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Does the Personal Hotspot feature work with an iPhone + Straight Talk?
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Apr 21, 2012 02:45
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None of the prepaid plans officially support tethering or hotspot features, no. On the flip side, if you have for example a Nexus or modded Android phone which lets you enable tethering, you can generally use that without them noticing as long as you don't abuse it.
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Apr 21, 2012 16:29
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Rastor posted:None of the prepaid plans officially support tethering or hotspot features, no. This doesn't help for his iPhone on straight talk, but you can now add tethering to a T-mobile monthly plan for $15.
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Apr 21, 2012 16:44
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Yeah any phone on Tmobile can be one-click-rooted and given a free tethering app in less time than the time it takes to go and sign up for the $15/mo tethering service. I really wouldn't recommend anyone actually pay for it.
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Apr 21, 2012 19:41
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I plan on buying an unlocked Galaxy Nexus and doing the StraightTalk/AT&T plan...I'd like to do T-Mobile's plan, since it's a better value (100 minutes is plenty for me), but they have terrible coverage here...according to their map, there is only 2G data service here...:/ AT&T has "4G"..I mean...not real 4G (LTE), but whatever their previous 4G was (HSPA+)? Either way, certainly faster than T-Mobile's 2G. But since I'm paying ~$80 on Sprint, even paying ~$50 on StraightTalk after taxes and fees will save me $30 a month, which means the Nexus pays for itself after ~9 months compared to buying it subsidized and staying with Sprint. My big question is what happens to my phone number when I ditch Sprint? I have the GV integration, so my GV number IS my Sprint number...so will I still get to keep that and have perfect GV integration? Or will I have to get a new phone number, AND/OR new GV number and then pay the $$ to forward it? DrBouvenstein fucked around with this message at 17:45 on Apr 22, 2012 |
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Apr 22, 2012 15:04
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I'm finally free of my stupid Verizon contract and I'm looking to move. I just ordered a used, unlocked HTC G2 off ebay. When it arrives, I need to figure out what to do with it. I'm eyeing Straight Talk T-Mobile. Just wondering if there's any reason to choose the $60/month T-Mobile plan over the $45/month Straight Talk plan? Both have unlimited talk/text/data (up to 1-2 GB). (The cell is my only phone, so the $30/month T-Mobile plan with 100 minutes wouldn't suit me so well.) I'm in the Atlanta area if that makes a difference. Just wondered if goons had any experience or suggestions with either or both carriers.
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Apr 22, 2012 17:49
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DrBouvenstein posted:My big question is what happens to my phone number when I ditch Sprint? I have the GV integration, so my GV number IS my Sprint number...so will I still get to keep that and have perfect GV integration? Or will I have to get a new phone number, AND/OR new GV number and then pay the $$ to forward it? Blue Scream posted:Just wondering if there's any reason to choose the $60/month T-Mobile plan over the $45/month Straight Talk plan? Both have unlimited talk/text/data (up to 1-2 GB). Basically, Straight Talk should be fine unless you plan to stream data to your phone all day long.
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Apr 22, 2012 23:03
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So there are rumors floating around that the HTC Evo 3D might be coming to Virgin Mobile USA. It's listed as "unofficially announced" on several mobile news sites, though it seems sketchy to me considering the Evo 3D is one of Sprint's better phones. It's not the best phone out there--indeed, I have several friends who tell me it has some notable issues--but it's certainly better than the Triumph or the Optimus, so I'd switch over to it in a heartbeat. I've been considering switching to T-Mobile, but the Evo 3D might be enough to make me stay. I guess we'll wait and see.
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Apr 23, 2012 01:10
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BlackFrost posted:So there are rumors floating around that the HTC Evo 3D might be coming to Virgin Mobile USA. It's listed as "unofficially announced" on several mobile news sites, though it seems sketchy to me considering the Evo 3D is one of Sprint's better phones. It's not the best phone out there--indeed, I have several friends who tell me it has some notable issues--but it's certainly better than the Triumph or the Optimus, so I'd switch over to it in a heartbeat. What are the issues? I'm grandfathered on the $25 plan and I'm not sure I'd ever want to switch services, but I'm hoping to upgrade from the Optimus V eventually.
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Apr 23, 2012 01:55
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My wife and I are grandfathered on the 25 dollar plan with our Optimus V's but I am leaving. The issue we are having with the network is getting old. I have talked to the foreign call center one too many times now. They tried to convince me that its not the network its that my wife's phone and mine broke in the same way at exactly the same time.
