Database Info

AT&T 3g VS 4g SIM

I dropped by a local AT&T store to check out the Inspire and the sales rep mentioned that if I upgraded from my HTC Tilt 2, I needed to get a new SIM with a 4g data plan. He said that my existing SIM would not have access to any data in the Inspire. I doubt the SIM cards themselves are really different. They are just probably entered into the AT&T database under different data plans.
So if I do that, can I put the new 4g SIM back into my older HTC Tilt 2 and still get data?
I have to support many different phones and I need to be able to move my SIM around.

Man do they TRAIN these reps at all?
The 4G sim is for LTE. I have a 3G sim and my data works just fine.
The 4G sim is supposed to be backward compatible.

3g here working fine
Inspire (rooted)
Leedroid v2.0.0
TELUS kernel

i've got an old 3g sim and i've been connected to h+ with dl speeds upwards of 3.5 mb/s.
as stated, the 4g sim is for lte, not hspa+...the inspire doesn't even accept lte 4g.

The sales rep even showed my a memo in a book that stated the 3g SIM would not allow access to ANY data in the Inspire.
So it wasn't the sales rep's fault, he was given bad information.

DonS said:
The sales rep even showed my a memo in a book that stated the 3g SIM would not allow access to ANY data in the Inspire.
So it wasn't the sales rep's fault, he was given bad information.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Gotcha. My sales guys said he was headed to a training on the new 4G phones this weekend. I knew more than he did

My rep never even mentioned having to change my data plan if I upgraded to 4G. He did, however, mention that they did need to train the reps on the phones that are released...it took him a few minutes to remove the battery door (I was so hoping he wouldn't scratch up the phone before I got to use it - but, he didn't), and I even had to tell him where the SIM and SD cards went (he was looking for it in the battery area, but I noticed there was a door at the bottom that might come off - BINGO!).
AT&T really does need to provide more training for the CS reps. I'm glad I didn't have to change anything; even found a feature I wasn't using that saved me $10 when he removed it (from when I was with Cingular). I also asked about state employee discounts, and am now getting a 15% discount off my monthly bill. SWEEEEEEEEEEET!

I just took the 3G SIM out of my Nexus One... handed it to the AT&T sales rep...and kept my unlimited data plan.
I get H+ and I get very good speeds with no issue at all. Hmm..

The training is there, but it's up to the reps to take it seriously. They had trainings before release on each new phone and detailed instructions to reference. Unfortunately, many just click through the training and ignore the instructions. Btw, every rep was trained regarding the differences between hpsa+ plans vs previous data plans as well as differences between sim cards.

I have the inspire and was having some issues with dropped calls and dropped data. When i talked to the store reps they didnt know anything (go figure) when i called the corporate tech guys they told me to look at my sim card. If there is a 25 in the serial number then i have the right sim card for the phone, that it is the one that will connect to 4g when it comes. I looked at the sim card i was using when i was having the problems and it didnt have the 25 in the numbers, but since i got a new one that does i havent had any issues.

This was a great question. I had had the captivate and while rooted was getting the h in my signal area, and when I upgrades to the inspiewss VERY. Shocked I didn't need a new sim. I remember when the 3g ones came out and what a big deal that was.. all very interesting

Specs say there no LTE chipset in the inspire 4G like the thunderbolt
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA Premium App

I moved from a 3Gs to my Inspire and didn't get a new sim. Just popped the one I had into my Inspire and told me I was good to go. I didn't have to get rid of unlimited data or anything.

haven't had issues with the sim card im my inspire....i've been using it for 3.5 years now.

Your "4G" sim will work in the Tilt 2 as a back-up. I did your exact upgrade (Tilt2-Inspire), and have popped the "4G" sim into my Tilt 2 to do a couple things on the network and it's worked just fine. My old 3G sim card was de-activated when I activated my "4G" so I can't speak to the Inspire working with a 3G sim. Might get better data speed till AT&T's real 4G comes online if it works though.
Like some of the others I was a little worried about losing unlimited when the CSR (did my upgrade over the phone) started talking about a new data plan, but at least this time they aren't stealing unlimited away from their customers.

