So T-Mobile's 50MB hard cap on data roaming with the unlimited data plan is seriously cramping my style. Knowing that whenever I'm out of T-Mobile coverage area, my phone roams on AT&T, today I picked up a prepaid SIM on AT&T. I went with the $65 smartphone plan, just so I could try it for a month and see if I might want to switch from T-Mobile.
For those who don't know, it includes unlimited talk and text, plus 1GB of data. After using it tonight, I'm quite aghast at some of the restrictions AT&T places on these prepaid plans.
First off, prepaid accounts don't get access to MyAT&T, neither on the web nor the Android app. This means that the only way you can check your data usage is to dial *777*3# every time. To add insult, it only tells you the amount of data you have remaining, not how much you've used. Its easy to do simple arithmetic, but couldn't they show data usage in the same manner everyone else does? I've never seen anyone show data remaining in lieu of data used.
Next, it appears, for prepaid users anyway, that speedtest.net is blocked somehow. When opening the app, it finds a server, does the ping test, then hangs, unable to start a download. Trying it over WiFi works fine, so it would seem to be an AT&T issue.
Next, they do not offer any prepaid plan with more than 1GB of data. The guy at the store said that it will just cut off after you reach the 1GB cap, but the info sheet I got says they would bill $0.05 per megabyte, deducted from my prepaid account. This would NEVER work for me if using AT&T as my daily carrier. 1GB is child's play for me. I'd burn through that in a week.
Because of all this, I'm kinda faced with a predicament. I will either need to switch to an AT&T individual postpaid month-to-month plan with 450 minutes, unlimited texting, and 5 GB of data for $110/mo and get the vast coverage, or I can stick with my T-Mobile Simple Choice plan where I get unlimited talk, text, and data for $70/mo, but am limited to 50MB of data roaming. And before anyone mentions an AT&T MVNO like Straight Talk, it's not an option for me. I have friends that use Straight Talk with an AT&T SIM, and I can tell you horror story after horror story of data throttling headaches. In addition, most of them have had issues with traffic prioritization. It can be a real problem during heavy use times in this market.
So I'm going to go straight to the source and either stay with T-Mobile or go to AT&T. Any thoughts or suggestions? I'm really torn.
Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk HD
You should check out AT&T's $50 pre-paid go-phone plan. If they don't recognize your IMEI, then you essentially have unlimited data (HSPA+ included), voice, and text for $50 a month.
dsass600 said:
You should check out AT&T's $50 pre-paid go-phone plan. If they don't recognize your IMEI, then you essentially have unlimited data (HSPA+ included), voice, and text for $50 a month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I assume you mean if they don't recognize the IMEI as a smartphone?
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk HD
oldblue910 said:
I assume you mean if they don't recognize the IMEI as a smartphone?
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk HD
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Exactly.
dsass600 said:
Exactly.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Interesting. That may definitely be worth checking out. The bigger question would be, how long until that IMEI *IS* recognized as a smartphone? haha
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk HD
I recently switched to AT&T prepaid too so maybe I can help
oldblue910 said:
First off, prepaid accounts don't get access to MyAT&T, neither on the web nor the Android app. This means that the only way you can check your data usage is to dial *777*3# every time. To add insult, it only tells you the amount of data you have remaining, not how much you've used. Its easy to do simple arithmetic, but couldn't they show data usage in the same manner everyone else does? I've never seen anyone show data remaining in lieu of data used.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While I agree it's kind of weird that they do that, I can kind of see why. With prepaid, you buy it, then drain it. This way, you can see how much you have left before you need to reload. I'm not disagreeing with you and saying it's good that they do it this way, I'm just saying that maybe I can see why.
oldblue910 said:
Next, it appears, for prepaid users anyway, that speedtest.net is blocked somehow. When opening the app, it finds a server, does the ping test, then hangs, unable to start a download. Trying it over WiFi works fine, so it would seem to be an AT&T issue.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've noticed this too. I can't get speedtest to work. However, I know that I am getting HSPA+ 15 when using data. I don't know how fast it is, but I am getting HSPA+ 15.
oldblue910 said:
Next, they do not offer any prepaid plan with more than 1GB of data. The guy at the store said that it will just cut off after you reach the 1GB cap, but the info sheet I got says they would bill $0.05 per megabyte, deducted from my prepaid account. This would NEVER work for me if using AT&T as my daily carrier. 1GB is child's play for me. I'd burn through that in a week.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
While one gig is enough for me, I can see if you use more. Technically, you can buy data in increments, at $25/gb. This can get expensive basically after the first gb. My solution? In your next paragraph.
oldblue910 said:
Because of all this, I'm kinda faced with a predicament. I will either need to switch to an AT&T individual postpaid month-to-month plan with 450 minutes, unlimited texting, and 5 GB of data for $110/mo and get the vast coverage
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Right here. If I found that I used more than one gb a month, I would go month-to-month post-paid, get better coverage (coverage isn't a deal for me, but whatever), get way more data, and get more options from AT&T, all for cheaper than prepaid. Basically, I'm paying $50/month for prepaid and getting 1 gb a month and 250 minutes (I barely ever talk on the phone, that's plenty). To add another gb would hike the price another $25 up to $75. For post-paid, I got quoted by a salesperson at my local store 450 minutes, 3gb, and unlimited texting for $70/month.
So basically, if I found myself using more than one gb a month of data, I would go post-paid, and that's what I suggest you do. That's my two cents, anyway.
**EDIT**
As for that $50 unlimited everything plan that was posted earlier: I've heard of people getting their Nexus 4 working on it, but that plan is for feature phones. Why does that matter? Since the plan is for feature phones, the data is throttled at 2G speeds. I can't remember using 2G, but I'm pretty sure even web-browsing would be painful at that speed. That's just what I've heard, anyway.
