Straight Talk and LTE on AT&T SIM with the Nexus 5 is sweet

Garconis

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There are 3 Straight Talk AT&T APNs:

  1. tfdata
  2. att.mvno
  3. wap.tracfone
Be sure to try all of them if you haven't already. My wife finally got it on the 3rd one.

I've tried all of those APNs and #2 and #3 don't give me service. #1 gives me LTE, but data seems to be pretty sporadic. Any time I send myself a test email from my other account on a PC, my phone Gmail account isn't getting it. And when I manually check for it, it just keeps refreshing. I just backed out of gmail, and then went back in on the phone, and now it finally appeared. Not sure why it's not sending me a notification right away. No problems with using WiFi obviously.
 

mstrhnky

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the last setting worked for me (APN: wap.tracfone) with the rest of OP's settings. Now I'm getting mobile data, but still no mms send/receive. baby steps...
 

Garconis

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the last setting worked for me (APN: wap.tracfone) with the rest of OP's settings. Now I'm getting mobile data, but still no mms send/receive. baby steps...

I've ported my number to Google Voice, so I use that for everything. I wish Voice supported MMS. And I totally wish Hangouts fully supported Voice numbers (right now you can't send a text with your Voice number when using Hangouts). It'll come through as your actual SIM/carrier number. But that's a different topic I suppose, and not related to your issue.
 

Garconis

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Is this APN working for everyone? I'm having data issues with syncing to Google services. I'll randomly lose internet connection and when I pull down my quick settings, the bars are orange. Then minutes later I'll finally get a bunch of emails and/or hangouts. I've ready threads in Google's forum with the same issue. Wasn't sure if it's an APN issue or a SIM card issue. Hopefully not a hardware issue.
 

motoxtremist

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@Garconis I'm having the same issue as you having just switched from an old StraightTalk sim to a new StraightTalk sim (to get AT&t LTE). I've tried numerous settings and been following a thread in google prod forums https://productforums.google.com/forum/#!topic/nexus/saOjkcCsPSo and I have found no resolution yet. I'm on a stock Nexus 5 running the latest version of Kitkat.

EDIT: I see you're following that forum as well. Did you or Danny B ever find a solution?? Driving me nuts. I don't want to go back to the old ST sim because I'll lose LTE ...but at least my gmail messages would show up and notify me when the phone is asleep.
 

Garconis

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I had straight talk send me a new SIM card incase the original one they sent me was defective. The new one had the same issues. Sure, it's possible that the new one was also bad...but I wasn't going to try for a third time. Since their customer support was horrible, and pretty much all of the ST SIM cards on eBay now are the new ones, I wasn't able to get my hands on one of their old SIM cards to test. But judging by what you say, that would probably fix it...but then, yea, you'd lose LTE.

I actually ended up switching to T-Mobile ($30 for 100 minutes, unlimited text [doesn't matter to me since I use Voice for text...and Hangouts for everything else)], and 5GB of LTE data). The problems have gone away since switching to T-Mobile (only been a day so far...but it looks promising). Coverage isn't as good as AT&T in my area, but I'm getting LTE where I need it.
 

motoxtremist

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Thanks for the reply. At least we know now that it isn't a hardware issue. I actually have another sim coming from StraightTalk after 5 calls to customer service and numerous clueless reps walking me through apn settings, telling me that its a phone issue, etc. I don't expect the new sim to solve the problem. Just glad I hung onto the old Sim because I'm most-likely going back to that and losing LTE. I have to stick with ATT due to better coverage in my area. For what its worth, all the reps did ask me the phone model. So maybe if enough people call they will work out the issue.

