For years, I have warned my clients from doing software upgrades just because the device manufacturer says you should. The primary reason is that although they usually have good intentions, that is not always the case. Software upgrades are always "beta tested", before release. The problem is they cannot possibly test the new software with over a million 3rd party applications. There are often glitches and problems after the release that result in a newer software "patch" being pushed out. That's why I always google search software problems before updating iPhones or any other Apple product. Unless you are having a specific problem or have a glaring security vulnerability that a particular update addresses, don't do it! Many times the new update will cause instability. In some rare cases, they can actually take away features with new software updates. I recall an older T-Mobile application that I previously used that allowed me to call Mexico for FREE. About ten years ago, TM pushed me a software upgrade for this AP that I did out of habit. As soon as I tried to call Mexico again, I found it was no longer possible for FREE. After consulting Google on the matter, it was clear that everyone who did this software upgrade immediately lost their ability to call Mexico for FREE. Those who ignored the upgrade could still take advantage of this feature. This is a rare case but an example of how doing an upgrade can also be a liability, not a benefit. Just when I thought I had seen it all though, Apple's recent admission yesterday that they have intentionally been slowing down older iPhone models (iPhone 6, 6s and 7 series) is despicable and possibly even criminal. Their excuse that they do this to help the battery life is preposterous. Here's what I personally believe - Apple and all the carriers are currently stuck with the iPhone 8 because nobody wants it. They are being forced to give it away. Each carrier has a BOGO (Buy One, Get One FREE) offer for the iPhone 8 and remaining iPhone 7 models. Not surprisingly, nobody has any BOGO deals on the iPhone X. I hope there is a class action lawsuit because this is unethical at best.
Ironically, one of the reasons I moved from my iPhone 6s+ to a Samsung Galaxy S8+ was the fact that my iPhone 6s was slowing down and the battery no longer took me through a day. I did not want to sacrifice my 3.5mm headset jack and did not see any upside to upgrading to an iPhone 7 or an iPhone 8 over my trusty 6s+. The X model cost double what the comparable S8+ did so this was a no-brainer for me. Most of the updates I used to get were to address features like Apple Pay that I didn't even use. One of the problems with software upgrades is that Apple can be very cryptic when explaining what invulnerabilities were addressed. That's why my philosophy is, If it ain't broken, don't fix it!
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Start the new year off right with a two iPhones for the price of one on T-Mobile's Unlimited ONE plan. If that wasn't a good enough argument, how about getting a plan that does not charge any fees, or tax for service at the end of the month.
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No holiday parking/shopping headaches , Simply order from Dr Wireless Only Dr Wireless offers Amazon-like buying convenience, coupled with professional support. Simply contact Dr Wireless and we can process everything by phones and have "Santa" (or a Federal employee) deliver your new iPhones and take everything from A-Z. Dr Wireless can seamlessly move your content from old device to new too. Don't hesitate as these devices will be going very fast with the holiday in full swing. I'm starting to think the average intelligence of American citizens must be pretty damn low. After all, why would we vote for politicians that are clearly doing what is best for corporate America at the expense of middle America. President Trump seems to get a hard on each time he repeals a democratic regulation. I've always been a believer in less government but to a certain point. Based on the previous behavior of many, it's clear the cable TV companies, content providers, and wireless carriers need to be policed, to protect the public. All of the great regulations that Thomas Wheeler, former President Obama's FCC DIrector, installed just got thrown out the window. For those who don't understand "Net Neutrality" and how it protected you, here's a crash course...