If you're having problems with speedtest go into apn and clear our everything but apn, mmsc, mms proxy
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Wow, in Canada people complain about 3 year contracts (I never sign them myself thank god), but our monthly prices are not this insane!
For $50/month postpaid I'm getting 500 minutes, unlimited incoming, unlimited calling between 6 pm and 7 am and on weekends, unlimited SMS, and 1 GB of LTE data. And that's on a subsidiary of Rogers which is Canada's AT&T pretty much.
jlear3 said:
If you're having problems with speedtest go into apn and clear our everything but apn, mmsc, mms proxy
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That worked! I'm getting about 6 megs down and one meg up inside my apartment. That's about what I get with T-Mobile. I'll see what it's like outside with a good strong signal tomorrow.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
jlear3 said:
If you're having problems with speedtest go into apn and clear our everything but apn, mmsc, mms proxy
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
oldblue910 said:
That worked! I'm getting about 6 megs down and one meg up inside my apartment. That's about what I get with T-Mobile. I'll see what it's like outside with a good strong signal tomorrow.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4 Beta
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Worked here, too. Now my only question is this: should I permanently keep my APN with just those 3 settings or does that lag only apply to the speedtest? FYI: I'm only pulling 3.6mbps down and 1mbps up with that APN on that test.
dsass600 said:
You should check out AT&T's $50 pre-paid go-phone plan. If they don't recognize your IMEI, then you essentially have unlimited data (HSPA+ included), voice, and text for $50 a month.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The $65 plan the OP is on is a GoPhone plan. I also don't see your reasoning about the IMEI. Even if they don't have the IMEI in their database they can still see your data use and there is a 1GB cap regardless of type of data used (2G, 3G or 4G). The OP obviously needs a plan with more data and the only way to get it reliably is to pay for it.
kzoodroid said:
I also don't see your reasoning about the IMEI. Even if they don't have the IMEI in their database they can still see your data use and there is a 1GB cap regardless of type of data used (2G, 3G or 4G).
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Click to collapse
Not sure if I fully understood your post. Are you certain that on the $50 Unlimited Call, Text, & Data GoPhone Plan that there is a 1GB cap even though it states it is unlimited on the AT&T website? If so, is that from experience?
a63548 said:
Not sure if I fully understood your post. Are you certain that on the $50 Unlimited Call, Text, & Data GoPhone Plan that there is a 1GB cap even though it states it is unlimited on the AT&T website? If so, is that from experience?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The $50 unlimited plan only has unlimited data for basic phones, smartphones have to add a data package to this plan. Which now I think I understand the other persons post, he's claiming that since the IMEI is not registered it shows up as a dumbphone and he's able to use the $50 unlimited plan as is. I didn't even think of going with that option and paid for a separate 1 GB data plan with the $25 monthly calling plan. After I use up the 1 GB of data, which I never have, I should get charged the per KB fee. Of course once AT&T adds the IMEI to their database, if they haven't already, they will tell you you need a data plan to keep that service.
So as an update, I went to an AT&T store today and signed up for a postpaid account. 450 minutes, unlimited texting, 5GB data. Unfortunately I canceled the service 2 hours later. First, I get MyAT&T set up only to discover that the app has no widget and getting to your data usage requires 3 or 4 taps. Strike one. Both Verizon and T-Mobile have data widgets so you can check your usage at a glance or one tap at max.
Strike two was visual voicemail. After sideloading AT&T's visual voicemail app, it wouldn't work. I called AT&T's customer service and after looking, the rep (who was very helpful) said that he couldn't provision visual voicemail on my account because it's only included on LTE accounts. Unless the SIM was tied to an IMEI of an LTE device, visual voicemail on the N4 is a lost cause. I need visual voicemail because navigating past voicemail messages via the system prompts over the phone is a deal breaker. If you get a lot of phone calls and messages, visual voicemail is the greatest thing ever.
Strike three was the data speeds. I drove to five different areas of town doing speed tests and never got more than 2.6mbps down. At these same sites, I would always try the T-Mobile SIM and never got below 9mbps down. The other night at my apartment, I was getting about 6mbps down on AT&T prepaid, but it was late at night on a weekday. Clearly the network is going to be busier at mid morning on a Saturday and it showed.
Luckily, since I canceled within 3 days, I wasn't liable for any charges and basically we just called it a wash.
For now I'll stick with T-Mobile since they give me the stuff I've grown accustomed to, plus truly unlimited data. I'll just learn to live with the 50MB data roaming cap.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk HD
Related
I am guessing this will show up as a smart phone on ATT now and require the Smart Phone $15 200MB plan. I use about 800MB a month. Not sure another $10-$15 is worth 600MB of Carrier data, I like the idea of not having to worry about data use JIC.
tbong777 said:
I am guessing this will show up as a smart phone on ATT now and require the Smart Phone $15 200MB plan. I use about 800MB a month. Not sure another $10-$15 is worth 600MB of Carrier data, I like the idea of not having to worry about data use JIC.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You may run into issues using the $15/month plan honestly. I know that AT&T is able to see that the N7000 is a smartphone, so you could well be hassled for that and possibly automatically "upgraded" to a smartphone data plan.
Unfortunately, AT&T no longer honours upgrading unlimited data if you're coming from the old $15/month medianet plan, so it'd have to be a tiered plan.
Now, having said all that, there's still the GoPhone option that some people have taken. Basically, $50 a month for unlimited everything, pay-as-you-go.
Jade Eyed Wolf said:
You may run into issues using the $15/month plan honestly. I know that AT&T is able to see that the N7000 is a smartphone, so you could well be hassled for that and possibly automatically "upgraded" to a smartphone data plan.
Unfortunately, AT&T no longer honours upgrading unlimited data if you're coming from the old $15/month medianet plan, so it'd have to be a tiered plan.
