Advice needed -- May go with Nexus 4 & AT&T Straight Talk Unlimited

[p08757]

The wife's contract is almost up and we thought we would try and save some bucks and attempt to go with the Nexus 4 pared with the AT&T Straight Talk unlimited plan instead of going with a 2 year contract and smartphone on Verizon. If this works out well I will follow when my contract is up.

My questions are:

Should we port her number to Google Voice or directly to AT&T's straight talk plan or something else I haven't thought of yet?
Are there any limitations I should know about with the Straight Talk plans?
How slow will the AT&T 3G be on these plans?

Thanks in advance!

 

[jbreakfield]

The wife's contract is almost up and we thought we would try and save some bucks and attempt to go with the Nexus 4 pared with the AT&T Straight Talk unlimited plan instead of going with a 2 year contract and smartphone on Verizon. If this works out well I will follow when my contract is up.

My questions are:

Should we port her number to Google Voice or directly to AT&T's straight talk plan or something else I haven't thought of yet?
Are there any limitations I should know about with the Straight Talk plans?
How slow will the AT&T 3G be on these plans?

Thanks in advance!

If you want Straight Talk AT&T, you will have to purchase your SIM on eBay(or somewhere similar), as Straight Talk isn't currently selling AT&T SIM cards. Another option is Net10, which is selling AT&T SIM cards (provided you enter the right zip code); Net10 has 1.5 GB monthly data limit.

As far as Google Voice, that depends; if you're a heavy MMS user, GV won't work for you unless you change your habits. I held off on porting to GV, and just ported my number to ST.
I've read bad experiences that people have had with Straight Talk, but I've been using an AT&T ST SIM in my Nexus 4 since December, and had no issues whatsoever.
Speeds aren't LTE, but they're not slow, either. I typically get 3-5Mbps down, and 1-2Mbps up in my area. (that's as good as my home DSL service gets a lot of the time)
If you have good T-Mo coverage in your area, you should try the T-Mo ST route. I don't have T-Mo data coverage in a lot of areas I go to every day, so it was AT&T for me. T-Mo speeds are MUCH faster if you get HSPA+, though.

 

[AZbear]

Straight Talk uses the AT&T network so the speeds should be the same. The only thing is you will not get the roaming that you would with AT&T but that may not matter to you.

As far as porting the number I agree with the previous poster.

Bear

 

[p08757]

If you want Straight Talk AT&T, you will have to purchase your SIM on eBay(or somewhere similar), as Straight Talk isn't currently selling AT&T SIM cards. Another option is Net10, which is selling AT&T SIM cards (provided you enter the right zip code); Net10 has 1.5 GB monthly data limit.

As far as Google Voice, that depends; if you're a heavy MMS user, GV won't work for you unless you change your habits. I held off on porting to GV, and just ported my number to ST.
I've read bad experiences that people have had with Straight Talk, but I've been using an AT&T ST SIM in my Nexus 4 since December, and had no issues whatsoever.
Speeds aren't LTE, but they're not slow, either. I typically get 3-5Mbps down, and 1-2Mbps up in my area. (that's as good as my home DSL service gets a lot of the time)
If you have good T-Mo coverage in your area, you should try the T-Mo ST route. I don't have T-Mo data coverage in a lot of areas I go to every day, so it was AT&T for me. T-Mo speeds are MUCH faster if you get HSPA+, though.

Thanks for the answers. I thought Straight Talk was either AT&T or T-Mo and you could choose which one you wanted. T-Mo really stinks in my area so that would be a no-go for me and my wife.

 

[tgp]

I thought Straight Talk was either AT&T or T-Mo and you could choose which one you wanted.

You are correct. It's just that right now Straight Talk is selling only T- Mobile SIMs. If you want AT&T you need to get one from a 3rd party vendor like eBay and they're expensive. I would suggest using Net10. It's owned by the same company as Straight Talk but AT&T SIMs are easier to get.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[ryanr509]

A downside is no physical store to go and talk to somebody at. U can't get insurance. I have the nexus 4 on straight talk and its great for saving money. But I've decided to switch back to AT&T after my gf dropped her phone in water. I realized a little accident of breaking ur phone will cost a few hundred to get it replaced. And I've been throttled non stop on straight talk and I only use about 2gb of data per month. Its is a good deal if u have the money to purchase the phones upfront and money to spend if something happens to one of those phones

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

 

[p08757]

