# T-Mobile $30 Prepaid Plan Users Thread



## trsix (Oct 9, 2013)

This thread is for all users who might be interested in using T-mobiles Unlimited $30 plan/

Had to cancel the plan. Anytime i go over my 100 minutes the system insists on charging me $80.
I have to call customer service each time and spend nearly an hour on the phone. I'm so sorry Mr. Customer and blah blah blah. They never fix it so adios tmobile!


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## veeman (Oct 9, 2013)

How much do you end up paying a month including taxes?


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## wideasleep1 (Oct 9, 2013)

veeman said:


> How much do you end up paying a month including taxes?

Click to collapse



no tax!


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## veeman (Oct 9, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> no tax!

Click to collapse



I wish. There has to be some service fees and stuff that gets added to the $30.


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## br0nx finest (Oct 9, 2013)

veeman said:


> I wish. There has to be some service fees and stuff that gets added to the $30.

Click to collapse



I don't think there is.

I also think people are paying about $28 or $29 for the refill, through refilmobi.com IIRC


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## wideasleep1 (Oct 9, 2013)

veeman said:


> I wish. There has to be some service fees and stuff that gets added to the $30.

Click to collapse



Nope. Been covered in this massive thread.


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## Zainiak (Oct 9, 2013)

Been using on my N4 for a while, planning on putting my sim in the N5 when I get it


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## skinien (Oct 9, 2013)

I'm ditching Verizon and going with the $30/mo plan.  Actually, I plan on going $45/mo and getting an extra 150 minutes.


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## LinuxScouser (Oct 10, 2013)

Yeah, it looks like I'm going to be ditching Verizon too and going with this plan. I don't use anywhere near the minutes to justify unlimited talk time and I'm tired of the crap they do. I'd rather put up with potentially worse coverage to go with a better deal. And if more people decide on that, then maybe the coverage will get better.


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## wideasleep1 (Oct 10, 2013)

LinuxScouser said:


> Yeah, it looks like I'm going to be ditching Verizon too and going with this plan. I don't use anywhere near the minutes to justify unlimited talk time and I'm tired of the crap they do. I'd rather put up with potentially worse coverage to go with a better deal. And if more people decide on that, then maybe the coverage will get better.

Click to collapse



ATTABOY!


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## Cronis (Oct 10, 2013)

I will probably give the Tmo $30 plan a try and do a comparison with the straight talk $45 AT&T LTE plan just to see who has the best signal/speed in the area I work/travel.

Currently using a VM wildfire S as a backup phone, so man am I ready for the N5 lol.


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## LinuxScouser (Oct 10, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> ATTABOY!

Click to collapse



Although that Simple Choice plan became very very tempting.
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-9455


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## Lythandra (Oct 10, 2013)

I started using this plan while on the Nexus 1. I'm using the Galaxy Nexus now and plan on moving to the N5 when it comes out. I love it, saves me TONS of money. No tax, no service fees, just a straight $30 a month.


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## idigg (Oct 10, 2013)

Here is what I do with my Nexus 4 (soon to be Nexus 5).

Tmobile $30 plan (5GB 4g, unlimited texts and 100min/month) - I get refills on eBay/Craigslist for $27-$28, no tax.
I have VOIPO home phone service ($185 for 2 years), which allows SIP connections.  I use CSipSimple on N4 to allow SIP calling over Wifi/data.  
I save the 100 minutes for emergency

I was paying AT&T $110/month for 2 smartphones, now I pay $56/month to Tmobile, love it.

If anyone is interested in VOIPO let me know (free month of service to referral and referee)

Cheers
idigg


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## ryukiri (Oct 10, 2013)

idigg said:


> Here is what I do with my Nexus 4 (soon to be Nexus 5).
> 
> Tmobile $30 plan (5GB 4g, unlimited texts and 100min/month) - I get refills on eBay/Craigslist for $27-$28, no tax.
> I have VOIPO home phone service ($185 for 2 years), which allows SIP connections.  I use CSipSimple on N4 to allow SIP calling over Wifi/data.
> ...

Click to collapse



Hi where is the link to the 30$ a month plan? I don't see it anywhere on their website.. 

Thanks! 

Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk 4


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## skinien (Oct 10, 2013)

ryukiri said:


> Hi where is the link to the 30$ a month plan? I don't see it anywhere on their website..
> 
> Thanks!
> 
> Sent from my GT-N5110 using Tapatalk 4

Click to collapse



It's hard to find on their website.  Sometimes I find it, sometimes I can't.  You either have to call or go to WalMart to get the $30 pre-paid plan.


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## ryukiri (Oct 10, 2013)

skinien said:


> It's hard to find on their website.  Sometimes I find it, sometimes I can't.  You either have to call or go to WalMart to get the $30 pre-paid plan.

Click to collapse



ohh, so everywhere i go, they will have it if i ask?


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## skinien (Oct 10, 2013)

skinien said:


> It's hard to find on their website.  Sometimes I find it, sometimes I can't.  You either have to call or go to WalMart to get the $30 pre-paid plan.

Click to collapse



Finally found it!

Check the link and search for "Wal-Mart". 

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans


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## StatusQuo209 (Oct 11, 2013)

Cronis said:


> I will probably give the Tmo $30 plan a try and do a comparison with the straight talk $45 AT&T LTE plan just to see who has the best signal/speed in the area I work/travel.
> 
> Currently using a VM wildfire S as a backup phone, so man am I ready for the N5 lol.

Click to collapse



I have straight talk right now, but I thought they didn't have LTE?


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## skinien (Oct 11, 2013)

StatusQuo209 said:


> I have straight talk right now, but I thought they didn't have LTE?

Click to collapse



Straighttalk is now compatible with at&t LTE.


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## Beauenheim (Oct 11, 2013)

When the Nexus 5 comes out, I'm dropping Cricket, I pay 35 dollars a month for unlimited minutes (call drops after an hour and a half no matter what) and unlimited SMS (not MMS) and absolutely no data.

I flashed my Gnex to Cricket, and use wifi.

It is such a pain to never have data or mms available.

Definitely selling my gnex and buying a Nexus 5 and picking up this plan. I'd just forward the calls to google voice and use my data if that'd work.

Does MMS work with the 30 dollar plan?


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## skinien (Oct 11, 2013)

Yep, MMS works.


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## Cronis (Oct 11, 2013)

StatusQuo209 said:


> I have straight talk right now, but I thought they didn't have LTE?

Click to collapse



Yep they do... if ya look at the AT&T sim area they say its LTE/4G capable.

http://www.shopstraighttalk.com/bpd...ction=view&productVariantExtensionId=17638350


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## StatusQuo209 (Oct 11, 2013)

Cronis said:


> Yep they do... if ya look at the AT&T sim area they say its LTE/4G capable.
> 
> http://www.shopstraighttalk.com/bpd...ction=view&productVariantExtensionId=17638350

Click to collapse



That link didn't work (session expired) but I found out that LTE works via a Google search. How is your experience with LTE on ST? Do they still throttle at around 1.5 GB??

I have been considering porting my number to Google Voice and getting the T-Mobile 30$ plan and just doing all calls with GrooveIP...

I mean saving 15 bucks a month translates to 190 a year... And being a broke college sstudent, every penny counts..


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## Cronis (Oct 11, 2013)

StatusQuo209 said:


> That link didn't work (session expired) but I found out that LTE works via a Google search. How is your experience with LTE on ST? Do they still throttle at around 1.5 GB??
> 
> I have been considering porting my number to Google Voice and getting the T-Mobile 30$ plan and just doing all calls with GrooveIP...
> 
> I mean saving 15 bucks a month translates to 190 a year... And being a broke college sstudent, every penny counts..

Click to collapse



Well according to their front page its 2.5 gigs of high speed data, then they throttle you to 2G for the remainder of the pay period. 

http://www.straighttalk.com/wps/por..._dwoLwsA3Lv8cA!!/dl4/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/

and yea sorry about that I suspected the session might time out on the other link just because you have to give zip code and stuff for the AT&T sim info.

I'm going to try out both plans though since im kinda curious how the speeds/coverage compare. I think I can get LTE in my area with AT&T but im not sure about Tmo.


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## StatusQuo209 (Oct 11, 2013)

Cronis said:


> Well according to their front page its 2.5 gigs of high speed data, then they throttle you to 2G for the remainder of the pay period.
> 
> http://www.straighttalk.com/wps/por..._dwoLwsA3Lv8cA!!/dl4/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Its all good   I ordered the Tmobile SIM off their site to try the 30$ plan. cant wait to switch. I dont mind the 3.5mb/s im getting but I absolutely hate the ping times (around 250ms) Im currently getting on HSPA with ST. I herd the ping times are pretty bad on ST even with LTE. Hopefully I can get lower than 100ms with tmobile. 


Ive been liking the direction that T-Mobile is going recently. These guys are swinging hard at ATT and Verizon. I think ATT and  Verizon are getting Anti-Consumer day by day, while Tmobile just rolled out free international data and texting for postpaid consumers. Not to mention they only throttle data after you hit the limit without any overages.

Seems like T-Mobile is PRO consumer. im planning to get a few family members on a family plan with them if their service seems good. Never tried T-mobile.


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## aohus (Oct 11, 2013)

I'm selling my Unlimited Grandfathered Data Plan from Verizon for the T-Mobile $30/month plan. 

My account can go for up to $700 on eBay via AoL (assumption of liability). Most likely I'll sell my existing Verizon plan, then jump on T-Mobile. 

Tired of your crap Verizon.


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## hoangtung619 (Oct 11, 2013)

*lte speed*

how fast is tmo lte speed in $30 prepaid plan guys? i live in san jose, i tried this plan before on my s3 but it isnt fast at all, i want a recommendation from xda users, im using gOsmart with $30/month unlimited everything also 4g lte, but the data really slow. Thinking about go back to this TMO $30 plan or switch to Net10 or Straightalk, any suggestion guys? I'm using TMO Note3


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## ryukiri (Oct 17, 2013)

does this mean no more $30 a month? 

http://phandroid.com/2013/09/30/t-mobile-kills-off-classic-plans-at-3rd-party-retailers/


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## wideasleep1 (Oct 17, 2013)

ryukiri said:


> does this mean no more $30 a month?
> 
> http://phandroid.com/2013/09/30/t-mobile-kills-off-classic-plans-at-3rd-party-retailers/

Click to collapse



No. That refers to Classic Plans. Not Pre-Paid.


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## ryude (Oct 17, 2013)

I plan on using this for the Dell Venue 8 Pro, but for my phone I use Straight Talk (Tracfone). Unlimited everything for $45/mo, I actually need minutes so the 100 from tmobile wouldn't work.


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## ddpacino (Oct 17, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> no tax!

Click to collapse



State sales tax for me when I add my $30+ (MD). That's about it.


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## Ajfink (Oct 20, 2013)

hoangtung619 said:


> how fast is tmo lte speed in $30 prepaid plan guys? i live in san jose, i tried this plan before on my s3 but it isnt fast at all, i want a recommendation from xda users, im using gOsmart with $30/month unlimited everything also 4g lte, but the data really slow. Thinking about go back to this TMO $30 plan or switch to Net10 or Straightalk, any suggestion guys? I'm using TMO Note3

Click to collapse



I get over 20Mbps often.  There is no throttling whatsoever until you hit the 5GB limit.  These plans are the bait and hook to draw the tech-savvy away from Verizon and AT&T - and it works pretty often (they got me with it).

The only reason not to go with T-Mobile is the admittedly poor rural coverage.  In my small town near Harrisburg, PA I am still on 2G and the signal strength isn't that great.  A ten minute drive gets me 20Mbps+ LTE.  Go figure.  I have WiFi at home so it's only annoying for MMS.

Sent from my Nexus 4


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## hoangtung619 (Oct 20, 2013)

Ajfink said:


> I get over 20Mbps often.  There is no throttling whatsoever until you hit the 5GB limit.  These plans are the bait and hook to draw the tech-savvy away from Verizon and AT&T - and it works pretty often (they got me with it).
> 
> The only reason not to go with T-Mobile is the admittedly poor rural coverage.  In my small town near Harrisburg, PA I am still on 2G and the signal strength isn't that great.  A ten minute drive gets me 20Mbps+ LTE.  Go figure.  I have WiFi at home so it's only annoying for MMS.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 4

Click to collapse



It really nice to here that, i live close to san jose CA. Hopefully lte speed will work well

Sent from my HTC One using Tapatalk


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## kwazytazz (Oct 21, 2013)

Does the $30 plan have any unlimited tmobile to tmobile or night time minutes of that sort?


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## Zainiak (Oct 21, 2013)

kwazytazz said:


> Does the $30 plan have any unlimited tmobile to tmobile or night time minutes of that sort?

Click to collapse



as far as I know, no.

---------- Post added at 09:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:57 PM ----------




hoangtung619 said:


> how fast is tmo lte speed in $30 prepaid plan guys? i live in san jose, i tried this plan before on my s3 but it isnt fast at all, i want a recommendation from xda users, im using gOsmart with $30/month unlimited everything also 4g lte, but the data really slow. Thinking about go back to this TMO $30 plan or switch to Net10 or Straightalk, any suggestion guys? I'm using TMO Note3

Click to collapse



I consistently get over 30 mbps down, and around 12 up. Depends on your area, congestion, etc.


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## kwazytazz (Oct 21, 2013)

Zainiak said:


> as far as I know, no.

Click to collapse



Thanks, probably will have to use grooveip or something similar if I jump on this plan, while I don't use a lot of minutes but I do use more than 100 a month


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## Zainiak (Oct 21, 2013)

kwazytazz said:


> Thanks, probably will have to use grooveip or something similar if I jump on this plan, while I don't use a lot of minutes but I do use more than 100 a month

Click to collapse



Hangouts will be getting calling soon, so you could just use that. I've been using groove for about a year now. I don't really like it, but its the best at what it does. until hangouts gets the update


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## kwazytazz (Oct 21, 2013)

Zainiak said:


> Hangouts will be getting calling soon, so you could just use that. I've been using groove for about a year now. I don't really like it, but its the best at what it does. until hangouts gets the update

Click to collapse



That sounds awesome but i'm also assuming the other person will need to have a android device too, unless the hangouts calling option is able to call landlines/phones also.

Just checked the t-mobile site for their family plans, the data portion of their plans was such a rip off, even with unlimited you only get 2.5gb of 4g before throttled, then on the 2nd line and so on, you only get 500mb!*oops* I misread it, its 2.5gb for hotspot lol but unlimited 4g access


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## Zainiak (Oct 21, 2013)

kwazytazz said:


> That sounds awesome but i'm also assuming the other person will need to have a android device too, unless the hangouts calling option is able to call landlines/phones also.

Click to collapse



Nope, it should act like a voip service. Just like grooveip. So you can call iPhones, landlines, etc.


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## AlexNC75 (Oct 21, 2013)

As soon as the Nexus 5 is released, I too plan on switching from my grandfathered unlimited Verizon plan to this Tmobile $30 plan. I was a little hesitant until Google just announced that true VOIP is about to come to Hangouts. This essentially gets rid of my fear of going over my voice minutes. When at home I will just need to make sure I am connected to my Wifi so the minutes don't count against my Tmobile allotment. This is truly a great deal if you have decent Tmobile coverage in your city.

I have question for all of y'all that are currently on the $30 plan. The Tmobile site states:


> This plan is only available for devices purchased from
> Wal-Mart or devices activated on T-Mobile.com

Click to collapse



Will I have to wait until I get my Nexux 5 in my hands to get this plan set up? Or can I go ahead an purchase the plan and be ready for when the phone actually arrives? I would love to go ahead an purchase it now without activation if possible. If so, would it be better to do this through the Tmobile website or at Walmart?


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## Shinyhead (Oct 21, 2013)

AlexNC75 said:


> As soon as the Nexus 5 is released, I too plan on switching from my grandfathered unlimited Verizon plan to this Tmobile $30 plan. I was a little hesitant until Google just announced that true VOIP is about to come to Hangouts. This essentially gets rid of my fear of going over my voice minutes. When at home I will just need to make sure I am connected to my Wifi so the minutes don't count against my Tmobile allotment. This is truly a great deal if you have decent Tmobile coverage in your city.
> 
> I have question for all of y'all that are currently on the $30 plan. The Tmobile site states:
> 
> Will I have to wait until I get my Nexux 5 in my hands to get this plan set up? Or can I go ahead an purchase the plan and be ready for when the phone actually arrives? I would love to go ahead an purchase it now without activation if possible. If so, would it be better to do this through the Tmobile website or at Walmart?

Click to collapse



I am also to planning to do this change as well.  From what I have found out, you can only activate the $30 prepaid plan online with the phone in hand, so I bought a couple prepaid sim cards when they were only $0.99 each.  I usually try to avoid going to the stores to talk to sales people since they are not always aware of everything that is happening.  I recommend to purchase the prepaid sim card and activate online. when you get the phone.


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## skinien (Oct 21, 2013)

AlexNC75 said:


> As soon as the Nexus 5 is released, I too plan on switching from my grandfathered unlimited Verizon plan to this Tmobile $30 plan. I was a little hesitant until Google just announced that true VOIP is about to come to Hangouts. This essentially gets rid of my fear of going over my voice minutes. When at home I will just need to make sure I am connected to my Wifi so the minutes don't count against my Tmobile allotment. This is truly a great deal if you have decent Tmobile coverage in your city.
> 
> I have question for all of y'all that are currently on the $30 plan. The Tmobile site states:
> 
> Will I have to wait until I get my Nexux 5 in my hands to get this plan set up? Or can I go ahead an purchase the plan and be ready for when the phone actually arrives? I would love to go ahead an purchase it now without activation if possible. If so, would it be better to do this through the Tmobile website or at Walmart?

Click to collapse



You can buy a sim card from T-Mobile's website now and activate it as soon as you get your phone.


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## RhinoShock (Oct 21, 2013)

I have a question for those who have done this already. Is there a way to get incoming and outgoing VOIP calls through the main phone app? Or if I do this will I have to go use grooveIP/Hangouts (when the VOIP update comes) when i'm connected to wifi and use the normal phone app when I'm out and about.


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## 2.0t03speed (Oct 22, 2013)

i'm about to switch over to this plan my self. t-mobile still has the sim's for 99cents you just have to use the code octsim when you checkout. i ordered the sim and a refill card from walmarts website (they send you the pin via email) so now all i have to do is buy the nexus 5 when it gets released then it's good to go. Quick question about google voice can you route your main carriers number through google voice? so when i'm at home on wifi i can still receive my calls through my main account number but they will be over voip instead of using my minuets. i don't think it works like that but i just wanted to check before i have to port my number to google voice.


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## newtooroot (Oct 22, 2013)

*sim or micro sim?*

Are we SURE we need a micro sim card? Never used a sim card . Want to order one in advance for .99 with the tmobile special.
I saw nano, micro and sim.
tuvm


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## Ajfink (Oct 22, 2013)

newtooroot said:


> Are we SURE we need a micro sim card? Never used a sim card . Want to order one in advance for .99 with the tmobile special.
> I saw nano, micro and sim.
> tuvm

Click to collapse



Definitely a micro-SIM.

Sent from my Nexus 4


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## PassingThruLife (Oct 22, 2013)

I'm surprised no one in this thread mentioned the Vonage app. It let's you use your real phone number to make outgoing calls and the quality over wifi and 3g is great,I assume it would be even better on 4g LTE.

Could make all outgoing calls on Vonage and save the 100 mins for important incoming calls.


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## nickotine18 (Oct 22, 2013)

2.0t03speed said:


> i'm about to switch over to this plan my self. t-mobile still has the sim's for 99cents you just have to use the code octsim when you checkout. i ordered the sim and a refill card from walmarts website (they send you the pin via email) so now all i have to do is buy the nexus 5 when it gets released then it's good to go. Quick question about google voice can you route your main carriers number through google voice? so when i'm at home on wifi i can still receive my calls through my main account number but they will be over voip instead of using my minuets. i don't think it works like that but i just wanted to check before i have to port my number to google voice.

Click to collapse



Thanks for the tip! I just bought myself a micro sim and now I am wondering what to do after I buy the N5 and have to switch sim? How do I go about transferring data from my old sim to this new micro sim that I just bought?


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## kimtyson (Oct 22, 2013)

nickotine18 said:


> Thanks for the tip! I just bought myself a micro sim and now I am wondering what to do after I buy the N5 and have to switch sim? How do I go about transferring data from my old sim to this new micro sim that I just bought?

Click to collapse



Not sure what exactly you want to transfer. I use Google and transfer using sync. This takes care of my Contacts and Calendar. There are apps that will backup\restore stuff like texts. What else did you want to transfer?


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## raichur0xx0rz (Oct 22, 2013)

AlexNC75 said:


> If so, would it be better to do this through the Tmobile website or at Walmart?

Click to collapse



Just go to the website to manage everything. I feel like that's simpler than dealing with Walmart. 




newtooroot said:


> Are we SURE we need a micro sim card? Never used a sim card . Want to order one in advance for .99 with the tmobile special.
> I saw nano, micro and sim.
> tuvm

Click to collapse



I would actually recommend just getting a Nano-SIM and then getting an adapter set on Amazon. That way you can just use the same SIM card regardless of which phone you're using. Then again, if you plan to hold onto the Nexus 5 for a while, then it may not really matter for you.


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## 954wrecker (Oct 22, 2013)

http://www.droidnews.info/2013/10/2...ting-to-offer-free-tethering-on-prepaid-plans


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## nickotine18 (Oct 22, 2013)

*ruirmer chloride*



kimtyson said:


> Not sure what exactly you want to transfer. I use Google and transfer using sync. This takes care of my Contacts and Calendar. There are apps that will backup\restore stuff like texts. What else did you want to transfer?

Click to collapse



I mean, how do I transfer my number from the old sim to the new sim? Do I just goto Tmobile and pay a fee?


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## Ajfink (Oct 22, 2013)

nickotine18 said:


> I mean, how do I transfer my number from the old sim to the new sim? Do I just goto Tmobile and pay a fee?

Click to collapse



Can't you just use the Contacts app to do an import to your phone, insert your new SIM, and then export them to the SIM?  Or just store contacts with Google (unless you dislike that idea)?


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## nickotine18 (Oct 22, 2013)

Ajfink said:


> Can't you just use the Contacts app to do an import to your phone, insert your new SIM, and then export them to the SIM?  Or just store contacts with Google (unless you dislike that idea)?

Click to collapse



I think you guys are misunderstanding what I'm trying to say. I am asking how to get the service from the old sim to the new sim. Not how to transfer contacts over, because I already know how to do that.


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## wideasleep1 (Oct 22, 2013)

nickotine18 said:


> I think you guys are misunderstanding what I'm trying to say. I am asking how to get the service from the old sim to the new sim. Not how to transfer contacts over, because I already know how to do that.

Click to collapse



You simply activate the new SIM and port your number over in the activation process.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


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## nickotine18 (Oct 22, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> You simply activate the new SIM and port your number over in the activation process.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Thank you!


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## sibaroochi (Oct 22, 2013)

*LG Nexus 5 with Solavei - Free Sim Card*



AlexNC75 said:


> As soon as the Nexus 5 is released, I too plan on switching ...
> 
> Will I have to wait until I get my Nexux 5 in my hands to get this plan set up? Or can I go ahead an purchase the plan and be ready for when the phone actually arrives? I would love to go ahead an purchase it now without activation if possible..

Click to collapse



Alex,

You may also want to consider Solavei, as it uses the same HSPA+ network as Tmobile and is unlimited voice and data. I've been using it with my Nexus 4 since that phone came out last year.. been pretty happy with the speeds here in Miami. I found a way to get a Nexus 5 sim card for free before the phone comes out: http://bit.ly/18I50hM

Hope that helps


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## Shinyhead (Oct 23, 2013)

nickotine18 said:


> Thank you!

Click to collapse



N5 uses micro Sim not nano Sim.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app


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## kimtyson (Oct 23, 2013)

nickotine18 said:


> I mean, how do I transfer my number from the old sim to the new sim? Do I just goto Tmobile and pay a fee?

Click to collapse



Sorry. Misunderstood. You got your answer but contact T-mobile to transfer the number to the new SIM.



sibaroochi said:


> Alex,
> 
> You may also want to consider Solavei, as it uses the same HSPA+ network as Tmobile and is unlimited voice and data.

Click to collapse



Pretty sure you are spamming for Solavei, which is $50 per month. Why would we spend $20 more. You did see the title of this thread, right?


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## svengalis (Oct 23, 2013)

I think I am just going to switch to straight talk. It's only $15 more cause those 100 minutes go fast. Vonage and groove ip both suck.


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## Shinyhead (Oct 23, 2013)

svengalis said:


> I think I am just going to switch to straight talk. It's only $15 more cause those 100 minutes go fast. Vonage and groove ip both suck.

Click to collapse



The only bad thing I heard about ST is the streaming issue.  But yeah ST is a great option.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app


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## 954wrecker (Oct 23, 2013)

svengalis said:


> I think I am just going to switch to straight talk. It's only $15 more cause those 100 minutes go fast. Vonage and groove ip both suck.

Click to collapse



http://phandroid.com/2013/09/30/straight-talk-2-5gb-data-throttle/

Keep in mind unlimited data is really only 2.5gb before throttling down to edge. Not sure they give you LTE like T-Mobile prepaid does. Extra minutes over 100 are only ten cents.

Sent from my HTC One XL


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## Cronis (Oct 23, 2013)

954wrecker said:


> http://phandroid.com/2013/09/30/straight-talk-2-5gb-data-throttle/
> 
> Keep in mind unlimited data is really only 2.5gb before throttling down to edge. Not sure they give you LTE like T-Mobile prepaid does. Extra minutes over 100 are only ten cents.
> 
> Sent from my HTC One XL

Click to collapse



Yea they do... least they advertise as having AT&T LTE sims

I will try them out once I get the N5 if T-mo has bad coverage in my area.


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## wideasleep1 (Oct 23, 2013)

svengalis said:


> I think I am just going to switch to straight talk. It's only $15 more cause those 100 minutes go fast. Vonage and groove ip both suck.

Click to collapse



I too had major issues on Vonage and paid GrooveIP...Skype solved it and those I call cannot tell the difference btw  Skype and TMO


Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## kangxi (Oct 24, 2013)

kimtyson said:


> Pretty sure you are spamming for Solavei, which is $50 per month. Why would we spend $20 more. You did see the title of this thread, right?

Click to collapse



How is he "spamming" Solavei when it is just another viable option? People have mentioned Straight Talk and that's not nearly as good a deal as 4GB of 4G data for $49. 

I've been using it since November and love it. I was going to suggest it but he did it first.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app


----------



## trsix (Oct 24, 2013)

*umm*



svengalis said:


> I think I am just going to switch to straight talk. It's only $15 more cause those 100 minutes go fast. Vonage and groove ip both suck.

Click to collapse



been using groove for months.
overall very good. few glitches.
maybe your wifi sucks.


----------



## geek_bear (Oct 24, 2013)

Keep in mind unlimited data is really only 2.5gb before throttling down to edge. Not sure they give you LTE like T-Mobile prepaid does. Extra minutes over 100 are only ten cents.

Sent from my HTC One XL[/QUOTE]

So is it 10 cents per minute for overages, or $10 for another hundred minutes?  I've heard it both ways, and from what I have read on T-mobile's site I thought it was 10 cents/minute.  I plan on dumping Verizon and going to this plan as soon as the Nexus 5 is available.  If the overages are in $10 chunks, I may look more for other plans.


----------



## Greefus (Oct 24, 2013)

Does Straight Talk still accept new $45 a month AT&T users? I still have a micro sim from them..

I like Solavei for the speed and price. It's $58 after taxes and lets you use 4 GB, but I can't get indoor reception in big buildings since it's all PCS.

For N5 I'm thinking about switching to T-Mobile unlimited Simple Choice for $70 a month since there's no data limit, roams on AT&T, and has conditional call forwarding. CCF is mandatory for me for Google Voice Voicemail and Solavei is the only T-Mobile prepaid service that has it AFAIK. I can probably get a work discount of the Simple Choice plan too.

I'd be tempted to go back to $45 AT&T ST if it works via LTE, but I don't like the 2.5 GB per month limit.  T-Mobile's HSPA+ has been very speedy for me though and I'm afraid both AT&T and T-Mobile's LTE won't be as good.  I think I'd prefer T-Mobile to be the primary provider still since I can keep the LTE radio off and probably save some battery.


----------



## 954wrecker (Oct 24, 2013)

No this plan only charges per minute over 100. Never happened to me but it has happened to my wife. No tax here on the refills and we always get at least 10% off the refill cards when we buy them.


Sent from my HTC One XL


----------



## svengalis (Oct 24, 2013)

geek_bear said:


> Keep in mind unlimited data is really only 2.5gb before throttling down to edge. Not sure they give you LTE like T-Mobile prepaid does. Extra minutes over 100 are only ten cents.
> 
> Sent from my HTC One XL

Click to collapse



So is it 10 cents per minute for overages, or $10 for another hundred minutes?  I've heard it both ways, and from what I have read on T-mobile's site I thought it was 10 cents/minute.  I plan on dumping Verizon and going to this plan as soon as the Nexus 5 is available.  If the overages are in $10 chunks, I may look more for other plans.[/QUOTE]

it may be 10 cents/minute but you still have to add at least $10 everytime your minutes run out.


----------



## 954wrecker (Oct 24, 2013)

I've noticed my actual data used and the amount T-Mobile shows are different over this past month. I haven't changed anything and I'm not complaining because I've basically got double the LTE so far this month. 10gb for ~$27 isn't a bad deal at all

Sent from my HTC One XL


----------



## stevvveo (Oct 25, 2013)

I'm with Big Red and started to get pissed with their phone selection and schemes to charge you out the A**. So I can either buy a phone like the LG G2 which is nice and all, but I'd be spending $600 bucks. I love how fast Verizon's LTE is and I have like a 23% employee discount with verizon but my bill is still $80 a month for my unlimited plan.

Is this $30 a month plan actually worth it, is the first 5gb really as fast as a contract Tmobile LTE connection?

Big decision here, I stream a lot.

Thanks in advance.


----------



## mr_blanket (Oct 25, 2013)

I wasn't sure if this has been posted before, so apologies if this  has been answered...

I am a google voice user.  In fact, my main number I give out to everyone is GV.  My family, friends, employer, etc.
As I understand it, the Tmo prepaid options do NOT include call forwarding?  So in that case, if someone calls my normal Tmo number (I plan on porting over my current number because some old friends still call it), it will simply roll over to the tmobile voicemail?  Or does GV not work at all on Tmo prepaid?

I hope this makes since!  Thanks.


----------



## mb3030 (Oct 25, 2013)

sorry if this has been asked before, but could anyone confirm that this plan will get LTE?  With the nexus 5 supposedly having LTE, this would be really great.  Also would it need a new sim in order to access the network, or could i just stick my sim card from the 4 into the 5?

---------- Post added at 09:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:50 AM ----------




mr_blanket said:


> I wasn't sure if this has been posted before, so apologies if this  has been answered...
> 
> I am a google voice user.  In fact, my main number I give out to everyone is GV.  My family, friends, employer, etc.
> As I understand it, the Tmo prepaid options do NOT include call forwarding?  So in that case, if someone calls my normal Tmo number (I plan on porting over my current number because some old friends still call it), it will simply roll over to the tmobile voicemail?  Or does GV not work at all on Tmo prepaid?
> ...

Click to collapse



i use google voice with this plan on tmobile.  I'm not exactly sure what you're asking, but my old verizon number is what i ported to gvoice.  This is the number that everyone knows me for, and when they call it, they get my nexus 4 using this plan.  I dont even know my actual tmobile phone number lol


----------



## mr_blanket (Oct 25, 2013)

mb3030 said:


> sorry if this has been asked before, but could anyone confirm that this plan will get LTE?  With the nexus 5 supposedly having LTE, this would be really great.  Also would it need a new sim in order to access the network, or could i just stick my sim card from the 4 into the 5?
> 
> ---------- Post added at 09:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:50 AM ----------
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



thanks for the info!  That's pretty much what I wanted to hear since I only give out my GV number these days. :good:


----------



## stevvveo (Oct 25, 2013)

mb3030 said:


> sorry if this has been asked before, but could anyone confirm that this plan will get LTE?  With the nexus 5 supposedly having LTE, this would be really great.  Also would it need a new sim in order to access the network, or could i just stick my sim card from the 4 into the 5?
> 
> ---------- Post added at 09:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:50 AM ----------
> 
> ...

Click to collapse




I also was kind of wondering this and I'm not sure if this is what the original post was asking but basically I have Verizon now...say my number for Verizon is 555-555-5555, and I have it set up currently with Google Voice, my google voice number is say 444-444-4444, people only have and I normally give out my Verizon number and have it ported. So if I make the switch to tmobile and have them adopt my verizon number, my tmobile number will then be 555-555-5555 and it should still port to Google Voice with no problems right? Therefore I can use Google Voice for most of my calling and not eat up minutes while still giving out the number I've always used (555-555-5555)

Hopefully that's not more confusing


----------



## mb3030 (Oct 25, 2013)

stevvveo said:


> I also was kind of wondering this and I'm not sure if this is what the original post was asking but basically I have Verizon now...say my number for Verizon is 555-555-5555, and I have it set up currently with Google Voice, my google voice number is say 444-444-4444, people only have and I normally give out my Verizon number and have it ported. So if I make the switch to tmobile and have them adopt my verizon number, my tmobile number will then be 555-555-5555 and it should still port to Google Voice with no problems right? Therefore I can use Google Voice for most of my calling and not eat up minutes while still giving out the number I've always used (555-555-5555)
> 
> Hopefully that's not more confusing

Click to collapse



calling through google voice still uses minutes.  You'll need to use a program like groove ip or supposedly hangouts will be doing it soon too.


----------



## stevvveo (Oct 25, 2013)

mb3030 said:


> calling through google voice still uses minutes.  You'll need to use a program like groove ip or supposedly hangouts will be doing it soon too.

Click to collapse



thanks! yeah that hangouts function was supposed to be "coming soon" right after they switched!


----------



## mb3030 (Oct 25, 2013)

sorry if this has been asked before, but could anyone confirm that this plan will get LTE? With the nexus 5 supposedly having LTE, this would be really great. Also would it need a new sim in order to access the network, or could i just stick my sim card from the 4 into the 5?

sorry for the repeat- but i think my question got bundled with some of my other replies and perhaps got lost.  If anyone knows, i'd appreciate a reply.  thanks.


----------



## frigidazzi (Oct 25, 2013)

mr_blanket said:


> I wasn't sure if this has been posted before, so apologies if this  has been answered...
> 
> I am a google voice user.  In fact, my main number I give out to everyone is GV.  My family, friends, employer, etc.
> As I understand it, the Tmo prepaid options do NOT include call forwarding?  So in that case, if someone calls my normal Tmo number (I plan on porting over my current number because some old friends still call it), it will simply roll over to the tmobile voicemail?  Or does GV not work at all on Tmo prepaid?
> ...

Click to collapse



Call forwarding doesn't work on prepaid. So sometimes your calls will get picked up by T-Mobile voicemail instead of Google voice. The way to fix that is to have them disable your T-Mobile voicemail completely. 

If you give people your real T-Mobile number you will never get a voicemail. If you only give people your gv then you will.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2

---------- Post added at 08:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:12 AM ----------




mb3030 said:


> sorry if this has been asked before, but could anyone confirm that this plan will get LTE? With the nexus 5 supposedly having LTE, this would be really great. Also would it need a new sim in order to access the network, or could i just stick my sim card from the 4 into the 5?
> 
> sorry for the repeat- but i think my question got bundled with some of my other replies and perhaps got lost.  If anyone knows, i'd appreciate a reply.  thanks.

Click to collapse



Yes it has lte. I'm using it right now on the nexus 4. 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## Ajfink (Oct 25, 2013)

mb3030 said:


> sorry if this has been asked before, but could anyone confirm that this plan will get LTE? With the nexus 5 supposedly having LTE, this would be really great. Also would it need a new sim in order to access the network, or could i just stick my sim card from the 4 into the 5?
> 
> sorry for the repeat- but i think my question got bundled with some of my other replies and perhaps got lost.  If anyone knows, i'd appreciate a reply.  thanks.

Click to collapse



This plan definitely has LTE, I have it.

Another thing to note:  it's being reported that some users on T-Mobile's prepaid plans (including the $30/month one) are seeing a 100MB/month allotment for tethering show up in their "My Account" app account summaries, for free.


----------



## mb3030 (Oct 25, 2013)

Ajfink said:


> This plan definitely has LTE, I have it.
> 
> Another thing to note:  it's being reported that some users on T-Mobile's prepaid plans (including the $30/month one) are seeing a 100MB/month allotment for tethering show up in their "My Account" app account summaries, for free.

Click to collapse



i just checked and i dont see anything for tethering - oh well


----------



## Ajfink (Oct 25, 2013)

mb3030 said:


> i just checked and i dont see anything for tethering - oh well

Click to collapse



Me either.  Bummer.

Maybe we just don't...yet!


----------



## mb3030 (Oct 25, 2013)

Ajfink said:


> Me either.  Bummer.
> 
> Maybe we just don't...yet!

Click to collapse



yeah it's not the end of the world.  My pixel has 2g from vzw anyways, and my tablet stays at home unless im traveling so whatever.  Not much to do with 100mb anyway that i couldn't just do on the phone for the same experience.


----------



## talz13 (Oct 26, 2013)

Ajfink said:


> This plan definitely has LTE, I have it.
> 
> Another thing to note:  it's being reported that some users on T-Mobile's prepaid plans (including the $30/month one) are seeing a 100MB/month allotment for tethering show up in their "My Account" app account summaries, for free.

Click to collapse



I feel that we should get free tethering up to our total data plan amount, since data is data


----------



## trsix (Oct 26, 2013)

*umm*



talz13 said:


> I feel that we should get free tethering up to our total data plan amount, since data is data

Click to collapse



Maybe apply for a job with them as plan administrator then you can have your way.


----------



## talz13 (Oct 26, 2013)

trsix said:


> Maybe apply for a job with them as plan administrator then you can have your way.

Click to collapse



Really, what's the difference if we're using bits out of our 5gb bucket on the phone or on a laptop or tab?


----------



## 954wrecker (Oct 26, 2013)

Who says we aren't getting unlimited tethering?


Sent from my HTC One XL


----------



## talz13 (Oct 26, 2013)

954wrecker said:


> Who says we aren't getting unlimited tethering?
> 
> 
> Sent from my HTC One XL

Click to collapse



I was at the airport a few months back for a business trip, and was using my phone to tether to my laptop.  It worked for a couple hours, but then it started redirecting me to T-Mobile's hotspot upsell page.  Maybe this won't happen anymore?


----------



## 954wrecker (Oct 26, 2013)

I rarely tether to be honest I was just testing how accurately they monitor it. The amount didn't move since that tethering section popped up on my account summary.

http://androidcommunity.com/t-mobil...data-roaming-and-tethering-features-20131025/

Sent from my HTC One XL


----------



## kimtyson (Oct 26, 2013)

954wrecker said:


> Who says we aren't getting unlimited tethering?

Click to collapse



I'm pretty sure you are saying it. You picture shows we will only get 100Mb of tethering.


----------



## harveydent (Oct 26, 2013)

mb3030 said:


> i just checked and i dont see anything for tethering - oh well

Click to collapse






Ajfink said:


> Me either.  Bummer.
> 
> Maybe we just don't...yet!

Click to collapse



What phones are you using? I'm using a GNex and tether all the time but never get charged for it. Do you guys have a Nexus? Maybe the reason 100mb free tethering doesn't show up for us is TMo doesn't detect it.


----------



## kimtyson (Oct 26, 2013)

So far no free\included tether for me on my $30 T-Mo plan. Whatever. I use Invisible Browsing VPN (ibvpn.com) and a non-TMo phone so I get tether that way.


----------



## gbpack2306 (Oct 28, 2013)

Just an FYI guys, T-Mobile has their SIM card activation kits up for $0.99 now. Never know how long that'll be up.

Micro - http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/p...37&PID=1225267

Nano - http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/p...37&PID=1225267


----------



## Lockeskidney (Oct 28, 2013)

Let's hope they fix the microphone issues with VoIP on the n5

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## mb3030 (Oct 28, 2013)

harveydent said:


> What phones are you using? I'm using a GNex and tether all the time but never get charged for it. Do you guys have a Nexus? Maybe the reason 100mb free tethering doesn't show up for us is TMo doesn't detect it.

Click to collapse



im using the nexus 4

I think its the plan type.  I dont think prepaid is supposed to get the free tethering based on what i've seen and heard from others.


----------



## trsix (Oct 30, 2013)

*free*



gbpack2306 said:


> Just an FYI guys, T-Mobile has their SIM card activation kits up for $0.99 now. Never know how long that'll be up.
> 
> Micro - http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/p...37&PID=1225267
> 
> Nano - http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/p...37&PID=1225267

Click to collapse



:victory:
Just ordered mine, was free.
Had to keep clicking, it said payment system was down. Keep trying. Worked about the tenth time.


----------



## Shinyhead (Oct 30, 2013)

trsix said:


> :victory:
> Just ordered mine, was free.
> Had to keep clicking, it said payment system was down. Keep trying. Worked about the tenth time.

Click to collapse



Just got 4 micro sims for my family so we can be ready when we cancel VERIZON!!!


----------



## Lythandra (Oct 30, 2013)

Anyone know if its gonna be a Micro Sim or a Nano for the Nexus 5?

Currently have a Galaxy Nexus and curious if I can switch my current Sim over.


----------



## Shinyhead (Oct 30, 2013)

Shinyhead said:


> Just got 4 micro sims for my family so we can be ready when we cancel VERIZON!!!

Click to collapse



Micro sim

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda app-developers app


----------



## Ajfink (Oct 30, 2013)

Lythandra said:


> Anyone know if its gonna be a Micro Sim or a Nano for the Nexus 5?
> 
> Currently have a Galaxy Nexus and curious if I can switch my current Sim over.

Click to collapse



Looking like micro.

http://www.androidorigin.com/lg-nexus-5-leak-more-pictures-leaked-confirms-micro-sim-cards/


----------



## kerngehirn (Oct 31, 2013)

So, i finally got around to buying a starter kit from t mobile. I activated the 30$ plan which is discussed in this thread. I use it now on my nexus 4 and in a few days on my nexus 5.

Now I got a question that my not belong here as this is under the nexus 5 section. But I try it anyways.

When I get a call from Germany. From a cabled phone in Germany. Do I get charged for it? E.g. do my 100 minutes decrease when I get a call.

The reason I'm asking is that in German u never get charged for an incoming call. How about the US?


----------



## veeman (Oct 31, 2013)

kerngehirn said:


> So, i finally got around to buying a starter kit from t mobile. I activated the 30$ plan which is discussed in this thread. I use it now on my nexus 4 and in a few days on my nexus 5.
> 
> Now I got a question that my not belong here as this is under the nexus 5 section. But I try it anyways.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Yes, I believe incoming calls use up minutes.


----------



## facetubespam (Oct 31, 2013)

kerngehirn said:


> So, i finally got around to buying a starter kit from t mobile. I activated the 30$ plan which is discussed in this thread. I use it now on my nexus 4 and in a few days on my nexus 5.
> 
> Now I got a question that my not belong here as this is under the nexus 5 section. But I try it anyways.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



In the US, it depends on the carrier & plan. For most 2 year contracts, no. But for this $30 pre paid plan, you will be charged for incoming calls.
- Incoming domestic calls on prepaid are charged the same as outgoing calling. Incoming international are charged the standard per-minute rate.


----------



## OctoPI (Oct 31, 2013)

Just a heads up, for those of you looking to switch to T-Mo, they are currently offering the SIM activation kits for $0.00 shipped.
I just ordered a Nano and Micro SIM in anticipation of the N5 release so I can ditch VZW.

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/phone-sim-card


----------



## wideasleep1 (Oct 31, 2013)

OctoPI said:


> Just a heads up, for those of you looking to switch to T-Mo, they are currently offering the SIM activation kits for $0.00 shipped.
> I just ordered a Nano and Micro SIM in anticipation of the N5 release so I can ditch VZW.
> 
> http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/phone-sim-card

Click to collapse



Already mentioned last night page..but congrats leaving VZW!

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## velishka (Oct 31, 2013)

I'm just using T-mo + Vonage. Never had a problem


----------



## OctoPI (Oct 31, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> Already mentioned last night page..but congrats leaving VZW!
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Derp. That'll teach me not to go back a page. :silly:


----------



## 2.0t03speed (Oct 31, 2013)

so now that google is going to start cracking down on 3rd party voice app's are alot of you guys still going to stick with this plan?

http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/31/google-hangouts-google-voice-sms/


----------



## wideasleep1 (Oct 31, 2013)

2.0t03speed said:


> so now that google is going to start cracking down on 3rd party voice app's are alot of you guys still going to stick with this plan?
> 
> http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/31/google-hangouts-google-voice-sms/

Click to collapse



Skype, Vonage...now hangouts...why dump a great plan?


----------



## youngproguru (Oct 31, 2013)

velishka said:


> I'm just using T-mo + Vonage. Never had a problem

Click to collapse



Also, Check out Vitelity. It is less expensive, and works very well with the Built in SIP dialer, or third party. Works great on TMobile.

---------- Post added at 07:22 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:18 PM ----------




mb3030 said:


> sorry if this has been asked before, but could anyone confirm that this plan will get LTE? With the nexus 5 supposedly having LTE, this would be really great. Also would it need a new sim in order to access the network, or could i just stick my sim card from the 4 into the 5?
> 
> sorry for the repeat- but i think my question got bundled with some of my other replies and perhaps got lost.  If anyone knows, i'd appreciate a reply.  thanks.

Click to collapse



Yes it does. I receive LTE speeds in Buffalo NY on my Nexus 4 after the radio tweak, I am sure it will work on the 5 out of the box. In my area the TMobile LTE coverage is better then the HSPA+ coverage. 25 Down, 10 up.

---------- Post added at 07:27 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:22 PM ----------




2.0t03speed said:


> so now that google is going to start cracking down on 3rd party voice app's are alot of you guys still going to stick with this plan?
> 
> http://www.engadget.com/2013/10/31/google-hangouts-google-voice-sms/

Click to collapse



I think you miss understand. They want to stop third party apps that use Google Voice.  We can still use any SIP, or Skype, or Voice Over IP client we would like. Android has a built in SIP client. It is in the dial er under "Internet Calling"
SIP works very well on TMobile. (Even the Prepaid) It is blocked on Verizon.

I dont think Google wants to put a stop to VoIP, They love how disruptive it is. They do want to control Google Voice outbound calling because they pay the bill for those calls that connect to the PSTN.


----------



## FiveOhFour (Oct 31, 2013)

Redacted


----------



## bobgren (Nov 1, 2013)

*simple choice to $30 plan*

Can I switch to the $ 30 plan if Im already a $50 simple choice user?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 1, 2013)

bobgren said:


> Can I switch to the $ 30 plan if Im already a $50 simple choice user?

Click to collapse



Yes. Activate a new SIM on this plan. Either cancel old plan later or port number immediately, which cancels old automagically.


----------



## shadowx360 (Nov 1, 2013)

How is everyone getting this without paying tax? I pay sales tax when I refill via the web site

Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 1, 2013)

shadowx360 said:


> How is everyone getting this without paying tax? I pay sales tax when I refill via the web site
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



Mixed reports...some say they get taxed. Target for example doesn't charge sales tax on their $30 refill...so far I haven't been charged tax on my CC payments.


----------



## adrman (Nov 1, 2013)

shadowx360 said:


> How is everyone getting this without paying tax? I pay sales tax when I refill via the web site
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



callingmart.com, refillmobi.com are the two sites I use. The former you'll pay full price, but no tax. The latter discounts the T-Mobile price in addition to no tax. Unfortunately, they're currently out of stock on refills. I usually just wait until there is a $100 refill available, then add it to my account and use up the balance. 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4


----------



## Lythandra (Nov 1, 2013)

Like the above poster I use Callingmart.com. No tax. I generally buy their $60 refills.


----------



## timropp (Nov 1, 2013)

I buy refills at Meijer (for the midwest people - a big, walmart like store). Once a month or so they have 15% off all general merchandise on the weekends. Gift cards don't qualify, but the prepaid cell cards ring up discounted just fine. So I'll go in and buy a hundred bucks or so worth at a time, getting 15% off. :good:

And thanks for the info earlier about calling tmo to switch to a new sim - that's actually what I was coming here to ask about  Have a Galaxy nexus on the $30 plan now, have my 5 ordered, and wanted to know if I should just order a sim cutter or have tmo switch it. Already have another regular and a micro sim coming from the freebie tmo deal (micro to use on my N5, and the regular to set my wife up with my old gnex and toss her current crap phone that's on pageplus)


----------



## br0adband (Nov 1, 2013)

timropp said:


> Have a Galaxy nexus on the $30 plan now, have my 5 ordered, and wanted to know if I should just order a sim cutter or have tmo switch it. Already have another regular and a micro sim coming from the freebie tmo deal (micro to use on my N5, and the regular to set my wife up with my old gnex and toss her current crap phone that's on pageplus)

Click to collapse



You'd want to get T-Mobile to issue a new microSIM since that older one won't allow for access to their LTE capability - you'd get the typical 3G stuff and perhaps even some 4G (HSPA perhaps, but not HSPA+ but it depends on the SIM card you have now).

Best course of action: get a new microSIM for the Nexus 5, have T-Mobile move the info over and you're good to go.


----------



## Lythandra (Nov 1, 2013)

OctoPI said:


> Just a heads up, for those of you looking to switch to T-Mo, they are currently offering the SIM activation kits for $0.00 shipped.
> I just ordered a Nano and Micro SIM in anticipation of the N5 release so I can ditch VZW.
> 
> http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/phone-sim-card

Click to collapse



Well they are flat out not letting me order a Micro Sim.

I've tried multiple times and they eventually say they cannot process my order.

Probably has to do with a zero dollar order with the credit card information.


----------



## 954wrecker (Nov 1, 2013)

Keep trying and don't use chrome browser to place the order. T-Mobile website has had issues for years and they run the free Sim promo Evey few months.

Sent from my HTC One XL


----------



## ms0chez (Nov 1, 2013)

Just ordered the free micro sim this morning after ordering the nexus 5 yesterday. We'll see how it works in my location. Live close to Tampa Bay and work in Tampa Bay so hoping for good reception and LTE.


----------



## Lythandra (Nov 1, 2013)

954wrecker said:


> Keep trying and don't use chrome browser to place the order. T-Mobile website has had issues for years and they run the free Sim promo Evey few months.
> 
> Sent from my HTC One XL

Click to collapse



I switched to IE and it still hates me.

No huge hurry as my phone doesn't even get shipped till Nov 8th and I have an 2 year old SIM (same $30 plan) that I'm currently using in the GN.

I'll try some more in the next few days.


----------



## bmstrong (Nov 1, 2013)

Are they still throttling you to EDGE after your LTE allotment is up? Or does it go to HSPA+/HSPA?


----------



## zephiK (Nov 1, 2013)

br0adband said:


> You'd want to get T-Mobile to issue a new microSIM since that older one won't allow for access to their LTE capability - you'd get the typical 3G stuff and perhaps even some 4G (HSPA perhaps, but not HSPA+ but it depends on the SIM card you have now).
> 
> Best course of action: get a new microSIM for the Nexus 5, have T-Mobile move the info over and you're good to go.

Click to collapse



Don't need to call or go to the store for TMo to move the info over. Just go to http://www.t-mobile.com/sim and you can do it without talking to anyone


----------



## jnbanda (Nov 1, 2013)

*Using Skype plans for voip*

Warning: the following paragraph is about voip options, and how to stretch those 100 minutes.

I may not be fully informed, but does paying an extra $30 a year for unlimited land and mobile calls over wifi in the US with skype seem like a viable option for anybody else? included with the skype number for $30 (50% off $60 for having a plan) which would allow you to accept calls from any landline or mobile number, that's a total of $60 dollars extra per year, or $5 per month extra. granted, more bills, but a simpler setup. I was reading all the other posts about GV, Groove, etc., and I wanted some feedback. I have the calling plan already with skype for business purposes, and I was concerned about call quality with the other voip providers. has anyone tried this already?


----------



## No thanx (Nov 1, 2013)

One thing that I don't understand is how I'll be able to add minutes after choosing this plan. I thought I read somewhere that T-mobile charges $0.10 per minute, so if I purchased the $30 a month and added $25 to my account totaling $55 I should be allowed 350 minutes, right? But, they also sell those airtime cards which give you like 130 minutes for $25 which in my opinion is a rip off. This plan would be perfect if I could buy minutes at $0.10 per minute.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 1, 2013)

jnbanda said:


> Warning: the following paragraph is about voip options, and how to stretch those 100 minutes.
> 
> I may not be fully informed, but does paying an extra $30 a year for unlimited land and mobile calls over wifi in the US with skype seem like a viable option for anybody else? included with the skype number for $30 (50% off $60 for having a plan) which would allow you to accept calls from any landline or mobile number, that's a total of $60 dollars extra per year, or $5 per month extra. granted, more bills, but a simpler setup. I was reading all the other posts about GV, Groove, etc., and I wanted some feedback. I have the calling plan already with skype for business purposes, and I was concerned about call quality with the other voip providers. has anyone tried this already?

Click to collapse



Been using the T-Mobile $30/month plan for close to 2 years now with Google Voice + Talkatone without issues. It even works quite well if I put my phone (currently an LG Optimus G) in 2G/EDGE mode as T-Mobile gives pretty good speeds here in Las Vegas on 2G/EDGE (I average about 175Kbps, with lows in the 50-100 range and highs about 225-250). Never been an issue for me, I prefer Talkatone myself although I've heard comments from people that use GrooveIP and a few other such VoIP/SIP apps.

Google is going to be making some changes to how third party companies can use Google Voice in the coming months, there was something about it yesterday mentioned during all the Nexus 5 hoopla, so they may restrict things a bit more tightly after April of 2014, we'll see what happens.

I've rarely ever used the actual 100 mins each month so, that $30 plan for T-Mobile is IMO still the best overall deal in wireless service in the US for the price. I sure hope they don't drop that plan anytime soon but T-Mobile is changing constantly these days, it's always a possibility.



No thanx said:


> One thing that I don't understand is how I'll be able to add minutes after choosing this plan. I thought I read somewhere that T-mobile charges $0.10 per minute, so if I purchased the $30 a month and added $25 to my account totaling $55 I should be allowed 350 minutes, right? But, they also sell those airtime cards which give you like 130 minutes for $25 which in my opinion is a rip off. This plan would be perfect if I could buy minutes at $0.10 per minute.

Click to collapse



If you want additional minutes on the $30 plan, they're $.10 a minute as you noted so yes you have to have the credit available in the account to push over the 100 min limit or else it just alerts you that your balance is "low" and won't push through the call. As just explained, there are VoIP/SIP options that make the plan more useful for voice calling if 100 mins isn't enough for you without requiring you to spend another dime (no pun intended). If you did the $30+$25 thing you just mentioned, technically that would be $30 for the month and the option of using the $25 for additional minutes if you go over the 100 - if not then that credit would apply towards the next month's service when 30 days is up.


----------



## Lockeskidney (Nov 1, 2013)

did anyone confirm if the n5 used a micro or nano sim?


----------



## elpmet27 (Nov 1, 2013)

I have been a subscriber to this plan for more than a year on two different phones and I like it very much.  It's a great deal with good service and fast speeds.  I switched over from Solavei due to the price and better LTE support without needing to manipulate the APN settings.  I recommended this to a friend today who just signed up for 2 new free SIMs .  He used the web address provided in this forum earlier today. I'll be using it with the N5 once it arrives (soon).
 Thanks T-Mo..!


----------



## jnbanda (Nov 1, 2013)

br0adband said:


> Been using the T-Mobile $30/month plan for close to 2 years now with Google Voice + Talkatone without issues. It even works quite well if I put my phone (currently an LG Optimus G) in 2G/EDGE mode as T-Mobile gives pretty good speeds here in Las Vegas on 2G/EDGE (I average about 175Kbps, with lows in the 50-100 range and highs about 225-250). Never been an issue for me, I prefer Talkatone myself although I've heard comments from people that use GrooveIP and a few other such VoIP/SIP apps.
> 
> Google is going to be making some changes to how third party companies can use Google Voice in the coming months, there was something about it yesterday mentioned during all the Nexus 5 hoopla, so they may restrict things a bit more tightly after April of 2014, we'll see what happens.
> 
> I've rarely ever used the actual 100 mins each month so, that $30 plan for T-Mobile is IMO still the best overall deal in wireless service in the US for the price. I sure hope they don't drop that plan anytime soon but T-Mobile is changing constantly these days, it's always a possibility.

Click to collapse



The changes with GV were my primary concern, as I currently also use GV linked to my sprint number, but just for sending and receiving SMS messages (convenience for when I'm out of the country and don't want to use third party apps and new numbers to text with people). I have read up on several configurations for other VoIP options, but my concern there is about the changes Google might implement and the included workarounds we might have to do. I guess I'm just looking for something that'll offer a bit of stability through the coming months as I wait for my Nexus 5. Thanks for the suggestion with Talkatone. I'll look into that. No doubt this plan is a steal.


----------



## Ajfink (Nov 1, 2013)

Lythandra said:


> I switched to IE and it still hates me.
> 
> No huge hurry as my phone doesn't even get shipped till Nov 8th and I have an 2 year old SIM (same $30 plan) that I'm currently using in the GN.
> 
> I'll try some more in the next few days.

Click to collapse



Have you ordered multiple SIMs before?  They cut you off after a certain number.  You might have to get a friend or family member to let you borrow their card.


----------



## quadomatic (Nov 1, 2013)

Is there a guide to where to buy the $30 reload from and how to set up calls via data?


----------



## Lockeskidney (Nov 1, 2013)

anyone know if they fixed the VOIP microphone issues that the nexus 4 had. I know a lot of developers were not allowed to adjust gain while on VOIP when using the nexus 4


----------



## Bob Smith42 (Nov 1, 2013)

Lythandra said:


> Well they are flat out not letting me order a Micro Sim.
> 
> I've tried multiple times and they eventually say they cannot process my order.
> 
> Probably has to do with a zero dollar order with the credit card information.

Click to collapse



Maybe not your credit card?  I wish I knew what is was. Same happened to me. 

But, I already ordered two SIM from t-mobile website in the last month, and I used a promo code discount for $0.99. It has something to do with my previous order. I went to a neighbors house and had them order another x2 for me with their address and credit card. I reimbursed them.

I tried different credit cards, failed. I think the credit card address is tracked by t-mobile with some sort of SIM order limit. One of my credit cards has a PO Box address and they would not process the order to a PO Box. Based on the combinations I tested, including different email and phone number, it almost has to be t-mobile limiting based on address from credit card.

Good luck.


----------



## bob60626 (Nov 1, 2013)

br0adband said:


> You'd want to get T-Mobile to issue a new microSIM since that older one won't allow for access to their LTE capability - you'd get the typical 3G stuff and perhaps even some 4G (HSPA perhaps, but not HSPA+ but it depends on the SIM card you have now).
> 
> Best course of action: get a new microSIM for the Nexus 5, have T-Mobile move the info over and you're good to go.

Click to collapse



I've been using the same sim that came with my Exhibit 2 in that, an S2, an AT&T Captivate, two different AT&T Notes (LTE worked without any changes, model also not recognized by T-Mobile), a T-Mobile 7.0+ tablet (texting works, data does not), and now cut down in a T-Mobile Note 2 with no speed issues. Has anyone else had that issue? I think my sim is almost two years old.


----------



## apristel (Nov 1, 2013)

T-Mobile has completely free sims right now, free shipping..everything... I have 3 on the way.

http://www.t-mobile.com/add-to-cart.step2.individual.2869def5-9925-4f25-8521-6b35e14f1f69.html


----------



## ZooBaAr (Nov 1, 2013)

apristel said:


> T-Mobile has completely free sims right now, free shipping..everything... I have 3 on the way.
> 
> http://www.t-mobile.com/add-to-cart.step2.individual.2869def5-9925-4f25-8521-6b35e14f1f69.html

Click to collapse



How did you get that?? I keep trying to buy a micro from tmo site ( have a nano) and I am getting no where,  EDIT

OK found it but holymarymotherofjesus what hoops you have to jump through. tried 3 different searches and links  before i could get a sim card for free.
oi
http://phandroid.com/2013/09/30/t-mobile-kills-off-classic-plans-at-3rd-party-retailers/


----------



## apristel (Nov 1, 2013)

ZooBaAr said:


> How did you get that?? I keep trying to buy a micro from tmo site ( have a nano) and I am getting no where,  EDIT
> 
> OK found it but holymarymotherofjesus what hoops you have to jump through. tried 3 different searches and links  before i could get a sim card for free.
> oi
> http://phandroid.com/2013/09/30/t-mobile-kills-off-classic-plans-at-3rd-party-retailers/

Click to collapse



I just went on their website....nothing special!!


----------



## galaxys (Nov 1, 2013)

Just ordered the free tmob micro SIM with no issues.


----------



## Zulith (Nov 2, 2013)

Hey all, I'm trying to take advantage of the free sim option from tmobile.com... but I want to use the $30 prepaid plan, I seem to only be able to get it to come up for the $50 plan. Can anyone help?

I most definitely want the $30 prepaid plan and want everything ready to go for when my Nexus 5 gets here!

*edit* okay found the correct links... lots of thread digging


----------



## unknown1205 (Nov 2, 2013)

question, i've been a long time sprint customer and im new to pre-paid.  right now i have my bill on auto-pay so i dont even worry about it.  with this $30 plan will have to to go online and buy the $30 refill card everytime or do i just login to my tmobile account and pay?  how does it work?

so im looking at my sprint bill and my minutes usage hovers around 100-150 minutes a month.  what happens if i go over 100 minutes?

my last question is about VOIP.  i never used it cause i have unlimited minutes so i have no reason to.  so thats why i dont really know anything about it.  if someone is calling me on my actual number, could i have my actual number receive VOIP calls?  and if im calling someone, will they receive a call from my actual number as well?


----------



## Deekayy (Nov 2, 2013)

I use to work as a 3rd party vendor for T-Mobile and I activate pre-paids all the time.

https://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/activatecodes.aspx

This link should help you out on activating the $30 plan. Just follow the steps till the very end and it should show up with a *New Activation Only*.


----------



## lqaddict (Nov 2, 2013)

unknown1205 said:


> question, i've been a long time sprint customer and im new to pre-paid.  right now i have my bill on auto-pay so i dont even worry about it.  with this $30 plan will have to to go online and buy the $30 refill card everytime or do i just login to my tmobile account and pay?  how does it work?
> 
> so im looking at my sprint bill and my minutes usage hovers around 100-150 minutes a month.  what happens if i go over 100 minutes?
> 
> my last question is about VOIP.  i never used it cause i have unlimited minutes so i have no reason to.  so thats why i dont really know anything about it.  if someone is calling me on my actual number, could i have my actual number receive VOIP calls?  and if im calling someone, will they receive a call from my actual number as well?

Click to collapse



Once you activate your SIM create a tmo account - they will send a temp password to you via SMS once you start setting up your account. There you can opt for autopay.
If you go over your 100 mins additional minutes are charged at $0.10 a minute, so if you end up with 50 more minutes it's 5 bucks, still beats anything else out there.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app


----------



## ritchea (Nov 2, 2013)

unknown1205 said:


> question, i've been a long time sprint customer and im new to pre-paid.  right now i have my bill on auto-pay so i dont even worry about it.  with this $30 plan will have to to go online and buy the $30 refill card everytime or do i just login to my tmobile account and pay?  how does it work?
> 
> so im looking at my sprint bill and my minutes usage hovers around 100-150 minutes a month.  what happens if i go over 100 minutes?

Click to collapse



You can set up auto pay on this plan. If you go over 100 minutes, AND, have no funds in your account, you can't make calls. If you put an extra amount in your plan (like a $10. refill), you will get to make calls at $.10/minute. I don't know how it works with auto pay (if it does at all) since I just add refills. As far as VOIP, there are many apps that will let you do that. I have used Google Voice with Talkatone, but I've read that the Vonage app is good for out-going only. Ran across this, but not familiar with any except Skype. When you start researching (which is mind-boggling), be sure to look for the most recent articles. Those published in 2012 are probably seriously out-of-date.


----------



## bbbbiemer (Nov 3, 2013)

Two questions:

I have a Galaxy nexus on the $30 plan now, I ordered a micro sim from tmobile. When I get the micro sim and the nexus 5, how do I transfer my current $30 plan over from the Galaxy Nexus?

Also, I ordered a regular sim from tmobile. My wife is currently on a "pay as you go" tmobile plan with a non-smart phone, how do I transfer her phone number and dollars over to a new $30 plan on my old Galaxy Nexus?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 3, 2013)

bbbbiemer said:


> Two questions:
> 
> I have a Galaxy nexus on the $30 plan now, I ordered a micro sim from tmobile. When I get the micro sim and the nexus 5, how do I transfer my current $30 plan over from the Galaxy Nexus?
> 
> Also, I ordered a regular sim from tmobile. My wife is currently on a "pay as you go" tmobile plan with a non-smart phone, how do I transfer her phone number and dollars over to a new $30 plan on my old Galaxy Nexus?

Click to collapse



During activation on new Sims either online or by phone simply port your number when prompted. Any monies remaining in wife's account will require a call to prepaid CS..and they will xfer the account, number and balance.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## oOflyeyesOo (Nov 3, 2013)

bbbbiemer said:


> Two questions:
> 
> I have a Galaxy nexus on the $30 plan now, I ordered a micro sim from tmobile. When I get the micro sim and the nexus 5, how do I transfer my current $30 plan over from the Galaxy Nexus?
> 
> Also, I ordered a regular sim from tmobile. My wife is currently on a "pay as you go" tmobile plan with a non-smart phone, how do I transfer her phone number and dollars over to a new $30 plan on my old Galaxy Nexus?

Click to collapse



Swap SIMs from nexus to nexus.


----------



## RayLancer (Nov 3, 2013)

I have auto-pay set up on my current T-Mobile prepaid with my Nexus 4. I've been trying to keep surplus money on there for extra minute in case I run over. Only problem is every billing cycle it takes the money I leave there and pays off the rest. So I'd have to go back in there and put more money again every month. Is there a way of ensuring I have at least some money in my account as backup without me having to manually add it every month?


----------



## 954wrecker (Nov 3, 2013)

Sorry I don't use auto payment I just drop $100 card in every 3 or 4 months
Sent from my HTC One XL


----------



## RayLancer (Nov 3, 2013)

954wrecker said:


> Drop a ten dollar card or payment in there problem solved
> 
> Sent from my HTC One XL

Click to collapse



Not sure but it keeps taking whatever I put into there and uses it for the next billing cycle. Like I put $10 for the month and it would take the $10 and charge me $20 for the next billing cycle when that rolls around.


----------



## neugenusis (Nov 3, 2013)

RayLancer said:


> Not sure but it keeps taking whatever I put into there and uses it for the next billing cycle. Like I put $10 for the month and it would take the $10 and charge me $20 for the next billing cycle when that rolls around.

Click to collapse



I have it so that it autopays $40 max. So every month, it ensures theres $40 in the account. If services are used within allowance, T-mobile will take $30 as payment on a monthly cycle, and then my credit card is billed $30 to keep the account at $40.

Should I use, say an extra 50 mins on top of my 100 mins, T-mobile will take $35, (leaving only $5 in the acct) and my credit card is billed $35 to keep it at $40.


----------



## RayLancer (Nov 3, 2013)

neugenusis said:


> I have it so that it autopays $40 max. So every month, it ensures theres $40 in the account. If services are used within allowance, T-mobile will take $30 as payment on a monthly cycle, and then my credit card is billed $30 to keep the account at $40.
> 
> Should I use, say an extra 50 mins on top of my 100 mins, T-mobile will take $35, (leaving only $5 in the acct) and my credit card is billed $35 to keep it at $40.

Click to collapse



Thanks. I went and poked around into my auto-pay for my account and found an option to set extra funding for other services.


----------



## .jond (Nov 3, 2013)

If anyone needs a free sim card, here you go:
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/...ro-SIM-Card-Activation-Kit-No-Annual-Contract

edit: Looks like this has already been discovered a few pages back.


----------



## TiltedAz (Nov 3, 2013)

.jond said:


> If anyone needs a free sim card, here you go:
> http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/...ro-SIM-Card-Activation-Kit-No-Annual-Contract
> 
> edit: Looks like this has already been discovered a few pages back.

Click to collapse



Funny they ask for a credit card.


----------



## kojaraty (Nov 3, 2013)

Does 4G LTE works using this plan? I am moving from straight talk to T-Mobile.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 4, 2013)

kojaraty said:


> Does 4G LTE works using this plan? I am moving from straight talk to T-Mobile.

Click to collapse



If you have T-Mobile LTE service in your area, yes, if not then it'll be HSPA+ which is pretty fast as well.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 4, 2013)

br0adband said:


> If you have T-Mobile LTE service in your area, yes, if not then it'll be HSPA+ which is pretty fast as well.

Click to collapse



Sensorly app, yo.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## cutterjohn (Nov 4, 2013)

trsix said:


> This thread is for all users who might be interested in using T-mobiles Unlimited $30 plan (No tax, no service fees) with 100 minutes of talk time and 5G of monthly 4G usage. You can make wifi calls when wifi's available so you don't eat your 100 minutes every month. I do, and use groove ip for that.
> I dumped sprint last year and have no desire to be under contract or pay high prices. The money i and others save with this plan will allow me to buy the new nexus every year.:good:
> A ton of questions are already answered in this thread.
> 
> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001290

Click to collapse



...and...  (I'll reply later if there's anything in the thread worth replying too, but I'm on the same plan, got it for the n4...)


----------



## nrvate (Nov 4, 2013)

I assume I can obtain a SIM, even if for $10, from the local T-mobile store and activate the $30 prepaid plan online?  Website says this plan is only available online or for devices purchased at wal-mart.  I'd order the free SIM online but it looks like my Nexus is going to be here sooner than I thought 

Anyone use SIP VOIP over T-mobile LTE? any luck?


----------



## cutterjohn (Nov 4, 2013)

nrvate said:


> I assume I can obtain a SIM, even if for $10, from the local T-mobile store and activate the $30 prepaid plan online?  Website says this plan is only available online or for devices purchased at wal-mart.  I'd order the free SIM online but it looks like my Nexus is going to be here sooner than I thought
> 
> Anyone use SIP VOIP over T-mobile LTE? any luck?

Click to collapse



Yup.  Used Google voice to place VOIP calls, never used any of my minutes unlike some claim, back to back reading the thread...

BTW:  I got this plan by ordering a new uSIM card, putting it in my n4 ordered from the play store and "activating" it online with the $30 plan... I think that the only caveat really is that it has to be a NEW plan(probably SIM, not really up on cell network minutiae) performed online and you're good to go.

Originally, my T-Mo account showed a generic phone for a while, but eventually cottoned onto that it was a n4...

All of this said, I hardly use any voice time, and my data USED to be REALLY good here, now it's been kind of awful... not sure if it was because when I first signed on it was mid-fall(essentially winter to you people south) and the trees were practically bare, as last summer data rates plummeted(haven't really tested yet this mid-fall, and I'll wait for my n5 now...).

Thinking about re-purposing the n4 to a voice only or voice + some messaging(not good like to have data/messages all on one phone) on another el cheapo plan... although what I'd REALLY like is a nice generic nexus WORLD phone and I'd truly learn to live with only crappy GSM(I've ALWAYS had better coverage/reception/etc. with CDMA by FAR excepting Sprint whose data coverage sucked... meanwhile I had signal et. al. way out in the boondocks with CDMA carriers, while GSM they're doing good to not drop calls in urban areas... or at least this has been my US/Canada experience...)

[EDIT]
Wasting MUCH more time than I wanted too, I could NOT find a SINGLE way to buy a sim card starter kit w/o credit "approval"...  They NEVER asked me for that last year, nor do I remember them pushing "plans", but OTOH I didn't dig too deeply, and I assume that they're sticking to their no plan thing for now, but still... it's ridiculous.... and I'd kinda like to have a spare uSIM or two, and wanted one to reset the n4 up as a voice only(more or less) phone maybe...

...the plans that they were pushing really suck BTW... the "unlimited" only being marginally cheaper than AT&T/Verizon...
[/EDIT]


----------



## br0adband (Nov 4, 2013)

cutterjohn said:


> Yup.  Used Google voice to place VOIP calls, never used any of my minutes unlike some claim, back to back reading the thread...

Click to collapse



No one has said Google Voice takes minutes from your T-Mobile $30/monthly 100 minute allotment in this thread, what I said and others have commented on is that if you have this plan, and you get 100 minutes (which we all do, those of us using this plan), and you use that T-Mobile Wi-Fi calling app they provide for you free of charge, and you make a call using that Wi-Fi app *it will deduct the minutes you're talking using that VoIP circuit from your actual 100 minutes*. You might go into using it thinking "Wow, T-Mobile is giving me an option to use Wi-Fi to make phone calls, how cool is this?" and not even realize that if you make a 15 minute call using their Wi-Fi calling app that you just lost 15 minutes from that 100 minute allotment and now you're down to 85.

Yes it seems a bit ridiculous that you're not even using their network to make a call at all and they're "charging you" for the privilege, but they do - it costs you to use that Wi-Fi calling so, avoid it unless absolutely necessary or use Google Voice + GrooveIP/Talkatone or one of the other available VoIP/SIP calling options (at least till April 2014 when Google will pull that plug).

As for the SIM thing, T-Mobile is giving away the microSIM activation kits (and nanoSIMs also, I grabbed a few of those for safekeeping). Get them here:

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/...ro-SIM-Card-Activation-Kit-No-Annual-Contract

_*YES THEY DO ASK FOR A CREDIT CARD NUMBER but THEY DON'T CHARGE YOU A PENNY*_, they don't even do a pre-authorization hold of any kind at all.

If you honestly don't have a credit card, period, perhaps getting a prepaid one at a convenience store sometime would help make things easier for you, they only cost like $5 and you can put $10 on 'em and never even use it especially when things like these microSIM cards are totally free - T-Mobile is even shipping them at no cost whatsoever.

We're getting to a point in our society where you're not going to be able to much of anything online in terms of purchases or acquiring goods and services without a credit card, even if it means getting a prepaid one and keeping $5-10 on it at all times. It's just how the world works nowadays.


----------



## nrvate (Nov 4, 2013)

Google Voice, at least using the official app, routes calls over the standard voice network to a Google Voice POP number, which then switches the call to the destination while replacing the calling number ID with your Google Voice number.  It works pretty much the same in reverse for receiving calls.  Some carriers (t-mobile?) do have "WiFi calling" features, and provide an application -- It essentially routes the call to their VOIP servers and changes you as if you were making any other call, using information on the SIM for billing purposes.

I haven't used conventional GSM voice for ages, but I also don't make many voice calls -- at all.  Presently I'm using CSipSimple on my tablet for voice calling with a bluetooth headset, either over AT&T LTE or WiFi, with the SIP service provided by a 3rd party provider for 1¢/min.  Carrier only provides the data connection.  AT&T LTE has mostly been good enough for casual VOIP usage, although I can't say I even use it enough to form a regular-use opinion.

I'm going to drop by a T-mobile store and attempt to obtain a prepaid SIM without volunteering my information.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 4, 2013)

nrvate said:


> Google Voice, at least using the official app, routes calls over the standard voice network to a Google Voice POP number, which then switches the call to the destination while replacing the calling number ID with your Google Voice number.  It works pretty much the same in reverse for receiving calls.  Some carriers (t-mobile?) do have "WiFi calling" features, and provide an application -- It essentially routes the call to their VOIP servers and changes you as if you were making any other call, using information on the SIM for billing purposes.
> 
> I haven't used conventional GSM voice for ages, but I also don't make many voice calls -- at all.  Presently I'm using CSipSimple on my tablet for voice calling with a bluetooth headset, either over AT&T LTE or WiFi, with the SIP service provided by a 3rd party provider for 1¢/min.  Carrier only provides the data connection.  AT&T LTE has mostly been good enough for casual VOIP usage, although I can't say I even use it enough to form a regular-use opinion.
> 
> I'm going to drop by a T-mobile store and attempt to obtain a prepaid SIM without volunteering my information.

Click to collapse




Wally World...use cash.


----------



## Caelrie (Nov 4, 2013)

You don't even need a credit card. I didn't trust Tmobile so I put it on my debit card instead.  Worked fine.


----------



## kojaraty (Nov 4, 2013)

Are you guys porting your numbers or using a new phone number? I used Tmobile website to check If my phone straight talk number is eligible to switch but it says that it is not. 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## expertzero1 (Nov 4, 2013)

To get service and not wait for a sim card.

Head to a local T-Mobile store, ask to set up a prepaid account for your phone, they'll set it up for you, you pay the activation fees etc. I think it was like 20 or so dollars due in store. Then you have to call customer support and set up a pin number or something, If not, they will ask you for the security/pin for the account, which you do not have unless you change it through the automated system first. Then tell saw the $30 prepaid plan for 100 minutes, unl text and data for 30 dollars. Can you please change it for me. Then they'll be like hold on, let me talk to my supervisor, then they will change it for you!


----------



## br0adband (Nov 4, 2013)

nrvate said:


> I'm going to drop by a T-mobile store and attempt to obtain a prepaid SIM without volunteering my information.

Click to collapse



That's easy, since it's just $10 in the store or free online as already noted several times in this very thread. Walk in, say you want a prepaid microSIM activation kit, hand them $10 (plus tax if that's in your area), and you're out in maybe 3 minutes tops unless they're busy and you're required to wait for assistance. No personal info is required to get the activation kit (the microSIM, a booklet, and a card with the IMEI/etc info on it in a plastic bag).

But, if you intend to activate the service, you're going to have to provide information, like it or not; T-Mobile ain't something you can just run down to 7-11 and grab no questions asked and be up and running in a matter of minutes aka "a burner phone"-style.

If you want service with T-Mobile and this $30/month plan that so many of us have, you're going to have to fork over the info they require to get you situated, that's just the reality of how things are.


----------



## Cheater912 (Nov 4, 2013)

I'm debating switching from Sprint to T-Mobile. So tired of the bs prices... Is it possible to pop in a SIM card and test drive their network before making a decision? First time with an unlocked phone


----------



## hammester (Nov 4, 2013)

Cheater912 said:


> I'm debating switching from Sprint to T-Mobile. So tired of the bs prices... Is it possible to pop in a SIM card and test drive their network before making a decision? First time with an unlocked phone

Click to collapse



You could go to a prepaid plan and get a new number from tmobile. If you end up liking the service you can go ahead and port your number over. I believe you will need a new Sim card to port your number over so make sure to order two. Also if you don't want to pay for a full month you could choose one of their Daily plans which are $3 per day.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 4, 2013)

Cheater912 said:


> I'm debating switching from Sprint to T-Mobile. So tired of the bs prices... Is it possible to pop in a SIM card and test drive their network before making a decision? First time with an unlocked phone

Click to collapse



Go to a T-Mobile store and try 'em out (if you have a Nexus 5, of course, and a T-Mobile store in your area, or maybe someone you know uses them and has a microSIM you can try out for a few).

They do have prepaid service by the day as well, but I think they got rid of the "unlimited" thing for $3 a day some time ago, sadly. Now it's $3 for a 24 hour period with the first 200MB at up to 4G/LTE speed then it throttles to 2G/EDGE so, that ain't much. You could use up 200MB with 4G/LTE in a matter of minutes just doing speedtests.


----------



## Shinyhead (Nov 4, 2013)

Just curious if anyone has experience transitioning from the $30 prepaid plan to a postpaid plan?  Do you lose that whole month's prepaid service (pretty much like cancelling it) or does it carry over to the postpaid plan (like you pay additional on top of the $30 already paid)?

The reason I ask is because I would like to get my family into the Simple Choice Plan, but I am not aware of the signal quality in my neighborhood so I wanted to test with the $30 plan first.  I would like to start one phone with the $30 and test the signal and depending on that result, cancel or convert to the postpaid plan.

Thanks in advance!


----------



## hammester (Nov 4, 2013)

Shinyhead said:


> Just curious if anyone has experience transitioning from the $30 prepaid plan to a postpaid plan?  Do you lose that whole month's prepaid service (pretty much like cancelling it) or does it carry over to the postpaid plan (like you pay additional on top of the $30 already paid)?
> 
> The reason I ask is because I would like to get my family into the Simple Choice Plan, but I am not aware of the signal quality in my neighborhood so I wanted to test with the $30 plan first.  I would like to start one phone with the $30 and test the signal and depending on that result, cancel or convert to the postpaid plan.
> 
> Thanks in advance!

Click to collapse



How long are you planning on testing it out? If it is just a couple days you could always just sign up for the $3 a day plan. I am Not sure how they handle pro-rating the pre-paid plans but would assume you lost the remaining balance.


----------



## Shinyhead (Nov 4, 2013)

hammester said:


> How long are you planning on testing it out? If it is just a couple days you could always just sign up for the $3 a day plan. I am Not sure how they handle pro-rating the pre-paid plans but would assume you lost the remaining balance.

Click to collapse



oh that is a great idea!!! thanks!!! I plan on only testing one day only.  Thanks!!!


----------



## nrvate (Nov 4, 2013)

Seriously that is a great idea.  I saw the day plans but didn't even think of the upside there.. Buy a day and check coverage/speeds in the more important spots.  Excellent.

Screw T-mobile retail stores.  Understaffed with clowns.  Walmart was out of the SIM kits (3 walmarts.. everyone doing what we are, I guess) but target had them for $10.  T-mobile store wanted $10 for the kit if I activated it there, $20 if I didn't... I informed the clown they were free on the t-mobile website and $10 without activation at various department stores, and walked out.

FWIW, they are willing to activate the $30 plan in-store, contrary to the "Website activation or Walmart-purchased device only" claim on t-mobile.com.


----------



## opiuman (Nov 4, 2013)

Just to clarify since this thread is pretty long already and some of the links either are old or were eaten by the forums.

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/...ro-SIM-Card-Activation-Kit-No-Annual-Contract

is what I want right? Then I just follow the instructions to activate and during the process I can choose to port or to get a new number?


----------



## miamidesigner (Nov 4, 2013)

opiuman said:


> Just to clarify since this thread is pretty long already and some of the links either are old or were eaten by the forums.
> 
> http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/...ro-SIM-Card-Activation-Kit-No-Annual-Contract
> 
> is what I want right? Then I just follow the instructions to activate and during the process I can choose to port or to get a new number?

Click to collapse



Yes, thats just the link for the sim card. Thats $10 but they always have it for free or $1 with Free Shipping. 

You will also need the link for Activating the prepaid $30 plan, search for it on the thread, should be here somewhere. 

Good luck!


----------



## opiuman (Nov 4, 2013)

miamidesigner said:


> Yes, thats just the link for the sim card. Thats $10 but they always have it for free or $1 with Free Shipping.
> 
> You will also need the link for Activating the prepaid $30 plan, search for it on the thread, should be here somewhere.
> 
> Good luck!

Click to collapse



Thanks just confirming yea I found the link for the 30 plan. I just wasn't sure what SIM to buy since it's been a very long time since I ever had to use one.


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 4, 2013)

galaxys said:


> Just ordered the free tmob micro SIM with no issues.

Click to collapse



Where is the link to order the free TMo sim? 

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk


----------



## Shinyhead (Nov 4, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> Where is the link to order the free TMo sim?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/sim-card


----------



## ppcpirate (Nov 5, 2013)

Found this step by step tutorial on how to switch to the tmobile $30 prepaid plan. it's for the htc one but also applies to the nexus 5.

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2281639


----------



## dz1 (Nov 5, 2013)

Hey guys can you guys tell me the speed you get after being throttled from your personal experience I know it says 2g. Thank you


----------



## 954wrecker (Nov 5, 2013)

dz1 said:


> Hey guys can you guys tell me the speed you get after being throttled from your personal experience I know it says 2g. Thank you

Click to collapse



It's almost useless for anything but notifications. I've tested edge before throttling and it's definitely not edge after the throttling. 25kb a second if your lucky. I speed test everything the night before my plan refills just to keep them honest.

Sent from my HTC One XL


----------



## br0adband (Nov 5, 2013)

954wrecker said:


> It's almost useless for anything but notifications. I've tested edge before throttling and it's definitely not edge after the throttling. 25kb a second if your lucky. I speed test everything the night before my plan refills just to keep them honest.
> 
> Sent from my HTC One XL

Click to collapse



What you just said makes no sense because it IS 2G/EDGE and your speed of (what I'm assuming should say) 25 Kilobits per second is within the range of 2G/EDGE technology capability - around 20 to 250 Kilobits per second (divide that by 8 and get the Kilobytes per second) and there will be a huge variance in that range based on location. Yes, it's slow, but it's functional, and yes that means it takes longer to do things but it does work. If you're in an area that has incredibly bad 2G/EDGE coverage (which is the oldest working cellular technology used today) then chances are you're in an area that has somewhat crappy 3G/4G and probably no LTE service at all.

Every cell tower on the planet has 2G/EDGE capability at this point, not every one of them can do 3G/4G/LTE worth a damn.

It's slow, yep, but at least it works. 2G/EDGE is being phased our or the equipment is being pushed towards use for other purposes aka refarming - that's what T-Mobile is currently doing: their 850/1900 MHz bands were traditionally used for nothing but 2G/EDGE technology and now they're repurposing it towards 4G HSPA+ and LTE technologies.


----------



## 954wrecker (Nov 5, 2013)

I love this plan and I wish you all much luck achieving your goals


----------



## 2.0t03speed (Nov 5, 2013)

Got mine setup with the $30 dollar plan last night =D. Everything is running smooth and fast. hspa+ is as fast as verizons lte in my area and it seemed to have better coverage while i was driving. The LTE on t-mobile is even faster =D


----------



## buur11 (Nov 5, 2013)

I activated the plan last night. Had no problems activating it on the site and the porting of my Verizon number only took a couple of hours (ported after activating so I could change my Verizon number and not pay an ETF). So far at work and home I am getting very good coverage and very good speeds.

Now to find a buyer for my unlimited data Verizon account...


----------



## KrazyAttack (Nov 5, 2013)

I'm doing this as well.

Been using Net10 (AT&T sim) on my N4, $45 a month unlimited everything.

I only use maybe 50 minutes a month tops, sometimes not even that, so when I first saw that TMO had $30 with 100 min I was sold.

TMO is spotty here at best so hopefully 2G gets me service in areas 3G/4G doesn't, namely in my house, which AT&T sucks as well (1-2 bars at best inside house, some spots no service).

Bought the free sim kit on Friday, and it's out for delivery as I type this. Phone gets here tomorrow, so works out perfect, do have AT&T paid through the 26th though so probably won't activate until then.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 5, 2013)

954wrecker said:


> I can speed test 2g right before I hit my 5gb of data and it's on the high end like you mentioned. The second I hit the data cap they throttle it to the lowest possible speed that is almost unusable for anything. I love the plan I never hit the data cap until the night before it expires.
> 
> Sent from my HTC One XL

Click to collapse



Ah, ok, that's a bit clearer than the previous post you made. Seems a bit odd that it would "throttle" even the 2G/EDGE bandwidth since it's so little that T-Mobile and most every other carrier doesn't even give a damn about it anymore hence all the "unlimited" cheap plans available now that all fall back to or are selling 2G/EDGE from the gitgo.

T-Mobile has a new offshoot called GoSmart Mobile (like AT&T has their GoPhone, etc) just for the prepaid stuff and they too have a $30/month plan but it's pure 2G/EDGE unlimited talk and text, no data at all. For $35/month you bump up to unlimited everything at 2G speeds, and for $45/month you can get unlimited everything with the 5GB up to 4G/LTE then 2G/EDGE afterward.

So if people choose that plan they're paying _*$15 more*_ just to be able to have unlimited talk - since I use Google Voice + Talkatone for VoIP calls that kind of "waste" in terms of cost seems a bit ridiculous to me. 

But for as slow as 2G/EDGE can and typically is, having even that throttled... ouch.


----------



## jmetal88 (Nov 5, 2013)

I used to have the $30 T-Mobile plan.  Very affordable, and I generally liked it, but the coverage wasn't that great in my area (for example, I couldn't call my roommate from Wal-Mart to ask him if I needed to pick up any groceries for him), so I had to switch to an AT&T-based carrier recently.  Although they have some issues as well, so I'm considering going with real AT&T now, even though it'll be double what I was paying before.


----------



## dansan382 (Nov 5, 2013)

i currently have verizon with 2 phones (GS4 & GS3) on unlimited plans and a dumb phone. I grabbed 4 sim cards during the $1 sim card and free sim card sale. I plan on activating the $30 plan and throwing it into my GS4 which i recently flashed with the newest modem to access band 4 LTE. Going to use the GS4 to test out t-mobile coverage where I go on a normal basis and see if its something I can handle depending on how good/bad the coverage is. only downside is I wont be getting any texts or calls to my verizon number since it will technically be "off". Just the same as going overseas, pulling the verizon sim and throwing in a sim from over there. I plan to only do it for maybe a day or 2 a week depending on where I go. I might just do the daily plan unless i plan on using it more than 10 times a month (daily plan is $3 a day i think). 


does anyone know if there is a way, after I have test tmobile and i feel okay with switch to port my number to tmobile WITHOUT cancelling the verizon account? I know once you do the port thats the signal to verizon to kill it, but I rather have it give my verizon number a new number but let me port over my original verizon number. I want to be able to sell the unlimited plan via AoL so I can make some money off the switch, pay for the phones basically.


----------



## mihalich1 (Nov 5, 2013)

jmetal88 said:


> I used to have the $30 T-Mobile plan.  Very affordable, and I generally liked it, but the coverage wasn't that great in my area (for example, I couldn't call my roommate from Wal-Mart to ask him if I needed to pick up any groceries for him), so I had to switch to an AT&T-based carrier recently.  Although they have some issues as well, so I'm considering going with real AT&T now, even though it'll be double what I was paying before.

Click to collapse



What area are you in where the coverage wasn't great?


----------



## Lockeskidney (Nov 5, 2013)

i know some people by prepaid cards in bulk and they get discounts on them which brings the $30 plan down. Anyone know where to get these and their respective discounts. I know i see people on slickdeals doing it


----------



## timtlm (Nov 5, 2013)

Just a little FYI for those people planning to use GrooveIP or Talkatone, Google is shutting down the ability to login to hangouts/talk using xmpp protocol.  This affects these programs and also the obi boxes.  So, as of May 15, 2014 these free voip call solutions may no longer work with Google Voice.  It is possible Google will open up another way for 3rd party clients to login, but they haven't said anything yet.
http://androidcommunity.com/groove-ip-shutting-down-due-to-google-voice-changes-20131104/

Unfortunately, this plan probably won't work for me.  It looks like I use 150-200 minutes per month now, and that's pretty surprising to me since I don't do much talking on the phone.


----------



## buur11 (Nov 5, 2013)

dansan382 said:


> does anyone know if there is a way, after I have test tmobile and i feel okay with switch to port my number to tmobile WITHOUT cancelling the verizon account? I know once you do the port thats the signal to verizon to kill it, but I rather have it give my verizon number a new number but let me port over my original verizon number. I want to be able to sell the unlimited plan via AoL so I can make some money off the switch, pay for the phones basically.

Click to collapse



I was able to do this yesterday. After activating and making sure the coverage was good I called Tmobile and requested a transfer. They asked for the phone number, Verizon account# and pin then they initiated the transfer. Almost immediately after I got a text saying the number had transferred and checking the status on my phone I confirmed it was the correct number. Went on the Verizon site and requested an immediate phone number change before they caught onto the port. Now i have a Nexus 5 with my Verizon phone number and an unlimited Verizon line for sale.


----------



## muyoso (Nov 5, 2013)

Just an FYI for people who have the Tasker/Secure Settings setup that automatically switches airplane mode on when connected to WiFi so that you get only the incoming VOIP call and not both the VOIP and Tmobile, Secure Settings is going to need to be updated to work on 4.4.  Currently it cannot enable Airplane Mode or much of anything else.


----------



## dansan382 (Nov 5, 2013)

buur11 said:


> I was able to do this yesterday. After activating and making sure the coverage was good I called Tmobile and requested a transfer. They asked for the phone number, Verizon account# and pin then they initiated the transfer. Almost immediately after I got a text saying the number had transferred and checking the status on my phone I confirmed it was the correct number. Went on the Verizon site and requested an immediate phone number change before they caught onto the port. Now i have a Nexus 5 with my Verizon phone number and an unlimited Verizon line for sale.

Click to collapse



Awesome, thanks for the tip. Basically I need to port and request a new number right away. Good to know.


----------



## .jond (Nov 5, 2013)

timtlm said:


> Just a little FYI for those people planning to use GrooveIP or Talkatone, Google is shutting down the ability to login to hangouts/talk using xmpp protocol.  This affects these programs and also the obi boxes.  So, as of May 15, 2014 these free voip call solutions may no longer work with Google Voice.  It is possible Google will open up another way for 3rd party clients to login, but they haven't said anything yet.
> http://androidcommunity.com/groove-ip-shutting-down-due-to-google-voice-changes-20131104/
> 
> Unfortunately, this plan probably won't work for me.  It looks like I use 150-200 minutes per month now, and that's pretty surprising to me since I don't do much talking on the phone.

Click to collapse



How about Skype?
Something like $8 for 400 minutes that never expire...
You can call any cell phone landline, etc.


----------



## jmetal88 (Nov 5, 2013)

mihalich1 said:


> What area are you in where the coverage wasn't great?

Click to collapse



Pittsburg, KS.  I don't mean the coverage wasn't good, I had it almost everywhere I needed it, but it was just really frustrating not having it inside that Wal-Mart (especially when I would scan for towers and saw two perfectly usable AT&T towers that my SIM wouldn't let me connect to).  Then there was also the fact that I had an unlocked AT&T phone at the time, so I could only get 3G or 4G coverage where T-Mobile was supporting the AT&T band (i.e. for roaming iPhone users).  AT&T has this area covered just slightly better.  Verizon is really the best coverage in this area, but there's no way I'm going with Verizon.


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 5, 2013)

Does anyone know if unused talk minutes (100 min/month) roll over into the next month?


----------



## jmetal88 (Nov 5, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> Does anyone know if unused talk minutes (100 min/month) roll over into the next month?

Click to collapse



It does not.  I never saw that happen, and I think I was on the plan for nearly two years.


----------



## Shinyhead (Nov 5, 2013)

dansan382 said:


> i currently have verizon with 2 phones (GS4 & GS3) on unlimited plans and a dumb phone. I grabbed 4 sim cards during the $1 sim card and free sim card sale. I plan on activating the $30 plan and throwing it into my GS4 which i recently flashed with the newest modem to access band 4 LTE. Going to use the GS4 to test out t-mobile coverage where I go on a normal basis and see if its something I can handle depending on how good/bad the coverage is. only downside is I wont be getting any texts or calls to my verizon number since it will technically be "off". Just the same as going overseas, pulling the verizon sim and throwing in a sim from over there. I plan to only do it for maybe a day or 2 a week depending on where I go. I might just do the daily plan unless i plan on using it more than 10 times a month (daily plan is $3 a day i think).
> 
> 
> does anyone know if there is a way, after I have test tmobile and i feel okay with switch to port my number to tmobile WITHOUT cancelling the verizon account? I know once you do the port thats the signal to verizon to kill it, but I rather have it give my verizon number a new number but let me port over my original verizon number. I want to be able to sell the unlimited plan via AoL so I can make some money off the switch, pay for the phones basically.

Click to collapse



I found this thread and was going to do the same thing next month when my verizon accounts expire.
http://rootzwiki.com/topic/42073-how-to-sell-verizon-contract-and-keep-your-number/


----------



## DroidDavi (Nov 5, 2013)

once my normal t mo contract is up im switching over to this i dont use voice much so i might as well save the money


----------



## cstcyr (Nov 5, 2013)

I went to T-Mobile and got a micro-sim and I went to Walmart and got a $30 card.

I'm having trouble changing to the Wal-Mart plan. There is no option for it on the T-Mobile website. I may have to give them a call.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 5, 2013)

cstcyr said:


> I went to T-Mobile and got a micro-sim and I went to Walmart and got a $30 card.
> 
> I'm having trouble changing to the Wal-Mart plan. There is no option for it on the T-Mobile website. I may have to give them a call.

Click to collapse



It's not "a Walmart plan," it's from T-Mobile and it's there to choose amongst the other plans on the prepaid SIM activation page. While you can do it in store in some situations the employees there just don't have a clue, it happens sometimes.

If you already have T-Mobile service you cannot switch your current plan to the $30 plan, you have to start over again brand new but you can port your number to the $30 plan - this is not the same as "switching" the current plan, however. It might seem like it, and people might argue that's what's happening, but it's not - you're actively dropping the old service and creating a new plan with the $30 one, and porting the number is acceptable.

There is a difference here, in case people keep missing it. You could have just purchased a $30 card at T-Mobile while you were there, it doesn't matter in that respect, but you still have to activate the service online at T-Mobile's website or do it at Walmart with knowledgeable staff - for me it's always been easier to just do it online, takes like 3 minutes tops, service is/was activated in 15 minutes or less. I can't say that will the case for anyone/everyone but it was for me.


----------



## dz1 (Nov 5, 2013)

Hey guys the reason why I ask about the throttle speeds is because some of my family members are going into the family plan with 2.5 gb..  So I'm comparing numbers..  How much of your 5gb do you actually use?


----------



## cstcyr (Nov 5, 2013)

br0adband said:


> It's not "a Walmart plan," it's from T-Mobile and it's there to choose amongst the other plans on the prepaid SIM activation page. While you can do it in store in some situations the employees there just don't have a clue, it happens sometimes.
> 
> If you already have T-Mobile service you cannot switch your current plan to the $30 plan, you have to start over again brand new but you can port your number to the $30 plan - this is not the same as "switching" the current plan, however. It might seem like it, and people might argue that's what's happening, but it's not - you're actively dropping the old service and creating a new plan with the $30 one, and porting the number is acceptable.
> 
> There is a difference here, in case people keep missing it. You could have just purchased a $30 card at T-Mobile while you were there, it doesn't matter in that respect, but you still have to activate the service online at T-Mobile's website or do it at Walmart with knowledgeable staff - for me it's always been easier to just do it online, takes like 3 minutes tops, service is/was activated in 15 minutes or less. I can't say that will the case for anyone/everyone but it was for me.

