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Radbot posted: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. Pretty much. Boost doesn't have as many problems as Virgin Mobile does with data and call dropping. But you're still on Sprint's network so data won't be that great to begin with. This is something to keep in mind when going on Boost/VM. Also, if this is important, VM's moved pretty much all of their CSRs overseas so you'll get people reading STRICT to the script even if you've tried things already. Their support via phone isn't really that good. Boost will at least get you people who won't read only from their script and will do their best to help.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 20:53 |
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 12:51 |
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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. You're not going to get an off contract phone from a carrier at a good price. If you're comfortable with buying used you can get something nice for pretty cheap off of ebay. Or if you want something new you can get something at a good price off of ebay. Unless there is some amazing sale that never happens somewhere you should probably be looking at ebay.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 22:45 |
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Radbot posted: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. http://www.engadget.com/2012/12/20/boost-mobile-throttling-data-january/ Boost will start throttling past 2.5Gb starting this month. I believe there has also been a notice that Virgin will do the same. I don't know if its correct but there has been chat that there is nothing like a premium MVNO and all authorized traffic regardless of origen (even Sprint Post Paid) is treated in the same manner. However given that look over at the Sprint thread and you will see many people complaining that Sprint 3G is sometimes slower than other carriers Edge speeds. However Sprint LTE (if you have coverage) is supposedly up to the speed of the other Carriers. I'd caution against buying a phone for use on a Sprint MVNO right now. The only really safe option right now is GNex or Nexus 4 where you can switch between MVNOs, and even between ATT and TMo at the drop of a hat.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 22:56 |
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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. If you have pretty small and specific requirements the Lumia 710 isn't bad and can be had off of Ebay for $71 (http://www.ebay.com/itm/nokia-lumia-710-slightly-used-/121047307248?pt=Cell_Phones&hash=item1c2efb53f0) EDIT: I apologize that was a running auction and it looks like completed auctions are selling 710's for about $95 including shipping. The GNex is also an amazing phone (doesn't have terrific battery life if used heavily, and the camera is so-so) that should be able to be had for around $200. The 8Gb Nexus 4 from Google should be around $350 with shipping and taxes. In short NO, none of those are worth the price compared to the alternatives outlined above. Are those phones worth the price compared to going postpaid YES, but postpaid is just an out and out rip off for almost every single use case. The Lumia will only get full 3G on TMO but the others will work on TMO and ATT and every MVNO at full speed. Stick100 fucked around with this message at 00:51 on Jan 7, 2013 |
# ? Jan 6, 2013 23:01 |
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Stick100 posted:The Lumia will only get full 3G on TMO but the others will work on TMO and ATT and every MVNO at full speed. The Lumia 710 supports HSPA on both ATT and T-Mobile bands. It's actually one of the cheaper devices to do so. It supports UMTS on 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100 MHz.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 23:16 |
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Naffer posted:The Lumia 710 supports HSPA on both ATT and T-Mobile bands. I did not try the 710 on ATT when I had one but if so that's pretty incredible. Win 7.5 is a dead platform but if you want email, internet, texting and a phone it's not a bad platform. Win 7 has some apps and games but def. not at the level of quality and cost (IE free) that you will see on other platforms. Part of the reason 710's and other windows 7.5 phones are so cheap is that Microsoft gave out a ton as incentives to developers to develop apps who quickly put them on ebay and depressed the secondary market price. Also a whole bunch of people are pissed that MS just ditched the Win 7 platform within 18 months. Also I believe the 710 is HSPA+ on TMo. You might hear a bunch of hatred on the 710 but if your expectation is to get the best possible phone for $71 it can't be beat.
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# ? Jan 6, 2013 23:50 |
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Virgin is already throttling at a cap. It looks like Google Voice is broken for just about everyone porting this weekend. I ported yesterday, paid the fee, Google e-mailed me today claiming it was done. The GV app says it's okay and my Sprint number is my GV number now. But the GV site says no such thing and acts as if I need a number. Checked the GV forums from Google and a lot of people are having this issue. Texts can be sent, calls can be made, but no calls or texts can be received. Is this a normal thing?
