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Straight Talk w/ LTE has been pretty good, i've gotten as high as 20 mbit speed with about 100 ms ping. I'm paying about $36 a month for their 'unlimited' plan via ebay.
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Sep 24, 2013 18:40
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ThermoPhysical posted:Thank you. Just activated my phone on Aio suckaaaaa Also holy poo poo they waste packaging:    Fuckin' phone box and padding for an envelope and a SIM. nexus 4 poo poo camera 
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Sep 24, 2013 22:45
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The Entire Universe posted:Just activated my phone on Aio suckaaaaa Got mine too and have everything set up. Still waiting on the confirmation text about that third free month. I'll give it a night and call tomorrow, I guess. The Nexus 4 doesn't even know my phone number anymore, but things seem to be working fine.  Also, wow, you camera is awful. Like "worse than mine" awful. It's weird.
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Sep 25, 2013 00:54
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The Entire Universe posted:Just activated my phone on Aio suckaaaaa It's illegal to ship packages with hazard labels if they don't contain hazardous materials.
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Sep 25, 2013 01:42
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Endless Mike posted:It's illegal to ship packages with hazard labels if they don't contain hazardous materials.  holy poo poo. I didn't order a phone and there wasn't one in there. That's somewhat hilarious to know someone committed a federal crime. It was fedex if that makes any difference.
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Sep 25, 2013 02:44
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The Entire Universe posted:
My box has the same sticker on it. haha I don't think AIO knows/cares about this. Either way, I'm on their chat thing via the app talking to someone about the weird SIM issues I'm having. She's pretty nice and knowledgeable so this is neat. I like I can just hit them up any time for help. Also, you can put money in the account to even do advance pays if you like. I'm loving AIO so far. 
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Sep 25, 2013 02:49
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The Entire Universe posted:
ThermoPhysical posted:My box has the same sticker on it. haha
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Sep 25, 2013 03:32
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ThermoPhysical posted:My box has the same sticker on it. haha Yeah, their chat service is pretty good. The guy I got told me I was awesome and made his day 
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Sep 25, 2013 04:30
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So is AIO supporting LTE on AT&Ts network now? All the reviews I've read say that they don't, but they were from a few months back..
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Sep 25, 2013 05:27
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tonic posted:So is AIO supporting LTE on AT&Ts network now? All the reviews I've read say that they don't, but they were from a few months back.. It's a speed capped version of their LTE.
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Sep 25, 2013 05:28
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Mister Fister posted:It's a speed capped version of their LTE. What kind of speed caps? 7GB of AIO vs Unlimited T-Mobile for $70/month. Guess I'll stick with T-Mobile for now as their service is great and fast (20mbit+) here, but I feel like outside of metro areas the AIO might be the better choice.
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Sep 25, 2013 05:35
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tonic posted:What kind of speed caps? Like 10 or 20 mbit, you wouldn't really notice it. AT&T gophone is a better deal anyway, you get full LTE speed without any ping delay (i think AIO has a delay), which you can get for like $47 a month from ebay vendors.
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Sep 25, 2013 05:50
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tonic posted:What kind of speed caps? 8 mbit LTE. Lower on HSPA+ and certainly EDGE. And latency.
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Sep 25, 2013 06:05
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hotsauce posted:8 mbit LTE. Lower on HSPA+ and certainly EDGE. It's really not that low on HSPA+, not sure about EDGE though. I'm getting better speeds than I was on ST so that's something at least. The Entire Universe posted:Yeah, their chat service is pretty good. The guy I got told me I was awesome and made his day She said the SIM issues should clear up in a day and was pretty cool about helping. If they don't, I'll just get another one. I'd go with GoPhone if I didn't have to play the eBay game with trying to get more cards. Never been a fan of that...plus, I feel more comfortable with the softcap instead of a hard cap.. ThermoPhysical fucked around with this message at 07:01 on Sep 25, 2013 |
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Sep 25, 2013 06:58
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Speed on Aio is 8 Mbps down on LTE and 4 Mbps down on HSPA+. Once you hit your 2GB or 7GB cap (depending on your plan) you're throttled to 256 kbps down. But you can pay that $10 to add an extra 1GB allowance to your cap and be unthrottled again. Its honestly fine. The only way I can see it being a problem is if you needed to tether, which isn't supported anyway. The service isn't for power users, people. Its a cheaper alternative for 'normals'. Venkmanologist fucked around with this message at 13:57 on Sep 25, 2013 |
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Sep 25, 2013 11:52
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Venkmanologist posted:Speed on Aio is 8 Mbps down on LTE and 4 Mbps down on HSPA+. Once you hit your 2GB or 7GB cap (depending on your plan) you're throttled to 256 kbps down. But you can pay that $10 to add an extra 1GB allowance to your cap. Keep in mind that 256kbps down is still noticeably faster than Sprint 3G in many if not most areas. It's just never going to stop being a point of interest that speeds your MVNO punishes you with for using too much data are unattainably high on a top-tier US carrier in TYOOL two thousand and thirteen.