Click to collapse



Yeah I goofed. I got my SIM at the store. So they activated it there. Then I used the refill on the account that they activated. So mostly $10 + $30 down the drain. I realize now that I need to activate the plan online. I switched to the $3/day plan so I can try things out. Then I'll try this all again later. But it'll cost me another $40. Stupid impatient me.


----------



## TiltedAz (Nov 5, 2013)

My VZN GNex account ends in a month or so. I want to try both phones side by side plus avoid the nominal VZN cancelation fee. Is it possible to uses a new temp cell number and then a month later convert it over to my VZN cell #? 

I assume I'd need 2 SIM cards.


----------



## mattcoz (Nov 5, 2013)

Got my free SIM card delivered today, ordered it on Saturday.  Popped it in my Nexus, bought a $30 refill from Calling Mart, activated my plan, and now I'm all set up!  So long, Sprint!


----------



## iexplus (Nov 5, 2013)

It seems like the Sim kit is no longer free from T-Mobile website...


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 5, 2013)

Went into the T Mobile store this morning and they had no idea of the $30 plan, and I couldn't find it on t mobiles site so I ordered from Wal-mart, said I could pickup in store and had them in my store, got an email 10 minutes later and said it was delayed 

did a speed test with one of the galaxy phones while I was there against my Verizon LTE, the best I could get out of my verizon nexus was 6 Mbps and the store phone was 32 Mbps, must have been a trick, the phone showed the 4g signal and not wireless but I failed to go into settings to double check, I guess the could have a signal booster in store who knows, guess I'll find out if I ever get my sim. 

the phone comes tomorrow.


----------



## lensgrabber (Nov 5, 2013)

slowpok22 said:


> Went into the T Mobile store this morning and they had no idea of the $30 plan, and I couldn't find it on t mobiles site so I ordered from Wal-mart, said I could pickup in store and had them in my store, got an email 10 minutes later and said it was delayed
> 
> did a speed test with one of the galaxy phones while I was there against my Verizon LTE, the best I could get out of my verizon nexus was 6 Mbps and the store phone was 32 Mbps, must have been a trick, the phone showed the 4g signal and not wireless but I failed to go into settings to double check, I guess the could have a signal booster in store who knows, guess I'll find out if I ever get my sim.
> 
> the phone comes tomorrow.

Click to collapse




A T-Mobile store won't help you at all with getting the $30 plan.  It's like a bastard child to them.  If you order a sim starter kit from T-Mobile online it will be one of the choices you have when activating the sim during the activation process.  I assume ordering from Walmart is the same.


----------



## Letitride (Nov 5, 2013)

iexplus said:


> It seems like the Sim kit is no longer free from T-Mobile website...

Click to collapse



The "last" free promotion ended on 11/4/13 - I got an extra p/p micro-Sim and data only micro-Sim for a total of $1.08 shipped free, ups-ground out of .... Louisville, KY yesterday.  

Not to worry unless you are in a hurry, T-Mo will run the promo again soon - I got 2 micro-Sim for prepaids last month for 99 cents each and they are ready to go - with the activation codes.  

You can try going to a T-Mo store & ask, if you have an existing T-mo account (mine is a PAYG prepaid) - they will swap & give you a new micro ones (my full-size Sim card is 3 years old)  ... 

I can see lots of brand new happy N5 owners running off to sign-up for T-Mo once they learn about this, even if it's just to try it out for a month for $30 (as noted above,* this is an online only special offer and also at Walmart locations only - not available at T-Mo stores)  *


----------



## Greg Tolan (Nov 5, 2013)

I am a little confused about the process of getting the plan and then "refilling" it. I did not really see it spelled out so I'll ask about it.

I ordered my free SIM kit from TMO, it should arrive by thursday. When I get it, I assume I go to the TMO website to activate the SIM at which point I can choose the $30 plan on T-mobile's website and port my existing number over to TMO. Is that correct?  After the initial payment I need to "refill" it....what exactly does that mean? I can't set it up so that it auto pays monthly? Why do I read about people going to 3rd party sites like callingmart to refill? Why call it refill in the first place and not just ...."pay your bill". Sorry for the silly questions it is my first time going prepaid.


----------



## Letitride (Nov 5, 2013)

Greg Tolan said:


> I am a little confused about the process of getting the plan and then "refilling" it. I did not really see it spelled out so I'll ask about it ... After the initial payment I need to "refill" it....what exactly does that mean? I can't set it up so that it auto pays monthly? Why do I read about people going to 3rd party sites like callingmart to refill? Why call it refill in the first place and not just ...."pay your bill". Sorry for the silly questions it is my first time going prepaid.

Click to collapse



It is prepaid as in paying in advance for next 30 days of service - and like AT&T's Gophone, it offers auto pays to avoid interruption of services (on vacation, traveling abroad or simply forgot the next due date for 30 more days of services, etc.)   There is no credit check for prepaid customers and everyone is approved for it, well ... almost, I think.

I've been using Callingmart for 5+ years now and always get refills at 2% discount, sometimes 5% when it goes on sale - and as much as 10% (at one time, at least) and there is no sales tax.  You can buy refills at T-Mo, Walmart, CVS, Target & 7-11's, etc. but sales tax were added, on my purchases anyway.  Callingmart can instantly refill your account once your cc payment is approved/processed ... 

That's a quick & simple explanation, partially ...


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 5, 2013)

Guess I'll have to be patient, figured $40 isn't going to break me just to test the signal where I live for a month , I can do wireless at home but can't live without the phone signal, was going to try net10 on AT&T since my neighbor AT&T and gets a good signal, aha the luxury of an unlocked phone and too many choices


----------



## NotoriousBEN (Nov 5, 2013)

Has anyone had any success activating their N5 on the $30 plan today? Got my SIM yesterday and my N5 today. I've gone through the activation process online several times but before the payment step, I keep getting a page that says "We’re sorry, we’re still working to process your activation. Please wait a few moments and then try navigating to another web page. You should receive a text message to your device when your activation is processed." I never receive a text, there's no indication that anything is actually happening. 

Customer service has been NO help at all and, frankly, have made me regret this choice to try out T-Mobile but I'd still love to get this thing activated. Anyone offer any insight?


----------



## unknown1205 (Nov 5, 2013)

NotoriousBEN said:


> Has anyone had any success activating their N5 on the $30 plan today? Got my SIM yesterday and my N5 today. I've gone through the activation process online several times but before the payment step, I keep getting a page that says "We’re sorry, we’re still working to process your activation. Please wait a few moments and then try navigating to another web page. You should receive a text message to your device when your activation is processed." I never receive a text, there's no indication that anything is actually happening.
> 
> Customer service has been NO help at all and, frankly, have made me regret this choice to try out T-Mobile but I'd still love to get this thing activated. Anyone offer any insight?

Click to collapse




i just got mine activated although i ran into an issue where it wont accept my money,  says even though i filled it out.  so then i went onto my.t-mobile.com and set up an account, made payment and set up autopay.  just waiting for my number to be ported now from sprint.


    No auto pay calendar date selected

The following field is required:

    Auto pay amount


----------



## mattcoz (Nov 5, 2013)

Ha, of course on the first day of being on this plan I get two calls from coworkers who just went on and on... I think I'm going to have to look into Groove.


----------



## Gaffadin (Nov 5, 2013)

Some great info in here, thanks.

Currently psyching myself into buying an N5. It's more money than I'd like to spend (I'm a real cheapskate) but I know it would be great and I would keep it for years. Right now I'm using a Motorola Triumph on Virgin (don't laugh - actually go ahead, it's well past its sell-by date) and I really could use something better. The $30 T-Mobile plan seems right up my alley.

One thing, if you buy cards from Callingmart, is it the "T-Mobile to go prepaid wireless airtime" cards? I notice those are only available in denominations of $10, $25, $50 and $100, whereas the "Monthly plan" cards seem to be available for $30, $50 and $70, or are we able to use both of these?


----------



## Letitride (Nov 5, 2013)

Gaffadin said:


> ... if you buy cards from Callingmart, is it the "T-Mobile to go prepaid wireless airtime" cards? I notice those are only available in denominations of $10, $25, $50 and $100, whereas the "Monthly plan" cards seem to be available for $30, $50 and $70, or are we able to use both of these?

Click to collapse



Why not give them a quick call - CS is available 9AM to midnight on weekdays, EDT just to make sure.  There is also auto load to phone # option - no need to wait for the PINs and then apply it online or whatever.

Although, I believe you can use either.


----------



## chucktownscitch (Nov 5, 2013)

First off I'll say I've only had tmo for about 2-3 months. I have a sprint account for years and was having tons of problems with service for a little while. So I ended up buying a Nexus 4 off CL and thru it on the $70 a month plan with unlimited 4g.

Now I am seeing all this $30 month 5gb LTE talk and I'm interested. I don't care about minutes at all, as I barely use my tmo line for anything but data. Use my Sprint line for calls.

With that said, my Nexus 5 will be here tomorrow and I am seeing that I will need a new Sim card for it anyways, one for size and two for the LTE network.

With that said, what would be the easiest route to obtain the correct LTE Sim card and go about getting my n5 on that $30 plan and just canceling my current one? Also I would like to buy the Sim kit locally. Maybe Walmart if they have the right one.

Thanks in advance.

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk


----------



## nrvate (Nov 5, 2013)

All set up.  Yay!

This details the notable points of my experience...
1) EFF the T-mobile store.  Don't bother.  They'll make you wait, try to sell you a phone, try to con you into activating a high-dollar unlimited plan on the spot, even when you walk in and state "I just need a uSim starter kit, please" -- I have zero patience for this.  Die in a fire, k thanx bye.
2) Both Walmart and Target carry T-mobile uSim kits.  Target doesn't always have them on the shelf, but they probably have a few locked up, just ask one of their mobile monkeys who will quickly sell it to you.  I experienced no BS here.
3) Activate online via https://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/ActivateCodes.aspx
4) DOB is for "security purposes" - IE they'll ask you for it if you call in.  Pick a date in your favorite starsign, June 9th 1969 if you're a hornball, etc. :silly:
5) It asks for a credit card or refill card as payment.  I didn't try the refill card -- I used a Visa card instead.  Your local grocery store or quickie mart likely has prepaid visa cards.  Get one that's _not reloadable_ so you don't need a bunch of information to activate it.
6) My initial attempt at activation led to a "we're still working on your activation, we'll text you when we're done" page after selecting the plan.  3 hours later, nothing.  So I went through the voice-response activation system for kicks.  After feeding it my area code, it advised me there are no numbers available.  I picked another area code, and it was happy, however when it got to plan selection, the 30/month unlimited data plan of course wasn't an option as this is "web only".  So I went back through the web-based process, fed it the alternate area code and it sailed right through.  So if you get stuck at the "we're still working on your activation", see if selecting a different area code for your new number helps.  I use Google Voice for PSTN and 3rd party SIP for VOIP, so I never have to deal with porting, and the actual number of any of my devices is irrelevant.

Once I got through the web activation and provided payment, the phone was active by the time I dialed the test call -- Voice and data both working.  Nice!


----------



## unknown1205 (Nov 6, 2013)

hmm... looks like checking your voicemail takes away from your minutes?  the stupid annoying notification kept popping up so i clicked it to set up my voicemail which i never use.  i just wanted to get rid of the notification.  now i'm 3 minutes in the hole.


----------



## cutterjohn (Nov 6, 2013)

trsix said:


> This thread is for all users who might be interested in using T-mobiles Unlimited $30 plan (No tax, no service fees) with 100 minutes of talk time and 5G of monthly 4G usage. You can make wifi calls when wifi's available so you don't eat your 100 minutes every month. I do, and use groove ip for that.
> I dumped sprint last year and have no desire to be under contract or pay high prices. The money i and others save with this plan will allow me to buy the new nexus every year.:good:
> A ton of questions are already answered in this thread.
> 
> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2001290

Click to collapse



Have this plan originally with my n4.  Swapped sim card to n5 and no probs so far... only had it since 6p EST, and it's been charging for at least the last 40m, but I did update everything(WiFi) and then a few min "LTE" and it was working... didn't try and calls/messaging though, just data so far...

[EDIT]
Oh yeah, was gonna try to pick up a second uSIM for the n4(pretty much looking to get the cheapest lotta voice/unlimited messaging plan/don't care about data), but it's just such a PITA at times to order a sim from T-mo, so I gave up....
[/EDIT]


----------



## KamaloPSU (Nov 6, 2013)

unknown1205 said:


> hmm... looks like checking your voicemail takes away from your minutes?  the stupid annoying notification kept popping up so i clicked it to set up my voicemail which i never use.  i just wanted to get rid of the notification.  now i'm 3 minutes in the hole.

Click to collapse



Can you use Google Voice and just use data?


----------



## unknown1205 (Nov 6, 2013)

KamaloPSU said:


> Can you use Google Voice and just use data?

Click to collapse



yea i'm sure you can but when i initially set up the voicemail due to the drop down notification, it went thru tmobile.  i have google voice set up on my device now.


----------



## ms0chez (Nov 6, 2013)

For those that already gotten their Nexus 5, did you set your APN setting or did you use the default settings that came with the phone after popping the sim.


----------



## adrman (Nov 6, 2013)

ms0chez said:


> For those that already gotten their Nexus 5, did you set your APN setting or did you use the default settings that came with the phone after popping the sim.

Click to collapse



I cut down the sim from my gnex this am and popped it in to the N5. The correct apn was in settings when I checked. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## donwhall70 (Nov 6, 2013)

I've been using this plan for quite awhile. I manage it by keeping $120 on the account at all times while having my card dinged $30 + any extra charges per month. This way I always have money there and if something bad happens I have a few months buffer to keep me going.


----------



## secondclaw (Nov 6, 2013)

ms0chez said:


> For those that already gotten their Nexus 5, did you set your APN setting or did you use the default settings that came with the phone after popping the sim.

Click to collapse



I went to T-Mobile store, had them cut my SIM to a micro, popped it in, and got LTE once phone booted. I haven't touched APN or any other settings.


----------



## ms0chez (Nov 6, 2013)

Cool. Thanks.


----------



## marinersontop1 (Nov 6, 2013)

nrvate said:


> 6) My initial attempt at activation led to a "we're still working on your activation, we'll text you when we're done" page after selecting the plan.  3 hours later, nothing.  So I went through the voice-response activation system for kicks.  After feeding it my area code, it advised me there are no numbers available.  I picked another area code, and it was happy, however when it got to plan selection, the 30/month unlimited data plan of course wasn't an option as this is "web only".  So I went back through the web-based process, fed it the alternate area code and it sailed right through.  So if you get stuck at the "we're still working on your activation", see if selecting a different area code for your new number helps.  I use Google Voice for PSTN and 3rd party SIP for VOIP, so I never have to deal with porting, and the actual number of any of my devices is irrelevant.

Click to collapse



Seconded. Good lord it was an effort to realize the area code was my only issue. Woman on the phone offered me an Illinois area code. I live in NYC. Ended up selecting Albany as my new home base. 

The CSRs also are clearly untrained. She told me the $30 plan is only available at Walmart. I explained I live nowhere near the Wally World. She put me on hold to check with her superior and after a nice ten minutes wasted sent me back to the interwebs for setup.


----------



## Lockeskidney (Nov 6, 2013)

I'm getting super strange LTE results. can someone explain this

HSPA







LTE


----------



## didau (Nov 6, 2013)

*Vonage*

Does anyone having problem with Vonage app? it keep force close every time I use it via cell data, it OK with wifi 

I never have this problem before on N4.

NVM...found a solution.


----------



## nrvate (Nov 6, 2013)

KamaloPSU said:


> Can you use Google Voice and just use data?

Click to collapse



Voicemail does take minutes.  This is pretty normal, haven't had a carrier that didn't work like this. yet.

Google Voice uses minutes too, unless they've changed it to pure IP without my knowledge, which I am sure would have received much fanfare.  Google Voice isn't VOIP, you could think of it as a fancy PBX system.  Note when you make a Google Voice call it makes a standard cellular call to a Google Voice POP number which forwards you to the final called number after changing the calling number ("caller ID")



marinersontop1 said:


> Seconded. Good lord it was an effort to realize the area code was my only issue. Woman on the phone offered me an Illinois area code. I live in NYC. Ended up selecting Albany as my new home base.
> 
> The CSRs also are clearly untrained. She told me the $30 plan is only available at Walmart. I explained I live nowhere near the Wally World. She put me on hold to check with her superior and after a nice ten minutes wasted sent me back to the interwebs for setup.

Click to collapse



They really should resolve this -- I'm sure it's bit a lot of people and if I was feeling less patient (and cheap) today I'd have gone with my temptation just to drop by the AT&T store and trade my SIM for a uSim.  But I knew I'd figure it out and it was worth the wait at over $40/month less $$!



> I'm getting super strange LTE results. can someone explain this

Click to collapse



It's hard to say exactly, lots of variables, but two things that top my mind:
- The LTE channel in your cell is heavily loaded with data-hungry users
or
- Your screenshot shows higher HSPA signal strength, your area has an HSPA-only tower closer than an LTE tower, so you get better signal-to-noise on HSPA, leading to higher data rates.

I don't see a huge difference between HSPA and LTE here.  I too see higher signal strengths in HSPA mode.  It's random (network usage conditions, probably) which is going to outperform here, but LTE does consistently have lower latency.

It's worth remembering T-Mobile operates DC-HSPA (dual cell) which gets 42mbit air speed -- LTE provides 100mbit.  Since most the power users are going to be on LTE, LTE is almost sure to have a higher usage demand.  So to me it makes sense they'll be pretty close.  This is exactly what I had hoped for with T-mobile -- Both DC-HSPA and LTE, both fast.  Both are faster than pretty much any app is going to consume the data, and DC-HSPA shows quite low latency compared to my prior device which ran 14mbit HSPA on AT&T.  

You may want to try your tests again in the wee hours of the morning when most people are asleep and you can see what a low-load network behaves like.


----------



## mybook4 (Nov 6, 2013)

Thought you guys would appreciate this. I am slowly turning all of my friends and family over to "the dark side".






Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk 4


----------



## Letitride (Nov 6, 2013)

mybook4 said:


> Thought you guys would appreciate this. I am slowly turning all of my friends and family over to "the dark side" ...

Click to collapse



Hahahaha !   That's a good one, LMAO - oh, heck - the good old Friends & Family calling circle that Big Red once offered before they axed it to its demise - along with that "Hello, Can You Hear Me Now" guy in the infommercials.


----------



## mattcoz (Nov 6, 2013)

nrvate said:


> Google Voice uses minutes too, unless they've changed it to pure IP without my knowledge, which I am sure would have received much fanfare.  Google Voice isn't VOIP, you could think of it as a fancy PBX system.  Note when you make a Google Voice call it makes a standard cellular call to a Google Voice POP number which forwards you to the final called number after changing the calling number ("caller ID")

Click to collapse



Pretty sure he meant using Google Voice for voicemail.  I don't think that works with this plan though.


----------



## nrvate (Nov 6, 2013)

mattcoz said:


> Pretty sure he meant using Google Voice for voicemail.  I don't think that works with this plan though.

Click to collapse



Ah! I see what you mean 

Shouldn't matter about the plan.  Assuming one is using their Google Voice number, the incoming voice mail is delivered to the Google Voice app (and your email inbox, if you have that enabled) -- In both cases it's over the data connection.  No need to call your voicemail; the GV app plays the audio for you, or you can download the attachment from your email inbox and play with whatever media player you have installed.

I have seen some cases, though, where one of the destination numbers that your GV number rings picks up before GV voicemail does -- This happened when I had my work phone as a destination number.. It's voicemail kicked in pretty early and most of my GV calls that went unanswered got picked up by my work extension's voicemail.. I asked our telecom guy to add 3 rings to my voicemail's pickup time and never had that issue again.  If TMO's voicemail is picking up too soon, possibly the feature could simply be disabled if you call 611 enough times to get someone who understands what to do.

I too had a TMO voicemail notification after I inserted in the SIM.. before the phone was even activated.  After setting up the voicemail box it went away.


----------



## unknown1205 (Nov 6, 2013)

Lockeskidney said:


> I'm getting super strange LTE results. can someone explain this
> 
> HSPA
> 
> ...

Click to collapse




i'm getting VERY SIMILAR results to you on LTE.  i have not tested speeds on HSPA+.  when i first launch the test, it would always spike at 20Mbs+ and then if you look at the line graph it will slowly deteriorate and be VERY inconsistent and then my speeds drop.


----------



## KamaloPSU (Nov 6, 2013)

nrvate said:


> Voicemail does take minutes.  This is pretty normal, haven't had a carrier that didn't work like this. yet.
> 
> Google Voice uses minutes too, unless they've changed it to pure IP without my knowledge, which I am sure would have received much fanfare.  Google Voice isn't VOIP, you could think of it as a fancy PBX system.  Note when you make a Google Voice call it makes a standard cellular call to a Google Voice POP number which forwards you to the final called number after changing the calling number ("caller ID")
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Thanks! Good to know.  I guess my last question I will throw out there is if I go to the $30 a month T-Mo plan as I would like to, can I add more minutes ahead of time or do I need to just leave a balance on there for overage?


----------



## adrman (Nov 6, 2013)

KamaloPSU said:


> Thanks! Good to know.  I guess my last question I will throw out there is if I go to the $30 a month T-Mo plan as I would like to, can I add more minutes ahead of time or do I need to just leave a balance on there for overage?

Click to collapse



Leave a balance for an overage. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## ms0chez (Nov 6, 2013)

I got Nexus 5 and microsim yesterday and am so far impressed with the service. I thought it'd be worst but its holding up pretty well. Service seems to fairly match aio. Data is definitely better than aio. Loving I only had to pay $30.


----------



## Linch89 (Nov 6, 2013)

I'm gonna post here bc I'm on tmo, except it's the $60 plan lol  the only thing that sucks for me is there is only 2G in my area...yeah. Verizon may have blown but 4G was awesome. Hopefully we'll get at least 3G here soon bc this phone is siiiick


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 6, 2013)

I ordered a free prepaid microsim from Tmobile site a couple days ago when I heard they were discounted from the regular $10 price but now I wanted to buy another sim for a friend who wants to switch to TMo and it appears the free promo is over. Can anyone confirm? 

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/...ro-SIM-Card-Activation-Kit-No-Annual-Contract

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## murdock.hendrix (Nov 6, 2013)

Hi all, 

I have been following this $30 TMo plan thread for days. Thanks for all the great info here. 

I ordered a Nexus 5 (32G) in black and received it yesterday. My first Nexus phone. I had ordered the TMo sim starter kit from Walmart last week. I went online at TMo site and ran into a problem with the last page. Called the 800 number and got transferred around a couple of times until I got a CS rep that saw the problem and was ready to transfer me to yet another dept. I asked if he was going to cold transfer me to the next rep and at first he said yes then said he would warm transfer me to the correct place.

The rep came on the line and sorted it all out for me. She advised me it could take 24 hrs to port my ATT number and I would get a text message telling me when the port was done. Within 2 minutes I had TMo service and LTE on my N5, in about an hour I received the TMo text saying my number was ported. :good:

When I signed up I added the Hotspot service for $15 to the $30.00 plan. I plan on using the N5 as a hotspot for my Nexus 7 (2012). Anyone see any downside to this? Anything I missed? The Hotspot service will only be used while on vacation, day trips, etc. Can I remove this option at a later time and re-add it when I actually go out of town? 

peace & happy droiding,
     murdockhendrix


----------



## bmstrong (Nov 6, 2013)

Somebody should combine all the relevant info into on post. Running through 25 pages is nuts.

If I may? How much data are you guys using in month?


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 6, 2013)

People who just recently bought their prepaid sims, did you get it for free or pay the $10?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## Greg Tolan (Nov 6, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> People who just recently bought their prepaid sims, did you get it for free or pay the $10?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I got mine for free. ordered last thursday from TMO. Free shipping as well. It should arrive today.

---------- Post added at 12:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:31 PM ----------




murdock.hendrix said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I have been following this $30 TMo plan thread for days. Thanks for all the great info here.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse




Not sure about removing it after but you should have tried just tethering using the N5's native tethering option before adding it. I plan on testing this tonight/tomorrow.


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 6, 2013)

Greg Tolan said:


> I got mine for free. ordered last thursday from TMO. Free shipping as well. It should arrive today.

Click to collapse



Do you remember if it displayed as $0 while it was in the cart or did it show up as $0 after entering your credit card info? I got one for free a couple days ago but I can't remember how it displayed. I want to order another one but it appears to be $10 again and I don't want to pay that unnecessarily if it's still free. 


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## Greg Tolan (Nov 6, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> Do you remember if it displayed as $0 while it was in the cart or did it show up as $0 after entering your credit card info? I got one for free a couple days ago but I can't remember how it displayed. I want to order another one but it appears to be $10 again and I don't want to pay that unnecessarily if it's still free.
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



It displayed $0 in the cart when I ordered it. I think there was a promo that ended on monday.


----------



## Shinyhead (Nov 6, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> Do you remember if it displayed as $0 while it was in the cart or did it show up as $0 after entering your credit card info? I got one for free a couple days ago but I can't remember how it displayed. I want to order another one but it appears to be $10 again and I don't want to pay that unnecessarily if it's still free.
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



It shows $0 in the card.  So glad I bought like 6 :S lol  Stock up for my family...


----------



## andy o (Nov 6, 2013)

Just to report, this might be a bit premature, but using Talkatone here on the N5 is going great. I have the premium though, but they recently lowered it to $.99/mo and got rid of the $20/yr option. Gets you no ads, higher quality codec (higher bitrate), dynamic forwarding (choose to forward to Talk/phone depending on Wifi/cel data) and probably other little things. On the N4 it was a bit weird, most notably the option to use a slider interface for answering was just not there, while on the N10 and N5 it is. The premature part is that I seem to be getting less audio lag with the N5. Also, it will ring all your Talkatones if you have it on more than one device. Completely worth it.


----------



## flintdragon (Nov 6, 2013)

I apologize if this has been asked before.

I have an iphone with the $30 plan with a standard size sim.  How would I go about transferring the number to the N5 with the micro sim?

would I be able to activate the micro sim with the $30 plan and transfer the number over?


----------



## chong67 (Nov 6, 2013)

I have this plan before.  I just don't feel VOIP is mature to do any critical work.  You need lots of patience using this technology!


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 6, 2013)

flintdragon said:


> I apologize if this has been asked before.
> 
> I have an iphone with the $30 plan with a standard size sim.  How would I go about transferring the number to the N5 with the micro sim?
> 
> would I be able to activate the micro sim with the $30 plan and transfer the number over?

Click to collapse



Standard sim can be trimmed to the size of a microsim, it can be done at your local store and stick it in the phone

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## unknown1205 (Nov 6, 2013)

hey if i call someone and it reaches their voicemail and then i hangup without leaving a voicemail.  do i still get charged for 1 minute?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 6, 2013)

flintdragon said:


> I apologize if this has been asked before.
> 
> I have an iphone with the $30 plan with a standard size sim.  How would I go about transferring the number to the N5 with the micro sim?
> 
> would I be able to activate the micro sim with the $30 plan and transfer the number over?

Click to collapse



Yes.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 10:26 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:26 AM ----------




unknown1205 said:


> hey if i call someone and it reaches their voicemail and then i hangup without leaving a voicemail.  do i still get charged for 1 minute?

Click to collapse



Yes.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## magecca (Nov 6, 2013)

unknown1205 said:


> hmm... looks like checking your voicemail takes away from your minutes?  the stupid annoying notification kept popping up so i clicked it to set up my voicemail which i never use.  i just wanted to get rid of the notification.  now i'm 3 minutes in the hole.

Click to collapse



T-Mobile has a visual voicemail app that will only use data to listen and delete your future voicemails after setup. The initial setup, though, did use three minutes of my talk time as well.


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 6, 2013)

Can the $30 plan be activated in the TMo store or online only? 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## magecca (Nov 6, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> Can the $30 plan be activated in the TMo store or online only?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I went to a T-Mobile store, got a free SIM, activated it and ported my number.

But don't count on every or any store doing that.

Getting an activation kit at Target (since I don't shop at Wal-Mart ever) and activating it online was my original intention and I would have fallen back on that if the T-Mobile rep I got wasn't as facilitating as he was.


----------



## RacerX780 (Nov 6, 2013)

I ordered the sim last week... just today got an email saying my order had been processed...  Got the phone yesterday, so I figured I would go to the local T-Mobile store and just get another sim. So I paid the $10 and I'll have the free one coming in another day or two I figure. 


Anyway... signed up for the $60 a month plan.. called and ported my #, but it's only partially ported. If I make a call from the N5, the caller ID shows as my old #. But if I call my old #, my old phone rings. 

Hopefully it's just a glitch until it all gets sorted... I actually got the text from them about it being ported while I was still on the phone with the cs rep... even though he said it would take 24 hrs. 

I've never ported my # before...so I don't know if this is normal or what......


----------



## brianhvo (Nov 6, 2013)

You, sir, are a godsend.  I've been banging my head against the activation page and CSRs since last night trying to activate my SIM.  Once I read your post, it switched city in the DFW metroplex and chose a new area code (214 is all filled up apparently).  The online activation worked like a charm when I changed to a 972 area code.  Thanks to you, I'm now enjoying 5GB of data @ $30/month.  Can't beat that.



nrvate said:


> All set up.  Yay!
> 
> 6) My initial attempt at activation led to a "we're still working on your activation, we'll text you when we're done" page after selecting the plan.  3 hours later, nothing.  So I went through the voice-response activation system for kicks.  After feeding it my area code, it advised me there are no numbers available.  I picked another area code, and it was happy, however when it got to plan selection, the 30/month unlimited data plan of course wasn't an option as this is "web only".  So I went back through the web-based process, fed it the alternate area code and it sailed right through.  So if you get stuck at the "we're still working on your activation", see if selecting a different area code for your new number helps.  I use Google Voice for PSTN and 3rd party SIP for VOIP, so I never have to deal with porting, and the actual number of any of my devices is irrelevant.
> 
> Once I got through the web activation and provided payment, the phone was active by the time I dialed the test call -- Voice and data both working.  Nice!

Click to collapse


----------



## mattcoz (Nov 6, 2013)

nrvate said:


> Ah! I see what you mean
> 
> Shouldn't matter about the plan.  Assuming one is using their Google Voice number, the incoming voice mail is delivered to the Google Voice app (and your email inbox, if you have that enabled) -- In both cases it's over the data connection.  No need to call your voicemail; the GV app plays the audio for you, or you can download the attachment from your email inbox and play with whatever media player you have installed.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Yes, it works if they call your Google Voice number, but it doesn't support forwarding for calls to your T-Mobile number.

---------- Post added at 04:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:31 PM ----------




magecca said:


> T-Mobile has a visual voicemail app that will only use data to listen and delete your future voicemails after setup. The initial setup, though, did use three minutes of my talk time as well.

Click to collapse



But it's not available on prepaid plans, right?


----------



## Cleanskinned (Nov 6, 2013)

I'm on the Simple Choice Family Plan with two other people.  The total bill is about $100, so about $33 per line with 500MB Data, Unlimited Text and Voice.  Does the Simple Choice plan have any advantage to the $30 prepaid one other than unlimited voice?


----------



## diablonyc2 (Nov 6, 2013)

unknown1205 said:


> i'm getting VERY SIMILAR results to you on LTE.  i have not tested speeds on HSPA+.  when i first launch the test, it would always spike at 20Mbs+ and then if you look at the line graph it will slowly deteriorate and be VERY inconsistent and then my speeds drop.

Click to collapse



I too am getting mixed results.  I think the highest I have seen is 14mbps---but most were under 10mbps


----------



## Lockeskidney (Nov 6, 2013)

chong67 said:


> I have this plan before.  I just don't feel VOIP is mature to do any critical work.  You need lots of patience using this technology!

Click to collapse



yea tons of drop outs and people saying you go in and out when calling them. I'm also having issues now with VOIP and kit kat. I call over wifi and it works fine. I try to place a call over LTE and it doesnt connect


----------



## Shinyhead (Nov 6, 2013)

Cleanskinned said:


> I'm on the Simple Choice Family Plan with two other people.  The total bill is about $100, so about $33 per line with 500MB Data, Unlimited Text and Voice.  Does the Simple Choice plan have any advantage to the $30 prepaid one other than unlimited voice?

Click to collapse



The $30 plan offers more 4g data before they throttle the speed compared to the simple choice family plan.  The $30 does not have unlimited minutes and only offer 100 minutes a month.  The simple choice plan with 3 or more people is better if you don't need that much data, I guess.  I plan on doing the same thing with my family later this month.


----------



## adrman (Nov 7, 2013)

Lockeskidney said:


> yea tons of drop outs and people saying you go in and out when calling them. I'm also having issues now with VOIP and kit kat. I call over wifi and it works fine. I try to place a call over LTE and it doesnt connect

Click to collapse



I've used this plan for well over a year, first on my gnex and now on my N5. Wi-Fi or not, I found calling via grooveip to be unuseable. Since I used voip.ms on my home sip line, I purchased an additional did from them and used it as a GV forwarding number when I was on Wi-Fi. I tried all the sip clients and csipsimple was the best. However, even though things sounded good on my end, most people had issues with the audio they were receiving from me. I ended up purchasing a did from Skype and using it as a GV forwarding number. That's been working fantastically on Wi-Fi. People couldn't tell the difference. Fast forward to the N5, this solution works even better, because now it's usable over LTE. The biggest drawback is the Skype app doesn't integrate with Google contacts for incoming call id. I've yet to go back and try my voip.ms did and csipsimple with the N5, but will give it a try soon. 

On another note, it you're using GV as your main number and want to use GV voicemail, you have to call T-Mobile prepaid customer service and have them deactivate voicemail on your account. They'll argue with you about it, but eventually will do it. That way you can be sure that T-Mobile's voice mail doesn't pick up before GV does.


----------



## bob60626 (Nov 7, 2013)

magecca said:


> T-Mobile has a visual voicemail app that will only use data to listen and delete your future voicemails after setup. The initial setup, though, did use three minutes of my talk time as well.

Click to collapse



This seems to even work on wifi only. I had data off, wifi on, ignored a call , and it went to visual voicemail.
The app is available on the market. I've downloaded it onto two AT&T phones on T-Mobile and it worked just as well as my TMO S2 and Note 2.


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 7, 2013)

refillmobi.com is fresh out of stock all T Mobile prepaid cash cards, any other good sources online? 

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk


----------



## Deekayy (Nov 7, 2013)

Cleanskinned said:


> I'm on the Simple Choice Family Plan with two other people.  The total bill is about $100, so about $33 per line with 500MB Data, Unlimited Text and Voice.  Does the Simple Choice plan have any advantage to the $30 prepaid one other than unlimited voice?

Click to collapse



Another thing to note is that the simple choice plan is a primary network vs prepaid is secondary network. Meaning that primary network gets first in line if the T-mobile towers is congested (probably by other 3rd party companies like straight talk, family mobile, solevei, or simple mobile). Secondary network gets second meaning their network or signal will be poor when the T-mobile towers is congested. I had this explained to me through several people and the T-Mo customer service as well.

Also you probably won't get the additional free options for prepaid like call-waiting or wifi calling.


----------



## mattcoz (Nov 7, 2013)

bob60626 said:


> This seems to even work on wifi only. I had data off, wifi on, ignored a call , and it went to visual voicemail.
> The app is available on the market. I've downloaded it onto two AT&T phones on T-Mobile and it worked just as well as my TMO S2 and Note 2.

Click to collapse



This service is not available to prepaid users.


----------



## Mr. Sprinkles (Nov 7, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> refillmobi.com is fresh out of stock all T Mobile prepaid cash cards, any other good sources online?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I use callingmart mostly. Pinzoo is good too.


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 7, 2013)

Mr. Sprinkles said:


> I use callingmart mostly. Pinzoo is good too.

Click to collapse



I checked out callingmart, so it's the Tmobile to go prepaid wireless airtime refill cards, right? 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## FuMMoD (Nov 7, 2013)

So how exactly are you guys setting up Wifi calling or even calling out using mobile internet? Is there some sort of guide out there detailing how to set it up? I checked out those Voip apps but you have to pay for the servers and what not which defeats the purpose of getting the 30 dollars plan cause you have to pay extra for other voip features. Thanks


----------



## Gaffadin (Nov 7, 2013)

FuMMoD said:


> So how exactly are you guys setting up Wifi calling or even calling out using mobile internet? Is there some sort of guide out there detailing how to set it up? I checked out those Voip apps but you have to pay for the servers and what not which defeats the purpose of getting the 30 dollars plan cause you have to pay extra for other voip features. Thanks

Click to collapse



Talkatone has a very usable free version, although as stated Google are changing the API so it might not work after May 2014.


----------



## FuMMoD (Nov 7, 2013)

Gaffadin said:


> Talkatone has a very usable free version, although as stated Google are changing the API so it might not work after March 2014.

Click to collapse



Is there any guides available out there that I can search for? I'm just looking for what search terms to use, if that makes any sense.


----------



## howardroark (Nov 7, 2013)

*Compatible VOIP apps*

Does anyone know of any compatible VOIP apps? I tried SIPDroid and it is not compatible with Kit Kat, it just crashes.


----------



## adrman (Nov 7, 2013)

howardroark said:


> Does anyone know of any compatible VOIP apps? I tried SIPDroid and it is not compatible with Kit Kat, it just crashes.

Click to collapse



I haven't tried it on the N5 yet, but the play store shows csipsimple as being compatible. It was always the best app of the bunch on my gnex and I tried them all.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 7, 2013)

*For those needing more info about using Google Voice for calls...*

GrooveIP and Talkatone are by far the most popular apps to use with Google Voice (on an Android device).
_*
Google Voice itself is not VoIP capable nor is it by itself a VoIP service*_ - so many people just don't seem to get this, they think because it's called "Google Voice" it must be some VoIP thing and that's exactly NOT what it is. When coupled with Google Chat (which will be merging into Hangouts soon enough) it can be capable of VoIP duties but that's where GrooveIP and Talkatone and some other apps come in, explained below.

You are required to have a Google Voice account + Google Voice number - you get one when you register for the service by going to voice.google.com and setting things up - you WILL need a phone number to get the registration handled, however because they have to have a contact number to reach you by (SMS/Voice/etc). It can be pretty confusing for some folks so here's how it's done:

1) Go to http://voice.google.com and sign up for an account if you don't already have one. You may find yourself with a Google Voice number that isn't even in your area code when the choices become available - as Google Voice continues to grow in popularity the amount of numbers available decreases since they're assigned just like regular old phone numbers. Try your area code, if nothing exists, try a different area code - I personally have 4 GV numbers and only one of 'em is in the Las Vegas are, the rest are in completely different places in the US (figured I'd spread 'em out). You will be required to provide an actual landline or cellular number to receive a message (voice or text) with a confirmation number you have to punch in to finish the registration.

2) At this point your cellular service needs to be active meaning the device you intend to use for Google Voice + GrooveIP/Talkatone "phone" calls because you'll have to link the Google Voice account to that number after you install the app - this is a different confirmation process than the one you just completely by signing up for Google Voice itself.

3) When that's all set up, download the Google Voice app on your Android device from the Play Market and install it, go through the steps to set it up and use the cellular number the device has when requested. You can also handle setting up your Google Voice voicemail during this process too.

4) When that's all done, now you can install GrooveIP or Talkatone. I tried GrooveIP myself in the past, didn't like it, so I use Talkatone personally. I can't go into the finer points of the installation and set up at this moment because I don't even have a smartphone presently, so you can step yourselves through the process, it's not tough at all, just provide the sign in info for your Google Voice account - GrooveIP/Talkatone work like middle-men between you and Google Voice so this info is required, you can tell it not to save the password/etc if you're paranoid and also to not run those apps when you reboot the device meaning you manually start it. All that stuff is configurable in the options.

5) *When all this is set up, here's perhaps the biggest tip I can offer: you need to go back to the Google Voice account online (http://voice.google.com) and go into the settings and disable the notification service that forwards calls/texts to your mobile number - meaning you need to select ONLY Google Chat. If you do NOT do this, what happens when you get a call or a text is that your phone will ring twice: it'll get a call from the VoIP software (GrooveIP or Talkatone) alerting you that you have a call, and it will ring your actual cellular number because it's forwarding things from the Google Voice number to your cellular number. It gets confusing as hell when your phone rings and you answer it not realizing that you're chomping off your airtime minutes thinking you're answering a call with the VoIP capability.* By selecting only Google Chat (which is what GrooveIP/Talkatone are connecting to and using) that means the phone will just notify or ring only for pickup using those services - your T-Mobile minutes won't be touched at all.

Just make sure you go into the Google Voice account settings (you can't do it from the mobile app, has to be done from the website) and disable/uncheck the box to forward calls and texts to the Google Chat account (which is what GrooveIP/Talkatone end up using for their purposes).

Hope this helps and makes sense, I'll answer questions if necessary but it's fairly simplistic. Been using GV + Talkatone for almost 18 months now without issues, I can even make calls using 2G/EDGE (when I have a smartphone, that is) without any noticeable problems. Talkatone recently switched over to using Opus as their voice codec and the bandwidth requirements for a voice call are about half what they used to be with audio quality remaining almost the same as the previous codec (higher bitrate Ogg Vorbix Speex).

Anyway, that should get you folks going on this. I rarely if ever use any of my 100 minutes on the T-Mobile $30/month plan because of this setup. Of course, when May 2014 rolls in and Google pulls the plug on GrooveIP (who have already announced they're closing up shop at the end of April 2014) and Talkatone (no idea what their plans are as of yet) we'll all have to find some other way to use VoIP or pay for the minutes as required I suppose.


----------



## howardroark (Nov 7, 2013)

adrman said:
			
		

> I haven't tried it on the N5 yet, but the play store shows csipsimple as being compatible. It was always the best app of the bunch on my gnex and I tried them all.

Click to collapse



Thanks, I'll check that out after work.



br0adband said:


> 5) *When all this is set up, here's perhaps the biggest tip I can offer: you need to go back to the Google Voice account online and go into the settings and disable the notification service that forwards calls/texts to your mobile number - meaning you need to select ONLY Google Chat. If you do NOT do this, what happens when you get a call or a text is that your phone will ring twice: it'll get a call from the VoIP software (GrooveIP or Talkatone) alerting you that you have a call, and it will ring your actual cellular number because it's forwarding things from the Google Voice number to your cellular number. It gets confusing as hell when your phone rings and you answer it not realizing that you're chomping off your airtime minutes thinking you're answering a call with the VoIP capability.* By selecting only Google Chat (which is what GrooveIP/Talkatone are connecting to and using) that means the phone will just notify or ring only for pickup using those services - your T-Mobile minutes won't be touched at all.

Click to collapse



Is there any way for something like Tasker to change this? I'd like for it to forward calls to my mobile number when I am not on Wifi... I doubt that is possible, but it would be ideal.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 7, 2013)

howardroark said:


> Is there any way for something like Tasker to change this? I'd like for it to forward calls to my mobile number when I am not on Wifi... I doubt that is possible, but it would be ideal.

Click to collapse



No idea, never used Tasker but from what I've read and heard spoken about it, you just might be able to find a way to make that work. If you're using GV + GrooveIP/Talkatone, calls to your GV number will still get to your phone on Wi-Fi - actual mobile calls to your actual T-Mobile cell number would go through just fine as well since voice calls don't have anything to do with data (2G/3G/4G/LTE) hence you get regular mobile calls whether you're on Wi-Fi or not.


----------



## howardroark (Nov 7, 2013)

br0adband said:


> No idea, never used Tasker but from what I've read and heard spoken about it, you just might be able to find a way to make that work.

Click to collapse



How do you personally deal with this setting always on? What if you get a call when you have no data?


----------



## br0adband (Nov 7, 2013)

howardroark said:


> How do you personally deal with this setting always on? What if you get a call when you have no data?

Click to collapse



Never been in a situation where I don't have data so I can't speak to that - I edited the post above so make sure to re-read it.

Just for the record:

I don't give out my T-Mobile number, ever - the only number I give out is my Google Voice number so everything is tied to that number and account. All calls, all texts, everything goes to my Google Voice number. There are only like 3 people with my actual T-Mobile number: T-Mobile, my Wife, and another friend and that's it.

YMMV, of course.


----------



## dagaetch (Nov 7, 2013)

br0adband said:


> No idea, never used Tasker but from what I've read and heard spoken about it, you just might be able to find a way to make that work. If you're using GV + GrooveIP/Talkatone, calls to your GV number will still get to your phone on Wi-Fi - actual mobile calls to your actual T-Mobile cell number would go through just fine as well since voice calls don't have anything to do with data (2G/3G/4G/LTE) hence you get regular mobile calls whether you're on Wi-Fi or not.

Click to collapse



I wonder if you could work it a different way: have GV forward to both the cell number and google chat, but set tasker or equiv to disable cell radio when wifi is connected?


----------



## br0adband (Nov 7, 2013)

As stated, I don't use nor have I ever used Tasker so any questions towards that app aren't anything I can answer or speak to. I'm sure some industrious person will probably find a way to wrangle some macro or whatever Tasker uses to do such things... I found it easier when I started using GV+Talkatone to just use that GV number I have and never bother giving out the T-Mobile one at all, it's served my purposes for some time now.

Since I've had it for so long (the GV number is nearly 2 years old) I could even port it over to T-Mobile if I wanted but things work perfectly as they are and that's the only number anyone really has for me that would end up being problematic in the long run.

The whole concept of Google Voice is to "finally" give yourself one number that handles pretty much absolutely anything so I've been using it in that respect for myself and it's been great so far.


----------



## dagaetch (Nov 7, 2013)

Yeah I basically only use the GV number as well, but there are plenty of times when I don't have a wifi signal. Will talkatone work over lte?


----------



## br0adband (Nov 7, 2013)

dagaetch said:


> Yeah I basically only use the GV number as well, but there are plenty of times when I don't have a wifi signal. Will talkatone work over lte?

Click to collapse



LTE, 2G, 3G, 4G, those are the nomenclature for the data connections, not voice calls hence you can "turn off" the data connection and you still can make and receive calls (and texts as well). So yes, since GV+GrooveIP/Talkatone make use of the data connection when it's available, the answer is obviously "yes."

Cellular data connection or Wi-Fi, doesn't matter, as long as it's an active Internet connection that's what the apps use to make calls using the apps and not use the T-Mobile minutes.


----------



## dagaetch (Nov 7, 2013)

br0adband said:


> LTE, 2G, 3G, 4G, those are the nomenclature for the data connections, not voice calls hence you can "turn off" the data connection and you still can make and receive calls (and texts as well). So yes, since GV+GrooveIP/Talkatone make use of the data connection when it's available, the answer is obviously "yes."
> 
> Cellular data connection or Wi-Fi, doesn't matter, as long as it's an active Internet connection that's what the apps use to make calls using the apps and not use the T-Mobile minutes.

Click to collapse



gotcha - thanks!


----------



## adrman (Nov 7, 2013)

howardroark said:


> Thanks, I'll check that out after work.
> 
> 
> 
> Is there any way for something like Tasker to change this? I'd like for it to forward calls to my mobile number when I am not on Wifi... I doubt that is possible, but it would be ideal.

Click to collapse



You can do it with Talker, but there's an app called GrooveForwarder that I use and it's fantastic. It will even switch forwarding based on specific Wi-Fi networks and mobile data connections. For example, I have it set to switch my GV forwarding to my Skype number when I'm on my home network or LTE/HSPA+. Anything below HSPA+ and it will switch forwarding to my T-Mobile number. I have emailed the developer and he seems to feel that this functionality will be maintained even after GV and Hangouts are integrated. (keeping fingers crossed )

I would encourage everyone to search out and read a thread by Codesplice over on the gnex general forum, called "Smartphone Service for just $30/month". There's a very good guide in the op and much more info in the thread. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## FuMMoD (Nov 7, 2013)

br0adband said:


> LTE, 2G, 3G, 4G, those are the nomenclature for the data connections, not voice calls hence you can "turn off" the data connection and you still can make and receive calls (and texts as well). So yes, since GV+GrooveIP/Talkatone make use of the data connection when it's available, the answer is obviously "yes."
> 
> Cellular data connection or Wi-Fi, doesn't matter, as long as it's an active Internet connection that's what the apps use to make calls using the apps and not use the T-Mobile minutes.

Click to collapse











adrman said:


> You can do it with Talker, but there's an app called GrooveForwarder that I use and it's fantastic. It will even switch forwarding based on specific Wi-Fi networks and mobile data connections. For example, I have it set to switch my GV forwarding to my Skype number when I'm on my home network or LTE/HSPA+. Anything below HSPA+ and it will switch forwarding to my T-Mobile number. I have emailed the developer and he seems to feel that this functionality will be maintained even after GV and Hangouts are integrated. (keeping fingers crossed )
> 
> I would encourage everyone to search out and read a thread by Codesplice over on the gnex general forum, called "Smartphone Service for just $30/month". There's a very good guide in the op and much more info in the thread.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse





Thank you both for the info and advice. I'm looking forward to setting up my tmobile plan asap.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk


----------



## parkson (Nov 7, 2013)

No MMS in Google Voice is the man reason I don't use the number as my main. Are their any workarounds I'm unaware of?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## br0adband (Nov 7, 2013)

I'm not 100% sure but I though SMS/MMS were now possible because of Hangouts... seems like that was the biggest thing about it being added nowadays. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on that aspect.

Edit:

Yep, it does, but the rollout of the SMS/MMS addition will take some time meaning _it could take months_:

http://phandroid.com/2013/10/31/new...google-voice-integration-will-take-some-time/


----------



## adrman (Nov 7, 2013)

br0adband said:


> I'm not 100% sure but I though SMS/MMS were now possible because of Hangouts... seems like that was the biggest thing about it being added nowadays. Someone correct me if I'm wrong on that aspect.
> 
> Edit:
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Hangouts still doesn't interface with GV. I'm still using the GV app for sms (no mms).

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## br0adband (Nov 7, 2013)

adrman said:


> Hangouts still doesn't interface with GV. I'm still using the GV app for sms (no mms).
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



It will when they finally get it all working "under the same roof" once and for all.


----------



## magecca (Nov 7, 2013)

mattcoz said:


> Yes, it works if they call your Google Voice number, but it doesn't support forwarding for calls to your T-Mobile number.
> 
> ---------- Post added at 04:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:31 PM ----------
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Visual voicemail is available on prepaid plans. I'm on the plan that is the topic of this thread and I confirm the app works and doesn't expend talk time when listening to voicemails.

I may even assert, when your minutes are depleted, don't answer your phone, listen to the voicemail and call back using an alternate method (GrooveIP etc.) if needed and you should not be charged overage minutes at $.10/min.


----------



## aklyz (Nov 7, 2013)

magecca said:


> Visual voicemail is available on prepaid plans. I'm on the plan that is the topic of this thread and I confirm the app works and doesn't expend talk time when listening to voicemails.
> 
> I may even assert, when your minutes are depleted, don't answer your phone, listen to the voicemail and call back using an alternate method (GrooveIP etc.) if needed and you should not be charged overage minutes at $.10/min.

Click to collapse



Any thoughts on instead using the $3/day plan for unlimited talk/text/200mb/day 4g? works out to 5.85GB a month if you have a decent set of WiFi networks around you. I have xfinity and there is a pretty decent net of hot spots in my local area so this plan as worked out better for me.


----------



## bob60626 (Nov 7, 2013)

mattcoz said:


> This service is not available to prepaid users.

Click to collapse



Not true. I've used it on my TMO S2, my TMO Note 2, and downloaded it to two AT&T Notes; all on the prepaid $30 plan. It didn't work when I had my first T-Mobile phone (Galaxy Exhibit) even though it was on there, but it's worked for about a year now.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 7, 2013)

aklyz said:


> Any thoughts on instead using the $3/day plan for unlimited talk/text/200mb/day 4g? works out to 5.85GB a month if you have a decent set of WiFi networks around you. I have xfinity and there is a pretty decent net of hot spots in my local area so this plan as worked out better for me.

Click to collapse



I'd say if you're going to bother with it then just get the $30/month plan and be done with it, period. Doing that by the day thing can be problematic in some respects: you have to put at least $10 into the account to do anything at all ($10 is the minimum you can add to T-Mobile accounts per refill) so that's 1/3rd of the way there already, and if you use it more than 10 days you're already falling into a hole by spending more than $30.

There's no logical reason to use the pay-per-day plan at all if you have intentions of really using the service.


----------



## notbrodie (Nov 7, 2013)

murdock.hendrix said:


> Hi all,
> 
> I have been following this $30 TMo plan thread for days. Thanks for all the great info here.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



you don't need the hotspot. native tethering works just fine. i've tethered both my xoom and my laptop to my phone over T-Mobile


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 7, 2013)

I went to one local store today, go denied trying to sign up for the $30 plan, will try again at another location 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## benjdm (Nov 7, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> I went to one local store today, go denied trying to sign up for the $30 plan, will try again at another location
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



This plan isn't available in stores. You have to sign up online. I think. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 7, 2013)

benjdm said:


> This plan isn't available in stores. You have to sign up online. I think.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Click to collapse



Or activate a Sim on the phone. Prompts include this plan.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## nrvate (Nov 8, 2013)

FuMMoD said:


> So how exactly are you guys setting up Wifi calling or even calling out using mobile internet? Is there some sort of guide out there detailing how to set it up? I checked out those Voip apps but you have to pay for the servers and what not which defeats the purpose of getting the 30 dollars plan cause you have to pay extra for other voip features. Thanks

Click to collapse



I'm using CSipSimple  (you need a nightly build after Nov 2nd due to some KitKat changes) which is a SIP VOIP client based on the pjsip SIP library.  I've been using this SIP client for over a year now with really good results.  The Nexus 5 just makes it better, with improved speaker/mic setup compared to my last device.  For SIP service, I am using voip.ms.  They provide a number for 99¢/month and calls for 1¢/minute.  They also provide a bunch of additional functionality, including voice mail, call forwarding, ring groups, interactive voice response menus (press 1 for.. press 2 for..) and some other toys, pretty much the full compliment of Asterisk PBX features -- Including the ability to create subaccounts for all your devices/computers/ip phones (on their own extensions and everything).  They also have servers in a range of locations, so you can pick the one with the lowest ping time from your area.  They also provide toll-free numbers, if you're doing any sort of business, for 99¢/month + 2.4¢/min -- If you like to hand out your card for extra $$ helping the less tech-savvy, 99¢ gets you an 800 number and PBX-style call routing/voicemail possibilities for cheap professional telephone presence.

VOIP over a good WiFi connection is very solid, and I've also had pretty good luck on mobile networks, as long as latency is <100ms and packet loss / jitter is low.  Don't expect it to be great when you're driving, movement presents some significant challenges for mobile broadband, which digital voice networks (such as GSM/CDMA in voice mode) go to great technical lengths to address.  However with good (not overloaded) 4G (HSPA+/LTE) service in a stationary state both T-mobile and AT&T's networks do better than I had expected.

One thing I found today is that T-mobile's network appears to have a fairly short UDP NAT timeout, somewhere in the order of 5-10 minutes.  CSipSimple has a default SIP register timeout of 30 minutes, meaning it re-registers the connection with the server every 30 minutes or so.  Changing this to 4 minutes was necessary to ensure incoming calls always came through, otherwise the NAT mapping would expire and incoming calls wouldn't come through as the SIP packets weren't making it back to the device.

Since I ended up giving out my Google Voice number as my primary contact number, I added my VOIP number as a forwarding phone and changed the outgoing caller ID to match my Google Voice number.  If I'm at home, I'll pick up on the headset via gmail, on the go, via CSipSimple.

I can't speak for any of the free VOIP apps, I figured $1/month for full Asterisk PBX functionality and 1¢/min is more than fair -- Especially when with subaccounts I get service to all my devices at no additional cost..



wideasleep1 said:


> Or activate a Sim on the phone. Prompts include this plan.

Click to collapse



I was hoping to do just that, but I guess their system was completely hosed when I tried -- Gave me an error on the clickthrough to activate, didn't even get started.  Between that an the lack of numbers for my area code problem, I guess I picked the wrong day to activate.. Ah well, at least it's done.  Still stoked at the quality of service for $30/month for 5gb.



brianhvo said:


> You, sir, are a godsend.  I've been banging my head against the activation page and CSRs since last night trying to activate my SIM.  Once I read your post, it switched city in the DFW metroplex and chose a new area code (214 is all filled up apparently).  The online activation worked like a charm when I changed to a 972 area code.  Thanks to you, I'm now enjoying 5GB of data @ $30/month.  Can't beat that.

Click to collapse



Awesome!  Glad to be of help


----------



## howardroark (Nov 8, 2013)

CSipSimple let's me place a call, but it force closes. If I don't hit the "okay" button on the force close dialog I can stay in the call. I am on the latest nightly. Is it working without FC for anyone else on a Nexus 5?


----------



## maamdroid (Nov 8, 2013)

Thanks nrvate for going into some good detail on your VOIP setup.  I have been trying all the apps for voice calls with google voice.  They work decently, but not as great as I would want.

I just signed up for voip.ms.  I'm going to give that a try.


----------



## howardroark (Nov 8, 2013)

howardroark said:


> CSipSimple let's me place a call, but it force closes. If I don't hit the "okay" button on the force close dialog I can stay in the call. I am on the latest nightly. Is it working without FC for anyone else on a Nexus 5?

Click to collapse



EDIT: I downloaded "latest trunk" but apparently it was an older version. Working like a charm with the real latest version.


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 8, 2013)

hello, this is the first time i get a phone, so please excuse me if i'm asking questions that has already been answered, but i really need help.
- i'm under 18 so i'm going to buy the micro sim card using my relative's credit card.
- when i get the sim card, what do i do? how do i activate the sim, how will i be able to choose my phone number? do i activate by going to some tmobile activation website or do i just put the sim in the nexus 5 , turn the phone on and it will give me a phone number?
- i'm under 18 so is there any problem with that when using tmobile service? the tmobile account that's going to be created is going to be my relative's account and contains his credit card infomation.
- is there such thing as "owner's name" of the phone, like should i use my name or my relative's name, any legal problem?

this is kinda confusing to me because this plan is only available online, so i can't go to a store and ask information or have them activate for me. (btw there's no walmart store here, and of course i live in the US, i'm an immigrant though that's why i know nothing about how the telephone system here works)

thanks


----------



## kerry_xu_cs (Nov 8, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> Nope. Been covered in this massive thread.

Click to collapse



Although it's $30 a month, I always get charged around $32, so there is tax.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 8, 2013)

kerry_xu_cs said:


> Although it's $30 a month, I always get charged around $32, so there is tax.

Click to collapse



By whom? Who is charging you $2?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## KrazyAttack (Nov 8, 2013)

Do you need to edit/create an APN for this?

Or since it's TMO and through them do you just pop the activated sim in and go?


----------



## maamdroid (Nov 8, 2013)

kerry_xu_cs said:


> Although it's $30 a month, I always get charged around $32, so there is tax.

Click to collapse



I got hit with extra charges for tax as well on my first payment.  Guessing that will be the same next month.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## Kabbage (Nov 8, 2013)

Those of you using SIP, have you tried the built in VOIP? It's at the very bottom of Phone App>Settings>Call Settings.

Edit: You obviously still need a gateway. I used simonics.com with google voice before I got a Obi202.
Also the $2 in the $30 plan is sales tax. You can get around that by buying prepaid credit from an online reseller or ebay. I used to use callingmart.com, and used the option of instant charge to account. Got topped off within a minute.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 8, 2013)

There should NEVER be a tax on the $30 monthly charge - it's a service you're paying for, not a physical product. In just shy of 2 years of using this plan I've never seen it deduct anything but the $30 dead even amount (I refill my plan using a debit credit card directly into my T-Mobile account, I don't use refill cards, I don't do auto-pay either).

Services can't be taxed; products can. Somewhere someone is ripping you folks off - and yes in Nevada we do have a state sales tax (currently 8.1%) so it's not like they wouldn't charge me something if they could.

Even if you're buying physical refill cards from someplace like a convenience store you're still not technically buying a product (the card itself) - you're still buying a service (the minutes) and that can't be taxed legally here in the US. Some states might have some funky law in effect to rip you off, however; if that's the case, go get yourself a prepaid credit card sometime and dump cash on it (a large amount or else you'll get hammered even worse by the service fee - yes I know that seems ironic) you'd get charged to put money into the funding in the first place, then use that to put money into the T-Mobile account.

Just some suggestions...


----------



## parkson (Nov 8, 2013)

Soon to be first time GSM user here. My Nexus 5 isn't due for arrival until end of the month *fingers crossed*. I've been with big red all my life and am skeptical of mixed feedback about tmobiles network.

If I were to give the $30 no-contract deal a try for a month with a galaxy s4 my sister no longer uses, is it a hassle switching to the N5? Or just switch Sim into new phone and go?

 I received the Sim activation pack from T-Mobile today and suppose I need the money refill card(?). I notice on the setup instructions there's a need to input phone imied. Will inputing the GS4 info affect use of the same Sim card in the N5? Thx

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2


----------



## br0adband (Nov 8, 2013)

If you had your Nexus 5 and a T-Mobile microSIM card right now in your hands, you could have service with the $30/month plan in about 15 minutes or less by signing up online (to do the SIM activation and choose that $30/month plan). You would be assigned a new number by T-Mobile during the activation unless you decided to port your current number; that obviously would take longer but in reading people's stories over the years and the fact that T-Mobile is very serious about signing up people en mass, you'd probably have working service in 6 hours or less, sometimes a lot less, with the ported number and that SIM card once activated.

As it is a no contract prepaid in advance plan, you could keep it for a month and then see how it goes, and at the end of the month you're done, no harm, no foul. The number assigned to you (if you don't port) will stay active for roughly 180 days and then be re-assigned to a new customer when it lapses.

The reason the IMEI of the phone involved is needed is to activate the service in the first place - you're not tied to using only that device in the future, no. It's just so that when that device connects to T-Mobile's network with that particular SIM card in it, T-Mobile knows everything is "ok" based on the matched SIM serial number + the IMEI and then the activation is valid. After the SIM is activated, you can remove it when your Nexus 5 arrives, slide it in, power up the Nexus 5 and it'll work without issues at all ready to go.

Pretty simple stuff:

- activate the SIM
- put money into the T-Mobile account (and here's the bonus: those T-Mobile SIM activation kits typically come with some credit already on them, like $2.80 or something, I can't remember exactly how much it is but there is typically at least $2+ on the card already so your first month will only cost you like $26 and change so pay attention to that when you're signing up - you'll be able to see the balance on the T-Mobile account when it's active and BEFORE you put money into it)
- give it a few minutes for the funds to propagate into the account and then you'll get a text message to the phone with that SIM card saying it's "live" and ready to go
- (optional) use that SIM card in any GSM device you want afterward and as long as service is alive


----------



## lopri (Nov 8, 2013)

nooktablet said:


> hello, this is the first time i get a phone, so please excuse me if i'm asking questions that has already been answered, but i really need help.
> - i'm under 18 so i'm going to buy the micro sim card using my relative's credit card.
> - when i get the sim card, what do i do? how do i activate the sim, how will i be able to choose my phone number? do i activate by going to some tmobile activation website or do i just put the sim in the nexus 5 , turn the phone on and it will give me a phone number?
> - i'm under 18 so is there any problem with that when using tmobile service? the tmobile account that's going to be created is going to be my relative's account and contains his credit card infomation.
> ...

Click to collapse



- Usually the SIM will pick up T-Mobile service nearby and you will learn (or be prompted) that you are connected to T-Mobile's service.
- From here you should be able to go to T-Mobile.com using Chrome.  You will be taken to a page where you pick your plan.  Simply choose the plan that you want and make a payment using a credit card or a refill card.  It kind of works like a Hotel Wi-Fi.  
- If you do not see the plan you wanted (e.g. $30 plan sometimes is not visible), call 611.  You can call 611 even if you don't have a plan.  Ask for the $30 plan.  You can pay over the phone or they can send that option to your phone.  You may have to provide your name, phone's IMEI number, etc,.
- I don't think T-Mobile cares about your age. 
- There is no "owner's name"  But You have to give T-Mobile some name and pick a 4-digit password.

---------- Post added at 12:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:50 AM ----------




parkson said:


> I received the Sim activation pack from T-Mobile today and suppose I need the money refill card(?). I notice on the setup instructions there's a need to input phone imied. Will inputing the GS4 info affect use of the same Sim card in the N5? Thx
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Click to collapse



If you pay with a credit card, there is no tax.  (at least there wasn't, for me)  Buying a refill card can cost tax (e.g. retail stores) or can be cheaper (e.g. eBay).


----------



## br0adband (Nov 8, 2013)

adrman said:


> Hangouts still doesn't interface with GV. I'm still using the GV app for sms (no mms).
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Check it:

https://plus.google.com/+AlexWiesen/posts/5ZPhfqXgtYD

Still ain't perfect (the MMS content goes to Gmail as an attachment) but at least it's some progress.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/11/08/google-voice-t-mobile-mms/


----------



## KrazyAttack (Nov 8, 2013)

Do you need to edit/create an APN for this?

Or since it's TMO and through them do you just pop the activated sim in and go?

I'm currently on Net10 AT&T and you've gotta try a bunch of different APN combos and here I am still unable to receive MMS.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 8, 2013)

The SIM card has the APN data, so when you put it into your Nexus 5 you _should_ be good to go after rebooting the device, it _should_ connect to LTE if it's available in your area, if not then it'll fall back to HSPA+ (both of them fall under the fast.t-mobile.com APN). You _shouldn't_ have to edit anything at all.


----------



## jinx626 (Nov 8, 2013)

Is anyone else encountering throttling on LTE on this particular plan?  For the first few MB it download fast but then starts to go towards a crawl to like 2G speeds.  Is there any way around this?


----------



## cpenticuff (Nov 8, 2013)

br0adband said:


> There should NEVER be a tax on the $30 monthly charge - it's a service you're paying for, not a physical product. In just shy of 2 years of using this plan I've never seen it deduct anything but the $30 dead even amount (I refill my plan using a debit credit card directly into my T-Mobile account, I don't use refill cards, I don't do auto-pay either).
> 
> Services can't be taxed; products can. Somewhere someone is ripping you folks off - and yes in Nevada we do have a state sales tax (currently 8.1%) so it's not like they wouldn't charge me something if they could.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



The state sales tax for Nevada is only 6.85%, which isn't especially high compared to many states. The rest of the 8.1% you are referring to is a local tax.

"Sales tax" is a pretty general term and is imposed on the state level, meaning, YOUR state decides what to tax and how to tax it. Here in Kentucky, we are taxed for pretty much everything excluding non-prepared food. There are some tiny quirks as well... if you eat "inside" a restaurant, you are charged a "dine in" tax. If you get your food to go or order through a drive through, there is no dine in tax, but you are charged a "convenience tax" of the exact same amount. Certain types of "prepared" food are tax exempt (cold sandwiches and some salads). I don't pretend to understand how this works, but the items are usually labeled to help avoid confusion.

I live in the southern part of KY, and we often have shoppers from Tennessee purchasing groceries here. Their sales tax is higher, but they also have a food tax that we do not, meaning they save 5% on food items by crossing the border to shop. Of course, they SHOULD be reporting these purchases on their state tax forms, but we all know how that works.

You also have issues with online purchasing. Certain states require sales tax to be collected at the time of purchase, while others assume the purchaser will report the purchase on their state taxes and pay usage tax at that time. Until ~2 years ago, I could shop tax free at Amazon, but now KY requires tax to be collected. The exception here is with some sellers whose orders are fulfilled by amazon.

Don't even try to understand sales tax, it will just make your head hurt.


----------



## mattcoz (Nov 8, 2013)

bob60626 said:


> Not true. I've used it on my TMO S2, my TMO Note 2, and downloaded it to two AT&T Notes; all on the prepaid $30 plan. It didn't work when I had my first T-Mobile phone (Galaxy Exhibit) even though it was on there, but it's worked for about a year now.

Click to collapse



Everywhere I've read says it isn't available, and when I downloaded the app i didn't connect so I figured that was the case.  But I just opened it again and it works.    Well, I'm happy now, heh.


----------



## jaybeeunix (Nov 8, 2013)

*states CAN and DO tax prepaid*



br0adband said:


> Services can't be taxed; products can. Somewhere someone is ripping you folks off - and yes in Nevada we do have a state sales tax (currently 8.1%) so it's not like they wouldn't charge me something if they could.

Click to collapse



Many states tax prepaid phone cards: They might call it something else, but in that case it's a tax in everything but name. For example:

Illinois ("prepaid surcharge"): http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/ilcs/ilcs3.asp?ActID=3375&ChapterID=11

Washington State (many of these T-Mo $30 threads claim WA doesn't charge any tax on prepaid): http://www.wa-food-ind.org/images/E-911_Info_Sheet.pdf

Texas: http://www.window.state.tx.us/taxinfo/911_fees/911_ppd_wireless_faq.html


----------



## github (Nov 8, 2013)

jinx626 said:


> Is anyone else encountering throttling on LTE on this particular plan?  For the first few MB it download fast but then starts to go towards a crawl to like 2G speeds.  Is there any way around this?

Click to collapse



There is a thread about this on HowardForums if I remember. Seems there is some throttling going on according to a few posts over there.

edit: I Think this is the thread: http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1815146-T-mobile-Throttling-Pre-paid-Users

Also, no tax on the $30 for me via autorefill through T-Mobile. I live in FL.


----------



## Lokitez (Nov 8, 2013)

I'll be moving to prepaid in a few months and I'm trying to gather information on the $30 T-Mobile plan versus the $45 AT&T Straight Talk plan.

1. Does anyone have any experience with roaming data on the T-Mobile plan? My current T-Mobile post-paid plan only allows for 50 MB of roaming data, which is virtually worthless. There's no T-Mobile coverage in Western Maryland, where I go about 8 or 9 times a year, so I get piggybacked onto the AT&T network out there.

2. I had no problems turning my Nexus 4 into a mobile hotspot on my current T-Mobile plan, but my Nexus 5 is now being blocked from doing this. Anyone on the $30 plan having any issues here?


----------



## jaybeeunix (Nov 8, 2013)

Lokitez said:


> 2. I had no problems turning my Nexus 4 into a mobile hotspot on my current T-Mobile plan, but my Nexus 5 is now being blocked from doing this. Anyone on the $30 plan having any issues here?

Click to collapse



I had the same problem: No issue with native tethering on my Galaxy Nexus or Nexus 4. I had to change the APN on my Moto X, but couldn't get it to work on my Nexus 5.


----------



## OwenMeany (Nov 8, 2013)

*Please excuse these simple questions*

Please excuse me for asking for clarification on what are likely simple questions.  I have tried to find my answers by extensive reading, taking notes, etc. but have become very confused:crying:.  I have always been on a basic post pay plan, so never have dealt with APN VOIP SIP Google Voice, etc.  I hope someone will not mind answering these simple questions for me.  Any help is appreciated.


I don't understand the difference between VOIP and SIP,  The fact that Google Voice is changing has further complicated this.  If I managed to use less than 100 minutes for incoming calls, is there a simpler solution for me if I only need to place* outgoing calls* over an alternative method (using wifi and cellular service)?


Will the Google Voice changes make alternative ways of making calls obsolete, or are there options that will not be affected?


From reading about the N4 I had assumed I could tether to N5.  Are the problems I'm reading about only when tethering to Tmobile (prepaid), or will I be unable to tether to any carrier without a hotspot plan?


I've read you can tether by rooting your device.  I thought with this phone I wouldn't need to root.  Does rooting invalidate your warranty, etc. as it does with other devices?


If I was on the $30 plan and unable to tether, could I add the mobile data package for 7 days, 1GB for $15 to this plan, or is that only for other plans.


Since I'm on a family plan with an employee discount I am realizing that many of the plans will not save as much as I anticipated.  This plan will be great if I can figure out how to get additional minutes beyond the 100 that are included.  Any help is appreciated.


----------



## someone0 (Nov 8, 2013)

To the OP, what is the point of linking to another thread like assuming people gonna read through 150+ pages?  If you already read through all that, make yourself useful and create the FAQ page instead.  There is very no point on having 2 seperate threads just to talk about t-mobile plan.  Let me make it clear, I'm mot talking about thread with Nexus 5 issue on t-mobile plan here.  This thread and the other are mainly about a T-mobile plan with little to do the Nexus 5.


----------



## mattcoz (Nov 8, 2013)

Lokitez said:


> I'll be moving to prepaid in a few months and I'm trying to gather information on the $30 T-Mobile plan versus the $45 AT&T Straight Talk plan.
> 
> 1. Does anyone have any experience with roaming data on the T-Mobile plan? My current T-Mobile post-paid plan only allows for 50 MB of roaming data, which is virtually worthless. There's no T-Mobile coverage in Western Maryland, where I go about 8 or 9 times a year, so I get piggybacked onto the AT&T network out there.
> 
> 2. I had no problems turning my Nexus 4 into a mobile hotspot on my current T-Mobile plan, but my Nexus 5 is now being blocked from doing this. Anyone on the $30 plan having any issues here?

Click to collapse



1. No roaming on this plan.
2. I get directed to a T-Mobile login page when trying to tether.

---------- Post added at 01:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:17 PM ----------




OwenMeany said:


> I've read you can tether by rooting your device.  I thought with this phone I wouldn't need to root.  Does rooting invalidate your warranty, etc. as it does with other devices?

Click to collapse



Yes, but you can always unroot it if you need warranty services, they'll never know.


----------



## trent25 (Nov 8, 2013)

jaybeeunix said:


> I had the same problem: No issue with native tethering on my Galaxy Nexus or Nexus 4. I had to change the APN on my Moto X, but couldn't get it to work on my Nexus 5.

Click to collapse



Ya what's the deal with that? And now according to the My T-mobile app we are getting 100MB of hotspt data as part of the $30 plan. Why cannot I use them? 
I haven't tried any of the apps that try to bypass tethering blocks, I rarely need to tether, but I was just making sure my N5's hotspot is working without issues and bam I get redirected to my account page, asked to log in, and then nothing happens !!!!


----------



## Gaffadin (Nov 8, 2013)

Lokitez said:


> 2. I had no problems turning my Nexus 4 into a mobile hotspot on my current T-Mobile plan, but my Nexus 5 is now being blocked from doing this. Anyone on the $30 plan having any issues here?

Click to collapse



Apparently there is a fix here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47203432&postcount=70 and it looks like you will need to be rooted in order to do it.


----------



## aohus (Nov 8, 2013)

Thought I'd give my mini first impressions of T-Mobile prepaid network in terms of data only ($30/month 5GB LTE, unlimited data), coming from Verizon Wireless (grandfathered unlimited data).

I am more than happy and satisfied with T-Mobile's LTE/HSPA+ network. Living in the Bay Area, I have had no issues with reception, even inside buildings. Even HSPA+ was amazingly fast for me. 

The only time Verizon won out was when I went out to Napa, and it had a pretty good connection of mostly LTE and some 3G. On T-Mobile, I was getting just HSPA+ where Verizon had LTE, and where Verizon was on 3G, T-Mobile was on edge network. (I brought both phones to Napa; Galaxy Nexus and N5 for some comparison testing)


----------



## namartlu (Nov 8, 2013)

*"My Account" app not working?*

Moved over from N4 to N5, re-install "My Account" app. It launches but can't pull account information. Is server down or some issue with N5 and the app?


----------



## tomciopaluch357 (Nov 8, 2013)

*Thats what i did*



benjdm said:


> This plan isn't available in stores. You have to sign up online. I think.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Click to collapse



I had no problem online


----------



## Lythandra (Nov 8, 2013)

I'm pretty happy. I had a full size sim that I had gotten for my GN about 1.5 years ago. I got it chopped to a micro in a local TMobile store but wasn't sure if it would work for LTE. Actually, I wasn't sure I even had LTE in my area. Imagine my pleasant surprise when the phone booted up to a nice LTE signal at my house. It blazing fast compared to my old HSPA GN which I didn't think was slow. Faster is better tho.


----------



## quadomatic (Nov 9, 2013)

What kinds of speeds are you all pulling on this? I'm testing this while I still have AT&T service, and while I pull 30 Mbps+ on AT&T LTE, I'm only getting about 1 or 2 Mbps on T-Mobile LTE.


----------



## Ajfink (Nov 9, 2013)

quadomatic said:


> What kinds of speeds are you all pulling on this? I'm testing this while I still have AT&T service, and while I pull 30 Mbps+ on AT&T LTE, I'm only getting about 1 or 2 Mbps on T-Mobile LTE.

Click to collapse



How strong of a T-Mobile signal are you getting, and where do you live?

I get upper-20sMbps on T-Mobile frequently.  T-Mobile doesn't throttle based on plan, to the best of my knowledge, until you hit your 4G data limit.

Sent from my Nexus 5


----------



## quadomatic (Nov 9, 2013)

Ajfink said:


> How strong of a T-Mobile signal are you getting, and where do you live?
> 
> I get upper-20sMbps on T-Mobile frequently.  T-Mobile doesn't throttle based on plan, to the best of my knowledge, until you hit your 4G data limit.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5

Click to collapse



Sorry, I meant to edit that to 8 Mbps down. I'm in Manhattan. It seems to be varying really heavily though (first time was 1 or 2 Mbps down, then 8 Mbps down, then 3.6 Mbps down).


----------



## lopri (Nov 9, 2013)

jinx626 said:


> Is anyone else encountering throttling on LTE on this particular plan?  For the first few MB it download fast but then starts to go towards a crawl to like 2G speeds.  Is there any way around this?

Click to collapse



No throttle on LTE, but I've been getting EDGE speed on HSPA+.  (~1.0 Mbps)  It depends on coverage areas.


----------



## Ajfink (Nov 9, 2013)

quadomatic said:


> Sorry, I meant to edit that to 8 Mbps down. I'm in Manhattan. It seems to be varying really heavily though (first time was 1 or 2 Mbps down, then 8 Mbps down, then 3.6 Mbps down).

Click to collapse



Interesting...last time I was there I got between 15-27Mbps.  Maybe the load has picked up a lot on their LTE or you're in bad spots.

Hopefully the MetroPCS spectrum helps out with that sooner or later.

Sent from my Nexus 5


----------



## quadomatic (Nov 9, 2013)

Ajfink said:


> Interesting...last time I was there I got between 15-27Mbps.  Maybe the load has picked up a lot on their LTE or you're in bad spots.
> 
> Hopefully the MetroPCS spectrum helps out with that sooner or later.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5

Click to collapse



It probably depends on where in Manhattan. I'm on the upper east side/east harlem, but I think I typically get better speeds here than elsewhere.


----------



## adrman (Nov 9, 2013)

quadomatic said:


> Sorry, I meant to edit that to 8 Mbps down. I'm in Manhattan. It seems to be varying really heavily though (first time was 1 or 2 Mbps down, then 8 Mbps down, then 3.6 Mbps down).

Click to collapse



Manhattan varies quite a bit. I was getting 13mbps at around 7am and about 4 or 5 at 2 in the afternoon. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Ajfink (Nov 9, 2013)

adrman said:


> Manhattan varies quite a bit. I was getting 13mbps at around 7am and about 4 or 5 at 2 in the afternoon.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Sounds like load.

Sent from my Nexus 5


----------



## quadomatic (Nov 9, 2013)

adrman said:


> Manhattan varies quite a bit. I was getting 13mbps at around 7am and about 4 or 5 at 2 in the afternoon.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I'm sure load makes a difference, but I popped my AT&T sim back in, and I'm getting 26 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up. That gain is pretty substantial.

Damn, I'm not sure if I'm willing to switch to T-Mobile and drop down to those speeds. Didn't T-Mobile supposedly just increase they're LTE capacity in like 40 major markets?


----------



## adrman (Nov 9, 2013)

Ajfink said:


> Sounds like load.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5

Click to collapse



Yup. Too many phone zombies walking about. ?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## lopri (Nov 9, 2013)

It's not that T-Mobile got worse, but rather AT&T has improved this year.  By A LOT.  In NY/NJ area I used to get 2~3 Mbps on AT&T and 5~7 Mbps on T-Mobile until early this year (HSPA+).  Sometime during the summer AT&T's speed improved and now I get 5~10 Mbps HSPA+ and 20~30 MBps LTE.  T-Mobile, on its part, now services LTE.  So where I get LTE, it's usually anywhere between 5~20 Mbps.  But its LTE coverage is sparse, esp. once you go to suburbs.  Usually T-Mobile LTE is strong around major highways and busy commercial areas.  But not in residential areas.


----------



## wafermagnet (Nov 9, 2013)

People in this thread are saying they want 5 gb LTE on this plan. I though the T mobile 30 dollar plan didn't give you LTE?


----------



## paperWastage (Nov 9, 2013)

wafermagnet said:


> People in this thread are saying they want 5 gb LTE on this plan. I though the T mobile 30 dollar plan didn't give you LTE?

Click to collapse



it does


----------



## TiltedAz (Nov 9, 2013)

wafermagnet said:


> People in this thread are saying they want 5 gb LTE on this plan. I though the T mobile 30 dollar plan didn't give you LTE?

Click to collapse



It's 4G capable, you get LTE or HSPA+ whichever flavor tower is there.


----------



## newtooroot (Nov 9, 2013)

*link to $30. plan?*

Link to $30. plan? Looking at their site haven't found it so far.


----------



## paperWastage (Nov 9, 2013)

newtooroot said:


> Link to $30. plan? Looking at their site haven't found it so far.

Click to collapse



http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans

control-f



> $30 per month—Unlimited web and text with 100 minutes talk
> 
> 100 minutes talk | Unlimited text | First 5 GB at up to 4G speeds
> 
> ...

Click to collapse


----------



## newtooroot (Nov 9, 2013)

*been trying for over an hour online*

I get to the final pay screen and it tells me (ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM?)
Theres no calendar to select from...........

Billing information
There is a problem with some of the information you entered. 
No auto pay calendar date selected
 The following field is required:  
Auto pay amount

EDIT
(i think u might have to pay with a refill card, the only way maybe)


----------



## d1pham (Nov 9, 2013)

newtooroot said:


> I get to the final pay screen and it tells me (ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM?)
> Theres no calendar to select from...........
> 
> Billing information
> ...

Click to collapse



Refresh you page, tab through each field and click on the amount you want to add to your account.  Keep trying it will eventually go through. 


Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## quadomatic (Nov 9, 2013)

Somewhat off-topic, but for those of you who use VoIP with a ported GV number, is there additional latency added by GV (relative to calls made directly through your VoIP provider)?


----------



## unknown1205 (Nov 9, 2013)

newtooroot said:


> I get to the final pay screen and it tells me (ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM?)
> Theres no calendar to select from...........
> 
> Billing information
> ...

Click to collapse




got the exact same problem and posted in several pages back.  i opened up a new tab and signed up for an account at my.t-mobile.com and then when your account is created, it brings u to the billings page where you can add a credit card and fund your account and set up autopay.

---------- Post added at 12:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:42 AM ----------




namartlu said:


> Moved over from N4 to N5, re-install "My Account" app. It launches but can't pull account information. Is server down or some issue with N5 and the app?

Click to collapse



got this problem with the app as well.  anyone else??


----------



## newtooroot (Nov 9, 2013)

*next problem*

received my free microsim last week. 
get this message. pain in the buttttt.
Oops—this isn’t a valid Activation Code. Please try again.
The Activation Code should be 11 digits long. You can find it on your Activation Card


----------



## mtpktz (Nov 9, 2013)

My understanding is that the 100min, Unlimited Text, 5GB of 4GLTE $30 prepaid is offered by Family Mobile, a subsidiary of T-Mobile.

I believe Family Mobile only uses ~75-85% of the towers that postpaid and corporate purchased prepaid ($30 for 1500talk/text) use.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 9, 2013)

mtpktz said:


> My understanding is that the 100min, Unlimited Text, 5GB of 4GLTE $30 prepaid is offered by Family Mobile, a subsidiary of T-Mobile.
> 
> I believe Family Mobile only uses ~75-85% of the towers that postpaid and corporate purchased prepaid ($30 for 1500talk/text) use.

Click to collapse



'My understanding' and 'I believe' do not serve as proof for me and I've never heard of this. The only limitation I"ve seen repeatedly mentioned is roaming on pre versus postpaid.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## Morphling27 (Nov 9, 2013)

quadomatic said:


> Somewhat off-topic, but for those of you who use VoIP with a ported GV number, is there additional latency added by GV (relative to calls made directly through your VoIP provider)?

Click to collapse



That depends on many things including the app you're using and your connection and such.  Back when I bothered having GV set up through voip for myself and a friend, it wasn't terrible.  LTE will obviously be better than UMTS because of latency and all, but too many factors.  Many people find that it's acceptable on the $30 a month Tmobile plan, even before LTE.

Just remember, EDGE and 1xRTT networks have pretty high latency compared to now and they were fine with voice calls, no?


----------



## skinien (Nov 9, 2013)

Is anyone having problems getting HSPA only?  I'm in San Diego and specifically in an "excellent LTE coverage area".  I can't seem to get LTE. I have LTE selected in the network settings.


----------



## mtpktz (Nov 9, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> 'My understanding' and 'I believe' do not serve as proof for me and I've never heard of this. The only limitation I"ve seen repeatedly mentioned is roaming on pre versus postpaid.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I should have clarified; the information came from an upper level management within corporate T-Mobile.

There's a reason for the large discrepancy between the $30 prepaid plan offered by corporate T-Mobile stores (1500talk/text with 30MB) vs the 100min/unl text/5gb 4G data that is not offered in corporate T-Mobile stores.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 9, 2013)

mtpktz said:


> I should have clarified; the information came from an upper level management within corporate T-Mobile.
> 
> There's a reason for the large discrepancy between the $30 prepaid plan offered by corporate T-Mobile stores (1500talk/text with 30MB) vs the 100min/unl text/5gb 4G data that is not offered in corporate T-Mobile stores.

Click to collapse



I've been on the $30/month plan (the popular one) for just a few weeks shy of 2 years now, never heard anything even remotely similar to what you're saying. It's not offered in stores because 2+ years ago when they created that plan they didn't actually want people to even know about it - it's a pretty ironic thing: create the best prepaid plan on the market for the cost (arguably, but that's my opinion) and then basically hide it from view. I still don't know _why_ T-Mobile has this plan but after ~2 years of using it I'm damned glad they do.

The question now is: how much longer will this plan remain in effect and if they do decide to toss it for something else, will they allow those of us already on it (especially people like myself that have used it almost since inception) to continue with the pricing and service or drop us and make us sign up again under some other more costly plan with less capabilities.

It's a very weird thing, honestly.


----------



## jamjr74 (Nov 9, 2013)

*whats my best bet?*

Im on Verizon and opened a tmobile $30 prepaid from tmobile to ry the nexus 5.  I am going to switch to tmobile but am unsure if the $30 plan will cut it as I use about 400 minutes a month.  I was planning on using groove ip with my google voice number or hangouts once it's available for calls.  The catch is I wanna keep my number from verizon.  I was thinking of porting to google voice to use the groove ip but am I better off just porting to tmobile?  Any work arounds or suggestions would help greatly. Thanks


----------



## SteveG12543 (Nov 9, 2013)

Well, got my sim kit on Monday. Just gotta receive the phone and I'll be on this plan. Such a great deal, I'll be saving about $50/month switching from vzw to this 

Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA Premium.


----------



## doubleatheman (Nov 9, 2013)

I reactivated my old tmo Sim with the $30 plan. (That was a pain to get that plan provisioned on that old prepaied Sim, but customer service finally did it for me.) 

Disappointingly LTE on my $30 Sim and plan is behaving poorly. LTE will max out at 30mbps but the. Scale back to 4mbps or less. YouTube videos will buffer many times. I have a feeling I'm getting the same issue as others reporting that to is throttling prepared, but each person this happens to, it only lasts a few days.   

My main sim is Solavei but that is HSPA only. It is throttled to 15mbps, but its always right at 15mbps and consistent. 

I want to play around with LTE and have fun, but I just get this annoying throttle issue. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## newtooroot (Nov 9, 2013)

*wifi*

theres an article on cnn that says wifi calling won't work on the nexus 5.
has anyone tried?
wondering if it still works using programs such as groove ip
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57611578-94/t-mobiles-nexus-5-wont-support-wi-fi-calling/


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 9, 2013)

I don't have my sim yet and have been using talkatone and it works fine, I can even receive calls made to my Google voice number, using the home wifi. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## whatsitsnamenow (Nov 9, 2013)

jamjr74 said:


> Im on Verizon and opened a tmobile $30 prepaid from tmobile to ry the nexus 5.  I am going to switch to tmobile but am unsure if the $30 plan will cut it as I use about 400 minutes a month.  I was planning on using groove ip with my google voice number or hangouts once it's available for calls.  The catch is I wanna keep my number from verizon.  I was thinking of porting to google voice to use the groove ip but am I better off just porting to tmobile?  Any work arounds or suggestions would help greatly. Thanks

Click to collapse



Try the service but don't port the number to T-Mobile yet. If you do port port to Google voice first, then when you are satisfied with service, you can port to T-Mobile.  
The 100 minutes plan is only good if you don't plan to talk a lot. Voip doesn't work that well on T-Mobile when your mobile (ie driving). It is not reliable enough. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 9, 2013)

doubleatheman said:


> I reactivated my old tmo Sim with the $30 plan. (That was a pain to get that plan provisioned on that old prepaied Sim, but customer service finally did it for me.)
> 
> Disappointingly LTE on my $30 Sim and plan is behaving poorly. LTE will max out at 30mbps but the. Scale back to 4mbps or less. YouTube videos will buffer many times. I have a feeling I'm getting the same issue as others reporting that to is throttling prepared, but each person this happens to, it only lasts a few days.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



FWIW, I'm getting anemic LTE results too...3-6mbps down, 3-11 mbps up, BUT!!!...I reinsert my SIM back into my N4 running exact same APN but with a hybrid radio (one of morislee's earliest .33/.54) and I'm right back to low 20's up and down. I think it's a radio issue, presently...

---------- Post added at 02:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:33 PM ----------




whatsitsnamenow said:


> Voip doesn't work that well on T-Mobile when your mobile (ie driving). It is not reliable enough.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2

Click to collapse



Skype works fine...interested in seeing Hangouts.


----------



## 2.0t03speed (Nov 9, 2013)

SteveG12543 said:


> Well, got my sim kit on Monday. Just gotta receive the phone and I'll be on this plan. Such a great deal, I'll be saving about $50/month switching from vzw to this
> 
> Sent from my ADR6425LVW using XDA Premium.

Click to collapse



Nice i saved $58 per month by switching 



doubleatheman said:


> I reactivated my old tmo Sim with the $30 plan. (That was a pain to get that plan provisioned on that old prepaied Sim, but customer service finally did it for me.)
> 
> Disappointingly LTE on my $30 Sim and plan is behaving poorly. LTE will max out at 30mbps but the. Scale back to 4mbps or less. YouTube videos will buffer many times. I have a feeling I'm getting the same issue as others reporting that to is throttling prepared, but each person this happens to, it only lasts a few days.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Thats odd i just went and tried to test out my LTE to see if i get any issues with throttling. i was able to stream an hd youtube video of the nexus 5 vs iphone 5s (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_CDkERRNEw&feature=c4-overview&list=UUR0AnNR7sViH3TWMJl5jyxw)  and then i did a speed test to see what my actual LTE speeds were and they were 10-13mbps. This is all with only 2 bars of LTE. Hope your issue gets worked out.

---------- Post added at 06:13 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:09 PM ----------




newtooroot said:


> theres an article on cnn that says wifi calling won't work on the nexus 5.
> has anyone tried?
> wondering if it still works using programs such as groove ip
> http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57611578-94/t-mobiles-nexus-5-wont-support-wi-fi-calling/

Click to collapse



i use the sip internet calling in the native android dialer for google voice and it works just fine. Been using it since i got my n5 on monday so i now have unlim minuets.


----------



## doubleatheman (Nov 9, 2013)

2.0t03speed said:


> Nice i saved $58 per month by switching
> 
> 
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



When I pull that 30mbps initial burst, its in an area where I only get 2 bars LTE. I know it has the potential to go super fast. I'm not too cebcerned because its not my main Sim. I don't think its radio or phone specific. It's plan and Sim related. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## 2.0t03speed (Nov 10, 2013)

doubleatheman said:


> When I pull that 30mbps initial burst, its in an area where I only get 2 bars LTE. I know it has the potential to go super fast. I'm not too cebcerned because its not my main Sim. I don't think its radio or phone specific. It's plan and Sim related.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



yea it could be your reprovisioned sim. i got a brand new sim from tmobile for my n5


----------



## Lockeskidney (Nov 10, 2013)

got the phone (yay LTE finally) and i went a little nuts with the speed tests. 

they throttled me last night. pretty much instantly. I dont get how some people report going on 5gbs and nothing happens. I've done it twice and its been instant


----------



## quadomatic (Nov 10, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> FWIW, I'm getting anemic LTE results too...3-6mbps down, 3-11 mbps up, BUT!!!...I reinsert my SIM back into my N4 running exact same APN but with a hybrid radio (one of morislee's earliest .33/.54) and I'm right back to low 20's up and down. I think it's a radio issue, presently...
> 
> ---------- Post added at 02:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:33 PM ----------
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Have you tried flashing a different radio to your Nexus 5?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 10, 2013)

quadomatic said:


> Have you tried flashing a different radio to your Nexus 5?

Click to collapse



Not yet...a recent update radio has a later date but an earlier revision number so I thought I'd let someone else play guinea pig...keeping my eyes peeled though.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## ohmimpotence (Nov 10, 2013)

mtpktz said:


> I should have clarified; the information came from an upper level management within corporate T-Mobile.
> 
> There's a reason for the large discrepancy between the $30 prepaid plan offered by corporate T-Mobile stores (1500talk/text with 30MB) vs the 100min/unl text/5gb 4G data that is not offered in corporate T-Mobile stores.

Click to collapse



Family Mobile, this sounds like the company they forward me to when I was trying to order this service over the phone. 1877-7608760 myfamilymobile after I just googled it.  This makes sense now though they made it seem like they had nothing to do with TMobile and ended up just wondering why I was calling them.


----------



## spitswap (Nov 10, 2013)

mtpktz said:


> I should have clarified; the information came from an upper level management within corporate T-Mobile.
> 
> There's a reason for the large discrepancy between the $30 prepaid plan offered by corporate T-Mobile stores (1500talk/text with 30MB) vs the 100min/unl text/5gb 4G data that is not offered in corporate T-Mobile stores.

Click to collapse




maybe the guy is retarded?

Roaming.  That makes sense.  It costs them money.  Only using 75% of what is yours doesn't


and like was already posted, it isn't available in T-Mobile stores.


----------



## RacerX780 (Nov 10, 2013)

I ordered a free sim card from the website, but I ended up buying it instore. 

So I have a sim starter kit that I have no use for.

If anyone would like it, I'd be happy to mail it out to you on monday morning.

Just let me know - email would be best but I'll try and keep an eye on the thread here too.


[email protected]  (slightly diff. then my forum name)


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 10, 2013)

RacerX780 said:


> I ordered a free sim card from the website, but I ended up buying it instore.
> 
> So I have a sim starter kit that I have no use for.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I'll take it...apparently need to troubleshoot my LTE issue and see if it's a IMEI issue...PM'd


----------



## RacerX780 (Nov 10, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> I'll take it...apparently need to troubleshoot my LTE issue and see if it's a IMEI issue...PM'd

Click to collapse




Alright..


----------



## doubleatheman (Nov 10, 2013)

So I just loaded up my old Nexus 4 and flashed the hybrid .84 radio to it, The same throttling issue is going on. 

It starts around 22mbps then trails off to 6mbps download.

My Nexus 5 Starts around 30mbps then trails off to 5-7mbps download. 

Just weird things going on with my $30 5gb sim/plan.


----------



## jamjr74 (Nov 10, 2013)

whatsitsnamenow said:


> Try the service but don't port the number to T-Mobile yet. If you do port port to Google voice first, then when you are satisfied with service, you can port to T-Mobile.
> The 100 minutes plan is only good if you don't plan to talk a lot. Voip doesn't work that well on T-Mobile when your mobile (ie driving). It is not reliable enough.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2

Click to collapse




  So I can port my number out of google to tmobile?


----------



## whatsitsnamenow (Nov 10, 2013)

jamjr74 said:


> So I can port my number out of google to tmobile?

Click to collapse



Correct. It cost you $20 to port to Google Voice, but nothing to port out.


----------



## jamjr74 (Nov 10, 2013)

whatsitsnamenow said:


> Correct. It cost you $20 to port to Google Voice, but nothing to port out.

Click to collapse



OK cool. Thanks

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## quadomatic (Nov 10, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> I'll take it...apparently need to troubleshoot my LTE issue and see if it's a IMEI issue...PM'd

Click to collapse



Why not just call T-Mobile and have them update the IMEI number being used for that SIM card?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 10, 2013)

quadomatic said:


> Why not just call T-Mobile and have them update the IMEI number being used for that SIM card?

Click to collapse



I'll need a new SIM for the N4, a hand-me-down to the wife. I'll activate it on my N5 first, test, and plug it (or my 'slow' SIM) into the N4. She'll never know the speed difference anyway.


----------



## P.Mobile (Nov 10, 2013)

wish text messages were included


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 10, 2013)

P.Mobile said:


> wish text messages were included

Click to collapse



Huh? Unlimited.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 10, 2013)

P.Mobile said:


> wish text messages were included

Click to collapse



The $30/month plan we're discussing - for the bazillionth time - has:

- 100 minutes of actual talk time for making phone calls, if you need more they are $.10 (ten cents) a minute and you'll need funds in the account to cover them if you go past the given 100

- 5GB of data accessible at up to 4G/LTE speeds (basically the max your phone is capable of given you connect to their network using that mode of operation) - once you hit the 5GB "cap" it will throttle the speed down to 2G/EDGE speeds which are typically 50 to 250 Kilobits per second which works out to 8 to maybe 30 Kilobytes per second (takes a while to do a solid megabyte, basically) but the data connection is never killed or disconnected hence "unlimited" at least from the standpoint of having the data connection; yes it's slow but it does work and depending on your area even VoIP and audio streaming is easily doable over 2G/EDGE

- and of course what you're wondering about: _*unlimited texts*_ - there is no limitation on the number of texts you're allowed to send, either SMS or MMS (no limits that I'm aware of, that is) - MMS messages _may_ reflect on the data connection which is probably the case, I can't say with absolute certainty that MMS messages are truly unlimited as well but probably are

This has been covered dozens upon dozens of times in multiple threads for years now.


