yashsingh1/xdaforums huggingface dataset:
[Nexus 4 General] clockcycle:
(re: straighttalk)

Both, although att did it the most with hardly any data use on my wife's iphone (300 mb total in 30 days). Now lately she gets "access denied" even trying to see her account on ST site and has to reboot to make it work again. Airplane toggle doesn't fix it. ST tmo was more lenient, I'm considering going back, if only for the unlimited calling, just the randomness and limiting of what you can do (or not do, youtube, upload pictures..)and getting data cut for the remainder of your service 'til your next renewal/refill sux..

If T-mobile offered a direct plan for $45-50 offering unlimited calls/text/data with 5gb data at 4G (old $70 plan) would be great. Even slightly less data at 4G with unlimited at 3G around that price would be awesome. Penetration on 4.2.2 has been great!
[Nexus 4 General] clintb:
At my girlfriend's apartment whom I've talked into going prepaid and away from the raping at&t is giving her. I'm envious of the signal strength since I get almost zip at my apartment.
[Nexus 4 General] clockcycle:
More the reason to hang out at your girlfriend's apartment more often, win win..
[Nexus 4 General] thebryceee:
I've used Groove IP on HSPA+ 42 and it wasn't always reliable. When some of you get an LTE signal, can you let us know how well it works on there. I'll switch back to T-Mobile's $30 prepaid if it works good. I'd rather use Groove IP cause I would be able to accept calls.

Sent from my Nexus 4
[Nexus 4 General] andy o:
You can try Talkatone. They use compression in the app. If you don't wanna see ads and get better quality, plus dynamic forwarding (which is really what sells it for me) then you can pay 20 bucks a year. There's a 2-week free trial.
[Nexus 4 General] thebryceee:
I've only tried the free version and it was fuzzy. Are you able to receive calls in the paid version?

Sent from my Nexus 4
[Nexus 4 General] andy o:
you can too in the free version. The concept is pretty much the same as groove IP. the fuzziness may be due to the codec's low bitrate. With the paid one you get a higher bitrate of the same Speex codec. Free 2-week trial.
[Nexus 4 General] RayLancer:
slickdeals.net/permadeal/89864/tmobile-free-tmobile-prepaid-phone-sim-card-activation-kit-regular-or-micro

Take advantage if you want free SIM cards or want to switch to T-Mobile.
[Nexus 4 General] graffixnyc:
So on feb 3rd I started using the $30 plan. My next payment/cycle is due on 3/3 I've used 4.9GB of data and 87 min of the 100. I'm thinking I'm going to upgrade to the fully unlimited $70 plan
[Nexus 4 General] sashusmom:
Try using wifi more, and if you go over your minutes they are only $0.10/min. Keep an extra $5 or so in your account to cover the extra minutes. If you can't stay under 5gb with more wifi, then upgrade to more expensive plan. :( Wifi is all over, give it a try. It might be worth it in the long run!;)
[Nexus 4 General] clockcycle:
I was here too, 4.89GB and 99mins. With 3 days to refill I was at 5.1GB 100mins...

---------- Post added at 08:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:39 PM ----------

I can't stay under 5GB, as it was my only source of internet on the road and home. So I had to spend $20/m more for internet at home. Also can't talk to anyone at length and REALLY screen my calls lol...
[Nexus 4 General] vickpick:
sheesh, how do you guys use so much data?
[Nexus 4 General] Vanhoud:
Pandora
[Nexus 4 General] sashusmom:
***************************

Prepaid sims free on tmobile site!!!!!!! Just picked up 2 micro sims.

Also, for anyone wanting phone accessories, there is a code for the tmobile site for 30% off- ACCOFFER18 .

Just picked up a pure tek roll on screensaver kit for the Note for $8.98- originally $25, on sale for $11 something, with 30% off> $9 (rounded up!)
[Nexus 4 General] vickpick:
Ah, I see
[Nexus 4 General] ahmadshawki:
They do offer exactly what you want. It's called GoSmart. It's T-Mobile own branded prepaid service.

https://www.gosmartmobile.com/
[Nexus 4 General] raiderep:
Good find, gotta love free :)
[Nexus 4 General] Valerianus:
Just a few questions:

1. Do incoming calls count against your 100-minute limit?

2. Is the data plan offer HSPA+ speeds for the first 5GB and unlimited data at 3G speeds?
[Nexus 4 General] derfnoslen:
1. Yes they do.

