Cingular no longer offering CSD service!? Are there no other options besides their data plans?

Posted: 01-14-2005, 12:48 AM

Joshua Beall

Posts: n/a

Hi All,

So I got my phone hooked up to my computer and all ready to go to connect to
the internet by using it as a modem, so I could dial in to my ISP. Doing a
little research (I actually called Motorola, and they told me this), I
discovered that I had to call my provider (Cingular) and get them to add
"Data Services", or "CSD" to my account.

Ok, not a problem. Don't see it online, better call customer service... ok
great, talked to a rep and she said I was all set to go, it would be
$3.99/month to turn it on. Terrific, set it up, I told her.

45 minutes later still not working. Call Cingular back and ask them if the
CSD service has been turned on yet (rep said it would happen within 15
minutes). The new rep I'm talking to says "yes, I can see that there is a
note on your account to activate CSD... let me see why it was not
activated..." (puts me on hold).

Several minutes later she comes back and says "I'm sorry but we no longer
offer CSD on our phones, if you would like internet access through your
phone you will need to purchase one of our packages, the cheapest being
$20/month and providing 5 megs of download."

I politely said no and hung up... This seems outrageous to me. If I
understand all the technology correctly, they are actively choosing to
*block* access to the internet via other ISPs.

Is there really nothing I can do at this point? I'm no lawyer, but this
strikes me as the sort of anti-competitive behavior that caused the Feds to
break up Ma Bell way back when. They are prohibiting me from using someone
else to access the internet, and then charging me an outrageous amount of
money in order to access the internet via their service. Has anyone else
experienced this? What did you do?

-Josh

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Responses to "Cingular no longer offering CSD service!? Are there no other options besides their data plans?"

Jim Wiant

Posts: n/a

Re: Cingular no longer offering CSD service!? Are there no other options besides their data plans?

Posted: 01-14-2005, 04:28 PM

"Joshua Beall" <jbeall@donotspam.remove.me.heraldic.us> wrote in message
news:VFEFd.11704$u47.1624@trnddc09...
> Hi All,
>
> So I got my phone hooked up to my computer and all ready to go to connect
> to the internet by using it as a modem, so I could dial in to my ISP.
> Doing a little research (I actually called Motorola, and they told me
> this), I discovered that I had to call my provider (Cingular) and get them
> to add "Data Services", or "CSD" to my account.
>
> Ok, not a problem. Don't see it online, better call customer service...
> ok great, talked to a rep and she said I was all set to go, it would be
> $3.99/month to turn it on. Terrific, set it up, I told her.
>
> 45 minutes later still not working. Call Cingular back and ask them if
> the CSD service has been turned on yet (rep said it would happen within 15
> minutes). The new rep I'm talking to says "yes, I can see that there is a
> note on your account to activate CSD... let me see why it was not
> activated..." (puts me on hold).
>
> Several minutes later she comes back and says "I'm sorry but we no longer
> offer CSD on our phones, if you would like internet access through your
> phone you will need to purchase one of our packages, the cheapest being
> $20/month and providing 5 megs of download."
>
> I politely said no and hung up... This seems outrageous to me. If I
> understand all the technology correctly, they are actively choosing to
> *block* access to the internet via other ISPs.
>
> Is there really nothing I can do at this point? I'm no lawyer, but this
> strikes me as the sort of anti-competitive behavior that caused the Feds
> to break up Ma Bell way back when. They are prohibiting me from using
> someone else to access the internet, and then charging me an outrageous
> amount of money in order to access the internet via their service. Has
> anyone else experienced this? What did you do?
>
> -Josh
>
MediaWorks gives you unlimted access for $20

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Joshua Beall

Posts: n/a

Re: Cingular no longer offering CSD service!? Are there no other options besides their data plans?

Posted: 01-14-2005, 06:09 PM

"Jim Wiant" <wiant@comcast.net> wrote in message
news

dGdnX8HH8LQbnrcRVn-ig@comcast.com...
> MediaWorks gives you unlimted access for $20

Yes, but only on your phone! At least that is the answer I have been
getting repeatedly from Cingular when I call customer service. If I want to
connect it to my laptop, I have to get a separate data plan, and that starts
as $20/month for 5 megs of download.

Have you had success connecting your phone to your laptop and getting on the
internet using only MEdia Works?

-Josh

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John Navas

Posts: n/a

Re: Cingular no longer offering CSD service!? Are there no other options besides their data plans?

