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

Civil posted:

Wouldn't you say that the Galaxy S (1) cock-up was more widespread than the G2x disaster? Samsung was mocked forever in the android phone thread, and as far as I know, LG's failure was limited to a single phone.

Besides, with google looking over their shoulder, I don't think the FUD is warranted.

I'm just thinking of LG phones in general. My Nexus is the first non-LG phone I've owned, and it's like a breath of fresh air, though admittedly I've only ever had one smartphone (an Optimus V) and two "feature" phones before this. More importantly, I've heard reviewers and other buyers complain about LG phones often enough that combined with my own experience, I'm fine sitting out the Nexus 4.

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Jmcrofts
Jan 7, 2008

just chillin' in the club
Lipstick Apathy
Oh yeah, something else I was wondering about the T-Mo $30 unlimited data plan, it says up to 4G speeds for the first 5gb. How much worse does it get after that? I don't know if I'll ever break 5gb, but you never know.

Mr. Blastaway
Jun 23, 2004

From my experience it goes down to about 20kb/s or so. Basically, it's like going from Cable to dialup.

Also, regarding tethering on T-Mobile's $30 plan, I've ran through my 5gb in a matter of hours just to test the 2g speeds and I've never heard a peep from T-Mobile about excessive data use. I've done it several times in fairly short periods torrenting and never got a notice. I say T-Mobile's $30 plan is great for tethering.

Bobulus
Jan 28, 2007

Got some Google Voice / tmobile plan interaction questions, so this seems to be the right thread to ask this stuff...

- Unfortunately, my throwaway tmobile number seems to get way more telemarketing calls than my GVoice number ever did. And I'm not planning on giving the number to anyone. Essentially, I can assume that anyone that calls the tmobile number, I don't want to talk to. Is there a way to set the phone to ring only for google voice calls and not tmobile calls? Or just block all calls except whatever number gvoice forwards from?

- If that doesn't work, is there a way to tell, when the phone is ringing, if the call is coming from GVoice or tmobile?

- "Call Screening" in GVoice is the option that has, after I "answer" on my phone, a second prompt that's like "Press 1 to answer, Press 2 to send to voicemail", right? That's annoying.

ilkhan
Oct 7, 2004

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

LiquidRain posted:

Take a look at us over at Ting. Depending on how much data you need, you'll either be amazed or horrified at our prices.
:cdma:

d[-.-]b
Aug 1, 2004

my fav champ that hero who cats a spell that make all bad guy fall down and say my dick BIG
Are there detailed coverage maps showing exactly where to expect Tmo HSPA + 42 vs HSPA + 21 vs Edge data speeds?

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

IOwnCalculus posted:

The overage per minute on the TMo plan is cheap enough that you'd need to actually be closer to 250 minutes per month to have it cost more than Straight Talk; if you use 101 minutes, $30.10 is still a lot cheaper than $45.

This is how I justify Tmo to so many people. I went over by 30 minutes last month and it was a whopping $3.

LiquidRain
May 21, 2007

Watch the madness!

If you ignore the LTE phones we have, sure. :haw:

(though it's kind of hard to recommend an LG Viper over a Nexus 4 when they're practically the same price, LTE or not. Ting ain't for everyone.)

ilkhan
Oct 7, 2004

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

LiquidRain posted:

If you ignore the LTE phones we have, sure. :haw:

(though it's kind of hard to recommend an LG Viper over a Nexus 4 when they're practically the same price, LTE or not. Ting ain't for everyone.)
Yes, because your network never touches CDMA at all. Its exclusively LTE.

The Merkinman
Apr 22, 2007

I sell only quality merkins. What is a merkin you ask? Why, it's a wig for your genitals!
OP should probably update mentions/links of Galaxy Nexus with Nexus 4 as the former is no longer available on the Google Play Store.

