Switched Nexus 4 to GoPhone, Horrible Data Speeds

[Jeff Deel]

Greetings everyone. Long time reader, first time poster. As much as I love my Nexus 4, I haven't really been liking T-Mobile any more than I did when I was with them 10 years ago. I was getting excellent service at home, it just fell apart whenever I left. After reading about the new plans on this site, I decided to go visit the AT&T store to give the new GoPhone plan a try. So far I'm much happier with the coverage I'm getting, but my data speed has taken quite a hit. (I should also note that I'm based in Denver, CO)

Now the interesting part is that I ran a speed test while I was still in the store (not on Wi-Fi) and I got 9.5 down and 1.5 up. Ever since then, I've been getting 800k-1.5 down and 300-800k up. I've tried this 5 times in different areas of town with consistent results. Also, my phone is only showing me on HSPA, not "+". Well, I should say it wasn't. I edited my APN and added "hipri" to my "APN Type" and when I check it under "Phone Status", HSPA+ shows for a couple seconds, then the "+" disappears. And there's no change in speed after that, so I don't think it's switching for power conservation.

I've spent quite a few hours since last night searching around every forum post I can find (while filtering through old information and pointless nerd fights), and from everything I can find, I have the proper APN settings to get HSPA+ on AT&T. I've read that some people claim to have called in and had their account changed to HSPA+ only, and then I've read other people who call BS on that. I've also read a theory that it could be the SIM card, and the solution is to go back to the store and get the SIM for the iPhone 4 (since it won't be LTE), and yet again I've read other people call BS on that as well and claim that all that's needed are proper APN settings... which I appear to have as well.

I really want AT&T to work for me, and I know I won't see as fast of speeds as I did on T-Mobile, but I need better than ancient DSL speed. I've read enough success stories of people getting 9-12 down for me to think that it's fixable, I just don't want to end up wasting even more hours dealing with customer support or driving down to the store if the SIM actually has nothing to do with it. I would greatly appreciate any help or insights anyone may have into helping me get my data speed up to par. I'm about at the end of my rope and considering the guy at AT&T was totally clueless about the Nexus, I fear going back to the store may be a fruitless venture... Thanks in advance!

 

[Lclm18choir]

It sounds like your APN settings are incorrect. Can you post your settings?

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Jeff Deel]

Name: ATT Phone
APN: phone
Proxy: Not set
Port: Not set
Username: Not set
Password: Not set
Server: Not set
MMSC: http://mmsc.mobile.att.net
MMS proxy: proxy.mobile.att.net
MMS port: Not set
MCC: 310
MNC: 410
Authentication type: Not set
APN type: default,supl,mms,hipri
APN protocol: IPv4
APN roaming protocol: IPv4
Bearer: Unspecified
MVNO type: None

 

[Lclm18choir]

Yeah. That appears to be correct. I consistently get much higher speeds than your experiencing. Sorry I can't be more of help. Any others with similar issues?

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Scott7217]

So far I'm much happier with the coverage I'm getting, but my data speed has taken quite a hit. (I should also note that I'm based in Denver, CO)

Denver definitely has GoPhone coverage, based on the map on AT&T's website. (The map is located here.) Do you have friends or family members that also have AT&T (especially if they have a GoPhone, too)? Have them come over to your place and run a speed test on their phone. If they get a decent speed, you know that you are definitely getting a signal in your specific location.

If you can get a good signal, then your SIM card may not be provisioned correctly for the Nexus 4 to run on the HSPA+ network. There are several things you can do.

Option 1. You can dial 611 from your AT&T cell phone or dial 1-800-901-9878 from a landline to speak to customer service and have them provision your SIM card for HSPA+.

Option 2. You can visit an official AT&T store to see if an employee can provision your SIM card for HSPA+.

Option 3. Get an unactivated AT&T SIM card. (Most official AT&T stores can give them to you for free, or you can buy them from eBay or Amazon.) Walk into an AT&T store that has working demo phones on display. Go to any android phone on display that has 4G, then press *#06# from the phone dialer to get the IMEI number. (You could also click on Settings, About Phone, Status, then scroll down to see the IMEI number.) Write down this number, then go home. Using a computer to access the internet, go to AT&T's GoPhone Activation page (located at this website). Activate your new SIM card using the IMEI from the demo phone that you wrote down. Insert the activated SIM card into your Nexus 4 and verify that it works using the correct APN. Please note that the main drawback to this method is that you will get a new phone number.

