yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S II General] BarryH_GEG:
I'm coming from T-Mobile and their plague on humanity, the G2X. Truthfully, LG should stick to TVs but that's another story. I ordered my SGS2 from Cleverboxes and it's shipping tomorrow via NCS (whatever that means). My remorse period for the G2X is up on 5/19 so I'm getting an Inspire on 5/15 to establish service for the SGS2 on AT&T. I should be able to make a couple of hundred dollars selling a new Inspire on eBay to help offset some of the cost of the SGS2. The SIM will never have been used so the SGS2's IMEI will be what's registered with AT&T when I activate it (assuming their process is the same as T-Mobile's).

Part of what screwed up the G2X is all the T-Mobile crapware that's installed on what's supposed to be a vanilla Google phone. I'm glad to pay the extra money for an unbranded SGS2 just not to have to deal with carrier software, OS modifications, and dependency on them for updates. I also checked and the Samsung warranty is valid since it's a UK phone purchased in the UK. It can even be serviced in the U.S. under their global warranty program. That's something to consider for those of you buying overseas products and getting invoices from a company here in the U.S.

I can't wait for it to get here and be rid of T-Mobile and to have a high quality phone again. I was thinking of getting a Sensation on T-Mobile when it comes out 6/8 but the whole G2X debacle did me in.
[Galaxy S II General] FtrV8:
I will never get a device from my carrier even with a discount. I am more happy with my device paying full price and without all the carrier bloatware and/or hardware removal!
[Galaxy S II General] BuddyLee:
This is the blueprint

1. Drop your text plan and switch over to google voice (optional)

2. Call up att and tell them you have a device you want to activate on your account with your sim. They will ask what phone it is, lie and say razr or some **** like that ... they will add it on for you then you will lose your smartphone data.

3. The rep will ask if you wish to optionally add the dataplan for non smartphones, you can add it then for $15 unlimited data.

I burn through about 15gb a month :)
[Galaxy S II General] BuddyLee:
whoa, whats up brother, I remember you from back then with the X1.

Well since we doing purchase information, i preordered mine from expansys april 27th. had it delivered may 6th, didnt have any customs information to fill ... just went straight through customs.

with 750 total for me including shipping from UK to US.
[Galaxy S II General] BoostedSR20:
I've seen this mentioned before, but I don't know much about it. How does this work?

*edit*

Did some googling and found some good info....
[Galaxy S II General] BuddyLee:
Yea i use google voice as my main phone number strictly. Only took about 2 or 3 days for my idiotic contacts to get start using my google voice number instead of carrier number.
[Galaxy S II General] ignign0kt:
Does this work? You don't even need the dumbphone to put the SIM card into?

So I could just use my smart phone to call them and tell them I'm now using a RAZR, and they would switch me to a dumbphone data plan?

What about the IMEI sweeps? The system would see you're not using a RAZR, wouldn't it just automatically switch to a smartphone plan then?
[Galaxy S II General] BoostedSR20:
Actually I switched at an AT&T store. Told em I had an old flip phone. He asked me if I had it with me and I said "nope". So he switched it. He saw my last phone was the Captivate and warned me if I put my SIM back in it that I could get charged and or switched back to a smartphone plan.

Then 5 minutes later, he was part of the group checking out my SG2. :D
[Galaxy S II General] ignign0kt:
Wait, so they DO auto switch back?

Or was he just bullshitting?

Just wondering if I should even bother trying this
[Galaxy S II General] BoostedSR20:
Yeah they will auto switch if they scan the IMEI and recognize it. When I had my Nexus One I switched to the $10 plan, and it lasted about a week before I got a text basically saying "we see your on a smartphone, so we just switched you to the $30 data plan"
[Galaxy S II General] ignign0kt:
ok thanks.. not going to bother then
[Galaxy S II General] bmcsfuze:
Ordered from Handtec Saturday 7th

I ordered mine from Handtec Saturday 7th and recieved confirmation the order went through. Today I recieved an email saying the order should ship within the next 7 business days. I looked on Handtec's site and it reads:

All pre-orders placed prior to 4th May 2011 at 1730GMT will be shipped fully by 5th May 2011.

All orders placed after 1730GMT 4th May 2011 will be shipped in next batch

We have just been informed that UK stock has been delayed until week commencing 16th May 2011.

