The Nexus 4 and new ATT prepaid plans

[frooglepoopillion]

I have had the N4 for several months now on T-mobile's $30/mo plan but I am looking to switch over to ATT's new prepaid service. I am moving out of the city and there is spotty at best T-mo coverage. Has anyone tried ATT's new prepaid plans? Or can anyone offer any thoughts on the N4 experience on ATT in general? I have heard horror stories of phones not being activated correctly for them and just bad N4 support in general.

 

[jdbii]

I have had the N4 for several months now on T-mobile's $30/mo plan but I am looking to switch over to ATT's new prepaid service. I am moving out of the city and there is spotty at best T-mo coverage. Has anyone tried ATT's new prepaid plans? Or can anyone offer any thoughts on the N4 experience on ATT in general? I have heard horror stories of phones not being activated correctly for them and just bad N4 support in general.

Can't offer thoughts on AT&T's prepaid, but I can share my experience with one of its MVNOs.

I switched from Tmo to Net10's AT&T micro sim since I got no indoor coverage on Tmo in my home and no complaints here. Even when traveling through rural Oregon 95% of the time I can stream youtube when I want. Tmo is faster and you get a lot more data, but all the data didn't do me any good if I couldn't get service in my home. Some people complain about MMS messaging with Net10, but I don't do that so I never crossed that bridge. Customer Service and the Forums are an absolute nightmare. You'll die a slow death waiting before anybody helps you so you are pretty much on your own. Another problem is -- at least with Net10 -- your phone deactivates if you don't set up auto pay or renew each month and it is a pain getting it reactivated. Another complaint I've seen about Net10 is that people don't get data when they travel, but as I stated above I had no problems.

I haven't seen too many post about anybody actually using a Nexus 4 on AT&T's go phone. In fact I don't think I've seen any actual first person posts (unless someone posts before I finish my post), but I've seen people post that somebody they knew or their girlfriend uses go phone with a Nexus 4 without issue.

 

[frooglepoopillion]

Can't offer thoughts on AT&T's prepaid, but I can share my experience with one of its MVNOs.

I switched from Tmo to Net10's AT&T micro sim since I got no indoor coverage on Tmo in my home and no complaints here. Even when traveling through rural Oregon 95% of the time I can stream youtube when I want. Tmo is faster and you get a lot more data, but all the data didn't do me any good if I couldn't get service in my home. Some people complain about MMS messaging with Net10, but I don't do that so I never crossed that bridge. Customer Service and the Forums are an absolute nightmare. You'll die a slow death waiting before anybody helps you so you are pretty much on your own. Another problem is -- at least with Net10 -- your phone deactivates if you don't set up auto pay or renew each month and it is a pain getting it reactivated. Another complaint I've seen about Net10 is that people don't get data when they travel, but as I stated above I had no problems.

I haven't seen too many post about anybody actually using a Nexus 4 on AT&T's go phone. In fact I don't think I've seen any actual first person posts (unless someone posts before I finish my post), but I've seen people post that somebody they knew or their girlfriend uses go phone with a Nexus 4 without issue.

What kinds of speeds are you getting? My T-mo speeds average 7-10 down and 1-2 up. I've heard that ATT HSPA+ in my area gets roughly the same (this was coming from a 4s user though so I don't know how that will translate to prepaid).

 

[deano131]

My experience has been the same as jdbii on Net10 Att. I tried ST on Tmo and Tmos $30.00 plan. Tmo Data smokes Att when you can get it but voice is whole other story. I own a cell PHONE 1st and foremost because I need the voice, data is just icing on the cake for me. I know you are specifically wanting Att prepaid and you are asking what does my Net10 experience have to do with your question. When it comes to the actual service IMO Att is Att no matter who is serving it up. Know I no I am going to get hammered on this because some will say that the Att prepaid will offer better coverage then a MVNO provider and that may be true with Att, I don't know, but that was not my experience with Tmo.

I just run a speed test
my ping was 170ms Down was 3815 and Up was 1359. I am in Kansas.

