# Lyft data usage is out of control. Data is getting too expensive using Lyft app.



## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

I guess one would only care if they are not on an unlimited data plan. As a part time driver I am not.

On Friday Lyft used over 700MB of data for nine rides. Uber used half that for 7 rides.

Can't tell if it is the Lyft app itself using all that data or the navigation mapping app, because Android assigns map data to the Lyft app when Lyft launches navigation.

Data app shows 700+ of data used by Lyft on Friday.










For some reason the google maps at does not accumulate a data stat


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

Since I only drive 2 days /week a Tracfone prepaid plan that has worked well for 5+ years. $10 per Gig. But now at $80-100 for one month of service I may as well get a plan directly from AT&T (the only reliable carrier in my hood).

Seeing a cheap AT&T prepaid plan with 50G of data at full speed. Then throttled. Question for the crowd: How do the RS apps work with throttled AT&T data? Anyone been there?


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## New2This (Dec 27, 2015)

_Tron_ said:


> I guess one would only care if they are not on an unlimited data plan. As a part time driver I am not.
> 
> On Friday Lyft used over 700MB of data for nine rides. Uber used half that for 7 rides.
> 
> ...


I have always been on unlimited data plan.

Not because I use a shitload of data but because I have no ****ing idea how much data I use.

I have friends who had capped data plans and got bent over the Deliverance log with fees.

Do I pay more than I might need to? Probably but I'm not a tech person so it's easier this way.


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## SinTaxERROR (Jul 23, 2019)

I have ATT prepaid unlimited MAX plan. 22GB unlimited data, 10GB hotspot, online storage, is 5g enabled and some other crap… cost $50 month with autopay.


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## SinTaxERROR (Jul 23, 2019)

I have never reached the 22GB limit by the way… usually around 17GB average month to month and that includes a lot of web surfing and app usage.


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## nosurgenodrive (May 13, 2019)

_Tron_ said:


> Since I only drive 2 days /week a Tracfone prepaid plan that has worked well for 5+ years. $10 per Gig. But now at $80-100 for one month of service I may as well get a plan directly from AT&T (the only reliable carrier in my hood).
> 
> Seeing a cheap AT&T prepaid plan with 50G of data at full speed. Then throttled. Question for the crowd: How do the RS apps work with throttled AT&T data? Anyone been there?
> 
> ...


Just do T-Mobile Unlimited. You are wasting money.


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

nosurgenodrive said:


> Just do T-Mobile Unlimited. You are wasting money.


Does the plan allow hot spot /tethering?


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## elelegido (Sep 24, 2014)

_Tron_ said:


> Since I only drive 2 days /week a Tracfone prepaid plan that has worked well for 5+ years. $10 per Gig. But now at $80-100 for one month of service I may as well get a plan directly from AT&T (the only reliable carrier in my hood).
> 
> Seeing a cheap AT&T prepaid plan with 50G of data at full speed. Then throttled. Question for the crowd: How do the RS apps work with throttled AT&T data? Anyone been there?
> 
> ...


I used to have a 2gb data plan that went down to 128kb/s with throttling, and Lyft worked fine. There is very little data in a ping and little data traffic between Lyft and one's phone when on a ride. Much more important is latency.

However, something looks not right with your data numbers. 700Mb for 9 rides is extremely high. Assuming you were online a total of 4 hours in which you did the rides, that would be 14,400 seconds. 700Mb is 5,734,400 kilobits, which works out to an average data traffic of 398kb/s. A throttled data connection would not be able to handle this.

I would say buy a pay-as-you-go sim and run the data down on it until it throttles to see how the Lyft app and Google Maps perform.


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## Toocutetofail (Sep 14, 2018)

T-mobile has repeated hung up on me, or played the "I'll be right back, I am researching your family account and account history". They charged us 2 family plans for 6 months. And I'll never forget how incompetent these people are. They literally will say anything and reinvent mobile policy just to get you off the line or transfer to the next agent. One moment please, I"ll transfer you. I'll stay on the line with you and make sure you get transferred. "CLICK". The call center is located in the same country as Uber support staff. The same incompent people.


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## Toocutetofail (Sep 14, 2018)

I'd rather get the free biden phone than Tmobile.