2. After the first 5gig is gone the rest is on 2g speed.
[Nexus 4 General] jeffmhasty:
Hey, I'm in Cincinnati, too. I haven't ever lost data on 2g, but streaming pandora or play music out in the country or on 71 is really slow. At my friend's apartment in Lebanon I was able to check facebook, although I did notice my bars go grey a couple times.
[Nexus 4 General] MrCapcom:
Ok so here is my usage

MINUTES 97 / 100

DATA 877.1 MB / Unlimited

Up to 5 GB full-speed data

Now at least 20 of my minutes was because my Mother In Law used my phone smh lol but I think I might do what sashusmom said and just keep a extra 5 or 10 dollars in my account. Still only leaving me with paying 40 dollars or so for my account monthly. My account renewal is on the 6th of March so I should be good.

Data I'm really surprised at beacuse I use my phone EVERYWHERE. But I will say I have full wifi on my whole property and at work and I think that helps. I use Instagram/Facebook/Google + I upload tons of photos to G+ but I have it setup that it only does instant upload when its charging and on WiFi so usualy thats me at home or at work. I play Jurrassic Park Builder which is online and I text all the time usually. Oh and I use Google Music ALOT but I usually just make a playlist and cache it locally for the trip and sometimes I use the streaming ability if I want to listen to another playlist

With Straight talk changing the plans for the ATT Sim card I think ill stay with T-Mobile and just put some extra minutes when needed. 5GB is pretty good on data since im always conneted to wifi. And I use Vonage to make phone calls going out when im in WiFi range. And just use regular minutes when I'm not near which is almost never.

Only thing I don't like about the Tmobile plan is that I can't forward calls to my Google Voice. But I forgot to mention you can download the Tmobile Voice Mail app for free and check ur Voicemails that way its just not all integrated like GV is
[Nexus 4 General] GavinMazey:
From what I've gathered tot can call tmobile and have your Voicemail removed and then gv voicemail will work. Might have to be using your gv# though.
[Nexus 4 General] graffixnyc:
That is with me using wifi all day at work and also at home :) It's mostly streaming google music when I'm commuting and don't have a wifi connection
[Nexus 4 General] sashusmom:
So what you have to decide- is $40/month more worth the google music streaming.
[Nexus 4 General] Mr Ian B:
Get a cheap iPod for ur commute, problem solved.

Ian B
[Nexus 4 General] RayLancer:
I'm using my Galaxy SII as a portable media player. 48GB of storage :laugh:
[Nexus 4 General] clockcycle:
Thanks. GoSmart is 2G with limited 3G, there's a thread here were I posted it's data limitations.

I'd like unlimited 3G with limited 4G 4-5gb for around $45-50 :) Want to avoid throttling to 2G/edge speeds.. (I had enough of that while on Sprint's "unlimited")..
[Nexus 4 General] sashusmom:
Good idea. I got an ipod shuffle look alike on ebay for less than $10, it uses a 4gb micro sd card- that should hold enough for a commute. Also saves your phone battery.

Good luck whatever you decide to do. If you have $$ to burn, go with the more expensive plan.
[Nexus 4 General] spania85:
Do you guys have any clue where else can I refill my plan without paying taxes? I do not trust anywhere else but callingmart, and they seem not to be taking my orders anymore. I've tried 3 times and got rejected all of them, with different paying methods. Thanks!
[Nexus 4 General] machostallion:
That is weird. I just placed in order for days ago using a credit card payment went through fine when I bought my T Mobile refill card. Try sending them an email or a tweet. They are usually pretty responsive.
[Nexus 4 General] sashusmom:
Me too! Got a $10 top up from calling mart with paypal. Couple days ago.
[Nexus 4 General] marsdta:
Last month I used the my account app and no taxes. Same when I bought a card at Walmart. I'm in california
[Nexus 4 General] baiju2012:
Try eBay. Search 'T-Mobile prepaid card'.

Sent from my Nexus 4
[Nexus 4 General] marsdta:
For those of you using Skype $3 subscription how do you compare it to Vonage? Currently using Vonage I'm not really satisfied with it. It works but it cuts in and out though that's probably due to my crappy DSL.
[Nexus 4 General] andy o:
I don't get charged taxes and I've always bought directly from t-mo. I just bought another 30 days yesterday. I'm in CA FWIW.
[Nexus 4 General] sashusmom:
Just a warning here. I just bought a $50 refill for $35 this week. The next morning I was refunded without any notice from the seller. I went to check their feedback (read the entries) scores and saw that he was using stolen credit cards. So I think Ebay shut him down and I was lucky to get my money back. Paypal does not protect you when you buy the classified ads. Most of the cards are sold this way. And the ones that are not are being sold for more than their face Value. I don't get why people would pay more than what the card is worth.

