yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Yeah I definitely wouldn't rely on GrooVe IP for my primary source of calls. I substitute out using GMail + Google Talk for GV calls on my PC when I'm at home. Saves me tons of minutes and is extremely high quality.

Skype's a real battery burner. Haven't personally used it though. Their audio codec is surely better than most though (should help with lag, etc.).
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] killabee44:
Guys, about Google Voice, do you have to have a cell number associated with it? Can you just have the Google talk option checked in the settings and still be able to send texts from the GV widget

I have my sprint number associated with it, but I'm leaving them and keeping the GV number only. Just curious so I don't have to keep changing the number associated with GV as I change sims.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] scoobdude:
I disabled the integration then ported over. Be warned it will be about 24 hours with that number nit working
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] sk63:
The app doesn't strictly require it, otherwise it wouldn't work on tablets. However to receive calls you must associate your phone's number with Google Voice.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Cabal_:
Almost all of the AT&T MVNOs on the first page do (I prefer Red Pocket, but also H2O, etc). Their pricing isn't *as* good as Straight Talk, but between CallingMart.com pricing and coupons on RetailMeNot/elsewhere, you can usually get 2 GB data in the mid-$50s. The peace of mind is probably worth the extra $10 for many people.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ktownhero:
I apologize if this has already been covered, but I wanted to add to this and say that I did find the documentation regarding the nuances to what is covered under Straight Talk's "unlimited data" moniker. Direct quote:

Link: http://www.straighttalk.com/terms

I love this thread, it opened my eyes to a new world. But I have to admit that I am still yet to be fully convinced that a lot of these plans are really better deals. I was determined to get a GSM GNex and go with the Tmobile prepaid plans, until I learned that they do not include night and weekend minutes. My bill with Verizon right now is $68 with a corporate discount and unlimited data (grandfathered). I HATE the idea of going into another contract with them, but the numbers are the numbers.

How do you guys manage without using so many minutes that the cost savings ends up being nullified? I mean, I'm not a big talker but I do keep in touch with family and I probably use 600ish minutes per month (most of those are free on other plans, but I'd be paying for them with Tmo prepaid).
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] BrianDigital:
It works for me due to that i use no minutes. I do however use groove ip while I'm home so there's no cost there.

I did have issues with echo bring heard on the other end, but have found leaving off all echo cancellation auto fixing stuff settings in groove ip to give me great call quality
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xdp:
I've been running these numbers too. Also with a corporate discount on AT&T as well as opting out of texting I can get that bill down to ~$66/month. That's not bad for 3 GB of data + LTE whenever I got a phone that supported it. If I got a contract I could always buy an iPhone for $200 and sell it on eBay for $500 and keep using my Nexus. So is the extra data and money I'd pocket from selling the iPhone worth having another two year contract? I'm not sure! Thoughts?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] dipole:
I've been thinking about going with Skype as I come very close to my 100 min each month and sometimes go over. It would be worth an extra $8 a month to not worry about minutes.

Has anyone done the skype / GV integration yet? How is it working out for you? I'm not concerned about battery as I don't talk all that much on the phone...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Goodfella80:
In order to get around the 100 minute limit you can use apps like Groove IP, Talkatone or the Vonage Mobile app that allow you to place free calls over 3G/4G or WiFi or you can also sign up with a VOIP provider like Callcentric or Voip.ms which charge very low rates per minute.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] :
Just found this epic thread! Problem is I have Verizon and Tether 3-4 times a week because I'm still in school and don't want to be on the public WiFi (too insecure and throttled on torrents).

I use anywhere from 10-12GB of 4G data a month! When I finish school I'll no longer need to Tether regularly which will drop my data usage significantly. However I'll also be paying for my own phone bill once I graduate I'm sure and that plus the fact that my data needs will drop will probably mean I'll be visiting this page in a year's time.

