yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Following up on my CallingMart question from earlier. I just used them to add $60 to my account for $57! Would've been about $66 with my local sales tax refilling through T-Mobile. Chose to refill for 2 months (I'm on the $30 plan) because there was a promo for 5% off. The card/PIN is good for

90 days

. And the money is good for another

90 days

when you add it to your account. I decided to add it right away because I'll use it in less than 90 (of course) and I was anxious to see how it worked :p .

I set up my account w/ CallingMart, paid via PayPal, and was instantly directed to a page with the refill PIN (also emailed the same page). The PIN was 14 digits long, and the PIN page on my.t-mobile.com said it accepted 12 digit PINs, so I just called the suggested *TOGO (*8646, doesn't cost minutes). I bet the online PIN entry would work too though. Anyways, followed the phone prompts, entered the PIN and it added the funds. Reflects in my account and I was sent a text (pics attached).

View attachment 1043459

Overall, experience was soooo painless. I 100% recommend (put my referral link in my sig) you check it out. Why not save the $$? I've got 2 months of service for $28.50/month.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
Thanks for the write up - I think I will give it a go for my next refill!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Nice. Really think you should. Great service from my experience.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jbeez:
Do they do straight talk refills too?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Nope. Straight Talk is a Walmart joint-venture, so you can only get refills from Walmart and Straight Talk. Think you can save a few $$ by buying from walmart.com instead of refilling on straight talk's website.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] digweed4me:
I am loving this T-Mobile 4g plan 5gb of high-speed. The reason I didn't go with straight talk is they throttle after 2gb I use about 5 to 6gb so T-Mobile 30 dollars plan is perfect for me. Talkatone updated their app on may 3rd 2012 now its working flawlessly with Google voice on 3g ,free unlimited call couldn't be much happier.anybody know why ad block doesn't work with talkatone? I tried ad block and rom toolbox none of them work
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Yep, this plan is fantastic.

If I had to guess, I'd say it's because they're running ads from their own servers (you need a full connection to their servers for the service to work), rather than normal ad servers that adblock blocks.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] grant3d:
This might sound stupid but I am curious how I need to proceed. I am about to buy a GNex from google and either go for the straight talk 45 plan or the tmobile 60. I would like to use my number from a line on a Sprint family plan. Do I just order the sim card from straight talk for 15 bucks and then do the number transfer on their site when I activate it? Cancel my Sprint line at the same time? How do I "refill" the straight talk plan at the end of the 30 days? If I go with the tmobile plan can I just walk into tmobile and they give me a sim card and activate? Thanks in advance for any help you guys can provide. I'm lookin forward to some pure google, no contracts, and no more ****ty Sprint data speeds :D
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Yes, simply buy the SIM and when you activate it, you have to tell them you want to bring your old number. Otherwise, you'll be assigned a new number with ST. Porting your number from Sprint cancels your service with them. So you need to call Sprint ahead of time and figure things out. Make sure that you're not going to get charged an ETF or other fees. Its best to sure-up your Sprint service first then go from there with ST once the number is "free" to move.

You can refill online with an auto-refill or once at a time. You can also buy "refill cards" in Walmart or on walmart.com. As I said on the previous page, that's the only way to refill ST because they're a Walmart property.

NO. Just do it online, save yourself time and headaches. You need a SIM card activation kit online, find it here. Once you receive it, activate it here. The same thing applies for porting your number. Make sure everything sured-up with Sprint before you try to port your number. When I ported from T-Mobile Postpaid to Prepaid, they let me do it even though I had already been assigned a Prepaid number, but YMMV of course.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] jimmyz:
Maybe go the google voice way. That would mean a $20 port of your # to google. Then use that number and have all your calls go to what ever # you get assigned w prepaid. That way you can go from plan to plan very easily.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xur17:
I should have posted this with my original post: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=net.geekherd.airplanemode

It lets you select which interfaces are disabled in airplane mode. I set it up so wifi is not disabled in airplane mode, and only the cell connection is. It looks like the tasker beta works too though.

