yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S III General] jbrothman88:
I don't know if this helps with any questions about prepaid. I decided to leave Verizon about a month ago and went with the at&t prepaid plan to save some money. I went to a local at&t with a Galaxy Nexus and signed up for the $50 unlimited talk, text, and data plan. I guess I got lucky that the rep didn't make me sign up for a data plan. I ordered a Galaxy S3 about a week ago. When it came in, all I did was use a sim card cutter and put my Nexus sim in the S3. I still have unlimited talk, text, and data on the $50 goplan with no issues.
[Galaxy S III General] lude219:
maybe im missing something here, but why would the rep ask you to sign up for a data plan when that's included in the $50 unlimited plan?
[Galaxy S III General] dieselfatal:
My thoughts exactly. But lets be honest here. Im in Boston MA and in ny apt im on wifi...but everywhere i go i get slow speeds .if i get 1mb im happy...

This unlimited data benefitd peoplecthat are in good areas....i guess you get what you pay for...
[Galaxy S III General] crashck:
Just wondering before I order, is there any issue getting the blue like there was white note.
[Galaxy S III General] jbrothman88:
Well because AT&T requires you to add a data plan for smartphones. The unlimited data on the $50 Goplan is supposedly only for non smartphones.
[Galaxy S III General] lude219:
I hope we're all smart enough to not show any reps that we have a smartphone to go with our prepaid plan :D
[Galaxy S III General] gametheorist:
So the $50 go plan has identical data to the $10 data plan? I guess for $5 more than Straight Talk, I can get 5gb soft cap vs 2gig Straight Talk soft cap?
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
If it's used as a non-smartphone, there is no soft cap.
[Galaxy S III General] jaesun:
I am still debating with myself over which version to get, the T-Mo version, or the Int'l version. For the longest time, I was decided on getting the TMo version, as the prepaid plan they have is good for what I need (not much voice, good amount of data, cheap price, and don't need LTE). But I wonder if getting the Int'l version would still suit me after reading this thread.

The idea is that with TMo moving some of their freq to 1900 (I know it isn't out now, and I prob won't expect it till next year really), I could just get on AT&T's $50 unlimited all for now, and then move to TMo's when they finally roll it out. I thought about moving on to StraightTalk, but I am not a fan of their 100MB/day or 3GB limit cutoff (read they don't throttle you, they can just cancel you, so not good for me).

I am not a huge Custom ROM person (haven't owned a smartphone before, so this would be my first major phone), so maybe the Int'l version and its dev support might not be a huge deal for me? That's not to say I don't like to tinker around though, thus the reason for me getting an Android. But I wonder, with the next android update being more quad core friendly from what I read, maybe I should get the Int'l version to be more future proof? And maybe it wouldn't hurt me in the long run as I would be able to run on TMo in the future also once the network rolls out the 1900 band?
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
This decision will be yours. I personally like att more so I can be biased here.

You made a good choice then... Custom ROM or without it - this is an amazing phone. However if you would like to explore the custom roms then you can definitely be assured that Samsung phones are usually unbrickable thanks to Odin.

To be honest, you will never be future proof whichever phone you buy, next phone will outdate it.
[Galaxy S III General] djsaad1:
I got the international version, but I really cant decide if I should get the wife an att or international. She doesn't really need the dev support, but I am worried about battery life being worst with LTE.

Anyone know how the battery life compares?
[Galaxy S III General] Khizar:
from what i have heard there isnt much difference in both..
[Galaxy S III General] mycomputerisjunk:
So, is anyone else using the non-smartphone unlimited data plan?

I changed my contract to it and it seems a slower. I could usually see 6mbit at home, and now it seems to fight just to get over 2mbit.

I have the t-mobile $30 unlimited text and 5gb 4G data plan running in a One S and I swapped over the sim to my GS3, it sucked. No 3G. But I am happy with the international version. I think it responds much better than the US snapdragon 4S version.
[Galaxy S III General] jaesun:
I believe the One S is a TMo specific phone? so it is made to run on TMo's specific radio bands. TMo runs their 3G on their 1700 band, while AT&T runs on 1900. So TMo phones have to have their phone radios specifically made to run on TMo's network. But TMo recently acquired the rights to use the 1900 band, for which they are moving their 3g to, so in the future, so the AT&T/Int'l versions of the S3 will work on 3G in the future on TMo. This is supposed to take place and finish later this year. I just assume next year though.

