yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jonathan3579:
Let me save you the trip. You CANNOT simply buy an activation kit from Wal-Mart like these reps like to advise. You CAN buy just an activation kit from a T-Mobile store if they'll sell it to you. It took me nearly a week before I finally broke down and just bought the little $30 prepaid phone kit (which includes the activation kit) from Wal-Mart. I also had to buy a $30 refill card.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Okay I'm finding that out. Gonna just buy the Activation Kit from the pre-paid site via this link. Its discounted down to $2.99 + free shipping + $1.00 free minutes lol. Kinda silly they make you go through this just to charge you $2.00, but whatever. Gonna order now, and when I get it call into CS and set it up. (edit: added a picture)

Also, another GrooveIP Q: have you noticed any delay in your talk? I just had a call with literally a 5sec delay (both ways). Terrible lol. But overall its pretty decent quality. Good enough for me to drop my plan and save $40/mo hah.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jonathan3579:
Phew. Sorry I am on my Call of Duty break right now. Lol. I think it's completely asinine that they make the whole thing sound like it's a cheap ordeal at Wal-Mart. I wish it was. Good to hear you got off a lot cheaper than I did. Ha-ha.

I haven't had that kinda problem yet. Was it just the one call?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
LOL. I've stopped with Call of Duty. I'm on a BF3 bender right now though.

Ya, it just seems like they are making it harder than it should be to start this up. Anyways its shipped and it'll be here in "2 - 4 business days", and I'll go from there. If it was only a couple $$ more from Walmart I would've done it, but I'm fine just waiting a couple days to only pay $3.25 for it.

It was just the one call that was delayed. And I was on WiFi while I had a good 20+ tabs in Chrome (crashing on OSX, as it likes to do) and streaming CNN. I think my router was just getting bogged down.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bobsbbq:
Well after finally getting sick of T-Mobiles crap I canceled my family plan and paid early termination fees. I had already got a Nexus for Christmas on verizon and with the discount through my company it is a pretty good deal.

So now I have ordered the 3.25 SIM activation kit and will put it in my old MT4G for my wife on the 30.00 plan. She doesn't use that much in talk and it will save me a bundle.

PS I tried to change my plans to save money but T-mobile said I would start a new 2 yr agreement on both phones. This is crap and how they keep you locked in.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] firehazard:
I've been testing this plan/T-mobile's coverage in my area (Bloomington, IN) and gotta say I'm quite disappointed. Their map shows 4G coverage blanketing just about everywhere and I've had a 4G connection just once in the last 2 weeks, right when I started this prepaid plan. I typically get 3G but even dip down into 2G frequently. Sometimes I'll get HSPA at around 800 kbps.

I was really hoping it would work out for me since it would save $40 a month off of my at&t plan.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jonathan3579:
What system are you playing it on? Maybe I'll be able to catch you on sometime!

It really is. Let me tell you my story since I think it will serve for good entertainment for those who aren't aware how easy it can be. I went back and forth from a T-Mobile store and Wal-Mart (which are literally across the street from each other) because the T-Mobile employees knew nothing about the plan. They would not sell me an activation kit even though customer care told me to go into the store to buy one. This one chick was saying I will sell you whatever you want but you're not getting an activation kit without buying a plan from me. I was about ready to throw my phone and my girlfriend at her, lol. Needless to say I drove about 10 miles to another store where they did the activation but it was wrong. They put my account as pay-per-use. Had to throw that number away. Then finally a chick from Wal-Mart just told me to suck it up and buy their prepaid phone kit for $30. I asked if she could return it and she tried to get someone to return the phone without the sim to no avail. I was stuck. Still stuck with that pos, lol.

It definitely had to be a router issue. LOL. So far I have had no issues other than the occasion hiss on the line which comes and goes. Either way, $30 for a month is my sweet spot and a one-time fee for any apps to make sure it stays that way will never be a problem. :cool: Have you run any speedtests yourself with the new apn I provided?

Give the apn I provided in this thread or made a thread entirely by itself about. It seems to be a little less cluttered.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Xbox Live.

Still dicking around with the settings. I had an AWESOME quality call but again after 5-ish minutes it starts to have a delay (both ways). Its 1sec or so at first, then it gets bad, like 5secs and I gotta hang up. Lucky I have a friend willing to field calls over and over while I tweak settings :p

I setup your APN you suggested and the best speed I got I attached. Most were ~4mbps down / ~2mbps up with ~125ms ping. Pretty much normal around here. My G2 is only a 14.4mbps HSPA+ device too.

