yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Galaxy S III General] nnotis:
I'm a little confused by the talk of using micro sim cards for the S3. I thought only iPhones 4 & up use those. Don't all Android phones use regular sims?

Also, has anyone tried to take advantage of the $10 loophole using a G Nexus bought strait from Google? I would expect it to work, so long as Google hasn't provided them with a list of all their IMEI numbers.
[Galaxy S III General] graffixnyc:
The GS3 has a micro sim, not a standard sim. And I think they do track the Galaxy Nexus IMEI numbers. I think the nexus line is the only one that does get detected or so I have read
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
A lot of new phone will be using the microSIM and and even smaller SIM card that will become the next standard. The One X, for example, uses the microSIM.
[Galaxy S III General] paulavetta:
The Lumia 900 does also.

I think MicroSim will become the standard soon as the manufacturers can save space by using it.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Actually they might just skip down to the even smaller SIM card pretty soon. Will save even MORE space.
[Galaxy S III General] paulavetta:
Interesting. What's smaller than the micro sim? NanoSIM??? I'm definitely going to have to google this!

I know it has so far went SIM-->miniSIM (what most current phones use) -->???smaller and smaller and smaller......
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Yep. I do think that NanoSIM is what they are going to call it.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
I have owned two different kinds of galaxy nexus GSM versions. One that I imported from Europe in December. And the other one that I got from play store in USA.

So the ten dollar trick only works with the European galaxy nexus, somehow the USA version of unlocked galaxy nexus are already in their database.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Yes, with the Galaxy Nexus, it's tricky because there IS an AT&T variant and all of those are listed in AT&T's database.
[Galaxy S III General] Chinauser:
Blasphemy: 7 reasons to go T-Mobile SGS III

After reading hundreds of posts and thinking about this over the last month or so, I've decided not to go the international route, or AT&T, but to go with T-Mobile's SGS III. My reasoning may be helpful to some and raise the ire of others, but here goes with a mixture of why NOT international and NOT AT&T:

1. While there are currently many more ROMS/Kernels/themes/etc. for the int'l phone, as the U.S. phones are released and gain sales momentum (the U.S. is still, by far, the largest market), the availibility of mods will catch up and ultimately surpass the int'l version

2. The int'l version will not work on AT&T LTE or T-Mobile's HSPA+ (only 3G), and LTE coverage is still rather spotty in any case, if you have the AT&T phone. Plus, AT&T is consistently ranked at the bottom in customer service

3. The lack of U.S.-based warranty service is a concern for me, as while I like to load custom ROMS as much as the next geek, this will also be my daily driver

4. As more people "take advantage" of the loophole, AT&T will eventually figure out that it's losing big money on this and clamp down and put an end to cheap unlimited data on smartphones

5. LTE sucks up significantly more battery than T-Mob's 42 mbps HSPA+, which is pretty darn fast anyway and has great coverage in the U.S.

6. T-Mob has consistently been wiling to unlock my phones, which is very important as I spend 50% of my time in China

7. And best of all - I threatened T-mob with taking my four lines elsewhere, and they reduced my base monthly charges from $276/mo to $208/mo, including 5GB data (shoulda gone for 10GB) and free tethering (should be free, anyway), plus they gave me an immediate $240 "good customer" credit toward , making my new SGS III only $125 net (est. $365 upgrade - $240 credit)

So only time will tell - was I right or I wrong to stick with T-Mobile? I'm in China now, so my wife will pick up the phone for me first thing in the morning, and I'll be home this weekend to start playing with what I hope will be the best Android phone yet.

BTW, already downloaded the SGS-T999V kernel source - thanks Samsung!

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=27655279

(Thanks to jnichols959 for the post!)

(Previous phone - rooted Samsung Vibrant (Galaxy S), Team Whiskey Bionix Nexgen v2.2 ROM, Bali-X 1.2GHz OC kernel, GO Launcher, FlexT9 keyboard, UOT Kitchen, etc., etc. - an oldy but goody.)
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
#4 - Doubt it. It's been the same way for 6-7 years now. Just saying.

