yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Alex8288:
I had an issue with edge connection. It only lasted a day( 9th say into service). I wrote about it in this thread a few pages back; look it up for some helpful advice from knowledgeable members. It is probably just a down tower. At least, that is what I concluded.

Edit: pages 159 and 160. The reps will not be very helpful.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] lafester:
Yeah I can barely get 4g if I go outside lol. map shows one half of the block in strong coverage and my half in good coverage. of course for some reason that means NO coverage inside :(

not a big deal at home but at work its kind of a bummer. might have to try out att next month and see how they do.

on another note I am now rooted with JB :) I miss the nice and easy odin flashing but I'll get used to it.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] lennydude:
Quick question

I am buying a Samsung Galaxy Nexus from thru Google Play site.

It is a GSM phone.

I want to buy a BYOD sim cards for it.

I also want to use it on AT&T...........

Do i purchase the AT&T sim card or the unlocked sim card?

Lenny
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] harveydent:
If you're sure you want to use ATT, choose the ATT option. The "unlocked" option is for people who are unsure which network is better in their area
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] lennydude:
Accesories?

Thanks for your quick answer:)

When i buy cases and screen protectors............some show that the i515 VZW version is the same as the i9250 Google GSM version?

Is this true. Not sure what to buy. :confused:

Lenny
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] kozmo21:
I think the VZ/LTE is a tad thicker than the GSM, but if you're thinking about getting the 2000mAh extended battery, it should fit perfect... screen protector should be the same.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
The screen protectors are the same. You'll have to use your best judgement on cases though. The phones are different thicknesses, but not enough to make most cases not fit. I'd look at reviews of them if possible to make sure they won't be the wrong size.

---------- Post added at 02:12 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:10 PM ----------

It can take a while to fully activate and give you data. I'd give it a full 24 hours and if you're still restricted to EDGE, call them.

Just use something like CallingMart. They fill your account

instantly

and are almost always running promotions for 5% off.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bobsbbq:
Just refilled my wifes phone and there a promotion here for 5% off.

http://www.retailmenot.com/view/callingmart.com
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] gear.h34d.2012:
Not meaning to thread hijack, but after using the ST $45 unlimited plan for about two months I'm about tired of seeing "HOME" in my carrier text. I

've done a quick search and can't find a no- root method to change it. Anyone know of one somewhere?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
AFAIK you have to root to change the carrier label. At least you only see it in the notification pulldown. On my brother's iPhone he's gotta see HOME in the status bar 100% of the time :p .
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] kiwiBeans:
Thank you, LionAR, for such an awesome, informative post. I have never ventured into prepaid territory before, much less a GSM network... and probably would never have considered it had it not been for this post.

I do have a few questions though about what would happen when you jump from one of these options to another, and come back. I've read through the plan pages and the FAQs and the language can be confusing, or the answers vague.

I'm only really looking at the Straight Talk and T-Mobile Monthly 4G options, really. I'm wondering what would happen if you were on one for a month (or however long) and then moved off the plan (essentially letting it expire), and tried to come back later. Does your SIM card become useless, requiring you to get a new one and a new number, or can you just re-use it? Or does it depend on the service, or the length of inactive time?

For example, the T-Mo Monthly 4G plan, it says "new activations only". This strikes me as strange because it's a monthly, no contract thing. If I did a new activation, how are they going to prevent me from doing it again later?

On their FAQ page (http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans-faqs#more) it seems to say that if you don't renew they give you 60 days, at which point you get changed to a pay-as-you-go or use plan, but can apply funds again to get back on a monthly plan. So if you wanted to jump around to a different plan on a different carrier and come back some time later, your SIM will work and your phone number will be waiting for you?

I also looked at the various pages on this topic for Straight Talk and, though I can't find the specific page now that I'm on my laptop, I just read somewhere on there that if you let your plan expire they recycle your number and assign it to a new customer. I assume the SIM you were using would be kaput, too. It seems then that the policies on what happens if you don't keep continuous service depends on the carrier/service.

