Gambling on the Internet

This is a technology post. If you are not interested I won't be offended if you don't read the rest.

I didn't realize I was a gambler until I took a chance and got burned.

When we got to Australia I found a prepaid mobile plan that was $2/day for unlimited voice, text, and Internet. That sounded really good to me. As I read more about it someone pointed out that the small print on the agreement indicated that the plan is only for voice devices (phones). I wanted to use it with my mobile hotspot. It would take a very loose definition of "voice device" in order for my hotspot to be eligible. I could not find instances of people actually losing their Internet service because they used a non-voice device (tablet, hotspot, or whatever) and so I thought I'd take a chance and try to get away with it. I had researched other mobile Internet options in Australia and they are expensive! If it worked I would save some money and if not I would only lose the balance on the account.

We arrived in Australia on Thursday and I bought the $2/day sim card and loaded it up with $20 to cover all of our days in Australia. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday all went well. We had all the Internet we needed and it was great! I thought I was getting away with one. Monday morning started out the same. But then around 10am all of the sudden the Internet stopped working and I got a text message indicating that Internet access from my sim card had been restricted because it was a non-phone device. I gambled and lost.

My theory is that the people who monitor these things weren't working on Saturday and Sunday but when they returned to work on Monday they noticed me pretty quick. Part of me wants to call them and ask how they knew that my data traffic was not coming from a voice device. I could argue that using Skype or Facetime over my hotspot would make it a "voice device". I'm still super curious but know that I am in the wrong.

So, in order to get some replacement Internet access Seth and I hiked the 3 miles in to town, bought a new SIM and a recharge voucher, and hiked back. I wanted to activate things myself but I had to put the SIM card in to my cheap-o phone and talk to a customer service agent and provide some details. She took my details, activated the sim card, applied our recharge voucher, and got the data plan activated. In the end Internet in Australia is going to cost us $120 which is a ton more expensive than it has been in any other countries.

Update: I just got a text message from the $2/day provider and they want my feedback. Really?!?

Update: Our new Internet provider tells me that we've consumed only about 300MB of data in 24 hours. I know a few of my downloads have been added up to over 200MB. Sam is watching school online. 300MB seems low to me.