Let me know if you hear of a solution and I'll do the same on this forum. Thanks!
 

motoxtremist

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Got my new Straight Talk AT&T compatible SIM card yesterday and nothing has changed with the sync issues. I'm still having problems with data. Data just stops working at times - especially when the screen sleeps. Gmails regularly arrive 20-30 minutes late or sometimes not until I turn on the screen, go into the gmail app and swipe down for it to update. From what I'm reading around the web this issue is not isolated to the Nexus line. Other devices are having serious lag and data outages when syncing with Google services on both cellular and wifi data connections. This is my first Nexus phone - wanting to run as close to the metal as possible with vanilla Android after numerous crap-ware laden Android phones and I can say that many of them somehow performed better. I can't believe Google can't make their software work flawlessly with their developer-edition phone and their own operating system. Pathetic!
 

rtshoff

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Will the new LTE sims from straight talk work with the MOTO G or Nexus 4? I know that neither of those phones have LTE capability, but will the sim simply provide the regular HSPA data coverage?

Yes, because even if AT&T aren't announcing it yet, you could be in a new LTE area or just near a really good tower. If you try the Sensorly or OpenSignal app it will show much more accurate results for where ever you go/are than the carrier's maps.

Edit: I didn't clearly address what you were saying except for yes, it's possible. :)



Will the new LTE sims from straight talk work with the MOTO G or Nexus 4? I know that neither of those phones have LTE capability, but will the sim simply provide the regular HSPA data coverage?



Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2
 
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bamaboy_314

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I'm having issues with my Nexus 5 while using the Straight Talk AT&T sim card. Speedtests show that the download/upload speeds are great (24Mbps/8Mbps), but when browsing on the web or streaming media, it performs poorly. In fact, my wifi performs better (7Mbps.down/6Mbps.up). I'm not sure what the issue is.. I am using the APN settings at the top and I have NOT exceeded the data cap..

Can somebody PLEASE help?
 

mrsmumbles

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I'm having issues with my Nexus 5 while using the Straight Talk AT&T sim card. Speedtests show that the download/upload speeds are great (24Mbps/8Mbps), but when browsing on the web or streaming media, it performs poorly. In fact, my wifi performs better (7Mbps.down/6Mbps.up). I'm not sure what the issue is.. I am using the APN settings at the top and I have NOT exceeded the data cap..

Can somebody PLEASE help?

How high are your pings? I've heard that can effect how fast the data really can perform. High pings (200+) can indicate slower real speeds, but I could be wrong about this.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2
 

mrsmumbles

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My ping is averaging at 100.

Try shutting off the phone and removing the sim. Blow out the sim tray slot as well as you can and then put it back in, and see if that helps at all. Your ping isn't spectacular, but it's not that bad either. (On Aio my pings are much higher and I read that's because the servers are far away.) :/

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2
 

mrsmumbles

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Yes, as I read more about ST I found that high pings are normal for them. Some people get better speeds than others, but they purposely slow down the start of every data request the phone makes, like when you open a web page. Cricket is similar, apparently.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2
 

xxjoStaxx

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I just got a Nexus 5 and bought a ST setup kit. Using the AT&T SIM, and the APN settings shown Everywhere (tfdata and have tried Many others) on the web, I still only have HSPA service. Nothing but an "H" showing up next to my service bars. My brother had an S2 on ST and it had constant H+ at all times, but after 3 days with this phone and various APN settings, no dice for me. My SMS and MMS are working just fine, as is everything else. Just can't understand how or why I'm only getting HSPA service in the same house where my brother had HSPA+ on an S2! I've run speed tests on my N5, and its downloading at around 10-12mbps, uploading around 3-4mbps. There should at the very least (I know I prob won't get LTE where I live) be H+ service on my phone! Can anyone help or point me in the right direction?!? And yes, I'm positive everything is correct in the APN settings, I've followed all the steps and suggestions I've found online so far. This is really starting to annoy me!!

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Ed Briggs

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I'm dumping ST for Black Wireless(ATT) in a few days. Since I'm around wifi most of the time, I don't need much data. I'll be paying $30 a month for unlimited talk/text and 500mb data.
 

mrsmumbles

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I'm dumping ST for Black Wireless(ATT) in a few days. Since I'm around wifi most of the time, I don't need much data. I'll be paying $30 a month for unlimited talk/text and 500mb data.

Why not h2o? That's the same plan for $27/month with auto pay discount.