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# ? Jan 7, 2013 00:11 |
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Stick100 posted:I did not try the 710 on ATT when I had one but if so that's pretty incredible. Win 7.5 is a dead platform but if you want email, internet, texting and a phone it's not a bad platform. My spouse has a Lumia 710 on T-mobile and it's a fantastic little phone. It's everything that the cheapo $200 android devices are not. It's stable, fast, responsive, and gets great reception. It even has a passable 5 megapixel camera to boot. It's no iPhone or Google Nexus and now it's a dead platform but you could do a lot worse.
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# ? Jan 7, 2013 02:55 |
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Stick100 posted:I did not try the 710 on ATT when I had one but if so that's pretty incredible. Win 7.5 is a dead platform but if you want email, internet, texting and a phone it's not a bad platform. Whoah, whoah, whoah. Wait. Where can you get a Lumia 710 for $71?
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# ? Jan 7, 2013 03:51 |
Any idea if Tmobile's value unlimited plan pegs people for using the hot spot feature on the phone? Wouldn't mind paying a bit more a month than I am currently with Verizon to help replace my shifty ISP service.
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# ? Jan 7, 2013 05:52 |
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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. N4 or used GNexus. The savings on pre-paid instead of contract is more than worth paying for a quality phone.
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# ? Jan 7, 2013 07:51 |
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I pay $90 a month for Sprint's 'everything data 450' plan. What I get is 450 minutes talk (with Sprint's generous rules on what doesn't count I use like 20 mins a month) with unlimited SMS and unlimited data that's probably on par with the throttled data T-Mo gives you after you use up your allotment. Ninety loving bucks monthly for that, that's after a 19% discount through work. Even if I pay $60 monthly after taxes for straight talk I'm saving some $360 yearly, which is a little more than the cost of a N4 16gb from Google, sans shipping/tax. So yeah, save enough to get a drat good phone, new, yearly, or get strapped down over a barrel and sodomized by Contract Satan.
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# ? Jan 7, 2013 16:49 |
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The Entire Universe posted:I pay $90 a month for Sprint's 'everything data 450' plan. What I get is 450 minutes talk (with Sprint's generous rules on what doesn't count I use like 20 mins a month) with unlimited SMS and unlimited data that's probably on par with the throttled data T-Mo gives you after you use up your allotment. Ninety loving bucks monthly for that, that's after a 19% discount through work. You'll be pretty loving happy on HSPA/HSPA+, to be honest. I tried N4/ST out on Saturday at the Kmart on 50th and L, that place is a black hole for signal on Sprint. The Nexus 4 and Straight Talk (AT&T) handled it like a pro. I only saw EDGE once and that was when it was disconnecting from the call I made. I browsed websites that had no mobile version, websites with a mobile version, the Awful Betamax app, and messed with Google Now on both devices. I ended up using 33.22MB of HSPA+ on the Nexus 4 but 5.96MB on the Nexus S 4G. Both the Nexus S 4G and Nexus 4 were at full battery (NS4G can only go to 95% but the N4 can do 100%) and the battery for both due to signal was pretty telling. The Nexus S came back home with 50% left after struggling to find and keep a signal while walking around, the Nexus 4 still had 70% left. However, the 4 ran out of battery quicker at home because I then had a bunch of calls I think that SpeedTest.net's app is bugged on 4.2.x though. It claims I have no data at home or anywhere else but I can prove that wrong just by loading up Chrome or some internet-based app. I blame the fact that their stupid app looks REALLY ugly on the Nexus 4's screen. A note, the phone doesn't look like it's on HSPA+ unless you're actually using data, then it'll jump to HSPA+15. As far as I'm concerned, HSPA+ = LTE. Omaha has never had WiMAX or LTE from Sprint so, to me, this is like LTE and I like it a lot. I have yet to try midtown Omaha though but I'll probably get around to trying that sometime.
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# ? Jan 7, 2013 17:57 |
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What're the best options for Straight Talk (AT&T) LTE phones? I don't think T-mobile coverage will work for me so I'm looking to see what the other options are beyond Nexus 4.