It has worked out quite well for me as you said above. There is a small amount of time that it is completely disconnected when I am switching from wifi to the cell connection, but I have never had an issue with it. I even added a setting so airplane mode is toggled on a few minutes after connecting to wifi to give talkatone time to connect, and it won't switch to airplane mode if I am in a call (this one was a little more tricky).
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bobsbbq:
I was ready for a new number anyway so I did not do a port, but this is what I do. I give everyone my google voice number and then I have the numbers of my prepaid cards already setup in google voice settings and all I have to do is check a box next to the number I'm using in my phone at the time. Makes it real easy to change SIM cards or providers, switch between prepaid cards etc.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
Nice thoughts. I'll be sure to add those functions to my Tasker profile.

edit: Cool, I took it even a little bit farther and added a check for internet connectivity (through wifi) before enabling airplane mode.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] chrstphrbrnnn:
Has anyone found a good way to do this in Canada?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bigmike75:
Straight Talk AT&T APN settings not saving on phone

I just received the phone and sim card from Straight Talk (for use on the AT&T network). I attempted to enter the 2 APN settings (MMS and data) but they won't save to the phone. Once I reboot, the new APN settings are gone. Nothing is listed in the APN screen. Is there something I'm missing?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xur17:
Some interesting new plans from T-Mobile: http://www.tmonews.com/2012/05/walm...sive-t-mobile-prepaid-mobile-broadband-plans/
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Those are data only. Good deals if you have a MiFi or USB dongle for pay-as-you-go data, but not for our phones.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xur17:
They officially allow tether, and if they allow you to add minutes to the plans the $35 3.5GB plan lasts for two months.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] BrianDigital:
Seems odd, the monthly 4g thirty dollar s for five GB high speed is still better than that,

why even add the plan
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xur17:
Because that plan is for 2 months instead of one. So $17.50 a month. I honestly might consider it if you can add voice to it as it is cheaper, and I rarely use over 1GB per month.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] BrianDigital:
You might just have to pay by the minute,
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Still not a good plan. $30 5GB plan has UL text and 100 min included.

Yes, but that means its only 1.75GB per month also... and you're still paying per minute for calls. It really only works out to be a good deal for a data stick or MiFi.

Compared this to the $30 plan. Assuming you use all 100 minutes and nothing more, it'd be

$30

per month for the phone plan, and $17.50 + $10 (100 min @ $.10/min) =

$28.50

. So that's just

$1.50 less

but you're getting

3.25GB

less potential data. Not to mention that using something like CallingMart you can get the $30 phone plan for ~$28.50 (I just refilled 2 months for $57).

Just some perspective. Again, great deal for a data stick or MiFi if you're traveling etc. and need extra data, but nothing beats the $30 100 minute plan if you want to use it on your phone.

---------- Post added at 02:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:45 PM ----------

Because afaik you can't take the $30 phone plan and use the SIM in a MiFi or USB dongle (although you could probably figure it out activating it in a phone first).
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] ipfreelytech:
Something very important to note about straight talk; your data goes through a proxy!!

For me that was a major deal breaker. May or may not be an issue for others. The proxy already blocks the speed test app, might block others in the future.

Being that all your dns requests go through the proxy, you will get ads! a patched hostfile does nothing with a proxy.

I was able to ssh into my server and run commands, but ssh tunneling did not work. Tunnel would connect but no data would pass.

Considering that the whole reason for buying an unlocked nexus was so my device wouldn't tell me no; I wasn't about to tolerate that BS to save a few bucks.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] bobsbbq:
Change your APN, my speed test app works just fine.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] stevexda:
I found leaving the APN proxy and port settings blank seems to work much better on Straight Talk than their recommendations. Fast and working speed test.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] akenis:
Thanks! But you never got to dealing with the 100 minute limit? Got lots of pages to read through. Ready to bail on Sprint... down to $50 ETF!