Speaking of which, I'm currently paying like $90mo on T-mobile, my contract I think expired so I'm looking to do the $30/mo + $350 Nexus 4 thing. T-Mobile's website says that the $30 is only for new activations? Is this where Google Voice comes in? I keep seeing Google Voice and number forwarding mentioned but I'm unclear as to how it all works.

EDIT: ALso is it true I can't do wifi calling on the $30/mo thing?

The Merkinman fucked around with this message at 17:37 on Oct 31, 2012

Zero VGS
Aug 16, 2002
ASK ME ABOUT HOW HUMAN LIVES THAT MADE VIDEO GAME CONTROLLERS ARE WORTH MORE
Lipstick Apathy
You have to make a new account for the $30 plan, port your contract number to Google Voice, and then optionally port that to the prepaid account.

Wi-Fi calling will work if you run a stock T-mobile phone. When the on-contract T-Mobile LGNex comes out it might have the Wi-Fi built in and you could use that. It's supposed to suck away minutes anyways so if you're on Wi-Fi might as well use GrooveIP.

Stick100
Mar 18, 2003

Mr. Blastaway posted:

I've done it several times in fairly short periods torrenting and never got a notice. I say T-Mobile's $30 plan is great for tethering.

Did you use hotspot blue tooth tethering. I got cut off on Monday after about 350mb of tethering download in a Microsoft installer, and then 90mb of a direct file download (chrome downing a big exe). Laptop got cut off with an upsell request, but the phone kept right on going. I can tether again after two days.

So it probably means that if you do something really obvious like downloading a large file directly to the PC you might get caught and asked to stop tethering, but most everything else is fine.

Stick100 fucked around with this message at 18:31 on Oct 31, 2012

Super-NintendoUser
Jan 16, 2004

COWABUNGERDER COMPADRES
Soiled Meat

swarthmeister posted:

It depends on how much data you need. If you're in a metro area, look at FreedomPop because they offer a 500MB free package, along with other possibilities. You pay for the hotspot up front, but I think $90 up-front for no-cost 500MB monthly is a pretty good deal.

Otherwise, tethering is still a decent deal if you already have a smartphone and a generous data package. I think $15 is pretty fair as a rider to your plan, though would certainly prefer a "data is data, do whatever you want" policy coupled with soft caps. I called my local T-Mobile store a while back and the employee told me the tethering rider is an at-will toggle, and not a permanent extra fee for the plan.

For work, I get $70 reimbursement for my smartphone and tethering. I use around 300 minutes a month and about 4 gigs of data. I use a lot of data since I need to tether my laptop a lot for work. My wife is on my plan with me. She has an iPhone4 on AT&T. My wireless bill is about $140/month. (including a 11% FAN discount).

My plan is for 4GB data + tethering for my line, 250MB for hers, and then the $10 texing plan for both of them (1000 texts for $10)

So that's
$10 text
$10 text
$15 data
$45 data
$90 base plan

I'd like to figure out how to get my cell to cost $70/month so work covers all of it, and then get hers as low as possible. How does it work taking an At&t phone to T-Mobile? I was thinking maybe get myself a standard ATT plan with tethering, and then get her a prepaid plan a low rate. I will typically be buying phones unlocked off contract, so I could use my renewals to get her a phone, and put her prepaid sim in it, and then just buy my phones out of pocket. Her line expires soon, so I could cancel her line, and move her over, but she's fine with her old iPhone for now, and doesn't care about having a new phone at all.

Mr.Radar
Nov 5, 2005

You guys aren't going to believe this, but that guy is our games teacher.

Jerk McJerkface posted:

How does it work taking an At&t phone to T-Mobile?

As long as the phone is carrier-unlocked then voice, text and 2G data should "just work". 3G/"4G" HSPA data may or may not work. If the phone supports the 1700 MHz AWS band for HSPA (I don't think any AT&T-branded devices do) or you are in an area where T-Mobile has rolled out 1900 MHz PCS band HSPA service it will work, otherwise it will not. 4G LTE will not work because T-Mobile currently doesn't have 4G LTE service. When they do start rolling it out over the next year, AT&T LTE phones should in theory be able to use it because T-Mobile will be using an LTE frequency compatible with AT&T LTE devices, though of course we won't know for sure until someone tries.

