n00b Telecom smartphone question...

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › n00b Telecom smartphone question...

Lykho

246 posts

Master Geek

#137910 13-Dec-2013 02:39

so, I've just bought my first touchscreen phone... it came with a SIM card, Norton security, other bundle stuff like that.

I've mucked around with it and I see that I can use both my home WiFi and mobile data to access websites ... and I'm curious what exactly I'm paying for this. -- when I go to settings/device/status, it doesn't even list my phone as having a phone number ("unknown"), I'm not sure what to do about that. was I sold some sort of pre-paid data with my SIM card or something? I don't understand why it's not really a 'phone' yet, but I apparently can run up data usage.

also, curious what the most accurate gauge of that usage is--I think some settings tell me WiFi usage, and others only tell me mobile data usage, or something, because sometimes it says 0kb used, sometimes 90kb used, sometimes 200mb used (I think the latter is when I was browsing apps through WiFi). is there a good app for android that says where your data usage came from (not which apps, but what source--wifi or mobile data?)

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riahon

941 posts

Ultimate Geek

#951359 13-Dec-2013 04:53

While on 3G open up your internet browser and go to sphone.telecom.co.nz, it will display your phone number. Downloading the Telecom app from google play should show your number.

nakedmolerat

4587 posts

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Lifetime subscriber

#951360 13-Dec-2013 05:46

Where do you buy this from? Online or at the store?

Reading your post, I think it might be easier to get someone explain this to you one to one. Either go to the store or get someone who know

Batman

Mad Scientist
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#951369 13-Dec-2013 07:28

Lykho: so, I've just bought my first touchscreen phone... it came with a SIM card, Norton security, other bundle stuff like that.

I've mucked around with it and I see that I can use both my home WiFi and mobile data to access websites ... and I'm curious what exactly I'm paying for this. -- when I go to settings/device/status, it doesn't even list my phone as having a phone number ("unknown"), I'm not sure what to do about that. was I sold some sort of pre-paid data with my SIM card or something? I don't understand why it's not really a 'phone' yet, but I apparently can run up data usage.

also, curious what the most accurate gauge of that usage is--I think some settings tell me WiFi usage, and others only tell me mobile data usage, or something, because sometimes it says 0kb used, sometimes 90kb used, sometimes 200mb used (I think the latter is when I was browsing apps through WiFi). is there a good app for android that says where your data usage came from (not which apps, but what source--wifi or mobile data?)

my vote for post of the year! ok let's try -

congratulations on getting your first smartphone!

1) what phone did you buy? did Norton come on the phone and what other bundle stuff?
- you don't need Norton on your phone, perhaps other similar "bundle"s

2) what exactly you're paying for what? the phone or the wifi or the 3g? if you mean mobile data - you can check on m.telecom.co.nz/yt or download the green graffiti app. if it's an android it may show you mobile and/or wifi usage if you set the dates right.

3) it's a smartphone because it does more than calls and texts, but it's not that smart. no it doesn't know your mobile number, grandmother's maiden name, bank account balance or anything like that. although some apps can take advantage of that and collect information on your life. always check what permission it gains before downloading anything on the google play store.

4) the android if it's a late version has data usage in its settings. what version is your android?

Involuntary autocorrect in operation on mobile device. Apologies in advance.

Inphinity

2702 posts

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Subscriber

#951377 13-Dec-2013 07:56

Lykho: so, I've just bought my first touchscreen phone... it came with a SIM card, Norton security, other bundle stuff like that.

I've mucked around with it and I see that I can use both my home WiFi and mobile data to access websites ... and I'm curious what exactly I'm paying for this. -- when I go to settings/device/status, it doesn't even list my phone as having a phone number ("unknown"), I'm not sure what to do about that. was I sold some sort of pre-paid data with my SIM card or something? I don't understand why it's not really a 'phone' yet, but I apparently can run up data usage.

also, curious what the most accurate gauge of that usage is--I think some settings tell me WiFi usage, and others only tell me mobile data usage, or something, because sometimes it says 0kb used, sometimes 90kb used, sometimes 200mb used (I think the latter is when I was browsing apps through WiFi). is there a good app for android that says where your data usage came from (not which apps, but what source--wifi or mobile data?)

The phone number being "unknown" is not an issue and pretty normal. Wifi will work even without a SIM, it is not tied to your mobile account in any way. Whether you have a pre-paid data pack, you'd have to check your account and what you were sold. If not, you can still use data, but it's at the casual rate (which is, iirc, $1 for 10MB per day on days you use it), so this would simply deduct from your balance.

As to usage, if it's a reasonable recent Android version, the built-in Data Usage monitor should have Wifi and Mobile tabs to let you monitor data usage per app on the two connection types.