----------



## george241312 (Nov 10, 2013)

Tmobile is now shipping free Sim card starter kits ... Why are you guys still paying for Sim cards ?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 10, 2013)

george241312 said:


> Tmobile is now shipping free Sim card starter kits ... Why are you guys still paying for Sim cards ?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Click to collapse



Deal ended...$10 now. Free Deal usually returns every few months.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 10, 2013)

george241312 said:


> Tmobile is now shipping free Sim card starter kits ... Why are you guys still paying for Sim cards ?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Click to collapse



They WERE free for a week or two but that ended last week, now they're back to the standard cost of $10 per, for any prepaid SIM activation kit, from the T-Mobile website.

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/...ro-SIM-Card-Activation-Kit-No-Annual-Contract

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/T-Mobile-Nano-SIM-Card-Prepaid

and so on.


----------



## howardroark (Nov 10, 2013)

br0adband, can you call 800 numbers with your VOIP setup? Mine hangs up immediately when the automated prompt starts.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## br0adband (Nov 10, 2013)

Honestly I can't say that I ever did since I don't have a phone at the present time. I don't recall ever dialing an 800 or any other toll free exchange so, maybe someone else can offer their experience if they've done so using GV + whatever VoIP/SIP client they work with.


----------



## adrman (Nov 10, 2013)

howardroark said:


> br0adband, can you call 800 numbers with your VOIP setup? Mine hangs up immediately when the automated prompt starts.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I've had issues both on my mobile trunk and home trunk on voip.ms with certain toll free numbers not connecting. Very few of them behave this way though.  However,  the call just won't connect. Nothing freezes up. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## HaveSomeVodka (Nov 10, 2013)

Has anyone else have trouble ordering a SIM from T-Mobile? I had to try and order 7 times and every time the website said it was unable to process my order. I finally spoke to a rep and they said they had to verify my identity, but after that, I was able to refresh the page and my order had already been completed.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 10, 2013)

When T-Mobile makes those SIM cards free of charge (and free shipping too), it generally tends to overwhelm their ordering system more often than not especially after a few days as the word spreads fast (HowardForums is usually the first notice, then SlickDeals, and so on). They get literally hammered for orders for the whole time they're available so, if you get one, fantastic, if you don't it's just $10 and over time you'll end up recouping that measly sum pretty quickly by the savings compared to other providers (since we're speaking about the $30/monthly plan in this thread).


----------



## howardroark (Nov 10, 2013)

adrman said:


> I've had issues both on my mobile trunk and home trunk on voip.ms with certain toll free numbers not connecting. Very few of them behave this way though.  However,  the call just won't connect. Nothing freezes up.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Sorry, I didn't mean freeze up. I meant that the call seems to connect, but then drops the call when the automated system of the company takes over. It's not just 800 numbers. For example, I called my local Target which has a local number and an automated system. That dropped my call right when the automated system was about to kick in. I then tried my company's meeting place 866 number, which did the same thing.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## adrman (Nov 10, 2013)

howardroark said:


> Sorry, I didn't mean freeze up. I meant that the call seems to connect, but then drops the call when the automated system of the company takes over. It's not just 800 numbers. For example, I called my local Target which has a local number and an automated system. That dropped my call right when the automated system was about to kick in. I then tried my company's meeting place 866 number, which did the same thing.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Who it's your voip provider? It sounds like an issue on their end. 

On a semi related note, I had time this afternoon to install csipsimple and test it with both voip.ms and flowroute. I'm getting much better call quality than I did with the same combinations on my Galaxy Nexus. I'm hoping this just isn't a one day anomaly and will continue to test. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## nrvate (Nov 11, 2013)

Strange, I can't say I've experienced that sort of issue with voip.ms or any SIP provider.  Might be worth trying the SIP call on a PC and/or over WiFi to see if the problem can be isolated to the network and/or device in use.  If it is consistent, it's likely a provider issuer.

So we had a fairly large music festival this weekend which flooded downtown with folks Saturday night, I was sad to find that T-mobile's network was totally incapable of dealing with the traffic.  I understand it's difficult to provide cellular service in these environments, but I brought both an AT&T HSPA+ phone and LTE tablet with me for comparison and neither were without service.  N5 on T-mobile was useless, ended up tethering the N5 to the AT&T LTE tablet. AT&T HSPA and LTE were slow, but usable.  I can handle slow in these environments, but not totally offline.


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 11, 2013)

HaveSomeVodka said:


> Has anyone else have trouble ordering a SIM from T-Mobile? I had to try and order 7 times and every time the website said it was unable to process my order. I finally spoke to a rep and they said they had to verify my identity, but after that, I was able to refresh the page and my order had already been completed.

Click to collapse



i ordered it for $10 plus tax and it's arriving on thursday
there was no problem ordering it the first time


----------



## Alttwo (Nov 11, 2013)

They seem to be free again. Can anyone confirm

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4


----------



## br0adband (Nov 11, 2013)

Alttwo said:


> They seem to be free again. Can anyone confirm
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4

Click to collapse



Links are in the post I made here so it's not like you can't check for yourself.

And no, they're listed as $10 at the present time (as of this post).


----------



## Alttwo (Nov 11, 2013)

$10 w/ promo code NOVSIM = Free. Shipping is free. So use code NOVSIM to get a free sim

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4


----------



## FuMMoD (Nov 11, 2013)

Alttwo said:


> $10 w/ promo code NOVSIM = Free. Shipping is free. So use code NOVSIM to get a free sim
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4

Click to collapse



I'm getting this

SORRY, WE DON’T RECOGNIZE THE PROMOTION CODE YOU ENTERED. PLEASE REENTER YOUR PROMOTION CODE AND CLICK THE APPLY BUTTON AGAIN.

Edit: Worked on the second time. Looks like too many people are ordering at once.


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 11, 2013)

Alttwo said:


> $10 w/ promo code NOVSIM = Free. Shipping is free. So use code NOVSIM to get a free sim
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4

Click to collapse



Wish I knew this before
"Lost" $10


----------



## mb3030 (Nov 11, 2013)

gotta just chime in here and say i went to this plan last year with the nexus 4 (coming from vzw) and i found the service (nyc/long island) to be basically on par with vzw and now with LTE it blows away what i was getting with vzw.  Supposedly vzw has been activating more towers to handle load in nyc/long island so i cant attest for it still being worse, but comparing to the note 2 from oct of 2012 the lte on the n5 and tmobile is killing it.


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 11, 2013)

Can any one live in the bay area comment on the  reception please?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 11, 2013)

nooktablet said:


> Can any one live in the bay area comment on the  reception please?

Click to collapse



Entire bay area is well covered. TMO frequency is well known to be building- weak...that annoying guy will be chatting away in the elevator on ATT while you have no connection at all. FiDi can be spotty as well as a few spots along waterfront and wharf and marina, but often another block away yields 4 bars.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Somcom3X (Nov 11, 2013)

Alttwo said:


> $10 w/ promo code NOVSIM = Free. Shipping is free. So use code NOVSIM to get a free sim
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk 4

Click to collapse



worked fine for me

Sent from my SGH-T769 using Tapatalk


----------



## Letitride (Nov 11, 2013)

Using the latest promo code "NOVSIM" to order 2 free prepaid micro-sim for the N5 - regular price of $10 reduced to zero or free ... GREAT

But, during final checkout - getting an error message, that the payment processor can't be reached or down, call them or try again later - which I will do. 

We have 2 lines being port over to T-Mo soon (2 weeks until we're free & clear of contracts) and not sure if I would put both lines on the $30 plan as spouse would be fine with 100 minutes but I need more than that & might be better off going with the postpaid Family 2 lines plan, either $80 but looking like the $90 plan - not unlimited or 5GB, but 2.5 GB for L1 and 500MB for L2 should suffice, and we can roam international as we do travel - without going with a local sim abroad everytime.   Rather not go with MNVO like Straight Talk or Simple Mobile / Walmart Family Mobile as their shared offerings aren't saving much or really better - or, am I missing something else hidden in plain sight.  

At this moment, I'm on a field project in eastern CT and T-Mo only has HSPA signal no LTE here, but it's solid @ -90 dBm indoor at a conference facility.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 11, 2013)

Letitride said:


> Using the latest promo code "NOVSIM" to order 2 free prepaid micro-sim for the N5 - regular price of $10 reduced to zero or free ... GREAT
> 
> But, during final checkout - getting an error message, that the payment processor can't be reached or down, call them or try again later - which I will do.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I'd chose this plan for the wife ($0.10 overage minutes) and go with $70/mo Unlimited Everything on yours=approx. $100/mo  tailored to your needs. Cheers.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## crzycrkr (Nov 11, 2013)

mb3030 said:


> gotta just chime in here and say i went to this plan last year with the nexus 4 (coming from vzw) and i found the service (nyc/long island) to be basically on par with vzw and now with LTE it blows away what i was getting with vzw.  Supposedly vzw has been activating more towers to handle load in nyc/long island so i cant attest for it still being worse, but comparing to the note 2 from oct of 2012 the lte on the n5 and tmobile is killing it.

Click to collapse



Where on long island are you?  What kinds of speeds and coverage are you getting?

Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 4


----------



## mb3030 (Nov 11, 2013)

crzycrkr said:


> Where on long island are you?  What kinds of speeds and coverage are you getting?
> 
> Sent from my SPH-L900 using Tapatalk 4

Click to collapse



Im around the Smithtown area and I travel to work around garden city. I also work in flushing and travel to lynbrook and seaford a lot. I have LTE everywhere and voice service has been fine. Speeds I'm seeing lowest 7 down 5 up with good ping. Fastest I've seen is 50/17 and averaging in the 20s


----------



## TiltedAz (Nov 11, 2013)

I was hoping to use an automatic withdrawal to refill account but Tmobile charges sales tax. I guess the best I can do is buy the no tax $100 refill cards?


----------



## cstcyr (Nov 12, 2013)

Got this plan setup tonight with no problems. Remember kids you need to order the SIM activation kit from T-Mobile. I got excited and got a SIM from my local store thinking I could activate it and was sorely mistaken. Also you can buy T-Mobile refills with bitcoin Weee. Funding my phone for almost a year with 1 BTC.


----------



## unknown1205 (Nov 12, 2013)

nooktablet said:


> Can any one live in the bay area comment on the  reception please?

Click to collapse



while driving on king st. along the embaradero i get HSPA+ but still get decent speeds.  theres a minor data dead spot crossing thru park presidio from lincoln way and 19th.  but comes back on a minute later.  same while crossing san mateo bridge, a minor dead spot but comes back on a minute later.  every else is good but i've only been on this plan for a week.


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 12, 2013)

Just tried to activate wal-mart sim and it claims it to have a bad sim number 

just got the free sim off of t mobiles site, we'll see how that goes


----------



## Gaffadin (Nov 12, 2013)

Received my N5, unlocked bootloader, flashed recovery, rooted (easy as hell).

Activated on $30 T-Mobile prepaid. Data seems be fluctuating between 3G and HSPA (little "H" next to the bars). Sometimes shows the H, sometimes shows 3G. Speeds seem fairly consistent at ~6Mbit down, which I'm happy with.

Coming from a Virgin Mobile Motorola Triumph (Android 2.3 Gingerbread) it's like cavemen finding the Monolith in 2001.


----------



## Zainiak (Nov 12, 2013)

Gaffadin said:


> Received my N5, unlocked bootloader, flashed recovery (easy as hell).
> 
> Activated on $30 T-Mobile prepaid. Data seems be fluctuating between 3G and HSPA (little "H" next to the bars). Sometimes shows the H, sometimes shows 3G. Speeds seem fairly consistent at ~6Mbit down, which I'm happy with.
> 
> Coming from a Virgin Mobile Motorola Triumph (Android 2.3 Gingerbread) it's like cavemen finding the Monolith in 2001.

Click to collapse



Your phone stays on 3g, when you use data it will jump to h/h+

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Gaffadin (Nov 12, 2013)

Zainiak said:


> Your phone stays on 3g, when you use data it will jump to h/h+
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Thanks for that; you can tell I'm a newb.


----------



## adrman (Nov 12, 2013)

TiltedAz said:


> I was hoping to use an automatic withdrawal to refill account but Tmobile charges sales tax. I guess the best I can do is buy the no tax $100 refill cards?

Click to collapse



Keep checking refillmobi.com. They still discount T-Mobile refills. Unfortunately, they're out of stock at the moment. To pay full pop, but no tax, callingmart.com is great. I'm due for a refill in the next few weeks and if the former is still out of stock, I'll just buy a $30 refill from the latter. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## TiltedAz (Nov 12, 2013)

adrman said:


> Keep checking refillmobi.com. They still discount T-Mobile refills. Unfortunately, they're out of stock at the moment. To pay full pop, but no tax, callingmart.com is great. I'm due for a refill in the next few weeks and if the former is still out of stock, I'll just buy a $30 refill from the latter.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I check refillmobi regularly but they're always "sold out." Gotta wonder if they have small quantity and sell out quickly.


----------



## adrman (Nov 12, 2013)

TiltedAz said:


> I check refillmobi regularly but they're always "sold out." Gotta wonder if they have small quantity and sell out quickly.

Click to collapse



The problem is T-Mobile has cut down on their discounting. Callingmart used to discount as well. Several months ago, they sent out an email stating they could no longer offer discounts. And yes, you're correct, refillmobi does sell out quickly. Usually though, someone, myself included, will post on one of the threads here when stock is available.


----------



## dazz87 (Nov 12, 2013)

Anyone in the LA area (Monterey Park) using tmobile on their nexus 5?  Just wondering how the coverage is around the area?  I am currently on AT&t GoPhone and coverage is horrible where I live.  I check online on tmobile site and it shows "excellent" coverage for my area.  It said the same thing when I checked AT&t and its horrible.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 12, 2013)

dazz87 said:


> Anyone in the LA area (Monterey Park) using tmobile on their nexus 5?  Just wondering how the coverage is around the area?  I am currently on AT&t GoPhone and coverage is horrible where I live.  I check online on tmobile site and it shows "excellent" coverage for my area.  It said the same thing when I checked AT&t and its horrible.

Click to collapse



You can also consult the app Sensorly. Cheers!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## BirchBarlow (Nov 12, 2013)

T-Mobile is definitely more economical than AT&T.  Not only does AT&T overcharge you for data, but you also have to pay way extra for text messaging or you get charged 20 cent for every outgoing AND incoming text message.  The only advantage I can see to AT&T is the 4G network is more robust, but I'm sure T-Mobile will eventually catch up.


----------



## dazz87 (Nov 12, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> You can also consult the app Sensorly. Cheers!
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Thanks, Told a look and my home and work place does not have 4G coverage.  I will probably still get it cause of the price.  No point of paying $60.00 to AT&t for crappy coverage in my area.  With tmobile how much is it per minutes if you go over your 100 minutes for the month?


----------



## Exel (Nov 12, 2013)

dazz87 said:


> Anyone in the LA area (Monterey Park) using tmobile on their nexus 5?  Just wondering how the coverage is around the area?  I am currently on AT&t GoPhone and coverage is horrible where I live.  I check online on tmobile site and it shows "excellent" coverage for my area.  It said the same thing when I checked AT&t and its horrible.

Click to collapse



I live in San Pedro, CA and get awesome LTE speeds.
I get pretty good ones in Long Beach, CA as well.
And pretty much anywhere else I go, ahah.

---------- Post added at 09:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:34 PM ----------




dazz87 said:


> Thanks, Told a look and my home and work place does not have 4G coverage.  I will probably still get it cause of the price.  No point of paying $60.00 to AT&t for crappy coverage in my area.  With tmobile how much is it per minutes if you go over your 100 minutes for the month?

Click to collapse



$0.10 cents per minute.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 12, 2013)

dazz87 said:


> Thanks, Told a look and my home and work place does not have 4G coverage.  I will probably still get it cause of the price.  No point of paying $60.00 to AT&t for crappy coverage in my area.  With tmobile how much is it per minutes if you go over your 100 minutes for the month?

Click to collapse



Don't forget to try VoIP solutions.. I prefer Skype and all my close peeps are on Voxer. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## BinkXDA (Nov 12, 2013)

br0adband said:


> ...depending on your area even VoIP and audio streaming is easily doable over 2G/EDGE

Click to collapse



From the perspective of VoIP, I do this daily and this is bogus.  There is too much jitter/latency with this level of service for VoIP to be useable.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 12, 2013)

BinkXDA said:


> From the perspective of VoIP, I do this daily and this is bogus.  There is too much jitter/latency with this level of service for VoIP to be useable.

Click to collapse



But but but... _it works for me just fine._ Sorry that 2G/EDGE service in your area is that bad but here in Las Vegas it's not, at least not in my experience and that's with the last 9 phones I've owned in the past 18-24 months all using the same T-Mobile account/plan.

I know in some areas it's bad, seriously terrible horrible stuff with sub-dialup speeds and yes some fairly bad latency, but not here, not for me, hence me stating my experience.

And I tend to listen to Tune In Radio and Scanner Radio Pro streams a lot (like 10-14 hours a day) and they work just fine when my device(s) are/were in 2G/EDGE mode.

YMMV but it works just fine for me.


----------



## lordroy (Nov 12, 2013)

With the upcoming changes to VOIP apps (such as GrooveIP), what to do about saving minutes with this plan?  I am hoping that Google will have it's version of VOIP ready before they bring the hammer down on the others out now, but any ideas other than that?


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 12, 2013)

I'm not having success trying to activate the $30/month plan, I purchased the free T-Mo sim activation kit online off the official website, got my kit in the mail yesterday, started the activation process online to get the $30 plan, and then the website was hanging up, so I tried calling the customer help line, and the representative told me he could sign me up for the Walmart $30 plan.  I got a confirmation text with my number saying the account was activated but now I have no data and I check my account online and i'm not signed up for the $30 plan but the pay as go you minute plan with no data.  So I spent half an hour with a representative this morning who was no help and told me I now have to a purchase a sim activation kit from a walmart store and then call back to T-Mobile customer help line and use a new activation code to get that rate plan.

I know many of you did not ever physically go to a Walmart store to have to do this, so I am wondering what I can do to avoid this or do I have no choice at this point if I want the plan?


----------



## STi_Fanatic (Nov 12, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> I'm not having success trying to activate the $30/month plan, I purchased the free T-Mo sim activation kit online off the official website, got my kit in the mail yesterday, started the activation process online to get the $30 plan, and then the website was hanging up, so I tried calling the customer help line, and the representative told me he could sign me up for the Walmart $30 plan.  I got a confirmation text with my number saying the account was activated but now I have no data and I check my account online and i'm not signed up for the $30 plan but the pay as go you minute plan with no data.  So I spent half an hour with a representative this morning who was no help and told me I now have to a purchase a sim activation kit from a walmart store and then call back to T-Mobile customer help line and use a new activation code to get that rate plan.
> 
> I know many of you did not ever physically go to a Walmart store to have to do this, so I am wondering what I can do to avoid this or do I have no choice at this point if I want the plan?

Click to collapse



The plan discussed in this thread is not the Walmart plan.  It's a plan that shows up for new customers when you activate a SIM for the first time, offering 100 minutes, unlimited text and 5GB of data for $30 monthly.  I was able to see it as an option when I activated my SIM online.  Customer Care may not be able to do it.

I'd suggest you get a new SIM and try again since once the SIM is activated it seems like your odds of being able to get the plan are low.  SIMs are once again free at TMO, so strike while the iron is hot.


----------



## adrman (Nov 12, 2013)

lordroy said:


> With the upcoming changes to VOIP apps (such as GrooveIP), what to do about saving minutes with this plan?  I am hoping that Google will have it's version of VOIP ready before they bring the hammer down on the others out now, but any ideas other than that?

Click to collapse



Check out csipsimple with voip.ms, callcentric, flowroute, or even ipkall. You can pay a couple of bucks a month for a did to forward google voice to and then a penny or less a minute. I think callcentric and ipkall have free dids available as well. I use voip.ms, flowroute and Skype, although I think I'll be abandoning my Skype in did, since the voice quality of flowroute and voip.ms has improved drastically on the N5 compared to the same setup I had on my galaxy nexus. 


Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 12, 2013)

STi_Fanatic said:


> The plan discussed in this thread is not the Walmart plan.  It's a plan that shows up for new customers when you activate a SIM for the first time, offering 100 minutes, unlimited text and 5GB of data for $30 monthly.  I was able to see it as an option when I activated my SIM online.  Customer Care may not be able to do it.
> 
> I'd suggest you get a new SIM and try again since once the SIM is activated it seems like your odds of being able to get the plan are low.  SIMs are once again free at TMO, so strike while the iron is hot.

Click to collapse



Great thanks, time to order again *sigh*

edit: I just checked on the t-mobile website, they don't appear to be free , still listed as $10 on the website

edit2: nevermind found the online coupon code, replacement SIM purchased


----------



## Zenoran (Nov 12, 2013)

br0adband said:


> - 5GB of data accessible at up to 4G/LTE speeds (basically the max your phone is capable of given you connect to their network using that mode of operation) - once you hit the 5GB "cap" it will throttle the speed down to 2G/EDGE speeds which are typically 50 to 250 Kilobits per second which works out to 8 to maybe 30 Kilobytes per second (takes a while to do a solid megabyte, basically) but the data connection is never killed or disconnected hence "unlimited" at least from the standpoint of having the data connection; yes it's slow but it does work and depending on your area even VoIP and audio streaming is easily doable over 2G/EDGE

Click to collapse



I know throttling used to go down to edge on tmo but that was before they had 4g. Is it for sure 2g we get after the 5gb? The only reason I ask is because some posts seem to indicate we go to 3g after the 5gb. I'm just going to have to wait and see for sure but was wondering if someone could clarify based on experience.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 12, 2013)

It's 2G/EDGE _speeds_, not necessarily 2G/EDGE connectivity. I've never really gone over the 5GB cap myself, maybe once or twice, but I tend to put my device(s) in 2G/EDGE mode and just leave them there the majority of the time - if I do have a need where I have to get data fast (pretty rare) I just switch to non-GSM mode and it'll kick in as required (showing 3G or H/H+).

I really wish some carrier would do a throttled connection for like $40/month, maybe 1Mbps capped, that would be so awesome and it would help with network congestion issues by just allowing everyone to get data relatively fast (1Mbps is fast enough for anything, seriously, I mean how fast does a web page really need to load...).

I would prefer to have a megabit per second rock solid (or as solid as possible) than have the potential for much higher speeds with a lot of lag/dropouts/latency issues, etc. I've had LTE capable devices in the past year and I don't find them to be of any particular use to me, and again it's not about the speed for me it's about having a solid reliable connection. Having said that, even T-Mobile's network here in Las Vegas isn't perfect, far from it, but then again no network ever is or will be for that matter.

Sooner or later 2G/EDGE will just fade away like the analog technology did and we'll just have to deal with it as and when it happens.


----------



## Lithoss (Nov 12, 2013)

STi_Fanatic said:


> The plan discussed in this thread is not the Walmart plan.  It's a plan that shows up for new customers when you activate a SIM for the first time, offering 100 minutes, unlimited text and 5GB of data for $30 monthly.  I was able to see it as an option when I activated my SIM online.  Customer Care may not be able to do it.
> 
> I'd suggest you get a new SIM and try again since once the SIM is activated it seems like your odds of being able to get the plan are low.  SIMs are once again free at TMO, so strike while the iron is hot.

Click to collapse



But you can buy the T-mobile 30$ plan from walmart, can you not?:
http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-SIM-Kit/24099996


----------



## silentkry (Nov 12, 2013)

Lithoss said:


> But you can buy the T-mobile 30$ plan from walmart, can you not?:

Click to collapse



yes. that's where i got mine.


----------



## STi_Fanatic (Nov 12, 2013)

Lithoss said:


> But you can buy the T-mobile 30$ plan from walmart, can you not?:
> http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-SIM-Kit/24099996

Click to collapse



You *can*, but you do not have to do so.


----------



## untalented893 (Nov 12, 2013)

Is anyone able to get short codes on this plan? I'm getting mixed answers everywhere I look online, but I am unable to send short code texts besides the ones for T-Mobile.


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 12, 2013)

Lithoss said:


> But you can buy the T-mobile 30$ plan from walmart, can you not?:
> http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-SIM-Kit/24099996

Click to collapse



That is the one I bought, would not active, said the sim number was in valid, talked with t mobile support they said it was in valid and I would need to contact wal-mart, all they would do is refund my money, they had no clue.


----------



## stephenta (Nov 12, 2013)

slowpok22 said:


> That is the one I bought, would not active, said the sim number was in valid, talked with t mobile support they said it was in valid and I would need to contact wal-mart, all they would do is refund my money, they had no clue.

Click to collapse



Can anyone send me the link for the 30 dollar pre paid.  I ordered one off walmart and it keeps cancelling.  Had my wife and friend order it to and it keeps cancelling for me...


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 12, 2013)

stephenta said:


> Can anyone send me the link for the 30 dollar pre paid.  I ordered one off walmart and it keeps cancelling.  Had my wife and friend order it to and it keeps cancelling for me...

Click to collapse



this is the link I used: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/sim-card
I assume that once I receive the sim, I can go to the activation page and that is where I will be able to chose the $30 plan.

someone will scold me if I'm wrong, you know what happens when you assume


----------



## umaxtu (Nov 12, 2013)

I've got a quick question. I'm currently on my parent's Sprint plan and I'm looking to switch to the $30 tmobile plan. Can I port just my number from Sprint from t mobile? And if I do is that going to force my parents to renew their contract? Their data is so grandfathered in that it doesn't cost them anything. (I'm not kidding, 5 lines, 2 with unlimited 3g data, unlimited texts and 1500 shared minutes for about $150 a month) If its not possible to just port my number or it would mess up my parents contract, I could live with a new phone number, but It would be nice to keep my current number.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 12, 2013)

umaxtu said:


> I've got a quick question. I'm currently on my parent's Sprint plan and I'm looking to switch to the $30 tmobile plan. Can I port just my number from Sprint from t mobile? And if I do is that going to force my parents to renew their contract? Their data is so grandfathered in that it doesn't cost them anything. (I'm not kidding, 5 lines, 2 with unlimited 3g data, unlimited texts and 1500 shared minutes for about $150 a month) If its not possible to just port my number or it would mess up my parents contract, I could live with a new phone number, but It would be nice to keep my current number.

Click to collapse



We can't answer this..Sprint knows if your parents are under contract on your specific number (hardware upgraded recently?) so call Sprint to determine your own number's disposition. Porting will kill your line only..but could impact the account via ETF. Best to just get a new number IMHO.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## umaxtu (Nov 12, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> We can't answer this..Sprint knows if your parents are under contract on your specific number (hardware upgraded recently?) so call Sprint to determine your own number's disposition. Porting will kill your line only..but could impact the account via ETF. Best to just get a new number IMHO.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Ok, thanks. The last time I upgraded my phone was 5 years ago, so I'm not most certainly not under contract. Looking forward to retiring my Samsung Rant


----------



## STi_Fanatic (Nov 12, 2013)

stephenta said:


> Can anyone send me the link for the 30 dollar pre paid.  I ordered one off walmart and it keeps cancelling.  Had my wife and friend order it to and it keeps cancelling for me...

Click to collapse



http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-activate

You have to activate the new SIM and then choose the $30 plan when it asks you what you want to set it up as.


----------



## Ajfink (Nov 12, 2013)

umaxtu said:


> Ok, thanks. The last time I upgraded my phone was 5 years ago, so I'm not most certainly not under contract. Looking forward to retiring my Samsung Rant

Click to collapse



As long as you won't suffer under an ETF, transferring should be seamless.  Just double check first.

Getting a new number is a pain.

Sent from my Nexus 5


----------



## davelikestacos (Nov 13, 2013)

Friday is payday, and I'll be ditching Sprint and going with the $30 T-Mobile plan on my new N5 

Already got quoted for my ETF, 280 bucks, and the money I save by going from $120 to $30 a month will cover that in just about 3 months


----------



## Dani897 (Nov 13, 2013)

i've never used t-mobile because it just didn't make sense with the coverage but i always heard great things about their extra services. how does the wifi calling work? do you have to be on a saved access point and logged in? i know that sounds like the obvious answer..... but i have to ask...


----------



## steviejake (Nov 13, 2013)

newtooroot said:


> theres an article on cnn that says wifi calling won't work on the nexus 5.
> has anyone tried?
> wondering if it still works using programs such as groove ip
> http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-57611578-94/t-mobiles-nexus-5-wont-support-wi-fi-calling/

Click to collapse



Not true. I used GrooveIP on WiFi from Japan yesterday with great results!

StevieJake


----------



## br0adband (Nov 13, 2013)

Dani897 said:


> i've never used t-mobile because it just didn't make sense with the coverage but i always heard great things about their extra services. _*how does the wifi calling work*_? do you have to be on a saved access point and logged in? i know that sounds like the obvious answer..... but i have to ask...

Click to collapse



Only thing that matters with the Wi-Fi calling thing is this, and I mentioned in this thread already in another post:

_*If you use the T-Mobile Wi-Fi Calling app (which you have to do anyway since you can't use any other VoIP/SIP app to make it work with your T-Mobile number) it will deduct minutes from your 100 minute allotment to make said calls.*_

Like it or not, and as completely lame as it is, that's how it works even if you're totally disconnected from T-Mobile in terms of the cellular use (airplane mode) and just using Wi-Fi to do it - it doesn't matter, you still lose minutes from your 100 minute allotment.

If you absolutely must use that aspect of T-Mobile, then do it only in a situation where you simply have no other option and cellular just doesn't work period.

Using Google Voice (which gives you a phone number) + GrooveIP or Talkatone or some other VoIP app (at least through the end of April 2014 when Google is pulling the ability to use third party apps as already announced) is your only logical alternative to preserve the 100 minutes you get with this $30 plan.


----------



## g33k3r (Nov 13, 2013)

I was using grooveip but then I setup an account through the sipdroid app for pbxes.com and just added the sip account in the dialer settings and now basically have calling from my GV number through the native dialer and quality seems to be better also.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## unknown1205 (Nov 13, 2013)

can we apply corporate discounts to this?  i tried to sign up for my 12% off corporate discount but i could not find an account number.  is there no account numbers for this plan?

btw, theres no tax for me and i just pay directly on tmobiles website.


----------



## magecca (Nov 13, 2013)

*Free SIM activation kits*

Free SIM activation kits and free shipping are available again on T-Mobile's site using PROMO code "NOVSIM" - Probably throughout November...


----------



## skinien (Nov 13, 2013)

jamjr74 said:


> Im on Verizon and opened a tmobile $30 prepaid from tmobile to ry the nexus 5.  I am going to switch to tmobile but am unsure if the $30 plan will cut it as I use about 400 minutes a month.  I was planning on using groove ip with my google voice number or hangouts once it's available for calls.  The catch is I wanna keep my number from verizon.  I was thinking of porting to google voice to use the groove ip but am I better off just porting to tmobile?  Any work arounds or suggestions would help greatly. Thanks

Click to collapse



I was in the same boat.  The problem with porting to google voice now is that your MMS might get all screwed up.  T-Mobile just now started doing something where they forward your google voice MMS to your email.  I'm not sure if that works on their pre-paid plans.

I just went ahead and ported my verizon number to t-mobile.  I use groveip for all of my outgoing calls and then just eat my minutes on incoming calls.  I'm looking forward to google voice mms and hangouts integration.  As soon as that comes, I'm porting my number to google voice.

---------- Post added at 10:39 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:25 AM ----------

Well, I switched from Verizon Moto X to T-Mobile and the Nexus 5.  I'm loving this $30 plan.  I get LTE pretty much everywhere I've been in San Diego.  Unfortunately, my house gets HSPA+ even though I'm in an "excellent LTE area". Not a big deal though because I have WiFi and their HSPA+ speeds are awesome.

My wife liked my Nexus 5 so much that she ditched her iPhone 5 and switched to a Nexus 5.  She went from Verizon to Straight Talk (she needs more than 100 minutes).

Our phone bill just went from $150 to $75!! :good:


----------



## Gaffadin (Nov 13, 2013)

What are you guys getting for LTE speeds? On HSPA out here in the middle of nowhere Texas I do 6 - 12Mbit depending on the time of day, which I'm pretty happy with. I am sure LTE would be more, though.

I'm headed to Dallas over Thanksgiving so I assume I'll get LTE speeds while I'm there.


----------



## raichur0xx0rz (Nov 13, 2013)

Gaffadin said:


> What are you guys getting for LTE speeds? On HSPA out here in the middle of nowhere Texas I do 6 - 12Mbit depending on the time of day, which I'm pretty happy with. I am sure LTE would be more, though.
> 
> I'm headed to Dallas over Thanksgiving so I assume I'll get LTE speeds while I'm there.

Click to collapse



Depending on the signal strength, I get anywhere from 15-30Mbps or so. Uploads have been weird, and I get anywhere from 2-10Mbps. LTE is pretty inconsistent in my area though.


----------



## aohus (Nov 13, 2013)

has anyone been able to get a deal on T-Mobile for their unlimited plan? 

I have someone that can hook me up for $60/month + $100 credit.

Is there anything better out there for the unlimited plan for T-Mobile ?


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 14, 2013)

magecca said:


> Free SIM activation kits and free shipping are available again on T-Mobile's site using PROMO code "NOVSIM" - Probably throughout November...

Click to collapse



Expires on 11/14


----------



## bmstrong (Nov 14, 2013)

I'm a grandfathered ATT unlimited subsciber throttled back to the stone age for the next 20 some days. My question, on this specific $30 T-Mobile plan: What do you guys get throttled back to after your 5GB LTE limit? Is it anywhere near as bad?

(Ignore the second to last result. I cheated.)


----------



## parkson (Nov 14, 2013)

bmstrong said:


> I'm a grandfathered ATT unlimited subsciber throttled back to the stone age for the next 20 some days. My question, on this specific $30 T-Mobile plan: What do you guys get throttled back to after your 5GB LTE limit? Is it anywhere near as bad?
> 
> (Ignore the second to last result. I cheated.)

Click to collapse



Throttled to Edge speed. Worse than dialup! :banghead:

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## br0adband (Nov 14, 2013)

bmstrong said:


> I'm a grandfathered ATT unlimited subsciber throttled back to the stone age for the next 20 some days. My question, on this specific $30 T-Mobile plan: What do you guys get throttled back to after your 5GB LTE limit? Is it anywhere near as bad?
> 
> (Ignore the second to last result. I cheated.)

Click to collapse



Anywhere near as bad? You're getting 500+ Kbps (570 down/530 up on the last one) and you think that's bad? 

2G/EDGE traditionally has a max (theoretical) of about 250 Kbps and that's in the absolute best conditions, like you're standing under or direct line-of-sight within the immediate vicinity of a cell site/tower. Most people will see speeds of 50-150 Kbps (yes that's Kilobits per second) in usage, and even that can get hit pretty hard depending on conditions in your area: buildings, weather, signal obstructions, and so on. My average here in Las Vegas is roughly 150 Kbps I'd say, I can do VoIP calls using Google Voice + Talkatone and I can stream audio without issues with a variety of apps.

So yeah, you're getting a half megabit per second there which by comparison is way way faster than 2G/EDGE, and I do mean way way faster.


----------



## Erukian (Nov 14, 2013)

I suggest also looking at StraightTalk if you want AT&T LTE (for better coverage)

$45/mo for unlimited talk/text and 2.5gb of data then it's throttled if you reach the cap.


----------



## Cuppeerr (Nov 14, 2013)

I'm switching to this tomorrow


----------



## parkson (Nov 14, 2013)

Erukian said:


> I suggest also looking at StraightTalk if you want AT&T LTE (for better coverage)
> 
> $45/mo for unlimited talk/text and 2.5gb of data then it's throttled if you reach the cap.

Click to collapse



Throttled speeds?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## br0adband (Nov 14, 2013)

parkson said:


> Throttled speeds?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk 2

Click to collapse



All modern carriers will throttle to 2G/EDGE speeds since that's the most basic level of service you'll find. Yes, it's entirely possible that some carrier's network even has issues with that so it's conceivable they could drop you back to GPRS data mode (with a theoretical max of about 14.4 Kbps but typically half that, if you're lucky) but 2G/EDGE is pretty consistent across carriers worldwide.


----------



## TiltedAz (Nov 15, 2013)

There were complaints and possibly some lawsuits over ST throttling before 2.5GB. Some say ST has the worst customer service originating from the owner Carlos Slim.


----------



## Damian2013 (Nov 15, 2013)

magecca said:


> Free SIM activation kits and free shipping are available again on T-Mobile's site using PROMO code "NOVSIM" - Probably throughout November...

Click to collapse



Can you link me to the site to buy the sim? They keep wanting me to add a plan attached to it.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 15, 2013)

Damian2013 said:


> Can you link me to the site to buy the sim? They keep wanting me to add a plan attached to it.

Click to collapse



http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/sim-card

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Damian2013 (Nov 15, 2013)

magecca said:


> Free SIM activation kits and free shipping are available again on T-Mobile's site using PROMO code "NOVSIM" - Probably throughout November...

Click to collapse





wideasleep1 said:


> http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/sim-card
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



After I pick my nano sim it asks me to select a plan still. Am I doing something wrong?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 15, 2013)

Damian2013 said:


> After I pick my nano sim it asks me to select a plan still. Am I doing something wrong?

Click to collapse



Nano? What phone?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Cuppeerr (Nov 15, 2013)

Damian2013 said:


> After I pick my nano sim it asks me to select a plan still. Am I doing something wrong?

Click to collapse



Click here, and if it asked you to pay just enter the promo code mentioned above


----------



## v4npro (Nov 15, 2013)

Nevermind


----------



## Damian2013 (Nov 15, 2013)

-Cupper- said:


> Click here, and if it asked you to pay just enter the promo code mentioned above

Click to collapse



I do and it asks me to pick a simple choice plan.


----------



## Cuppeerr (Nov 15, 2013)

Damian2013 said:


> I do and it asks me to pick a simple choice plan.

Click to collapse



Oh.


----------



## howardroark (Nov 15, 2013)

Anyone try a paid PBXes account to get G722? I'm wondering if it is worth it.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 15, 2013)

Holly sheep dip batman, got my sim today and activated, went smoothly. 
Had good lte connection at work, just got home and only have H for connection, getting 10 Mbps down load speed, testing on the gnex at Verizon lte and can only get 5Mbps. I'm happy as a pig in a mud puddle


----------



## MisterEff (Nov 15, 2013)

I have been running speed tests and tests through OpenSignal vs my GSIII that is still on my Verizon contract in areas where I use my phone the most, didn't want to lose unlimited data if Tmo signal was terrible, and Tmo has beated Verizon every time. Even when Tmo showed a worse signal then Verizon the download and upload speeds were like 3 times higher. Have to say I am impressed. Especially for $30 a month.

Also, it's been almost half a month and I've only used 14 minutes of the 100...this might work for me.


----------



## Zenoran (Nov 15, 2013)

People discount the 100 minutes but as long as u don't use like 500+ it's still a better deal. It's only .10 per minute over the 100! I'm paying Verizon $40 alone for 450 minutes. Unlimited text + 450 mins and data is 90 bucks. This plan with 450 mins = 65. And that's completely situational for me because I rarely will use the 100. Pay as u go is awesome and really seems too good to be true.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 15, 2013)

You folks keep giving out the wrong links to the SIM cards so...

T-Mobile Micro SIM Card Activation Kit <<<--- This is what the Nexus 5 (and 4, and other phones too) require

and just in case you need the Nano SIM card (for an iPhone 5/5S/5C or some other newer device that uses the Nano SIM):

T-Mobile SIM Starter Kit Nano SIM

_*Those are the correct links to use*_ so make note of it. The other link(s) can and typically will try to wrangle you into a plan of some kind during the ordering of the SIM card activation kit(s) themselves. The links I just provided are for the SIM card activation kits, period.

And as of right now (Friday the 15th of November) they're free again, with free shipping, and you can order 2 of each (separate orders) but I'd say try and be fair about it and not hog 'em - if you don't specifically need two, then don't order two, and so on.


----------



## devaughnaw (Nov 15, 2013)

I like the $30 plan but the coverage is terrible (I live in a rural area). And I don't think Tmobile offers boosters anymore. I'm at a loss. Any advice?


----------



## adrman (Nov 16, 2013)

devaughnaw said:


> I like the $30 plan but the coverage is terrible (I live in a rural area). And I don't think Tmobile offers boosters anymore. I'm at a loss. Any advice?

Click to collapse



Wi-Fi when you're at home is a start. For example, I rented a place out in the sticks last summer with no T-Mobile service except on the main road, but the guy I rented from had a Verizon hot spot for Wi-Fi in the place, because there was no dial up, dsl or cable available. Anyway, I ended up getting and making calls over his hotspot network via csipsimple and voip.ms.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## devaughnaw (Nov 16, 2013)

adrman said:


> Wi-Fi when you're at home is a start. For example, I rented a place out in the sticks last summer with no T-Mobile service except on the main road, but the guy I rented from had a Verizon hot spot for Wi-Fi in the place, because there was no dial up, dsl or cable available. Anyway, I ended up getting and making calls over his hotspot network via csipsimple and voip.ms.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I downloaded Talkatone and I'm trying to use that.

For some reason though I can't send text messages, and I placed a call but there was this loud ringing noise.


----------



## adrman (Nov 16, 2013)

devaughnaw said:


> I downloaded Talkatone and I'm trying to use that.
> 
> For some reason though I can't send text messages, and I placed a call but there was this loud ringing noise.

Click to collapse



I can't say I had much luck with the Talkatone/GrooveIP route either. The audio quality was always unusable for me. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## jerflash (Nov 16, 2013)

ok everyone i was skeptical about using this 30 buck a month plan coming from verizon unlimited but it really has not been that bad at all!

I was able to port my number to tmobile while keeping my unlimited verizon account active. I can be done look it up...it all about timing. I did not sell my unlimited yet but i did suspend the account for 3 months. Verizon lets you do this with out an issue...anyone coming from verizon thinking about this plan just do it and try it out...nothing to lose!

Anyway if you are in a big city or atleast close to one there is no reason not to try this plan out. I get faster downloads on tmobile then i did verizon because the network is less clogged up! There are times where the signal is not as great as on verizon but there at just as many places where verizon never worked well for me and tmobile is awesome. Namely the beaches on long island and the NYC subways...talk about win! 

If you guys are like me you are at work 8 hours a day 5 days a week then at home after work on wifi. I suggest using the vonage app to all people on since it uses your real phone number. You can use talkatone and your google number when you are not at home. 100 minutes is lasting me way longer then i thought it would. at the end of 2 weeks i only have used 30 minutes of my 100. VOIP on wifi works very well and even if you use 200 minutes in a month its still only 40 bucks a month.

This post is long winded but these are my findings. expect to see my verizon unlimited contract for sale soon!

BTW bite the bullet and port your REAL number to tmobile. Google voice will not get mms for a while and to tell you the truth everything is working great for me. All the important people have my real number and business contacts and other people get my google voice number

Thanks about it


----------



## rillo561 (Nov 16, 2013)

Signed up Wednesday night, and love it so far. Came from Sprint which was dog**** in my area.


----------



## aohus (Nov 16, 2013)

pretty close to moving back to Verizon.

Youtube videos constantly buffer for me at the 52 second mark. No matter how strong the signal is. I'm pretty sure there is some throttling going on and they're not telling us. 

How is it that the first 52 seconds of a video loads instantly, but speed throttles down from 52 second onwards.


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 16, 2013)

Watched Netflix for half an hour on the way home this morning and had no issues, no complaints from the kids  

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## dustinpn (Nov 16, 2013)

Been using this for 2 weeks now while my Verizon contract winds down (less than a month left... finally).  No issues at all other than the initial number port and inside reception.  Took about a week for all the kinks to be ironed out and get the number ported entirely over to TMobile.  LTE works great and the call quality is better than anything I ever had with Verizon.  Reception inside of buildings can be really bad. Even with full LTE outside, as soon as I walk into a building it will completely go out.  This isn't really a big deal to me because normally when I'm in a building there is WIFI available.  For $30 a month it is unbeatable.

Oh yeah... I hadn't seen it mentioned anywhere, but on Verizon I was always annoyed when I had to dial in to my voicemail and type a password and slowly listen to the messages to delete them and then still wait for a minute or two for the notification to go away.  It got to a point where I would perpetually have 2-3 voicemail notifications in my task bar because the process to delete them took too damn long.

No more!  T-Mobile offers a free visual voicemail app that works great and I never have to dial into it again.


----------



## lordroy (Nov 16, 2013)

dustinpn said:


> No more!  T-Mobile offers a free visual voicemail app that works great and I never have to dial into it again.

Click to collapse



What "visual voicemail app" from T-Mobile are you talking about?


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 16, 2013)

lordroy said:


> What "visual voicemail app" from T-Mobile are you talking about?

Click to collapse


----------



## lordroy (Nov 16, 2013)

nooktablet said:


>

Click to collapse




Says it is incompatible with my device, wont let me install it.


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 16, 2013)

lordroy said:


> Says it is incompatible with my device, wont let me install it.

Click to collapse



So is mine, as shown in screenshot


----------



## dustinpn (Nov 16, 2013)

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmobile.vvm.application



nooktablet said:


>

Click to collapse


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 16, 2013)

dustinpn said:


> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmobile.vvm.application

Click to collapse



Well we know the link of the app.
The problem is it's not compatible with Nexus 5


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 16, 2013)

VERY odd, I have it on my N5!


----------



## lordroy (Nov 16, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> VERY odd, I have it on my N5!

Click to collapse



Could you share the apk plz (since it is a free app after all)


----------



## dustinpn (Nov 16, 2013)

Weird... I never got any compatibility issues when downloading.  This makes me think someone went wrong during provisioning and the number port that has given me access to them?  Who knows








nooktablet said:


> Well we know the link of the app.
> The problem is it's not compatible with Nexus 5

Click to collapse


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 16, 2013)

dustinpn said:


> Weird... I never got any compatibility issues when downloading.  This makes me think someone went wrong during provisioning and the number port that has given me access to them?  Who knows

Click to collapse



So can you give us the apk of the latest version please?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 16, 2013)

lordroy said:


> Could you share the apk plz (since it is a free app after all)

Click to collapse



Will do when I get a minute...lunch!


----------



## dustinpn (Nov 16, 2013)

nooktablet said:


> So can you give us the apk of the latest version please?

Click to collapse



I have not rooted yet so hopefully someone else can post it.


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 16, 2013)

dustinpn said:


> I have not rooted yet so hopefully someone else can post it.

Click to collapse



You don't need to be rooted because this is a free app
Just use this app back up the apk  
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=mobi.infolife.appbackup


----------



## Gaffadin (Nov 16, 2013)

I called T-Mobile to deactivate my carrier voicemail and just use Google Voice's instead. Since we're prepaid then we don't get conditional call forwarding (meaning that if I reject a call then it won't immediately go to voicemail), but GV does still pick it up a short time later when no one answers.

Seems to be working just fine.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 16, 2013)

http://www57.zippyshare.com/v/21702476/file.html


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 16, 2013)

Thanks for the apk, now to see if it works. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## lordroy (Nov 16, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> http://www57.zippyshare.com/v/21702476/file.html

Click to collapse



Thanks, seems to work fine for me... I dont have any voicemails at the moment but it loads fine.


----------



## chewy74 (Nov 16, 2013)

Ok, I've got a unlimited vzw plan and looking to make the transition to t-mobile $30. With hangout update rolling out today bringing sms, mms and in call support, what do I need in order to make calls over wifi or through gv to save minutes now? 

I noticed hangout only gives you the option to make a call from within a active hangout thread. I didn’t notice any call option in the contacts. 

Do I still need to deactivate my t-mobile vm? 

Is there a walk through on the whole working setup?


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 16, 2013)

The new reason why I lost 5% battery on standby in only a few hours.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 17, 2013)

That is with my .apk? I wonder why...


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 17, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> That is with my .apk? I wonder why...

Click to collapse



Yes it's your apk
Because T-Mobile doesn't know how to make apps


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 17, 2013)

nooktablet said:


> Yes it's your apk
> Because T-Mobile doesn't know how to make apps

Click to collapse



LOL! It was in my download queue when I signed in to G Services, and a wall of apps began restoring. I admit the app is buggy...robocall hangups with zero minutes crash the app. I wonder if that is why they yanked it from Play(for our phones)?


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 17, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> LOL! It was in my download queue when I signed in to G Services, and a wall of apps began restoring. I admit the app is buggy...robocall hangups with zero minutes crash the app. I wonder if that is why they yanked it from Play?

Click to collapse



But does it do wakelock on your nexus 5 also?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 17, 2013)

nooktablet said:


> But does it do wakelock on your nexus 5 also?

Click to collapse



Negative. Neither N4 nor N5. Both running ART, fwiw.


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 17, 2013)

chewy74 said:


> Ok, I've got a unlimited vzw plan and looking to make the transition to t-mobile $30. With hangout update rolling out today bringing sms, mms and in call support, what do I need in order to make calls over wifi or through gv to save minutes now?
> 
> I noticed hangout only gives you the option to make a call from within a active hangout thread. I didn’t notice any call option in the contacts.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I installed talkatone before I got my sim, and used it with my gv number and it worked, I haven't tried since I got my sim. 
Getting much better data and call quality from T-Mobile than I do from Verizon, I think it's time to port my number over. Where I spend most of my time it works for me. 

Figured the cost of the phone, case,  charger, and the T-Mobile plan over 2 years is $50  a month, Verizon is no where close to that with just with the phone discounted and plan, no accessories included.


----------



## letakomahieu (Nov 17, 2013)

And remember T-Mobile give you free 200mb/mo on your tablet ! bring your tablet in side the store  and buy a sim card then rock it ! :good:


----------



## chewy74 (Nov 17, 2013)

Google said support for 3rd party apps for wifi calls will stop by may of 2014. So talkatone will stop working. 





slowpok22 said:


> I installed talkatone before I got my sim, and used it with my gv number and it worked, I haven't tried since I got my sim.
> Getting much better data and call quality from T-Mobile than I do from Verizon, I think it's time to port my number over. Where I spend most of my time it works for me.
> 
> Figured the cost of the phone, case,  charger, and the T-Mobile plan over 2 years is $50  a month, Verizon is no where close to that with just with the phone discounted and plan, no accessories included.

Click to collapse


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 17, 2013)

Hi, I notice in android there's an option to tether my wifi connection as a hotspot, but I have not dared  to  try. Does this cost money or it's just a feature of android? Or tmobile has policy on it? (And of course  I'm using this $30 plan)




chewy74 said:


> Google said support for 3rd party apps for wifi calls will stop by may of 2014. So talkatone will stop working.

Click to collapse



Hangouts will be your new talkatone. On ios the free calling feature is already there. Android comming soon they said.


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 17, 2013)

chewy74 said:


> Google said support for 3rd party apps for wifi calls will stop by may of 2014. So talkatone will stop working.

Click to collapse



Well that su_ks profusely


----------



## br0adband (Nov 17, 2013)

chewy74 said:


> Google said support for 3rd party apps for wifi calls will stop by may of 2014. So talkatone will stop working.

Click to collapse



But at this point nobody knows what Google's plans are for Hangouts and Google Voice - they may finally just implement actual SIP/VoIP capabilities into the clients once and for all, we just don't know at this time.

Would be nice, that's for damned sure, but if not there will be other solutions that present themselves when the time comes.


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 17, 2013)

br0adband said:


> they may finally just implement actual SIP/VoIP capabilities into the clients once and for all, we just don't know at this time.

Click to collapse



They already did
in the iOS version of Hangouts


----------



## chewy74 (Nov 17, 2013)

Yea, I'm planning on getting a n5 and testing on this plan. So I wanted to also see if the 100 min talk time was reasonably possible with gv, or other method. I know hangout will soon have calls integrated, but who knows when. In the meantime what will work for the purposes of my testing. 



br0adband said:


> But at this point nobody knows what Google's plans are for Hangouts and Google Voice - they may finally just implement actual SIP/VoIP capabilities into the clients once and for all, we just don't know at this time.
> 
> Would be nice, that's for damned sure, but if not there will be other solutions that present themselves when the time comes.

Click to collapse


----------



## devaughnaw (Nov 18, 2013)

How does Vonage Mobile work when people call you? Say I'm at home and someone calls me. Will the app open and give me a notification?


----------



## ExodusC (Nov 19, 2013)

I can't seem to find an up to date tutorial on exactly how to get this plan.

I want to buy a Nexus 5 now and then get this plan so I can get off Verizon, but I have no idea how to still get this plan.

Anyone have a current tutorial for dummies on what we need to do?

I searched the thread and Googled, but I can't find anything conclusive.

As soon as I figure this out, I'm biting on a Nexus 5 from the Play Store.


----------



## lordroy (Nov 19, 2013)

ExodusC said:


> I can't seem to find an up to date tutorial on exactly how to get this plan.
> 
> I want to buy a Nexus 5 now and then get this plan so I can get off Verizon, but I have no idea how to still get this plan.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



http://news.cnet.com/8301-33620_3-57587175-278/is-this-the-best-smartphone-plan-ever/


----------



## ExodusC (Nov 19, 2013)

lordroy said:


> http://news.cnet.com/8301-33620_3-57587175-278/is-this-the-best-smartphone-plan-ever/

Click to collapse



I had seen that guide, but I noted that the SIM cards appear to be free with a "web-only discount" on T-Mobile's website.

I presume I am supposed to buy the free "Phone" SIM as opposed to the "Mobile Internet Device" SIM that is $10.

The "Mobile Internet Device" SIM is for tablets and non-phone devices, right?

I just want to make sure I don't screw this up and that it still works before I drop $400 on a Nexus 5.


----------



## lordroy (Nov 19, 2013)

ExodusC said:


> I had seen that guide, but I noted that the SIM cards appear to be free with a "web-only discount" on T-Mobile's website.
> 
> I presume I am supposed to buy the free "Phone" SIM as opposed to the "Mobile Internet Device" SIM that is $10.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Ya, just get the t-mobile sim, either at discount or for $10 (I ordered mine online for $.99).

I had the sim for a couple weeks before I got the phone (because of the delay on Google's part on releasing it).

I followed this guide exactly and it works as intended.


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 19, 2013)

ExodusC said:


> I had seen that guide, but I noted that the SIM cards appear to be free with a "web-only discount" on T-Mobile's website.
> 
> I presume I am supposed to buy the free "Phone" SIM as opposed to the "Mobile Internet Device" SIM that is $10.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



You are correct. 

I bought a couple $100 T-Mobile refill cards off callingmart.com but it appears refillmobi is still sold out. 


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## ExodusC (Nov 19, 2013)

lordroy said:


> Ya, just get the t-mobile sim, either at discount or for $10 (I ordered mine online for $.99).
> 
> I had the sim for a couple weeks before I got the phone (because of the delay on Google's part on releasing it).
> 
> I followed this guide exactly and it works as intended.

Click to collapse





kayone73 said:


> You are correct.
> 
> I bought a couple $100 T-Mobile refill cards off callingmart.com but it appears refillmobi is still sold out.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Great, thanks for the help. I ordered a free SIM activation kit from T-Mobile's website, and will place my order on a Nexus 5 as soon as my bank account deposits resolve.

Can't wait, as it looks like they have a guaranteed ship-by time as of today. Seems they'll leave the warehouse by December 3rd.

Hopefully nothing goes wrong.


----------



## letakomahieu (Nov 19, 2013)

So did you ever try to make your phone as a hot spot wifi for your tablet? Im on 30$ plan and I got an Ipad mini WiFi ? If so, will Tmobile corrupted your plan?

Thanks!
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 19, 2013)

letakomahieu said:


> So did you ever try to make your phone as a hot spot wifi for your tablet? Im on 30$ plan and I got an Ipad mini WiFi ? If so, will Tmobile corrupted your plan?
> 
> Thanks!
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



I can't get wifi tethering to work like it did when I was on AT&T data

Sent from my Nexus 5


----------



## Gaffadin (Nov 20, 2013)

letakomahieu said:


> So did you ever try to make your phone as a hot spot wifi for your tablet? Im on 30$ plan and I got an Ipad mini WiFi ? If so, will Tmobile corrupted your plan?

Click to collapse


http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2512674&page=8 describes how to do the fix to tether (you will need root).


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 20, 2013)

ExodusC said:


> I can't seem to find an up to date tutorial on exactly how to get this plan.
> 
> I want to buy a Nexus 5 now and then get this plan so I can get off Verizon, but I have no idea how to still get this plan.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



You don't need a tutorial:

1. buy prepaid T-mobile sim activation kit online or in store: comes with sim card and instructions how to activate

2. go to T-mobile website under prepaid plans to activate the sim card (URL is in the sim activation kit instructions)

3. insert sim into phone

4. select the $30  100min + 5Gb data + unlimited text  plan on the website

5. create new phone or port old phone number onto acct

6. follow remaining instructions on the website and you'll get confirmation text that your sim and number are active on T-Mobile

whole thing should take less than 30 min.


----------



## jlk_250 (Nov 20, 2013)

nooktablet said:


> Hi, I notice in android there's an option to tether my wifi connection as a hotspot, but I have not dared  to  try. Does this cost money or it's just a feature of android? Or tmobile has policy on it? (And of course  I'm using this $30 plan)

Click to collapse



I have a Nexus 4 on 4.3 with the $30 5GB data plan and use the Wi-Fi hotspot from time to time.  Works great and T-Mobile doesn't seem to know.  On my.tmobile it shows that we get 100MB of hotspot tethering per month but I don't know if that's correct.  My wife has am N5 on the same plan and Wi-Fi hotspot is blocked.   

So my question is this: when we update our N4s to 4.4, will hotspot tethering be blocked on our phones too?  Anyone with the OTA update able to check and confirm?


----------



## h20wakebum (Nov 20, 2013)

Just found out I cannot do call forwarding on the nexus 5 with the $30 plan... Bummer sure would have been nice to be able to set up Google voice.

Any tricks or solutions to get around this?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## dazz87 (Nov 20, 2013)

Hey guys got my T-Mobile sim and I want to test it out vs GOPHONE (at&t) if I like it could I then port my number from at&t later on (week).  Or do I need to port my number right away when I active it the sim?  Another question looks like this plan is only for new customer. Will I be consider a "new customer" even tho I had tmobile back in Oct? My contract ended at the end of Oct this year.  Thanks
Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## harveydent (Nov 20, 2013)

h20wakebum said:


> Just found out I cannot do call forwarding on the nexus 5 with the $30 plan... Bummer sure would have been nice to be able to set up Google voice.
> 
> Any tricks or solutions to get around this?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Click to collapse



That's odd. You should be able to use call forwarding via TMo prepaid. That's how the GVoice+VOIP system works. What you can't do is forward voicemails to GVoice, which is solved by simply disabling the TMo voicemail service to allow GVoice to serve the voicemail.



dazz87 said:


> Hey guys got my T-Mobile sim and I want to test it out vs GOPHONE (at&t) if I like it could I then port my number from at&t later on (week).  Or do I need to port my number right away when I active it the sim?  Another question looks like this plan is only for new customer. Will I be consider a "new customer" even tho I had tmobile back in Oct? My contract ended at the end of Oct this year.  Thanks
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



You need to have a phone number to have a usable phone, so when you activate a SIM it either assigns you a number or you get to port your own. I'm not sure if you're still able to port a new number after a week has passed, maybe someone here who's done that can chime in. Worst case scenario, if you can't port anymore, just get a new sim and do a new activation to port your number. (You're technically a new customer then). You'll just be out $30 for that 1 month service you applied to the first SIM. Just remember, when porting a number, do not cancel the old account! Just make sure you have no obligations (all paid up/no outstanding balance, no ETF, no equipment that needs to be returned, etc.) and when you port the number, the old account will automatically be cancelled. If you cancel first before you port, there's a chance that the number will be unavailable to be ported since you no longer own it.

Yes, you can port TMo postpaid to prepaid, I've done that myself and it's very painless, since both accounts/numbers are in their system. Getting the old number running on the new SIM took only a minute and a half.

EDIT: did a little research on the GNex $30 thread and found this:



			
				jaybeeunix said:
			
		

> rafareal said:
> 
> 
> 
> ...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse


----------



## livehifi (Nov 20, 2013)

I used this for a while on my old Pantech phone. It was great. Really the only downside is the lack of roaming. That means when you're not in the city, it's going to suck. Otherwise, Tmobile is quite nice Now I am in Korea so Olleh is a good alternative at ~20usd/month for 2GB.


----------



## harveydent (Nov 20, 2013)

ExodusC said:


> I had seen that guide, but I noted that the SIM cards appear to be free with a "web-only discount" on T-Mobile's website.
> 
> I presume I am supposed to buy the free "Phone" SIM as opposed to the "Mobile Internet Device" SIM that is $10.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Yes, and do it quickly as the SIM is usually $10 as well. The phone SIMs are free for now for a limited time


----------



## e1ioan (Nov 20, 2013)

idigg said:


> Here is what I do with my Nexus 4 (soon to be Nexus 5).
> 
> Tmobile $30 plan (5GB 4g, unlimited texts and 100min/month) - I get refills on eBay/Craigslist for $27-$28, no tax.
> I have VOIPO home phone service ($185 for 2 years), which allows SIP connections.  I use CSipSimple on N4 to allow SIP calling over Wifi/data.
> ...

Click to collapse



For my home phone I have Obi110 ATA (look it up on amazon, I can't post links) which works with google voice to call/receive calls for free.


----------



## jimmyjoebob (Nov 20, 2013)

e1ioan said:


> For my home phone I have Obi110 ATA (look it up on amazon, I can't post links) which works with google voice to call/receive calls for free.

Click to collapse



Which will stop working mid 2014.


----------



## e1ioan (Nov 20, 2013)

jimmyjoebob said:


> Which will stop working mid 2014.

Click to collapse



Considering that I used that for the last 3 years and it costed me $50, it's a good deal


----------



## lordroy (Nov 20, 2013)

jimmyjoebob said:


> Which will stop working mid 2014.

Click to collapse



Supposedly by then Google should have it's own VOIP solution.


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 20, 2013)

lordroy said:


> Supposedly by then Google should have it's own VOIP solution.

Click to collapse



My spotty research indicates indicates that Hangouts itself will be enabled for VOIP calling, hopefully that would mean VOIP SMS as well in no signal zones. 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## Letitride (Nov 20, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> My spotty research indicates indicates that Hangouts itself will be enabled for VOIP calling, hopefully that would mean VOIP SMS as well in no signal zones.

Click to collapse



Look at it this way, the N5 is endorsing T-Mobile and vice versa, granted that T-Mo really don't want everyone to sign up on a $30 p/p pland and do GV & VOIP - you would be saving $$ between now and next May, $10 to $20 or maybe $30+ a month if the solution is workable (not everyone is able to take advantage of it) - enough to offset part of the investment for the unlocked N5 with LTE bands enabled, and this is no contract.  

Switch to Straight Talk, Simple Mobile, Walmart then if there are no solutions in 2014 - meanwhile, enjoy the ride.  I'm still on stupid VZW now (single # of days left on the contract) but been playing/testing T-Mo p/p with LTE on a spare/backup line - call quality is good and LTE/HSPA+  speed literally blasting Big Red's 3G speed around here.  By Thanksgiving, "Can you hear me now" will be history after 17+ years - not paying $$ for upgrade fees, activation fees, $300 for a SG4 and another full 24 month contract on top with ETF x 2 lines.


----------



## flintdragon (Nov 21, 2013)

I'm trying to set up a new $30 pre-paid account on N5 while porting my number which is also on the same plan but I'm getting this error:

"Sorry, you can't transfer this number to a T-Mobile No Annual Contract Plan at this time. Please call Customer Care at 1-877-453-1304 for assistance with this transfer."

Anyone know if there is an issue here?

-- nevermind, I went ahead and called and they switched me right over using the same account.  Just had to give them my account info and new sim card.


----------



## shadrach47 (Nov 21, 2013)

Not sure if this will work for prepaid or not but stumbled on it. Free $50 for transferring your number. http://www.t-mobile.com/offer/transfer-cell-phone-numbers.html?AID=11456737&PID=4485850

I tried to add it to my account even though it was activated a week ago. I went to this page http://www.tmobilerebates.com/splash.asp and enter promo TRNSFR5.

Not sure if it will work but wanted to let everyone know.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 21, 2013)

shadrach47 said:


> Not sure if this will work for prepaid or not but stumbled on it. Free $50 for transferring your number. http://www.t-mobile.com/offer/transfer-cell-phone-numbers.html?AID=11456737&PID=4485850
> 
> I tried to add it to my account even though it was activated a week ago. I went to this page http://www.tmobilerebates.com/splash.asp and enter promo TRNSFR5.
> 
> Not sure if it will work but wanted to let everyone know.

Click to collapse



T&Cs indicate Simple Choice Plans only.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Ash359 (Nov 21, 2013)

Zainiak said:


> Hangouts will be getting calling soon, so you could just use that. I've been using groove for about a year now. I don't really like it, but its the best at what it does. until hangouts gets the update

Click to collapse



There is an app called Spare Phone that seems to have better reviews than GrooveIP

It also allows you to make 3g and 4g calls using your massive pool of data. Costs a little more than a meg a minute.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.guidology.sparephone

Sent from my Jedi Master Note II


----------



## schwab002 (Nov 21, 2013)

My nexus 5 is coming in a couple weeks and I'm trying to decide between the t-mo 30$ plan or straight talk $45.

I usually use around 120 minutes on my current sprint plan so the tmobile plan will be at least $10 per month even with overages, but my concerns are with the t-mobile network vs the AT&T network you can get with straight talk.  AT&T sounds like they have better network coverage and building penetration.  I live in NYC but I visit rural areas in Connecticut usually a couple times a month.

Thoughts or advice?  Maybe I'll have to order sim cards from both and try them out for a month each.


----------



## Mutalator (Nov 21, 2013)

I had an interesting experience over the past weekend. I signed up for the plan and got a new number (soon to be off-contract on Verizon), in order to test drive the network for a month and see how things go. 

I was having problems with the phone at first, I was able to send calls/texts but not able to receive them. Come to find out, that T-Mobile had given me the same number as someone with a landline. The guy called me a day after I had activated and was mad that he was getting all these calls from random numbers... sorry man, not my fault. 

Coverage is spotty at my house, edge speeds only and depending on where you are/how you are holding the device you might not have reception. Great coverage at work along most of the ride and in the places that I frequent.

I know that ATT has full coverage at my place, so I might try out one of their MVNO options after my month is up.


----------



## Ash359 (Nov 21, 2013)

It all depends on where you live, my T-Mobile speed is seldom less than 4G

Sent from my Jedi Master Note II


----------



## STi_Fanatic (Nov 21, 2013)

shadrach47 said:


> Not sure if this will work for prepaid or not but stumbled on it. Free $50 for transferring your number. http://www.t-mobile.com/offer/transfer-cell-phone-numbers.html?AID=11456737&PID=4485850
> 
> I tried to add it to my account even though it was activated a week ago. I went to this page http://www.tmobilerebates.com/splash.asp and enter promo TRNSFR5.
> 
> Not sure if it will work but wanted to let everyone know.

Click to collapse



Saw this on SD this morning....I don't want to pay $10 for a SIM and another $12 for expedited shipping, wonder if it will work to go activate in store and then try to retroactively apply the deal.


----------



## schwab002 (Nov 21, 2013)

I don't think it'll work if you're just getting the 30$ pre-paid plan:

"To qualify, you must meet all of the following Eligibility Requirements between November 14 and November 28, 2013.
Your T-Mobile account must be active and in good standing at time of validation
You must transfer or port-in your current phone number from another carrier and activate a new line of service on *a qualifying Simple Choice plan* with T-Mobile
*You must add Unlimited 4G Data* to your qualifying Simple Choice plan"

http://www.t-mobile.com/Promotions/ResourceTemplate.aspx?PAsset=Pro_Pro_PortInTermsAndConditions


----------



## adrman (Nov 21, 2013)

schwab002 said:


> My nexus 5 is coming in a couple weeks and I'm trying to decide between the t-mo 30$ plan or straight talk $45.
> 
> I usually use around 120 minutes on my current sprint plan so the tmobile plan will be at least $10 per month even with overages, but my concerns are with the t-mobile network vs the AT&T network you can get with straight talk.  AT&T sounds like they have better network coverage and building penetration.  I live in NYC but I visit rural areas in Connecticut usually a couple times a month.
> 
> Thoughts or advice?  Maybe I'll have to order sim cards from both and try them out for a month each.

Click to collapse



I had my GNex on StraightTalk/ATT before I switched over to T-Mobile. I had some pretty big dead zones in midtown where I couldn't make calls much less get data. In rural areas, I found the coverage difference to be negligible, as in, both aren't that good. I get much more reliable service in the city though with T-Mobile. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## gloppe (Nov 21, 2013)

Why is North America so incredibly behind on cell plans.
In my home country in Europe I pay  10 Euros for 1000 minutes, 1000 text and 1GB data. And no contract!

Why is NA so expensive?


----------



## STi_Fanatic (Nov 21, 2013)

gloppe said:


> Why is North America so incredibly behind on cell plans.
> In my home country in Europe I pay  10 Euros for 1000 minutes, 1000 text and 1GB data. And no contract!
> 
> Why is NA so expensive?

Click to collapse



Historically Europe's model for cellular telephony involved people paying high prices (read: retail) for a device, but saving money on their plans.

NA has been the opposite.  Cheap devices, more expensive plans.  This is starting to change, but it's not quite the same.


----------



## br0adband (Nov 21, 2013)

gloppe said:


> Why is North America so incredibly behind on cell plans.
> In my home country in Europe I pay  10 Euros for 1000 minutes, 1000 text and 1GB data. And no contract!
> 
> Why is NA so expensive?

Click to collapse



You don't have a lot of people, basically. Here, with 330-340 million people and a lot of cell phones, businesses love profits so they are effectively free to screw everyone as much as possible to eek out every last possible cent of profit as far and wide as they can.

Greed, plain and simple.


----------



## gloppe (Nov 21, 2013)

STi_Fanatic said:


> Historically Europe's model for cellular telephony involved people paying high prices (read: retail) for a device, but saving money on their plans.
> 
> NA has been the opposite.  Cheap devices, more expensive plans.  This is starting to change, but it's not quite the same.

Click to collapse



I don't really see a difference in device prices. In Europe you pay the same as you pay in NA, only in Euros. Which of course is a **** move, but it's consistent across all products, be it games, computers or what have you. Stuff is just more expensive there in general.

As for the size argument. I don't really see how that would make a difference? Why would the European providers not be greedy? Internet is so much cheaper in Europe too. Just doesn't make sense to me.


----------



## STi_Fanatic (Nov 21, 2013)

gloppe said:


> I don't really see a difference in device prices. In Europe you pay the same as you pay in NA, only in Euros. Which of course is a **** move, but it's consistent across all products, be it games, computers or what have you. Stuff is just more expensive there in general.
> 
> As for the size argument. I don't really see how that would make a difference? Why would the European providers not be greedy? Internet is so much cheaper in Europe too. Just doesn't make sense to me.

Click to collapse



In Europe you pay 200 euro for a brand new device?  

Keep in mind the service is likely tied to the infrastructure costs too.  European countries are TINY compared to the US.  Less footprint to roll out = less money to maintain the infrastructure = cheaper service.


----------



## gloppe (Nov 21, 2013)

STi_Fanatic said:


> In Europe you pay 200 euro for a brand new device?

Click to collapse



Sure you do.

Sure those plans are more expensive too then and not like the 10 Euros I mentioned. But there ARE plans that are dirt cheap like the 10 Euro one. That simply doesn't exist in NA.




STi_Fanatic said:


> Keep in mind the service is likely tied to the infrastructure costs too.  European countries are TINY compared to the US.  Less footprint to roll out = less money to maintain the infrastructure = cheaper service.

Click to collapse



Well but this is what I don't understand, sure there is more infrastructure involved, but the companies are therefore bigger and have a million times more customers. It's all scaled up, it's not just the land size. So there is also much more revenue involved. So that can't be an excuse.


----------



## h20wakebum (Nov 22, 2013)

I currently have Sprint SERO plan and bought the nexus 5 and signed up for the $30 T-Mobile pre-paid plan.

It only took me 3 days to decide I was going to cancel my Sprint plan AND sign up for the $70 T-Mobile Unlimited Plan.

I get a 15% discount so it brings my bill down to $59 + tax (basically $70 all in).

I did this because of 2 reasons:

1) no forwarding on pre paid
2) no way in hell 100 minutes would be enough...  I use around 700 a month so it made more sense to sign up for the $70.

The rep. told me I could always drop down to the $60 2.5gb LTE plan if i found i was not using that much data (which in reality i probably will do as i'm on WIFI most of the day).

I did side by side speed tests/call test and T-Mobile bested sprint in every instance.

Known locations to drop sprint calls... no problem for Tmobile...

Anywho... thought I'd share my results with you all.

Santa Monica CA is my home base.

I'm really happy to actually have FAST LTE speeds and i'm happy to pay for them.

On a side note... I did not purchase the $8 per month insurance with tmobile... I just don't think it's necessary... Any thoughts on buying the insurance on a phone you pay up front for?

Thanks,
RR


----------



## crucialcolin (Nov 22, 2013)

STi_Fanatic said:


> Saw this on SD this morning....I don't want to pay $10 for a SIM and another $12 for expedited shipping, wonder if it will work to go activate in store and then try to retroactively apply the deal.

Click to collapse



Just FYI the T-mobile stores wont activate the $30 plan. I was at one recently and quite a few people came in looking for the plan with the Nexus 5. Its online only or walmart if you're local walmart still offers it.


----------



## dazz87 (Nov 22, 2013)

Ash359 said:


> There is an app called Spare Phone that seems to have better reviews than GrooveIP
> 
> It also allows you to make 3g and 4g calls using your massive pool of data. Costs a little more than a meg a minute.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Yeah straight talk is good if u don't run into any issues. Goodluck with their customer service they are horrible 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## ceecee10 (Nov 22, 2013)

*Skype?*

Spare phone, groove IP and talkatone is not working well for me. I am thinking about getting a skype number. Anybody using skype number out there what is your experience?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 22, 2013)

ceecee10 said:


> Spare phone, groove IP and talkatone is not working well for me. I am thinking about getting a skype number. Anybody using skype number out there what is your experience?

Click to collapse



I've been using Skype for about 6 months and it works just fine the best call quality of them all.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## cas8180 (Nov 22, 2013)

crucialcolin said:


> Just FYI the T-mobile stores wont activate the $30 plan. I was at one recently and quite a few people came in looking for the plan with the Nexus 5. Its online only or walmart if you're local walmart still offers it.

Click to collapse



I have found their online chat support to be very fast and effective.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using xda app-developers app


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 22, 2013)

crucialcolin said:


> Just FYI the T-mobile stores wont activate the $30 plan. I was at one recently and quite a few people came in looking for the plan with the Nexus 5. Its online only or walmart if you're local walmart still offers it.

Click to collapse



Don't speak to a human customer rep to activate the $30 prepaid plan either, i was told by them they are unable to activate it for you.  Do it on the T-Mobile website. 

Also Im told the $30 Walmart plan is not the same as the $30 plan on the website 

Sent from my Nexus 5


----------



## Ash359 (Nov 22, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> Don't speak to a human customer rep to activate the $30 prepaid plan either, i was told by them they are unable to activate it for you.  Do it on the T-Mobile website.
> 
> Also Im told the $30 Walmart plan is not the same as the $30 plan on the website
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5

Click to collapse



I was really confused about the Wal-Mart deal. I went there first and they didn't have SIM cards, would have had to buy one if their cheap phones and taken the SIM from it.

They weren't too sure what I was talking about.

I just did the whole thing online and over the phone. They were very helpful to me however that was a long time ago when they first offered it. Surprised it's still an option.

One thing to note though, the T-Mobile Wi-Fi calling app still uses your 100 minutes.

I learned that the hard way.

Sent from my Jedi Master Note II


----------



## lordroy (Nov 22, 2013)

Ash359 said:


> One thing to note though, the T-Mobile Wi-Fi calling app still uses your 100 minutes.

Click to collapse



I use GrooveIP ... no minutes used.


----------



## jerflash (Nov 22, 2013)

the best app to use is the vonage app. If you get a call from someone juet call them back and it will look like its coming from your number...and its free in the usa. Call quality even on LTE or HSPA+ is amazing. I had to set my APN Protocol to ip4v to get it to work on mobile but i did that to get by the hotspot issue anyway.

Seriously this is the best plan around if you are in a major city


----------



## travblue (Nov 22, 2013)

Solavei has 4G now 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## jerflash (Nov 22, 2013)

travblue said:


> Solavei has 4G now
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



it does for sure? last time i checked it did not. besides its more expensive...granted it does have unlimited voice

Edit: Actually **** that they raised all there prices! $49 only gets you 2 GB of highspeed now...used to get you 4gb! You have to pay $69 for 4gb now


----------



## RayLancer (Nov 22, 2013)

Here's what I get in Sacramento after the APN fix. Much more stable and consistent speed.


----------



## letakomahieu (Nov 23, 2013)

There is no option for you to choose to the walmart $30 plan in Tmobile website.

There only way you can do is buy a activation card and the sim card compatible with your phone then call the Tmobile Representative and they will tell you able or unable.

In my case is Im currently T-Mobile customer's. And I bought a activation card and the simcard from walmart. Then I called the T-Mobile representative and asked if Im able to switch to $30 Walmart plan. And he said Im eligible to switched. Btw Im on prepaid plan switched to walmart 30$ without taken money from activation card, they took my money directly from my account.
So my opinion is, if you are currently tmobile customer or not, just go ahead an ask before buying the activation card!
Now I still got the 30$ activation card, and dont know what to do with it.
I will donation to any (hard helper xda developers) if he or she is wanted !
First inbox me will get the code  I will make sure to check if it is a fake developer!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## br0adband (Nov 23, 2013)

letakomahieu said:


> There is no option for you to choose to the walmart $30 plan in Tmobile website.

Click to collapse



It's not a Walmart plan, it's a T-Mobile plan and you can get it one of two ways:

- IN a Walmart store
- ON T-Mobile.com

That's it. Yes there are some people having luck with calling in to T-Mobile and getting someone knowledgeable to help set it up - not every rep will know about it because it's so well hidden for whatever reason, but as more and more find out about it things do become easier.

But it's not a "Walmart plan" per se. The way sign up and activate this has been explained numerous times in this thread so far, at least 9 times I've noted and I even explained it twice myself.


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 23, 2013)

letakomahieu said:


> There is no option for you to choose to the walmart $30 plan in Tmobile website.
> 
> There only way you can do is buy a activation card and the sim card compatible with your phone then call the Tmobile Representative and they will tell you able or unable.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



That is very not true, you can activate the $30 plan on the T-Mobile website, that's how i signed it up and it only took 30 min


Sent from my Nexus 5


----------



## plee3 (Nov 23, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> That is very not true, you can activate the $30 plan on the T-Mobile website, that's how i signed it up and it only took 30 min
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5

Click to collapse



This is correct. I also activated a new SIM using the T-Mobile website for my Nexus 5 on the $30 plan. Everything went smoothly and was up and running with no problems.

Thanks... plee3


----------



## sorindobrin (Nov 23, 2013)

Here's my take on the $30 plan, and my set up. I have been using it for 2 years with my Gnex. I live in Fort Lauderdale area, South Florida. I used to get (HSPA) around 6MB speed and 120-150 latency...now on Nexus 5 LTE,I get 12MB and 40 latency.

  I have set up auto payment and have them take an extra $10 per month, in case I run out of minutes for incoming calls ,I have family oversees and they call me, I don't want to get cut off in the middle of a phone call. This extra $10 , are roll over money , which means that if I only use extra 30 minutes they take 3 dollars, but next month they will only withdraw $33. I call this money "just in case money" ...I don't talk too much.
 As for making calls I use an app called Voxofon, initially was just an app for calling internationally very cheap and high quality ,using a local access number , the last year they added VOIP , making calls over Wi-Fi and data plan. While being on Gnex and HSPA the call quality was not very good, due to high latency (getting echo, tiny voice ) , once I got the Nexus 5 the quality is very good, it sounds better than making calls straight through T-Mobile. When I'm on Wi-Fi at home, the calls quality is incredible...I call my mom in Romania and it sounds incredible. They charge 1.3 cents/minute to place a call in U.S.A....instead of the 10c that T-Mobile charges. So with  $5 you get another 450 minutes. 
   I wanted to let people know about Voxofon, because I think it works very well with this specific plan , and it's a very easy set up...some people might get discouraged by the complexity of setting up, Google voice+ Groove ip, or any other VOIP set up. The app is very well integrated with the phone contacts list . You fire up the app, choose your contact and call away...it's that simple. I think they have free trial, so you can try it out see if it works good enough for you.

 The only disadvantage is that your phone number it's not gonna show up, so the person that you call it's not gonna know who is calling. 

 This is my set up and it works great for me, for $35 I get 5GB and 500 minutes ...contracts, Verizon, expensive plans...No thank you

Sent from my Nexus 5 using my $30 plan .

Edit: now it's gonna look like I wrote this post for profit, I didn't...just remembered they have some referral program, if you create the voxofon account by clicking on my referral link , they'll give me some extra minutes. Of course you don't have to, you can just go on their website and do it . But if I helped you it's a way to say thank you. Referral link http://www.voxofon.com/r/3433445


----------



## letakomahieu (Nov 23, 2013)

Well you guys lucky to found that on T-Mobile site, all I see is $30 plan with 30mb of date and 1000min talk and some of txt !
Thanks for let us know :thumbup:

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## tsunami643 (Nov 23, 2013)

Got my Nexus 5 yesterday and set up GVoice calling today. For anyone who's having difficulties, I followed this guide:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2035720

And I now have incoming and outgoing all going through the native Dialer over data. Only amendment I have to make on that guide is to leave the Proxy field blank when setting up CSipSimple. The whole PBX thing seemed intimidating at first, but this was incredibly simple to set up after I trialed and errored with SipDroid and pbxes.org and whatnot. Now I don't have to deal with any forwarders or voip apps, it's all native.


----------



## adrman (Nov 23, 2013)

tsunami643 said:


> Got my Nexus 5 yesterday and set up GVoice calling today. For anyone who's having difficulties, I followed this guide:
> 
> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2035720

Click to collapse



Just make sure to note the warnings in that thread from post 2 forward. T-Mobile monthly prepaid plans do not have conditional call forwarding. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## cas8180 (Nov 23, 2013)

Magic jack is another option for making free calls and highly discounted internationally calls. I call Canada all the time from the states and it free and unlimited just download the app. One of my friends is homeless and he goes to Starbucks and uses text plus and magic jack and basically gets free service. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## hoktrillian (Nov 23, 2013)

*The density of population does make the difference*



gloppe said:


> As for the size argument. I don't really see how that would make a difference? Why would the European providers not be greedy? Internet is so much cheaper in Europe too. Just doesn't make sense to me.

Click to collapse



It is because the density of population.  Therefore, east Asian countries have higher Internet speed with lower price while Canada has even higher price and lower speed than United States.  For example, Hong Kong has low flat rate fixed line telephone service for everyone including business and residential service for more than half century.  As a result, in old days, business have their fixed line telephone placed near the entrance for anyone to use for free.

---------- Post added at 03:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:36 AM ----------




jerflash said:


> the best app to use is the vonage app. If you get a call from someone juet call them back and it will look like its coming from your number...and its free in the usa. Call quality even on LTE or HSPA+ is amazing.

Click to collapse



Are you still able to make free outgoing calls to any telephone number in the United States?  It appears that Vonage Mobile® app has stopped allowing free calls to any PSTN except those belong to Vonage home phone customers for a while as you can see from their web page.

---------- Post added at 04:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:54 AM ----------




sorindobrin said:


> As for making calls I use an app called Voxofon, initially was just an app for calling internationally very cheap and high quality ,using a local access number , the last year they added VOIP , making calls over Wi-Fi and data plan. While being on Gnex and HSPA the call quality was not very good, due to high latency (getting echo, tiny voice ) , once I got the Nexus 5 the quality is very good, it sounds better than making calls straight through T-Mobile. When I'm on Wi-Fi at home, the calls quality is incredible...I call my mom in Romania and it sounds incredible. They charge 1.3 cents/minute to place a call in U.S.A....instead of the 10c that T-Mobile charges. So with  $5 you get another 450 minutes.
> 
> ...
> 
> The only disadvantage is that your phone number it's not gonna show up, so the person that you call it's not gonna know who is calling.

Click to collapse



Have you tried Voxox app?  It uses VoIP so it is on Wi-Fi or data plan only, not voice minutes.  Every month you get $1 credit for free and only 1¢ per minute for calling DIDs in Canada, Philippines and United States.  Free to call toll-free DIDs in Canada and United States.  Call to Romania costs 2.6¢ per minute for fixed line or 8¢ per minute for mobile phone.  Moreover, they give DID in southern California and from iNum for free and outgoing CID works.


----------



## tsunami643 (Nov 23, 2013)

adrman said:


> Just make sure to note the warnings in that thread from post 2 forward. T-Mobile monthly prepaid plans do not have conditional call forwarding.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Yeah, I was actually satisfied once I got outgoing and incoming to work on my Google Voice number. Thankfully I've been migrating most people over to my Google Voice number, so I don't really care about forwarding my actual number. This was just the only guide I found that used Simonics and CSip, which I preferred over SipDroid and pbxes.org.


----------



## adrman (Nov 23, 2013)

Yeah, I use csipsimple with flowroute and voip.ms. it's definitely the best sip client for Android. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 11:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:52 AM ----------




tsunami643 said:


> Yeah, I was actually satisfied once I got outgoing and incoming to work on my Google Voice number. Thankfully I've been migrating most people over to my Google Voice number, so I don't really care about forwarding my actual number. This was just the only guide I found that used Simonics and CSip, which I preferred over SipDroid and pbxes.org.

Click to collapse



I meant to ask in the previous post. I've read quite a few negative things on Simonics, but it's working well for you? 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## xerokai3n (Nov 23, 2013)

I have this plan and managed to convert 3 other people as well. Verizon lost 4 customers including myself, all due to pricing. Couldn't be happier, saving money & a nexus!? Xmas came early for me. And away I go to play with my shiny PS4, xmas is here indeed!


----------



## Ash359 (Nov 23, 2013)

letakomahieu said:


> There is no option for you to choose to the walmart $30 plan in Tmobile website.
> 
> There only way you can do is buy a activation card and the sim card compatible with your phone then call the Tmobile Representative and they will tell you able or unable.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



You know you can use that $30 card to pay your monthly bill

Sent from my Jedi Master Note II


----------



## nooktablet (Nov 23, 2013)

For some reason with this plan at my home and school when I change mobile data  network mode to 3G I get 4 bar reception signal and when on LTE get 2 bar at home and 1 bar or no service at all at school.
I was planning on switching to AT&T next month but this "trick" may make me reconsider

And HSPA+ is fast  enough for me. it's faster than my school Wi-Fi network anyway


----------



## BinkXDA (Nov 23, 2013)

adrman said:


> Yeah, I use csipsimple with flowroute and voip.ms.

Click to collapse



Just curious—why flowroute and voip.ms—why not just use one?


----------



## adrman (Nov 23, 2013)

BinkXDA said:


> Just curious—why flowroute and voip.ms—why not just use one?

Click to collapse



Short answer, I like to experiment. Long answer, I had voip.ms already on my home voip line and added another did for my gnex. I started having call quality issues with voip.ms and my gnex, so a couple of months ago, I gave flowroute a go. The really wasn't much improvement, so off to Skype I went. Skype had the best quality on the gnex, but crap integration with google contacts. When I got my N5, I decided to revisit my previous options and discovered that on the N5 they worked much better. Actually, flowroute worked the best, since it only supports pcmu. For some reason voip.ms would always connect with GSM, even though they're supposed to support pcmu as well. If I tried to force pcmu by only having that option in csipsimple, I couldn't get a connection. So at this point, I've let my Skype did expire, but just haven't got around to dealing with voip.ms yet. If I could get equal sound quality, I'd prefer to just keep voip.ms, since it has many more features available. Flowroute is pretty bare bones and designed for a pbx. Hope that answers your question. ?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## dazz87 (Nov 24, 2013)

Just signed up with Tmobile 30 bucks plan over the phone.  Wow, I am getting LTE with 4 bars speed in my house.  I had AT&T GoPhone and was getting 0-1 bars at home....And guess what Im paying 30 bucks vs 60 bucks (at&t) Makes no sense......


----------



## hubbs1982 (Nov 24, 2013)

I just ordered my free activation kit, about to order the phone. 

I am currently on Sprint and I cannot decide whether to port my sprint number to GVoice or to TMobile. The way I see it, GVoice basically doesn't work for texts, so if I port my number to them then I would want to use my new TMobile number for texting. Otherwise, if I port my number to TMobile and get a free number from Google, then I am going to have to answer calls on my TMobile minutes (or send to voicemail) and then call back using my random Google Voice number. Is this correct? Or is there a more elegant solution to get more than my 100 minutes?

Thanks


----------



## dazz87 (Nov 24, 2013)

hubbs1982 said:


> I just ordered my free activation kit, about to order the phone.
> 
> I am currently on Sprint and I cannot decide whether to port my sprint number to GVoice or to TMobile. The way I see it, GVoice basically doesn't work for texts, so if I port my number to them then I would want to use my new TMobile number for texting. Otherwise, if I port my number to TMobile and get a free number from Google, then I am going to have to answer calls on my TMobile minutes (or send to voicemail) and then call back using my random Google Voice number. Is this correct? Or is there a more elegant solution to get more than my 100 minutes?
> 
> Thanks

Click to collapse



Remember that Google voice will charge you 20 bucks i think 20 or 30 to port over.  Where Tmobile is free.


----------



## paperWastage (Nov 24, 2013)

hubbs1982 said:


> I just ordered my free activation kit, about to order the phone.
> 
> I am currently on Sprint and I cannot decide whether to port my sprint number to GVoice or to TMobile. The way I see it, GVoice basically doesn't work for texts, so if I port my number to them then I would want to use my new TMobile number for texting. Otherwise, if I port my number to TMobile and get a free number from Google, then I am going to have to answer calls on my TMobile minutes (or send to voicemail) and then call back using my random Google Voice number. Is this correct? Or is there a more elegant solution to get more than my 100 minutes?
> 
> Thanks

Click to collapse



calling through GVoice on your mobile phone still uses your minutes, unless you go through SIP/XMPP, but i think gvoice is retiring XMPP support (dunno, haven't done voip)


----------



## hubbs1982 (Nov 24, 2013)

Thanks for the replies. I realize google charges for the port, but I figured it was money well spent if I got free minutes. I should have said that I planned on using Talkatone with GV whilst it is still available and then hopefully Hangouts will have an option.


----------



## letakomahieu (Nov 24, 2013)

So this is a limited time anh once you are made change you can't never go back !

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## bo0gietrain (Nov 24, 2013)

Just wanted to post my story.

I got a free microSIM kit using the code NOV10.
Got my Nexus 5 and thought I could just put in the sim, and sign up for a new account on the phone, but it wouldn't get past the initial Activation screen.

I had to activate my sim/phone on this website: https://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/ActivateCodes.aspx

There's a bug with that site though where at the last step you can't add a payment method, but the sim still gets activated (you might not realize this because you have to close out of the activation process at step 5 (adding payment method) without completing the whole processes) At this point you should have a tmobile number - in my case I was porting my number from VM from the start.

When that site asked me for my virgin account number, i stupidly used my phone number. After a few calls to the T Mobile's NTC (Number Transfer Center) (I don't have the number anymore, but you can get it on their LiveChat) they explained that VM wasn't releasing the number because the account num I provided to tmobile was incorrect (this is about 36 hours after I requested the port). So I had to call VM and get my actual account number (couldn't find it on my account management page for VM). I called the NTC back and explained that I needed to update my VM acct number ( they always start by asking me for my phone number, then they say that they can't find that account - that's because the account isnt active till the port is complete in my case). The guy updated my request with the correct account number and said that my nexus should be active in less than 3 hours, and it was!

I then had to create a "My T-Mobile" account using the number on my newly established T-Mobile line (i thought this was kind of strange).

I got a refill code from wallmart.com with email delivery and applied it to my account and now I'm getting just under 15mbps on 4G!

This crushes Virgin's <1mbps 3G signal.


----------



## KrazyAttack (Nov 24, 2013)

You can fix the bug on their site very very easily to just activate it online through step 5, you just click the $30 you want to add to the account at the bottom, then right click that same box after you it 30, go to inspect element, and scroll down almost to the bottom to where you see <input type="hidden" name="autorecharge_plan_type" value="autorefill" id="autorecharge_plan_type">. double click on 'autorefill' and delete it, leaving value="".

Then hit continue, and you're done.

Why they haven't fixed that error in 8 months worth of time, I do not know.

That is for Chrome btw, but I'd imagine Firefox has a DOM inspector as well.

I just did this not even 10 min ago. Awaiting my number to be ported from Net10.


----------



## Gaffadin (Nov 24, 2013)

Yeah VM changed their account management system about 10 months ago. Your account number used to be your phone number, but is now something else that you have to contact them for (I emailed [email protected] and got it within a few hours). You can't port without it.


----------



## tsunami643 (Nov 24, 2013)

adrman said:


> Yeah, I use csipsimple with flowroute and voip.ms. it's definitely the best sip client for Android.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
> 
> ...

Click to collapse




So far it's been perfect for me. Voice quality and such has been just fine. I _think_ I heard an 'ad' one time before a call went through like "Thank you for using Simonics" or something like that, but I'm not sure. It definitely hasn't been a regular thing.


----------



## dazz87 (Nov 24, 2013)

Man is tmobile blocking sites? Trying to check my NFL pool standing and I get this. Lol

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## harveydent (Nov 24, 2013)

dazz87 said:


> Man is tmobile blocking sites? Trying to check my NFL pool standing and I get this. Lol
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



It's similar to Google "Safe Search" they block porn and gambling sites. You can go to a TMo store and show them ID to remove it, or do it via phone/online but you'll have to give them your SSN


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 24, 2013)

I turned my off by logging into the website,  would not allow me to go to gun related sites either.


----------



## karl23 (Nov 24, 2013)

In NA, we also are probably looking at lower customer density. We tend to be pretty spread out (my guess).

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## KrazyAttack (Nov 24, 2013)

How long did it take for you guys to get your number ported over?

I did mine last night (coming from Net10) and still nothing today.

When I ported from Sprint to Net10 it took about 10 minutes. Should I contact TMobile or wait another day?


----------



## HtcOneVprimoc (Nov 24, 2013)

*Reply*

there is only 2g in my area but its worth it for the price. although Republic wireless is a better deal. 





trsix said:


> This thread is for all users who might be interested in using T-mobiles Unlimited $30 plan (No tax, no service fees) with 100 minutes of talk time and 5GBYTES of monthly 4G usage. You can make wifi calls when wifi's available so you don't eat your 100 minutes every month. I do, and use groove ip for that.
> I dumped sprint last year and have no desire to be under contract or pay high prices. The money i and others save with this plan will allow me to buy the new nexus every year.:good:
> A ton of questions are already answered in this thread.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse


----------



## PhillyFan65 (Nov 24, 2013)

Does ordering the micro sim "create/activate" my T-Mobile account or is is the activation of the sim.


----------



## herosemblem (Nov 24, 2013)

Kayone, for step # 5 (porting old number onto T-Mobile)...could you elaborate on this step for a noob like me? Thank you.


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 24, 2013)

I called the t mobile support #,  and hit 0 to by pass the automated menu, gave them my info and my Verizon security ID and 15 minutes later rebooted my phone and that was it. 
I did it about 4 days after I activated it so I could test signal and data where I spend 80% of my time just to be sure it was going to work for me.


----------



## dazz87 (Nov 25, 2013)

KrazyAttack said:


> How long did it take for you guys to get your number ported over?
> 
> I did mine last night (coming from Net10) and still nothing today.
> 
> When I ported from Sprint to Net10 it took about 10 minutes. Should I contact TMobile or wait another day?

Click to collapse



Took me about 4 hours. Number was from at&t. Did it over the phone. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## hoktrillian (Nov 25, 2013)

PhillyFan65 said:


> Does ordering the micro sim "create/activate" my T-Mobile account or is is the activation of the sim.

Click to collapse



When you activate your SIM with your phone.


----------



## tsunami643 (Nov 25, 2013)

KrazyAttack said:


> How long did it take for you guys to get your number ported over?
> 
> I did mine last night (coming from Net10) and still nothing today.
> 
> When I ported from Sprint to Net10 it took about 10 minutes. Should I contact TMobile or wait another day?

Click to collapse



Porting from ATT to T-Mobile took a little under 6 hours.


----------



## hoktrillian (Nov 25, 2013)

hubbs1982 said:


> I am currently on Sprint and I cannot decide whether to port my sprint number to GVoice or to TMobile. The way I see it, GVoice basically doesn't work for texts, so if I port my number to them then I would want to use my new TMobile number for texting. Otherwise, if I port my number to TMobile and get a free number from Google, then I am going to have to answer calls on my TMobile minutes (or send to voicemail) and then call back using my random Google Voice number. Is this correct? Or is there a more elegant solution to get more than my 100 minutes?

Click to collapse



I am with you.  Only mobile phone carriers can provide 100% full feature text service thus far.  If I were you, I would port Sprint number to T-Mobile for free and use this number for full feature texting only.  Just let all incoming calls go to voicemail (which should not use your 100 minutes airtime) then you can call the caller right back via app with free outgoing calls feature such as magicJack or netTALK without using your 100 minutes airtime, just via mobile data or Wi-Fi.  I would create voice mail greeting to let every caller know my new voice telephone number as the telephone number they are calling is for texting only.  I would get a new telephone number for free (but only have telephone numbers within southern California) from Voxox instead of Google Voice to avoid Google relentless effort on data mining such as only allow phone to be rang five times (25 seconds) then answer with voice mail for transcription.  I would use Voxox app to answer all calls.  Voxox also refill your account back to $1 credit balance every month so you can make some outgoing call for free every month.  For example, calls to Canada, Philippine and United States are 1¢ per minute so users can make calls up to 100 minutes for free to those countries.  Users can call other countries for free as well, but with less minutes due to higher per minute rate.


----------



## hoktrillian (Nov 25, 2013)

mtpktz said:


> My understanding is that the 100min, Unlimited Text, 5GB of 4GLTE $30 prepaid is offered by Family Mobile, a subsidiary of T-Mobile.
> 
> I believe Family Mobile only uses ~75-85% of the towers that postpaid and corporate purchased prepaid ($30 for 1500talk/text) use.

Click to collapse



“Family Mobile” is a short name of a brand, not a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator).  The full name of the brand is “Walmart Family Mobile Powered by T-Mobile”.  In other words, it is a brand by Walmart and sold by Walmart, but actual service is provided by T-Mobile.  T-Mobile also sell identical service without the brand directly via their prepaid web site.  There is no difference between same plan sold by Walmart and T-Mobile prepaid web site.  Furthermore, starting October 20, 2013 T-Mobile also give pay-in-advance customers access to domestic data roaming across the United States.