A downside is no physical store to go and talk to somebody at. U can't get insurance. I have the nexus 4 on straight talk and its great for saving money. But I've decided to switch back to AT&T after my gf dropped her phone in water. I realized a little accident of breaking ur phone will cost a few hundred to get it replaced. And I've been throttled non stop on straight talk and I only use about 2gb of data per month. Its is a good deal if u have the money to purchase the phones upfront and money to spend if something happens to one of those phones

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Android Central Forums

No worries about insurance. The bigger deal is NO CONTRACT and a lower monthly bill. $350.00 for a phone is not bad considering some of the carriers charge $299.00 for their top of the line phone on contract. Storage will not be an issue for my wife.

I was looking at NET10 and they may work out and will definitely give them a try if we go this route.

 

[karens1039]

I got insurance on my N4 thru square trade. There is a $99 deductible but if you are as accident prone as I am it is well worth it.

 

[p08757]

** Update **

Just ordered 2 AT&T micro SIM cards from Net10 wireless, and a Nexus 4 for my wife.

I have been doing some research on the Internet that suggests that Net10 may do away with AT&T SIM cards just like what Straight Talk has been dong. So I grabbed an extra SIM for my use at a later date.

I really hope that the coverage is okay and she can use it where she works, and we live and play. I will find out soon enough.

If Net10 does not work out, what are my other options that don't include T-Mobile?

 

[Antony Josef Chick]

Not sure if it is available in your area but I've been using simple mobile for about a year now and have been very happy with them. Only had my nexus 4 for a couple months and performance has been superb. They operate off of t-mobile's network and I almost always get full HSPA+ speeds, and never any missed or dropped calls. Don't know if it'll be the same outside of the Denver metro area. Advise to buy a Sim card off eBay though, is much more reasonable than buying from them directly or from a resale store. Good luck!

 

[bencrackber]

You can still score AT&T sims at certain Walmart locations. Here's a link to the PDF that shows which stores still sell em.

 

[RumoredNow]

I just left Straight Talk because with my AT&T compatible SIM I was getting data speed throttling the last 10 days of the billing cycle for each of the last two months I was on their service. There is some kind of disagreement behind the scenes between ST and AT&T. The throttling could come from either one. $45 a month is a great bargain, if it works.

I just switched to T-Mo's new Simple Choice plan...

 

[tibbi64]

I'm going with T-Mobile $30 prepaid plan. If it works good in my area I may switch to solavei unlimited everything for $50 and they use T-mobile towers.

 

[runtmms]

I just left Straight Talk because with my AT&T compatible SIM I was getting data speed throttling the last 10 days of the billing cycle for each of the last two months I was on their service. There is some kind of disagreement behind the scenes between ST and AT&T. The throttling could come from either one. $45 a month is a great bargain, if it works.

I just switched to T-Mo's new Simple Choice plan...

Do you know how much data you used when they throttled you?

Sent from my Nexus 4 on Solavei

 

[p08757]

You can still score AT&T sims at certain Walmart locations. Here's a link to the PDF that shows which stores still sell em.

Nothing in my area. Thanks for the link.

 

[mcshaggin]

You can still score AT&T sims at certain Walmart locations. Here's a link to the PDF that shows which stores still sell em.

How do you know this is for the AT&T cards? That's just a list of stores and could be for the Tmo sim cards. I live near a bunch of these stores. Hell, I can start buying up the cards and selling them on ebay if that's the case. I was just looking at them and can't tell a difference between what is or isn't the ATT card. I want the Tmo one.

 

[Ryuuie]

Copying this from the ST thread here since it'll probably be seen easier:

There's a LOT of problems with TracFone and AT&T right now. I've been keeping track of this ever since this crap started. There are rumors and people claiming things but it's nothing more than speculation.

Now, there are currently two issues with ST and AT&T:
1. ST has no AT&T sim cards.
2. ST is throttling AT&T users for no reason.

I'll address them separately with as much information as I can find.

Issue 1
This all started when the Nexus 4 went back in stock on Google Play. So many people jumped ship from other carriers to Straight Talk that ST ran out of AT&T cards. No one pulled them, no one told them to stop selling, they actually ran out of stock. The reason why they didn't run out of T-Mobile is because T-Mobile doesn't have as much coverage as AT&T does. T-Mobile simply doesn't work in as many places so AT&T was the best bet for quite a few people. However, they haven't replenished their supply for whatever reason.