Now, having said all that, there's still the GoPhone option that some people have taken. Basically, $50 a month for unlimited everything, pay-as-you-go.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks...That is what I was afraid of. IF I even used 1.9GB of data it would be worth it. But I am caught in the middle. Over 200MB under 1GB Maybe I cam port both device numbers to the GoPhone. We are paying about $100 a month for both phones with 750 minutes UL data and no messaging plan. (we use FB messaging and GoChat) Can't imagine how we could get unlimited everything for $50 each or why it would be less expensive....on a pay as you go plan except for the fact that we don't need subsidized phones.
If you don't mind paying for a backup phone, you can get a refurb Nokia E71 on Straight Talk and be on AT&T network with unlimited everything for $45/month. Their unlimited data is not truly unlimited but there is a safe threshold of 100MB/day. That particular device (E71) comes with an unlocked sim card that can be used in the note with the correct APN settings, whereas a lot of their devices come with a sim that is locked to the device. I have been using the plan for almost two months now myself.
If you do this it is important to activate and use the service on the E71 to make sure there aren't any kinks, probably a few days at least, before migrating the sim to the note. If you have problems with the service, be sure to move the sim back into the E71 before calling support.
beestee said:
If you don't mind paying for a backup phone, you can get a refurb Nokia E71 on Straight Talk and be on AT&T network with unlimited everything for $45/month. Their unlimited data is not truly unlimited but there is a safe threshold of 100MB/day. That particular device (E71) comes with an unlocked sim card that can be used in the note with the correct APN settings, whereas a lot of their devices come with a sim that is locked to the device. I have been using the plan for almost two months now myself.
If you do this it is important to activate and use the service on the E71 to make sure there aren't any kinks, probably a few days at least, before migrating the sim to the note. If you have problems with the service, be sure to move the sim back into the E71 before calling support.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is exactly what I plan on doing- waiting to pick my e71 up from UPS after winter session exams are over. I'll report on results.
guitarplayerone said:
This is exactly what I plan on doing- waiting to pick my e71 up from UPS after winter session exams are over. I'll report on results.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Saw those packages at Wal Mart.$45 unlimited everything. I m guessing its the same MediaNet plan and APN I am already on with the SGS II Last speedtest run was 2.8MB DL. 520K up. Not bad for MediaNet.
tbong777 said:
Saw those packages at Wal Mart.$45 unlimited everything. I m guessing its the same MediaNet plan and APN I am already on with the SGS II Last speedtest run was 2.8MB DL. 520K up. Not bad for MediaNet.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I range from 1-4Mb DL, usually steady 1Mb UL. Some get higher, it depends on area I guess. My requirement was that most Youtube videos don't need to buffer for more than a second or two, so I'm more than happy with the result.
I don't think its the same APN, but that doesn't mean that the APN isn't 'treated the same way' so-to-speak.
At the end of the day, it's a great plan- the only reason I'm not on MediaNet I guess is that I didn't want to have to root and delete my EFS folder to guarantee being 'safe' (at least while my warranty is still available after all the trouble I went arranging for it).
It's also interesting to note- I have yet to actually power on the E71- I just removed the SIM and microsd. It looks like a nice 'backup phone' that I will use while I lifeguard during the summer (beach weather killed the old Iphone 3G)
Hi!!
I have HTC Inspire with unlimited data plan and dicide to buy a HTC vivid, swap sims cards and notice that the internet didnt work. So I called Att customer service and they said that my Unlimited data plan is not compatible with Vivids "4g Lte" beacouse of my unlimited DATA. Therfore they said if i wanted to use the phone i have to change my plan and pay for each gig.. Any way iam determine to use my phone beacouse i just paid $200 for it (NEW out of the Box hell of a deal!! ).
Any ideas
how i can use the internet?
or change vivids 4 lte to H+ like my Inspire? ***I tried to set my network type WCDMA preferred, GSM only, WCDMA only, GSM/WCDMA/LTE auto, LTE only. But i cant chage to non of them just WCDMA.
At this moment Iam using an diferrent apn that i found in the XDA forum and my mobile internet works (DL Speed 5 to 7 megas), but my Wifi Thether wont give me access to the internet. (At this moment the phone is rooted and haves super user and is s-off).
Plz anyone can help be very aprecited!!
neomax10 said:
Hi!!
I have HTC Inspire with unlimited data plan and dicide to buy a HTC vivid, swap sims cards and notice that the internet didnt work. So I called Att customer service and they said that my Unlimited data plan is not compatible with Vivids "4g Lte" beacouse of my unlimited DATA. Therfore they said if i wanted to use the phone i have to change my plan and pay for each gig.. Any way iam determine to use my phone beacouse i just paid $200 for it (NEW out of the Box hell of a deal!! ).
Any ideas
how i can use the internet?
or change vivids 4 lte to H+ like my Inspire? ***I tried to set my network type WCDMA preferred, GSM only, WCDMA only, GSM/WCDMA/LTE auto, LTE only. But i cant chage to non of them just WCDMA.
At this moment Iam using an diferrent apn that i found in the XDA forum and my mobile internet works (DL Speed 5 to 7 megas), but my Wifi Thether wont give me access to the internet. (At this moment the phone is rooted and haves super user and is s-off).
Plz anyone can help be very aprecited!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If use this APN Setting http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1338109
If you have unlimited data, you should be able to upgrade to lte unlimited data and pay what you are now. I did. Talk to someone else at att.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA App
megatronisabeast said:
If you have unlimited data, you should be able to upgrade to lte unlimited data and pay what you are now. I did. Talk to someone else at att.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I had to do this but it has its downside. On my att account online it reads number of mb used out of 10238976 mb so it's not really unlimited. I was also informed when I went into my att store to get an explanation, that I would be moved from my unlimited plan to the tiered 4gb data plan if I went over 4gb in a billing cycle. I'm not sure if it's true or not but I'm afraid ill lose my "unlimited" at 30 a month if I push my luck. I never wanted lte since its not available in my area but they moved me to the lte by "accident" since I bought an lte phone. No going back once they switch you so be careful. I'm constantly at 2gb a month anyway so it looks I won't be using my phone as a modem when I travel.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA App
I will ask some one else and see if i can stay with my same contract... the thing is that they want to change my contract.