The contracts are ridiculous but it's not even that, it's the fact that you buy a brand new awesome phone and it's filled with bloatware and **** by Verizon for them to make more money off you. It's ridiculous.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ktownhero:
Well, I guess the $60 TMO plan is still a pretty great deal. Unlimited talk/text and 2GB high speed, unlimited edge. That's not a shabby deal, and you can always bump up to the $70 for the full 5gig.

I guess the question I have to consider is whether I'm better off with a CDMA Gnex for $180 (with $30 upgrade fee), unlimited LTE, and a 2 year contract @ 75/month or a GSM Gnex for $440 (with tax & shipping), 2GB highspeed/unlimited 3g and no contract for $65/month?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] scoobdude:
You should base it on actual usage. While unlimited is a higher value, if you never use it you are over paying. So look at your usage and determine which works better for your wallet.

Also consider coverage, LTE batter consumption, and resale value (plus the swapping of your sim is easier than activating a new phone on CDMA carriers.

All things to consider in the final equation.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ktownhero:
Thanks for the feedback. Well, with Tmo there's not much of a grey area. You either get 100 minutes or unlimited minutes :P I suppose the great part (and kind of the point) about going prepaid is I can try it out and switch it up.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] scoobdude:
Don't forget that you can also add extra funds if you go over and still need all 5GB. For instance if you need all 5GB and only need 400 minutes you can just put an extra $30 bucks on your account and go through that to a price of $60 a month. But if you need more minutes than that and less data you can get the $60 plan for unlimited minutes and 2GB. Same price in the end, just different ways of getting there by finding what works best for you.

Also another idea is to have more than one sim. So you could have one with the $30 plan and then another with pre payed minutes or the $30/1500min or texts. Or have 2 Sims with the $30 5GB plan for those that need more 4g data. Offset the billing by 15 days etc for each. And another is have a ST sim for regular usage and then a $30 T-Mobile for more data when you need it etc.

Of course this would be even better if Sims were hot swappable. But thought I would add this as more food for thought.

P.s. also if you don't need all those minutes, those funds stay on your account. :beer:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ktownhero:
Wow, I had no idea that the plans worked this way. This is extremely helpful information. I'm not sure I 100% understand how it works based on this post, but I get the general idea. I have a tmobile store across the street from my office so I'll swing by there and get the details. Thanks so much... it always pays to brainstorm!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] harveydent:
I think what he means is that since you're now on monthly prepaid, you can switch pans month to month, and even carriers month to month, depending on how much voice, text and data you need.

Although his first point is important. The $30 TMo has 10 cents/min talk overage, so if you need 100 mins more, that's just 10 bucks extra
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] scoobdude:
See if this helps, the T-Mobile plan is 100 minutes but 10 cents a minute after that. So as long as you have extra funds on your account or sim then it will pull out of that for overages. So when you get you sim there is a $3 credit it on it already. This 3 bucks will give you another 30 minutes to use whenever. It does not fall off unless your sim expires. However if there are no more funds I am not sure if you lose the data portion of you sim with no minutes remaining.

Hope that helps.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] scoobdude:
$12 actually :D
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] harveydent:
Yeah, you caught me before I changed it :D
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] dipole:
I had bad calls with groove ip but using this set up resulted in much better call quality.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=25925709
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] rock7632:
found this in another thread

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=26987960
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DOHCtor:
I've done Skype with Google Voice integration when I went to visit relatives in Cambodia. The mobile data speeds there are not congested since majority of the country only use voice and can't really afford smartphones. As long as I had a good data connection, there was little to no lag in call quality. My friends and family in the US didn't even know I was overseas because I been making and receiving calls with my normal GV number I use with them and also texting with the GV app. Call quality is really good with Skype. Something about their codec makes their VOIP one of the best. But the bad thing is that it's really bad on battery to leave Skype running in the background. But this was last summer when I was using the Nexus S on Gingerbread.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xdp:
What is this Skype/GV integration you guys are talking about?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DOHCtor:
Unlimited calls to the US and Canada for $2.99 a month using Skype and purchasing a Skype number you can use to forward your GV number to for $18/3 months or $60 a year. I only used this so I could keep connected with people in the US without having to deal with international minutes and numbers.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] :
Dropping this in here, from this morning. It shows that this small movement might be gaining steam. And that's good for all.

