yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 4 General] nickacs1:
Thanks bro... Yea, I also pulled out my SIM for like 6mins thinking maybe that would help "reset" or do something perhaps. Still nada...haha..

Here's an interesting link that I found on Tmobile's site for APN settings for "non-TMobile" phones:

T-Mobile Internet & data settings: Non-T-Mo... | T-Mobile Support

Not quite sure to make of it since most of the APN settings in the doc do not pertain to a Nexus 4? Hmm....
[Nexus 4 General] myturbo1:
Well I believe that is for phones that do not have a complete T-Mobile bands. Like some at&t phones if you unlock them.

The nexus 4 is more of a Global phone. As it has more network bands.

Also T-Mobile sells the nexus 4. Just not branded as a T-Mobile phone.

After a week or 2 when I ported my # to T-Mobile. Everything finally worked.

Call them and let them know your issue. Also you can ask to have your network Reprovisioned . They may credit your account as you payed for features you are not getting. They gave me $1 back :eek: lol
[Nexus 4 General] trsix:
google voice

If u have this plan you can use Google voice for texting and calls when around WiFi. Correct?
[Nexus 4 General] myturbo1:
I cannot say, as I have never used GV . Someone else will have to answer that for you.

Sorry.
[Nexus 4 General] sashusmom:
I'm almost positive using googlevoice for calls uses your minutes. Someone please jump in if I am incorrect.;)
[Nexus 4 General] ShinnAsuka:
You need to use a third party app like Groove IP to take advantage of the free minutes. Another option is to set up a SIP account and use a SIP client app to make the free calls. There are a couple of threads on that topic, look it up :)
[Nexus 4 General] sashusmom:
I have used grooveIP and you sign into your account using your GV credentials. Works ok. But it is different than calling with GV. Calling thru google voice does use your minutes if on a low minutes plan. Vonage is another 3rd party app that works well for free calling over wifi or 3g. Talkatone lets you call and do sms/mms over 3g or wifi. There's a lot of good ones out there.
[Nexus 4 General] trsix:
groove ip

Using groove IP now. Great program. Transferred my sprint # to a cheap I wireless phone n use it away from the house. Only use it about 100 minutes a month so $10. Kept my evo lte n use it for free groove IP calls and use voice for My texts. Just waiting for the nexus 5 so i can do both on one phone cheap
[Nexus 4 General] reissgrant:
Do I buy the MICRO-SIM activation kit or SIM activation kit?

Using with the HTC One

Does it matter?
[Nexus 4 General] Nicraz:
That depends on your phone. For the HTC One you should get a Micro SIM from what I understand.
[Nexus 4 General] gqukyo:
I would always get the smallest sim available as you could always get adapters for a few bucks though there are also sim cutters.
[Nexus 4 General] Product F(RED):
I don't recommend SIM adapters; for one, only the iPhone 5 uses a nano SIM. Secondly, adapters have a habit of f*cking up SIM card slot pins. It's happened to many people that I know and I'd avoid them unless you're using an iPhone. Certain devices, like the Galaxy Nexus, is extremely prone to damage from those adapters.
[Nexus 4 General] gqukyo:
Dang, what kinda sim adapters are people using then? Everyone I know (who uses them) never had any issues and I've been using them for a while now. Granted, not on an iPhone 5. And I guess I should've been more clear as you are correct only the iP5 uses a nano sim for now so I was actually referring to the micro sim. In any case, providers sims can usually be replaced free of charge if you're nice to the rep in the stores anyways.
[Nexus 4 General] sashusmom:
I punched a reg sim for the lumia 521. I found that using the frame of the original sim as my adapter was less prone to stick in my Note when I switched phones. The pre made adapter did get stuck and needed very careful removal. When the micro sim is put back into the original frame it was punched out of with my sim puncher is was not a problem.
[Nexus 4 General] machoman1337:
Gonna be flying into Boston soon, and I'll be staying nearly 3 weeks, so I figured it's better to get this plan than to use the $3/day plan. I don't have a TMo account yet, so I have a few questions:

1. Since I'm bringing my own phone, can I just head to any T-Mobile store or Walmart and get a micro SIM with this $30 plan? I will have a rental car, so if I need to drive to some special location that isn't a problem.

2. As a non-US resident, is it important for me to provide a real address when signing up? I doubt I can use my Canadian address, but I have friends (not in Massachusetts) who wouldn't mind me using their address.

