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Saw a thread about somebody's AT&T plan being revoked on account of IMEI differences and whatnot...and I've been considering a Note to replace my G2 for a while...but my main concern is plan price and the proper way to get it.
Right now, I'm using the T-Mobile "Walmart" plan (100 minutes, unl'd text, 5GB of 4G data - $30) and I don't want to pay much more if possible. I don't need any more than 100 minutes or 4G data (a 2GB cap with 3G is fine). I've heard one thing I can do is activate a particular Nokia phone on StraightTalk and then use the SIM in the Note without a problem, but that's an extra $100 on top of the already $600+ Note off-contract price. Is that my safest option though, if I don't want to get "caught" by AT&T?
You'll still get caught if you don't empty the contents of the efs folder. If you do, you'll be golden.
I am.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
jason370 said:
You'll still get caught if you don't empty the contents of the efs folder. If you do, you'll be golden.
I am.
Sent from my GT-N7000 using xda premium
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Click to collapse
Can you elaborate (both where the efs folder is and what plan you're using)?
To access the /efs folder you have to be rooted, and use a file explorer such as root explorer (or I think there's a free alternative.) It's in the root directory of the device. However, people telling others to do this REALLY need to stress the importance of making a backup first! This is a very important directory containing critical device ID information, and at some point in the future you may be screwed if you lose it and don't have a backup.
Supposedly deleting the contents of it will cause the phone to report a generic GSM phone IMEI to the network. If they don't have the Note's IMEI number, they don't know you're using a Note. It'll be the same number as everyone else that does it, but apparently that's not a problem. Yet...
However, I haven't heard of anybody using Straight Talk (Walmart prepaid that uses AT&T) $45 plan having any problems, and I don't see why they would. Straight Talk runs the show and has their own plans, they just buy minutes/data from AT&T and resell them as their own service.
I did a bit research on StraightTalk itself, don't quote me on this but this is what I gathered: you need to buy one of their two Nokia phone which comes with unlocked SIM, SIM from their other phones are locked. Activate it, put in your Note, then you have to change the APN settings to StraightTalk. However, people say that they do throttle you after a few gigs and if you use too much data they can shut down your account. Also their policy do not allow tethering.
I just used up my 5gb with T-Mobile for the first time and the throttle speed is ridiculously slow for me. Getting about 100kbps which is 12kb/s, if you're lucky you might get more, but with 'Evolved Edge' the theoretic limit is about 400kbps. Makes me miss Sprint a bit, I've used to gotten close to 10GB with them with no sign of throttling, but then that was three years ago.
eksasol said:
I did a bit research on StraightTalk itself, don't quote me on this but this is what I gathered: you need to buy one of their two Nokia phone which comes with unlocked SIM, SIM from their other phones are locked. Activate it, put in your Note, then you have to change the APN settings to StraightTalk. However, people say that they do throttle you after a few gigs and if you use too much data they can shut down your account. Also their policy do not allow tethering.
I just used up my 5gb with T-Mobile for the first time and the throttle speed is ridiculously slow for me. Getting about 100kbps which is 12kb/s, if you're lucky you might get more, but with 'Evolved Edge' the theoretic limit is about 400kbps. Makes me miss Sprint a bit, I've used to gotten close to 10GB with them with no sign of throttling, but then that was three years ago.
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I am assuming that your Tmobile data was not, in fact, used up by a Note, correct?
Thanks for the help - I guess I'll check out the StraightTalk method once I scrounge up the money for a Note, since it's the cheapest AT&T-based carrier I've seen that's compatible.
Now I'm not too concerned about actual caps (2GB is fine for me - I rarely go over ~200MB a month), but what kind of speeds can I expect using StraightTalk? I'm assuming their network is limited to 3G...
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?
As strange as it may sound I want to use a Galaxy Note as an internet only device.
Is there a way that I can use one of the AT&T data only options (Data Connect Plan) on this device?
I currently have the AT&T version of the Galaxy Note. AT&T has confirmed to me that there is no way to have a data only plan for it. I simply to not want to dump $40 dollars a month on a phone service I will not use just to get the right to pay them $30 for data.
So, I am trying to explore if the international version is the answer.
What is important to me is the size and features of the Galaxy Note.