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Apr 23, 2012 22:43
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cycowolf posted:My wife and I are grandfathered on the 25 dollar plan with our Optimus V's but I am leaving. The issue we are having with the network is getting old. I have talked to the foreign call center one too many times now. They tried to convince me that its not the network its that my wife's phone and mine broke in the same way at exactly the same time. Sprint has a map of planned network improvements, might want to see if there's any improvements going on in your areas. My data speeds of improved recently.
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Apr 23, 2012 22:49
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Mister Fister posted:Sprint has a map of planned network improvements, might want to see if there's any improvements going on in your areas. My data speeds of improved recently. The weird thing is that we can not make or get calls and text but the 3G is working better than it ever has before.
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Apr 24, 2012 00:44
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Arob1000 posted:What are the issues? I'm grandfathered on the $25 plan and I'm not sure I'd ever want to switch services, but I'm hoping to upgrade from the Optimus V eventually. Little things, like the volume being really low and it apparently locks up a lot. There were more, but those are the only two I remember (and the volume one is the one I worry about because I rely on my phone as an alarm clock). From what I recall, it's nothing that'll make you hate the phone, just little quirks here and there. It's not the greatest phone, but on a prepaid plan it would be completely worth it. Another rumor is that it will come to Virgin sporting ICS, which would be wonderful. Seeing as it took forever to get a Gingerbread phone on the service, though, I'm going to go ahead and call bullshit on that one. Still, the EVO 3D would be nice.
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Apr 24, 2012 06:15
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I am now officially considering the switch to android with this https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=galaxy_nexus_hspa Now, what's a good way to get a MicroSIM card for T-Mobile Prepaid? Funk fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Apr 24, 2012 |
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Apr 24, 2012 16:29
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The Galaxy Nexus uses a standard SIM, just order the SIM from the OP. MicroSIMs are for iPhones and Verizon LTE stuff.
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Apr 24, 2012 17:44
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Rastor posted:The Galaxy Nexus uses a standard SIM, just order the SIM from the OP. And the new Nokia windows phones.
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Apr 24, 2012 17:54
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Funk posted:I am now officially considering the switch to android with this That's freaking awesome, wish I had seen this a few weeks ago. That should work great with the $30 T-mobile plan and save you about $1000 over 2 years. There are options for a warranty but I don't think any are worth it. Most cost almost $75 and have around a $75 deductible. Personally I'll take a 50-50 that I won't break it.
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Apr 24, 2012 18:03
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There's a lot of talk about using Groove IP combined with the T-Mo $30 plan. Is anyone using this successfully? Groove IP seems to have major issues staying connected when I'm switching from wifi to 3g and back, and sometimes disconnects for no reason at all and won't reconnect until I go into the app. These issues with Groove IP are holding me back from trying the T-Mo option.
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Apr 24, 2012 22:48
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I use Groove IP, but only for outbound calling. If I have a solid 4G connection it works fine, I tried once shortly after my flight landed when everyone whipped out their phones and that just wasn't happening with so many people sharing the tower. If I needed to send/receive many phone calls with my phone, I wouldn't want to deal with it, I'd be looking at an unlimited voice minutes plan.
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Apr 24, 2012 23:24
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Now that the Gnex is available contract free stateside, tell me about porting to Tmobile's $30 100/U/U plan. Can you fire up the plan, get a Tmobile number, and then port an old Sprint number into your Tmobile prepaid plan?
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Apr 25, 2012 00:24
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Stick100 posted:That's freaking awesome, wish I had seen this a few weeks ago. It wouldn't have helped you a few weeks ago considering this type of direct sale from google is only a couple days old.
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Apr 25, 2012 00:36
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Arob1000 posted:What are the issues? I'm grandfathered on the $25 plan and I'm not sure I'd ever want to switch services, but I'm hoping to upgrade from the Optimus V eventually. Looks like you're out of luck. I'm on the grandfathered $25 plan as well and got this text today: 'Starting 5/27/12, new smartphones will be subject to current plan rates. This will apply if you switch phones." Source: http://vm.tmce.biz/wap4?app=virginmobile&c=vir&NEXT=P31 I guess that lends some weight to the HTC Evo 3D rumours but it still seems like a really lovely move on VM's part. With the data problems I've been having it may be just enough for me to consider jumping ship.