Lykho

246 posts

Master Geek

#951699 13-Dec-2013 15:09

joker97:
1) what phone did you buy? did Norton come on the phone and what other bundle stuff?
- you don't need Norton on your phone, perhaps other similar "bundle"s

2) what exactly you're paying for what? the phone or the wifi or the 3g? if you mean mobile data - you can check on m.telecom.co.nz/yt or download the green graffiti app. if it's an android it may show you mobile and/or wifi usage if you set the dates right.

3) it's a smartphone because it does more than calls and texts, but it's not that smart. no it doesn't know your mobile number, grandmother's maiden name, bank account balance or anything like that. although some apps can take advantage of that and collect information on your life. always check what permission it gains before downloading anything on the google play store.

4) the android if it's a late version has data usage in its settings. what version is your android?

1: Samsung Galaxy Ace II (Android 4.1.1 currently; not sure if I can update to better than that). haven't installed Norton yet. the bundle just had a car charger, Norton, and the Telecom SIM "preloaded with $19 value pack" ("after first value pack normal charges apply. offer not transferable to existing Telecom mobile numbers") (I haven't stopped using my old Telecom phone yet, haven't decided whether to get a new number or transfer things (the SIM itself?...old one probably isn't 3G, so I guess I'll get the Telecom store to do a transfer) over to this new phone).
People have talked about having Avast on their phone. is it not smart to have some sort of app for monitoring security?
right now the only security I have is turning off wifi and 3G before using a downloaded app -- I noticed some of them had ads popping up at the bottom, and I figure if it's an app that works offline, why let it use up data to spam me, eh. If anyone else has handy pro-tips in this vein, please chime in.

2. seems to be equivalent to the sphone link riahon guided me to. :)

3. yea. man, apps are crazy -- I swear, some people only develop apps as a pretext to gain the right to spy on people. it's bizarre what permissions some apps will ask for (by which I mean, if you compare apps with the same function from various developers and look at what permissions they ask for, you can clearly see which ones are absolutely unnecessary :P )

4. it does: please see one of my tangents in the post below about 'settings' data info.

riahon: While on 3G open up your internet browser and go to sphone.telecom.co.nz, it will display your phone number. Downloading the Telecom app from google play should show your number.

when I load that page, it comes up with a screen saying "enter your mobile number" (then has a password tab after that).
if I load "Your Telecom" (the bookmark that's already on the home screen, I get a 'login' page asking for my number and password.

but it says that this is being displayed because I'm connecting over wifi not 3G so it needs to know my number.

so, I've switched to mobile data, and this time Your Telecom loads the "sphone" link instead, + /mobile/view/account infoit says various things... "bal: $0.01", "unmetered"- oh!, and I would assume the number on the right of the balance is my phone number :D thanks!
is this how I set up my password for accessing the same info/etc. via wifi, or, given that it's unmetered, is that kinda pointless? (I've heard that the phones will preference wifi access over g3, but if I have both enabled, will it just default to using 3G for Your Telecom access, and not for everything else?

anyways,
awesome, it says I've only used 2mb and have 498mb to go :) (when I purchased I had no idea what amounts were offered, I just knew it was a free SIM card itself).
(some 'settings' (phone settings, and settings app) were telling me I've used 90kb, then 0kb, then 200mb... I assume the 200mb is from wifi, not mobile data. I guess people tend to use this unmetered telecom webpage access rather than misleading 'settings' data info to watch their usage? in that vein, are phone (offline/hardware) settings to limit and warn about data usage very good, or is there something via Your Telecom I should configure to be on the safe side?)
also, will this data/etc. value pack I've been given expire? does it count as prepaid or a monthly thing? would it 'carry over'?

Inphinity:
The phone number being "unknown" is not an issue and pretty normal. Wifi will work even without a SIM, it is not tied to your mobile account in any way. Whether you have a pre-paid data pack, you'd have to check your account and what you were sold. If not, you can still use data, but it's at the casual rate (which is, iirc, $1 for 10MB per day on days you use it), so this would simply deduct from your balance.

As to usage, if it's a reasonable recent Android version, the built-in Data Usage monitor should have Wifi and Mobile tabs to let you monitor data usage per app on the two connection types.

ah, interesting. so, are you saying I can simply put money into my account, and it's there to be spent on whatever I actually use (txts, calls, data, whatever)?