As far as their customer service? (AT&T) I've never had a problem with it.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
+1 it's not gonna change... even if it does I love my phone too much to care about it.
[Galaxy S III General] BuddyLee:
why get a messaging plan when u can get google voice for free ...
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Some of us still prefer good old text messages. I never use Google Voice. To me, it's redundant...
[Galaxy S III General] Toad858:
Wow this blows. I was planning on using this trick and getting a nexus from the play store, but this changes everything. So you can confirm this? That means google handed over the imei's of all the us unlocked nexus'?
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Well, since they are technically AT&T branded (without any real branding -- like the iPhone), they really didn't hand anything over. :)
[Galaxy S III General] gadget069:
The Straight Talk sim have a larger contact area, thought I had screwed my sim cutting it, had a nice size chunk of the contact area cut off, but the sim seems to work fine, order a micro sim and should have it today along with the phone.
[Galaxy S III General] appdroid:
I disagree, I9300 not gonna benefit by a lot.

1> Biggest LTE

2> All the Carriers have same chip on the phone. (Only Base band is different)

3> Change Radios and apns to get Limited LTE then Get Unlimited HSPA+

4> Better warranty exchange compare to dealing with Sammy directly.

5> Once Unlocked you get freedom for international use.

6> No lock down bootloaders (NOTE: This is not HTC) & Some of the At&t apps are useful

7> New Qualcomm S4 1.5ghz processor Adrena 225 GPU, 2gb RAM ( Fast enough for normal users/ We don't live on benchmarks :p)
[Galaxy S III General] onmike:
Thanks OP

Forgot to thank you for the data track. Set this up yesterday. Loving the phone and my new plan.
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
Hey buddy, you're posting in the wrong thread. It should be this way.

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1683261&page=27

This isn't a debate thread to "defend our choices." as we all here already selected our SGS3. It's to help others that have questions or problems. But if you feel the need to defend your purchase feel free to post it up in the above link. Thank you.
[Galaxy S III General] neyenlives:
Because google voice is not nearly as reliable as standard SMS. its so much so that i stopped using Voice. I dont want to second guess if my messages went through even if "free"
[Galaxy S III General] SlimJ87D:
I had used google voice for 2 years and it worked out great. They went through a number up upgrades, and you will know when you message goes through or not, like if you don't have a data connection and it will retry later.

I now have unlimited SMS as I graduated college 2 years ago, didn't need to save the extra Penny but I still use google voice because it saves all my conversations and I use it to text people on the computer.

It's also very useful for Craigslist when you don't want people to know your phone number.

I even got my sister use it as her business phone number and now she just text all our clients on the computer in google voice.

If you work in an office, want to save a little cash or like to mask your phone number. I highly recommend Google Voice. They have updated the app and have done a great job.
[Galaxy S III General] crashck:
Questions

Okay I know a lot of people have asked these questions but I don't feel sure yet. I am currently on ATT as the third line in the family plan. I have an upgrade available. I am currently using an LG Vu (dumbphone...broke my captivate :(). I want to get the Galaxy S3 International with the 10/ Unlim Data. How exactly would I obtain the micro sim card without cutting it? Someone else in my family could use my upgrade couldnt they? Thanks in advance you guys are great help.
[Galaxy S III General] Toad858:
So how can at&t tell what phone im using if its bot based off of imei
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
?? What I meant was, they didn't hand over anything. Those IMEI numbers were always going to be added to AT&T's pool because they were meant for the AT&T market.
[Galaxy S III General] imonki:
Hey guys.

First, you guys are pretty convincing here... I just bought the international Galaxy S3 off newegg.com and it will be at my door on monday. I can't wait!!

Now, I tried to search this topic and this forum unsuccessfully about ATT's GOPhone plan.

I was wondering if the following plan:

50$ for unlimited voice, text & non-smartphone data

Would work just like the MediaNet plan on my Samsung Galaxy S3. I am asking because it is slightly cheaper (50$) instead of 40$ for 45minutes + 20$ text + 10$ medianet.

Nobody else thought about that?

I'll be waiting for your answers, you can also PM me!!
[Galaxy S III General] naveen94:
would this data method work on the htc one x international unlocked? I am on ATT
[Galaxy S III General] Janax99:
Got mine going! Thanks!