What is not important to me is 4g or phone service.
Any help or definitive answer would be appreciated.
I would imagine it should. ATT won't have a record of your IMEI number so they really don't know what the device is. Other people have been using the non- smartphone data plan on ATT, but the occasionally get booted up to the smartphone plan with so much data usage. Just tell them you have a 3g tablet you want to hook up. I'd buy a new sim card just to make sure you don't have issues with your old account. Not definitive, but just the fact that people are using international notes on dumbphone data says a lot.
AT&T and T Mobile
Hi, I have a unlocked N7000 that I picked up in India earlier this year. I live in the UK and works very well over her on Vodafone. I was in the US last week. I tried AT&T and was told by the techie that it will not work on the 4G network. Then went to T Mobile where I was told it would work only on 2G - Landed up buying a SIM card from them to see that my pre-paid balance dropped drastically and they were very unhelpful when I went back to them - they guy in the store told me that he can not access my use. I did not make any international calls on it at all. I landed up buying a SIMPLE Mobile sim card and it worked well between 3G and 2G. It even worked when I was at Hoover Dam. The Samsung website does give all the platforms it works on and I cant see why it would should not work on AT&T.
Also read the customer reviews of the Samsung Galaxy Note N7000 16GB Unlocked Android Smartphone - Dark Blue on the Amazon US website. One of the users has written up on it. As I am a new user I am not able to put the link on this reply.
Hope it's helpful. Good Luck.
Thanks for the input so far, but...
Well, what I am looking for is the "data only" type of service. This is for USB (Mobile) Modem, tablets, iPad's, etc. AT&T callis it data connect. I currently have the pre-paid version of it for for a 7in. tablet. And it (the service) work just perfect on that device.
I have read lots of posts talking about data, but when you focus in it normally is the other way around, a phone service option where they can't get the data to work correctly.
Again, all I want is data, I don't want phone service. If anyone has done this with their Note, I would appreciate a heads up on how it worked out.
I'm currently using my Note with my ATT ipad sim. Been using that sim in my mifi, a couple of laptops with 3G, an iphone and now my note. Been using it that way since the 3G Ipad first came out 3 years ago. I believe that all the data sims use the same apn. Just enter broadband as the APN. I have seen speeds from 1.9Mbps to 8.2Mbps, usually around 4 until lately...been getting 6.5. I consistently get 1Mbps up. The connection is has been very stable, Skype voice has been working very well.
Your data sim and note will work without modification, just enter the APN. In my case, I made an adapter since the ipad is a micro sim, the store bought adapter I had was too thick for the note. Be very careful when using micro sims, it can be a PTA to get them out. For removal I usually slide plastic or cardboard between the sim and the contact pins so the adapter does not get caught on the pins and then work the sim out with an exacto blade.
If you want ipad service, just go into an ATT and tell them you lost your ipad sim and you left your ipad at home. Who remembers your their data phone number? They will sell you a replacement. Then just barrow someone's 3g ipad, insert your sim, go into settings and create your account with your credit card #. Remove your sim and your done. The other person can put their sim, sign in and that's it. Once a month you get an email saying ATT billed your account and it shows up on your statement.
edit
I just looked at ATT's site, guess it does not matter anymore, they made Data cost the same across the board. Does not matter if it's pre paid, post paid or ipad, it's all the same now.
Just the news I was looking for, THANKS!
Great news. Thanks for taking the time to share that with me.
For any future readers, just to confirm:
A DATA ONLY plan with a 3G sim from AT&T worked fine in the gt-n7000, international version of the galaxy note.
If anyone has information to the contrary please feel free to update this thread.
Now that I know my Droid 3 will work, I tested it with a ATT gophone SIM after doing the radio flash and such but now I'm trying to get real service with a dataplan and it is hell.
They say I need a certain sim card (W7 sim card) and they seem to think it is a micro sim which the droid 3 doesn't have that. the phone support told me they could not mail me this type of card and the store people can't seem to bring up my information from the phone order and keep saying I need something else.
Keep getting the 'its not going to work' thing but obviously it will.