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Sep 25, 2013 13:39
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Someone recently posted all of the downsides to AIO (no short codes, etc), would someone mind posting a similar pros/cons (more focused on the cons) for GoPhone? I'm very interested in seeing what the tradeoffs would be. I'm willing to do eBay vendor gymnastics to cut the cost.
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Sep 25, 2013 14:48
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TraderStav posted:Someone recently posted all of the downsides to AIO (no short codes, etc), would someone mind posting a similar pros/cons (more focused on the cons) for GoPhone? I'm very interested in seeing what the tradeoffs would be. I'm willing to do eBay vendor gymnastics to cut the cost. I'm also curious about GoPhone. ST seems to enjoy dicking me around constantly. After several months of good service, I'm now getting random speed drops, no data connection some days, etc...and I don't know why. It shouldn't be any kind of nebulous "data cap," my download graph shows I only downloaded 150 MB on cell data this month, and never more than 30 in one day. If I can pay $10-$15 more a month for more reliable service, and potentially LTE, I will. (I think AT&T has LTE here. I tried to check their coverage map, but like all the other providers, they use very similar shades of the same loving color to differentiate between 4G and 3G so it's really loving hard to tell.)
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Sep 26, 2013 16:17
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DrBouvenstein posted:I'm also curious about GoPhone. I just said gently caress it and ordered two sims for my wife and I on the net10 family plan. My biggest fear is screwing up the porting process by only doing one phone so I'm just going to do both and see what happens. Everything I'm reading is highly positive save for the short codes thing. I like the 2gb cap and the ability to add data if needed. Callingmart has $57 refills, which is reasonable to me for the security of the company (net10 feels so fly by night, despite being a huge company) and the reliability of the service. I'll give it a try and see what happens. Beauty of prepaid, if it sucks I just switch again! How do the refills work for GoPhone? Do I need a specific refill card or just get dollars in the account however way I can and the $60 is deducted?
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Sep 26, 2013 16:42
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AIO's "no shortcodes" thing seems to be temporary, according to the reps I've asked. Also, Google Voice is now able to use them so you could just use that on AIO (which I do anyway).
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Sep 26, 2013 18:00
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ThermoPhysical posted:AIO's "no shortcodes" thing seems to be temporary, according to the reps I've asked. Also, Google Voice is now able to use them so you could just use that on AIO (which I do anyway). I would, but the gymnastics required to get GV to work 'well enough' on an iPhone isn't worth it. I wish it were because it'd solve a lot of problems.