http://m.gizmodo.com/5916536/virgin-mobiles-got-a-hot-30-unlimited-plan-for-prepaid-iphones

Lifehacker got into it as well:

http://m.lifehacker.com/5916562/save-over-1000-by-going-prepaid-on-your-next-iphone
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] shev7chenko:
I am loving straight talk art service. I left the proxy blank and so far so good I am way over the 100mb mark for today and with the proxy on I couldn't run speed tests or Netflix or YouTube.

We will see how it goes. My assistant has T-Mobile under contract and although he gets faster speeds he only gets them outdoors and I get way faster speeds than virgin and my coverage indoors blows T-Mobile away in my part of town.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Sucks that it's an iPhone on an absolutely ****ty network that get's people to talk about prepaid, but I guess any coverage is good coverage. The problem is that using things like Virgin and Boost give prepaid a bad name. At least with an iPhone coming to a prepaid carrier people may help drop that stigma a little.

My only problem really is that it's still propagating the formula of buying a phone

from the carrier

, rather than

on your own

. I realize this is how it's going to be on a CDMA MVNO like Virgin, but it makes people think that's the only way to get an iPhone. You could've been buying unlocked iPhones from apple.com/store and using them on GSM MVNO's for years now.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bozzykid:
The only problem is GMS MVNO's aren't very popular.

And AT&T doesn't offer an affordable prepaid plan for smartphones. Luckily T-mobile has created some affordable plans for prepaid as of late. Hopefully, AT&T will step up and do the same. Having some competition among the 2 major GSM carriers is what needs to happen because GSM MVNOs aren't really driving the prepaid market.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Zepius:
straight talk is pretty popular and is a att mvno
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] shev7chenko:
+1
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bozzykid:
It's popular on this forum but not outside of it. I doubt their size is even close to Virgin Mobile USA.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] shev7chenko:
That isn't necessarily a bad thing. I was with virgin early on and it was truly unlimited. The speeds although still bad were better than after the capping of speeds

And I think it was because of the surge in popularity that they started capping data and raising prices so I'm going to enjoy straight talk unlimited (with blank proxy) as long as I can
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] chw2006:
Straight Talk will have a much larger user base after the SIM card thing. I've seen a lot of people on Howard forums as well as slickdeals getting in on it.

---------- Post added at 05:17 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:04 PM ----------

I switched over from T-Mobile since I got no signal in my office. I was even willing to pay my ETF and forego my upgrade (could have gotten 2 HTC One S for $300).

And yeah, Straight Talk is a billion times better without the stupid proxy. It made my speeds a lot slower.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bozzykid:
Unfortunately in the US, people would rather buy a Virgin Mobile phone than an unlocked phone that they can use on a GSM prepaid carrier. Hopefully, one day people in the US will get use to buying unlocked GSM phones but we are not quite there yet. Apple selling unlocked iPhones and Google selling unlocked Nexus phones will surely help though.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] killabee44:
Well guys, I just dropped Sprint after about 8 years. I'm loving the Nexus and the speed of the tmobile network compared to Sprint.

Just to be clear, these are the instructions I've found for clearing the proxy : Mobile Networks > Access Point Names (APNs) > Pick your carrier / Edit Access Point screen

Clear the proxy.

With tmobile with their $30 data and 100 talk minute plan. No proxy was specified for me. I'm guessing it's in the Straight Talk sims only..
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DOHCtor:
You don't have to modify anything in the APN for normal T-Mobile prepaid. The Galaxy Nexus has the default APN for it already.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Cabal_:
I imagine SIM card customers are still a small minority in the overall TracFone population. That being said, Straight Talk has been on a huge marketing push in the states since Day 1. You practically can't find a commercial break on TV without one.

