Motorola Q
How to avoid data charges
I just got the Q for $199.99 from the V710 exchange site without a data plan ("pay as you go"). I was going to get a RAZR but I liked the idea of the better PDA features on this phone with BT activesync. I don't really want to pay $44.99/month for data but someone said the phone will automatically try to connect and cause unintentional data charges. Is there a way to set up the phone to not check for e-mails automatically so if I wanted to check e-mails a couple of times a month, I wouldn't be paying much? They told me the "pay as you go" is a 1.5 cent charge per minute on top of your regular minute usage which would be included for data checks on nights and weekends. Is this not true?
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Yes - in the e-mail set-up there is an option for how often you want to check messages.
One of the options is to not check unless you tell it to.
One of the options is to not check unless you tell it to.
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I don't see this menu. I went to outlook e-mail and looked under options but none of the soft keys asked me about checking the e-mails. Perhaps I have to put in my e-mail for new account set-up first.
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That's exactly right.... the option is part of new account set-up (last screen). You'll only see it if you set up a new account and go all the way through.
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I really hate to burst this happy bubble of thinking you could avoid data charges on this or any pda phone, but any time you add the pay as you go feature to a pda you are setting yourself up for a world of trouble. On average if you check even say 40 emails a month on this feature it is going to cost you (depending on the size of the emails) about 50-75 bucks easy. Then youll be on the phone with vzw crying saying "I only checked my email twice" 😡 expecting a credit. If you plan on doing any data transfer at all the 44.99 feature is the only way to go its worth it in the long run. Oh and it is not free on nights or weekends and has nothing to do with your minutes of use. One last thing is that the actual correct price for pay as you ...
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One option I was thinking of is if you can setup a dial-up internet connection to a third party provider. Possibly a $10 a month ISP for dialup modems. On my Pocket PC I was able to do this, but I cant find the dial up connection app in the Q. With this alternative, you would be limited to about 19 kbps (that was the old limitation of CDMA throughput on a regular call) but it would be enough to get email headers and the body. Also keep in mind you would be using up your minutes on your regular voice plan (except nights and weekends) so you would want a higher minute plan.
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Does any one know what the Motorola Q's definition of express network and broadband? I got on the Internet through my computers connection(via USB), but am still paranoid about charges. I turned on airplane mode to ensure that I was not using the verizon wireless network. I have a good idea on how to do it via bluetooth, but that means I have to turn airplane mode off. which means there is room for error. I believe since I can connect to my computer via bluetooth on a PAN (Personal Area Network)(without Internet link). This may mean the WiFi is possible too.
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I successfully had verizon block or remove pay as you go data from my service, so that I don't accidentally get charged for data. I'm still figuring out how to bridge the PAN (Personal Area Network) that I have going with bluetooth to the Internet so that I can surf ect 30m from m bluetooth dongle.
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What happens if you don't even go through the email setup/wireless sync setup at all? (BTW is this on the phone or on the pc during activesync setup?)
Does it make sense that if there is no server setup to sync to then it won't bother trying to connect for email at all? I'd rather access email via my webmail interface anyway.
Besides actually going on the web, steaming media, email - are there any other apps that may inadvertently activate web access?
I do have 20MB/24.95per month but I'd rather make sure that allotment is used how I want it and not because some app sneakily turned on web access behind my back.
Does it make sense that if there is no server setup to sync to then it won't bother trying to connect for email at all? I'd rather access email via my webmail interface anyway.
Besides actually going on the web, steaming media, email - are there any other apps that may inadvertently activate web access?
I do have 20MB/24.95per month but I'd rather make sure that allotment is used how I want it and not because some app sneakily turned on web access behind my back.
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