yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Well discussed ITT and in the $30 Walmart prepaid thread. GrooVe IP is very hit or miss. You're best just using your computer + Gmail calls when at home and then cell minutes when you're out.

I'm already using GrooVe IP but its not the most reliable.

---------- Post added at 04:25 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:23 PM ----------

Not 100%. You might have to get a new SIM kit and start a new account. Then all you'd have to do is xfer your # and you're off to the races again.

Tad bit of hassle and I wouldn't wanna do it over and over but it is possible for sure.

--------

So also another thing I'm having trouble with. My current plan is to have people only call my GV#. When I'm at the house I want it to ring on my GMail (Google Talk), but when I'm out of the house just have it ring my phone. In Google Voice settings, I can check the boxes to have it forward to my cell #, and forward to google talk. So will one override the other? If I have both boxes checked and I'm signed in to GMail on my computer, will both the computer and phone ring then I choose which one I want? Or will it (hopefully) default to ringing GMail when It's available?

Thanks in advance... this setup is just confusing. I'm pretty much done trying to mess with GrooVe IP / Talkatone (which is most promising but still in Alpha) for very short calls. Just unnecessary hassle as I'm never making long calls when I'm out of the house.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] LionAR10:
Google Voice will ring every enabled phone at the same time. I have mine set to ring my Ipkall voip and my Galaxy Nexus. I pick up whatever phone is handy.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
Cool beans. Just called TMo CS to find out for sure before I start buying more stuff. I just need a new activation kit from Walmart (or I believe I've seen folks mention their availability on Amazon?), then call back and get them to activate that on my same account. I don't care about keeping the same number - I've got Google Voice to handle that!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
That's good. Thanks for that info. Activation kits are available from Walmart but you usually have to buy a burner phone with it. You can order them from Amazon also but I'm less than thrilled about that. If I were you I'd order straight from the T-Mobile prepaid site. Takes like a week to get there but its like $3.25 and has $3.50 in credit on it and it'll be guaranteed to work coming right from T-Mobile.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
See this is what I'm expecting and totally OK with.

But my setup isn't working. I have Google Talk checked in voice settings, and dont have phone forwarding checked. It will not ring my Gmail and still rings the phone. Checking both phone and talk forwarding only rings my phone also. Not sure what the issue is...

But for example when I use voice.Google.com to ring a number, it properly calls Gmail to answer then call the outside #. Just don't get it. Hopefully in the next couple days I can get a friends phone to make calls and test.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
Yup. Ordered right from T-Mobile this morning. $2.15. I've got time to wait on it - figure I'll just make the change once I use up this month of service.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] LionAR10:
I have to admit that I haven't used the Google Talk portion of it for incoming calls (use it all the time for outgoing .. ). I've gotten the impression that Talk integration for incoming has been flaky at best, but maybe I'm wrong. I use a SIP VOIP phone with IPKall for my house phone and it works great. I also use GVnotifier for call generation .. but these setups are a lot more complex than just using the Talk client.

My cell phone forwards have always worked fine.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] LionAR10:
TMO stores (like the places in malls) have activation kits as well ....

edit: most of the time if you activate in-store they'll give you the kit for free. They've done this for me several times. They even ask me "Do you want your name on this, or just 'Cellular User'." and seem totally down with the anonymous thing.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
My understanding is that those stores will only sell the activation kit if you're going to be activating with them (in the store). The $30 plan has to be activated either online or by phone - they won't touch it in-store.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] urinsane:
International Note won't work with T-Mobile. you will need to be on AT&T or one of their resellers.

I don't think you can pick up a straight talk att sim at any retail store. You will likely need to go to an AT&T store and get their go phone prepaid. Someone else may have a better suggestion but without being able to ship somewhere you are going to be limited.

International rates could get ugly.. you may want to do VoIP from WiFi if possible.

Edit: you can't have the sim card shipped to you home address before you leave?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] lafester:
My understanding is that cruise ships will charge a fairly high rate to connect while on board... you will want to check with them to see what those rates are.