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Sep 26, 2013 18:12
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UncleNaughtyFingers posted:Is it possible to use a tmobile or att phone with a clear esn on Metro? If you're in an area where Metro has turned on GSM support, then a tmobile handset will work fine. An AT&T handset will need to be unlocked first. I've been on Metro for 2 months, and I hate them. The customer service is horrific, and I constantly lose data even in places where I had a solid data connection with T-Mobile (... despite Metro basically being a T-Mo MVNO around here). My phone will show a data connection, but it goes gray (meaning it can't reach Google), and I can't do anything requiring data for several minutes. It's like their APNs are taking regularly scheduled shits. Speaking as someone who relies heavily on Google Maps for work.... nope. Endless Mike posted:It's illegal to ship packages with hazard labels if they don't contain hazardous materials. T-Mobile also ships their SIM cards in envelopes with "oh gently caress li-ion batteries are in here  " labels, via Fedex Smartpost (which winds up dropping into USPS at some point).Endless Mike posted:Yeah, what happens is they order a bunch of boxes with the label printed on them and just use them for everything, even though non-hazardous shipments aren't supposed to have them. I believe it's illegal for Fedex to carry them, but I'm not sure. I am surprised they accepted it at all, though, since they're usually pretty good about that. Former UPS employee here. Fedex and UPS can both carry low level hazmat (this includes li-ion batteries), though the package is supposed to come with paperwork telling the sorters/loaders what's in it. USPS restrictions are a bit more lax. IIRC, I think I was supposed to reject packages with such labels that didn't carry the paperwork, but you barely had enough time to even acknowledge the fact that you had a package in your hands, 1,000+ times per shift (I got to load the regional 18 wheelers). Whalley posted:I'm going to be switching phones and plans soon, and I found that T-Mobile has really good coverage in my area (but no Metro PCS, sadly) - is there something I'm missing with Solavei that I should be seeing? $49/mo for 4gb data, shaped down to 2g, at 4G speeds seems pretty good, and I know enough people who'd make the switch that I could take advantage of the $20/mo off for referrals, PLUS their international rates are better than regular T-Mo, which is important to me... this feels like there's a catch, because it's sort of perfect for me and I only just read about it today. What am I missing here? Is this just a really great deal, or am I staring at a scam? Never saw this answered - their rates are attractive, but there's some MLM stuff going on that makes me a bit  - plus their website charges you for your first month even when you're just trying to order the loving SIM card.Well poo poo, found someone selling Solavei SIMs for 99c, first month is $29. Guess I'll find out if it's truly unlimited. Worst case, I have a brand new T-Mo micro SIM sitting here. v v
randomidiot fucked around with this message at 10:46 on Sep 27, 2013 |
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Sep 27, 2013 10:32
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Virgin iPhones on October 1st, incidentally: http://www.electronista.com/articles/13/09/27/joins.regional.carriers/
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Sep 27, 2013 17:12
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Just a sort of warning/heads up for anyone with an HTC One on a pre-paid service: I updated to 4.3 yesterday, and it completely wiped out my APN settings. So make sure to set those back after updating so you can use data and MMS.
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Sep 27, 2013 18:54
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Pulled the trigger and ordered an AIO sim for my HTC One. Kind of strange that you have to pay for a month of service (+ the $10 sim fee) even though it's prepaid service. I ordered my SIM early in the morning yesterday and it already shipped out. Will post trip report here in Nor Cal. Also noticed on the site that they're offering a 3rd free month of service, but I didn't see anything about this when I went through the check out. Anyone been able to get the free month added to their account?
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Sep 29, 2013 01:21
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some texas redneck posted:Former UPS employee here. Fedex and UPS can both carry low level hazmat (this includes li-ion batteries), though the package is supposed to come with paperwork telling the sorters/loaders what's in it. USPS restrictions are a bit more lax.
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Sep 29, 2013 01:28
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I see a bunch of people switching to AIO in the last few pages. I'm going to be getting an iphone 5 and the OP recommends Straight Talk. AIO is more expensive and uses the same towers, so what is the AIO advantage?
teardrop fucked around with this message at 01:40 on Sep 29, 2013 |
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Sep 29, 2013 01:37
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teardrop posted:I see a bunch of people switching to AIO in the last few pages. I'm going to be getting an iphone 5 and the OP recommends Straight Talk. AIO is more expensive and uses the same towers, so what is the AIO advantage? Straight Talk's data limits are undefined. "Unlimited" isn't really unlimited. Some users can get away with using up to 100MB/day, some get throttled or kicked off of ST for using far less than this. If you don't plan on using much data, ST is probably the way to go because it's less expesnive, but I tend to use 4-5GB/month.
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Sep 29, 2013 01:47
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teardrop posted:I see a bunch of people switching to AIO in the last few pages. I'm going to be getting an iphone 5 and the OP recommends Straight Talk. AIO is more expensive and uses the same towers, so what is the AIO advantage? AIO is real AT&T with a speed cap. Straight Talk recently got LTE (as of a few weeks ago it did not have LTE), but the APN is also proxied in a way that adds latency to your connection, if I recall correctly.
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Sep 29, 2013 02:18
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tonic posted:Pulled the trigger and ordered an AIO sim for my HTC One. Kind of strange that you have to pay for a month of service (+ the $10 sim fee) even though it's prepaid service. I ordered my SIM early in the morning yesterday and it already shipped out. Will post trip report here in Nor Cal. That is what every prepaid service is. You pay for the upcoming month that you'll use.
