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Which Carrier To Choose????

Ok right now i am with verizon and they got great service, but it is really expensive. I have a smartphone and a regular ol flip-phone.
Smartphone: unlimited data, 5000 messages a month and a split of 500 min.
Flip-Phone: Split of 500 min
My bill right now is around 140.00 a month, Is this right? Are there any other carriers that can offer this at a better price than what i'm getting? I would like to see the 500 min stay the same or more, and i need unlimited txtin on the smartphone. The second phone can stay as a add a line phone.
I just cant afford this right now, it's killing me inside every month i have to pay this bill. Any help would be much appreciated.

garage_man said:
Ok right now i am with verizon and they got great service, but it is really expensive. I have a smartphone and a regular ol flip-phone.
Smartphone: unlimited data, 5000 messages a month and a split of 500 min.
Flip-Phone: Split of 500 min
My bill right now is around 140.00 a month, Is this right? Are there any other carriers that can offer this at a better price than what i'm getting? I would like to see the 500 min stay the same or more, and i need unlimited txtin on the smartphone. The second phone can stay as a add a line phone.
I just cant afford this right now, it's killing me inside every month i have to pay this bill. Any help would be much appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, I have 2 lines on T-Mobile, unlimited voice and text on both, and unlimited data on one line (mine, other is my daughter's dumbphone), and it's $120/month...and I believe they have plans matching yours now (or close) for even less.
However, I would only recommend them if you know their service is solid in your area. In their major markets where they have more solid coverage, they're great, but in other places quite the opposite.

Sprint is also very cheap and there coverage in most places is very good. Im south of dallas have very good coverage and in some areas near me no other carrier has service, not verizon, tmobile or att. But it all depends on your area.
Family plan with 2 phones for $130 a month you get...
1600 shared mins- Free mobile to mobile, doesnt matter what carrier the others on.
Unlimited text
Unlimited data
Unlimited picture mail
4g network is a separate charge.. only htc evo
Also we are getting the HTC Evo on June 4. Which will be one of the best android/smart phone available, but i guess that can be argued. Sprint also is the first nation wide carrier to carry 4g network. If its in your area, it might be something to look into.

Wow
I can't believe i am getting ripped off this bad. I should've mentioned that I live in northern michigan right around traverse city. Verizon seem to have a good 3g connection around here which is very important as i use my phone as the modem for my house. Also if i change do you think i can get away with large data usage. My bill varies from as little as 40gb a month to as much as 180-190gb.

I use tmobile prepaid plan and i pay 70.00 per month for 500 anytime min. unlimited data,free nights and weekends,free tmob to tmob. Hope this helps, oh i get like 300 or 500 texts included also or maybe its unlimited.

You think that's bad? I have;
Line 1: HTC Eris - 1400 minutes shared; Unlimited Messaging; Unlimited Data; TEC
Line 2: LG EnV3 - Shared minutes w/ above; Unlimited Messaging; Pay Per KB Data (none is ever used); TEC
Line 3: Samsung Smooth - Shared minutes w/ above
On average, I pay $192 a month. Now my fiance wants the LG Ally, which will tack another $30 on per month LOL
We're up for renewel, though, so I'll try to talk them into a month of free service which will offset the monthly cost a bit for the next 2 years.
-mak
edit: Sprint has a similar plan for $129; 1500 minutes, Any Mobile Anytime (Unlimited Mobile2Mobile on any network), Unlimited Messaging & Unlimited Data for all lines on the account. With insurance and two lines it would be $153 + tax a month.. but the phone selection isn't anything spectacular as of now, other than the Evo which will run you $299 -$100 MIR.

garage_man said:
I can't believe i am getting ripped off this bad. I should've mentioned that I live in northern michigan right around traverse city. Verizon seem to have a good 3g connection around here which is very important as i use my phone as the modem for my house. Also if i change do you think i can get away with large data usage. My bill varies from as little as 40gb a month to as much as 180-190gb.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T-Mobile seems to be roaming coverage in Traverse, MI, so you won't be getting a 3G connection.
Sprint on the other hand has native coverage, as well as 3G. It may be a very good idea to look into Sprint as their coverage is very comparable with Verizon in some cities, and it seems that you live in one of them.

gsvnet said:
T-Mobile seems to be roaming coverage in Traverse, MI, so you won't be getting a 3G connection.
Sprint on the other hand has native coverage, as well as 3G. It may be a very good idea to look into Sprint as their coverage is very comparable with Verizon in some cities, and it seems that you live in one of them.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Ok, thats what i was wondering cause as this is my internet i need a 3g connection at all times. I would like to see around 1mb or a little more cause right now i pull 1.3mb

garage_man, I think your best bet is to do the following:
-First, determine which carriers have adequate data coverage in your exact location. Best way to do this is to find some friends on other carriers (with smartphones preferrably) and test them at your location
-Let us know which carriers make the cut, and then I'm sure there'll be users on here who have tips on how to pay the least for the most with any of them, and then you can choose from there.
Are you sharing the connection thorough a wifi-router app, or by connecting by USB to one PC and sharing it out from there? I'm just curious really.