I always assumed it was more like plans, where you get x number of minutes/txts/mbs.
so, if I'm not someone who sends a lot of txts, prepaid could be a good idea? or is data still so much cheaper on monthly plans that the txt/call allotment is just a bonus?

qraider

374 posts

Ultimate Geek

#953056 16-Dec-2013 13:18

The $19 value pack gives you the following:

TALK - 100 anytime minutes, any NZ network
Text - UNLIMITED to any NZ network
Data - 500MB

There's also a $9 & $29 Value Packs

The Telecom app will work on either WiFi or 3/4G so grab that from the app store [here]

Current Phone:
- Android: Samsung SM-G900F Galaxy S5 (XT)
- Win Phone 8: Samsung ATIV S (XT)

Current Tablet:

- Acer Iconia 7" Android Tablet

Twitter: qraider

Lykho

246 posts

Master Geek

#953148 16-Dec-2013 16:15

qraider: The $19 value pack gives you the following:

TALK - 100 anytime minutes, any NZ network
Text - UNLIMITED to any NZ network
Data - 500MB

There's also a $9 & $29 Value Packs

The Telecom app will work on either WiFi or 3/4G so grab that from the app store [here]

yea, finally realized that the other day. weird that it doesn't say that on the box anywhere.
it looks like they expire after a month, is that correct? (it has a month-from-now date displayed in my account summary, but it doesn't _say_ "expires on"...)

I heard about the Telecom NZ app the other day, and was horrified by the permissions it required and decided not to get it. I doubt it's much more useful than the Your Telecom browser page already linked in the phone, anyway.

Lykho

246 posts

Master Geek

#953429 17-Dec-2013 03:23

this isn't a Telecom question, but...why make a new thread?...

should my computer be able to detect my phone for 'safely ejecting' it? the phone shows up in Computer as a portable device ("connected as media player"), everything else I've ever had has come up in the safe eject menu, though. does this not need to?

a third tangent, again about Galaxy hardware, not Telecom:
I can get custom ringtones, but can I have custom "notification" tones? it seems like there's only the default list, and I don't even see where they're stored so I could sneak my own files in there.

Batwing

581 posts

Ultimate Geek

Trusted

#953433 17-Dec-2013 04:55

Lykho: this isn't a Telecom question, but...why make a new thread?...

should my computer be able to detect my phone for 'safely ejecting' it? the phone shows up in Computer as a portable device ("connected as media player"), everything else I've ever had has come up in the safe eject menu, though. does this not need to?

a third tangent, again about Galaxy hardware, not Telecom:
I can get custom ringtones, but can I have custom "notification" tones? it seems like there's only the default list, and I don't even see where they're stored so I could sneak my own files in there.

There's no safely remove because the storage is still mounted by the phone, not the PC. PC is accessing the storage via the phone.

scheduler

264 posts

Ultimate Geek

#953442 17-Dec-2013 07:09

To get custom notification tines you can create a folder called "Notifications" and put your files in there. Android will then find them and add them to the list of available notification tones.

qraider

374 posts

Ultimate Geek

#953660 17-Dec-2013 12:25

Lykho:
qraider: The $19 value pack gives you the following:

TALK - 100 anytime minutes, any NZ network
Text - UNLIMITED to any NZ network
Data - 500MB

There's also a $9 & $29 Value Packs

The Telecom app will work on either WiFi or 3/4G so grab that from the app store [here]

yea, finally realized that the other day. weird that it doesn't say that on the box anywhere.
it looks like they expire after a month, is that correct? (it has a month-from-now date displayed in my account summary, but it doesn't _say_ "expires on"...)

I heard about the Telecom NZ app the other day, and was horrified by the permissions it required and decided not to get it. I doubt it's much more useful than the Your Telecom browser page already linked in the phone, anyway.

There are monthly recurring plans as well as one-off extras which include voice, text, data in varying amounts.

Current Phone:
- Android: Samsung SM-G900F Galaxy S5 (XT)
- Win Phone 8: Samsung ATIV S (XT)

Current Tablet:

- Acer Iconia 7" Android Tablet

Twitter: qraider

Lykho

246 posts

Master Geek

#953761 17-Dec-2013 14:53

Batwing:
There's no safely remove because the storage is still mounted by the phone, not the PC. PC is accessing the storage via the phone.

is there a way to have it access the card simple as a card, as though my phone itself were merely an adapter? (I'd think so, but can't find this option). I have a USB adapter for the card, but it's such a hassle lol.

scheduler: To get custom notification tines you can create a folder called "Notifications" and put your files in there. Android will then find them and add them to the list of available notification tones.

cool, that worked.

apparently I can delete their BS ones, too, but I have to somehow change the permissions. does anyone have a good tutorial on that? (I'd also like to get rid of the music icons that come up when an mp3 has no album cover of its own...seems like a waste of battery power to me.). ...but I don't know what all this talk of "rooting" is. http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1448048