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Sep 29, 2013 02:21
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Lblitzer posted:That is what every prepaid service is. You pay for the upcoming month that you'll use. But yeah, certainly you pay at the start of the service term rather than the end of the service term.
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Sep 29, 2013 04:36
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ilkhan posted:I read that as wondering why he pays for a month of service when ordering the SIM, rather than when he activates it separately. I noticed Solavei does this too, if you buy a sim directly from them (and it's  direct from them).I ordered a SIM from one of their (Solavei) resellers via ebay for $1, and won't have to pay for the first month until I activate the SIM. Seems to be the cheapest unlimited talk + decent chunk of data thing I can find, I'll have to post a trip report though. I'm still a bit on the fence about their MLM stuff.
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Sep 29, 2013 08:55
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Lblitzer posted:That is what every prepaid service is. You pay for the upcoming month that you'll use. I get that. It's just that I should be able to activate the service and pay the month in advance at my own discretion. With T-Mobile, you pay $10 for the SIM and then can activate it down the road, whenever. I guess it just feels more "contracty".
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Sep 29, 2013 12:31
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So with AIO you get capped LTE speeds, and with ATT Go you have unlimited LTE speeds?
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Sep 29, 2013 15:21
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How cheap can I get ATT GoPhone (the $60/month plan) by hunting around for cards on ebay?
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Sep 29, 2013 17:20
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Hughmoris posted:So with AIO you get capped LTE speeds, and with ATT Go you have unlimited LTE speeds? Yes, but on GoPhone, you don't get any data after you use up your allotted amount. On AIO, you get 256Kbps of unlimited data once your 2GB/7GB is done. It's the trade-off, really. GoPhone: No LTE speed cap, data cuts out after you reach your limit. Pay $10 each time you want an extra 1GB (I believe can also be a monthly fee as well if you want to do it that way). Streaming is allowed, no tethering. No roaming. AIO: LTE speed cap of 8Mbps of LTE and 4Mbps of HSPA+, data remains on after limit is reached (only at 256Kbps). Pay $10 each time you want an extra 1GB (can also be a monthly fee of $10 extra if you want over 2/7GB per month). Streaming is allowed, no tethering. No roaming. ST (AT&T): No LTE speed cap, data is supposedly unlimited but ST is known to throttle and cut the data off of anyone they deem as abusing their network. The limit of data isn't known, but it seems to be around 2GB/mo or 100MB/day, whichever comes first. Streaming or tethering of any kind is not allowed. Even downloading via Google Play can set ST off. Speeds on ST are a worse than on AIO and GoPhone, I've noticed. Coverage doesn't seem as good either. There is roaming onto other GSM networks when your signal is gone. I'm loving AIO so far. The AIO Wi-Fi app isn't very useful, really. It only works at places such as McDonalds, Barnes and Noble, or Starbucks, but it picks them up even if you're not at the building and automatically agrees to the ToS of the data. I've used a total of 593MB since I signed up with them on the 24th. Honestly, almost all of that is thanks to Google Play Music. It really uses a lot of data...even YouTube is less data usage. Either way, I've used far over 100MB/day and AT&T isn't complaining at all. I'll probably slow it down and see how 256Kbps is around the 22nd of October, before my bill comes and the 2GB resets itself. ThermoPhysical fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Sep 30, 2013 |
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Sep 30, 2013 00:13
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ThermoPhysical posted:
AIO is kind of tempting, but I have an unlocked HTC One (T-Mobile). I don't believe it has the proper bands for AT&T's HSPA+ and LTE. Does anyone know if it will work on AIO?
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Sep 30, 2013 00:37
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IuniusBrutus posted:How cheap can I get ATT GoPhone (the $60/month plan) by hunting around for cards on ebay? About $47 a month, buy only from highly ranked sellers though.
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Sep 30, 2013 00:59
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Mister Fister posted:About $47 a month, buy only from highly ranked sellers though. Do you have to buy high dollar value to hit $47?
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Sep 30, 2013 01:09
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TraderStav posted:Do you have to buy high dollar value to hit $47? Yeah i think you do, i tried looking on ebay but i can't find it but i remember someone in the straight talk LTE thread at howardforums and someone mentioned it and i looked it up on ebay and it was there, forgot the dollar amount you have to buy though.
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Sep 30, 2013 04:22
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