Ur gonna love this
sirphunkee said:
garage_man, I think your best bet is to do the following:
-First, determine which carriers have adequate data coverage in your exact location. Best way to do this is to find some friends on other carriers (with smartphones preferrably) and test them at your location
-Let us know which carriers make the cut, and then I'm sure there'll be users on here who have tips on how to pay the least for the most with any of them, and then you can choose from there.
Are you sharing the connection thorough a wifi-router app, or by connecting by USB to one PC and sharing it out from there? I'm just curious really.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hook the phone up through internet sharing to my server. I have the connections bridged to my network card. From there it goes to my router/wifi. I use the wifi for my laptops and PS3. From the wifi router it goes to a switch to connect my gaming rig and tv. The switch gives me the ability to expand my network when needed. It's a little confusing and not the fastest internet but it gets the job done lol.

garage_man said:
I hook the phone up through internet sharing to my server. I have the connections bridged to my network card. From there it goes to my router/wifi. I use the wifi for my laptops and PS3. From the wifi router it goes to a switch to connect my gaming rig and tv. The switch gives me the ability to expand my network when needed. It's a little confusing and not the fastest internet but it gets the job done lol.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's cool, thanks. I kinda thought you had something a little more complex going on there lol. That's farily impressive though that your phone's connection can support all that...although I don't know if the unstable ping usually associated with a cell data connection would be ideal for gaming.
I guess then you also need to consider what phones each network has that can handle the way you having things setup. There's a bunch that can, but it may affect your choice in carriers.

sirphunkee said:
That's cool, thanks. I kinda thought you had something a little more complex going on there lol. That's farily impressive though that your phone's connection can support all that...although I don't know if the unstable ping usually associated with a cell data connection would be ideal for gaming.
I guess then you also need to consider what phones each network has that can handle the way you having things setup. There's a bunch that can, but it may affect your choice in carriers.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yes the ping isnt the best for gaming. It is a pretty consistent 150 to 100 ping lately. There are of course times when i can get it as low as 80 and other times 1000 lol, but verizon upgraded there notwork and i get around 150 every time. To keep things running smooth I usually i keep it down to one thing like playing a game, or watching a movie. It cant do all them things rly well.
If i change carriers i will most likely get another tp2. Unless there is a good android phone out there that can so the same internet sharing as windows mobile and have a awesome keyboard of a tp2 lol. Does anyone know of such phones.

sirphunkee said:
garage_man, I think your best bet is to do the following:
-First, determine which carriers have adequate data coverage in your exact location. Best way to do this is to find some friends on other carriers (with smartphones preferrably) and test them at your location
.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's good advice. Also, CNET has a map where you can look up your network coverage with each carriers . It may help you as well.
I think the first thing you need to determine is where you have coverage because it won't do you any good to get a better plan and no coverage.
Sprint seems to have the best deals (though not necessarily the best customer service).
I have TMO and I like them a lot but its like another member says, if you have coverage in your area, they're great, if not, then it's frustrating. they have great plans (no-contract plans as well) and great customer service.
Hope that helps.

hmmm... I wanted to post a direct link but I guess I can't because I'm a new user.
google "root wireless cnet reviews" or "CNET compare carrier coverage in your area " and hopefully that'll take you to the right place
CNET has an interactive map where you can enter your area code and see the coverage by carriers.
Hope that helps.

Wouldn't ya know it
MyTomato said:
hmmm... I wanted to post a direct link but I guess I can't because I'm a new user.
google "root wireless cnet reviews" or "CNET compare carrier coverage in your area " and hopefully that'll take you to the right place
CNET has an interactive map where you can enter your area code and see the coverage by carriers.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They have no data where i live lol.

Wouldn't ya know it
MyTomato said:
hmmm... I wanted to post a direct link but I guess I can't because I'm a new user.
google "root wireless cnet reviews" or "CNET compare carrier coverage in your area " and hopefully that'll take you to the right place
CNET has an interactive map where you can enter your area code and see the coverage by carriers.
Hope that helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
They have no data where i live lol.