3. Can I top up the balance online with a non-US credit card?

4. After the first month, can I seamlessly switch to the $3/day plan for future day trips into the US?

5. Do I regularly need to top up the balance to maintain my number like with AT&T (ew) or can I just idle for months and only top up when I need to?
[Nexus 4 General] snsethy:
No Boston T-Mobile stores will sell the SIM kit, I tried that a few weeks ago. You can go to Best Buy and get the regular sized sim kit for $15, and they'll cut it for an additional $8 (huge rip off.) On the back of the BB kit, it says you can just go to a T-Mobile store and they'll swap it for different size, but they won't.

As to the rest, I'm not sure.
[Nexus 4 General] machoman1337:
That sucks, I guess I have no choice but to deal with Best Buy then.

I have another question - can a prepaid AT&T number (which I have now) be ported to TMo prepaid? Not a big deal if I can't port it, but it is convenient if I can. I'm throwing away $50 in my account, but after AT&T removed the $25/1 GB standalone package, I'm done with them :P
[Nexus 4 General] thref23:
^^ I don't know if things have changed and there are exceptions to the rule, but it used to be you were only officially eligible for this plan if you bought a phone or a sim at either Wal-Mart, or online. If you bought at Best Buy (or a T-Mo store) you would not be officially eligible.

If a Wal-Mart in Boston does not sell a sim activation kit, you can always pay $20 for a cheap flip phone and then remove the sim.

Also, I don't think you need to provide an address when signing up. I didn't.
[Nexus 4 General] machoman1337:
All right, I'll definitely make a trip to Walmart, probably as soon as I leave the airport lol.

So if I end up having to buy a cheap feature phone, do I need to register a talk-and-text prepaid plan first or can I just take it with me to a TMo shop and get the $30 plan?
[Nexus 4 General] thref23:
You can simply activate your phone (I don't think it matters what phone you activate you can always swap sims later), by phone or by internet.
[Nexus 4 General] myturbo1:
Use figured I would add .

T-Mobile 4g speeds. (Not LTE)
[Nexus 4 General] Product F(RED):
They throttle you to 15 Mbps but there's an easy way around it if you're rooted. In general though, it's as fast as or faster than their LTE right now. That's why AWS requires and uses both 1700 MHz and 2100 MHz; instead of loading incoming and outgoing data for every single person on the tower on one frequency (e.g. 1900 MHz, like AT&T does), uploads and downloads have their own frequency, resulting in much more bandwidth for everyone:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?p=42617272#post42617272
[Nexus 4 General] myturbo1:
Where did you see a statement saying they throttle you ?

In a good converge area, I can hit 19mbs ...
[Nexus 4 General] New Optimus:
The only throttling I see is the fast.t-mobile apn, with the nexus 4 if your on that fast apn but not on lte your speeds are half what they are if you change to epc apn.
[Nexus 4 General] Product F(RED):
It might vary from area to area. In my area I wasn't able to go above 15 Mbps. Someone mentioned the same and the solution above. So I did it and now I can magically hit 25 Mbps. For what it's worth, there actually IS a folder called "throttle" in the system directory.

Sent from my Galaxy Note 2
[Nexus 4 General] snsethy:
I didn't go to Walmart because the closest one to Boston is in Lynn, and, ugh, who wants to go there?! The bestbuy SIM would work for this if you chop it down.
[Nexus 4 General] machoman1337:
Holy s**t, I checked Google Maps and the closest walmart to the airport (and the harvard/MIT area where I'm staying) is 26 km away!

I guess the best buy in Watertown (7 km away from the airport) is a better place to go.
[Nexus 4 General] myturbo1:
Not on the nexus 4.
[Nexus 4 General] snsethy:
I'd say the Best Buy at South Bay Plaza (although really ghetto) is the fastest to get to from Logan.
[Nexus 4 General] gqukyo:
Yes there is, I just followed the instructions and works fine. Using MIUI though I don't think that makes a difference. I've hit 22 max so far which is still much slower than ATT's but can't beat the price of the Tmo plan.
[Nexus 4 General] machoman1337:
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll keep these in mind when I plan my itinerary for Boston.
[Nexus 4 General] someone0:
I am planing on taking advantage of the $30 unlimited data unlimited plan, but I wonder at this point will it works on the new Nexus 7 or the up coming Moto X?
[Nexus 4 General] psychoace:
Hard to say about the Nexus 7 since it's not a phone but obviously it will work with the Moto X. Why wouldn't it?
[Nexus 4 General] myturbo1:
No way to know yet. Also its the first 5gb up to 4g speeds . after that it is 2g/Edge.
[Nexus 4 General] thref23:
This plan is not supposed to work with any data only devices. I wouldn't expect it to work with the Nexus 7.
[Nexus 4 General] myturbo1:
Then it is missing on mine...
[Nexus 4 General] bob60626:
I believe it's been proven on here this plan will not work on the data enabled Nexus 7.
[Nexus 4 General] someone0:
2G/EDGE? I had the impression that it will go 3G speed.
[Nexus 4 General] machoman1337:
I decided that the best course of action is to drive to Best Buy after I land in Boston, and buy a prepaid TMo dumbphone. This is the cheapest I found (it's available at South Shore Plaza): http://www.bestbuy.com/site/T-Mobil...Gray/9696489.p?id=1218151631340&skuId=9696489