Was waiting to upgrade to Gnexus at Sprint, but fail. So it's either the GSM Gnexus or the Int'l Galaxy Note which I'm leaning toward (Your guys screen is too small, LOL! Or rather my eyes are getting bad!). But the Note is only quadband, so could be Edge restricted on Tmo.

I'm a bit confused (having been sheltered by mother Sprint for so long) about GSM stuff. I guess quadband phones don't have the 1700 frequency that you need for tmo. I hear to possible solutions:

1. Tmo is buying up some 1900 freq in areas to allow 4g. Just not sure if it would work in my area (Charleston, SC), or the areas I frequently travel (mostly metro areas... I'm a pilot. Where is it, and when is it?

2. Possibility of hacking the radio on the phone. Dev's are working on it, and will probably have better luck when they can get a dump from the rumored Tmo Note. Did this technique work on the international SII?

Hope to learn more as I sift through this thread. Thanks, and enjoy your AOSP greatness!!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] sk63:
Tmo is using most of their new spectrum for LTE service which is not compatible with either the Note or Galaxy Nexus. They also won't be deploying LTE until 2013.

The straight talk plan linked to on the first page may be a better option since you can get an ATT sim.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
The 100 minute limit seems like an issue with the $30/mo big data plan, but I haven't had any problems with it. Keep in mind that you can keep a balance on your T-Mobile account and any extra minutes are billed at 10 cents per minute. I think I had calculated that you could actually use 500 minutes (100 included + 400 at 10c/min) before you ended up paying the same as the next 5GB data plan, which includes unlimited minutes. And you can always use a VoIP provider (I do that whenever I'm on the Wifi at work or at home) to further stretch your allotment.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xur17:
They already have the spectrum in these areas. It is just being used for gsm service (2g) right now. They plan to use some of it for 3g/4g hsdpa in these areas. For example, in Cincinnati they have 30MHz of PCS (2g) and 10MHz of AWS (3/4g). They are planning to use some of the PCS spectrum for 3g/4g in these areas.

---------- Post added at 11:40 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:38 AM ----------

That's basically what I do. I have had no issues with going over 100 minutes, and I figure even if I do, it's relatively cheap. I use a pretty decent number of minutes each month on wifi, which is completely free. I have tried placing data calls over 3/4g, but I have gotten mixed results - since I usually don't use all of my minutes, it's not worth the frustration to use data for calls.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] akenis:
Thanks for the help! I got about halfway through the thread lastnight and also checked w/ a few folks about att service. So I took the plunge on Int'l note for $500 and $45 ST plan on ATT compatible sim!!!

Will see how it all works out on the quadband Note while doing some more research on the tmobile frequency situation. Could possibly be joining you guys w/ a Gnexus if it doesn't pan out. I could prob get by w/ the $30 5gb tmob plan...
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
I simply use the minutes and whenever I'm at home I field calls via GMail + Google Talk + Google Voice. Haven't hit my 100 minutes yet.

Well, they don't have the combined 1700/2100 AWS frequencies. Different than the standalone 1700 used elsewhere in the world.

Its not very many places. And they're not "buying up some 1900 freq". They're farming their 1900 spectrum from what they're using for EDGE now, and repositioning it for use on HSPA+. Its their long-term goal that they'll get to eventually. I would not at all expect to see it any time soon. T-Mobile hasn't even officially announced where or when they're doing it. Its simply in trials right now.

Don't bother. All people are doing is unlocking/rooting AT&T LTE phones, and making a radio that lets them use 1700 for HSPA+ on T-Mobile. It'll never work as well as a T-Mobile phone thats meant to have the frequencies for HSPA+. Feel like its too big of a hassle.

---------- Post added at 01:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:54 PM ----------

Pretty much. Even if you're going to go over 100 minutes, you can just carry a balance on your account and deal with the overages. As you said, you can use another 400 minutes ($40) over your normal plan and keep it under the $70 plan, which is UL talk / UL text / 5GB data. And any month you stay under 500 minutes, you'll be saving money. So you're only paying for what you use.