.mak said:
You think that's bad? I have;
Line 1: HTC Eris - 1400 minutes shared; Unlimited Messaging; Unlimited Data; TEC
Line 2: LG EnV3 - Shared minutes w/ above; Unlimited Messaging; Pay Per KB Data (none is ever used); TEC
Line 3: Samsung Smooth - Shared minutes w/ above
On average, I pay $192 a month. Now my fiance wants the LG Ally, which will tack another $30 on per month LOL
We're up for renewel, though, so I'll try to talk them into a month of free service which will offset the monthly cost a bit for the next 2 years.
-mak
edit: Sprint has a similar plan for $129; 1500 minutes, Any Mobile Anytime (Unlimited Mobile2Mobile on any network), Unlimited Messaging & Unlimited Data for all lines on the account. With insurance and two lines it would be $153 + tax a month.. but the phone selection isn't anything spectacular as of now, other than the Evo which will run you $299 -$100 MIR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That plan sounds nice, is there anyway for me to sim unlock my verizon tp2 to allow it to be used on the sprint network?

[Q] Simple Mobile?

OK I have been with TMobile for years but have found their customer service to have gone downhill in the past 6 months. My question is does anyone have any experience with simple mobile? If I understand correctly they use TMobile network and my bill would be 40% lower for the same service I have. I have read about them throttling much sooner than TMobile but that part doesn't concern me too much. Most of the time I'm near wifi and use very little carrier internet on a monthly basis. Any comments either way would be taken into consideration and appreciated.

icandy75 said:
OK I have been with TMobile for years but have found their customer service to have gone downhill in the past 6 months. My question is does anyone have any experience with simple mobile? If I understand correctly they use TMobile network and my bill would be 40% lower for the same service I have. I have read about them throttling much sooner than TMobile but that part doesn't concern me too much. Most of the time I'm near wifi and use very little carrier internet on a monthly basis. Any comments either way would be taken into consideration and appreciated.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You're right, Simple Mobile is an MVNO of TMobile. I use them for my SNS (and previously Vibrant). They're low on options and support, but that's part of what makes it so cheap. $60/mo gets you "unlimited" (today's newspeak definition of "unlimited" is about 5GB or so, though "unlimited" used to mean about 1GB a while back until people got real upset over it and they changed it). Be aware there's no roaming on SM, which means if you're not talking to a TMo tower, you're not talking. Otherwise it's a great value and F subsidized phones and contracts.

Thanks for the input. Sounds like it may be a good option for me. I don't roam as it is but it's good to know in the event I travel to bring a prepaid sim if I switch.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk

So if Verizon charges this much for data plans...

First off I dont have to worry about it because I already have the TBolt.. However, if friends or family ever switch over, it could be an issue for them...
That being said - if they are going to have this implemented, they need to make some changes to the android OS.
First off - when you buy a new phone, the employee types in your gmail address and syncs your phone. This is done over 3/4G since they rarely bother to put you on wifi for doing this. Not to mention you probably want to leave the store... Therefore you will be syncing all your apps on your wireless account consuming your bandwidth.
There are too many instances that the OS contacts the net for this to be viable and pointless if you turn them off. My iPhone on at&t never went over 900mb a month and I use it the same amount as this android phone. The difference? The iPhone doesnt sync over the web and pull all of your apps back down for you if you factory reset or load a custom rom. On the TBolt, I regularly hit over 10gb per month.
I believe Verizon must limit bandwidth after you reach your paid allowance, not charge overages. The FCC really needs to step in here as this is literally the internet form of rape.
I guess Sprint is smiling now?

psufan5 said:
First off I dont have to worry about it because I already have the TBolt.. However, if friends or family ever switch over, it could be an issue for them...
That being said - if they are going to have this implemented, they need to make some changes to the android OS.
First off - when you buy a new phone, the employee types in your gmail address and syncs your phone. This is done over 3/4G since they rarely bother to put you on wifi for doing this. Not to mention you probably want to leave the store... Therefore you will be syncing all your apps on your wireless account consuming your bandwidth.
There are too many instances that the OS contacts the net for this to be viable and pointless if you turn them off. My iPhone on at&t never went over 900mb a month and I use it the same amount as this android phone. The difference? The iPhone doesnt sync over the web and pull all of your apps back down for you if you factory reset or load a custom rom. On the TBolt, I regularly hit over 10gb per month.
I believe Verizon must limit bandwidth after you reach your paid allowance, not charge overages. The FCC really needs to step in here as this is literally the internet form of rape.
I guess Sprint is smiling now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
most people aren't loading custom roms (not to mention it's not Verizon's problem, technically they don't condone it), or downloading them over 3G/4G, but rather via the computer and transferring over USB. How you hit 10 GB without netflix is beyond me. If you're using LTE as a home internet sub than that's a whole different topic.
Streaming music for ~2hours a day except on the weekend, and moderate use each day, only puts me at max around 4GB.