Yeah, I read Samsung phones are good in regards to being unbrickable. I would like to explore custom roms though. Int'l version will be best suited for me? I am sure the US version will get ROMs too, just at a slower pace?
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
If you have a chance then get her the att version so you will have both the phones to play with lol. I'm trying so hard to make my wife get Android but she's in love with her iPhone.:)
[Galaxy S III General] garyd9:
Can this medianet thing be done if I'm using a microsim from an at&t oneX in the international sgs3?

Does this work when the line is part of family plan?

What do you tell an at&t CSR when trying to switch from a smartphone plan to the dumbphone plan?

Thanks

Gary
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Yes and yes.

Tell them you switched to a dumb phone.
[Galaxy S III General] IFireflyl:
I love the cheap data plan while still getting 6MB download speeds with AT&T. I should have done this a long time ago.
[Galaxy S III General] Kutthoat5150:
I'm currently on At&t and I have an old unlocked HTC touch diamond which doesn't work and a cheap tmobile phone from a long time ago, can I give them the Tmobile IMEI to swap my data plan or will they see that as a Tmobile phone and not let me?

Also, I have an upgrade available, I would like to buy then sell the GS2 skyrocket but will that automatically put me in the $30 dollar data plan as I don't have that now, or just when I activate it?
[Galaxy S III General] naveen94:
ok so this is what I'm experiencing now.

I have an unlocked HTC one x and just called att and got my data switched to the $10 a month for unlimited data without a problem. I text the view my data usage number and it says i have unlimited. I turned on my mobile data waited a few minutes and i was on HSPA+/3G, which was awesome. I used the internet and the speeds were awesome for me. I download the speed test app from the play store and it says i am getting 0.01 mbps download and 0.64 upload. I went to the play store and tried to download an app, i choose pandora which is like 3mb and it downloaded in less then a minute. So is the speediest app wrong here? Can someone explain how that is possible. I am fine with my speeds, i was able to load the entire espn website in like 10 seconds or so. Im just confused on what the speed test app told me.
[Galaxy S III General] azumarill:
It seems like the $50 GoPhone Prepaid Plan is the hassle-free alternative to what OP has posted. Unlimited data plan for non-smartphones on a smartphone that cannot be detected by at&t.

All you need to do is pop into an AT&T shop, buy the card, and get out. Instead of making phone calls, reading out IMEI numbers and whatnot (of course, the definition of convenience could vary between individuals.)

Someone correct me if I am wrong?
[Galaxy S III General] bscotth:
I actually came from the International HTC One X and when using the Speed Test app it would just say "Network Error" and a few times I also received super low results (such as .01 MBPS). I don't know what was causing it but it didn't work on my unlocked HTC One X either.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
I remember... on my international one x I had the same issue. But data speeds were fine. I could stream YouTube in hd but the speed test application didn't want to work there.

Sent from Rooted debloated stock Galaxy S3 OG I9300
[Galaxy S III General] graffixnyc:
Same on the ATT GS2. if you load up www.speakeasy.net/speedtest in your browser it will give you a more accurate result. At least it did for the ATT GS2. The speed test app would show me like 1mbps down but browsing, streaming and app downloads were fast. After I ran the speak easy test I saw numbers that seemed right to me.
[Galaxy S III General] dieselfatal:
I am having network issues since this morning. Using ATT GoPlan $50 unlim plan. Data was working fine now its not. It shows its active in notification bar but its not working..
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
Go here, give it a try. We got a hold of the SGS3 ATT's NWK database info there.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1712141
[Galaxy S III General] kooldude4u:
Gr8 trick gonna tell this to my friend who was going to purchase s3 in usa...
[Galaxy S III General] armadeous:
I can also confirm I've got no data. I can send and receive MMS so data obviously works. When I called to have my IMEI changed, they asked if I had a Samsung Galaxy S3, which was reporting in their systems. We might be busted. :(

EDIT: To clarify, I've got a S3 international and am also on a $50 unlimited gophone plan. Tried changing to an unknown IMEI in their system but it's still not able to connect to internet services.
[Galaxy S III General] techy_awards:
i want to switch from Sprint to T-mobile using this method, what data would i get if i purchase the S3 international version? Would it be HSPA+ 21 or 42? and would i also be able to utilize the monthly 4g plans that tmo offers?
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
How are we supposed to know... This is a ATT thread.