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Apr 25, 2012 01:22
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Turnquiet posted:Now that the Gnex is available contract free stateside, tell me about porting to Tmobile's $30 100/U/U plan. Can you fire up the plan, get a Tmobile number, and then port an old Sprint number into your Tmobile prepaid plan? The plan is only available to new signups, so here's the series of steps you need to take: 1) Buy new T-mobile SIM card. There is at least one amazon seller who ships them for a dollar or two. 2) Sign up for the $30 ONLINE. Not in store, not on the phone, online. Pick the correct plan. Don't sign up for any other since it's only available for new activations. 3) Once activated, call T-mobile and ask for a number port. They'll need your temp Tmobile number (given when you activated in step 2), the number you're porting, plus the account number and password/PIN from your sprint plan. If Naffer fucked around with this message at 04:18 on Apr 25, 2012 |
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Apr 25, 2012 01:39
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Naffer posted:The plan is only available to new signups, so here's the series of steps you need to take: Even if it lapses one day you lose it???
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Apr 25, 2012 03:06
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That does sound very odd, Naffer what's your source?
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Apr 25, 2012 03:39
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It's technically possible that your number could be lost by letting your service end, even for a day, but it's unlikely. It typically takes a few months before your number happens to have been reassigned to another customer. Just last week I reactivated a prepaid phone someone hadn't had service on since last December and they still got the same number. e: It's also somewhat important to note that while you can port your postpaid number to a prepaid plan, you typically can't port your prepaid number to a postpaid plan.
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Apr 25, 2012 03:45
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Rastor posted:That does sound very odd, Naffer what's your source? I might be wrong actually. The fine print of T-mobile's monthly 4G plans says this: Tmobile posted:Monthly Plans: Features available for 30 days; if sufficient account balance, plans automatically renew at the end of 30 days. If balance is insufficient to renew for 60 days, account will be converted to Prepaid - Pay As You Go.
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Apr 25, 2012 04:15
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Crow_Robot posted:
Even on another provider?
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Apr 25, 2012 12:27
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Rubby posted:Looks like you're out of luck. I'm on the grandfathered $25 plan as well and got this text today: drat that is lame. I know they were never under any obligation to grandfather us in the first place, but it feels so arbitrary to do it under those conditions. I suppose even the flimsiest excuse to put an end to those plans is the best opportunity they have to do it and not look too bad. And to be fair, I suppose anyone who can afford a new $200-$300 phone isn't exactly strapped for cash. But as someone who's been sticking with VM primarily due to being grandfathered onto the $25 plan, I might have to start looking into T-Mobile now. I wanted to drop this Intercept like a bad habit as soon as the next good VM phone came around, but if a plan cost increase comes along with that too, then there's really no reason to stay...
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Apr 25, 2012 16:41
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Sir Lemming posted:drat that is lame. I know they were never under any obligation to grandfather us in the first place, but it feels so arbitrary to do it under those conditions. I suppose even the flimsiest excuse to put an end to those plans is the best opportunity they have to do it and not look too bad. This comes around the same time as this announcement though: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57420760-94/sprint-plans-to-bring-wimax-to-boost-mobile-virgin-mobile/ Trading the grandfathered plan for WiMax might not be all that bad, even if it is more expensive.
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Apr 25, 2012 17:14
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http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/24/samsung-galaxy-note-for-t-mobile-spotted-in-the-wild/ This makes me want to get one for the $30 plan and use google voice.
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Apr 25, 2012 17:28
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Stupid question, but for the T-mobile/Walmart $30 plan, can you also add the $100/1000 minute plan on top of that to add additional minutes to the paltry 100 minutes/month?
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Apr 25, 2012 18:41
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1karus posted:http://www.engadget.com/2012/04/24/samsung-galaxy-note-for-t-mobile-spotted-in-the-wild/ I wonder if that is the exynos version since it doesn't have the LTE radio. If so, that IS really nice.
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Apr 25, 2012 18:49
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Mister Fister posted:Stupid question, but for the T-mobile/Walmart $30 plan, can you also add the $100/1000 minute plan on top of that to add additional minutes to the paltry 100 minutes/month? So the plan costs $30/month (30 days) which gives you unlimited texts and data (first 5GB unthrottled), and 100 minutes. Additional minutes cost $0.10 each, deducted from your account. You put money into your prepaid account either with a credit card or a refill card, with the $100 refill cards being popular. So at $0.10/minute, a $100 refill is good for 1000 minutes. If you actually used 1000 minutes in a month, you would have $30 + (900 * $0.10) = $120 deducted from your prepaid account. Which would mean you would have been better off with the $70/month unlimited minutes plan.
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Apr 25, 2012 19:15
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What's the cheapest unlimited everything T-Mobile plan and cheapest unlimited everything straight talk plan?
