Wating to try out T mobile prepaid. Questions.

**RavenSword** · 03-11-2013, 08:41 PM

Hey guys, I'm giving a ton of consideration to trying out T mobiles 30 dollar unlimited data and the text with 100 talk minutes per month plan,

I'm thinking of trying this out before a use right now I'm on my parents plan. I pay 40 a month for unlimited talk and text and only about a data pool of 3GB that I personally get to use.

I can honestly count on two hands how often I actually call someone as opposed to just texting them, so I really have no use for unlimited talk. And the T mobile plans unlimited data and supposed faster hspa speeds are very enticing.

but had some questions using it with my nexus 4.

1. Can I really only get this through Walmart or on T mobile . com?

2. Can I just try this for a month to see if I like it? Without issues with att?

3. Is T mobile hspa better than att?

4. Is there disadvantages with a pre paid plan when it comes to support and service?

**Qbancelli** · 03-11-2013, 09:44 PM

1- Buy the Tmobile prepaid kit from Amazon and follow instructions.
2- Yes
3- Yes
4- No

Amazon.com: T-Mobile USA (Tmobile T Mobile) SIM Card and Prepaid Activation Kit: Cell Phones & Accessories

**Channan** · 03-11-2013, 10:22 PM

1. You can get the SIM card activation kit on T-Mobile's website for free. Once you have that, the online plan is just paying for it online with a credit card and then activating your line.

3. It's faster than AT&T's HSPA+ but not their LTE obviously. It's also not as widespread as AT&T's HSPA+, but if you have it in your area, it's probably faster.

4. IIRC, you don't get roaming on prepaid lines.

**planoman** · 03-11-2013, 10:33 PM

Can you use this if you do not want to port your number over? I have a Note 2 on ATT post paid and I want to keep it but can i get this SIM and plan for my Nexus 4 and get a new phone number just for the Nexus? We have good Tmobile in my area and want to see if the speeds are that much better than ATT HSPA+

**jdbii** · 03-11-2013, 11:31 PM

1. You can get it on Tmo website for 99 cent. It can take forever for them to ship it. They shipped mine within 24 hours, and estimated arrival 5-8 business days. It took the FULL 8 BUSINESS days, so it was like two fracking weeks. Pay the $12 or $15 for expedited shipping. That way you can track it too.
2. Yes
3. Yes, but AT&T network is more extensive, and I get terrible reception with Tmo indoors. Personally, I would choose AT&T if I could. I heard somewhere that AT&T operates on lower frequency than Tmo and lower frequencies penetrate indoors better. Also, with Tmo it doesn't seem like I get hspa all that often. I am usually at 3G. Speed isn't really that important to me anyway. I am more interested in consistency and it bugs me that Tmo bounces between hspa and 3G and I have bad reception indoors. Maybe AT&T would be the same.
4. Don't know.

**RavenSword** · 03-12-2013, 12:47 AM

Well, after some headache I finally got the unlimited data and text with 100min talk going.

What should be my usual download and upload speeds be? I think I got 5mbs down when i did a speediest app test.

Ill see how coverage is for me over the next month. If it worse than att, ill just not refill the account. No harm, no foul.

I will say though that my bars are a little spotty in my house. But I think att was the same way

**RavenSword** · 03-12-2013, 12:49 AM

Originally Posted by planoman

Can you use this if you do not want to port your number over? I have a Note 2 on ATT post paid and I want to keep it but can i get this SIM and plan for my Nexus 4 and get a new phone number just for the Nexus? We have good Tmobile in my area and want to see if the speeds are that much better than ATT HSPA+

Yeah, that's what I did because I didn't want to cancel my AT&T account.

**RavenSword** · 03-12-2013, 01:40 AM

Also, I might have gotten hosed. I apid 20 bucks to get a SIM card at the tmobile store :P I assume a sim card is a sim card and this will function correctly.