Did any one else in the states run into this trying to get your D3 on ATT with service other than gophone service? Trying get a 550 sharte plan and 3gb data plans for 2 phones, both are Droid 3s
bigbacon said:
Now that I know my Droid 3 will work, I tested it with a ATT gophone SIM after doing the radio flash and such but now I'm trying to get real service with a dataplan and it is hell.
They say I need a certain sim card (W7 sim card) and they seem to think it is a micro sim which the droid 3 doesn't have that. the phone support told me they could not mail me this type of card and the store people can't seem to bring up my information from the phone order and keep saying I need something else.
Keep getting the 'its not going to work' thing but obviously it will.
Did any one else in the states run into this trying to get your D3 on ATT with service other than gophone service? Trying get a 550 sharte plan and 3gb data plans for 2 phones, both are Droid 3s
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Click to collapse
You can buy sim adapters fairly cheap, if they sent you a micro sim, grab an adapter on ebay for a few bucks (usually comes in 3 packs for micro mini, and standard). Don't ask any customer service/corporate if it'll work, as by 'stock' the D3 does NOT support ATT (the mnc block Verizon has in the radio prevents this).
I have Straight Talk's BYOP service using AT&T's network on my Droid 3 and it works just fine (albeit hating ST ). If you want a go-phone plan, your cheapest option would be grabbing an ATT SIM from ebay (I bought one for a penny, trolol free shipping), and activated it on gophone awhile back when I was just first testing the radio swap, worked great, but I never tried doing much beyond a 10 dollar card for talk/text while away.
If you're trying to get on a contract, etc etc, I'd suggest you just don't tell them you have a verizon droid 3, tell them you just have an unlocked GSM phone, and if they bug you about it, tell them it's an XT860 4g or an XT883.
EDIT: You can also try just buying a SIM on ebay (make sure to get the newer orange ones) and just activating that on your AT&T account.
I had a free or discounted feature phone / dumb phone with them, with the 2 year contract, and I've used that SIM in subsequent phones with no problem... the SIM had 3G branding. Currently that same SIM and same account are working fine in my XT860 from Bell Canada (unlocked).
If you don't mind a contract, go with the simplest 3G feature phone you can get from them, and add Media.net Unlimited if they still offer it. Sell the feature phone or keep it as a backup.
I ran into the problem also with them saying I can't transfer my line because I now live in a different state. So I was give nthe option to go and sign up in that state OR send the sims to someone in that state....
what a pain. I never thought it was would be so difficult. If I'm going to get into a contract, I'll just get a new phone, I just fear that even though it seems to work with the ATT gophone SIM that once I pop a normal SIM in there, it won't work and I'll be switching to a contract and paying the 'upgrade' charge (which is really jut anoher way to make you pay the activation again)
That was my main fear.
I'm hoping they will let me just test a sim from another device at the store. I was going to show up with our phones radio flashed and ready to go for GSM and then see what they will do for me. I hope they;ll let me test it some how and/or let me sign up month to month and if it doesn't work, let me switch to contract and wave the upgrade BS.
thats the only thing I'm unsure of if I reflash to the GSM radio, take out my verizon SIM and show up with no sim. new build prop and it set to GSM before I show up if it will work or not.
bigbacon said:
I ran into the problem also with them saying I can't transfer my line because I now live in a different state. So I was give nthe option to go and sign up in that state OR send the sims to someone in that state....
what a pain. I never thought it was would be so difficult. If I'm going to get into a contract, I'll just get a new phone, I just fear that even though it seems to work with the ATT gophone SIM that once I pop a normal SIM in there, it won't work and I'll be switching to a contract and paying the 'upgrade' charge (which is really jut anoher way to make you pay the activation again)
That was my main fear.
I'm hoping they will let me just test a sim from another device at the store. I was going to show up with our phones radio flashed and ready to go for GSM and then see what they will do for me. I hope they;ll let me test it some how and/or let me sign up month to month and if it doesn't work, let me switch to contract and wave the upgrade BS.
thats the only thing I'm unsure of if I reflash to the GSM radio, take out my verizon SIM and show up with no sim. new build prop and it set to GSM before I show up if it will work or not.
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Click to collapse
Welcome to the world of AT&T! Where they win worst in customer satisfaction 3 years running by consumer reports.