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## nosurgenodrive (May 13, 2019)

_Tron_ said:


> Does the plan allow hot spot /tethering?


Yes. Family plans are optimal. Prices go down for each line you add.


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## nosurgenodrive (May 13, 2019)

Toocutetofail said:


> T-mobile has repeated hung up on me, or played the "I'll be right back, I am researching your family account and account history". They charged us 2 family plans for 6 months. And I'll never forget how incompetent these people are. They literally will say anything and reinvent mobile policy just to get you off the line or transfer to the next agent. One moment please, I"ll transfer you. I'll stay on the line with you and make sure you get transferred. "CLICK". The call center is located in the same country as Uber support staff. The same incompent people.


Anytime T-mobile has made a mistake, they have fixed it quickly with apologies to me. Been with them for 10 years and feel no need to switch to another carries. My rate is locked in for life, so why would I change with inflation as it is.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

SinTaxERROR said:


> I have ATT prepaid unlimited MAX plan. 22GB unlimited data, 10GB hotspot, online storage, is 5g enabled and some other crap… cost $50 month with autopay.


I use over 22 GB every 2 weeks.
$50.00 month 
Unlimited


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## SinTaxERROR (Jul 23, 2019)

tohunt4me said:


> I use over 22 GB every 2 weeks.
> $50.00 month
> Unlimited


P.orn? 🤔


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

Toocutetofail said:


> T-mobile has repeated hung up on me, or played the "I'll be right back, I am researching your family account and account history". They charged us 2 family plans for 6 months. And I'll never forget how incompetent these people are. They literally will say anything and reinvent mobile policy just to get you off the line or transfer to the next agent. One moment please, I"ll transfer you. I'll stay on the line with you and make sure you get transferred. "CLICK". The call center is located in the same country as Uber support staff. The same incompent people.


I've been getting the same thing from tracfone. They used to have _reasonable_ customer service. But Verizon has been buying up the MVNOs that use Verizon towers, and ever since then support has been doing exactly what you describe with t-mobile.

the thing is, getting access to the AT&T towers is twice as much per month going direct to AT&T.


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

elelegido said:


> However, something looks not right with your data numbers. 700Mb for 9 rides is extremely high. Assuming you were online a total of 4 hours in which you did the rides, that would be 14,400 seconds. 700Mb is 5,734,400 kilobits, which works out to an average data traffic of 398kb/s. A throttled data connection would not be able to handle this.


I agree. Something is not right. None the less the data stats in the screenshots from the phone match the depletion of my data on tracfone account. I am having to recharge data so often it has gotten untenable.


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

tohunt4me said:


> I use over 22 GB every 2 weeks.
> $50.00 month
> Unlimited


whose towers are you hitting?


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## bobby747 (Dec 29, 2015)

I think back when my buddy was with metro making 2k every week years ago. i dont understand you guyd with lack of unlimited plans


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## painfreepc (Jul 17, 2014)

I have Mint Mobile unlimited, paying $40 a month three months at a time, I forgot if it's 30 or 35 GB I have used as high as 50 GB, Unlimited Plan only gave you 5 GB of hotspot, and it cost $15 for 5 GB and $20 for 10 GB extra kind of a pain


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## Toocutetofail (Sep 14, 2018)

_Tron_ said:


> I've been getting the same thing from tracfone. They used to have _reasonable_ customer service. But Verizon has been buying up the MVNOs that use Verizon towers, and ever since then support has been doing exactly what you describe with t-mobile.
> 
> the thing is, getting access to the AT&T towers is twice as much per month going direct to AT&T.


My issue occurred about 4-5 years ago. All I remember is it was escalated to T-ScamMOBILE corporate head quarters and an executive assistant was assigned to assist with my billing issues. (American Customer Service) 

I think I contacted corporate through facebook? I don't remember. Back then I was a friendly drunk.


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## Toocutetofail (Sep 14, 2018)

The PHILIPPINOS agents are horrible people. liars. scammers.


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## New2This (Dec 27, 2015)

Toocutetofail said:


> My issue occurred about 4-5 years ago. All I remember is it was escalated to T-ScamMOBILE corporate head quarters and an executive assistant was assigned to assist with my billing issues. (American Customer Service)
> 
> I think I contacted corporate through facebook? I don't remember. Back then I was a friendly drunk.


