billing prombems with media works

Thread view:

Enable EMail Alerts

Start New Thread

Thread rating:

jeff - 27 Nov 2004 13:56 GMT

I have media works package and use it for internet access. For last 8
months cingular has billed me for internet usage by the mb. $250-$350
per month. Every month I call up and get a credit for the per mb usage
(they think it is being bills as wireless data access plan which I had
prior to media works).

Question? Is there something in the access of the internet via media
works which causes Cingurler to bill by the mb.

I can use both apns of 'isp.cingular' and 'wap.cingular' thru pda or
laptop. The 'isp.cingular' seems to be a tad faster. I know plently
of folks personally and see many on this fourm do the same who do same
thing and only get billed the $19.99 for the Media works and use as
much if not more mb per month as me.

I get all the stories from Cingular support about Media works not
being able to be used in this way, but in the end , I get the credit.

I was one of the first Media Works users and this plan was specificly
sold to me for the unlimited internet usage via pda or laptop. It was
designed to compete with Sprint, ATT , etc.

Any help suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Reply to this Message

John Navas - 27 Nov 2004 17:03 GMT

>I have media works package and use it for internet access. For last 8
>months cingular has billed me for internet usage by the mb. $250-$350
>per month. Every month I call up and get a credit for the per mb usage
>(they think it is being bills as wireless data access plan which I had
>prior to media works).

I've had similar problems.

>Question? Is there something in the access of the internet via media
>works which causes Cingurler to bill by the mb.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>thing and only get billed the $19.99 for the Media works and use as
>much if not more mb per month as me.

Looks like your account is incorrectly provisioned, which may be part of the
problem -- MEdia Works normally works only with 'wap.cingular' not
'isp.cingular'.

Signature

Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular

Reply to this Message

Bob Horvath - 28 Nov 2004 05:02 GMT

> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
> problem -- MEdia Works normally works only with 'wap.cingular' not
> 'isp.cingular'.

Is isp.cingular aimed at the "data access" accounts?

Reply to this Message

Hierophant - 28 Nov 2004 16:22 GMT

| > [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
| >
[quoted text clipped - 9 lines]
|
| Is isp.cingular aimed at the "data access" accounts?

Yes. It is supposed to be disabled when you get MEdiaWorks and have no data
plan.

Reply to this Message

Bob Horvath - 29 Nov 2004 06:37 GMT

> | > [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
> | >
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> Yes. It is supposed to be disabled when you get MEdiaWorks and have no data
> plan.

Are there technical differences in the connection you get between the
two? Higher speeds? WAP vs. non-WAP?

Reply to this Message

John Navas - 29 Nov 2004 07:37 GMT

>> | >>I can use both apns of 'isp.cingular' and 'wap.cingular' thru pda or
>> | >>laptop. The 'isp.cingular' seems to be a tad faster. I know plently
[quoted text clipped - 14 lines]
>Are there technical differences in the connection you get between the
>two? Higher speeds? WAP vs. non-WAP?

Speed is the same.

Signature

Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular

Reply to this Message

Bob Horvath - 29 Nov 2004 07:52 GMT

> [POSTED TO alt.cellular.cingular - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]
>
[quoted text clipped - 18 lines]
>
> Speed is the same.

OK thanks. Any other differences? Does one limit where you can go vs.
the other? Or is it purely an administrative difference between the
MediaNet and Data Access plans?

Reply to this Message

John Navas - 29 Nov 2004 08:17 GMT

>>>>Yes. It is supposed to be disabled when you get MEdiaWorks and have no data
>>>>plan.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>the other? Or is it purely an administrative difference between the
>MediaNet and Data Access plans?

I don't know for sure -- I just know that I can do almost everything I want
with MEdia Works. (I've been unable to do FTP over TLS, so it seems that some
things may be blocked by Cingular, but I have been able to use SSH tunnels to
my ISP (Sonic.net), which makes just about anything possible.)

Signature

Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular

Reply to this Message

Doodles the Clown - 20 Dec 2004 21:37 GMT

I have been reading this message base for quite a while.
Back in June of this year I had the MEDIA package (19.95 unlimited
Internet...) set up and it worked fine. I was happy as a pig in s***.
In August I discontinued this feature because I got DSL at the house.
NOW.... in October I decided to add this back onto my phone plan.
Well, when I couldn't connect, I called Customer Service and was told
I needed to pay 74.95 for the UNLIMITED Internet data connect. I said
I had UNLIMITED Internet back in June. She said I was wrong. I told
her to look at my old billing. She then said someone screwed up back
in June.
I promply had her disconnedt the package from my account.

What I want/need is just a connection to the Internet using the
Cingular ISP or GPRS whatever.... with my laptop. I don't need
anything fancy for the cell phone, I just want to connect to the
Internet with my cell phone.

I have lots of rollover minutes, so that's not a problem, but I don't
have an ISP (so to speak) uther than my DSL and the want 19.95 to
connect with a dial-up.

Any help would make me a happy camper.

Dave G.