Sometimes you will even be forced to reimburse your carrier for a stolen credit card purchase. Buyer Beware.
[Nexus 4 General] vickpick:
Yeah, that's a CA thing. I get taxed here in NC, directly and at Walmart
[Nexus 4 General] cutterjohn:
Got my 16GB n4 today, and setup t-mo with this plan, $30 refill card to actually activate(callingmart) and then I experimented adding $10 via cc. I ended up having c. $0.80 in taxes applied. I'm in MI.

Already WAY beyond Sprint/VMUSA here... 10.6M/s down, 1.6 M/s up 66ms ping(speedtgest), same data rate but 183ms ping via opensignal. Best that I EVER got out of sprint was little better than ISDN rates and usually more like 56k dialup...

ATM I'm so happy that I added a second $30 fillup as well to cover another month. Just want to see how it goes for a month as I'm contemplating killing the landline(down for the entirety of last week, no dialtone, no power on the lines(multimeter) and this is the second time that it's happened here in the last few months, so I've had it with AT&T. (unfortunately with GSM phone they're the only other option is t-mo phails hard at some point in the next 2m for wireless...)
[Nexus 4 General] whahn1983:
Better than Vonage.
[Nexus 4 General] eiriklf:
Can anyone recommend an easy, safe way to get a prepaid/gift card that I can use in the T Mobile webstore?

Seems my non-US credit cards aren't good enough for T-mobile.

Also I am on T mobile prepaid atm., how likely is it that I will be able to transfer the number to the new account?
[Nexus 4 General] Hawksfan21:
Re: Skype

I have had no issues with voice quality but the app annoys me. Been using it for two months now and nobody has complained
[Nexus 4 General] acegolfer:
If your DSL is crappy, I doubt Skype will fix it.
[Nexus 4 General] whahn1983:
Yea I actually just use 3g at home with Skype. My internet is fast (around 20mb/s) and my Asus router is awesome but for some reason on regular intervals the data rate drops. It's unnoticeable for computers but for wifi calling it breaks up every like 10sec. Anyways long story short, skype works great on 3g so if your dsl sucks switch to data.
[Nexus 4 General] hp420:
I just activated mine this morning, and where I always lose my signal in cow-town on my sprint phone, I had a perfect signal and HSPA+ with my N4 :D THAT made me very happy....especially when the person I was with realized I had service and their sprint device didn't lmao
[Nexus 4 General] clintb:
If you live in a WiFi congested area, try changing channels on the router, or go to the 5 GHz band.
[Nexus 4 General] maigre:
I'm getting far more reliable service on Skype to phone calls than I am on Vonage to phone. Audio quality is fine on Vonage, but I get a lot of situations where the person on the phone end can't hear me. As an example, on a recent 45 minute or so call with me on Vonage and the other person on a land line, I must have been inaudible at least 20 different times. Plus, the call dropped once. My internet connections here were strong, both wifi and T-Mobile. Finally, not wanting to torture this person any longer, I called back using Skype and we spoke another 25 minutes without the slightest hiccup.

There are times when I get good results from Vonage, but there are too many when I don't. I've yet to have much trouble with Skype. This is only over a period of a couple of weeks, though.
[Nexus 4 General] baiju2012:
I tried Vonage and GV+GrooVe IP for about 3 months. Switched to Skype. It is better call quality, especially at the Receiver's end. If you get yearly plan for USA/Canada + Skype number, that comes to $60. It is 5 bucks a month. So, the bill with this plan is about 35 bucks a month for unlimited everything. No other plan can beat that. :)

Sent from my Nexus 4
[Nexus 4 General] acegolfer:
I wish the battery would last a full day on 3g with skype on.
[Nexus 4 General] gqukyo:
Sign up for an AMEX prepaid card, no monthly fees and no min balance. Tmo accepts AMEX cards.
[Nexus 4 General] maigre:
I've read a lot here about Skype draining battery. I've only recently started keeping logged into Skype all the time, but I'm pleasantly surprised that the battery hit isn't bad at all. Currently, it's 5% of usage with no particularly noticeable "real world" decline in how long my Nexus 4 holds a charge.

Are the concerns that it uses more battery while talking than other VOIP options or is it that having the process active all the time causes a big hit? Something else? I was expecting far worse than what I'm seeing. Maybe time will inform me otherwise, though.
[Nexus 4 General] acegolfer:
For the adventurous, there's a discussion on how to get the same skype call quality by using the silk codec that skype uses. See my sig.
[Nexus 4 General] joelshooty:
Can you receive internet calls using this setup?

