Upgrade t-stick to XT - still in contract

Forums › Spark New Zealand (including Skinny and BigPipe) › Upgrade t-stick to XT - still in contract

nitrotech

1285 posts

Uber Geek

#34866 30-May-2009 21:16

OK so I still think the XT pricing is way too high but my wife was promised a new phone on Friday so with gritted teeth I signed up for a C510a which was connected today - I plugged it into the laptop and got 5.71Mbps download on speedtest.net.

That's made me think I should upgrade my CDMA T-stick to XT as I usually get around 1Mbps on CDMA and speed is always a good thing, roaming to OZ is helpful for me too.

I did enquire about upgrading the t-stick at the local Orb and the CSR said she didn't know but didn't think it was possible since I was still in contract.

However the telecom website says

If you're already a user of mobile broadband on our old network and want to switch to our new XT Mobile Network, we'll need to set you up with a new XT USB modem, a SIM card and a monthly plan.

I know it's easy to upgrade a phone but there doesn't seem to be any solid info on mobile bb contracts.

Anyone got any ideas on this?

Kyanar

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#219953 30-May-2009 21:20

I asked about that in store - there's no ETF on it if you sign up for a 24 month plan. The new plans are actually slightly better if you don't chew into the $10 extra block because with the new plans, the base plan has dropped in price by $5 and the extra block gone up by $5. Also, the new plans are all GST inclusive while the old ones apparently aren't. You will get a subsidy - either down to $99 for the Sierra Wireless 885U, or free for the Telecom stick (which is a ZTE if I'm not mistaken). Both support Windows + Mac, not sure if the ZTE does Linux but the Sierra Wireless support is baked into the kernel.

nzbnw

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Spark NZ

#219955 30-May-2009 21:25

Not sure which store you got your information from Kyanar, but that is not correct.

You can upgrade to XT if you have 3 months remaining on your contract and in that case there is no ETF. Otherwise you can purchase a device outright and change to XT.

nzbnw

Kyanar

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#220148 31-May-2009 15:58

Well, it's possible that since they had my details in front of them (for the phone upgrade) they could see that the term on my data plan had run out (my T-stick was a prize from the Gen-i stand at Tech-Ed last year) so that's why they said no fee. But the guy in store (who was from Telecom HQ not retail) definitely didn't mention any 3 month time-limit.

nzbnw

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#220183 31-May-2009 19:16

Kyanar: Well, it's possible that since they had my details in front of them (for the phone upgrade) they could see that the term on my data plan had run out (my T-stick was a prize from the Gen-i stand at Tech-Ed last year) so that's why they said no fee. But the guy in store (who was from Telecom HQ not retail) definitely didn't mention any 3 month time-limit.

It's possible. I'm not saying they didn't say that to you, but it's not business rules to do so. We want to provide a constant level of service, so while in cases like this the customer benefits; we do not want to set this expectation due to a human error in this case that every customer will be offered this.

Ideally every customer would be presented with the same offer, however we are all only human at the end of the day and we do make mistakes knowingly or otherwise!

I also don't work in retail anymore ;)

Hope this explanation helps.

nzbnw

nitrotech

1285 posts

Uber Geek

#220215 31-May-2009 21:35

I just wonder if ignoring mobile bb customers in this way is good for telecom, the deal lets face it is not great when compared to phone users.

Phone users who signed up even the day before launch were offered vouchers for new devices and no termination fees on cdma contracts, by the sounds of things mobile bb users can change but have to pay retail for a new device this all sounds a bit crazy, mobile bb customers are already in my opinion let down by the high cost of data and are now let down with options to switch to the new network.

Under the current scenario I would have to pay retail either $199 or $399 for a XT device

I have 13 months left on my contract current disconnection is $99, so could disconnect and resign a new 24 month contract and pay nothing for the device immediately saving $100

When I have under 12 months remaining I only pay a $50 disconnection fee so the saving is greater.

Would have thought it was advantageous for telecom to secure mobile bb customers into new 24 month contracts rather than having them investigate how to break existing ones.

Not getting at those providing the info on this forum just pointing out some gaps in telecoms pricing strategy.

zonky

62 posts

Master Geek

#220763 2-Jun-2009 11:18

I have a ZTE stick running on Linux (Ubuntu 9.04).

Reasonable easy to do - search for MTM 636 on Ubuntu Forums.

zonky

62 posts

Master Geek

#220860 2-Jun-2009 13:50

Actually, that's not a helpful link, so for posterity (and searchings) sake, here is how to get the ZTE usb stick running on Ubuntu.

http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?p=6894586&postcount=8

I used the method in windows to disable the autorun cdrom via an AT command, rather than install a non repo deb.

Be warned, the AT commands will not work if your SIM is not enablaed by telecom, so make sure you can connect in windows (i.e Telecom enabled your account) before wasting vast tracks of time on this!

Z.

Equinox IT

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zonky

62 posts

Master Geek

#220864 2-Jun-2009 13:54

Likewise, i had to create a new network in Network Manager called telecom XT.

(i modified the Vodfone NZ profile and renamed it.)

Number i have set to: *99#

APN direct.telecom.co.nz

I had to delete the dns servers listed by vodafone in the IPv4 Settings tab.