Those reasons range from a possibility of a lot of things:

A. TracFone is slowly moving to T-Mobile and is using Straight Talk, one of their most popular GSM MVNOs, to start it on. Thus, they don't need the SIMs anymore.

B. AT&T is refusing to supply with more cards simply because they would rather not have more prepaid customers as they are losing customers to Straight Talk, Net10, and other MVNOs that simply use AT&T's towers.

C. AT&T is upset with the fact that ST is lying about having unlimited data when they should have a hard cap of 1.5GB - 2GB/mo, they have ETF amnesty, and Walmart (and ST) are selling the GSM unlocked iPhone 5 with 0% financing.

D. AT&T is running out of space for 3G and once they start getting more LTE, they can give cards to ST so that we can use the 3G.

Any one of these could be it.

AT&T owns a lot of stake in America Movil, the company that owns TracFone so they technically own ST as well as Walmart. So I don't see them trying to get rid of the MVNO.

However, this leads us to issue 2...

Issue 2
TracFone is not happy with AT&T since they throttled Net10 for no reason. They haven't given TracFone a reason, they just throttled them and that's that. This does NOT apply to Straight Talk. However, there are ST reps on Facebook confusing ST with Net10, claiming that ST has a cap of 1.5GB/mo. This is not true as it's still officially "unlimited" data. and it has not changed.

Though, Straight Talk has started to throttle users for no reason. Even if they've never done anything wrong. Some people who call ST or talk to them on Facebook are told that Straight Talk no longer supports AT&T. This is coming straight from the reps. No one is denying or confirming this so no one knows the truth there.

Some are claiming that Straight Talk is trying to force their AT&T users away to T-Mobile. It's actually been said that TracFone is tired of AT&T's crap and wants to move over to T-Mobile permanently for their BYOD plans. I'd say this is speculation, but at this point, it's looking like the truth.

People are even starting to sue ST for bait and switch. Their argument is that they advertise not only unlimited data BUT the same data you get on AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint. However, with throttling, this makes your data "limited" via the throttle, making it completely unusable.

There are also rumors that it's AT&T controlling the throttling and ST no longer has control. That AT&T is doing this simply because they don't want anyone on prepaid anymore.

As for America Movil, the company that owns TracFone (and thus Straight Talk, Net10, and other TracFone based MVNOs), they are currently being investigated by the Mexican government due to the huge monopoly they have in Mexico. The shares of the company have started to fall and the company is starting to buy back shares.

America Movil 2010 Mexico Dominance Ruling Upheld by Agency - Bloomberg
Slim's America Movil slumps as Mexico advances with reform | Reuters
Mexico's Carlos Slim increases stake in America Movil: SEC filing | Reuters

America Movil (and ST by default) is in some major trouble, it seems.

All in all, this is one big cluster---- and I don't see it getting better. If you're throttled, here is a list of AT&T MVNOs to go to:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_mobile_virtual_network_operators

Keep in mind, these towers use AT&T's prepaid while Straight Talk actually uses AT&T postpaid. Your service will go down considerably.

 

[mcshaggin]

Is there a way to tell the difference between AT&T and Tmo sim cards? SKU or another model number? The store I went to supposedly has both according to previous post. I don't want AT&T.

 

[RumoredNow]

I just left Straight Talk because with my AT&T compatible SIM I was getting data speed throttling the last 10 days of the billing cycle for each of the last two months I was on their service. There is some kind of disagreement behind the scenes between ST and AT&T. The throttling could come from either one. $45 a month is a great bargain, if it works.

I just switched to T-Mo's new Simple Choice plan...

Do you know how much data you used when they throttled you?

Sent from my Nexus 4 on Solavei

The first month of trouble my home internet went out for a few days and I tethered a bit. Hit about 2 GB.

The second month my use was very modest, around 200 MB.

It seemed like it was the time left in the billing cycle rather than how much data I'd used. When it took 3 minutes to get a manual refresh on a Gmail account with 5 bars of H, I knew it was time to leave ST.

 

[runtmms]

The first month of trouble my home internet went out for a few days and I tethered a bit. Hit about 2 GB.

The second month my use was very modest, around 200 MB.

It seemed like it was the time left in the billing cycle rather than how much data I'd used. When it took 3 minutes to get a manual refresh on a Gmail account with 5 bars of H, I knew it was time to leave ST.

Harsh!

Sent from my Nexus 4 on Solavei