"Each year, Consumer Reports ranks all manner of U.S. wireless carriers based on customer satisfaction in a number of different categories. AT&T ranked dead last in the customer satisfaction survey for the third year in a row. It was hit with the worst rankings for any major carrier in value, voice quality, and customer support."
I'd suggest you go with a prepaid like Page Plus. I've used them, good flexible plans, friendly customer support, free ESN changes via online chat, no bull. Any Verizon phone outside of 'new' inpulse and blackberries can be activated (I've got Page Plus on my CDMA side and a *shudder* Straight Talk AT&T SIM on GSM in my Droid 3)
If you call customer service, you can usually get it activated for free, or find a 3rd party page plus dealer (I have a couple that do free instant activations). They're an MVNO of Verizon, so same network, but very much lower price. Verizon prepaid smartphone plan; 70USD for unlim talk/text and 1GB data. PagePlus? 55USD For unlim talk/text and 2GBs data, or 69.95 for 5GB of data, and buying online, no taxes either.
Anyway, luck to you. If you decide to go in-store, make sure your phone is completely GSM ready, leave the Verizon/Vodafone sim at home. Tell them it's GSM unlocked and it works on AT&T's network (mention you tested it, or let you test a SIM. I've *yet* to find a store that lets me test a sim though.)
The Droid 3 supports up to HSPA 14.4 on AT&T's network, I can get ~5.5Mbps, but I have noticed it's not as stable as Verizon, and calls drop, due to CDMA having better hand-off than GSM (CDMA actually connects to multiple towers at once for seamless handoff, GSM has to toss between the towers). Been awhile since I've really read into it, and I'm likely getting a bit technical...
for me, I can't even use verizon at home or anywhere with in a 30 mile+ radius. The ONLY carrier that has coverage out here is ATT and oddly, they have 4g coverage. My neighbors use them and the signal strength and data speeds are superb. There isn't another carrier.
I know straight talk and such might use ATT towers but I worry about the so called unlimited data and everything that really isn't unlimited.
I guess if one of those carrier actually use ATT towers then I guess I'm ok but how would I know without trying them out some how?
looks like straight talk no longer does ATT
net10 seems like you can still get ATT sims
I'm in WV and, again, ATT is the only provider that has voice and data coverage out here.
bigbacon said:
looks like straight talk no longer does ATT
net10 seems like you can still get ATT sims
I'm in WV and, again, ATT is the only provider that has voice and data coverage out here.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Net10 at least came out and said there was a 1.5gb cap now on att. Albeit net10 and straighttalk are the exact same company. Outside of that, most any mvno of att is expensive, att itself is expensive, but you gotta use what you have to. Any that run on att will work on the d3 once modified to do so. Net10 and Red Pocket are the only two that come to mind at the moment, but do a bit of research and find a good one that fits your needs.
I have to search for a list since I'm reading now that some services like Net10 and such may use the ATT gohpone service area or they may use the normal service areas.
Can anyone confirm if Calls, SMS, MMS, and full Data and 3G coverage all work correctly on AT&T on the Droid 3 once unlocked?
think I'm going to try net10. $85 bucks a month to use the postpaid ATT network for 2 lines is alot better than 120 going with ATT and we don't use a lot of data. Looking back at our Verizon account over 6 months, we've never used even 1gb worth of data in a month. I can't find a chart or anything that shows which ones use the postpaid ATT network as I am up for other carriers other than net10 if they do.
seems like moving my number might be an issue though since I am no longer in PA.
braambo said:
Can anyone confirm if Calls, SMS, MMS, and full Data and 3G coverage all work correctly on AT&T on the Droid 3 once unlocked?
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I have a Bell Canada XT860, unlocked, and I use all of those except MMS, which I'm pretty sure would work too... I have the APN settings for it.
I am using a Droid 3 on At&t with the Medianet plan that only costs $10(if you're on an unlimited text plan).I'm getting speeds of
up to 5.5mb down and 1.5mb up. The speeds are better at night though.
If you want to use a prepaid GSM,the cheapest I've seen is Red Pockect that uses AT&T's network.They have unlimited talk,text &MMS.
PassingThruLife said:
I am using a Droid 3 on At&t with the Medianet plan that only costs $10(if you're on an unlimited text plan).I'm getting speeds of
up to 5.5mb down and 1.5mb up. The speeds are better at night though.