I had an issue with T-Mobile a while back.

I went through the Filipino and Indians and got bumped up to a U.S. rep who did nothing.

I googled the CEO of T-Mobile and emailed him. I got an executive assistant as well. Took care of it forthwith. I also got an email from the CEO afterwards. I gave everyone glowing reviews. 

That trick (emailing the CEO) worked on Verizon home Wi-Fi and cable service as well.


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## Toocutetofail (Sep 14, 2018)

nosurgenodrive said:


> Anytime T-mobile has made a mistake, they have fixed it quickly with apologies to me. Been with them for 10 years and feel no need to switch to another carries. My rate is locked in for life, so why would I change with inflation as it is.


Re-read my post. Am I asking you to switch? I'm not John Legere the T-SCAMOBILE monkey.


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## bobby747 (Dec 29, 2015)

I am the old guy here- t mobile offer's a 55+ plan 3 lines with tax unlimited $90


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## Toocutetofail (Sep 14, 2018)

#1----Mint Mobile $30 throttled after 34gb but unlimited. 
#5---Verizon Visible $30 read tiny text fine print if throttled 5 MILES LONG (unlimited) 
BOTTOM OF LIST ----metro by scam mobile $2000/MONTH 






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## tcaud (Jul 28, 2017)

As a programmer, I can tell you that they need no more than 16 bytes of data to know your location. To know your speed (which they shouldn't) they would need at least 64 bytes. Tack onto this your ip address and theirs (16 more bytes).

They are definitely tracking more about you than they are entitled.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

toptippr said:


> This started this year. Prior to this year I NEVER went over my 5GB a month plan leaving Uber & Lyft on 8-10 hours per day.
> 
> Same behavior this year, Lyft eats thru my plan in 2 weeks, just got my 100% data used notification yesterday and my billing month ends on the 17th.
> 
> ...


Probably 50% GOVERNMENT SPYING .

50% MINIMUM !

They will be Taxing you for that soon with new fees.


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## Diamondraider (Mar 13, 2017)

SinTaxERROR said:


> I have ATT prepaid unlimited MAX plan. 22GB unlimited data, 10GB hotspot, online storage, is 5g enabled and some other crap… cost $50 month with autopay.


What the heck is 22GB Unlimited? Is that like Russell Wilson? Mr Unlimited, but actually very limited. 🤣

How can you have a data cap in an unlimited plan?


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Diamondraider said:


> What the heck is 22GB Unlimited? Is that like Russell Wilson? Mr Unlimited, but actually very limited. 🤣
> 
> How can you have a data cap in an unlimited plan?


Sounds like a " LIBERAL POLICY".

UNLIMITED LIMITS


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## Diamondraider (Mar 13, 2017)

tohunt4me said:


> Sounds like a " LIBERAL POLICY".
> 
> UNLIMITED LIMITS


Seems like everyone is posting the same stuff so I must be past my “sell by” date.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Diamondraider said:


> Seems like everyone is posting the same stuff so I must be past my “sell by” date.


Remember paying 10 cents a minute " Long Distance" for a call 1 mile away across a County line !?

Now you call ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY.

NO LONG DISTANCE.

ITS ALL A RACKET.

PLACING " VALUE" ON IMAGINARY LINES !


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## Diamondraider (Mar 13, 2017)

tohunt4me said:


> Remember paying 10 cents a minute " Long Distance" for a call 1 mile away across a County line !?
> 
> Now you call ANYWHERE IN THE COUNTRY.
> 
> ...


I remember giving my teenage daughters flip phones and 6 weeks later confiscating them after being on the hook for thousands of texts at some ungodly rate per message. (Circa 2001)


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Diamondraider said:


> I remember giving my teenage daughters flip phones and 6 weeks later confiscating them after being on the hook for thousands of tests at some ungodly rate per message. (Circa 2001)


A financial institution had a racket 
Selling teens $30.00 ring tones !
Without disclosure.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

So many Violations of Public Trust !









