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MondayHotDog posted:Did everyone else pay to port their number over to Google Voice? Everyone recommends it but nobody ever said you had to pay for it. I happily did. It's $20, once. Very much worth it if you understand what you are getting into. Google has like 8 nested checkbox agreements when you port. Check one, another appears, and so on. It's pretty funny actually, but they make it clear what you are getting into with GV. If you are porting and going pre-paid (and don't have a lot of minutes) buy an Obi for home use. It's pretty awesome and free calling while at home is icing on the cake.
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# ? Dec 31, 2012 03:01 |
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# ? May 8, 2024 06:52 |
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MondayHotDog posted:Did everyone else pay to port their number over to Google Voice? Everyone recommends it but nobody ever said you had to pay for it. Yes, well worth it too.
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# ? Dec 31, 2012 03:10 |
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hotsauce posted:I happily did. It's $20, once. Very much worth it if you understand what you are getting into. The only thing holding me back is he lack of mms. I don't want to have my contacts have 2 numbers for me.
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# ? Dec 31, 2012 06:59 |
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MondayHotDog posted:Did everyone else pay to port their number over to Google Voice? Everyone recommends it but nobody ever said you had to pay for it. I did. They offer (or used to) a free number, but it's a new number.
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# ? Dec 31, 2012 07:16 |
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ThermoPhysical posted:http://www.wowt.com/factfinders/headlines/Money-Saving-Prepaid-Cell-Plans-183711171.html Eh, it'll pay itself off without a doubt, but my ETF is under the new rules and my contract is up in early 2014. I'm sort of stuck with a big ETF for a while. I'm moving (within midtown) in the summer so hopefully I'm not moving somewhere where the only signal I have is roaming and I only find out when Sprint breaks my contract for excessive roaming because I updated my podcasts over 3G while waiting for Cocks to migrate my cable over. I wouldn't get charged an ETF that way but I sure wouldn't want that to happen so suddenly or cause such a persistent battery drain.
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# ? Dec 31, 2012 16:04 |
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The Entire Universe posted:Eh, it'll pay itself off without a doubt, but my ETF is under the new rules and my contract is up in early 2014. I'm sort of stuck with a big ETF for a while. I'm moving (within midtown) in the summer so hopefully I'm not moving somewhere where the only signal I have is roaming and I only find out when Sprint breaks my contract for excessive roaming because I updated my podcasts over 3G while waiting for Cocks to migrate my cable over. I wouldn't get charged an ETF that way but I sure wouldn't want that to happen so suddenly or cause such a persistent battery drain. drat...I hope you can get that straightened out. Have you seen the Marcus theatre in midtown? You HAVE to try the CineDine seats. It's expensive though so expect to pay $50+ to eat actual (good) food and see a movie. Try not to do it in 3D or it'll b $70-80+ Anyway, speaking of prepaid, I'll be getting my Nexus 4 in just a few hours. I'll be setting it up and trying out AT&T Straight Talk here.
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# ? Dec 31, 2012 17:40 |
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Thanks to the contributors to this thread--without it I don’t think I would have heard about or considered Ting, which has turned out to be pretty ideal for my parents. They originally wanted to go with T-Mobile, but the sucky coverage in their area made this impossible. Some nice things about Ting: * For voice, Ting roams onto Verizon, unlike Virgin / Boost / Straight Talk etc. * Ting bills you for what you actually use in a given month. If you have a high data plan but end up using very little data in a month, you will get a credit reflecting the data you didn’t use. Same goes for voice and texts. * Ting is excellent for a shared plan, unlike most other prepaid options. Additional lines are only $6 per month. * No extra charges for using your phone as a hotspot. I will also say that, on the basis of a few calls to support, they have invariably been knowledgeable and helpful. It is kind of weird to talk to a mobile CSR who immediately understands the appropriate level of technicality to respond with. It is true that their phone choice is somewhat limited, although you can buy (unsubsidized) high-end phones. You can also bring your own Sprint-branded phone, but strange rules apply (e.g. you can't port a Nexus device or an LTE-capable phone—these types of devices must be purchased from Ting). If it's compatible with your needs, and Sprint's coverage is acceptable, I think they're worth a look.
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# ? Dec 31, 2012 20:11 |
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Cuttlefish Party posted:Thanks to the contributors to this thread--without it I don’t think I would have heard about or considered Ting, which has turned out to be pretty ideal for my parents. They originally wanted to go with T-Mobile, but the sucky coverage in their area made this impossible. Protip: You can set your "plan" to $0 per month across the board, and we'll just adjust upwards from there.
