) for each additional line, for up to eight lines. It offers unlimited text, talk and data -- but here are the limitations:
Limits:
  • All video streaming quality is limited to 480p, unless you purchase an HD Day Pass (see below)
  • Tethering is limited to 512kbps (3G speeds)
  • Smartphone and tablet usage is prioritized over mobile hotspot usage, so you may notice slower speeds if you are tethering
  • If you go over 26GB of data in a month, your data speeds may be throttled when you are in congested areas

T-Mobile One HD Day Pass
If you have the base unlimited plan and you would like to view video -- like Netflix, YouTube and so on -- in 1080p HD instead of 480p, you can purchase a 24-hour HD Day Pass for $3. Or sign up for T-Mobile One Plus.

T-Mobile One Plus
Because T-Mobile's base unlimited plan is not actually unlimited, you can purchase the T-Mobile One Plus unlimited plan (which is...more unlimited, I guess) for an additional $25 per month per line. The total for the base line would then be $95 per month.
The T-Mobile One Plus plan gives you unlimited HD Day Passes, unlimited 4G LTE tethering speeds and faster speeds abroad ("twice the speed," or up to 3G where available). The HD Day Passes are cumbersome, though: They last 24 hours and must be reactivated each time you want to use them.
Limits:
  • HD Day Passes must be reactivated every 24 hours; if you do not activate an HD Day Pass, video will be in 480p resolution
  • Smartphone and tablet usage is prioritized over mobile hotspot usage, so even though you get 4G LTE mobile hotspot speeds...you may not get 4G LTE mobile hotspot speeds on your laptop
  • If you go over 26GB of data in a month, your data speeds may be throttled when you are in congested areas

When you consider that Verizon who does not even officially offer an Unlimited Plan can do all of the above for about the same $, it makes sense to compare. After all, If you have 26GB of 4G LTE HD, both are likely going to throttle your speeds above that anyway. I'd give Verizon an 'A' for disclosure and T-Mobile a "D" for acting more like a carrier than the "Uncarrier" the way they are presenting their One Plan. The only ones who will be happy with this plan are the shareholders.
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    T-Mobile's newest FREE Samsung Tablet Offering...

10/24/2016

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  • For a limited time, get a Samsung Galaxy Tab E On T-Mobile when you buy a qualifying Samsung Galaxy Smartphone on an eligible rate plan.
  • Plus, families of four with T-Mobile ONE get the 4th line free. That's just $35 a line (phone or tablet) with AutoPay, and you get unlimited everything including talk, text, and 4G LTE data on America's fastest LTE network.
  • Want even more? Combine this promotion with Carrier Freedom, and we'll pay off your switching costs up to $650!


Who's eligible
  • Available to new and existing postpaid and @Work customers, including T-Mobile employees, who meet all of the following qualifications:
    • Purchase both a Samsung Galaxy Tab E and one of the following qualified devices on the same day with EIP:
      • Galaxy Note 5
      • Galaxy S7
      • Galaxy S7 edge
      • Galaxy S6
      • Galaxy S6 edge
All of the above devices are available with zero interest financing over 24 months. Here is your opportunity to get a great Unlimited plan, new Samsung Galaxy SmartPhone and FREE Galaxy TABLET. Contact me for details.

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       Smoking Good SmartPhone Deals from T-Mobile

10/18/2016

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To make the LG V20 even more irresistible, beginning October 17, 2016 and for a limited time only, TM customers can get $200 off their working 4G-capable device trade-in to get a new LG V20 smartphone. And to sweeten the deal, they can also get a pair of Bang & Olufsen BeoPlay H3 headphones (a $149 value) for free! 

Create and share the magic in everyday moments with the innovative new LG V20, the first smartphone to ship with fast and fluid Android 7.0 Nougat—plus the first to feature 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC capabilities, delivering a crisp and clear sound that reduces ambient noise levels. Connect with LG and be the first to receive exclusive, ongoing news and updates about the groundbreaking LG V20, including the release date, the impressive specs, the superior videography features, and the exceptional audio quality that lets you capture and share your amazing moments with brilliant clarity and precision. This next LG V-Series smartphone gives you the enhanced features you need to feel the passion, seize the moment, and immerse yourself in the world around you—making it another amazing display of innovation from LG. Sign up to receive the latest information on news and promotions for the LG V20 and stay tuned for official release details.

While the unlocked pricing is lower than the AT&T's $829 price tag, it isn't as enticing as T-Mobile's $769 retail price. Both AT&T and T-Mobile are bundling a pair of $150 B&O BeoPlay H3 in-ear headphone for free, and they're also offering a free tablet if you're willing to buy the phone via monthly plans. If you go with AT&T's Next plans, you get an LG G Pad X 10.1 for free. T-Mobile is giving out an LG G Pad X 8.0 or an LG G Pad to those buying the phone through its monthly plans. In-store sales kick off October 28 at both carriers.
Meanwhile, Verizon will kick off LG V20 orders starting October 20, with the phone slated for an in-store debut on October 27.