I'm also running a super Beta ICS build for my phone. Think I'm gonna restore my CM7 build and check GrooveIP. I think that'd be the best troubleshooting option right now. update: and the calls are still generally ****ty. Even with the speeds im showing in the screenshots, and similar ones over wifi, the call quickly degrades in ~1min and its unusable. Really dunno what to say...

Oh, and that story of going from T-Mo store to Walmart sounds awful. That's why I'm opting for the activation kit by mail and call CS lol.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] firehazard:
Yeah, I saw that as I was perusing this thread and decided to give it a shot. Thanks for the info. I'll see if this helps at all.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] catpunt:
the speed i get with both apns is pretty much identical where i live, was getting between 10-12mbps download.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jonathan3579:
Well either way, if you're not losing you're winning... You're definitely winning once you don't get throttled though. :p

---------- Post added at 05:57 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:55 PM ----------

Damn, I'm a PS3 fanboy. Hahaha.

Today, I've been having some GrooveIP issues. :mad: It's been smooth sailing up until but everyone kept hanging up and calling me back despite the fact that nothing was curing it. I didn't mess with the settings at all so I've been having to make all my phone calls on my computer. I hope it's just a weird day.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] econometrician:
Groove IP has been spotty for me on ICS as well, try a reboot to see if it helps.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Well thats too bad :P

Yeah who knows. I'm gonna do more testing this weekend.

SIM kit shipped today, but bad timing shipping on a Friday. It'll be here around ~Wednesday. The most ridiculous part about it is they're requiring a signature to deliver it, even though its only $3.25. They assume because its "important for your service" that you need a sig. Gonna try to contact USPS about it and tell them I don't want to have to sign (I live in a secure bldg with locked mailboxes and a front office). Not gonna be able to sit around and wait for it.

Also... on the whole APN deal. This afternoon I was at 4.97gb / 5gb on my T-Mobile account. I've been tethered to my laptop for about an hour on HSPA+ with the APN enabled. I've streamed a 45min podcast (and just now another 1hr podcast) and downloaded a 55mb .dmg package (DrRacket, gotta learn me some programming!) and my T-mobile account is just sitting at 4.99gb (via the My Account app) or 4.9gb (via My T-mobile online) and I'm pulling down over 7mbps currently. Guess its... working?

update

: the My Account app is now showing 5.57gb of 5gb used, but I'm still pulling down over 8mbps. Who knows?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] catpunt:
stop getting my hopes up ;)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] senf:
When I ordered a sim activation kit from t-mobile I was told signature was required as well, but they just left it in my mailbox. Hopefully the same happens for you. I think that's just a generic message when you order from them since a lot of the time it's a phone and a sim.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Hm, okay thanks for the info! I got a tweet back from @TmobileHelp that indicated that the sig would be required. Probably just a CS line they gotta say :p

Also, did yours ship via "Streamlite"? It looks like they're just a middleman that passes off to USPS to deliver to the end customer. I have yet to receive any info other than my tracking number (and theres no data available there).
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Ulver:
I ordered a sim card from T-Mobile too and saw on my order that a signature was required. USPS just dropped it off in my mailbox.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] econometrician:
Just want to chime in and say I've been on this plan for about 3 months and could not be happier about my decision. If you have good TMO coverage, there's no reason why you should not switch, even if you have to pay ETF, which is what I did.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Good to know, thanks. Now that I have tracking info from Streamlite, reading all the FAQ makes it sound like it'll just be delivered regularly by USPS with no signature.

Good to hear someone using it long(er) term to report back!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] claud_face:
Okay so I have read through this thread like twice. Not all at once so maybe I missed a few things that will answer my questions but I figure someone will just know these answers and Ive read through howardforums and slickdeals as well and just want to know the answers.

I believe I know how all this would work but obviously there are a few things Im still confused about.

My situation is I use about 200 minutes a month and feel through groove ip I will be able to not cross over the 100 minutes. I live in very good 4g coverage so I should be okay.

So I want to keep my number. In order for people to not have to worry about a new number I would port it over correct?

So I should get the prepaid plan under a different number first then port my current number as a google voice number right?

Another thing, does groove ip only allow outgoing calls to not take up minutes or does it also allow incoming calls too?

Next, I know that when people call me it will go through my google voice number to my actual new number I have with prepaid but for me it will be no different because people will be calling my current number. The thing is when I am calling them does my number appear as the google voice number or the new prepaid number? (Also does this change the number shown when I call from using my 100 minutes or using grooveip?)

