Question about LTE, Unlimited data on AT&T, and Sim cards? - Xperia Z1 Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting

So I have a bit of a situation that I need to get some answers on. Right now I have a Galaxy S2 i9100 which I bought from expansys back in 2011 when it first hit the market. I've been grandfathered into my unlimited non-smartphone data on AT&T and I was able to use my old 3g sim card on the S2 to and got full blown 4g and 4g+ speeds and service without ever having changed my plan or sim card.
Now here's what I want to know: I plan to get the Xperia Z2 (unlocked and imported, not through any carrier) and I want to be able to use LTE service, but without changing my plan. I know the Z2 uses a micro-sim, but I want to know if I will need to get a new sim card (or can I just cut my regular sim) also will I be able to get LTE with my old sim card? *OR* if it turns out I need a new sim card will I be able to use LTE with it and still keep my unlimited-non smartphone data plan? Will it raise any suspicions? Will using LTE automatically cause my data plan to change?
If anyone has information on this please let me know, Thank you.

Jus go to an AT&T store and have them get you a new micro Sim....put it in one of their store model LTE phones then convert your current plan to allow LTE (doesn't change anything just allows LTE and yes you have to do that otherwise you can't get LTE). Once that is done and the phone works fine take the Sim out and put it in your Z2 and you are off and running.
You have do put the Sim in an AT&T recognized LTE device, meaning one they offer, in order to get the account setup right. After that you can put it in any LTE device and it will work.
Sent from my Sony Xperia Z1