As for the phone itself, the LG V20 offers a 5.7-inch QHD display, Snapdragon 820, 4GB of RAM, 64GB storage, microSD slot, dual cameras at the back with a 16MP standard sensor and an 8MP lens for wide-angle shots, and a 3200mAh removable battery. The phone runs Nougat out of the box. Dr WIreless is taking pre-orders for T-Mobile and Verizon now. This SmartPhone is not cheap. It does spec out impressively however and comes with a B & O BeoPlay in-ear headset which is impressive in itself.

China has been releasing amazing products from ZTE, Huawei, and One Plus to name a few. These devices spec out like the high end Samsung devices but at half the cost.

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                 Why Apple is a better choice than Android!

10/10/2016

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Before Apple emerged nine years ago with their iconic iPhone, it was the wireless carriers who had all of the power. It was the carriers who determined which device manufacturers they would work with and which features would be included, or not on their supported devices. Each carrier had proprietary "Bloatware" that the carriers required to be added. Motorola's MotoBlur in particular would drive me crazy. 

A funny thing happened. IBM designed the first SmartPhone, the "Simon". Unfortunately, this device was way before it's time. It was enormous, had awful battery life and was before high speed internet capabilities. A few years later Blackberry and PALM came out with the first of what we now refer to as "SmartPhones".  Both of these brands became very popular. Blackberry for its Qwerty keyboard and encrypted and very secure e-mail platform. PALM had the brilliant scheduling application. contact management and  easy an interface. 

NOKIA and Motorola had been the biggest manufacturers of traditional cellphones. Motorola's "StarTAC" was revolutionary for it's small flip design. NOKIA then introduced the best SmartPhone that nobody knew about. The NOKIA E-61 was made out of Aluminum and did everything a BlackBerry would do because it actually had BlackBerry technology built-in. It also had state-of-the-art features like wifi dialing, SIP trunking, Speech to text technology and a lot more. Unfortunately, Cingular wireless did not want to offer many of these features to their subscribers and never supported this model, nor did any other US carrier. Instead, Cingular required NOKIA to remove the cool stuff and then offered the resulting stripped down version of the E-61, known as the E-62.
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The NOKIA E61 was awesome in almost every respect. It was durable. It came in a gorgeous anodized aluminum casing and had a great qwerty keypad. It utilized the Symbian operating system which was a good one. What doomed this model was the confusing navigation menu and the fact that Cingular, AT&T, Sprint and Verizon were not very interested in this device. NOKIA came out with some subsequent models that boasted great cameras but never got anywhere with these models in the US, as with their traditional models

Google's Android and Apple's iPhone then gradually took over the market. Apple did what NOKIA and Motorola could not do. They showed the carriers that it was not all about FREE phones. The public was willing to pay full pop for great devices. AT&T saw this and signed a five year exclusive agreement with Apple. This agreement caused AT&T's network to fail from over congestion in many major markets. People would buy iPhones and begrudgingly sign up for AT&T's service as there were no other options, if you wanted an iPhone. After five years, Apple wisely brought their iPhone to Verizon, then Sprint and finally, even T-Mobile. Without their previous exclusive, there was a mass exodus from AT&T to Verizon and later, the other carriers. 

Meanwhile in the Android camp, Sprint was the first carrier to introduce 4G in the US. They did it in partnership with Clearwire and the offering was called 4G WiMAX. Yes, the speeds were greater than any 3G options at the time. Unfortunately, while Sprint launched WiMAX, all of the other carriers chose a newer, soon to be launched 4G standard appropriately known as 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE). This is today's de-facto global data standard as 2G EDGE was last decade's de-facto data standard. Sprint's huge selling device was the HTC "EVO". While amazingly featured, the problem with this device was mediocre battery management.

While Google's Android platform was good, it presented many problems. Unlike Apple, there were over a dozen device manufacturers. Each carrier requested their own proprietary interface (Bloatware) that often could not be removed and slowed down performance. This made it even tougher when there were software issues that needed to be addressed.

Apple's Guaranteed Software Upgrades... Unfortunately, not all of the manufacturers push out software updates in a timely fashion. Several do and others don't. The other problem was many of the older Android models were not even supported with these upgrades. Compare that to Apple who just provided iOS 10 support to models like the 5, and 5c which are 4 years old. That meant a longer life cycle for Apple iPhones than comparable Android models.