I guess, what I'm trying to figure out, is how easy it would be to continue jumping around to your heart's content (and as your needs dictate) as it seems this thread encourages. Could you continue to use the same SIM you did before if you were to switch back or should you always have one spare for each service to be able to switch back to it when you want? I seem to remember hearing that SIMs, even unactivated, have a 'shelf life'.

Thanks for all your help, and sorry I'm not so familiar with the GSM process. I really appreciate everything we're learning here!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jraskal:
I've let my T-Mobile 5gb $30 expire before without refilling the balance. I've come back a couple weeks to 1 month later to refill the balance, and service resumes as normal for a new 30 day period.

Never exceeded a month's time before, so can't tell you anything more than that.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] lafester:
I was just looking at the site and it says 90 days from the last day money was added. I suppose you could keep adding small amounts to extend it out.

I learned I should have just bought a $10 refill and tried the one day service!

I also have an unused epin from expansys that I'll never use. Is it possible to sell these? I suppose if tmo gets better I may switch back in the future.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] kiwiBeans:
Thanks to you both. I did some more searching and reading and the consensus is 30 to 90 days, and beyond, lol. Someone made a good point that it's in their best interest to make it easy for you to return instead of giving you a reason to look elsewhere. It does seem like 90 days is a safe bet.

Lafester, when you say "adding small amounts", do you mean not a full month's credit but funds for continued pay-per-use? That was something else that confused me on the FAQ... there seems to be a distinction between "refills" and "sufficient funds", which I didn't get.

I imagine you have some main account you can log into, and put some kind of "emergency" money in their to cover your usage if you were to need to talk over the allotted 100 minutes. If so, maybe you could keep the account active by having a small amount in there and making a random phone call every month you're not actually in service for the regular monthly plan.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] harveydent:
Think of your "Account" as basically a bank account or a jar with money in it. When you buy refills, you put money into that account. You can put however much money you want. At the start of your billing cycle, the carrier deducts your monthly plan amount from that account. Whatever is left in there stays there for use in the following month. If you have overages, it's also taken from there.

"sufficient funds" just means that whenever they try and take money from that account, you have enough to cover it. Some people here buy refills for 3 months at a time because the refill sellers offer a bigger discount for doing so.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xdp:
Has anyone tried Voice Choice from the Play Store? Claims it allows you to select which contacts use GV and which ones don't. I was looking for exactly that since I use GV for all but two of my contacts and it'd be nice to get rid of the prompt. Don't love giving an app "Intercept outgoing calls" permission though.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Zepius:
considering it has to pick which one goes where, that permission seems quite fine.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] scoobdude:
Could also put the gv widget somewhere to just turn gv calls on or off
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xdp:
It's totally understandable for the intended purpose of the app, I meant more in terms of other unscrupulous uses. But actually, it appears it doesn't have Internet permission, so it must not be able to transmit any of my data or call info outside the phone, right? If so that should alleviate any concerns.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
There's a 5% off coupon on CallingMart right now for T-Mobile refills. Also, they now have a new method of refilling that lets you enter your phone # when adding to cart, and auto-fills your T-Mobile account on purchase.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bobsbbq:
Yes this is the same one I posted on the last page. Got my discount and the wifes too.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Oh :p well thanks for posting it. I just got the email this morning.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jb24:
Hello I am new to the forum and wondering about straight talk. What is the cheapest way to get the refill cards after taxes and everything? At walmart or online? Thanks!

Getting ready to make the jump and ditch the contracts and this thread gave me tons of info and helped make my decision to switch! Thanks for all of the information!:good:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] :
Walmart will always, always charge you tax. However there's something to be said for going to the corner if you need one in an emergency. Refill online.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] UncleMike:
Whew! I finally made it through all 173 pages of the thread. There are so many things I've read in the past few days (I've spent a LOT of time reading) that I've wanted to comment on or ask questions about, but wanted to wait until I finished to avoid being repetitive.