Here at Handtec we had the largest UK allocation of SG2's! All pre-orders have been shipped and we expect a large allocation for the next batch. Please place pre-orders early to guarantee fast shipping. :(

I wonder if there is another reputable site with stock to ship sooner?
[Galaxy S II General] Raspster:
Question, how did u switch from a 2gb plan to an unlimited one for only $10?!
[Galaxy S II General] BoostedSR20:
Check my post 5 posts up.
[Galaxy S II General] PDY05:
they can always tell what phone u have base on your imei
[Galaxy S II General] BuddyLee:
Yes, that is all you have to do, call them up and tell them you want to activate you (insert your non att dumbphone here) and it will be done in seconds.

Correct partially, but the Galaxy S 2 imei isnt in their system so there is nothing to worry about. Same went for the original european galaxy s ... i had that on the medianet plan for a year and was never switched.

Bottom line is, if it is a phone that is in their system you will be switched. But most european phones are not in att system so they have no problem ... and since the i9100 is not in their system it will not switch you from your plan.

actually you know what ... ill take a screen shot of my online management for att so you can see what phone they have in their sytem.
[Galaxy S II General] ignign0kt:
Awesome! So just to confirm you called and just said you switched phones (but didn't) and they will do the rest? Or did you have to ask to switch to the dumbphone data plan

Edit: I realized you said you switched phones, so where can I get a free or really cheap GSM dumbphone haha?
[Galaxy S II General] intruda119:
Yeah just call and tell them your switching to a Motorola razr or something. Give them your sgs2 imei and ask for nonsmartphone plan.

There's only 2-3 unlocked phones att might have in there system. That's some nexus, dell streaks, and always iPhones.
[Galaxy S II General] BuddyLee:
My words were exactly this ... "hi i would like to activate a new phone on my account. I have the phone here with me ..."

they then would ask, please power off the phone remove the battery and give the imei number

I reply " ok the imei number is 1234567890987"

They ask me what phone it is

I say the most common recent dumbphone ... "the razr."

They say well we have a data plan for this device, it is the medianet dataplan for 15 dollars (or 10 dollars depending if you have unlimited texting)

I say "ill take the 15 dollars unlimited data"

They say, please wait on the line for a moment as we activate the phone and in the mean time power on the phone.

After a minute they ask if the phone is on.

I say "yes"

They say we are going to call you to make sure the line is fully working ... they call ... i pick up and talk ... they hang up and go back on the other line and we finish the process.

Takes about 3 minutes in total.
[Galaxy S II General] FishTaco:
I don't know who you ordered it from, but I asked Handtec and they basically said check with Samsung USA to see if they'd honor the warranty and if not I'd have to ship it back to UK (I assume back to Handtec, but they weren't very clear about it). You should check with who you ordered it from. Let us know what they say.
[Galaxy S II General] ignign0kt:
Yeah I got it from Handtec too

All the topics about defects and problems are worrying me haha
[Galaxy S II General] ignign0kt:
Darn... so I need another active phone to call from?

I only have 1 phone to call from and I can't switch SIMs while I'm on the phone with them haha
[Galaxy S II General] BoostedSR20:
Orrrrrrr go to an at&t store and do it like I did.
[Galaxy S II General] Larsin:
So...if I already have some cheapy Pantech dumb phone, then I'm all set lol. I just pop the SIM into SGS2(when received..ARGGHH Handtec out of stock till 16th), and I'm good to go?
[Galaxy S II General] misticjeff:
Guys, you dont need another phone. Ive been doing this for the past couple of years and did it today again.

I was using an Inspire until 3 days ago when i received my SGS II. Went into my favorite ATT affiliate store today, showed them my new SGS II, and asked them to switch me to the $10 unlimited data. It was done in 5 minutes (thanks Clayton).

If i go back to an ATT branded phone i get switched automatically and then when im on a non-branded phone i just go in and have them do the switch again.
[Galaxy S II General] ignign0kt:
Sounds like you have a buddy who does it for you.

I think any AT&T rep will recognize that the GS2 isn't a dumbphone haha
[Galaxy S II General] intruda119:
I wouldn't take the sgs2 into a att store. They could easily do it but would probably give you a hard time.