psufan5 said:
First off I dont have to worry about it because I already have the TBolt.. However, if friends or family ever switch over, it could be an issue for them...
That being said - if they are going to have this implemented, they need to make some changes to the android OS.
First off - when you buy a new phone, the employee types in your gmail address and syncs your phone. This is done over 3/4G since they rarely bother to put you on wifi for doing this. Not to mention you probably want to leave the store... Therefore you will be syncing all your apps on your wireless account consuming your bandwidth.
There are too many instances that the OS contacts the net for this to be viable and pointless if you turn them off. My iPhone on at&t never went over 900mb a month and I use it the same amount as this android phone. The difference? The iPhone doesnt sync over the web and pull all of your apps back down for you if you factory reset or load a custom rom. On the TBolt, I regularly hit over 10gb per month.
I believe Verizon must limit bandwidth after you reach your paid allowance, not charge overages. The FCC really needs to step in here as this is literally the internet form of rape.
I guess Sprint is smiling now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well several things. No one has to let the vzw employees set up their phones. No one is required to sync their apps or even download any. And why should vzw, if /once they go to tiered plans simply throttle instead of charge overage. Go over you cell minutes you pay extra. Same for txt. And how is it any concern of the FCC if vzw changes their plans?
My main issue with the plans as rumored is that they do not include tethering. Most normal users will be fine with a 2g cap. My gf, on a rooted DX with Netflix, has used 700 megs this month. Just for example.
das BAMF sense 3.0 rocking the bolt

JBAeroEngineer said:
most people aren't loading custom roms (not to mention it's not Verizon's problem, technically they don't condone it), or downloading them over 3G/4G, but rather via the computer and transferring over USB. How you hit 10 GB without netflix is beyond me. If you're using LTE as a home internet sub than that's a whole different topic.
Streaming music for ~2hours a day except on the weekend, and moderate use each day, only puts me at max around 4GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Really? I haven't been able to stay under 10 gigs since Amazon Cloud / Google Music came out. And that is about 2-3 hours a day. Although I do use TuneIn Radio the other 90% of the time...

Yeah, lucky for most of us TB users, we are grandfathered in to the "unlimited" plans. I have been a VZ customer for over 15 years now, and there is no question that their services is the best....
But when the time comes for me to sign another contract, if these are the terms I will probably be forced to switch carriers...
Sprint looks appealing, they have strong data coverage in my area...and I am not concerned about "dropped calls" because I almost never use the phone any more...
Hopefully this kind of pricing will force more competition. Maybe if they offered unlimited texting and cheaper (lower than 450 minute) phone plans along with it, that would soften the blow.
I am also finding that 4G speeds really only matter to me when tethering, other than that 3G does everything I need just fine with better battery life. I could definitely do with "slower" 4G speeds with another carrier.

JBAeroEngineer said:
most people aren't loading custom roms (not to mention it's not Verizon's problem, technically they don't condone it), or downloading them over 3G/4G, but rather via the computer and transferring over USB. How you hit 10 GB without netflix is beyond me. If you're using LTE as a home internet sub than that's a whole different topic.
Streaming music for ~2hours a day except on the weekend, and moderate use each day, only puts me at max around 4GB.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
FTP transfer for work on the fly while traveling around town. My phone is on the car charger or my desk charger most of the day. And I have an Unlimited Verizon 3G mobile modem for my laptop, so no it isn't tethering.

turbosrrgood said:
Yeah, lucky for most of us TB users, we are grandfathered in to the "unlimited" plans. I have been a VZ customer for over 15 years now, and there is no question that their services is the best....
But when the time comes for me to sign another contract, if these are the terms I will probably be forced to switch carriers...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why switch carriers? Since they did away with the 1-year commitment earlier this year, I made the decision just to buy my phones without a subsidy. Therefore, no need for a new contract. I got my TBolt on eBay for a pretty decent price and it's like new.

bogatyr said:
FTP transfer for work on the fly while traveling around town. My phone is on the car charger or my desk charger most of the day. And I have an Unlimited Verizon 3G mobile modem for my laptop, so no it isn't tethering.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
way to use a completely off base scenario

JBAeroEngineer said:
way to use a completely off base scenario
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well you did say:
How you hit 10 GB without netflix is beyond me. If you're using LTE as a home internet sub than that's a whole different topic.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Was just giving you an example that doesn't involve tethering I use 50-70GB/mo on my phone. A lot less on my grandfathered laptop modem - mostly VPN/Remote desktop/Console work.

10GB a month? wtf?
I just averaged up my last 6 months and i average .21 GB a month. and i stream pandora, have all my accounts syncing and look on the net, facebook and twitter all day. When i get my tablet (hopefully the amazon hollywood) this will go down evenmore bc i'll be using it at home on my wifi.