Anyway, my Play Store Galaxy Nexus and Straight Talk AT&T SIM should be here today (I missed the FedEx guy with the SIM yesterday, and UPS is "out for delivery" with the phone). I expect to be porting my number to Google Voice (replacing my current well-kept-secret of a number) next week. (I've been using GV strictly for voicemail until now)

Regarding T-Mobile falling back to lower-power UMTS, and only ramping up to HSPA+ when needed, as compared to AT&T sticking to HSPA+... has anyone using AT&T tried using Tasker to force 2G only when the screen is off, and enabling everything only when the screen is on? After a few days of testing service "as intended" (with everything enabled) I'll be trying this with Tasker.

Reading through the thread refreshed my memory regarding some things I had forgotten about prepaid services - missing features that post-paid customers will take for granted, such as call forwarding, conditional call forwarding, 3-way calling, etc. I think it would be good to at least give a warning in the OP that the availability of these services on prepaid should not be assumed. Even better (but certainly more work) would be a summary of which features are included (or available for additional fees) with each carrier.

I've had my other family members on prepaid with Page Plus for over 3 years, but my data needs always prohibited me from switching my own line. This thread breathed new life into my interest in post-paid for my own line. As indicated in my second paragraph above, I'm jumping in starting today. After taxes I'll be saving $70/month on just my line, and by the end of the year I should break even after paying for the Galaxy Nexus, my ETF, and selling my Bionic - giving me 8 months of pure savings until my current contract end date with Verizon.

Thanks to LionAR10 for starting the ball rolling here, and all the subsequent effort of all involved. I look forward to actually being able to participate now that I'm all caught up.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] kiwiBeans:
Thanks! That is a very easy way to understand it and I believe I get it now.

About these "refills", like the 5% coupon posted a couple of posts above for T-Mo, and the "refill" card you are responding to here for ST... are these different from just "funding" your account with actual money? Are these refills essentially like 'gift cards' that you buy either online or from the store that have a unique code that, when entered or applied to your account, put a said amount of money into it?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jimmyz:
I'm in California and for some reason I can buy online the ST refill cards (email delivery) from Walmart without any taxes or fees!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jb24:
Thanks for the replies. I did a little research on this and apparently some states do not charger any tax on ST cards. California and Oregon don't and there might be a few others. If you order from walmart.com and have a Cali/Oregon address all they charge is the cost of the card and no tax at all.

Some people said since it was email delivery they were putting in a fake address to not get taxed. Not sure if it is worth doing that as it seems a little shady.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] :
Correct, as far as both you and I understand it, someone will correct us if we are wrong. They ring up at POS almost identical in process to a GC. Also: you can return them or exchange them if you have a problem at your local Walmart. Just ask for a CSM or an Assistant, be polite and firm.

And? That'll change eventually. Enjoy the no tax while it lasts.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] blaineevans:
My GSM from the play store arrives today. Unfortunately, the damn ST sim card has been sitting at a FedEx facility about 10 miles away for 2 days stating "Not scheduled for delivery". So I probably won't be able to even USE the phone until the 5th, lol. I called FedEx to see if I could pickup, they told me no. Little irritating.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
It takes way too long to switch back and forth between 2G. You'll waste a substantial amount of battery toggling between 2G and 3G, and leaving the screen on waiting for it that it won't be worth it in the end.

No. It's the exact same.

Yes. When you buy a card, it is literally the same as buying a gift card at a $ for $ discount, and having that gift card fund your account.

When I buy refills at CallingMart, I add the

$30

T-Mobile ToGo refill card into my shopping cart, check out with PayPal for

$28.50

, and my T-Mobile Account balance is increased by

$30

. The "face value" of the refill card is always added to your account, and you're just getting a discount on buying the card because these places are buying wholesale etc. and passing on the savings to us. Not do save the 5% on the card, but you also save the ~10% (in WA anyways) with the lack of sales tax.