----------



## hoktrillian (Nov 25, 2013)

mtpktz said:


> I should have clarified; the information came from an upper level management within corporate T-Mobile.
> 
> There's a reason for the large discrepancy between the $30 prepaid plan offered by corporate T-Mobile stores (1500talk/text with 30MB) vs the 100min/unl text/5gb 4G data that is not offered in corporate T-Mobile stores.

Click to collapse



The real reason is profit.  Therefore, $30 per month for 100 minutes talk, unlimited text with first 5 GB at up to 4G speeds can only be sold via their prepaid website or via Wal-Mart.  There is insufficient gross profit to support nice bricks and mortar physical presence of stores cross the country.  Let alone uniformed staff in each store.  In fact, prepaid plans have less profit than post-paid plans, so much so it is hard to find from the main website.

---------- Post added at 05:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 05:15 AM ----------




adrman said:


> I've had issues both on my mobile trunk and home trunk on voip.ms with certain toll free numbers not connecting. Very few of them behave this way though.  However,  the call just won't connect. Nothing freezes up.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I use Voxox for calling toll-free numbers without any issue and love its ability to upload custom ringback tones that even play when user make outgoing calls, not just for people calling me.:good:


----------



## Letitride (Nov 25, 2013)

hoktrillian said:


> “Family Mobile” is a short name of a brand, not a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator).  The full name of the brand is “Walmart Family Mobile Powered by T-Mobile”.  In other words, it is a brand by Walmart and sold by Walmart, but actual service is provided by T-Mobile.  T-Mobile also sell identical service without the brand directly via their prepaid web site.  There is no difference between same plan sold by Walmart and T-Mobile prepaid web site.  Furthermore, starting October 20, 2013 T-Mobile also give pay-in-advance customers access to domestic data roaming across the United States.

Click to collapse



+1  Thanks for the clarification & especially the new access to domestic data roaming for prepaid accounts.

StraightTalk is another prepaid, sold exclusively by Walmart - it is offering similar plans using T-Mo, AT&T and VZW's CDMA towers, although I believe not all smartphones or handsets are supported - pricing are about the same, variations are mostly from the amount of 4G/LTE or HSPA+ high speed data included (and, throttling once over the cap instead of an absolute cutoff)  Most of them, however, do not offer any shared line advantages, savings or discounts - unless I overlooked the details in researching them in spare time.  

Walmart's Family Mobile also has Unlimited Plan Talk, Text & Web (up to 2.5 GB of 3G/4G LTE) - $39.88 or $29.88/mo for Talk & Text only - and additional lines at $34.88 or $24.88 (a $5 saving only) - mix & match up to 5 lines.  It is a POSTPAID plan and billed by T-Mobile after activation, but no credit credit is done per brochure I picked up in the store.  Calls to Canada, Mexico & 12 other countries are 5 cents per minute but otherwise it is domestic service only, and no domestic data roaming (unless T-Mo just changed it like other plans above)

Since these plans are only for new activations, I will be port 2 VZW lines over this week - and use Talkatone/GV for calling whenever practical & possible, and have extra funds to debit for any minutes over the allowances - still a lot cheaper than others with the generous data cap, just no roaming calls when we travel abroad.  Still torn about using postpaid T-Mo, but I think we will decide later on as we can freely migrate or switch (for free) 1 line to the postpaid $60 plan + taxes/fees with 2.5GB data & unlimited calling (and 100 minutes/5GB data on prepaid.)


----------



## firebrain (Nov 25, 2013)

Letitride said:


> +1  Thanks for the clarification & especially the new access to domestic data roaming for prepaid accounts.
> 
> StraightTalk is another prepaid, sold exclusively by Walmart - it is offering similar plans using T-Mo, AT&T and VZW's CDMA towers, although I believe not all smartphones or handsets are supported - pricing are about the same, variations are mostly from the amount of 4G/LTE or HSPA+ high speed data included (and, throttling once over the cap instead of an absolute cutoff)  Most of them, however, do not offer any shared line advantages, savings or discounts - unless I overlooked the details in researching them in spare time.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse




Family Mobile is a separate carrier than T-Mobile prepaid so you can not freely port between the 2.

In addition Family Mobile doesn't have LTE.

Family Mobile does not offer the $30/5GB plan.


----------



## maxell505 (Nov 25, 2013)

skinien said:


> I'm ditching Verizon and going with the $30/mo plan.  Actually, I plan on going $45/mo and getting an extra 150 minutes.

Click to collapse



or you can just do $50 and get unlimited everything!


----------



## edd247 (Nov 25, 2013)

maxell505 said:


> or you can just do $50 and get unlimited everything!

Click to collapse



I thought it was $70 for unlimited everything?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## maxell505 (Nov 25, 2013)

edd247 said:


> I thought it was $70 for unlimited everything?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



sorry yeah it is $70 for unlimited everything. I was mistaken because it used to be $50 for unlimited talk, text, and data. If you live with other people you can get a family plan. It is much cheaper than paying two separate bills.


----------



## Atrix2destroyer (Nov 25, 2013)

What were the APN settings used?



RayLancer said:


> Here's what I get in Sacramento after the APN fix. Much more stable and consistent speed.

Click to collapse


----------



## dazz87 (Nov 25, 2013)

anyone getting calls from telemarketing on their phone?  Today, I had two calls from companies I never heard of.  Never happen when I was on AT&T GoPhone.


----------



## hammester (Nov 25, 2013)

Does any one else have data being used while being on WIFI? If I sign into tmobile it shows that every night at like 3am I have data usage but during that time I am on WIFI.


----------



## Ash359 (Nov 25, 2013)

hammester said:


> Does any one else have data being used while being on WIFI? If I sign into tmobile it shows that every night at like 3am I have data usage but during that time I am on WIFI.

Click to collapse



Could it be mms? Whenever someone sends me a picture I see LTE on my screen even while on Wi-Fi.

Otherwise there are apps that monitor this and and tell you if you have a rogue app using your data.

Might even be the my T-Mobile app. That thing is total spyware. It even checks to see if you are rooted now.

Sent from my Jedi Master Note II


----------



## hammester (Nov 25, 2013)

Ash359 said:


> Could it be mms? Whenever someone sends me a picture I see LTE on my screen even while on Wi-Fi.
> 
> Otherwise there are apps that monitor this and and tell you if you have a rogue app using your data.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Thanks for the reply. No it isn't MMS as this is happening every night and I am not getting MMS during the night. I guess I will have to install a app and see what is using the data. I don't have any Tmobile apps on my phone so not sure what it is...


----------



## slowpok22 (Nov 25, 2013)

Could always turn data off at night and see what happens?


----------



## KrazyAttack (Nov 25, 2013)

5 calls over 2 days later, my number is ported and I'm now using this plan/service. Finally.


----------



## bo0gietrain (Nov 25, 2013)

KrazyAttack said:


> 5 calls over 2 days later, my number is ported and I'm now using this plan/service. Finally.

Click to collapse



What took so long?


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 26, 2013)

KrazyAttack said:


> How long did it take for you guys to get your number ported over?
> 
> I did mine last night (coming from Net10) and still nothing today.
> 
> When I ported from Sprint to Net10 it took about 10 minutes. Should I contact TMobile or wait another day?

Click to collapse



Mine ported within the hr after setting up my account on the website 

Sent from my Nexus 5


----------



## ximaginex (Nov 26, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> Mine ported within the hr after setting up my account on the website
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5

Click to collapse



Same here.


----------



## KrazyAttack (Nov 26, 2013)

bo0gietrain said:


> What took so long?

Click to collapse



Well I did it all online, waited for the port the next day and nothing.

I was coming from Net10 AT&T, and you don't have an acct number on that so I just put in my phone # like it said for my account number.

That wasn't right so when I called the first time and spoke to transfer center, she said that was the error and it would be the serial number, so I gave her the serial number. Wait 24 hours port should be good.

Today, nothing. Call again, still an error, this time the lady keeps me on the line and calls them and I get a text 5 min later my number has been ported.


----------



## dazz87 (Nov 26, 2013)

Yeah when porting over make sure to have your account number. I did the porting over the phone and I thought my acct number was my phone number. I couldn't find my acct number on at&t site. Tmobile cs knew that will be the issue so he had a three way phone call with at&t rep and they gave me my acct number. Took about 4 hrs to port over.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 26, 2013)

dazz87 said:


> Yeah when porting over make sure to have your account number. I did the porting over the phone and I thought my acct number was my phone number. I couldn't find my acct number on at&t site. Tmobile cs knew that will be the issue so he had a three way phone call with at&t rep and they gave me my acct number. Took about 4 hrs to port over.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



Yes you need to have the account number and info of your current wireless account to ensure the port is successful 

Sent from my Nexus 5


----------



## KrazyAttack (Nov 26, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> Yes you need to have the account number and info of your current wireless account to ensure the port is successful
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5

Click to collapse



Yeah, did you guys have any issues with texting at all? I can make calls, but I can't send texts. It says they're sent just fine, but called my buddy and he never got either text I've sent him over the last hour or so.

I went to one of those free text websites and sent myself one and I got it immediately. Very weird.

Do I need to mess with APN settings or download anything? I'm just using the standard T-Mobile GPRS fast.t-mobile.com APN that's selected default, but again, people aren't receiving my texts and if I try to call my phone, straight to voice mail. I went in and set up my TMobile voice mail, but my voice mail is still AT&T too.


----------



## hoktrillian (Nov 26, 2013)

Letitride said:


> ...Most of them, however, do not offer any shared line advantages, savings or discounts ...

Click to collapse



Yet, pre-paid do not have any add-on extra charge like post-paid so they actually offer better deal in most cases.



> Walmart's Family Mobile also has Unlimited Plan Talk, Text & Web (up to 2.5 GB of 3G/4G LTE) - $39.88 or $29.88/mo for Talk & Text only - and additional lines at $34.88 or $24.88 (a $5 saving only) - mix & match up to 5 lines.  It is a POSTPAID plan and billed by T-Mobile after activation, but no credit credit is done per brochure I picked up in the store.  Calls to Canada, Mexico & 12 other countries are 5 cents per minute but otherwise it is domestic service only, and no domestic data roaming (unless T-Mo just changed it like other plans above)

Click to collapse



It is not a good deal since post-paid means additional charge below the line.  I believe you should check out offering from Spot Mobile and Simple Mobile instead.



> ...  no roaming calls when we travel abroad.

Click to collapse



I would just get a SIM card locally for better deal.  In other words, I would consider post-paid plan at all.


----------



## Lythandra (Nov 26, 2013)

How are you guys tethering now? I have the 100 MB hotspot but when I connect my laptop it sends me straight to the T-Mobile page and won't let me go anywhere else. 100 MB should be fine for me as the rare cases I do need a connection its quick on and off for work.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 26, 2013)

Lythandra said:


> How are you guys tethering now? I have the 100 MB hotspot but when I connect my laptop it sends me straight to the T-Mobile page and won't let me go anywhere else. 100 MB should be fine for me as the rare cases I do need a connection its quick on and off for work.

Click to collapse



The first 100 megabytes just plain work. Downloading my t mobile app see if you've already expended your data.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Lythandra (Nov 26, 2013)

Well Its not working for me as I already use the TMobile app and haven't used any tethering yet.

It may not matter as I had bought PDANet long ago and just reinstalled it and stuck in my old serial which was still good. I wont be able to test till tonight but I used to use PDANet alot back in the old Palm (pre iOS and Android) days.


----------



## Letitride (Nov 26, 2013)

hoktrillian said:


> Yet, pre-paid do not have any add-on extra charge like post-paid so they actually offer better deal in most cases... It is not a good deal since post-paid means additional charge below the line.  I believe you should check out offering from Spot Mobile and Simple Mobile instead.  I would just get a SIM card locally for better deal.

Click to collapse



Thanks, appreciate the comments & feedback - I had an AT&T Gophone line before and I still maintain 2 prepaid line, oversea's CMHK with home rates in HK & CN and dirty cheap direct dial (called IDD) rates back to US when we travel, which also give us mobile phone access when we cruise the America's / Bermuda-Mexico-Caribbean's with roaming rates on AT&T and T-Mo's towers, never used VZW's expensive international rates except for unusual emergencies - or, simply do Skype or GV calling when possible for families.  The charges below the line for Big Red / VZW is about 23%.  Bottom line is that we are tired of paying a small fortune, far more than what it's worth, IMO.

Our 2 lines are now on T-Mo's $30 5GB data plan with 100 minutes of calling, porting is done & over with - goodbye VZW.  Let's hope everything will work out to the best & thus far, love the speed.  

Started the online activation process and was done in less than 30 minutes for 2 lines, including the initial funding with extra $10 added for any extra minutes, just in case.  Got the welcome to T-Mo welcome msg. in less than 10 minutes on the N5, took actually a bit longer on the old unlocked quadband phone.  Within an hour, both phones had outgoing services with the correct "old" mobile #'s displayed - and setup online account to manage the details.  Went to sleep and wake up this morning, about 8 hours later with SMS that porting has been completed - confirmed that all is set & working.  For all practical purposes, old VZW account is closed aside from final billing - already cleared voice mail, etc. 

As captured screenshot said, it is for new activations only -

Time to optimize those APN, GV & Talkatone settings along with Apps, etc. and explore Youtube and tethering to see if speed cap is a problem around here.  Initial impression - LTE speed blasted VZW's 3G data way behind in the stone ages, so glad to be free of contract and switching carrier.


----------



## namartlu (Nov 27, 2013)

Hi,

I am on the $30/month prepaid plan. I am going out of country for a month, so I am thinking if I could save a month payment? When I come back, is it as simple as refilling my account, and the plan re-start from that day? Heard that they are going to keep the number for a month or so? 

Thank you!


----------



## Ash359 (Nov 27, 2013)

namartlu said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am on the $30/month prepaid plan. I am going out of country for a month, so I am thinking if I could save a month payment? When I come back, is it as simple as refilling my account, and the plan re-start from that day? Heard that they are going to keep the number for a month or so?
> 
> Thank you!

Click to collapse



Personally I would not take the chance to save $30

Sent from my Jedi Master Note II


----------



## plee3 (Nov 27, 2013)

namartlu said:


> Hi,
> 
> I am on the $30/month prepaid plan. I am going out of country for a month, so I am thinking if I could save a month payment? When I come back, is it as simple as refilling my account, and the plan re-start from that day? Heard that they are going to keep the number for a month or so?
> 
> Thank you!

Click to collapse



I stopped last year for 1 month early on when I first signed up the $30 plan as I wanted to try StraightTalk to see if it had better coverage and speeds. It didn't, so I restarted the T-Mobile plan without any problems. I believe the account can be idle for 60-90 days, but I am not certain. You need to check with T-Mobile to make sure.

Hope this helps... plee3


----------



## tylerjames09 (Nov 27, 2013)

Got this plan today and activated on  my n5, I absolutely love the speeds I am seeing. Can u guys guess which speeds r sprint and which r T-Mo? Lol finally get to experience LTE. I'm also using talkatone with my gv number so I don't have to worry about minutes.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## ryukiri (Nov 27, 2013)

Did anyone activate this plan at a local Walmart? I feel that its easier to have them do everything and walk out with a fully working Nexus. Or will that not work?


----------



## Gaffadin (Nov 27, 2013)

ryukiri said:


> Did anyone activate this plan at a local Walmart? I feel that its easier to have them do everything and walk out with a fully working Nexus. Or will that not work?

Click to collapse



The $30 5GB plan is online activation only.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 27, 2013)

Gaffadin said:


> The $30 5GB plan is online activation only.

Click to collapse



Or by phone...and it's not tough to do at all.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## supitsronnie (Nov 27, 2013)

Does T-Mobile restrict you from going to certain sites by default with this plan? I was reading about it, and it appeared to be called "web guard".

(I'm a teen and my parents would be suspicious if i asked them to turn it off. The problem is i heard they block sites based on keywords and at one point even Facebook was blocked.)

I am on AT&T right now, as my dad is a manager at a store so we get very good deals. I was thinking of switching to this plan, even though i wouldn't be making profit, because of the unlimited data. I may try it for a month to see if i can handle their 2G speeds. Lol.


----------



## unknownbeing (Nov 27, 2013)

Is anybody else stuck on edge? I'm completely stock. I've been waiting for my number to transfer over then when it finally did I was getting five bars of edge and nothing else.


----------



## RhinoShock (Nov 27, 2013)

supitsronnie said:


> Does T-Mobile restrict you from going to certain sites by default with this plan? I was reading about it, and it appeared to be called "web guard".
> 
> (I'm a teen and my parents would be suspicious if i asked them to turn it off. The problem is i heard they block sites based on keywords and at one point even Facebook was blocked.)
> 
> I am on AT&T right now, as my dad is a manager at a store so we get very good deals. I was thinking of switching to this plan, even though i wouldn't be making profit, because of the unlimited data. I may try it for a month to see if i can handle their 2G speeds. Lol.

Click to collapse



If you're an account admin you can shut webguard off in your profile settings on their site. When I called for them to turn off my voicemail I asked them to turn webguard off as well because I didn't want it on on my account. The rep said that for pre-paid customers it isn't even an option to turn on. After a few days I went to a website that webguard didn't like and it triggered, so I guess it is on by default, but you can shut it off from the web preferences.


----------



## Letitride (Nov 27, 2013)

unknownbeing said:


> Is anybody else stuck on edge? I'm completely stock. I've been waiting for my number to transfer over then when it finally did I was getting five bars of edge and nothing else.

Click to collapse



If you are using a new micro-Sim card, it should be provisioned for LTE and/or 3G/HSPA depending on your location/nearest tower - do you have 4G services now or new to T-Mo?  Check it on another device and/or ask anotther T-Mo user?  Power down & reboot the N5 - did you receive your "Welcome to T-Mo" message with your porting # now associated with the micro-sim card?  Also, check your APN entries under Settings ... Otherwise, call customer care & perhaps they need to reset your account - porting 2 #'s from Verizon was completed in 8 hours overnight for us this week.

BTW, I'm getting around 20MB download and 3MB upload on LTE - laughing all the way to the bank ditching Big Red. * (Edit: upload is now running around 9MB, yeah !! T-Mo fixed or resolved their network issues) *



RhinoShock said:


> If you're an account admin you can shut webguard off in your profile settings on their site. When I called for them to turn off my voicemail I asked them to turn webguard off as well because I didn't want it on on my account. The rep said that for pre-paid customers it isn't even an option to turn on. After a few days I went to a website that webguard didn't like and it triggered, so I guess it is on by default, but you can shut it off from the web preferences.

Click to collapse



Our 2 newly activated/ported lines are different, they're Web Guard enabled by default to "Teens" but easily disabled once registered for "My T-Mobile" to manage user profile & balance/refills, etc. - need to click & provide certain personal info, including DOB & last 4 digits of SSN to disable or turn it off.


----------



## Trueglich (Nov 27, 2013)

unknownbeing said:


> Is anybody else stuck on edge? I'm completely stock. I've been waiting for my number to transfer over then when it finally did I was getting five bars of edge and nothing else.

Click to collapse



are you on older Iphone (4 4s 4gs)   TMOs HSPA on older iphones coverage is not the same as for many android phones due to limited radios in older models


----------



## Ostrich Egg (Nov 27, 2013)

FYI, if you have a *Target Redcard* you can get T-Mobile $30 refill cards for $27.07 right now on Target.com. Not sure if it's good in stores.

Go here http://www.target.com/p/t-mobile-30-prepaid-refill-card/-/A-14510266# and with no tax, free shipping (from the Redcard), and 5% off (also from the Redcard) the final price will be $27.07 per card. Stock up.

edit: Guess I should mention that with no Redcard it's 28.49, so still a good deal if it's available in stores, since you won't get free shipping


----------



## ryukiri (Nov 27, 2013)

RhinoShock said:


> If you're an account admin you can shut webguard off in your profile settings on their site. When I called for them to turn off my voicemail I asked them to turn webguard off as well because I didn't want it on on my account. The rep said that for pre-paid customers it isn't even an option to turn on. After a few days I went to a website that webguard didn't like and it triggered, so I guess it is on by default, but you can shut it off from the web preferences.

Click to collapse



what does webguard block on default?


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 27, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> Or by phone...and it's not tough to do at all.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



When i tried to activate by phone the reps I got were very unhelpful and said they weren't authorized to activate that plan, website only. Im not saying everyone experienced this but I tried twice on the phone without success and didn't want to waste time and did it online, spending all of 30 min and wishing I did it that way i  the first place.  It's obvious not all T-Mobile reps are briefed at the same level so experience may vary. 

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk


----------



## TooLegit7 (Nov 27, 2013)

*hotspot*

does this plan include mobile hotspot or how does that work? Will I have to use a seperate app to get this going?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 27, 2013)

kayone73 said:


> When i tried to activate by phone the reps I got were very unhelpful and said they weren't authorized to activate that plan, website only. Im not saying everyone experienced this but I tried twice on the phone without success and didn't want to waste time and did it online, spending all of 30 min and wishing I did it that way i  the first place.  It's obvious not all T-Mobile reps are briefed at the same level so experience may vary.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



The activation kit had a number which automated the whole process...incl. the number port. Didn't talk to a soul. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 02:42 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:41 PM ----------




TooLegit7 said:


> does this plan include mobile hotspot or how does that work? Will I have to use a seperate app to get this going?

Click to collapse



First 100 MB tether incl. Upsell page after that.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## herosemblem (Nov 27, 2013)

Background info:
I'm on a family plan with ATT.  I am not the account holder.  My phone number is not the primary number on this family plan.  I want to keep this phone number and bring it to the T-Mobile $30 prepaid plan.  I have a Nexus 5 in hand, I've ordered the Micro-SIM starter kit for free from T-Mobile.com, and (from what I have gathered from a couple hours' reading in this garbled thread) I'm about to go to Wal Mart to purchase a $30 T-Mobile prepaid refill card like this: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tmobile-30-Wireless-Airtime-Card/15443357

A question for you guys...
*Before* I begin the process, am I supposed to remove my phone number from my existing ATT plan?  Won't I be charged their early termination fee?  

I don't really understand this whole "porting the phone # over to T-Mobile" process. I appreciate any clarification.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 27, 2013)

herosemblem said:


> Background info:
> I'm on a family plan with ATT.  I am not the account holder.  My phone number is not the primary number on this family plan.  I want to keep this phone number and bring it to the T-Mobile $30 prepaid plan.  I have a Nexus 5 in hand, I've ordered the Micro-SIM starter kit for free from T-Mobile.com, and (from what I have gathered from a couple hours' reading in this garbled thread) I'm about to go to Wal Mart to purchase a $30 T-Mobile prepaid refill card like this: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tmobile-30-Wireless-Airtime-Card/15443357
> 
> A question for you guys...
> ...

Click to collapse



You need to check with the existing account holder to find out what kind of early termination fee could be suffered by removing your number from the plan.  Should you ultimately decide to port your number doing so through t-mobile during activation will automatically kill your number at AT&T.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## herosemblem (Nov 27, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> You need to check with the existing account holder to find out what kind of early termination fee could be suffered by removing your number from the plan.  Should you ultimately decide to port your number doing so through t-mobile during activation will automatically kill your number at AT&T.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Thanks, wideasleep1.  I knew it couldn't possibly be that easy.  Funny I haven't seen anyone discuss the difficulties of early termination/withdrawing from existing plans.  
I'll check with my family plan's account holder and we'll both have to go into an ATT store and find out how I can remove myself from that plan.
I also didn't realize that other carriers (e.g. T-Mobile) had the ability to kill other carriers' (e.g. ATT) plans.  I'll spend some more time on this and see where I get...


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 27, 2013)

herosemblem said:


> Thanks, wideasleep1.  I knew it couldn't possibly be that easy.  Funny I haven't seen anyone discuss the difficulties of early termination/withdrawing from existing plans.
> I'll check with my family plan's account holder and we'll both have to go into an ATT store and find out how I can remove myself from that plan.
> I also didn't realize that other carriers (e.g. T-Mobile) had the ability to kill other carriers' (e.g. ATT) plans.  I'll spend some more time on this and see where I get...

Click to collapse



Sometimes carriers will treat a number as its own rather than as part of a plan after some given contract duration,  and the ETF may only be on your line if you still 'owe', while the main holder may have an upgrade in waiting, for example. If its not too expensive just do it..crunch the numbers to see the better deal. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wirelessFREAK (Nov 28, 2013)

I'm using the DC area LTE network on the $30 plan, and it's pretty good. 
I use grooveip
I have my GV forwarding to another Sim in my nexus 4 (to test connectivity on the n5), and I've noticed a few calls not going through.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

---------- Post added at 07:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:39 PM ----------

I think this combo will not work in may2014, when Google kills 3rd party apps and services using GV. Am I wrong??

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## sirxdroid (Nov 28, 2013)

Ostrich Egg said:


> FYI, if you have a *Target Redcard* you can get T-Mobile $30 refill cards for $27.07 right now on Target.com. Not sure if it's good in stores.
> 
> Go here http://www.target.com/p/t-mobile-30-prepaid-refill-card/-/A-14510266# and with no tax, free shipping (from the Redcard), and 5% off (also from the Redcard) the final price will be $27.07 per card. Stock up.
> 
> edit: Guess I should mention that with no Redcard it's 28.49, so still a good deal if it's available in stores, since you won't get free shipping

Click to collapse



Does anyone know for sure when/if these cards expire? Is it 90 days from the *purchase* date or the date when the card is *redeemed* and added to the TMobile account? Can one buy say card for 6-12 months for the $30 plan or would they expire before being able to use them?


----------



## herosemblem (Nov 28, 2013)

Let's say I'm locked in with my current ATT plan for another few months and I don't want to pay a $250 early termination fee...

_However_, I'd still like to get started with the $30 T-Mobile deal right now.  I buy the Micro Sim, I buy the refill card, and I'm assigned a new T-mobile phone number.
*Question: Can I port over my old number whenever my aforementioned contract ends, or is the porting-over process only permitted during the initial setup process of the $30 T-Mobile deal?*


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 28, 2013)

herosemblem said:


> Let's say I'm locked in with my current ATT plan for another few months and I don't want to pay a $250 early termination fee...
> 
> _However_, I'd still like to get started with the $30 T-Mobile deal right now.  I buy the Micro Sim, I buy the refill card, and I'm assigned a new T-mobile phone number.
> *Question: Can I port over my old number whenever my aforementioned contract ends, or is the porting-over process only permitted during the initial setup process of the $30 T-Mobile deal?*

Click to collapse



You can port anytime you possess the number to port.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## herosemblem (Nov 28, 2013)

Thank you for the quick reply :good:. I'm now going to research "how to port a number" to an existing T-Mobile prepaid setup...
If you have easy pointers on how this works, I'm all ears.  (I basically intend to sign up for the $30 plan right now, and will port over my ATT number in a few months when I am released from my ATT contract.)


----------



## expertzero1 (Nov 28, 2013)

wirelessFREAK said:


> I'm using the DC area LTE network on the $30 plan, and it's pretty good.
> I use grooveip
> I have my GV forwarding to another Sim in my nexus 4 (to test connectivity on the n5), and I've noticed a few calls not going through.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



They are killing all third party apps because they will be integrating it with hangouts or whatever . they said early next year I think or qauter 1

Sent from my Linaro Optimized using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 28, 2013)

herosemblem said:


> Thank you for the quick reply :good:. I'm now going to research "how to port a number" to an existing T-Mobile prepaid setup...
> If you have easy pointers on how this works, I'm all ears.  (I basically intend to sign up for the $30 plan right now, and will port over my ATT number in a few months when I am released from my ATT contract.)

Click to collapse



Recall that you can sell your old phone to help cover the ETF...which should be pro-rated. Did you call ATT and verify $250? Porting later requires a call to 611 and account info from ATT and your billing details are ' supposed' to stay the same..but you said you weren't the prime on the contract. I'd call TMO prepaid support in advance to be sure , but I see no barriers to doing it later.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Prothetik (Nov 28, 2013)

Left verizon the other day. I had a tough choice, ATT or T-Mobile prepaid. After hearing that ATT had terrible service in my area, and T-Mobile was on-par to verizon in service quality, I had to switch. I pay so much less now and I get exactly what I use. I should have done this such a long time ago :/


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 28, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> Recall that you can sell your old phone to help cover the ETF...which should be pro-rated. Did you call ATT and verify $250? Porting later requires a call to 611 and account info from ATT and your billing details are ' supposed' to stay the same..but you said you weren't the prime on the contract. I'd call TMO prepaid support in advance to be sure , but I see no barriers to doing it later.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Also you can forward your ATT calls to your 'new' number, additionally the easiest is to grab yet another SIM kit and activate/port when the time comes and abandon or gift the 'old' TMO plan/number after you activate and port.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## herosemblem (Nov 28, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> Also you can forward your ATT calls to your 'new' number, additionally the easiest is to grab yet another SIM kit and activate/port when the time comes and abandon or gift the 'old' TMO plan/number after you activate and port.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Good points.  
I have not called ATT to verify whether an ETF will be involved.  I'm waiting for the right opportunity where the prime and myself can sit down and call ATT support, or visit an ATT store together to see how I can remove my # from the family plan and what it will cost.  My phone is a dumbphone that I've had for probably six years now, so it's probably worthless as a trade-in to offset the possible ETF . My Tmo MiscroSIM kit is supposed to arrive late next week in the mail.  I'll keep you guys posted.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Nov 28, 2013)

herosemblem said:


> Good points.
> I have not called ATT to verify whether an ETF will be involved.  I'm waiting for the right opportunity where the prime and myself can sit down and call ATT support, or visit an ATT store together to see how I can remove my # from the family plan and what it will cost.  My phone is a dumbphone that I've had for probably six years now, so it's probably worthless as a trade-in to offset the possible ETF . My Tmo MiscroSIM kit is supposed to arrive late next week in the mail.  I'll keep you guys posted.

Click to collapse



6 yo dumb phone shouldn't have an ETF on that line. Even if it did, worst case is the contract had a $325 fee on initiation and assuming $10/mo prorate over 22 mos means the most you pay is $105. Might save more than that over 2 mos on TMO 30/100 min plan.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Letitride (Nov 28, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> 6 yo dumb phone shouldn't have an ETF on that line. Even if it did, worst case is the contract had a $325 fee on initiation and assuming $10/mo prorate over 22 mos means the most you pay is $105. Might save more than that over 2 mos on TMO 30/100 min plan.

Click to collapse



+ 1  ...  For *herosemblem*, depending on how much you are paying each month on the shared secondary or additional "dumb" line that's been kept for 6 years, unless the line was used for a smartphone upgrade & contract renewed within last 18 to 24 months, it might be on a month-to-month already.  (On our former VZW line, the main line was already out of contract. mo-to-mo but secondary had remaining terms for 2 months - dragging it out longer than necessary due to ETF & all the hassle involved)

Look into the possiblity of porting the "old" number into Google Voice first - for $20 - and get a new number from AT&T WS (it's free @ Big Red) to keep that shared line till expiration of contract.  Then, link the GV with that ported number with this new T-Mo $30 plan (and/or its own new assigned # - setup Talkatone, etc.)  - or, depending on how much you are spending now each month on AT&T, downgrade the service to the lowest minimum. 

We have no regrets leaving Big Red, paying $30/mo + taxes/fees alone for data plan then & locked into 24 months contract ...


----------



## robstunner (Nov 28, 2013)

herosemblem said:


> _However_, I'd still like to get started with the $30 T-Mobile deal right now.  I buy the Micro Sim, I buy the refill card, and I'm assigned a new T-mobile phone number.[/B]

Click to collapse




I did what your considering, and T-Mobile is great here in chicagoland suburbia. my only issue is the 100 mintues. Im sure I can get it to work for me but my wife is on it about 400min a month, and uses 2gb of data. Whats everyone doing? I was considering magicjack but it looks so wonky with those adverts.


----------



## dazz87 (Nov 28, 2013)

robstunner said:


> I did what your considering, and T-Mobile is great here in chicagoland suburbia. my only issue is the 100 mintues. Im sure I can get it to work for me but my wife is on it about 400min a month, and uses 2gb of data. Whats everyone doing? I was considering magicjack but it looks so wonky with those adverts.

Click to collapse



Why don't you install groove IP and use ya Google voice for making calls. Only issue is that it only work on wifi. This will not eat into your 100 min. This is what I'm using right now at home and work

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## robstunner (Nov 28, 2013)

dazz87 said:


> Why don't you install groove IP and use ya Google voice for making calls. Only issue is that it only work on wifi. This will not eat into your 100 min. This is what I'm using right now at home and work
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



You know wives, they can't handle complications. I'm confident I can get by with the 100 for myself though. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## whitedragonz83 (Nov 28, 2013)

Letitride said:


> + 1  ...  For *herosemblem*, depending on how much you are paying each month on the shared secondary or additional "dumb" line that's been kept for 6 years, unless the line was used for a smartphone upgrade & contract renewed within last 18 to 24 months, it might be on a month-to-month already.  (On our former VZW line, the main line was already out of contract. mo-to-mo but secondary had remaining terms for 2 months - dragging it out longer than necessary due to ETF & all the hassle involved)
> 
> Look into the possiblity of porting the "old" number into Google Voice first - for $20 - and get a new number from AT&T WS (it's free @ Big Red) to keep that shared line till expiration of contract.  Then, link the GV with that ported number with this new T-Mo $30 plan (and/or its own new assigned # - setup Talkatone, etc.)  - or, depending on how much you are spending now each month on AT&T, downgrade the service to the lowest minimum.
> 
> We have no regrets leaving Big Red, paying $30/mo + taxes/fees alone for data plan then & locked into 24 months contract ...

Click to collapse



Work that many minutes, get the $60/mo plan for unlimited minutes. Actually, with 2 people it's only $100/mo. Unlimited minuets and 2.5gb data. Might be worth $10 more (60+30  otherwise)

Sent from my Nexus 4 using xda app-developers app


----------



## dazz87 (Nov 28, 2013)

Weird issue since moving over to Tmobile 30 bucks plan, ported my number over from GoPhone. I am getting alot of telemarketing calls.  Eating into my minutes.......Never had these calls when I was on GoPhone....Damn Tmobile trying to eat into my minutes....:silly:


----------



## Letitride (Nov 28, 2013)

robstunner said:


> You know wives, they can't handle complications. I'm confident I can get by with the 100 for myself though.

Click to collapse



+1  and LOL on that, sounds like mine here but she is usually under 100 minutes as I analyzed her calling patterns over the last 6 to12 months and she's not going to go over her 5GB data usage even with gaming enabled. 

I'm less than a week into this plan and using Talkatone, sound quality is good except that somethings, the other party claimed to have trouble hearing the whole conversation and possibly WiFi signal dropping out.  I've it configured to run on both mobile data (using that 5GB) and WiFi to see how it go on the move.  

One of my niece noticed that my GV # is now popping out on the Caller ID screen when I call out to her so I need to reconfigure it back to my old & long-established mobile # from Big Red that we ported over.  I could selectively use the minutes or WiFi data via Talkatone to make the calls and see whether the 100 minutes will be enough.  Retrieving VM stored on T-Mo is a challenge unless I turn it off & rely on GV's own VM instead. 

So far, I'm impressed with T-Mo at home, signal quality & strength are better than VZW and stronger than AT&T's 3G/4G as I have another mobile line on AT&T to compare with.  

To insure that we can make calls in excess of 100 minutes, I loaded an extra $10 to each of our account when we funded or loaded it to start our month's services - for next month, will either add another $30 to top it off (or $40 if we used more during this billing cycle.)  $10 now available would be applied plus $20 from the new funds for the $30 mo, leaving a fresh balance of $10 to cover excess/add'l charges - at 10 cents/min, we will have 200 mobile minutes.  As the balance get low, T-Mo sysem will auto-generated SMS alert to refill to the devices.  Refills are good for up to 90 days with unused balance rolling over with a new refill - that's my understanding.


----------



## robstunner (Nov 29, 2013)

Letitride said:


> +1  and LOL on that, sounds like mine here but she is usually under 100 minutes as I analyzed her calling patterns over the last 6 to12 months and she's not going to go over her 5GB data usage even with gaming enabled.
> 
> I'm less than a week into this plan and using Talkatone, sound quality is good except that somethings, the other party claimed to have trouble hearing the whole conversation and possibly WiFi signal dropping out.  I've it configured to run on both mobile data (using that 5GB) and WiFi to see how it go on the move.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Yes, I was planning on loading an extra $10 on each line just in case we need to go over. I guess she call Skype or Google talk/video with her parents which takes a majority of the minutes. T-Mobile LTE is 30mbps at home, where the att service hits a sold 8mbps down. Clear winner of you ask me

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## hoktrillian (Nov 30, 2013)

dazz87 said:


> Weird issue since moving over to Tmobile 30 bucks plan, ported my number over from GoPhone. I am getting alot of telemarketing calls.  Eating into my minutes.......Never had these calls when I was on GoPhone....Damn Tmobile trying to eat into my minutes....:silly:

Click to collapse



First, add your telephone number to National Do Not Call Registry

Second, do not answer telemarketing call or caller ID is not known to you, let those calls go to voicemail will not cost you air time.


----------



## kayone73 (Nov 30, 2013)

robstunner said:


> Yes, I was planning on loading an extra $10 on each line just in case we need to go over. I guess she call Skype or Google talk/video with her parents which takes a majority of the minutes. T-Mobile LTE is 30mbps at home, where the att service hits a sold 8mbps down. Clear winner of you ask me
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I purchased a $100 calling card from callingmart.com and deposited in my prepaid acct.  My $30/month auto deducts off my CC every month but the $100 (1000 minutes) prepaid card pool of overage minutes is good for 1 yr upon activation. And this pool rolls over from month to month so I don't have to worry about overages (I use 200-400 min/month based on my past year of usage) ill look at my usage for the next several months and if I continually dip into the pool then I might consider switching to the $70 unlimited plan jnstead but if I'm spending no more than $50/month then ill stick with the current setup. 

I live in a major metropolitan area and have been reasonably pleased with TMo signal reception and data speeds for what I expected. My cell coverage is actually better than AT&T in some situations and a little worse in others (certain office buildings).  My 4G data speeds haven't been as impressive as AT&T but when I get LTE or H+ its usable more of the time vs AT&T where I can get a strong data signal in a very crowded area but it's effectively useless because there are so many active users simultaneously eating up bandwidth.  With T-Mobile data and the same scenario, I feel like Im competing with far fewer users for bandwidth. 

Sent from my Nexus 5


----------



## hoktrillian (Nov 30, 2013)

robstunner said:


> I did what your considering, and T-Mobile is great here in chicagoland suburbia. my only issue is the 100 mintues. Im sure I can get it to work for me but my wife is on it about 400min a month, and uses 2gb of data. Whats everyone doing? I was considering magicjack but it looks so wonky with those adverts.

Click to collapse



Voxox offers unlimited minutes of incoming calls and refill your balance back to $1 credit every month that means up to 100 minutes of free calls within Canada and United States.  In the event you go over 100 minutes, it is only 1¢ per minute for calling regular DIDs within Canada and United States.  Free to call toll-free numbers within Canada and United States.  All use data either Wi-Fi or cellular data, no cellular air time minute will be used.


----------



## hoktrillian (Nov 30, 2013)

nrvate said:


> Don't expect it to be great when you're driving, movement presents some significant challenges for mobile broadband, which digital voice networks (such as GSM/CDMA in voice mode) go to great technical lengths to address.

Click to collapse



Are you using mobile airtime minutes when you are driving?  Or, you are still using VoIP with mobile data especially LTE when you are driving.

---------- Post added at 03:06 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:31 PM ----------




someone0 said:


> To the OP, what is the point of linking to another thread like assuming people gonna read through 150+ pages?  If you already read through all that, make yourself useful and create the FAQ page instead.  There is very no point on having 2 seperate threads just to talk about t-mobile plan.  Let me make it clear, I'm mot talking about thread with Nexus 5 issue on t-mobile plan here.  This thread and the other are mainly about a T-mobile plan with little to do the Nexus 5.

Click to collapse



People with Nexus 5 are not going to Nexus 4 forum or any other device forum.  In other words, since this site has forums by each device (and with service provider if device is sold by provider) people simply visit the exact device forum they are using, will not visit forums for device they do not have.


----------



## slowpok22 (Dec 1, 2013)

Anyone getting the mobile visual voice mail to work? Have it installed and know that I have a message but not showing in the app, and it says sync failed when I try and sync.


----------



## hoktrillian (Dec 1, 2013)

OwenMeany said:


> I don't understand the difference between VOIP and SIP,  The fact that Google Voice is changing has further complicated this.  If I managed to use less than 100 minutes for incoming calls, is there a simpler solution for me if I only need to place* outgoing calls* over an alternative method (using wifi and cellular service)?

Click to collapse



SIP (Session Initiation Protocol) is IETF (Internet Engineering Task Force) protocol for VOIP and other text and multimedia sessions, like instant messaging, video, online games and other services.  You can use netTALK App or magicJack APP for outgoing calls.  Incoming calls you can use Voxox.  All these apps only use Wi-Fi or mobile data; they do not use mobile voice minute.



OwenMeany said:


> Will the Google Voice changes make alternative ways of making calls obsolete, or are there options that will not be affected?

Click to collapse



Above options have nothing to do with Google whatsoever so whatever Google will do will not affect above methods of making and receiving calls without using mobile voice minute.



OwenMeany said:


> From reading about the N4 I had assumed I could tether to N5.  Are the problems I'm reading about only when tethering to Tmobile (prepaid), or will I be unable to tether to any carrier without a hotspot plan?

Click to collapse



It will apply to all carriers support Nexus 5.



OwenMeany said:


> If I was on the $30 plan and unable to tether, could I add the mobile data package for 7 days, 1GB for $15 to this plan, or is that only for other plans.

Click to collapse



It is not add-on.  Instead, it is one of T-Mobile Pay in Advance Mobile Internet plans.


----------



## tylerwatt12 (Dec 1, 2013)

What are the chances of T-Mobile killing this plan all together? Since isn't no-contract, they can change our prices at any time


----------



## hoktrillian (Dec 1, 2013)

tylerwatt12 said:


> What are the chances of T-Mobile killing this plan all together? Since isn't no-contract, they can change our prices at any time

Click to collapse



It is possible, chance is very slim though as we can see T-Mobile keep moving toward what consumer wants and lower prices.  Therefore, T-Mobile may offer more voice minutes in this plan rather than killing this plan all together.:fingers-crossed:


----------



## Ajfink (Dec 2, 2013)

tylerwatt12 said:


> What are the chances of T-Mobile killing this plan all together? Since isn't no-contract, they can change our prices at any time

Click to collapse



Possible.  More likely they would up the cost by $10 and then throw in more minutes or the international roaming.

Sent from my TouchPad using xda app-developers app


----------



## robstunner (Dec 2, 2013)

Ajfink said:


> Possible.  More likely they would up the cost by $10 and then throw in more minutes or the international roaming.
> 
> Sent from my TouchPad using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



I'd be more than happy to do that

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Ash359 (Dec 2, 2013)

Has anyone tried redphone? It's primary purpose is secure encrypted calling however it says it uses your regular phone number and uses data instead of your mobile minutes.

[EDIT] It only works for calling other redphone users. Nevermind

Sent from my Jedi Master Note II


----------



## sirxdroid (Dec 2, 2013)

Ash359 said:


> Has anyone tried redphone? It's primary purpose is secure encrypted calling however it says it uses your regular phone number and uses data instead of your mobile minutes.

Click to collapse



Both parties need to be using RedPhone to have encryption. Otherwise I don't see how the app is useful, it doesn't look like it can make VOIP calls to regular numbers.


----------



## Ash359 (Dec 2, 2013)

sirxdroid said:


> Both parties need to be using RedPhone to have encryption. Otherwise I don't see how the app is useful, it doesn't look like it can make VOIP calls to regular numbers.

Click to collapse



Yeah I just figured that out 

Sent from my Jedi Master Note II


----------



## herosemblem (Dec 3, 2013)

I misplaced the IMEI sticker that was on the back of my phone when it was new.  
I see that the retail packaging has another sticker that contains an IMEI #.  I'm assuming this # should also work when I see up my account etc.  Your thoughts?  Thank you.


----------



## edd247 (Dec 3, 2013)

herosemblem said:


> I misplaced the IMEI sticker that was on the back of my phone when it was new.
> I see that the retail packaging has another sticker that contains an IMEI #.  I'm assuming this # should also work when I see up my account etc.  Your thoughts?  Thank you.

Click to collapse



The one on the box should be the same, also the # is on the back of the sim tray 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## letsplaay (Dec 3, 2013)

*Can I get this prepaid plan on a T-Mobile Galaxy Note 3?*

I've searched the internet and this thread, but could not find the answer. I'm planning to buy a T-mobile Galaxy Note 3 and was wondering whether it would be possible to get the $30/month (5GB data, 100 min. talk) plan with the Note 3? 

Also, is it possible to buy the Note 3 with the 24-month payment option instead of full pay with the prepaid plan? Thank you all! 

Wrong thread!


----------



## sirxdroid (Dec 3, 2013)

Could someone please clarify the deal with the refill cards bought from Target, do they expire? I'm trying to see if it's worth buying more than 1 at a time. Thank you.


----------



## hammester (Dec 3, 2013)

herosemblem said:


> I misplaced the IMEI sticker that was on the back of my phone when it was new.
> I see that the retail packaging has another sticker that contains an IMEI #.  I'm assuming this # should also work when I see up my account etc.  Your thoughts?  Thank you.

Click to collapse



You can also get this number under settings - About Phone.


----------



## Letitride (Dec 3, 2013)

sirxdroid said:


> Could someone please clarify the deal with the refill cards bought from Target, do they expire? I'm trying to see if it's worth buying more than 1 at a time. Thank you.

Click to collapse



These prepaid refills (similar to ones that you buy at Walgreen, 7-11's, Walmart & online from Callingmart, etc.) generally have a "shelf life" of about 90 days (or longer) - so you can hold them without loading them into your prepaid account.  Once you add them to your mobile # account at T-Mo, $10 refill will expire in 30 days whereas those above (i.e. $30, $50, etc.) will be valid for 90 days - BUT, if you add more new fund to the same account - any remaining "old" & unused balance will roll over, for another 90 days and so on. 

That's how it has been working for me on the PAYG (by the minutes/day plans) for the last 5 years.  I ususally buy them online from Callingmart & their advice/recommendation is to not much more than you need for say 3 or 6 month's worth at any given time, even when it's on sale (discounts are gone with them, except as available sometimes at Target with the RedCard - they charge sales tax here in NY)

If an unused balance already in the T-Mo account are gone and/or missing, call T-Mo 611 CS as soon as possible once you notice them, and they usually can review & restore the balance if there is an error of some kind.


----------



## slowpok22 (Dec 3, 2013)

I looked at callmart and saw 4 different types of cards, but none specifically for this plan, which one do we get?


----------



## jaybeeunix (Dec 3, 2013)

slowpok22 said:


> I looked at callmart and saw 4 different types of cards, but none specifically for this plan, which one do we get?

Click to collapse



They all work -- They just add money to your account.


----------



## Daps (Dec 3, 2013)

Ok guys let me make sure I've got this right.

I've got the Tmobile sim kit and the Nexus 5 should be here in a few days for a Christmas present.
When I'm ready to activate it. I can go online put the information in and the chose the $30 100min,unlimited text 5gb data plan. Will I be required to have it automatically withdrawn every month?

If not when I'm ready to fill it for the next month, do I go online at tmobile and under the acct I created during activation buy the $30 plan there?

Are the cards you buy at the stores or online are just refills for minutes but doesn't add data or text but you still need to pay the $30 a month original plan. Is that correct or do I just go to callingmart.com each month and buy the $30 refill card and it'll give me the 100 minutes, unlimited txt, 5gb for the next month since I orginal set up on the $30 plan

If I use the callingmart.com site. Which tombile option do I use? The monthly plan or the top off?

ETA: I think if I'm reading the post above mine. All I have to do is buy a $30 refill card and since I signed up originally with the $30 100m,unlimited text plan the $30 will refill that option.
Should I do the autoload or the other option on callingmart.com


----------



## kentoe (Dec 3, 2013)

Daps said:


> Ok guys let me make sure I've got this right.
> 
> I've got the Tmobile sim kit and the Nexus 5 should be here in a few days for a Christmas present.
> When I'm ready to activate it. I can go online put the information in and the chose the $30 100min,unlimited text 5gb data plan. Will I be required to have it automatically withdrawn every month?
> ...

Click to collapse



This isn't complicated as some make it out to be.

Get your SIM activation kit and your Nexus 5 when you're ready. 

1. Go to T-Mobile's activation site. 
2. Select the $30 plan
3. Set a card to charge monthly for your $30.

Done.

Unless you don't want a card to charge monthly, I'm not sure why the extra effort is wanted to get refill cards rather than just paying directly.


----------



## Daps (Dec 3, 2013)

kentoe said:


> This isn't complicated as some make it out to be.
> 
> Get your SIM activation kit and your Nexus 5 when you're ready.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Thanks but if I don't want a card to be charged monthly. I can just log into my Tmobile account and buy it there or use a refill card right?

The reason I don't want to use a card to charge directly is because for one it's going to be used for my son and he's a good kid but I still rather not run the risk of him running through mins or data and me not catching till weeks later. Also I'm not too keen on keeping my card numbers stored on website servers :|


----------



## kentoe (Dec 3, 2013)

Daps said:


> Thanks but if I don't want a card to be charged monthly. I can just log into my Tmobile account and buy it there or use a refill card right?
> 
> The reason I don't want to use a card to charge directly is because for one it's going to be used for my son and he's a good kid but I still rather not run the risk of him running through mins or data and me not catching till weeks later. Also I'm not too keen on keeping my card numbers stored on website servers :|

Click to collapse



No problem, understandable then!

I can confirm there is a refill account button:







Which leads you to here:


----------



## Daps (Dec 3, 2013)

kentoe said:


> No problem, understandable then!
> 
> I can confirm there is a refill account button:
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Thanks. That makes life simple  I wasn't sure how you had to go about it 

Now I need to figure out if the store cards charges tax. If so I'll just use callingmart.com and get a card/pin


----------



## Letitride (Dec 3, 2013)

Daps said:


> Thanks. That makes life simple  I wasn't sure how you had to go about it
> Now I need to figure out if the store cards charges tax. If so I'll just use callingmart.com and get a card/pin

Click to collapse



Depending on the states, stored-purchased & T-Mo (auto-refilled / via online account) refill cards are charged sales tax (including NY) so we do ours via callingmart (or similar vendors like mobirefill dot com - currently on sale, $28.95 for $30 face value and $42.95 for $50 refill, which is a great price) 

T-Mo will collect sales tax on the auto-refill with a credit card, but it is convenience in case one is away/traveling & don't want a gap in service or losing out of this $30 special.  

Back on the plan & usage, 8 days into the current billing cycle and I've managed to used about 40 mobile minutes with add'l minutes via Talkatone, and about 600 MB data (some of it for running speedtest.net benchmarks and also tethered the Nexus 7 while sitting in the Macy's parking lot (too far / outside for its free in-store WiFi) with the "hacked" built-in WiFi Hotspot & also Youtube watching, nice speed or no timing out or redirect to T-Mo tethering homepage, etc. 

Projecting ahead, looks like I will likely go over the 100 mobile minues allowance, maybe spending $5 extra for another 50 minutes for a total of 150 minutes.  Wife's minutes are fine - our costs for the 30 days billing cycle will run about $73 for 2 lines (up to 5 GB data on each line including WiFi calling on Talkatone plus mobile minutes)  - not bad at all, in fact - huge savings vs. Big Red's billing of $143 from previous months with only 3G data.


----------



## Daps (Dec 3, 2013)

Letitride said:


> Depending on the states, stored-purchased & T-Mo (auto-refilled / via online account) refill cards are charged sales tax (including NY) so we do ours via callingmart (or similar vendors like mobirefill dot com - currently on sale, $28.95 for $30 face value and $42.95 for $50 refill, which is a great price)
> 
> T-Mo will collect sales tax on the auto-refill with a credit card, but it is convenience in case one is away/traveling & don't want a gap in service or losing out of this $30 special.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



From callingmart do you use the refill to phone,monthly plan or to go plan?
I guess paying on Tmo would be $33 vs $30 not too big a deal.


----------



## Gaffadin (Dec 3, 2013)

Something to bear in mind is that you can set Callingmart to automatically debit your payment and apply it to your T-Mobile account, and you won't pay sales tax there. Or you can just have it set to notify you on a certain date, which is what I'm doing for now.

After having this plan for almost a month I can say it's a ridiculous good deal on a ridiculously good phone.


----------



## Daps (Dec 3, 2013)

Gaffadin said:


> Something to bear in mind is that you can set Callingmart to automatically debit your payment and apply it to your T-Mobile account, and you won't pay sales tax there. Or you can just have it set to notify you on a certain date, which is what I'm doing for now.
> 
> After having this plan for almost a month I can say it's a ridiculous good deal on a ridiculously good phone.

Click to collapse



Which of the four callingmart prepaid options do you use.
It's nice that they have a reminder feature but if I activate it Dec 25th it won't be too hard to remember as my AT&T bills is due on that same date


----------



## Gaffadin (Dec 3, 2013)

Daps said:


> Which of the four callingmart prepaid options do you use.

Click to collapse



I used the "T-Mobile Monthly Plan" for $30 to initially activate my account. I've set it to remind me for the "Auto Load to Phone" this month and next I will probably just set it and forget it for auto-pay.

I was just making sure they weren't some fly-by-night operation that were going to give me bum codes or anything first, since I hadn't heard of them.


----------



## Letitride (Dec 3, 2013)

Daps said:


> From callingmart do you use the refill to phone,monthly plan or to go plan?
> I guess paying on Tmo would be $33 vs $30 not too big a deal.

Click to collapse



As far as callingmart is concerned and T-Mo for that matter, it really doesn't matter - the long 12+ digits PIN for refill are monetary credit that will be posted/credited to your mobile # as registered, so make sure it is correctly entered - and the refilled amount will be in the account, usually within minutes (it's always good to check & verify, then call CS immediately if there is a problem or error to get it fixed/resolved)

I have been using CM for about 5 years to fill my AT&T Gophone & T-Mo PAYG accounts as needed and they've been around, their fraud detection will block a purchase & attempt to contact you by voice calling or email if there is a problem with the transaction (or, your credit card company would)  - establish your account online with them as you get "credits" that you can apply to offset future purchases (works like cash-back) 

As to how much, you would need at least $30 for each 30 day payment/billing cycle - so you will need at least $30 in face value for the refill.  I started funding mine with $40 last month, with a $10 balance for any excess minutes at 10 cents per minute.  It will be valid for 90 days and can be rolled over - later this month, I might add another $50 to each line (ALERT - 15% off now a mobirefill dot com on $50 refill) - giving each line $60 to be deducted - assumed that I used extra minutes & $5 get deducted, it will leave enough for 1 full month in January - plus $25 remaining.  For Jan. 2014's refill, another $50 is added - restoring the new balance to $75 and I will have 2 full month's worth of credit to be applied, plus $15 unused for any extra minutes - enough to cover thru March, as those refills will merge with the old unused balance & be good for another 90 days in rolling over.  Not as complicated as it is written here - potentially saving enough on sales tax each year to get an extra month for free.  

Besides, T-Mo's automated reminder system will auto-SMS your mobile # of your available balance with a reminder to refill, etc.


----------



## sirxdroid (Dec 3, 2013)

Does Callingmart still offer any discounts on TMo refills?


----------



## Piero88 (Dec 3, 2013)

Hello,

I currently have an unlimited plan data with T-Mobile and would like to turn my Nexus 5 into a free tethering hot spot for my laptop/tablet...

Is it possible to do such thing ?

Thanks


----------



## Gaffadin (Dec 3, 2013)

When I purchased from CM for the first time three weeks ago they did indeed hold my order since I hadn't ordered from them before. They called me within one minute of my order and asked me to verify my name, address, etc. I guess for fraud detection.

I have no problem with companies doing that for the first couple of orders, it makes us all safer.

CM no longer offer discounts on T-M cards (i.e. $30 cards cost $30) but they don't charge sales tax, so you save a little there.


----------



## Trueglich (Dec 3, 2013)

Piero88 said:


> Hello,
> 
> I currently have an unlimited plan data with T-Mobile and would like to turn my Nexus 5 into a free tethering hot spot for my laptop/tablet...
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



if you have any current TMO plan except the $30 plan tethering is included .   its $15 extra in the $30 plan.     You can do it without paying but its detectable (unless you  do something  i will not discuss )  and most likely will end up paying for it anyways,


----------



## Piero88 (Dec 4, 2013)

Trueglich said:


> if you have any current TMO plan except the $30 plan tethering is included .   its $15 extra in the $30 plan.     You can do it without paying but its detectable (unless you  do something  i will not discuss )  and most likely will end up paying for it anyways,

Click to collapse




It's not included, I have a limit of 2.5gb

I mean, in Italy I was used to that thethering was included in my plan, and it's limit was the same as the cell phone plan, so for example if I had 5 gigs, when I used thethering, it was included in my 5 gigs, here with TMO, I have unlimited data, but only 2.5gigs of tethering..


----------



## dazz87 (Dec 5, 2013)

Confused about the extra minutes, if we ran out of the 100 minutes pre month.  I thought from reading this thread and other forums that it was $0.10 a minutes.  So if i add 10 bucks to my account I get an additional 100 minutes to use.  Then today i check the site and in order for $.10 a minute you need to add $100.00 to your account.  If you add $10.00 then you only get 30 minutes...

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 5, 2013)

dazz87 said:


> Confused about the extra minutes, if we ran out of the 100 minutes pre month.  I thought from reading this thread and other forums that it was $0.10 a minutes.  So if i add 10 bucks to my account I get an additional 100 minutes to use.  Then today i check the site and in order for $.10 a minute you need to add $100.00 to your account.  If you add $10.00 then you only get 30 minutes...
> 
> http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans

Click to collapse



You're looking at Pay As You Go (PAYG) not this $30/100 minute plan.


----------



## patass (Dec 6, 2013)

Somehow I'm blowing through my 5 gigs a month and have to renew a few days early every time, and every single time the morons on the t-mobile support line take a god damned hour minimum to figure this crap out. The lady I'm talking to now says I'm on a promotional plan through wal-mart and they can't renew it early because it doesnt exist anymore. Wal-mart has never had anything to do with my service or my phone or anything. I got my sim from a t-mobile store, signed up through a t-mobile store, etc. This is stupid. Can I just manage this through the website somehow?


----------



## Noble Six (Dec 6, 2013)

I refill on their website with a CC, I don't do autopay and I don't get charged tax.


----------



## Letitride (Dec 7, 2013)

dazz87 said:


> Confused about the extra minutes, if we ran out of the 100 minutes pre month.  I thought from reading this thread and other forums that it was $0.10 a minutes.  So if i add 10 bucks to my account I get an additional 100 minutes to use.  Then today i check the site and in order for $.10 a minute you need to add $100.00 to your account.  If you add $10.00 then you only get 30 minutes...

Click to collapse



As* wideasleep1* noted, the $100 refill is for PAYG by the minutes plan - for 1,000 minutes @ 10 cents/min. good for 1 year with "Gold" status, do not confuse that plan with this $30 plan.  Once you activate and register your prepaid account, the details will be spelled out nicely online.  Extra minutes used will be charged & deducted from your account's available balance & applied.  

I still have a T-Mo prepaid line on the PAYG plan with Gold status, calls are 25 cents per minute and only require $10 a year refill to keep it active, it's for emergency/backup access use only tied to WiFi only calling.  



patass said:


> Somehow I'm blowing through my 5 gigs a month and have to renew a few days early every time, and every single time the morons on the t-mobile support line take a god damned hour minimum ...  I got my sim from a t-mobile store, signed up through a t-mobile store, etc. ... Can I just manage this through the website somehow?

Click to collapse



I manage 3 T-Mo lines online myself and seldom deal with CS, just register as it will simplify your lives (https: // my . t-mobile . com)  - It will display your renewal date for next refill, minutes used/balance & data used, etc.  Plus, you have options on refills, including auto-refill or auto-pay, etc. including use of refill cards or PiN codes.


----------



## TiltedAz (Dec 7, 2013)

Yes, that's another advantage - only paying for the service. No state tax, federal tax, no junk fees to help the disadvantaged, etc. I read the government is looking to add another $5/yr per cellphone for schools.


----------



## parkson (Dec 7, 2013)

Noble Six said:


> I refill on their website with a CC, I don't do autopay and I don't get charged tax.

Click to collapse



Just refilled on mytmobile site with a credit card one time payment. Didn't see any mention of taxes and fees until after I hit pay button. Total came up to $32.43. (State of SC)

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## dazz87 (Dec 9, 2013)

parkson said:


> Just refilled on mytmobile site with a credit card one time payment. Didn't see any mention of taxes and fees until after I hit pay button. Total came up to $32.43. (State of SC)
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I signed up for auto pay and no tax. 30 flat. Is the price different between refilled vs auto pay

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## msgfromside3 (Dec 9, 2013)

Is this purely $30 prepay thread or $30 repay plan related to Nexus thread? It sounds like the former and I am wondering why such a general topic exists in Nexus 5 forum. 

Has anyone upgraded to 4.4.1 and has the issue with the radio? I just got my Nexus 5 and I haven't gotten the upgrade yet, and I am holding until I get OTA because I have been hearing people having the issue after sideloading the update.

Thanks.


----------



## sorindobrin (Dec 9, 2013)

patass said:


> Somehow I'm blowing through my 5 gigs a month and have to renew a few days early every time, and every single time the morons on the t-mobile support line take a god damned hour minimum to figure this crap out. The lady I'm talking to now says I'm on a promotional plan through wal-mart and they can't renew it early because it doesnt exist anymore. Wal-mart has never had anything to do with my service or my phone or anything. I got my sim from a t-mobile store, signed up through a t-mobile store, etc. This is stupid. Can I just manage this through the website somehow?

Click to collapse




 Everybody...please keep this in mind...with this plan they will not renew it earlier than your 30 days, you blow through your 5GB you're stock with 2G. I'm having this plan for 2 years now, and managed to renew it earlier than 30 days only once( in the beginning ), couldn't do it ever since, in another 4 attempts. They don't do it anymore...You might run into one service rep that will do it for you...but that's the exception.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app


----------



## robstunner (Dec 14, 2013)

20 days left with on my current att plan. I think I've settled with this plan for me and the wife and an ooma for at home. Should be a monthly savings around $80 a month, and more data between us (pre throttle)

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## catnarok (Dec 14, 2013)

dazz87 said:


> Confused about the extra minutes, if we ran out of the 100 minutes pre month.  I thought from reading this thread and other forums that it was $0.10 a minutes.  So if i add 10 bucks to my account I get an additional 100 minutes to use.  Then today i check the site and in order for $.10 a minute you need to add $100.00 to your account.  If you add $10.00 then you only get 30 minutes...
> 
> http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans

Click to collapse



Others have answered already but yeah its $.10/min after the 100 min. I usually just refill 35 or 40$ instead of 30$ and its plenty extra. Found myself running out of minutes frequently when I was doing minimum refills ($30). 

Anyways, I've been living in LA, Tucson, and San Diego. 0 complaints on this plan in LA and SD but living near Tucson mountains was pretty rough with coverage. At least when I'm at home/work I can leave gmail on and receive all of my calls through my PC for convenience, better "coverage," and save minutes as well. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## sirxdroid (Dec 14, 2013)

catnarok said:


> At least when I'm at home/work I can leave gmail on and receive all of my calls through my PC for convenience, better "coverage," and save minutes as well.

Click to collapse



You can also try and run GrooveIP on your phone (yes, I know it's going away in May), turn the cell radio off and just leave wifi on. If signal is poor this approach will also improve battery life by a lot. You can automate all this with Llama or Tasker, e.g. when you get home and connect to your wifi, turn cell radio off. When you disconnect from wifi turn cell radio on.


----------



## catnarok (Dec 14, 2013)

sirxdroid said:


> You can also try and run GrooveIP on your phone (yes, I know it's going away in May), turn the cell radio off and just leave wifi on. If signal is poor this approach will also improve battery life by a lot. You can automate all this with Llama or Tasker, e.g. when you get home and connect to your wifi, turn cell radio off. When you disconnect from wifi turn cell radio on.

Click to collapse



Yeah I used to rely heavily on grooveIP and talkatone a year or so ago but to my understanding Google will be blocking those "VoIP" apps that abuse Google voice/gmail calling next year, so I've been getting used to not relying on those apps 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## roger67 (Dec 15, 2013)

Does Callingmart have an auto-pay feature similar to what is offered by T-Mobile?  

I could only find the RTR/Top-Up Auto Load to Phone on Callingmart but this still requires logging into the Callingmart website every time a payment needs to be made.  Maybe I'm missing something?

If not Callingmart, then are there any other retailers (besides T-Mobile) that offer auto-pay?


----------



## Gaffadin (Dec 15, 2013)

roger67 said:


> Does Callingmart have an auto-pay feature similar to what is offered by T-Mobile?
> 
> I could only find the RTR/Top-Up Auto Load to Phone on Callingmart but this still requires logging into the Callingmart website every time a payment needs to be made.  Maybe I'm missing something?

Click to collapse



Login to your CM account and click the following: https://www.callingmart.com/account/Auto-PurchaseManagement.aspx

You can set up recurring automatic payments there, such as auto load to phone, which will mean you won't have to go and pay manually every month.


----------



## roger67 (Dec 15, 2013)

Great! Thanks for the info!


----------



## harveydent (Dec 16, 2013)

sorindobrin said:


> Everybody...please keep this in mind...with this plan they will not renew it earlier than your 30 days, you blow through your 5GB you're stock with 2G. I'm having this plan for 2 years now, and managed to renew it earlier than 30 days only once( in the beginning ), couldn't do it ever since, in another 4 attempts. They don't do it anymore...You might run into one service rep that will do it for you...but that's the exception.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



I just renewed this plan a week early since I blew through my minutes this month because of the holidays


----------



## Fire Ball (Dec 16, 2013)

harveydent said:


> I just renewed this plan a week early since I blew through my minutes this month because of the holidays

Click to collapse



Why didn't you just add more minutes?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## herosemblem (Dec 16, 2013)

I've been on the Tmo $30 plan for one week now.  Thanks to all who assisted me with the process.  

I was assigned a Tmo number and now would like to port my ATT number over.  Tmo cust service reps tell me I need to provide them with my ATT acct # AND my "ATT password".  I can see why Tmo might require this info...but doesn't this seem like a terrible thing to do? 
 I would like to hear from people who have actually been through this process where they gave Tmo their private information and passwords.  Thanks guys!


----------



## dazz87 (Dec 16, 2013)

herosemblem said:


> I've been on the Tmo $30 plan for one week now.  Thanks to all who assisted me with the process.
> 
> I was assigned a Tmo number and now would like to port my ATT number over.  Tmo cust service reps tell me I need to provide them with my ATT acct # AND my "ATT password".  I can see why Tmo might require this info...but doesn't this seem like a terrible thing to do?
> I would like to hear from people who have actually been through this process where they gave Tmo their private information and passwords.  Thanks guys!

Click to collapse



You will need your pin # not your password to your account. That Tmo CS is wrong. When I ported my Gophone (at&t)  I couldnt find my account # so I had to call AT&T to get it.  I create a pin # on my account (at&t) online. Make sure you have all the info before porting over.  
1. Your phone #
2. Acct number (not your phone #)
3. Pin # (4 digital)


----------



## herosemblem (Dec 16, 2013)

Thank you, Dazz.  PIN it is, then.  My concern stands nonetheless-  giving my new carrier (Tmo) my ATT acct # and ATT PIN...
It seems there is no way around this, and my best bet will be to provide Tmo with that private/required info, and immediately afterward, call ATT to change the ATT PIN.  In my case, the ATT plan will remain active.   I'm just a member of that family plan who wants to jump ship to Tmo.


----------



## dazz87 (Dec 16, 2013)

herosemblem said:


> Thank you, Dazz.  PIN it is, then.  My concern stands nonetheless-  giving my new carrier (Tmo) my ATT acct # and ATT PIN...
> It seems there is no way around this, and my best bet will be to provide Tmo with that private/required info, and immediately afterward, call ATT to change the ATT PIN.  In my case, the ATT plan will remain active.   I'm just a member of that family plan who wants to jump ship to Tmo.

Click to collapse



You have to call AT&T and ask them that you are planning on porting your number (cancel your line) if there is a ETF fee on your line.  I had an issue back in Oct when I move my parents number over to lycamobile.  I ported both numbers and I was three weeks from finishing my contract (family plan).  I still had my line with tmobile when i ported my parents number, I asked if I was going to get a ETF even tho there was still one line active with Tmobile. They said No. In Nov for my final bill from tmobile I received a $250.00 fee for ETF.  I eventually had tmobile remove the ETF.  So make sure you will not be hit with a ETF fee from at&t when you port over to tmo.


----------



## herosemblem (Dec 16, 2013)

Good advice.  Fortunately, I've got that research out of the way and should not incur an ETF from ATT.  
Looks like I just have to suck it up and give Tmo my Att account # and Att PIN, then change my Att PIN right afterward.


----------



## abhipati (Dec 16, 2013)

herosemblem said:


> I've been on the Tmo $30 plan for one week now.  Thanks to all who assisted me with the process.
> 
> I was assigned a Tmo number and now would like to port my ATT number over.  Tmo cust service reps tell me I need to provide them with my ATT acct # AND my "ATT password".  I can see why Tmo might require this info...but doesn't this seem like a terrible thing to do?
> I would like to hear from people who have actually been through this process where they gave Tmo their private information and passwords.  Thanks guys!

Click to collapse



I would suggest porting to google voice (20$ one time cost ) .That way you keep changing carriers and do not worry about losing number or porting with them

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## cephaus (Dec 16, 2013)

how do you guys like Tmobile? im split between the $30 plan or hopping on my AT&T Family plan


----------



## Letitride (Dec 16, 2013)

cephaus said:


> how do you guys like Tmobile? im split between the $30 plan or hopping on my AT&T Family plan

Click to collapse



As ex-VZW customer w 2 family lines, grandfathered text & unlimited data plan, etc. for 20 years since NYNEX Mobile/Bell Atlantic era - who've ditched AT&T once before, we are very please, happy & satisfied since our switch to the $30 plans, savings offset to pay for 2 new Nexus 5 in less than a year.  Look at it this way, there is no activation fees, micro-Sims are now free online (again) and if you are in a good T-Mo coverage area where you do most of the calling, and you aren't locked into other cellular contracts - you get 5GB of mobile data & unlimited texting and 100 airtime minutes to try it for 30 days - even Edge/2.5G speed if over the cap is very much usable.  HSPA/+ and 4G or LTE speed is just rocket blazing fast, and one of the best contract-free device, the Nexus 5 to do it all with.  

Get a new T-Mo # if you don't want to port out immediately as it's only offered for new activations, and if you like it - then, port out your existing # later on & use a new micro-Sim to do a new activation, the transfer of our numbers took 1.5 hours on one line and 8 hours on line #2 during the overnight hours, and we're good to go.  Between our 2 lines, we get 10GB of data on the go - and I do not mind paying 10 cents a minute for excess airtime on voice calls - it is still saving 50% of our monthly bills over Big Red's CDMA statement with taxes, fees & surcharges, etc. 

Here in NYC, T-Mo is even getting the "attention" of many AT&T customers over their poor track records on missing calls & coverage, despite all the claims - and "they" are all more expensive as we've spend months doing competitive comparision.


----------



## bcote311 (Dec 16, 2013)

cephaus said:


> how do you guys like Tmobile? im split between the $30 plan or hopping on my AT&T Family plan

Click to collapse



I am actually liking it a lot so far. I only signed up this weekend because I was waiting for my Verizon contract to expire but so far so good. I live just south of Atlanta and I have gotten LTE in all the areas I did with Verizon and it is super quick. I know overall the coverage is not as wide spread but for my daily usage this is going to be perfect. I just paid my last Verizon bill which was $87! The amount of money I am going to save makes the times I may have a weak signal all worth it. I say give it a shot and try it out. You have nothing to lose really since you can cancel it if you don't like it.


----------



## coorsleftfield (Dec 16, 2013)

I can't get any T-Mobile signal at  my desk at work or in many buildings so that is a deal breaker. For $15 more straighttalk has  unlimited minutes and uses AT&T which has better coverage indoors.  Downside is they throttle your data at 2.5g instead of 5.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## bcote311 (Dec 16, 2013)

That's a shame. I am in a 42 story building right now on the 25th floor and I have two bars of LTE. This is actually better than I was getting with Verizon although I think that was more due to the Galaxy Nexus issues rather than provider service.


----------



## dazz87 (Dec 16, 2013)

cephaus said:


> how do you guys like Tmobile? im split between the $30 plan or hopping on my AT&T Family plan

Click to collapse



Love it!.  I had GoPhone which I was getting horrible signal at home and work. Getting great signal at home (which also a plus with your battery life) and I'm paying half the price on tmo vs at&t. 5 GB of LTE per month. I blew through 500MB watching SUnday night football on my phone while waiting in line (in n out drive through) last night and I still have about 2GB left of LTE speed left on my acct.  I'm using grooveip for talk time when I'm on wifi. Never went over my 100 minutes 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## whitedragonz83 (Dec 16, 2013)

dazz87 said:


> Love it!.  I had GoPhone which I was getting horrible signal at home and work. Getting great signal at home (which also a plus with your battery life) and I'm paying half the price on tmo vs at&t. 5 GB of LTE per month. I blew through 500MB watching SUnday night football on my phone while waiting in line (in n out drive through) last night and I still have about 2GB left of LTE speed left on my acct.  I'm using grooveip for talk time when I'm on wifi. Never went over my 100 minutes
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



With LTE (and not moving) I've had good luck with VOIP calling.  LTE is pretty powerful and low latency.  Very nice combo for VOIP.


----------



## coorsleftfield (Dec 16, 2013)

bcote311 said:


> That's a shame. I am in a 42 story building right now on the 25th floor and I have two bars of LTE. This is actually better than I was getting with Verizon although I think that was more due to the Galaxy Nexus issues rather than provider service.

Click to collapse



I wish T-Mobile would put their wifi calling feature into the nexus 5. My coworkers are on T-Mobile and on our company wifi could function fine and seamless until they upgrade to the  nexus 5. Without the built-in wifi calling feature they have no calling /Sms in the building.


----------



## lazydognet (Dec 16, 2013)

cephaus said:


> how do you guys like Tmobile? im split between the $30 plan or hopping on my AT&T Family plan

Click to collapse



It's been good for me and my wife....we have two phones on it and have good coverage here in Sacramento, CA (of course, that is the key really....what coverage is like where you are).

LDN


----------



## herosemblem (Dec 16, 2013)

I like the $30 deal, but I've found that the signal reception is sickeningly horrendous from Sonoma County, CA and into Sacramento, CA.  80% of the time (at all locations), I have one bar with no lettering, and once in a while I will get a bar or two of LTE for about 90 seconds.  A lot less cost than ATT, but also extremely poor signal.  Also, I get one bar at home, and no bars at work.


----------



## ohthesepaws (Dec 16, 2013)

Can I be that guy and ask for the OP to be fixed to include links and instructions? I can't seem to find the right sim kit

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## whitedragonz83 (Dec 16, 2013)

ohthesepaws said:


> Can I be that guy and ask for the OP to be fixed to include links and instructions? I can't seem to find the right sim kit
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Click to collapse



Lots of information here.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646755

Nexus 5 uses a micro though.


----------



## Wired66 (Dec 17, 2013)

herosemblem said:


> I like the $30 deal, but I've found that the signal reception is sickeningly horrendous from Sonoma County, CA and into Sacramento, CA.  80% of the time (at all locations), I have one bar with no lettering, and once in a while I will get a bar or two of LTE for about 90 seconds.  A lot less cost than ATT, but also extremely poor signal.  Also, I get one bar at home, and no bars at work.

Click to collapse



I live in Sonoma Valley and the signal is actually not bad and almost always have LTE or HSPA+. But I just drove through Petaluma and Rohnert park for the first time yesterday since getting T-Mobile and was surprised to see I was almost always stuck on edge even with full bars so I see what your saying.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 17, 2013)

Wired66 said:


> I live in Sonoma Valley and the signal is actually not bad and almost always have LTE or HSPA+. But I just drove through Petaluma and Rohnert park for the first time yesterday since getting T-Mobile and was surprised to see I was almost always stuck on edge even with full bars so I see what your saying.

Click to collapse



This happens to me on drive thru's on 101, but once I stop and work my way into town my radio stabilizes and LTE connects.
FWIW..and I know I've seen it mentioned before but didn't believe it until I saw it for myself..but I ran out of 5GB data last night but am able to surf slowly and stream Google Music just fine today...radio says LTE but just slowed way down. Wonder if it's only http traffic throttled and rtsp etc. remain unaffected?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## adrman (Dec 17, 2013)

whitedragonz83 said:


> Lots of information here.
> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1646755
> 
> Nexus 5 uses a micro though.

Click to collapse



That really is the "mother" thread for this plan and the various ways to set it up. It's long, but well worth the time.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## troutforbrains (Dec 17, 2013)

herosemblem said:


> Good advice.  Fortunately, I've got that research out of the way and should not incur an ETF from ATT.
> Looks like I just have to suck it up and give Tmo my Att account # and Att PIN, then change my Att PIN right afterward.

Click to collapse



If you change your PIN immediately after giving it to TMO for the automated system to process your port, you're gonna have a bad time. I'm not sure what the paranoia is, but this PIN exists pretty much only to protect porting numbers. Relax, let them do their thing.


----------



## Piero88 (Dec 17, 2013)

Is there a workaround to go past the 2.5gb of hotspot?


----------



## BinkXDA (Dec 17, 2013)

Piero88 said:


> Is there a workaround to go past the 2.5gb of hotspot?

Click to collapse



I think you mean 100MB of hotspot.


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Dec 17, 2013)

Has anyone dropped AT&T for T-Mobile? I hate having a $160 phone bill when I only use less than 50 minutes a month.


----------



## ohthesepaws (Dec 17, 2013)

dinggus said:


> Has anyone dropped AT&T for T-Mobile? I hate having a $160 phone bill when I only use less than 50 minutes a month.

Click to collapse



I'm about to jump over when I get the activation kit card thing from tmo next week. Just hoping I ordered the right one.... Lol

I don't understand how people blow through 5g of data. I have 2.5 and barely use that. We'll just have to see though how much data VoIP uses...

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Dec 17, 2013)

ohthesepaws said:


> I'm about to jump over when I get the activation kit card thing from tmo next week. Just hoping I ordered the right one.... Lol
> 
> I don't understand how people blow through 5g of data. I have 2.5 and barely use that. We'll just have to see though how much data VoIP uses...
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Click to collapse



Are you already off contract? AT&T wants me to pay $350 for ETF. Trying to figure out how to get out of paying that.


----------



## dazz87 (Dec 17, 2013)

ohthesepaws said:


> I'm about to jump over when I get the activation kit card thing from tmo next week. Just hoping I ordered the right one.... Lol
> 
> I don't understand how people blow through 5g of data. I have 2.5 and barely use that. We'll just have to see though how much data VoIP uses...
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Click to collapse



Streaming. Was stuck in line (In n Out drive-through) for 20 mins blew through 500 MB in 20 minutes watching Sunday nite football...

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## rrumi001 (Dec 17, 2013)

I'm guessing everyone here talks more than 100 minutes, but using another app like groove IP. How's the call quality from GrooveIP? Or is there another method/app?


----------



## herosemblem (Dec 17, 2013)

Thanks, Trout.  For some reason I was thinking that with an account number and PIN, someone would basically have what they needed to alter my service, plan, or other nefarious things.


----------



## Letitride (Dec 17, 2013)

rrumi001 said:


> I'm guessing everyone here talks more than 100 minutes, but using another app like groove IP. How's the call quality from GrooveIP? Or is there another method/app?

Click to collapse



Been using GV with Talkatone for voice calling - go back & start reading from around Post #150 for details & discussions on how to - sound is good to acceptable over WiFi and also on mobile data.  If you have good LTE coverage, try switching it to 3G only, yes - HSPA/+ only so that you balance speed with reliability on holding a good signal when NOT on a WiFi - as LTE is sometimes not as solid when moving (riding or driving in a car/bus/train, etc.)   I use Talkatone to dial into T-Mo's Voice Mail system (805-xxx-xxxx) and it worked perfectly almost everytime on playback & listening. 

At the end of the current 30 days cycle, looks like I will only exceed mobile minutes by 25 or less - so $2.50 in "excess" charges at 10 cents/minute - I am very pleased with that.  

Have fun & enjoy the savings - your results will vary, of course.


----------



## Piero88 (Dec 17, 2013)

BinkXDA said:


> I think you mean 100MB of hotspot.

Click to collapse



Yea...is there a way to get past this?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 17, 2013)

Piero88 said:


> Yea...is there a way to get past this?

Click to collapse



Please read the tether block thread.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## slowpok22 (Dec 17, 2013)

I ran out of minutes and it would not let people call me. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Letitride (Dec 17, 2013)

slowpok22 said:


> I ran out of minutes and it would not let people call me.

Click to collapse



Do you have a balance in your account (check under T-Mo My Account ) aside from your initial or subsequent $30 refill, you need to have additional credit/refill available for it to deduct airtime minutes from ... 

Call 611 or CS & speak with them if there is an error.

*
Postscript / comments (12/21/) * - as of yesterday, I've ran out my 100 mobile minutes on the plan and since I have a $20 unused balance already deposited in My Account, I continued to have incoming & outgoing airtime minutes and charged 10 cents per minute/deducting from the My Account (so far, only 50 cents for 5 additional minutes)   It's easier for me when dialing out to others, to use Talkatone/Google Voice than for others used to "ringing" my regular mobile # - like 80's mom to switch to GV # (that is, until I decided on whether to port that old mobile # to GV for a one-time $20 fee)  Call quality on Talkatone over WiFi is good to excellent, one call was dropped while it was ringing & unanswered - calls while on Mobile data is good as well, especially when I'm not moving (as when driving or riding in a car / bus or train/subway, etc.)   Just 4 more days to the next 30 days refill, so I will probably use no more than 25 to 50 minutes this billing cycle ($2.50 to $5 extra)  I will have Callingmart auto-fill the next $30 to fund it for 30 days, and so on - keeping the remaining unused $15 or more already added as reserve to draw upon for extra air times in the next 30 days cycle - as all of it will get rolled over.


----------



## slowpok22 (Dec 17, 2013)

I I'm on auto renew, I went and added $10 on there site and it treated it like a partial payment, once I did that it showed that I only owed $21 and some change on my renew date. 

It did allow me to call out though. Guess I'll have to figure out how to add without it thinking I partial paying for the next month 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## mattmega77 (Dec 17, 2013)

*MMS with WiFi and data enabled*

Anyone else having the problem where you cannot send/receive MMS while both WiFi and data are enabled? I am able to send with data only enabled. When I had at&t, ias long as data was on, whether WiFi was on or not, the MMS would go through. 

Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but I searched and couldn't find anything specific to the nexus 5. I found that the workaround is to disable WiFi calling on the phone, which the nexus 5 does not support.


----------



## ohthesepaws (Dec 17, 2013)

dinggus said:


> Are you already off contract? AT&T wants me to pay $350 for ETF. Trying to figure out how to get out of paying that.

Click to collapse



You can always sell your contract? Or hell say you moved to a location with bad reception. For me this was no problem, I live in Colorado and just got a po box in the mountains.

Don't say the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon.

Nexus 5 - XDA premium app


----------



## m3lover1 (Dec 17, 2013)

The throttling after you pass 5gb data is pretty darn horrible Lol. Just passed it today and got a text saying I will be throttled. Sure enough, I loaded up tapatalk and even after 5 min the thread hasn't loaded yet. Hahaha I have 4 more days before my next cycle.


----------



## bingunginter (Dec 17, 2013)

With this plan, can I add extra balance and use it to make voice call in mexico ?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 17, 2013)

m3lover1 said:


> The throttling after you pass 5gb data is pretty darn horrible Lol. Just passed it today and got a text saying I will be throttled. Sure enough, I loaded up tapatalk and even after 5 min the thread hasn't loaded yet. Hahaha I have 4 more days before my next cycle.

Click to collapse



Yet you will be able to stream Google Music and texts and MMS go through fast.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## m3lover1 (Dec 17, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> Yet you will be able to stream Google Music and texts and MMS go through fast.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Oh I haven't tried Google music or mms. Texts I expect to still go out fast. I've only tried tapatalk and web browser. Both were horrendously slow. Gonna try Google music now


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 17, 2013)

m3lover1 said:


> Oh I haven't tried Google music or mms. Texts I expect to still go out fast. I've only tried tapatalk and web browser. Both were horrendously slow. Gonna try Google music now

Click to collapse



I re upped this morning but I spent all day on 2g yesterday. Aside from painful browsing it really didn't interrupt my routine use much certainly not enough to pay an extra $40 a month for.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## m3lover1 (Dec 17, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> I re upped this morning but I spent all day on 2g yesterday. Aside from painful browsing it really didn't interrupt my routine use much certainly not enough to pay an extra $40 a month for.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Just tried Google music. Nope wouldn't stream. Or I should say I didn't have the patience to wait and see how long it'll take before it started. Lol. 

Same here in terms of the data throttling. The 100 min though is starting to make me think whether to change plans or not.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 17, 2013)

m3lover1 said:


> Just tried Google music. Nope wouldn't stream. Or I should say I didn't have the patience to wait and see how long it'll take before it started. Lol.
> 
> Same here in terms of the data throttling. The 100 min though is starting to make me think whether to change plans or not.

Click to collapse



Odd. Are you still showing LTE?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## m3lover1 (Dec 17, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> Odd. Are you still showing LTE?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Yep. Still shows LTE. Just really stupid slow for anything that requires data. Haven't tried MMS, but I hardly send those anyways


----------



## mattmega77 (Dec 17, 2013)

*MMS fixed*



mattmega77 said:


> Anyone else having the problem where you cannot send/receive MMS while both WiFi and data are enabled? I am able to send with data only enabled. When I had at&t, ias long as data was on, whether WiFi was on or not, the MMS would go through.
> 
> Sorry if this has been mentioned before, but I searched and couldn't find anything specific to the nexus 5. I found that the workaround is to disable WiFi calling on the phone, which the nexus 5 does not support.

Click to collapse



Alright, I figured it out. For some reason, there were 3 APN s. 1 that said metro PCS, the correct fast.T-Mobile APN, and another T-Mobile APN that was BLANK! After deleting the metro and blank tmo APN, MMS works while WiFi and data are on. Maybe doing this will resolve issues others are having.


----------



## o1nks (Dec 17, 2013)

Is there a real way to tell how T-Mobile's prepaid coverage is? The prepaid coverage page (would've linked it but I am a new member) doesn't seem too accurate for me.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 17, 2013)

o1nks said:


> Is there a real way to tell how T-Mobile's prepaid coverage is? The prepaid coverage page (would've linked it but I am a new member) doesn't seem too accurate for me.

Click to collapse



Sensorly and OpenSignal maps apps are user- generated and 'real', but of course only inasmuch users run the app in your area.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Lockeskidney (Dec 18, 2013)

has anyone managed to get tethering to work


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 18, 2013)

Lockeskidney said:


> has anyone managed to get tethering to work

Click to collapse



See the tether blocked thread...

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Dec 18, 2013)

ohthesepaws said:


> You can always sell your contract? Or hell say you moved to a location with bad reception. For me this was no problem, I live in Colorado and just got a po box in the mountains.
> 
> Don't say the sky is the limit when there are footprints on the moon.
> 
> Nexus 5 - XDA premium app

Click to collapse



Sell my contract? Never heard of that.


----------



## trsix (Dec 18, 2013)

*coverage*



o1nks said:


> Is there a real way to tell how T-Mobile's prepaid coverage is? The prepaid coverage page (would've linked it but I am a new member) doesn't seem too accurate for me.

Click to collapse



Their prepaid and regular are the same i believe.

http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage.ht...06=2841678657&009=e&011=t-mobile coverage map


----------



## sbenson1226 (Dec 18, 2013)

Is it possible to get Google Voice voice mail working with my carrier number? 

Google Voice won't accept my current number for porting (my cell number for the past 15 years) so I'm stuck using it under my carrier. I'd really like to be able to port my number out so I'll continue to check with GV to see if they'll accept it in the future. 

In the meantime I was hoping to get GV working like I had it on Verizon, but I fear that's not possible with the lack of conditional call forwarding on T-mobile prepaid. I've read about people turning off their carrier voice mail but that's only when going "all in" with Google Voice correct?

Any concrete tips and guidance would be greatly appreciated.


----------



## gremi35 (Dec 18, 2013)

I am from Europe (Slovenia) and I have an opportunity to get the Nexus 5 phone from America (Sprint or T-Mobile). I already know that I couldn't use the LTE in Europe due to a different bands, but I would like to know if this phone is locked to a different carriers (In my case, slovenian carrier Si.Mobil). I also heard that Sprint uses CDMA and not GSM bands so that is unusable in whole Europe where we use just GSM bands, however T-mobile probably (?) uses the GSM. THX for all the answers! 
PS. Play store is not being an option because of the long delivery time.


----------



## unknownbeing (Dec 18, 2013)

Does anybody else see 311 660 as an available network? I did some googling and people are saying it's T-Mobile's LTE network, but I don't even get HSPA where I live, I do get five bars of edge though.


----------



## jgreemo (Dec 18, 2013)

*Sprint?*

Are you on Sprint by chance? I had the same problem initially when on Sprint as I had GV integration set up.  I had to remove the integration first then try the porting to Google again, which then worked.  I'm on T-Mo now and more than happy with the service.   



sbenson1226 said:


> Is it possible to get Google Voice voice mail working with my carrier number?
> 
> Google Voice won't accept my current number for porting (my cell number for the past 15 years) so I'm stuck using it under my carrier. I'd really like to be able to port my number out so I'll continue to check with GV to see if they'll accept it in the future.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse


----------



## Letitride (Dec 18, 2013)

gremi35 said:


> I am from Europe (Slovenia) and I have an opportunity to get the Nexus 5 phone from America (Sprint or T-Mobile). I already know that I couldn't use the LTE in Europe due to a different bands, but I would like to know if this phone is locked to a different carriers (In my case, slovenian carrier Si.Mobil). I also heard that Sprint uses CDMA and not GSM bands so that is unusable in whole Europe where we use just GSM bands, however T-mobile probably (?) uses the GSM.

Click to collapse



There are two models sold worldwide - one for the Americas and it has more LTE & HSPA/+ bands, including CDMA radios that's compatible with Sprint - they are the same ones sold via T-Mobile & Sprint stores, and they are NOT locked to any carrier.  The second model is for the rest of you, also unlocked and contains different LTE & HSPA/+ bands - and, they are NOT locked either.  

Both of these will work on the traditional GSM quadbands and most, if not all, 3G networks - the ones sold or intended for Asia and/or Europe might but most likely NOT have ALL of the proper LTE bands, and, vice versa - the same micro-Sim card.  Nexus 5 used on the Sprint network also need their own dedicated Sim card.  

If your network speed is 3G only and/or you can match the America's N5 radio band to your country's carrier - you should be fine.  T-Mobile in Europe use GSM bands.  For voice calling, it will be fine - your tradeoff is mostly in "slower" data over the network.  



unknownbeing said:


> Does anybody else see 311 660 as an available network? I did some googling and people are saying it's T-Mobile's LTE network, but I don't even get HSPA where I live, I do get five bars of edge though.

Click to collapse



Are you a current T-Mo customer (or one of its MNVO) ??  Depends on where you are?  Have you check your APN settings - what are they?  Aside from AT&T and T-Mobile, Sprint, I also see 311 660 listed as one of the available GSM network, plus Verizon.    

If you only see Edge, your configuration isn't right - keep in mind that you might need to upgrade to a newer micro-Sim properly provisioned for 4G / LTE for optimal T-Mo usage, cutting the old regular Sim won't do any good, AFAIK.


----------



## rrumi001 (Dec 19, 2013)

I have Sprint right now with my iphone. When I get my Nexus 5, I'm gonna try T-mobile out and see how the service is in my area before fully switching. Is it possible to activate the sim card and then port my number out next month? Or would I have to buy another T-mobile sim card?


----------



## Gaffadin (Dec 19, 2013)

unknownbeing said:


> Does anybody else see 311 660 as an available network? I did some googling and people are saying it's T-Mobile's LTE network, but I don't even get HSPA where I live, I do get five bars of edge though.

Click to collapse



I also see 311 660 as a network choice, out here in the middle of nowhere, TX (about two hours west of Dallas).

After a search, my N5 saw T-Mobile, Sprint, AT&T and 311 660 as selections.



rrumi001 said:


> I have Sprint right now with my iphone. When I get my Nexus 5, I'm gonna try T-mobile out and see how the service is in my area before fully switching. Is it possible to activate the sim card and then port my number out next month? Or would I have to buy another T-mobile sim card?

Click to collapse



You can port after the fact if you wish. You just do a normal T-Mobile activation and receive a new number, then if you want to port an existing number to T-Mobile on that already-activated account just call the Porting Dept. at 1-877-789-3106 and they will be able to do it for you. You don't need to buy a second sim.


----------



## robz2k (Dec 19, 2013)

I really want to switch over but I currently have the unlimited grandfathered AT&T data plan and feel like the data speeds and the service will be far less reliable on Tmobie


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 19, 2013)

robz2k said:


> I really want to switch over but I currently have the unlimited grandfathered AT&T data plan and feel like the data speeds and the service will be far less reliable on Tmobie

Click to collapse



That's why a $30 try out for a month seems a bargain. A bargain any way you look at it.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## nohcho (Dec 19, 2013)

robz2k said:


> I really want to switch over but I currently have the unlimited grandfathered AT&T data plan and feel like the data speeds and the service will be far less reliable on Tmobie

Click to collapse



In in the same boat. I have grandfathered in unlimited plan but hate att  and wanna switch badly

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## unknownbeing (Dec 19, 2013)

Letitride said:


> Are you a current T-Mo customer (or one of its MNVO) ??  Depends on where you are?  Have you check your APN settings - what are they?  Aside from AT&T and T-Mobile, Sprint, I also see 311 660 listed as one of the available GSM network, plus Verizon.
> 
> If you only see Edge, your configuration isn't right - keep in mind that you might need to upgrade to a newer micro-Sim properly provisioned for 4G / LTE for optimal T-Mo usage, cutting the old regular Sim won't do any good, AFAIK.

Click to collapse



I'm on the $30 pre-paid plan from t-mobile, I think its just where I live because if I go down the road I'll get HSPA+ but that maxes out around 1mbps. I've also had LTE when I've gone to major cities.


----------



## Letitride (Dec 19, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> That's why a $30 try out for a month seems a bargain. A bargain any way you look at it.

Click to collapse



*Robz2k* - and others considering T-Mobile on a trial basis, you can do this for as little as $10 - for 3 days of worth of unlimited calling & texting, and 200MB/daily of 4G/HSPA data.

Order the (free) micro-Sim card & activation kit (UPS free ground shipping in 3 to 5 days) - there is a limit of 2 per order, and I suggest getting 2 of them.  Upon receipt, do a new activation online & get a new mobile number - put $10 refill in the account to fund it.  Insert the micro-Sim and turn on the Nexus 5 & you are ready for a trial spin.  As part of the account setup, select the PAYG plan by the Day, select the $3 a day plan - and you have unlimited voice calling & texting, plus mobile 4G/HSPA data - 200MB for up to 24 hours.  

For 3 days, your cost is $3 x 3 or $9 - including a total of 600MB of 4G LTE/HSPA data to check it out at work, at home and on the road at places that you plan to use it.  Check out Google Voice & Talkatone / WiFi calling, etc. 

If you like it and satisfactory, you can go ahead & port your number over from the other carrier - using the 2nd. unused/new micro-Sim card, and sign up for the $30 Prepaid Plan, etc.   We ported out from VZW - where we once had 22% corporate discount and grandfathered unlimited data, etc. - not looking back, after almost 20 years on Big Red ...


----------



## BirchBarlow (Dec 19, 2013)

robz2k said:


> I really want to switch over but I currently have the unlimited grandfathered AT&T data plan and feel like the data speeds and the service will be far less reliable on Tmobie

Click to collapse



I switched from AT&T to T-Mobile Prepaid and so far I've found the reception and data speeds to be better everywhere I've been.


----------



## rrumi001 (Dec 19, 2013)

BirchBarlow said:


> I switched from AT&T to T-Mobile Prepaid and so far I've found the reception and data speeds to be better everywhere I've been.

Click to collapse



Where do you live?


----------



## BirchBarlow (Dec 19, 2013)

rrumi001 said:


> Where do you live?

Click to collapse



In the Philadelphia area.


----------



## sbenson1226 (Dec 19, 2013)

jgreemo said:


> Are you on Sprint by chance? I had the same problem initially when on Sprint as I had GV integration set up.  I had to remove the integration first then try the porting to Google again, which then worked.  I'm on T-Mo now and more than happy with the service.

Click to collapse



No, I'm currently on T-mobile postpaid (just switched from Verizon), looking to switch to T-mobile prepaid. However, I'm not willing to give up Google Voice, so I'm trying to find a way around the call forwarding B.S. I think I'm screwed for now until Google Voice accepts my number for porting, if they ever do.

I know Sprint had some special GV integration that none of the other carriers had so that was probably your issue, but just by chance what did you do to remove the integration? Did you just remove it from the "Phones" section under GV settings?


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Dec 19, 2013)

Is there a way I can have call forwarding to a T-Mobile number if I want to try it out? That way I only have to carry one device.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## Fire Ball (Dec 21, 2013)

unknownbeing said:


> Does anybody else see 311 660 as an available network? I did some googling and people are saying it's T-Mobile's LTE network, but I don't even get HSPA where I live, I do get five bars of edge though.

Click to collapse



It's MetroPCS. So hopefully eventually you'll be able to connect to that tower and get LTE! (Since T-Mobile owns Metro)

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## FuMMoD (Dec 21, 2013)

Does anyone know how to bypass the 2g throttling? It shows down to like 20kbs and I know I read somewhere where people were able to have it go between 80 to 100 while is way more useful. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## trsix (Dec 22, 2013)

*How about renewing your plan early*



FuMMoD said:


> Does anyone know how to bypass the 2g throttling? It shows down to like 20kbs and I know I read somewhere where people were able to have it go between 80 to 100 while is way more useful.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



How about renewing your plan early
Get a lot of people abusing the plan and it would no longer be $30.
Maybe get a part time job?
Or ask your mom for a loan?