Definitely speak to someone else. You do not have to switch from your "unlimited" plan to a tiered plan to use the Vivid.
Apatche69 said:
I had to do this but it has its downside. On my att account online it reads number of mb used out of 10238976 mb so it's not really unlimited. I was also informed when I went into my att store to get an explanation, that I would be moved from my unlimited plan to the tiered 4gb data plan if I went over 4gb in a billing cycle. I'm not sure if it's true or not but I'm afraid ill lose my "unlimited" at 30 a month if I push my luck. I never wanted lte since its not available in my area but they moved me to the lte by "accident" since I bought an lte phone. No going back once they switch you so be careful. I'm constantly at 2gb a month anyway so it looks I won't be using my phone as a modem when I travel.
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If I'm correct I believe 10238976 mb translates into 1 Terabyte, and you will likely be throttled way before you reach 1tb. It is essentially unlimited (of course you could argue that 1tb is not unlimited, but if you really do go over 1tb, you're a douche for hogging up THAT much data)
If you are going to be sticking to LTE phones, I do highly suggest you change your plan to LTE Unlimited as the speed is just awesome Even at one bar LTE hits 7 ~ 10 down and 6 ~ 8 up, which is something that HSPA+ needs full signal to achieve.
dizzyraider said:
If I'm correct I believe 10238976 mb translates into 1 Terabyte, and you will likely be throttled way before you reach 1tb. It is essentially unlimited (of course you could argue that 1tb is not unlimited, but if you really do go over 1tb, you're a douche for hogging up THAT much data)
If you are going to be sticking to LTE phones, I do highly suggest you change your plan to LTE Unlimited as the speed is just awesome Even at one bar LTE hits 7 ~ 10 down and 6 ~ 8 up, which is something that HSPA+ needs full signal to achieve.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not a data hog like you suggest but I do use about 16 gig + when I travel. Have not been throttled yet so I'm not sure when they penalize you for using a service that you pay for
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA App
Apatche69 said:
Not a data hog like you suggest but I do use about 16 gig + when I travel. Have not been throttled yet so I'm not sure when they penalize you for using a service that you pay for
Sent from my HTC PH39100 using XDA App
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
For usage such as that I would expect throttling in the future, however its based on market averages.
As for OP, what the rep told you is flat out untrue. Simply goto a cor store or call care say you purchased a new phone and want to register the imei and change to the appropriate data plan. Once the rep inputs the imei he will be able to switch you to the LTE version of what you have. As for apns use the pts once they change it.
Drew
Sent from my HTC Raider X710e using xda premium
I too swapped my phones and all the rep did was register my IMEI and switch me to the LTE version of my plan.
Yup, unlimited data here as well. AT&T will do what they can to get you off of that plan.
After I upgraded my phone, when I called in to get Visual Voicemail setup, the girl I spoke with told me "it was all done". A few hours later, I started getting notifications that I was reaching my limit of 200MB on my data. She had actually switched me to the 200MB plan and never told me. I called back, spoke with a supervisor, he was very apologetic and put me back on the unlimited plan with the Visual Voicemail. They definitely have the power to do it but will try and talk you out of it.
What AT&T doesn't tell you is that they use the same Sim cards on all of their phones, even if they do not have LTE (obvious exception would be the iphone 4). So go into the store and request a new sim. they may be petty and charge you but it is better then losing unlimited data
At&t reps get paid on feature values, they could care less whether you're on an unlimited or a capped data plan. Just go to a corporate at&t store and them them change your unlimited hspa+ data plan to unlimited LTE.
If you are to lazy/stupid to figure that out then use these apn settings. Go into settings, wireless and networks, mobile network settings, apn settings.
APN: wap.cingular
Proxy: wireless.cingular.c0m
Port: 80
Username: wap.cingulargprs.c0m
Password: cingular1
Server: Leave blank
MMSC:htt p://mmsc.cingular.c0m
MMS Proxy: 66.209.11.32
MMS Protocol: wap 2.0
MMS Port: 80
MCC: 310
MNC: 410
APN Type Leave blank
What you should is leave att thats what ima do att sucks
Sent from my LG-P925 using XDA App
I always hated AT&T until I got to North Texas. The store guys are great & many know more than the upper level/tier tech support folks.
I got my Vivid on release day & kept the all time best plan ever which I have had for awhile now. Family unlimited data + messaging. For $45 I get unlimited data including LTE here in North Texas, + unlimited SMS & MMS on four different lines. It was a plan from back in the messaging/data war days. My rep. here in Allen is great & they no what's a good deal & actually tell customers what is best for their situation. Over my many upgrades they have always either told me to hang on to my plan, or just known better & not mentioned it.
I'll tell you one thing for certain, dealing with the stores in Texas sure beats the hell out of the California reps or anyone at 611 support. Whenever I have issues or need anything, I go into my local store & have always gotten great service. They've even involved me with sales a time or two when a customer says something like "well you just want me to buy that one because it is more expensive to upgrade", & I'll simply all what they want the device for mostly & then explain that AT&T still pays more for the high end device, so you may as well make them pay the highest subsidy & spend a few more bucks to get a device that will last & is likely to see a few updates. Buying a Vivid, SkyRocket or something like the upcoming Sony Ion, even if you have it for two whole years, it will likely perform better in spite of age & a few drops than the free or 29.00 dollar pan tech that will never see ics, let alone any update at all.