Net Neutrality was a controversial utility-like oversight of internet providers. It was put into place by democrats in 2015 by then FCC Director Thomas Wheeler to insure the uninhibited flow of data on the internet. Ajit Pai's lame argument is that these regulations stifled investment in Broadband networks. Poppycock! T-Mobile alone invested $435 million in 700mHZ bandwidth in 2016 and made another $8 Billion investment in 600mHZ bandwidth in 2017. Sorry but I have to call bull shit on this. Let's compare internet traffic to Southern California's Freeway traffic. What the FCC is doing is building "TOLL Freeways" that will deliver faster internet traffic to those willing to pay a premium. Those not willing will be stuck in the slow lane at best, or not even allowed on the freeway (internet) at worst. Democrats believed that tougher oversight is needed because the internet has become increasingly vital in business as well as daily life. It has also become extremely vulnerable to exploitation by the large Telecom companies. If you were wondering why I have been campaigning against this nonsense, here's how we all just got screwed... 1) Broadband providers now have the power to block websites. They also are now allowed to throttle (slow down) speeds and the power to censor content completely. This was not possible with the previous regulations 2) Broadband providers can now make pay-to-play sweetheart deals. For those who don't want to pay, their streaming quality will likely be slow and low resolution. If your Broadband provider has a deal with Hulu but not with Netflix, they are now allowed to slow Netflix streaming down to a crawl. 3) Start-ups and small businesses that enjoyed a level playing field will be negatively affected. Consumers will be negatively affected as well. At the end of the day, additional costs always trickle down to the end user. 4) You can expect cost increases from your current broadband providers. I feel sorry for the rural markets with only one provider to choose from. No competition and no FCC oversight is not going to be pretty. When it's time to vote again, I'm certainly going to make sure not to support the three douche-weazels on the FCC board that voted in favor of this ridiculous legislation. If you need to buy a car or new SmartPhone, the last couple weeks of the year are the best time, period! Everyone wants to finish 2017 strong and the best deals emerge around then. T-Mobile announced that there BOGO will be ending very soon. Verizon's will run through Christmas. Here's the dope... Customers who purchase a new Apple iPhone 8/8+ or Samsung GS8/GS8+/Note8 and activate it for a new line on an Unlimited Plan (Go Unlimited, Beyond Unlimited, or Business Unlimited) can get a discount on a second device from the same manufacturer of equal or lesser value. • Both devices must be the same manufacturer (OEM) • One line must be activated on a new line of service • Unlimited plan is required for DPP and 2-year purchases
Dr Wireless can make arrangement for either Verizon or T-Mobile to hand deliver these devices to your home or office. Not visits to stores required! Aside from a couple years on Sprint's WiMAX network with an HTC EVO and later, an Samsung S3, I've always been an iPhone iOS kind of guy. After all, I have two iMac computers in my house and a MacBook Pro portable. I've never liked the fact that Apple seemed to be well behind the Google Android manufacturers as far as new innovations. I also did not like the fact that Apple seems to enjoy ignoring industry standard connections in favor of creating their own proprietary technology. Eliminating the 3.5mm headset jack and replacing it with a lightning jack makes it not possible to charge your iPhone while listening to your headphones. Duh! I also liked the biometric fingerprint unlocking and the Home button. I had been sitting on my iPhone 6S+ because, aside from the lame bezel and mediocre battery, it was a pretty good phone. There were more downsides than upsides for me to even consider moving to an iPhone 7 or 8 series. That meant going large and getting the iPhone X. My main concern about the iPhone X was cost. Apple raved about the strength of the new glass casing during their launch. Initial reports showed that this was nowhere near as durable as Apple claimed. To make matters worse, Apple jacked the repair costs as well as the cost for Apple Care Plus to $199.99. Getting one of these devices without the added protection of Apple care Plus and a good case was not an option. Assuming that I got the "cheap" model with 64GB, my cost was looking to be $1230 plus tax. That's a lot of money for an iPhone, especially one that doesn't have my 3.5mm jack, biometrics, or T-Mobile's newest 600mHZ support.