----------



## FuMMoD (Dec 22, 2013)

trsix said:


> How about renewing your plan early
> Get a lot of people abusing the plan and it would no longer be $30.
> Maybe get a part time job?
> Or ask your mom for a loan?

Click to collapse



Do you even know what you're paying for or do you need some literacy lessons? I only asked if there was a way to get actual 2g Speeds not the throttled to hell version of 2g they offer. The plan is unlimited 2G which you pay for after your alloted 4g is used up. Increasing the 2g speed is not abusing anything if that's what you're paying for. I am aware that you can renew the plan and if that's the case then I'll just get the 70$ plan. Sadly I don't take hand outs from people like yourself. I'm sure you might be accustomed to asking your parents for every little thing but i am not. I'm sorry your job doesn't pay you enough for you not to be angry at the world. Maybe one day when you advance your education you can do something worthwhile with your life.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 22, 2013)

FuMMoD said:


> Do you even know what you're paying for or do you need some literacy lessons? I only asked if there was a way to get actual 2g Speeds not the throttled to hell version of 2g they offer. The plan is unlimited 2G which you pay for after your alloted 4g is used up. Increasing the 2g speed is not abusing anything if that's what you're paying for. I am aware that you can renew the plan and if that's the case then I'll just get the 70$ plan. Sadly I don't take hand outs from people like yourself. I'm sure you might be accustomed to asking your parents for every little thing but i am not. I'm sorry your job doesn't pay you enough for you not to be angry at the world. Maybe one day when you advance your education you can do something worthwhile with your life.

Click to collapse




Stop sniping guys. AFAIK there's no workaround, but having spent a whopping day on 2G after burning up my 5GB, I can say it wasn't painful enough (I was still able to stream Google Music, my main reason for data and email/Tapatalk worked fine) for me to desire an upgrade to the $70 plan. Tough it out, sip your data allotment carefully, or spend the do-ra-mi. It's a great plan as is.


----------



## FuMMoD (Dec 22, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> Stop sniping guys. AFAIK there's no workaround, but having spent a whopping day on 2G after burning up my 5GB, I can say it wasn't painful enough (I was still able to stream Google Music, my main reason for data and email/Tapatalk worked fine) for me to desire an upgrade to the $70 plan. Tough it out, sip your data allotment carefully, or spend the do-ra-mi. It's a great plan as is.

Click to collapse



Wow that's pretty good I guess the throttling isn't as bad as I thought. Right now I'm on the unlimited everything for 60$ on metro pcs. I'm still debating whether to drop down to a 30$ plan, since it's not really a necessity. That's great if you can stream with Google music though. Thanks 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 22, 2013)

FuMMoD said:


> Wow that's pretty good I guess the throttling isn't as bad as I thought. Right now I'm on the unlimited everything for 60$ on metro pcs. I'm still debating whether to drop down to a 30$ plan, since it's not really a necessity. That's great if you can stream with Google music though. Thanks
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Yep. I'd seen a few reports here that it was possible, but naturally I didn't believe it until I saw/heard it for myself, and I was shocked. Surfing or any other http activity was a mess, but the main things I need still worked fine.


----------



## KrazyAttack (Dec 22, 2013)

So about 30 minutes ago my phone popped up with a "Restricted access changed" notification and I now have no service.

Just randomly, tried taking out sim and putting it back in to no luck, tried using some tape to hold the sim in place, no luck.

Wtf?

Not sure if it's the phone or the sim, never seen this before.


----------



## o1nks (Dec 22, 2013)

KrazyAttack said:


> So about 30 minutes ago my phone popped up with a "Restricted access changed" notification and I now have no service.
> 
> Just randomly, tried taking out sim and putting it back in to no luck, tried using some tape to hold the sim in place, no luck.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Best thing you can do is call T-Mobile support and see what's going on.


----------



## crucialcolin (Dec 23, 2013)

Had that happen to me after my first month. It turns out for whatever reason auto payment enrollment didn't take when I first signed up/added funds to my account. Might want to check with T-Mobile as mentioned


----------



## unknownbeing (Dec 23, 2013)

Fire Ball said:


> It's MetroPCS. So hopefully eventually you'll be able to connect to that tower and get LTE! (Since T-Mobile owns Metro)
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



According to metro's coverage map they don't have any of their own towers anywhere near where I live


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Dec 23, 2013)

FuMMoD said:


> Do you even know what you're paying for or do you need some literacy lessons? I only asked if there was a way to get actual 2g Speeds not the throttled to hell version of 2g they offer. The plan is unlimited 2G which you pay for after your alloted 4g is used up. Increasing the 2g speed is not abusing anything if that's what you're paying for. I am aware that you can renew the plan and if that's the case then I'll just get the 70$ plan. Sadly I don't take hand outs from people like yourself. I'm sure you might be accustomed to asking your parents for every little thing but i am not. I'm sorry your job doesn't pay you enough for you not to be angry at the world. Maybe one day when you advance your education you can do something worthwhile with your life.

Click to collapse



Isn't the unlimited 4G throttled after 5GB? You still are getting unlimited 2G, right?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## ethan.r.besbris (Dec 23, 2013)

dinggus said:


> Isn't the unlimited 4G throttled after 5GB? You still are getting unlimited 2G, right?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Click to collapse



No. The $70 plan is truly unlimited, no throttle. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Dec 23, 2013)

ethan.r.besbris said:


> No. The $70 plan is truly unlimited, no throttle.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Yeah I know but the $30 is unlimited up to 5GB, and then unlimited 2G.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## ethan.r.besbris (Dec 23, 2013)

dinggus said:


> Yeah I know but the $30 is unlimited up to 5GB, and then unlimited 2G.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Click to collapse



Correct. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Dec 23, 2013)

ethan.r.besbris said:


> Correct.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I was just wonder why he was complaining about unlimited 2G.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## FuMMoD (Dec 23, 2013)

dinggus said:


> Yeah I know but the $30 is unlimited up to 5GB, and then unlimited 2G.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Click to collapse



Yes it's unlimited 2g but drastically throttled. Another user mentioned it was stable enough to stream google music surprisingly. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Joshmccullough (Dec 23, 2013)

jgreemo said:


> Are you on Sprint by chance? I had the same problem initially when on Sprint as I had GV integration set up.  I had to remove the integration first then try the porting to Google again, which then worked.  I'm on T-Mo now and more than happy with the service.

Click to collapse



So you've actually got Google Voice working with the $30/Month prepaid plan? How did you do it? I've seen a lot of forums/postings saying it can't be done, T-Mobile tells me it can't be done, but it seems a few lucky souls got it working. 

I've tried having Tmo turn off their voicemail service, but that didn't work. Any tips would be appreciated, but it seems Tmo isn't of the mind that it can be done....

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## BirchBarlow (Dec 23, 2013)

Joshmccullough said:


> So you've actually got Google Voice working with the $30/Month prepaid plan? How did you do it? I've seen a lot of forums/postings saying it can't be done, T-Mobile tells me it can't be done, but it seems a few lucky souls got it working.
> 
> I've tried having Tmo turn off their voicemail service, but that didn't work. Any tips would be appreciated, but it seems Tmo isn't of the mind that it can be done....
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



You can't. T-Mobile Prepaid doesn't support conditional call forwarding.  What he must have done is ported his number over to Google Voice.  If you use Google Voice to receive calls, you can set Google Voice to forward the calls to your device, and when you don't answer, the calls will go back to your Google Voice mailbox.  Of course for that to work you have to have a full Google Voice account and you have to have your T-Mobile Voicemail disabled, which can only be done by a CSR, not to mention it does cost money to port your number to Google Voice.


----------



## jpchopper (Dec 23, 2013)

gremi35 said:


> I am from Europe (Slovenia) and I have an opportunity to get the Nexus 5 phone from America (Sprint or T-Mobile). I already know that I couldn't use the LTE in Europe due to a different bands, but I would like to know if this phone is locked to a different carriers (In my case, slovenian carrier Si.Mobil). I also heard that Sprint uses CDMA and not GSM bands so that is unusable in whole Europe where we use just GSM bands, however T-mobile probably (?) uses the GSM. THX for all the answers!
> PS. Play store is not being an option because of the long delivery time.

Click to collapse



Go with T-Mobile version. Main difference is they only sell the 16G version. It was the same with the nexus 4 too. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Joshmccullough (Dec 23, 2013)

BirchBarlow said:


> You can't. T-Mobile Prepaid doesn't support conditional call forwarding.  What he must have done is ported his number over to Google Voice.  If you use Google Voice to receive calls, you can set Google Voice to forward the calls to your device, and when you don't answer, the calls will go back to your Google Voice mailbox.  Of course for that to work you have to have a full Google Voice account and you have to have your T-Mobile Voicemail disabled, which can only be done by a CSR, not to mention it does cost money to port your number to Google Voice.

Click to collapse



That's what I thought, ran into the same problem.....just thought maybe someone had actually got it to work 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Caebron (Dec 23, 2013)

BirchBarlow said:


> You can't. T-Mobile Prepaid doesn't support conditional call forwarding.  What he must have done is ported his number over to Google Voice.  If you use Google Voice to receive calls, you can set Google Voice to forward the calls to your device, and when you don't answer, the calls will go back to your Google Voice mailbox.  Of course for that to work you have to have a full Google Voice account and you have to have your T-Mobile Voicemail disabled, which can only be done by a CSR, not to mention it does cost money to port your number to Google Voice.

Click to collapse



Why doesn't everyone just port their # to GV then? What's the catch?


----------



## Caebron (Dec 23, 2013)

Other than a one time fee of 20USD to Google?


----------



## niv3d (Dec 23, 2013)

BirchBarlow said:


> I switched from AT&T to T-Mobile Prepaid and so far I've found the reception and data speeds to be better everywhere I've been.

Click to collapse



Seriously?? What about inside buildings? ATT LTE is on the 700mhz spectrum and TMO LTE is on 1700mhz.... Far worse for in building coverage

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Letitride (Dec 23, 2013)

Caebron said:


> Why doesn't everyone just port their # to GV then?

Click to collapse



Having just switched from VZW, we're looking at porting directly to GV for the one-time $20 fees - which is less than Big Red's equipment upgrade / activation fees had we stayed with CDMA - and would've gladly paid for that.  We simply transfered 2 mobile numbers out to avoid any disruption in services as GV could take 7 days to complete.  

For us - when Mrs. L & I are both traveling abroad, I'm not sure if we wanted all calls going to GV and its VM since it doesn't work/isn't available overseas.  It can be a pain to forward calls to international # - even though we have an established mobile # in use already for several years at dirt cheap rates.  That number will call forward & roam in the US, at reasonable rates, but T-Mo prepaid doesn't work or work as nicely - so, I am still thinking it loud with logistics and options.  I might end up porting Mrs. L's mobile # to GV and it would simplify her less "active" line.   



niv3d said:


> Seriously?? What about inside buildings? ATT LTE is on the 700mhz spectrum and TMO LTE is on 1700mhz.... Far worse for in building coverage

Click to collapse



Here in NYC's suburb, all 3 major carriers provide marginal services inside our house - AT&T is often worst than - if not as bad as - T-Mo downstairs on 1/F.  Upstairs, our indoor T-Mo signal is fine on 4G, and I get "full 4 bars" if stayed lock to 3G only and with good HSPA+ speed.  Otherwise, we are missed no "fewer" calls than when we're on Big Red and while using T-Mo as our primary carrier, I still have a 2nd. backup line on AT&T so got the base covered for extreme emergencies.


----------



## coorsleftfield (Dec 23, 2013)

niv3d said:


> Seriously?? What about inside buildings? ATT LTE is on the 700mhz spectrum and TMO LTE is on 1700mhz.... Far worse for in building coverage
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Yep. None of my coworkers on T-Mobile have a signal inside out building at work.. AT&T and sprint work just fine.


----------



## Caebron (Dec 23, 2013)

I hear Txt and MMS doesn't work well on GV either.


----------



## s9ortner (Dec 23, 2013)

Caebron said:


> I hear Txt and MMS doesn't work well on GV either.

Click to collapse



Texting works great trough the GV app. MMS, well that's a different story. You can receive them in an email from Sprint and T-Mobile numbers but can't send out to anybody. I just use my cell # to create out going. Honestly, I don't miss MMS at all. I've been all in on GV for over 2 years now.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Soupskin (Dec 23, 2013)

Ported my number to Google Voice from Verizon.  Running CM11 where you can force all outbound SMS through GV.  GV is set to forward calls (but not SMS) to my $30 T-Mo prepaid number.  GV app is set to use the system SMS app.  Hangouts is my default SMS app.  Using Groove IP to make all my calls, even over 3G.  Couldn't be happier with it thus far.

Since Google Voice has my number now, if I decide that T-Mo Prepaid sucks, I'll just pick a different vendor and no one will be the wiser.


----------



## sirxdroid (Dec 23, 2013)

s9ortner said:


> Texting works great trough the GV app. MMS, well that's a different story. You can receive them in an email from Sprint and T-Mobile numbers but can't send out to anybody. I just use my cell # to create out going. Honestly, I don't miss MMS at all. I've been all in on GV for over 2 years now.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Texting doesn't work that great either. Sending to short codes may or may not work. Receiving from various senders may also not work. Some examples: paypal, redbox, some banks (for alerts) do not recognize GV numbers as valid "mobile" numbers. So it's not a great solution, it's half-baked. Hopefully it will get better with time.


----------



## s9ortner (Dec 23, 2013)

sirxdroid said:


> Texting doesn't work that great either. Sending to short codes may or may not work. Receiving from various senders may also not work. Some examples: paypal, redbox, some banks (for alerts) do not recognize GV numbers as valid "mobile" numbers. So it's not a great solution, it's half-baked. Hopefully it will get better with time.

Click to collapse



I don't use short codes and could care less about receiving corporate solicitations from your examples. If I need to check an account, I have a browser on the phone. GV works for my needs just fine.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## sirxdroid (Dec 23, 2013)

s9ortner said:


> I don't use short codes and could care less about receiving corporate solicitations from your examples. If I need to check an account, I have a browser on the phone. GV works for my needs just fine.

Click to collapse



But that was not the point. Just because you have solutions to work around the problems, does not make GV work "great" for texting. At least you need to be aware of the issues if you choose to use GV so you know what to expect. GV is very good for many things, but not for all things, some simply do not work at all. The point is it is not yet a 100% replacement for texting.


----------



## BirchBarlow (Dec 23, 2013)

Caebron said:


> Other than a one time fee of 20USD to Google?

Click to collapse



Well that and the fact that if you're unsatisfied with "Full" Google Voice, I wouldn't count on being able to port your number back to your carrier.  Personally I don't really need the functionality of Google Voice, so it's not worth the money and potential problems just to have my voicemails in Google Voice.  Instead I just use T-Moble Visual Voicemail to avoid burning through minutes checking my voicemail.  Works just the same.


----------



## Soupskin (Dec 23, 2013)

sirxdroid said:


> But that was not the point. Just because you have solutions to work around the problems, does not make GV work "great" for texting. At least you need to be aware of the issues if you choose to use GV so you know what to expect. GV is very good for many things, but not for all things, some simply do not work at all. The point is it is not yet a 100% replacement for texting.

Click to collapse



"100% replacement" is subjective.  It is a 100% replacement for me.


----------



## BirchBarlow (Dec 23, 2013)

niv3d said:


> Seriously?? What about inside buildings? ATT LTE is on the 700mhz spectrum and TMO LTE is on 1700mhz.... Far worse for in building coverage
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Maybe so, but that has no bearing on voice coverage.  As far as data is concerned, I've found T-Mobile to be about triple the speed of AT&T.  I don't know, maybe AT&T throttles their data or something.  What I do know is the speed tests don't lie.


----------



## Soupskin (Dec 23, 2013)

BirchBarlow said:


> Well that and the fact that if you're unsatisfied with "Full" Google Voice, I wouldn't count on being able to port your number back to your carrier.  Personally I don't really need the functionality of Google Voice, so it's not worth the money and potential problems just to have my voicemails in Google Voice.  Instead I just use T-Moble Visual Voicemail to avoid burning through minutes checking my voicemail.  Works just the same.

Click to collapse



I could swap to an AT&T SIM and swap back to T-Mo 2 hours later and still be reachable at my same GV number the entire time.  I couldn't care less about the voicemail.


----------



## s9ortner (Dec 23, 2013)

Honestly, I never knew there was a problem then. I've never used a short code even prior to using GV and I have all my accounts contact me via email. So therefore, I am in no way using a workaround. It work just fine for me and several others that I know is all I'm trying to say.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Nnyan (Dec 24, 2013)

coorsleftfield said:


> Yep. None of my coworkers on T-Mobile have a signal inside out building at work.. AT&T and sprint work just fine.

Click to collapse



I agree I travel quite a bit and I have a Verizon phone for work a grandfathered AT&T unlimited and I have been trying the $30/mo T-Mobile plan.  Inside buildings TM is pretty crappy.  AT&T/Verizon are much better (they don't drop where TM will).  Outside coverage is good in major areas but far more spots where you are supposed to be in the middle of LTE but drop down to H then AT&T and Verizon.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## breakyoself (Dec 24, 2013)

Any suggestions for this problem:  I am a longtime VZW subscriber with two national calling shared lines with grandfathered unlimited data on both.  Wife has iphone and I have a CM11 gnex.  Recently got a Nexus 5 and signed up for the the $30 prepaid Tmo.

Tmo's cell/data reception and speeds are excellent all around Los Angeles and Orange County, quite comparable to VZW  I have not tested in smaller cities though and have heard this is Tmo's weakness.  

Because i wasn't to keep the grandfathered unlimited data, I  would like to port just the cell number on the gnex to the Tmo account so I can have that number on the Nexus 5, but would like to keep the unlimited data plan at VZW for a tablet.  Anyone know if just the phone  number can be ported from VZW while leaving the grandfathered data plan at VZW?

I would prefer not asking one of the VZW reps because they seem to be less than knowledgeable on the subject and I would rather hear from someone who actually did/tried this.  Thanks in advance.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 24, 2013)

breakyoself said:


> Any suggestions for this problem:  I am a longtime VZW subscriber with two national calling shared lines with grandfathered unlimited data on both.  Wife has iphone and I have a CM11 gnex.  Recently got a Nexus 5 and signed up for the the $30 prepaid Tmo.
> 
> Tmo's cell/data reception and speeds are excellent all around Los Angeles and Orange County, quite comparable to VZW  I have not tested in smaller cities though and have heard this is Tmo's weakness.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



No. AFAIK, porting a number shuts down your account at all carriers.


----------



## sbenson1226 (Dec 24, 2013)

Caebron said:


> Why doesn't everyone just port their # to GV then? What's the catch?

Click to collapse



Because for me in particular, I've had the same cell number for 13 years and Google Voice will not accept my area code for porting.

Until Google finally, if ever accepts my number, I'm stuck. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 01:35 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:26 PM ----------




BirchBarlow said:


> Well that and the fact that if you're unsatisfied with "Full" Google Voice, I wouldn't count on being able to port your number back to your carrier.  Personally I don't really need the functionality of Google Voice, so it's not worth the money and potential problems just to have my voicemails in Google Voice.  Instead I just use T-Moble Visual Voicemail to avoid burning through minutes checking my voicemail.  Works just the same.

Click to collapse



Where do I find the Visual Voicemail?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## BirchBarlow (Dec 24, 2013)

sbenson1226 said:


> Where do I find the Visual Voicemail?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



T-Mobile Visual Voicemail .apk


----------



## Zainiak (Dec 25, 2013)

I've got a slightly related question. If sprint buys tmobile, do we get to take advantage of sprint's network as well?


----------



## Joshmccullough (Dec 25, 2013)

I keep getting a message saying that the Visual Voicemail won't work, that I need to call T-Mobile....I tried the sms tips found in that forum, but no dice. Anyone else have this problem/able to get around it?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## paperWastage (Dec 25, 2013)

Zainiak said:


> I've got a slightly related question. If sprint buys tmobile, do we get to take advantage of sprint's network as well?

Click to collapse



depends who you ask

2G/3G/voice? Sprint uses CDMA and T-mobile uses GSM. not compatible. 
however, devices like nexus 5 have both CDMA and GSM parts, maybe we could switch b/w CDMA and GSM networks seamlessly? (highly unlikely, too complicated and think nexus 5 only has 1 antenna)

LTE? probably, if the device supports it. remember that there are so many LTE bands

wimax? um, okay sprint... continue disassembling it


----------



## markdapimp (Dec 25, 2013)

paperWastage said:


> depends who you ask
> 
> 2G/3G/voice? Sprint uses CDMA and T-mobile uses GSM. not compatible.
> however, devices like nexus 5 have both CDMA and GSM parts, maybe we could switch b/w CDMA and GSM networks seamlessly? (highly unlikely, too complicated and think nexus 5 only has 1 antenna)
> ...

Click to collapse



hopefully john legere wont let this happen!
Looks like it wont  
https://vine.co/v/h09jjgmMxUd


----------



## rockingondrums (Dec 25, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> Stop sniping guys. AFAIK there's no workaround, but having spent a whopping day on 2G after burning up my 5GB, I can say it wasn't painful enough (I was still able to stream Google Music, my main reason for data and email/Tapatalk worked fine) for me to desire an upgrade to the $70 plan. Tough it out, sip your data allotment carefully, or spend the do-ra-mi. It's a great plan as is.

Click to collapse



2G in my area was bad. Couldn't do anything unless it was mostly handling text. Vectors on Google maps wouldn't load, search results timed out a couple of times... Speeds were less than 30kb/s for me.

 I changed to the $70 plan on month 2


----------



## markdapimp (Dec 25, 2013)

Tonight i saw my 1 Bar Edge turn into 3 bars LTE here @ Maui,HI

I guess this is T-Mobile's Gift to us people living on the pacific ocean in the middle of nowhere. thanks T-mobile!!
Looks like there adjusting it also since its going from 1-5 Bars fluctuating.

BTW On the 30$ Plan


----------



## trsix (Dec 25, 2013)

*please nooo*



Zainiak said:


> I've got a slightly related question. If sprint buys tmobile, do we get to take advantage of sprint's network as well?

Click to collapse



Liking my T-Mobile and plan sprint will #%-+ it up!


----------



## coorsleftfield (Dec 25, 2013)

trsix said:


> Liking my T-Mobile and plan sprint will #%-+ it up!

Click to collapse



If the merger goes through they would obviously have to maintain the GSM and CDMA networks for a long time because of current customers. Long term everything will go voLTE. 

Hopefully the merger will get blocked, because you can probably kiss your $30 plan goodbye . I don't use t-mobile, but I like what they are doing to shake up the other big 3 and bring down prices for everyone.


----------



## eyeconic (Dec 25, 2013)

skinien said:


> I'm ditching Verizon and going with the $30/mo plan.  Actually, I plan on going $45/mo and getting an extra 150 minutes.

Click to collapse



Then go SimpleMobile - T-Mobile network, all you can eat for $40


----------



## coorsleftfield (Dec 25, 2013)

eyeconic said:


> Then go SimpleMobile - T-Mobile network, all you can eat for $40

Click to collapse



At that point spend $5 more and get on Straighttalk which with the AT&T network.  The AT&T LTE coverage is much better than T-mobile, especially inside buildings.


----------



## scottjb (Dec 25, 2013)

coorsleftfield said:


> ... The AT&T LTE coverage is much better than T-mobile, especially inside buildings.

Click to collapse



This depends on where you are, it's not true for everyone. T-Mobile's LTE works in parts of my house, AT&T phones are usually paper weights in my house.


----------



## niv3d (Dec 25, 2013)

BirchBarlow said:


> Maybe so, but that has no bearing on voice coverage.  As far as data is concerned, I've found T-Mobile to be about triple the speed of AT&T.  I don't know, maybe AT&T throttles their data or something.  What I do know is the speed tests don't lie.

Click to collapse



Oh wow! Really? But does this include inside buildings?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## coorsleftfield (Dec 25, 2013)

niv3d said:


> Oh wow! Really? But does this include inside buildings?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Don't rule out Sprint either if you need unlimited data. While their network used to completely suck, Sprint has been completely rebuilding it over the past few years and their LTE speeds are impressive, especially where Spark is enabled.


----------



## BirchBarlow (Dec 25, 2013)

niv3d said:


> Oh wow! Really? But does this include inside buildings?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Absolutely.  Even my apartment which gets marginal reception with AT&T.


----------



## markdapimp (Dec 25, 2013)

I was sitting @ mcdonalds (Paid with Tap to pay google wallet of course) then LTE Popped up in Maui,HI it looks like the entire island is lit up now and blanketed with LTE, it seems they are tweaking it as speed fluctuates and sometimes data doesn't work @ all, Overall solid
This was done with 1 Bar inside the fast food restaurant, Imagine if i had full?

T-Mobile for the win!
used to be sh$T here at maui now i'm seeing working progress


----------



## BirchBarlow (Dec 26, 2013)

markdapimp said:


> I was sitting @ mcdonalds (Paid with Tap to pay google wallet of course) then LTE Popped up in Maui,HI it looks like the entire island is lit up now and blanketed with LTE, it seems they are tweaking it as speed fluctuates and sometimes data doesn't work @ all, Overall solid
> This was done with 1 Bar inside the fast food restaurant, Imagine if i had full?
> 
> T-Mobile for the win!
> used to be sh$T here at maui now i'm seeing working progress

Click to collapse



While T-Mobile's network isn't as robust as Verizon or AT&T, they're definitely expanding it and it seems like when coverage is good, data speeds are generally faster.


----------



## Nnyan (Dec 26, 2013)

BirchBarlow said:


> While T-Mobile's network isn't as robust as Verizon or AT&T, they're definitely expanding it and it seems like when coverage is good, data speeds are generally faster.

Click to collapse



If you don't travel too much outside T-M areas its a great provider.  Like others have said the bands they use don't penetrate inside buildings as well but there are exceptions (ex: I found several areas where the T-M had a better signal inside then AT&T or Verizon but based on tower maps I think it was b/c I was very close to a T-M tower.).  But I have also seen a weaker AT&T signal penetrate inside a large building where a stronger T-M signal will not so who knows.  I will try out T-M for another 2 months or so before I decide (and stop carrying 3 phones all the time!).

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## Daps (Dec 26, 2013)

Gave my son his Nexus 5 today for Christmas and got the $30 plan activated. So far so good.
He's been on that thing all day. He said he's not worried about the 100 mins. He mostly texts and I believe it. He does have Google Voice setup.
The real test will be when school starts back and if he gets a good signal at school. If so I think everything else will be ok if not then I guess it's off to StraightTalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 26, 2013)

Daps said:


> Gave my son his Nexus 5 today for Christmas and got the $30 plan activated. So far so good.
> He's been on that thing all day. He said he's not worried about the 100 mins. He mostly texts and I believe it. He does have Google Voice setup.
> The real test will be when school starts back and if he gets a good signal at school. If so I think everything else will be ok if not then I guess it's off to StraightTalk

Click to collapse



Pretty simple. Tell him you'll pay the $30 Tmo bill, but if he can't stay well within it's guidelines (10 cents/min ain't *that* bad...) and needs StraightTalk, he's on his own.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Dec 26, 2013)

Daps said:


> Gave my son his Nexus 5 today for Christmas and got the $30 plan activated. So far so good.
> He's been on that thing all day. He said he's not worried about the 100 mins. He mostly texts and I believe it. He does have Google Voice setup.
> The real test will be when school starts back and if he gets a good signal at school. If so I think everything else will be ok if not then I guess it's off to StraightTalk

Click to collapse



I've got to ask: how was he able to get Google Voice active on the $30 prepaid plan? I've been told by T-Mobile it can't be done, but I've seen on the forums that some have been able to get it working, some haven't.

Oh, and btw: N5 for Christmas? You're an awesome parent 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## TiltedAz (Dec 26, 2013)

More talks about a T-Mobile buyout. We may be looking for the next best prepaid plan if something finally comes to fruition...



> Japan's SoftBank is in talks to acquire U.S. wireless carrier T-Mobile US and is discussing funding for a deal with financial institutions, sources close to the matter said on Wednesday.

Click to collapse




http://www.cnbc.com/id/101296106


----------



## Daps (Dec 26, 2013)

wideasleep1 said:


> Pretty simple. Tell him you'll pay the $30 Tmo bill, but if he can't stay well within it's guidelines (10 cents/min ain't *that* bad...) and needs StraightTalk, he's on his own.

Click to collapse



I'm not worried about him going over on talk time. He uses text the most. I also don't have my card setup to autopay so if he goes over minutes that part won't function.
Also he doesn't have a job. I'm fine with that I rather he focus on his school. He's an A/B student, on the baseball team, does music production for some of the school wanna be rappers & R&B singers hahah and does volunteer work. Helped feed the homeless over the holidays.  He's a go get'er around the house, when something needs to be cleaned or taken care of so if he did some how go over his talk minutes I wouldn't worry about it. He's good kid

---------- Post added at 08:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:08 AM ----------




Joshmccullough said:


> I've got to ask: how was he able to get Google Voice active on the $30 prepaid plan? I've been told by T-Mobile it can't be done, but I've seen on the forums that some have been able to get it working, some haven't.
> 
> Oh, and btw: N5 for Christmas? You're an awesome parent
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Well he had a StraightTalk phone before it finally broke and had got a GV number for it so maybe that's how he's got it on TMo.

Thanks. He's an awesome son. I'm still on an iPhone4 and asked him if he wanted to trade. You can guess how that went. He loves it. It sure is nice from my playing with it. It definitely sucks looking at my little iphone screen after playing with his for a while. Think I'll order me one sometime next month. 

Daddy got some other stuff he wants to buy first though


----------



## markdapimp (Dec 26, 2013)

Speed test galore 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	








Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 12:14 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:11 AM ----------

Your move Verizon 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 12:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:14 AM ----------

Verizon : oh dam never mind..





Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 12:29 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:17 AM ----------

I have no idea what to do with 5gb so I found the tower and stood right under it annnd got this. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## coorsleftfield (Dec 27, 2013)

Sprint tri-band LTE speeds test, unlimited data, no throttling.


----------



## markdapimp (Dec 27, 2013)

coorsleftfield said:


> Sprint tri-band LTE speeds test, unlimited data, no throttling.

Click to collapse



Would you like to see Sprints 3G here in hawaii xD?
we have been waiting for NV for ages.


----------



## tjl_48 (Dec 27, 2013)

Exactly. My LTE coverage sucked with sprint and I believe with 3g I was getting like 50kb down. I'm loving T-Mobile and between to lines saving 100 bucks a month. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## markdapimp (Dec 27, 2013)

tjl_48 said:


> Exactly. My LTE coverage sucked with sprint and I believe with 3g I was getting like 50kb down. I'm loving T-Mobile and between to lines saving 100 bucks a month.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Ahhh memories




Oh wait it still exists today.

That speedtest above





For many many many years sprint has neglected the load capacity on their cell towers and most of them still operate on T1 Lines
some sites are fully equipped with Network Vision LTE but don't have the backhaul yet, T-Mobile however has already invested back into the future sort of like they time traveled anyways they invested in Fiber before Sprint did. so all T-mobile did was slap on their new panels on cell sites and it was ready to roll. While sprint is still doing NV and waiting for backhaul

---------- Post added at 03:49 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:32 AM ----------

Update : I just noticed this. There seems to be 100 mb free tethering 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 04:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:49 AM ----------

How ironic I got a free Pandora 1 trail from sprint.. I'll bash them less now.. 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## dmeadows013 (Dec 27, 2013)

On the 70$ unlimited everything plan and couldn't be happier. Just switched from Verizon today and have no regrets

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## markdapimp (Dec 27, 2013)

dmeadows013 said:


> On the 70$ unlimited everything plan and couldn't be happier. Just switched from Verizon today and have no regrets
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Nice to see you on the T-Mobile Nexus 5 Side Dmeadows...


----------



## dmeadows013 (Dec 27, 2013)

markdapimp said:


> Nice to see you on the T-Mobile Nexus 5 Side Dmeadows...

Click to collapse



Yep. Got my nexus yesterday and switched over to T-Mobile today. My HSPA speeds are faster than what I had on Verizon's LTE

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## markdapimp (Dec 27, 2013)

dmeadows013 said:


> Yep. Got my nexus yesterday and switched over to T-Mobile today. My HSPA speeds are faster than what I had on Verizon's LTE
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Had no signal @ my house they were recommending me a Cell-Fi or whatever that is, i said ill think about it then 2 days later i got a call back from T-Mobile saying they sent the engineers to adjust the tower, 1 week later i now have service in my house (3 Bars LTE) where before it was previously edge
T-Mobile wins


----------



## dmeadows013 (Dec 27, 2013)

markdapimp said:


> Had no signal @ my house they were recommending me a Cell-Fi or whatever that is, i said ill think about it then 2 days later i got a call back from T-Mobile saying they sent the engineers to adjust the tower, 1 week later i now have service in my house (3 Bars LTE) where before it was previously edge
> T-Mobile wins

Click to collapse



Lol yeah it's great.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## slowpok22 (Dec 27, 2013)

How do I add minutes to this plan? When I tried to do it on the website it just lowered my scheduled renew, added $10  and it changed my renew to $22 and some change. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Dec 28, 2013)

slowpok22 said:


> How do I add minutes to this plan? When I tried to do it on the website it just lowered my scheduled renew, added $10  and it changed my renew to $22 and some change.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Been said many times... Minutes over 100 are simply charged 10 cents per..keep a few bucks in your account for those occasions.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## slowpok22 (Dec 28, 2013)

When ever I try and add funds they treat it like partial payment on my monthly payment, doesn't give me a choice to just add funds, and it won't let anyone call me.  They send me text to upgrade to unlimited  

Just added $20 and still no one can call me,  what a pain in the arse. 
Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Letitride (Dec 28, 2013)

slowpok22 said:


> When ever I try and add funds they treat it like partial payment on my monthly payment, doesn't give me a choice to just add funds, and it won't let anyone call me.  They send me text to upgrade to unlimited
> Just added $20 and still no one can call me,  what a pain in the arse.

Click to collapse



Just call 611 or CS, it's a free call or you can call them 1-877-453-1304 from another line, live CS from 3 AM to 10 PM daily, Pacific Time to review your account status & fix any issues.

Here's a screenshot of what My T-Mobile Account looks like on ours - as long as there is a balance and your 100 included minutes had been used up, it should debit or charge against the remaining/available funds in your account.  To renew it at the next refill date, you just need to make sure you have at least $30 avaiable & the T-Mo System will do the rest.  Once that's done, you will get a SMS of the renewal & the next refill date.

For example, I have a balance of $17.10 remaining or 171 additional minutes at 10 cents/min. that can be deducted.  For the previous 30 days cycle, I went over at 29 minutes so $2.90 were taken - with a starting balance of $20 initially.


----------



## sciguy125 (Dec 28, 2013)

I just downloaded the T-Mobile My Account app and it says I have 100mb of tether data on this plan. Does anyone else see this? I haven't been able to actually try tethering, so I don't know why it says I've used 2mb


Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## markdapimp (Dec 28, 2013)

I posted this also a while back I guess no one gives a sh#t because it's only 100mb

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Infinity03 (Dec 28, 2013)

It says there is 100mb of tethering but it doesn't work, just takes you to the T-Mobile login page.


----------



## Rirere (Dec 29, 2013)

I've seen it reported that it's on a case by case basis with the free tethering.  Certainly no go for me right now.

Anyone else noticing weird discrepancies between Android's data usage tracking and T-Mobile's?  For the first half of my billing cycle, the system data usage was higher by about 100MB, and now it's lower by a similar amount.  In any event, overall happy with this minus some radio disconnect problems that seem to be model-based.


----------



## markdapimp (Dec 29, 2013)

Just for shtz and giggles 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




 T-Mobile edge.. Faster than sprints 3g.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## jeremykersh (Dec 29, 2013)

lol


----------



## FuMMoD (Dec 29, 2013)

markdapimp said:


> Just for shtz and giggles
> 
> 
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



What's that in kBps? 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Rirere (Dec 29, 2013)

markdapimp said:


> Just for shtz and giggles /snip T-Mobile edge.. Faster than sprints 3g.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Certainly not in my area by a long shot.  To be fair, Sprint has been quietly testing LTE in my area for half a year now, so I'm not surprised that their 3G is strong here as well.


----------



## coorsleftfield (Dec 29, 2013)

Sprint LTE


----------



## dmeadows013 (Dec 29, 2013)

T-Mobile LTE



Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## markdapimp (Dec 30, 2013)

FuMMoD said:


> What's that in kBps?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Mbps

---------- Post added at 07:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:57 AM ----------




Rirere said:


> Certainly not in my area by a long shot.  To be fair, Sprint has been quietly testing LTE in my area for half a year now, so I'm not surprised that their 3G is strong here as well.

Click to collapse



To be fair i was a sprint customer since my nextel days, i got the iPhone 4 when it came to Sprint and WoW! was the data slow as fu*kc
i waited and waited and waited till this day there still doing "Network Enhancements" or network vision either way they didn't choose to keep up with bandwidth towards their cell sites. Everyone but Sprint was moving towards Fiber except sprint they thought they could get away with adding more T1 bandwidth.. but nope...

The point is Sprint is late to the game and pricey now that softbank has purchased them expect prices to go up as they need to make that money from softbanks purchase. 

Sprint has an iPhone deadline to sell X amount of iPhones from Apple
http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/24/sprint-earnings-q1-2013/ .... well they didn't make it because of their sh*t network. i don't care if its Unlimited the main thing is if you can actually use the damn thing, T-Mobile wasn't as great here in Maui but back in 2012 atleast they had HSPA+ working and its Unlimited also and damn it was working better than Sprints 'Unlimited Coast to Coast 3G' T-Mobile should get the Now network branding, Sprint should get the Maybe later network branding, seriously i had an HTC 3D i had to stand outside just to Pickup wimax and it wasn't just outside i had to stand at a certain spot every single time! 3G was non existent with its 0.02Mbps download speeds upload speed would tend to fail pings would skyrocket at like 1000MS thats 1 Second to just send a packet or so.


Anyways thats my sprint rant.. 
Sprint sucks, T-Mobile wins stop kissin 




to these guy's here






and this con artist here






*Im seriously going to do this i'm going to get my hands on a Netzero or AOL Dailup Subscription and benchmark it against sprints '3G'*
*My money is on the Dail up connection*


----------



## paperWastage (Dec 30, 2013)

FuMMoD said:


> What's that in kBps?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



nope. 0.1 mbits/s, roughly 15kiloBytes/s

it's roughly the same speed you'll get if you go over the limit and get throttled

it's enough for web browsing (slow GIF/image loading though). google maps take a while to get loaded(if you don't have the map precached, or if you have stuff like Traffic enabled). pandora is slow (but fine after you let the first song buffer, the second song would play almostly immediately after)


----------



## FuMMoD (Dec 31, 2013)

paperWastage said:


> nope. 0.1 mbits/s, roughly 15kiloBytes/s
> 
> it's roughly the same speed you'll get if you go over the limit and get throttled
> 
> it's enough for web browsing (slow GIF/image loading though). google maps take a while to get loaded(if you don't have the map precached, or if you have stuff like Traffic enabled). pandora is slow (but fine after you let the first song buffer, the second song would play almostly immediately after)

Click to collapse



Apparently everyone read "what's" as "was" lol. You answered my question though thank you. 15kBps is crazy slow that's not even usable at least throttle to 50 come on.  

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## luvs2snusnu (Jan 1, 2014)

Ordered a microSIM on the 24th... still backordered. Is this typical?


----------



## coorsleftfield (Jan 1, 2014)

Anyone got a bluetooth headset to work  using csipsimple ?

---------- Post added at 04:17 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:16 AM ----------




luvs2snusnu said:


> Ordered a microSIM on the 24th... still backordered. Is this typical?

Click to collapse



Wasn't backordered when I ordered mine a few weeks ago.  Maybe order a full size one and cut it?


----------



## DigitalJosee (Jan 1, 2014)

What SIM card i need to buy? Can be this one?


My bad, need to be the a Micro-SIM, not Nano


----------



## jaybeeunix (Jan 2, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> Anyone got a bluetooth headset to work  using csipsimple ?

Click to collapse




It works for me with a simple Plantronics earpiece (only if I click the Bluetooth icon during a call), but not with Bluetooth in my car.


----------



## skinien (Jan 2, 2014)

Does anyone know if the T-Mobile My Account app is supposed to work when you're on prepaid? I'd like to use the app to check my minutes and data balance but I get a "Not available at this time..." when I try to use it.

Also, it seems that there are two apps from T-Mobile that do the same thing: MyAccount and My Account.


----------



## sirxdroid (Jan 2, 2014)

skinien said:


> Does anyone know if the T-Mobile My Account app is supposed to work when you're on prepaid?  I'd like to use the app to check my minutes and data balance but I get a "Not available at this time..." when I try to use it.
> 
> Also, it seems that there are two apps from T-Mobile that do the same thing: MyAccount and My Account.

Click to collapse



You want the "MyAccount" one, it seems to be the one that gets updates and it's being maintained. The other one hasn't been updated in over a year. Leave it to T-Mobile to pick confusing names.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmobile.pr.mytmobile


----------



## skinien (Jan 2, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> You want the "MyAccount" one, it seems to be the one that gets updates and it's being maintained. The other one hasn't been updated in over a year. Leave it to T-Mobile to pick confusing names.
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmobile.pr.mytmobile

Click to collapse



Thanks!  I could have sworn that neither of them worked.  The MyAccount app works


----------



## sirxdroid (Jan 2, 2014)

skinien said:


> Thanks!  I could have sworn that neither of them worked.  The MyAccount app works

Click to collapse



Good. Now go ahead and uninstall it  It's easy to just log in to your account via the web browser, you don't really need all the alerts and the extra bloat the app has, device health check etc


----------



## dziliak (Jan 2, 2014)

*Short codes work*



skinien said:


> Does anyone know if the T-Mobile My Account app is supposed to work when you're on prepaid? I'd like to use the app to check my minutes and data balance but I get a "Not available at this time..." when I try to use it.
> 
> Also, it seems that there are two apps from T-Mobile that do the same thing: MyAccount and My Account.

Click to collapse



I don't use the app, but the short codes in this support doc work just fine.

Prepaid Short Codes


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 2, 2014)

dziliak said:


> I don't use the app, but the short codes in this support doc work just fine.
> 
> Prepaid Short Codes

Click to collapse



Yeah..the apps are crap iqcarrier spyware. Simply add to your contacts list #646# for minutes and #932# for data as new contacts.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## skinien (Jan 2, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> Good. Now go ahead and uninstall it  It's easy to just log in to your account via the web browser, you don't really need all the alerts and the extra bloat the app has, device health check etc

Click to collapse





dziliak said:


> I don't use the app, but the short codes in this support doc work just fine.
> 
> Prepaid Short Codes

Click to collapse





wideasleep1 said:


> Yeah..the apps are crap iqcarrier spyware. Simply add to your contacts list #646# for minutes and #932# for data as new contacts.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



ha... thanks all.  You guys talked me out of using it.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jan 2, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Yeah..the apps are crap iqcarrier spyware. Simply add to your contacts list #646# for minutes and #932# for data as new contacts.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Does using these numbers use minutes, or are they free?  Thanks for the tip!


----------



## Den9696 (Jan 2, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> Mbps
> 
> ---------- Post added at 07:13 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:57 AM ----------
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I've had pretty good luck in Boston with Sprint, 3g speeds do suck but LTE has been great since late 2012. Very rare that i see 3g on the phone anymore. I can understand being pissed off if i didnt have LTE by now though. WiMax was a bust. All the phones at the time would drain battery when Wimax was enabled and you were lucky to even find it connecting anywhere.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 2, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Does using these numbers use minutes, or are they free?  Thanks for the tip!

Click to collapse



USSD codes are always free. Cheers!

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jan 2, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> USSD codes are always free. Cheers!
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Figured, just thought I'd check.  Thanks!


----------



## pham818 (Jan 3, 2014)

does this plan have LTE?


----------



## parkson (Jan 3, 2014)

pham818 said:


> does this plan have LTE?

Click to collapse



LTE up to 5 GB/mo. Throttled to 2G (Edge) for remainder of month.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## pham818 (Jan 3, 2014)

parkson said:


> LTE up to 5 GB/mo. Throttled to 2G (Edge) for remainder of month.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



alright thanks, cause all it says was "4g"


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 3, 2014)

pham818 said:


> alright thanks, cause all it says was "4g"

Click to collapse



Isn't 4G the same as LTE?

Also, anyone using Google Voice? I know when I give my TextNow number out, calls are pretty clear on it.


----------



## pham818 (Jan 3, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Isn't 4G the same as LTE?
> 
> Also, anyone using Google Voice? I know when I give my TextNow number out, calls are pretty clear on it.

Click to collapse



no, 4g is hspa+, theres 4g and 4g lte.


----------



## sirxdroid (Jan 3, 2014)

pham818 said:


> no, 4g is hspa+, theres 4g and 4g lte.

Click to collapse



Technically only LTE should be called 4G but the carriers managed to bend the meaning of 4G without getting in trouble. HSPA+ is more like 3.75G


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 3, 2014)

pham818 said:


> no, 4g is hspa+, theres 4g and 4g lte.

Click to collapse



Alright, I was just wondering because on the Nexus 5 it says LTE. But I don't see a difference unless I download something.


----------



## bozzykid (Jan 3, 2014)

parkson said:


> LTE up to 5 GB/mo. Throttled to 2G (Edge) for remainder of month.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



To be clear, you can be throttled to Edge like speeds but you will still connect to their LTE network when it is available.  It doesn't force your phone to a Edge connection when you are throttled.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 3, 2014)

bozzykid said:


> To be clear, you can be throttled to Edge like speeds but you will still connect to their LTE network when it is available.  It doesn't force your phone to a Edge connection when you are throttled.

Click to collapse



i passed 5GB last month and didn't get throttled.


----------



## Lythandra (Jan 3, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> i passed 5GB last month and didn't get throttled.

Click to collapse



I passed 5 GB last night and got throttled, Can't really even load web pages at 2G. Blah! 6 more days til the plan renews ...


----------



## Raygunnn (Jan 3, 2014)

luvs2snusnu said:


> Ordered a microSIM on the 24th... still backordered. Is this typical?

Click to collapse



Same here. I ordered on the 24th as well and still waiting on it.


----------



## Damian2013 (Jan 3, 2014)

I'm still waiting, too.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 3, 2014)

Just buy it on eBay or Walmart I bought mine at a T-Mobile store for a dollar

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Damian2013 (Jan 3, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> Technically only LTE should be called 4G but the carriers managed to bend the meaning of 4G without getting in trouble. HSPA+ is more like 3.75G

Click to collapse



Nope that was changed. HSPA+ is officially 4g.


----------



## sirxdroid (Jan 3, 2014)

Damian2013 said:


> Nope that was changed. HSPA+ is officially 4g.

Click to collapse



Yeah by pressure from the carriers so they can claim they have 4G when they were not LTE ready.


----------



## Raygunnn (Jan 3, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> Just buy it on eBay or Walmart I bought mine at a T-Mobile store for a dollar
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I'll do that if my Nexus 5 arrives before the sim card. Thanks.


----------



## Damian2013 (Jan 3, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> Yeah by pressure from the carriers so they can claim they have 4G when they were not LTE ready.

Click to collapse



Was anyone LTE ready at that time?


----------



## sirxdroid (Jan 3, 2014)

Damian2013 said:


> Was anyone LTE ready at that time?

Click to collapse



I don't know, just what I've read on blogs and such. Run a Google search or check Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4g#Background


> The fastest *3G-based* standard in the UMTS family is the *HSPA+* standard, which is commercially available since 2009 and offers 28 Mbit/s downstream (22 Mbit/s upstream) without MIMO, i.e. only with one antenna,....

Click to collapse


----------



## Alex1123 (Jan 4, 2014)

Just switched to T-Mobile and it's faster than AT&T in my area and 5gb for $30 can't beat that 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## tylerjames09 (Jan 4, 2014)

I really miss this plan, got a promotion at work so I really need the minutes now. I'm on the $70 unlimited everything plan and hate paying double 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 4, 2014)

tylerjames09 said:


> I really miss this plan, got a promotion at work so I really need the minutes now. I'm on the $70 unlimited everything plan and hate paying double
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Once you go up you can never go back down to the 30$ plan


----------



## coorsleftfield (Jan 4, 2014)

tylerjames09 said:


> I really miss this plan, got a promotion at work so I really need the minutes now. I'm on the $70 unlimited everything plan and hate paying double
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I'd go straight talk for $45 before going to the $70 tmo plan.


----------



## charesa39 (Jan 4, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> Once you go up you can never go back down to the 30$ plan

Click to collapse



I read that you can, but you have to call CSR with an activation number from a new SIM activation kit you bought from Walmart or T-Mo's website. At least, that's what I plan on doing at the end of this month. I guess we'll see how it goes. I think the CSR has to get a supervisor to do it, but it can be done. 


Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## yankees45us (Jan 4, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> Sprint LTE

Click to collapse



That is great speed. Too bad 95% of Sprint customers don't have access to that or need a new phone to even be able to use it 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

---------- Post added at 03:24 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:21 AM ----------




coorsleftfield said:


> I'd go straight talk for $45 before going to the $70 tmo plan.

Click to collapse



That would work but only if you stay under 2.5gb

Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app

---------- Post added at 03:33 AM ---------- Previous post was at 03:24 AM ----------




coorsleftfield said:


> Sprint tri-band LTE speeds test, unlimited data, no throttling.

Click to collapse



How does this help the other 95% of Sprint users that don't have access to this network and also need to upgrade their phones to one of the 2 phones that work with spark? 
I'm sorry, I had sprint for over 13 years and I need good data now not in a year. So much for "the Now Network" 

Sent from my SGH-T889 using xda app-developers app


----------



## BirchBarlow (Jan 4, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Isn't 4G the same as LTE?
> 
> Also, anyone using Google Voice? I know when I give my TextNow number out, calls are pretty clear on it.

Click to collapse



When T-Mobile says 4G they mean 4G LTE.


----------



## coorsleftfield (Jan 4, 2014)

BirchBarlow said:


> When T-Mobile says 4G they mean 4G LTE.

Click to collapse



Not true, they consider the Nexus 4 to be a 4G phone and as we all know ,that phone has no LTE.


----------



## BirchBarlow (Jan 4, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> Not true, they consider the Nexus 4 to be a 4G phone and as we all know ,that phone has no LTE.

Click to collapse



It most certainly does.  The Nexus 4 has an LTE radio, it's just that LTE is disabled in the factory firmware.

How to Enable the Hidden 4G LTE Feature on Your Google Nexus 4


----------



## coorsleftfield (Jan 4, 2014)

BirchBarlow said:


> It most certainly does.  The Nexus 4 has an LTE radio, it's just that LTE is disabled in the factory firmware.
> 
> How to Enable the Hidden 4G LTE Feature on Your Google Nexus 4

Click to collapse



Technically true, but still irrelevant.  Tmobile advertises it as a 4G phone, but it wont' do LTE on their network.  Tmobile has advertised their HSPA+ network as 4G for a very long time.  So when Tmobile says 4G, they mean LTE or HSPA+.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 4, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> Technically true, but still irrelevant.  Tmobile advertises it as a 4G phone, but it wont' do LTE on their network.  Tmobile has advertised their HSPA+ network as 4G for a very long time.  So when Tmobile says 4G, they mean LTE or HSPA+.

Click to collapse



Since their speeds are similar, and the user experience is similar, what difference does it make? Correct. None.


----------



## BirchBarlow (Jan 4, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Since their speeds are similar, and the user experience is similar, what difference does it make? Correct. None.

Click to collapse



Not to mention the fact that T-Mobile doesn't differentiate between 4G and LTE.  They don't sell 4G service and charge you extra for LTE.  With T-Mobile, 4G means 4G LTE.


----------



## refinition (Jan 4, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Since their speeds are similar, and the user experience is similar, what difference does it make? Correct. None.

Click to collapse



LTE is generally faster than HSPDA+, at least from what I've experienced in my area.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 4, 2014)

refinition said:


> LTE is generally faster than HSPDA+, at least from what I've experienced in my area.

Click to collapse



As it is in my area...my point is that either gives a similar experience. Latency is better for snappier browsing on LTE, but I can't fault TMO for calling HSPA+ '4G' because of that. Indeed, more folks are finding HSPA+ to be a more robust experience on the radio (LTE Handoff/missed calls/signal drops,etc.). Even the current TMO version of 'LTE' is a stopgap tech until VoLTE and widespread 20x20 rollout.


----------



## coorsleftfield (Jan 4, 2014)

BirchBarlow said:


> Not to mention the fact that T-Mobile doesn't differentiate between 4G and LTE.  They don't sell 4G service and charge you extra for LTE.  With T-Mobile, 4G means 4G LTE.

Click to collapse



And 4G also means HSPA+.  What's your point? 

Does any major carrier charge extra for  LTE?  Not Verizon, AT&T or Sprint as far as I know. 


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## mattmega77 (Jan 4, 2014)

*so much for that*



mattmega77 said:


> Alright, I figured it out. For some reason, there were 3 APN s. 1 that said metro PCS, the correct fast.T-Mobile APN, and another T-Mobile APN that was BLANK! After deleting the metro and blank tmo APN, MMS works while WiFi and data are on. Maybe doing this will resolve issues others are having.

Click to collapse



this doesnt appear to be working after all.  it seems like once wifi is enabled, the data is disabled.  this was not the case when i had AT&T.  clearest indicator of this is that if you turn off wifi, the LTE symbol takes a few seconds to show up.  when i had AT&T, as soon as you turned off wifi, the LTE symbol was there instantly.


----------



## dkeso611 (Jan 5, 2014)

charesa39 said:


> I read that you can, but you have to call CSR with an activation number from a new SIM activation kit you bought from Walmart or T-Mo's website. At least, that's what I plan on doing at the end of this month. I guess we'll see how it goes. I think the CSR has to get a supervisor to do it, but it can be done.
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



Please let us know how that works out. Or can you just activate a new sim card with the same number?

Planning to try the $60/mth. If I don't like it, I would like to go back down to the $30 plan. Already have an extra sim card waiting to be activated. Thanks.


----------



## charesa39 (Jan 5, 2014)

dkeso611 said:


> Please let us know how that works out. Or can you just activate a new sim card with the same number?
> 
> Planning to try the $60/mth. If I don't like it, I would like to go back down to the $30 plan. Already have an extra sim card waiting to be activated. Thanks.

Click to collapse



Will do. I have 3 Micro SIM activation kits. Picked up a few when they first went on sale for the low low price of "free-99".  You would think you would just be able to activate the new SIM online and just port the number over to the new plan, but when I was searching various forums, there were a couple people that said they tried online, but then went on to say to NOT do it online and call CSR. So I figured I'm just gonna be safe and call. I'll be trying on the 25th of this month, so I'll see how it goes and report back. 


Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 5, 2014)

charesa39 said:


> Will do. I have 3 Micro SIM activation kits. Picked up a few when they first went on sale for the low low price of "free-99".  You would think you would just be able to activate the new SIM online and just port the number over to the new plan, but when I was searching various forums, there were a couple people that said they tried online, but then went on to say to NOT do it online and call CSR. So I figured I'm just gonna be safe and call. I'll be trying on the 25th of this month, so I'll see how it goes and report back.
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



i activated online and it was fine?

Who ever said to call they must be like one of these people
http://www.cbc.ca/thisisthat/blog/2013/12/11/man-emerges-from-bunker-14-years-after-y2k-scare/


----------



## charesa39 (Jan 5, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> i activated online and it was fine?
> 
> Who ever said to call they must be like one of these people
> http://www.cbc.ca/thisisthat/blog/2013/12/11/man-emerges-from-bunker-14-years-after-y2k-scare/

Click to collapse



Haha! It's like that movie "Blast from the Past" but in real life! I activated my $60 plan online as well. But you were able to switch from one of T-Mo's other plans to the $30 plan in the same way? Did you have to port your number over? What did you use for the account number?


Sent from my TouchPad using xda app-developers app


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 5, 2014)

charesa39 said:


> Haha! It's like that movie "Blast from the Past" but in real life! I activated my $60 plan online as well. But you were able to switch from one of T-Mo's other plans to the $30 plan in the same way? Did you have to port your number over? What did you use for the account number?
> 
> 
> Sent from my TouchPad using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



The $30 plan is available only online or phone(activation kit phone number, auto-prompts), and only when activating a new SIM. Any existing number can be used, just enter it at the prompt. That will kill the number on any other carrier and plan. DO NOT call it in..that adds an element of confusion, and may get you signed up to the wrong $30/mo plan.


----------



## charesa39 (Jan 5, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> The $30 plan is available only online or phone(activation kit phone number, auto-prompts), and only when activating a new SIM. Any existing number can be used, just enter it at the prompt. That will kill the number on any other carrier and plan. DO NOT call it in..that adds an element of confusion, and may get you signed up to the wrong $30/mo plan.

Click to collapse



Ah. I see. Doing some poking around on the interwebs, it looks like your T-Mo account number is just your phone number (at least when it comes to prepaid). So I'll just put my phone number in when it asks for the account number and the number to port over. Thanks for the heads up! :thumbup:


Sent from my TouchPad using xda app-developers app


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 5, 2014)

charesa39 said:


> Ah. I see. Doing some poking around on the interwebs, it looks like your T-Mo account number is just your phone number (at least when it comes to prepaid). So I'll just put my phone number in when it asks for the account number and the number to port over. Thanks for the heads up! :thumbup:
> 
> 
> Sent from my TouchPad using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



I dont recall activation asking for an account number...simply follow the instructions in the activation kit. If you want your old number, both the web and phone prompts you for it.


----------



## charesa39 (Jan 5, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> I dont recall activation asking for an account number...simply follow the instructions in the activation kit. If you want your old number, both the web and phone prompts you for it.

Click to collapse



Well, when I activated my N5 last month, it asked if I wanted to keep my number. I selected yes, and then it asked for the phone number and an account number, so I had to look up my Verizon account number. Not sure how it works if your number is already with T-Mo though.


----------



## o1nks (Jan 5, 2014)

charesa39 said:


> Well, when I activated my N5 last month, it asked if I wanted to keep my number. I selected yes, and then it asked for the phone number and an account number, so I had to look up my Verizon account number. Not sure how it works if your number is already with T-Mo though.

Click to collapse



Oh. You did the activation online. They ask it so they can cancel your account on your behalf. To be honest, it's easier to just call them and ask them to activate your plan + transfer your number. I tried activating it online and my number didn't transfer. I called them up and asked the status, the first time some stupid lady answered and said it was in progress. Next time I called a couple of hours later, and a guy said there was no request. He activated my account and transfered my number. I had to go online and apply a payment type using my phone # as a log in account. 

By the way, your phone # is usually not your account number.


----------



## herosemblem (Jan 6, 2014)

In order to transfer your number to Tmo, you had to provide Tmo with your old carrier's account number and its PIN, correct?
At least that's how it was with me.  Just making sure we are all on the same page...


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 6, 2014)

herosemblem said:


> In order to transfer your number to Tmo, you had to provide Tmo with your old carrier's account number and its PIN, correct?
> At least that's how it was with me.  Just making sure we are all on the same page...

Click to collapse



Unless I misunderstood, charesa39 is already a TMO customer, wanting to change to this plan. The prompts will discover it's a TMO number and do the swap automagically, as it did for the 4+ times I've done it, and never entered an account number.


----------



## herosemblem (Jan 6, 2014)

Gotcha.  That makes sense.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 6, 2014)

herosemblem said:


> Gotcha.  That makes sense.

Click to collapse




All my peeps were already on TMO...none of us could resist this plan!


----------



## charesa39 (Jan 6, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Unless I misunderstood, charesa39 is already a TMO customer, wanting to change to this plan. The prompts will discover it's a TMO number and do the swap automagically, as it did for the 4+ times I've done it, and never entered an account number.

Click to collapse



^^This! You understood correctly. Thanks, wideasleep1! You, sir, are a gentleman AND a scholar.


Sent from my TouchPad using xda app-developers app


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 6, 2014)

Just got throttled after 5gb here is the result






Still winning speedtests against my friends sprint phone on "unlimited nationwide network"

And this throttle isnt really affecting me I can still stream Pandora however YouTube needs to be taken off the HD option other than that its still usable 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 6, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> Just got throttled after 5gb here is the result
> 
> 
> Still winning speedtests against my friends sprint phone on "unlimited nationwide network"
> ...

Click to collapse



As I reported in this thread? or elsewhere, I was able to stream Google Music just fine throttled, too...just couldn't browse. Tapatalk/email/tunage..what else doya need!?!


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 6, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> As I reported in this thread? or elsewhere, I was able to stream Google Music just fine throttled, too...just couldn't browse. Tapatalk/email/tunage..what else doya need!?!

Click to collapse



Weird i can browse Tapatalk and gmail


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 6, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> Weird i can browse Tapatalk and gmail

Click to collapse



Lemme rephrase...I *could* surf, but just too slowly to make it worthwhile.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 6, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Lemme rephrase...I *could* surf, but just too slowly to make it worthwhile.

Click to collapse



Same speed here... maybe like half a second difference?
what i notice also is while on the road when switching cell sites it seems the throttle is removed
until i do 2 speedtests the throttle reinforces once again


----------



## Lythandra (Jan 7, 2014)

I got throttled a few days ago for passing 5 GB and it was SUPER SLOW for a few days. Now my speeds are pretty fast again and I haven't hit the renew date yet.It doesn't seem as fast as normal but its much better than the initial throttling.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 8, 2014)

Lythandra said:


> I got throttled a few days ago for passing 5 GB and it was SUPER SLOW for a few days. Now my speeds are pretty fast again and I haven't hit the renew date yet.It doesn't seem as fast as normal but its much better than the initial throttling.

Click to collapse



On LTE?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## bozzykid (Jan 8, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> As I reported in this thread? or elsewhere, I was able to stream Google Music just fine throttled, too...just couldn't browse. Tapatalk/email/tunage..what else doya need!?!

Click to collapse



Google Music pre-caches music (based on which playlist you are playing).  So the songs could of already been cached when you were throttled.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 8, 2014)

bozzykid said:


> Google Music pre-caches music (based on which playlist you are playing).  So the songs could of already been cached when you were throttled.

Click to collapse



I doubt they pre-cached the radio stations I listen to.


----------



## bozzykid (Jan 8, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> I doubt they pre-cached the radio stations I listen to.

Click to collapse



Radio stations start caching as soon as you create them.  They are just custom playlists.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 8, 2014)

bozzykid said:


> Radio stations start caching as soon as you create them.  They are just custom playlists.

Click to collapse



Then it works the same throttled as I usually create stations on the fly using a song already in my head. I tire of a station after a few hours and delete them.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 9, 2014)

*Google Voice & Skype & $30 plan*

I'm not 100% sure I've got this right so I wanted to check it out with someone who already uses it 
I bought a $30 credit and sim activation kit on ebay for $27 here:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/T-Mobile-Mi...tial-Value-With-Activation-Code-/191009022851

I currently have Straight Talk using T-Mobile service and I get great coverage & 3G speed. 
I have my main phone# from Colorado setup on that sim. 
I also have a Skype number from Missouri that I use to receive and place calls as a second number that I need for work, already paid $60 a year for unlimited incoming and outgoing domestic skype calls.
I also have a Google Voice # that I have never really used.

I'm thinking I will port my main Colorado number to Google Voice from Straight Talk. 
Then get a new number from T-Mobile for the new sim.
I'll forward my calls on my main # from Google Voice to Skype so all my incoming calls will come to my Nexus 5 by Skype, either forwarded by GV or direct to the skype number.
I think I will let Google Voice handle the Voicemail for all calls that come through on that number and let Skype handle messages for all calls that come directly to that number. I will just need to adjust the delay for the Skype voicemail to pickup.
I can use the Google Talk app for voicemail from GV and I can text through Hangouts.

At least this is how I propose using it for calls until hangouts supports VOIP. I suppose I could also use Groove IP, but that seems to be going away soon as I suspect Google wants people to only use Hangouts with GV once VOIP is ready on it.

Thoughts?
Thanks!


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jan 9, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> I'm not 100% sure I've got this right so I wanted to check it out with someone who already uses it
> I bought a $30 credit and sim activation kit on ebay for $27 here:
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/T-Mobile-Mi...tial-Value-With-Activation-Code-/191009022851
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I switched from Sprint and was loving the thought of using GV and GrooveIP, but sadly it's a no-go on my end.  Some people have gotten Google Voice working on a prepaid plan, I've tried my darndest and have been unable to get it working.  T-Mobile tells me that conditional call forwarding that Google Voice uses doesn't work with prepaid plans, so I've found myself stuck without GVoice.  That's just my experience; as noted above, there're others who've somehow been able to get it working, I don't know that there's a hard and fast way for everyone to get it working, I think some people just lucked out.


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 9, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> I switched from Sprint and was loving the thought of using GV and GrooveIP, but sadly it's a no-go on my end.  Some people have gotten Google Voice working on a prepaid plan, I've tried my darndest and have been unable to get it working.  T-Mobile tells me that conditional call forwarding that Google Voice uses doesn't work with prepaid plans, so I've found myself stuck without GVoice.  That's just my experience; as noted above, there're others who've somehow been able to get it working, I don't know that there's a hard and fast way for everyone to get it working, I think some people just lucked out.

Click to collapse



I'm not going to have anyone call my T-Mobile number. I'm not even going to give it out. So I don't need to have conditional call forwarding from the T-Mobile # to the GV number. I am going to port my Colorado number to my Google Voice account and have people call that number. Their call will go directly to Google Voice, which I can then set to automatically forward the call to my Skype number. When the call goes to Skype, I can answer it on my Nexus 5 through the skype app (or on my PC). If I don't answer, Google Voice will take the call back and let them leave a voicemail on google voice. No conditional call forwarding required.

One note, I just realized that Hangouts uses the SMS of the sim carrier, not routed through google voice, so my SMS will originate from the new T-Mobile number that I don't want to give out. Any suggestions for SMS from my Google Voice number?


----------



## Fire Ball (Jan 9, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> I'm not going to have anyone call my T-Mobile number. I'm not even going to give it out. So I don't need to have conditional call forwarding from the T-Mobile # to the GV number. I am going to port my Colorado number to my Google Voice account and have people call that number. Their call will go directly to Google Voice, which I can then set to automatically forward the call to my Skype number. When the call goes to Skype, I can answer it on my Nexus 5 through the skype app (or on my PC). If I don't answer, Google Voice will take the call back and let them leave a voicemail on google voice. No conditional call forwarding required.
> 
> One note, I just realized that Hangouts uses the SMS of the sim carrier, not routed through google voice, so my SMS will originate from the new T-Mobile number that I don't want to give out. Any suggestions for SMS from my Google Voice number?

Click to collapse



You can use the Google Voice app to text using your Google Voice number or you could use Sliding Messaging Pro since it has GV support.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 9, 2014)

Fire Ball said:


> You can use the Google Voice app to text using your Google Voice number or you could use Sliding Messaging Pro since it has GV support.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Awesome. Just tried it and it sends from my GV #. So no need for hangouts, until they integrate google voice app into it and add voip.
Thanks!


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 9, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> I'm not going to have anyone call my T-Mobile number. I'm not even going to give it out. So I don't need to have conditional call forwarding from the T-Mobile # to the GV number. I am going to port my Colorado number to my Google Voice account and have people call that number. Their call will go directly to Google Voice, which I can then set to automatically forward the call to my Skype number. When the call goes to Skype, I can answer it on my Nexus 5 through the skype app (or on my PC). If I don't answer, Google Voice will take the call back and let them leave a voicemail on google voice. No conditional call forwarding required.
> 
> One note, I just realized that Hangouts uses the SMS of the sim carrier, not routed through google voice, so my SMS will originate from the new T-Mobile number that I don't want to give out. Any suggestions for SMS from my Google Voice number?

Click to collapse



I'm unsure this will actually work. I think that once Google Voice hands off to Skype it can't revert back to Google Voice to take a message. Of course I've yet to try it myself..I just assumed..

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 9, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> I'm unsure this will actually work. I think that once Google Voice hands off to Skype it can't revert back to Google Voice to take a message. Of course I've yet to try it myself..I just assumed..
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I just tested it and it works. Google Voice holds on to the call while skype is ringing. If I (or skype voicemail) don't answer within about 20 seconds, the Google Voice system hangs up on skype and lets the caller leave a GV message. Then I get notified of it in Google Voice app on my android. You have to make sure that the skype settings are set to allow enough time to elapse before the skype VM picks up. In the Skype PC app, under "Options", "Calls", "Voice Messages" adjust the time of the "Start Recording a voice message if I do not answer after". I put in 20 seconds and it seems to be working.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jan 9, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> I'm not going to have anyone call my T-Mobile number. I'm not even going to give it out. So I don't need to have conditional call forwarding from the T-Mobile # to the GV number. I am going to port my Colorado number to my Google Voice account and have people call that number. Their call will go directly to Google Voice, which I can then set to automatically forward the call to my Skype number. When the call goes to Skype, I can answer it on my Nexus 5 through the skype app (or on my PC). If I don't answer, Google Voice will take the call back and let them leave a voicemail on google voice. No conditional call forwarding required.
> 
> One note, I just realized that Hangouts uses the SMS of the sim carrier, not routed through google voice, so my SMS will originate from the new T-Mobile number that I don't want to give out. Any suggestions for SMS from my Google Voice number?

Click to collapse



Ah, sorry, misunderstood 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 9, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> I just tested it and it works. Google Voice holds on to the call while skype is ringing. If I (or skype voicemail) don't answer within about 20 seconds, the Google Voice system hangs up on skype and lets the caller leave a GV message. Then I get notified of it in Google Voice app on my android. You have to make sure that the skype settings are set to allow enough time to elapse before the skype VM picks up. In the Skype PC app, under "Options", "Calls", "Voice Messages" adjust the time of the "Start Recording a voice message if I do not answer after". I put in 20 seconds and it seems to be working.

Click to collapse



Schweet. Learned a new capability today! Thanks!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## CheesyNutz (Jan 9, 2014)

trsix said:


> This thread is for all users who might be interested in using T-mobiles Unlimited $30 plan (No tax, no service fees) with 100 minutes of talk time and 5GBYTES of monthly 4G usage. You can make wifi calls when wifi's available so you don't eat your 100 minutes every month. I do, and use groove ip for that.
> 
> Micro Sim not Nano for your Nexus 5.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



How are you making WiFi calls when the n5 is nit supported with this feature

From my One while peeking in your window


----------



## adrman (Jan 10, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> I'm not 100% sure I've got this right so I wanted to check it out with someone who already uses it
> I bought a $30 credit and sim activation kit on ebay for $27 here:
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/T-Mobile-Mi...tial-Value-With-Activation-Code-/191009022851
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



You may just want to set up your Skype number as a forwarding option with Google Voice as well, then use a program like Groove Forwarder to set your forwarding based on connection type / network. Skype has great sound quality, but the biggest drawback is that it doesn't integrate well with the native dialer and contacts. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## paperWastage (Jan 10, 2014)

CheesyNutz said:


> How are you making WiFi calls when the n5 is nit supported with this feature
> 
> From my One while peeking in your window

Click to collapse



not wifi calls through the t-mobile app, because the nexus 5 doesn't support it

wifi/voip calls via other 3rd parties (eg vonage, skype...) through wifi or the data connection


----------



## Gaffadin (Jan 10, 2014)

Anyone having issues with their service today?

About 30 minutes ago I noticed it was saying "Your selected network (T-Mobile) is unavailable", and I have no connection, 2G, 3G or HSPA.

I called T-Mobile and got nowhere. He checked my IMEI, Sim Card # and after both of those came back as correct he had me scan for networks, and T-Mobile was no longer showing in the list to connect to. All he said after that was to perform a "master reset" on my phone. At this point I'm 90% sure that it's a T-Mobile outage, but he said he "checked my zip code" and it was working fine.

I'm a couple of hours west of Dallas.

(Edit) Found the site http://downdetector.com/status/t-mobile/map and not only is my city listed under the "Recent reports from" section, there is a yellow glow over the city where I live, which I assume means we smell or there is kind of service issue here. Not sure where they pull their information, but it certainly seems to be an outage.


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 10, 2014)

adrman said:


> You may just want to set up your Skype number as a forwarding option with Google Voice as well, then use a program like Groove Forwarder to set your forwarding based on connection type / network. Skype has great sound quality, but the biggest drawback is that it doesn't integrate well with the native dialer and contacts.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



The android Skype app does integrate ok with contacts. If you press the phone icon on the lower left it brings up the Skype dialer. On the top right click the icon and it will let you pick a program to browse. Choose "contacts" and it should bring up your Google contacts. 
It does not use the stock dialer, however.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## GoatsTech (Jan 10, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> I'm not going to have anyone call my T-Mobile number. I'm not even going to give it out. So I don't need to have conditional call forwarding from the T-Mobile # to the GV number. I am going to port my Colorado number to my Google Voice account and have people call that number. Their call will go directly to Google Voice, which I can then set to automatically forward the call to my Skype number. When the call goes to Skype, I can answer it on my Nexus 5 through the skype app (or on my PC). If I don't answer, Google Voice will take the call back and let them leave a voicemail on google voice. No conditional call forwarding required.
> 
> One note, I just realized that Hangouts uses the SMS of the sim carrier, not routed through google voice, so my SMS will originate from the new T-Mobile number that I don't want to give out. Any suggestions for SMS from my Google Voice number?

Click to collapse



XVoicePlus just came out on the 5th. You do need Xposed framework though to use this. It acts like Voice+ in that you send from your Google voice number while using hangouts.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 10, 2014)

GoatsTech said:


> XVoicePlus just came out on the 5th. You do need Xposed framework though to use this. It acts like Voice+ in that you send from your Google voice number while using hangouts.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Thanks! I'll check it out!

---------- Post added at 12:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:51 AM ----------

Looks like this plan does not include data roaming. 
Every few months I travel on I-70 between St. Louis & Denver and I know that T-Mobile has no data in Western KansASS & far Eastern CO (between Hays, KS and Lymon, CO)
I'm only there for about 6 hours as I drive through but no data at all is a bummer. Any suggestions?
I guess I could buy an AT&T SIM and activate on their $15/mo 250MB plan for that day. Any other suggestions?
Thanks!

As per the T-Mobile site :
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-coverage
Under the "Important Coverage Details"


> Important Coverage Details:
> Click on map and maps pins to check signal strength and estimated speed. T-Mobile’s 4G/4G LTE coverage, while not available in all locations, continues to expand. Capable device and qualifying service required for network connection, Wi-Fi Calling and 3G, 4G, and 4G LTE speeds. Standard usage charges apply; long-distance charges apply to calls to the U.S. Virgin Islands. MAP INFORMATION: Maps approximate anticipated coverage outdoors, which may include limited or no coverage areas, and do not guarantee service availability. Within coverage areas, network changes, traffic volume, outages, technical limitations, signal strength, your equipment, obstructions, weather and other conditions may interfere with service quality and availability. Service Partner Roaming: Roaming (indicated by “Partner” on the map) refers to usage while on a service partner’s network within coverage area; $30 monthly Pay-in-Advance plans, Mobile Internet Pay-in-Advance plans, and $2 and $3 Pay-By-Day plans do not include service partner data coverage. Pay-as-you-Go plans do not include data. Your Roaming and on-network data allotments may differ for the $50, $60, and $70 Pay-in-Advance monthly plans; see your selected service for details. We are not responsible for the performance of our served partners’ network. Off-network/partner data use may occur even when you are within the T-Mobile coverage area. International roaming incurs additional charges and refers to usage outside of the U.S. Some areas of roaming service require a multi-band device. Certain devices and features will not work. LTE is a trademark of ETSI.
> 
> (Effective September 25, 2013)

Click to collapse


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 10, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> Thanks! I'll check it out!
> 
> ---------- Post added at 12:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:51 AM ----------
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I suggest going without data for 6 hours.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 10, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> I suggest going without data for 6 hours.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I'd like to, but I'm usually on the job and need to be able to connect even from the middle of nowhere. I try to schedule the trip for days when the work load is light, but you never know when all hell is going to break loose because some dumb-ass bumped into the server while cleaning or something.


----------



## ski522 (Jan 10, 2014)

> Every few months I travel on I-70 between St. Louis & Denver and I know that T-Mobile has no data in Western KansASS & far Eastern CO (between Hays, KS and Lymon, CO)
> I'm only there for about 6 hours as I drive through but no data at all is a bummer. Any suggestions?

Click to collapse





wideasleep1 said:


> I suggest going without data for 6 hours.

Click to collapse



You don't need too, T-Mobile actually allows you free data roaming even on the $30 plan up to your usage limit at no charge.  The only difference is that if you hit the 5GB while roaming then data is turned off, whereas on T-Mobile's network they throttle you down. Here is there response I got from T-Mobile support person just 2 weeks ago and I can confirm this is true as I roamed onto Verizon's network this past weekend and got no extra charges on my bill for doing so ! Voice on the other hand doesn't roam (excluding 911 calls), but not bothered by that. 



> Most people turn data roaming off. It gives such a scary message about possible charges, and no one wants an unexpected bill. You have my written assurance right here that this won't happen within US boundaries.
> 
> I looked up the area you mentioned on our network improvement map, and I do see that we have begun some improvements on the network in that area. Once we start an area, we usually finish it, so that's good news. You will not see an immediate improvement, but I'm hoping for the next few months to make it obvious.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse


----------



## Anderson2 (Jan 10, 2014)

Hi guys 

Sorry to barge in on this conversation. I've scanned this long thread but wanted to get some up to date information. 

I'm getting a Nexus 5. Is the T-Mobile $30 plan still available? 

I currently have straight talk but am planning to switch to T-Mobile and save $15 a month. Will I be giving up something? I don't call much but I do text. 

Other than buying the T-Mobile micro sim do I need to purchase anything else? 

Thanks.


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 10, 2014)

ski522 said:


> You don't need too, T-Mobile actually allows you free data roaming even on the $30 plan up to your usage limit at no charge.  The only difference is that if you hit the 5GB while roaming then data is turned off, whereas on T-Mobile's network they throttle you down. Here is there response I got from T-Mobile support person just 2 weeks ago and I can confirm this is true as I roamed onto Verizon's network this past weekend and got no extra charges on my bill for doing so ! Voice on the other hand doesn't roam (excluding 911 calls), but not bothered by that.

Click to collapse



I'll give it a try when I make my next trip. Think I'll get an AT&T SIM just in case and not activate it unless I need it.
Thanks!


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 10, 2014)

ski522 said:


> You don't need too, T-Mobile actually allows you free data roaming even on the $30 plan up to your usage limit at no charge.  The only difference is that if you hit the 5GB while roaming then data is turned off, whereas on T-Mobile's network they throttle you down. Here is there response I got from T-Mobile support person just 2 weeks ago and I can confirm this is true as I roamed onto Verizon's network this past weekend and got no extra charges on my bill for doing so ! Voice on the other hand doesn't roam (excluding 911 calls), but not bothered by that.

Click to collapse



There you have it then...but still this plan and TMO in general isn't a perfect option for those in need of mission critical data access while traveling in rural areas. Sprint is best in this regard and grabbing a day/week pass on Sprint would be the best option.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 10, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Hi guys
> 
> Sorry to barge in on this conversation. I've scanned this long thread but wanted to get some up to date information.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



It sounds like it is still active, you just need to know how to get it. I think this thread has some good instructions:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2281639

You'll also need a $30 or more card from T-Mobile.
This was the best deal I could find on a sim and $30, and it is the package that is specifically designed for this $30 plan through Wal-mart:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/T-Mobile-Mi...tial-Value-With-Activation-Code-/191009022851

My SIM shows up on Monday, so if you want to wait until then, I will report back.

---------- Post added at 01:50 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:49 PM ----------




wideasleep1 said:


> There you have it then...but still this plan and TMO in general isn't a perfect option for those in need of mission critical data access while traveling in rural areas. Sprint is best in this regard and grabbing a day/week pass on Sprint would be the best option.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I'll check out Sprint day pass.
Thanks!


----------



## ski522 (Jan 10, 2014)

> I'm getting a Nexus 5. Is the T-Mobile $30 plan still available?

Click to collapse



It's a standard plan for T-Mobile and isn't going anywhere soon as it's been rather successful in pulling new customers to T-Mobile. If you don't want to wait for the card from the ebay link posted, just pick up the kit at Walmart for $30.


----------



## whitedragonz83 (Jan 10, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> Thanks! I'll check it out!
> 
> ---------- Post added at 12:47 PM ---------- Previous post was at 11:51 AM ----------
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



T-Mobile just bought up some LTE from Verizon (I think) in the region you travel.  Not sure the timeline to utilizing it, but here is a link to the map showing new LTE spectrum.

http://www.tmonews.com/2014/01/whats-next-for-t-mobile-volte-and-low-frequency/


----------



## ski522 (Jan 10, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> I'll give it a try when I make my next trip. Think I'll get an AT&T SIM just in case and not activate it unless I need it.
> Thanks!

Click to collapse



I assume you already know that you need to enable roaming in settings>mobile network>data roaming.


----------



## paperWastage (Jan 10, 2014)

whitedragonz83 said:


> T-Mobile just bought up some LTE from Verizon (I think) in the region you travel.  Not sure the timeline to utilizing it, but here is a link to the map showing new LTE spectrum.
> 
> http://www.tmonews.com/2014/01/whats-next-for-t-mobile-volte-and-low-frequency/

Click to collapse



a) won't work with nexus 5 (spectrum band in question is 700mhz band A, which nexus 5 doesn't support)
b) this deal should close around the end of year. then t-mobile can start deploying. and there is potential interference with TV Channel 51 which sits next to it on the spectrum band, so t-mobile can't use the full bandwidth or power (yet)


----------



## bcote311 (Jan 10, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Hi guys
> 
> Sorry to barge in on this conversation. I've scanned this long thread but wanted to get some up to date information.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



All you need to do is get a sim card sent to you from T-Mobile's site (should be free), once you get it you have to sign up for the plan through their website which is a really easy process. That is all you need, no need to buy anything else. You only get 100 minutes talk a month but unlimited everything else with 5gb at 4g speeds. I couldn't be happier. I am saving $57/month from what I was paying Verizon.


----------



## BirchBarlow (Jan 10, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Hi guys
> 
> Sorry to barge in on this conversation. I've scanned this long thread but wanted to get some up to date information.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I don't know the specifics of the StraightTalk plan, but with the T-Mobile $30/month plan you get 100 minutes airtime, unlimited texts, and data is soft-capped at 5GB.  Unless you use a lot of airtime, it's a really good deal.  Even if you do go over the 100 minutes, you can purchase more airtime for $.10/minute.


----------



## FuMMoD (Jan 11, 2014)

whitedragonz83 said:


> T-Mobile just bought up some LTE from Verizon (I think) in the region you travel.  Not sure the timeline to utilizing it, but here is a link to the map showing new LTE spectrum.
> 
> http://www.tmonews.com/2014/01/whats-next-for-t-mobile-volte-and-low-frequency/

Click to collapse



So no more 2g throttling once the 2g network is gone huh? 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 11, 2014)

FuMMoD said:


> So no more 2g throttling once the 2g network is gone huh?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Maybe they'll throttle you down to 3G. That would be nice.


----------



## FuMMoD (Jan 11, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> Maybe they'll throttle you down to 3G. That would be nice.

Click to collapse



3g would be great cause you can still use the Internet pretty well. Metro pcs says they throttle to 3g and throw you on 20kbytes speeds. I called them out on it and they said edge is 3g. Smh. I'm running on the unlimited now for 55 a month. I'm running everything on t-mobile towers and love it. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## raymond4 (Jan 11, 2014)

Can I call T-Mobile reps to get this plan ? 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 11, 2014)

raymond4 said:


> Can I call T-Mobile reps to get this plan ?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



No.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## dawgz (Jan 11, 2014)

Hi guys, does anyone know if I get the 100min/5Gig plan, what happens if I use up 100minutes, do I just don't get voice service?  Also can I put like $10 more on the plan and it will deduct my overage from it?  Thanks!


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 11, 2014)

dawgz said:


> Hi guys, does anyone know if I get the 100min/5Gig plan, what happens if I use up 100minutes, do I just don't get voice service?  Also can I put like $10 more on the plan and it will deduct my overage from it?  Thanks!

Click to collapse



You need to keep a little extra money in there to cover your mins if you go over 100 it costs 10 cent per min (might be less)
so what i do every month is buy a 30$ refill and a 10$ refill i put them both on my account 30$ to renew and 10$ to cover my excess mins.
and if you didn't use that 10$ you can buy 2 10$ cards and use it for a refill.


----------



## herosemblem (Jan 11, 2014)

What if you use up your hundred minutes, do not have spare safety cushion money in your Tmo balance, and do not have autopay on?  Does the ability to make a regular call cease?
I don't practice this, but I'm curious.  Thank you.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 11, 2014)

herosemblem said:


> What if you use up your hundred minutes, do not have spare safety cushion money in your Tmo balance, and do not have autopay on?  Does the ability to make a regular call cease?
> I don't practice this, but I'm curious.  Thank you.

Click to collapse



Yes. This happened to a friend of mine...he said he was unable to make or receive a call until he anted up. I suppose the caller just gets a 'temporarily out of service message'....


----------



## herosemblem (Jan 11, 2014)

Sounds simple and fair enough !


----------



## scottjb (Jan 11, 2014)

FuMMoD said:


> So no more 2g throttling once the 2g network is gone huh?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



They don't actually use the 2G network to throttle your connection, they just slow you down. When I had a limited 4G plan and surpassed the allotment, my connection still said 4G, it was just a lot slower.


----------



## sirxdroid (Jan 11, 2014)

scottjb said:


> They don't actually use the 2G network to throttle your connection, they just slow you down. When I had a limited 4G plan and surpassed the allotment, my connection still said 4G, it was just a lot slower.

Click to collapse



Exactly. You can still be connected to LTE and T-Mobile can still cap your speeds. So removing their 2G network doesn't automatically give you any speed increases.


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 12, 2014)

*mobirefill.com?*

Has anyone used mobirefill.com to top up their T-Mobile acct?
Looks like the best deal out there. They are advertising a $50 T-Mobile credit for $42.95. That is a cost of $0.859 per $1 of T-Mobile credit. The $30 plan would cost $25.77 through them. That will save about $50/year or more if you buy credit through t-mobile (taxes and such). Like getting a month and a half + free.
It looks a bit sketchy though. You e-mail them and then pay by paypal and include your t-mobile phone number. They then top up your account for you.
I might try it and if it goes south, I can file a dispute with PayPal or my CC company.
Just wondering if anyone has any experience with them.
Thanks!


----------



## ericshmerick (Jan 12, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> Has anyone used mobirefill.com to top up their T-Mobile acct?
> Looks like the best deal out there. They are advertising a $50 T-Mobile credit for $42.95. That is a cost of $0.859 per $1 of T-Mobile credit. The $30 plan would cost $25.77 through them. That will save about $50/year or more if you buy credit through t-mobile (taxes and such). Like getting a month and a half + free.
> It looks a bit sketchy though. You e-mail them and then pay by paypal and include your t-mobile phone number. They then top up your account for you.
> I might try it and if it goes south, I can file a dispute with PayPal or my CC company.
> ...

Click to collapse



Uh, this looks to be a sister site (or ripoff) of www.refillmobi.com

Pretty much the nail in the coffin. Looks to be fraud (stolen CC#'s) I'm guessing. Both sites, that is.

Personally, I would go nuts and spend the extra $1.50 on callingmart just to feel better about the transaction.


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 12, 2014)

ericshmerick said:


> Uh, this looks to be a sister site (or ripoff) of www.refillmobi.com
> 
> Pretty much the nail in the coffin. Looks to be fraud (stolen CC#'s) I'm guessing. Both sites, that is.
> 
> Personally, I would go nuts and spend the extra $1.50 on callingmart just to feel better about the transaction.

Click to collapse



Thanks for the heads up. Not interested in fraud, just want to save money.


----------



## BirchBarlow (Jan 12, 2014)

ericshmerick said:


> Uh, this looks to be a sister site (or ripoff) of www.refillmobi.com
> 
> Pretty much the nail in the coffin. Looks to be fraud (stolen CC#'s) I'm guessing. Both sites, that is.
> 
> Personally, I would go nuts and spend the extra $1.50 on callingmart just to feel better about the transaction.

Click to collapse



Which refill card do you buy at CallingMart?  There's two different T-Mobile cards that you can buy at CallingMart in $30 denominations...

T-Mobile Monthly Plan
T-Mobile To Go RTR/Topup - Auto Load To Phone


----------



## ericshmerick (Jan 12, 2014)

BirchBarlow said:


> Which refill card do you buy at CallingMart?  There's two different T-Mobile cards that you can buy at CallingMart in $30 denominations...
> 
> T-Mobile Monthly Plan
> T-Mobile To Go RTR/Topup - Auto Load To Phone

Click to collapse



Either. They just add $30 to your account. I can confirm this one works just fine.


----------



## adrman (Jan 12, 2014)

ericshmerick said:


> Uh, this looks to be a sister site (or ripoff) of www.refillmobi.com
> 
> Pretty much the nail in the coffin. Looks to be fraud (stolen CC#'s) I'm guessing. Both sites, that is.
> 
> Personally, I would go nuts and spend the extra $1.50 on callingmart just to feel better about the transaction.

Click to collapse



Refillmobi.com is legit and they have excellent customer service, but they haven't had a T-Mobile discount available in a long time. The other site, mobirefill, advertises a 42.95 price, but then wants you to email them to purchase. I tried that with a junk email address and never received a response. Lately, I've just been using callingmart.com. No discount, but I still end up saving NY taxes.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 12, 2014)

*Just past 6gb of usage and boy the throttle is really kicked in now from 0.40mbps to 0.09mbps regardless of what network mode *













*Another interesting thing is there appears to be a grace period. What I was doing was streaming Netflix and YouTube till I hit that data cap then it slowed down then I switched back to my galaxy s3 for a couple days and shutoff the nexus 5 3 days later speeds were back at 0.40mbps download till I tried to load a YouTube video if I just stream Pandora it remains at 0.40mbps or so. So it does seem the throttle is aimed at the activities you do.*

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Caelrie (Jan 12, 2014)

ski522 said:


> You don't need too, T-Mobile actually allows you free data roaming even on the $30 plan up to your usage limit at no charge.  The only difference is that if you hit the 5GB while roaming then data is turned off, whereas on T-Mobile's network they throttle you down. Here is there response I got from T-Mobile support person just 2 weeks ago and I can confirm this is true as I roamed onto Verizon's network this past weekend and got no extra charges on my bill for doing so ! Voice on the other hand doesn't roam (excluding 911 calls), but not bothered by that.

Click to collapse



How can that be when the contract specifically says otherwise? Are you sure you're on a pre-paid plan and not post-paid?


----------



## coorsleftfield (Jan 12, 2014)

Caelrie said:


> How can that be when the contract specifically says otherwise? Are you sure you're on a pre-paid plan and not post-paid?

Click to collapse



Verizon and T-Mobile also operate LTE on different bands. So unless you have a magic T-Mobile phone that connect to Verizon 's 700 mhz band, I call b. S. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 12, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> Verizon and T-Mobile also operate LTE on different bands. So unless you have a magic T-Mobile phone that connect to Verizon 's 700 mhz band, I call b. S.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



And the fact Verizon is CDMA for voice  1x and 3g is used however t mobile is GSM which voice runs through hspa and edge

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk


----------



## Fire Ball (Jan 12, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> And the fact Verizon is CDMA for voice  1x and 3g is used however t mobile is GSM which voice runs through hspa and edge
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



There are actually a couple areas where Verizon has GSM coverage from a carrier that they bought out. They left GSM active so that they could make money off of roaming.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## ski522 (Jan 12, 2014)

Caelrie said:


> How can that be when the contract specifically says otherwise? Are you sure you're on a pre-paid plan and not post-paid?

Click to collapse



I'm on the $30 prepaid plan and it works...the T-Mobile rep confirmed as I posted in my original post. I made an assumption I roamed on to Verizon's network, but I'm not sure where to check for that if in fact I was on Verizon's network. But I had an "R" by my signal level status and when I checked the Network Signal it said "Roaming" and I was obviously Roaming because Pandora continued to keep playing.

---------- Post added at 06:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:49 AM ----------

Actually after investigating a bit more, it was most likely AT&T's network I roamed onto as indicated by this article.
http://www.theverge.com/2011/12/20/...seven-year-3g-roaming-deal-128-markets-of-aws


----------



## phositadc (Jan 12, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> *Just past 6gb of usage and boy the throttle is really kicked in now from 0.40mbps to 0.09mbps regardless of what network mode*

Click to collapse


*

What widget is that to get signal strength in the status bar?*


----------



## Fire Ball (Jan 12, 2014)

phositadc said:


> What widget is that to get signal strength in the status bar?

Click to collapse



SignalCheck Pro

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 12, 2014)

ski522 said:


> I'm on the $30 prepaid plan and it works...the T-Mobile rep confirmed as I posted in my original post. I made an assumption I roamed on to Verizon's network, but I'm not sure where to check for that if in fact I was on Verizon's network. But I had an "R" by my signal level status and when I checked the Network Signal it said "Roaming" and I was obviously Roaming because Pandora continued to keep playing.
> 
> ---------- Post added at 06:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:49 AM ----------
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Should be easy to check. In settings go to mobile networks. Scan for networks and choose at&t from the list and see if it works. Make sure to switch back to T-Mobile or auto afterwards.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 12, 2014)

phositadc said:


> What widget is that to get signal strength in the status bar?

Click to collapse



Signalcheck purchase pro if you wish but signalcheck is the app.


----------



## abhipati (Jan 12, 2014)

raymond4 said:


> Can I call T-Mobile reps to get this plan ?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Do you have Sim card already ?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Caelrie (Jan 12, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> Should be easy to check. In settings go to mobile networks. Scan for networks and choose at&t from the list and see if it works. Make sure to switch back to T-Mobile or auto afterwards.

Click to collapse



That doesn't work.  I do have a little roaming data on my pre-paid plan (a measly 50mb) and doing that won't actually let me connect to AT&T. Says "no service" and can't connect although I know the area has plenty of AT&T coverage.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 12, 2014)

Please Everyone Sign my Petition to improve Throttling with AT&T MVNO and T-Mobile itself!

https://www.change.org/petitions/t-mobile-and-at-t-improve-throttling-after-passing-data-allotment

*WE ONLY NEED 100!*


----------



## Gaffadin (Jan 12, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> Please Everyone Sign my Petition to improve Throttling with AT&T MVNO and T-Mobile itself!
> 
> https://www.change.org/petitions/t-mobile-and-at-t-improve-throttling-after-passing-data-allotment
> 
> *WE ONLY NEED 100!*

Click to collapse



On principle, I can't sign that with the horrendous grammar you've used. If you're going to make a petition you want plenty of people to see, at least put some effort into it.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 12, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> On principle, I can't sign that with the horrendous grammar you've used. If you're going to make a petition you want plenty of people to see, at least put some effort into it.

Click to collapse



I'm fine with your opinion there are other less professional petitions on change.org and they got through easily 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## bob60626 (Jan 12, 2014)

T-Mobile DOES have voice and sms roaming on this plan. I was in Alaska for two weeks with my S2 and though I never once saw a TMO signal I had pretty good coverage roaming onto AT&T, GCI, and some number name carrier. I also never had data.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 12, 2014)

bob60626 said:


> T-Mobile DOES have voice and sms roaming on this plan. I was in Alaska for two weeks with my S2 and though I never once saw a TMO signal I had pretty good coverage roaming onto AT&T, GCI, and some number name carrier. I also never had data.

Click to collapse



Pics or it didn't happen











Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Fire Ball (Jan 12, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> Pics or it didn't happen
> 
> 
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



T-Mobile only allows you to roam on AT&T in areas outside of T-Mobile's native coverage. So if you're in an area with a T-Mobile signal.... they aren't going to let you roam.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 12, 2014)

Fire Ball said:


> T-Mobile only allows you to roam on AT&T in areas outside of T-Mobile's native coverage. So if you're in an area with a T-Mobile signal.... they aren't going to let you roam.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Ah so in the coverage map indicated "service partner" then its AT&T i see now.
its not like how Sprint and Verizon have roaming agreements to roam on each other even if you got full bars Sprint


----------



## Caelrie (Jan 13, 2014)

bob60626 said:


> T-Mobile DOES have voice and sms roaming on this plan. I was in Alaska for two weeks with my S2 and though I never once saw a TMO signal I had pretty good coverage roaming onto AT&T, GCI, and some number name carrier. I also never had data.

Click to collapse



The contract says this. Voice and SMS roaming work.  It's data roaming that doesn't, like you saw.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 13, 2014)

Caelrie said:


> The contract says this. Voice and SMS roaming work.  It's data roaming that doesn't, like you saw.

Click to collapse



Contract? what contract i thought the 30$ plan was prepaid no contract


----------



## Caelrie (Jan 13, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> Contract? what contract i thought the 30$ plan was prepaid no contract

Click to collapse



The one you digitally sign every 30 days when you refill.


----------



## jsgraphicart (Jan 13, 2014)

I am currently a Verizon Galaxy Nexus user. Today after work, I am planning on going to check out T-Mobile and hopefully be making the switch with a new Nexus 5. I have seen this $30/month plan and thought at first that it wouldnt be enough for me. I currently have an unlimited data plan so I dont think much about using a lot of data. Technically, this is an unlimited data plan but is throttled after 5gb right? I may be able to live with that. I just wont go crazy with downloads and stuff as I do now. 100 minutes isnt a lot but I dont talk much at all. With this plan, does it come with WiFi calling? I was told before that T-Mobile offers that. If so, 100 minutes would be perfectly fine for me. I usually make calls at home anyway. And finally, is this plan available in stores as well if I ask them? The site says available through Walmart or T-mobile.com


----------



## BinkXDA (Jan 13, 2014)

jsgraphicart said:


> Today after work, I am planning on going to check out T-Mobile and hopefully be making the switch with a new Nexus 5. ... With this plan, does it come with WiFi calling? I was told before that T-Mobile offers that. If so, 100 minutes would be perfectly fine for me. I usually make calls at home anyway.

Click to collapse



T-Mobile does not support the N5 for Wi-Fi Calling.


----------



## jsgraphicart (Jan 13, 2014)

BinkXDA said:


> T-Mobile does not support the N5 for Wi-Fi Calling.