I just upgraded to my inspire a week or so ago, and I have the same sim that was in my Iphone 3g. I do notice that me data connection is not stable, the speed fluctuates anywhere from .4 mbps to 6.5 mbps. Would the 4g sim cure this?

intermission said:
I just upgraded to my inspire a week or so ago, and I have the same sim that was in my Iphone 3g. I do notice that me data connection is not stable, the speed fluctuates anywhere from .4 mbps to 6.5 mbps. Would the 4g sim cure this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, the 4g sim does not have any effect on anything at this point. Same speed results and everything.
Sent from my Inspire 4G using XDA Premium App

I used my micro-sim from my iphone 4 in my inspire and it worked perfectly. However i did get that new "4G" sim when i went to the ATT store bc i was told i needed it.

i just ran speed test....my sim card does say 3g i believe
anyways running 10 times these are my numbers
***3.5 mb/s down and 1.19 mb/s upload***
im using leedroid 3.0.3 with leedroid kernel 3.1.1

4g sim is for LTE only. There is no need for it in the inspire. Some of our reps are iPhone dumb.
Sent from my Desire HD using XDA App

Help a 4g Noob

hey guys.
I know my way around around and all but I need to ask a few questions about 4g.
right now I have a vibrant with a $60 T-Mobile unlimited plan ( includes data/ no contract).
I plan on getting a g2x(not from T-Mobile) . would I have to get a 4g plan? or I can use my current one with 3g only? is 4g free as long as the phone is capable? and do I need a different sim card for the g2x?
lol sorry for bombarding u all with these questions.....thanks in advance.

You'll will need to have at least a $30 premium plan.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

If by $60 unlimited plan you mean the prepaid/monthly 4g then yes it will work. Same 2gb data cap though.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk

rsalina9 said:
If by $60 unlimited plan you mean the prepaid/monthly 4g then yes it will work. Same 2gb data cap though.
Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
yes is the $60 prepaid/ monthly plan but idk if its 4g....right now I get 3g (H) with 5gb cap then its slowed to 2g speed.
my main issue is I do no want to change the plan.....just phone

I may be misinformed but when I went from a Blackberry to the G2x, TMobile told me I would have to change the sim card to a 4g sim. Just throwing that out there.

I through my old sim card that was in my old Mytouch 3g slide into the G2x when i got it. Same plan nothing changed, just new phone. There really isnt a "4g" plan. And T-mobile's 4g network is technically 3g, they just call it that for whatever reason.
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda premium

They are all technically 3g. True 4g is around 100+ Mbps.

I think its just a selling technique. I had an old sim cards from years ago and transferred it into my g2x and ive had no issues at all. I did end up getting a new sim card anyway but the speeds remained the same. Also, it is unecessary to get a "4g" plan. I was talked into getting it when I upgraded the phone but then realized I could have just stuck to my old cheaper plan and the speeds wouldnt have changed. I talked to retentions at Tmobile and the lady even told me she has no idea why i was told to upgrade and she switched me back.

thanks everybody.....i am only limited to 5 thanks a day lol.

GTWalling said:
They are all technically 3g. True 4g is around 100+ Mbps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well 4g stands for fourth generation. Which is a new technology or method. What Tmobile uses is improved hspa that's why its called fake 4g. Nothing new just really fast 3g. speed doesn't matter nor count has to be a new method of cellular transmittion.
Sent from my CM 7.1.0 G2x using XDA app

K2sInteg98 said:
I think its just a selling technique. I had an old sim cards from years ago and transferred it into my g2x and ive had no issues at all. I did end up getting a new sim card anyway but the speeds remained the same. Also, it is unecessary to get a "4g" plan. I was talked into getting it when I upgraded the phone but then realized I could have just stuck to my old cheaper plan and the speeds wouldnt have changed. I talked to retentions at Tmobile and the lady even told me she has no idea why i was told to upgrade and she switched me back.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Representatives aren't necessarily knowledgeable on this subject. However, the '4G SIMs' they often refer to are usually UICC/GBA/IMS SIMs. The difference between these SIMs and the old LEGACY SIMs (as they are labeled on the T-Mobile system) is that the legacy SIMs have a lifetime of around 90,000 authentications. Once these authentications run out, the SIM will no longer register on the network.
These authentications are pretty much each time you connect or hand off to a new data tower. On HSPA and HSPA+, these handoffs are occurring far more often than they did on EDGE or GPRS. In essence, with a legacy SIM you are running on borrowed time before your SIM simply begins to refuse to connect to the network. It sounds like a lot of authentications, but they run out astoundingly fast and some people have actually hit the SIM exhaustion point. This won't cause slow data speeds or inability to connect to data but still being able to use voice. Your phone will not authenticate on the network at all.
Any data plan will give you '4G', or rather HSPA+ as long as your phone has the appropriate modem and you are within the area covered by HSPA+ towers. You do not have to change data plans if you already have one. You also do not need a new plan for a new SIM card. If you have a legacy SIM card T-Mobile should replace it free of charge, unless that policy has changed. They are trying to be proactive in preventing customers from not reaching the authentication limit of the legacy SIM cards.
Your SIM card has absolutely nothing to do with your data speed, however on certain phones some features are tied to certain types of SIM cards, especially new IMS featured phones.
lanlee212 said:
Well 4g stands for fourth generation. Which is a new technology or method. What Tmobile uses is improved hspa that's why its called fake 4g. Nothing new just really fast 3g. speed doesn't matter nor count has to be a new method of cellular transmittion.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No carrier in the US at this time uses anything approaching the original 4G specifications, nor will be capable of doing so for years to come. Current LTE, HSPA+, and WiMax networks are stopgaps and were marketed by carriers as 4G despite them not being so, as they needed a way to market faster phones and networks to customers in a way that customers would understand. The specifications board that handles the generational specifications decided to submit to the desires of carriers and lower the boundaries for '4G'. HSPA+ was the quickest, easiest, least battery intensive, most reliable and most cost effective of the three to implement; which is why both T-Mobile and AT&T have been rolling these upgrades out to towers for some time.