If you want to use a prepaid GSM,the cheapest I've seen is Red Pockect that uses AT&T's network.They have unlimited talk,text &MMS.
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Do you have the XT860 or XT862?
I would be all over the XT862 if Jellybean was available in a ROM (100% working)
redsrule2500 said:
Do you have the XT860 or XT862?
I would be all over the XT862 if Jellybean was available in a ROM (100% working)
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Click to collapse
i have an xt862 that i flashed with the chinese radio. I love it honestly,especially since I can have a decent android phone with keyboard + a cheap data plan.
id love to see ICS on the droid 3 but i know it wont happen,the phone is going on 2 years into its lifespan and that kind of age means DEATH in the phone industry .
PassingThruLife said:
i have an xt862 that i flashed with the chinese radio. I love it honestly,especially since I can have a decent android phone with keyboard + a cheap data plan.
id love to see ICS on the droid 3 but i know it wont happen,the phone is going on 2 years into its lifespan and that kind of age means DEATH in the phone industry .
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Click to collapse
Oh yeah, that's my goal here in looking for a replacement for my Milestone 1. I just know that I won't be able to take full advantage of the device without the newer Android OS versions available, and that's too bad because everything else is perfect with this phone. So I'm basically sticking w/ the Milestone 1 on CM7 until something better becomes available. (Weird part is even my Milestone 1 can run JB 4.1 100%...!)
I honestly have no phone to get that meets my upgrade specifications for AT&T (JB, keyboard, global phone), aside from attempting the PhotonQ SIM Card Mod, which is a huge risk since I don't know if it will work on AT&T. Blah.
redsrule2500 said:
Oh yeah, that's my goal here in looking for a replacement for my Milestone 1. I just know that I won't be able to take full advantage of the device without the newer Android OS versions available, and that's too bad because everything else is perfect with this phone. So I'm basically sticking w/ the Milestone 1 on CM7 until something better becomes available. (Weird part is even my Milestone 1 can run JB 4.1 100%...!)
I honestly have no phone to get that meets my upgrade specifications for AT&T (JB, keyboard, global phone), aside from attempting the PhotonQ SIM Card Mod, which is a huge risk since I don't know if it will work on AT&T. Blah.
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LOL I have spent some time thinking about the Photon Q,you can buy one with a bad ESN for around $120... but I am not that handy and taking apart the phone kind of scares me.
I'd be happy with a Photon Q for a while tho.
PassingThruLife said:
LOL I have spent some time thinking about the Photon Q,you can buy one with a bad ESN for around $120... but I am not that handy and taking apart the phone kind of scares me.
I'd be happy with a Photon Q for a while tho.
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Wow, that's so tempting. Didn't realize they would be that cheap.
It could be a fun project, as long as I don't screw it up completely....but I also would feel bad about owning a device which was most likely stolen.
redsrule2500 said:
Wow, that's so tempting. Didn't realize they would be that cheap.
It could be a fun project, as long as I don't screw it up completely....but I also would feel bad about owning a device which was most likely stolen.
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Click to collapse
Well "bad ESN" doesnt always mean stolen,could also mean the person owes money and the phone is blacklisted till they pay it.
My Droid 3 had a bad ESN but it was because I lost my job and couldn't afford to pay Verizon's ridiculous prices. My income was literally cut in half.
I may be one of the first to test this out....
I bought a data only plan from Freedompop for 4.99, you get first month free:
1 gig data only plan. I think it is $13.99 after that.
Here is the kicker.... you can downgrade to the minimum plan for free and get:
200mb data for life (or so they say)
I tried it in my unlocked AT&T and setup the AP and it worked! Data only though.
It is nice being able to leave your phone and still get notifications, at 4G even! Well spent $5
How did you unlock it
Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk
Can anybody convert FreedomPop android app to Tizen to use on Gear S watch?
I got SIM card but it would not work without messaging application, but it available only in Google play or iTunes.
i just wanted to let everyone know that a great cheap unlockable phone for freedompop sim card service
is the alcatel one touch evolve 2,
however, it can not be one from boost mobile, atnt one might work, along with sprint ver,
i definately know metro pcs ver works
bottom line , u need a fully unlockable phone meaning sim carrier unlocked, not anything else