After comparing features with the iPhone X, I realized that the S8+ would give me the same iPhone X experience for a fraction of the price. Apple had claimed that it was not possible to Waterproof their device without doing away with the industry standard 3.5mm headset plug. Wrong! Samsung Waterproofed their S8+ and it still has the jack. It also still has the biometric fingerprint unlock feature. It has facial recognition like the iPhone X but I doubt it works as well. I far prefer the IRIS recognition feature exclusively offered on this device. I asked my SmartPhone repair technician whether he had any Android or iPhone demos that might interest me. He had just taken back a Samsung S8+ from someone who didn't like the keyboard and large size. I wanted as large a screen as I could fit in my pocket. I knew from past experiences that Samsung's keyboard was pretty heinous. I also knew that it's easy to make Google's amazing "G-Board" my new default keyboard which I did. This thing even blows the doors off Apple's for ease of use. Do I miss SIRI? Hell no! I gave up SIRI but gained Google Assistant, Bixby, Cortana and Alexa. I have a "whole team" of virtual assistants. If one doesn't get it right the first time, I use another. What all of this means is this... If you want a great experience right out of the box, the iPhone is the best choice. If you are willing to spend the extra time needed to optimize a deluxe android model like my S8+, it's well worth it. It seems like you can do a lot more by voice with these options than SIRI. Now the best news... Most carriers are running BOGO deals on the Samsung 8 series. T-Mobile's ends pretty soon. Anyone who buys and activates a new unlimited line of service can get a second device for FREE. For Business users, T-Mobile is also offering a $100 per line port-in credit on top of their BOGO deal. Ask me for details. Remember landlines? In the 20th century, everyone had either a "Home" or a "Business" Landline. A funny thing happened though in the 1990's called Cellular Phones. Who could have ever imagined that the phone companies "Bell Monopoly" would be broken and replaced by a wireless technology that would become globally adopted. Meanwhile, Large businesses would buy their own on premise Private Branch Exchange (PBX) Servers which required IT experts and an expensive monthly service contract. Shortly afterwards, the Cable operators came into the picture offering "digital" voice services bundled in to their internet/TV packages for $20-$30 per line. Next to landlines and cellular lines, cable phone service was actually an improvement. The biggest problem with cable phone service is most people have analog phones and utilize an analog-to-digital converter. They get some basic cloud features but nowhere near the quality of service or amazing functionality found on today's UCAAS (Unified Communications As A Service) Cloud voIP solutions. History has a cruel way of repeating itself. What happened to all the Landline carriers is exactly what later happened to the on premise Business phone Companies. Most of the incumbents like Avaya, Cisco, Toshiba and many others have filed Bankruptcy or re-invented themselves by moving from on premise solutions to Hybrid and Cloud solutions. If you can't beat them, join them. In Cisco's case and many other incumbents, buy them or partner with them. Cisco just bought Broadsoft, a major cloud player. Mitel just bought ShoreTel, another cloud powerhouse we also represent. What this all means is you no longer need to buy any home of office phone equipment. With the cloud, it is possible to either forward and/or have a special softphone application on your SmartPhone, iPad or computer that operates exactly like your SmartPhone telephone. You can dial with the keypad, from recent, or from contacts. Obviously, some people prefer the office desktop voIP phones and these are relatively inexpensive. They can be leased or purchased as well. Best of all, with a cloud phone system, you can even choose which number you wish to display for your caller ID. Our doctor clients can call patients back from their cellphones and now have them display their office number - not their private cell line. Can your current phone system do all of the above?
If not, why not? Dr Wireless can seamlessly move your business to the cloud for as low as $27.99 per line. Not only is this less than your currently paying, it will also make your business look much larger and more successful. Best of all, Dr Wireless can immediately implement this service and move your current phone numbers seamlessly. Ask us! It's been a while but both T-Mobile and Verizon finally decided to add some incentives to pull in new business from the other carriers. New and existing T-Mobile for Business customers who add a voice line on a qualified T-Mobile ONE plan and port-in a number from Sprint, AT&T, or Verizon for the new line can get a one-time $100 port-in bill credit. The cool part is this offer can be combined with Carrier Freedom and current device promotions like the Samsung and LG BOGOs! There’s no better time for businesses to switch to America’s Best Unlimited Network. Verizon is offering our Business clients $200 per device when they Bring Their Own Device.