Click to collapse



Hmm, I was told it did when I was talking with a sales guy about getting the Nexus 5 before. Maybe he didnt know.


----------



## Fire Ball (Jan 13, 2014)

jsgraphicart said:


> Hmm, I was told it did when I was talking with a sales guy about getting the Nexus 5 before. Maybe he didnt know.

Click to collapse



He didn't know. WiFi calling uses your minutes anyway so you would need to use the Vonage app, GrooveIP, CSipSimple or something else to make calls beyond your 100 minutes.


----------



## mattcoz (Jan 13, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> Please Everyone Sign my Petition to improve Throttling with AT&T MVNO and T-Mobile itself!
> 
> https://www.change.org/petitions/t-mobile-and-at-t-improve-throttling-after-passing-data-allotment
> 
> *WE ONLY NEED 100!*

Click to collapse



So many reasons why has no chance of working, I don't even know where to start...


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 13, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> Please Everyone Sign my Petition to improve Throttling with AT&T MVNO and T-Mobile itself!
> 
> https://www.change.org/petitions/t-mobile-and-at-t-improve-throttling-after-passing-data-allotment
> 
> *WE ONLY NEED 100!*

Click to collapse



Why are you whining? 

YOU'RE ONLY PAYING $30![/B]


----------



## trsix (Jan 13, 2014)

*NO*



markdapimp said:


> Please Everyone Sign my Petition to improve Throttling with AT&T MVNO and T-Mobile itself!
> 
> https://www.change.org/petitions/t-mobile-and-at-t-improve-throttling-after-passing-data-allotment
> 
> *WE ONLY NEED 100!*

Click to collapse



The plan is very reasonable.
If you can't get by on 5 gigs get another plan. Maybe a part time job also.


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 13, 2014)

trsix said:


> The plan is very reasonable.
> If you can't get by on 5 gigs get another plan. Maybe a part time job also.

Click to collapse



I like your signature, lol.

Honestly, people like him is why good things don't last.


----------



## BirchBarlow (Jan 13, 2014)

jsgraphicart said:


> I am currently a Verizon Galaxy Nexus user. Today after work, I am planning on going to check out T-Mobile and hopefully be making the switch with a new Nexus 5. I have seen this $30/month plan and thought at first that it wouldnt be enough for me. I currently have an unlimited data plan so I dont think much about using a lot of data. Technically, this is an unlimited data plan but is throttled after 5gb right? I may be able to live with that. I just wont go crazy with downloads and stuff as I do now. 100 minutes isnt a lot but I dont talk much at all. With this plan, does it come with WiFi calling? I was told before that T-Mobile offers that. If so, 100 minutes would be perfectly fine for me. I usually make calls at home anyway. *And finally, is this plan available in stores as well if I ask them? The site says available through Walmart or T-mobile.com*

Click to collapse



The plan is not offered in stores.  To use this plan, you have to activate the phone yourself online.


----------



## Gaffadin (Jan 13, 2014)

I'm still surprised that a plan this good is only $30 a month. In these days of price gouging (don't even get me started on cable TV) it's refreshing to see a company not try to screw over its customers like that. Honestly I feel I'd probably be willing to pay ~$40-45 for the $30 plan. T-Mobile will have a customer for life if they continue with how they are going.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 14, 2014)

trsix said:


> The plan is very reasonable.
> If you can't get by on 5 gigs get another plan. Maybe a part time job also.

Click to collapse



It really is now that i look at it, what ima do next is finish my prepaid service months and then convert to postpaid just for the international roaming and Jump program

i couldn't stand the throttle so i simply asked on T-Mobile to reset my plan early and boom it worked


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 14, 2014)

All set with a new number from T-Mobile!
Bought the sim and $30 credit here for $27:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/191009022851
Activated here:
https://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/ActivateCodes.aspx
And chose the $30 plan
New number and Hello LTE!


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 14, 2014)

Also according to T-Mobile My Account 
I have 100MB of mobile hotspot. 
I'm guessing that if I use a switcher and choose android or safari, I'll be able to use more than that.
Also trying this:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47203432&postcount=70


----------



## Dragn4rce (Jan 14, 2014)

Could my number be Ported to this plan? 

I have a lot of things associated with my current my current phone #.

Sent from my Ñ£×Ú$ 5


----------



## ski522 (Jan 14, 2014)

*6488544*



Caelrie said:


> That doesn't work.  I do have a little roaming data on my pre-paid plan (a measly 50mb) and doing that won't actually let me connect to AT&T. Says "no service" and can't connect although I know the area has plenty of AT&T coverage.

Click to collapse



I've since discovered it's not universal. Look on T-mobile's coverage map (http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage.html), they show what areas have roaming support. If you scroll to the bottom of the map they list the color for "Service Partner". where roaming takes place.

---------- Post added at 05:14 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:09 PM ----------




Dragn4rce said:


> Could my number be Ported to this plan?
> 
> I have a lot of things associated with my current my current phone #.

Click to collapse



Most cell phone and home phone numbers can be ported.You can check if your number can be port on T-Mobile's website http://www.t-mobile.com/switch/#information before making the switch.


----------



## Anderson2 (Jan 14, 2014)

Fire Ball said:


> He didn't know. WiFi calling uses your minutes anyway so you would need to use the Vonage app, GrooveIP, CSipSimple or something else to make calls beyond your 100 minutes.

Click to collapse



Does that mean using Talkatone to make calls or texts will use up minutes?


----------



## nerv8765 (Jan 14, 2014)

I bought  my Nexus 5 from Sprint, but I'm changing over to the T-mobile prepaid $30 plan next week. What, exactly, do I need to change in terms of settings on my phone? APN, Profile/PRL update, change sim card (obviously.) Do I need to change what frequencies it uses? Is there anything else?


----------



## ski522 (Jan 14, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Does that mean using Talkatone to make calls or texts will use up minutes?

Click to collapse



Using this app will not affect your voice minutes with T-Mobile, but will contribute to you're monthly data quota, although VoIP doesn't use a lot of bandwidth.


----------



## Fire Ball (Jan 14, 2014)

nerv8765 said:


> I bought  my Nexus 5 from Sprint, but I'm changing over to the T-mobile prepaid $30 plan next week. What, exactly, do I need to change in terms of settings on my phone? APN, Profile/PRL update, change sim card (obviously.) Do I need to change what frequencies it uses? Is there anything else?

Click to collapse



Pop your SIM in and it should automatically select the correct APN for you. There isn't any profile or PRL to update with GSM.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## nerv8765 (Jan 14, 2014)

Wow, thanks, sounds easy then. =)


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jan 15, 2014)

Dragn4rce said:


> Could my number be Ported to this plan?
> 
> I have a lot of things associated with my current my current phone #.
> 
> Sent from my Ñ£×Ú$ 5

Click to collapse



I ported my (formerly) Sprint cell number to this plan, so unless there's some unique circumstance you've got, I'd say yes.


----------



## abhipati (Jan 15, 2014)

Dragn4rce said:


> Could my number be Ported to this plan?
> 
> I have a lot of things associated with my current my current phone #.
> 
> Sent from my Ñ£×Ú$ 5

Click to collapse



Port your number to Google Voice and never worry . You won't ask that question again .. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## paperWastage (Jan 15, 2014)

abhipati said:


> Port your number to Google Voice and never worry . You won't ask that question again ..
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



until google starts charging for gvoice, or retires google voice for some reason (see google reader)?


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 15, 2014)

abhipati said:


> Port your number to Google Voice and never worry . You won't ask that question again ..
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Porting your number,  do you still use T-Mobile minutes? 

On my Nexus 5 I can't make Google Voice calls,  but my wife can on her Note 3.

Nexus 5 doesn't have the option that keys you choose to dial from stock phone app or Google Voice, which shows up on the wife's Note 3.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## sirxdroid (Jan 15, 2014)

abhipati said:


> Port your number to Google Voice and never worry

Click to collapse



Let's hope GV lasts and they are not going to completely shut it down like XMPP come May or restrict it to the point where it's not useful anymore.


----------



## vincentallen2 (Jan 15, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> *Just past 6gb of usage and boy the throttle is really kicked in now from 0.40mbps to 0.09mbps regardless of what network mode *
> 
> 
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Woah buddy! You sure you didn't accidentally pop a Sprint sim card into your phone? Lol jk 

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


----------



## paperWastage (Jan 15, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Porting your number,  do you still use T-Mobile minutes?
> 
> On my Nexus 5 I can't make Google Voice calls,  but my wife can on her Note 3.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



maybe you didn't set up google voice properly. clear the data from google voice app, and re-do the setup steps

on my nexus 5, when I dial through the stock app, google voice prompts me whether to connect via gvoice or not (you can turn this notification off)

calling through the official google voice app costs minutes (because you are simply using the voice network to connect to google's phone, then connecting to the phone number)
calling via VoIP won't use your minutes (Vonage or another VoIP app that uses google voice as the backend via XMPP, but gvoice is disabling XMPP in june) (you are using the data network to carry data packets to ...)


----------



## abhipati (Jan 15, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Porting your number,  do you still use T-Mobile minutes?
> 
> On my Nexus 5 I can't make Google Voice calls,  but my wife can on her Note 3.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse




I can make calls using Google Voice on nexus 5 . Did you select option in Google Voice app ?


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jan 15, 2014)

abhipati said:


> Port your number to Google Voice and never worry . You won't ask that question again ..
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



T-Mobile doesn't support Google Voice for the $30 prepaid plan; I know some people have gotten it working, I think most haven't and I'm unfortunately in the latter category.  Conditional Call Forwarding, a key component of having GVoice forward to your mobile number, isn't supported in prepaid plans.  Just a heads-up, I was planning on doing the same thing but have been thwarted at every turn.


----------



## Fire Ball (Jan 15, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> T-Mobile doesn't support Google Voice for the $30 prepaid plan; I know some people have gotten it working, I think most haven't and I'm unfortunately in the latter category.  Conditional Call Forwarding, a key component of having GVoice forward to your mobile number, isn't supported in prepaid plans.  Just a heads-up, I was planning on doing the same thing but have been thwarted at every turn.

Click to collapse



Conditional call forwarding is not necessary. It works just fine without it.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jan 15, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Porting your number,  do you still use T-Mobile minutes?
> 
> On my Nexus 5 I can't make Google Voice calls,  but my wife can on her Note 3.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



A customer service rep pointed me toward an online document stating that the Nexus 5 is excluded from things like Google Voice or even Visual Voicemail; like above, it seems some people have gotten it to work on their N5, but it doesn't seem that there's a widespread ability for all N5's on prepaid plans to do so.

---------- Post added at 03:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:09 PM ----------




Fire Ball said:


> Conditional call forwarding is not necessary. It works just fine without it.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I can't get even just GVoice voicemail to work on my phone/account, and I've tried a million times.  Here's my one frustration with T-Mo: that some people appear to be able to get things like GVoice (Full or Lite) working fine, others are blocked, and there doesn't seem to be a 100% clear-cut yes or no on allowing such services on prepaid accounts.  

Were there any hoops you had to jump through to get it to work?  I've read the forums on GVoice specific to the N5 and prepaid accounts, followed the instructions, had TMo voicemail turned off, and nada: didn't work, no voicemail/said that my line was unavailable.  If someone had a magic wand to get GVoice working for me, I'd give them 3 magic beans in return.....


----------



## Fire Ball (Jan 15, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> A customer service rep pointed me toward an online document stating that the Nexus 5 is excluded from things like Google Voice or even Visual Voicemail; like above, it seems some people have gotten it to work on their N5, but it doesn't seem that there's a widespread ability for all N5's on prepaid plans to do so.
> 
> ---------- Post added at 03:11 PM ---------- Previous post was at 03:09 PM ----------
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



No one has my actual T-Mobile number so I didn't need to have GV voicemail setup for it. People call my GV number and it rings my phone. If I don't answer then it goes to my GV voicemail and I can check it on the app or on my computer. Are you just trying to setup the voicemail portion of it without using a new number from Google or porting in your existing number?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jan 15, 2014)

Fire Ball said:


> No one has my actual T-Mobile number so I didn't need to have GV voicemail setup for it. People call my GV number and it rings my phone. If I don't answer then it goes to my GV voicemail and I can check it on the app or on my computer. Are you just trying to setup the voicemail portion of it without using a new number from Google or porting in your existing number?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I've tried both: Google Voice 'full', where I ported my number over to GV- it wouldn't ring my phone or alert me to voicemails.  GV Lite- just trying to use it as voicemail without a call-able number attached to it, no dice.  I'm thinking I'm cursed.  Some have suggested a full factory reset > reroot/unlock and try again, I might do that this Monday when I've got the day off and time to putz with it, but I don't know why the rooting/unlocking process would have anything to do with the GV service not working.  

For what it's worth, my wife's got an N5, same $30/month plan, non-rooted, and she's not able to get GV Full working.  It only rings our home phone, not her T-Mo number (she's got GV Full, separate GV number that should, theoretically, forward to any number).  I'd love to just have one GV number that everyone knows and run with that, but alas, 'tis not to be at this point in time.....

EDIT:  Also, when trying to set up Lite on the GV website, when I come to the 'Activate' option for my T-Mo number under 'Settings' and it spits out the long **004*1313blahblahblah number, there's a line that says that "Note: This feature does not work with T-Mobile prepaid phone plans."

Edit x2: I really appreciate everyone who's tried to help me get this up and running, I've asked questions a million time about GV and the prepaid service, no one's been a jerk about it or done anything other than try and be helpful


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 15, 2014)

paperWastage said:


> maybe you didn't set up google voice properly. clear the data from google voice app, and re-do the setup steps
> 
> on my nexus 5, when I dial through the stock app, google voice prompts me whether to connect via gvoice or not (you can turn this notification off)
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I'm going to reinstall it.

As for Google Voice App costs minutes, are you sure? My wife used Google Voice the other day on her Note 3 and it didn't use any of her minutes.



abhipati said:


> I can make calls using Google Voice on nexus 5 . Did you select option in Google Voice app ?

Click to collapse



I only had the first 3 options, I'm going to reinstall it.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 15, 2014)

vincentallen2 said:


> Woah buddy! You sure you didn't accidentally pop a Sprint sim card into your phone? Lol jk
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Hah good one

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Fire Ball (Jan 15, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> I've tried both: Google Voice 'full', where I ported my number over to GV- it wouldn't ring my phone or alert me to voicemails.  GV Lite- just trying to use it as voicemail without a call-able number attached to it, no dice.  I'm thinking I'm cursed.  Some have suggested a full factory reset > reroot/unlock and try again, I might do that this Monday when I've got the day off and time to putz with it, but I don't know why the rooting/unlocking process would have anything to do with the GV service not working.
> 
> For what it's worth, my wife's got an N5, same $30/month plan, non-rooted, and she's not able to get GV Full working.  It only rings our home phone, not her T-Mo number (she's got GV Full, separate GV number that should, theoretically, forward to any number).  I'd love to just have one GV number that everyone knows and run with that, but alas, 'tis not to be at this point in time.....
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



The "004" number is what you dial to setup conditional call forwarding. And we don't have conditional call forwarding on prepaid so that's why I says it won't work. I don't think there is any possible way to get that portion of it to work.

I'd clear your app data for the GV app and go through the setup again and make sure you select the right number and everything so that it forwards your calls from your GV number to your T-Mobile number.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 15, 2014)

This is the options I get during Google Voice setup. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jan 15, 2014)

Fire Ball said:


> The "004" number is what you dial to setup conditional call forwarding. And we don't have conditional call forwarding on prepaid so that's why I says it won't work. I don't think there is any possible way to get that portion of it to work.
> 
> I'd clear your app data for the GV app and go through the setup again and make sure you select the right number and everything so that it forwards your calls from your GV number to your T-Mobile number.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Hmmmm.....just tried that, now I get an error message: 'Call Settings Error - Couldn't change the forwarding number.  Contact your carrier if this problem persists.'  

At least that's something different than what I've gotten before, I'll keep putzing with it, but didn't think about clearing data first to see what happened.  

BTW, trying Google Voice Lite for just voicemail before I go whole hog and try GV Full again.

EDIT:  Nope, tried again, didn't get the error message but it's not using GV Lite as the voicemail.  I think I'll just have to wipe everything, unroot/reroot, start from scratch, see if that fixes it.  Maybe try having TMo turn off their voicemail again or something.....thanks for the help anyways


----------



## abhipati (Jan 15, 2014)

I do not know what is not possible using Google Voice on Nexus 5 but this is how I use GV and it works 

1) I ported my number from ATT to Google Voice 
2) I brought t-mobile prepaid 30$ plan and sim card (New Number)
3) In Google Voice I setup such a way that when someone calls my old number from att (Which is my Google Voice Number) then my tmobile rings (Which is the new number) 
4) When I make calls from Nexus 5 , it gives me option to use Google Voice number (i.e receiver phone will show incoming call from Google Voice) or use tmobile number.


----------



## Fire Ball (Jan 15, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Hmmmm.....just tried that, now I get an error message: 'Call Settings Error - Couldn't change the forwarding number.  Contact your carrier if this problem persists.'
> 
> At least that's something different than what I've gotten before, I'll keep putzing with it, but didn't think about clearing data first to see what happened.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



It's not possible at all to use just the voicemail since that requires call forwarding. You're gonna have to port your number again or get a random GV number. Try it on your wife's phone first since you said she has a GV number.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 15, 2014)

abhipati said:


> I do not know what is not possible using Google Voice on Nexus 5 but this is how I use GV and it works
> 
> 1) I ported my number from ATT to Google Voice
> 2) I brought t-mobile prepaid 30$ plan and sim card (New Number)
> ...

Click to collapse



And does this use the 100 minutes?

When I set up Google Voice on the Nexus 5 it doesn't give me the option to call from it.


----------



## abhipati (Jan 15, 2014)

dinggus said:


> And does this use the 100 minutes?
> 
> When I set up Google Voice on the Nexus 5 it doesn't give me the option to call from it.

Click to collapse



Yes it uses 100 min .. You need to use VoIP apps if you don't want to use min

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 05:40 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:38 PM ----------

Using Groove IP ( which stops working after march ) u can receive calls when someone calls to ur gv number without using your minuted

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 15, 2014)

abhipati said:


> Yes it uses 100 min .. You need to use VoIP apps if you don't want to use min
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I'm confused then, wife didn't get charged any minutes on her Note 3.

And if you get charged minutes, what's the point of using Google Voice on the phone?


----------



## abhipati (Jan 15, 2014)

dinggus said:


> I'm confused then, wife didn't get charged any minutes on her Note 3.
> 
> And if you get charged minutes, what's the point of using Google Voice on the phone?

Click to collapse



Use = I can receive calls when someone calls to my old number and I can keep changing carriers without worrying about losing the original number

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 15, 2014)

abhipati said:


> Use = I can receive calls when someone calls to my old number and I can keep changing carriers without worrying about losing the original number
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Makes sense.

I think I found the solution to my Google Voice. After googling I seen this image:






So I went to my Google Voice page, and turns out I never activated a voice number, so the number I thought I was seeing was the Activation Number.

*Edit:* That fixed the issue. I can now make calls from my Google Voice.


----------



## abhipati (Jan 15, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Makes sense.
> 
> I think I found the solution to my Google Voice. After googling I seen this image:
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Niceee .. Cool

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## hoodshy (Jan 16, 2014)

*No go *

Bummer. Tried Tmo out here in Idaho nowhere. Have fine data coverage around the Boise area including a bit of LTE, but head north 45 minutes and end up on Commnet USA instead of Tmo and have EDGE cellular connection for voice and SMS but no data  Guess I'll have to stay with ST for now unless someone knows a way to get data when not on Tmo native network?


----------



## adrman (Jan 16, 2014)

dinggus said:


> And if you get charged minutes, what's the point of using Google Voice on the phone?

Click to collapse



The point is one number that hopefully you don't have to change again. Want to move to a new plan? Just pop a new forwarding number into GV. And then there's voip. Get a did from a voip provider and then have GV ring that number when you're on wifi and use a sip client like Csipsimple to dial out. Then you won't use minutes. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 16, 2014)

adrman said:


> The point is one number that hopefully you don't have to change again. Want to move to a new plan? Just pop a new forwarding number into GV. And then there's voip. Get a did from a voip provider and then have GV ring that number when you're on wifi and use a sip client like Csipsimple to dial out. Then you won't use minutes.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Is there any good VoIP's? 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## adrman (Jan 16, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Is there any good VoIP's?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Voip.ms and Callcentric are a couple to start with. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## lchiu7 (Jan 16, 2014)

*SIP Calling over 3G - problem?*

I actually posted this in another thread but this seems like the better place to do it.

On my N5 (international version so no LTE) using a TMO SIM on the $30 plan I could not get any VoIP calls to work over 3G apart from GrooveIP.

I tried Vonage, Google Voice Callback to a Callcentric number attached as a SIP account on the phone and Localphone.

All of this worked over WiFi so the setup appears to be correct. Over the cellular network the calls just didn't go through or there was no callback.

Can people report back if they are able to make data calls over the cellular network on this plan?

It worked fine on my GN (same SIM) and my daughter's N4 (different SIM of course but same plan).

Thanks


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 16, 2014)

adrman said:


> Voip.ms and Callcentric are a couple to start with.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I have a Skype account that has a DID # for $30/year and unlimited outbound calling for another $30/year.
So for $5/month I get unlimited calling (inbound and outbound) over IP. 
Paired with Google Voice, I can have people call my GV# and it forwards to Skype. My phone rings through the Skype app. If I don;t answer GV takes the call back and takes a message for me and I get it through the Google Voice app. 
I tried having Skype take the message for me but their VM notification on Android sucks, so not doing that for now.
Also, I can have skype present my GV# as the caller ID when I call out.

Also, when I know I will be in an area of poor or no data service, I can have GV forward to my T-Mobile cell #.

---------- Post added at 10:28 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:09 PM ----------




lchiu7 said:


> I actually posted this in another thread but this seems like the better place to do it.
> 
> On my N5 (international version so no LTE) using a TMO SIM on the $30 plan I could not get any VoIP calls to work over 3G apart from GrooveIP.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Check your APN settings. Most likely need to switch to IPV4 or IPV4/IPV6
Are you using the fast.tmoble.com settings?


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 16, 2014)

https://simonics.com/gvgw/

Try this out.


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 16, 2014)

BaNkS said:


> https://simonics.com/gvgw/
> 
> Try this out.

Click to collapse



Do you use this?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 16, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Do you use this?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Click to collapse



Yep. Started trying it out today. Totally free. Service is based on donation support. Basically it's like pbxes.com but easier to setup and you don't get a minute cap how pbxes.com does for free accounts. I am using the settings and integrated into the native Android Dialer. So far so good. Been calling people all day on wifi using my Google Voice over voip and used some 4g data. No minutes were used. Incoming and outgoing works.


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 16, 2014)

BaNkS said:


> Yep. Started trying it out today. Totally free. Service is based on donation support. Basically it's like pbxes.com but easier to setup and you don't get a minute cap how pbxes.com does for free accounts. I am using the settings and integrated into the native Android Dialer. So far so good. Been calling people all day on wifi using my Google Voice over voip and used some 4g data. No minutes were used. Incoming and outgoing works.

Click to collapse



Just strange I gotta give my password out.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 16, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Just strange I gotta give my password out.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Click to collapse



That's because it sets up your account for you. If you tried SipDroid before it basically does the same thing when it integrates and sets up your account on pbxes.com.


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 16, 2014)

BaNkS said:


> https://simonics.com/gvgw/
> 
> Try this out.

Click to collapse



Is this going to go away when Google shuts off services like grooveIP in May?


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 16, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> Is this going to go away when Google shuts off services like grooveIP in May?

Click to collapse



No idea. lol. Until then (if it does get blocked) I will continue to use it. So far this is the best solution I found since I don't like using third party dialers and it integrates seamlessly into the stock dialer. Don't quote me, but I believe it uses the Jabber interface to use Google Voice.


----------



## andy o (Jan 16, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Just strange I gotta give my password out.

Click to collapse



Do not give out your google password. If you haven't, set up 2 factor authentication, and then from the google account privacy page you can generate passwords for third party apps and services.


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 16, 2014)

andy o said:


> Do not give out your google password. If you haven't, set up 2 factor authentication, and then from the google account privacy page you can generate passwords for third party apps and services.

Click to collapse



Exactly what I did. I set up a two-step password for it.


----------



## FuMMoD (Jan 16, 2014)

andy o said:


> Do not give out your google password. If you haven't, set up 2 factor authentication, and then from the google account privacy page you can generate passwords for third party apps and services.

Click to collapse



Learn something new every day. Thanks 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 16, 2014)

BaNkS said:


> Exactly what I did. I set up a two-step password for it.

Click to collapse



Once setup, I can turn the two-step password off?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 16, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Once setup, I can turn the two-step password off?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Click to collapse



You can, but if you didn't write down that password that you generated for the setup, you won't be able to delete the Sip account if you wanted that you created since Google doesn't give you an option to get that password back.


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 16, 2014)

BaNkS said:


> You can, but if you didn't write down that password that you generated for the setup, you won't be able to delete the Sip account if you wanted that you created since Google doesn't give you an option to get that password back.

Click to collapse



Okay, I don't need this all the time, only when I run out of minutes which is rare. Is it okay to still set this up or will I be dialing via Google Voice all the time?

I just want to be able to use Google a Voice when I'm getting close on running out.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 16, 2014)

BaNkS said:


> No idea. lol. Until then (if it does get blocked) I will continue to use it. So far this is the best solution I found since I don't like using third party dialers and it integrates seamlessly into the stock dialer. Don't quote me, but I believe it uses the Jabber interface to use Google Voice.

Click to collapse



According to their blog it does use XMPP and "The end date is set for May 15, 2014"
https://simonics.com/blog/


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 16, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Okay, I don't need this all the time, only when I run out of minutes which is rare. Is it okay to still set this up or will I be dialing via Google Voice all the time?
> 
> I just want to be able to use Google a Voice when I'm getting close on running out.
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Click to collapse



Well if you set this up, it will only use your Google Voice number to dial out over an internet connection such as wifi or your T-Mobile data plan. It interfaces with your Google Voice.



colorado_al said:


> According to their blog it does use XMPP and "The end date is set for May 15, 2014"
> https://simonics.com/blog/

Click to collapse



Ah, damn lol. Oh well. I will still use it until then. Hopefully Google integrates Google Voice into Hangouts.


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 16, 2014)

BaNkS said:


> Well if you set this up, it will only use your Google Voice number to dial out over an internet connection such as wifi or your T-Mobile data plan. It interfaces with your Google Voice.
> 
> 
> 
> Ah, damn lol. Oh well. I will still use it until then. Hopefully Google integrates Google Voice into Hangouts.

Click to collapse



How do you setup the sip in android then? Do you need a 3rd party app?

Edit: found it under the phone app settings


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 16, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> How do you setup the sip in android then? Do you need a 3rd party app?

Click to collapse



You mean with the link I provided and the settings that are given to you once you sign up? 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 16, 2014)

BaNkS said:


> You mean with the link I provided and the settings that are given to you once you sign up?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I was able to enter them into the phone app and I'm able to place calls through it but I'm not receiving calls, even though I checked the "receive calls" box


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 16, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> I was able to enter them into the phone app and I'm able to place calls through it but I'm not receiving calls, even though I checked the "receive calls" box

Click to collapse



Do you have "Forward calls to Google Talk"  selected under settings on voice.google.com? 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 16, 2014)

BaNkS said:


> Do you have "Forward calls to Google Talk"  selected under settings on voice.google.com?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



That did it. Forward to Google Chat.
Thanks!
Going to test this setup tomorrow and see if the quality is as good as Skype.
If so, I'll use it until May 15


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 16, 2014)

colorado_al said:


> I was able to enter them into the phone app and I'm able to place calls through it but I'm not receiving calls, even though I checked the "receive calls" box

Click to collapse



Also change the server under phone settings to 185.35.78.38. That will fix  calling on phone data. You can change port to 5060 or 5070.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 01:18 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:17 AM ----------




colorado_al said:


> That did it. Forward to Google Chat.
> Thanks!
> Going to test this setup tomorrow and see if the quality is as good as Skype.

Click to collapse



No problem  

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## RainMotorsports (Jan 16, 2014)

30 dollar a month user here just got My Nexus.  Was actually in such a hurry I walked into a TMo store and paid the premium they charge.

Ran some AWSOME speed tests today:


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jan 16, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Is there any good VoIP's?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I was happy with GrooveIP and Groove Forwarder: GrooveIP for the VoIP capability with Google Voice, and Groove Forwarder in order to have my GV settings automatically set to work with VoIP whenever I connected to WiFi.

---------- Post added at 09:42 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:31 AM ----------

Well I'll be darned.....I enabled Google Voice Full/got a new GV number on my main Google Account, set it up, etc, and it worked perfectly in terms of 1) forwarding the call to my phone and 2) taking/indicating there's a voicemail through Google Voice.

I'll have to play around with it a bit, but it seems I might be able to make the jump back to full GV after all!


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 16, 2014)

BaNkS said:


> Well if you set this up, it will only use your Google Voice number to dial out over an internet connection such as wifi or your T-Mobile data plan. It interfaces with your Google Voice.

Click to collapse



Damn I just want it setup then use it when I need to. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 16, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Damn I just want it setup then use it when I need to.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



You can do that to. In the dialer just set internet calling to "Ask Every Time".


----------



## slowpok22 (Jan 16, 2014)

Anyone tell me why I keep getting these From t mobile  ? Activate:dt=6


Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## bozzykid (Jan 16, 2014)

slowpok22 said:


> Anyone tell me why I keep getting these From t mobile  ? Activate:dt=6
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



You need to deactivate visual voicemail on your account.  Or try deactivating and re-activating.


----------



## Gaffadin (Jan 16, 2014)

I've registered a Simonics account and linked it with my Google Voice account, and while I got it working fine in a SIP client (CSIPSimple) I couldn't get it to work with the native dialer. Is there some trick to it?











In the first screenshot, "password" = the secret key I received from Simonics when I set my account up there, correct?

With the above settings, if I try to place a call through the native dialer I get "Server Error. Try Again Later" although the same settings work fine in CSipSimple.

(Edit) Figured it out (with Google). It turns out you have to toggle the "Receive calls" on then off in the dialer settings. Since I didn't want to receive incoming calls through VoIP (they're forwarded through GV anyway right now) I just left it unchecked, which didn't register the account properly. Toggled it on, toggled it off, now it works perfectly.


----------



## SystemErrorOne (Jan 17, 2014)

veeman said:


> I wish. There has to be some service fees and stuff that gets added to the $30.

Click to collapse



i AHVE THE $30 Tmo plan that he OP speaks of I never paid Tax just a flat 30 bucks & all I did to refill my phone was link my debit card to mytmobile account and it auto re-fills my card/phone every month. 

I must say that I have used this $30 100 minutes and Unlimited Text with 5GB 4G data for about 6 months and I just recently switched to the $50 unlimited Talk + Text & 500MB of 4G > then they throttle you to Unlimited 3G and you can use as much data as you please. This saved me tons and tons of money. Its prepaid and I get excellent coverage where I live. It cant get any better than this...Oh did I mention No contract. Yep.


----------



## veeman (Jan 17, 2014)

SystemErrorOne said:


> i AHVE THE $30 Tmo plan that he OP speaks of I never paid Tax just a flat 30 bucks & all I did to refill my phone was link my debit card to mytmobile account and it auto re-fills my card/phone every month.
> 
> I must say that I have used this $30 100 minutes and Unlimited Text with 5GB 4G data for about 6 months and I just recently switched to the $50 unlimited Talk + Text & 500MB of 4G > then they throttle you to Unlimited 3G and you can use as much data as you please. This saved me tons and tons of money. Its prepaid and I get excellent coverage where I live. It cant get any better than this...Oh did I mention No contract. Yep.

Click to collapse



I have the $30 plan now also. It's good


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 17, 2014)

SystemErrorOne said:


> i AHVE THE $30 Tmo plan that he OP speaks of I never paid Tax just a flat 30 bucks & all I did to refill my phone was link my debit card to mytmobile account and it auto re-fills my card/phone every month.
> 
> I must say that I have used this $30 100 minutes and Unlimited Text with 5GB 4G data for about 6 months and I just recently switched to the $50 unlimited Talk + Text & 500MB of 4G > then they throttle you to Unlimited 3G and you can use as much data as you please. This saved me tons and tons of money. Its prepaid and I get excellent coverage where I live. It cant get any better than this...Oh did I mention No contract. Yep.

Click to collapse



I'd love to see some 'throttled" speed tests from this plan..if you get a chance! Cheers!

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## FuMMoD (Jan 17, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> I'd love to see some 'throttled" speed tests from this plan..if you get a chance! Cheers!
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



In kilabytes not bit please! 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## DDM123 (Jan 17, 2014)

Just divide by 8, Einstein. 8 bits = 1 byte

I think the answer is in this thread already anyway. It's something like 128kbps.


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 17, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> I've registered a Simonics account and linked it with my Google Voice account, and while I got it working fine in a SIP client (CSIPSimple) I couldn't get it to work with the native dialer. Is there some trick to it?
> 
> 
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Change your server to  185.35.78.38. That was the only way I could get calls to work over phone data. Port can be either 5060 or 5070 UDP/TCP (UDP recommended).


----------



## Gaffadin (Jan 17, 2014)

BaNkS said:


> Change your server to  185.35.78.38. That was the only way I could get calls to work over phone data. Port can be either 5060 or 5070 UDP/TCP (UDP recommended).

Click to collapse



If I change it to 185.35.78.38 the SIP account does not register; it works fine with gvgw8.simonics.com on both wireless and 4G, though.


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 17, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> If I change it to 185.35.78.38 the SIP account does not register; it works fine with gvgw8.simonics.com on both wireless and 4G, though.

Click to collapse



Weird. Wifi calling worked for me, but 4G didn't lol. Only way I could get 4G calling working was changing my server.


----------



## mamcmac (Jan 17, 2014)

Hello,

I'm from germany and will be in NY for two weeks.
This tmo-30$-plan would be perfect for me.
Do i just have to go to walmart to get it?
Is it possible to get it without an address in the US?
Anything else that could be a problem?

Thanks for help.

mamcmac

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## DDM123 (Jan 17, 2014)

mamcmac said:


> Hello,
> 
> I'm from germany and will be in NY for two weeks.
> This tmo-30$-plan would be perfect for me.
> ...

Click to collapse



Just so you know, if you're going to New York City, there aren't any Walmarts here, thankfully. There are some nearby, but they're tough to get to. If you have a US address you can ship a micro sim activation kit for $0.99 here: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/sim-card


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 17, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> If I change it to 185.35.78.38 the SIP account does not register; it works fine with gvgw8.simonics.com on both wireless and 4G, though.

Click to collapse



Your server is 185.35.78.40
give that a try. 
Also set your APN to IPV4/IPV6 or just IPV4.


----------



## whitedragonz83 (Jan 17, 2014)

SystemErrorOne said:


> i AHVE THE $30 Tmo plan that he OP speaks of I never paid Tax just a flat 30 bucks & all I did to refill my phone was link my debit card to mytmobile account and it auto re-fills my card/phone every month.
> 
> I must say that I have used this $30 100 minutes and Unlimited Text with 5GB 4G data for about 6 months and I just recently switched to the $50 unlimited Talk + Text & 500MB of 4G > then they throttle you to Unlimited 3G and you can use as much data as you please. This saved me tons and tons of money. Its prepaid and I get excellent coverage where I live. It cant get any better than this...Oh did I mention No contract. Yep.

Click to collapse



Why did you switch from the $30 plan to the $50?  Just for the minutes?  Coverage shouldn't be any different, I thought.


----------



## SystemErrorOne (Jan 17, 2014)

whitedragonz83 said:


> Why did you switch from the $30 plan to the $50?  Just for the minutes?  Coverage shouldn't be any different, I thought.

Click to collapse



Yea just for the minutes.  I talk a lot on the phone haha


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 17, 2014)

My Google Voice SIP calls had crazy echo even if I reduced the earpiece volume. I'm using CSipSimple now and the echo cancellation is way better. Also fixed the incoming caller ID issue.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.csipsimple

Also, I can use TCP to help save battery life. With the native Android SIP client I could only use UDP or my calls would drop as soon as the other end answered.


----------



## paperWastage (Jan 17, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> I'd love to see some 'throttled" speed tests from this plan..if you get a chance! Cheers!
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse





FuMMoD said:


> In kilabytes not bit please!
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse





SystemErrorOne said:


> i AHVE THE $30 Tmo plan that he OP speaks of I never paid Tax just a flat 30 bucks & all I did to refill my phone was link my debit card to mytmobile account and it auto re-fills my card/phone every month.
> 
> I must say that I have used this $30 100 minutes and Unlimited Text with 5GB 4G data for about 6 months and I just recently switched to the $50 unlimited Talk + Text & 500MB of 4G > then they throttle you to Unlimited 3G and you can use as much data as you please. This saved me tons and tons of money. Its prepaid and I get excellent coverage where I live. It cant get any better than this...Oh did I mention No contract. Yep.

Click to collapse



it's unlimited 2G, not unlimited 3G speeds

i'm on the postpaid 500MB unlimited plan, but the throttled speeds should be similar

between 15kiloBytes/s and 50kiloBytes/s throttled

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=49262735&postcount=6


----------



## Caelrie (Jan 17, 2014)

abhipati said:


> Port your number to Google Voice and never worry . You won't ask that question again ..
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Wish I could, but Google doesn't support local numbers where I live.  Can't get them from Google or port them to Google.


----------



## SystemErrorOne (Jan 17, 2014)

paperWastage said:


> it's unlimited 2G, not unlimited 3G speeds
> 
> i'm on the postpaid 500MB unlimited plan, but the throttled speeds should be similar
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



are you sure its 2G that they throttle you too ? im pretty sure its 3G...


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 17, 2014)

SystemErrorOne said:


> are you sure its 2G that they throttle you too ? im pretty sure its 3G...

Click to collapse



You're still connected to LTE...so 4G connection simply throttled to 2G/EDGE-like speeds.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## FuMMoD (Jan 17, 2014)

SystemErrorOne said:


> are you sure its 2G that they throttle you too ? im pretty sure its 3G...

Click to collapse



Yes it's 2g and they even state it on the plan it's 2g. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 17, 2014)

FuMMoD said:


> Yes it's 2g and they even state it on the plan it's 2g.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse




"Where indicated, full speeds available up to data allotment; then slowed to up to 2G speeds for balance of service period." 

Makes me wonder if we get 100MBPS speeds someday, will we be throttled to LTE speeds?


----------



## Fire Ball (Jan 18, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> "Where indicated, full speeds available up to data allotment; then slowed to up to 2G speeds for balance of service period."
> 
> Makes me wonder if we get 100MBPS speeds someday, will we be throttled to LTE speeds?

Click to collapse



People have been getting 100 Mbps speeds already on T-Mobile in Texas, haha. Unless you mean megabytes per second, haha.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## harveydent (Jan 18, 2014)

SystemErrorOne said:


> are you sure its 2G that they throttle you too ? im pretty sure its 3G...

Click to collapse



Yeah, they throttle you to EDGE


----------



## RainMotorsports (Jan 18, 2014)

SystemErrorOne said:


> are you sure its 2G that they throttle you too ? im pretty sure its 3G...

Click to collapse



.12 is 3G? I think not lol.  Thats in Megabits per second so 120 Kilobits per second is considered a top end 2G speed.  Sprint has some of the most horrible 3G in major metro areas which often stretches from 500 Kbps (.500 Mbps) to around 1.25 Mbps.  While other carriers like Verizon have 3G in the range of 2 to 3 Mbps.

Thats obviously based on cdma networks.  3rd Generation tech covers a wide range.  Sure the earliest forms of UMTS were slow as balls.  But when you say 3G on T-Mobile I am thinking 7.2 Mbps HSPA in which I routinely get 3 to 6 Mbps on but people in crappier areas probably don't.

Even so ask T-Mobile they consider that to be 2G speed somewhere in between GPRS and EGPRS.


----------



## jimmyjoebob (Jan 18, 2014)

RainMotorsports said:


> .12 is 3G? I think not lol.  Thats in Megabits per second so 120 Kilobits per second is considered a top end 2G speed.  Sprint has some of the most horrible 3G in major metro areas which often stretches from 500 Kbps (.500 Mbps) to around 1.25 Mbps.  While other carriers like Verizon have 3G in the range of 2 to 3 Mbps.
> 
> Thats obviously based on cdma networks.  3rd Generation tech covers a wide range.  Sure the earliest forms of UMTS were slow as balls.  But when you say 3G on T-Mobile I am thinking 7.2 Mbps HSPA in which I routinely get 3 to 6 Mbps on but people in crappier areas probably don't.
> 
> Even so ask T-Mobile they consider that to be 2G speed somewhere in between GPRS and EGPRS.

Click to collapse



1G, 2G, 3G, 4G etc are not speeds they are technologies, 4G can be as fast as 1G on a burdened network.


----------



## Dragn4rce (Jan 18, 2014)

Leave this here for you future T-Mobile users...

Switched today.

Sent from my Ñ£×Ú$ 5


----------



## RainMotorsports (Jan 18, 2014)

jimmyjoebob said:


> 1G, 2G, 3G, 4G etc are not speeds they are technologies, 4G can be as fast as 1G on a burdened network.

Click to collapse



When a carrier claims they are throttling you to 2G speeds it is a discussion of relative speeds to the technologies AND the carrier is using marketing terms.  Thats what the discussion was about and I was careful to compare carriers with known 3G technologies and mention technologies relevant to the speeds being discussed.  I am well aware of the fact.

Their definition of 2G is around 120 Kbps which falls between GPRS and EGPRS which are 2G technologies.  But you are being throttled to this wether you are on Edge, HSPA, HSPA+, LTE.

120 Kbps would not be considered a normal speed on any 3G technology I have ever used.  It can happen very often but Sprint being considered the worst 3G of any major carrier at a paltry 500 Kbps in a major metro area that can't handle its traffic.  It is a normal relative speed for a 2G technology.  I know well that the term is of technology generation but even ask the FCC.  When a carrier is speaking without mentioning the technology the carrier is using a marketing term relative to speed.  They are very interested in that very subject even though advertising is really none of the FCC's business is it?

If they advertised "then throttled to 3G after that" and gave out 120 Kbps pretty sure the FTC would want to investigate.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 18, 2014)

2G3G4G


----------



## RainMotorsports (Jan 18, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> 2G3G4G

Click to collapse



Right   I felt I was specific in mentioning the actual technologies though.  The thing is in technology there is always going to be marketing versus reality.  This case was a marketing one. Not sure why I had to be educated on something I was aware of so I was just replying.

I came from having a WiMax phone so when you say 4G people always like oh I have LTE too.  WiMax doesn't have lte like upload speeds so its kinda a different ball game, same generation though.

I am loving this plan and the speeds for sure compared to Sprint.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jan 18, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> "Where indicated, full speeds available up to data allotment; then slowed to up to 2G speeds for balance of service period."
> 
> Makes me wonder if we get 100MBPS speeds someday, will we be throttled to LTE speeds?

Click to collapse



Oh yeah, and people will complain about that, too.  See, I moved from Sprint 3g to T-Mobile LTE, so I can't complain about even slow LTE speeds. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 18, 2014)

LTE looks good on both my devices iphone and nexus






Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 19, 2014)

Skype is way better than Google Voice & Groove IP or Simonics/SIP CSipSimple etc on 3G
I've been testing the various ways to use my Google Voice number and VOIP with the Nexus 5 and the T-Mobile $30 plan. 
All of the SIP options that I explored as well as GrooveIP worked fine over WiFi but over 3G or even LTE thay had all sorts of connection and voice problems.

The most reliable and best sounding solution for me is to forward calls to my GV number to my Skype number. I have a Skype number that I can send and receive calls from for $60/year. I can configure Skype to send my GV number as the Caller ID when I place calls.
People who call my GV # get forwarded to my Skype # and the call comes to my Nexus 5 over 3G/LTE/WiFi. If I don't answer, GV takes a message.

The only problem that I have with Skype is that when someone calls my skype # directly and leaves a message there (on the skype voicemail system) I don;t get a notification of the voicemail through the skype app on my android unless I sign out and sign back in, or change from wifi to 3G or vice versa. I've made a request to Skype to check it out, but I bet they will do nothing. I can live with it though as the voice quality over 3G is far superior to any of the XMPP Google Voice scenarios that I have tried.


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jan 19, 2014)

BaNkS said:


> You can do that to. In the dialer just set internet calling to "Ask Every Time".

Click to collapse



Well, I was busy working and off today, went to go sign up at Simon Telephonics and it looks like it's closed for registration.



SystemErrorOne said:


> i AHVE THE $30 Tmo plan that he OP speaks of I never paid Tax just a flat 30 bucks & all I did to refill my phone was link my debit card to mytmobile account and it auto re-fills my card/phone every month.
> 
> I must say that I have used this $30 100 minutes and Unlimited Text with 5GB 4G data for about 6 months and I just recently switched to the $50 unlimited Talk + Text & 500MB of 4G > then they throttle you to Unlimited 3G and you can use as much data as you please. This saved me tons and tons of money. Its prepaid and I get excellent coverage where I live. It cant get any better than this...Oh did I mention No contract. Yep.

Click to collapse



I just refilled my account this morning, charged me like $2.50 in tax.


----------



## leyvatron (Jan 19, 2014)

Dragn4rce said:


> Leave this here for you future T-Mobile users...
> 
> Switched today.
> 
> Sent from my Ñ£×Ú$ 5

Click to collapse



Should do more than one test. I'm on Verizon and thinking of switching to T-Mobile. So the plan is 5gb then you get throttled down?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## RainMotorsports (Jan 19, 2014)

leyvatron said:


> Should do more than one test. I'm on Verizon and thinking of switching to T-Mobile. So the plan is 5gb then you get throttled down?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Yeah 5GB of relatively unthrottled data and then you go down to 120ish Kbps until the next month. Basically fast enough to keep your device functional but slow enough to barely want to use.

Personally I used 3 to 6 GB most months on Sprint figured I could keep it to 5.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## SystemErrorOne (Jan 19, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Well, I was busy working and off today, went to go sign up at Simon Telephonics and it looks like it's closed for registration.
> 
> 
> 
> I just refilled my account this morning, charged me like $2.50 in tax.

Click to collapse



Aghh I guess there's taxes for everything :/


----------



## BaNkS (Jan 19, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Well, I was busy working and off today, went to go sign up at Simon Telephonics and it looks like it's closed for registration.
> 
> 
> 
> I just refilled my account this morning, charged me like $2.50 in tax.

Click to collapse



I noticed that. Luckily I was able to sign up for my account before they closed it off. If you need an alternative, try Sipdroid and use it to set up an account linked to your GV with pbxes.com


----------



## adrman (Jan 19, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Well, I was busy working and off today, went to go sign up at Simon Telephonics and it looks like it's closed for registration.
> 
> 
> 
> I just refilled my account this morning, charged me like $2.50 in tax.

Click to collapse



If you refill on T-Mobile's site, the tax depends on where you live. Get your refill from callingmart.com and you'll save the tax.


----------



## leyvatron (Jan 19, 2014)

Thanks guys. I would need more than 5gb. Last month I used 30gb on Verizon. Another question: Verizon speed test shows 3-5mbs T-Mobile speed test shows 15-22mbps Verizon still opens up pages faster than T-Mobile. Seems like T-Mobile has a delay in the beginning before it start to go fast. Why is that? 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## bozzykid (Jan 20, 2014)

leyvatron said:


> Thanks guys. I would need more than 5gb. Last month I used 30gb on Verizon. Another question: Verizon speed test shows 3-5mbs T-Mobile speed test shows 15-22mbps Verizon still opens up pages faster than T-Mobile. Seems like T-Mobile has a delay in the beginning before it start to go fast. Why is that?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Compare the ping times.  Once you are over 5mb/s, ping times are really more important than speed.  People get so caught up with 30-50mb/s speeds when 5mb/s will load a web page much faster if the ping times are significantly less.


----------



## paperWastage (Jan 20, 2014)

leyvatron said:


> Thanks guys. I would need more than 5gb. Last month I used 30gb on Verizon. Another question: Verizon speed test shows 3-5mbs T-Mobile speed test shows 15-22mbps Verizon still opens up pages faster than T-Mobile. Seems like T-Mobile has a delay in the beginning before it start to go fast. Why is that?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



again, check the service in your area before you switch, esp if you have an unlimited verizon data (this $30 prepaid plan is cheap to test for a month)

i know for hspa, tmobile forces your connection to hspa(3g) during idle, only going up to hspa+ (3g+) during data usage (think its called fast dormancy)

att tricks the handet to show 3g+ all the time, but think its still the same data handshaking in the backend

dunno for lte whether theres a connection handshake needed


----------



## PresidentMcCain (Jan 20, 2014)

Speed test tethered to PC:


----------



## bkeaver (Jan 20, 2014)

I tried to use T-Mobile prepaid service but the coverage isn't quite there yet. I got 1 bar of service at my home on a good day. Too bad too cause it was going to save me a ton of $$ over my existing AT&T plan. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## yanksrock1000 (Jan 20, 2014)

Loving this plan, 5 gigs is more than enough for me, and I dont really call that much....I get great tmobile service in the san diego area as well, and it actually beats our AT&T in Sprint in some places, and always better service than Sprint. Its great!


----------



## coorsleftfield (Jan 20, 2014)

I've had the $30 plan for a month now. I wanted to try out magenta and see if it works for me because the $30 price is awesome.

First the good. 

1. Price and speed rock. I live in an LTE area and LTE is blazing fast. $30 month for 5G high speed is great.

2. Voice and data at the same time. (but not over LTE, drops to 3G.  Not a big deal)

The not so good.

1. I can't live with only 100 minutes. I talk on the phone too much, and really need unlimited minutes. See #2

2.  Before everyone jumps in about using SIP, I did this, actually extensively. I set up a pbxes  account with the google voice trunk and use the csipsimple client.  For inbound calls I got a free DID from IPKALL (Tried callcentric first which worked, but no caller ID info. IPKALL passed caller ID correctly).  I made sure that I was sure iLBC codec on LTE/3G calls.  

3. SIP had issues. Worked ok over WIFI but I found it very unreliable even over fast LTE, especially if driving around. I thought about trying the G729 codec but it's $10.75 from the google play store.   B

4. csipsimple does not support bluetooth correctly . Big deal breaker as I live to use my cars built in bluetooth integration for hands free calls. I read there might be another SIP client you can buy that supports bluetooth so that could be an option. 

5. While T-mobile's LTE network is fast in cities that have it, their rural coverage is poor compared to even Sprint. I live in the Phoenix area, and you can get LTE all over town but as soon as you leave, welcome to 2G/Edge city or no coverage at all depending on where you are. In terms of rural coverage, I'd consider Verizon to be #1, ATT #2, Sprint #3 and TMO at #4

In summary, the bluetooth issue with sip,  only 100 minutes, and poor rural coverage kill this deal for me. I think I'm going to try Straight talk next. It's $15 more a month, but you get unlimited minutes meaning all of this playing with VOIP and SIP can go away and it uses AT&T network which should address the rural coverage issue. For me, that's worth $15 more a month.


----------



## Dragn4rce (Jan 20, 2014)

leyvatron said:


> Should do more than one test. I'm on Verizon and thinking of switching to T-Mobile. So the plan is 5gb then you get throttled down?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse








Happy @leyvatron ? 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## coorsleftfield (Jan 20, 2014)

In real world usage, anything over 5-7mb doesn't matter. As long as you can stream hd video that's about the max bandwidth you will ever use. 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## FuMMoD (Jan 20, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> In real world usage, anything over 5-7mb doesn't matter. As long as you can stream hd video that's about the max bandwidth you will ever use.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Yup, pretty much this.  

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 20, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> I've had the $30 plan for a month now. I wanted to try out magenta and see if it works for me because the $30 price is awesome.
> 
> First the good.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



This is a normal behavior, for the text highlighted in bold
If you initiate a data session immediately after the phone call, you'll be attached to HSPA+ for the remainder of the session as calls run through the HSPA network, at-least until Voice over LTE comes out


----------



## RainMotorsports (Jan 20, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> In real world usage, anything over 5-7mb doesn't matter. As long as you can stream hd video that's about the max bandwidth you will ever use.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I suppose it depends on what your real world usage is.  On 5GB of data obviously your not going to be doing anything crazy.  But one thing I did when I had unlimited was download full roms over 4G WiMax on a daily basis.  I was actually hosting the roms for the developers (stock and cyanogenmod) on a rack with a 1 Gbps uplink.  So basically the faster connection end to end you could achieve the better for time.  People with 100 Meg cable loved it, none of us really had cell connection to enjoy it on.

Sadly I don't think too many of use find ourselves in large multi tasking data situations where a download is effecting our browsing etc.  Probably pretty rare when your not tethering the device etc.


----------



## jaybeeunix (Jan 20, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> 1. I can't live with only 100 minutes. I talk on the phone too much, and really need unlimited minutes. See #2
> 
> 2.  Before everyone jumps in about using SIP, I did this, actually extensively. I set up a pbxes  account with the google voice trunk and use the csipsimple client.  For inbound calls I got a free DID from IPKALL (Tried callcentric first which worked, but no caller ID info. IPKALL passed caller ID correctly).  I made sure that I was sure iLBC codec on LTE/3G calls.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



For other people trying to go the VoIP route, I'd recommend starting with Skype. While It isn't free, it's cheap (prepay for a year and it comes to ~$5/mo of unlimited outgoing and incoming calls), it's easier than any of the SIP solutions to setup, Bluetooth in my car works with it, and it uses G.729 when calling POTS numbers.


----------



## AndrasLOHF (Jan 20, 2014)

I've got a SIM coming in this week and am going to try out this plan for a month to see how good T-Mobile is in my area. I do have one question about app purchases on a prepaid plan. With T-Mobile prepaid is there a Bill to T-Mobile account option for buying apps/books/music from the PlayStore?


----------



## russphil (Jan 20, 2014)

AndrasLOHF said:


> I've got a SIM coming in this week and am going to try out this plan for a month to see how good T-Mobile is in my area. I do have one question about app purchases on a prepaid plan. With T-Mobile prepaid is there a Bill to T-Mobile account option for buying apps/books/music from the PlayStore?

Click to collapse



Yeah. I have the option to link my T-Mobile account to the play store.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 20, 2014)

AndrasLOHF said:


> I've got a SIM coming in this week and am going to try out this plan for a month to see how good T-Mobile is in my area. I do have one question about app purchases on a prepaid plan. With T-Mobile prepaid is there a Bill to T-Mobile account option for buying apps/books/music from the PlayStore?

Click to collapse



Not on Prepaid only postpaid


----------



## russphil (Jan 20, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> Not on Prepaid only postpaid

Click to collapse



I stand corrected


----------



## AndrasLOHF (Jan 20, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> Not on Prepaid only postpaid

Click to collapse



Thanks, that what I was thinking. No biggie though.


----------



## Anderson2 (Jan 21, 2014)

I just switched to this plan and so far it seems just fine. 

Here are some thoughts about the 100 minutes limit:

1. I know I can find out how many minutes I have left by dialing 611, going to my.T-Mobile, etc. But, it would be so much more convenient if there was a widget I could put on the homescreen that would continuously show that data. Is there a way to do this? 

2. I may have misheard but I think I heard that Google is discontinuing free voip calls after May 15. If so apps like Talkatone become less useful for free phone calls. What do most users  of the $30 plan use for phone calls via wifi?


----------



## FuMMoD (Jan 21, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> I just switched to this plan and so far it seems just fine.
> 
> Here are some thoughts about the 100 minutes limit:
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Textplus and Skype, it's not free but it's really cheap. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## ericshmerick (Jan 21, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> I just switched to this plan and so far it seems just fine.
> 
> Here are some thoughts about the 100 minutes limit:
> 
> 1. I know I can find out how many minutes I have left by dialing 611, going to my.T-Mobile, etc. But, it would be so much more convenient if there was a widget I could put on the homescreen that would continuously show that data. Is there a way to do this?

Click to collapse



T-Mobile my account app in menu bar or prepaid widget by farhbot. 


Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Anderson2 (Jan 21, 2014)

ericshmerick said:


> T-Mobile my account app in menu bar or prepaid widget by farhbot.
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Could you clarify what you mean by "T-Mobile my account app in menu bar"? 

I'll search for farhbot.


----------



## Fire Ball (Jan 21, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Could you clarify what you mean by "T-Mobile my account app in menu bar"?
> 
> I'll search for farhbot.

Click to collapse



You can create a widget with the T-Mobile My Account app or you can have a persistent notification show the same info.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## fcisco13 (Jan 21, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> In real world usage, anything over 5-7mb doesn't matter. As long as you can stream hd video that's about the max bandwidth you will ever use.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



But in my real world going from Verizon $110 to Tmo $30 is all that matters. Lol

Whatchu talking bout willis!


----------



## Anderson2 (Jan 21, 2014)

Fire Ball said:


> You can create a widget with the T-Mobile My Account app or you can have a persistent notification show the same info.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



That is what I thought you meant. But I have no T-Mobile My Account app and can't find it on the play store. Where do I get it from?


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 21, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> That is what I thought you meant. But I have no T-Mobile My Account app and can't find it on the play store. Where do I get it from?

Click to collapse



This is what they're talking about:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmobile.pr.mytmobile
I can upload the apk if you can't download from the link


----------



## coorsleftfield (Jan 21, 2014)

fcisco13 said:


> But in my real world going from Verizon $110 to Tmo $30 is all that matters. Lol
> 
> Whatchu talking bout willis!

Click to collapse



As long as you can live with 2g speeds in rural areas and 100 minutes I agree completely. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## BirchBarlow (Jan 21, 2014)

ericshmerick said:


> T-Mobile my account app in menu bar or prepaid widget by farhbot.
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



The POS T-Mobile account app only updates minutes and data once a day...


----------



## bozzykid (Jan 21, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> As long as you can live with 2g speeds in rural areas and 100 minutes I agree completely.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Why would you limit yourself to 100 minutes?  Just add a few bucks to your account to cover minutes over 100.


----------



## Anderson2 (Jan 21, 2014)

Thanks. 
Got it.

---------- Post added at 04:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:22 AM ----------




bozzykid said:


> Why would you limit yourself to 100 minutes?  Just add a few bucks to your account to cover minutes over 100.

Click to collapse



Makes sense. 
I've had this plan for less than a day. Where and how does one add money to cover extra minutes?


----------



## andy o (Jan 21, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> I just switched to this plan and so far it seems just fine.
> 
> Here are some thoughts about the 100 minutes limit:
> 
> 1. I know I can find out how many minutes I have left by dialing 611, going to my.T-Mobile, etc. But, it would be so much more convenient if there was a widget I could put on the homescreen that would continuously show that data. Is there a way to do this?

Click to collapse



The T-mo MyAccount app (the one with the magenta icon) will show it and refresh every 4 hours at the most frequently. The app appears to be very bloated as of late though, some inexplicable permissions, if that bothers you.



> 2. I may have misheard but I think I heard that Google is discontinuing free voip calls after May 15. If so apps like Talkatone become less useful for free phone calls. What do most users  of the $30 plan use for phone calls via wifi?

Click to collapse



I settled for paid Talkatone. It is true that it will stop working in May, but for now I'm paying 0.99 every month until Hangouts finally can make calls. The iOS app can already do it, so it's very likely Android will too come May 15.

Talkatone now even warns you about it with the latest version, but they are selling now their own service, with free incoming calls and I think 20min free outgoing calls. They'll give you your own number. I guess if you're willing to live with the hassle, you could sign up for this and forward from GV to your Talkatone #, and then make outgoing calls for free also with something like Vonage. To sign up for the new service though you need to give up GTalk integration, so I haven't done that and I don't think I will.


----------



## bozzykid (Jan 21, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Thanks.
> Got it.
> 
> ---------- Post added at 04:38 AM ---------- Previous post was at 04:22 AM ----------
> ...

Click to collapse



Just add a refill card or add money on your T-Mobile account online.  It is no different than adding the $30, but you can add less.  Minutes over 100 are charged at 0.10/minute.  I usually buy my refills at Callingmart since they don't charge tax.


----------



## breakyoself (Jan 21, 2014)

I am on this plan and can't access the either WiFi hotspot or tether although the plan says it comes with 500mb of hotspot data. I am able to connect my laptop to hotspot and it recognizes but the laptop browser just times out waiting for the my-tmobile page.  When I turn off the hotspot, then magically the T-Mobile page appears.  Weird.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 21, 2014)

breakyoself said:


> I am on this plan and can't access the either WiFi hotspot or tether although the plan says it comes with 500mb of hotspot data. I am able to connect my laptop to hotspot and it recognizes but the laptop browser just times out waiting for the my-tmobile page.  When I turn off the hotspot, then magically the T-Mobile page appears.  Weird.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Click to collapse



they took it out as it doesn't appear as Hotspot on the T-Mobile website on your computer
however it does show on the mobile app as i suspect its a bug


----------



## breakyoself (Jan 21, 2014)

So, got to change plans then?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 21, 2014)

breakyoself said:


> So, got to change plans then?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Click to collapse



Dont know all i can say is i had the 30$ plan always hotspot didn't work
however t-mobile is running that ETF promo atm i convinced my parents to switch from greedy verizon to T-Mobile and im happy and they're happy
and i got Unlimited data + 2.5GB hotspot :good:


----------



## Fire Ball (Jan 21, 2014)

breakyoself said:


> I am on this plan and can't access the either WiFi hotspot or tether although the plan says it comes with 500mb of hotspot data. I am able to connect my laptop to hotspot and it recognizes but the laptop browser just times out waiting for the my-tmobile page.  When I turn off the hotspot, then magically the T-Mobile page appears.  Weird.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Click to collapse



There's a thread around here somewhere on how to unblock tethering.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 21, 2014)

BirchBarlow said:


> The POS T-Mobile account app only updates minutes and data once a day...

Click to collapse



Even worse..I'm convinced it re-enabled carrier-IQ on my wife's SGS3. I killed it off before giving it to her and it hasn't had any updates since other than play store apps...including TMO account app.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 12:21 AM ---------- Previous post was at 12:21 AM ----------




bozzykid said:


> Why would you limit yourself to 100 minutes?  Just add a few bucks to your account to cover minutes over 100.

Click to collapse



Or use Skype or Voxer. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## BirchBarlow (Jan 21, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Even worse..I'm convinced it re-enabled carrier-IQ on my wife's SGS3. I killed it off before giving it to her and it hasn't had any updates since other than play store apps...including TMO account app.

Click to collapse



Maybe a dumb question, but what's carrier-IQ?  Is it another kind of carrier bloatware?


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 21, 2014)

BirchBarlow said:


> Maybe a dumb question, but what's carrier-IQ?  Is it another kind of carrier bloatware?

Click to collapse



http://www.engadget.com/2011/12/01/carrier-iq-what-it-is-what-it-isnt-and-what-you-need-to/


----------



## Anderson2 (Jan 21, 2014)

bozzykid said:


> Just add a refill card or add money on your T-Mobile account online.  It is no different than adding the $30, but you can add less.  Minutes over 100 are charged at 0.10/minute.  I usually buy my refills at Callingmart since they don't charge tax.

Click to collapse



Thank you bozzykid. If I like the plan I may set it to autorefill which might end up doing the same thing.


----------



## TiltedAz (Jan 21, 2014)

Maybe Verizon is beginning to see the light. They announced a couple of new lower cost plans. For smartphones, $60/mo, 250mb data, unlimited everything else. Neither the cost nor plan seems very appealing to me.


----------



## bozzykid (Jan 21, 2014)

TiltedAz said:


> Maybe Verizon is beginning to see the light. They announced a couple of new lower cost plans. For smartphones, $60/mo, 250mb data, unlimited everything else. Neither the cost nor plan seems very appealing to me.

Click to collapse



It's not low cost.  It is just low data.  Typical Verizon.


----------



## Anderson2 (Jan 21, 2014)

Ignore. Solved.


----------



## colorado_al (Jan 21, 2014)

Fire Ball said:


> There's a thread around here somewhere on how to unblock tethering.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2512674
worked for me!


----------



## BinkXDA (Jan 22, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> 1. I know I can find out how many minutes I have left by dialing 611, going to my.T-Mobile, etc. But, it would be so much more convenient if there was a widget I could put on the homescreen that would continuously show that data. Is there a way to do this?

Click to collapse



FWIW, I simply go to http://ma.web2go.com/home.do?src=m.tmo from my device.



Anderson2 said:


> 2. I may have misheard but I think I heard that Google is discontinuing free voip calls after May 15. If so apps like Talkatone become less useful for free phone calls. What do most users  of the $30 plan use for phone calls via wifi?

Click to collapse



I use the Internet Calling built into Android and a VoIP provider—some people also leverage CSipSimple for this—a little more detail at http://forum.xda-developers.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=49621205.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jan 22, 2014)

BinkXDA said:


> FWIW, I simply go to http://ma.web2go.com/home.do?src=m.tmo from my device.
> 
> 
> I use the Internet Calling built into Android and a VoIP provider—some people also leverage CSipSimple for this—a little more detail at http://forum.xda-developers.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=49621205.

Click to collapse



That second link re: VoIP calling just sends me to a Reply screen......if you've got the intended link, it'd be appreciated.  Thanks!


----------



## forrestcate (Jan 22, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> That second link re: VoIP calling just sends me to a Reply screen......if you've got the intended link, it'd be appreciated.  Thanks!

Click to collapse



+1

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Nenzo (Jan 23, 2014)

*Typical Activation Time*

Hi all,

Current VZW/GNex owner switching over to this $30 plan on my new Nexus 5. It's been about 18 hours since I 'activated' my phone and plan on T-Mo's website. The Nexus 5 is showing network bars now and I've gotten what appears to be voice mail activation and a sign-in link in my notifications bar. 

However, it's saying this plan doesn't work on this device (N5). This same issue happened when I activated my father's Nexus 4 but resolved itself within 20 minutes, data/voice just started working and all was well. In his case he went from an old defunct T-Mo plan to the $30 prepaid plan.

In my case I'm porting my number from VZW to T-Mobile. Just wondering how long it took for your port/activation to go through? I didn't think this would actually take 24 or more hours. 

Is this the normal 'steps' in the process...anyone else noticed as they activated their phone? 1) Network appears on phone 2)Voicemail and MyTmobile links in notification bar 3)??


----------



## RainMotorsports (Jan 23, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> That is what I thought you meant. But I have no T-Mobile My Account app and can't find it on the play store. Where do I get it from?

Click to collapse



You either pull it from another device or someone can upload it.  I would do it but kinda busy right now so I might put it in the apps section later.  I had it in my apps store.  Its possible having it on another device put it in my apps and unlike VVM it wasn't blocked.  I had however pulled the app and put it on my Sprint phone once for giggles as well.


----------



## Anderson2 (Jan 23, 2014)

RainMotorsports said:


> You either pull it from another device or someone can upload it.  I would do it but kinda busy right now so I might put it in the apps section later.  I had it in my apps store.  Its possible having it on another device put it in my apps and unlike VVM it wasn't blocked.  I had however pulled the app and put it on my Sprint phone once for giggles as well.

Click to collapse



No need to upload it - unless somebody else needs it. I got it (don't remember where) and it is very helpful.


----------



## Letitride (Jan 23, 2014)

Nenzo said:


> ... porting my number from VZW to T-Mobile. Just wondering how long it took for your port/activation to go through? I didn't think this would actually take 24 or more hours.  ...anyone else noticed as they activated their phone? 1) Network appears on phone 2)Voicemail and MyTmobile links in notification bar 3)??

Click to collapse



Former VZW that ported 2 lines to T-Mo in November, phone # was active almost immediately to 2 hours at most on 2nd. line, data & fully functional within 8 hours (overnight.)  

Assumed you did this online with new micro-Sim card with activation code - your N5 should've gotten T-Mo welcome messages, etc. by now and you should have full texting by now.   Since you setup your account online, log back into My T-Mobile and look at your plan - is it correct?  

Have you check your APN settings (under Settings - Mobile Network) ?   Power cycle the N5, pop out the micro-Sim briefly & put it back in again, then reboot.  Can you make outgoing call on the N5 as well as receive incoming call?  

If everything looks okay, call 611 or T-Mo's customer service toll-free number from another line - perhaps it's a glitch on their own.  Nexus 5 should provision correctly as we have 2 N5 on T-Mo's 4G LTE network on the $30 5GB data plan w. 100 minutes.


----------



## herosemblem (Jan 23, 2014)

I ported my number from ATT and it took about 3 hours.  I was expecting 24 hours.


----------



## bozzykid (Jan 23, 2014)

herosemblem said:


> I ported my number from ATT and it took about 3 hours.  I was expecting 24 hours.

Click to collapse



Porting should never take more than a few hours.  If it takes longer it is usually because it failed.  If it fails, the provider can usually re-submit the port information manually again with the right info for a quick port.


----------



## tokuzumi (Jan 23, 2014)

Porting my number from Verizon to Google Voice took exactly 24 hours, practically down to the second.  My wife's number was ported directly to Straight Talk.  It happened almost immediately.  We shut down the verizon phone, powered up her StraightTalk phone, and she was on her merry way.  If it's taking longer than 24 hours, I'd try talking to t-mobile, to see what the deal is.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jan 23, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> Porting my number from Verizon to Google Voice took exactly 24 hours, practically down to the second.  My wife's number was ported directly to Straight Talk.  It happened almost immediately.  We shut down the verizon phone, powered up her StraightTalk phone, and she was on her merry way.  If it's taking longer than 24 hours, I'd try talking to t-mobile, to see what the deal is.

Click to collapse



My port from Sprint to T-Mo was just like this fellow, 24 hours just about on the nose.


----------



## DigitalJosee (Jan 23, 2014)

If i buy this plan can i call to another country with those minutes?
Can i buy the chip in a t-Mobile store and activate it through internet?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 23, 2014)

DigitalJosee said:


> If i buy this plan can i call to another country with those minutes?
> Can i buy the chip in a t-Mobile store and activate it through internet?

Click to collapse



You will also incur international charges, AND use up your 100 minutes allotment.

http://www.t-mobile.com/Cms/Files/P...CA3EB86A4/file/StandardIntlRatesByCountry.pdf


----------



## Gaffadin (Jan 23, 2014)

Looks like T-Mobile rolled out LTE in my small town today.

I had noticed that, for the past 3 - 4 days, my signal strength was continually fluctuating. Usually I have a solid 3 - 4 bars anywhere, but I was seeing 0 - 1 bars a lot of the time, that would shoot up to 4 bars then back down to 0 every few minutes. I figured it was a T-Mobile issue, but today instead of HSPA I actually saw LTE indicated, so I guess they were working on the local towers and upgrading them to LTE, which is very nice.

Not a massive difference speed-wise, but whereas before it was 8 down 2 up, it's now 10 down 8 up, which is sadly faster than my cable at home (the upstream is, anyway).

No complaints though!


----------



## GB15Packers (Jan 23, 2014)

bozzykid said:


> Porting should never take more than a few hours.  If it takes longer it is usually because it failed.  If it fails, the provider can usually re-submit the port information manually again with the right info for a quick port.

Click to collapse



My port from Verizon to T-Mobile took about 18 hours, and I had dual service for another 7 or so.  Although I did do mine over the weekend so that might have something to do with it.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 24, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> Looks like T-Mobile rolled out LTE in my small town today.
> 
> I had noticed that, for the past 3 - 4 days, my signal strength was continually fluctuating. Usually I have a solid 3 - 4 bars anywhere, but I was seeing 0 - 1 bars a lot of the time, that would shoot up to 4 bars then back down to 0 every few minutes. I figured it was a T-Mobile issue, but today instead of HSPA I actually saw LTE indicated, so I guess they were working on the local towers and upgrading them to LTE, which is very nice.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



just wait backhaul isn't ready yet you may see a few times where LTE just shuts off for a week or day until your market is fully listed as LTE available on the coverage map then they're done for now... they still have to refarm 1900PCS and swap out the panels for HSPA to get higher gain signal strength brodcast


----------



## Anderson2 (Jan 24, 2014)

Lte shows up in my area on my Nexus 5 but it is only between 1-2 bars (out of 4). Not really great.


----------



## tokuzumi (Jan 24, 2014)

It's nice to finally have a phone capable of supporting all of T-Mobile's bands.  I tried to use them on my AT&T GS3, and while I'd get great signal at home/work, if I went to the grocery store, or home improvement store, I'd either be on edge, or have no signal at all.  Fast forward 6 months, with my N5 on T-Mo, I'm getting LTE, or at least pretty good HSPA, where I had nothing with the AT&T phone.  That will mean I can save $15/mo on my cell bill, going from StraightTalk (AT&T), to T-Mo prepaid.


----------



## nerv8765 (Jan 25, 2014)

EDIT : Got the problem worked out, just switched to it, and wow, you can't beat the price! the speeds are great here in OC, California


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 25, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> It's nice to finally have a phone capable of supporting all of T-Mobile's bands.  I tried to use them on my AT&T GS3, and while I'd get great signal at home/work, if I went to the grocery store, or home improvement store, I'd either be on edge, or have no signal at all.  Fast forward 6 months, with my N5 on T-Mo, I'm getting LTE, or at least pretty good HSPA, where I had nothing with the AT&T phone.  That will mean I can save $15/mo on my cell bill, going from StraightTalk (AT&T), to T-Mo prepaid.

Click to collapse



Almost all it accepts everything to date except that 700mhz spectrum they got from verizon.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## nerv8765 (Jan 25, 2014)

Yea, I love being able to be on H+ when LTE isn't available. It's SO much better than sprint's laughable 3g network... I couldn't even get a signal in my room before with Sprint, now I get 20mbps in the same spot.


----------



## Gaffadin (Jan 25, 2014)

HSPA gets a bad rap from a lot of people but when you're in an area without full LTE coverage it can be great. As someone else posted earlier, past 5Mb or so you aren't going to see much of a real-world increase when streaming music, browsing, etc.

Before my N5 I was using a Motorola Triumph on Virgin (so, Sprint) and I would top out, at the absolute maximum (like 3am) at 2Mb. I knew it was garbage but it was $25 a month and I'm really cheap. Now for less than $5 more a month (if you buy cards through CM) I have one of the best phones out there on a solid network.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 25, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> HSPA gets a bad rap from a lot of people but when you're in an area without full LTE coverage it can be great. As someone else posted earlier, past 5Mb or so you aren't going to see much of a real-world increase when streaming music, browsing, etc.
> 
> Before my N5 I was using a Motorola Triumph on Virgin (so, Sprint) and I would top out, at the absolute maximum (like 3am) at 2Mb. I knew it was garbage but it was $25 a month and I'm really cheap. Now for less than $5 more a month (if you buy cards through CM) I have one of the best phones out there on a solid network.

Click to collapse









This is a new cell site near my area and I'm loving it! This is a sneeky cell site T-Mobile has it looks like a light pole.. But inside is something else... However there is a real light outside.

Its not equipped with LTE but its good enough to not notice hspa

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## BirchBarlow (Jan 25, 2014)

How's this for speed?


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 26, 2014)

I feel sorry for all you N5 owners on Sprint



http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zAsBjSMwUMo


----------



## RainMotorsports (Jan 26, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> I feel sorry for all you N5 owners on Sprint
> http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=zAsBjSMwUMo

Click to collapse



Plenty of N5 owners probably plenty happy on Sprint pulling the same speeds we are on LTE... 3G might be a different story.  Cry me a river if someone is worried about their GS3 having LTE and their network not.  Sprint sold the Galaxy Nexus which had LTE before they had any LTE at all and their 4G network was a completely different technology.  The real issue is the rest of their network isn't up to snuff and that guy got shafted on both ends.

Not sure how that video was really relevant to most Nexus 5 owners though.  I think most of us despite our network know the situation we are buying into when we decide on a device like this and post on sites like this.


----------



## coorsleftfield (Jan 26, 2014)

I've been on the $30 plan for a month now and feel sorry for you T-Mobile guys as soon as you leave an LTE coverage area and drop to 2g speeds.  I went hiking this morning couldn't even stream Spotify to speeds were so slow.   

T-Mobile lte speeds are awesome but my coverage tanks pretty much anytime I enter a building or drive out into the rural areas where there is no LTE. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 26, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> I've been on the $30 plan for a month now and feel sorry for you T-Mobile guys as soon as you leave an LTE coverage area and drop to 2g speeds.  I went hiking this morning couldn't even stream Spotify to speeds were so slow.
> 
> T-Mobile lte speeds are awesome but my coverage tanks pretty much anytime I enter a building or drive out into the rural areas where there is no LTE.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Fortunately...my coverage is better than yours. Hspa+ means similar performance when LTE doesn't exist.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## coorsleftfield (Jan 26, 2014)

I pick up hspa+ as well but usually only in areas that are urban. In rural areas speeds are edge. 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 26, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> I pick up hspa+ as well but usually only in areas that are urban. In rural areas speeds are edge.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Oddly..a Sprint merger would cure that too. :/

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## bozzykid (Jan 26, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> As someone else posted earlier, past 5Mb or so you aren't going to see much of a real-world increase when streaming music, browsing, etc.

Click to collapse



There can be a big difference though.  But it is not because of the download speed difference.  HSPA+ has much higher latency so things like starting a youtube video or loading a page that has to make many different requests will still be faster on LTE.  Some T-Mobile towers aren't bad but I have seen some that have terrible ping times.  With LTE, you rarely have high latency.


----------



## markdapimp (Jan 26, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Oddly..a Sprint merger would cure that too. :/
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse




No just no....


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## coorsleftfield (Jan 26, 2014)

A merger would kill this plan 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 26, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> A merger would kill this plan
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Yep. Enjoy it while you can.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## kopower (Jan 26, 2014)

*Suggestions?*

I just picked up a N5, and plan on using the $30 plan. My contract w/Verizon isn't up for a few months though. I was thinking of just keeping my vzw line for the minutes, until the contract is up so I don't get hit with the ETF. Now, should  just get a new number w/T-Mo, and when my vzw contract is up, port it over? Can I port my vzw number over and replace the new #, if I only use the new number for a few months? I do have a GV number that is linked to my vzw # that I rarely use. I'm sure I'm overthinking this way to much.


----------



## Anderson2 (Jan 26, 2014)

With kitkat and T-Mobile on the nexus 5, is there a way to text that doesn't go through Hangouts? I'm not a fan of using hangouts.


----------



## FuMMoD (Jan 26, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> With kitkat and T-Mobile on the nexus 5, is there a way to text that doesn't go through Hangouts? I'm not a fan of using hangouts.

Click to collapse



Just download an sms app off the play store. You don't have to use hangouts on any carrier. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Anderson2 (Jan 26, 2014)

FuMMoD said:


> Just download an sms app off the play store. You don't have to use hangouts on any carrier.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Any recommendations? 

I thought many of them are just interfaces that work through Google +, now Hangouts.


----------



## forrestcate (Jan 26, 2014)

kopower said:


> I just picked up a N5, and plan on using the $30 plan. My contract w/Verizon isn't up for a few months though. I was thinking of just keeping my vzw line for the minutes, until the contract is up so I don't get hit with the ETF. Now, should  just get a new number w/T-Mo, and when my vzw contract is up, port it over? Can I port my vzw number over and replace the new #, if I only use the new number for a few months? I do have a GV number that is linked to my vzw # that I rarely use. I'm sure I'm overthinking this way to much.

Click to collapse



I was in same boat. I told everyone I had a new number (which was my gv number). Had my Verizon number forward to gv number. Used gv to make and receive all calls on my tmo phone. Then ported my Verizon number over to tmo when contract was up. Now I use VoIP for calling plus buy about 100 extra minutes each month. Works for me. Still use gv as primary number.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## FuMMoD (Jan 26, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Any recommendations?
> 
> I thought many of them are just interfaces that work through Google +, now Hangouts.

Click to collapse



No, only one sms app has access to sms at any time. This is a feature of kitkat. I recommend textra but 8sms is very popular as well as envolve or evolve. I delete hangouts off any rom I use. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Anderson2 (Jan 26, 2014)

Thank you very much. Textra looks good.


----------



## kopower (Jan 26, 2014)

forrestcate said:


> I was in same boat. I told everyone I had a new number (which was my gv number). Had my Verizon number forward to gv number. Used gv to make and receive all calls on my tmo phone. Then ported my Verizon number over to tmo when contract was up. Now I use VoIP for calling plus buy about 100 extra minutes each month. Works for me. Still use gv as primary number.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



So you ended up having your gv number that was ported to Tmo, as your main number? Pretty much just switched which gv numbers forwarded your calls. I'm assuming there's nothing wrong with just getting a new number with Tmo, then just porting my vzw later if I decided to go that route?


----------



## forrestcate (Jan 26, 2014)

kopower said:


> So you ended up having your gv number that was ported to Tmo, as your main number? Pretty much just switched which gv numbers forwarded your calls. I'm assuming there's nothing wrong with just getting a new number with Tmo, then just porting my vzw later if I decided to go that route?

Click to collapse



No. I ported my original Verizon number to tmo once Verizon contract was up. I used the number I got from tmo when I activated my nexus 5 on tmo, just started using my gv number as my primary number.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


----------



## kopower (Jan 26, 2014)

Gotcha.


----------



## XDAcat62 (Jan 31, 2014)

Does anyone know if this sim card could be used for the 30 dollar plan? My stupid straight talk plan isn't running out for another 6 months, but I sure want to be prepared when that nightmare is over.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/T-Mobile-Mi...tial-Value-With-Activation-Code-/191009022851


----------



## BirchBarlow (Jan 31, 2014)

XDAcat62 said:


> Does anyone know if this sim card could be used for the 30 dollar plan? My stupid straight talk plan isn't running out for another 6 months, but I sure want to be prepared when that nightmare is over.
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/T-Mobile-Mi...tial-Value-With-Activation-Code-/191009022851

Click to collapse



You can get them for free T-Mobile.


----------



## kopower (Jan 31, 2014)

XDAcat62 said:


> Does anyone know if this sim card could be used for the 30 dollar plan? My stupid straight talk plan isn't running out for another 6 months, but I sure want to be prepared when that nightmare is over.
> 
> http://www.ebay.com/itm/T-Mobile-Mi...tial-Value-With-Activation-Code-/191009022851

Click to collapse



I would say yes. It looks like the activation kits I've been looking to buy straight from Walmart. Maybe somebody else could chime in too.


----------



## Solsun (Jan 31, 2014)

Just get the Walmart Sim for 39 with first month included.  Ordered one online from Walmart.con but had to go to into a store because they didn't scan the Sim before mailing it to me.  On the package it says that the Sim must scanned at a register before activating.  Most Walmart store sell out of the Sim kits fast so when you see one get it.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## Anderson2 (Feb 1, 2014)

Solsun said:


> Just get the Walmart Sim for 39 with first month included.  Ordered one online from Walmart.con but had to go to into a store because they didn't scan the Sim before mailing it to me.  On the package it says that the Sim must scanned at a register before activating.  Most Walmart store sell out of the Sim kits fast so when you see one get it.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



I had exactly the same experience. When you order the kit from the website it arrives without the sim kit having been scanned as sold. In my case the store had to process it as a return so the store could resell (and scan) the same sim kit back to me.


----------



## fcisco13 (Feb 2, 2014)

Solsun said:


> Just get the Walmart Sim for 39 with first month included.  Ordered one online from Walmart.con but had to go to into a store because they didn't scan the Sim before mailing it to me.  On the package it says that the Sim must scanned at a register before activating.  Most Walmart store sell out of the Sim kits fast so when you see one get it.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



This happened to me (ordered it online), kept getting invalid sim number on web site, called tmo and they told me it was a bad sim. Exchanged it at store and y saw the guy scan it, i knew that was it.

Whatchu talking bout willis!


----------



## AndrasLOHF (Feb 2, 2014)

Just went through the same issue with a SIM I ordered online. I had to contact support and get them to completely refresh the card on the network. Worked after that.

I only get 2g at my house but I'm on WiFi so no biggie. Cell signal is much better for me though. I've seen more green on the signal strength under battery stats in one day then I've seen since launch on Sprint. Also with Sprint LTE was near useless most of the time since it always had piss poor building penetration. 2g on T-Mobile goes just as quick as LTE on Sprint indoors. Especially in a steel building for me.


----------



## markdapimp (Feb 2, 2014)

AndrasLOHF said:


> Just went through the same issue with a SIM I ordered online. I had to contact support and get them to completely refresh the card on the network. Worked after that.
> 
> I only get 2g at my house but I'm on WiFi so no biggie. Cell signal is much better for me though. I've seen more green on the signal strength under battery stats in one day then I've seen since launch on Sprint. Also with Sprint LTE was near useless most of the time since it always had piss poor building penetration. 2g on T-Mobile goes just as quick as LTE on Sprint indoors. Especially in a steel building for me.

Click to collapse



I bet 5 Bars of EDGE will beat sprint 3g, my area 5 bars Edge = 0.17Mbps Download, Sprint 5 bar 3G = 0.04 or less or network communication error yummy!


----------



## AndrasLOHF (Feb 2, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> I bet 5 Bars of EDGE will beat sprint 3g, my area 5 bars Edge = 0.17Mbps Download, Sprint 5 bar 3G = 0.04 or less or network communication error yummy!

Click to collapse



Exactly. I mean everywhere I drive around where I live would be 3-5 bars 3G/LTE with Sprint but step into any building and I'd be down to 1 to no service. It'll show 3G/LTE but move slower than 2g or just constantly timeout. Especially when shopping or something and trying to price check, transfer funds, etc. online while in a brick and mortar concrete and steel building. Which for me is most all of my mobile data usage. Unlimited don't mean jack if you can't even get it.


----------



## herosemblem (Feb 2, 2014)

I have exceeded the 5gb hi speed data and now on 2g unlimited.  
Just some observations:
YouTube loads just as fast, if not slightly faster, and more reliably.
TuneIn Radio stutters and can only load about 5 seconds worth of podcast audio, before buffering for 2 minutes to load another 5 seconds of audio, repeat...
Web pages load about 75% of the time, and it takes minutes for each page to load (as I expected).  
So far, real life cost is about 40-47/month, and that is considering that i am an extremely infrequent talker.  Very surprising to me, and still boggling that I would use THAT much overtime talking.
Overall (I.e. all things considered), I am pleased with the Tmo deal.
I'm going to look at the MetroPCS  deal and see if they have a similar for around $45


----------



## coorsleftfield (Feb 2, 2014)

AndrasLOHF said:


> Exactly. I mean everywhere I drive around where I live would be 3-5 bars 3G/LTE with Sprint but step into any building and I'd be down to 1 to no service. It'll show 3G/LTE but move slower than 2g or just constantly timeout. Especially when shopping or something and trying to price check, transfer funds, etc. online while in a brick and mortar concrete and steel building. Which for me is most all of my mobile data usage. Unlimited don't mean jack if you can't even get it.

Click to collapse



I had the exact same problem with tmobile. Neither carrier has any lower frequency 800mhz bands so the signal inside buildings sucks. It won't improve till both carriers turn on some LTE 800 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## markdapimp (Feb 2, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> I had the exact same problem with tmobile. Neither carrier has any lower frequency 800mhz bands so the signal inside buildings sucks. It won't improve till both carriers turn on some LTE 800
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Or macro cell sites and or repeaters and or new cell towers recently in Hawaii I spotted 4 mini cell sites mounted on poles and or high trees and 2 new cell sites 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## yankees45us (Feb 3, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> I had the exact same problem with tmobile. Neither carrier has any lower frequency 800mhz bands so the signal inside buildings sucks. It won't improve till both carriers turn on some LTE 800
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I haven't had major issues with indoor signal but there are sometimes where I only get 4g inside some stores towards the back. I heard with the nexus 5 many are ready for the new bands with indoor penetration.

Sent from a Custom Rom Rooted Beast that is the Note 2


----------



## markdapimp (Feb 3, 2014)

Still pretty good despite Im inside a metal box (Walmart)
HSPA seems to be at a higher power though and penetrates easier than LTE unless its serving from a different sector

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## adrman (Feb 3, 2014)

herosemblem said:


> I have exceeded the 5gb hi speed data and now on 2g unlimited.
> Just some observations:
> YouTube loads just as fast, if not slightly faster, and more reliably.
> TuneIn Radio stutters and can only load about 5 seconds worth of podcast audio, before buffering for 2 minutes to load another 5 seconds of audio, repeat...
> ...

Click to collapse



That's 100 to 170 minutes over your 100. Either you're not such an infrequent talker or the meter is off. ?


----------



## herosemblem (Feb 3, 2014)

Apparently my assessment of my calling habits is off.  I only have like 7 outgoing calls a month, and some of those are just to check voicemail ?.  Looking forward to Tmo eventually acquiring some better building penetration.


----------



## BirchBarlow (Feb 3, 2014)

herosemblem said:


> Apparently my assessment of my calling habits is off.  *I only have like 7 outgoing calls a month, and some of those are just to check voicemail* ?.  Looking forward to Tmo eventually acquiring some better building penetration.

Click to collapse



You should use T-Mobile Visual Voicemail to save yourself the minutes.


----------



## RainMotorsports (Feb 3, 2014)

Made the decision I am jumping to MetroPCS today for the 60 unlimited plan.  So I ate up that last Gigabyte to see what life might have been like on a bad month.

Tapatalk, GV, Email all work very well throttled.  But that is about it.  While I expected to have a hard throttle it seems very random and this day in age it seems timeouts are set too low for 56K speeds.

One guy a page or so ago was talking about his youtube working better?  A bit of a laugh in thought and for giggles I couldn't get a single video to load without error.  Google Play would time out alot and streaming audio... as possible as it should be forget about it.


----------



## TiltedAz (Feb 3, 2014)

BirchBarlow said:


> You should use T-Mobile Visual Voicemail to save yourself the minutes.

Click to collapse



Wonder why it says incompatible with N5.


----------



## chaco81 (Feb 3, 2014)

used the APK from post 1271 and it worked great on my N5 (Team mobile, $30 pre paid plan)


----------



## TiltedAz (Feb 4, 2014)

After installing that apk it took a couple of tries to "connect to server" but looks like it's working now.

I should add, now I can use my call blocker and send them to VM.


----------



## squashpile (Feb 4, 2014)

Cool thanks.. working great on my N4.
Took a few tries to connect as previously mentioned.



BirchBarlow said:


> You should use T-Mobile Visual Voicemail to save yourself the minutes.

Click to collapse


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Feb 4, 2014)

TiltedAz said:


> After installing that apk it took a couple of tries to "connect to server" but looks like it's working now.
> 
> I should add, now I can use my call blocker and send them to VM.

Click to collapse



What call blocker?


----------



## TiltedAz (Feb 4, 2014)

dinggus said:


> What call blocker?

Click to collapse



I'm using Call Control.


----------



## Daps (Feb 5, 2014)

I got my son on the $30 plan and so far it's been ok. He's used very little minutes but now he may be talking to some girl so that may change haha
It does bounce from LTE depending on what part of the city we're in. I had thought about getting the $30 plan for myself but my work place is like a metal box some I'm not sure how good TMo would be at work plus I travel for work sometimes so  I do need good coverage.

I'm on AT&T and my brother is on my plan so I'm pay $120-$130 a month for those two phones add in my son on Tmo and I'm at $160.
I may switch to AT&T $160 plan(unlimited text & mins & 10g shared) giving up my unlimited data and adding a 4th phone(Nexus5) for my youngest son

Are you able to port a $30 Tmo prepaid #?

Decisions decisions.


----------



## BirchBarlow (Feb 5, 2014)

Daps said:


> I got my son on the $30 plan and so far it's been ok. He's used very little minutes but now he may be talking to some girl so that may change haha
> It does bounce from LTE depending on what part of the city we're in. I had thought about getting the $30 plan for myself but my work place is like a metal box some I'm not sure how good TMo would be at work plus I travel for work sometimes so  I do need good coverage.
> 
> I'm on AT&T and my brother is on my plan so I'm pay $120-$130 a month for those two phones add in my son on Tmo and I'm at $160.
> ...

Click to collapse



I have no idea.  That depends on what you're porting it do.


----------



## Daps (Feb 5, 2014)

BirchBarlow said:


> I have no idea.  That depends on what you're porting it do.

Click to collapse



It would be to AT&T if I decide to go to the $145/160 plan


----------



## BirchBarlow (Feb 5, 2014)

Daps said:


> It would be to AT&T if I decide to go to the $145/160 plan

Click to collapse



Try it online I guess and if it doesn't go through then call customer service.  One way or another they should be able to do it.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Feb 5, 2014)

TMO csr's tend to claim you cannot, but several report over at HoFo that you can:
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1711928-No-porting-OUT-of-T-mobile-prepaid


----------



## cowgod2007 (Feb 5, 2014)

t-mobile is great! highly recommend. yeah, its cheap and the service isn't that great but if you're in a popular suburban area/city, expect good service!


----------



## Daps (Feb 5, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> TMO csr's tend to claim you cannot, but several report over at HoFo that you can:
> http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1711928-No-porting-OUT-of-T-mobile-prepaid

Click to collapse



Thanks I'll read the thread there.
I think the Tmo plan at $30 is good deal for my son usage but seeing how I'm paying about $120-130 for my current ATT plan that has my brother on it I'm paying actually paying $160 now anyway. I'm thinking about going to the ATT new plan for three phones it would be $145 I believe with unlimited talk & text and 10G shared. We all have wifi at home,school & work so I'm not worried about data really.

He just got the Tmo# at Christmas so I don't think he's attached to the number but AT&T would have the better coverage.


----------



## tokuzumi (Feb 5, 2014)

Daps said:


> I got my son on the $30 plan and so far it's been ok. He's used very little minutes but now he may be talking to some girl so that may change haha
> It does bounce from LTE depending on what part of the city we're in. I had thought about getting the $30 plan for myself but my work place is like a metal box some I'm not sure how good TMo would be at work plus I travel for work sometimes so  I do need good coverage.
> 
> I'm on AT&T and my brother is on my plan so I'm pay $120-$130 a month for those two phones add in my son on Tmo and I'm at $160.
> ...

Click to collapse




You *should* be able to port your number from any carrier, to any other carrier.  However, porting from one prepaid to another prepaid can lead to issues.  You run a greater risk of losing your number than if you ported from t-mobile post paid, to at&t post paid.  That's why I'm glad I ported to Google Voice.  The only downside is actually using the Google Voice app.  I wish the app was better organized.  Once they integrate Hangouts in May, it's going to be rather seamless to use GV on my phone.


----------



## cbutt (Feb 5, 2014)

You should definitely be able to port. I've ported from post paid tmo to straight talk, from straight talk to prepaid tmo & from prepaid tmo back to straight talk for myself & my husband. ( the most difficult was porting from straight talk to prepaid to -just put my husband on the $30 plan- because straight talk is a cluster ***). 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## robstunner (Feb 5, 2014)

Daps said:


> It would be to AT&T if I decide to go to the $145/160 plan

Click to collapse



Im actually moving back to AT&T from the $30 plan. The $30 plan is great but:

1.) The new $100 +$15 per line is $18 a line more than T mobile's $30 plan however:
           a.) Unlimited minutes
           b.) Better indoor reception (in my experience)
           c.) Less frequent dead zones

2.) I will save my ETFs I was going to have to eat (which would have otherwise paid for itself after month 5).

3.) Im "eligible" for the next upgrade, even though id rather just buy no commitment anyway.

I really do like the $30 T-Mobile plan, but for $18 a line more in my case, I think the larger network with unlimited minutes is worth it. Ill be going from $212 a month on 3 line @ 10GB to about $151 with the new plan, or about $48 a line plus tax and minus my 17% service discount.


----------



## tokuzumi (Feb 5, 2014)

robstunner said:


> Im actually moving back to AT&T from the $30 plan. The $30 plan is great but:
> 
> 1.) The new $100 +$15 per line is $18 a line more than T mobile's $30 plan however:
> a.) Unlimited minutes
> ...

Click to collapse



Definitely sounds like AT&T is the way to go in your situation.  Wife and I are always looking for ways to save $$$.  We were paying $140/mo to Verizon for 2 lines a year ago.  We switched to StraightTalk, and that went to $90/mo.  Now, we are down to $75, since I switched to the t-mo $30/mo plan.  The only carrier that gets signal at her work is AT&T.  So, we are in the best situation for both of us.


----------



## robstunner (Feb 5, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> Definitely sounds like AT&T is the way to go in your situation.  Wife and I are always looking for ways to save $$$.  We were paying $140/mo to Verizon for 2 lines a year ago.  We switched to StraightTalk, and that went to $90/mo.  Now, we are down to $75, since I switched to the t-mo $30/mo plan.  The only carrier that gets signal at her work is AT&T.  So, we are in the best situation for both of us.

Click to collapse



Yea, certainly a case by case situation. Im in the outskirts thats considered to be Chicago suburbs, so sometimes im out in 2G land and dead zones tend to be more frequent in those places.


----------



## oOflyeyesOo (Feb 5, 2014)

I am going to have to jump off the 30/m plan. I always seem to use over 5gb with the amount of streaming and ingress I do. I thought before it just took it down to 3g, but now it is 2g. No fun at all in my area. May have to jump up the the 70/m plan and throw my credit union discount to get it a bit lower :'(

Anyone have ideas for other options, I am not worried about min, just data, I was doing calling over data.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Feb 5, 2014)

oOflyeyesOo said:


> I am going to have to jump off the 30/m plan. I always seem to use over 5gb with the amount of streaming and ingress I do. I thought before it just took it down to 3g, but now it is 2g. No fun at all in my area. May have to jump up the the 70/m plan and throw my credit union discount to get it a bit lower :'(
> 
> Anyone have ideas for other options, I am not worried about min, just data, I was doing calling over data.

Click to collapse



Ive considered a monthly Sim swap for this...calls to both numbers go through Voice for transparency. Run out of data or minutes, swap sim, one is always waiting to be refreshed (90 days required to keep active). This monthly exercise saves $10/month over AYCE. (All you can eat)..unless you truly need more than 10G/ mo.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## oOflyeyesOo (Feb 5, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Ive considered a monthly Sim swap for this...calls to both numbers go through Voice for transparency. Run out of data or minutes, swap sim, one is always waiting to be refreshed (90 days required to keep active). This monthly exercise saves $10/month over AYCE. (All you can eat)..unless you truly need more than 10G/ mo.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I thought about that before but it slipped my mind. Probably what I will end up doing, did not know that it would last 90 days, the service and all? I may actually grab a freedompop hotspot for those extra little bits also.