Finally, sending texts. I read you could do that from google voice but If I have unlimited texting shouldnt I just use my service as the texting because its always more reliable then a data connection right? But wouldnt that technically mean they would be receiving the texts from my new prepaid number instead of the google voice number which is what I am trying to avoid.

I am trying to keep old number for everything.

Okay I believe that covers most of it.

Wait one more thing sorry lol,

So on a typical day where I have goof 4g coverage do I just make calls using groove ip and its no minutes? I occasionally get edge and at that pointy it would be wise to use regualar tmobile service right? How does my phone know whether to answer with grooveip or regular tmobile service then?

If the earlier answer is that I cannot get incoming calls with groove ip then the previous few questions are given and not needed anymore.

Sorry about all these questions, I already ordered the kit, but still want to know these for sure before I do it.

Thanks you so much.

Any help would be appreciated very much.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bobsbbq:
I read through all the pages and it is unclear to me if this will work on a Verizon version CDMA phone. Or do you have to have a GSM version of the Nexus? I thought the Verizon version would be a world phone and offer all bands.

If this is only GSM the OP might want to edit the first post.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jonathan3579:
I won't be able to make this a long reply since I'm on my phone but I will do my best to answer your questions.

Are you currently with another carrier or T-Mobile? Porting is possible on this plan however according to what I have read it doesn't apply to T-Mobile numbers. Your idea of porting your current number to Google Voice could work but keep in mind there's no mms on that.

GrooveIP allows both incoming and outgoing calls. :)

I will try to cover the rest when near my laptop unless someone wants to pick up where I left off. Lol. Hopefully what I got so far is semi-helpful.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
This is GSM only of course. Anyone who understands what the VZW Galaxy Nexus is understands

you can't use it on GSM carriers

.

It is not a world phone

.

It is locked to Verizon CDMA and LTE

.

No further explanation is required. When the title says its a T-Mobile plan, that's all the info you need to know its not a CDMA thread.

---------- Post added at 04:05 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:56 PM ----------

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You would have to port your number to Google Voice. This would break your current contract or obligation with whatever carrier you currently have.

Both incoming and outgoing are free. You are literally making VoIP (Voice over IP) calls, you're not using minutes.

Actually, it will not go through your GV number to your actual number. This (and most) prepaid plan does not support call forwarding. You're misunderstanding how GrooveIP works. When you use GrooveIP, people call your GV number, and it goes straight to GrooveIP and rings your device. You can use it on WiFi with no data or SIM inserted in the phone.

If you choose to call using your new number (assigned when you start the prepaid acct), it will show up as calling from that number, and use your 100 minutes. GrooveIP is not involved at all.

As far as SMS goes, doing it over data vs standard SMS isn't any more/less reliable.

If you want to only use your current number (that at this point is your new GV number), you will text using that number via Google Voice. It will come through the GV app. You can set it up to use the stock messaging app also if you'd like.

If you go into your stock messaging app and send an SMS, it will come from your T-Mobile prepaid number by default.

You'll need to ONLY use Google Voice and GrooveIP for calls and SMS. Otherwise if you want MMS you have to use T-Mobile's number, and if you want to use your 100 minutes you need to use the T-Mobile number.

This will make more sense once you understand how GrooveIP works. And GrooveIP

will not

even come close to making calls on EDGE. You're gonna have to use your T-Mobile number when you're in bad signal.

There are several configs for how you choose which # to use when setting up GrooveIP. You can have incoming calls use different ringtones for the different numbers. Also for outgoing calls, you can make your stock dialer ask you for every call which # you want to use. Etc. etc.

I'd 100% suggest buying GrooveIP FIRST, and seeing if you're going to be happy with the call quality.

If the quality is too low, you should just try and port your number to the T-Mobile prepaid account rather than to Google Voice, and simply pay the overages at $0.10/minute. If you're going to only be using ~200 minutes a month (keep in mind thats 200 TOTAL. No nights/weekends, no T-Mobile in calling) you can just pay an extra $10 for overage minutes and you're still at $40/month, with no GrooveIP hassle.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] claud_face:
Thanks for the reply Jonathon and Martonikaj.

Martonikaj a big thanks lol. You covered it all.

If I want to test Grooveip could I do it without a google voice number?

Because I want to use my current number as google voice number but I cant port yet because Im still not sure if I want to do it.

Cause I know you could only have one google voice number right?

