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CaptMorgan
Mar 12, 2003
Lurker
They actually do sell a SIM card packaged with a 30-day card for $60 inside Walmart. But I had to go to 4 different Walmarts before I found one which carried it or had it in stock. The one I purchased contained an AT&T SIM, AT&T micro SIM, and a TMo SIM.

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spankmeister
Jun 15, 2008






I might skip it, I've been able to manage with free WiFi so far. Thanks for the info anyway. :)

Pissflaps
Oct 20, 2002

by VideoGames
I'm going to be spending two weeks in Florida soon. I'd like to walk into a shop in Florida and get a sim card for my iphone 4s that will give me as much data as possible. This is so I can use skype and whatnot. My iPhone is a UK one and not locked to a carrier. I don't want any sort of contract obviously. The ability to do tethering would be a bonus but not essential.

So...what do I want and which network should I go with?

Not really bothered about cost just ease of acquisition, coverage in that part of the world and how easy it is to activate and prepay just for a month's worth of service. (I'm saying a month because I expect that's the minimum unit of time available).

Pissflaps fucked around with this message at 17:42 on Sep 24, 2012

Arcsech
Aug 5, 2008

Pissflaps posted:

I'm going to be spending two weeks in Florida soon. I'd like to walk into a shop in Florida and get a sim card for my iphone 4s that will give me as much data as possible. This is so I can use skype and whatnot. My iPhone is a UK one and not locked to a carrier. I don't want any sort of contract obviously. The ability to do tethering would be a bonus but not essential.

So...what do I want and which network should I go with?

Not really bothered about cost just ease of acquisition, coverage in that part of the world and how easy it is to activate and prepay just for a month's worth of service. (I'm saying a month because I expect that's the minimum unit of time available).

The only US carrier that you'll get 3G on using a UK iPhone is AT&T. No idea about coverage. I think you can just walk into an AT&T store & buy a prepaid SIM but I don't know what their data rates are like.

SB35
Jul 6, 2007
Move along folks, nothing to see here.

CaptMorgan posted:

They actually do sell a SIM card packaged with a 30-day card for $60 inside Walmart. But I had to go to 4 different Walmarts before I found one which carried it or had it in stock. The one I purchased contained an AT&T SIM, AT&T micro SIM, and a TMo SIM.

Wow, I've never seen such a thing. Thought they just sold them online. Wish I could find one of those.

nougatmachine
May 19, 2011
Well, here goes nothing. Just signed up for the goon-approved $30 T-Mobile you-can-only-do-this-once plan. I guess it would be a little too much to ask for everything to go perfectly with a phone carrier; when I got to the last page in the activation process I kept getting an error message:

T-Mobile's broke-rear end prepaid activation page posted:

No auto pay calendar date selected
The following field is required:
Auto pay amount

Which would be helpful if there actually WAS an auto-pay option on the page. There isn't, just a thing where you can tell it what you want the first payment to be.

Eventually I tried going to the plain old regular refill page (the one not part of the guided signup process) and was able to put my T-Mobile number in there (even though the port hasn't finished yet) and put in some money. This was in a different browser, so I can't say whether it was the different web page or the different browser that made it work. In any case, I never completed the guided activation process, but since I got four of the five steps done, and the last step was payment, I'm hoping this will be okay. Going to bed now, hopefully everything will have sorted itself out with the number porting by this morning.

Suspense!

Bob Morales
Aug 18, 2006


Just wear the fucking mask, Bob

I don't care how many people I probably infected with COVID-19 while refusing to wear a mask, my comfort is far more important than the health and safety of everyone around me!

Is there any difference between buying the HTC EVO 4G on Amazon for $229 instead of buying it at Best Buy or from Boost.com for $299? Do the Boost stores/resellers generally sell them at less than Boost.com?

