Q: Tmobile Monthly 4G $30 and Groove IP

[Jeremy8000]

I thought I had seen somewhere that they deliberately block hotspot and even some types of devices [how would they know?].

I'm assuming they block it as a default, which is why I'm hoping someone can confirm if their is an authorized option.

They have several means by which to determine if tethering / hotspot is being used - I used to use FoxFi on my old G2x with pretty consistent success, but after a time they managed to shut down hotspot functionality to my laptop and, later, even to other android devices (Nexus 7) whose appearance in terms of types of network requests would appear 'native.

If I can get into the $30 plan and pay $15 or so per month to add hotspot, I'd still be saving about $50/month versus my current plan for essentially the exact same service (for my locale/purposes).

 

[djkleric]

I went to a Walmart today to find out about the $30 100 min plan, and I was told that I need to buy a phone with it. No other way to get it. I went on their site too and cant find where to purchase it on there or tmobiles site. Anyone that has it let me know where I can get it online?

Thanks

 

[Bob Coxner]

I went to a Walmart today to find out about the $30 100 min plan, and I was told that I need to buy a phone with it. No other way to get it. I went on their site too and cant find where to purchase it on there or tmobiles site. Anyone that has it let me know where I can get it online?

Thanks

T-Mobile Activation Kit - Walmart.com (or any other sim)

plus

T-Mobile $30 Wireless Airtime Card - Walmart.com

 

[wiseoldbird]

Yeah, I have the plan. The online sign up didn't work, and the chat person couldn 't help and sent me to another chat devices which wouldn't work, so I called the phone number which the first chat person left, and it was the wrong number. Calling the second number I typed everything in on the phone, only to not have the auto system offer the plan, I eventually got a live person who signed me up for the wrong plan then sent me to billing, where I discovered I had the wrong plan. He took 30 bucks from me sent me back to an agent who said, I can only get the $30 text data plan if it is the first plan I sign up for - After EXPLAINING my pains and suffering he said, let me ask my manager, and I ended up with the plan. And the worst part is they must use VOIP at T-Mobile for their agents and it is so compressed you can barely understand the agents.

So far I have verified I am on the plan and have not had issues, but then I have only been on a week.

Been looking at this thread because I am wondering about grooVe IP or some similar service so I can use the data plan for my voice calls. Probably will try that out tonight.

 

[Tall Mike 2145]

I've used both Groove IP and Talkatone, and honestly I've had better luck with Talkatone.

 

[anon(5719825)]

I've been using Groove IP on my Nexus 7. It works pretty good but when I use it on 3G, I have a T-Mobile data sim in there, it can sometimes have bad audio. If you are on WiFi, the quality is always good. It uses Google Voice so people only see your GV # on their caller ID.

 

[llamainmypocket]

You need to use Skype. I'm almost certain groove IP does not work for calling landline phones. Also, you need to make sure your data is fast enough.

I use Skype over WiFi only through a mifi device and it works marvelously. I never sleep out of WiFi and I never lose a call.

 

[anon(5719825)]

You need to use Skype. I'm almost certain groove IP does not work for calling landline phones. Also, you need to make sure your data is fast enough.

I use Skype over WiFi only through a mifi device and it works marvelously. I never sleep out of WiFi and I never lose a call.

Groove IP can call any number, can be landline or cell, doesn't matter.

 

[Todd Pilkenton]

Hey folks. I've got GV forwarding my sim # calls to GrooVe IP, but the dual-ringing is annoying. Anyone know if there's a way to disable the sim line from ringing?

 

[runtmms]

Hey folks. I've got GV forwarding my sim # calls to GrooVe IP, but the dual-ringing is annoying. Anyone know if there's a way to disable the sim line from ringing?

I'm not using GrooveIP anymore, but if I remember correctly... You want to go into your GV account, under settings have it set up to forward to chat, but don't forward to the sim number. Only GrooveIP should ring for your GV number this way.

Sent from my Nexus 4 on Solavei

 

[N33k5]

Has anyone tried this combination? Groove IP will let you send and receive calls through the data provider be it wifi or cellular. At $30 a month, I would never need to burn any of those 100 minutes provided in the plan.

I think I might try it out when my N4 arrives tomorrow though. $30/mo for an unlimited data plan is pretty sick!