People stop making this rocket science, just use the sgs2 imei and tell them it's a dumbphone. I personally give them a moto krzr everytime and they ask no questions. It literally takes 2mins over the phone. I've been doing this since the Motorola q/tmobile dash days.
[Galaxy S II General] soraxd:
getting it from uk

$10 unlimited internet

android experience

getting it from att

$30 semi unlimited internet (excluding tethering)

$40 dollar unlimited tethering (4gb limit, $.01/kb overage charge)

atts censored and heavily monitored android experience (no 3rd party apps, locked software, stock apps replaced with att's buyable alternatives, keymapping changes, hardware limitations including removed front facing camera, att will have remote control of your phone, att's themed boot animation, themes, and unremovable apps, entirely separate rom than the i9100 and cannot share roms created on xda for the i9100 they will need their own specific ports, updates controlled by att *note att sgs1 users are still waiting to get a working version of 2.2)

both sides have their pros and cons, choose wisely

att = 200 base phone price, $70/month @2 year lock = $1880 (still limited to 4gb of tethering)

i9100 = 600 base phone price, $10/month @2 year contract free stay = $840
[Galaxy S II General] pplcallmeGOD:
Hey folks. I currently on a $30 smartphone plan with unlimited family texting. Would I qualify for the $10 unlimited medianet plan or would I have to go to the $15 one. Also has anyone here been switched to a smartphone plan while using a european phone. Would love to save $15-20 a month on my bill, but would not do so if it costs me my unlimited data plan down the line.
[Galaxy S II General] bhagiratha:
Hi

If I purchased the SG2 from the UK, which type of service would I be getting on Tmobile, my current provider?

I read somewhere that I will not get 3G service, but would I get at least EDGE?

I am a non-contract customer and since tmobile will be part of ATT next year ... I figure I can get a great phone like the SG2 and still be able to use it with ATT network.

what say you? :)
[Galaxy S II General] intruda119:
Read through the post your answer is there.

10 with unlimited family message

15 without.
[Galaxy S II General] kreoXDA:
Does anyone know if this works with T-Mob in the USA in a similar fashion? Have a friend who got curious. thanks

P.S. SoraXD you got my thanks for this post, but MCO does not have any SGS2 in stock yet ;)
[Galaxy S II General] soraxd:
it works the same on tmo, but you'll only get their edge service in usa on their bands
[Galaxy S II General] ph00ny:
i will give it a try tomorrow and report back to everyone
[Galaxy S II General] BuddyLee:
Exactly, I wouldnt take my galaxy s 2 into att store and boldly ask them to put on medianet on that super phone lol

EDIT: It may work but its totally ballsy.
[Galaxy S II General] BuddyLee:
yes you are good to go ...

TIP: PEOPLE WE HAVE GOOGLE VOICE INCASE YOU DONT HAVE ANOTHER LINE ... JUST CALL ATT ON THEIR 800 NUMBER WITH YOUR GOOGLE VOICE AND ACTIVATE THE SIM WITH YOU GALAXY S 2
[Galaxy S II General] intruda119:
Att reps would think its the iPhone 5. LOL
[Galaxy S II General] BarryH_GEG:
So, what about this? I've got to establish service on AT&T and am porting my number from T-Mobile. When I go through the online order process, if I pick a Pantech semi-smartphone, it lets me add the $15.00 unlimited data plan and $20 unlimited messaging with unlimited M2AM. M2AM is huge for me because most everyone I know is on VZW or T-Mobile. There's a place on AT&T's site to self-activate where you have to input the IMEI. You think it will accept my SGS2 IMEI? If that fails, do you think a CSR would let me activate with an IMEI their systems may not recognize? Or should I just activate the SIM in the Pantech and use it in the SGS2? Sorry for all the questions but having to port a number and establish new service is a different twist from what was discussed earlier. If this works, my monthly bill would be lower than than T-Mobile with better stuff (rollover minutes, unlimited (and un-throtled) data and M2AM). Kind of cool too that I'll have a spare phone for messaging and e-mail should the SGS2 ever need to go in to the shop.
[Galaxy S II General] ajamils:
I'm in the same situation and would like know that too. I've been a Tmobile customer for over 8 years but willing to switch to AT&T because of this phone :)
[Galaxy S II General] robstunner:
Give it a month or two and the t mobile variant will come out.
[Galaxy S II General] ajamils:
Is there a Tmobile variant even planned? I have not read anything about it. Though there were rumors of it coming to AT&T.
[Galaxy S II General] BarryH_GEG:
The problem with that is that it will still be with T-Mobile. I'm done with them even if they gave me the phone for free. After the debacle with carrier-specific crapware on the G2X I'm looking forward to only dealing with manufacturer installed crapware. Also, based on the S, some of the hardware and software "improvements" the U.S. carriers made are questionable. And there's no telling which bands each carrier will include or omit. Free at last, free at last... ;)
[Galaxy S II General] robstunner:
http://m.pocketnow.com/android/did-samsung-just-trademark-the-us-galaxy-s-ii-variants