I use mine heavily with netflix....and i was around 4 gigs this month

I also call shenanigans on 10gigs a month just by synching. I use about 6gigs a month but I use my LTE for a lot of things.

turbosrrgood said:
Yeah, lucky for most of us TB users, we are grandfathered in to the "unlimited" plans. I have been a VZ customer for over 15 years now, and there is no question that their services is the best....
But when the time comes for me to sign another contract, if these are the terms I will probably be forced to switch carriers...
Sprint looks appealing, they have strong data coverage in my area...and I am not concerned about "dropped calls" because I almost never use the phone any more...
Hopefully this kind of pricing will force more competition. Maybe if they offered unlimited texting and cheaper (lower than 450 minute) phone plans along with it, that would soften the blow.
I am also finding that 4G speeds really only matter to me when tethering, other than that 3G does everything I need just fine with better battery life. I could definitely do with "slower" 4G speeds with another carrier.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sprint coverage maps are a joke, yes they have coverage but the towers are so overloaded you are lucky to break 200/kbps (yes, 200k) downstream on rev A. EVDO during the day.
WiMax is great if you are on top of your roof or in an open field, but as soon as you get into any structure with more integrity than a tree house your signal tanks (Charlotte, SC has the best Wimax from my observation) because it operates at such a high frequency.
After being a customer for 11 years I jumped ship from Sprint over the weekend and picked up two TBs to replace my 2 EVO's. Sprint 3G is horrendous, not just in South Carolina, but in NYC, Charlotte, Atlanta, San Francisco, Detroit---I have traveled to all of these places in the last 6 months, and in each location I test between the hacked Verizon PRL for the EVO and the most recent Sprint PRL both in a Sense ROM and on Cyanogen...without fail, the year old hacked Verizon 3G PRL is faster, and more consistent. I was hoping my contract would just be canceled for having 5+ gigs of roaming data every month (not supposed to exceed 300 megs), but alas I was grandfathered into unlimited roaming data.
Sprint has been "upgrading its network" for years now yet the service still seems completely overburdened. I'm going to spend 40 bucks more a month going to Verizon for two lines, but I don't really care at this point, I would rather pay to play than save and suffer...

bogatyr said:
Well you did say:
Was just giving you an example that doesn't involve tethering I use 50-70GB/mo on my phone. A lot less on my grandfathered laptop modem - mostly VPN/Remote desktop/Console work.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
that's something that most companies should/would/could pay for. you're clearly an outlier in phone usage.

velopirate said:
Why switch carriers? Since they did away with the 1-year commitment earlier this year, I made the decision just to buy my phones without a subsidy. Therefore, no need for a new contract. I got my TBolt on eBay for a pretty decent price and it's like new.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Did you have a 4g plan or is the unlimited data plan independent of 3/4g? Are you able to use the 4gon th e TB without having upgrade?

I use 6-8GB per month.
I know I could cut that more than in half if I wasn't ROM Flash happy and dl'd them on my PC instead of the phone.
I have 12 down and 1 up at home...I often get faster with my LTE/Bolt.
I can survive...somehow...with downloading ROMs, etc., on my PC...lol.

Update via Droid-Life
Hopefully this is the case:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/06/2...-by-tiered-data-only-new-customers-and-lines/

The prices for data are criminal. The prices for tethering are even more so. I'm happy I'm grandfathered in, but I doubt I'll ever go over the 2GB since I'm on WiFi 99% of the time. I didn't even want a data plan because I have so little use for one.

Taykiin said:
Hopefully this is the case:
http://www.droid-life.com/2011/06/2...-by-tiered-data-only-new-customers-and-lines/
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I hope this is truth I barely got my TB for the same. Reason
Sent from my ADR6400L using Tapatalk

Well I drive a truck and use the phone for everything, on my imago I was lucky to stay under 8gigs, with the bolt I am at 20gigs
Transmitted using my Sagem 835 mobile communication device.

[Q] Straight Talk vs TMobile vs Ting vs ???

Curious what opinions are...
What is the best cheap provider?
I see there are some big threads about TMobile, but searching around the net, I see a lot of people who seem to like Straight Talk.
Anyone use Ting?
Any opinions? Any first hand experiences?
Thanks

www.lycamobile.us and www.gosmartmobile.com also have better deals, especially for pay-as-you-go users.

.jond said:
Curious what opinions are...
What is the best cheap provider?
I see there are some big threads about TMobile, but searching around the net, I see a lot of people who seem to like Straight Talk.
Anyone use Ting?
Any opinions? Any first hand experiences?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've heard too many complaints about Smart Talk to consider them a first option. They're good for basic AT&T-area coverage I guess, but not very heavy data usage. T-Mobile has less coverage but is much better about data.