Option 4. You can switch SIM cards with another GoPhone. For example, the Nokia Lumia 520 is a GoPhone that has 4G HSPA+. Buy the Lumia 520 GoPhone from a store and activate it. Verify that the phone is working and that you get decent speeds at home with the Lumia. After that, put the SIM card from the Lumia 520 into the Nexus 4, then verify that you get decent speeds with that using the correct APN. Once that is done, keep the new SIM card in your Nexus 4 and return the Lumia 520 to the store within the return window to get a refund. Again, this will give you a new phone number.

Options 1 and 2 let you keep your phone number, but various forum members have reported that AT&T employees sometimes don't know what to do or they refuse to help you with a non-AT&T branded phone. Options 3 and 4 allow you to bypass talking to an AT&T employee, but you will get a new phone number. (If you really need to keep your old number, you could port it to Google Voice.)

Good luck!

 

[Jeff Deel]

Wow, thanks for the info Scott!! In all my years of troubleshooting tech problems, that is by far one of the most helpful posts I've ever seen! So, I just got off the phone with customer service (Option #1). After getting bounced over to a higher tier of tech support, he tried a couple of things that didn't help in the least. What he did do is leave a note in my account to give me a free SIM card replacement and to let me pull the IMEI number from one of their phones. I probably could have skipped customer support and just gone to the store, but at least now when I go I'll have a note in my file to back up my story! Looks like I'm headed back to the AT&T store tomorrow... *sigh* I hope that fixes it. I spent 4 years with T-Mobile and 4 years with AT&T. Between the two, I've always preferred Ma Bell. T-Mo in Colorado is just too spotty in my humble opinion.

 

[ZachA]

This is how I have mine set up and I'm getting great HSPA+ speeds

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Scott7217]

I probably could have skipped customer support and just gone to the store, but at least now when I go I'll have a note in my file to back up my story! Looks like I'm headed back to the AT&T store tomorrow... *sigh* I hope that fixes it.

You're welcome, Jeff! If you have any more questions, just post again to this thread.

A few other things...

Not every AT&T employee is well-trained on GoPhone. I think most AT&T employees are trained on contract phones. GoPhone is more of a side-business for AT&T. It used to be that GoPhone was only for poor people who couldn't pass a credit check to qualify for a 2-year contract. So there's a social stigma associated with it that some people don't realize. If you can't get any help, just thank them nicely for their time and try a different store. Remember, options 3 and 4 are available if you need them.

Like I said in my previous post, you may end up with a new number associated with a new SIM card. In case AT&T cannot fix your old SIM card, you may be stuck with it. I already talked about porting your number to Google Voice. Please be aware that you will lose your GoPhone balance (i.e. your money) if you successfully port your number.

If you don't want to lose your money, you could forget about porting, and just give the SIM card to a friend or family member to use in another AT&T GoPhone. You could also sell it if you can find someone willing to buy it. Maybe you can recover your balance that way.

If you don't give it away or sell it, I think after 90 days of inactivity, AT&T permanently deactivates the SIM card and takes your balance. There are no refunds. (Uggh!) If you cannot avoid this fate, I would recommend that you text 90999 to donate $10 to the American Red Cross (assuming you have a balance of at least $10). You can do this multiple times. So if your GoPhone balance is $21, you can donate $20 to the Red Cross (by sending 2 separate text messages), and AT&T will only take away $1. I figure it's better to help charity than fatten AT&T's wallet. You can read the details about text donations here.

Also, once everything is working fine and you feel that you like to keep your GoPhone service, I would recommend getting refills at Callingmart. (Here is their website.) Callingmart offers discounts on GoPhone refills. They also run promotions on their Facebook page. (That is located here.) They often offer coupon codes (usually 5-10% off) for their refills. If you miss the promotion, don't worry. They usually run another every month or during holidays.