Sprint discussion

What is the status of Sprint?
They put a lot of money into supplying iPhones and they're probably hoping the EVO 4g Lte will bring them up some too. Their WiMax network cost them some big bucks, and now its costing them more to rebuild their network into an LTE one. The war between WiMax and LTE is similar to the technology war with HD-DVDs and Blu-Rays. Sprint went the wrong route though with their network choice in the beginning.
Sprint is out some money.
I hope in five or ten years, we don't see Sprint gone/bought out from the industry. What does Sprint have going for them? Really, over the other carriers? Unlimited data is really all I can think of.
I was with ATT for two years in West Virginia. Sprint had better network speeds than ATT at the time in WV. I am not sure about now. So my allegiance with Sprint stems from my better experience with them at that time.
Opinions? Views?

My experience with them has always been very slow data speeds (20kbs) and constantly dropped calls. I finally went to at&t and while it's more expensive, the better data speeds and zero dropped calls has been worth it for me.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using xda premium

Closed, post in proper section

Ditch Sprint and go to T-Mobile?

I used to be on my dad's ATT plan, but he suspended the account and nixed my unlimited data and I moved to Sprint. Now I kind of have buyers remorse because they embed their SIM cards, get terrible signal inside buildings (being a non VZ CDMA carrier) unless you're right next to a window, and have a slow 3G network, and are taking forever to get LTE up. VZ is not an option, its too expensive, altho its by far the best network. I'm thinking of going to T-Mobile, because their 3G is HSPA+, which is kind of 4G, and LTE gets bad battery life anyway. They also have unlimited data, and I feel like even if I got to the point of throttling, it might STILL be faster than Sprint. I also like the idea of GSM too. But T-Mobile is going under and I wanna know more about their service.
I'm in Eastern LI right now, and probably will be in NYC later this year. I do still own a Photon, which I could use for overseas if Sprint doesn't update their GS3 like Verizon will, but I don't wanna bother owning 2 phones. Helpppp!

Please someone help me, I still have time to return the sprint s3 which I paid full price for

Looking for info/advice on the i535 (flashed to verizon prepaid)

I broke my current phone "optimus zone" and i am looking for a new phone so i decided to get the galaxy s3 well im on verizon prepaid so i need a galaxy s3 that will work on prepaid verizonm and i need it to be rooted so i can use as a hotspot. i did some research and found that the i535 can be flashed to verizon prepaid "I Think" and it can also be rooted.
so i did some looking on ebay and found 3 things
1 i535 verizon unlocked - i looked at what a unlocked phone was and found out it just means it can be used with any compatable service provider. Can this be used with verizon and if so how?
2 i535 verizon - If i got this one can it be flashed to verizon prepaid? Can it get 4g on prepaid?
3 i710 sprint - i already ordered a sprint flashed to verizon prepaid one and found out u needed add on apps to use the sms and it cant get 4g so im woundering , if the' i535 verizon would be a better choice. i would have to learn to flash but thats no big deal.. i havent recieved the one i ordered yet but when i do i think im going to return it...
I have looked all over and can not figure out if the verizon i535 will get 4g after its flashed to verizon prepaid and i havent found out 100% that it can be flashed to verizon prepaid. Im posative it can be rooted i think lol. Or can i buy a unlocked i535 and use it on verizon prepaid somehow, easier than learning to flash???