Get a plan at aiowireless.com. They're owned and operated by AT&T and have great service. I've used them for 2 months now and don't regret switching from T-Mobile. I get way better coverage and LTE nearly everywhere. T-Mobile's LTE is still in infancy and only in a few markets across the USA.
AT&T is trying to buy Leap Communications which owns Cricket. If government regulators allow them to do so, AT&T will be merging Aio with Cricket. Same service, new name. Though Cricket has been viewed as a "cheap and crappy" pay as you go service for many years, if owned and operated by AT&T, I think it'll really boost it's way into competing with the bigger dogs now that it'll have better coverage and service to offer.

.jond said:
Curious what opinions are...
What is the best cheap provider?
Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
One son switched his galaxy nexus from ST ATT to ST TMob in Dec. His coverage (Orlando, FL/UCF) improved and dl speed went from 6 to 11/12MB . In June, I switched him to TMob $30 (100 min) plan. Coverage seems the same, but now he has 5GB high speed data. I keep extra $ in the account in case he needs more minutes but he hasn't yet.
I moved two Iphones (4s) from ST ATT to GoPhone in July. The other three of us live in a rural south Florida area with decent coverage about 100 feet from our house. We usually get a signal inside the house. Local coverage/signal the same; however, I no longer have to constantly (weekly at times) re-negotiate the data connections and mms just works. (ST never fully supported GSM Iphones. ) I considered aio but went with gophone. ATT installed the sims and made certain everything was working. All I paid for was the first month ($60.+sales tax), no sim or activation fee. Since then, I have gotten refills for $54./month--no tax.
I have a Nexus 4 and am still on ST ATT. I was waiting on my last 90 day purchase to run out before moving to GoPhone, when they actually became transparent with their data policy. I just purchased another 30 days and a new LTE sim in anticipation that one day, Google will actually make the Nexus 5 available. After I experience LTE through ST, I will decide to stay or go.
My Orlando area son will take my n4 as he will be on LTE with it. I will get ATT LTE when in covered areas with n5.
We have no experience with other prepay. We had been Sprint customers for 12 years until we no longer were able to receive a signal in our house (tried TMob with same results). I do thank Sprint for not caring about our situation since it made me consider prepay. The best thing about prepay is you can leave if you don't like it. If you watch forums (howardforums is great for carrier info), you can find out when good deals are available. Last month I picked up TMob micro sim for a buck as I was considering trying them again. As I mentioned, ATT did gophone set up for free.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4

Great information! Very cool.
Anyone else?

Rarscaryfrosty said:
Get a plan at aiowireless.com. They're owned and operated by AT&T and have great service. I've used them for 2 months now and don't regret switching from T-Mobile. I get way better coverage and LTE nearly everywhere. T-Mobile's LTE is still in infancy and only in a few markets across the USA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm also thinking of switching from regular AT&T to Aio, although it will mean the loss of some coverage since it will only talk to AT&T towers (no roaming). From a practical standpoint, however, this probably isn't a big deal since 99% of the places I'm likely to be have AT&T coverage; it's mainly on long trips to the west (Nebraska, Wyoming, etc.) where it gets thin.

How the hell is this Nexus 5 General?

ritchea said:
One son switched his galaxy nexus from ST ATT to ST TMob in Dec. His coverage (Orlando, FL/UCF) improved and dl speed went from 6 to 11/12MB . In June, I switched him to TMob $30 (100 min) plan. Coverage seems the same, but now he has 5GB high speed data. I keep extra $ in the account in case he needs more minutes but he hasn't yet.
I moved two Iphones (4s) from ST ATT to GoPhone in July. The other three of us live in a rural south Florida area with decent coverage about 100 feet from our house. We usually get a signal inside the house. Local coverage/signal the same; however, I no longer have to constantly (weekly at times) re-negotiate the data connections and mms just works. (ST never fully supported GSM Iphones. ) I considered aio but went with gophone. ATT installed the sims and made certain everything was working. All I paid for was the first month ($60.+sales tax), no sim or activation fee. Since then, I have gotten refills for $54./month--no tax.
I have a Nexus 4 and am still on ST ATT. I was waiting on my last 90 day purchase to run out before moving to GoPhone, when they actually became transparent with their data policy. I just purchased another 30 days and a new LTE sim in anticipation that one day, Google will actually make the Nexus 5 available. After I experience LTE through ST, I will decide to stay or go.
My Orlando area son will take my n4 as he will be on LTE with it. I will get ATT LTE when in covered areas with n5.
We have no experience with other prepay. We had been Sprint customers for 12 years until we no longer were able to receive a signal in our house (tried TMob with same results). I do thank Sprint for not caring about our situation since it made me consider prepay. The best thing about prepay is you can leave if you don't like it. If you watch forums (howardforums is great for carrier info), you can find out when good deals are available. Last month I picked up TMob micro sim for a buck as I was considering trying them again. As I mentioned, ATT did gophone set up for free.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4
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Where do you get your Gophone refills at $54?