I have tried using Groove IP over cellular and all I can say is don't. The call quality sucks bad over 3G and HSPA(+). I still use it over WiFi as that isn't too bad pending the connection.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Jaysus]

I just tested GrooVeIP while tethered to another 3g phone. I was fairly pleased with the call quality, I have to think it would have been similar if I had used it directly over a data connection.

(I am just testing the lite version for now and it is wifi only)

 

[fredwardnelson]

I'm assuming they block it as a default, which is why I'm hoping someone can confirm if their is an authorized option.

They have several means by which to determine if tethering / hotspot is being used - I used to use FoxFi on my old G2x with pretty consistent success, but after a time they managed to shut down hotspot functionality to my laptop and, later, even to other android devices (Nexus 7) whose appearance in terms of types of network requests would appear 'native.

If I can get into the $30 plan and pay $15 or so per month to add hotspot, I'd still be saving about $50/month versus my current plan for essentially the exact same service (for my locale/purposes).

The 30 dollar plan is not eligible for the 15 dollar hot spot add on. I tried online and it told me to choose another plan.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

 

[jdbii]

I just tested GrooVeIP while tethered to another 3g phone. I was fairly pleased with the call quality, I have to think it would have been similar if I had used it directly over a data connection.

(I am just testing the lite version for now and it is wifi only)

Lucky, don't expect it to usually be that good. Sometimes it is okay, most times it is not that great over 3G.

 

[Jaysus]

Lucky, don't expect it to usually be that good. Sometimes it is okay, most times it is not that great over 3G.

It was sprint's 3G too

 

[jdbii]

It was sprint's 3G too

hmm. who knows. sprint 3g for some reason might be better for grooveIP than even hspa on other networks. maybe it has a good ping, from what i understand is crucial for voip. everybody is different. some people can use it just fine, but for others the quality is too inconsistent or simply not even good enough.

 

[dossamosas]

Bought the Nexus 4 for my wife & now she doesn't want it, but I'm intrigued at the idea of $30/mo service. I currently use Google voice for voicemail only, and I don't yet really understand how it works. If I start using the Nexus instead of my old phone, can I just simply use Google voice for making mobile phone calls? It seems like maybe I could, but then there are lots of people using GrooveIP along WITH google voice . . . why is that?

 

[runtmms]

Bought the Nexus 4 for my wife & now she doesn't want it, but I'm intrigued at the idea of $30/mo service. I currently use Google voice for voicemail only, and I don't yet really understand how it works. If I start using the Nexus instead of my old phone, can I just simply use Google voice for making mobile phone calls? It seems like maybe I could, but then there are lots of people using GrooveIP along WITH google voice . . . why is that?

Think of GV as a call forwarding service. When you use it on your cell phone, it uses your plan minutes. This is a problem for the 100 minute plan. People use GrooveIP with GV to avoid using their minutes. GrooveIP lets you use data for those GV calls. Call quality varies.

Sent from my Nexus 4 on Solavei

 

[Unicorn Rancher]

To add to what runtmms said, you can use GrooveIP with a wifi-only Nexus 7 to make calls from your GV account, so the same should work for a Nexus 4 without phone service over wifi if you want to configure and test before buying a prepaid data plan. However, I think the free version of GrooveIP only works on wifi, so you may need the paid app to use it over 4G.

 

[6tr6tr]

Has anyone tried this combination? Groove IP will let you send and receive calls through the data provider be it wifi or cellular. At $30 a month, I would never need to burn any of those 100 minutes provided in the plan.

I think I might try it out when my N4 arrives tomorrow though. $30/mo for an unlimited data plan is pretty sick!

ALL the VOIP apps I tried did not work well enough or reliably enough to be a real option. They all had a poor consistency rate even on a WIFI connection that's 50mbps up and 10mbps down with 0 jitter, 1ms latency and 0 dropped packets.

Skype, Talkatone, Vonage, GrooveIP, CSipSimple+PBXes, iCall, Rebtel, Viber, Linphone, Line2, Sipdroid+PBXes - all of them resulted in a high % of calls where the other person said it was poor quality and hard to understand much of the time. Vonage was the best, but still was poor a high % of time. I have not found a real replacement for regular cell calling.


** One thing I learned: it depends on the people you call and how much static, voice-cutting-out, tinny-sound, etc they're willing to stand. Most people couldn't take more than 2-3 minutes before complaining and wanting to get off the phone.

WARNING: Calling someone and listening to them won't tell you the quality. I always had good quality incoming sound on all the VOIP apps. It's outgoing sound (what the other person hears - you talking) that suffers.