While in the US there are AT&T mvnos (see page one) that offer international minutes but you will not be able to simply buy a sim at the mall. You will need to get one online and have it shipped to you.

If you want to use at&t prepaid directly you could buy a phone at just about any drugstore on your way.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DerAmi:
Just to clear up something.. you can't buy MVNO SIMS at the mall (resellers) but you can indeed get an at&t prepaid SIM at the store for free. They will help you with a plan.

Sent from the Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] crustie:
thanks

Thanks I understand about the roaming cost of Cruises and will have it turned off on-board but when in say Alaska port (like Juneau )or Hawaii I will be able to use it on land but not sure they will post to Australia ??

Sorry DerAmi your reply came in at the same time so an AT&T seller will be at the mall ?? and my Galaxy note will work ok with AT&T ??

many thanks Crustie
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] lafester:
There are at&t stores at most malls. I don't think they sell sim kits but I could be wrong. They will have cheap prepaid phones though and you can take the sim and use it in your note. Best bet really is to get a sim online.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/AT-T-SIM-CA...200796046092?pt=SIM_Cards&hash=item2ec060830c

found this one in two seconds.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] noneone:
$30 Tmo prepaid plan, 100 mins, unlimited txt, 5gb high speed data. I used 5gb in 20 days ... got throttled, paid another $30, they reset everything, so fresh 5gb data. At my rate of useage, I'll be close to $45 a month for the data.

For someone that reguarly needs $10GB a month, this plan would still cost only $60 a month, which is still cheaper than most postpaid plans.

Prepaid is for everyone, except MAYBE families with many lines consuming tons of data, with uneven data useage by family member that varies every month. :)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Yes I'm aware of that. And I personally use that plan. But He also needs more minutes. At that point he's gonna start paying so much its not really worth it.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DerAmi:
I was literally at an at&t store yesterday and they gave me a free Sim card and set me up with service. Just walk in there and give them your story and you'll be good.

Sent from the Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Of course they will, for their own services. But AT&T's prepaid options aren't nearly as good as the MVNO's...

But I suppose if you're coming in from out of the country then maybe that's your best option just because of the ease of setting it up.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] crustie:
MVNO's

do you think the MVNO's would send to australia ?

Crustie
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] stomicron:
Doubt it. What I would recommend to you is have them ship the SIM via FedEx to a FedEx Office (formerly Kinko's) near where you'll be traveling. These are little business centers that offer FedEx shipping in addition to printing, faxing, etc. You just have the item addressed to your name c/o FedEx Office and their address. People do this all the time for shipping luggage over here in the states where the airlines rip us off with baggage fees.

Find a FedEx Office here.

UPS has similar outfits (UPS Stores) but I don't know if they offer this service, so you'd have to call them if your MVNO uses them instead of FedEx.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jbeez:
I suggest setting up googlevoice and using that to call au it will count as a US call and you will be subtracting from your gv balance. Not sure if they have restrictions on who can signup. Check ebay for att ST sim?

Voip might be something else you may want as a backup, ive heard mixed results on the call quality.

For a sim, yea you probably just want to goto an att store and get prepaid. Is your note carrier sim locked?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] UncleMike:
I've seen people claiming such usage too, also wonder how. In 3 years I've never gone over 1GB in a month, and only once did I go over 500MB. What really gets me is the people that use 30GB+ per month, when confronted, don't consider their usage excessive. I don't know how anyone could use that much data and still manage to eat and sleep, much less earn a living.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DerAmi:
Its easy when you don't have internet in your apartment and you use your cellular data as your internet. That's what I did last summer when I had sprint. Used 120gb in 3 months.

Sent from the Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] fixyourtech:
That's nothing :laugh:

The most I've done in a month is around 230GB. (On cable internet).
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DerAmi:
Damn!!!!!

Sent from the Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] sarkozy:
That's a lot of porn, bud. ;)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] niknDE:
Even better: Mobile Hotspot (with my GNex) for 2 girls.