Thanks to ceo.mtcl and all others in this thread! I got mine this morning and am up and running, according to the directions in the 2nd post.

I will state that I got a "free" microsim card from the AT&T store last night. When asked, I followed advice earlier in this thread by just telling them I was acquiring an iPhone4. When they asked if I had it in hand, I said that I was getting it the next day from a relative and would just call in to corporate from that place since we'd be away from the store.

Finally, I did have a bit of a snag. What I had done is give my old phone (Captivate) to my daughter for her to use after getting my greedy hands on a shiny new S3 :D. After getting everything set up with corporate, I got a text message about an hour later saying that I had been bumped to a smartphone plan. I checked my account online and it showed that both me and my daughter had the Captivate! When I called and corrected this issue, the rep said that the previous agent hadn't entered the data for my new phone correctly. Since that point, everything has been working great!

Thanks again!
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
+1 very well said. Thanks slim for keeping us on track and reminding us the purpose of this thread.
[Galaxy S III General] Janax99:
I thought about it quite a bit actually.

The cheapest way to go for me (if I wasn't on a family plan) was to actually get a US phone - either TMobile or AT&T in my area since Verizon drops calls like a drunk falling off the wagon - for full price ($600) and go on a prepaid plan.

AT&T is $50/month for unlimited everything and TMobile is $45/month for unlimited everything. However, since I am on with two other people whose contracts don't expire until Dec. 2012 and Nov. 2013, the cost of me paying for voice and messaging minutes "by myself" while keeping them on a family plan didn't make sense. I figured that after December if the two of us could go prepaid it would start to make more sense because you can reduce some of the family options (plan and messaging) to cheaper single-user ones for the one still "on contract". However, the prepaid route only really started to actually save money as a whole if all of us were to go prepaid.

I plan to keep this experience in mind going forward to prevent anyone in my family from renewing a contract :)...
[Galaxy S III General] slidewayzs13:
I just got the international s3 :) so excited !!!

I am on at&t prepaid plan unlimited everything...here is the problem tho, I'm in san mates area and I'm only getting 300 - 400 kbps download o_0 !!!! and data floats from hspa and hspa+ every min...... can anyone pls help me ??
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
It worked for me on an international one x as well.
[Galaxy S III General] rockky:
My heads swimming going thru this thread.

Please answer :

What's gonna happen when after getting my new SGS3 tomorrow I put my ATT sim card from my international Galaxy Note (which is recognized as a Skyrocket by ATT) in it? Will I still access Hspa+?

Thanks
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
You'll need a sim cutter and then you will have to call att as mentioned in second post and you are good to go.
[Galaxy S III General] dotson817:
I am also going to buy an s3 outright, but does it matter if I buy the international or domestic version, will they both have the same data speeds on the prepaid plan? Any help is appreciated,

Thanks!!
[Galaxy S III General] demonwind:
Where do you get a $10/month unlimited data plan?
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
Yes. Sure does.

Sent from my GT-I9300 Galaxy S3.
[Galaxy S III General] dcrich1223:
Hi, I want to know what people's opinions would be of my idea. I'm sorry if it has been posted earlier in the thread. So anyways, I want to get the international version of the SG3. I am due for an upgrade with AT&T in early July. Do you guys think I should:

A) upgrade to SG2 Skyrocket, sell it, and use that money towards the SGS3 intl

B) upgrade to SG2 Skyrocket, get it unlocked by AT&T (tell them im going abraod), sell it, and use that money towards the SGS3 intl

C) upgrade to SG3 AT&T version, sell it, and use that money towards the SGS3

D) upgrade to SG3 AT&T version, get it unlocked by AT&T (tell them I'm going abroad), sell it, and use that money towards the SGS3 intl

Also, how much money do you guys think I'd get on Craigslist for each choice? I have an idea, I'm just curious to see if it's on par with everyone else. Thanks a lot
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
Keep in mind the following...

1. I called att last week for unlocking note and today for unlocking a skyrocket and they won't provide the unlock code for them due to some 'exclusivity' agreement with those phones. Probably the same will apply to sgs3. Usually thus exclusivity agreement stays intact for 6 months. You can buy the unlock code from third party websites. Eg cellunlockers.net

2. Keep your eyes open to some deals online... most of the times you will be able to grab smartphones for a cent/free from amazon etc and that will help you make a lot of money off them.