So every month, I'm paying $28.50/mo for service instead of $33/mo. Sure it's only $4.50 but savings are savings (~15% actually) and its just as easy to do as refilling automatically with T-Mobile directly. You can even load up 2 or 3 months in advance, making it easier.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] shiznu:
Sorry to get off topic but anyone coming from Verizon know what their ETF's are?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Zepius:
starts at $350, take $10 off every month you complete your agreement.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DOHCtor:
You're in luck because the AT&T MVNO's allow call forwarding, call waiting, and 3-way calling. Same as post-paid.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xdp:
Thanks for providing these numbers. I just did my first refill with Straight Talk and it actually came out to $48.47 after taxes and charges. So comparing to T-Mobile using CallingMart it's actually closer to $20/month cheaper instead of $15. That's a pretty decent savings and makes me want to try T-Mobile. My biggest hang-up has been the quality and reliability of VoIP solutions since I would need to rely on it to make 300-400 minutes of calls a month on WiFi.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] blaineevans:
I'm with you. I went with ST as well because I don't think I can get by on 100 minutes. My problem is I don't want to HAVE to use VoIP in order to survive. I'm fine with using GV so I don't have to number port all over the place, but beyond that I have a hard time giving up features I enjoyed on Verizon.

Then again.. $20 is another $20.. I'm already saving, might as well go all the way.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] gear.h34d.2012:
I'm just waiting for T-Mobile to hopefully refarm the EDGE that covers my entire third of the state to HSPA+.

C'mon baby daddy needs a $30 T-Mo plan!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] UncleMike:
UPS showed up with my Play Store Galaxy Nexus at 2:39pm, and FedEx showed up with my Straight Talk AT&T SIM at 2:47pm. I've got a great signal here at home (-72db vs. Verizon's -98db).

Activation went well with one exception that I wanted to mention in case anyone else runs into this problem:

Straight Talk's activation and account setup page requires you to enter and confirm your email address. The email address field has a limit of 50 characters, but the field for confirming your email has a limit of 30 characters. After 5 failed attempts to proceed to the next page, I finally discovered that the last character of my 31-character email address wasn't being accepted in the confirmation field.

A quick right-click on the field in Chrome followed by "Inspect element" allowed me to change the field size limit to 50, thereby allowing me to enter my entire email address in the confirmation field. After that (and before that), the activation went without a hitch.
​
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DOHCtor:
Make sure to leave the proxy empty in your APN settings.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] UncleMike:
Already done... Thanks. Now that I have the device in hand I have to go back and review all the posts I flagged so I can apply/review the information.

Edit: (as you can see from my signature, it's not actually "in my hands" at the moment)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DOHCtor:
Contribute to the speedtest thread if you can http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1676966
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] kiwiBeans:
If those guys fist-bumped as they passed by one another in your driveway it would have pretty much been the best commercial you could film for this thread.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] harveydent:
First part of the commercial would be the drivers going through hordes of Apple fanbois trying to stop the truck, then giant explosions, then the judge who banned the GNex stepping onto the middle of the road with a giant gavel, and finally undead Steve Jobs trying in vain to snatch the GNex away.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Gonna be waiting for a while :p
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] mystax:
looks like people won't be able to get cheap galaxy nexus anymore =( until the ban is lifted.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] catfan64:
New activation

Ok, so I just received the sim card activation kit I ordered from t-mobile. I am still waiting on my Nexus to arrive. Can I go ahead and activate the sim card on the $30 plan, using an old t-mobile flip phone I have, and then when I get the nexus, just pop the sim card in it, and that's it? Also, if I want to port my current virgin mobile phone number to it, do I have to do that, during the activation process, or can I activate with the number they give me, then port my number over later? In case of multiple options, I am looking for the most problem free way. I have read about a lot of people having issues getting activated on the $30 plan, and also with porting.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] UncleMike:
One thing I haven't seen mentioned in this thread is when prepaid accounts need to be replenished to avoid service disruption. I have several lines on Page Plus now, and one of the caveats is that you must replenish the DAY BEFORE your expiration date, or you'll lose your balance, and you'll have no service until you replenish (but you've still lost your balance). So even though their claim is that your balance is valid for up to 120 days, you must replenish 119 days after previous replenishment.