----------



## kopower (Feb 5, 2014)

*5 speed tests*

Finally bought a T-mo sim for my N5. Did a speed test vs Verizon. I was surprised how consistantly faster T-Mo's network was than Verizon. Lowest download was 25Mb, and highest was 30 on Tmo. Verizon was 11Mb to 27Mb. Both upload speeds were around 12Mbps.


----------



## paperWastage (Feb 5, 2014)

oOflyeyesOo said:


> I thought about that before but it slipped my mind. Probably what I will end up doing, did not know that it would last 90 days, the service and all? I may actually grab a freedompop hotspot for those extra little bits also.

Click to collapse



i guess the reps stopped allowing you to reset the month (paying $30 again)?

if you talk more than 200 minutes, then no brainer, go for $70 postpaid + discount - fees ~ $70... for more benefits... 

you can decide to stay at $60 for 2.5GB, then upgrade in the middle of the month (they prorate... which makes it smarter if you stay at 2.5GB until you hit the limit before upgrading to unlimited for the end of the month)



kopower said:


> Finally bought a T-mo sim for my N5. Did a speed test vs Verizon. I was surprised how consistantly faster T-Mo's network was than Verizon. Lowest download was 25Mb, and highest was 30 on Tmo. Verizon was 11Mb to 27Mb. Both upload speeds were around 12Mbps.

Click to collapse



verizon might be (more) congested in your area due to legacy grandfathered in users using more data

t-mobile might just have more spectrum in your area too...

http://specmap.sequence-omega.net/

but of course, once you go into the suburbs, t-mobile goes to 2G/3G, while verizon stays at 3G/LTE


----------



## kopower (Feb 5, 2014)

paperWastage said:


> verizon might be (more) congested in your area due to legacy grandfathered in users using more data
> 
> t-mobile might just have more spectrum in your area too...
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Yeah, the real test is when I venture out of the city. I am one of those grandfathered unlimited users. Verizon is just to expensive. If T-mo is even remotely similar in their coverage, I'll be happy; especially if I can save $50/month.


----------



## Daps (Feb 5, 2014)

robstunner said:


> Im actually moving back to AT&T from the $30 plan. The $30 plan is great but:
> 
> 1.) The new $100 +$15 per line is $18 a line more than T mobile's $30 plan however:
> a.) Unlimited minutes
> ...

Click to collapse



That's kind of where I'm at my AT&T plan along with the $30 Tmo plan is running me about $160 a month anyway so I may as well switch to the the AT&T plan. It may be a little cheaper and better coverage. I would be giving up my unlimited plan on AT&T but I'm not a big data hog and as posted earlier. I have access to wifi.


----------



## andy o (Feb 6, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Ive considered a monthly Sim swap for this...calls to both numbers go through Voice for transparency. Run out of data or minutes, swap sim, one is always waiting to be refreshed (90 days required to keep active). This monthly exercise saves $10/month over AYCE. (All you can eat)..unless you truly need more than 10G/ mo.

Click to collapse



Are you sure this would work? I remember having let my plan expire for a couple of days, then when I made the payment the 30 days started when the plan expired, not when I made the payment.


----------



## Caelrie (Feb 6, 2014)

markdapimp said:


> Or macro cell sites and or repeaters and or new cell towers recently in Hawaii I spotted 4 mini cell sites mounted on poles and or high trees and 2 new cell sites
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I'm in Hawaii too and my t-mobile reception is great.  4 bars of LTE right now inside my steel skyscraper.


----------



## ski522 (Feb 6, 2014)

Just saw this on Dealnews, Google Nexus 5 16GB T-Mobile Android Phone, Charger for $372 + free shipping...damn that's a hell of a price! Thought I'd pass it along for anyone looking for a sweet deal on N5 and planning on joining T-Mobile.
http://dealnews.com/Google-Nexus-5-16-GB-T-Mobile-Android-Phone-Charger-for-372-free-shipping/977121.html


----------



## tokuzumi (Feb 6, 2014)

ski522 said:


> Just saw this on Dealnews, Google Nexus 5 16GB T-Mobile Android Phone, Charger for $372 + free shipping...damn that's a hell of a price! Thought I'd pass it along for anyone looking for a sweet deal on N5 and planning on joining T-Mobile.
> http://dealnews.com/Google-Nexus-5-16-GB-T-Mobile-Android-Phone-Charger-for-372-free-shipping/977121.html

Click to collapse



While this is a good deal for the one sold in the T-Mobile stores, it makes me wonder why anyone would choose the T-Mobile one over the Play Store one, at least in the US?  I guess maybe the ability to have it in your hand same day?


----------



## bozzykid (Feb 6, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> While this is a good deal for the one sold in the T-Mobile stores, it makes me wonder why anyone would choose the T-Mobile one over the Play Store one, at least in the US?  I guess maybe the ability to have it in your hand same day?

Click to collapse



Buying from T-Mobile allows you to pay for the phone in 24 monthly payments (with no interest) and be in the Jump program so you could upgrade early.  Maybe not ideal for most of us, but some people like that flexibility.


----------



## ski522 (Feb 6, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> While this is a good deal for the one sold in the T-Mobile stores, it makes me wonder why anyone would choose the T-Mobile one over the Play Store one, at least in the US?  I guess maybe the ability to have it in your hand same day?

Click to collapse



You realize the deal includes the WCP-400 wireless charger for free?  That's a $60 charger based on Amazon's price. That's why I mention it's was a killer deal as a combo deal. If one could careless about a wireless charger, then I'd buy it on the Google Play site and save ~$20.


----------



## FuMMoD (Feb 6, 2014)

ski522 said:


> Just saw this on Dealnews, Google Nexus 5 16GB T-Mobile Android Phone, Charger for $372 + free shipping...damn that's a hell of a price! Thought I'd pass it along for anyone looking for a sweet deal on N5 and planning on joining T-Mobile.
> http://dealnews.com/Google-Nexus-5-...one-Charger-for-372-free-shipping/977121.html

Click to collapse



That's the wireless charger too. That's an awesome deal! 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## andy o (Feb 6, 2014)

ski522 said:


> You realize the deal includes the WCP-400 wireless charger for free?  That's a $60 charger based on Amazon's price. That's why I mention it's was a killer deal as a combo deal. If one could careless about a wireless charger, then I'd buy it on the Google Play site and save ~$20.

Click to collapse



It's an ok deal if you want to buy from t-mobile for some reason like the ones stated above, but price is not value. You can get better or equivalent chargers including the official Nexus one for much cheaper than $60. The reason that charger is expensive is that it's discontinued and when it was new there were still not many cheaper alternatives.


----------



## Ostrich Egg (Feb 7, 2014)

Went over 5 GB for the first time today, throttled to 0.06 Mbps. 200 Kbps I could manage, but this is unusable.


----------



## md1008 (Feb 7, 2014)

The nexus 5 isn't a terrible deal on T-Mobile really only. $50 mark up. Plus you can finance the phone interest free. I didn't have $400(including tax) and I needed a phone now. Also availability can be an issue as well.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## herosemblem (Feb 7, 2014)

The first 3 days of my throttle weren't too bad, and some things were usable.  
Now, however, I'm throttled to 0.06 Mbps.  Oh wells.  Good thing my plan renews tomorrow.


----------



## CDKJudoka (Feb 7, 2014)

Just activated my T-Mobile and will use it as a back up to my Sprint service. Both are comparable for speed, but I get unlimited calls and text with Sprint. the 5GB of Data is nice.


----------



## ski522 (Feb 8, 2014)

CDKJudoka said:


> Just activated my T-Mobile and will use it as a back up to my Sprint service. Both are comparable for speed, but I get unlimited calls and text with Sprint. the 5GB of Data is nice.

Click to collapse



But I'm sure there's a $$ difference between the 2...hard to beat T-Mobile's $30 deal. I had a grandfathered deal with Virgin Mobile for $25 similar to T-Mobiles (only difference 300 minutes) but they don't offer the N5 which I really wanted, the $30 deal from T-Mobile was pretty much a no brainer. My only complaint with T-Mobile is they have more 2G then I would like which is painfully slow for today's smart phones. But when on LTE the phone screams data wise!


----------



## kopower (Feb 10, 2014)

I've been about 5 days on the T-Mo $30 plan, and so far so good. The coverage compared to my HTC Rezound on Verizon is about the same. I was actually getting better data coverage in a city where Verizon was struggling. I live about 10 miles from the Twin Cities, and I'd recommend T-Mobile to anybody questioning their coverage around the suburbs.


----------



## giftedvisionz (Feb 11, 2014)

*Data Monitoring*

I've had the plan for a few months now. I had noticed a gradual increase in my usage, even though it did not feel as if my habits have changed. There was a huge  discrepancy between tmobiles data usage stats and the built-in stats so I downloaded My Data Manager. It seemed to pick up more information, but still was a lot lower than the TMobile totals. I remembered to check betterbatterystats, and that seemed to be the most accurate.

Is there any reason in particular that betterbatterystats is picking up this information more accurately? And is there a data monitoring app with this kind of accuracy that can log stats by the month? Betterbatterystats is great, but it only seems to monitor from boot.


----------



## pspod (Feb 11, 2014)

Any one want to help me jump on this plan? I'm an existing tmobile prepaid customer, but I want to switch over my phone number to a new account in order to get this plan. Is switching over the phone number possible? Also, all the Tmobile reps are telling me it's a walmart only deal, will I be able to activate it with a sim activation kit from, let's say, Best Buy? If there isn't another way, what's the cheapest approach to getting the plan without buying a phone?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Feb 11, 2014)

pspod said:


> Any one want to help me jump on this plan? I'm an existing tmobile prepaid customer, but I want to switch over my phone number to a new account in order to get this plan. Is switching over the phone number possible? Also, all the Tmobile reps are telling me it's a walmart only deal, will I be able to activate it with a sim activation kit from, let's say, Best Buy? If there isn't another way, what's the cheapest approach to getting the plan without buying a phone?

Click to collapse



Your questions have been answered many times. Activate a new SIM for this plan...use the prompts to port your existing TMO number to it, which will end your old plan.



Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## pspod (Feb 11, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Your questions have been answered many times. Activate a new SIM for this plan...use the prompts to port your existing TMO number to it, which will end your old plan.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse




Ok, but does the sim activation kit have to come from walmart/online, or could it come from another source? The previous pages have a bunch of users flip flopping on whether a walmart purchase is necessary or not. I just want to know if could hop on over to Best Buy and buy an activation kit there that'll work with the plan.


----------



## charesa39 (Feb 11, 2014)

pspod said:


> Any one want to help me jump on this plan? I'm an existing tmobile prepaid customer, but I want to switch over my phone number to a new account in order to get this plan. Is switching over the phone number possible? Also, all the Tmobile reps are telling me it's a walmart only deal, will I be able to activate it with a sim activation kit from, let's say, Best Buy? If there isn't another way, what's the cheapest approach to getting the plan without buying a phone?

Click to collapse



See below



wideasleep1 said:


> Your questions have been answered many times. Activate a new SIM for this plan...use the prompts to port your existing TMO number to it, which will end your old plan.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Actually, it wasn't as simple for me as it's been stated here before. I'm hoping it goes smoother for pspod. In theory, Activating a new SIM and porting your number online is simple. However, when I tried to port my number over, it was saying it wasn't available to port (never figured out why). I had to call Customer Service, and I think we all know how that goes. Called the first time, and the CSR said she could do it no problem, and to give it two hours. I made sure we were on the same page about the $30 100min/5GB plan, which we were.

Six hours later, nothing. Called again, that CSR said the SIM wasn't activated, and activated it. After I hung up, my phone was activated, but it was still on the $60 plan. I called again, and this third CSR was the worst out of all of them. Since that 2nd CSR activated the SIM without the activation code from the kit I got from T-Mobile's website, she was telling me I had to buy another SIM activation kit from Walmart. I actually lost my patience with her and asked to speak with her supervisor (aka "someone who knows what heck they're talking about"). FINALLY, the supervisor was able to do it for me. So my advice... Good luck, and hopefully you don't have to deal with the morons over the phone.

---------- Post added at 02:20 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:16 PM ----------




pspod said:


> Ok, but does the sim activation kit have to come from walmart/online, or could it come from another source? The previous pages have a bunch of users flip flopping on whether a walmart purchase is necessary or not. I just want to know if could hop on over to Best Buy and buy an activation kit there that'll work with the plan.

Click to collapse



Check out my response above. Regarding the Walmart/Online deal, CSR will tell you it's only for Walmart, but on T-Mobile's own website, it states it's available if you get it from Walmart or T-Mobile's website. Long story short, my kit I got from T-Mobile's website worked just "fine".


----------



## tokuzumi (Feb 12, 2014)

pspod said:


> Any one want to help me jump on this plan? I'm an existing tmobile prepaid customer, but I want to switch over my phone number to a new account in order to get this plan. Is switching over the phone number possible? Also, all the Tmobile reps are telling me it's a walmart only deal, will I be able to activate it with a sim activation kit from, let's say, Best Buy? If there isn't another way, what's the cheapest approach to getting the plan without buying a phone?

Click to collapse



In all honesty, it would be simpler to just port your number to google voice.  Buy the sim from Wally world, and then you are activated on the $30/mo plan.  This is what I did.  It's nice to just get a sim from whatever provider you want, pop it in your phone, and then tell GV what number to forward your GV calls.  The only part that sucks is using the GV app for text messages.  Other than that, there really aren't any downsides.  And since I'm using Talkatone for all my GV calls (VOIP), I don't have to worry about conditional call forwarding.  Not sure what will happen after May 14th, when google shuts down XMPP service for SIP services.  

And in all my dealings with T-Mobile customer service, I can hardly get them to fix my issue because they keep thanking me over and over again for using T-Mobile. It's almost comical.  "Thank you for choosing this plan.  Thank you for choosing T-Mobile.  Thank you for being on the phone with me.  Thank you...thank  you....thank you"


----------



## wideasleep1 (Feb 12, 2014)

pspod said:


> Ok, but does the sim activation kit have to come from walmart/online, or could it come from another source? The previous pages have a bunch of users flip flopping on whether a walmart purchase is necessary or not. I just want to know if could hop on over to Best Buy and buy an activation kit there that'll work with the plan.

Click to collapse



ANY activation kit will work, buy the cheapest. Despite the issues mentioned after my last post, I have transferred over 6 lines, ALL TMO post and prepaid, 4 with old numbers ported, 2 by phone auto-prompt, the rest online at 'activtion' page, with no issues whatsoever. There are folks here who claim a CSR call is all it takes, while others give the story as above. I prefer to do things myself, and know it was done right.


----------



## ROADKING17 (Feb 13, 2014)

The t-mobile 30 dollar plan is only from Walmart and only to new customers,so you can't transfer a prepaid number you would have to open a new line. 

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk


----------



## damon7620 (Feb 13, 2014)

ROADKING17 said:


> The t-mobile 30 dollar plan is only from Walmart and only to new customers,so you can't transfer a prepaid number you would have to open a new line.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



You are incorrect.

I ported my existing number that I have had for the past 10years to that plan twice so far with no questions asked.


----------



## ROADKING17 (Feb 13, 2014)

damon7620 said:


> You are incorrect.
> 
> I ported my existing number that I have had for the past 8 years to that plan twice so far with no questions asked.

Click to collapse



 I went over and over with them over the phone and every rep gave me back the same info 

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk


----------



## damon7620 (Feb 13, 2014)

ROADKING17 said:


> I went over and over with them over the phone and every rep gave me back the same info
> 
> Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Idk I never had an issue at all.


----------



## ROADKING17 (Feb 13, 2014)

damon7620 said:


> Idk I never had an issue at all.

Click to collapse



Did you come from another pre paid account? Because that was the problem I was getting they kept telling it's only for new customers 

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk


----------



## lchiu7 (Feb 14, 2014)

ROADKING17 said:


> The t-mobile 30 dollar plan is only from Walmart and only to new customers,so you can't transfer a prepaid number you would have to open a new line.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



'

I think the whole area is very unclear.

Recently I purchased a SIM from a TMO store in a mall. I wanted to active the $30 plan and they said they could not do it in the store.

I ended up doing it on the phone with the CSR's. That was not easy since they initially said it was not available until I told them it's on their web site.

Once it was activated I ported over a number from Virgin Mobile (which was basically Sprint) and it all worked fine.


----------



## ROADKING17 (Feb 14, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> '
> 
> I think the whole area is very unclear.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Yes but if you have a t-mobile prepaid plan already  let's say 50 dollar plan you Can't transfer that number to a 30 dollar plan or change to that plan 

Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Feb 14, 2014)

ROADKING17 said:


> Yes but if you have a t-mobile prepaid plan already  let's say 50 dollar plan you Can't transfer that number to a 30 dollar plan or change to that plan
> 
> Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Incorrect. I and many others have done it. The ONLY requirement to get this $30 plan: Activate a NEW SIM. You don't need to be a 'new customer', a Walmart SIM kit, etc. The plan exists as an option when you ACTIVATE A NEW SIM, either online at TMO/activate, or by phone prompts. The plan is/was not normally meant to be activated by their personnel (free activation), so they have their instructions to tell customers they cannot 'give' you that plan, that it's only available through Walmart. When activating this plan, one of the options (either by phone prompt or online) is an opportunity to port an existing number, and any existing number that can be ported, will be ported to the new SIM you're activating. I have ported ATT, and TMO post and pre-paid numbers to this plan. Simple as that.


----------



## lchiu7 (Feb 14, 2014)

ROADKING17 said:


> Yes but if you have a t-mobile prepaid plan already  let's say 50 dollar plan you Can't transfer that number to a 30 dollar plan or change to that plan
> 
> Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Don't know but from folks are saying, probably not. As others have said maybe the answer is to use GV and just port your number. Of course you are then faced with using the less than attractive Google Voice app for SMS and have no MMS.

And it can be confusing as occasionally I have sent SMS using Hangouts and so the recipient sees my TMO number rather than mh GV number.


----------



## tokuzumi (Feb 14, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> Don't know but from folks are saying, probably not. As others have said maybe the answer is to use GV and just port your number. Of course you are then faced with using the less than attractive Google Voice app for SMS and have no MMS.
> 
> And it can be confusing as occasionally I have sent SMS using Hangouts and so the recipient sees my TMO number rather than mh GV number.

Click to collapse



In theory, hangouts should have gv integration in may, so MMS will be supported. You just have to suffer until then.


----------



## lchiu7 (Feb 14, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> In theory, hangouts should have gv integration in may, so MMS will be supported. You just have to suffer until then.

Click to collapse




Of course they are also dropping XMPP support for GV. That affects me in another way but having a decent SMS app for GV will be nice


----------



## charesa39 (Feb 14, 2014)

Seems there's  A LOT of misconception regarding switching to this plan from another T-Mobile plan. All I can say is that IT IS possible. You just need to do it all online. You can read my post on the last page (post #1316 on in this thread). The only reason I had an "issue" switching to this plan is because it was saying my number wasn't available for porting at all. I wasn't even able to get as far as picking the plan I wanted. Therefore, it was completely unrelated to the plan, and probably due to some technical issues on their website at the time or something like that. When I had to call, I gave the SIM kit activation code to the 1st rep, and she said it was showing up in her database, so she said she could sign me up for it. It just seemed too easy. The reason for my frustration was due to the incompetence of the CSRs over the phone. Eventually, I was able to sign up for the plan, and I haven't been happier. So if you can, I HIGHLY suggest doing it all online. I repeat, the only reason I had to call was because an entirely different issue that was not letting port my number at all, regardless of whatever plan I would've chosen.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Feb 14, 2014)

ROADKING17 said:


> The t-mobile 30 dollar plan is only from Walmart and only to new customers,so you can't transfer a prepaid number you would have to open a new line.
> 
> Sent from my SM-N900T using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



No, you can activate the $30 plan online, too.  Had a customer service rep tell me that it was only available at WalMart, she was sadly mistaken.  

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans

Look about mid-way down, on the left, it says that "This plan is only available for devices purchased from 
Wal-Mart or devices activated on T-Mobile.com."  You select it as part of the SIM activation process online.


----------



## slemon (Feb 14, 2014)

so far so good. I'm using it with Vonage and used like 5 mins from 100 min allowance during the period of 5 days. Too bad it doesn't work to route incoming calls to Vonage; I have to call back callers.


----------



## nerv8765 (Feb 14, 2014)

What is the best app to make internet calls (that don't use minutes)?  I'm fine with just being able to call out using wifi or cell data.


----------



## lchiu7 (Feb 14, 2014)

Maybe Vonage?  They have 3000 minutes free each month at the moment.


----------



## Ash359 (Feb 14, 2014)

nerv8765 said:


> What is the best app to make internet calls (that don't use minutes)?  I'm fine with just being able to call out using wifi or cell data.

Click to collapse



I'm using spare phone, it uses Google voice. However on May 15th Google voice will be blocking out these apps.

So I would be interested in knowing of an alternative too.

How much does Vonage cost?

Sent from my Jedi MasterX Note 2


----------



## Joshmccullough (Feb 15, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> Maybe Vonage?  They have 3000 minutes free each month at the moment.

Click to collapse



Vonage's app works well for me for just calling out; the app and calling out is free, if you want to receive calls with it you have to have a Vonage account and it costs $.


----------



## nerv8765 (Feb 15, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Vonage's app works well for me for just calling out; the app and calling out is free, if you want to receive calls with it you have to have a Vonage account and it costs $.

Click to collapse



That sounds like it could work, I'll try it. I just need an alternative in case I run out of minutes (which I do sometimes) Thanks


----------



## lchiu7 (Feb 15, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Vonage's app works well for me for just calling out; the app and calling out is free, if you want to receive calls with it you have to have a Vonage account and it costs $.

Click to collapse



You can setup a free number at callcentric.com and have a SIP account on your phone connect to that number. Then people can call that number and it will use no air time. The area codes for those numbers are in the New York area but if you want something more memorable you could setup a Google Voice number to forward to you Callcentric number which would ring on your phone.

I think when you setup a Vonage account you supposed to provide a number for the account. I haven't checked recently but that could be the number people see when you ring somebody via Vonage.


----------



## HarryCooter (Feb 17, 2014)

I switched from Verizon 2 months ago and have not regretted my decision once. I received a hand-me-down GS2 and put CM11 on it as soon as I could. 

Recently ordered a nexus 5 and can't wait to have it in my hands. I do have one question tho. The GS2 uses a standard sized SIM card and the N5 uses a micro SIM. Will a T-Mobile store cut down my current SIM card for me for the N5? Will they charge to to do it? 

Thanks

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app


----------



## Fire Ball (Feb 17, 2014)

HarryCooter said:


> I switched from Verizon 2 months ago and have not regretted my decision once. I received a hand-me-down GS2 and put CM11 on it as soon as I could.
> 
> Recently ordered a nexus 5 and can't wait to have it in my hands. I do have one question tho. The GS2 uses a standard sized SIM card and the N5 uses a micro SIM. Will a T-Mobile store cut down my current SIM card for me for the N5? Will they charge to to do it?
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



They'll give you a micro SIM for free. Or you can just cut it down yourself.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## HarryCooter (Feb 17, 2014)

HarryCooter said:


> I switched from Verizon 2 months ago and have not regretted my decision once. I received a hand-me-down GS2 and put CM11 on it as soon as I could.
> 
> Recently ordered a nexus 5 and can't wait to have it in my hands. I do have one question tho. The GS2 uses a standard sized SIM card and the N5 uses a micro SIM. Will a T-Mobile store cut down my current SIM card for me for the N5? Will they charge to to do it?
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Even though I did not purchase the phone from them? Will they transfer the data off the new card?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app


----------



## Fire Ball (Feb 17, 2014)

HarryCooter said:


> Even though I did not purchase the phone from them? Will they transfer the data off the new card?
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



Yes it doesn't matter where you purchased the phone as long as you're a T-Mobile customer. Data? People still store stuff on SIM cards???

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## HarryCooter (Feb 17, 2014)

Well I was with Verizon for as long as I can remember and I'm new to the gsm phones. I'm not sure what is kept on the card..

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app


----------



## Fire Ball (Feb 17, 2014)

HarryCooter said:


> Well I was with Verizon for as long as I can remember and I'm new to the gsm phones. I'm not sure what is kept on the card..
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



Nothing should be on it unless you tried to store some contacts on it. But I doubt you did that.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## RainMotorsports (Feb 17, 2014)

HarryCooter said:


> Well I was with Verizon for as long as I can remember and I'm new to the gsm phones. I'm not sure what is kept on the card..
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



Unless you told it not to your contacts are likely on the phone synced with your google account and if not thats probably best to switch to. Pretty sure at this point you kind of have to go out of your way now to do it as well.  Storing just about anything user end wise on the sim has gone the way of the dodo.


----------



## fascinate (Feb 18, 2014)

I've been keeping up with the Olympics on my phone at work so I've almost reached the 5gb limit of 4G for the month. I'd like to continue to stream video for at least this coming week. Since I have a spare TMobile SIM card, can I just activate it with a new $30 prepaid plan? I realize it'll have a new phone number attached to it but I plan to just swap it in when needed. Will that work?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Feb 18, 2014)

fascinate said:


> I've been keeping up with the Olympics on my phone at work so I've almost reached the 5gb limit of 4G for the month. I'd like to continue to stream video for at least this coming week. Since I have a spare TMobile SIM card, can I just activate it with a new $30 prepaid plan? I realize it'll have a new phone number attached to it but I plan to just swap it in when needed. Will that work?

Click to collapse



Yep. I do this. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## herosemblem (Feb 18, 2014)

Does that mean you'll just... temporarily not receive important phone calls and the people who call you will receive your voicemail or a "not in service message"?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Feb 18, 2014)

herosemblem said:


> Does that mean you'll just... temporarily not receive important phone calls and the people who call you will receive your voicemail or a "not in service message"?

Click to collapse



Well..in my case, my real number was ported to Vonage, which it is set to forward calls to both prepaid sim numbers regardless of which is swapped in.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## herosemblem (Feb 18, 2014)

Ah, smart man, then ?


----------



## RainMotorsports (Feb 18, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Well..in my case, my real number was ported to Vonage, which it is set to forward calls to both prepaid sim numbers regardless of which is swapped in.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Same deal for me my phone number is Google Voice and I just have all my numbers being forwarded.


----------



## Anderson2 (Feb 18, 2014)

What is "mobile Hotspot usage"? 

My T-Mobile app tells me I've used 33.6mb of my allotted 100mb. I don't know how that happened because I don't even know how to turn it on or off. 
Can someone explain how I ended up using it? Is it automatic? What do I use it for? 

Thanks.


----------



## HarryCooter (Feb 18, 2014)

I've been on this plan for a few months now using a SGS2 and have a nexus 5 on order thought the play store. They are apparently on backorder, so I went to a T-Mobile store to look into purchasing one from there but the chick with the clipboard said I could not buy one outright, even with cash in hand unless I attach it to a postpaid plan.

Anyone heard of this bs?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app


----------



## raymond4 (Feb 19, 2014)

HarryCooter said:


> I've been on this plan for a few months now using a SGS2 and have a nexus 5 on order thought the play store. They are apparently on backorder, so I went to a T-Mobile store to look into purchasing one from there but the chick with the clipboard said I could not buy one outright, even with cash in hand unless I attach it to a postpaid plan.
> 
> Anyone heard of this bs?
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-T989 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



Same thing happened to me while I was in T-Mobile store. 

Sent from my XT1028 using Tapatalk


----------



## charesa39 (Feb 19, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> What is "mobile Hotspot usage"?
> 
> My T-Mobile app tells me I've used 33.6mb of my allotted 100mb. I don't know how that happened because I don't even know how to turn it on or off.
> Can someone explain how I ended up using it? Is it automatic? What do I use it for?
> ...

Click to collapse



Same thing happens to me. It'll randomly go up even though I had never tethered before. The highest it's currently at like 9.1MB used. The funny thing is, I don't even think the $30 plan includes the free 100MB of tethering that the other plans do. I tried to tether recently, and it would redirect me to T-Mobile's "upsell" page, not allowing me to fly connect to the WiFi Hotspot from my phone. I actually just did the trick that allows you to tether by editing the database file with an SQLite editor, and it works perfectly. Now, I can tether however much I want (or at least up to the 5GB "limit" on this plan). 


Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app


----------



## Anderson2 (Feb 19, 2014)

charesa39 said:


> Same thing happens to me. It'll randomly go up even though I had never tethered before. The highest it's currently at like 9.1MB used. The funny thing is, I don't even think the $30 plan includes the free 100MB of tethering that the other plans do. I tried to tether recently, and it would redirect me to T-Mobile's "upsell" page, not allowing me to fly connect to the WiFi Hotspot from my phone. I actually just did the trick that allows you to tether by editing the database file with an SQLite editor, and it works perfectly. Now, I can tether however much I want (or at least up to the 5GB "limit" on this plan).
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



So it means tethering? 

Maybe someone has figured a way to hook on to my phone when I'm in a public place. That would certainly be a major security risk. 

I know I've been getting spam texts since I changed to T-Mobile a month ago. Never did before.


----------



## charesa39 (Feb 19, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> So it means tethering?
> 
> Maybe someone has figured a way to hook on to my phone when I'm in a public place. That would certainly be a major security risk.
> 
> I know I've been getting spam texts since I changed to T-Mobile a month ago. Never did before.

Click to collapse



Yes, when you turn your phone into a mobile hotspot, you are basically turning it into a modem where other devices can connect to the data signal (whether wirelessly or through USB). I wouldn't worry about anybody connecting to it because you have to activate it on your phone first to broadcast the signal. Plus, I'm pretty sure our plan doesn't include the free tethering unless you "hack" it to allow you to tether. If you Google it, there are a few people who have posted in the support forums on T-Mobile's website saying this is happening to them to. I wouldn't worry about it.

Also, regarding the spam texts, I was getting those as well. You need to log in to your My T-Mobile account on their website and change your communication preferences so they don't send you spam.


Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## Anderson2 (Feb 20, 2014)

charesa39 said:


> Also, regarding the spam texts, I was getting those as well. You need to log in to your My T-Mobile account on their website and change your communication preferences so they don't send you spam.
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



Thank you for the hint. I went to My T-Mobile account and disabled the marketing. Not nice of them to "opt you in" by default until you discover the setting.


----------



## charesa39 (Feb 20, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Thank you for the hint. I went to My T-Mobile account and disabled the marketing. Not nice of them to "opt you in" by default until you discover the setting.

Click to collapse



Tell me about it. And the fact that it says it could take 10 days to "process the change" seems pretty lame too. But oh well. I couldn't be any happier with this plan. 


Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## Anderson2 (Feb 20, 2014)

charesa39 said:


> Tell me about it. And the fact that it says it could take 10 days to "process the change" seems pretty lame too. But oh well. I couldn't be any happier with this plan.
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



+1


----------



## fascinate (Feb 20, 2014)

herosemblem said:


> Does that mean you'll just... temporarily not receive important phone calls and the people who call you will receive your voicemail or a "not in service message"?

Click to collapse



I believe as long as your original SIM card is funded, the person will just receive your voicemail. Acts the same way as if your phone is turned off.


----------



## 530farm (Feb 20, 2014)

So I'm looking to make the switch to this from my ATT unlimited plan that ive been holding onto for a while. I apologize if these questions have been asked as I didn't have much success with the search and 120+ pages is a bit much to catch up on. 

So i purchased the $30 prepaid sim starter kit, which is suppose to include the micro-sim and a $30 prepaid card. 

1.I saw some reports saying you need a t-mobile phone's IMEI, is that correct or will I be fine w/ just using my Nexus 5's IMEI? 
2. Once i get the Sim card I can sign up all on T-mobiles site? Is it easy to port your old ATT # to tmobile?
3. Is it easy to add extra minutes if the 100min isnt' enough?
4. What is the best solution that people have found for Calls over Data/WiFi? I would be using it mostly for calling out, would only be expecting maybe 1 or 2 people to use it to call me. 

Anything else i'm missing or tips/tricks?

Thanks for your time!


----------



## wideasleep1 (Feb 20, 2014)

530farm said:


> so i'm looking to make the switch to this from my att unlimited plan that ive been holding onto for a while. I apologize if these questions have been asked as i didn't have much success with the search and 120+ pages is a bit much to catch up on.
> 
> So i purchased the $30 prepaid sim starter kit, which is suppose to include the micro-sim and a $30 prepaid card.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Answers embedded


----------



## 530farm (Feb 20, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Answers embedded

Click to collapse



Thank you for your reply! Would really like to hear others opinion on their favorite calling over Wifi/Data solutions. I was just playing around w/ UppTalk which offers free calling to any US number, however there is about a .5-1 second delay between saying something and hearing something ( please let me know if this is normal w/ calls over Wifi, I figure there would be some delay but not sure what the norm is). Also my concern with these Calling Apps are wakelocks, as I don't want unnecessary drain when my phone should be in deep sleep. 

Thanks


----------



## wideasleep1 (Feb 20, 2014)

530farm said:


> Thank you for your reply! Would really like to hear others opinion on their favorite calling over Wifi/Data solutions. I was just playing around w/ UppTalk which offers free calling to any US number, however there is about a .5-1 second delay between saying something and hearing something ( please let me know if this is normal w/ calls over Wifi, I figure there would be some delay but not sure what the norm is). Also my concern with these Calling Apps are wakelocks, as I don't want unnecessary drain when my phone should be in deep sleep.
> 
> Thanks

Click to collapse



Well that's the rub...many of the solutions *can* work, but have drawbacks (lag, poor audio quality, hiss, echo, etc.). Some have good luck with SIP combos, some with Vonage (not me despite being a Vonage customer!), and I've found Skype to offer the most phone-like experience, but it costs.


----------



## tokuzumi (Feb 20, 2014)

530farm said:


> Thank you for your reply! Would really like to hear others opinion on their favorite calling over Wifi/Data solutions. I was just playing around w/ UppTalk which offers free calling to any US number, however there is about a .5-1 second delay between saying something and hearing something ( please let me know if this is normal w/ calls over Wifi, I figure there would be some delay but not sure what the norm is). Also my concern with these Calling Apps are wakelocks, as I don't want unnecessary drain when my phone should be in deep sleep.
> 
> Thanks

Click to collapse



Most of the free VOIP solutions will no longer work after May 14th of this year, since GV is removing XMPP support.  I'm hoping Google will still allow free calls via Google Voice after that date, and will allow calls through the Hangouts app, like in iOS.  I just wonder about incoming calls.

This has been kind of a crazy month for me, regarding voice calls.  After 2 days, I had used up 88 minutes of my voice plan.  I had started using Talkatone a few months prior for texting/calling on my Nexus 7, so I just started using that as my primary calling method.  I've probably used a total of 300-400 minutes this month.


----------



## 530farm (Feb 20, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> Most of the free VOIP solutions will no longer work after May 14th of this year, since GV is removing XMPP support.  I'm hoping Google will still allow free calls via Google Voice after that date, and will allow calls through the Hangouts app, like in iOS.  I just wonder about incoming calls.
> 
> This has been kind of a crazy month for me, regarding voice calls.  After 2 days, I had used up 88 minutes of my voice plan.  I had started using Talkatone a few months prior for texting/calling on my Nexus 7, so I just started using that as my primary calling method.  I've probably used a total of 300-400 minutes this month.

Click to collapse



Has there been any updates on voice calling coming to hangouts? I would hope the whole Google Voice stoppage coming would be partly related to hangouts being updated with the calling feature. 
@wideasleep1 With skype, do you just pay the monthly 2.99/month fee or do you pay by the minute? Does having skype open affect battery significantly?


----------



## tokuzumi (Feb 20, 2014)

530farm said:


> Has there been any updates on voice calling coming to hangouts? I would hope the whole Google Voice stoppage coming would be partly related to hangouts being updated with the calling feature.
> 
> @wideasleep1 With skype, do you just pay the monthly 2.99/month fee or do you pay by the minute? Does having skype open affect battery significantly?

Click to collapse



We are still in the dark, with regards to making VOIP calls via Hangouts.  I hope we find out soon.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Feb 20, 2014)

530farm said:


> Has there been any updates on voice calling coming to hangouts? I would hope the whole Google Voice stoppage coming would be partly related to hangouts being updated with the calling feature.
> 
> @wideasleep1 With skype, do you just pay the monthly 2.99/month fee or do you pay by the minute? Does having skype open affect battery significantly?

Click to collapse



I pay the $30 annually for unlimited US/Canada, and I haven't noticed unusual battery draw, since Skype app was overhauled initially (version 1 was major battery hog, we're now at 4.6.0.+). IIRC, the Skype number is also about $30 annually.


----------



## AndrasLOHF (Feb 20, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> 3. Is it easy to add extra minutes if the 100min isnt' enough?
> 
> Keep a few extra bucks loaded on your account and it will pull from it for extra minutes @ 10 cents per.

Click to collapse



This is awesome to know. Thanks for this.


----------



## kopower (Feb 21, 2014)

I'm still happy with the coverage from T-Mobile. The biggest difference from Verizon is definitely the coverage inside buildings. I had a good idea tmo's wasn't the best, but it's not horrible. For $40/month with 100 extra minutes added on is perfect for me.


----------



## andy o (Feb 21, 2014)

Anyone has figured out how the "use by" date works for the account credit? Mine has been stuck on May for months, I thought it was gonna go up when I added credit but it didn't. I added like $180 last time and it's not gonna be spent by May.


----------



## 530farm (Feb 21, 2014)

I've seen people mention issues w/ MMS with this plan. Is that true? I currently use hangouts as my default MMS app.

Also, is it possible to tether? Not sure if the ROM matters or not, but i currently use slimkat.


----------



## bozzykid (Feb 22, 2014)

530farm said:


> I've seen people mention issues w/ MMS with this plan. Is that true? I currently use hangouts as my default MMS app.

Click to collapse



I've never heard of any MMS issues with this plan.  I use MMS all the time.


----------



## 530farm (Feb 22, 2014)

bozzykid said:


> I've never heard of any MMS issues with this plan.  I use MMS all the time.

Click to collapse



Possibly what I've seen is in regards to Google voice numbers only?





Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 06:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:34 PM ----------




charesa39 said:


> Same thing happens to me. It'll randomly go up even though I had never tethered before. The highest it's currently at like 9.1MB used. The funny thing is, I don't even think the $30 plan includes the free 100MB of tethering that the other plans do. I tried to tether recently, and it would redirect me to T-Mobile's "upsell" page, not allowing me to fly connect to the WiFi Hotspot from my phone. I actually just did the trick that allows you to tether by editing the database file with an SQLite editor, and it works perfectly. Now, I can tether however much I want (or at least up to the 5GB "limit" on this plan).
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



Can you point me into the direction of this trick for tethering?  Thanks

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## bozzykid (Feb 22, 2014)

530farm said:


> Possibly what I've seen is in regards to Google voice numbers only?

Click to collapse



If you are using Google Voice it doesn't really matter what carrier you are on.  You can't send MMS and can only receive MMS pictures (no groupchat) from Sprint and T-Mobile users.  And even then it comes over email.  As for T-Mobile itself, MMS works just fine on the Nexus 5.


----------



## charesa39 (Feb 22, 2014)

530farm said:


> Can you point me into the direction of this trick for tethering?  Thanks
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



No problem. Here you go: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47203432&postcount=70

If you'd prefer a visual guide, check out this post from the same thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47875143&postcount=246

It's the same exact thing as the original fix, but has pictures and was really helpful in conjunction with the original post.


----------



## Ash359 (Feb 22, 2014)

Had anyone tried the magic jack app?

Looks pretty cumbersome for receiving calls but might be useful for outgoing at least.

In May Google voice is going away so I am looking for an alternative.

Sent from my Jedi MasterX Note 2


----------



## FuMMoD (Feb 22, 2014)

Ash359 said:


> Had anyone tried the magic jack app?
> 
> Looks pretty cumbersome for receiving calls but might be useful for outgoing at least.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Have you tried textplus? I enjoy it a lot actually and great quality calls. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Playe (Feb 22, 2014)

530farm said:


> Thank you for your reply! Would really like to hear others opinion on their favorite calling over Wifi/Data solutions. I was just playing around w/ UppTalk which offers free calling to any US number, however there is about a .5-1 second delay between saying something and hearing something ( please let me know if this is normal w/ calls over Wifi, I figure there would be some delay but not sure what the norm is). Also my concern with these Calling Apps are wakelocks, as I don't want unnecessary drain when my phone should be in deep sleep.
> 
> Thanks

Click to collapse



+1


----------



## sirxdroid (Feb 22, 2014)

Why not sign up for one of the cheap but good VOIP services such as voip.ms, callcentric, localphone, anveo, callwithus, etc.? They are way cheaper than the TMo 10c/min., usually about 1-2c/min. you can configure them in the stock dialer if you want to or you can use something like CSipSimple for more flexibility. Now I'm not sure which provider supports the good codecs that work reasonably well even over 3G connections.
If you are mostly concerned with outgoing calls, then the Vonage app is pretty good with its 2000 free minutes per month.

As a side note, I wish TMo didn't bill in 1 min. increments. So many minutes get wasted on very short calls or on the residual part of a call, e.g. if you talk for 4 min. 1 sec. you get taxed for 5 min. This may not be important to most of their customers though as they have unlimited voice & txt.


----------



## 530farm (Feb 23, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> Why not sign up for one of the cheap but good VOIP services such as voip.ms, callcentric, localphone, anveo, callwithus, etc.? They are way cheaper than the TMo 10c/min., usually about 1-2c/min. you can configure them in the stock dialer if you want to or you can use something like CSipSimple for more flexibility. Now I'm not sure which provider supports the good codecs that work reasonably well even over 3G connections.
> If you are mostly concerned with outgoing calls, then the Vonage app is pretty good with its 2000 free minutes per month.
> 
> As a side note, I wish TMo didn't bill in 1 min. increments. So many minutes get wasted on very short calls or on the residual part of a call, e.g. if you talk for 4 min. 1 sec. you get taxed for 5 min. This may not be important to most of their customers though as they have unlimited voice & txt.

Click to collapse



I was testing Vonage to vonage calling with the gf and it works nicely. Do they really allow 2000 free minutes a month to non Vonage customers/app users?  

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Joshmccullough (Feb 24, 2014)

530farm said:


> I was testing Vonage to vonage calling with the gf and it works nicely. Do they really allow 2000 free minutes a month to non Vonage customers/app users?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Outgoing, yes.  You can't receive calls with the Vonage app unless you're a Vonage customer.


----------



## 530farm (Feb 24, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Outgoing, yes.  You can't receive calls with the Vonage app unless you're a Vonage customer.

Click to collapse



Outgoing to non vonage customers/users? Do you have a link to any statement about that from vonage? I can't seem to find anything about that.


----------



## LLB1 (Feb 25, 2014)

*T-mobile $30 100min. Prepaid, is not Walmart $30 100min."Family Mobile" Plan*

Crazy frustrating....
I don't know how long it has been so, but.....
T-mobile's "Prepaid" plans now includes a plan identical to Walmart's $30 "Family Mobile" plan. They are not the same plan.
This is important if you are a current T-mobile customer like myself.
I "highly" suggest calling back numerous times or asking to speak with someone else, if you are not getting the answer you want.
They almost had me believing I slipped into an alternate universe when one cs agent after another kept telling me, "the last agent you just spoke to was incorrect" and they assured me they had the latest info and were correct.
Get out of the call center asap, ask to speak to a rep in the USA.

I somehow lucked out and the first person I spoke with told me I could, as a current "post-paid" (translation...'regular contract service' we are all familiar with - except I have been out of my contract for years, though I don't think that matters) customer have my *second line* Nexus 5 moved over to the T-MOBILE 100min/5gb data $30 "pre-paid" plan. They said they would port my number as long as I gave them the number on the SIM and the IMEI. I didn't have the phone with me so I had to call back. That is the precise instant the time warp occured. 

I retrieved the numbers and called back and the three following reps all told me I misunderstood. 
One said I had to buy the phone from Walmart, another said I had to go to Walmart and buy the sim, a third tried to sign me up on the Walmart "Family Mobile" plan. I can't remember where but I feel I read or heard the Walmart "Family Mobile" plans bandwidth was somehow different or slower or something. I recall before being in the "T" store and the OOKLA test on the salesman S4 was 12mbps. I've seen 50mbps (yes a completely pegged needle) on a different AT&T salesman's phone (Orange County, CA) but 12 is good enough for me, especially since my home broadband is 5mbps and that's AT&T's highest "residential" plan, Elite I believe. I might as well pay the extra $20 to get Unlimited on my primary line and run my desktop through my phone and save the $50mo. I understand this can be done with the vpn named hidemyass (no joke) installed on the desktop, maybe any vpn would do but that's another thread.

There was also something about the Walmart plan always having to buy the $30 cards each month (instead of linking to a credit card) when you were texted each month to recharge. I could be wrong but it didn't seem possible with the Walmart setup, but I can tell you via the T-Mobile "Pre-paid" setup as soon as I received the text that said I was switched and needed to dial *233 to activate I was immediately allowed to enter my credit card and set up "auto-pay", for just the $30. They also try to get you to include "auto-pay" for overages (.10cents a min), but if you listen closely you can skip that.

Long story short, they said it could take 24hrs to activate, it took about 24seconds, speed is 12mbps and I happy.
NOTE: You may recall I said I did this with my second line. I don't know if you can do it when dropping your primary $50 line. By that I mean;
keeping the same sim, number, having to use a phone carried at Walmart, etc...
I ALMOST FORGOT - At the end of the call I asked the guy, "What is the right way to ask for what we just did" and he said if you say,*"I want to do a POST to PRE conversion to the $30 100min/5GB data plan"*, we'll know what to do.
Good Luck

---------- Post added at 02:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:24 AM ----------




charesa39 said:


> No problem. Here you go: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47203432&postcount=70
> 
> If you'd prefer a visual guide, check out this post from the same thread: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47875143&postcount=246
> 
> It's the same exact thing as the original fix, but has pictures and was really helpful in conjunction with the original post.

Click to collapse



Charesa39,
The "visual guide" doesn't seem to mention, "changing APN settings to ipv4", the last line from the first link you gave.
"After I made this change I also needed to change my APN settings so that it uses ipv4 instead of ipv6. It seems like tethering with ipv6 does not work 100% yet."

so should both setting be ipv4?
thanks


----------



## Joshmccullough (Feb 25, 2014)

530farm said:


> Outgoing to non vonage customers/users? Do you have a link to any statement about that from vonage? I can't seem to find anything about that.

Click to collapse



Yup, you can use the Vonage app (not Vonage Extensions, just plain ol' Vonage) to make out-going calls over WiFi without using your minutes.  I've used it myself many a time.  Just hit the App Store; I think they've changed the description so as not to advertise that, but it's been working for me.


----------



## 1dtms (Feb 25, 2014)

What happens when you use up 5GB (on the tmobile $30/month unlimited data/100min)?
Do they throttle you to 3g or 2g?


----------



## sirxdroid (Feb 25, 2014)

1dtms said:


> What happens when you use up 5GB (on the tmobile $30/month unlimited data/100min)?
> Do they throttle you to 3g or 2g?

Click to collapse



Yes. About 100kbps.


----------



## herosemblem (Feb 25, 2014)

Like 2G speeds once you're throttled.  Good enough for occasionally loading a web page in 3 minutes, but not good enough for audio podcast streaming, and also not even fast enough to make the Google Play store app load.   OK, it does load like 10-20% of the time.


----------



## sirxdroid (Feb 25, 2014)

Good enough for email, but forget web browsing, Google Maps, Navigation or the likes.


----------



## charesa39 (Feb 25, 2014)

LLB1 said:


> Charesa39,
> The "visual guide" doesn't seem to mention, "changing APN settings to ipv4", the last line from the first link you gave.
> "After I made this change I also needed to change my APN settings so that it uses ipv4 instead of ipv6. It seems like tethering with ipv6 does not work 100% yet."
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Yes, as it states in the first link, you need to change your APN protocol. I changed mine to "IPv4/IPv6" under "APN protocol". You don't need to change the "APN roaming protocol" since it's already set to IPv4.


----------



## 1dtms (Feb 26, 2014)

Is there an APN or setting we can do/change so that once we're throttled after out 5GB limit we can still use speeds relative to 3g instead of speeds relative to 2g?


----------



## HarryCooter (Feb 26, 2014)

Not sure if this has been discussed here yet but does T-Mobile throttle LTE on this plan? I can consistently get faster DL speeds on HSPA than on LTE, but its reversed on the UL speeds. Is it just me?


Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## herosemblem (Feb 26, 2014)

When you get throttled after 5GB, your LTE is reduced down to 2G.


----------



## HarryCooter (Feb 26, 2014)

I am talking about during the 5gb of data before throttling. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app


----------



## herosemblem (Feb 26, 2014)

4G speed during the 5 gigs.  My nexus 5 displays the LTE symbol up top


----------



## Fire Ball (Feb 26, 2014)

HarryCooter said:


> Not sure if this has been discussed here yet but does T-Mobile throttle LTE on this plan? I can consistently get faster DL speeds on HSPA than on LTE, but its reversed on the UL speeds. Is it just me?
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using xda app-developers app

Click to collapse



No they do not throttle LTE. You're probably just connected to LTE on a more distant tower than when you're connecting to HSPA+.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## SwiftLeeO (Mar 1, 2014)

Once I pay off my phones on my post paid plan I might have to check this out... (I had to do postpaid at first because of the ETF reimbursement deal). I rarely ever talk on the phone and 5GB of data is more than enough. Unlimited texting is great.


----------



## SurlyGnex (Mar 1, 2014)

I am on this plan and love it, especially for the price.  I must admit, I was a little worried about the service when I switched from Verizon; Verizon worked almost anywhere I took my phone, but I was tired of giving them so much money.

I've had the $30 prepaid Tmo plan since I got my nexus 5 in December and haven't looked back.  I have been using the Speed Test app to test network speeds around town and, dollars to Mbps, Tmo beats Verizon.  That is, Verizon's slightly higher up/down speeds were not in proportion to the monthly bill.

If you are thinking of trying it, do what I did: borrow a phone (or buy a cheap one) just to test their network.


----------



## hoktrillian (Mar 2, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> If you are mostly concerned with outgoing calls, then the Vonage app is pretty good with its 2000 free minutes per month.

Click to collapse



Vonage has stopped offering free call to PSTN for a while, see http://www.vonage.com/vonagemobile/apps/vonage-mobile-app please.


----------



## sirxdroid (Mar 2, 2014)

hoktrillian said:


> Vonage has stopped offering free call to PSTN for a while, see http://www.vonage.com/vonagemobile/apps/vonage-mobile-app please.

Click to collapse



Maybe for new accounts? I just tried it and it still works for me, but I installed it a while back.


----------



## ericv99 (Mar 2, 2014)

Has anyone experienced "no sim or network error" when trying to make a call?
I just got the nexus 5 flashed Cataclysm rom. everything else works fine..

thanks


----------



## Johnny Broccoli (Mar 2, 2014)

Finally got throttled with this plan for the first time. 0.06mbps down and between 0.0mbps and 0.09mbps upload. Way slower than I was expecting (for some reason I thought I'd be throttled to 3G speeds, not 2G). Will definitely be keeping closer tabs on my data usage from here on out. Surprised how "well" the phone still loads stuff up at such ridiculously low speeds but obviously a massive drop off from the 25-30mbps I was getting prior to the throttle.

---------- Post added at 02:58 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:39 PM ----------




herosemblem said:


> 4G speed during the 5 gigs.  My nexus 5 displays the LTE symbol up top

Click to collapse



It actually still shows the LTE symbol when you are being throttled too. Threw me off initially; didn't realize the throttle had been enacted until repeatedly trying to get pictures from my Instagram feed to load unsuccessfully....then I finally put it together.


----------



## herosemblem (Mar 3, 2014)

That's correct.


----------



## 1dtms (Mar 3, 2014)

Where does the fine print say it will throttle to 2g speeds after 5GB?


----------



## herosemblem (Mar 3, 2014)

I don't remember where they say this on the website, but what I do remember is they send you a text every time you reach 5gb, and the text specifically says "you will now receive unlimited data at basic 2G speed".


----------



## david279 (Mar 3, 2014)

1dtms said:


> Where does the fine print say it will throttle to 2g speeds after 5GB?

Click to collapse



Always read the fine print 
	

	
	
		
		

		
			





Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## herosemblem (Mar 3, 2014)

Does anyone know if the $70 "unlimited everything" plan has throttling?

I've had the $30 plan for something like 3 months, and I have found that I exhaust the entire plan on the first day, then spend the next 29 days at the PAYG voice rate, and the "internet" at unusable speeds.  

I'm looking for an unlimited plan for myself that is NOT throttled, if it exists.  Thank you.


----------



## Fire Ball (Mar 3, 2014)

herosemblem said:


> Does anyone know if the $70 "unlimited everything" plan has throttling?
> 
> I've had the $30 plan for something like 3 months, and I have found that I exhaust the entire plan on the first day, then spend the next 29 days at the PAYG voice rate, and the "internet" at unusable speeds.
> 
> I'm looking for an unlimited plan for myself that is NOT throttled, if it exists.  Thank you.

Click to collapse



Yes, the $70 plan is unlimited and unthrottled. My gf uses 30+ GB a month all the time on that plan.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## herosemblem (Mar 3, 2014)

Thank you so much! Looks like I know what my next plan is.


----------



## david279 (Mar 3, 2014)

All plans throttle after going pass the allotment. Except the unlimited plan. $70 plan. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## 1dtms (Mar 3, 2014)

david279 said:


> All plans throttle after going pass the allotment. Except the unlimited plan. $70 plan.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



is that unlimited unthorttled $70 plan monthly also? or do you have to do a contract


----------



## david279 (Mar 3, 2014)

That's a off contact plan I believe. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Mar 3, 2014)

david279 said:


> That's a off contact plan I believe.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Correct..off contract. If you choose the $70 plan, you have to activate a new SIM and port number if you want to return to this $30/mo 5GB/100 minute plan.


----------



## david279 (Mar 3, 2014)

Here is a breakdown of the plans

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans

I 
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## paperWastage (Mar 3, 2014)

david279 said:


> Here is a breakdown of the plans
> 
> http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Both prepaid and postpaid have the $70 truly unlimited plan (unlimited voice/text/4g data)

Postpaid has a version that requires a credit pull, but in return you get better roaming agreements/ 10mb roaming data, uncarrier benefits like overseas free 2g data/text and "cheaper" rates if you add more lines


----------



## Alttwo (Mar 3, 2014)

For those interested, T-Mobile has the simcard and the activation kit for free again

Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk


----------



## akmsr (Mar 3, 2014)

hi all, this is not strictly about $30 plan but about all prepaid monthly plans on t-mobile. 
what happens if you are late 10 days to pay your bill? i understand that you will be disconnected and reconnected after you pay but will you get one full months of service? or you will loose 10 days? with boost you get a full month. with metro you loose 10 days. you gotta pay 5$ + tax to change your billing renewal date


----------



## FuMMoD (Mar 3, 2014)

akmsr said:


> hi all, this is not strictly about $30 plan but about all prepaid monthly plans on t-mobile.
> what happens if you are late 10 days to pay your bill? i understand that you will be disconnected and reconnected after you pay but will you get one full months of service? or you will loose 10 days? with boost you get a full month. with metro you loose 10 days. you gotta pay 5$ + tax to change your billing renewal date

Click to collapse



Are you really going to pay late every time that it's such a big concern? Serious question though. Why not just pay a few days early to prevent late payment? My bill is due the 23 but I always pay the 19th.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## drewwonu (Mar 4, 2014)

I currently use talkatone and the 30$ plan, everything has been fine for the past 4 months! My question is what happens when google stops supporting third party VIOP apps in May? Any google voice alternatives? What does google plan to do? (not that any of us would know)


----------



## whitedragonz83 (Mar 4, 2014)

drewwonu said:


> I currently use talkatone and the 30$ plan, everything has been fine for the past 4 months! My question is what happens when google stops supporting third party VIOP apps in May? Any google voice alternatives? What does google plan to do? (not that any of us would know)

Click to collapse



They already have VOIP in Hangouts on the iPhone. Likely they will supply their own service. It'll likely be cheaper than the call forwarding fees they pay now. They only need a free codec like opus and remove the video from their hangouts video service. Then boom. VOIP!

Otherwise, there are other options, but none will integrate with Google Voice.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## drewwonu (Mar 4, 2014)

What other options?


----------



## whitedragonz83 (Mar 4, 2014)

drewwonu said:


> What other options?

Click to collapse



Skype, Vonage, VOIP.MS+CSipSimple. To name a few.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## herosemblem (Mar 6, 2014)

I believe this was answered before, but I'll ask anyway since some folks here are very knowledgeable and will have a quick answer.  

I'm about to upgrade from the $30 plan to the $70 unlimited plan.  
Let's say I want to downgrade to the $30 plan a couple months down the road. 

Is it a simple switch using MyT-mobile?  Or would I have to sign up for the $30 plan using a new SIM/# etc. because the $30 plan is some kind of promotional deal?  (I was about to upgrade to the $70 plan just now, but a disclaimer popped up, saying that I would relinquish my current $30 plan and not be able to switch back to it later).   Thanks guys.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Mar 6, 2014)

herosemblem said:


> I believe this was answered before, but I'll ask anyway since some folks here are very knowledgeable and will have a quick answer.
> 
> I'm about to upgrade from the $30 plan to the $70 unlimited plan.
> Let's say I want to downgrade to the $30 plan a couple months down the road.
> ...

Click to collapse



A few posts back:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=50773269&postcount=1414


----------



## Anderson2 (Mar 6, 2014)

Alttwo said:


> For those interested, T-Mobile has the simcard and the activation kit for free again
> 
> Sent from my SGH-M919 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Where do you get the free Simcard? My wife's phone is ready to go on T-Mobile 100 minute $30 plan.


----------



## sirxdroid (Mar 6, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Where do you get the free Simcard? My wife's phone is ready to go on T-Mobile 100 minute $30 plan.

Click to collapse



http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/...mbiSIM-Activation-Kit?AID=11031750&PID=552179


----------



## herosemblem (Mar 6, 2014)

I got mine free, online at Tmo.  Not sure if it was a promotion, though.


----------



## Anderson2 (Mar 6, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/...mbiSIM-Activation-Kit?AID=11031750&PID=552179

Click to collapse



Thank you. Ordered it.


----------



## bestmvno.com (Mar 8, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> A few posts back:
> 
> http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=50773269&postcount=1414

Click to collapse



Can i ask why you need to switch to the $70 plan?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Mar 8, 2014)

bestmvno.com said:


> Can i ask why you need to switch to the $70 plan?

Click to collapse



I told myself if I ran out of the 5GB data for three months in a row before reupping, I probably needed more data than 5GB. Indeed month 1 I ran out with 4 days to go..I suffered through it. The following month, I ran out with only two days to go but soldiered on, and the third month I ran out with a week left, which was the clincher-No way was I going to wait a week on 2G.  I opened another line (new SIM) and 'toggled' SIM's (My main number is on Vonage, and forwarded to my cell regardless of TMO's number), trying to save $10 /mo to cover the overlap. After a few months of this swapping about every 3-3 1/2 weeks, I decided if I can only get 3 weeks for 5GB and have to reup every 3 weeks, I should just face the fact and spend the few extra dollars and not have to worry about data OR minutes anymore. I still have a $30/mo SIM/number, but it's dormant for the time being, with another 55 days until it fully expires. Undecided if I'll kill it and stick with $70/mo everything unlimited, but it's nice to have uninterrupted data when I need it.


----------



## bestmvno.com (Mar 8, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> I told myself if I ran out of the 5GB data for three months in a row before reupping, I probably needed more data than 5GB. Indeed month 1 I ran out with 4 days to go..I suffered through it. The following month, I ran out with only two days to go but soldiered on, and the third month I ran out with a week left, which was the clincher-No way was I going to wait a week on 2G.  I opened another line (new SIM) and 'toggled' SIM's (My main number is on Vonage, and forwarded to my cell regardless of TMO's number), trying to save $10 /mo to cover the overlap. After a few months of this swapping about every 3-3 1/2 weeks, I decided if I can only get 3 weeks for 5GB and have to reup every 3 weeks, I should just face the fact and spend the few extra dollars and not have to worry about data OR minutes anymore. I still have a $30/mo SIM/number, but it's dormant for the time being, with another 55 days until it fully expires. Undecided if I'll kill it and stick with $70/mo everything unlimited, but it's nice to have uninterrupted data when I need it.

Click to collapse



OK, if it was a minutes thing I could have offered an easy solution.  Data is a little bit harder. With over 100 minutes you just need to have money in your account so they can deduct 10c/minute.  As far as data goes, I have seen in some forums people claim that they are able to just add another $30 refill card a few days early and start a new billing cycle although it sometimes requires a call to T-mobile to get them to do it.  I cannot verify these claims myself though as I have yet to go over the 5GB limit and try myself


----------



## herosemblem (Mar 8, 2014)

Yeah, blowing through the 5gb data on the 2nd day of my plan, about 28 days ago, was pretty annoying.  I can't wait until my cycle renews tomorrow so I can begin with the $70 truly unlimited plan.


----------



## whitedragonz83 (Mar 8, 2014)

herosemblem said:


> Yeah, blowing through the 5gb data on the 2nd day of my plan, about 28 days ago, was pretty annoying.  I can't wait until my cycle renews tomorrow so I can begin with the $70 truly unlimited plan.

Click to collapse



Good timing.  At the end of the month it goes up to $80 for unlimited.

http://www.tmonews.com/2014/03/50-s...national-texting-double-4g-lte-datatethering/


----------



## herosemblem (Mar 8, 2014)

I know!  I just read about that a few seconds ago.  Does signing up at the present $70 rate ensure we will continue receiving that rate?


----------



## david279 (Mar 8, 2014)

whitedragonz83 said:


> Good timing.  At the end of the month it goes up to $80 for unlimited.
> 
> http://www.tmonews.com/2014/03/50-s...national-texting-double-4g-lte-datatethering/

Click to collapse



You sure that's not for post paid? 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Mar 9, 2014)

david279 said:


> You sure that's not for post paid?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse




Correct...Simple Choice is post-paid, the announced changes don't affect pre-paid plans.

---------- Post added at 04:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:22 PM ----------




herosemblem said:


> I know!  I just read about that a few seconds ago.  Does signing up at the present $70 rate ensure we will continue receiving that rate?

Click to collapse




Existing plans are not affected, only new and upgraded plans as of March 23.

Edit: Referring above to Simple Choice Unlimited Everything Plan currently @ $70/mo. The other plans DO get double data and international texting added for free.


----------



## herosemblem (Mar 9, 2014)

Thanks, guys.


----------



## duarian (Mar 9, 2014)

So I noticed the $30 a month plan has written under it 'only for devices bought from wal-mart or activated on T-Mobile.com'.  How does one go about getting a N5 from Google play and getting this plan now?

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Mar 9, 2014)

duarian said:


> So I noticed the $30 a month plan has written under it 'only for devices bought from wal-mart or activated on T-Mobile.com'.  How does one go about getting a N5 from Google play and getting this plan now?
> 
> Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



1) Buy N5 on Play
2) Get SIM from TMO.com
3) Activate SIM on TMO.com or phone
4) Profit.


----------



## herosemblem (Mar 9, 2014)

I bought my n5 on Google play, and bought Tmo Sim kit on T-Mobile.com, then ordered a $30 emailed refill card from Walmart.com,  then set it up all on Tmo website.  
There are other routes as well.


----------



## baiju2012 (Mar 9, 2014)

> 1) Buy N5 on Play<br />
> 2) Get SIM from TMO.com<br />
> 3) Activate SIM on TMO.com or phone<br />
> 4) Profit.

Click to collapse



That's what I did with N4 when it came out. Profiting since then.

Nexus IV


----------



## howard bamber (Mar 9, 2014)

Just butting in.. I feel for you in the states. You would of thought charges would be dirt cheap, with the size of the market. I'm on prepay in the UK. For 22usd per month I get 300 mins 3000 text and totally unlimited 4g data. No throttling. I use 30plus gigs a month. 
5cents for extra minutes but I use Skype so never run out. 
My gf is on at&t and they bleed her there. 
T mobile is expensive here though. I'd never use them. 

Sent using reversed alien technology...


----------



## wideasleep1 (Mar 9, 2014)

howard bamber said:


> Just butting in.. I feel for you in the states. You would of thought charges would be dirt cheap, with the size of the market. I'm on prepay in the UK. For 22usd per month I get 300 mins 3000 text and totally unlimited 4g data. No throttling. I use 30plus gigs a month.
> 5cents for extra minutes but I use Skype so never run out.
> My gf is on at&t and they bleed her there.
> T mobile is expensive here though. I'd never use them.
> ...

Click to collapse



Long distance romance...you NEED the minutes!  Tell her she wants the TMO 30/mo plan, and you both use Voxer and Skype.  Cheers!


----------



## Native89 (Mar 9, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> 1) Buy N5 on Play
> 2) Get SIM from TMO.com
> 3) Activate SIM on TMO.com or phone
> 4) Profit.

Click to collapse



If you're lucky, T-Mobile sometimes has the SIM cards for free. 

Did exactly this coming from Verizon and don't think I'll leave T-Mobile anytime soon.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## pezkiln (Mar 9, 2014)

Native89 said:


> If you're lucky, T-Mobile sometimes has the SIM cards for free.
> 
> Did exactly this coming from Verizon and don't think I'll leave T-Mobile anytime soon.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I thought you had to buy the prepaid SIM so the ones that T-Mobile sometimes has for free will not work.


----------



## md1008 (Mar 9, 2014)

I have seen the $30 Sim card plan in Walmart

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## wideasleep1 (Mar 9, 2014)

pezkiln said:


> I thought you had to buy the prepaid SIM so the ones that T-Mobile sometimes has for free will not work.

Click to collapse



Any SIM that needs activation and fits your phone will work...how you activate and the plan you choose during activation determines the outcome. This plan requires YOU activate (not a csr) by phone prompt or online, and choose this plan to get it. You can choose among other plans, or pay more to have TMobile activate for you...but why?

https://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/sim-card


----------



## Joshmccullough (Mar 10, 2014)

howard bamber said:


> Just butting in.. I feel for you in the states. You would of thought charges would be dirt cheap, with the size of the market. I'm on prepay in the UK. For 22usd per month I get 300 mins 3000 text and totally unlimited 4g data. No throttling. I use 30plus gigs a month.
> 5cents for extra minutes but I use Skype so never run out.
> My gf is on at&t and they bleed her there.
> T mobile is expensive here though. I'd never use them.
> ...

Click to collapse



See, now you're just rubbing it in......


----------



## bozzykid (Mar 11, 2014)

pezkiln said:


> I thought you had to buy the prepaid SIM so the ones that T-Mobile sometimes has for free will not work.

Click to collapse



You have to buy the activation kit version of the SIM.  They usually put it on sale about once a month.  It works just fine for this plan.


----------



## tokuzumi (Mar 11, 2014)

Semi-kind-of-not-related: I hope Sprint doesn't buy T-Mobile.  I have a feeling if they do, this plan will be the first thing to be axed.  I'll go back to StraightTalk, using AT&T, before I use Sprint again.


----------



## ski522 (Mar 11, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> Semi-kind-of-not-related: I hope Sprint doesn't buy T-Mobile.  I have a feeling if they do, this plan will be the first thing to be axed.  I'll go back to StraightTalk, using AT&T, before I use Sprint again.

Click to collapse



Doubt you need to worry about that...Legere, T-Mobile's CEO, would most likely take over the helm of the merge company since Sprint's CEO Hesse has done nothing but sink Sprint while Legere has saved T-Mobile!


----------



## Joshmccullough (Mar 11, 2014)

ski522 said:


> Doubt you need to worry about that...Legere, T-Mobile's CEO, would most likely take over the helm of the merge company since Sprint's CEO Hesse has done nothing but sink Sprint while Legere has saved T-Mobile!

Click to collapse



I think it would be the first time in history that a CEO position has been decided by the Bro-cathalon:

Beer Pong
Arm Wrestling
Blow-up Suit Sumo Wrestling
Free Throw Basketball Arcade Machine
Call of Duty deathmatch (best 3 of 5, of course)
Euchre (again, best 3 of 5 matches)
Flip Cup

My money's on Legere by a mile.


----------



## RainMotorsports (Mar 11, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> Semi-kind-of-not-related: I hope Sprint doesn't buy T-Mobile.  I have a feeling if they do, this plan will be the first thing to be axed.  I'll go back to StraightTalk, using AT&T, before I use Sprint again.

Click to collapse



The plan isn't the only thing that would get Axed.  There are only 2 possible outcomes of a T-Mobile merger even though it seems off the table now.  Either Sprint goes GSM or T-Mobiles network gets axed for spectrum.  It would be pretty hard to move that many customers off however Sprint could really use the spectrum.  They tend to have better coverage in areas where T-Mo doesn't.  But in populated area's their 3G is saturated.  I haven't looked at what spectrums Sprint doesn't use that their current and future devices offer.  Not sure if T-Mo's spectrum is really all that optimal for a current take over.  Id rather see Sprint go GSM


----------



## tokuzumi (Mar 11, 2014)

RainMotorsports said:


> The plan isn't the only thing that would get Axed.  There are only 2 possible outcomes of a T-Mobile merger even though it seems off the table now.  Either Sprint goes GSM or T-Mobiles network gets axed for spectrum.  It would be pretty hard to move that many customers off however Sprint could really use the spectrum.  They tend to have better coverage in areas where T-Mo doesn't.  But in populated area's their 3G is saturated.  I haven't looked at what spectrums Sprint doesn't use that their current and future devices offer.  Not sure if T-Mo's spectrum is really all that optimal for a current take over.  Id rather see Sprint go GSM

Click to collapse



Sprint going GSM would be the better move.  And with things moving towards VoLTE (I know this is years off....baby steps), it would be better if Sprint just made all their phones with sim card slots.  Plus, EvDo is rather laughable with respect to speeds.  When I'm on H, I get way better speeds than I ever saw with EvDo.  It is usually much better than I saw with that crappy WiMax, too.  

I just hope AT&T steps in the way of this merger, much like Sprint stepped in the way when AT&T tried the same thing.  I'm sure the legal department at AT&T already has a set of statements, and have already approved a marketing campaign just for this.  I remember it getting pretty ugly a few years ago.


----------



## pdrift (Mar 11, 2014)

Hi guys...new nexus 5 owner here trying to activate. I've been reading thru this thread and I thought I read somewhere that I could use any sim I just had to activate on T-Mobile.com. 

Well I'm trying to use a 
sim I purchased from tmo for 99¢ a couple months ago. I've tried several times on the website, I've called T-Mobile customer service, and finally I tried a refill card from Walmart. Nothing seems to work and customer service tells me they are having problems with the system.

I ported my virgin mobile number and I was thinking maybe that's what is holding things up. I'm not really sure though. I went thru everything double checking my steps making sure my info was correct. Any ideas?

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## ski522 (Mar 11, 2014)

pdrift said:


> I ported my virgin mobile number and I was thinking maybe that's what is holding things up. I'm not really sure though. I went thru everything double checking my steps making sure my info was correct. Any ideas?
> 
> Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2

Click to collapse



A big gotcha with Virgin Mobile is you need your account number...which is not your telephone number and it's not listed anywhere if you login to your account on their website. You have to contact VM to get your account number. My guess is they do this to make it as painful to possible to move to another carrier.


----------



## pdrift (Mar 11, 2014)

I didn't realize that.. Well time to give them a call and find out.

Sent from my SPH-D710 using Tapatalk 2


----------



## TheDannemand (Mar 12, 2014)

pdrift said:


> I didn't realize that.. Well time to give them a call and find out.

Click to collapse



I called Virgin Mobile to get account numbers when my wife and I ported to T-Mo in Dec. There were no problems, they gave the account numbers right away.

When activating on T-Mo, there was a snafu where it took the $30 refill I gave it, and activated with the ported number right away. But then it complained that the account was unfunded. Apparently my funding was applied to the temporary account/number, not the ported number. I had to call T-Mo and they fixed it.

I received an SMS almost immediately that porting was completed; but I continued to have dual service for several hours, with outgoing calls and data working on T-Mo, while incoming calls and messages still went to my old VMU phone. After a few hours (maybe next day) it sorted itself out.

Other than that T-Mo has been working fine. Do note that a month is 30 days, not a calendar month as VMU. So your refill date will shift after months with 31 or 28 days.


----------



## pdrift (Mar 12, 2014)

Thanks for the help guys. I called Virgin Mobile and got my account number no problems and then called T-Mobile's number transfer center (1-877-789-3106) and someone helped me correct my mistake. After he successfully ported my number, I got a couple text messages on my Nexus 5 with a temporary password. Then I used that info to log in at my.t-mobile.com and added funds with the $30 refill card I got at walmart. I didn't even have to reboot my phone for it to start getting service. I really love this phone and plan combo


----------



## tokuzumi (Mar 12, 2014)

harryroy said:


> Is this scheme still available? Would love to go for this. How much would be total including taxes?

Click to collapse



$30


----------



## TheDannemand (Mar 12, 2014)

pdrift said:


> Thanks for the help guys. I called Virgin Mobile and got my account number no problems and then called T-Mobile's number transfer center (1-877-789-3106) and someone helped me correct my mistake. After he successfully ported my number, I got a couple text messages on my Nexus 5 with a temporary password. Then I used that info to log in at my.t-mobile.com and added funds with the $30 refill card I got at walmart. I didn't even have to reboot my phone for it to start getting service. I really love this phone and plan combo

Click to collapse



Good job, welcome onboard!







harryroy said:


> Is this scheme still available? Would love to go for this. How much would be total including taxes?

Click to collapse



It's an official prepaid plan, nothing schemy or underhand about it: You get a phone and a SIM, then activate it on T-mobile.com. Or go to Wal-Mart.

If you pay directly through T-Mo, it's $30 plus sales tax. I pay $29.75 on callingmart.com: No sales tax, and rewards points from last purchase. I get a $30 refill code immediately, which I enter on my.t-mobile.com.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Mar 12, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> $30

Click to collapse



My monthly tab always comes out to $32-something, $64 and some change for my wife and I; tax is added on for me but maybe other states are different (I'm in Michigan).  Still, it's a heck of a lot cheaper than the $140-ish I was paying a month to Sprint for two lines.


----------



## trsix (Mar 12, 2014)

*wrong*

*Wrong. The free sim works.                          QUOTE=bozzykid;50988047]You have to buy the activation kit version of the SIM.  They usually put it on sale about once a month.  It works just fine for this plan.[/QUOTE]


----------



## Gzan23 (Mar 12, 2014)

Just signed up for this last week and it was $32.10.  Works great!  Speeds are much faster than AT&T in my area.

I ordered the sim online for $10 from T-mobile and activated online when I received the sim.


----------



## Anderson2 (Mar 13, 2014)

Does this plan provide a tool to block phone calls from certain numbers? I need to block some marketing calls that are eating up my minutes.


----------



## tokuzumi (Mar 13, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Does this plan provide a tool to block phone calls from certain numbers? I need to block some marketing calls that are eating up my minutes.

Click to collapse



You can kind of do this in Android.  Just click on the contact you don't want to be bother with, and go into the settings of that contact, and select "All calls to voicemail".  Your phone won't even ring.  If the caller leaves a voicemail, you will get that notification, and that's it.


----------



## Anderson2 (Mar 13, 2014)

Terrific! Thank you so much. I didn't know that.


----------



## andy o (Mar 13, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Does this plan provide a tool to block phone calls from certain numbers? I need to block some marketing calls that are eating up my minutes.

Click to collapse



Is your phone registered in the Do Not Call list (donotcall.gov)? If so, it's illegal for them to call you. It reduced marketing calls significantly to pretty much zero on my landline years ago, and on my cell phone.

Then last year for a while I was been getting clearly illegal phone calls coming from apparently the same business (in Spanish, saying similar things) to my T-mo number. Each call was from a different number, and they had the same first 6 digits of my own number (123-456-xxxx). I don't know if the same digits or the Spanish was coincidence (I speak Spanish and my first/middle names are Spanish). I never gave out that number in the past few years since I started using Google Voice. I figured they couldn't just keep changing numbers indefinitely and sure enough, they just stopped a few months ago.


----------



## Anderson2 (Mar 13, 2014)

Thank you. I had my home phone number registered but had not registered my new cell phone because I thought it was already illegal to market call a cell phone. I just went ahead and registered the T-Mobile assigned cell phone. 

Thanks for reminding me.


----------



## pdrift (Mar 13, 2014)

Does anyone know why I don't get LTE at my job with this phone plan combo.. I get lte at home and around town but not at work. I brought my wife's note 3 (post paid) in to test the signal before I ordered my nexus 5 and it had 3 to 4 bars of 4g. With this plan and phone I only every get the H next to the signal bars.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## tokuzumi (Mar 13, 2014)

pdrift said:


> Does anyone know why I don't get LTE at my job with this phone plan combo.. I get lte at home and around town but not at work. I brought my wife's note 3 (post paid) in to test the signal before I ordered my nexus 5 and it had 3 to 4 bars of 4g. With this plan and phone I only every get the H next to the signal bars.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



It probably has nothing to do with your phone/plan combo, and more to do with radio signals trying to enter your building.  Do you get LTE when you step outside the building?  

There are a million factors why you would have one type of network connectivity over the other.  We don't have enough info to really answer your question.


----------



## Fire Ball (Mar 14, 2014)

pdrift said:


> Does anyone know why I don't get LTE at my job with this phone plan combo.. I get lte at home and around town but not at work. I brought my wife's note 3 (post paid) in to test the signal before I ordered my nexus 5 and it had 3 to 4 bars of 4g. With this plan and phone I only every get the H next to the signal bars.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



On the Note 3 when it says "4G" it is really on HSPA+. They just call it 4G for marketing purposes. It say "4G LTE" when it's actually on LTE.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## ski522 (Mar 14, 2014)

pdrift said:


> Does anyone know why I don't get LTE at my job with this phone plan combo.. I get lte at home and around town but not at work. I brought my wife's note 3 (post paid) in to test the signal before I ordered my nexus 5 and it had 3 to 4 bars of 4g. With this plan and phone I only every get the H next to the signal bars.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Download Network Signal Info on both phones. It will tell you what that actual signal type is. As some others have said, most likely wife's phone is not completely truthful about the signal.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.android.telnet&hl=en


----------



## RainMotorsports (Mar 15, 2014)

Fire Ball said:


> On the Note 3 when it says "4G" it is really on HSPA+. They just call it 4G for marketing purposes. It say "4G LTE" when it's actually on LTE.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Thats typical of carrier branded devices, possibly oem firmware as well.  Sprint was famous for having Samsung show the 3G symbol even when you are on 1x.  Not a problem you will have on a Nexus though.  H, H+ and LTE for T-Mobile. Cant remember what it shows for 2G think 2G but... lol.  On Sprint there will of course be a slight difference for 3G symbol-age.


----------



## akash3656 (Mar 15, 2014)

RainMotorsports said:


> Thats typical of carrier branded devices, possibly oem firmware as well.  Sprint was famous for having Samsung show the 3G symbol even when you are on 1x.  Not a problem you will have on a Nexus though.  H, H+ and LTE for T-Mobile. Cant remember what it shows for 2G think 2G but... lol.  On Sprint there will of course be a slight difference for 3G symbol-age.

Click to collapse



On stock android;
G for GPRS (2G)
E for EDGE  (2.5G)
3G for UMTS (3G)
H for HSPA  (3.5G)
H for HSPA+(3.75G)
Some custom ROMs display H+ for HSPA+ connections though
LTE for LTE (4G)

Now, other non stock android devices may use a totally different way to show the various network types. A good example is the iPhone 4/4S, shows AT&T's HSPA network as 4G lul.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Anderson2 (Mar 16, 2014)

I'll be traveling to Ottawa, Canada in the near future. Does anyone know if the nexus 5 on the $30 plan will work in Canada? 

Roaming charges?


----------



## david279 (Mar 17, 2014)

No roaming on prepaid 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## ski522 (Mar 17, 2014)

david279 said:


> No roaming on prepaid
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Correct, but I beleive you can add it on a monthly basis:
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-additional-services


----------



## MobileThrowAwayAcc (Mar 17, 2014)

ski522 said:


> Correct, but I beleive you can add it on a monthly basis:

Click to collapse



Hey, that's good to know! Thanks!


----------



## Gaffadin (Mar 17, 2014)

Although you get no data.


----------



## paperWastage (Mar 17, 2014)

ski522 said:


> Correct, but I beleive you can add it on a monthly basis:
> http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-additional-services

Click to collapse




david279 said:


> No roaming on prepaid
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251624&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1907334&highlight=



> And, customers can roam freely in more places.  T-Mobile is adding seven additional countries and destinations where postpaid Simple Choice customers enjoy unlimited data and texting while traveling - and low, flat-rate calls for just 20 cents a minute, bringing the total to 122 countries and destinations.
> 
> The new benefits will begin immediately on March 23 for customers who choose to run credit and take the postpaid option. For those who prefer not to run credit and opt for *prepaid service, unlimited international texting will start on April 26*.

Click to collapse



not sure what the "prepaid" service refers to... probably the Simple Choice prepaid line (i.e. $50/$60/$70 bundles, not the $30 for 5GB one)


----------



## Anderson2 (Mar 23, 2014)

Suggestions for a dialer to replace the one that comes with T-Mobile?


----------



## FuMMoD (Mar 23, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Suggestions for a dialer to replace the one that comes with T-Mobile?

Click to collapse



T-Mobile doesn't have a dialer....... Cellular phone companies can't add anything to Nexus devices. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## BigJeff (Mar 23, 2014)

This may just be me, but when I go over the 5gbs, and I stream a lot of music, it'll kick back into LTE and i can push LTE speeds all the way till the next month when I refill, so I really get like 7+gigs of LTE


----------



## Anderson2 (Mar 23, 2014)

FuMMoD said:


> T-Mobile doesn't have a dialer....... Cellular phone companies can't add anything to Nexus devices.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Ah, I guess it is then the native Android dialer. I'll have to replace it. I looked in the play store and there are so many to choose from. Suggestions for the better ones?


----------



## Macguyver (Mar 24, 2014)

BigJeff said:


> This may just be me, but when I go over the 5gbs, and I stream a lot of music, it'll kick back into LTE and i can push LTE speeds all the way till the next month when I refill, so I really get like 7+gigs of LTE

Click to collapse



So you're doing the first 5GB on HSPA?


----------



## BigJeff (Mar 25, 2014)

Macguyver said:


> So you're doing the first 5GB on HSPA?

Click to collapse



Nope its all Ltd for first 5


----------



## Pandages (Mar 25, 2014)

I'm running this plan.  I'm thinking about swapping to the $80 post-paid option, so that I can take advantage of T-Mo's program to provide free cell reception amplifiers to post-paid customers.  Also, I'd get a small discount.

100 minutes just isn't quite enough for me.  It's close, though.  If I had free nights or weekends or something, then it would be sufficient.  Or if Wifi-calling worked on the Nexus devices.  As it stands, I'm likely to go over by a bit each month.


----------



## Anderson2 (Mar 25, 2014)

Pandages said:


> Or if Wifi-calling worked on the Nexus devices.  As it stands, I'm likely to go over by a bit each month.

Click to collapse



Doesn't Talkatone (which does phone calls over wifi) work on nexus devices? 

Also if you add $10 to cover calls beyond 100 minutes you would still be paying only $40 a month. That's what I do.


----------



## tokuzumi (Mar 26, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Doesn't Talkatone (which does phone calls over wifi) work on nexus devices?
> 
> Also if you add $10 to cover calls beyond 100 minutes you would still be paying only $40 a month. That's what I do.

Click to collapse



I use talkatone as my primary method of making calls. With my number ported to Google voice, I can make and receive calls through talkatone. Once may 14th  comes around, I'll need to see what I can use after Google shuts down xmpp support. I'm hoping hangouts will handle these duties.


----------



## Johnny Broccoli (Mar 26, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Also if you add $10 to cover calls beyond 100 minutes you would still be paying only $40 a month. That's what I do.

Click to collapse



Same.


----------



## jblazea50 (Mar 28, 2014)

Anyone know how I can switch one line from Simple Choice Family to this prepaid $30 plan? Of course the device will be paid off fully. I already have the micro sim kit from T-Mobile. What steps do I need to take to keep my current number when I make the switch to the prepaid?


----------



## tokuzumi (Mar 28, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> $30

Click to collapse



Just an update on the exact amount I was charged.  $30.75.  I live in Georgia, so I'm not sure if there are different fees for other states.  I use the auto-refill straight from the my.t-mobile website.


----------



## TastyUpdate (Mar 28, 2014)

For those on T-Mobile's $30 plan, tethering is not possible. UNTIL NOW. This method makes tethering possible without the use of a third-party tethering app. You can setup a tethering hotspot straight from the Kit Kat settings. Root access, and a paid app, SQLite Editor, is required. The app is $2, but it's a small price to pay for unlimited tethering! Link with instructions here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47203432&postcount=70

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## sirxdroid (Mar 28, 2014)

TastyUpdate said:


> For those on T-Mobile's $30 plan, tethering is not possible. UNTIL NOW. This method makes tethering possible without the use of a third-party tethering app. You can setup a tethering hotspot straight from the Kit Kat settings. Root access, and a paid app, SQLite Editor, is required. The app is $2, but it's a small price to pay for unlimited tethering! Link with instructions here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47203432&postcount=70

Click to collapse



Do you guys find that you also need to change the APN to use IPv4 only?


----------



## TastyUpdate (Mar 28, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> Do you guys find that you also need to change the APN to use IPv4 only?

Click to collapse



That's correct

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Gaffadin (Mar 28, 2014)

The "IP4 / IP6" setting also works.

The paid app is not required; you can use other (free) database editors to make the necessary change.


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Apr 1, 2014)

TastyUpdate said:


> For those on T-Mobile's $30 plan, tethering is not possible. UNTIL NOW. This method makes tethering possible without the use of a third-party tethering app. You can setup a tethering hotspot straight from the Kit Kat settings. Root access, and a paid app, SQLite Editor, is required. The app is $2, but it's a small price to pay for unlimited tethering! Link with instructions here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47203432&postcount=70
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Hmm,  I've been tethering  my iPad since day one of owning the Nexus 5 and using this plan. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## ski522 (Apr 1, 2014)

TastyUpdate said:


> For those on T-Mobile's $30 plan, tethering is not possible. UNTIL NOW. This method makes tethering possible without the use of a third-party tethering app. You can setup a tethering hotspot straight from the Kit Kat settings. Root access, and a paid app, SQLite Editor, is required. The app is $2, but it's a small price to pay for unlimited tethering! Link with instructions here: http://forum.xda-developers.com/showpost.php?p=47203432&postcount=70
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I was having trouble tethering until I followed this method...so I guess your mileage will vary.


----------



## TastyUpdate (Apr 1, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Hmm,  I've been tethering  my iPad since day one of owning the Nexus 5 and using this plan.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Really? And this is without the use of a tethering app such as FoxFi? There is a tethering block by default. I wonder if you kept tethering abilities due to a grandfather plan. At one point, before most of us got this T-Mobile plan, maybe tethering was enabled on the $30 plan.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

---------- Post added at 01:33 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:29 PM ----------




tokuzumi said:


> Just an update on the exact amount I was charged.  $30.75.  I live in Georgia, so I'm not sure if there are different fees for other states.  I use the auto-refill straight from the my.t-mobile website.

Click to collapse



I am also being charged $30.75 per month. I'm using auto-pay and live in Idaho.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Pandages (Apr 1, 2014)

I'm looking for a way to improve my signal inside my home, and hopefully bypass the 100min/month.  I see three possible approaches:

1) wifi-calling through T-Mobile's proprietary IMS service.  This could be delivered through hacked up ROMs, flashable zips, or a T-Mobile-specific 1st-party app.
1a) This is unlikely.

2) Signal Booster: the Cel-Fi RS224 supposedly works very well.  T-Mobile provides these for free if you are on a post-paid plan.  I'd need to swap to a different plan, or to buy one of these myself. They're very expensive.
2a) This is expensive.

3) SIP address(es), Softphone application(s), GoogleVoice, etc.  This approach could be free, but is a bit tricky.  There are lots of software limitations in place.  Also, SIP-to-SIP calls are really what I would intend, meaning I would need to get most of the people who call me, or whom I call, to register SIP accounts (since we're nerds, this is more likely than you might think).
3a) This is for nerds.


----------



## tokuzumi (Apr 1, 2014)

Pandages said:


> I'm looking for a way to improve my signal inside my home, and hopefully bypass the 100min/month.  I see three possible approaches:
> 
> 1) wifi-calling through T-Mobile's proprietary IMS service.  This could be delivered through hacked up ROMs, flashable zips, or a T-Mobile-specific 1st-party app.
> 1a) This is unlikely.
> ...

Click to collapse



The only issue I have with using my Google Voice # through Talkatone is when I answer the phone.  It seems like there's a couple of seconds delay from the time I answer and say "Hello?" to the point where I first hear the person on the other end.  If signal is low, sometimes the connection isn't that good.  Other than that, I have no issues with using VoIP.  When I'm at home, on wifi, my calls are nice and clear.


----------



## Pandages (Apr 1, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> The only issue I have with using my Google Voice # through Talkatone is when I answer the phone.  It seems like there's a couple of seconds delay from the time I answer and say "Hello?" to the point where I first hear the person on the other end.  If signal is low, sometimes the connection isn't that good.  Other than that, I have no issues with using VoIP.  When I'm at home, on wifi, my calls are nice and clear.

Click to collapse



I don't think I'd want to use Talkatone, but, that sounds like an implementation of #3.  Still, I'd rather use my own SIP server and some kind of F/OSS SIP client that integrates with the dialer app.  Maybe in 4.5 or 5.0, Google will include upgraded SIP as part of the Dialer app.


----------



## tokuzumi (Apr 1, 2014)

Pandages said:


> I don't think I'd want to use Talkatone, but, that sounds like an implementation of #3.  Still, I'd rather use my own SIP server and some kind of F/OSS SIP client that integrates with the dialer app.  Maybe in 4.5 or 5.0, Google will include upgraded SIP as part of the Dialer app.

Click to collapse



The talkatone way is going to kind of disappear in May, when google drops XMPP support.  You will need to sign up for a separate talkatone account (currently, you can log in using your GV login information, and make/receive calls via GV), and then have your GV number forward calls to that number.  Outgoing calls would show your talkatone number, not your GV number (like I currently have now - incoming and outgoing calls are all handled through talkatone, via my GV number).  I hope the Hangouts app for android mirrors the app in iOS, which allows for outgoing VoIP calls.  I just don't know if the hangouts app allows for incoming calls in iOS.


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Apr 1, 2014)

TastyUpdate said:


> Really? And this is without the use of a tethering app such as FoxFi? There is a tethering block by default. I wonder if you kept tethering abilities due to a grandfather plan. At one point, before most of us got this T-Mobile plan, maybe tethering was enabled on the $30 plan.

Click to collapse



I decided one day to try it and it worked.  I've only had T-Mobile since January. I wonder if using a custom ROM unblocked it, I ran CM11.


Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## TastyUpdate (Apr 1, 2014)

dinggus said:


> I decided one day to try it and it worked.  I've only had T-Mobile since January. I wonder if using a custom ROM unblocked it, I ran CM11.
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Ohhhh that explains a lot. Some custom ROMs do that, done don't. The main one I used, Cataclysm, didn't have that feature.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Apr 1, 2014)

TastyUpdate said:


> Ohhhh that explains a lot. Some custom ROMs do that, done don't. The main one I used, Cataclysm, didn't have that feature.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Ah, I see. Well I'm not currently in the states, but installed SlimKat so hopefully it still works. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Joshmccullough (Apr 1, 2014)

TastyUpdate said:


> Really? And this is without the use of a tethering app such as FoxFi? There is a tethering block by default. I wonder if you kept tethering abilities due to a grandfather plan. At one point, before most of us got this T-Mobile plan, maybe tethering was enabled on the $30 plan.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Must be a state-by-state thing; I live in Michigan, and my monthly is $32 and some change.


----------



## tokuzumi (Apr 1, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Must be a state-by-state thing; I live in Michigan, and my monthly is $32 and some change.

Click to collapse



Location, location, location.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Apr 1, 2014)

Pandages said:


> I don't think I'd want to use Talkatone, but, that sounds like an implementation of #3.  Still, I'd rather use my own SIP server and some kind of F/OSS SIP client that integrates with the dialer app.  Maybe in 4.5 or 5.0, Google will include upgraded SIP as part of the Dialer app.

Click to collapse



I was looking into replacing our home phone with VoIP through Callcentric; for a pay-as-you-go plan it's $0.02/minute for in- or out-going calls (actually $0.01somethingorother, but it rounds up to 2 cents.)  You pay monthly fees/taxes for your area, usually a couple of bucks a month, but you get a lot of included features.  Not trying to shill or anything, but if it weren't for my wife not wanting to have to worry about keeping the Callcentric account refilled (strange, I know) we'd have gone that route.  

You can use Callcentric's Android app with the number you get from them for WiFi/VoIP calling or CSipSimple; can't speak to how well it works as I haven't used it myself.  I'd recommend taking a look at their site, maybe it'd be a low-cost service (but not completely free) that might do what you want.


----------



## Fire Ball (Apr 2, 2014)

Pandages said:


> I don't think I'd want to use Talkatone, but, that sounds like an implementation of #3.  Still, I'd rather use my own SIP server and some kind of F/OSS SIP client that integrates with the dialer app.  Maybe in 4.5 or 5.0, Google will include upgraded SIP as part of the Dialer app.

Click to collapse



Google actually already has integrated SIP into the dialer. Go into the dialer settings and look for internet calling.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Pandages (Apr 2, 2014)

Fire Ball said:


> Google actually already has integrated SIP into the dialer. Go into the dialer settings and look for internet calling.

Click to collapse



Yep! Unfortunately, it isn't very full-featured.  4.4.2 broke the functions that enable hardware echo cancellation (at least on the nexus 5), but other apps use software implementations to work around this.

Still, the limitations of pure SIP-to-SIP make it not the best option.  Unless my friends, family, local businesses, utility companies, car dealerships, etc. get SIP addresses.


----------



## TiltedAz (Apr 6, 2014)

I'm not sure how much I'll use it but finally broke down and set up tethering. Works great, no issues with the $30/5gb data plan.

I was looking at the user agent switcher extension.  Looks like you set it up to give the impression the tethered browser is something other than what it actually is. I assume one would use it to give the impression of using a smartphone mobile browser while tethering to a PC, etc?


----------



## chaofun (Apr 6, 2014)

*Trouble setting up this plan*

Sorry if this question has been answered before.  Did a quick search for walmart but did not see the answer.  Is there a very specific way I need to activate/buy this plan?  I activated mine through an hour of phone arguing with T-mobile, but I want to find an easier way to help the rest of my family buy.

It was a pain to finally get the $30/month 100 min/unlimited text 5gb unthrottled plan to work.  First, I went into a t-mobile store and wanted to just buy the sim card there and have them activate it.  They say it is impossible to do in store; to get this $30 plan, I must call T-mobile sales or get it at walmart.  Stupid me thinking I could walk into T-mobile store to buy a T-mobile plan.

So I call walmart: it costs $43 ish to get their activation kit with $30 credit for this plan.  I called T-mobile, told the CSR I specifically want the $30/100minute/unlimitedtextweb5gb plan, and she tells me I can buy the sim card for their usual sale price of $0.99/sim card.  She says it will be no problem to activate the plan that I want: I just need to call 8777782107. 

So when the card arrived in the mail, I called the given number.  The CSR says they cannot do the $30plan that I want.  I MUST go to Walmart to get what I want.  I explained that that is not what the salesperson and store person and logical reasoning tells me.  The phone CSR who made the sale to me even told me that it is better to buy from T-mobile because it is cheaper, and they ship to you for free.  But then the CSR says it's impossible.  Upgrade to supervisor.  Supervisor says, it's impossible.  I  argue.  And argue.  Then the supervisor says he will make an "exception" just for me.  He says that the pricing that is on the website is no longer valid.  I check as I am talking to him, and I say, it is still posted there.  And he tells me I am mistaken.  I say fine, whatever, just make the exception.  

So now it works.  But was it supposed to be so hard?  Why does T-mobile make it so difficult to buy this plan?     



Joshmccullough said:


> No, you can activate the $30 plan online, too.  Had a customer service rep tell me that it was only available at WalMart, she was sadly mistaken.
> 
> http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans
> 
> ...

Click to collapse


----------



## ski522 (Apr 6, 2014)

> So now it works. But was it supposed to be so hard? Why does T-mobile make it so difficult to buy this plan?

Click to collapse



Really? This has been discussed several times through-out this thread...Also you quote another post with the link that leads you to the $30 plan and clearly says 





> This plan is only available for devices *purchased* from *Wal-Mart* or devices *activated* on *T-Mobile.com*

Click to collapse



Because this is a low price plan, T-Mobile doesn't want to have to pay service reps to activate people on this plan when the can be helping their other customers on more expensive plans. I hope you apologized to the T-Mobile reps for being difficult?


----------



## emd2009 (Apr 6, 2014)

So can someone write a how to switch from a T-Mobile simple plan to this using an HTC one or nexus 5

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Apr 6, 2014)

emd2009 said:


> So can someone write a how to switch from a T-Mobile simple plan to this using an HTC one or nexus 5
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=50933856

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=48101970

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47889192

Posts in this vicinity deal with accounts and porting:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=47915851

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## Joshmccullough (Apr 7, 2014)

chaofun said:


> Sorry if this question has been answered before.  Did a quick search for walmart but did not see the answer.  Is there a very specific way I need to activate/buy this plan?  I activated mine through an hour of phone arguing with T-mobile, but I want to find an easier way to help the rest of my family buy.
> 
> It was a pain to finally get the $30/month 100 min/unlimited text 5gb unthrottled plan to work.  First, I went into a t-mobile store and wanted to just buy the sim card there and have them activate it.  They say it is impossible to do in store; to get this $30 plan, I must call T-mobile sales or get it at walmart.  Stupid me thinking I could walk into T-mobile store to buy a T-mobile plan.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I'm sorry they gave you such a hard time; I just activated a $30/month plan completely online and without hassles, no trip to WalMart, on March 6th.  The first time I ever tried to activate an account, I goofed something up and had to call customer service and the lady tried to give me that Walmart line, but I corrected her without needing to talk to a supervisor.....


----------



## chaofun (Apr 7, 2014)

Ooo.  I guess I should have read this thread a lot more carefully before assuming it would be easy to just buy this plan.

Glad it was easier for you and the others who followed the directions here more carefully 


Joshmccullough said:


> I'm sorry they gave you such a hard time; I just activated a $30/month plan completely online and without hassles, no trip to WalMart, on March 6th.  The first time I ever tried to activate an account, I goofed something up and had to call customer service and the lady tried to give me that Walmart line, but I corrected her without needing to talk to a supervisor.....