Rhyno
Mar 22, 2003
Probation
Can't post for 10 years!
A question about the Nexus 4. The tagline is "totally wireless" and that includes charging. But does it still have a wired port for charging? If not will there be car charging accessories that work wirelessly?

Jmcrofts
Jan 7, 2008

just chillin' in the club
Lipstick Apathy

Rhyno posted:

A question about the Nexus 4. The tagline is "totally wireless" and that includes charging. But does it still have a wired port for charging? If not will there be car charging accessories that work wirelessly?

It says on the specs on google that there's a micro usb port.

ThermoPhysical
Dec 26, 2007



Is there something on Straight Talk GSM's site that will show you your data usage?

Mr. Blastaway
Jun 23, 2004

Stick100 posted:

Did you use hotspot blue tooth tethering. I got cut off on Monday after about 350mb of tethering download in a Microsoft installer, and then 90mb of a direct file download (chrome downing a big exe). Laptop got cut off with an upsell request, but the phone kept right on going. I can tether again after two days.
I never experienced this, but I would never recommend blowing through you 5gb anywhere near as fast as I did. It's certainly can get you noticed I'm sure, but I never heard anything from T-Mobile. Better safe than screwed out of your number, though.

Stick100
Mar 18, 2003

Mr. Blastaway posted:

I never experienced this, but I would never recommend blowing through you 5gb anywhere near as fast as I did. It's certainly can get you noticed I'm sure, but I never heard anything from T-Mobile. Better safe than screwed out of your number, though.

It wasn't fast, it was a total of 400 mb over around 2 hours. The down speed was pretty sad.

Zero VGS
Aug 16, 2002
ASK ME ABOUT HOW HUMAN LIVES THAT MADE VIDEO GAME CONTROLLERS ARE WORTH MORE
Lipstick Apathy
T-Mobile isn't "noticing" anything, there aren't enough pairs of eyes to see what accounts are doing. Currently they detect tethering with basic things like User Agent and Time-To-Live, and if you are flagged they will begin redirecting you to a tethering paywall.

You can get around this by browsing through VPN, some third-party tethering apps, or by changing your User Agent (here's a plugin to do so in Chrome https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/user-agent-switcher-for-c/djflhoibgkdhkhhcedjiklpkjnoahfmg)

sweart gliwere
Jul 5, 2005

better to die an evil wizard,
than to live as a grand one.
Pillbug

Zero VGS posted:

T-Mobile isn't "noticing" anything, there aren't enough pairs of eyes to see what accounts are doing. Currently they detect tethering with basic things like User Agent and Time-To-Live, and if you are flagged they will begin redirecting you to a tethering paywall.

You can get around this by browsing through VPN, some third-party tethering apps, or by changing your User Agent (here's a plugin to do so in Chrome https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/user-agent-switcher-for-c/djflhoibgkdhkhhcedjiklpkjnoahfmg)

I've always been mildly curious about this, as a T-Mobile user who keeps his old smartphone around for wifi usage but has no Apple/Android tablets. If the User Agent info is how they currently detect it, is there anything stopping all their customers from tethering to extra smartphones and tablets?

Can the customers practically split the account between one phone and multiple iOS/Android wifi devices with no blowback? Seems like a real oversight, unless there's some way to differentiate the tablet versions of those systems.

Zero VGS
Aug 16, 2002
ASK ME ABOUT HOW HUMAN LIVES THAT MADE VIDEO GAME CONTROLLERS ARE WORTH MORE
Lipstick Apathy
I tether the hell out of other phones and tablets, as well as doing a real lot of VPN tethering since I work in IT. The only time I ever get slapped with a paywall is my home laptop when I forget to change user agent. If I change it after the fact I have to wait a few hours for the paywall to "forget".