Related

The "Holy Grail" - Tab with International Phone + 3g Data

I have a T-Mo tab/T-Mo contracted service (for another year) running OC Hermes (which totally rocks!).
Problem is, I want to use my Tab as my phone (light phone use, but I need it to ring and answer it when I need it, hence I have to lose T-Mo/modem switch. I need 3G data - who doesn't? Use is in Domestic US with Europe for a month out of the year - seems simple enough.
I have a depricated VZ Winmo 6.5 device with my "real" number, and found a 3rd party SIM (Tru) that will let you port your number, and provide "reasonable" cost US Domestic and European Voice and Data roaming, so I can get voice/data service and keep my number.
Now I just need to figure out which Tab to buy:
Can the AT&T Tab be customized to work with voice and 3G data simultaneously without modem/switching, and if so, on which SIM/Network(s) in the US other than AT&T?
If I were to replace my T-Mo Unit, should I buy the AT&T or the European Tab?
Will either get this done? Thanks all in advance for any help.
- Cathy
would also like to know the answer to this...
T-mobile tab with t-mobile sim:
Voice, sms, mms, and EDGE data **or** 3g data only.
Flash any rom besides stock to get the dialer capability. Use the Rotohammer modem switch to go between these options. If you are on the 3g mode the phone won't ring, your caller will get the same thing as if they called you when your phone was turned off. You have to delete a system folder to enable web browsing.
At&t tab with at&t sim:
Voice, sms, mms, 3g data, no switch necessary.
Flash any rom besides stock to get the dialer capability. No system files to tinker with.
#####At&t tab with at&t sim is the easiest, best option for a complete phone and data experience.
Thank you @Rangercaptain!
@Rangercapain, you are a gentleman and a scholar!
I thought AT&T did both now, but the info on the boards conflicts, some because it is dated before you fine folks figured this all out, and some because newer users haven't flashed a custom ROM, but I wanted to be sure before sinking another $350 into a dead-end with the telephony.
I was contemplating the SGSII but at $700 US and without Alter's incredible ROM for everything else, it wasn't going to work, and I really don't want two devices.
I realize T-Mo is on the funky 1700 band here so I knew non-T-Mo SIMs were likely only going to get me 2G, but I wasn't sure about AT&T.
If I go with the AT&T Tab, do you know if the 3rd party SIMs like SimpleMobile or Tru Mobile will also do both 3G and voice? AT&T rapes you like everyone else US domestic on Euro Roaming Data ($15/mb is insanity), and I was foolishly hopiing for a SIM that I could use here and in Europe without re-mortaging the house!
Can I determine this definitively by confirming the GSM bands specified by the SIM reseller?
Thank you thank you thank you
My at&t voice, unlimited text, and 2 gigs of data is $35 per month. Like you said, don't use the pay as you go, because that is crazy. Have you seen the Walmart phone/data pay as you go - Straight Talk I think. I will check it out and post back here.
SimpleMobile is exactly the same as T-mobile, so not good with at&t tab or euro tab. I haven't heard of TruMobile. Just google "trumobile frequencies". You want to see 1900/900 or 1900/850.
Straight Talk is a no-go. They sell phones, not sim cards.
rangercaptain said:
T-mobile tab with t-mobile sim:
At&t tab with at&t sim:
Voice, sms, mms, 3g data, no switch necessary.
Flash any rom besides stock to get the dialer capability. No system files to tinker with.
#####At&t tab with at&t sim is the easiest, best option for a complete phone and data experience.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
does it have a minimum data plan requirement? have an ATT iphone4 with the $15 200MB data plan. can i just put my iphone simcard on the GalTab? will i get the dreaded text messages from BIG BROTHER? or will it suffice? or will i be asked to upgrade to a higher data plan?
TIA
jeraldyne
tanjeraldyne said:
does it have a minimum data plan requirement? have an ATT iphone4 with the $15 200MB data plan. can i just put my iphone simcard on the GalTab? will i get the dreaded text messages from BIG BROTHER? or will it suffice? or will i be asked to upgrade to a higher data plan?
TIA
jeraldyne
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can put that sim in your tab, and you won't get the dreaded message. They are after unlimited iphone plans. But you will BURN through 200mb in about 20 minutes. Study your at&t bill, then add 1gig for $15, or 2gigs for $25 (my plan).
Tru Mobile is at&t compatable, but the data works out to $350 per gigabyte.
Global SIMs
@Rangercaptain -
You are right about the data cost, but overseas, that is a "bargain" compared to roaming rates even on AT&T. They have a fixed data rate for "business" customers that is pretty competitive ($30/month 500mb in the US, $60 if you are in the UK or AUS, and they are adding 20 more countries in 2012). I may try them for a little while (till I return in late September) since I can always go to AT&T later (there is no contract) if I want to.
Did AT&T let you get a SIM for the tab that does both voice and data without any gripes? Maybe I can just go AT&T, port my number over, and get a MaxRoam for overseas.
I have been researching this like crazy, and at .80 Euro/MB they are about the cheapest I could find for "global" roaming, but they are one of those pay-go cos that eat your balance if you don't use it.
We are in 11 countries (a cruise) and there is no feasible way to buy a SIM in every port, or all I will have seen at the end of this odyssey will have been a ton of Vodaphone stores .
Thank you so much again!
I bought the tab at a retail store and told them I didn't want any contract. A few days later I added a 2 gig per month data and voice plan to a family plan. I told them it was for an android phone I had at home. They gave me the sim and I went out, and put it in the tab, and whammo! So sweet, 3g and voice.
When you are overseas there are so many pay as you go options, but yes, it could involve a lot of phone shops. No way to buy vodafone or orange sim and pay the roaming? And I'm guessing the cruise ship and hotels will have wifi for free. There are methods to make voice calls when you are on awifi connection, called skype.

[Q] 8.9 LTE with another AT&T Sim Card?

