No good carrier choices!

[phil94028]

Maybe someone has some better ideas.

I gave TMO a try in their $30 unlimited data/100 min plan
Almost zero service at home though its great at the office.
Around town it's patchy (Palo Alto CA area) so really no good for me.

Next I was going to try straight talk on ATT.
Tried calling cust service a couple of times just to see how bad it was >30 min hold times and a hang up.
Normally this wouldn't bother me but it seems that very time you go over 100MB or so in a day you get throttled and have to call them.
This is not really going to fly either.

So I guess its ATT. Their pay monthly plan is 1GB of data. That seems a bit silly for a smartphone.

I'm stuck looking at ATT post paid without getting a subsidy phone out of them as I already have the N4!

Are there any other options worth considering?
Maybe stick with Verizon and send the phone back.

Sure wish Google would get an MVNO together!

 

[siczek.p]

So you didn't even try Straight Talk? my buddy is pretty damn demanding of his carrier and said the only watch out is getting throttled for using the phone as a hot spot.

$45 is a pretty cheap experiment for a month.

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[runtmms]

If you're in an area the T-Mobile service map shows good coverage it might be worth contacting them. With all the upgrades they're doing I know some people have reported patchy spots that were due to active network work - upon completion service greatly improved.

I had a complete dead spot I complained about (to Solavei.) I don't know if it's a coincidence, but it's fixed now.

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[gone down south]

I use Tmobile all over Silicon Valley without the slightest hiccup. It's what Google uses for all its empl

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[droidmyme]

If you're in an area the T-Mobile service map shows good coverage it might be worth contacting them. With all the upgrades they're doing I know some people have reported patchy spots that were due to active network work - upon completion service greatly improved.

I had a complete dead spot I complained about (to Solavei.) I don't know if it's a coincidence, but it's fixed now.

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That's a really good idea.

Yes I agree with OP, if you have the N4, seems like T-Mobile is the obvious choice. (I mean 1GB on AT&T, that *is* ridiculous.) But what to do when T-Mobile coverage is spotty?

First I like runtmms's suggestion. Call T-Mobile up and see if a tower is being patched.

The other thing to consider, is that hearsay is Straight Talk is no longer issuing AT&T SIM cards - leaving you in the same spot kind of. IDK if that's true, I'm just chiming in.

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[phil94028]

I'm the OP.

Did try an ATT SIM. 4 Bars at home. It even works up in the hills where even Verizon doesn't.
6 Mb/s down 1 up.

As others have pointed out it's all about location! Plenty of google employees live close by so I doubt they use TMO exclusively.
The closest TMO site is maybe 0.75 miles on a utility pole. I think it's an ATT colocation as well so maybe it's the UHF vs L Band problem.

I really wish that ATT had better competition besides Verizon!

Nexus 4 a great device but I don't think the experiment to same money on a plan is going to work out!

 

[yfan]

Just what part of Palo Alto do you live in? I live in Sunnyvale, go all over Palo Alto, and never had a problem with T-mobile's signal.

 

[jimmiekain]

@phil94028

I feel you bro, I'm in a similar spot. As much as I love my N4 I cant find a good gsm carrier.

I have tried the following:

T-Mo: This is a no go for me because eventhough the website says I will have 4g all I get is edge at my house. This would be fine because I have wifi but it kept dropping calls so I had to drop them.

Straight Talk w/ att sim: This was a no go for me because they throttled me after using only 900mb of data. When I called they said I violated section 7 of the terms of service. I read section 7 and it says you cant tether. I called and explained it must be a mistake because I have never tethered. They refused to listen so I dropped them.

At&T: This is the sim i'm using currently but Its costing me over $80 a month and while the coverage is good I have still found dead spots and for some reason I am getting slower data speeds than i was with straight talk / att sim. I have tried every apn i can find and its just not worth it in my opinion.

I've decided to keep the N4 until the Galaxy S4 comes out and I guess I have to go back to Sprint or, join my families family plan on VZW.

I love the phone but the carriers just arent working out for me. I just hope there is still a lot of demand for it by the time the GS4 comes out.

 

[phil94028]

Just what part of Palo Alto do you live in? I live in Sunnyvale, go all over Palo Alto, and never had a problem with T-mobile's signal.

Portola Valley, so semi rural at least for the Bay area. I think TMO do not have the $ for a footprint or spectrum like ATT have. Probably why they can be cheaper!
I'm suspecting the cell site I hit may be 850MHz for ATT and 1700MHz plus for TMO so even if they are co-located it's easy to see who wins.
Last time I tried ATT 3G in this location it was terrible and I switched to Verizon, so not sure if the shifted bands or a new site.

Even down in Redwood City and Palo Alto it seems like there is a great signal near a cell site then one bar or less in the gaps. Especially indoors!

It really is all driven by location ... and customer service in the case of Straight Talk!

 

[llamainmypocket]

They all suck. Get a mifi device with a mugen super battery and use Skype, 50$ a month, No craptastic surprises, 5 gig data, then pray Google starts providing mobile internet like they're doing with fiber in Lincoln city.

 

[jimmiekain]

They all suck. Get a mifi device with a mugen super battery and use Skype, 50$ a month, No craptastic surprises, 5 gig data, then pray Google starts providing mobile internet like they're doing with fiber in Lincoln city.

I considered that but I just don't wanna carry an extra product with me at all times. Which one do you have?

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[llamainmypocket]

I currently have the elevate but have the mifi 4510L with 5000 mah as well.

 

[ErickMendez]

I Dont know about California but here , in Maryland I get 4g at 15mbs average

Pure Google 4.2.1 Nexus 4

 

[gone down south]

Well, to be fair, Portola Valley isn't "rural", it's "way up in the mountains" Your carrier choices are pretty limited there, you have to take what you can get. Come down into civilization (east of 280) and you'll get great coverage from every carrier.


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