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# ? Jan 1, 2013 01:03 |
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The Nexus 4 works like a charm. I had to use these settings for MMS as the normal ones didn't work. http://wirevalley.com/ultimate-apn-settings-for-straight-talk-with-android/ Anyone know how to get data to work? I fixed it! Use the instructions provided by ChazzMatt here: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1754075-APN-amp-MMS-settings-for-the-new-quot-Bring-Your-Own-GSM-Phone-quot-program/page4 I'll post a report in a few days for the Omaha goons after I get used to the phone. Still loving it so far! ThermoPhysical fucked around with this message at 06:26 on Jan 1, 2013 |
# ? Jan 1, 2013 05:50 |
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So what can and can't you do with Google Voice? I just got my Nexus 4 and want to get on the T-Mobile 'Anti-social nerd' prepaid plan. EDIT: So the $30 plan is for new numbers only? I was hoping to use my old Sprint number. Unlucky7 fucked around with this message at 08:48 on Jan 1, 2013 |
# ? Jan 1, 2013 08:44 |
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Unlucky7 posted:So what can and can't you do with Google Voice? I just got my Nexus 4 and want to get on the T-Mobile 'Anti-social nerd' prepaid plan. If this is true then I guess I'm better off transferring my sprint number to gvoice. But ffs, give us mms with gvoice.
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# ? Jan 1, 2013 09:31 |
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Unlucky7 posted:So what can and can't you do with Google Voice? I just got my Nexus 4 and want to get on the T-Mobile 'Anti-social nerd' prepaid plan. Only available for new T-Mobile accounts (which of course come with their own The port will terminate your temporary T-Mobile number, give your new phone your old number, and your Sprint phone will lose service after completion. T-Mobile prepaid doesn't integrate with Google Voice for voicemails, and Google Voice doesn't do MMS. If either of those matter to you and your current contacts, you should port your old number to T-Mobile instead of Google.
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# ? Jan 1, 2013 13:51 |
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swarthmeister posted:T-Mobile prepaid doesn't integrate with Google Voice for voicemail
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# ? Jan 1, 2013 14:10 |
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z06ck posted:What do you mean by "integrate"? I disabled my T-mobile prepaid voicemail and Google Voice voicemail works fine. My understanding has been that you can't simultaneously keep a regular active T-Mo number and still have G-Voice pick up voicemail duties. I think its possible if you use your T-Mo number as a simple passive destination for your "real" number after porting the real one to G-Voice. But I have a bunch of contacts who still use MMS, so I can't yet port my regular number to G-Voice. Great for free VoIP calling though.
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# ? Jan 1, 2013 20:21 |
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swarthmeister posted:My understanding has been that you can't simultaneously keep a regular active T-Mo number and still have G-Voice pick up voicemail duties. I think its possible if you use your T-Mo number as a simple passive destination for your "real" number after porting the real one to G-Voice. MMS is an issue though, yeah.
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# ? Jan 1, 2013 20:25 |
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ThermoPhysical posted:The Nexus 4 works like a charm. Oh poo poo oh poo poo ohshit. Can't wait to hear the trip report on this. Q4 bonuses coming down the pike and Sprint is more embarrassing by the day (it has trouble loading my Starbucks app data. As in I open the app and it just shows a blank card like it wants me to link a new card number. Took a couple minutes of looking like a jackass in the drive-through waiting to pay this morning, thanks Sprint) so I'm dying to jump ship.
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# ? Jan 3, 2013 07:13 |
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Got my Nexus 4 today, and it's pretty slick. I was also pleasantly surprised how easy T-Mobile made switching SIM cards; the phone call with their support took two minutes. Something tells me the lack of an SD slot is going to suck a little down the line, but the phone and T-Mobile prepaid have been great so far.
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# ? Jan 3, 2013 09:21 |
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So I have an iPhone 4 that was originally locked to AT&T, and then unlocked the official kosher way through iTunes. It's now on the T-Mobile $30 nerd plan. Ever since I switched over to this, I've been seeing weird behavior with my reception. I can be looking at the phone, and it's registering plenty of signal, and then it'll just randomly drop to one bar, or sometimes even go to 'searching' mode. When it goes to one bar, the E and/or 3G icon disappears for a few seconds too. Then, service goes back to normal, usually within ten seconds or so. All this can happen when the phone is completely stationary. I'm hoping I just got a bad SIM card and my phone itself isn't what's broken. I feel like it's a somewhat reasonable thing to hope for since I never saw anything like this on AT&T. What's the easiest way to get it swapped out? Will a T-Mo retail store be able to take care of it, or will I need to do it online/over the phone since it's prepaid and not 'regular' T-Mo?