Posted: 01-15-2005, 05:54 AM

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.motorola - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <BVTFd.874$c%6.469@trnddc03> on Fri, 14 Jan 2005 18:09:37 GMT, "Joshua
Beall" <jbeall@donotspam.remove.me.heraldic.us> wrote:

>"Jim Wiant" <wiant@comcast.net> wrote in message
>news

dGdnX8HH8LQbnrcRVn-ig@comcast.com...
>> MediaWorks gives you unlimted access for $20
>
>Yes, but only on your phone! At least that is the answer I have been
>getting repeatedly from Cingular when I call customer service. If I want to
>connect it to my laptop, I have to get a separate data plan, and that starts
>as $20/month for 5 megs of download.

That's what Cingular wants, but MEdia Works works.

>Have you had success connecting your phone to your laptop and getting on the
>internet using only MEdia Works?

Yes. As several have reported here.

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

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John Navas

Posts: n/a

Re: Cingular no longer offering CSD service!? Are there no other options besides their data plans?

Posted: 01-15-2005, 06:51 AM

[POSTED TO alt.cellular.motorola - REPLY ON USENET PLEASE]

In <VFEFd.11704$u47.1624@trnddc09> on Fri, 14 Jan 2005 00:48:53 GMT, "Joshua
Beall" <jbeall@donotspam.remove.me.heraldic.us> wrote:

>So I got my phone hooked up to my computer and all ready to go to connect to
>the internet by using it as a modem, so I could dial in to my ISP. Doing a
>little research (I actually called Motorola, and they told me this), I
>discovered that I had to call my provider (Cingular) and get them to add
>"Data Services", or "CSD" to my account.

True, but only as part of a data plan.

>Ok, not a problem. Don't see it online,

<http://www.cingular.com/media/media_net_purchase>

>better call customer service... ok
>great, talked to a rep and she said I was all set to go, it would be
>$3.99/month to turn it on. Terrific, set it up, I told her.

Correct -- that was probably "Wireless Internet".

>45 minutes later still not working. Call Cingular back and ask them if the
>CSD service has been turned on yet (rep said it would happen within 15
>minutes). The new rep I'm talking to says "yes, I can see that there is a
>note on your account to activate CSD... let me see why it was not
>activated..." (puts me on hold).
>
>Several minutes later she comes back and says "I'm sorry but we no longer
>offer CSD on our phones, if you would like internet access through your
>phone you will need to purchase one of our packages, the cheapest being
>$20/month and providing 5 megs of download."

That was nonsense. Just get "Wireless Internet" and ask to have CSD
provisioned.

>I politely said no and hung up... This seems outrageous to me. If I
>understand all the technology correctly, they are actively choosing to
>*block* access to the internet via other ISPs.

No, they are trying to get you to use a more expensive data plan. You can
still access other ISPs.

>Is there really nothing I can do at this point?

See above.

>I'm no lawyer, but this
>strikes me as the sort of anti-competitive behavior that caused the Feds to
>break up Ma Bell way back when. They are prohibiting me from using someone
>else to access the internet, and then charging me an outrageous amount of
>money in order to access the internet via their service. Has anyone else
>experienced this? What did you do?

It's not and they're not.

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

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Joshua Beall

Posts: n/a

Re: Cingular no longer offering CSD service!? Are there no other options besides their data plans?

Posted: 01-17-2005, 06:08 PM

"John Navas" <spamfilter0@navasgroup.com> wrote in message
news:S33Gd.2044$m31.24117@typhoon.sonic.net...
>>Several minutes later she comes back and says "I'm sorry but we no longer
>>offer CSD on our phones, if you would like internet access through your
>>phone you will need to purchase one of our packages, the cheapest being
>>$20/month and providing 5 megs of download."
>
> That was nonsense. Just get "Wireless Internet" and ask to have CSD
> provisioned.

I might be reading what you are saying too literally, but Wireless Internet
is not available to me, only Wireless Internet Express. We are in a GSM
market with GSM-only phones. See here:
http://www.cingular.com/media/media_net_purchase

I already have Wireless Internet Express; I can get on the net one my phone
using Cingular as my ISP. They charge $0.01/kb. And they wouldn't give me
CSD when I called and asked for it (twice!).

Is what you are saying applicable only to TDMA plans?

And at the end of it all you are saying I should call back and ask to get
CSD added to my plan? Or should I get MEdia Works... then what? How do I
then hook my phone up to my laptop and get online with MEdia Works?

Thanks for your help, I really appreciate any pointers you can give me.

-jb

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Jeff Snodgrass via CellPhoneKB.com

Posts: n/a

Re: Cingular no longer offering CSD service!? Are there no other options besides their data plans?