_Government & Corporations do what they please._


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## Soldiering (Jan 21, 2019)

nosurgenodrive said:


> Anytime T-mobile has made a mistake, they have fixed it quickly with apologies to me. Been with them for 10 years and feel no need to switch to another carries. My rate is locked in for life, so why would I change with inflation as it is.


I agree. Ive been 10+ years with them. They charge me 55 a month cause Im a vet🇺🇲. Works for me


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## Ted Fink (Mar 19, 2018)

bobby747 said:


> I am the old guy here- t mobile offer's a 55+ plan 3 lines with tax unlimited $90


In 2 years i'll qualify for that lol


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## SinTaxERROR (Jul 23, 2019)

Diamondraider said:


> What the heck is 22GB Unlimited? Is that like Russell Wilson? Mr Unlimited, but actually very limited. 🤣
> 
> How can you have a data cap in an unlimited plan?


They slow data stream down after 22GB… if there is network congestion… EVERY UNLIMITED PLAN is like that from all the carriers…


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## Cut (Dec 4, 2019)

_Tron_ said:


> Since I only drive 2 days /week a Tracfone prepaid plan that has worked well for 5+ years. $10 per Gig. But now at $80-100 for one month of service I may as well get a plan directly from AT&T (the only reliable carrier in my hood).
> 
> Seeing a cheap AT&T prepaid plan with 50G of data at full speed. Then throttled. Question for the crowd: How do the RS apps work with throttled AT&T data? Anyone been there?
> 
> ...



This isn't an "unlimited" plan, so the speeds would be extremely slow and I wouldn't attempt to do rideshare after running out. If you check out their website, you'll see they have an online exclusive deal where you get 16 GB/month when you pay $300 upfront for the year. The downside to these lower costing plans is there is no 5G access and streaming video is in SD.

UPDATE: I just double checked and you actually have access to 5G with that yearly plan... Data streaming mode is turned on, but you could turn it off if you wanted for HD. Again, speeds are extremely slow if you run out of data...


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## SinTaxERROR (Jul 23, 2019)

Diamondraider said:


> What the heck is 22GB Unlimited? Is that like Russell Wilson? Mr Unlimited, but actually very limited. 🤣
> 
> How can you have a data cap in an unlimited plan?


Cell phone carriers have been doing this for years. What is really funny you did not know this until I had mentioned this in the thread… 🥳🤣


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## Disgusted Driver (Jan 9, 2015)

_Tron_ said:


> I agree. Something is not right. None the less the data stats in the screenshots from the phone match the depletion of my data on tracfone account. I am having to recharge data so often it has gotten untenable.


There is definitely an issue. I had 4GB on my data plan. I don't do much else beside drive when I'm not connected to wireless so assuming all my data goes to driving, on a regular month where I may drive 60 hours (maybe 175 short trips) I would use about 3GB of data.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Cut said:


> This isn't an "unlimited" plan, so the speeds would be extremely slow and I wouldn't attempt to do rideshare after running out. If you check out their website, you'll see they have an online exclusive deal where you get 16 GB/month when you pay $300 upfront for the year. The downside to these lower costing plans is there is no 5G access and streaming video is in SD.


Never accept " updates" when you near data deceleration levels.

There are ways to cut the brakes on data slowing.

Learn to " groom" the internals of your devices.

Recognize the patterns.
( Turn OFF PERMISSIONS !)
( MAKE THEM ASK TO PERFORM EVEN NEEDED TASKS !)
( DISABLE & OR DISCARD ALL NON ESSENTIALS)

Lot of crap they send you as " Updates" is for Their Benefit,not yours.
Differentiate.

They must jump through Hoops to LEGALLY do anything in my Device Internals.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

I have prepaid off brand burner phone service.

During peak hours, you are Not preferential for service 

Their are ways to agitate that system also into submission.

Trick the towers 
Screen updates


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## New2This (Dec 27, 2015)

Cut said:


> streaming video is in SD.


I need 4K for my porn.

HD in a pinch.

SD you might as well be looking at a magazine. 🤷‍♂️


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

When you are sitting outside the Superdome . . .with 100,000 cell phone users . . . And you have discount service . . . You must Learn TRICKS.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Disgusted Driver said:


> There is definitely an issue. I had 4GB on my data plan. I don't do much else beside drive when I'm not connected to wireless so assuming all my data goes to driving, on a regular month where I may drive 60 hours (maybe 175 short trips) I would use about 3GB of data.