I'm sure just like last year. T mobile will get one
[Galaxy S II General] robstunner:
Sounds like u need a nexus s!
[Galaxy S II General] BarryH_GEG:
I'll bet it's the successor to each U.S. carrier's S variant.
[Galaxy S II General] BarryH_GEG:
What? And give up fake-4G speeds? Actually, if I didn't travel internationally so much the 4G version on Sprint isn't awful but it's still single core which I think will keep the SGS2 fresh for a while.
[Galaxy S II General] kakwvu:
I'm finding it really hard with all of these posts not to buy this phone and sell my Atrix when it comes in. My main worry is warranty (since it wouldn't have any 'insurance' plan). To wait a few months for release and sell the Atrix while it still has value. Hm.
[Galaxy S II General] jackleung:
There's a third option:

i9100 = 600 base phone price, $10/month - (get any phone from AT&T with contract price and sell it on ebay) @ 2 year contract lock = $840 - the profit you got from ebay.
[Galaxy S II General] aDroidtoRemember:
I'm doing just this. Bought a 32gb white Iphone 4 for $360 out the door, currently selling on ebay, hopefully go for ~$750. Brand new GS2 from Europe (without bloatware) for the price of an iPhone. Not too shabby.

Also does anyone know if you can get insurance from assurion or someone for the gs2?
[Galaxy S II General] kreoXDA:
But they would keep you on smartphone data plan that you got to get the iP4 , no? How soon can you cancel that smartphone plan?
[Galaxy S II General] BuddyLee:
As soon as you put your sim card in another phone.
[Galaxy S II General] BuddyLee:
the thing about getting att version is the bloatware, which could be done in by rooting. But the phone physical difference comes into play ... some features may be missing and the biggest part of it all you will not be able to use the ATT unlimited data plan for $15
[Galaxy S II General] ph00ny:
Don't forget the fact that at&t has tendencies to gimp the performance by crippling data capabilities
[Galaxy S II General] robstunner:
That usually gets fix within a week thanks to XDA :)
[Galaxy S II General] ker0zene:
Can you clarify? I know AT&T sweeps IMEI and puts you on the smartphone plan if it matches in their DB but I haven't heard about this.. Do they block certain "android" ports or enforce throttling? Thanks for the reply, I'm seriously considering going into AT&T next week to buy a dumbphone and sign 2 years of my life away...
[Galaxy S II General] robstunner:
No was referring to the disabling of HSUPA that they did with the captivate. It was fixed shortly after in the android development section of the captivate sub forum. personally I don't want to loose my $30 unlimited smartphone plan so I don't even be trying to do the media net thing.
[Galaxy S II General] ph00ny:
So i'm on the dumbphone data plan now and it seems whole lot slower than the smartphone data plan i was on. I'm going to wait a bit and test it out a bit more when i get home
[Galaxy S II General] BarryH_GEG:
I fixed my own problem. I have access to AT&T Premier (corporate program) and one of the reps is setting my plan up as if I had a dumb phone so I can get unlimited data and sending me a SIM overnight. Apparently, no device will be shown on my account. Also, I'll be on a "zero month" contract which means I'll have the benefit of their regular plans and can walk away at any time. If you guys getting new service have access to Premier that's the way to go. If not, check with the 800 number and see if the zero month contract is a generally available thing and tell them you've got a Moto Krzr. The phone's supposed to be here Friday and the SIM tomorrow. I'll let you know how getting it activated and on AT&T's network goes.
[Galaxy S II General] BarryH_GEG:
Well, that sucks. The OP posted his usage but never talked about speed. It's certainly possible that AT&T centrally throttles based on plan type. Saving a couple of bucks a months after buying an $800 phone doesn't make sense. Run a SpeedTest before and then again after if you go back to your original plan. That way we'd know for sure if they're throttling.
[Galaxy S II General] ph00ny:
As of now, i can't even complete a full speedtest. Like i said earlier, i will wait to see if things get better later during the day and report back to everyone. I know that there are quite a few folks here who have been using nothing but medianet data plan with great success
[Galaxy S II General] BoostedSR20:
I did this, and posted about it in this very thread. For the first few days I had my smartphone plan, I measured speeds. Then a few days ago I switched to the $10 plan, and my speeds haven't changed.
[Galaxy S II General] BarryH_GEG:
Can someone on the Medianet plan that's in a 4G area run a Speedtest? Since HSPA+ is new, I wonder if the old grandfathered plans or Medianet plans are not provisioned for access? If people have never known anything but Medianet speeds how would they know that there may be higher speeds available?
[Galaxy S II General] BarryH_GEG:
Thanks, I didn't want to set up a new account and have to go through the hassle of changing it. :)
[Galaxy S II General] kreoXDA:
I called in and changed a smart phone plan yesterday for a dumb phone plan.

