Mobile Share Questions

[21stNow]

Here's my list of "inFAQs"!

1.  I understand that you can have groups on one account under the Mobile Share plan.  Does this mean that I can have five lines on one account in the following scenario?

A. Line 1-Smartphone, individual Nation450 plan, no text messaging, grandfathered unlimited data

B. Lines 2-5 - 2 Smartphones and 2 Basic phones, Mobile Share with 4GB data

2.  Will each line on a Mobile Share plan still have it's own contract end and upgrade dates?

3.  How will FAN discounts be applied to the Mobile Share plan?

[schafga]

Hello -

Does anyone know how your current FAN discount will be applied to the new MobileShare plans that were announced this morning?  Does it apply to the total bill, just the data portion, or just the smartphone access portion?

Thanks!

[21stNow]

The new Mobile Share plans have been announced by AT&T.  What do you think?  Will it work better for you than the current offerings?

http://www.phonedog.com/2012/07/18/at-t-mobile-share-data-plans-due-to-arrive-in-late-august/

[Dcookie ACE - Geek]

A GOOD question... Right now it only applies to the minute plan itself. I'd like to see the answer to this one, myself. 

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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21stNow wrote:

The new Mobile Share plans have been announced by AT&T.  What do you think?  Will it work better for you than the current offerings?

http://www.phonedog.com/2012/07/18/at-t-mobile-share-data-plans-due-to-arrive-in-late-august/

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will stay with my current configuration on the family plans, this pricing would raise my bill by at least 60.00. Unlimited vocie and text mean nothing to me, with unity and M2AM with the currect texting plan on a 700 Minute familty plan we roll over about 500-600 minutes a month

[trido]

Our fan gets us 24 percent off the data plan also.the data plan i think has to be the 20 dollars are more plan.I checked we get it on that but not on our two 15 dollar smaller data plan.But we do get atleast mine fan discount on data plans.

[Dcookie ACE - Geek]

Well, all I can say is that I may be cheating myself! I'm not sure if all FAN discounts are created equal but thanks for that info. I do know that our FAN right now only has a 24% discount on our minute plan. I need to check into it.

[trido]

i would for sure  check with a att rep we also have  the 24 percent, one time in the store it came up lady told me now you also get 24 percent off I am fairly sure only 20 dollar and higher data plans.

[Dcookie ACE - Geek]

Thanks, I do know that we're basically on our own to check into these things since ATT doesn't usually give anything out of the goodness of their heart. I also didn't have a smartphone at the time. Right now I have an old 2GB/$25/mo data plan along with two Unlimited $10 data plans for two messaging phones on our plan.

[trido]

yes thast same older 2 gig plan on wifes iphone 25 a month her fan gets 24 percent off we also havea 10 data plan no fan on it.

[Dcookie ACE - Geek]

Thanks! I will certainly look into it.

[21stNow]

I'm still doing the math and considering my options.  I want to consolidate all of my lines to AT&T (I think!).  The Mobile Share plan has many variables that I can tweak to see if I can get a lower bill.  So far, I can only come down close to the same as what I would pay with a 700-minute family plan.

[jamileh · Accepted solution]

1) <Edited> Yes, you can have the scenario OP suggested but keep in mind that if you upgrade a line to mobile sharing, you will not have unlimited data and you cannot share unlimited data.

2) Yes - each line will maintain it's own contract/upgrade date.

3) Good question I will research and let you know!

[21stNow]

OK.  I don't understand the "group" concept.  This is the FAQ that confused me:

What devices are eligible for Mobile Share?

Our Mobile Share plans require at least one smartphone per group and all devices must be on the same account. You can share unlimited talk, text and your choice of data with up to nine additional devices per group: smartphones, basic/quick messaging phones, tablets, gaming devices, USB modems, netbooks, laptops or mobile hotspots. You can have more than one Mobile Share group per account.

So is this saying that I could have one account and have 2 devices in one group, three devices in another group, but not have an individual line anywhere in this mix? 

I really don't get the advantage, or purpose even, of groups at all.

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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21stNow wrote:

OK.  I don't understand the "group" concept.  This is the FAQ that confused me:

What devices are eligible for Mobile Share?