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# ? Jan 7, 2013 18:30 |
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ThermoPhysical posted:You'll be pretty loving happy on HSPA/HSPA+, to be honest. I tried N4/ST out on Saturday at the Kmart on 50th and L, that place is a black hole for signal on Sprint. The Nexus 4 and Straight Talk (AT&T) handled it like a pro. I only saw EDGE once and that was when it was disconnecting from the call I made. Straight talk uses a proxy (or something) and speedtest doesn't work on ST without getting rid of it
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# ? Jan 7, 2013 19:04 |
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ilkhan posted:Any T-mo (or unlocked GSM with the right frequencies) can be used on T-Mo prepaid. The "prepaid" line of phones is just marketing for the cheap poo poo phones. Oh, I didn't know that. I know very little about phones and how the contracts and all this work. I assumed there was a lock or they just wouldn't sell it or something, thank you.
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# ? Jan 7, 2013 19:38 |
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Mister Snips posted:Straight talk uses a proxy (or something) and speedtest doesn't work on ST without getting rid of it I didn't put the proxy in though. The official instructions don't mention it anymore.
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# ? Jan 7, 2013 20:27 |
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ThermoPhysical posted:You'll be pretty loving happy on HSPA/HSPA+, to be honest. I tried N4/ST out on Saturday at the Kmart on 50th and L, that place is a black hole for signal on Sprint. The Nexus 4 and Straight Talk (AT&T) handled it like a pro. I only saw EDGE once and that was when it was disconnecting from the call I made. You're awesome and this is awesome. Hopefully midtown has good coverage as well.
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# ? Jan 8, 2013 05:56 |
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I'm currently using an Exhibit 4G on TMob's prepaid plan but I'll be traveling out of the country in a bit. Can I just pop in a prepaid sim card from Italy once I arrive there and use that or will I need a specific internationally compatible phone? Obviously I won't have my US phone number on a random Italian sim but I'd like to able to use all my apps and texting while traveling.
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# ? Jan 8, 2013 17:24 |
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Roulette posted:I'm currently using an Exhibit 4G on TMob's prepaid plan but I'll be traveling out of the country in a bit. Can I just pop in a prepaid sim card from Italy once I arrive there and use that or will I need a specific internationally compatible phone? Obviously I won't have my US phone number on a random Italian sim but I'd like to able to use all my apps and texting while traveling. You'll probably need to call tmobile and ask them for an unlock code for your phone, which shouldn't be a problem if your account is at least a couple months old. It is very likely that you won't have 3G service in Italy because of the radio in that phone, but edge will probably work.
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# ? Jan 8, 2013 17:41 |
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For anyone who is still using a Motorola Triumph, there is news of a partially working camera on CM9. Shouldn't be long before we have a fully working CM9 ROM. http://androidforums.com/triumph-all-things-root/632984-dev-wip-cm9-camera-updated-1-1-2013-9-26am-mst.html
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# ? Jan 8, 2013 20:06 |
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1karus posted:For anyone who is still using a Motorola Triumph, there is news of a partially working camera on CM9. Shouldn't be long before we have a fully working CM9 ROM. Dear God, ICS on the Triumph, that must be slow as all hell
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# ? Jan 8, 2013 21:11 |
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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. A lot of people said they did this and I am more than willing if I have to, but what's to stop me from 1. Creating a GV number that's exactly the same as my current Verizon number 2. When my contract ends in a month, activating a prepaid T-mobile plan 3. Setting up GV to forward my calls to my new T-mobile number If I can't create a GV number that's already an existing number, why can't I just wait until my contract ends and then create it?
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 01:25 |
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If I go T-Mobile prepaid, I can still port my number from Verizon, correct?
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 01:28 |
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enthe0s posted:A lot of people said they did this and I am more than willing if I have to, but what's to stop me from If I understand what you wrote right, letting your contract with Verizon expire without porting your number out will leave the number in Verizon's custody, ready to be handed to another customer who signs up.
