Perhaps a noob question, but I've always had subsidized phone through ATT. My wife and I have a family plan, and both have legacy unlimited data plans which we don't want to lose. If I have no interest in changing my data or voice plan, is there any financial reason to buy an unlocked phone? Obviously, when I buy a subsidized phone, in theory, a portion of my monthly payment goes towards paying the subsidized portion of my phone. If I purchase the Nexus 4, can I save money with my plan or is it simply what it is unless I go with another plan?
Plan question using this phone on ATT
- Thread starter psufan32
- Start date
Woosh
Well-known member
Grandfathered plans don't apply to the subsidy prices....You are paying less than what a normal person right now would get and more features. But no, the only carrier that allows for cheaper plans without subsidy is T-Mobile. AT&T will not give you a cheaper plan for not getting subsidy. But you could always use subsidy on a phone to sell and get the N4.
Andrew Martonik
Well-known member
AT&T doesn't offer any monthly reduction in rates if you bring your own phone.
So no, there's no financial incentive for you to buy unlocked, especially if you're "ok" staying in a contract. The only incentive you have buying unlocked is to get devices that AT&T doesn't offer (like the Nexus 4), and to get devices that don't have carrier bloat or customized firmware.
So no, there's no financial incentive for you to buy unlocked, especially if you're "ok" staying in a contract. The only incentive you have buying unlocked is to get devices that AT&T doesn't offer (like the Nexus 4), and to get devices that don't have carrier bloat or customized firmware.
So could I still buy the N4 from Play Store and use it on the regular AT&T network, just buying plan/data? The front news story here had an article about using the N4 on the Straight Talk/AT&T network, but I still don't get why I have to use Straight Talk, other than to get the cheapest/try out monthly plan? If that's it, then I'm fine with regular AT&T, as I get a corp discount on AT&T plans and accessories.
Andrew Martonik
Well-known member
Yes you can. If you don't buy a texting plan (like if you use Google Voice), I think the lowest you can pay on AT&T with a decent amount of data is $70 (+ taxes and fees) for 450min and 3GB of data. They'll sell you this plan with just a SIM and won't even put you a contract. It may take a while because they really wanna get you on a 2-year, but they definitely will do it.
You don't have to choose a specific carrier to use the Nexus 4. That article is simply pointing out that for people who want to give the Nexus 4 (or any GSM handset) a try on AT&T, the cheapest and easiest way to get that is to go with Straight Talk. Even if you go without a texting plan on your AT&T account (noted above), you'd have to have a corporate discount of about 50% to get down to the price of Straight Talk, and you wouldn't have SMS/MMS or unlimited talk. (Good to remember that corp. discounts don't apply to taxes and fees, which are a good $10-$15/month on a postpaid plan.)
Another n00b question since this thread already exists. Coming from an S3 on AT&T is there anything that I need to change with my account or can I buy this phone from Google Play pop the sim card in, and call it a day? I'm not fond of the lack of Micro SD expansion, and no LTE but at $300 unlocked for a Nexus device it's too good of a deal to pass up.
Woosh
Well-known member
Pop in your sim card and call it a day. The only thing you may need to change is APN settings for MMS to work.
Andrew Martonik
Well-known member
You should be able to pop your SIM in and go, but AT&T is really wonky about needing the proper provisioning of the SIM for the type of device you have. You may have to call and tell them you're switching to a device that is just HSPA+ and not LTE.
tlo07
Well-known member
The nice thing about the Nexus 4 will be NO AT&T bloatware on your phone. Plus, you will have your upgrade sitting there available in case you ever needed it.
I am pretty sure I am going to get that 450 min + 3GB plan with unlimited text and get a contract to get a new iphone 5 or s3. I am going use my roommates spare s3 until i get my nexus 4 and then sell the iphone 5 / s3 on ebay new and recoup the cost of my nexus + some spare change. 
i want to make more $ with the iphone 5, but it seems that ATT has diff data plans with the iphone compared to android devices and it also comes with a nano sim instead of a micro. I also dont want to support apple because I strait up hate them. Looks like im going with s3!
i want to make more $ with the iphone 5, but it seems that ATT has diff data plans with the iphone compared to android devices and it also comes with a nano sim instead of a micro. I also dont want to support apple because I strait up hate them. Looks like im going with s3!