**NexusGirlX** · 03-12-2013, 02:03 AM

Originally Posted by RavenSword

Also, I might have gotten hosed. I apid 20 bucks to get a SIM card at the tmobile store :P I assume a sim card is a sim card and this will function correctly.

I tried getting a sim card at the T-mobile store a few weeks ago so I could activate my Nexus 7 with it. They refused to give me one. I went online and ordered two, one for the Nexus 7 and one for my Nexus 4. Got them both activated on prepaid now. Yes, any T-Mobile micro sim will work as long as you get the whole package with the activation code.

**RavenSword** · 03-12-2013, 02:46 AM

Originally Posted by NexusGirlX

I tried getting a sim card at the T-mobile store a few weeks ago so I could activate my Nexus 7 with it. They refused to give me one. I went online and ordered two, one for the Nexus 7 and one for my Nexus 4. Got them both activated on prepaid now. Yes, any T-Mobile micro sim will work as long as you get the whole package with the activation code.

Well, I assume I did everything correct because I'm getting a signal. Just wanted to make sure Im Getting the correct single or whatever.

**NexusGirlX** · 03-12-2013, 03:00 AM

Originally Posted by RavenSword

Well, I assume I did everything correct because I'm getting a signal. Just wanted to make sure Im Getting the correct single or whatever.

Sounds like you did. There really isn't a way to mess it up unless you had typed in a wrong number or something along the way. Download the speedtest.net app also. As long as you can make calls and get SMS/MMS and use the net, everything is working.

**RavenSword** · 03-12-2013, 03:49 AM

Originally Posted by NexusGirlX

Sounds like you did. There really isn't a way to mess it up unless you had typed in a wrong number or something along the way. Download the speedtest.net app also. As long as you can make calls and get SMS/MMS and use the net, everything is working.

I was just paranoid about the Sim card not registering properly because I jammed it in or whatever. I don't think I did though

**greydarrah** · 03-12-2013, 11:09 AM

Originally Posted by RavenSword

I was just paranoid about the Sim card not registering properly because I jammed it in or whatever. I don't think I did though

It either works or it doesn't. If you can make a call and browse the web, your good to go. As long as you have a decent signal, tmo H+ is usually 2 to 3 times faster than att H+. On speedtest.net, I get about 9 to 20 mb/sec on the download side.

**jdbii** · 03-12-2013, 11:13 AM

Originally Posted by RavenSword

I was just paranoid about the Sim card not registering properly because I jammed it in or whatever. I don't think I did though

I sort of thought I jammed mine too. It didn't fit properly, or I sort of forced shut the tray, or whatever, but everything was fine.

**greydarrah** · 03-12-2013, 11:20 AM

Originally Posted by planoman

Can you use this if you do not want to port your number over? I have a Note 2 on ATT post paid and I want to keep it but can i get this SIM and plan for my Nexus 4 and get a new phone number just for the Nexus? We have good Tmobile in my area and want to see if the speeds are that much better than ATT HSPA+

Do it Texan! As I told the OP, I've run both att and tmo where I live, both having a good signal. The att got from 3 to 6 mb/sec and the tmo gets 9 to 20. If the phone number you have on your Note is not super important to you, you could even get a Google Vocie number (or port the one you have to GV) and then forward all calls to either your Note or your N4 to the GV number and have that number ring on either one of your phones, or on both of them. The only downside to using GV is no MMS, but you can always email pictures.

**planoman** · 03-12-2013, 04:58 PM

Originally Posted by greydarrah

Do it Texan! As I told the OP, I've run both att and tmo where I live, both having a good signal. The att got from 3 to 6 mb/sec and the tmo gets 9 to 20. If the phone number you have on your Note is not super important to you, you could even get a Google Vocie number (or port the one you have to GV) and then forward all calls to either your Note or your N4 to the GV number and have that number ring on either one of your phones, or on both of them. The only downside to using GV is no MMS, but you can always email pictures.