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 01:30 |
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Really trippy coming into this thread and finding Omaha chat. When I first got my iPhone I was on Sprint and it was so painfully slow I couldn't even stream Spotify. Wound up returning it and switching to ATT, which has been great other than the price. I'm thinking about jumping ship from to Straight Talk at some point, but I'm worried about the data cap since I've been consistently encroaching on my 2gb over the past few months.
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 02:32 |
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Tremors posted:If I understand what you wrote right, letting your contract with Verizon expire without porting your number out will leave the number in Verizon's custody, ready to be handed to another customer who signs up. I think step 1 in his process is flawed. Making a GV number the same as a current number requires a port doesn't it?
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 02:36 |
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Tremors posted:If I understand what you wrote right, letting your contract with Verizon expire without porting your number out will leave the number in Verizon's custody, ready to be handed to another customer who signs up. MrBond posted:I think step 1 in his process is flawed. Making a GV number the same as a current number requires a port doesn't it? So if I port before my contract expires, I'm forced to eat a early termination fee? Somehow this doesn't really seem right to me.
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 02:48 |
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enthe0s posted:So if I port before my contract expires, I'm forced to eat a early termination fee? Somehow this doesn't really seem right to me. When your contract is up with verizon you'll go month to month until you cancel or port.
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 02:58 |
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powderific posted:Really trippy coming into this thread and finding Omaha chat. When I first got my iPhone I was on Sprint and it was so painfully slow I couldn't even stream Spotify. Wound up returning it and switching to ATT, which has been great other than the price. I'm thinking about jumping ship from to Straight Talk at some point, but I'm worried about the data cap since I've been consistently encroaching on my 2gb over the past few months. I'm not sure if there are any stated caps for data use on ST. I mean, it's well known that they do cap, but it's a weird kind of thing where it's secret. Maybe it's higher than 2gb, but I know I'd go over 2gb (on sprint right now) if I wasn't using wifi at work because I'd just be syncing podcasts over 3G back before Sprint went full retard. Can't really stream over 3G on Sprint, so I feel your past pain. At least you switched. I know there are areas where I go on roaming and it's like someone flips a switch and I go from bad dialup to decent speeds. It's pretty bad when you want to use nothing but roaming data because your domestic speeds are just so horrifically bad. It's even worse when you are close enough to the HQ of your carrier to make a day trip out of visiting, but have no ETA on the LTE rollout more specific than "by the end of 2013." I wish they used Omaha as a test market. It's close, a manageable size, and a good enough combo of flatland, hills, and buildings to test signal characteristics. Alas.
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 03:00 |
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So I'll be visiting America from Korea in a couple of weeks, and I have an unlocked GSM iPhone 4. For the places I'll be going, I know I need AT&T. I used to have AT&T when I lived there and it was the only carrier that I could get service at my house with. Anyway, ideally I'd like to buy a sim and have it shipped to my friend who is picking me up from the airport. So which company is the easiest to set up and use? From the OP there are three choices: StraightTalk, H20, and RedPocket. The StraightTalk seems like it'd be a bit confusing to set up after a 22 hour trip, and the data stuff seems weird. I don't need any international calling stuff or anything. However, I do need reliable 3G, as I still want to be able to talk with people here in Korea on KakaoTalk and through Facetime. My family doesn't have wifi, as they just got off dial-up a year or so ago. So basically, which brand is the best in terms of ease of setup, and reliability?
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 04:21 |
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enthe0s posted:So if I port before my contract expires, I'm forced to eat a early termination fee? Somehow this doesn't really seem right to me. Porting a number will automatically cancel your service, so yeah if you're under contract you'll have to pay the etf. It's the same with every carrier. If you're going to pay significantly less on prepaid it might be worth doing a little math. It seems a lot of people end up saving a good chunk of change even after eating the etf.
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 05:27 |
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Athenry posted:When your contract is up with verizon you'll go month to month until you cancel or port. Long Francesco posted:Porting a number will automatically cancel your service, so yeah if you're under contract you'll have to pay the etf. It's the same with every carrier. I was talking to a friend of mine who said he did this recently, and he suggested that since I'll be switched to a month to month plan, I could try to just downgrade my plan to the cheapest they provide and pay for the 1st month and then go ahead and port my number to GV. I don't know if this possible, but I guess I'll call Verizon tomorrow and see if I can do that. From what I've gathered on Google, it's 375 - (# of months in contract * 10) for a smartphone early termination fee, so I would be at 145 since it's my 23rd month. Makes much more sense to just go ahead and pay the 1st month to month fee and then cancel.