ShaneB
Oct 22, 2002


Just a little report. I use StraightTalk and in the past week streamed about 400MB from my subsonic server, 32MB from pandora (comedy station is efficient!), and used about 150mb from google voice, facebook, browser, etc. I got a call today saying my data usage is excessive. I know this is a thing that can happen, so I was just mentioning that it does!

Ezrem
Jan 23, 2006

ShaneB posted:

Just a little report. I use StraightTalk and in the past week streamed about 400MB from my subsonic server, 32MB from pandora (comedy station is efficient!), and used about 150mb from google voice, facebook, browser, etc. I got a call today saying my data usage is excessive. I know this is a thing that can happen, so I was just mentioning that it does!

So you used 1/4 of your data allotment in 1/4 of your billing cycle and they got pissed at you?

SB35
Jul 6, 2007
Move along folks, nothing to see here.

ShaneB posted:

Just a little report. I use StraightTalk and in the past week streamed about 400MB from my subsonic server, 32MB from pandora (comedy station is efficient!), and used about 150mb from google voice, facebook, browser, etc. I got a call today saying my data usage is excessive. I know this is a thing that can happen, so I was just mentioning that it does!

That seems quick. I did much worse during my first month on ST, due to moving house and having no internet for a week or so. I really racked up 1+ GB in a week, with a particularly heavy 450mb worth of tethering in one day. Never got a call. Barely using more than 500mb/month recently though, got enough WiFi around.

Zero VGS
Aug 16, 2002
ASK ME ABOUT HOW HUMAN LIVES THAT MADE VIDEO GAME CONTROLLERS ARE WORTH MORE
Lipstick Apathy
It might specifically be streaming particular things (as opposed to tethering, or overall bandwidth usage) that gets Straighttalk's attention.

Like maybe a lot of UDP traffic makes them thing you're going to be a problem customer. They really seem to want people who are never going to stream anything.

cheese eats mouse
Jul 6, 2007

A real Portlander now

Zero VGS posted:

It might specifically be streaming particular things (as opposed to tethering, or overall bandwidth usage) that gets Straighttalk's attention.

Like maybe a lot of UDP traffic makes them thing you're going to be a problem customer. They really seem to want people who are never going to stream anything.

All carriers are like this. You just get a nice phone call instead of a $100 bill with ST.

Nihiliste
Oct 23, 2005
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
Quick question:

T-Mobile has a $30 web-only prepaid plan that gives you 100 minutes, but unlimited data and texting, as per usual. Presumably there shouldn't be any issue with buying a Galaxy Nexus and an activation kit, and then signing up for that specific plan?

Mister Fister
May 17, 2008

D&D: HASBARA SQUAD
KILL-GORE


I love the smell of dead Palestinians in the morning.
You know, one time we had Gaza bombed for 26 days
(and counting!)

Nihiliste posted:

Quick question:

T-Mobile has a $30 web-only prepaid plan that gives you 100 minutes, but unlimited data and texting, as per usual. Presumably there shouldn't be any issue with buying a Galaxy Nexus and an activation kit, and then signing up for that specific plan?

Correct

Mr.Trifecta
Mar 2, 2007

Got a pair of S3's from Ting. Suffice to say, support from LiquidRain and their support team is awesome. They helped me fix a little hiccup right off the bat in no time.

Cut my $200 verizon bill for two phones, to $96 a month. Like it so far!

Nocturtle
Mar 17, 2007

Nihiliste posted:

Quick question:

T-Mobile has a $30 web-only prepaid plan that gives you 100 minutes, but unlimited data and texting, as per usual. Presumably there shouldn't be any issue with buying a Galaxy Nexus and an activation kit, and then signing up for that specific plan?

To add to this question: is it possible to sign up for the $30 T-mobile plan now with a temporary phone then switch to another later on (like after the next nexus relaunch)? I think there shouldn't be an issue, but when dealing with North American carriers I can't assume anything and have to check.

ilkhan
Oct 7, 2004

I LOVE Musk and his pro-first-amendment ways. X is the future.