Just sign up with Page Plus. They've been offering Verizon 4G LTE for a month now
Sent from my SPH-L710 using Tapatalk 2

I can't get survice with anyone but verizon i dout page will work in my area. And I'm not really really consurned about 4g i just hate to have a sprint phone that only gets 3g if the same phone on another carrier can get 4g... but i just need to know yes pr no can the i535 be flashed to prepaid verizon?? And if it can it be used on 4g or only 3g like the sprint one after flash... i live in a rural area and i bairley get signal as it is... i hear that this page plus provider uses verizon towers.. i don't understand does that mean it will get the exact same signal as verizon prepaid cuz that's thr ONLY provider i can use.. pleas let me knoq if the i535 can be flashed to prepaid verizon and can it get 4g yes or no please let me know I'm without a phone and really need to know what to do... i feel like i made a mistake buying the sprint one...
Sent from my LG-VS410PP using XDA Free mobile app

If they're truly Verizon towers I'd say page plus should work fine. I was told however by a guy with a local shop (I live in the boonies), that because we have so many towers around here that are owned by a regional carrier appalacian wireless that have an agreement with Big Red, that page plus would Roam more whereas Selectel wouldn't. Now, I don't know if the guy was telling the truth or not. I do know from Selectel's website that if you sign someone up to selectel and that person continues to use Selectel and re-ups through the website or whereever, the original person who signed you up gets a cut of the profits. Page Plus may not offer such a deal, so I don't actually know 100% either way. I'm looking to find something cheaper than Big Red myself. I have two phones with them at the moment with a bill of 105.00 or 107.00 but with only 250Mb of data and 1GB free for a year. I can get by with little to no data, I really don't use much, but I'd like to have it available should I need to go out of town and use the internet or use navigation which I suspect would drink the data. I know you can pre download maps with many apps these days though.
Let me know what you find out. I have the Verizon sch-i535 sgs3 with a broken power button but otherwise it's a good phone. Still does what I need it to, and development hasn't stopped yet, it's still going pretty strong on the aosp side..
Edit: I recently had my phone flashed to selectel wireless. If you have a cdma phone you can do the activation from their website. However, I think it must be a phone without a sim such as a DX or DX2. a cdma only phone. I had to take my s3 to a local selectel dealer who did the flash and got me on selectel. I went with selectel because it will roam on the regional towers in my area albiet voice and texting only not data. So, when roaming I won't have data. Pageplus from what I've read on both their site and another forum will roam but they will charge you quite a bit to do so. If you don't have the issue of roaming like I do and are near verizon towers all the time, I'd probably go with another MVNO.
I tried tracfone BYOP with my DX2 and spent a small fortune in service and gas going from here to there trying to get it activated. First they said to go to a town about 25min away from home. I did this and no dice. I called them twice using a wifi app (hangouts) and spent about 4 hours in this town trying to get the activation to work to no avail. I called again from home and was told to go to another town about an hour away. The next day I did just that. They had me dial *22891 *22801 this time activation went smooth and I was able to use data and make and receive calls perfectly. If I had known this in the closer town it would have worked there but the rep never told me that. To top things off when I got home I had no service at all. Zip None. When I called I was told that a BYOP android phone would not roam on the regional towers although a feature phone would. I was also told incorrectly I believe that if I had purchased an android tracfone from a local store that it would roam. This too from what I've read is incorrect. No android tracfone will roam on regional towers, they will only work on genuine verizon towers. I was hoping to purchase the moto e from ebay with a 400min card which tripled to 1200 min for 99 bucks. This would have been a great deal since the 400 min card alone is around 90. I never did find out the entire truth about roaming with tracfone android phones. But from what I read on the other forum and another site dedicated to tracfones, that they would not roam period. What a freaking ripoff. The same goes for a lot of other MVNO's they simply won't roam. Even Verizon perpaid phones won't work on any towers other than verizon. Again, this came from someone who supposedly had experience with this.
The bottom line is beware of MVNO's if you require roaming. Straight talk may or may not work I do not know if they roam or not. But either way selectel was cheaper. Granted it sucks that I can't get data when roaming but at least I can make and receive calls and texts. At least SMS. I haven't tried MMS and I'm guessing it won't work due to it requiring data. Remember your results may vary and I'd certainly like to hear from others who use a MVNO that is Verizon based. Or even MVNO that is ATT based ATT's coverage map says there's coverage in my area, and i know there is across the stateline where I live. A friend used to have an ATT phone a few years back and he had zero service when he crossed the line by about a half a mile, probably out of range of the ATT tower. He now has NET10 using ATT and has the same coverage.
Good luck and keep me posted please on this.
Thanks

I don't wunt page plus i need to be able to use on verizons prepayed network... can the i535 be flashed to prepayed verizon.. or is there some way to use a verizon sim to get prepayed please let me know thank you
Sent from my LG-VS410PP using XDA Free mobile app