 

[jdbii]

What kinds of speeds are you getting? My T-mo speeds average 7-10 down and 1-2 up. I've heard that ATT HSPA+ in my area gets roughly the same (this was coming from a 4s user though so I don't know how that will translate to prepaid).

You won't get the same speed on Tmo as on AT&T unless of course one uses an LTE enabled phone.

I got the same speed as you with Tmo (when I stepped out of my condo or propped my phone up against the window sill but my goodness move the phone one foot inward and you go from 3 bars to zero. It is such a delight now to have coverage throughout my home or into the elevator lobby).

Anyway, I thought I was averaging about 1-2 mbps on AT&T Net10 because when I first switched those were the speeds I was getting at home. But I don't check speeds because you have to conserve your data on Net10 since you have only 1.5GB and speed tests burn through data fast. So long as I can stream youtube I don't think about it. But before the end of my last term I had a lot of unused data so I did about 10 speed tests in different parts of Portland and I was surprised that most of them were more like 4-5 mbps, including my home. None higher than 5, but none lower than 1 mbps. Ups are always 1-1.5 mbps, and sometimes even faster than down speeds.

 

[Captainbob767]

You won't get the same speed on Tmo as on AT&T unless of course one uses an LTE enabled phone.

I got the same speed as you with Tmo (when I stepped out of my condo or propped my phone up against the window sill but my goodness move the phone one foot inward and you go from 3 bars to zero. It is such a delight now to have coverage throughout my home or into the elevator lobby).

Anyway, I thought I was averaging about 1-2 mbps on AT&T Net10 because when I first switched those were the speeds I was getting at home. But I don't check speeds because you have to conserve your data on Net10 since you have only 1.5GB and speed tests burn through data fast. So long as I can stream youtube I don't think about it. But before the end of my last term I had a lot of unused data so I did about 10 speed tests in different parts of Portland and I was surprised that most of them were more like 4-5 mbps, including my home. None higher than 5, but none lower than 1 mbps. Ups are always 1-1.5 mbps, and sometimes even faster than down speeds.

Don't you use wifi for data in your condo?

 

[deano131]

Don't you use wifi for data in your condo?

I will not try and answer for jdbii. But myself I use about 500mb of data a month. Rest is wifi. To get any voice or data service I had to stand on my head 1 ft from my window while holding the phone in just the right position. joking. Voice service for me in my home on Tmo was a joke. With Att I can go into my basement and still make a call.

 

[jdbii]

Don't you use wifi for data in your condo?

Yeah I use wifi at home, but even though voice was a tad better than data, most of my home was a dead zone for voice as well. You want to be able to use your cell phone if you are sitting on your sofa. I thought about using Tmo wifi calling feature, but as I understand it the Tmo wifi calling feature is not available on Tmo prepaid with the Google Play Nexus 4. I think you have to be on postpaid and use a Tmo branded phone that is wifi calling enabled. I did try using voip apps like Groove IP, but my tolerance for those wore thin fast. After awhile you just want a phone that rings wherever you are in your house without relying on wifi.

 

[evperry]

I'm using it right now.

O am from nyc but I am in the Florida Keys right now, I normally use tmobile (excellent in nyc) but the signal here is not great indoors. I had to get a sim card from at&t with the new prepaid.

The data speed 3g, the speed test shows it being very slow but everything I working just fine. WIFI calling, Internet speed and music.

The problem is the data is limited to 2 gigs but that may not be a big deal to you.

Plugged in and it worked right away.

 

[jdbii]

I'm using it right now.

O am from nyc but I am in the Florida Keys right now, I normally use tmobile (excellent in nyc) but the signal here is not great indoors. I had to get a sim card from at&t with the new prepaid.

The data speed 3g, the speed test shows it being very slow but everything I working just fine. WIFI calling, Internet speed and music.

The problem is the data is limited to 2 gigs but that may not be a big deal to you.

Plugged in and it worked right away.

You are using AT&T Go Phone prepaid with a Google Play Nexus 4 and using wifi calling? If so, cool. If true, I didn't know Go Phone plans had wifi calling.