Other stores I've been in, when living in California, I'd get dirty looks for talking to customers, here they almost encourage it.
Well, I did all you guys told me to do.. change my apn, change sim and talk with customer service. After 3 days and continued fight with ATT, my unlimited data plan is not compatible ltg. I tried talking with att supervisor, Ing, and Customer Service "every body" and the answer is "not Compatible".. Those SOB even change my plan to $30 2 gig and now i am fighting back my unlimited data. I field a case and in Feb 2 i will have my unlimited data again...
Iam really pissed off with they had done to my contract. it was a big mistake in switching my insire for a vivid ltg.
If any one had this problem please replay...
PS: for the dude how told me stupid/lazy i am not neather of those and i did all i can in my reach, for matter of fact i use about 30 gig a mounth my insire.... So ill doing anything to protect my contract.... There for iam not JAJAJAJ
Just bought Int GNote, pros/cons of Straight Talk, Go Phone, or AT&T w/dumbphone data
Just bought a Galaxy Note and been reading all the topic posts on the different options for using my Note. Haven't figured out what's best so maybe I'll ask for people's experiences and get suggestions.
This will be a 2nd phone for me since my company already pays for a phone for me on Sprint, and I got tired of waiting for Sprint to come out (if ever) of their version of the Note. I already have an Epic 4G and we get WiMax here in the SF Bay Area, so I don't mind continuing using that since my company pays the bill.
What I would like to do on my Note would be mainly email, web browsing, texting and maybe a few phone calls, but since I have my other phone, phone calls are secondary. The one thing I really like doing THE MOST is watching YouTube videos and streaming songs from Google Music (Now called Play Music or whatever). On my Samsung Epic 4G with Sprint, I average between 3 and 4 GBs per month on data usage.
So in short my questions are:
1. Should I go with Straight Talk $45 Unlimited Plan, AT&T Unlimited $50 Go Phone Plan, or piggyback on my parent's AT&T postpaid plan ($10 to add a line, $30 for unlimited data + unlimited messaging for non-smartphone ie dumbphone plan)?
2. Which one of these would give the best possible data speeds? I know they all use AT&T's network but I've read that GoPhone plans are (possibly) throttled vs postpaid?
3. Which is more likely to raise red flags when using data? I know there is no such thing as truly unlimited data, but which plan is more "lenient" in your data use or will probably let you download a little more data than another option. I've read on Straight Talk, you should try not to go over 100 MB/day or 2 GB/month, but are those limits also similar on GoPhone unlimited or postpaid with dumbphone data.
Anything else I should know?
Thanks for the info!
i say try straighttalk since it no contract and if they ban u for useing to much fake unlimted data try at&t but i think its crap how these compony ban people f em lol almost like a scam
I'm currently using my old grand fathered unlimted Ipad sim in mine. Currently 3GB for $30 does not seem too bad, No contract. Just buy and Ipad 3g and activate and sell it. I've used that sim in an iPhone, mifi, my laptop and now the Gnote and ATT has never said anything. No phone calls or text, the work a rounds aren't great but they do work.
Once Sprint sees fit to let me out of my contract I was thinking of giving Straight talks a go
Edit
If you go with the Ipad sim, you will need an adapter to make the sim larger. I have a micro sim punch so I took an old full sized sim and punched out the sim and used the left over card board as the adapter. You may need to do some filing with a nail file but it seems to work the best compared to the plastic adapters you find. You will have be carful remove the aim sum and adapter from a device.
Using ST with my note for 4 full months now, very satisfied. I am not a heavy mobile data user though, I just do some browsing while out and about, read some news on pulse, and check e-mail a few times a day.
Thanks for some of the suggestions so far, but has anyone tried the AT&T post paid plan with the data for dumb phone plan or the old medianet plan lately? I assume it still works because AT&T does not have the IMEIs of the international version in their database? And they fixed the problem with it showing up as a Galaxy Tab? I read that you could delete out the /EFS directory and have it show up as a generic phone or use an IMEI from a loaner phone as well, but I haven't seen any posts regarding these strategies newer than January so not to sure if AT&T figured this out.
Sent from my SPH-D700 using XDA App
Had data working great on the GoPhone plan.. then downloaded some 600mb of files (don't really remember what, I think it was a few ROMs), and two days later my internet was shut off.. so the moral here is, don't be stupid with it if you get it to work on the gophone plan
joshnichols189 said:
Had data working great on the GoPhone plan.. then downloaded some 600mb of files (don't really remember what, I think it was a few ROMs), and two days later my internet was shut off.. so the moral here is, don't be stupid with it if you get it to work on the gophone plan
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No way I would download that much at one time, I think I do maybe 100-200 MB/day on average at the most. The question with you (and thanks for answering btw), is what kind of download speeds were you getting on the GoPhone plan? Were you getting FauxG speeds (HSPA+) or was it throttled? And did you have to do anything special to make it work on the GoPhone plan or was it a matter of just putting the correct APNs?
Update: It's official. http://www.aiowireless.com/shop/plans.html
Not quite as good as initially promised. Unlimited voice and text on all plans. You get 250 MB for $40, 2 GB for $55, or 7GB for $70. Also, 250 MB of tablet data for $15. On all the phone plans, you get unlimited throttled data after going over your high-speed allotment.
The fine print says maximum data speed of 4 Mbps, which is lower than the 7Mbps I can often get on AT&T's network, but still not bad.
They do have a bring your own phone program. They ask for your IMEI. I put mine in and went ahead as if I were going to check out, and they seemed okay with me using a Nexus 4.
When you go to the website, it may ask for your zip code before you can view plans. This is presumably because it's being test-marketed in certain parts of the country. The earlier reports were that test markets would be Florida and Texas. I entered a random Florida zip code (34105) and it let me in to view plans. I haven't tried signing up, but I think there's a pretty good chance you could sign up and enter your real Zip code.