rochrunner said:
I'm also thinking of switching from regular AT&T to Aio, although it will mean the loss of some coverage since it will only talk to AT&T towers (no roaming). From a practical standpoint, however, this probably isn't a big deal since 99% of the places I'm likely to be have AT&T coverage; it's mainly on long trips to the west (Nebraska, Wyoming, etc.) where it gets thin.
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Yea, where I work, my office is in a basement. I sadly cannot get coverage in the basement with Aio Wireless, but I got 2 bars of HSPA with T-Mobile. My coworker who has Aio also can get service though, I assume this is due to antenna differences in our phones. I have a nexus 4 right now, and it's commonly known is has a crappy antenna compared to some other phones. I'm hoping the antenna on the nexus 5 will pick up reception better, but it's no big deal since I walk up to the main level of the office multiple times a day where I can get perfect coverage.

Tmobile's $30/mo prepaid is tough to beat overall if you don't use much voice. 4G, good coverage, and cheap! I'm planning to dump my Verizon plan after I see some good reviews on the Nexus 5. I'll save $53/mo even with my company's Verizon discount.

TiltedAz said:
Tmobile's $30/mo prepaid is tough to beat overall if you don't use much voice. 4G, good coverage, and cheap! I'm planning to dump my Verizon plan after I see some good reviews on the Nexus 5. I'll save $53/mo even with my company's Verizon discount.
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Did you say good coverage?

ryude said:
Did you say good coverage?
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Duh.. a-yup....

Got 1 question, if you switch to tmo prepaid, would you be able to keep your number? And how long it takes for number transfer?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

Lancez said:
Got 1 question, if you switch to tmo prepaid, would you be able to keep your number? And how long it takes for number transfer?
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
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You can transfer your number. Typically it takes up to 8 hours for everything to work. It took me 2 weeks to even get texting working. Once it kicked in though, I had no issues sending/receiving texts to and from people. It was a bit frustrating going 2 weeks without texts. I was surprised when I switched to Aio wireless and it only took 2 hours for me to send and receive SMS and MMS.

TiltedAz said:
Duh.. a-yup....
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Where I live Sprint has better coverage... and that's saying something.

Rarscaryfrosty said:
You can transfer your number. Typically it takes up to 8 hours for everything to work. It took me 2 weeks to even get texting working. Once it kicked in though, I had no issues sending/receiving texts to and from people. It was a bit frustrating going 2 weeks without texts. I was surprised when I switched to Aio wireless and it only took 2 hours for me to send and receive SMS and MMS.
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Took me 40 seconds after I ported my number, but maybe that's because I ported my number from TMo postpaid to prepaid

.jond said:
Curious what opinions are...
What is the best cheap provider?
I see there are some big threads about TMobile, but searching around the net, I see a lot of people who seem to like Straight Talk.
Anyone use Ting?
Any opinions? Any first hand experiences?
Thanks
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I say try both yourself and see which best works for you. You can pick up a Tmob SIM for $1 on sales they have all the time, ST sims they go for like $6, so one month port your # into TMob and the next month port it to ST, see which one works best for you.
Tmo Pros: 5GB data, $30 bucks flat, no extra fees
Tmo Cons: only 100 mins (why i use talkatone and port my main # to GV, no mins used, only data)
ST Pros: Unlimited Mins, ATT Towers
ST Cons: $45 bucks + $3 something in fees, 2.5GB and after that they throttle like crazy (basically useless), they are picky with streaming music/vid

miamidesigner said:
I say try both yourself and see which best works for you. You can pick up a Tmob SIM for $1 on sales they have all the time, ST sims they go for like $6, so one month port your # into TMob and the next month port it to ST, see which one works best for you.
Tmo Pros: 5GB data, $30 bucks flat, no extra fees
Tmo Cons: only 100 mins (why i use talkatone and port my main # to GV, no mins used, only data)
ST Pros: Unlimited Mins, ATT Towers
ST Cons: $45 bucks + $3 something in fees, 2.5GB and after that they throttle like crazy (basically useless), they are picky with streaming music/vid
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Click to collapse
And depending where you live, ST actually has service whereas Tmo does not.

You can also try Solavei. Offers the most data for the lowest price. (4GB for $49. First two months are $39 right now.) Best value I'd say compared to what others offer. Runs off of T-Mobile.
Disclaimer: I am an independent rep with them but I've personally used the service since November (when the Nexus 4 came out) and love it.
Link in my signature or PM me as I can get you some freebies as well.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Extremely slow LTE speeds T-Mobile OP6

I noticed that the data speeds on my OP6 have become increasingly slow, especially so over the last couple weeks on my OP6. Tonight, I'm posting this from a desktop because my OP6 is unusable without wifi, unable to do even google searches without extremely long wait times.
I'm getting between 5kbps and 50kbps (in small bursts). Am I being throttled?