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# ? Jan 3, 2013 17:37 |
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nougatmachine posted:So I have an iPhone 4 that was originally locked to AT&T, and then unlocked the official kosher way through iTunes. It's now on the T-Mobile $30 nerd plan. Ever since I switched over to this, I've been seeing weird behavior with my reception. I can be looking at the phone, and it's registering plenty of signal, and then it'll just randomly drop to one bar, or sometimes even go to 'searching' mode. When it goes to one bar, the E and/or 3G icon disappears for a few seconds too. Then, service goes back to normal, usually within ten seconds or so. All this can happen when the phone is completely stationary. Welcome to the iPhone on T-Mobile's service. I was having unbelievably lovely service with my 4, and when I switched to a Galaxy Nexus it all went away. YMMV, though.
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# ? Jan 5, 2013 01:39 |
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Does T-Mobile still have the $30 100/unlimited/5Gb plan? I should be getting a Nexus 4 today and so I called my local store, but the lady didn't know about that plan.
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# ? Jan 5, 2013 02:54 |
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hooah posted:Does T-Mobile still have the $30 100/unlimited/5Gb plan? I should be getting a Nexus 4 today and so I called my local store, but the lady didn't know about that plan. Yes but it's online only or through Wal-Mart so the local retail stores have no clue about it. You should probably order your T-Mobile SIM online now. Once you get everything you'll activate it online.
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# ? Jan 5, 2013 02:57 |
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gariig posted:Yes but it's online only or through Wal-Mart so the local retail stores have no clue about it. You should probably order your T-Mobile SIM online now. Once you get everything you'll activate it online. Balls. I wish I would've known that; I didn't want to have to wait!
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# ? Jan 5, 2013 02:58 |
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For the Omaha goons, I'm doing my tests right now for AT&T Straight Talk vs postpaid Sprint for Omaha, NE today. So far, Straight Talk is winning.
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# ? Jan 5, 2013 18:49 |
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hooah posted:Balls. I wish I would've known that; I didn't want to have to wait! Well if you're really desperate to have service asap you can buy a dumbphone from walmart with the prepaid sim included, and activate the plan online like you would with the online ordered sim. And as a bonus you have a backup phone for when your nexus inevitably shatters into a million shards of glass.
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# ? Jan 5, 2013 19:12 |
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Just finished a call but I wasn't able to stay connected to HSPA+ until I disconnected. Is Straight Talk able to do this while on AT&T or is that a postpaid only feature?
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# ? Jan 5, 2013 20:21 |
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For the really big data users around, the rumor is that T-Mobile is going to convert their $70/mo prepaid option from a 5GB plan into an unlimited plan: http://www.tmonews.com/2013/01/t-mobiles-unlimited-data-plan-coming-soon-to-monthly4g/
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# ? Jan 5, 2013 21:27 |
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Why I prepay: I just bought the TMo Note II at full price -- $766.50. Gulp. If I had got it 'subsidized' (basically paying the phone off over 20 months), I would have paid 366.50 -- 400bux less, but...I did a little math. First, getting the subsidized plan would boost my monthly bill from $45($30 prepay+15 for x-tra min) up to $88 (68 dollar plan + 20 payment plan for the phone). This adds up to $43 dollars more a month for features I don't use. So, within 10 months, I would have already paid back the $400 difference for what I would have 'saved' today, and over the course of a 24 month plan, I would have paid $1032 for a $765 phone. All in all, I'm looking at paying $1845 rather than $2477 for a smart phone over the next two years, and I'm free to walk away from TMo at any time. e:not to mention that I'm selling my GSM GNex for 300.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 02:11 |
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Which no contract phone does T-Mobile offer that's worth getting? I'm thinking either the Dart, the Galaxy Exhibit, or the Galaxy S II. I'm planning on doing relatively little texting, and limiting online use to gps, weather, email, something awful, and the occasional google search. Is the Dart worth going for in that case or should I go for one of the Galaxy types?