---------- Post added at 01:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:44 PM ----------

I got it working... For some reason I had to change transport type from UDP to TCP to get incoming calls to work.
[Nexus 4 General] msg125:
If you can wait a few days, the cheapest way to activate this plan is...

order a sim card for .99

go to callingmart to get a refill and use code: gvng125 (good through 12/4)

when the sim arrives, activate online and enter the refill code to fund the account

Enter info when you activate or call tmobile to transfer your #...That's it

Watch your email or check SD for monthly codes from callingmart. It will only cost $28.50/mo with callingmart coupons.
[Nexus 4 General] goncalorob:
So i talked to a tmobile rep online. they have a deal going on right now until the end of the day where you can purchase a sim activation kit for .99c USD. Once you get that in the mail you can sign up on their website for service and port your number. one of those picks will be the 30 dollar plan. I think that will be the easiest unless you have a tmo store inyour area which I do not :(.

Robert Goncalo: I have a question about purchasing a sim card and a service that you offer on your website.

%Marray A: Hi Robert, it's great to know you're interested with our products and offers! I'll be happy to assist you with these inquiries. How can I help you with them today?

Robert Goncalo: I don't have tmobile service, I do have my own phone but i am interested in the 30 dollar plan you guys offer on your website. How can i purchase the activation kit and the 30 dollar plan from your site?

%Marray A: That's a good plan! Let me check these information you needed please.

Robert Goncalo: thank you

%Marray A: You're most welcome.

%Marray A: Alright, thank you for waiting. You can purchase the Monthly 4G activation kit through these link: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/T-Mobile-Prepaid-SIM-Activation-Kit

Robert Goncalo: ok and then how can i purchase the 30 dollar 100minute 5GB 4g data unlimited text plan

Robert Goncalo: from your site

Robert Goncalo: in the same transaction

%Marray A: As for the $30 Mo UL Web and Text: 5GB up to 4G speed, you can only get this rate plan by either purchasing a activation kit from Walmart or by activating the account online.

%Marray A: You can activate the account here and choose the $30 Mo UL Web and Text: 5GB up to 4G speed: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-activate

Robert Goncalo: ok, so i get the sim kit and then i can activate it online and get that plan?

%Marray A: That's correct, yes.

Robert Goncalo: awesome. I think that is all i needed then. thank you very much for your help

Robert Goncalo: how long is that 30 dollar monthly plan going on for?

Robert Goncalo: will I be able to still do it when i get my sim in the mail?

%Marray A: Let me check that information please.

Robert Goncalo: thank you

%Marray A: You're welcome.

Robert Goncalo: in addition to that (sorry for all the questions) can i port my number online as well?

%Marray A: Please be advised that the $30 Mo UL Web and Text: 5GB up to 4G speed is already a part of the Monthly 4G plans and since it's a good plan to offer to our customers, be rest assured that it would still be available for a long time.

--> http://www.t-mobile.com/switch/ <--- the link to find if you can port your number

^ or see above*

---------- Post added at 09:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:29 PM ----------

But whatever you do, if you live in Wisconsin DO NOT go to Airfire. Complete garbage fyi.... anyway tmobile yay
[Nexus 4 General] plee3:
Useful guide to the $30 T-Mobile plan

You can find answers to many of your questions in the Galaxy Nexus forum for using this $30 T-Mobile plan from the following thread:

http://xdaforums.com/showthread.php?t=1646755

Hope this helps... plee3
[Nexus 4 General] Misfit77:
What do you mean by "transfer the settings"? I currently have a googletalk/pbxes/sipdroid set up but i still have sipdroid installed.

Update: Okay so I am not crazy. I had a found a setting in Android for "Internet Calling" but I can not find it again anywhere and Google is giving me nothing.

Update 2: I found it, you have to menu/settings from the dialer...:/. They really need to add that to the actual main settings.
[Nexus 4 General] andy o:
I bought it like a year ago when I was trying out the GV apps. Not worth it. They just fixed the battery problem in a very recent build (apparently the CPU was not being put into idle). Because of this I did not use it all that time. The interface is very similar to groove IP and groove IP has more options. And by the way, they just came out with another "Spare Phone 5" app which you have to pay again for, and which includes features already included in Groove IP.