The international version supports 21 only. Go from there?
[Galaxy S III General] Minhster:
I just called att on my international sg3 to switch to a dumb smartphone unlimited data plan. I gave the representative my imei and they say its a samsung i9300. They say i wasnt qualify for the $10 plan. What can i do to resolve this? I just this phone from expansys.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
I guess everyone keeps skipping over the part about not giving them the IMEI number of the GS3...........
[Galaxy S III General] cmd512:
Seriously, what is wrong with these people. Let's wave it around!
[Galaxy S III General] azumarill:
nothing is wrong. in the instructions OP posted, he gave the IMEI number of the international GS3. it's not supposed to show up as a GS3. somehow it does. and so this might not work afterall...
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
It's been working for me for years.. (shrug).
[Galaxy S III General] cmd512:
Then the original post needs to be revised. IMEI's are all available and can be pulled from a database, so the chances of a live AT&T rep being able to link your provided IMEI to the SGS3 are VERY high.

No point in risking it, just give them a dumbphone IMEI or tell them you don't know it/can't find it. After all, they're not going to tell you "well, we're NOT going to add this $10 upsell option to your dumbphone account."
[Galaxy S III General] Minhster:
How can i get a dumb imei?
[Galaxy S III General] Dimeezy:
I'm having the same problem. I have never given them my IMEI #. I took my dumb phone in and got a sim for it. Then I put that sim into my GS3.

Today when I woke up to no data, I put my sim back in the dumb phone. Data worked. I put the sim back into my GS3, no data. So I put the sim back in the dumb phone and called customer service. I told her I was having internet problems. She immediately asked if I was using a Samsung Galaxy S3. So somehow they know without being told
[Galaxy S III General] cmd512:
Something doesn't make sense here. What kind of SIM did you get for your dumb phone? Was it a microSIM or a regular SIM? If a regular SIM, how are you swapping it back and forth between a SGS3 and an old dumb phone?
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
I'm wondering if some of the International GS3 IMEI numbers accidentally slipped into the AT&T gene pool... :)
[Galaxy S III General] Dimeezy:
It was a full size sim, but I have a sim cutter and some adapters.

I agree, something isnt right. Maybe that was part of the deal to allow Samsung to minimal have changes to the original S3.

It seems to only happen to GoPhone plans though. Medianet hasn't been affected
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
I don't know. As of midnight my phone has been reading E. When I put it in WCDMA only mode I get the no service signal. Hopefully it's just the local tower.

Will keep an eye on it...
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
So it's happening to you too huh? Didn't you have a SGS2 and never gave ATT your IMEI for the SGS3r?
[Galaxy S III General] dieselfatal:
Some people really need to read before they post. In the beginning of this thread people were being advised to give their GS3 IMEI #. Now I read from some of you how your not supposed to do this. Bottom line is, ATT is flagging down users. Even with a dumbphone sim youll get flagged. As soon as you put the sim in GS3 its over.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Wrong. AT&T normally doesn't store IMEI numbers of International handsets. There is nothing for them to flag.

Mine has since returned to H+.
[Galaxy S III General] dieselfatal:
Sobwhat should I do now. I am set up with $25, 1GB data. $50+25=$75 a bit much for 1GB that is 3/3.5G ..

What would happen if I get Straight Talk...same story ? Or buy cheap ATT flip phone..get a sim for it...and have them switch to regular data...my only concern is that they can sniff when smartphone is being used.
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
I going to play conspiracy theorist here and say ATT workers are here on this forum just trying to scare us or others are just **** out of luck.
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
It's 2 GB of data. You can just get 200mb for 15, I survived on that for 2 years but because I had wifi everywhere.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
Haha I like that.

