Cheap $20 a month Stand Alone Unlimited Rural Internet through AT&T Wireless

[hawkeye08]

Didn't sound just right to me either. Just have to see how it plays out.

I started out at our local AT&T store trying to buy one. They had never heard of the device. Said I would need to go to a corporate store. I guess they are just pretending to be AT&T I didn't think there was any need in going back there to activate the one I got.

I have read numerous posts that indicate you need to go the corporate stores, not the pretend ones. No surprise, I have never found one that really knew much.. other than the latest wiz bang plan that costs more..

 

[Soundguy]

wow.. reading this thread.. more than half the people getting one simply could not open the box and go, or single call and go.

only way this could be more complicated would be if the govt was directly involved.

Pretty darn sad...

 

[davrow]

only way this could be more complicated would be if the govt was directly involved.

Where's your tinfoil hat? Of course the government is involved.

AT&T lowered the price because the government is subsidizing them in order to track all cars in real time! Soon all cars will come with dashcams so every vehicle in the US will be feeding constant video streams to the NSA!

(above said tongue-in-cheek for humor purposes, not to rile the feathers of tinfoil hatters)

 

[rekees4300]

wow.. reading this thread.. more than half the people getting one simply could not open the box and go, or single call and go.

only way this could be more complicated would be if the govt was directly involved.

Pretty darn sad...

Sad indeed, ATT requires Social Security Number and date-of-birth for a new customer to open an account, that was a Mobley deal-breaker for me. Apparently a functioning, validate credit card number is insufficient to pay a $20/mo. bill. :confused2:

 

[BigBlue1]

Sad indeed, ATT requires Social Security Number and date-of-birth for a new customer to open an account, that was a Mobley deal-breaker for me. Apparently a functioning, validate credit card number is insufficient to pay a $20/mo. bill. :confused2:

Probably needed for credit check. And probably a holdover requirement which is more important with full normal cell phone accounts. It's pretty easy to have a $200-300/month cell bill and before allowing that risk they want a credit check. The $20/mo Mobley-only account is a HUGE anomaly for them. As for credit card being a solid payment method, anyone can get a Visa gift card or generate a temporary and time/dollar limited account number from their main account that would be a dead-end for AT&T in future months. I'm not saying I like the idea of giving my SSN and details either, but I do understand it.

Rob

 

[aeblank]

Well, I'm going to try at WorstBuy this afternoon.
We'll see. Wish me luck. haha.

Bought one (outright for $99) at worstbuy.
They couldn't activate over the phone, but I just did it online by adding a line and bringing my own device. No activation, $20/mo. I did the option that was NOT adding it to the existing plan. So, I should be good to go. Will go plug it in and test it, I guess.

So, it has a SIM in it, but the activation didn't require any info from the SIM. That seems weird, doesn't it?

 

[davrow]

So, it has a SIM in it, but the activation didn't require any info from the SIM. That seems weird, doesn't it?

Yeah, when I activated online it wanted the icc id, which was a 20 digit number on the sim label.

 

[aeblank]

Oh, the iccid matches the sim... That makes sense.

 

[rekees4300]

Probably needed for credit check.

Yes, that's what ATT claims. I decline to have a credit check because all 3 credit bureaus have been frozen to prevent identity theft. Now to do a credit check the bureaus must be temporarily unfrozen then refrozen. Been there done that and it's a huge hassle. I will never be an ATT customer unless they simplify the process.

 

[zimy]

Yes, that's what ATT claims. I decline to have a credit check because all 3 credit bureaus have been frozen to prevent identity theft. Now to do a credit check the bureaus must be temporarily unfrozen then refrozen. Been there done that and it's a huge hassle. I will never be an ATT customer unless they simplify the process.

Maybe someday they will offer it pre-paid or offer it on cricket(AT&T owns cricket)