 

[mattopotamus]

Name: ATT Phone
APN: phone
Proxy: Not set
Port: Not set
Username: Not set
Password: Not set
Server: Not set
MMSC: http://mmsc.mobile.att.net
MMS proxy: proxy.mobile.att.net
MMS port: Not set
MCC: 310
MNC: 410
Authentication type: Not set
APN type: default,supl,mms,hipri
APN protocol: IPv4
APN roaming protocol: IPv4
Bearer: Unspecified
MVNO type: None

You need to add "80" under APN Port. That may be the issue. As far as the "+" showing next to HSPA....that will only show on a custom rom.

 

[pjc123]

I am getting almost exactly the same speed range you are getting with my Nexus4, but on Straight Talk AT&T. I did a bunch of speed tests at different locations (as much as 60 miles away) with different towers in my line of sight, and trying all kinds of different things including talking to the useless Straight Talk customer service/tech support, but my speed only ranges from 0.71 Mbps to 1.26 Mbps. I also get HSPA+ for only a couple seconds, then the "+" disappears. I tried going to the AT&T store yesterday and asked if they could test my phone with either AT&T's or gophone plans as I would be interested in switching, but only if I knew there was an improvement. Sadly, no one at the AT&T store even knew what an APN was. I would really like to know if my hardware is bad, there is a problem with the OS or radio firmware, the towers are congested everywhere in my state (NJ), Straight Talk is capping the speeds, these speeds are just normal and typical........whatever, but I have pretty much given up at this point and just use wifi whenever it is available.

 

[ZachA]

I am getting almost exactly the same speed range you are getting with my Nexus4, but on Straight Talk AT&T. I did a bunch of speed tests at different locations (as much as 60 miles away) with different towers in my line of sight, and trying all kinds of different things including talking to the useless Straight Talk customer service/tech support, but my speed only ranges from 0.71 Mbps to 1.26 Mbps. I also get HSPA+ for only a couple seconds, then the "+" disappears. I tried going to the AT&T store yesterday and asked if they could test my phone with either AT&T's or gophone plans as I would be interested in switching, but only if I knew there was an improvement. Sadly, no one at the AT&T store even knew what an APN was. I would really like to know if my hardware is bad, there is a problem with the OS or radio firmware, the towers are congested everywhere in my state (NJ), Straight Talk is capping the speeds, these speeds are just normal and typical........whatever, but I have pretty much given up at this point and just use wifi whenever it is available.

Your phone hardware is probably good its just Straight Talk capping the speeds Try switching to Go Phone and see if you have any better speeds

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[pjc123]

Well, looking at the OP of this article, gophone is not looking good either.

 

[Jeff Deel]

Well, the AT&T store opens in an hour, so we'll see how that goes. I'll post an update when I get back, since it seems I'm not the only one encountering this *fun* issue.

As for number porting, I honestly couldn't care less. I've been using Google Voice as my only number for two years, so no one has a clue when I switch numbers. AT&T had best not try to charge me again. I'm literally starting my third day of service today, no way I'm going to waive $60 for a month of service because the guy didn't listen to me when I told him I had a non-LTE phone. There is bound to be someone who works for AT&T that has the power to transfer my balance to a replacement SIM card, it just may be a matter of working my way up the chain of command.

In regards to "MMS: Port 80" - I've tried setting it, but it made no difference whatsoever in my speeds. I'm running stock 4.3, so I figured I wouldn't see a "+" in my signal strength indicator, but if you go into "About Phone/Phone Status" in the settings, it will show your HSPA status, including "+" if it's available.

Here's hoping swapping the SIM with a bogus IMEI number at least gets my speed out of the dark ages...

 

[Jeff Deel]

Alright, so I just got back from running errands, including the AT&T store, and here's where things are at. They gave me a new SIM card, but the gentleman there told me he didn't even have any non-LTE phones in the store, so pulling the IMEI number wasn't an option. In fact, he decided to inform me that he hasn't had a non-LTE device in his own house for over three years... yeah... thanks... shut the &#$% up... I asked him if he did anything different this time around in setting up my SIM card and he said no. He told me that because it was a GoPhone account, they couldn't provision my SIM to be HSPA only. Does anyone else call BS on this?