I used to use my Galaxy tab 7 3G (sold) with my other AT&T Sim cards. I used to be able to make calls from it, but now I'm planning to use a Galaxy Note instead.
However, I could also try to use an 8.9 (planning to buy a 4G one from ebay) and with root, delete the efs folder (if I really need to) and get to use the sim card from an iPad 3G for instance (or from an AT&T phone). Both would be grandfathered unlimited plans. Would that work? I suppose so, although I'd have to cut the SIM Card I believe (the 8.9 uses micro sim cards, right?).
Anybody have tried something like this?
Thanks!
RipplingHurst said:
I used to use my Galaxy tab 7 3G (sold) with my other AT&T Sim cards. I used to be able to make calls from it, but now I'm planning to use a Galaxy Note instead.
However, I could also try to use an 8.9 (planning to buy a 4G one from ebay) and with root, delete the efs folder (if I really need to) and get to use the sim card from an iPad 3G for instance (or from an AT&T phone). Both would be grandfathered unlimited plans. Would that work? I suppose so, although I'd have to cut the SIM Card I believe (the 8.9 uses micro sim cards, right?).
Anybody have tried something like this?
Thanks!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
EFS (and carrier locking) is different on the Qualcomm MSM8660 devices than what you may be used to on Hummingbird/Exynos devices. So have a care trying to nuke the EFS folder. I'm assuming your goal is to spoof AT&T's IMEI database to keep your grandfathered plan, and I suspect you'll have disappointing results.
And just in case you didn't know, unlike the original GSM Tab, there is NO voice capability on the 8.9 (LTE or otherwise) unless you're doing some sort of SIP/VOIP.
Finally, the 8.9 LTE uses standard SIM cards.
Croak said:
EFS (and carrier locking) is different on the Qualcomm MSM8660 devices than what you may be used to on Hummingbird/Exynos devices. So have a care trying to nuke the EFS folder. I'm assuming your goal is to spoof AT&T's IMEI database to keep your grandfathered plan, and I suspect you'll have disappointing results.
And just in case you didn't know, unlike the original GSM Tab, there is NO voice capability on the 8.9 (LTE or otherwise) unless you're doing some sort of SIP/VOIP.
Finally, the 8.9 LTE uses standard SIM cards.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Thanks. So it seems less likely that it's worth getting an ebay unit (since I plan to pay monthly for service anyway). I talked to a manager at an AT&T store and he couldn't set my grandfathered iPad 3G plan into the Galaxy tab 4G no matter what. He tried and couldn't do it. He could transfer my unlimited grandfathered PHONE service into a Skyrocket, but not a tablet.
I didn't want to use it for voice anyway. I just didn't want to pay for a grandfathered unlimited service for tablets (iPad) AND another plan just for the G. Tab 8.9...
I wonder if I'll brick it if I just nuke the efs folder, I'd just try it and if it didn't work I would just put the folder back on. But with no ROM available, this may be indeed too dangerous to try.
RipplingHurst said:
Thanks. So it seems less likely that it's worth getting an ebay unit (since I plan to pay monthly for service anyway). I talked to a manager at an AT&T store and he couldn't set my grandfathered iPad 3G plan into the Galaxy tab 4G no matter what. He tried and couldn't do it. He could transfer my unlimited grandfathered PHONE service into a Skyrocket, but not a tablet.
I didn't want to use it for voice anyway. I just didn't want to pay for a grandfathered unlimited service for tablets (iPad) AND another plan just for the G. Tab 8.9...
I wonder if I'll brick it if I just nuke the efs folder, I'd just try it and if it didn't work I would just put the folder back on. But with no ROM available, this may be indeed too dangerous to try.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The stock ROM is available on Sammobile.com. If you root the device, you can make a backup of the EFS directory. It should be safe to experiment.
If the worst happens and you lose the EFS data, it'll still work just fine as a WiFi only device, and it'll still be faster (quite a bit) than the under-powered Tegra 2 WiFi only version you were looking at.
rooting and making a copy of your efs is extremely safe if you read
Thanks guys. I ended up buying the ATt combo 8.9 tab plus skyrocket. Coulnd be any happier. I thought there weren't any LTE service heren the suburbs of ne CA, but im getting 26.9 Mbpsdown and 11.81 Mbps up. The 100-68ms png kills the experience a bit,bu I'venever seensuch speeds via mobile network.
Probably depends on what sim I know I tried to use my regular phone sim with unlimited data and in the galaxy tab 7 and it worked.
Has anyone been able to get this to work? Would love to use a Galaxy Tab 8.9 occasionally with my LTE phone data plan. I don't need voice like on the original GST.
Update.
So my usage went to 75% of my allocation in 10days. Not happy. I did a lot of streaming videos (Vevo), but nothing I hadn't done before with my iPad 3G (unlimited) or iPhone 4 (unlimited). However, I have been using Google Music A LOT these days (I have a 250GB music library, 35k songs, if I take the classics, the wife's Pearl Jam "every live performance" fan club files, I can easily squeze 20K songs with Google Music.
However, my usage went through the roof.
So today I just deleted the ESF folder in the hopes of using another SIM card with it. I popped off the iPad's 3G I still have (unlimited data plan). Got 4 backups of such folder (office, server, dropbox, mainPC) plus two in the tablet. Just to be safe.
So it turns out that it didn't work as planned. With the Galaxy Tab 7, after reboot, I would get a new EFS folder with a generic IMEI. That's how I could make call, text, with my cell phone SD card (AT&T wouldn't let me pop my SIM card into it and make it work as a phone).
Now I don't plan to use it as a phone, I just wanted to replace my iPad with the 8.9. AT&T wouldn't let me use my grandfathered plan (I even offered to pay full price, but), so here I am.
What happened is that the EFS folder is rebuilt just like the previous one. The same IMEI remains. However, I got a different "phone" number and the AT&T app shows 46MB of 9999757606912GB remaining. That is, A LOT.
However, speeds dropped considerably, even with the "4G" icon lighted up (not 4GLTE though), to about the same speeds as the iPad 5000 Kbps up, 1k down.
I'm expecting any minute a text or call from AT&T and in that case I'll cancel the iPad 3G plan and pop the LTE SIM card back and use it only for email for the rest of the month (plus tether with my skyrocket, but I have just received a txt saying now I'm top 5% (also "unlimited").
Will see what happens. Any ideas what I should try next?