Sometimes I can tether a laptop and it doesn't paywall me immediately, it's a delayed thing.

Feel free to experiment; I've been with them for around a year now and haven't ever gotten a nastygram.

Skeezy
Jul 3, 2007

So I'm looking into moving away from Sprint to a prepaid option. I don't really use a lot of data on Sprint (I'm at like 300MB for the month or something) but I do talk quite a lot nowadays. Checking over my usage I've got about 1800 minutes used.

Looking over what T-Mobile has, I'm really interested in the $30 plan (I'm paying $100 for Sprint so this makes me happy) but I know that the 100 minutes won't cut it at all. I know the $50 plan includes unlimited minutes but the data gets throttled at 100MB or whatever.

I've never had the luxury of streaming movies or music because of how bad Sprint coverage here in Miami is. I'd like to think that I probably won't stream much stuff but then again if T-Mobile coverage is better here nowadays I might go over. I'm just so confused and I don't know what to do :ohdear:

By the way, how is T-Mobile coverage in the Miami area? Primarily around Kendall and by the Metro Zoo. I had T-Mo like 7 years ago or something and I don't remember it being anything special then, so has it gotten better?

sweart gliwere
Jul 5, 2005

better to die an evil wizard,
than to live as a grand one.
Pillbug

Zero VGS posted:

Feel free to experiment; I've been with them for around a year now and haven't ever gotten a nastygram.

Wouldn't have any compelling reason to tether to an outdated, low-res handset since my Galaxy Nexus is a solid phone. But the idea of letting a passenger use a tablet for GPS and general research during travel is pretty appealing. Especially if my phone can just rest in a dashboard cubby with the screen off while charging. Good to know, thanks.



Skeezy posted:

So I'm looking into moving away from Sprint to a prepaid option. I don't really use a lot of data on Sprint (I'm at like 300MB for the month or something) but I do talk quite a lot nowadays. Checking over my usage I've got about 1800 minutes used.

Looking over what T-Mobile has, I'm really interested in the $30 plan (I'm paying $100 for Sprint so this makes me happy) but I know that the 100 minutes won't cut it at all. I know the $50 plan includes unlimited minutes but the data gets throttled at 100MB or whatever.

I've never had the luxury of streaming movies or music because of how bad Sprint coverage here in Miami is. I'd like to think that I probably won't stream much stuff but then again if T-Mobile coverage is better here nowadays I might go over. I'm just so confused and I don't know what to do :ohdear:

Are you using most of those 1800 minutes in areas with wifi, or on the road? That's probably the best indicator of whether that $30 plan could work for you, since most VOIP programs do require pretty good speed for mobile usage. It's possible to use VOIP stuff over a solid 3g/HSPA connection on T-Mobile, though your mileage may vary. Wifi pretty much guarantees a good VOIP experience.

Otherwise, check out their Value Packages - these plans are on contract, but are cheaper per month than traditional plans because you have to buy your phone up-front (see the SIM-only plans, they don't discriminate against unlocked phones like the recent Nexus models). The $59 and $69 plans might be more up your alley than the goon-favorite $30 plan favored by heavy texting and data users who don't talk so often. If service is good in your area, you could save money while getting equivalent or better quality from your provider.

No idea about quality in the Miami area, sorry. Check their coverage maps, I guess? Zoom in until you see some real granularity (levels one to six on their zoom indicator), and the data quality maps have been pretty accurate in my experience. Contract plans // Prepaid plans

sweart gliwere fucked around with this message at 04:22 on Nov 1, 2012

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

Jmcrofts posted:

It says on the specs on google that there's a micro usb port.

And I glanced right past that, thanks.

Skeezy
Jul 3, 2007

swarthmeister posted:

Are you using most of those 1800 minutes in areas with wifi, or on the road? That's probably the best indicator of whether that $30 plan could work for you, since most VOIP programs do require pretty good speed for mobile usage. It's possible to use VOIP stuff over a solid 3g/HSPA connection on T-Mobile, though your mileage may vary. Wifi pretty much guarantees a good VOIP experience.