So really, unless you're going to be over 500 minutes a month

regularly

, you should stick on the $30 plan. Otherwise, you can go with the $60 plan and get the 2GB throttle, or bump up to $70 for the 5GB throttle.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] gear.h34d.2012:
Giving this a shot! My Pentaband Galaxy Nexus arrived today and my $45 Unlimited Straight Talk SIM will be in in a few days.

Stoked!
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Awesome. Be sure to report back and let us know how it goes, specifically in regards to data.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] slyydrr:
Been rockin' the $45 Straight Talk plan on my Nexus for a month now and it's exactly the same as my AT&T service. I'm very satisfied.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DOHCtor:
How much data do you use, on average, a month?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] rock7632:
I've been doing the same for 3 months now. working out pretty well so far
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] DOHCtor:
How much data do you use, on average, a month? Have you ever been cut off?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] BrianDigital:
I gotta say after being on prepaid for two weeks, I used my phone like I did on sprint and looking St tmobiles data usage I am really surprised on how little Pandora actually uses. I am lucky though I do get to connect to wifi at work

Well our secret wifi network a couple guys setup
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] slyydrr:
Usually somewhere in the 500MB - 1.5GB range... I'm very light on data so I'm not worried about the invisible cutoff points.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] urinsane:
Lol, I have done the same thing. Our company uses thin clients and our IT department all work remotely from Texas, so I hooked up an old Linksys wrt54g in a closet for my wifi usage. Going on a year and haven't been caught yet... and I can always blame it on the guy that quit last summer. :D

I'm definitely going over my minutes this month though. Had a friend call about something pretty heavy the other day and didn't have the heart to tell her I would call her back on voip. Those hour long calls add up fast, but as mentioned earlier... I'm still saving more than 50%.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] Raftysworld:
Just wanted to throw my hat in the rink: I've ordered my pentaband Galaxy Nexus from the Google Play Store, and T-Mobile SIM/Activation Kit. The phone will arrive tomorrow, the SIM hopefully not long after that. I'll be activating the $30 100min/Unlimited Text/Unlimited Data plan :)

Thanks for the amazing info everyone. I can't believe how long I've been getting screwed by Verizon.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] BrianDigital:
have you tried groove IP, it's worth a shot since you're on wifi must if the day, and you can set it to disable when if wifi
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] untruestory:
Got my Galaxy Nexus on ST and loving it. In the rural area I live in there's no 3g for anyone except Verizon. Is 120 kbps average for EDGE?
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
I've posted a bit more about my current set up (automatic toggling and whatnot) in its own thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=25925709

Let me know how I can make it better :)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] rock7632:
around 1gb to 1.5gb. I try to use wifi as much as I can
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xur17:
Does anyone else have issues with Talkatone calls not successfully completing sometimes? Sometimes (it varies a lot - sometimes all calls do this, sometimes none of my calls have this issue) my calls connect, but neither side can hear each other. This happens for both incoming and outgoing calls for me.

When this occurs on outgoing calls, the phone I am dialing rings, and when the person picks up I hear nothing. The audio loss percentages go really high. On incoming calls, the same thing happens.

Does this occur for anyone else? I contacted Talkatone support, and they said this is a know issue for them, but it is occurring on Google's end. The weird thing is that this issue doesn't occur for me with Groove IP or Sipdroid. I would just use Groove IP, but I prefer the compressed audio for 3/4g calls.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
I don't think I've encountered that with Talkatone yet. I keep bouncing back and forth between that and GrooveIP. It could be an issue with how Talkatone's servers are connecting to Google; GrooveIP connects directly.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] xur17:
Here is their in depth reply to my support request:
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] toddrosenberger:
I've been on the $45 st att plan for about a month and have had no problems so far. I use tune in radio allot and so far have only used about 685mb in 18 days. Only thing i miss is Netflix but i can get by without it to save $60 a month. As long as i don't get cut off for this rate of usage I'll probably stay with st, or at least until tmobile gets better coverage in my area then might go to the $30/5gb plan.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Yeah that's about normal. 120kbps is completely passable for anything but web browsing IMO. Apps work fine and you can get all of your push notifications.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] akenis:
New phone and ST sim are here. Just wanted to clarify a few things real quick. Right now I guess Sprint has my number, but it's got that weird GV integration where my Sprint number is my GV number. I've been texting via GV and mms via native app.