3. Do some research in how the current prices of phones are going in your local Craigslist. Its always better to sell on CG than on eBay as you do not have to pay any 9% selling fees on CG.
[Galaxy S III General] gametheorist:
Just to be clear- can I actually buy the $15 media plan without any additional voice plan and completely contract free? I literally call ATT say I have a dumbphone that I'd like to get the media plan and nothing else, tell them my S3's imei, and then boom, they ship me a regular sim card and I take my micro sim cutter and I'm in business?

I am currently using Straight Talk at $45 a month but am getting 1-3 megabits and am fairly jealous of the guys who have posted 5+ megabits here and would be willing to jump ship if I didn't have to buy an overpriced $40 voice plan to go with the media plan.

Please enlighten me!

Thanks
[Galaxy S III General] BuddyLee:
if you have the messaging bundle along with the data its 10 a month.

if you dont have the unlimited messaging its going to be 15 a month for data
[Galaxy S III General] enkur:
So I got my new International SGS3 and activated the AT&T microsim on the phone. I had the agent switch me to the $10 data plan for non-smartphone. Everything was working great until this morning I got the following email

"Dear Valued Customer,

We hope you are enjoying your Smartphone! We appreciate and value your business and want to be sure you are aware of a change we've made to your account to ensure you have the best possible experience with data usage in the United States.

Smartphones are made for data consumption-surfing the web, social networking, email and more. That's why we require a Smartphone data plan in conjunction with our Smartphones. This ensures that customers with data intensive devices are not unpleasantly surprised with high data pay-per-use charges.

For whatever reason, our records indicate your Smartphone does not have an eligible data plan. We have added an appropriate Smartphone data plan for your device."

There was also the following text message along with the email

"AT&T Free Msg: Did you know a data plan is required for your Smartphone? We have added an appropriate data plan. Learn more at www.att.com/dataplans"

How the hell did the figure this out. I logged into my AT&T account and they switched my $10 plan to the $30 3GB plan. I used to have unlimited!!!!
[Galaxy S III General] cmd512:
What phone is listed under myATT? If it's still a smartphone/iPhone, they're probably still provisioning the same even though it's reading a different IMEI. Go to the store, trade in your microSIM for a non-smartphone 3G SIM, and clippity clip. Again, make sure the phone under your myATT isn't some smartphone.

Then try again. I always have my old POS Motorola RAZR sitting around for such purposes.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
And I've got a Nokia brick like slab phone for this purpose that I got for 5 bucks from deals2buy.com

Never had to use it but it may come handy if I ever have to.
[Galaxy S III General] datfliikid:
Would this work for an unlocked galaxy nexus even thought i've been using it for a couple months now on my sim.
[Galaxy S III General] enkur:
Yes my galaxy S2 is still listed in there. I changed it to an unknown phone and then will try to add the $10 plan back and see how it goes.

thanks
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
Where did you buy it from?
[Galaxy S III General] datfliikid:
I bought in back in 2011 if memory serves me my unit was from germany when i opened it. So its a European model .
[Galaxy S III General] enkur:
In myATT my phone is still listed at Samsung Galaxy SII even though I changed it to unknown. Is there anyway to make it stick
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
In thus case you at least have a chance.

Take your simcard out and put it in a dumb phone. Now try calling them from this dumb phone. Give them the imei of this dumb phone and not from nexus. After they have switched the data plan then insert the sim card back into nexus and hope it worked for you. That's your only way to find out if they flagged your phone or not. Let us know if it works.
[Galaxy S III General] datfliikid:
Damn i'm stuck then i dont have a dumb phone to call from should i attempt anyway? I originally had a skyrocket but i sold it on ebay last week.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
Lol if you really want to be a crook then go to Walmart and get one of the dumb go phones for 20 bucks. Use it for your purpose and then return it next day. They have 15 days no questions asked return policy. ;)
[Galaxy S III General] enkur:
ok so I changed my phone on the myATT website to some stupid samsung clamshell phone then spoke with online chat person and she changed my plan back to the $10 unlimited. Hopefully it will stick this time.
[Galaxy S III General] lude219:
don't just go by what the CSR told you over the phone. Go on to your myATT account and see if the galaxy s2 is still listed under your number or a dumbphone. If it has a picture of your dumbphone or just simply a default picture of a flipphone (like i have), then give it 24hr for AT&T to do their daily sweeps. Once that is done, check your myATT account again and if the dumbphone sticks, then go ahead and put the sim into your GS3.
[Galaxy S III General] rockky:
Thanks for the reply.