SOCOM-HERO said:
I noticed that the data speeds on my OP6 have become increasingly slow, especially so over the last couple weeks on my OP6. Tonight, I'm posting this from a desktop because my OP6 is unusable without wifi, unable to do even google searches without extremely long wait times.
I'm getting between 5kbps and 50kbps (in small bursts). Am I being throttled?
Click to expand...
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Have you asked T-mobile? Possibly your plan mandates throttling speed after using certain amount of data,even on "unlimited" data plan. I don't use much data, may be 6-8gb per month and have not noticed reduced speed in the DC area.

Gr8man001 said:
Have you asked T-mobile? Possibly your plan mandates throttling speed after using certain amount of data,even on "unlimited" data plan. I don't use much data, may be 6-8gb per month and have not noticed reduced speed in the DC area.
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I'm on the prepaid 10 gb plan. I've used no where near that limit, but recently had to get a new SIM card to get a lower rate for the exact same service. That is when I really started to notice. I'll call them.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A6003 using Tapatalk

SOCOM-HERO said:
I'm on the prepaid 10 gb plan. I've used no where near that limit, but recently had to get a new SIM card to get a lower rate for the exact same service. That is when I really started to notice. I'll call them.
Click to expand...
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Please let us know how it goes.

thejase said:
Please let us know how it goes.
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So far, not so good. Two calls in, one online support ticket unanswered.
I cannot access my account online either. Was told I would need to use a NEW EMAIL address to access it due to the difference between the "legacy system" and the new "rebellion" plans. Unreal. I refused and let them know they need to fix it. I'm not using a different email for T mobile compared to the hundreds of other accounts and services on my main personal email.
Also, speeds are still slow. I got a whopping 9mbps download on one speed test, 10 mbps upload. But since then, speeds have been lower then 5mpbs in either direction. Tried across a variety of tests like speedtest.net, dslreports.com, and fast.com
The second support guy said they refreshed my number's signal and I turned the phone off for a little over 5 minutes while they did this as instructed. Turn it back on, no difference yet.
They will call me back in 2 hours (like they said they would do yesterday when I did the same thing as above - never got a callback.) Here's hoping. Support is based somewhere offshore like the Philippines. Hard to understand them.
If they don't call back or if I don't see improvements later today, I'll consider this strike two - and go to a store to voice my concerns. If the store cannot fix it, I'm going to AT&T once my month of prepay expires on the 28th and stop my autopayment. Maybe I'll just sell this thing and get a OP7 or OP7 pro and move back to Verizon if I have to. I'd hate to do that - but I effectively have a paperweight when not on wifi.

Try plugging your SIM into another phone, or try using a friend's SIM in yours. You will be able to tell pretty fast if it is your network carriers fault or your phone's fault.

Just to test, I swapped sim from my wife's phone who is on mint mobile (pre paid mvno of t-mobile). I got true LTE speed (around 16 mbps) which is comparable to my own t-mobile sim. IMO, it's not pre paid or post paid issue. Like suggested in above post, try another sim card. There is a remote possibility that you got an old 3G sim pre paid card. I hope you get it sorted out soon.

only4dank said:
Try plugging your SIM into another phone, or try using a friend's SIM in yours. You will be able to tell pretty fast if it is your network carriers fault or your phone's fault.
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Gr8man001 said:
Just to test, I swapped sim from my wife's phone who is on mint mobile (pre paid mvno of t-mobile). I got true LTE speed (around 16 mbps) which is comparable to my own t-mobile sim. IMO, it's not pre paid or post paid issue. Like suggested in above post, try another sim card. There is a remote possibility that you got an old 3G sim pre paid card. I hope you get it sorted out soon.
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I'm going to a store to get a new SIM. I chatted with someone at Tmobile's T-Force (US based social media support) and they think it could also be a SIM issue, and that I'm not being deprioritized as far as they can tell.

Got a new SIM. Instantly got full LTE speeds in the store. Of course, the instant I got home, speeds dropped. It must be a combination of the old SIM, my location, or something else. I give up. I never use LTE at home or work, so it will really depend on where I am. If it keeps staying this slow when I'm out - I think I'll go to AT&T prepaid for a couple months and see how that network is around me.
I went around to a few places tonight and it was night and day compared to my home/work. Getting speeds that are very fast - nearly 100mbps down in one test. I never saw those speeds before, so the new SIM really helped. Still slow at home/work - but those locations have never given me the best speeds, so I'll rely on wifi there anyhow.
Consider this solved. If you have the same issue - get a new SIM.