Best Hardware and Software Support... Anyone who has purchased a Samsung NOTE 7 can tell you about why having thousands of retail stores globally can be a major asset to consumers. The original Note 7 models are exploding. The new, improved safe version is still exploding, and folks who bought these devices are left with just the carriers to deal with these problem. If Samsung had a store network like Apple, this would have been an easy exchange scenario. Apple's iOS 10 runs smoother and more reliably because Apple iPhones are exclusively made by Apple for their iOS. 

Applications are better, safer, and less of a threat. Face the facts, Apple has the lionshare of business and if you are an Ap developer, they are your primary market as that is where the real money is. Apple is stricter with their Ap development tools and rules which help protect their users from malware, viruses, and other bad experiences. At one point, it is thought that over 80% of the flashlight aps in the Android Play Store were infected with Malware, or requested personal information that should never have been required for a flashlight application. 

Before, the biggest differences between Apple and Android were you got a much bigger screen, faster processor, bigger memory capacity, and more camera megapixels  per dollar with Android. Now that Apple has caught up on screen size, power, waterproofing and other features, it's more about cost these days. Yes, it is still possible to pay top dollar for some of the Samsung and Google products, there are many Chinese and Korean made devices that are good quality but a fraction of the price of the "big boys".

That being said, if you really hate Apple and want an Android, Google's new Pixel model is the safest bet. That's because, Google pushes out software updates for themselves much faster than any of the other equipment manufacturers. This model does look extremely impressive spec-wise, and Verizon has already signed on to officially offer it. I'm guessing that it will also be offered to consumers as an unlocked option for the other networks.

Apple is still in the drivers seat and is slowly catching up to all of the razzle dazzle features that Google has debuted. It appears that the iPhone 8 expected to launch on September of 2017 will be the 10th anniversary game changing wonder phone that we have all been waiting for. In the interim, grab yourself an interim solution and wait this one out. There has never been a better time to grab an iPhone 6, or 6s with the newest iOS10 at a great price.



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                                               Here we go again...

10/7/2016

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                            Our Prayers and Best Wishes go out to All in Hurricane Matthew's Path
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Ironically, it usually takes going through an earthquake, hurricane or other disaster to understand why having a Satellite Phone is the best communication solution out there. Everyone knows that when tragedy strikes, the first thing to go down is landline services. Because of this, everybody then reaches for their cellphones to make calls. Even if the local infrastructure and cell towers remain in tact, it's the sheer volume of usage that will prevent you from being able to access your wireless carrier's network.

That's why satellite phones are your best solution. There are not enough folks out there that own these devices so network congestion is never an issue. Also, since these devices directly communicate with low orbiting satellites 910 miles above the earth, local infrastructure is not even needed. Even if there is a power failure, it doesn't matter as long as your satellite phone is charged. Dr WIreless has FREE Satellite Phones available for the asking. I personally keep one in my car at all times. I grew up in Florida where Hurricanes were the biggest danger. The central US regularly deals with flooding and Tornadoes.  Most Californians live within 30 miles of an active fault. It's not a matter of if, but when, the next quake will strike.

If you do not have a satellite phone, there are still several precautions that you can take. First of all, make sure that you have purchased or prepared a safety kit. There are several things you can do to prepare for the worst. I just got of the phone with my father who lives just about 45 minutes south of Sebastian Inlet. He's been in the dark all evening as his power has been out since last night but he is safe. I obviously could not get through on his landline but after about 4 hours of trying, I did get through on his cellphone.  Here are some tips that you should consider...

1) Your Vehicle is a terrific power source. Make sure you have car adapters for your SmartPhone, and computers. Also make sure that you have plenty of gasoline and a fresh car battery. Many people overlook the fact that an automobile is a great powers source when there is no power in their homes. Not only can you power up a dead device, you can also charge them too. Another consideration is using your SmartPhone as a hotspot for your computer. Even if the nearest cell towers in your neighborhood are down, you can always drive a few blocks, or miles and find an operational cell tower.

2) Use Data networks instead of Voice networks. We all know that cell phone service can be spotty due to congestion during these situations. What many people don't realize is that data networks are never as busy as voice networks. That means using Viber, WhatsAPP,  or any other voice over IP wifi calling or messaging service is a much better idea than trying to call out on voice networks.

3) Fema's Four Primary Steps - Get a kit, Make a plan, Be informed, Get involved with your community.

4) Be prepared!  Whether it's for your home or for your office,  you should be prepared and know what supplies to have available, should a disaster occur.  Some areas may not be accessible to first responders for days, not just hours. Make sure that our disaster preparedness kit has enough water and supplies for at least 72 hours.


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    Joel Saltzman has over twenty years of wireless industry experience. He is currently CEO and Chief Wireless Analyst for Dr Wireless.

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