Our Mobile Share plans require at least one smartphone per group and all devices must be on the same account. You can share unlimited talk, text and your choice of data with up to nine additional devices per group: smartphones, basic/quick messaging phones, tablets, gaming devices, USB modems, netbooks, laptops or mobile hotspots. You can have more than one Mobile Share group per account.

So is this saying that I could have one account and have 2 devices in one group, three devices in another group, but not have an individual line anywhere in this mix? 

I really don't get the advantage, or purpose even, of groups at all.

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think of it as a extended family plan, you can have up to 9 devices sharing the same data allocation. 

[21stNow]

That scenario seems like one Mobile Share plan.  The FAQ-Answer says that there can be more than one Mobile Share group per account.  If there can be more than one group, why can't there be one group and one individual?

[ujmnz]

I'm pretty sure you will be able to, and if not, you can always split the bill with the individual under it's own account number and bill.

[jamileh]

I'm sorry, I misunderstood your question.

You can have an individual line in the mix if you choose. What you can't have is mobile sharing with unlimited data. 

For example - if you have 5 people on your account including someone who uses A LOT of data; you might not want that person to be in your data pool. Four of you share 10GB of data and the fifth guy has his own data plan. It's like the guy in your group of friends who you make get his own order of fries because he always eats all of yours.

[bxnguyen]

I have similar question regarding the group as well and this is what I believe but could be wrong.

I have one main account with 2 group, group 1 with line 1-5 and group 2 line 6-7 and you are telling me, the new share data plan is for both group 1 and group 2?

I am also want to know how is the FAN discount work for the data plan sharing since I have 28% discount.

[21stNow]

I think that this is what I want.  I currently have a 550 -minute family plan that has three lines: 1 smartphone with grandfathered unlimited data, 1 smartphone with 5GB of data and one basic phone with unlimited data for basic phones.  I want the smartphone with unlimited data to be by itself on an individual plan so that the unlimited data can remain.  I want to add one more smartphone and one more basic phone to my plan.  Those remaining four lines can go to a Mobile Share plan.

My other option is to just go with the 700 minute family plan that exists now and add 3GB data for the new smartphone and unlimited data for basic phones for the basic phone.

[jamileh]

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bxnguyen wrote:

I have similar question regarding the group as well and this is what I believe but could be wrong.

I have one main account with 2 group, group 1 with line 1-5 and group 2 line 6-7 and you are telling me, the new share data plan is for both group 1 and group 2?

I am also want to know how is the FAN discount work for the data plan sharing since I have 28% discount.

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You can have one shared data plan for each group. 

I am awaiting an answer about the FAN discount. As soon as I have info, I'll update this thread. 

[bxnguyen]

Jamileh,
Thank you very much for the quick response and looking forward to know what is the FAN discount will be.

Have another question for you, the new mobile sharing data plan come with unlimited voice + text, but that is for domestic voice only. I am currently on family + Canada family plan 1400 and dont know if there is any change or update in term of voice/minutes if I change into the mobile sharing data plan.

[jamileh]

Another good question. You're right in that these plans are for domestic (US) use. I'll find out!

[DotCom2]

I am also very interested to know how FAN discounts apply to these new Mobile Share Plans.

[davidknc]

As many other people, I have the 700 minute family plan with 3 smart phones. We don't use enough data (so far) to warrant the share plan. With Wi-fi I've even lowered one of the phones to 250 mb.

[21stNow]

I'm glad that AT&T is leaving us the option to choose both types of plans.  That way, I don't have to rush my decision-making process.

[wingrider01 ACE - Geek]

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trido wrote:

yes thast same older 2 gig plan on wifes iphone 25 a month her fan gets 24 percent off we also havea 10 data plan no fan on it.

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this has also changed when the changed the tiered plan recently only the 5GB tethered plan can be discounted

[schafga]

Does anyone have an update as to how the FAN discounts will be applied?  Thank you!!

[jamileh]

As soon as I have info on the FAN discounts, I'll post it here!

[21stNow]

I have done my spreadsheet under five different scenarios.  Since we don't know how FAN discounts will apply yet, I just used the base price.  With the best comparison and most realistic situation under Mobile Share, I could come out $5 cheaper before discounts.  However since I can live without text messaging, I come out $10 cheaper under the current 700 minute plan.