I'm gonna update the OP with some updated information and not providing the gs3 imei.

PS: I gave my gs3 imei and its all fine for me.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
I have updated the OP with this information now. Thanks Baldilocks for this information.
[Galaxy S III General] Quist:
I'm still good with my dumbphone account, so I'm wondering what the story is here.

Could it be Carrier IQ info being farmed by AT&T from international units from e.g. South America with operator spyware on it? Could it be the retailers being cajoled into providing IMEI lists of sold international phones? Could it be AT&T wising up and applying AI pattern analysis in network usage to ID smartphones in general or the SGS3 in particular?

I've had my dumbphone account for two days now. It's using a microSIM I got from the AT&T store (I first intended to replace my cut SIM card on a registered smartphone prepaid account, but the guy never registered the SIM so I tested this and it's worked so far). I registered the card with my SGS3 IMEI through the online registration process.

My phone was bought from Negri and was a gray import from Argentina. I've since rooted it and changed to official UK firmware. I have Carrier IQ monitor installed and it shows me as clean.

In terms of usage, I'm in a bad coverage area, so I haven't been able to get the most out of my download speed and I also rely more on wifi than not.

So far those that have had problems have spoken to real people, used their phones differently than me (presumably), were in different locations and got their phones from other retailers. Something in those differences may explain why I haven't been targeted and they have.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
Haha, made me laugh. You need to take rest I guess.
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
I don't think it matters. They have the IMEI number of the phone you are using no matter what, it just depends if you get an Audit or not.

1. You don't give them the IMEI number, and then they see you switched it and flag you.

2. You do give them the IMEI number, and they may or may not flag you on the spot.

Either way, it seems there are more success stories here than failures. And it seems the failure stories are mostly pertaining to the go plans.
[Galaxy S III General] crashck:
So what is the consensus give them gsIII imei or not?
[Galaxy S III General] Kutthoat5150:
would they know I'm on a smartphone trying to activate it when I give them the IMEI # of an old dumb phone instead of the S3 #? I won't be switching SIM cards since its already in the S3, just tell them a different IMEI then the phone i'm on.
[Galaxy S III General] lunercrab:
Well I've had my sim in my replacement s3 since Monday without issue. Today though my data has been hit and miss. Would show h+ sometimes it would work sometimes not. I never changed any apn setting on the phone just put in my sim card. Could that be why?
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Where are you located? AT&T has had some 3G problems on the East Coast since last night.
[Galaxy S III General] lunercrab:
Yep in northeastern pa :) OK good I thought it might be their end
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Yep. It affected me here in Delaware late last night and into the morning.
[Galaxy S III General] kumarshah:
I got the international version, everything is fine except people aren't receiving my SMS messages. Any ideas?
[Galaxy S III General] graffixnyc:
Check your apn settings to make sure they are correct t
[Galaxy S III General] kumarshah:
They match what is in the 2nd post. Also verified the message center number is there.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
You didn't come from an iPhone did you??
[Galaxy S III General] kumarshah:
No, international SGS 2
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Can you make calls? If you can, you should be able to use SMS. MMS messages are another thing -- in your APN settings, it does say: default, supl, mms
[Galaxy S III General] imnothimm:
Yours looks like this for the "Message Center" right?
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
Did you check the part in the OP that talks about if your SMS don't work?
[Galaxy S III General] imnothimm:
Were you still receiving texts, and just not able to send them? Because it looks like he's still receiving them. His recipients just never receive the texts he sends them.
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
No, I couldn't send or receive. Lets hear from him. I'm sure his message center got deleted somehow. That happens when they switch things over sometimes.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
So I bought an at&t one also today for one of my family plan lines. This phone is used by my friend who is on my family plan. Just ran quadrant on two phones...

International:

AT&T:

Please note that international one was running on siyah kernel 1400 MHz and fox hound ROM and AT&T was stock kernel at 1500 MHz.