Not sure if I want to port my number to GV or to ST? Pro's? Cons?

1. I'm assuming that when I try and activate the ST Sim it will ask if I want a new number or if I want to port from another carrier?

2. If I get a new number then I'll be able to use new phone right away. Then somehow unlink sprint integration and then port my Sprint number to GV and set it up to ring on the new ST number. If I call someone from the new phone, what do they see as incoming caller? What do they see if I text/mms from the native app? If I text from GV, I'm pretty sure it shows as coming from my GV number. And from above, if someone sends mms to my Sprint number it's lost (unless they are Sprint)? Can they send mms direct to my new ST number?

....................head spinning here. Sorry, but that Sprint integration stuff messed me up................................

3. I could choose to port my Sprint number to ST which might take a few hours I guess. Then I'd need to get a new GV number, but retain native text/mms capabilities? Will sms show up in my GV on other devices.

Really sorry. New to phone/GSM/GV and I didn't stay at Holiday Inn express lastnight. Thanks.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
If you can swing it, I'd really recommend trying to port your Sprint number to GV. I just don't know all the technicalities of if that's possible and how you would do it. Using a number that everyone knows for Google Voice will make the transition a lot easier. You can configure your phone using the Google Voice app so that it will place all calls using Google Voice, and the folks that you call will see your Google Voice number rather than your carrier number.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] martonikaj:
Yes they'll ask. If you activate and get a new number, my understanding is you're stuck with that # and they won't port after you've activated.

You choose. You setup in the Google Voice app (on the device) whether when using the dialer you always use your ST #, your GV #, or to "ask every time". I personally use "ask every time".

Native Messaging app will use your ST #.

It does. From the GV app, it will only use your GV #.

Yes, if they send MMS to your GV # you don't get it. If they MMS your ST #, you get it in the native Messaging app.

If you choose to port your Sprint number to ST, you will retain full SMS/MMS via the native Messaging app. You'll have to get a new GV # if you plan to use any of those features (and give out that number). Once you've ported from Sprint to ST, you lose all Google Voice capabilities of that number.

-----

If I had to give you advice, I'd say to port your Sprint # to Google Voice. Assuming you can live w/o MMS on that main number, its the best choice. I made the (possible) mistake of choosing to get a new # when I signed up for GV and kept my old # on T-Mobile, mainly because I wasn't completely ready to go all-in with GV and wanted the security if having my "old" # as a regular carrier #. Now I wish I had just ported to GV and got it over with. Dealing with handing out a new # isn't that bad and most people catch on. It's the issue that they know I still have my "old" #, and so now I have messaging split between GV and native, which is a bigger hassle. At this point, I'm looking to port my T-Mobile # to Google Voice, and then also paying to keep my GV # so I can have both.

Remember, you'll never

lose

MMS completely. You can always receive them on your new carrier # if you just have to. I really wish people would stop using MMS. its so low quality and very finicky.
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] codesplice:
I think the sooner you jump all-in with Google Voice, the better. I've been a GV user since it was in closed beta, and during that time it is the only phone number I've handed out. I still had folks (particularly my family) that still wanted to call/text me on the carrier number, but I got most people to update their address book by telling them "Okay, I've changed my number. My new number is XXX" without trying to explain that I still had the carrier number.

When I got on the T-Mobile Prepaid thing, I ditched my old carrier number without a second thought and it's been perfect. I barely even recognize the number that my carrier gave me. I really wish that I had asked my existing carrier for a new (random) number a few months after I started heavily using Google Voice. :)
[Samsung Galaxy Nexus] akenis:
Wow, super thanks guys. Starting to make sense.... GV it is!