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Apr 25, 2012 19:42
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Straight Talk, on both, at $45/month. (Straight Talk sells both T-Mobile and AT&T service) Technically SIMple mobile is less for unlimited on T-Mobile at $40/month, but they throttle speeds on that plan to less than 500kbps.
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Apr 25, 2012 19:44
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My wife and I are on a super old Alltell plan that got grandfathered into Verizon when they merged, we pay like $30 a month, get 300 minutes, and can talk to each other as much as we want - which works well for us since we usually call each other to talk during our 30+ minute commutes home every night. While I've wanted a smartphone for years I just couldn't justify paying the $100ish a month that some of the major carriers are asking, and besides, from my point of view they've been abusing their customers by taking advantage of their market share for years, jacking up their prices while at the same time limiting service. I wouldn't want to give them my money even if I had it to give. A couple of months ago I was introduced to how far prepaid smartphone plans have come when a coworker was showing me his Virgin Mobile phone, unlimited talk/text/data for only $5 more a month than I was paying. That really got my interest, and while you do have to buy the phones upfront, the fact that I'd be saving, in same cases, thousands of dollars over what I'd be spending on a contract really made it seem like a smart buy. Now that my contract is up and I'll have some extra cash at the end of this month, I've been trying to do some research the past couple of days to figure out how to best make the move. 1) At first glance a Galaxy Nexus with the $30 100-minute T-mobile plan seems like the best bang for your buck right now, especially if you're using Google Voice (though I don't really 'get' how this works exactly) instead of your minutes, is that right? Unfortunately for me T-Mobile's data map says there's only 3G available in my area, which according to the OP means Google Voice is a no-no for me, and unless that plan had unlimited mobile to mobile my wife and I would blow through those 100 minutes talking to each other during our evening commutes in like three days. 2) Having never owned a smartphone before I really don't have any idea of how much data I'll be using, so the other cheapskate option - Straight Talk, might also not be a very good fit for me. I spend a lot of my day driving, and can see myself using navigation, streaming music, and listening to podcasts on a daily basis, surely that'd blow through the 1-2GB cap each month? 3) That'd leave the discount carriers, it doesn't sound like Virgin has any sexy phones at the moment (though the rumored One V seems decent?), I've heard MetroPCS is terrible in my area, I don't know anything about Boost, and then after that plans get too expensive for me to consider. Does that about sum things up as they are right now? Any thoughts on which direction I should go? I still feel awfully lost.
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Apr 25, 2012 21:55
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Rastor posted:i think you are maybe confusing the plans with the prepaid account refills. Ahhhhhhhh ok, drat that sucks, so i guess those 1000 minutes from the refill cards don't last a full year?
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Apr 25, 2012 22:01
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I had a crappy dumbphone + Verizon contract until almost a year ago, switched to Virgin + Optimus V then. I moved to Chicago and am pretty much never home, I use my phone for nearly everything now so I'm losing patience with the OV much faster than expected, it was fine for just texting and checking the weather and stuff before I moved. I stuck with Virgin because I figured I'd upgrade fairly soon, but they don't seem to have anything more compelling than the Triumph, and now that I can't keep my $25 plan after an upgrade Virgin seems kind of obsolete as a whole. My phone is pretty much like a little computer to me, I could probably scrape by with 100 voice minutes/month. I want a really good phone and could wait another month or so if needed... am I missing anything (either upcoming phones or something much better available with a contract) or is the Galaxy Nexus + T-Mobile $30/month pretty much the best thing for me? I have decent credit, I could go back to a contract but don't really see any compelling reason to. I think the prepaid = poor paradigm is really loving stupid. Let me think, $400 up front for a decent phone, or $100-200 in exchange for being gouged an extra $50/month for two years? Why are rich people renting their phones instead of just paying for them? 
Straker fucked around with this message at 23:38 on Apr 25, 2012 |
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Apr 25, 2012 23:36
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Mister Fister posted:Ahhhhhhhh ok, drat that sucks, so i guess those 1000 minutes from the refill cards don't last a full year? If you buy a $100 refill card or add $100 with a credit card you get $100 in your account to be used for whatever. When you go over the 100 minutes on the $30 plan each minute costs 10 cents deducted from your balance. It doesn't expire as long as your account is active. I don't see much point in keeping a $100 balance on your account though, when you could have that money in the bank earning interest. I usually keep ~$15 in so I don't have to worry about going over and not having minutes, and have it autocharge the $30 for the plan every month. Long Francesco fucked around with this message at 23:50 on Apr 25, 2012 |
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Apr 25, 2012 23:38
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