I can burn 5GB in a Day.


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## Diamondraider (Mar 13, 2017)

SinTaxERROR said:


> Cell phone carriers have been doing this for years. What is really funny you did not know this until I had mentioned this in the thread… 🥳🤣


I’ve had the same 30 GB plan grandfathered with Verizon for over 15 years. They haven’t offered a plan that beats what I pay. I buy my phones outright so i’m not tethered to a term.


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## tohunt4me (Nov 23, 2015)

Diamondraider said:


> I’ve had the same 30 GB plan grandfathered with Verizon for over 15 years. They haven’t offered a plan that beats what I pay. I buy my phones outright so i’m not tethered to a term.


No contracts.
Prepaid.
No Surprises .
Phone registered to Jose Consiqo Gonzales
123 E.Z. Street
Houston,Tx.
. . . . . .
( You should have SEEN some of the Names on my Microsoft & Computer registrations & " warranties" since 2000 ! )

Cash buys a prepaid card at any WalMart.

Text in the numbers.


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## SinTaxERROR (Jul 23, 2019)

Diamondraider said:


> I’ve had the same 30 GB plan grandfathered with Verizon for over 15 years. They haven’t offered a plan that beats what I pay. I buy my phones outright so i’m not tethered to a term.


I’m not tethered to any terms either. My phones are mine. Always have been unlocked. I can use my iPhones on any carrier, pre and post paid, with 5g… 4g LTE only on phone I use for apps tho. Prepaid is a better deal most of the time…


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## Cut (Dec 4, 2019)

@_Tron_


UPDATE: I just double checked and you actually have access to 5G with that yearly plan. Stream saver mode is turned on, but you could turn it off if you wanted for HD. That includes hotspot. Speeds are extremely slow if you run out of that 16 GB.

That's actually a really good deal if you're only doing rideshare a couple days a week and don't need unlimited.


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## occupant (Jul 7, 2015)

I've been using Straight Talk for 9 years. For the longest time their $45 unlimited plan was enough for me. There were 2-3 times that I hit their throttling limit (at one point it was only like 6 or 8GB) so I just bought my next month of service a few days early to get full speed again. If I remember right that was usually a loss of 3-5 days of service for me. Then they bumped it to 10GB and then 15GB (it's 25GB now) and I never managed to hit those throttling limits.

Now that I no longer spend all day out on the road doing the gig economy wage slave bit, I don't need that much. The $35 a month plan from Straight Talk gives me 10GB of data and then it throttles to, I don't know because I haven't hit it yet. I have Wi-Fi at home and at work and only need cell data while driving to or from either of those. The $45 comes with 25GB before it throttles. The $55 comes with 60GB before it throttles (or as they call it now, traffic deprioritizing). So I don't see any need to spend more. If I ever go back to doing any significant amount of gig work I'll just go back to the $45 a month plan.


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## applesauce (Mar 8, 2016)

I wonder if downloading maps in Google Maps would help? You could to that part on Wifi


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## Toocutetofail (Sep 14, 2018)

T-MOBILE EMPLOYEE CAUGHT CHILD SOLICITATION THROUGH ELECTRONIC MEANS (CONVERSING IN A SEXUAL MANUAL)


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## _Tron_ (Feb 9, 2020)

Finally got out of Tracfone hell today and on to t-mobile. Took 3 weeks, and for a while it was looking like tmobile support was actually _worse_ than tracfone, but tmobile support snatched victory from the jaws at the last minute. Very happy with the result. tmobile does things like conference in another department to resolve an issue, rather than just slam you to the next department and you have to start over from scratch.

btw - now that verizon has owned tracfone for a while they are mailing verizon sim cards to all tracfone customers with AT&T sim. After promising to main its contracts with AT&T, verizon is terminating them. Which of course reveals why verizon bought tracfone.... instant enrollment of thousands of tracfone account holders. Nice work if you can get it.

Calling plan: Prepaid "Connect" plan. $25 /month. Unlimited talk/text. 6GB data. Hot spot.


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