Question

Arcadyan "device eligible for unlocking" offer from T-mob?

  • 28 February 2023
  • 5 replies
  • 462 views
R
Badge

I’ve had T-mob’s wireless internet with the Arcadyan box for 3 months (@$50/mo).

In this month’s bill there was this statement:

I’m assuming that this means I can continue renting the Arcadyan box from T-mob for $50/mo, and I can use another cell provider’s sim/dataplan (at an additional cost, of course). Sounds correct? Anyone unlock their box? Sounds like a potentially expensive path to take.

(The link in the above doesn’t really explain much related to wireless internet. I hesitate calling the T-mob helpdesk, I rarely find them helpful.)

Which then has me wondering: is the $50/mo Arcadyan box ‘rental’ for a specific time period? (2yrs, 5yrs, forever?). Do I ever own the box free and clear? I don’t have a copy of the agreement to check this….

thx

5 replies

gramps28
Rank
Userlevel 7
Badge +14

My guess is that it needs to be returned if you ever quit service pretty much like if you're renting one through the cable company but you can try using messenger on one of tmobile's social media platforms to see if they can let you know for sure.

R

You never own the device. It must be returned (if you bring it to a store, this must be a corporate store, as franchises don’t deal in the home Internet product) when you cancel the service, or you will be billed $370.

You know something is going on when you must rent, in perpetuity, a piece of equipment that had a fixed price and that eventually becomes obsolete. An honest company would give you a SIM card and the option of purchasing their gateway, renting it (with lower payments not meant to cover the cost of fully purchasing the device), or using any compatible cellular modem (such as a Netgear M1, M5 or M6, all of which are much more modern and faster-performing than T-Mobile’s 2 generic gateways).

H
Userlevel 3
Badge +4

…

You know something is going on when you must rent, in perpetuity, a piece of equipment that had a fixed price and that eventually becomes obsolete.

...

But are we really renting our TMO gateways?  Can’t the $50/mo. we pay be considered payment for the internet service we receive? And, with the the internet service we receive, we get a gateway that needs to be returned once we terminate our subscription to the service?

R

…

You know something is going on when you must rent, in perpetuity, a piece of equipment that had a fixed price and that eventually becomes obsolete.

...

But are we really renting our TMO gateways?  Can’t the $50/mo. we pay be considered payment for the internet service we receive? And, with the the internet service we receive, we get a gateway that needs to be returned once we terminate our subscription to the service?

A more honest way for T-Mobile to look at it would be to separate the portion of the $50 that pays for equipment form the portion that pays for service. When you’ve had the service for enough months/years that the money in the former bucket exceeds the fair price of the device, it should be yours, unlocked and ready for you to pop in a SIM card from the provider of your choice. And you should pay only for the service after that point, if you choose to stay with T-Mobile.

I have no idea what portion of the monthly $50 charge T-Mobile allocates to customer premises equipment (CPE), but I can say that the quoted replacement price of the gateway ($370) is excessive. That price would be appropriate for consumer brand hardware bought at a real store like BestBuy, with the attendant (hardware-specific) marketing, advertising, inventory and sales costs.

Given that the gateway is wholesale rather than retail hardware, it would be generous to price it at $200. Allowing, say, $7/month, the device should be yours in 2.5 years.

H
Userlevel 3
Badge +4

What if TMO considers the $50 monthly charge entirely a service fee for providing internet service and cosiders the gateway as their property, on loan for free to the subscriber for as long as the subscriber stays with TMO HI?

Reply


New badge winners

  • Curious George
    ZDPhas earned the badge Curious George
  • Curious George
    MattScotthas earned the badge Curious George
  • Curious George
    Jack1eKhas earned the badge Curious George
  • Curious George
    jpviolanti2has earned the badge Curious George
  • Curious George
    hb44374has earned the badge Curious George
Show all badges
Terms & Conditions