I just spoke to an AT&T representative and he thinks, I will not able to get the most out if I buy a Nexus 4 because maybe the download and data speeds will not be as fast.
I saw that this thread agreed on just popping in the sim card into the unlocked Nexus. Am I going to get the most out of the Nexus 4 with AT&T?
Thank you,
Ricardo:-\:-\:-\
I saw that this thread agreed on just popping in the sim card into the unlocked Nexus. Am I going to get the most out of the Nexus 4 with AT&T?
Thank you,
Ricardo:-\
:-\:-\
Woosh
Well-known member
I just spoke to an AT&T representative and he thinks, I will not able to get the most out if I buy a Nexus 4 because maybe the download and data speeds will not be as fast.
I saw that this thread agreed on just popping in the sim card into the unlocked Nexus. Am I going to get the most out of the Nexus 4 with AT&T?
Thank you,
Ricardo:-\
No
Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2
The definitive answer is "maybe".
It depends on how strong the LTE and HSPA signals are in the specific location you're standing when you use the phone. Theoretically, if you get a strong, clear LTE signal it'll be faster than the HSPA signal that the Nexus uses. But in real life it all depends on towers and geography and where you use the phone the most. It's entirely possible that there isn't even LTE service in your town!
Andrew Martonik
Well-known member
Hi Everyone,
Thank you for your comments. In my area there is no LTE. According to the AT&T coverage map, I have '4G HSPA+ network with enhanced backhaul.' I am skeptical of getting the Nexus 4 and then putting it on the AT&T network. This is because I recently moved my old Blackberry Torch to T-Mobile for like a about a day and even though this BB can handle 3g speeds, T-mobile could only give it up to 2G speeds (which sucked, pardon my french). Anyhow, I want to get the Nexus 4, I just don't want to get jibbed because maybe the phone cannot perform like it should due to the fact that it's not a designated AT&T phone.
Thank you again.
Thank you for your comments. In my area there is no LTE. According to the AT&T coverage map, I have '4G HSPA+ network with enhanced backhaul.' I am skeptical of getting the Nexus 4 and then putting it on the AT&T network. This is because I recently moved my old Blackberry Torch to T-Mobile for like a about a day and even though this BB can handle 3g speeds, T-mobile could only give it up to 2G speeds (which sucked, pardon my french). Anyhow, I want to get the Nexus 4, I just don't want to get jibbed because maybe the phone cannot perform like it should due to the fact that it's not a designated AT&T phone.
Thank you again.
Andrew Martonik
Well-known member
HSPA+ is HSPA+. It'll perform just as well as any other device with an HSPA+ radio.
The reason why your Torch only got 2G on T-Mobile is that AT&T and T-Mobile use different frequencies for 3G, but share the same frequencies for 2G.
The nexus 4 and Galaxy nexus are pentaband HSPA, with frequencies for any GSM carrier in the world. Nothing to worry about.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums
I just spoke to an AT&T representative and he thinks, I will not able to get the most out if I buy a Nexus 4 because maybe the download and data speeds will not be as fast.
I saw that this thread agreed on just popping in the sim card into the unlocked Nexus. Am I going to get the most out of the Nexus 4 with AT&T?
Thank you,
Ricardo:-\
It all depends on your area people always say tmobile is faster but where I live I've seen my brothers gnex get up to 15mbps on at&t and that's good speed to me and at&t has better coverage
Sent from my PC36100 using Android Central Forums
no straight talk required that's just for people who don't want plans (pre paid) so yes it works on at&t bands for hspa+ data speeds (no lte) and you just pay the same price for your plan you'll get a nexus device and updates updated from Google directly the only thing that's going to suck is 16 gigs of storage and no SD card but if you can live with that then go for it bro
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