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 02:53 |
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RBA Starblade posted:Which no contract phone does T-Mobile offer that's worth getting? I'm thinking either the Dart, the Galaxy Exhibit, or the Galaxy S II. I'm planning on doing relatively little texting, and limiting online use to gps, weather, email, something awful, and the occasional google search. Is the Dart worth going for in that case or should I go for one of the Galaxy types? If those are your first thoughts, you may be on a budget. In that case, I'd say Nexus 4. If budget isn't a concern, Note 2. The Galaxy Nexus is a bit old in the phone world, but is still a good phone. You should be able to find one for ~$250 or so. An 8gb Nexus 4 will run you $299 and 16gig $349. The Note 2 is not cheap (see post above yours) but worth it, IMO.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 02:59 |
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hotsauce posted:If those are your first thoughts, you may be on a budget. In that case, I'd say Nexus 4. If budget isn't a concern, Note 2. I am on a budget, I should have mentioned it. Though, I also do not know the quality of the phones in any way. I'd have gone for Nexus 4 but it seems sold out, and it's a couple hundred bucks more than the others, unless they're so lovely as to not bother mentioning.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 03:01 |
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ThermoPhysical posted:Just finished a call but I wasn't able to stay connected to HSPA+ until I disconnected. Is Straight Talk able to do this while on AT&T or is that a postpaid only feature? Eh, it may be. It would seem more like a phone thing or an HSPA+ thing, though. Would they be able to make sure from their end a phone can't use both at once? Also I think I may be roaming now, like all the time nonstop. I sure hope Sprint doesn't think poorly of it, because it seems like all of my 3G use is roaming.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 03:22 |
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RBA Starblade posted:I am on a budget, I should have mentioned it. Though, I also do not know the quality of the phones in any way. I'd have gone for Nexus 4 but it seems sold out, and it's a couple hundred bucks more than the others, unless they're so lovely as to not bother mentioning. The Nexus 4 is off-contract for $300 from Google.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 04:08 |
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i barely GNU her! posted:The Nexus 4 is off-contract for $300 from Google. I didn't know that, T-Mobile has it at $500 and on a contract. In that case, should I just hold off on buying a new phone and getting off my old plan until Google gets more in stock, and get a sim card or something from T-Mobile? Is there any word on when they might get more in stock?
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 04:40 |
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RBA Starblade posted:I didn't know that, T-Mobile has it at $500 and on a contract. In that case, should I just hold off on buying a new phone and getting off my old plan until Google gets more in stock, and get a sim card or something from T-Mobile? Is there any word on when they might get more in stock? 300 is for the 8gb model. I bet the $500 one tmo is selling is the 16gb version.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 05:38 |
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Rabble posted:300 is for the 8gb model. I bet the $500 one tmo is selling is the 16gb version. The 16gb is still only $350 from Google.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 07:36 |
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Shadowgate posted:The 16gb is still only $350 from Google. Except for the fact that you haven't been able to actually purchase a loving one in almost a month. I would love to do this and even hop on the T-Mobile Value plans ( would try it on the 30 prepaid first ) and get the gently caress away from sprint, but I'm stuck until they get more made.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 08:47 |
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Shadowgate posted:The 16gb is still only $350 from Google. Remember to add shipping and your states sales tax, it's closer to 400 than 350. If you're on a tight budget and need a phone I don't see anything wrong with buying an older one like a gs2 or gnex or whatever. They're still perfectly capable of doing everything you'd want of a smartphone.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 15:42 |
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I checked around and the stores around me either do not have the Nexus in stock, or will get them in a week, but the 16gb $500 model on a 2 year contract, which is more expensive than I was hoping for. Are any of these phones worth the price? I plan on doing relatively little texting and app usage, but not forsaking it altogether, and I don't really want to pay more than three or four hundred dollars for a phone. e: Is Boost worth looking at? The shrinking plan thing sounds interesting. RBA Starblade fucked around with this message at 18:36 on Jan 6, 2013 |
# ? Jan 6, 2013 18:33 |
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RBA Starblade posted:I checked around and the stores around me either do not have the Nexus in stock, or will get them in a week, but the 16gb $500 model on a 2 year contract, which is more expensive than I was hoping for. Are any of these phones worth the price? I plan on doing relatively little texting and app usage, but not forsaking it altogether, and I don't really want to pay more than three or four hundred dollars for a phone. My mom's been using my old Boost account for about 2 years now, it's actually pretty good. However, if you're looking for data, don't bother. Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile both use Sprint's CDMA service. Voice and SMS are good, data and MMS aren't. Out of all the carriers I've tried over the years (Cricket, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Sprint, and now Straight Talk), Boost is the most pleasant to work with and have to call. I don't know so much about their stand-alone stores that have popped up recently, but the company's pretty nice at least. She's got the Shrinking Plan turned on and now is paying $35/mo for her phone.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 20:01 |
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# ? May 8, 2024 06:52 |
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Yeah, I've heard Boost is Sprint's "premium" MVNO (vs. budget Virgin) so you'll generally get better service. I've also heard about Boost taking a kinder stance towards tetherers and heavy data users than Virgin.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 20:17 |