Ahah I meant to say since my heaviest talk times are in the morning and at night I have WiFi around.

Edit: Looking over the options now it looks like StraightTalk might work for me. $45 for unlimited talk + text and at least 2GB of data is fine. I mostly do some very light Pandora use and pretty heavy tweeting. Nothing much else.

Skeezy fucked around with this message at 06:47 on Nov 1, 2012

ThermoPhysical
Dec 26, 2007



How much data does Maps use? Would it cause me to go over Straight Talk's hidden limit?

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

ThermoPhysical posted:

How much data does Maps use? Would it cause me to go over Straight Talk's hidden limit?

Straight Talk's "hidden limit" is up there around 2GB. Google Maps wouldn't use nearly that much with normal usage. I use GMaps quite often and the navigation as well, I think maps has consumed as much as 150mb in a month, that's it.

sweart gliwere
Jul 5, 2005

better to die an evil wizard,
than to live as a grand one.
Pillbug

Skeezy posted:

Edit: Looking over the options now it looks like StraightTalk might work for me. $45 for unlimited talk + text and at least 2GB of data is fine. I mostly do some very light Pandora use and pretty heavy tweeting. Nothing much else.

Just make sure to check AT&T's coverage, too. You have the choice of T-Mobile or AT&T for their SIM plans. And be aware that they have scolded and cut users off their network for burning through data too rapidly, and for going over 2GB. They supposedly have an anti-streaming policy, which I don't understand (http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1760060-Does-ST-really-cancel-your-service-for-overuse-of-data for specific discussion).

Tweeting shouldn't matter and yeah, they're a great choice for a heavy talker who doesn't use very much data.

Super-NintendoUser
Jan 16, 2004

COWABUNGERDER COMPADRES
Soiled Meat
I sat down and figured up an excel sheet for if I move from at&t to T-Mobile and get a value BYOD plan. The cost of the plan includes my work reimbursement. I'm assuming I can buy a Nexus unlocked from Google Play. I also assume I can buy her a full cost iPhone unlocked somewhere. I figure I can get last gen iPhone used for cheaper to reduce the cost. I save 300 every two years. Not really that good, but it's something.

cost 2 years my phone wife phone Total
70 1680 350 199 2229 at&t
39 936 350 649 1935 t-mobile
294

Stick100
Mar 18, 2003

Jerk McJerkface posted:

I save 300 every two years. Not really that good, but it's something.
Although to be fair 300 is going to be enough to buy a new Nexus this time as it seems Google seems intent get down to a $200 unlocked no contract Nexus. They have worked from from $650 (3 Gens ago) to $400 (Last Gen) which in cycle dropped to $350 to $300 (Current Generation Nexus).

Given that history I wouldn't be shocked for the current Nexus 4 to drop to $250 next google I/O and maybe down to $200 when they announce the Nexus 5.

To be fair a hidden downside of TMO prepaid, is that you can't roam on AT&T like TMO postpaid, so to save $150 a year that might be worth sticking with postpaid.

Stick100 fucked around with this message at 15:15 on Nov 1, 2012

Long Francesco
Jun 3, 2005
I'm on tmobile prepaid and roaming on att works just fine, there's no data obviously but it's always worked for me.

Super-NintendoUser
Jan 16, 2004

COWABUNGERDER COMPADRES
Soiled Meat

Stick100 posted:

Although to be fair 300 is going to be enough to buy a new Nexus this time as it seems Google seems intent get down to a $200 unlocked no contract Nexus. They have worked from from $650 (3 Gens ago) to $400 (Last Gen) which in cycle dropped to $350 to $300 (Current Generation Nexus).

Given that history I wouldn't be shocked for the current Nexus 4 to drop to $250 next google I/O and maybe down to $200 when they announce the Nexus 5.

To be fair a hidden downside of TMO prepaid, is that you can't roam on AT&T like TMO postpaid, so to save $150 a year that might be worth sticking with postpaid.