Thanks! My mife is on TMO and gets good speeds where we live on her S3. Not the same as ATT LTE but better than my N4 on ATT HSPA+. I do have a Google voice number from back before you could port the number. Good info. Thanks Greydarrah, I will have to look at this closer. Not that switching SIMS is a big deal but I wanted to see the difference in speed.

**CoMoNexus** · 03-12-2013, 09:46 PM

Originally Posted by RavenSword

I can honestly count on two hands how often I actually call someone as opposed to just texting them, so I really have no use for unlimited talk.

That's part of the reason why I switched from Sprint to the TMO plan you're considering.

Given your use case, I recommend trying it. If you do, make sure you spend that first month going all of the places where you need data access. I've had this plan for about three weeks, and I quickly found that although HSPA coverage and speeds are pretty good where I live, EDGE and even GPRS are my only options outside of town. Many small towns, rural areas and interstate stretches where I had 3G with Sprint I have only EDGE or GPRS with TMO -- and in some cases, no coverage at all. I'm willing to put up with that because I have HSPA where I spend most of my time, whereas with Sprint 3G, I rarely got above 130 kbps anywhere.

**Unicorn Rancher** · 03-13-2013, 05:49 PM

On the $30 100 minute plan, what's the per minute charge if you go over? I couldn't find it on the tmo website. (I found the plan, but not the overage details.)

Or is it a hard stop at 100 minutes, and you need to pay thirty dolla to reset it and start a new cycle? (Or live without voice until the next cycle starts naturally.)

**runtmms** · 03-14-2013, 12:19 AM

Originally Posted by Unicorn Rancher

On the $30 100 minute plan, what's the per minute charge if you go over? I couldn't find it on the tmo website. (I found the plan, but not the overage details.)

Or is it a hard stop at 100 minutes, and you need to pay thirty dolla to reset it and start a new cycle? (Or live without voice until the next cycle starts naturally.)

I asked this question on T-Mobile's chat support when I was considering this plan and was told 10¢ per minute. I don't know how you add/manage those extra minutes.

Sent from my Nexus 4 on Solavei

**Unicorn Rancher** · 03-14-2013, 09:48 AM

Originally Posted by runtmms

I asked this question on T-Mobile's chat support when I was considering this plan and was told 10¢ per minute. I don't know how you add/manage those extra minutes.

Thanks. That's not bad, for my usage patterns. I typically run through 60-90 minutes per month, but once or twice a year I might do 120-180 in a month. I haven't pulled the trigger yet on a Nexus 4 but if I do, this plan is the most attractive to me for obvious reasons. If I can throw an extra $10 balance on the account to cover overages, that would make the transition pretty painless from my flip phone.

**runtmms** · 03-14-2013, 10:06 AM

Originally Posted by Unicorn Rancher

... that would make the transition pretty painless from my flip phone.

I thought my husband and I were the only ones... We left flip phones and Sprint for Nexus 4's at the beginning of the year. There's no going back!

Sent from my Nexus 4 on Solavei

**NotJustAPhone** · 03-14-2013, 10:19 AM

Originally Posted by Unicorn Rancher

On the $30 100 minute plan, what's the per minute charge if you go over? I couldn't find it on the tmo website. (I found the plan, but not the overage details.)

Or is it a hard stop at 100 minutes, and you need to pay thirty dolla to reset it and start a new cycle? (Or live without voice until the next cycle starts naturally.)

It's 10 cents per minute if you go over 100 minutes. Once you hit 100 minutes, you can continue using voice as long as you have funds in your account. I keep a few extra bucks in my T-Mobile account so I can keep voice service working when I've needed to use more than 100 minutes in a cycle.

Sent from my Galaxy Note II

**CoMoNexus** · 03-14-2013, 10:20 AM

Originally Posted by runtmms

I asked this question on T-Mobile's chat support when I was considering this plan and was told 10¢ per minute. I don't know how you add/manage those extra minutes.

If you gave TMO a credit card so your account is automatically topped up every month, the system probably would use that to charge for the additional minutes.