Nocturtle posted:

To add to this question: is it possible to sign up for the $30 T-mobile plan now with a temporary phone then switch to another later on (like after the next nexus relaunch)? I think there shouldn't be an issue, but when dealing with North American carriers I can't assume anything and have to check.
The $30 plan is unsubsidized and T-Mo is SIM based. Buy a phone, drop in your SIM. T-Mo doesn't care. When the new Nexii come out I'm sure many people will do just that. (And used GNexus pricing is going to fall like a rock. *sniff*)

Cabbages and Kings
Aug 25, 2004


Shall we be trotting home again?
Goodbuy, VM Triumph, hello T-Mo Nexus.

Is it worth RMAing and then trying to resell my Triumph, or should I just shoot it?

Zero VGS
Aug 16, 2002
ASK ME ABOUT HOW HUMAN LIVES THAT MADE VIDEO GAME CONTROLLERS ARE WORTH MORE
Lipstick Apathy
With that $25 plan mysteriously reappearing, people might buy it.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!

spengler posted:

Goodbuy, VM Triumph, hello T-Mo Nexus.

Is it worth RMAing and then trying to resell my Triumph, or should I just shoot it?

I vote shoot.

Assepoester
Jul 18, 2004
Probation
Can't post for 11 years!
Melman v2
Anyone who got the Galaxy S Blaze 4G because I guess it was the most powerful prepaid phone on T-Mobile until Walmart got the Galaxy S II for $330... well now it has finally been updated to 4.0

http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-4182

Nihiliste
Oct 23, 2005
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
Oh hey, here's a question - in the T-Mobile SIM kit, what size SIM do they give you? Old-style? Micro? Nano (which I doubt)?

SB35
Jul 6, 2007
Move along folks, nothing to see here.

Nihiliste posted:

Oh hey, here's a question - in the T-Mobile SIM kit, what size SIM do they give you? Old-style? Micro? Nano (which I doubt)?

When I ordered the kit online I got the old style, big SIM. But if I recall, you could get that or a micro SIM.

Nihiliste
Oct 23, 2005
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.

SB35 posted:

When I ordered the kit online I got the old style, big SIM. But if I recall, you could get that or a micro SIM.

I ordered online last Saturday. Man, don't tell me I'm going to have to cut my SIM down, I've never had to do that before...

Bob Morales
Aug 18, 2006


Just wear the fucking mask, Bob

I don't care how many people I probably infected with COVID-19 while refusing to wear a mask, my comfort is far more important than the health and safety of everyone around me!

Can you use a Sprint or Boost Android phone with Virgin Mobile? They're all the same network but I'm sure there's more to it than that.

Island Nation
Jun 20, 2006
Trust No One

Nihiliste posted:

Oh hey, here's a question - in the T-Mobile SIM kit, what size SIM do they give you? Old-style? Micro? Nano (which I doubt)?

I got a normal SIM and swapped it out for a Micro SIM at a T-Mobile store

Mister Fister
May 17, 2008

D&D: HASBARA SQUAD
KILL-GORE


I love the smell of dead Palestinians in the morning.
You know, one time we had Gaza bombed for 26 days
(and counting!)

Bob Morales posted:

Can you use a Sprint or Boost Android phone with Virgin Mobile? They're all the same network but I'm sure there's more to it than that.

Nope

spankmeister
Jun 15, 2008






Nihiliste posted:

I ordered online last Saturday. Man, don't tell me I'm going to have to cut my SIM down, I've never had to do that before...

Eh, it's not too bad.

SB35
Jul 6, 2007
Move along folks, nothing to see here.

Nihiliste posted:

I ordered online last Saturday. Man, don't tell me I'm going to have to cut my SIM down, I've never had to do that before...