They only used Facebook and had 200MB Traffic after 30 Minutes :eek:

How much traffic do they have in one month:confused:

One girl: 200MB per hour * 5 hours per day * 7 days * 4 weaks = 28GB for Facebook.

Only for Facebook :banghead:

Sent from my brain using my fingers
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DOHCtor:
Are those 2 girls your daughters? If so, you better keep an eye on them. If not, they're probably uploading photos every time they take one or webcamming with their boyfriends lol.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] niknDE:
Im 16 and they are my class mates and also im sure they didnt take photos in the metro ;)

Sent from my brain using my fingers
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DOHCtor:
That's a new way to pick up on girls. Let them use your hotspot lol.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Gene_Bailey:
Made me chuckle!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] osi13:
Is Straight Talk with a Galaxy Nexus the best deal going? I have an EVO 4g LTE right now, and I'm using Page Plus (Verizon). Would it be advantageous of me to buy a GSM Galaxy Nexus off craigslist, and sell my EVO LTE? I'm content with 3g, because I'm normally near 40/10mbit wifi. I have been reading that the gnex devices from the play store have a sub-par screen? Is this true? I really want a Galaxy Nexus. Decisions, decisions...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
No one can tell you if the GNex or the Evo 4G LTE is better for you, but if you do decide you want the Galaxy Nexus, the GSM model on Straight Talk really is the way to go. Unless you want the 100 minute T-Mobile plan, which is also a good deal.

It doesn't have a poor screen lol. The screens are fine. You see complaints because people like to complain...

Now, the screen is not as good as the Evo 4G LTE (One X), but no screen really is. Its definitely passable though. Its not as bad as people think.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] osi13:
Thanks for the insight. Prepaid is where it's at for sure -- I realized this about a month ago. I've always had SERO, so I never really cared. I don't know if I will be able to sell my HTC Jewel, because of the screen. It's truly the best display I've seen on any device. It's better than most of my monitors, which is saying something. However, I've been looking at GSM prepaid, and I just may switch. I'd be all over the Galaxy Nexus if it were $250, but I just can't justify the other $100. Anyway, thanks for the advice, I'll be looking out for a used GSM gnex. I may just keep both.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jbeez:
You need to weigh the very real risk of them terminating your service and you losing your investment. It's in their terms of service and they do exercise that right with some ppl. For this reason I have my longtime cell number ported to googlevoice and also only fill one month at a time.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] :
Yea I did the same. I ported my long time number to Google Voice and only fill a month at a time. It's easy to refill at the end of the month on their webpage and straight talk will send you a couple emails and texts when it is getting close to the end of your cycle.

sent from my tab2
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] rafa3L:
DD-WRT. Good stuff.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] niknDE:
"Hey babe. Do you want to touch my Hotspot?"

(pls dont try this at home :p)

Sent from my brain using my fingers
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Steve60901:
Just got simple mobile, got throttled down to 30 Kbps after 2 gb was used. Also in thier data terms and conditions it states very clearly that internet browsing is about the only thing allowed. Anything aside from that and they reserve the right to throttle or even suspend your service...Sad think is that was the best one I've found. I'm almost half tempted to see how many people i can get to go without data...just get voice ect...maybe the tower owners wont be so anal.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] BinkXDA:
You have to be doing a lot with mobile data to hit 2GB. I never come close to this any month—something like streaming music over 3/4G is just silly IMHO and kills battery life—and the only time I’ve actually done over 500MB was when I tethered my notebook to my phone.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Steve60901:
Actually I was just downloading anything I could find to see when\if they would hit me with anything (first page says 8gb unpublished) so over the coarse of 4 days I downloaded a little over 2 gb or roughly 500mb a day just to test...Personally the whole "unlimited" thing wouldn't bother me if they would give me an option to pay for truly unlimited. Anyway here's a heavy usage testing on simple mobile.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Turb0wned:
If straight talk or one of these prepaid company would offer atleast 5GB at full AT&T speed I would be all over this.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
I don't doubt we'll see it soon, but for now we're stuck with these current offerings. Remember this Straight Talk "bring your own device" plan just started in February officially, and most MVNOs don't offer data at all. I'm sure they'll offer more data eventually as the MVNO's branch out into data.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] muyoso:
Idk, its not like straight talk is hurting for customers with the plan they offer now. They have nearly 20 million customers, about 40% of what sprint has and about 60% of what T-Mobile has.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] looneylu:
I can see it happening. Straight Talk and other prepaid providers are starting to do really well. The beauty of going prepaid is that they don't have us for the next 2 years. So if company x undercuts them, by either providing same services at lower price, or more for the same price, they will have to react. They aren't hurting for customers, but they don't want to lose their customers either.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
I know that. And I'm happy to see them succeeding and gaining customers. Right now I'm sure they're happy to keep things going the way they are and growing their customer base before they offer different plans or up the data buckets available.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] reuthermonkey:
Is that all? =)