___________

A thing to consider about these GV apps is that if you're forwarding also to your cell number then the dialer will take over and you won't be able to access the GV app's incoming call screen. The only apps I know that work around this are Groove IP and Talkatone. Groove does it by taking over the screen a second time, and Talkatone can only do it with the paid subscription version, by dynamically disabling forwarding when it's logged in.
[Nexus 4 General] acegolfer:
Thanks. Tons of information there. After research, here's what I settled for my VOIP solution.

1. Google Voice

2. PBXes.org

3. Sipdroid using speex codec (disabled other codecs).

Results:

Sipdroid becomes default phone to make outgoing free calls. (Make sure you see the green dot in the notification bar)

Incoming calls ring Sipdroid first and then T-mo phone. If neither answers, then GV voicemail answers.

Call quality: Acceptable.
[Nexus 4 General] digweed4me:
I have a tmobile monthly 4g plan and I am planning to get straight talk too so my question can I just swap the simcard and it will work when I put straifht talk sim or reenter APN settings?
[Nexus 4 General] andy o:
Can you control how long will Sipdroid ring before the phone's dialer takes over (and doesn't let you answer VoIP anymore)?
[Nexus 4 General] Misfit77:
I'm curious why enable the speex codec exclusively?
[Nexus 4 General] acegolfer:
I asked the same question but found I have zero control over the ring time. It rings for 10-15 seconds.

---------- Post added at 06:41 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:38 PM ----------

It's the most error tolerant codec. Handles packet loss well.
[Nexus 4 General] intern:
I'm going to be out of the country for a month, and I was going to not pay for the month I was away, are you saying that if I do this, I'll lose the plan?
[Nexus 4 General] gagdude:
I think its if you stop paying for 60 days you will lose the plan
[Nexus 4 General] illek46:
Will you PLEASE quit posting on subjects you know NOTHING about!! The Vonage App does NOT USE CELLULAR MINUTES! It uses your data plan just like Talkatone, GrooveIP, etc.. When people say "it uses your phone number", they mean it sends your phone number as the Caller ID not that it literally uses your phone!
[Nexus 4 General] Vivix729:
I found cSipSimple to be superior to SipDroid, especially with the Opus codec.
[Nexus 4 General] andy o:
All this talk about codecs, do these apps do the transcoding on the phone?
[Nexus 4 General] muyoso:
I am fairly certain that the 15 second ring time limit is a consequence of Google Voice and the VOIP provider failing at a handshake on initiating the call. Google has a 15 second limit on the handshake, and for some stupid reason, it seems like most VOIP providers initiate the handshake the instant they intercept a call, instead of waiting for the user to actually answer. This limits you to 15 seconds or less to pick up your phone.

---------- Post added at 11:24 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:20 PM ----------

Does Google Voice support the Opus codec? Not listed here:

https://developers.google.com/talk/open_communications#codecs
[Nexus 4 General] cphancock1:
best voip

first vonage and groove ip do not use your minutes. Ive been using them with the walmart 5gb tmobile plan for about 6 months. On sprint i was using grooveip and it was great because they let you port forward your number. That means you can keep the same number you have on your cell service and make and recieve calls using only data. This tmobile plan doesnt let you port forward so you have to pick a new number. I called and asked and begged and tried and they just wont allow it. Another Problem for me is that I live in Hawaii and grooveip doesnt have any numbers with an 808 area code so I had to use a california number. But you can make and recieve calls using only data (or better yet wifi) keeping your minutes for when you really do need them. It is really bad sometimes though when using cell data. Vonage though has a special promotion for an unspecified time (read the product description in the play store) that allows 3000 free minutes a month. They do not use any of your cell minutes, only data. Best thing is that they just spoof your number on the caller id so people who recieve calls see your normal number. Groove ip is great if you live in an area that they have a local number for you to pick. otherwise to just make calls but not recieve vonage is amazing, for now at least

forgot to mention I also use both of these to make calls on my tablet at home... haha looks funny but if its closer than the phone it works fine
[Nexus 4 General] PATRICKismyHERO:
This is exactly the phone and plan I intend to use in the future, just a few quick question though.

What's considered fast speed? 20 mbits down?

And how would I go about activating this plan, is it a simple order micro sim card from tmobile and activate online?
[Nexus 4 General] intern:
I get 14 or so down with good signal. It depends on where you are and how to mobile is in your area.

As for getting the plan, yes, just buy a sim online and activate online. Takes about 15 minutes.
[Nexus 4 General] baiju2012:
I don't know but I am not seeing that much battery drain. Anyways, having an extra charger or two is not a big deal. I have two at home, one in the car and one in office. Covered.:)

Sent from my Nexus 4