Unless you indicated somewhere, or made a choice somewhere; you'll be getting the big SIM. They aren't tough to cut down though. There's guides all over the internets. Maybe practice on your old sim first just so you don't gently caress up the new one and have to wait without any service.

the kawaiiest
Dec 22, 2010

Uguuuu ~
An unlocked (formerly at&t) iphone 4 won't work on T-mo will it?

ilkhan
Oct 7, 2004

I LOVE Musk and his pro-first-amendment ways. X is the future.

the kawaiiest posted:

An unlocked (formerly at&t) iphone 4 won't work on T-mo will it?
It will work fine for voice, but until the refarm is complete in your area it will run at 2G data speeds.

Bob Morales
Aug 18, 2006


Just wear the fucking mask, Bob

I don't care how many people I probably infected with COVID-19 while refusing to wear a mask, my comfort is far more important than the health and safety of everyone around me!


Not even with a flash/root job? I didn't see an obvious solution on a quick search so that's what I feared.

Smythe
Oct 12, 2003

Bob Morales posted:

Not even with a flash/root job? I didn't see an obvious solution on a quick search so that's what I feared.

If I've read correctly throughout this thread, you CAN do some hecka hackery stuff to get a phone working on another network as long as the radio supports it, but it's so far down the road of completely illegal that it's not kosher to discuss.

the kawaiiest
Dec 22, 2010

Uguuuu ~

ilkhan posted:

It will work fine for voice, but until the refarm is complete in your area it will run at 2G data speeds.
Thanks, hopefully I'll be able to snag a 4 or 4s for a decent price soon. I don't mind the 2G since it's temporary and I'm on wifi 99% of the time anyway.

the kawaiiest fucked around with this message at 08:22 on Oct 3, 2012

Stick100
Mar 18, 2003

ilkhan posted:

It will work fine for voice, but until the refarm is complete in your area it will run at 2G data speeds.

It looks like they are making great progress. http://www.airportal.de/ I havn't confirmed but it looks like my market is already done.

Xeom
Mar 16, 2007
Ok, so i was just gifted an iphone 4s(att locked). And I am just about ready to order my att micro sim from straight talk.

Before I do, I just wanted to know do i need to do anything special to the phone to make things like text and data work?

Xeom fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Oct 2, 2012

SB35
Jul 6, 2007
Move along folks, nothing to see here.

Xeom posted:

Ok, so i was just gifted an iphone 4s(att locked). And I am just about ready to order my att micro sim from straight talk.

Before I do, I just wanted to know do i need to do anything special to the phone to make things like text and data work?

It's pretty simple. This video on youtube should get you there.

Zero VGS
Aug 16, 2002
ASK ME ABOUT HOW HUMAN LIVES THAT MADE VIDEO GAME CONTROLLERS ARE WORTH MORE
Lipstick Apathy
I'll just go ahead and crosspost the FreedomPop thread here, since us hobos might be interested in free wifi hotspot service:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3509764

Cabbages and Kings
Aug 25, 2004


Shall we be trotting home again?
T-Mo's 4g in DC is a little spotty, but my service in NoVA is really good and overall I'm very happy that I decided to trial another pre-paid service before jumping back into the maw of Verizon. Grabbed a galaxy nexus off the play store, activation and setup was just as easy as this thread promised.

Thanks!

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Nihiliste
Oct 23, 2005
The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.
Just a little update, since people might be interested in experiences with the Galaxy Nexus and T-Mobile.

I did in fact get a full-sized SIM with my activation kit, but to my surprise the pentaband Nexus uses a standard SIM slot, so no problems there. Micro SIMs should work too.

I had a much harder time actually activating the phone. I went to the T-Mobile website to sign up for the $30 Unlimited Web/Text plan, but the site wouldn't let me turn on a needed AutoPay option, so I had to call and finish the set up process there. That created still more problems though, since the agent didn't listen and gave me a $30 plan with 1,500 minutes, but a whopping 30MB of data - needless to say, that's how I discovered they botched things. I had to call today to sort things out. Two days later, I'm still waiting for them to port my number over from my previous carrier.

Just be prepared for some hassle with T-Mobile, ultimately. I get the sense they're not really prepared for customers wanting that $30 Unlimited option.

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