So, to clarify once more (sorry if I sound like a broken record) - I can buy this dumbphone with a SIM, get Best Buy to cut it to micro size, then activate the $30 prepaid plan online right?
[Nexus 4 General] noneone:
1) to get the $30 plan, it doesn't matter where or how you get the SIM. As long as you activate the plan online, you are good to go.

2) Yes, drive to BestBuy. BUT. You don't NEED to buy a dumb phone. Very often, BB has the activation kit for sale, you can buy that. I've used the BB activation kit TWICE for this plan.

GL
[Nexus 4 General] donwhall70:
Can you not just purchase a prepaid Sim from a t-mo store and then activate the $30 plan online?
[Nexus 4 General] machoman1337:
Had a few responses here stating that TMo stores will refuse to do that. Can you clarify?
[Nexus 4 General] Product F(RED):
The only way to get the $30 plan is online. If you go to the store and ask for the $30 plan, they'll think you want the 1500 minute, texting, 30 MB plan.
[Nexus 4 General] New Optimus:
It really depends on the store clerk, I know others did not have this experience but I activated mine in store, they even gave me the sim free. The clerk told me that plan would require calling in, then proceeded to make the call.

I brought my own phone in the store, asked for the $30 5gb data plan they grabbed an activation kit put it in the phone, called (customer service) then charged me $32.46, or so and I walked out with a working phone.
[Nexus 4 General] myturbo1:
Nope . After 5gb of data it is 2g. However T-Mobile 2g is usable.
[Nexus 4 General] noneone:
to clarify ....

1) IF you have a new sim, THEN you can get the $30 5gb online. It doesn't matter where you get the activation kit from, you can activate it at home online for the $30 5gb plan. So you CAN get an activation kit at a tmo store and go home and get the $30 plan. For me, its been easier to just grab the BB activation kit.

2) SOME tmo stores won't activate the $30 5gb plan for you. Some will. YOU CAN STILL GO HOME AND ACTIVATE it as long as you have a new sim.

3) EXAMPLE, I was on the $30 plan, galaxy S2. I went to tmo store, purchased a brand new Galaxy S4. They said to get the cheap price, I'd have to buy some phone minutes ... I said sure. They charged me $50, and added that $50 to my $30 plan, sold me the phone for the cheap price, put in a new sim into the S4, and activated it on my older $30 plan. I know other TMO stores have turned people away from getting the S4 cheaper price and the $30 plan, store I was at was OK with it.

All that said .... I have the $30 5gb plan. I love the $30 5gb plan. I use more than 100 minutes. I will use vonage or talktone to make VOIP calls OUTGOING. This works great for me, because I have super fast wifi at home, and at work. For me, none of the VOIP I've used are much good over 4G. YMMV. I also have a $400 minute verizon plan. So I only need 100 minutes of calls on Tmo.

All that being said ....

IMO for most folks, the NEW prepaid $50 unlimtied calls 2.5 GB data PLUS hotspot is likely the way to go. If you're using more than 5gb a month phone only use, you probably want the unlimited data plan rather than two $30 5gb plans. If you're doing a lot of hotspot .. well, the $50 plan comes with hotspot, the $30 plan it costs $15 more for hotspot.

So yes, there are some folks that use MORE than 2.5GB, but LESS than 5gb, that do NOT do a lot of hotspot AND don't need more than 100 minutes, where the $30 makes sense.