I average around 700GB a month. I've been on a spree this month though, and expect to push about 1.2TB.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DerAmi:
First of all, what do you even need 1.2TB for?! and second, what service do you use that allows you to use so much data?!

Edit: Nvm, I see now that this is now discussing cable internet. Haha.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] defconoi:
What's the average max straight talk is cutting off/throttling? Do they throttle or shut data off completely?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
It really just depends on where you are and when you're using data. Its purely subjective and up to them to choose to cut you off. Its almost a certainty that you have 2GB of data, everything after that (along with other factors of course) is up in the air. I would not suggest this plan to anyone that

needs

4GB of data a month. I just don't see that being practical in most cases. If you need more data, use one of the 2 T-Mobile plans with 5GB unthrottled data.

The first time you "go over" your data limit, they usually just throttle you. You can call and ask why you're being throttled and they'll give you a talking to about saving data then restore your speeds. In additional months, if you continue to use a lot they can just remove you from their service if they choose to.

Gotta remember that for a MVNO that's buying wholesale data and selling just one plan (with no way to make $$ on overages), its not really in their best interest to keep offering data to users that are using more than the majority of others. I'm sure they're making a pretty decent margin on each person, but someone using multiple GB of data every month cuts those margins way down. Gotta keep in mind that Straight Talk has a

ton

of iPhone users on their plans (even a locked AT&T iPhone works on ST), and those users are generally using less data. They'd rather have an iPhone user taking down 500MB/month than you pulling down 5GB/month.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] OmgitzFire:
I have a quick question regarding the tmobile $30 unlim plan ,

if I don't pay for one month or two , would the same plan be available to me when I choose to comeback to it? also being able to keep same number etc .
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Mr.Mischief:
If you stop paying, they switch you to a pay by the minute plan. Once you leave the $30 unlimited plan, you can't go back.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] rafa3L:
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans-faqs#more

How long can I go without paying for my monthly rate plan charge and what happens if I never renew it?

A: You have 60 days to apply enough funds to renew your monthly rate plan. At the end of the sixtieth day, your monthly rate plan will automatically change to the Prepaid - Pay As You Go rate plan. This will allow you to use any remaining active refills on a per-minute basis.

Upon conversion to the Prepaid - Pay As You Go plan, your decrement rate will be 15¢ per minute. However, if you were on the Prepaid - Pay As You Go plan prior to being on a monthly rate plan and your decrement rate was less than 15¢ per minute, your decrement rate upon automatic conversion back to Prepaid - Pay As You Go will default to that lower rate.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] looneylu:
Unless you activate a different prepaid $1 SIM card. That'd be a new activation, and, if you ported your number to Google Voice, wouldn't be a big deal.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] OmgitzFire:
Okay thanks for the replies guys , so to be clear .. as long as I put funds within 60 days I ll still be able to keep my plan right?

