Does It Really Need to Be So Difficult?      

As far as I'm concerned upgrading service plans and adding devices to your business or personal phone and data service is worse than going to a bad dentist.  It is more painful than it should be.  It could just be me, but it seems I never manage to get something done with a carrier in short order.  It's always requires more than an hour on the phone (and/or internet) no matter what the objective is, and I feel like I'm being taken advantage of.  With so many plans and options and rules and restrictions I start to take it personally that they're trying to confuse me and so I finally give up and just say, "Do with me what you want and will make you the most money!"    

I got started on my most recent frustrating odyssey last week for a couple of reasons.   I had misplaced my Verizon MiFi (a mobile hot spot), wanted to upgrade that device to 4G and possibly purchase another one and also had a couple of new tablets that needed to be set up.  We have all of our company phones and data plans on a single carrier supposedly to keep things "easy" so I told myself this wouldn't be too bad.  

 
I come at this, as I am sure you do, from a positive place; recognizing that smart phones, tablets and virtually anything requiring an internet connection are incredibly convenient, a lot of fun, and a great way to stay connected.  What they are not is cheap.  We've been lured into and bought the marketing from all four of the major services providers (AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile and Verizon) that smart phones and the like are available basically free of charge with a contract.  Not too many surprises there.   However, my "problem" this time was trying to get what I needed by purchasing the new devices as part of, or extension of my many existing plans so they wouldn't cost me "retail".   I was shocked to find out that the MiFi device itself is ridiculously expensive - $269.  But being connected at all times is vital for what I do and it's probably that way for you too.

  
So I tried to handle things both online and via phone with a rep and an hour and a half later I have some success.  But did it have to take that long?  Did I have to come away believing that the very nice person who was supposed to be helping me should have been the one telling me how to tie the devices to the right plan and extend some of the plans as needed so the economics were in my favor and not the other way around?  Did it have to feel like a game of wits?  Shouldn't the rep been trained well enough and honestly enough to help me and not hinder me?  Shouldn't I be able to come away feeling like I was talking to customer service?  Well I didn't and I'm' willing to bet you don't most of the time either.   I'll stop ranting now.  Thanks for listening.   

 
So now how can I give you some service?  Let's talk WiFi for a minute and see if I can clear up something that I get questions on often.  Wi-Fi is just about every place we go now and so remember that Wi-Fi does not count as data usage.  Most smartphones now have Wi-Fi capability, as well as "cellular data," giving the user the option to switch their method of internet access at will.  Just know that when you leave WiFi permanently on, it tends to eat up battery time like crazy, so be careful how you set things up.  It's clearly a personal preference and I know some people who set their WiFi sleep policy to "never" so it doesn't switch back to 3G.  It's probably a good idea to pay attention to how you want to use WiFi and cell access for a week or so and then adjust your settings accordingly.  Know that for the most part, you need to make sure that not only the Wi-Fi is on, but that it's connected.  Turning on WiFi doesn't automatically connect your device unless you've connected to that same WiFi before.  You should be able to view your connection from the bar at the top of your screen and enable or disable it.  In other words, switch between the two.  Since I'm an Android user, I can share a handy app to automatically turn off and on your Android phone. I'm sure there are others for whatever phone you're using.  

So I hope my WiFi info is helpful and maybe even saves you some time and money.  Thanks again for letting me rant.  Maybe sometime in the land of "as things should be" purchasing time and devices from carriers won't be like negotiating at a low end used car lot.   

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