Yeah, doing the math out like that, it's really my need for tethering that kills my from moving to a pre-paid provider. I depend on it for work, so I can't suddenly have a paywall come up if I'm sneaking by. Also, carrying around a hotspot won't really work since most of the pre-paid hotspot providers are terrible WiMAXX. Post paid hot spots are expensive, I might as well just use my phone for that, and not have to buy a hotspot.

Bobulus
Jan 28, 2007

ThermoPhysical posted:

How much data does Maps use? Would it cause me to go over Straight Talk's hidden limit?

The only way I could see it happening is if you manually cached a huge map area.

Depending on what OS version your phone is running, you might be able to go into Settings and look at your data connection to see a breakdown of which apps have used how much data in the past month.

Stick100
Mar 18, 2003

Long Francesco posted:

I'm on tmobile prepaid and roaming on att works just fine, there's no data obviously but it's always worked for me.

Apologies, I had read that in the past that TMO prepaid did not roam voice to ATT. Upon research can not I find conclusive support for that position.

Long Francesco
Jun 3, 2005
To be fair I couldn't find anything about roaming either way so who knows?

ThermoPhysical
Dec 26, 2007



SB35 posted:

Straight Talk's "hidden limit" is up there around 2GB. Google Maps wouldn't use nearly that much with normal usage. I use GMaps quite often and the navigation as well, I think maps has consumed as much as 150mb in a month, that's it.

Bobulus posted:

The only way I could see it happening is if you manually cached a huge map area.

Depending on what OS version your phone is running, you might be able to go into Settings and look at your data connection to see a breakdown of which apps have used how much data in the past month.

If I cache the map area, it'll use 3G instead of GPS?

Also, Straight Talk is kind of starting to seem like a big hassle. Is there any other AT&T MNVO that would have a defined cap other than Red Pocket (which I may use instead). I think I'd rather have a cap than something that'll randomly throttle me.

Zuhzuhzombie!!
Apr 17, 2008
FACTS ARE A CONSPIRACY BY THE CAPITALIST OPRESSOR
I pay, roughly, 100$ a month for ATT. I don't really want to give them my money but I also don't want to rely on my iPhone 5 that I got for work (I don't want to be tethered to my work phone).

I thought about just ditching my personal phone and getting a cheapo go phone.

Is there adequate competition to ATT that's not 100$ a month that will have the new WP8 phones?

Stick100
Mar 18, 2003

Zuhzuhzombie!! posted:

I pay, roughly, 100$ a month for ATT. I don't really want to give them my money but I also don't want to rely on my iPhone 5 that I got for work (I don't want to be tethered to my work phone).

I thought about just ditching my personal phone and getting a cheapo go phone.

Is there adequate competition to ATT that's not 100$ a month that will have the new WP8 phones?

Your question is very confusing.

What do you wish your future use case to be on the phone you will be paying for.

[Carrier]
[Monthly Minutes]
[Monthly Texts]
[Monthly Data in GB, or description of data use]
[OS preferences]
[Desire to have capacity to use your old number or sim card]

There is very adequate competition to ATT.

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Zuhzuhzombie!!
Apr 17, 2008
FACTS ARE A CONSPIRACY BY THE CAPITALIST OPRESSOR

Stick100 posted:

Your question is very confusing.

What do you wish your future use case to be on the phone you will be paying for.

[Carrier]
[Monthly Minutes]
[Monthly Texts]
[Monthly Data in GB, or description of data use]
[OS preferences]
[Desire to have capacity to use your old number or sim card]

There is very adequate competition to ATT.

The lowest I can get my ATT bill to go is approximately $100. I don't use the phone, texting or data, nearly enough to justify $100 a month, but I do like my WP7 phone. I'd like to keep that extra number.

Basically I'm looking for a cheap carrier that will have WP8 phones. Was thinking Virgin or especially T Mobile but don't know if T Mobile will get a Windows 8 Phone.

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