PREPAID $30 for 100 minutes + 5gb data used to be the coolest thing on the market in 2012. With the $50 unlimited / 2.5GB, or the $70 + unlimited data (phone only), the $30 is just not AS attractive anymore. Still a great plan, just not the only option any more.
[Nexus 4 General] Product F(RED):
For college students like me, it is. I do miss my unlimited minutes, but I don't really have to work hard to stay under 100. Nor do I care if I go over because it's only 10 cents a minute. I can afford the more expensive plans, but I try to save money where I can.
[Nexus 4 General] Nephilim-Giant:
Sure it's "usable", but it'll be a danger to your sanity! :eek:
[Nexus 4 General] someone0:
How about this for sanity. Yesterday I was so happy I saw my Sprint GN2 grab an LTE signal in Alhambra, CA. Ran speedtest and get a whopping 399kbps down 34kbps up with 315ms ping time. Seriously, that very want me to end my $50 SERO plan.
[Nexus 4 General] Lito88:
im not seeing this deal, where did you get it?
[Nexus 4 General] nickacs1:
Hi Turbo/others that have replied to my MMS dilemma!

Thanks for the info/screenshots.. Well, not sure what happened, but all of a sudden my inbound MMS started working 2 days ago?!?

I made 2 changes:

- Changed my APN type from the usual 'default,supl,mms' to 'default,supl,admin,mms,hipri'. I found these extra types from hitting a Solavei help page for APN settings/Android devices. While I'm not using Solavei service, just regular TMobile, I still figured, what the heck, can't hurt!

- I've been using the msg app, Textra, since it launched back in late May and have loved it. Nice, simple and minimalistic for my taste. I changed the 'Send Size Limit' from 300KB to 'No Limit'. Still, not sure why this would have any effect on inbound MMS, but hey, what the heck!

I then texted, after like 100 times, my same coworker with a Droid Maxx to send me another picture. This time it came through! Then I texted another coworker on his TMo SG3 to send a pic and that one came through. Lastly, I group MMS texted them both and sure enough, the reply came back in a single, group thread!

Turbo, like you said that when you ported from ST AT&T to TMobile prepaid and had MMS issues that after the first week things just "started working". 2 days ago was my 1 week after port, so maybe so?!?

Appreciate it guys!
[Nexus 4 General] TangoXray:
Surprisingly, Vonage seems to work out best for me after a day of testing both apps. Skype seems to drop the calls on wifi every so often, but on 3 or 4g, I don't trust it. And the call quality was not as good as Vonage.

Vonage is free to any U. S. #, but that's for a "limited time." I'll just have to wait and see what rates they'll come out with. Normally, it's only supposed to be free if both caller and receiver are using the app. As of now I think it's my app of choice.

Thanks for the help!
[Nexus 4 General] Psilocin:
Do the sim cards that you buy from the Tmo online store allow LTE? They seem to be only GSM-enabled sim cards.
[Nexus 4 General] wideasleep1:
They work fine for LTE

---------- Post added at 12:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:08 PM ----------

Exact opposite of my experience...dropped audio and calls using Vonage (embarrassing to call back a business client) whereas nobody notices a Skype call versus regular cell call.
[Nexus 4 General] Psilocin:
Thanks. Haven't enabled the LTE radio on N4, so I wasn't sure if the current sim card I have was going to allow LTE when I get the MotoX.
[Nexus 4 General] wideasleep1:
Yep...AFAIK, TMO has two types of Sims...data only and 'regular' and both are LTE compatible. Cheers!
[Nexus 4 General] baiju2012:
Exactly my experience.:)

+1

Nexus IV
[Nexus 4 General] donwhall70:
Refuse to do what? Activate it? I was saying to just buy the Sim card from them then go online yourself and activate the $30 plan. I get my Sims online so I don't know if you can purchase a prepaid Sim at a t-mo store or not. Was more of a question/possibility than anything else :)
[Nexus 4 General] gagdude:
Bullcrap. I considered using Solavei which actually has a better deal than tmobiles own $50 plan, but then I realized that I would be paying an extra $20/month. Over a year if I chose this over the $50 plan I would have an extra $240 in my pocket.

Now I can buy the new Nexus 7.

The $70 plan, I'm not even going to say anything. I cant justify paying more than double this $30 plan unless you want to use it as your home broadband. If you want me to put this into perspective, I would save $480, which would allow me to buy a new Nexus phone every year, or a Nexus 10
[Nexus 4 General] hartleyshc:
From experience on my old tmo plan. Its actually slower than EDGE. I would switch to 2g for a speed boost. But this was before they got rid of 2 year plans. And I switched last year to their truly unlimited 4g plan. $20 ($30 if your not on a family plan) and I get real unlimited 4g speed. ( system says up to 999gb, obv never been able to get that much transfer in a month).

Does T-Mobile still offer the truly unlimited plan anymore? I keep hearing about this $30 prepaid plan with only 5gb of 4g speed.