My take on this now is that $55 is a little too high for what they're offering. I'll stick with Net10, with 1.5GB of high-speed data guaranteed for $42.50 with a discounted SIM. But if you regularly use more data, this could be a worthwhile offering. The $70 for 7GB of high speed data is pretty much unheard of for prepaid, so if you use that much per month, I'd jump on that.
Original post:
A website called Fierce Wireless has reported that AT&T will start offering a new prepaid option starting as early as June. The plan will include unlimited voice and texts, plus 2GB of HSPA data, for $50 per month. Once you go over 2GB, you'd be throttled back to 2G. The Fierce Wireless report doesn't clarify if it's HSPA or HSPA+ (in other words, is it 3G or 3.5/4G?). They may offer a plan with 5GB of high-speed data for $70, though that's undecided.
You can read the entire article here: http://www.fiercewireless.com/story/att-planning-june-launch-all-one-prepaid-brand/2013-05-02
I've never heard of Fierce Wireless, so I don't know if they have a good reputation, but the report is very specific, talks about things happening in the very near future, and is about a subject most trolls would find too boring to make up a whole fake thing about. Also, The Verge, which I consider a reputable source, published a story about the Fierce Wireless piece without doubting its truth.
Even so, this sounds a little too good to be true. In comparison, here are the other deals you can get right now with AT&T prepaid or MVNO:
PureTalk USA: $44 unlimited voice and text, 1GB data, $10 per extra 100 MB overage
Straight Talk: $45 unlimited voice and text, ambiguous amount of high-speed data.
Net10: $50 unlimited voice and text, 1.5GB hard data cap
AT&T GoPhone: $50 250 minutes, unlimited text, 1 GB data
Red Pocket: $60 unlimited voice and text, 2GB hard data cap
Black Wireless: same as Red Pocket
H2O Wireless: same as Red Pocket
AT&T GoPhone: $65 unlimited voice and text, 1GB data
Every one of these plans has a severe disadvantage vs. the new rumored AT&T plan. It's no longer possible to buy Straight Talk SIM cards from their website, and many customers (including me) have been throttled at much lower data levels than ever recently. PureTalk looks like a good deal but has insanely expensive overage charges. The others are either the same price or more expensive than the rumored AT&T prepaid plan, and you have to pay for more data if you go over, rather than simply being throttled down to 2G. Note also that most MVNOs are known for having atrocious customer service.
The comparison is especially stark if you compare it to AT&T's postpaid plans:
450 minutes, unlimited texts, 3GB data: $90
unlimited minutes and texts, 3GB data: $120
That's a lot of money to pay for LTE data, more coverage in unpopulated areas, and a subsidized phone every two years.
If AT&T really does come out with the rumored data plan, and they do give you full speed HSPA+ data, it could put a lot of their MVNOs out of business. And I suspect it will start to cannibalize their lucrative postpaid business.
So my guess is, AT&T will hobble this plan somehow. Either your data will be throttled to 1Mb down, or you'll only get 500 MB or 1 GB of high speed, or the price will be higher. Nothing about the way their MVNOs have behaved recently tells me AT&T wants to make its prepaid offerings more attractive. But I hope I'm wrong with that prediction.
Sounds too good to be true. Guess time will tell. Thanks for the breakdown of mvno's, getting ready to look into one as soon as my contract ends in a couple months.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
If they did I would probably directly my parents there. Right now I am on straight talk with t mobile and while its better and much faster in Atlanta I don't know about their part of KC. But they already have AT&T so they know what they'd be getting.
Meh, ATT still sucks around here (socal) they have good coverage but they still have call quality issues so I'll stick with Tmo but bring on the competition.
If this is true I'll be all over it
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
My ex-wife works at AT&T and says she's heard nothing about this to date. They usually get info around 30 days ahead of a released plan so if this is in the works, it's quite a ways under the radar. I would suspect it'd be more of a working memo that got released or something but, hey, who knows? It'd be great to see them all finally start competing on price!
Bump because new information in OP about confirmed plans.
This looks to me like an okay deal if you want presumably better service, 2GB of data guaranteed, and to be throttled rather than shut off if you go over.
The $70 plan for 7GB looks like a great deal if you use that much data.
$55 is a good price, direct from ATT, and they seem to be far more honest about what they are offering. I still don't like ATT but this is the right direction for them to be going.
Has anyone outside of the cities listed tried putting in a zip code from one of the listed cities and then just have it shipped to there address outside of that city?
I'm on straight talk and hardly use any data but yet I'm still constantly throttled to the point that it's not usable.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
DJPrelude said:
Has anyone outside of the cities listed tried putting in a zip code from one of the listed cities and then just have it shipped to there address outside of that city?
I'm on straight talk and hardly use any data but yet I'm still constantly throttled to the point that it's not usable.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
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ATT or Tmo on straight talk? I never got throttled on either SIM using over 1gb/mo but I'm curious what you are using.
What I'm wondering is if they'll throttle people for steaming like straight talk or if they'll be more like T-Mobile in the way that you can do whatever you want with your data until its used up.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app
lowrider262 said:
What I'm wondering is if they'll throttle people for steaming like straight talk or if they'll be more like T-Mobile in the way that you can do whatever you want with your data until its used up.
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We won't know for sure until people start actually using the service and report back, but their terms of service do not say anything about streaming. They do say no tethering, and of course they give themselves an escape clause that "unlimited does not mean unreasonable," and you can't do anything that congests the network too much.
http://source.aiowireless.com/legal-info/terms-and-conditions-of-service.html
I'd be very surprised if they banned streaming. I've only ever seen that from Straight Talk and other services owned by the same company. AT&T has often been accused of prioritizing their own customers over MVNO people when the network gets congested. I wonder if AIO customers will get any priority at all.
threeclaws said:
ATT or Tmo on straight talk? I never got throttled on either SIM using over 1gb/mo but I'm curious what you are using.