[Q] help me out for using 3G on ATT Go phone

hi.
Recently i bought Galaxy Note white from Amazon. It is originally from HongKong.
and I didnt rooting. I bought a ATT Go Phone sim card and activated($50, everything unlimited),now it is working for calling and txting but web and internet is not work
even H+ is shown on top of my screen.
when I try to connect internet, it says " Media Net. To use data service, you must have a data package. go att.com/mygophone"
I already tried vary of APN setting but still not work.
Here is my question.
1) Do I have to buy another sim card? because mine isnt read 3G on sim card.
2) I have a dumphone. Should I put in my sim card to dumphone and call ATT my phone doesnt work for internet?
any other advise will be very welcome.. plz help me..
Apparently, ATT knew you have a smartphone...so your unlimited data plans are block.
I have the same problem...you can check if your dump phone can use for web.
If can't ..call the CSR with your dump phone...see they can fix it. Then try to insert the SIM again when it's fix.
If it's don't work...your have to purchase a data plan.... I got the 250 minutes for $25 and 500MB data plan for $25. And the 500MB data plan will roll over if you enrolled Auto payment every month.
Good luck

[Q] Dual Sim issue with Three UK network.

So my brother got the Moto G 2014 Dual Sim, and it is a really nice phone, but there is a problem.
His data SIM is on one network, and his other SIM (pay as you go) is on Three UK.
Since Three's network has only 3G and 4G, when the data is truned on the first SIM, the second SIM is put to 2G mode, and since the network does not support 2G, the SIM does not work...
So the question is, is there a way to force both SIMs to stay on 3G mode no matter which one has the data turned on?
Thanks in advance!
That's one of the reasons i switched. H3G is an awful company
If your bro decides to swap because of this I use (and can recommend) GiffGaff (or the one he's already with) in one slot for calls and texts and a T-Mobile sim (normal sim for calls/texts/data) in the other, the T mobile sim is then using 3g internet on the 6 months data plan for £20 at 1gb a month download + unlimited browsing.
If there is no way to force 3G mode on both, he will move his sim. The only reason he has it is because it's the cheapest PAYG (1-2-3).
I myself am with Three UK, and I am pleased with the service so far. I am on a 30 day rolling contract (15 quid a month unlimited internet/texts and i think 200 mins), so if I am only staying with them if I feel like I am getting a good enough service.
I hope there is a way to force 3g mode but if not then he will move his PAYG three sim to something else (most likely GiffGaff).

Japanese Z3compact - How to use it with FOMA sim ?

The title says it all..
Here all the new phones have a new name -> Xi.
Its what Docomo calls their 4G phones.
The old phones+smartphones used a SIM card called FOMA.
I had a FOMA sim card, and I went to Docomo to get it smaller -> Nano size.
They gave me a new FOMA sim card but phone doesnt recognizes it.
They told me at the shop I wont be able to use data connection but I will be able to talk on 3G. which is what I was doing. I stopped with their ridiculous data services long ago.
So now I have a new Z3 Compact, with a new FOMA nano sim card -> which doesn't work cause its not a Xi sim.
Any way to get it working ? at least with 3g connection ?
I dont get any signal even though the phone actually recognizes the sim.
Thanks in advance.
or is it New Docomo Phones + old FOMA sims = no data/no voice at all ?

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