My current Straight Talk "service end date" is listed as 02-Aug-2012. Does that mean I can add an unlimited PIN on THAT DAY and be okay, or do I need to do so the day before? Or does adding a service plan to "reserve" avoid this issue?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] lennydude:
This is correct BUT please notice that a 2 year (24 month) contract is not equal to $350 less $10.00 per month. Their ETF would equal a contract of 35 months for it to be paid off.

In other words...............the ETF just NEVER ends. Like a big hook in a fishes mouth!

Just one of the reasons i paid the ETF and will NEVER EVER sign another contract with anyone !!!!

The heck with the financial crap people always write about............everyone is entitled to their own opinion. It is the FREEDOM that is important !!

Rant over...........:)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DOHCtor:
I never refill in advance. I wait til my service is up (when i don't have any service on my phone). I then decide if I need to use my phone for the next few days, If i do, then I refill right away. As soon as I refill, my phone service is back up and running.

Last time I went over a week without refilling because I didn't need phone service at the time.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Gene_Bailey:
:eek: I have been without a working phone for 8 months. The reason being my old phone was an EVO 3D and when I moved to Texas my family kicked me off the plan and it not being GSM I couldn't unlock it and pop in a SIM. I finally bought an unlocked G-Nex and am going to be doing the straight talk plan (AT&T Sim). I will never let my phone service shut off ever again. Ever.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] lafester:
Pretty sure you can put the evo 3d on any cdma network, it just takes a little hacking. Not as easy as popping in a sim card but its better then going 8 months without a phone.

So after a week on Tmobile I have found them OK but even more unreliable then sprint in my area. Data is spotty and the hand off between 2g and 3g can take forever. When I'm in a good area though everything works great!

I love my nexus so I'm hoping att will come through for me...

Does At&t have a daily plan like tmobile? I see one listed but you have to buy a dumb phone to go with it. Maybe I'm missing something?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jb24:
I wouldn't mind the tmobile $30 deal but I don't think they even have 3g here. I am going to order the ST sim and go that route.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] scoobdude:
Lafester: try the new Jb radio. I have been having good luck with that one and one other one (uglc1 I think). Stock radio dropped all the time for me at home.

Jb: get the Sim card and you can at least see how good/bad the reception is. You can also monitor it via the battery discharge timeline

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] lafester:
I've tried 5 different radios :)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] scoobdude:
That sucks then. Sounds like ATT is in your future.

On a side note, Fry's has the Simple mobile Sims for $9.99 in the ad online. Not sure if they are available in store though.

EDIT: my bad, its simple mobile not ST

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] visceralpsyche:
One thing I'd like to see added is which providers allow tethering without blocking the service. The AT&T sim card (prepaid) seems to kick me off after a short while tethering my iPad. How is Straight Talk for that?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] UncleMike:
Straight Talk doesn't allow tethering at all.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] harveydent:
even with the proxy disabled?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] UncleMike:
I don't mean it doesn't work, I mean they don't allow it, as in IF they catch you doing it they'll cut you off.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DOHCtor:
I tether with straight talk all the time.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jb24:
My brother tethers with his and hasn't had trouble, How long have you been doing it? Wonder if they will warn you or just cancel your service?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Mr.Mischief:
Straight Talk can't detect tethering. However, they do monitor your data usage. When data usage goes up quickly, they assume you're tethering or streaming. When I tethered, I never went over 100MB, and they never caught me.

Sent from my HTC One S