Reply to this Message

R.M - 20 Dec 2004 22:04 GMT

> I have been reading this message base for quite a while.
> Back in June of this year I had the MEDIA package (19.95 unlimited
[quoted text clipped - 20 lines]
>
> Dave G.

This is a typical response you will get from customer service. When
talking to customer service, don't even talk about using a laptop or
computer. Just tell them its for WAP use only. The plan you want is
called "Media Works" and it is $19.99. Its works just fine on a computer
excpect you will be using wap.cingular and NOT the isp.cingular access
point.

Reply to this Message

davef8 - 23 Dec 2004 03:04 GMT

John,

How are you able to get SSH tunnels to work through the MediaNet plan?
I have the new SX66 Pocket PC phone with the $19.99 MediaNet plan and I
can browse the web but I can't get SSH tunnels or even IMAP to work.
When I'm connected via GPRS all applications besides internet explorer
don't seem to realize the GPRS connection is even open. I get different
"failure to connect" or "network unavailable" error messages from these
apps. Customer service said MediaNet only works through the Cingular
portal and it is not designed to let you use it any other way. They
claim I need to spend $50 a month to get their "data plan".

Connection settings
Access point name: wap.cingular
Username: WAP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
Password: this is all asteriks but I think its "CINGULAR1"
Use server-assigned IP address = YES
Use IP header compression = YES
Use server-assigned address = YES

This network connects to the internet = YES
This network uses a proxy server to connect to the internet = YES
Proxy server: wireless.cingular.com

I've also gone to the cingular developer portal (linked from your site)
and tried all the settings in this PDF document:
http://tinyurl.com/6avrn

Still can't seem to get it to work. This sucks as I just switched from
SprintPCS so I get this slick SX66 and now it's worthless for data
unless WiFi is available. Any help is appreciated.

Signature

davef8
brought to you by http://www.wifi-forum.com/

Reply to this Message

John Navas - 23 Dec 2004 19:41 GMT

>How are you able to get SSH tunnels to work through the MediaNet plan?

I use MindTerm (2.4.2) <http://www.appgate.com/products/80_MindTerm/> to make
a SSH connection to my ISP (Sonic.net) from my notebook computer (IBM ThinkPad
600X with Windows XP Dial-Up Networking) using a Bluetooth link to my Sony
Ericsson Z600 handset (or using my Sony Ericsson GC82 PC Card) with Cingular
MEdia Works.

>I have the new SX66 Pocket PC phone with the $19.99 MediaNet plan and I
>can browse the web but I can't get SSH tunnels or even IMAP to work.

Since IMAP isn't working, you probably have some sort of fundamental Internet
networking problem.

>When I'm connected via GPRS all applications besides internet explorer
>don't seem to realize the GPRS connection is even open. I get different
>"failure to connect" or "network unavailable" error messages from these
>apps.

Then you must not have a standard network connection. Note that I'm using
standard Windows Dial-Up Networking to make a standard network connection, not
Cingular software.

>Customer service said MediaNet only works through the Cingular
>portal

True -- wap.cingular must be used.

>and it is not designed to let you use it any other way.

Most (not all) of the other ports are open.

>They
>claim I need to spend $50 a month to get their "data plan".

In other words, they would like you to spend more money -- what a shock. ;-)

>Connection settings
>Access point name: wap.cingular
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>Use IP header compression = YES
>Use server-assigned address = YES

Turn off all forms of compression until you get it working.

>This network connects to the internet = YES
>This network uses a proxy server to connect to the internet = YES
>Proxy server: wireless.cingular.com

I don't use any proxy.

>I've also gone to the cingular developer portal (linked from your site)
>and tried all the settings in this PDF document:
>http://tinyurl.com/6avrn

Those settings are for Wireless Internet Express, *not* MEdia Works!

>Still can't seem to get it to work. This sucks as I just switched from
>SprintPCS so I get this slick SX66 and now it's worthless for data
>unless WiFi is available. Any help is appreciated.

You need to make a standard Internet network connection.

Signature

Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular

Reply to this Message

davef8 - 29 Dec 2004 07:47 GMT

John,

Thanks for your assistance. Unchecking the "use proxy server" optio
solved the problem immediately.

It's a shame Cingular could not even begin to assist me with thi
problem. I hope other users who encounter this situation find thi
thread or they will be very unhappy with their expensive PDA that can'
access anything but the web

Reply to this Message

John Navas - 29 Dec 2004 08:21 GMT

>Thanks for your assistance. Unchecking the "use proxy server" option
>solved the problem immediately.

Glad to hear that.

>It's a shame Cingular could not even begin to assist me with this
>problem. I hope other users who encounter this situation find this
>thread or they will be very unhappy with their expensive PDA that can't
>access anything but the web.

Cingular does provide assistance, just not with the bargain plan. You get
what you pay for.

Signature

Best regards, HELP FOR CINGULAR GSM & SONY ERICSSON PHONES:
John Navas <http://navasgrp.home.att.net/#Cingular

Reply to this Message