Travel Technology - Tmobile internet-am I doing something wrong?

Before I head back to the Tmobile store I would like to query the experts here.
I upgraded my phone to a web enabled DASH and signed up for the Tmobil internet service(not the hotspots plan)after being assured that I would have web browsing capability any where I got a Tmobile signal
I have yet to get a Tmobile web signal,phone yes-but no internet-am getting wifi signals from other carriers.
Anybody have any pointers/ideas?
Thanks in advance for the advice.

You may be confusing a few things. You say you are not seeing a "web signal"? What exactly do you mean? WiFi signals from other carriers?

WiFi is not the same as cellular data. If you have a phone signal, you have a data signal. They are pretty much the same thing. Turn WiFi off and try browsing again.

The best place to start is the T-mobile settings configurator:

http://tmobileuspublic.wdsglobal.com/phonefirst

Setup the phone for

How much are you paying for the data plan? If it's the "$5.99" plan then you won't be able to get full internet access (at least not without a little hack work), if you are on the "$19.99" plan then you should have full access, but only if you have the phone go through the "internet2.voicestream.com" access point.

If this all sounds too confusing, I'd suggest having them set things up in the store.

In short:

The "$5.99" Mobile web plan is only for WAP sites. There is a way to bypass it, but the store won't be able to help you with that. If you want full Internet access, you'll need the $19.99 plan.

Thanks ScottC-helpful as always.I went to the Tmobil website-no link to the VERY helpful site you linked to!
Just like the Airlines/hotel sites I get more info here at flyertalk!
I did indeed spring for the $19.99 plan.

I've had the 19.99 plan for almost 5 years now. I love it; I bluetooth connect with my laptop and have internet anywhere. It's not blazing fast, but worth the price when I need it.

On your Dash, click the soft key under the word Start, then scroll down to Internet Explorer and click on it. That opens the web browser. Setting up the email if you have a POP account is more complicated and T-Mobile Tech Support will walk you through it on the phone.

On your Dash, click the soft key under the word Start, then scroll down to Internet Explorer and click on it. That opens the web browser. Setting up the email if you have a POP account is more complicated and T-Mobile Tech Support will walk you through it on the phone.

The configurator I posted above will also help with setting up email.

The $19.99 plan also includes hotspot, btw.

The $19.99 plan also includes hotspot, btw.

Not all of them... T-mobile really messed up their Internet plans. First it was $19.99 for just Internet, then they raised it to $29.99 and added hotspot, then lowered it again and now have 2 plans at $19.99; one with, and one without hotspot access.

They couldn't make things more confusing.

Not all of them... T-mobile really messed up their Internet plans. First it was $19.99 for just Internet, then they raised it to $29.99 and added hotspot, then lowered it again and now have 2 plans at $19.99; one with, and one without hotspot access.

They couldn't make things more confusing.

Ok - so why would anyone pick the one without?

Ok - so why would anyone pick the one without?

Often you just get what the rep on the phone or in store picks. And sadly they are usually not as well informed as the people here on FT :)

I get what my Agreement says I get. I don't take any rep's word for anything.

Take your phone into the store. Tell them to fix it or pound sand. You are, after all, a paying customer, and you're not trying to get anything you aren't paying for.

The configurator I posted above will also help with setting up email.

Will it help switch my phone to GPRS so I can use it to access the internet on my notebook when traveling in non wifi kinda countries? I'd rather not have to buy another phone.

I recently got my first Blackberry and use T Mobile. When I click on the browser icon all I get is T Zones and it is extremely slow and limited. Is this the real internet access they promise or am I missing something?

I recently got my first Blackberry and use T Mobile. When I click on the browser icon all I get is T Zones and it is extremely slow and limited. Is this the real internet access they promise or am I missing something?

Which Blackberry, and which plan? On mine, there is a T-Zones icon, and also a Web icon. If you have a Blackberry or internet plan, you have full internet access either via the Blackberry service or directly via Edge if you update your APN to internet2.voicestream.com.

I have the Curve and I have both icons. I get the TZones when I click on the web browser icon. How do you update an APN?

GB-ScottC posted a really helpful link on post 2
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showpost.php?p=9300998&postcount=2

If you want to use the Tmobile internet access TURN OFF the wifi setting and click on the internet explorer tab.
Not anywhere as fast as the verizon system-but a heck of a lot cheaper and it works fine for me.

Ok -so I have the Tmobile Total internet package(which includes internet and hot spots) on my new Dash
Can I use the same account login to access Hot spots on my lap top?

Ok -so I have the Tmobile Total internet package(which includes internet and hot spots) on my new Dash
Can I use the same account login to access Hot spots on my lap top?

Yes.

Caveat: when I first tried, I was unable to log in. Called 611, they had to set something (not sure what). No issues thereafter.

Thanks for the quick response mbreuer :D
You FT techies are the best ^

Ok -so I have the Tmobile Total internet package(which includes internet and hot spots) on my new Dash
Can I use the same account login to access Hot spots on my lap top?

I don't need any account login to browse the Internet with my T-Mobile Dash. I just start Internet Explorer.

Using the Dash's WiFi to connect to Hot Spots is totally separate from browsing the Internet. T-Mobile hot spots require a login, which usually consists of your mobile phone number as the user name plus some password that you set up. Other hot spots may or may not require user names and passwords.

Thanks redburgundy-that is correct.
However-there maybe times when you want to access a hotspot via your phone---or if your subscribtion includes Hot spots access you might want to use a laptop-which is what I was trying to do.
Now if I could get the tethering thing to work I would be all set.

Thanks redburgundy-that is correct.
However-there maybe times when you want to access a hotspot via your phone---or if your subscribtion includes Hot spots access you might want to use a laptop-which is what I was trying to do.
Now if I could get the tethering thing to work I would be all set.

Well, I get them all to work just fine. I can turn on the WiFi and connect through a T-Mobile hot spot or through my home WiFi router.
Tethering uses an app called "Internet Sharing", which is independent of whether you are connected through T-Mobile cellphone frequencies or through WiFi.

Well, I get them all to work just fine. I can turn on the WiFi and connect through a T-Mobile hot spot or through my home WiFi router.
Tethering uses an app called "Internet Sharing", which is independent of whether you are connected through T-Mobile cellphone frequencies or through WiFi.

Sadly, I don't believe you can tether the dash to wifi. The sharing only works with GPRS/EDGE (unless there's been a patch to WM6 that I missed)... but I switched to a Curve, so it doesn't matter anymore :)

Sadly, I don't believe you can tether the dash to wifi. The sharing only works with GPRS/EDGE (unless there's been a patch to WM6 that I missed)

Wrong.
The Dash doesn't care whether it connects to the Internet through the T-Mobile cellphone frequencies or through a WiFi hotspot.
The Internet Sharing application works in both cases.

Wrong.
The Dash doesn't care whether it connects to the Internet through the T-Mobile cellphone frequencies or through a WiFi hotspot.
The Internet Sharing application works in both cases.

Yes, but the shared connection's traffic goes over edge, not wifi (at least it did on mine).