Posted: 01-17-2005, 07:35 PM

You are not alone in trying to resolve this issue. I have the Motorola V551, Cingular service, and the $19.95/mo Media Works plan, which states, "Our MEdia packages include Wireless Internet access, Instant/Text Messaging, and Multimedia Messaging." So I sit on the phone for almost 45 minutes waiting for tier 2 technical support, only to be told that I need a seperate "Data Access Package", ranging in price from $29.99 for 10mb of data/month to $79.99 for Unlimited data/month. All that I am trying to do here is dial into my ISP and/or my corporate RAS (Remote Access Server). I have Motorola's mobile PhoneTools, which converted my existing Windows Dialup connections to seperate connections for my V551. I have changed the "Maximum speed (bps)" on the phone/modem to 460800 as suggested in several places both here and on other forums. When I dial with one of the V551 connections, no matter which ISP or RAS that I attempt to connect to, I get the following error:

"Error 678: The remote computer did not respond."

I've tried putting the "+" in front of the number, as suggested here and on other forums, but I still get the same error.

What I am trying to understand here is should CSD be turned on for the Media Works package that I am already paying for, and is that actually the problem? If so, can someone direct me to someone at Cingular that understands this?

Any and all help will be greatly appreciated. I am very frustrated with Cingular. Their web site has no useful help link, and wading through four or five voice menus, only to be put on hold for 45+ minutes is trying my patience.

Thanks,
Jeff

--
Message posted via http://www.cellphonekb.com

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Joshua Beall

Posts: n/a

Re: Cingular no longer offering CSD service!? Are there no other options besides their data plans?

Posted: 01-17-2005, 10:32 PM

> "Error 678: The remote computer did not respond."

This, this is exactly the error I am getting.

> What I am trying to understand here is should CSD be turned on for the
> Media Works package that I am already paying for, and is that actually the
> problem?

I called Motorola and described the error I was getting (Error 678: The
remote computer did not respond) and he said, with great confidence, and
multiple times (as I queried him repeatedly), that the problem was that I
needed to call Cingular and request they turn on "Data Services" or "CSD."
He said that Cingular effectively was preventing access to other ISPs unless
you explicitly called them and requested CSD to be turned on.

This all seemed to make sense, especially because when I called Cingular
they (eventually, once I found somebody who knew what I was talking about)
told me that it would be $3.99/month to turn this on. Great, I can handle
that. But then they later said that they "no longer offer that service!"

> If so, can someone direct me to someone at Cingular that understands
> this?

I think the problem is that Cingular *does* understand this, but they are
trying to force us into one of their higher priced plans...

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Jeff Snodgrass via CellPhoneKB.com

Posts: n/a

Re: Cingular no longer offering CSD service!? Are there no other options besides their data plans?

Posted: 01-17-2005, 11:15 PM

Ok, I got it. Here is what I had to do.

1. Sign up for the $3.99 Wireless Internet package, although I already have Media Works. (Work is paying for MW, so I don't mind.)

2. Call Cingular and (as several have said before!!) get them to provision (turn on) CSD. Advise them that you have signed up for Wireless Internet, and you need CSD provisioned. I told them exactly what I was trying to do, which was connect to the Internet on my Laptop via a USB Cable connected to my V551.

3. Configure the following Network Connection (WinXP)

Name: Cingular (or whatever you want)
User Name: ISP@CINGULARGPRS.COM
Password: CINGULAR1
Dial: *99***1# (may need to use 2 or 3 instead of 1)
Go to Properties of the Dial up Connection
Select the Mobile Phone as the modem that you are configuring
Select the Security Tab and ensure that "Typical" settings are selected,
and Allow unsecured password.
Go to Device Manager, open the modem properties and select the Modem Tab
Up the Maximum Port Speed to 460800 (EDGE)
Select the Advanced tab and add the following string to the "Extra
initialization commands:" window: &f&d2&c1+cgdcont=1,"IP","isp.cingular"

Save the entire configuration and you are ready to go. The key here is to get Cingular to provision CSD. Once that is done, you should be able to get through.

Since I have the Media Works package, which SHOULD include Wireless Internet Express, I shouldn't have had to do this. The up side is I SHOULD have unlimited data transfer at no additional charge.

I hope this helps someone else. I've been struggling with this all weekend, and it has been really frustrating.

Jeff

--
Message posted via http://www.cellphonekb.com

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Jeff Snodgrass via CellPhoneKB.com

Posts: n/a

Re: Cingular no longer offering CSD service!? Are there no other options besides their data plans?

Posted: 01-17-2005, 11:24 PM

BTW... after all of this I still can't dial up my RAS Server at work, or my ISP. So, since I can access the internet via Cingular, I'll just use their equipment, and VPN into my network at work. Haven't tried it yet. Looks like they cut their nose off to spite their face on this one. Unlimited access for $19.99 + $3.99 compared to their "push" of the $29.99+ wireless packages.

Jeff

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