Some bad numbers, since companies aren't forthcoming on their customer count:

Straight Talk "Likes" on Facebook: 330K

Virgin Mobile USA "Likes" on Facebook: 89K (worldwide will be much larger, obviously, but we're talking domestic iPhone)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] cbutt:
If you don't mind me asking, where in the u.s. are you? I'm in NYC & honestly never heard of straight talk till this thread. Never saw any ads, commercials, etc. Only after reading this did I pay attention & see some straight talk activation cards in staples the other day with my sister. Serious props to this thread, I just ordered my straight talk at&t sim (I'm on tmo postpaid right now, looking to compare & prob eat an etf).
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] harveydent:
I'm in the Washington, DC area and catch a lot of their "feeling richer effect" ads
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Cabal_:
Currently in Austin, but I definitely saw them on TV in the Boston area prior to moving and in successive visits.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] cbutt:
Now that you say feeling richer, I think I may have seen one on YouTube... but that's about it. Damn, I wish I would have caught these commercials/ads earlier... just finding out about this awesome stuff.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Ricolando:
I've seen a ton of ads for ST in Miami, but it wasn't until the nexus dropped to $400 and I found this thread that I considered dropping my Sprint service mid-contract. AT&T is great down here.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Loki047:
Same here. I found the call quality/data speeds with Tmobile were way better than STT (ATT Sim). I will probably switch back at the end of this cycle.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] killabee44:
Guys,

For those that don't like the sound quality theyre getting out of GrooveIP or Talkatone, there is a very inexpensive SIP voip solution out there..

The company is called Callwithus (callwithus.com). Their prices are extremely low. And the sound quality is great (so far, still testing).

For $3.00 a month I get a DID (a telephone number) that links to a SIP number assigned to my account. This telephone number has 3000 incoming minutes included per month (*check before you choose because some telephone numbers have no free incoming minutes allowed).

You have the option to give that telephone number any outgoing caller ID you want (I set it to my google voice number).

That way, when you call someone they will see your google voice number and not your carrier or your callwithus number.

Outgoing minutes in the US cost $.0095 cents a minute (that's less than one cent).

By using the built in VOIP (sip) settings in the Galaxy Nexus phones, you can make the phone use the SIP for all calls or only for incoming. It's is up to you.

I linked the number I got from Callwithus to Google voice after setting up my sip number with the Nexus.

This is just another inexpensive option to get some extra minutes, in case the free ones weren't to your liking.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Bizdady:
Ya I'm getting ready to ditch sprint and try this route :)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] BrianDigital:
I did and am loving the data speeds
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] krazykeyur:
I did the same. Switched from SERO to TMobile Prepaid. EDGE speeds on TMo are faster than what I was getting with Sprint.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] scoobdude:
Ha ha...sprint should not use the term speed when referring to data lol

That being said, my wife who is still on sprint sent me a mms. I only got the text in my Google voice. However I did find the text plus picture in my email. Just thought people would like to know this for moms stuff.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] krazykeyur:
That's because Sprint and GoogleVoice are in bed together.

a MMS sent by a Sprint user will be sent as email to the Google Voice end user. MMS sent by any other carrier's users get discarded by Google Voice completely.

Google Voice should atleast disregard the attachment and send the MMS as a regular SMS for all carriers.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] scoobdude:
So if someone sends you a mms do you not get any text. I had my wife try with just a pic and nothing showed up in my Google voice. But I still got an email with the pic.

The other one with text did show up in both places. Not sure if that is what you meant though.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] shev7chenko:
Day two and loving at&t straight talk. Better call quality faster texting and way faster speeds than virgin. Oh and I am approaching 1gb of data and will be over that by today probably
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] krazykeyur:
Better be careful.. StraightTalk will kick you out for using more than 2GB of data..
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Bizdady:
Ya thats the main reason for my switch. Id rather not sign up for another 2 years of who knows what Sprint has planned. On a good day im lucky to get 1mb 3g but usually its about half that if lucky. I have 3 lines but im the first one to jump and give this a shot, actually just bought a Nexus today :D If all goes well wifey gets the next switch and my 3rd line will probably sit there unless I decide to pay the ETF and complete the family switch.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] shev7chenko:
If I didn't leave the proxy blank then yes I would be inclined to agree with you.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] tmst:
You mean ST only meters what goes through its proxy server?:eek:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] chw2006:
I doubt that. The proxy seems to be there so that you can't use the service to stream videos or test your download speeds.