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 06:15 |
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powderific posted:Really trippy coming into this thread and finding Omaha chat. When I first got my iPhone I was on Sprint and it was so painfully slow I couldn't even stream Spotify. Wound up returning it and switching to ATT, which has been great other than the price. I'm thinking about jumping ship from to Straight Talk at some point, but I'm worried about the data cap since I've been consistently encroaching on my 2gb over the past few months. The Entire Universe posted:I'm not sure if there are any stated caps for data use on ST. I mean, it's well known that they do cap, but it's a weird kind of thing where it's secret. Maybe it's higher than 2gb, but I know I'd go over 2gb (on sprint right now) if I wasn't using wifi at work because I'd just be syncing podcasts over 3G back before Sprint went full retard. AT&T doesn't work at Creighton University Medical Center (aka St. Joe Hospital). Then again, neither did Sprint. HOWEVER, I get perfect service in the lobby and outside, something Sprint couldn't do.
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 06:35 |
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Safe and Secure! posted:Whoah, whoah, whoah. Wait. Where can you get a Lumia 710 for $71? I found some on ebay going for that price but with shipping and all of that probably you'll be looking at $100. But the 710 is a much more decent phone than anything else at that pice and works very well with the TMO $30 plan.
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 06:58 |
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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. Same experience here using my iPhone with T-Mobile. I'm still giving them time over the next 6 months to finish all the refarm and getting the LTE network started.
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 12:58 |
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enthe0s posted:I was talking to a friend of mine who said he did this recently, and he suggested that since I'll be switched to a month to month plan, I could try to just downgrade my plan to the cheapest they provide and pay for the 1st month and then go ahead and port my number to GV. I don't know if this possible, but I guess I'll call Verizon tomorrow and see if I can do that. From what I've gathered on Google, it's 375 - (# of months in contract * 10) for a smartphone early termination fee, so I would be at 145 since it's my 23rd month. Verizon also shouldn't make you pay for service you're not receiving. If your contract is up on the 5th, you'll get billed as usual. If you then port out on the 7th, you should be refunded the remainder (whatever you paid - the 2 days you were still on contract). At least that's how I understand it working. I'm planning on doing something very similar when my contract is up in July.
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 14:10 |
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ThermoPhysical posted:AT&T doesn't work at Creighton University Medical Center (aka St. Joe Hospital). Then again, neither did Sprint. last time I was there I was only using my phone in the lobby, but I think it was on their wifi. Once I went upstairs I put my phone away and got knocked out, so I don't remember much outside of the billing lady telling me I didn't have to pay anything because my insurance is really good.
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 15:57 |
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The Entire Universe posted:last time I was there I was only using my phone in the lobby, but I think it was on their wifi. Once I went upstairs I put my phone away and got knocked out, so I don't remember much outside of the billing lady telling me I didn't have to pay anything because my insurance is really good. I haven't used their wifi in years. Mostly because I rarely ever use public wifi. I need to set up my college's VPN again so maybe. I was only there for an eye appointment and the 3G didn't work too well up on the 3rd floor. That was okay because I watched a movie instead. I got three hours of screen on-time at FULL BRIGHTNESS. Holy poo poo I love LCD screens. I even had a full day's worth of battery too. ThermoPhysical fucked around with this message at 16:41 on Jan 9, 2013 |
# ? Jan 9, 2013 16:37 |
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# ? Apr 25, 2024 12:51 |
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I have a good friend/coworker who's leaving the company plan and wants to take his HTC OneX and probably go with Net10 prepaid. Does Net10 work on LTE? Any gotchas or issues he'll run into? I was going to suggest AT&T based Straight Talk, but he seems to prefer Net10 for some reason.
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# ? Jan 9, 2013 16:45 |