[8525, TyTN, MDA Vario II, JasJam General] flamingcrumb:
Sorry if I repeat anything covered. I recently hopped from T-Mo to Cingular due to poor T-Mo signal where I live and due to the addition of Cingular's 3G in the here and now.

It is completely true that full access and funcionality is currently available using just the MEdia Max plans. I am sure everyone knows but just to say do avoid any limited data plans cos Cingular charge for data overages through the roof. The limited plans or "bundles" to avoid are called MEdia Works. The Max plans are unlimited and currently 19.99 incl 200 messages.

That said, I spent a lot of time reading on the Cingular owned forums and ended up feeling cautious about using a MEdia Max plan. This is just a personal assessment and, of course, everyone has to make their own call. Seems like there are more and more stern warnings being issued at present about the consequences of being "caught" on the wrong plan. Threats of massive penalties of hundreds and hundreds of dollars etc. Lots of warnings about tethering or using a laptop on the wrong plan too. Warnings about using a PDA on a MEdia plan etc. This is combined with the fact there are plenty of posts from people silly enough to talk about this stuff right on the Cingular owned forum.... quite a lot! Cingular must now about this stuff... for sure.

My understanding is that nothing is actually enforced at present, but with the advent of 3G can;t hep but think they sure have a lot more to want to protect and a lot of cash money they really want to pull in... while they may not be getting so much from voice plans anymore.

The MEdia Max plans are clearly intended for WAP browsing through a proxy on a regular phone. As we know, not enforced and if you simply do not use the proxy you get full access. It is not restrcietd by any provisioning process on their side (as T-Mo is). I expect people are aware that T-Mo cracked down fairly effectively on this kind of thing and locked most people out of the cheap web plan... became impossible or very difficult to get full access through the WAP plan. Never did it myself, but they was a lot of info about it. Can't see why Cingular won't do this sooner or later - especially as they currently have the more desirable data service (may change... but for now) and they charge way more than T-Mo.... and they must know are lot of people are using the MEdia plans when Cingular wants then on the PDA plans...

Unlike T-Mo ever did, Cingular are at least waving the threat of massive financial penalties. It may be hot air. It may not be enforcable, but it is at least worth letting you know it is being said... quite a bit too.

My (admittedly limited) understanding is that, if they wanted to put the effort in, they definitely can tell quite a bit about what people are really doing on their network. Expecially when you go through the WAP APN. It is like going through the NAT translation of a home or work router where you share one IP address with a bunch of other people. I am not saying they can realistically spy on your every move, just that they might not need that much info to prove you where not doing WAP browsing and your headers and data packets maybe came from a Windows Mobile device.... and perhaps that you are accessing email ports and stuff not intended for use on the MEdia plans.

Sure you could argue that their plan definitions are vague, but if it came down to it I personally wouldn't want to get into a battle with a huge company with zillions lawyers when I could scarely afford one at all!

Again, sorry if this has been mentioned and I missed it, but they currently have a special on a plan called PDA Max. Unlimited PDA, Xpress Mail (not that I care about that) Cing Vid, is included (assuming you can get it to work) ... more importantly this new plan includes 1500 any kind messages and is priced at 39.99... the same is the standard PDA Unltd with zero messages included. Supposedly it is only available till June 2, 2007 (tho who really know?). I found the best way to get is through the online live tech chat section of forum. The reps seemed much better informed about data technology and plans and you can print out the transcript to prove what was agreed. This is supposed to be a business plan... well it is only listed on the biz pages at present, maybe that will change. In any case, the online chat reps will put you on it if you want as an individual consumer no probs.

Unknown if it is true, but the word on those boards is that they plan to move all PDA customers over to the WAP APN and keep the ISP APN for tethered and laptop plans. Just talk at this time, but it again suggests they may be working towards locking things down. Should they choose to actually get nasty and make examples of a few people as they might see it, I would rather not be one of them, especially is it only for the sake of saving 20 bucks a month.

Sorry for the long post. Just wanted to share the rumblings and the PDA Max deal which takes the sting out of the higher plan, if you choose to go for it. Like I said though, I have no clue what will really happen. Just sharing the whispers.

Gotta say, good coverage... but ouch, they have pretty high rates (especially after T-Mo). All the best :)

Edit: Forgot to say, so far as I can tell you just get 3G if it is in your area and your device supports it... it is not a separate plan are something that has to be asked for... as far as I can tell. For me the WAP APN works for every conceivabe port I ever use. My undertsanding is that there are one. maybe two, very specific types of VPN that might be a problem. Exchange works perfectly - actually that can even work through their proxy! Speeds seem just as high... I have seen 700Kbps through the WAP APN... sorry my post length is ridiculous, time I stopped!