Remember those annoying maps that Verizon used to show with all of the red for them and a little magenta for T-Mobile? Well, they can no longer show those because T-Mobile caught up with coverage. The biggest benefit that AT&T and Verizon had was ownership of 700mHZ while the other guys had 1700mHZ and above. Well, last year T-Mobile spent $435 on 700mHZ bandwidth. They now work in doors far better. Earlier this year, they won the 600mHZ spectrum auction with an $8 billion purchase. They are building out their 600mHZ network and both LG and Samsung already have devices on the market that support it. Next year, when Apple joins the 600mHZ party and adds "Band 71" support, AT&T and Verizon are going to be in deep trouble...
Here are the current USA frequencies being used. T-Mobile will be the only major carrier with 600mHZ so next year, they should surpass all of the carriers for coverage. They already win for data speeds in most markets. As a wireless analyst, I've focused my energies on iOS over Android for a number of reasons. Market share, simplicity, reliability and security were among the most obvious considerations. One equipment manufacturer versus a dozen, one Operating system versus various versions of OS, combined with carrier bloatware made Androids far more difficult to trouble shoot. On the other hand, Androids seem so much further advanced feature-wise, compared to Apple. After all, Apple's making a huge deal about their latest Amoled bezel-less screen and Facial recognition? Samsung has had this stuff for years. This all seems like a Deja Vu. Half a dozen years ago, I traded my iPhone 3 and T-Mobile to an HTC EVO on Sprint. That was back when Sprint was first, not worst, having recently launched the very first 4G network in the USA in conjunction with Clearwire, called 4G WiMax. The HTC EVO was the first device to support this technology and was awesome, except for the fact that it's battery life seemed to get worse by the week. Between that, and Sprint not getting any other carriers to buy in to 4G WiMax, it fizzled. I even tried a SAMSUNG S3 but eventually went back to Apple with an iPhone 4s. I still have an iPhone 6s+/64GB that I never gave up for the 7 or 8 series because I valued my 3.5mm headset jack too much to give it up. Well, a funny thing happened. After reading mixed reviews for the iPhone X and some stellar reviews for Samsung's S8+, I asked my SmartPhone repair tech if he had any demo deals on either. He had just taken back in a Samsung S8+ in new condition that was too confusing for one of his users who went back to her iPhone. I looked at the device carefully and quickly realized that I could keep my 3.5mm jack, my biometric finger print unlocking and still get nearly all of the benefits of the iPhone X. Sorry Apple! My Galaxy S8 still has my 3.5mm jack, my biometric fingerprint unlock and is also still waterproof, something that you guys said was not possible. Did I mention that my S8+ also has a bigger Amoled screen (6.2") and supports facial recognition. This was not surprising to me since Samsung actually makes Apple's Amoled screens. I thought I would miss SIRI but was I wrong. I ended up getting a whole team of virtual assistants who, unlike SIRI, all get my commands right the first time. Alexa, Bixby, Cortana, and Google's Assistant all work great with my voice commands. While I wasn't crazy about Samsung's Facial Recognition, they have something far better anyway. IRIS Scanning is the bomb and the easiest unlock solution I have ever used. At this point, by getting the S8+ instead of the iPhone X, I was able to save enough $ to buy a brand new custom made surfboard. When Apple makes a Bezel less iPhone SE model with all the features of the 8, I might consider going back. I loved my 4s and 5s because they could be used so easily with one hand. The only draw back was the small screen which could get bigger without a bezel. Until then, I think I may stay with the S8+. Samsung's S8+
Last chance. If you need an application and can fill it out immediately, I can make this happen!
New and existing postpaid and T-Mobile for Business customers, including employees (T-Mobile, NonTMO), who buy an iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 8, or 8 Plus on EIP can get another iPhone 7, 7 Plus, 8, or 8 Plus on us (of equal or lesser value up to $700 via rebate card) when they also purchase it on EIP and activate or add on at least one new line on a T-Mobile ONE or select Simple Choice Unlimited with unlimited high-speed data plan during the promotional period. |
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March 2021
CategoriesAuthorJoel Saltzman has over twenty years of wireless industry experience. He is currently CEO and Chief Wireless Analyst for Dr Wireless. |