I experienced both plans on the same SGS2 phone.

Checked my account today, still shows a dumb phone, and the plan change is still in effect.

The speeds on speedtest.net app test did not change at all, but they were crappy on the smart phone plan anyway, here in New York City.

I used to get (and still get) up to 6.5 Mbps down and 0.2-1.5 Mbps up. The speed really depends on the location in the city and how many tourists are roaming around at the minute, with their iPhones constantly sending spied location info to apple, clogging at&t net ;)

On average I get 3 Mbps down and 0.5 Mbps up (while showing "H+")
[Galaxy S II General] intruda119:
There is no change in speed whatsoever. You all are being paranoid or something. Ive been doing this since 05 with the medianet plan, now called nonsmartphone plan. Goofy people .
[Galaxy S II General] kreoXDA:
Quoting myself because I forgot to mention something I believe very important.

When I had my Captivate, it would last a day no problems on weekends, and barely last 10 hours on week days. It looks like I am having similar issues with SGS2 , although I had it only for one weekend so far :)

The difference is explained by crappy signal in my office building - the phone would have problems keeping data signal, it would constantly search for signal, switching between gprs, edge, 3g, h, h+, or dropping packet signal all together.

My point is, battery life depends on signal strength too.
[Galaxy S II General] ph00ny:
Not being paranoid at all. Im merely passing on my observation. Like i said earlier, im going to test it again later to see if it's working as well as expected
[Galaxy S II General] ker0zene:
Good to know.. Does anyone know if AT&T requires a security deposit for new, non-smartphone contracts? I know they do a credit check (mine isn't so great at the moment) and when the iPhone 4 came out they wanted $500.. Sprint didn't require one when I test-drove the EVO for a month and T-Mobile (current provider) didn't care either...
[Galaxy S II General] BoostedSR20:
+1 same here, only I can sometimes get close to or touch 1Mbps up. I got these speeds with my Captivate on my smartphone plan for a year, then I got them on the SGS2 for a few days w/smartphone plan, now I'm getting them on the $10 plan. I've been switched since Sunday, still no problems or changes.

Whether these are real "4G" speeds, I have no idea. I don't live in a huge city, not sure what sort of speeds I should be getting around here. I am seeing H+ though all the time. (when data is in use, when not in use, then its 3G)
[Galaxy S II General] intruda119:
Have you looked into simplemobile? Not 100% for sure but I think they get 3g speeds.
[Galaxy S II General] ker0zene:
Yes I have, they do support 3G but use T-Mobile's AWS bands so the GS2 would be limited to edge..
[Galaxy S II General] BarryH_GEG:
Of all the comments, this is the only one that answered the question. Pulling 6.5Mbps down on a Medianet plan is using HSPA+. 3Mbps down could easily be 3G and, coming from T-Mobile, if that's all AT&T's network was capable of I'd have been pissed. My G2 pulled over 10Mbps down pretty routinely. The G2X I'm leaving them because of was in the 7Mbs range. So the OP's results are respectable.
[Galaxy S II General] BoostedSR20:
Throwing this out there for giggles, but I'm getting faster speeds than my GF's updated Inspire 4G.
[Galaxy S II General] robstunner:
If people don't mind, can I ask how much everyone in the states paid for their sgs2? I wanna know if my source of $880 is a decent price or not..
[Galaxy S II General] kreoXDA:
I paid $725 after all fees, delivered. $880 is too much. $725 was too much, but I could not resist.
[Galaxy S II General] aDroidtoRemember:
where did you order from?
[Galaxy S II General] VegUnited:
Where did you get it for $725 shipped if you don't mind telling?
[Galaxy S II General] BarryH_GEG:
Expansys USA had/has them for $750 less a $25 "May special" coupon discount. I think somebody said their waiting list is 200some people. I canceled my order with them and got if from Cleverboxes in the UK $800ish. It gets here Friday.
[Galaxy S II General] Little Dragon:
I would not pay more than $800 for this phone. Any of the US/cdn resalers are selling it for too much. Definitely use clove ir handtec. Less than 750 incl shipping ..and in two days usually when there's stock