Regardless, see the CPU values...
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
While not many put faith in Quadrant scores anymore. A stock International version will run 5300-5600 all day long.
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
So how does Qualcom manage to optimize their memory bandwidth, channel or whatever? I really wish Quadrant was more specific on what it's measuring there. It's the same on Antutu, there's where the S4 gets its boost from.
[Galaxy S III General] graffixnyc:
Blah benchmarks.. Lol

Are the reports right? Is the us version not as fluid and more stuttery?
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
I used both the phones side by side and to be honest I could not see any major difference... They both were just as fluid, however I do feel what phonedog guy was talking about. There was no difference when I was playing with wifi direct, going back and forth the app drawer, open settings, menus etc. There was small stutter when zooming browser flash ads on AT&T version. Several small things made this difference. I wish I could bring my friends AT&T phone home and make a comparision video using my wife's iphone 4s.

I think AT&T version is in no way less than international version. If I did not have a choice of international version, I think I would have gotton myself this phone also. But the international version is genuinely a little more fluid. If you dont care for ATT's LTE crap and want unlimited data + awesome dev support, International version is way to go.
[Galaxy S III General] ExTREmE99:
my GF picked up the at&t gs3 today, the UI is noticeably laggier, even after rooting, debloating and what not. im honestly trying not to be bias here, but its still fast! when clicking things on either phones, the quad core definitely reigns, but nothing beats the speed of LTE for the web (if you're in area). my international gs3 gets 2.5mbps/1mbps versus her 19mbps/15mbps. apps that require data (facebook, internet...etc) instantly load due to the speed of LTE and honestly make me a bit jealous. im at a loss as to which version to keep!!!!
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
I've found that even with a 1.5Mbps connection (like I used to have at home for many years), that web pages and facebook load pretty fast anyway. It's mostly text.
[Galaxy S III General] Khizar:
its laggy but it web browsing is fast cuz of lte support..that is obvious. the main that a buyer needs to decide before buying is if they want lte or a faster and more fluid phone.
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
Those of you on AT&T in the states, I need modem help!! I am on the recent XXLF5 version, and while the speeds can be fast at times, it seems like when it's not being used it's CONSTANTLY dropping down to "3g" and does not have data connectivity. It then goes to "H" and "H+" and does eventually load things, but it's a noticeable 4-5 seconds almost every time I open Chrome or Twitter. I am on Omega 6.0 FWIW. Has anyone had any luck with different modems, or suggestions of things I could try? It's driving me crazy.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Have you installed the Fast Dormancy mod???
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
Yes sir I have :) And I was hoping you were awake, you always seem to have some helpful answers for me. I flashed it about a day after this new Modem, and have had issues ever since. It's fast, but the time to connect is annoying when you're just trying to check something fast.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Yeah, you might want to undo that mod -- see if that helps at all. I remember it was somewhere in this thread: http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1712141
[Galaxy S III General] daveop:
Thanks man, I started reading it again after you mentioned it. That may be my problem. I appreciate the continued help :)

Edit: If anyone is having the same problem, you will have to do the Fast Dormancy changes. I set mine to 0,5. and the data is far more consistent. I am actually getting 6 down on HSPA+, which is the fastest OTA I have gotten here. With LTE in this area, we are only between 12-15, so I'll take unlimited at those speeds any day.
[Galaxy S III General] kumarshah:
I can make calls fine.

Yes, the message center looks like that with the correct number. I checked that with the OP too.

I am not receiving texts either. I just had google send me one for account verification and haven't received it yet. I did receive a couple of texts from AT&T though.

Message center looks good!
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
Then this is an att, go online and talk to tech on live chat if you are too nervous.
[Galaxy S III General] ExTREmE99:
yep, i honestly have brushed off LTE and cursed its existance due to poor battery life and ruining phones (all the international versions have better specs) but after trying out LTE i can legitimately say that its awesome. no more loading of anything. bandwidth intensive sites like the full desktop verson of xda-developers flies due to LTE, while my non LTE variant spends 30sec to a minute loading.

i am also on XXLF5 and have no issues. or maybe i do? this could explain my slow loading times. i will try the fast dormancy settings above