1.

I didn't see anything about a sim cutter. Post starts out saying 'I put my smartphone sim card into the S3'.

2.

If I don't necessarily want a non smartphone plan....and put my ' Skyrocket sim into the SG3 it won't access hspa+?....because of the two different imei #'s?

Thanks
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
1. Yeah, since gs3 uses micro sum, it was kinda obvious. I will update the OP with this information though. Thanks for your input.

2. It will still work regardless of different imei numbers. If you don't care about non smartphone data plan, all you need to do is just use a sim cutter and plug the sim card in the gs3 and you do not need to do any other thing.
[Galaxy S III General] gadget069:
I'm looking to see what people are using for modems here in the states, just got my phone the other day and its pretty slow, im on UBLE6.

Thanks
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
DXLEA is the baseband version I am using with XXALF6 firmware.

Sent from my GT-I9300 Galaxy S3.
[Galaxy S III General] gadget069:
Still running stock right now. I will try the modem and see what I get.

Thanks
[Galaxy S III General] Envy718:
I don't mind getting the ATT one because I have warranty within the US so I dont have to wait forever for it to get fixed and also LTE.
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
Thanks for sharing your opinion and good luck to you!
[Galaxy S III General] Sango2:
Just curious, for the non-smart phone unlimited data plan.

Can the "phone" APN be used with AT&T?
[Galaxy S III General] ceo.mtcl:
AFAIK no.

Let it choose apn automatically for you.
[Galaxy S III General] crashck:
Edit: Read through the post and saw warranty information. But I did find on Expansys if you use code 20OFFGS3 you get 20$ off the phone. Also on negrielectronics 10offsite code will get you 10$ off phone.
[Galaxy S III General] dieselfatal:
Hey guys, this is my first post here. How are you all ?

I recently purchased GS3 International version. I was with Sprint and used GNex till today. I had ATT before but ended in bad terms & owed cancellation fee. Today I went to ATT store and had to get Go Pre-Paid monthly plan $50 unlimited talk/text/web. The rep asked what phone I will use I told him cheap nokia phone. He gave me sim card I was on my way home.

This GO Pre-Paid $50 month ulim plan includes this $10 unlimited data plan for non smartphones right ?

This was my first time cutting sim to micro sim with scissors. I managed to do it and it probably isnt perfect as sim doesnt stay locked when you push it but it does work. Everything works. Texts..mms..calls..and data works too. I do notice it switches a lot from H to H+ in the notofication bar sometimes it displays 3G as well..

When it comes to speeds they are up and down..highest i got was 3000kbps but sometimes i get less than 1mb.

How does all this look to you ? This data is included with the plan...I just want to make sure I have this $10 unlimited data plan...i got everything for $50 which is too good to be true....also the guy did take down my GS3 # and it does prove that its not a smartphone otherwise they would force me to get smartphone data plan instead of included one...

Did i make any mistakes here ?

Thanks for your time.
[Galaxy S III General] Sango2:
^

Try calling in AT&T customer service and ask them what plan you're on (don't admit anything). Could also check AT&T online and see it from there as well but I probably do the phone method instead.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
According to this: http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/voice/sku5240223.html

Data is part of the $50 package.
[Galaxy S III General] dieselfatal:
I should be good to go then. This was such an easy procedure. No idea why people get problems. For new customers go with Go PrePaid plan.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
If you plan on sending/receiving texts, that's gonna cost extra though.
[Galaxy S III General] dieselfatal:
Im not sure what your trying to say here...$50 a month on GoPlan will give you talk/text/web unlimited.
[Galaxy S III General] Baldilocks:
I see that now. On the second page it didn't mention them at all. Does on the first page though.
[Galaxy S III General] dieselfatal:
I meant pre-paid plans...