Since I was in a hurry and I really didn't have it in me to continue arguing with the guy, I went about my business. I headed to the north end of town, then came back south a different route and ran the speed test at just about every red light I could. My results varied wildly. Literally from block to block it could change from 150k down to 10,000k down. The one interesting thing to note is that I ran the speed test as many times as I could when I was stopped and got pretty consistent results while I wasn't in motion, be it good or bad. And this translated into real world issues too, when I made a wrong turn and needed to use my maps... took over a minute to finally get the directions I needed.

This is getting to be quite frustrating. This certainly isn't my first time troubleshooting a technical problem, but I have hours upon hours into trying to figure this out and I'm still not entirely sure if it's my phone settings or the network settings, and all AT&T has to offer me are blank stares and dial-up speeds! If T-Mobile wasn't so wretched here, I'd be throwing in the towel right about now and go running back into their cold embrace. Only for the Nexus would I put this much energy into making this work.

 

[ZachA]

Alright, so I just got back from running errands, including the AT&T store, and here's where things are at. They gave me a new SIM card, but the gentleman there told me he didn't even have any non-LTE phones in the store, so pulling the IMEI number wasn't an option. In fact, he decided to inform me that he hasn't had a non-LTE device in his own house for over three years... yeah... thanks... shut the &#$% up... I asked him if he did anything different this time around in setting up my SIM card and he said no. He told me that because it was a GoPhone account, they couldn't provision my SIM to be HSPA only. Does anyone else call BS on this?

Since I was in a hurry and I really didn't have it in me to continue arguing with the guy, I went about my business. I headed to the north end of town, then came back south a different route and ran the speed test at just about every red light I could. My results varied wildly. Literally from block to block it could change from 150k down to 10,000k down. The one interesting thing to note is that I ran the speed test as many times as I could when I was stopped and got pretty consistent results while I wasn't in motion, be it good or bad. And this translated into real world issues too, when I made a wrong turn and needed to use my maps... took over a minute to finally get the directions I needed.

This is getting to be quite frustrating. This certainly isn't my first time troubleshooting a technical problem, but I have hours upon hours into trying to figure this out and I'm still not entirely sure if it's my phone settings or the network settings, and all AT&T has to offer me are blank stares and dial-up speeds! If T-Mobile wasn't so wretched here, I'd be throwing in the towel right about now and go running back into their cold embrace. Only for the Nexus would I put this much energy into making this work.

Did you try out the APN settings I posted Try them out and see what happens Let me know if they work

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[Jeff Deel]

No luck, still getting the same performance even with the server set to Cingular.

 

[ZachA]

No luck, still getting the same performance even with the server set to Cingular.

When I first got my Nexus 4 I was having the same problem as you I found the solution to my problem on XDA developers forum under Nexus 4

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[anon(5719825)]

Slow AT&T speeds are why I ended up switching to T-Mobile. I was lucky if I got under 1 Mbps on a good day. Verizon wasn't much better.

I too am in Denver I know of a lot of people who get bad speeds. Even AT&Ts LTE speeds are so inconsistent. I don't get LTE at my house but I do with T-Mobile.

 

[Jeff Deel]

I've been all over the XDA developers forums looking for a solution. Nothing I've found there has worked for me though.

 

[Jeff Deel]

@NexusGirlX - T-Mobile works great... when I can get service! I always got a rock solid signal at my apartment, but most of the places I go I was lucky to get one bar. I had T-Mo over ten years ago and was never able to get reliable service at home. Now when I go visit my parents at the same place, I'm still lucky to get any service at all.

My other motivating factor is that I end up having to go to Laramie, WY fairly regularly, and with T-Mo it's roaming only up there. Since I use Google Voice for everything, this can be a problem as I can only really use it when I'm on Wi-Fi. According to AT&T's coverage map, they have Laramie fully covered (haven't been up there since switching to confirm this.)

I guess it just sucks, for the first time since the original iPhone I finally have a phone that I love again. The problem is, it's looking like my only choice to continue using the Nexus is to either accept great data speeds and sub-par coverage (T-Mo), or I can have much better coverage with horrible, sporadic data (AT&T)... great! And the best part is, it's looking like my only option to maybe make AT&T work is to either buy & re-sell another phone just to get it's IMEI # or talk someone into letting me use theirs, go get yet another new SIM card, and hope that I'm able to trick AT&T into giving me the service I'm paying for... starting to seem a little ridiculous to me.