Sent from my Nexus 4, running Carbon Nightly + Matr1x Kernel v10
[Nexus 4 General] myturbo1:
Yes they do.

And forcing 2g is worse than leaving it on 3g (@edge etc) as 2g Ping is BAD .
[Nexus 4 General] hartleyshc:
Its good to see they still offer it. My wife's still on the 5gb throttled plan since she has an iPhone 4, and there's no need to upgrade since she can only get 2g with her phone. But when she finally upgrades to a 5/5s, I would like to put her also on the truly unlimited plan as well.

With regards to throttling.. Again, this was over a year ago so things might have changed, but when I was throttled I would go down to like 12k/s where if I was on 2g i would be like 50k/s. But none of this matters much anymore since I have the truly unlimited plan, but for those who get throttled at least try switching to 2g to see if speeds improve. It used to be a life saver for me when I would always go over the limit with like a week left.

I don't ever remember a change in ping from switching. But as always YMMV.

Sent from my Nexus 4, running Carbon Nightly + Matr1x Kernel v10
[Nexus 4 General] myturbo1:
Last month, after 5gb my speeds drop to .06 MBS.

Forcing 2g ping seems unusable . leaving setting as is. I still get good ping and can still browse the web decently good.

Also have you looked on T-Mobile . I believe their is a download of settings for iPhone to get 3G data*
[Nexus 4 General] hartleyshc:
Iirc that only works in LTE areas where they have changed the old 2g band to work with LTE. Still a 3g/4g area where I live. But I will look into it in case something has changed.

Sent from my Nexus 4, running Carbon Nightly + Matr1x Kernel v10
[Nexus 4 General] myturbo1:
Their is no LTE where I live...
[Nexus 4 General] hartleyshc:
Sorry. I was referring to an unlocked iPhone 4 which only has the 3g bands for ATT. Supposedly you can only get 3g on T-Mobile with those types of phones if your area has been upgraded to LTE.

Unless you're talking about the same thing and know a 4/4s user on T-Mobile in your area with 3g.

Edit: referring to T-MOUS to avoid confusion for anyone else.

Sent from my Nexus 4, running Carbon Nightly + Matr1x Kernel v10
[Nexus 4 General] reissgrant:
How long did it take you guys to port your number to this plan?

Mine has been almost 24 hours and still nothing, just a voicemail icon on my phone that leads me to customer service. Is it just taking a long time? Customer service says they can't help me since it's prepaid.
[Nexus 4 General] Product F(RED):
Sometimes it takes longer. Took me a little over a day. Woke up with a text telling me the port worked. I rebooted and went to Settings -> About Phone -> Phone Status and saw my number was there.
[Nexus 4 General] New Optimus:
What carrier you coming from?

24 hours is normal, but I think they say 48 is possible.

and some carriers take longer then others.
[Nexus 4 General] reissgrant:
Coming from Verizon
[Nexus 4 General] fredmanwalking:
Just got a Nexus 4 last Friday and activated it on the T-Mobile $30 prepaid plan. Drove around the city a little over the weekend to check out coverage. A real test will be this week when I have a funeral to attend in a different city and I'm going to a friend's cabin. I have to admit that I wasn't aware of the severe roaming restrictions on the prepaid plans when I made the leap to this phone and plan, but I'm not surprised that there is a "catch" for a plan this cheap. I'm in the 53711 zip code, so coverage here is pretty solid. Problem is that I camp and do outdoor activities a fair amount. Granted, I don't always need internet access at those times. I may need to get a hotspot with a different carrier if it becomes a major nuisance, since that could still be cheaper than using another carrier's phone plan overall.

I have a few questions for other users of this plan:

-When I check the signal on my phone, I'm getting 3G primarily, however the coverage map indicates that I should be getting 4G (HSPA+). My phone does occasionally hop on and off HSPA+, but it appears that my phone only stays on HSPA+ only when data service is being actively used. Is that normal?

-I've heard that the T-Mobile roaming coverage is improved when using a StraightTalk plan that rides on T-Mobile. Does anyone have experience with that? I'm nervous about StraightTalk because of how they've treated customers with regard to data use.

-I'm approaching my T-Mobile test with the expectation I could always change to a different prepaid plan or a postpaid plan if the $30 plan doesn't meet my needs, especially since they are all non-contract and I brought my own phone. I'm not porting my number quite yet. Has anyone here switched from the $30 plan to something else, even a different carrier, due to satisfaction with the plan?

Thanks for any insight into my above questions.