O2 multi-device plans.

[jimthing0]

Many users have more than one iOS device.

And what with today's announcment of the iPad (4th generation) and iPad Mini, surely the possibility of a great many users owning even THREE devices of their very own (maybe even more, if they need to/can afford to!) is massive. 

Currently they are all charged "per device" on separate plans of some kind — whether that means obtaining the device through a full contract or just adopting a sim-only type deal by buying the device outright yourself beforehand (usually from Apple directly or non-carrier retail channels). 

This makes me wonder whether O2 (other carriers?) offer any multiple device plans (contract, sim-only, or payg) to cover several devices that a single user may be using? 

e.g. iPhone + iPad + iPad Mini => all under a single phone/text/data plan. 

[Don't AT&T in the US offer these things now? If so why not here in the UK?]

I'm sure many users find it annoying that one month they use tons of iPhone data and little iPad data, then vice-versa the following month. Yet they are having to pay continually for BOTH regardless, which is a complete waste of their financial resources for the data parts they don't use on those months one device gets little mobile data usage. 

I'm sure a great many users might be interested in this. 

Do any mods or regular forum users have any info or advice pertaining to this? 

[Anonymous]

Have you tried tethering ? Now that o2 allow you to use your iPhone's data how ever you like, I just tether my iPad whenever I need to use it when out and about. Admittedly for me that is not too often, but if you are an occasional user maybe it is worth it instead of paying for another data plan.

Once you create a hotspot, choose a password and link your iPads, it is just an issue of turning hotspot on when you want and your iPads will automatically connect in a few seconds.

I find this the perfect solution for me as I also connect my laptop when needed, but then it is just me using all devices so I will always have my iPhone with me. 

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure if there is such a thing for consumers but I have a business shared tariff. This basically allows all 5 phones linked to it to dip into a shared pot of free minutes and texts but each with their own allocated data. Each handset is upgradeable after its set contract time but this does complicate and limit the upgrade options as you cannot just walk into a store as I have found recently whilst considering my iPhone 5 delays!

[jimthing0]

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@Anonymous wrote:

Have you tried tethering ? Now that o2 allow you to use your iPhone's data how ever you like, I just tether my iPad whenever I need to use it when out and about. 

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Not sure what you specifically mean here (the underlined part)? 

I'm currently on a Simlicity iPhone deal (I own my iPhone 4S outright) which gives me 300 mins, unlimited text, unlimied data — BUT not 4/1 MMS (have to pay separately) and TETHERING not included?

Anyway to be honest, my main point is... what happens if I don't have my phone with me or for whatever reason I don't want to tether out of convenience/ease of use (eg. non-smart phone owning wife borrows iPad, so she can't access my iPhone connection. Or several similar reasons and convenience factors)? 

It'd be great to follow other providers worldwide that allowed several devices under one account. eg: 

Account name: Joe Bloggs / user #: 1234567890 

Devices: iPhone, iPad 1, iPad 2 

Mixed allowances plan: (talk) 300 mins, (texts) unlimited, (data) 1GB 

Currently used: (talk) 195 mins, (texts) unlimited, (data) 345 MB 

That kind of idea. Anyone seen these from other carriers UK/worldwide? 

(as I said, I'm sure AT&T do this in the states, don't they?) 

[Anonymous]

On some plans, O2 now include tethering for free. You are given your data allowance for your plan and if you choose to use some of it for tethering or Facetime, then you can. Other providers may not allow this even for Facetime over 3G.

I don't know about the simplicity plans, but if tethering is not included, you might still be able to add a data bolt on that includes it with enough data for all your devices.

As I said before, for me this works out fine as I do not go anywhere without my phone but from what you are saying then it will not be the perfect solution for you. I don't know of any other UK providers who do this but then again, I have no need to be checking their latest offers.

I am not sure about the states, but there are products that you could buy (Mifi) which are basically wifi enabled dongles. You pay for a data allowance and then any wifi enabled device could connect and share the data. It still means you would pay for 2 subscriptions (phone and Mifi), but then you could connect any number of devices without your phone having to be there.

[jimthing0]

Yeah Mi-Fi's well known about, if that's your thing, but not ideal. 

And no, us old 'unlimited data' Simplicity users are not allowed to add any kind of tethering bolt-on at all. And for reasons unknown (except the obvious: they want users OFF these unlimited data plans!) we're also expected to suffer the 4/1 MMS as an EXTRA CHARGE (highly annoyingly!). 

My point is the larger one: multi-device tariff plans. 

O2 staffers: hint, 'this is a good idea!' 

— say user pays £5/mth to add each extra device to their mobile plan. If user sells a device, then they just get it removed from their plan. 

This would also work for O2 as well, of course, as users would feel more obiged to use more data across all their devices (and pay for it), as they'd know any one of the devices can be used at any time during any month without wasting money on one devices unused data. 

[Of course, we must think this may be done deliberately by O2 for legitimate business reasons; to keep mobile data usage lower due to network capacity infrastructure not being sufficient yet. So perhaps a future technical concept. ] 

[ewanrw]

Discovered today that Vodafone offer this very idea.

http://www.vodafone.co.uk/business/price-plans/sharer-plans/data-sharer/index.htm

ewan

[Liquid]

I love this idea:) I especially like the idea of splitting the data usage across the hardware. 3gb would probably suffice for me each month for iPhone/iPad. I'd happily pay another £10-15 on top of my £60 bill for 2gb iPad data:)

[jimthing0]

Verizon do this in the US, too. 

IIRC, I read on other forums it costs them just $10 to add a device with 2GB of data included. 

Sounds great! 

Roll-on O2 and other UK carriers — hopefully they'll consider it more when they know what is going to happen with 4G LTE (I won't call it 3.9G, lol!) next year, and there is more bandwidth on their networks to support more widspread adoption.