If going over the data cap without getting kicked out was as easy as leaving the proxy blank, Straight Talk would be screwed.

---------- Post added at 10:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:47 AM ----------

I haven't seen a single Straight Talk commercial on TV yet, I'm in Chicago.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Bizdady:
I never go over a gig but would still like to have the option to stream Pandora, YouTube and such so it's why I'm giving to give Tmobile a shot first.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] tmst:
My thought exactly. Just wanted to double check.

AT&T or T-Mobile? I recently switched from T-Mo Wal-Mart plan to AT&T-ST. ATT coverage maybe better, but speed and data reliability is worse comparing to T-Mo.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Loki047:
Thats what I found, I plan on going back to Tmobile and see how the coverage is (Downtown and all around the chicagoland area it was great but I want to see how it handles the boonies)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jgrinst1:
Do you honestly think that more than 5% of ST customers actually know what a proxy server is?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] chw2006:
The majority of people in the world probably don't, so no. But even if some more tech-savvy people did it, they'd still be screwed.

---------- Post added at 11:44 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:41 AM ----------

Since you guys are in the Chicago-land area, what modem/RIL do you guys use with ST ATT?

I keep getting no data at times. I'd be connected with full bars, but I would get either no speed or extremely slow speeds. I've had to switch modems multiple times because of this.

Does this happen to you guys at all? I'm starting to wonder if it's an issue with Straight Talk and not my phone.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] tmst:
Not sure if this answers your question, but I am on a stock rom on a GN imported from Asia. (Still stuck at 4.0.2)

I just started ST-ATT last week and I am seeing similar problem on my GN. From AT&T's reputation in Chicago, I suspect that either AT&T towers are at full capacity OR capacity allocated to ST/MVNO are almost 100% utilized.

Looks like I may have to reconsider my plan to stick with ST-ATT for a couple of months. If I ever decide to ditch it, I'll push to see how much I can get away with ST's so-called "Unlimted" web access.

On a different topic, now that T-Mo is refarming 1900 band, either AT&T will see more customers fleeing, OR T-Mo HSPA+ network will be brought down to its knees by customers with iDevices. :D
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] chw2006:
The only reason I switched from T-Mobile was because their coverage inside buildings was awful. I got no coverage at work. I'm hoping ST works out, since it is a very affordable service, but if this keeps happening, I have no choice but to switch back to T-Mobile.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] tmst:
Hmmmm.... I guess you gotta pick what's best for your requirement. Personally, for Chicago, I think T-Mo is the best choice as I use much more data than voice.

Back in the days, when voice quality/reliability was important I would just carry a small phone just for calls and a smart phone for data. It worked out great.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jimmyz:
Is there anyone out there using ST T-Mobile with google voice (GV) that has got there voicemail set up so everything even refused calls goes to their GV account. I ask because another user told me that conditional forwarding doesn't work w ST T-Mobile ( it does work w ST ATT that is what I'm currently using) thanks
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xdp:
Yesterday I was in an area that AT&T calls 4G on their map but I was only able to pull down 500 Kbps. I wasn't sure if AT&T's map is just absolute crap, if ST does not get provisioned the same as AT&T proper, or if AT&T is labeling that area as 4G due to roaming on T-Mobile. Would be nice to know the cause. Too many areas like this would make sticking with this difficult.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
If you can get the carrier to turn off their voicemail, any missed calls (to your Google Voice number) will automatically go to the GV voicemail - even refused or rejected calls. I use this on T-Mobile prepaid.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jimmyz:
Unfortunately ST won't turn off voicemail. They even mention this in their FAQ. I wonder if you tried calling T-Mobile directly in an attempt to bypass ST but I'm guessing this wouldn't work