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ATT
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
I have 500 minutes, unlimited text and unthrottled 4g LTE/HSPA+ data for 75/month from T-Mobile. Eff At&t prices. They do, however, have good coverage.
DJPrelude said:
ATT
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
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They are supposed to be more stringent
I called yesterday and they told me I can get service even though I'm not in one of the 3 cities as long as I do it online or drive to a city with a store.
Doing it online isn't a problem but she told me that right now you can only port your number if you go into a store and that porting should be available online within a week.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
DJPrelude said:
Has anyone outside of the cities listed tried putting in a zip code from one of the listed cities and then just have it shipped to there address outside of that city?
I'm on straight talk and hardly use any data but yet I'm still constantly throttled to the point that it's not usable.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
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I did and it didn't work. I got some error telling me to enter a valid ZIP code for my city and state, weird.
MkVsTheWorld said:
I did and it didn't work. I got some error telling me to enter a valid ZIP code for my city and state, weird.
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When it just asks for your zip code at the beginning put in 77002. Later it should allow you to put in your real zip code and address
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
Is this just another mvno or is it directly from at&t. I couldnt find anything regarding roaming and whether or not these are treated like mvno or at&t prepaid. How do you guys expect this to function during peak hours? Since they cap the speed at 4mb/s does that mean they have the same priority as postpaid on at&t?
DJPrelude said:
When it just asks for your zip code at the beginning put in 77002. Later it should allow you to put in your real zip code and address
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda premium
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That's exactly what I did. It won't let me order using my zip code. Either it's a site glitch or they really don't want people outside the test markets ordering.
Not on one of the big 4 here in the USA with your shamu? Since the Nexus 6 is mostly not carrier subsidized, I'm thinking this is a good place to find out what MVNO's people are using to save money If so, please tell us who your with, what plan your on with them, and why your with them!! And anything else you care to share both good and bad...
In the last year I have been on the following MVNO's...
Ting - Sprint
Ting - T-Mobile
Straight talk - T-Mobile
Straight talk - Verizon
Straight talk - AT&T
Google Project Fi
Cricket - AT&T
Page Plus - Verizon
Verizon Prepaid
AT&T Gophone
And have signed up for Harbor Mobile AT&T and Red Pocket Mobile Verizon. Haven't received the Sim's yet for the last 2.. Let me know if you have questions on any of these. Will be happy to report my results
In addition to that, I was in contract with the real big red dollar sucking Verizon and also was on the real big Orange AT&T on a company business plan.
I used to be on ting, then straight talk, then project Fi, then Verizon prepaid, now I'm on post paid since my wife gets a state of California employee discount and California now taxes prepaid. I liked ting and project Fi until I moved up to an area being ruled mostly big red only. I enjoyed project Fi, but had issues when I forced it to roam on Verizon. My phone number would change to a whole different area code!
chapelfreak said:
I used to be on ting, then straight talk, then project Fi, then Verizon prepaid, now I'm on post paid since my wife gets a state of California employee discount and California now taxes prepaid. I liked ting and project Fi until I moved up to an area being ruled mostly big red only. I enjoyed project Fi, but had issues when I forced it to roam on Verizon. My phone number would change to a whole different area code!
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I can say the same for FI. I am still on FI with one of my phones and I like that fact that I can, with a little doing have 1 SIM card that I can make work on all 4 of the big carriers here in the USA in the event of really needing it. I also noticed that when roaming on Verizon that the outbound caller ID was different... Not sure why. I also really like Wifi calling and texting, it works so well. It also works great when traveling internationally and has very good rates. At least in Europe where I have tested it.
I started out on H2O Wireless because it was cheap, but low data cap and slow speeds sent me looking elsewhere. I am now on Straight Talk (AT&T) $45/month 5gb LTE and it's awesome. It was between that and the Verizon ST plan, but Verizon throttles MVNO data speeds, so AT&T won out. Just gotta remember to remove the sim card when I update so I don't get AT&T's stupid app on my phone.
putridfoetus said:
I started out on H2O Wireless because it was cheap, but low data cap and slow speeds sent me looking elsewhere. I am now on Straight Talk (AT&T) $45/month 5gb LTE and it's awesome. It was between that and the Verizon ST plan, but Verizon throttles MVNO data speeds, so AT&T won out. Just gotta remember to remove the sim card when I update so I don't get AT&T's stupid app on my phone.
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Ha, been there done that with Straight talk.. Your right on!! Did you know that Straight talk now has a 10gb plan for 55$? Pretty cool.
I'm currently on Sprint Framily postpaid- $45 (actually around $52 with taxes) for unlimited data + talk/text with Verizon roaming. Over the years I've used everything from Virgin Mobile, Straight Talk, T-Mobile prepaid $30 5GB data plan, T-Mobile postpaid, MetroPCS, Project Fi and Verizon Prepaid.
I'm on Google's Project Fi. Love everything about it - switching between T-Mobile and Sprint, occasional Google's automatic VPN when connecting to open Wi-Fi, low monthly bill (staying under $35 p/month) with heavy Wi-Fi use, Wi-Fi calling and seamless switching to cellular, etc.
I've used freedompop off and on, great service and you can't beat free
crowsnestitsupport said:
Ha, been there done that with Straight talk.. Your right on!! Did you know that Straight talk now has a 10gb plan for 55$? Pretty cool.
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Woah that sounds like a great plan. I'm currently on Fi, I might just jump to Straight Talk. Now do I go CDMA with VZN or GSM with AT&T..hmmmm.
Harry44 said:
Woah that sounds like a great plan. I'm currently on Fi, I might just jump to Straight Talk. Now do I go CDMA with VZN or GSM with AT&T..hmmmm.