So I could not pay every other month and still keep it ?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] mrgrim800:
Yeah you can pay two months at a time and let it sit. After the first month it will draw for the next month. Money in the monthly 4g plan lasts 90 days. Rinse and repeat.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] lafester:
Just wondering how you guys are saving your apn settings?

Getting tired of typing them in every time I wipe the phone.

I have tried a couple apps but they don't work with android 4.x...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] co.ag.2005:
Great thread, I've really enjoyed reading it! My wife and I are currently on AT&T (postpaid) and our contracts end February of 2013. We are seriously considering going pre-paid. I'm trying to decide between AT&T and T-Mobile. I have no issues with AT&T at all, but need a Microcell at my house due to living on the other side of a mountain from the tower. T-Mobile does a little better at my house, but I'd like to keep using the Microcell with AT&T Straight Talk if at all possible (I know, have my cake and eat it too :) )

I do have a few questions, however, even though I have read almost the entire thread (albeit, read slowly over the past several months)

1. what's the difference between Straight Talk $45/month T-Mobile plan and the $60/month T-mobile plan (from T-mobile) apart from the price difference?

2. from 1, would either plan make a difference in me being able to use Google Voice for voicemail? I've read from this thread that T-Mobile prepaid doesn't allow voicemail forwarding to Google Voice.

3. if I port my number to Google Voice, do I then use the Google Voice app for SMS and MMS? How well does MMS work with GV?

4. I realize there is no data roaming with Straight Talk, but if I get a straight talk sim (either AT&T or T-Mobile, not sure yet), I will still get voice roaming across carriers in addition to the smaller regional carriers? (taking this information from the bottom of OP).

thanks in advance. I promise I have read through this thread, these are just some questions I'm still foggy about :D
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] looneylu:
1.) straight is a better deal, but tmobile tells you upfront you'll be throttled after 2gb

2.) I'm using TMo and google voice works just fine.

3.) google voice has a setting to use the phone's default SMS app if you prefer, but no mms with GV

4.) voice roaming yes
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] co.ag.2005:
thanks for the reply. See above.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Zepius:
there is no MMS with GV. period.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jbeez:
Mms works from sprint customers if you set gv to forward to email. I have a friend on sprint who still sends me mms now and then.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
The caveat is that (without support for conditional call forwarding) missed calls made to your carrier number get sent to your carrier voicemail, while Google Voice calls get the Google Voice voicemail. So it's not a perfect experience, but it is manageable.

Yes, but that is a special circumstance - and not relevant as co.ag.2005 would be coming from AT&T.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] co.ag.2005:
thank you. that's the kind of info I was looking for with regards to voicemail.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] pdxtechdoctor:
you say google voice is working just fine... but you can't forward your tmobile number to the google voice system correct? you are using tmobiles voicemail when people call that line correct? I really, really hate the idea of using a dial-in voicemail system again and not using a visual voicemail system.. IT's the main reason or me switching next month to a ATT BYOD sim next month.

To each his own I guess, but people that really want to use gvoicemail for both lines need to understand that the ATT sim is the only one that will work in that situation.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jaybeeunix:
I don't think most people would want to use Google Voice's vm for both lines simultaneously. Assuming you have GV set to ring your AT&T number, and you've configured AT&T to forward missed calls to GV, every time you get a call on the AT&T number you want to go to vm, it will call your phone twice: Once of the original AT&T dialed number and once for the post-AT&T-forwarded-GV-forwarding.

Admittedly, I haven't tried that setup recently on AT&T, but that's the way it worked the last time I tried it.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] EggosEvo:
How easy would it be to port my number to either T-Mobile's prepaid or Straight Talk? I want to switch to one of the two once my family's contract is up so I can save my parents some money. But I want to keep my number and keep the ability to send MMS through the same number.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] UncleMike:
It has never worked that way for me in 3 years. Unanswered calls to my actual cell number forward to Google Voice and do not ring my cell number again, even though it's listed as a forwarding phone.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] rafa3L:
Porting should be painless. Which provider are you coming from?