So are people typically porting thier current numbers to google voice or are they keeping current ones for the prepaid and getting different google voice numbers?

Actually, when I think about it you need a new number for the prepaid so I might as well current to google voice right?

Just want to know how to test it out without messing current number up just yet.

Thanks guys.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
You could always just make a new gmail account and get a random new GV number to test GrooveIP with.

It seems mixed. Those who want MMS are keeping their current as their primary, and just creating/using GV#s for long GrooveIP calls etc.. Otherwise they're willing to port their main # to GV and call it good.

Who's your current cell provider? Not sure if you'd be able to port from Verizon/ATT/etc. to prepaid but could be wrong (call customer support on that one). I know T-Mobile let's me port but id be surprised if they didn't.

See above.

Id say if you could get lucky like I did, you could try and get a google voice # very similar to your current #. For example, when I created my GV# I got the exact same 7-digit number, but with a different area code. So now its much easier to operate a GV# and T-Mobile# in tandem. Not to mention people just put #s in their phone address book and forget them (my friends and family surely have no idea what my #s are). They just click ur name to call. As long as you make sure they have the right #s associated with calls and texts its not a huge deal.

Sent from my CM7-powered T-Mobile G2
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jonathan3579:
From the limited research I have done, it absolutely is possible to port over from any carrier. However, T-Mobile has been known to block current customers (on contract) from porting themselves to this particular plan.

Let me forewarn you though - I had a lot of trouble getting on this plan. There's only two easy methods for this and it will be to buy an activation kit online like martonikaj and others or buy a whole prepaid phone kit from Wal-Mart. Do not expect anyone from a T-Mobile store to help you because they will:

A.) Try to sell you a different plan

or

B.) Tell you it's "online only" which is not entirely true.

In addition to all of that, my personal recommendation is not porting your number to Google Voice unless you want to give other people a number to send MMS to. For me, it was much easier to call from a new number (Google Voice) and keep my old number ported to the plan; it involved the least amount of change.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] claud_face:
So I searched my number and there is one in California with a different area code.

Im from Chicago, would it be okay to use that number?

So the only difference would be the area code?

I have tmobile now so I would port my current number.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
That's what I did. I'm from WA (with a 360 area code). And I got the same 7-digit # with an Eastern Maryland area code (that's 443). It works just fine, and that's about as far apart as 2 area codes can get! hahah. There's no long distance to worry about considering its rarely ever a charge on phone plans nowadays...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] claud_face:
Ok great thanks. Sorry last question.

So lets say I am in an area with edge. How do people know this?

They will try to call google voice number but it won't work because I'm in edge right?

So how does that work. Do they have to try to call the other number then?

This is the last thing I really need to know.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jonathan3579:
People will not know the difference as far as your network status. Google Voice will still ring your regular line even if you're not using GrooveIP but still have the Google Voice app installed on your phone. However, before answering it will ask you to press 1 to answer and whatnot. That will waste your minutes though, lol.

The only real issue with this plan is the inability to call forward. Why? Because we cannot forward our T-Mobile line calls to Google Voice and have those voicemails left there. It's not a huge tradeoff but it's nice to have all voicemails aggregated into one place.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] claud_face:
I read somewhere that battery didn't really change using grooveip and having it on the whole time. Anyone agree on this?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
It'll ring, but you won't wanna pick up. Just ignore the call then call back from T-Mobile plan.

I've been running it and haven't noticed any adverse effects on battery.

And something to keep in mind is that you can make good quality calls using your GV number via Gmail (Google Talk) to any number. You can just use the dial pad and call out. Or if you have GrooveIP turned off on your phone, incoming GV calls just go straight to ring on your computer (because using GrooveIP, your GV# forwards to Google Talk, and if GrooveIP doesn't catch it, it goes to the computer). I think this will be my best bet for when I'm at home. They seem more consistent than on the phone at this point.

I also made a few test calls via HSPA+ & GrooveIP on my G2, and there wasn't any delay and the quality was good. Calling over WiFi on my G2 was delayed and bad quality, even though calls on the same WiFi via Gmail were good. Very weird.

Just made a 55minute call via GV on Gmail and everything was good. Just thought I'd report.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jonathan3579:
You will never have an issue making calls with Google Talk through Gmail. It's pretty damn amazing I must say. I think there's still some small hiccups in GrooveIP because today my calls outgoing were bad but incoming was good. How that works I have no idea. Lol. I know marking a call over a computer is kinda tedious but it's 100% reliable all of the time.