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Yeah!! Its brand new and works great!!! Def go with AT&T. With that you get simultaneous voice and data and uncapped data speeds. With the VZW one, you have no data while on the phone and your speed it capped at 6x6 up and down.
Dopamin3 said:
I'm currently on Sprint Framily postpaid- $45 (actually around $52 with taxes) for unlimited data + talk/text with Verizon roaming. Over the years I've used everything from Virgin Mobile, Straight Talk, T-Mobile prepaid $30 5GB data plan, T-Mobile postpaid, MetroPCS, Project Fi and Verizon Prepaid.
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That would be great except that where I live Sprint coverage lacks a lot Do you get 4G LTE when you roam to Verizon?
reinaldistic said:
I've used freedompop off and on, great service and you can't beat free
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Tell us a bit more about freedom pop.. I was reading some reviews and they looked ugly.. How does it work?
Chahk said:
I'm on Google's Project Fi. Love everything about it - switching between T-Mobile and Sprint, occasional Google's automatic VPN when connecting to open Wi-Fi, low monthly bill (staying under $35 p/month) with heavy Wi-Fi use, Wi-Fi calling and seamless switching to cellular, etc.
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FI is truly great! With root access you can force roam to all USA carriers. If you live where Tmo and Sprint have good coverage and aren't a heavy data user, its a no brainer!!
crowsnestitsupport said:
Tell us a bit more about freedom pop.. I was reading some reviews and they looked ugly.. How does it work?
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it's sprint based so take that as you may.
it's truly free (i haven't been feed at all after activation like 8 months ago ) however for free you only get 500MB data, 500txt and 200 minutes. you will get nickle and dimed at every turn and that's their bussiness model so if you understand the charges is fine.
here is the low down: they say 200 minutes and 500 texts, unlike others with which you can assume some other things you can't here: no voicemail, that's extra, calls are over data through VOIP, infrastructure calling and texting is extra, mms isn't included, that's extra, so on, you get the picture, 200 min 500 text 500 data. that's it.
that said, their fees for "the basics" are pretty reasonable: 7.99 gets you voice-mail, mms, infrastructure, tethering and data roll over. and unlimited minutes+text is only 10.99 so for $19 you get a pretty decent grandparent phone with 500 megs, 2gigs is $20 and 4 gigs is $35. which is sill cheaper than some...
i love using freedompop for my "leftover" devices, i use sprint ($45/mo for unlimited through framily) as my main phone but since I'm a phone geek i like to have extras, so once i upgrade i keep them alive on freedompop, i also have a "free" tablet from sprint that once the contract ended i put on freedompop. great experience so far.
i just realized I sound like a sales person lol but i promise I'm not. (and a sales person wouldn't say nickle and dime)
reinaldistic said:
it's sprint based so take that as you may.
it's truly free (i haven't been feed at all after activation like 8 months ago ) however for free you only get 500MB data, 500txt and 200 minutes. you will get nickle and dimed at every turn and that's their bussiness model so if you understand the charges is fine.
here is the low down: they say 200 minutes and 500 texts, unlike others with which you can assume some other things you can't here: no voicemail, that's extra, calls are over data through VOIP, infrastructure calling and texting is extra, mms isn't included, that's extra, so on, you get the picture, 200 min 500 text 500 data. that's it.
that said, their fees for "the basics" are pretty reasonable: 7.99 gets you voice-mail, mms, infrastructure, tethering and data roll over. and unlimited minutes+text is only 10.99 so for $19 you get a pretty decent grandparent phone with 500 megs, 2gigs is $20 and 4 gigs is $35. which is sill cheaper than some...
i love using freedompop for my "leftover" devices, i use sprint ($45/mo for unlimited through framily) as my main phone but since I'm a phone geek i like to have extras, so once i upgrade i keep them alive on freedompop, i also have a "free" tablet from sprint that once the contract ended i put on freedompop. great experience so far.
i just realized I sound like a sales person lol but i promise I'm not. (and a sales person wouldn't say nickle and dime)
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Good information!! I like it That was the whole point of this thread :good::good:
crowsnestitsupport said:
That would be great except that where I live Sprint coverage lacks a lot Do you get 4G LTE when you roam to Verizon?
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Pretty sure no LTE roaming. Just 3g or 1x. Luckily where I live Sprint has a great LTE footprint.
I am on Metro PCS. It is $60 a month with taxes and fees included for true unlimited data for the phone. No cap and no throttling. It also includes 8gb of hotspot data. It runs on tmobile towers. I have had att and verizon through straight talk, but I really like the fact that I dont have to worry about my data usage anymore.
T-Mobile's $80 unlimited high-speed, 7gb tethering. For a while I was angry with this because when I signed up I was on the $70 unlimited/5gb tethering plan, but for the first couple weeks I was borrowing a phone that I couldn't root (not because it was borrowed, but because the USB connection was effed and couldn't USB tether), so I exceeded the plan and had to change it. And that's when they decided to eliminate the $70 plan and go with the $80 one. But now the same plan is $95, so I'm considering myself lucky. And frankly 7gb tethering suits me better, because I like to play a lot of games and sometimes exceed the 5gb from watching videos for free gold/gems/energy/etc (I keep my SIM in my S4, USB tethered to my computer, with my "main" phone on wifi).
I've thought about switching to MetroPCS. But at this point, with the price increase in T-Mo's plan, I don't want to "risk" switching to save a few bucks because if it doesn't work out it'd cost me more in the end to switch back. I'd probably use Google Project Fi if I had "proper" internet at home, but right now, my phone is my internet. PdaNet was the best $8 I've ever spent.
So can any one please confirm that with the Nexus 6 on Metro PCS... Does WiFi calling and VoLTE both work OK?