 

[frooglepoopillion]

Well I went ahead and made the switch to ATT with their top prepaid plan. Speeds are not super fast but I am able to get around 7 down and 2-3 up which is what I seemed to be getting on the lower average of T-Mo (7-12). No problems streaming music or browsing the web although Chrome seems to run a bit slower. I'd say it is an acceptable alternative to T-Mo if you are in a good ATT area.

 

[ZachA]

I have the Nexus 4 with AT&T Prepaid so far I'm really liking it, I'm actually getting better service than I was getting with Verizon for a lot cheaper

 

[CeruleanBlue58]

My AT&T contract recently and I just switched from post-paid to pre-paid GoPhone plan. So far I can't tell any difference or degradation with my daily needs. Guess I'll know more once I take some out of town trips. And I'm saving $40-45 a month in from our two-person family plan for pretty much the same service. I'll hope they'll continue to improve prepaid offerings, including expanding AIO.

 

[JJMSP77]

I broke my post paid contract with AT&T by porting my number over to T Mobile for one month on their prepaid. I've been ported my number back to AT&T on GoPhone.I've noticed that it takes T Mobile 24 full hours to actually port a number over and it only takes AT&T about 2 hours.anyway when it comes to the differences in service T Mobile will give you faster speed but you pretty much always have to be outside. when I was with them I noticed that I was using HSPA 21 and 42. however like most people are saying you have to be outside this is because T Mobile uses very high frequencies for their spectrum and AT&T uses lower frequencies which can travel further and penetrate walls. you will average around free for 7 and 12 megabytes per second at the highest on the download and go about as high as 12 or 3 megabytes up when uploading. these speeds are sufficient enough to have reliable data service for streaming and browsing and YouTube. I also traded down from an iPhone 5 just to get the Nexus 4 and quite honestly I don't feel anything I did on either phone required an LTE connection nor do I really think anything anybody does requires an LTE connection.

 

[pjc123]

People are bailing from Straight Talk (AT&T) to gophone in droves on the forums, with very good reviews, but that is a $15 a month jump ($45 to $60). I am currently evaluating giving H2O (AT&T) a try next, as it is only $50 a month.

 

[JJMSP77]

Wow, didn't realize how many typos and grammar errors I made. Anyway; I've been on GoPhone since July 14. With the exception of today (8/5) getting some stupid recording before connecting my call about refilling my account (when I'm not even due for another 2 weeks)--I've had no issues. You can use Google Voice as your voicemail since unlike T-Mobile; they don't disallow call forwarding. I've had no issues with the data speed; though my SIM card was assigned the att.wap APN. Don't use that--use the "phone" one. CyanogenMod 10.1.2 has the settings for this and a few other of their APN's built in.

 

[jdbii]

I am currently evaluating giving H2O (AT&T) a try next, as it is only $50 a month.

Will the Nexus 4 work on H20? I don't see it on their list of compatible unlocked GSM phones: https://www.h2owirelessnow.com/pageControl.php?page=compatibility#4

 

[pjc123]

I am considering it because I saw where a user switched from ST to H2O with their Nexus4 and their low speed problems were fixed (regular speeds, not throttling related). I am only seeing 800Kbps average download speeds on my Nexus 4, so that is why I am thinking of giving it a try.

 

[Julien Deveraux]

it's $60 a month still too much for you to consider Just going with the source?

 

[willdogs]

Live in NY City

Had t-mo since I got the N4 on launch day. Switched to AT&T Go phone 2 weeks back and couldn't be happier. Now I have service everywhere t-mobile struggled, excellent indoor penetration, decent speeds (7-8mbps down), I can now use Google Voice Mail, and 2GB/Mo is more than enough for me. I never go over 1GB a month. Good news is that if I ever have a heavy data month, I can buy 1GB blocks at a time for only $10/GB.

I will never go back to t-mo. Used to love their coverage and service, but once they started rolling out 4G, their 3G service went to ****.