Click to collapse


----------



## Johnny Broccoli (Apr 7, 2014)

It IS supremely easy if you can follow simple directions. I didn't have to talk once to anyone associated with T-Mobile to get the $30/month plan rollin' with my Nexus 5.


----------



## ski522 (Apr 7, 2014)

Johnny Broccoli said:


> It IS supremely easy if you can follow simple directions. I didn't have to talk once to anyone associated with T-Mobile to get the $30/month plan rollin' with my Nexus 5.

Click to collapse



No kid...anyone having trouble signing up for this plan doesn't know how to follow basic instructions...again from T-Mobiles website 





> This plan is only available for devices purchased from Wal-Mart or devices activated on T-Mobile.com

Click to collapse



What part is so difficult to understand?


----------



## bozzykid (Apr 8, 2014)

ski522 said:


> No kid...anyone having trouble signing up for this plan doesn't know how to follow basic instructions...again from T-Mobiles website

Click to collapse



Last year there was a huge batch of SIM cards that couldn't be activated on this plan.  It would take a lot of phone tag with multiple T-Mobile agents to get them to activate it manually.  But other than that, if you buy the SIM on T-Mobile.com or Walmart, then there is generally no issues activating it.


----------



## Anderson2 (Apr 12, 2014)

I just activated my wife's Nexus 5 to the T-Mobile $30, 100 min prepaid plan. All works fine but I have a question. 

I installed the T-Mobile app. On my phone the account status appears in the notification bar but it does not on my wife's phone. Is there a hidden setting I am missing?


----------



## Joshmccullough (Apr 12, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> I just activated my wife's Nexus 5 to the T-Mobile $30, 100 min prepaid plan. All works fine but I have a question.
> 
> I installed the T-Mobile app. On my phone the account status appears in the notification bar but it does not on my wife's phone. Is there a hidden setting I am missing?

Click to collapse



Yeah, it's in the options, something about 'show in notification bar' or something; it's not plainly obvious, you've got to click around a bit.


----------



## Anderson2 (Apr 12, 2014)

I thought I had that selected but I'll check again. Maybe it has to go through the first 24 hour cycle. Will see. 
Thanks.


----------



## Cod3L1ne (Apr 12, 2014)

I have a att note 2 i317 and got the t mobile starter kit and I get a network unlock screen what's the code?

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk


----------



## bozzykid (Apr 12, 2014)

Cod3L1ne said:


> I have a att note 2 i317 and got the t mobile starter kit and I get a network unlock screen what's the code?
> 
> Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I317 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Why are you asking in a Nexus 5 thread?  You phone is sim locked.  You must get a sim unlock code for your phone.


----------



## emd2009 (Apr 13, 2014)

Just a heads up, sim cards from T-Mobile are free right now. 


http://www.reddit.com/r/Nexus5/comments/22vvu7/just_a_heads_up_sim_cards_from_tmobile_are_free/

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/sim-card


----------



## TiltedAz (Apr 13, 2014)

I picked up an extra just in case. Wife's phone is almost off contract.


----------



## XtraWho (Apr 13, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> I just activated my wife's Nexus 5 to the T-Mobile $30, 100 min prepaid plan. All works fine but I have a question.
> 
> I installed the T-Mobile app. On my phone the account status appears in the notification bar but it does not on my wife's phone. Is there a hidden setting I am missing?

Click to collapse









Make sure the box is checked, I unchecked mine because I don't like seeing it in my status bar

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Anderson2 (Apr 14, 2014)

Not all Sims work for the $30 100 minutes, unlimited data, unlimited Internet Walmart plan. 

I am currently on that plan with my Nexus 5 phone and it works fine. So when my wife got her own nexus 5 phone I ordered one of the free sim kits from T-Mobile. When it arrived I inserted it into her phone and activated it on the T-Mobile website to the $30 plan that I thought was mine. Two days later I looked at her phone and saw it was for only 100 free messages, *not* unlimited messages like my Walmart plan. 

So I called T-Mobile customer service and according to the agent this sim could not be used for the Walmart plan I have. She said that to get that plan I need to buy another sim from Walmart! 

Problem is none of the Walmarts in my area have it in the stores. That is why I ordered it on the web from T-Mobile. For my phone I had also ordered it online for the same reason (none in the stores). Maybe I had ordered it from Walmart online. Don't remember but I remember that it had not been scanned before packaging and I had to go to a Walmart store where, after much confusion, they "returned" it and I repurchased it so they could scan it and make it work. 

So....... Does anyone know what I have to do to make this sim work for the $30 100 minutes, unlimited data, unlimited Internet Walmart plan? Or where to get a sim online that will work for the Walmart plan? 

They really don't want people to get this plan!


----------



## bozzykid (Apr 14, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Not all Sims work for the $30 100 minutes, unlimited data, unlimited Internet Walmart plan.
> 
> I am currently on that plan with my Nexus 5 phone and it works fine. So when my wife got her own nexus 5 phone I ordered one of the free sim kits from T-Mobile. When it arrived I inserted it into her phone and activated it on the T-Mobile website to the $30 plan that I thought was mine. Two days later I looked at her phone and saw it was for only 100 free messages, *not* unlimited messages like my Walmart plan.
> 
> So I called T-Mobile customer service and according to the agent this sim could not be used for the Walmart plan I have. She said that to get that plan I need to buy another sim from Walmart!

Click to collapse




Actually any SIM from T-Mobile.com will work.  The reason you have to get another is you can't switch to this plan from another plan since it is for new activations only.  It sounds like you selected the wrong $30 plan when you signed up.  Sometimes if you are insistent you can escalate it with the CSR and get them to attach the correct plan.


----------



## ritchea (Apr 14, 2014)

Call again.  Sims purchased from the T-Mobile site CAN be activated on that plan as long as it's done online. "100 minutes talk | Unlimited text | First 5 GB at up to 4G speeds...
This plan is only available for devices purchased from*
Wal-Mart or devices activated on T-Mobile.com." 
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans --quoted from this site.  You have to be careful as there are several $30. plans.  If you should get the "Walmart" story again,  just politely add "or activated at T-Mobile.com." Repeat as needed. 


Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## bozzykid (Apr 14, 2014)

ritchea said:


> Call again.  Sims purchased from the T-Mobile site CAN be activated on that plan as long as it's done online. "100 minutes talk | Unlimited text | First 5 GB at up to 4G speeds...
> This plan is only available for devices purchased from*
> Wal-Mart or devices activated on T-Mobile.com."
> http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans --quoted from this site.  You have to be careful as there are several $30. plans.  If you should get the "Walmart" story again,  just politely add "or activated at T-Mobile.com." Repeat as needed.
> ...

Click to collapse



The issue is the sim card is already activated on another plan.  It is pretty difficult to get them to switch to this plan as it isn't technically allowed.


----------



## voidcomp (Apr 14, 2014)

New TMo customer.  Just activated online their $30/mth plan by going direct to T-Mobile website after getting their free SIM card a few weeks back.

37 Mbps down, 6 up on a Nexus 5.  Damn.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Apr 14, 2014)

bozzykid said:


> Actually any SIM from T-Mobile.com will work.

Click to collapse



Almost any SIM...TMO does carry a data-only SIM (and even Walmart carries that one) that cannot be activated on any calling plan. So long as folks choose a SIM not represented as a DATA plan SIM, they should be good, and yes, it needs to be a new SIM.


----------



## ritchea (Apr 14, 2014)

bozzykid said:


> The issue is the sim card is already activated on another plan.  It is pretty difficult to get them to switch to this plan as it isn't technically allowed.

Click to collapse



If you don't want the hassle of dealing with T-Mobile CS (you made a mistake and are trying to correct it, and you were given incorrect info, ie Walmart-only sim), just order a new sim today while they are still free.  Technically speaking, ALL THE PHONE SIMS ARE THE SAME! Either immediately,  or at the end of the 30 days,  try to activate the new sim.  I say try,  because in the past there has been chatter about the plan only being for new customers. I've read that previous customers have been able to activate on that $30./100 minute talk plan. 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Apr 14, 2014)

ritchea said:


> If you don't want the hassle of dealing with T-Mobile CS (you made a mistake and are trying to correct it), just order a new sim today while they are still free.  Technically speaking, ALL THE PHONE SIMS ARE THE SAME! Either immediately,  or at the end of the 30 days,  try to activate the new sim.  I say try,  because in the past there has been chatter about the plan only being for new customers. I've read that previous customers have been able to activate on that $30./100 minute talk plan.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse




'New customers only' is misinformation. New SIM is the only requirement*...you can even port your other TMO plan phone number, effectively killing that plan.

*new SIM AND online/phone activation, sorry.


----------



## ritchea (Apr 14, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> 'New customers only' is misinformation. New SIM is the only requirement*...you can even port your other TMO plan phone number, effectively killing that plan.
> 
> *new SIM AND online/phone activation, sorry.

Click to collapse



That's why it was reported as chatter--probably out of date,  too. 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## bozzykid (Apr 14, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> 'New customers only' is misinformation. New SIM is the only requirement*...you can even port your other TMO plan phone number, effectively killing that plan.
> 
> *new SIM AND online/phone activation, sorry.

Click to collapse



Sorry, but new customers = new account in this case.  A current customer can't switch without creating a new account.


----------



## ritchea (Apr 14, 2014)

bozzykid said:


> Sorry, but new customers = new account in this case.  A current customer can't switch without creating a new account.

Click to collapse



Technically, I believe this is correct (not that I doubt either reply, just trying to provide heads up for Anderson2). "New customer" should be replaced with "new activation." "New activation" means new account which means new number, correct? However, one should be able to then have his/her original number ported by calling CS immediately after activation?
I realize this info is nearly a year old, but it should point to something for Anderson2. I'm referring to tmo-chrisl response (ignore the "walmart" part as we all agree that is not required--I've activated 3 sims on this plan and each came from T-Mobile.com). The new sim comes with a new activation code.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Apr 14, 2014)

bozzykid said:


> Sorry, but new customers = new account in this case.  A current customer can't switch without creating a new account.

Click to collapse



Semantics..we're saying the same thing. The actual requirements for THIS plan only indicate 'new activations'...it's up up to the reader whether they interpret it as new 'customer' vs. new account. I think it is misleading for folks here to say 'you have to be a new customer'..everyone I've converted to this plan was already a TMO customer. The fact it's a 'new account' is elementary...

---------- Post added at 02:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:57 PM ----------




ritchea said:


> Technically, I believe this is correct (not that I doubt either reply, just trying to provide heads up for OP). "New customer" should be replaced with "new activation." "New activation" means new account which means new number, correct? However, one should be able to then have his/her original number ported by calling CS immediately after activation?
> I realize this info is nearly a year old, but it should point to something for the OP. I'm referring to tmo-chrisl response (ignore the "walmart" part as we all agree that is not required--I've activated 3 sims on this plan and each came from T-Mobile.com). The new sim comes with a new activation code.

Click to collapse



You don't need to call to port..it's part of the activation process. It can be any carrier number, even your old plan TMO number.


----------



## yabbadabbadooozy (Apr 14, 2014)

I have this plan, and just heard about the new offer T-Mobile is doing for post paid voice accounts where you get a tablet at WiFi cost with 1.2GB for a year free. What would be the best way to cash in on this deal??

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Apr 14, 2014)

yabbadabbadooozy said:


> I have this plan, and just heard about the new offer T-Mobile is doing for post paid voice accounts where you get a tablet at WiFi cost with 1.2GB for a year free. What would be the best way to cash in on this deal??
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



You could run the post paid concurrently with this plan. I get free data plan on my Chromebook this way, but it isn't a post paid account...it was just included.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## andy o (Apr 16, 2014)

yabbadabbadooozy said:


> I have this plan, and just heard about the new offer T-Mobile is doing for post paid voice accounts where you get a tablet at WiFi cost with 1.2GB for a year free. What would be the best way to cash in on this deal??

Click to collapse



You need to open a new post paid plan for the tablet, the cheapest one is the 1GB for $10 one, the same you're referencing. It will be $20 starting in 2015, but you can cancel any time. I still don't know if I'm gonna keep the plan or just cancel it immediately, but my tablet is on the way anyway.[emoji106]


----------



## Caebron (Apr 17, 2014)

andy o said:


> You need to open a new post paid plan for the tablet, the cheapest one is the 1GB for $10 one, the same you're referencing. It will be $20 starting in 2015, but you can cancel any time. I still don't know if I'm gonna keep the plan or just cancel it immediately, but my tablet is on the way anyway.[emoji106]

Click to collapse



It comes out to $18/ month though, not 10. What am I missing?


----------



## andy o (Apr 17, 2014)

Caebron said:


> It comes out to $18/ month though, not 10. What am I missing?

Click to collapse



The plan is $10 for the rest of the year, with $10 further discount if you got a post paid phone plan already. Where did you get $18? My first bill is going to be I think $16, but it's $6 prorated until the end of the month and then $10 for the next.


----------



## emd2009 (Apr 17, 2014)

OK I need some assistance.

I currently have a T-Mobile simple choice plan with two lines.

I just received my Sim cards for this $30 plan. How do I go about canceling my current plan and setting up my nexus 5 and galaxy s4 on this prepaid plan?

Also, is the 5gb limit of data, or just 4g LTE?


----------



## paperWastage (Apr 17, 2014)

emd2009 said:


> OK I need some assistance.
> 
> I currently have a T-Mobile simple choice plan with two lines.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



you have to activate the sim cards with the $30 plan, then port your number over. someone else can chime in whether it's better to port number while activating, or port it after activating

it's 5GB data limit however you use it (2G, 3G, LTE). after that, you can still connect to the LTE network for better latency, but speed is throttled to ~0.1 kbits/s


----------



## Caebron (Apr 17, 2014)

andy o said:


> The plan is $10 for the rest of the year, with $10 further discount if you got a post paid phone plan already. Where did you get $18? My first bill is going to be I think $16, but it's $6 prorated until the end of the month and then $10 for the next.

Click to collapse






> PACKAGE  1  TOTAL	 DUE TODAY	 DUE MONTHLY
> 
> $10.00
> $18.33/mo
> ...

Click to collapse



That's the quote I got for a Galaxy Tab on the T-Mo website. So that's $10 for the plan + 8.33/ month for 24mos for the tablet.

So when does the $10 get deducted?


----------



## Joshmccullough (Apr 17, 2014)

paperWastage said:


> you have to activate the sim cards with the $30 plan, then port your number over. someone else can chime in whether it's better to port number while activating, or port it after activating
> 
> it's 5GB data limit however you use it (2G, 3G, LTE). after that, you can still connect to the LTE network for better latency, but speed is throttled to ~0.1 kbits/s

Click to collapse



Port during activation.  Just get it done all at once; once your first account/line isn't active anymore, you know your second line/account is.


----------



## andy o (Apr 17, 2014)

Caebron said:


> That's the quote I got for a Galaxy Tab on the T-Mo website. So that's $10 for the plan + 8.33/ month for 24mos for the tablet.
> 
> So when does the $10 get deducted?

Click to collapse



The $10 is deducted immediately. Normally this 1GB plan is $20, and this offer will end at the end of this year. If you already have a post-paid phone plan you get further $10 discounted, making this plan free. In 2015 it goes up to $10 for those people. The $8.33 you're paying is for the tablet itself, of course. You need to pay for the tablet somehow, but whether you do upfront (like I did) or with installments, you pay the reduced Wi-Fi-only equivalent price. If you want to pay upfront I was told you need to go to a store or call them up.


----------



## emd2009 (Apr 17, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Port during activation.  Just get it done all at once; once your first account/line isn't active anymore, you know your second line/account is.

Click to collapse



ok great thanks!

---------- Post added at 10:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:47 AM ----------




trsix said:


> Had to cancel the plan. Anytime i go over my 100 minutes the system insists on charging me $80.
> I have to call customer service each time and spend nearly an hour on the phone. I'm so sorry Mr. Customer and blah blah blah. They never fix it so adios tmobile!

Click to collapse




so what about this? what happens if i go over 100 minutes?

---------- Post added at 10:50 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:48 AM ----------




Anderson2 said:


> Doesn't Talkatone (which does phone calls over wifi) work on nexus devices?
> 
> Also if you add $10 to cover calls beyond 100 minutes you would still be paying only $40 a month. That's what I do.

Click to collapse



where do you add that option?


----------



## Caebron (Apr 17, 2014)

andy o said:


> The $10 is deducted immediately. Normally this 1GB plan is $20, and this offer will end at the end of this year. If you already have a post-paid phone plan you get further $10 discounted, making this plan free. In 2015 it goes up to $10 for those people. The $8.33 you're paying is for the tablet itself, of course. You need to pay for the tablet somehow, but whether you do upfront (like I did) or with installments, you pay the reduced Wi-Fi-only equivalent price. If you want to pay upfront I was told you need to go to a store or call them up.

Click to collapse



Ah, that makes sense then! Thanks for the info. That's really not a bad deal, especially for those of us who wish to pay installments. If you're paying up front it might make sense to shop around for a possible bargain somewhere. But of course that wouldn't include the free Data you get with the T-Mo option.



emd2009 said:


> ok great thanks!
> 
> ---------- Post added at 10:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:47 AM ----------
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I recall having a problem early on with this. For some reason I did not have the '$10' option to select in the drop-down menu in the beginning. I did call Customer Service at the time and was told to go to a physical store to make my payment. Eventually the option appeared and I can now make $10 payments online if I happen to go above my 100min limit.


----------



## andy o (Apr 17, 2014)

Caebron said:


> Ah, that makes sense then! Thanks for the info. That's really not a bad deal, especially for those of us who wish to pay installments. If you're paying up front it might make sense to shop around for a possible bargain somewhere. But of course that wouldn't include the free Data you get with the T-Mo option.

Click to collapse



If you're paying upfront the price is no different though, you get a substantial discount that it's doubtful just shopping around could match. I bought an iPad mini retina though, and current iOS products seem to be price fixed so that's more of a deal.


----------



## emd2009 (Apr 17, 2014)

Okay I just ported my number online as I activated my prepaid service. How long does it take for me to have service with this new Sim? Does it really take 24hours ?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Caebron (Apr 17, 2014)

andy o said:


> If you're paying upfront the price is no different though, you get a substantial discount that it's doubtful just shopping around could match. I bought an iPad mini retina though, and current iOS products seem to be price fixed so that's more of a deal.

Click to collapse



Yeah it may be different for the iPad. I was referring to the Galaxy 3, which is 199 with T-Mo, whereas I found it for 172. But like I said, for the 199 you get free Data over getting a lower priced one. So T-Mo has the best deal from any angle as long as one wants the mobile Data.


----------



## Johnny Broccoli (Apr 17, 2014)

emd2009 said:


> ok great thanks!
> 
> ---------- Post added at 10:48 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:47 AM ----------
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



You simply deposit $40 (or whatever amount extra for minutes you'd like) instead of $30.


----------



## emd2009 (Apr 17, 2014)

so after 2 hours, my service ported over. Now, is there an app that i can install that will keep track of how many minutes ive used?


----------



## tokuzumi (Apr 17, 2014)

emd2009 said:


> so after 2 hours, my service ported over. Now, is there an app that i can install that will keep track of how many minutes ive used?

Click to collapse



T-Mobile has their own app, but it sucks, and only updates every 24 hours.  There might be something in the Play Store, however.


----------



## andy o (Apr 17, 2014)

You can make the widget update every 4 hours.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Apr 17, 2014)

andy o said:


> You can make the widget update every 4 hours.

Click to collapse



Best way for instant minutes is ussd code. Create a contact called 'minutes' and phone number   of #646# and you have instant feedback.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Johnny Broccoli (Apr 17, 2014)

T-Mobile app. It kinda sucks though.


----------



## DrErect (Apr 18, 2014)

Not sure if this has been answered on this thread but do you guys groove ip to make calls or does the 100min. Gets you by. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## andy o (Apr 18, 2014)

DrErect said:


> Not sure if this has been answered on this thread but do you guys groove ip to make calls or does the 100min. Gets you by.

Click to collapse



Groove IP and other apps like that will stop working on May 14, so if you haven't already bought it I wouldn't recommend you to, but you can still use the limited-feature free version. I myself use Talkatone, they anticipated this and actually now offer their own VoIP service with free incoming minutes and $0.99/60min outgoing. If you are really strapped for cash you can use it in combination with Vonage which offers free outgoing, and Google Voice forwarding to use the same number.


----------



## DrErect (Apr 18, 2014)

andy o said:


> Groove IP and other apps like that will stop working on May 14, so if you haven't already bought it I wouldn't recommend you to, but you can still use the limited-feature free version. I myself use Talkatone, they anticipated this and actually now offer their own VoIP service with free incoming minutes and $0.99/60min outgoing. If you are really strapped for cash you can use it in combination with Vonage which offers free outgoing, and Google Voice forwarding to use the same number.

Click to collapse



I was going to initially get this plan on tmo but since groove ip will no longer work after May 15, I decided to move with sprint.  Although t-mobile has great coverage in my area. Not sure but I might use this plan on my old gs3. Even though it was once on tmobile. Not sure if I can unlock the sim and use this plan. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## lchiu7 (Apr 18, 2014)

I use Vonage which still provides a bunch of free minutes a month iirc.

For inbound calls I use Google Voice callback coupled with a free SIP account.

Of course Google Voice callback might be broken also when Google stops supporting XMP.


----------



## RainMotorsports (Apr 18, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> T-Mobile has their own app, but it sucks, and only updates every 24 hours.  There might be something in the Play Store, however.

Click to collapse





andy o said:


> You can make the widget update every 4 hours.

Click to collapse



You can check it as often as you want though.  Its probably 15 minutes behind but it takes 2 clicks to get to the most recent amount.  Whats hilarious is even after checking it the app/widget doesn't update off that amount again until its regular time.  Just click the notification and go to my account or whatever (don't have a tmo sim in right now) and you will have a figure much more up to date than the widget/notification.


----------



## Native89 (Apr 18, 2014)

Honestly, if I ever want check my T-Mobile account I just use Chrome. A bookmark widget would work well also. Sure, it's not instant, but I've never needed to know my remaining minutes that urgently.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## rnaka530 (Apr 19, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Best way for instant minutes is ussd code. Create a contact called 'minutes' and phone number   of #646# and you have instant feedback.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



USSD code FTW!

:good: :victory:


----------



## Hero_Guy (Apr 20, 2014)

DrErect said:


> Not sure if this has been answered on this thread but do you guys groove ip to make calls or does the 100min. Gets you by.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app

Click to collapse



100 gets me by pretty easily. I usually only use around 50-70 minutes a month. I'm not really much a phone person but since I've converted a lot of people to hangouts, video/voice chat through the app/computer is my main tool to communicate.


----------



## andy o (Apr 20, 2014)

Seriously, I hope Google makes good on the new version of Hangouts with VoIP, cause I got my iPad, and it's pretty amazing on iOS, with minimal lag which is the main problem with VoIP.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Apr 21, 2014)

andy o said:


> Seriously, I hope Google makes good on the new version of Hangouts with VoIP, cause I got my iPad, and it's pretty amazing on iOS, with minimal lag which is the main problem with VoIP.

Click to collapse



I was uploading a backed-up ROM over my home WiFi to my Mega account the other night and tried using VoIP at the same time....yeah, last time I'm trying that, it was like using a telegraph in the olde days, SOOOOO much lag!

I'm just hoping that it's a smooth transition between using Google Voice/GV number for texting to Hangouts/GV number for texting.


----------



## baiju2012 (Apr 24, 2014)

Has anybody tried international texting with plan? At the http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans site, it says that it is allowed now. The specific text is "Now get unlimited international texting from the U.S to virtually anywhere included in your plan—at no extra charge"

Nexus IV


----------



## baiju2012 (Apr 24, 2014)

Just verified. It works. 

Nexus IV


----------



## hyelton (Apr 24, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> I was uploading a backed-up ROM over my home WiFi to my Mega account the other night and tried using VoIP at the same time....yeah, last time I'm trying that, it was like using a telegraph in the olde days, SOOOOO much lag!
> 
> I'm just hoping that it's a smooth transition between using Google Voice/GV number for texting to Hangouts/GV number for texting.

Click to collapse



That was due to your internet connection... if your not applying any QoS to your connection through your Router, its gonna do that.. Say your ping is only 10ms thats GREAT for VOIP.. when you upload at your max upload link it will make your ping over 300ms and sometimes more depending on the type of connection you have if DSL then over 700ms most of the time, that makes VOIP impossible as long with online gaming. If you had QoS turned on you can upload and use VOIP at the same time.


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Apr 24, 2014)

baiju2012 said:


> Just verified. It works.
> 
> Nexus IV

Click to collapse



I was outside the US and I got the text stating I would be charged. But my buddies with an actual plan got to enjoy that option. Is it just for texting?


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


----------



## paperWastage (Apr 24, 2014)

dinggus said:


> I was outside the US and I got the text stating I would be charged. But my buddies with an actual plan got to enjoy that option. Is it just for texting?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

Click to collapse



read it again


> unlimited international texting from the U.S to virtually anywhere

Click to collapse



from stateside US to international... not international to US or international to international

these are the reasons why postpaid gives you better benefits than prepaid... at a higher cost of course



i guess t-mobile targets this 100-minute plan for people who don't talk... only text or web consumption


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Apr 25, 2014)

paperWastage said:


> read it again
> 
> 
> from stateside US to international... not international to US or international to international
> ...

Click to collapse



Seen that after I posted. I'd pay for if I can text and data outside the US. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## baiju2012 (Apr 25, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Seen that after I posted. I'd pay for if I can text and data outside the US.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Should be possible. I haven't tried, but call T-Mobile. They may let you do it for a fee on this plan.

Nexus IV


----------



## lordroy (Apr 25, 2014)

Thought some of you might like this info:

http://www.techspot.com/news/56540-...-towers-for-a-more-consistent-connection.html


----------



## ap1618 (Apr 26, 2014)

paperWastage said:


> read it again
> 
> 
> from stateside US to international... not international to US or international to international
> ...

Click to collapse



It works, but it deducts 10 cents per text message from your balance. (for texting FROM within US)


----------



## Stay Frosty (Apr 27, 2014)

My AT&T contract expires on 5/12 and I'd like to switch to this plan. I'd also like to port my number over. How will this work? Do I need to switch to the $30 plan before my AT&T contract expires? Won't that trigger an ETF when my number gets ported over?

And what's the process for activating the T-Mobile plan? Just buy the activation kit from Walmart then activate it online? Is that all there is to it? Does it give an option to port my phone # over?

My phone is a Nexus 5 if that helps.

I appreciate any advice. Thanks!


----------



## Joshmccullough (Apr 27, 2014)

Stay Frosty said:


> My AT&T contract expires on 5/12 and I'd like to switch to this plan. I'd also like to port my number over. How will this work? Do I need to switch to the $30 plan before my AT&T contract expires? Won't that trigger an ETF when my number gets ported over?
> 
> And what's the process for activating the T-Mobile plan? Just buy the activation kit from Walmart then activate it online? Is that all there is to it? Does it give an option to port my phone # over?
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Just start the T-Mobile process on the day after your contract 'expires'; you'll be on 'month-to-month' status on your AT&T account (it's not like they're just going to shut your service off), and when your number is ported over to T-Mobile your AT&T account will be terminated but you won't have to worry about an ETF fee because you'll already have fulfilled your contract.  I did the same thing but from Sprint rather than AT&T, it was seamless.  You might have a day or two to pay AT&T while the number ports (mine ported in 24 hours exactly), but that's not that much $.

You can get a T-Mobile prepaid kit from prepaid.tmobile.com as well as from Walmart; yeah, activating it online is about all there is to it, it walks you through the steps.  There'll be an option to port your number as part of the process.


----------



## TheDannemand (Apr 28, 2014)

emd2009 said:


> so what about this? what happens if i go over 100 minutes?

Click to collapse





Johnny Broccoli said:


> You simply deposit $40 (or whatever amount extra for minutes you'd like) instead of $30.

Click to collapse



Just a heads up regarding this business of depositing an extra $10 when running over 100 mins, and paying $0.10 per minute until the next month starts:

I discovered last night that both my wife's and my own account had continued charging $0.10 per minute, even AFTER we rolled over to the next month. Logging into our accounts, I can see that the DATA counter has reset correctly, but the MINUTES counter was stuck at 100/100. Also the big red warning is still there saying _"Please note: Your included minutes have been used. You will now be charged $.10/min"_.

I just called T-Mo customer service who said this was a known issue with these "Walmart plans" (I got ours directly on T-mobile.com) though I am sure it's not all customers. She put a note on our accounts and said to expect it fixed in 24-72 hours (!) Until then, it would continue charging for minutes. I had to ask if they would refund those charges, and she said they would look into it. She also said they were unable to notify me when the issue was resolved, I would have to call back myself to check up.

The two prior times I've needed customer service since switching to T-Mobile, I have been impressed with the friendly service and prompt resolution. And indeed, this rep was kind enough, and immediately knew about the problem. I realize that errors and mistakes happen and am generally quite forgiving if it is solved professionally. But on an error like this, I expect a prompt fix and full credit, nothing less. We'll see if they can deliver that.

Anyways, I suggest that any users who run over their 100 mins check that their MINUTES counter resets properly after their month rolls over.

I apologize if this has been posted before; my following of this thread has been only sporadic...


----------



## Johnny Broccoli (Apr 28, 2014)

Went over this month that I'm currently in. Will keep an eye on that, thanks.


----------



## sffish (Apr 28, 2014)

Johnny Broccoli said:


> Went over this month that I'm currently in. Will keep an eye on that, thanks.

Click to collapse



I went over my 100 minutes too this month, but I don't trust T Mobile's accounting. I'm pretty sure I checked it a week or so ago and I was at something like 40 minutes used. To suddenly go over seems suspicious. Unfortunately T Mobile doesn't allow any way to see a list of calls. I rarely talk on the phone, and when I do it's almost never more than 2 minutes, any longer than that I call people back using Skype. I wouldn't be surprised if something was wrong with T Mobile's accounting of the minutes.


----------



## Johnny Broccoli (Apr 28, 2014)

I agree. Had a similar unexplained jump myself this month. They could be right but my gut was telling me otherwise.


----------



## saaggee (Apr 28, 2014)

I'm in the same boat. I'm pretty sure I didn't use 100 mins this month but the website reflects I have. My plan resets today so I will keep an eye on the minutes after I refill.


----------



## Johnny Broccoli (Apr 28, 2014)

Their site has been strange/not loading properly the last half week for me as well.


----------



## TheDannemand (Apr 28, 2014)

Let me clarify: My wife and I DEFINITELY went over our 100 mins last month - and therefore added $10 extra to cover the additional minutes. T-Mo counted that correctly, and advised us when we'd used our 100 mins. That wasn't the problem.

BUT, when we rolled over to the next month, the MINUTES counter never resat, it is stuck at 100/100. Therefore it keeps charging $0.10/min.

If your account shows 100/100 and you went over 100 mins last month, that's probably why. Not that T-Mo counts the minutes incorrectly.

And yes, I wish they would provide a way to show a log of how the minutes were spent. We had that on Virgin Mobile (SMS too) it was very useful.


----------



## BirchBarlow (Apr 28, 2014)

I just logged in to the My T-Mobile site, and I got the exact same thing.



> Please note: Your included minutes have been used. You will now be charged $.10/min

Click to collapse



There's no way I used 100 minutes as I barely ever even talk on the phone.  I've used maybe 3 or 4 minutes literally.  Something fishy is going on.


----------



## Child's Play (Apr 28, 2014)

wow its a good deal


----------



## Gaffadin (Apr 28, 2014)

Just checked and I see the exact same thing. I use maybe 50 minutes a month at the absolute top end, so it's essentially impossible for me to get to 100, but that's what it says.

My balance is also $0 (I pay with a code through CM), so I wonder if I just don't get voice calls now.

(Edit) Just tried a couple of test calls and they went through just fine (both send and receive), so it looks like this is purely a visual glitch. I have no idea how many minutes I actually have left though, but I never hit 100 so I'm not too worried about it.

Also, if I try to login my account online it says:

_We're sorry.
We're temporarily unable to access your account information. Please try again in a few minutes._


----------



## Joshmccullough (Apr 29, 2014)

To all who woke up to their minutes maxed out this morning:

I got the same thing, my 'Minutes' widget at 100 calls, but I was still able to make calls.  I know I didn't use 100 minutes; when I chatted with T-Mobile online, they said there was a system issue that they were working on that caused some peoples' accounts to show 100 minutes but not actually cut them off.  Don't know if that's of any help/comfort, but you're not alone....


----------



## Johnny Broccoli (Apr 29, 2014)

Yuuup. I spoke with T-Mobile today too. They assured me that it was a confirmed widespread problem that was affecting many of their customers. However, they also assured me that the minutes are still there to use and no additional charges would be levied. No exact timetable on when their site will display the correct info; simply recommended to contact them again in 24 hours if still curious.


----------



## dazz87 (Apr 29, 2014)

Noticed the over the 100 minutes error this past Sunday.  My recharge was about 4 days ago and I swear I dont remember using my minutes.  I ended up installing a call history app to keep track of my minutes till they fix the issue.  Kinda sorry for use pre pay we could view call history online.


----------



## baiju2012 (Apr 29, 2014)

I had the exact same issue this month. I used 17 minutes and then, it jumped to 100 minutes. I will call then tomorrow and see if they have resolved the issue or not.

Nexus IV

---------- Post added at 08:49 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:39 PM ----------

I have recently started using ReachMe Roaming from Vonage. It didn't work with this prepaid plan, but it gave me USA number to receive calls.  Calls received are completely free. And it uses WiFi for it. So, I used my Google voice number to forward to the Vonage number and now I get very clear calls from any where in the world free of cost. Postpaid T-Mobile is even better. ReachMe Roaming will intercept your call on your mobile number and use Vonage on Wi-Fi to bring that phone call to you. Check it out. Just download the new Vonage App.

Nexus IV


----------



## Caebron (Apr 30, 2014)

Is it possible now to use Google Voice with this plan? Or is it feasible to port one's T-Mo # to GV? Iirc, there was an issue when porting #'s in GV, some feature would stop working or something...


----------



## baiju2012 (Apr 30, 2014)

baiju2012 said:


> I had the exact same issue this month. I used 17 minutes and then, it jumped to 100 minutes. I will call then tomorrow and see if they have resolved the issue or not.
> 
> Nexus IV

Click to collapse



I logged into the website account. It says it had 20 minutes used, which is correct. The #646# is also saying the same thing. Their app and its widget is not functioning right now.

Nexus IV


----------



## Joshmccullough (Apr 30, 2014)

Caebron said:


> Is it possible now to use Google Voice with this plan? Or is it feasible to port one's T-Mo # to GV? Iirc, there was an issue when porting #'s in GV, some feature would stop working or something...

Click to collapse



I had troubles with GV working properly on my prepaid account initially, but I ported my number to GV last month, had T-Mo turn off my T-Mo voicemail so that GV would be my 'proper' voicemail, set up everything as normal through the GV app and online, no problems.


----------



## Caebron (Apr 30, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> I had troubles with GV working properly on my prepaid account initially, but I ported my number to GV last month, had T-Mo turn off my T-Mo voicemail so that GV would be my 'proper' voicemail, set up everything as normal through the GV app and online, no problems.

Click to collapse



In that case I think I'll be pulling the trigger as well. I thought that there had been some issue with porting your nr to GV - and perhaps there was and it has possibly been resolved since.

EDIT: Where do you find the account # for the prepaid plan? GV wont allow me to port without entering my T-Mo Account number.


----------



## tokuzumi (Apr 30, 2014)

Still loving this plan.  Although, I've found the Nexus 5 is the only device I can get reliable signal with at my office.  I have a few other nexus devices (One, S, and Galaxy), and the S won't hold a connection indoors, and the Galaxy goes in and out.  The nexus one is practically un-usable with even Google's apps today, so I don't even bother using that on a network.  

And we are two weeks away from XMPP support disappearing.  I wish we would get more info from the big G about how google voice texting will be integrated into hangouts.


----------



## serty4011 (Apr 30, 2014)

Caebron said:


> In that case I think I'll be pulling the trigger as well. I thought that there had been some issue with porting your nr to GV - and perhaps there was and it has possibly been resolved since.
> 
> EDIT: Where do you find the account # for the prepaid plan? GV wont allow me to port without entering my T-Mo Account number.

Click to collapse



Your account number is your T-Mobile phone number. For anyone interested, this is how I setup Google Voice to get virtually unlimited minutes for free-- best part, it'll continue to work after May 15th!

For free, CallCentric offers incoming SIP phone service along with a free forwarding number. This free service also included unlimited minutes and call waiting. The free phone number they give you is based out of New York and will automatically ring your phone via SIP. SIP account settings are entered right in the settings for the stock dialer.

I also setup outbound calling through CallCentric via SIP. This is not free, but very reasonable. I am on their "pay as you go" package. The price? 2c per minute. They also spoof caller ID thereby showing my "real" telephone number, which will eventually be ported to Google Voice. One recommendation, when setting up your account you will see a question asking if you will be making your calls from within the United States. If you say yes, the price for service will increase by a monthly cost of $3.95 in order to provide 911 service on your SIP phone line. Because we already have 911 access through T-Mobile, you can comfortably answer no if you wish to avoid paying that additional monthly charge.

Still with me? After you have setup your account with CallCentric, test it. Have someone call your CallCentric number, which is the one based out of New York, and make sure your phone works normally. Again, SIP phone settings will need to be correctly inputted into the stock dialer, in addition, the option for receiving calls must be selected. Also test outbound calling. One issue I ran into was the phone would ring, but would immediately disconnect. The issue turned out to be network related. SIP and IPv6 do not get along. When I changed my access point settings on my phone to utilize IPv4 only, things worked perfectly.

The next step is porting your number to Google Voice. One important thing to keep in mind is that once the port is complete, your account with T-Mobile will be immediately closed. Because my cell phone is the only phone service I have, and I'm always on call for work, going without for any time period was not an option for me.

To minimize service disruption during the porting process, I first ordered a new SIM through T-Mobile. When it arrived, I activated the $30 plan online, and received a new number from T-Mobile.

Finally,I started the process of porting my number to Google Voice. It took exactly one business day, and service on my original T-Mobile account was turned off literally within minutes of receiving an email informing me that the port is complete.

Finally,I slipped the new SIM into my phone, which we already activated in preparation for the port, logged onto the Google voice desktop site, and added two forwarding numbers. One for your new T-Mobile number, and one for the New York based SIP number. The number checked (do not check both) determines if incoming phone calls will go through T-Mobiles voice network, or CallCentrics SIP network.

If you have not done so already, download the Google Voice app. Make sure during setup that when asked what calls you would like to make through Google Voice, select the "always ask", option. In addition in your stock dialer settings under internet calling, also select always ask. I'll explain below.

T-Mobile's voice network is more reliable, particularly when you are somewhere with poor service. During that situation, you'd want to make a call using your minutes, which is accomplished by dialing the number and answering yes when it asks you to place the call through Google Voice.

Subsequently, when placing an SIP call, AKA " data call ", you would answer no to the question of making the call through Google Voice, and yes to the next question of placing the call through the internet.

One last tip, all calls placed via SIP must follow the standard format of: 1 (area code) (phone number), so you'll likely need to update your existing contacts to follow that format.

When all is said and done, you essentially have unlimited phone service for $30 a month, free incoming calls, and 2c outgoing calls.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## adrman (Apr 30, 2014)

serty4011 said:


> Y
> One last tip, all calls placed via SIP must follow the standard format of: 1 (area code) (phone number), so you'll likely need to update your existing contacts to follow that format.
> 
> When all is said and done, you essentially have unlimited phone service for $30 a month, free incoming calls, and 2c outgoing calls.
> ...

Click to collapse



Check out CSipSimple as a replacement for the stock sip dialer, it's much more flexible and has more codecs available.  You'll be able to create dialing filters and rules that will automatically add your local area code and "1" to your local numbers.  Also, you might want to give a look at GrooveForwarder.  It's a paid app, but worth the small cost.  It will switch your GV forwarding based on the conditions you set.  For example, when I'm on wifi, it sets my forwarding to voip.ms, when I'm not on wifi, it forwards to my TMobile #.  Originally, it was designed to work with GrooveIP, but it's not necessary to have it installed.


----------



## Caebron (May 1, 2014)

Gold! Great info guys, that should get me going. Thanks to your detailed guide, setting this up should be much easier! Thanks so much. I'll get this set up over the next week or two.


----------



## andy o (May 1, 2014)

serty4011 said:


> When all is said and done, you essentially have unlimited phone service for $30 a month, free incoming calls, and 2c outgoing calls.

Click to collapse



If you already have GV, and free incoming calls, you can also get free outgoing calls. Here's a hint: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=hu.xilard.voiceplus


----------



## Joshmccullough (May 1, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> Still loving this plan.  Although, I've found the Nexus 5 is the only device I can get reliable signal with at my office.  I have a few other nexus devices (One, S, and Galaxy), and the S won't hold a connection indoors, and the Galaxy goes in and out.  The nexus one is practically un-usable with even Google's apps today, so I don't even bother using that on a network.
> 
> And we are two weeks away from XMPP support disappearing.  I wish we would get more info from the big G about how google voice texting will be integrated into hangouts.

Click to collapse



I'm equally or perhaps even more concerned about how the GV/Hangouts integration will handle calls and voicemail.  I get the whole 'free VoIP over WiFi' and all, but the functionality of GV's voicemail (not so much the transcriptions), call forwarding, and other associated features needs to be there, too.


----------



## bob60626 (May 1, 2014)

Another option, probably already mentioned and not really an option for everyone, is to use Vonage for your outgoing calls and just try to minimize incoming calls. I didn't like any of the voip setups I tried until I tried Vonage. I was really happy with calls over LTE on that (TMO Note 2 on the $30 plan); I like the dependability of sms and using the same number.


----------



## Caebron (May 2, 2014)

Do any of you know if it is possible to just set up Google Voicemail with this plan and use it instead of the Voicemail supplied by T-Mo?



bob60626 said:


> Another option, probably already mentioned and not really an option for everyone, is to use Vonage for your outgoing calls and just try to minimize incoming calls. I didn't like any of the voip setups I tried until I tried Vonage. I was really happy with calls over LTE on that (TMO Note 2 on the $30 plan); I like the dependability of sms and using the same number.

Click to collapse



Vonage is the same thing as Skype, right?


----------



## Joshmccullough (May 2, 2014)

Caebron said:


> Do any of you know if it is possible to just set up Google Voicemail with this plan and use it instead of the Voicemail supplied by T-Mo?

Click to collapse



I was finally able to get my Google Voice voicemail running, I chatted with T-Mobile customer support online and had then turn off the Tmo voicemail.  My Voice didn't work right forever, but finally started working for some mystical reason, seems like everyone else's worked fine from the get-go.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Caebron (May 7, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> I was finally able to get my Google Voice voicemail running, I chatted with T-Mobile customer support online and had then turn off the Tmo voicemail.  My Voice didn't work right forever, but finally started working for some mystical reason, seems like everyone else's worked fine from the get-go.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



My T-Mo voicemail has been off for probably a year now. Still haven't been able to get Google Voice working though. Someone told me that this is due to the $30 Prepaid not supporting Call Forwarding.

On a side note, has anyone else been having issues with Google Voice Caller ID lately? There is an issue to where when calling or texting contacts, it will show up with your GV number as Caller ID rather than the T-Mo #. Sprint Users are affected also. All my friends have been asking me if I changed my # .

EDIT: Afterthought in regards to porting the T-Mo # to GV... what are the benefits other than being able to use one's former T-Mo #? I mean, is there a technical aspect that makes certain features work suddenly (like using Google Voicemail)? I guess I don't understand what the benefits of porting the # over rather than simply giving people your Google Voice # to use and saving $20 in the process.


----------



## baiju2012 (May 7, 2014)

bob60626 said:


> Another option, probably already mentioned and not really an option for everyone, is to use Vonage for your outgoing calls and just try to minimize incoming calls. I didn't like any of the voip setups I tried until I tried Vonage. I was really happy with calls over LTE on that (TMO Note 2 on the $30 plan); I like the dependability of sms and using the same number.

Click to collapse



I am in the same boat as you. Did not like complicated setups of the other voip options. Tried Skype but eventually the call quality degraded. I am very excited about the ReachMe Roaming service from Vonage. It does only work on Post paid accounts but gives prepaid users an incoming USA number. Put this number in GV and all you calls will come to the Vonage App. I like it for now until a better setup comes around. This plan is awesome, as always.

Nexus IV


----------



## Telemachus13 (May 7, 2014)

Caebron said:


> EDIT: Afterthought in regards to porting the T-Mo # to GV... what are the benefits other than being able to use one's former T-Mo #? I mean, is there a technical aspect that makes certain features work suddenly (like using Google Voicemail)? I guess I don't understand what the benefits of porting the # over rather than simply giving people your Google Voice # to use and saving $20 in the process.

Click to collapse



The "normal" way to use Google voicemail is to have your phone forward unanswered calls to Google. This doesn't work on the T-Mobile prepaid plans, because those plans don't allow conditional call forwarding. The work-around is to port your number to Google Voice and turn off T-Mobile voicemail. Then, when someone calls you and you don't answer, your T-Mobile number will keep ringing until Google gives up and--because it already has the call--sends it to Google Voicemail.
The other benefits to porting to Google Voice are the ability to text over Wi-Fi when cell signal is bad, having calls ring multiple phones at once, and not having to port your number when switching carriers.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus


----------



## lchiu7 (May 7, 2014)

Telemachus13 said:


> The "normal" way to use Google voicemail is to have your phone forward unanswered calls to Google. This doesn't work on the T-Mobile prepaid plans, because those plans don't allow conditional call forwarding. The work-around is to port your number to Google Voice and turn off T-Mobile voicemail. Then, when someone calls you and you don't answer, your T-Mobile number will keep ringing until Google gives up and--because it already has the call--sends it to Google Voicemail.
> The other benefits to porting to Google Voice are the ability to text over Wi-Fi when cell signal is bad, having calls ring multiple phones at once, and not having to port your number when switching carriers.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

Click to collapse



That's pretty much what I do. The only issue is the Google Voice text app is pretty poor and cannot send MMS. But then there are tons of apps that can do that.  We don't know what's going to happen on May 15 when Google drops XMP support so perhaps they will also integrate GV into Hangouts? That is a better text application.


----------



## tokuzumi (May 7, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> That's pretty much what I do. The only issue is the Google Voice text app is pretty poor and cannot send MMS. But then there are tons of apps that can do that.  We don't know what's going to happen on May 15 when Google drops XMP support so perhaps they will also integrate GV into Hangouts? That is a better text application.

Click to collapse



GV integration for text is supposed to occur beginning on May 16th, which will then allow MMS.  Not sure what will happen to voicemails.  We aren't really sure of anything right now, except all of that sweet VoIP support for GV accounts will be ending after May 15th.


----------



## lchiu7 (May 7, 2014)

baiju2012 said:


> I am in the same boat as you. Did not like complicated setups of the other voip options. Tried Skype but eventually the call quality degraded. I am very excited about the ReachMe Roaming service from Vonage. It does only work on Post paid accounts but gives prepaid users an incoming USA number. Put this number in GV and all you calls will come to the Vonage App. I like it for now until a better setup comes around. This plan is awesome, as always.
> 
> Nexus IV

Click to collapse



I just noticed that Vonage free calling to the US expires in September so unless you want to pay for calls, another solution is going to be required. It's not clear if they will charge for incoming calls using ReachMe.

I prefer to use a free SIP provider, have my phone setup for that SIP provider and forward my Google Voice number to that number. Then when somebody calls my GV number, it rings my phone so long as I have either 3G or WiFi (so anywhere in the world like ReachMe).

To make outgoing calls I just use Google Voice callback. Initiate the call using GV callback, the call is intercepted and Google calls you back on your SIP account and when you answer, you are presented with a ringing tone to the number you originally dialed.

I agree setup is a bit complicated but once it's done, it works pretty well.

---------- Post added at 09:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:53 PM ----------




tokuzumi said:


> GV integration for text is supposed to occur beginning on May 16th, which will then allow MMS.  Not sure what will happen to voicemails.  We aren't really sure of anything right now, except all of that sweet VoIP support for GV accounts will be ending after May 15th.

Click to collapse



That is the most annoying thing. It has broken for me anyway, GrooveIP and at home the Obitalk VoIP adapter. But I have developed workarounds that are free which for me is important since my daughter was using the Obitalk adapter to call me from her college apartment. The last thing I need is for reasons for her not to call!


----------



## trueiceman (May 8, 2014)

*Eco on the other end.*

I use groove ip for data calls using my google voice number. When i'm talking to someone they always get an eco of their voice.  Is there a fix so that when talking with someone things are acceptably clear on both ends?


----------



## Caebron (May 8, 2014)

Well, I'll be giving it a shot today or tomorrow (porting my T-Mo # over to GV). It will be interesting to see how things work and if GV correctly forwards the calls to my new T-Mo #.


----------



## lchiu7 (May 9, 2014)

trueiceman said:


> I use groove ip for data calls using my google voice number. When i'm talking to someone they always get an eco of their voice.  Is there a fix so that when talking with someone things are acceptably clear on both ends?

Click to collapse



I wouldn't worry about that since GrooveIP will stop working in about a week


----------



## Caebron (May 9, 2014)

Is there even a point then to port one's # or even using GV at all at this point if VOIP will no longer work next week?

EDIT: Disregard that, I didn't realize this would only affect third party apps. I'll probably just use GV on it's own together with the $30 plan anyway.


----------



## trueiceman (May 9, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> I wouldn't worry about that since GrooveIP will stop working in about a week

Click to collapse



yeah, thats sucks.  Anyone know the next best option?


----------



## TheDannemand (May 9, 2014)

Caebron said:


> Is there even a point then to port one's # or even using GV at all at this point if VOIP will no longer work next week?
> 
> EDIT: Disregard that, I didn't realize this would only affect third party apps. I'll probably just use GV on it's own together with the $30 plan anyway.

Click to collapse



I definitely would NOT port till we know what Google will do. Until they come out with something, the only VOIP options with GV are those 3rd parties -- which we know will stop working soon.

Or get an iPhone which has VOIP in Hangouts 

Like others, I assume we'll get something from Google. But they never promised to provide free phone calls for everyone forever, so I am not holding my breath.


----------



## Caebron (May 9, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> I definitely would NOT port till we know what Google will do. Until they come out with something, the only VOIP options with GV are those 3rd parties -- which we know will stop working soon.
> 
> Or get an iPhone which has VOIP in Hangouts
> 
> Like others, I assume we'll get something from Google. But they never promised to provide free phone calls for everyone forever, so I am not holding my breath.

Click to collapse



Why not just use Google Voice for everything?


----------



## lchiu7 (May 9, 2014)

Caebron said:


> Why not just use Google Voice for everything?

Click to collapse



You can't make free calls with GV, that's why. People are looking for a voice solution that uses VoIP so they can take advantage of the TMO data plan (but only 100 minutes). GrooveIP was pretty good but that's going away. And Vonage was good for making free calls but that stops in September. So the only free solutions are ways in which you have a SIP account and have some sort of callback mechanism that presents you with a ringing tone when you call out.


----------



## wideasleep1 (May 9, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> You can't make free calls with GV, that's why. People are looking for a voice solution that uses VoIP so they can take advantage of the TMO data plan (but only 100 minutes). GrooveIP was pretty good but that's going away. And Vonage was good for making free calls but that stops in September. So the only free solutions are ways in which you have a SIP account and have some sort of callback mechanism that presents you with a ringing tone when you call out.

Click to collapse



And Voxer... a push to talk app that instantly transmits ( no dialing or ringing) and stores mp3 audio between one or more phones. A perfect backup of your convo  on your phone, or any other device you sign into your account on with their server backup. My number one used app after Waze. It could replace my phone service no problem...and pretty much has, except for scammers selling everything from Google listings to credit repair. Easier to use my minutes to check voicemail, but clearly POTS and cellular are 20th century tech on its dying legs.

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## TheDannemand (May 9, 2014)

Caebron said:


> Why not just use Google Voice for everything?

Click to collapse





lchiu7 said:


> You can't make free calls with GV, that's why. People are looking for a voice solution that uses VoIP so they can take advantage of the TMO data plan (but only 100 minutes).

Click to collapse



Exactly!

The GV app uses regular T-Mo phone calls and just forwards them through the GV number.

I used Talkatone (for VoIP) since I spend much time in WiFi-land. But call quality was an issue, and I decided to just burn minutes instead. So I DO use the GV app myself (for SMS and to forward outgoing calls through GV). But only because I am usually able to stay within my 100 mins -- and when I go over, it's just $0.10/min.

But if I were starting out today, I would wait until after May 15 before porting and find out what Google is up to.


----------



## Caebron (May 9, 2014)

Does GV use the plan's minutes or does it use Data when making calls?


----------



## TheDannemand (May 9, 2014)

Caebron said:


> Does GV use the plan's minutes or does it use Data when making calls?

Click to collapse



It uses plan minutes. I edited my post to clarify that just as your were posting yours.


----------



## Caebron (May 9, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> It uses plan minutes. I edited my post to clarify that just as your were posting yours.

Click to collapse



That is peculiar. I could live with paying GV by the min when needed, but there is no way I am paying both T-Mo _and_ GV at the same time for making the same call.


----------



## TheDannemand (May 9, 2014)

Caebron said:


> That is peculiar. I could live with paying GV by the min when needed, but there is no way I am paying both T-Mo _and_ GV at the same time for making the same call.

Click to collapse



No, no, you don't pay GV. But it uses your T-Mo plan minutes when you make or receive calls from or to your GV number. And when you go over 100 mins, T-Mo charges $0.10/min until next month.


----------



## Caebron (May 9, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> No, no, you don't pay GV. But it uses your T-Mo plan minutes when you make or receive calls from or to your GV number. And when you go over 100 mins, T-Mo charges $0.10/min until next month.

Click to collapse



Got it, thanks for clarifying.

But when on WiFi the calls should be free, correct? So while not quite as cost effective, it would still end up being cheaper - as you can still make free calls, even with the imposed limited conditions beginning May 15th.


----------



## tokuzumi (May 9, 2014)

Caebron said:


> Got it, thanks for clarifying.
> 
> But when on WiFi the calls should be free, correct? So while not quite as cost effective, it would still end up being cheaper - as you can still make free calls, even with the imposed limited conditions beginning May 15th.

Click to collapse



If you have calls to your GV number forwarded to the cell number associated with the sim card, it will always use the plan minutes.  Wi-Fi, no Wi-Fi, mobile data turned off, etc.  The only way GV calls will not use cellular plan minutes is to use a VoIP service.  For the next week, I'm using Talkatone (until Google drops XMPP support).  Calls to my GV number ring my talkatone app.  No cell plan minutes are used, because it's a VoIP call.  If I make outgoing calls via talkatone, it is VoIP, and doesn't use my cell plan minutes.


----------



## TheDannemand (May 9, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> If you have calls to your GV number forwarded to the cell number associated with the sim card, it will always use the plan minutes.  Wi-Fi, no Wi-Fi, mobile data turned off, etc.  The only way GV calls will not use cellular plan minutes is to use a VoIP service.  For the next week, I'm using Talkatone (until Google drops XMPP support).  Calls to my GV number ring my talkatone app.  No cell plan minutes are used, because it's a VoIP call.  If I make outgoing calls via talkatone, it is VoIP, and doesn't use my cell plan minutes.

Click to collapse



Exactly.

@Caebron, I think the confusion may be that you were expecting the GV app to also provide VoIP (calling over WiFi or Mobile Data). But Google only supports VoIP calls with Gmail on a computer and from Hangouts on iOS. We're all hoping and expecting they will do the same for Android users after May 15, but nothing is confirmed yet.

The GV app only serves to send/receive SMS from your GV number AND to direct outgoing calls through your GV number -- but still using minutes.

Using your GV number to make/receive free calls and SMS is actually quite a hassle -- although it's doable, either with apps such as Talkatone or GrooveIP or (even more complex) through SIP. That's why I recommend waiting a little longer till Google has told us their intentions.


----------



## andy o (May 9, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> And Voxer... a push to talk app that instantly transmits ( no dialing or ringing) and stores mp3 audio between one or more phones. A perfect backup of your convo  on your phone, or any other device you sign into your account on with their server backup. My number one used app after Waze. It could replace my phone service no problem...and pretty much has, except for scammers selling everything from Google listings to credit repair. Easier to use my minutes to check voicemail, but clearly POTS and cellular are 20th century tech on its dying legs.

Click to collapse



A warning though, Voxer is a bit shady. They don't only use your contacts' numbers to build the contact list on their app like most others (Whatsapp, Viber, Line, Kakao, etc), but they "match" you with other contacts. Which means, if someone has your number on their phone they will show up to you _even if you don't have them in yours_. So keep in mind that you'll be broadcasting some people that you've got their numbers on your phone's contact list.


----------



## wideasleep1 (May 9, 2014)

andy o said:


> A warning though, Voxer is a bit shady. They don't only use your contacts' numbers to build the contact list on their app like most others (Whatsapp, Viber, Line, Kakao, etc), but they "match" you with other contacts. Which means, if someone has your number on their phone they will show up to you _even if you don't have them in yours_. So keep in mind that you'll be broadcasting some people that you've got their numbers on your phone's contact list.

Click to collapse



Yep. I think Skype and Vonage do this too.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## tokuzumi (May 9, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> Exactly.
> 
> @Caebron, I think the confusion may be that you were expecting the GV app to also provide VoIP (calling over WiFi or Mobile Data). But Google only supports VoIP calls with Gmail on a computer and from Hangouts on iOS. We're all hoping and expecting they will do the same for Android users after May 15, but nothing is confirmed yet.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Here's a question to which I have yet to find an answer; I know you can make VoIP calls via hangouts in iOS, but can you receive calls through the app, if someone dials your GV number?


----------



## TheDannemand (May 9, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> Here's a question to which I have yet to find an answer; I know you can make VoIP calls via hangouts in iOS, but can you receive calls through the app, if someone dials your GV number?

Click to collapse



I would assume, yes, but I really don't know as I haven't tried it myself. I never owned or used an iOS device. Hopefully others can say.


----------



## Caebron (May 9, 2014)

I might still end up porting at some point. That way I can make free calls within the US and low cost international calls from my PC using GV while only having to give out one number to people. If someone wants to get ahold of me, it should still ring through to my cellphone when I'm not at home (I hope).

I'll wait until after May 15th though, and then possibly bundle with some other service such as Skype - or just use GV standalone. Worst case scenario I  can always un-port the # from GV and go back to what I have now.


----------



## tokuzumi (May 9, 2014)

Caebron said:


> I might still end up porting at some point. That way I can make free calls within the US and low cost international calls from my PC using GV while only having to give out one number to people. If someone wants to get ahold of me, it should still ring through to my cellphone when I'm not at home (I hope).
> 
> I'll wait until after May 15th though, and then possibly bundle with some other service such as Skype - or just use GV standalone. Worst case scenario I  can always un-port the # from GV and go back to what I have now.

Click to collapse



Keep in mind there is a $20 charge to port the number to GV, and I think there is a charge to port the number away from GV.


----------



## adrman (May 9, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> and I think there is a charge to port the number away from GV.

Click to collapse



 Not if it's a number you ported in.


----------



## Caebron (May 10, 2014)

How do you toggle which number shows as Caller ID when calling or texting people? Once my TMo # is ported to GV , I want that number to show as Caller ID.

Currently it shows my T-Mo # on outgoing calls and texts - not my GV number.


----------



## tokuzumi (May 10, 2014)

Caebron said:


> How do you toggle which number shows as Caller ID when calling or texting people? Once my TMo # is ported to GV , I want that number to show as Caller ID.
> 
> Currently it shows my T-Mo # on outgoing calls and texts - not my GV number.

Click to collapse



Send texts via the Google voice app. You will need to find another way to send mms for the time being. And in the setup of Google voice on your phone, set it to make all calls through Google voice.


----------



## andy o (May 10, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> Yep. I think Skype and Vonage do this too.

Click to collapse



Skype is old-school, you add someone and they accept it or not (via their Skype name). Vonage does it like the others I mentioned, only reads your contacts list and tells you which of them have Vonage installed, but it does not tell them you have their number. Conversely, if you appear in their Vonage contact list, then they must have had your number in their phone's contacts in the first place.


----------



## Joshmccullough (May 10, 2014)

Caebron said:


> Well, I'll be giving it a shot today or tomorrow (porting my T-Mo # over to GV). It will be interesting to see how things work and if GV correctly forwards the calls to my new T-Mo #.

Click to collapse



I was in the same boat as you: prepaid doesn't support call forwarding, GV doesn't really work on prepaid plans like it does for postpaid, etc.  Tons of people on these forums offered helpful tips, none seemed to work.  One day: POOF, it just worked like I wanted it to.  I wish I had a great recipe for how it happened, but for some reason the wireless gawdz just smiled on me one day.


----------



## wghisd (May 10, 2014)

Talkatone has its advantages. It's free and functional if you have a data signal.
 If your data signal isn't strong enough your calls will not be clear.  Text and mms works fine.  Setup isn't as complicated and it doesn't use any plan minutes.  It saves all of your texts and VMs in your mail inbox. 

sent from S3 mobile


----------



## adrman (May 10, 2014)

Caebron said:


> How do you toggle which number shows as Caller ID when calling or texting people? Once my TMo # is ported to GV , I want that number to show as Caller ID.
> 
> Currently it shows my T-Mo # on outgoing calls and texts - not my GV number.

Click to collapse





tokuzumi said:


> Send texts via the Google voice app. You will need to find another way to send mms for the time being. And in the setup of Google voice on your phone, set it to make all calls through Google voice.

Click to collapse



For texts, you may also want to take a look at Sliding Messenger Pro  It's a much better interface than the GV app, let's you pick a default # to text from or case by case and will also remember your preference for a given contact.  Make sure to read the docs on how to set it up for GV notifications though.


----------



## copticwalad (May 10, 2014)

*Where is this Google Voice boat sailing?*

I'm in the same boat as everyone, and this can be so frustrating.  My two big issues: 
1. Obihai + Google Voice for my Uncle who lives in Egypt - no  idea how I'm going to setup Anveo or Phone Power remotely from the states as I need it to be as simple as possible for him to use google's international rates.
2. GrooveIP + Google Voice on $30 5GB T-Mobile plan with 100 minutes.  
Any advice or feedback is appreciated but my experiences might be able to help somewhat.
My father's phone is currently using GrooveIP reliably for incoming and outgoing phone calls with his google voice number (which I ported over a year ago from Sprint).  He's on the 5GB $30 + $2 tax plan and I even had calls forward to his native t-mobile number (which he didn't use) as a backup.  GrooveIP works great on wifi and HSPDA+(4G) but obviously won't work after May 15 with XMPP being disabled.  I figured I would tri WiFi calling, which I found out later is pointless as on prepaid plans it uses your minutes despite using wifi.  I found the 100 minutes vanished when using this feature.  Now I did read that one post early about CallCentric and using the embedded dialer settings for SIP incoming and outgoing at 2cents a minute and it is quite tempting and an impressive workaround but when my father makes a phone call I don't want him to have to choose every single time whether to use google voice for reliable signal limited to 100 minutes on t-mobile plan or to use SIP which may not be as reliable.  
The goal for my dad's phone is to have unlimited minutes and worry free data (2gb) for under $49 a month with no contract.  I was just talking to T-Mobile support regarding their $40 new Starter plan with unlimited minutes, and 500mb of 4G data but found out that it's capped and after 500mb would message you to upgrade to their $50 a month plan.  I told her it made no sense to go from a $30 5GB 4G plan to a $50 1GB simply for minutes.  I'm looking somewhat into Net10, SimpleMobile, StraightTalk, MetroPCS, but I just can't get past the throttled speeds and terrible value in general with everything.  My father uses Wifi 85% of the time so any suggestions?  I might reactivate his old phone on Ting and forward his Google Voice to that for a few weeks just until we see what Google does, I really hope they bring VOIP integration into Google Voice/Hangouts.  
Priorities: Google Voice Number is main and only number I care about, all voicemails handled on there, texts on there and in Google Hangouts (which is actually pretty good now if you didn't like it before).  All phone calls showing with Google Voice number (which needs GVoice app and minutes or a time-consuming method such as sip with caller id spoofing).
*In case anyone is wondering, I currently have a Sprint plan under contract where years ago I ported my number to Sprint and am using Google Voice - Sprint integration which makes things easier (only exception is when I roam and make phone call it does not show my GVoice Number).  However I'm under contract and use the phone significantly much more than my father along and have a 23% employee discount.  I considered adding him to my plan but it would still cost over $50 more a month because the way Sprint's new plans are designed it's so they give you less employee discounts.


----------



## serty4011 (May 11, 2014)

copticwalad said:


> I'm in the same boat as everyone, and this can be so frustrating.  My two big issues:
> 1. Obihai + Google Voice for my Uncle who lives in Egypt - no  idea how I'm going to setup Anveo or Phone Power remotely from the states as I need it to be as simple as possible for him to use google's international rates.
> 2. GrooveIP + Google Voice on $30 5GB T-Mobile plan with 100 minutes.
> Any advice or feedback is appreciated but my experiences might be able to help somewhat.
> ...

Click to collapse



From the situation you described, T-Mobile's prepaid "Unlimited data, texts, and minutes" $50 plan as shown here: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans may suffice. The downside of course being the increase in price along with 4G access limited to the first GB. You'll save a few bucks on tax by purchasing your refill cards through http://www.callingmart.com

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Joshmccullough (May 11, 2014)

Caebron said:


> How do you toggle which number shows as Caller ID when calling or texting people? Once my TMo # is ported to GV , I want that number to show as Caller ID.
> 
> Currently it shows my T-Mo # on outgoing calls and texts - not my GV number.

Click to collapse



If you're doing everything through GV, including texts, just set it up under Settings to use Google Voice to make all calls and it'll show your GV # for all calls.  

As far as texts go: if you use the GV app exclusively for texting, it should show your GV #.  There's no option un-rooted to have GV as your default texting app, tho.  What I do is either us a CM or CM-based ROM which will include Voice+, which routes all texts through any app (I'm using Evolve SMS at the moment) through GV, or use the XVoice+ Xposed app to do the same thing for non-CM ROMs.  This way, all in- and out-bound texts go through GV.


----------



## sirxdroid (May 11, 2014)

There's a chance the GV app as we know it may be killed too next week, functionality moved into Hangouts:
http://www.androidpolice.com/2014/0...hints-of-google-voice-smsmms-backup-and-more/


----------



## lchiu7 (May 12, 2014)

copticwalad said:


> I'm in the same boat as everyone, and this can be so frustrating.  My two big issues:
> 1. Obihai + Google Voice for my Uncle who lives in Egypt - no  idea how I'm going to setup Anveo or Phone Power remotely from the states as I need it to be as simple as possible for him to use google's international rates..

Click to collapse



Long post with lots of questions. Others have answered some of the queries so I will focus on your uncle

Get a Callcentric number and free DID. You can then setup the OBI100 for that service (there is a wizard in the OBIHAI configuration screens for Callcentric).  Forward your uncle's Google Voice number to the Callcentric number. That means if somebody calls the GV number it will ring in Egypt.

For him to make low cost or free calls, then one way is for him to initiate calls from his PC using Google Voice (there is a plugin for Chrome). When you dial a number using Google Voice from a browser you get the option to use different lines based on what phones you have setup in Google Voice. The main choice is Google Talk which calls from the PC. But that might not be useful. Choose the line you have Callcentric assigned to. Google then calls the number you dialled and when it rings, calls your GV number back and presents you with a ringing tone for the originally called number.  That of course will now be the phone attached to the OBI100. That call is now free to you.

As for setting it up remotely I would suggest using Teamviewer. I find it works great for remote accessing a PC.


----------



## trueiceman (May 15, 2014)

*Is GV gone right now?*

I think they pulled the plug, is hangouts working?


----------



## sirxdroid (May 15, 2014)

trueiceman said:


> I think they pulled the plug, is hangouts working?

Click to collapse



Still working for me, both via a OBI device and GrooveIP. I decided to not make any changes to see when and how it dies. What's very surprising is that there's no word from Google, nothing. Business as usual?


----------



## tokuzumi (May 15, 2014)

I have noticed that Talkatone won't allow me to connect to my Google Voice account.  Gives me a "Talkatone contract with Google Voice has been terminated as of May 15, 2014", or something to that effect.  It probably has more to do with programming on Talkatone's end, than it has with Google ending the XMPP support.


----------



## trueiceman (May 15, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> I have noticed that Talkatone won't allow me to connect to my Google Voice account.  Gives me a "Talkatone contract with Google Voice has been terminated as of May 15, 2014", or something to that effect.  It probably has more to do with programming on Talkatone's end, than it has with Google ending the XMPP support.

Click to collapse



ok my GV apps and Groove IP still work......for now, lol


----------



## sirxdroid (May 15, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> I have noticed that Talkatone won't allow me to connect to my Google Voice account.  Gives me a "Talkatone contract with Google Voice has been terminated as of May 15, 2014", or something to that effect.  It probably has more to do with programming on Talkatone's end, than it has with Google ending the XMPP support.

Click to collapse



Talkatone may have just decided to stop allowing access. I think they now have their own VOIP solution (paid?) so you can see why they'd want to push that too.


----------



## vitere (May 15, 2014)

Thank you


----------



## tokuzumi (May 16, 2014)

laramo said:


> do the plan has data with it?

Click to collapse



5gb


----------



## andy o (May 16, 2014)

Groove IP was updated today, they're using the ring.to service, and apparently calls are free, and setup is easy. Ring.to is a forwarding service though, like GV, so if you go online to your account you can set up forwarding to that number. If you don't have an account, I recommend setting it up through Groove IP. I made the mistake of opening the account on my PC, and I don't think there was an option to get a new number, only to port your current number. I decided to port my other GV number, for which I had to pay $3 to unlock. When I logged in with Groove IP though, right there in the app it asks you to choose a new number, so I canceled the port, and I'm out of $3.


----------



## lchiu7 (May 16, 2014)

andy o said:


> Groove IP was updated today, they're using the ring.to service, and apparently calls are free, and setup is easy. Ring.to is a forwarding service though, like GV, so if you go online to your account you can set up forwarding to that number. If you don't have an account, I recommend setting it up through Groove IP. I made the mistake of opening the account on my PC, and I don't think there was an option to get a new number, only to port your current number. I decided to port my other GV number, for which I had to pay $3 to unlock. When I logged in with Groove IP though, right there in the app it asks you to choose a new number, so I canceled the port, and I'm out of $3.

Click to collapse



I noticed that also. I just deleted the app and now will use Vonage to make outgoing calls and my GV number forwarded to a SIP account attached to the phone for incoming calls. When Vonage start charging I will just use Google Voice callback to my SIP number


----------



## tokuzumi (May 16, 2014)

I wonder when Google will update Hangouts to merge Google Voice capabilities (at least sms/mms)?  Not that I expect them to make this top priority, but would be nice to know what they have planned for Google Voice.


----------



## sirxdroid (May 16, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> I wonder when Google will update Hangouts to merge Google Voice capabilities (at least sms/mms)?  Not that I expect them to make this top priority, but would be nice to know what they have planned for Google Voice.

Click to collapse



Meanwhile I hope they leave XMPP on until it breaks for other reasons as opposed to just shutting it down forcefully.


----------



## tokuzumi (May 16, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> Meanwhile I hope they leave XMPP on until it breaks for other reasons as opposed to just shutting it down forcefully.

Click to collapse



In doing a search for XMPP in the Play Store, I came across the following app:

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.moplus.gvphone

It does allow you to make calls from your GV number.  I am also able to receive calls.  I set it up just like I did with Talkatone.  In your GV settings (must be done on a computer), put a check in the "Forward calls to Google Chat".  

This app hasn't been updated in a while, so I'm not sure how much longer this is going to last.  But it allows you to wring the last drop of support for the  XMPP exploit in Google Voice.


----------



## sirxdroid (May 16, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> In doing a search for XMPP in the Play Store, I came across the following app:
> 
> https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.moplus.gvphone
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



So does the older version of GrooveIP, still works, just don't update to the latest version.


----------



## muyoso (May 16, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> So does the older version of GrooveIP, still works, just don't update to the latest version.

Click to collapse



As does my Csipsimple and PBXes setup.  Just tested it again.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## Ash359 (May 16, 2014)

I ditched the spare phone app and have been using magic jack app to make voip calls.

However the calls keep dropping every 4 minutes.

I went and checked spare phone in the play store and it looks like they updated it so that it no longer places outgoing calls via Google voice.

However the older version still works.

I restored the previous version with titanium and so far so good. 

If you haven't updated spare phone don't do it.

Is there a way to extract the .apk from titanium so I can keep it safe in my drop box?

Sent from my SGH-T889 using XDA Premium 4 mobile app


----------



## sirxdroid (May 16, 2014)

Ash359 said:


> Is there a way to extract the .apk from titanium so I can keep it safe in my drop box?

Click to collapse



If you don't find a way to do it with TiBu, ES File Explorer can backup apks, it's under App Management.


----------



## andy o (May 17, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> I noticed that also. I just deleted the app and now will use Vonage to make outgoing calls and my GV number forwarded to a SIP account attached to the phone for incoming calls. When Vonage start charging I will just use Google Voice callback to my SIP number

Click to collapse



Is there a reason you're doing that, since now Groove IP actually lets you do both incoming and outgoing for free on its own? Setup is even easier than with GV. There seems to be a bit less lag too since GV is not forwarding anymore.


----------



## sirxdroid (May 17, 2014)

andy o said:


> Is there a reason you're doing that, since now Groove IP actually lets you do both incoming and outgoing for free on its own? Setup is even easier than with GV. There seems to be a bit less lag too since GV is not forwarding anymore.

Click to collapse



Does this ring.to just use SIP or some other proprietary protocol?

And you would have to port your GV number to ring.to, from their web site it doesn't look like forwarding from GV to ring.to works, they are aware of the issue but there's no fix.


----------



## lchiu7 (May 17, 2014)

andy o said:


> Is there a reason you're doing that, since now Groove IP actually lets you do both incoming and outgoing for free on its own? Setup is even easier than with GV. There seems to be a bit less lag too since GV is not forwarding anymore.

Click to collapse



Actually I didn't realise that. As soon as the new GrooveIP app came up asking me to join Call.To I deleted it.

Anyway based on your post I tried again and it seems to be fine. I got a number in an area code that I wanted, but the number wasn't that great in terms of ease of remembering it.

But it doesn't matter since I have forwarded my GV number to this one so people ringing my GV number will ring my cell via GrooveIP.   I didn't like the fact that outgoing calls will show the new number so I will continue to use Google Voice Callback to make outgoing calls. It works pretty fast. Dial a number, GV Callback intercepts the call and asks if you want to dial normally or use callback (you can create a rule or number mask when GV Callback is invoked). I choose callback and within a second or two Google calls me back on my GrooveIP number and presents a ringing tone to the originally called number. And my CallerID is my GV number.

And it's free!


----------



## whitedragonz83 (May 17, 2014)

Another option is Facebook messenger has a decent VOIP solution for taking to people you know on Facebook. I use this with my brother occasionally. Helps Dave minutes with the people I would talk to most.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## sirxdroid (May 17, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> But it doesn't matter since I have forwarded my GV number to this one so people ringing my GV number will ring my cell via GrooveIP.

Click to collapse



Does this actually work? Ring.to says it does not:
https://bandwidth.uservoice.com/kno...-call-forwarding-not-working-via-google-voice


----------



## andy o (May 17, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> Does this actually work? Ring.to says it does not:
> https://bandwidth.uservoice.com/kno...-call-forwarding-not-working-via-google-voice

Click to collapse



That specific scenario is a "double forwarding" issue. Groove IP gives you a new number, which you can forward to from GV. You can also use that Groove IP/Ring.to number as a forwarding number (just like on GV you set up numbers to which that number will forward). Apparently if you just use that new number as an actual number and not a forwarding number (to a _third_ number), it does work. I don't see why it wouldn't.

Ring.to, as it is on the website, sells itself as a forwarding service, not unlike Google Voice. But if you activate it through Groove IP, it is an actual VoIP service. And it's the only one that is fully free from what I can tell. Remains to be seen for how long.


----------



## lchiu7 (May 17, 2014)

andy o said:


> That specific scenario is a "double forwarding" issue. Groove IP gives you a new number, which you can forward to from GV. You can also use that Groove IP/Ring.to number as a forwarding number (just like on GV you set up numbers to which that number will forward). Apparently if you just use that new number as an actual number and not a forwarding number (to a _third_ number), it does work. I don't see why it wouldn't.
> 
> Ring.to, as it is on the website, sells itself as a forwarding service, not unlike Google Voice. But if you activate it through Groove IP, it is an actual VoIP service. And it's the only one that is fully free from what I can tell. Remains to be seen for how long.

Click to collapse



I think that is correct. I didn't check until I read the post about forwarding not working, but for just forwarding from my GV number to the one GrooveIP gave me, that works fine. I can't see forwarding again - not sure why.

As for the GrooveIP free number with Ring.to, does that apply only to the paid app (which I have) or to the free one also?

Let's see how long this works for.


----------



## sirxdroid (May 17, 2014)

How do you make outgoing calls via ring.to from GrooveIP? Do you just dial the number or you have to dial some other callback number first? Also, does anyone know what protocol ring.to uses? Plain SIP or something proprietary?


----------



## andy o (May 17, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> As for the GrooveIP free number with Ring.to, does that apply only to the paid app (which I have) or to the free one also?

Click to collapse



I think it works in the free app too, though you probably will still see ads. No harm in trying.



sirxdroid said:


> How do you make outgoing calls via ring.to from GrooveIP? Do you just dial the number or you have to dial some other callback number first? Also, does anyone know what protocol ring.to uses? Plain SIP or something proprietary?

Click to collapse



You have to register your account through Groove IP. If you do on the web it doesn't let you create a new number, but only gives the option to port your existing number. Also, from what I can tell it's not a SIP account, you need to use Groove IP.


----------



## lchiu7 (May 17, 2014)

You dial from the Groove IP app or from the native Android dialer. In the latter case you can tell the native dialer always to use Groove IP or only numbers that follow a certain expression.
I'm not using Groove IP to call because it sends the wrong caller ID for me so I call with Google Voice callback and have Google call back my ring.to number.


----------



## andy o (May 18, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> I'm not using Groove IP to call because it sends the wrong caller ID for me so I call with Google Voice callback and have Google call back my ring.to number.

Click to collapse



So I've noticed something weird when doing this. Usually when you use callback, your phone will ring first and after you answer, the phone you're calling will start ringing. When I do this with the Groove IP number, both Groove IP and the phone I'm calling immediately start ringing. If the phone I'm calling to gets answered before, that person will hear ringing until I answer. This does not happen when using callback on my cel # and my callcentric account (using CSipSimple). I'm using Voice+ for callback.


----------



## acegolfer (May 18, 2014)

Free GV incoming/outgoing calls using Vonage Moible App

http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-4/general/free-gv-incoming-outgoing-calls-using-t2754991


----------



## sirxdroid (May 18, 2014)

acegolfer said:


> Free GV incoming/outgoing calls using Vonage Moible App
> 
> http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-4/general/free-gv-incoming-outgoing-calls-using-t2754991

Click to collapse



But ReachMe seems to stay active only for 2 weeks at a time, I assume you need to re-activate it every 2 weeks which is a pain, so it's not a permanent solution. And you probably get a different DID every time you re-activate, I doubt they assign you a permanent number.


----------



## acegolfer (May 18, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> But ReachMe seems to stay active only for 2 weeks at a time, I assume you need to re-activate it every 2 weeks which is a pain, so it's not a permanent solution. And you probably get a different DID every time you re-activate, I doubt they assign you a permanent number.

Click to collapse



Excellent point.

I'll set the 2-wk interval to coincide with my paycheck date so that I remember to renew ReachMe.

BTW, with XMPP shutoff, is there any other way to make free incoming/outgoing GV wifi calls? (Please don't mention grandfathered methods.)


----------



## sirxdroid (May 18, 2014)

acegolfer said:


> BTW, with XMPP shutoff, is there any other way to make free incoming/outgoing GV wifi calls? (Please don't mention grandfathered methods.)

Click to collapse



I think you can get a free incoming Callcentric number and run CSipSimple or similar on your phone (even the native Android dialer can be configured for SIP though the quality was not very good last I tried it). You forward your GV number to your Callcentric number to get free incoming calls. Then for outgoing you can pay Callcentric, but you said free, so you could use the GV *callback* method, GV can call you on your Callcentric number and connect you to the other party. Again not the perfect solution but it should work.
Or for outgoing you can use the Vonage app and set your GV number as the CID.


----------



## acegolfer (May 18, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> I think you can get a free incoming Callcentric number and run CSipSimple or similar on your phone (even the native Android dialer can be configured for SIP though the quality was not very good last I tried it). You forward your GV number to your Callcentric number to get free incoming calls. Then for outgoing you can pay Callcentric, but you said free, so you could use the GV *callback* method, GV can call you on your Callcentric number and connect you to the other party. Again not the perfect solution but it should work.
> Or for outgoing you can use the Vonage app and set your GV number as the CID.

Click to collapse



Once again you are correct. How can I forget that trick as a paid callcentric customer?

However, my experience with that method 2 years ago was increased audio lag because GV was relaying 2 calls. 

How's the quality these days?

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## joew134 (May 18, 2014)

laramo said:


> Is the starter plan better than the $30 plan?

Click to collapse



Not for me I hardly use any talk and prefer the 5gb of data

Sent from my XT1053 using XDA Free mobile app


----------



## lchiu7 (May 18, 2014)

acegolfer said:


> Once again you are correct. How can I forget that trick as a paid callcentric customer?
> 
> However, my experience with that method 2 years ago was increased audio lag because GV was relaying 2 calls.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I do that and do notice audio lag and sometimes echo on the line.

I think using GrooveIP might be better in this respect. Forward your GV number to the Ring.to number that GrooveIP assigns you. That seems to be work better than the SIP client in Android connected to Callcentric. Then for making calls use Google Voice callback but have it call the GrooveIP client instead of the SIP client.

With calls 1c/minute on many SIP providers, many people might think it's hardly worth the effort to do callback, but there is the satisfaction of getting free stuff


----------



## acegolfer (May 18, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> I do that and do notice audio lag and sometimes echo on the line.
> 
> I think using GrooveIP might be better in this respect. Forward your GV number to the Ring.to number that GrooveIP assigns you. That seems to be work better than the SIP client in Android connected to Callcentric. Then for making calls use Google Voice callback but have it call the GrooveIP client instead of the SIP client.
> 
> With calls 1c/minute on many SIP providers, many people might think it's hardly worth the effort to do callback, but there is the satisfaction of getting free stuff

Click to collapse



If you are ok with GrooveIP call quality, then it's a no brainer. Keep the old GrooveIP apk and continue using it.

Unfortunately, my experience with GrooveIP (2 yrs ago) using Nexus 4 was the worst among 10+ different VOIP solutions. It was like talking into a tin cup. Has GrooveIP improved the call quality significantly in the last 2 years?


----------



## Joshmccullough (May 19, 2014)

joew134 said:


> Not for me I hardly use any talk and prefer the 5gb of data
> 
> Sent from my XT1053 using XDA Free mobile app

Click to collapse



+1

---------- Post added at 11:35 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:33 AM ----------

Speaking of all things VoIP and GV-related: has anyone heard/read anything more about when Google's flicking the switch and integrating GV into Hangouts and what that'll all look/operate like?  There was a small flurry of activity the last couple of months and I've neither seen nor heard anything else about it.


----------



## acegolfer (May 19, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Speaking of all things VoIP and GV-related: has anyone heard/read anything more about when Google's flicking the switch and integrating GV into Hangouts and what that'll all look/operate like?  There was a small flurry of activity the last couple of months and I've neither seen nor heard anything else about it.

Click to collapse



I have been monitoring this for a while because I use GV number for my cell phone and also for my home phone. From what I read, gtalk XMPP is still working but there's a risk that Google may shut it off at any time. 

Not to take any risk, I have decided to go with Vonage for cell phone and callcentric for home phone. Both don't rely on XMPP. I can continue to use the same GV number as my number in both services.


----------



## lchiu7 (May 20, 2014)

acegolfer said:


> I have been monitoring this for a while because I use GV number for my cell phone and also for my home phone. From what I read, gtalk XMPP is still working but there's a risk that Google may shut it off at any time.
> 
> Not to take any risk, I have decided to go with Vonage for cell phone and callcentric for home phone. Both don't rely on XMPP. I can continue to use the same GV number as my number in both services.

Click to collapse



I am waiting to see also. My primary use for XMPP was for the Obitalk adapter that I use to keep in contact with my daughter. I have had her set the phone to connect to Callcentric with her GV number forwarding to it. but when we talk I just dial her Obitalk adapter using the **9300nnnnnn sequence. It's way less complicated for her


----------



## Anderson2 (May 20, 2014)

Just got a text from T-Mobile telling me that my "requested change of plans" has gone through effective today. Since I have the $30 100 min unlimited data and text Walmart plan and had not requested any changes (!) I called to see what "changes" they had made. If I understood her correctly (she had a thick accent) they just added international texting for free. Not bad.


----------



## adrman (May 20, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> Just got a text from T-Mobile telling me that my "requested change of plans" has gone through effective today.

Click to collapse



Yeah I got the same thing a couple of weeks back when my monthly payment was debited. Usually it just says your account is renewed.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## tokuzumi (May 20, 2014)

laramo said:


> I wonder why the $30 plan is better than the $50 plan.

Click to collapse



$50 plan only offers 1GB of data.  $30 plan offers 5X that.  The only benefit to the more expensive plan is unlimited talk.  Both plans have unlimited texting.


----------



## muyoso (May 20, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> $50 plan only offers 1GB of data.  $30 plan offers 5X that.  The only benefit to the more expensive plan is unlimited talk.  Both plans have unlimited texting.

Click to collapse



The main drawback of the $30 plan is something no one ever talks about.  There is no roaming at all on that plan.  You are limited to T-Mobile towers only.  I personally don't mind, but this means that when I take a road trip from DC to Cleveland for example, my smartphone is completely useless from 20 miles outside of DC to around 30 miles outside of Cleveland.  So for 5 hours of the nearly 6 hour trip its no different than a flip phone.  If you travel a lot this should be a major concern.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## tokuzumi (May 20, 2014)

muyoso said:


> The main drawback of the $30 plan is something no one ever talks about.  There is no roaming at all on that plan.  You are limited to T-Mobile towers only.  I personally don't mind, but this means that when I take a road trip from DC to Cleveland for example, my smartphone is completely useless from 20 miles outside of DC to around 30 miles outside of Cleveland.  So for 5 hours of the nearly 6 hour trip its no different than a flip phone.  If you travel a lot this should be a major concern.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



At that point, I'd probably use something like straight talk, using at&t. In my neck of the woods, I had great signal, even when traveling from Atlanta to myrtle beach.


----------



## ski522 (May 21, 2014)

muyoso said:


> The main drawback of the $30 plan is something no one ever talks about.  There is no roaming at all on that plan.  You are limited to T-Mobile towers only.  I personally don't mind, but this means that when I take a road trip from DC to Cleveland for example, my smartphone is completely useless from 20 miles outside of DC to around 30 miles outside of Cleveland.  So for 5 hours of the nearly 6 hour trip its no different than a flip phone.  If you travel a lot this should be a major concern.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Not completely correct, there is some data roaming on AT&T's network per the fail bid by AT&T (apparently there was a penalty clause that if the buy-out didn't happen AT&T had to open up some of their network to T-Mobile). You are not charged extra for this and have occasionally found myself roaming onto AT&T's network, a T-Mobile rep told me about this when I was working on some issues with my N5. It does require you to turn on roaming and as the T-Mobile rep wrote me in an email: 

_"Most people turn data roaming off. It gives such a scary message about possible charges, and no one wants an unexpected bill. You have my written assurance right here that this won't happen within US boundaries."_


----------



## whitedragonz83 (May 21, 2014)

laramo said:


> Try not to use ST. I had the worst experience on it. Switched back to tmo as a result.

Click to collapse



Cricket/AIO Wireless has been great for me. I miss aspects of T-Mobile, but wanted better coverage and unlimited minutes.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## tokuzumi (May 21, 2014)

laramo said:


> Try not to use ST. I had the worst experience on it. Switched back to tmo as a result.

Click to collapse



I only used it for 6 months, using at&t towers, because my at&t gs3 didn't do well with T-Mobile.  I was never without signal, and even when traveling, I would only rarely see edge. But that was in unpopulated sections of highway. I only tried T-Mobile again when I bought my nexus 5, since it had support for all of their bands. I plan to stay where I am for now.


----------



## Gaffadin (May 22, 2014)

muyoso said:


> The main drawback of the $30 plan is something no one ever talks about.  There is no roaming at all on that plan.  You are limited to T-Mobile towers only.

Click to collapse



There is no _data _roaming on the $30 plan, but there is _voice _roaming. I believe voice roaming uses 2 minutes for every 1 minute you use, but I'm not 100% on that.


----------



## tokuzumi (May 22, 2014)

While not t-mobile related, when will google voice be integrated into hangouts?  I'm tired of sending texts through the Google Voice app.


----------



## ski522 (May 22, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> There is no _data _roaming on the $30 plan, but there is _voice _roaming. I believe voice roaming uses 2 minutes for every 1 minute you use, but I'm not 100% on that.

Click to collapse



That's not correct, there is some data roaming (including prepaid) on AT&T's network, but not all of their network. This was a penalty clause from the failed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. You can check http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-coverage for coverage...the map list partner coverage.


----------



## tokuzumi (May 22, 2014)

ski522 said:


> That's not correct, there is some data roaming (including prepaid) on AT&T's network, but not all of their network. This was a penalty clause from the failed merger between AT&T and T-Mobile. You can check http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-coverage for coverage...the map list partner coverage.

Click to collapse



Check the fine print (click on the "Important Coverage Details" at the bottom of the map):

"$30 and $35 monthy Pay-In-Advance plans, mobile internet pay in advance plans, and $2 and $3 Pay-By-Day plans do not include service partner data coverage.  Pay as you go plans do not include data."


----------



## ski522 (May 22, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> Check the fine print (click on the "Important Coverage Details" at the bottom of the map):
> 
> "$30 and $35 monthy Pay-In-Advance plans, mobile internet pay in advance plans, and $2 and $3 Pay-By-Day plans do not include service partner data coverage.  Pay as you go plans do not include data."

Click to collapse



I asked T-Mobile this directly a few months ago as I was have some coverage trouble and as I've posted before in this thread there response is below...I've confirmed that I did had coverage in partner areas and...yes...I'm on a prepaid plan with my N5. 

"Most people turn data roaming off. It gives such a scary message about possible charges, and no one wants an unexpected bill. You have my written assurance right here that this won't happen within US boundaries.

I looked up the area you mentioned on our network improvement map, and I do see that we have begun some improvements on the network in that area. Once we start an area, we usually finish it, so that's good news. You will not see an immediate improvement, but I'm hoping for the next few months to make it obvious.

We appreciate your choosing us and want you to have a good experience. If there are any further questions that you have, or if you need any help, T-Force is here for you.

Sondra T @Tforce

Please join the community: http://support.t-mobile.com/community/community"​
Although while I had coverage, I can't confirm whether that was just voice and/or data, but I did have the R symbol showing on my phone. Next time I'm in the area I will check both...so maybe that's the reference to the fine print.


----------



## tokuzumi (May 22, 2014)

ski522 said:


> I asked T-Mobile this directly a few months ago as I was have some coverage trouble and as I've posted before in this thread there response is below...I've confirmed that I did had coverage in partner areas and...yes...I'm on a prepaid plan with my N5.
> 
> "Most people turn data roaming off. It gives such a scary message about possible charges, and no one wants an unexpected bill. You have my written assurance right here that this won't happen within US boundaries.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



The fine print specifically references data.  Doesn't say anything about voice/text.  So, you should be able to get calls/texts, but I wouldn't expect any data.  I would be interested to know your findings when you are in an area where you are roaming.


----------



## Gaffadin (May 23, 2014)

http://support.t-mobile.com/thread/56669

_"Only some of our prepaid plans offer domestic data roaming. The $30 plan does not though. Currently only our $50, $60, and $70 plans offer domestic data roaming."_

If you saw the R on the $30 plan it was for voice only, not data.


----------



## TheGymDude (May 23, 2014)

does this plan work with chromebooks? anyone tried it before?


----------



## muyoso (May 23, 2014)

TheGymDude said:


> does this plan work with chromebooks? anyone tried it before?

Click to collapse



I've always been meaning to try this out with my Chromebook, but my Chromebook has the 200mb free for life and that's enough for my mobile needs which is why I never bothered.  

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## Naddict (May 25, 2014)

Thread lightly cleaned of off topic and unnecessary comments.  Members are reminded that respect is a rule here.   Stay on topic,  post respectfully to and with each other,  or get out.   Final warning in here folks.  Troll at your own peril from here on out.


----------



## lchiu7 (May 26, 2014)

I have been using GrooveIP for my callback number but I just tried it for a decent length call and on strong Wi-Fi I kept on getting dropouts and silence. Not usable so I've gone back to SIP on my phone and Callcentric.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## macallik (May 26, 2014)

TheGymDude said:


> does this plan work with chromebooks? anyone tried it before?

Click to collapse



Haven't tried it, but i remember the plan not working for tablets so I'd be surprised if chromebooks could take advantage of it either


----------



## andy o (May 27, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> I have been using GrooveIP for my callback number but I just tried it for a decent length call and on strong Wi-Fi I kept on getting dropouts and silence. Not usable so I've gone back to SIP on my phone and Callcentric.

Click to collapse



I've also been using Groove IP with callback, and it's buggy. Sometimes it doesn't ring, and also the ring.to service is weird. It requires Groove IP to press "1" (an option they added in the latest update) for GV callback or incoming GV forwards, and when you do an outgoing call via callback, it rings immediately both phones, instead of waiting for you to answer to then start ringing the phone you're calling.

But on the plus side, the delay seems to be perceivably less compared to all other VoIP I've tried forwarded through GV, including Callcentric. Just a tad more than the delay from GV for normal cel calls.


----------



## HowDoIVoIP (May 27, 2014)

andy o said:


> I've also been using Groove IP with callback, and it's buggy. Sometimes it doesn't ring, and also the ring.to service is weird. It requires Groove IP to press "1" (an option they added in the latest update) for GV callback or incoming GV forwards, and when you do an outgoing call via callback, it rings immediately both phones, instead of waiting for you to answer to then start ringing the phone you're calling.
> 
> But on the plus side, the delay seems to be perceivably less compared to all other VoIP I've tried forwarded through GV, including Callcentric. Just a tad more than the delay from GV for normal cel calls.

Click to collapse



I made a 12-part YouTube tutorial for better VoIP quality than any app including GrooveIP. Check it out:

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2273166


----------



## Relations99 (May 27, 2014)

Work with Note 8?


----------



## HowDoIVoIP (May 29, 2014)

Relations99 said:


> Work with Note 8?

Click to collapse



If you're asking me, yes. It works on any Android device because the only software you use is CSipSimple and GoogleVoice which are on the GooglePlay Store. The actual server software is device-agnostic because it runs in VirtualBox on your computer. My tutorials go through it and many find it superior because the amount of control and cool things you can do such as hold music. Yup, you heard that right: hold music on a residential phone line. 

If you're the kind of person who gets a lot of telemarketer calls or harassing calls, you can put them in an infinite loop. "Thank you for calling. Press 1 to speak with a representative." when they press 1 you can have it put them on hold with really embarrassing and annoying hold music forever. Or just block a specific number so when they call it'll do the professional, "We're sorry. The number you're calling is no longer in service." 

It's pretty fantastic.


----------



## mojo6911 (May 30, 2014)

Any way to have incoming calls go through a VOIP provider WITHOUT using GV? I really need MMS and I don't think I have found a decent workaround.


----------



## sirxdroid (May 30, 2014)

mojo6911 said:


> Any way to have incoming calls go through a VOIP provider WITHOUT using GV? I really need MMS and I don't think I have found a decent workaround.

Click to collapse



You can set up SIP in the native Android dialer, but last I tried the quality was not that good, perhaps it's gotten better. There are other apps such as CSipSimple, Sipdroid, etc.


----------



## adrman (May 30, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> You can set up SIP in the native Android dialer, but last I tried the quality was not that good, perhaps it's gotten better. There are other apps such as CSipSimple, Sipdroid, etc.

Click to collapse



It hasn't. CSipSimple is still the best.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## andy o (May 30, 2014)

mojo6911 said:


> Any way to have incoming calls go through a VOIP provider WITHOUT using GV? I really need MMS and I don't think I have found a decent workaround.

Click to collapse



There are several, Talkatone and Callcentric offer free incoming calls to a number they give you. Groove IP/Ring.to offer free unlimited calls both ways (least lag of all, which is very important to me), and FreedomPop offers 200min / 500 sms for free. You can try and see if any of those is compatible with MMS.


----------



## mojo6911 (May 30, 2014)

andy o said:


> There are several, Talkatone and Callcentric offer free incoming calls to a number they give you. Groove IP/Ring.to offer free unlimited calls both ways (least lag of all, which is very important to me), and FreedomPop offers 200min / 500 sms for free. You can try and see if any of those is compatible with MMS.

Click to collapse



Sorry, I wasn't clear.  I meant incoming calls to my Tmobile assigned number.  I guess not, since no forwarding is allowed.


----------



## andy o (May 30, 2014)

mojo6911 said:


> Sorry, I wasn't clear.  I meant incoming calls to my Tmobile assigned number.  I guess not, since no forwarding is allowed.

Click to collapse



Ring.to is a forwarding service just like GV. How were you using GV though? With GV people also won't ring your T-mo number, you give them your GV number and forward to T-mo instead. Unless of course you're willing to port your T-mo number to GV, which can also be done with Ring.to. I don't recommend it though, especially since it's apparently a new service.


----------



## mojo6911 (May 30, 2014)

andy o said:


> Ring.to is a forwarding service just like GV. How were you using GV though? With GV people also won't ring your T-mo number, you give them your GV number and forward to T-mo instead. Unless of course you're willing to port your T-mo number to GV, which can also be done with Ring.to. I don't recommend it though, especially since it's apparently a new service.

Click to collapse



I am on a different provider now.  I was planning on porting my number to GV and using voip most of the time, but I need MMS.  Ring to won't forward MMS.  I was going to see if I could port my number to Tmobile instead, but doesn't look like that is a viable option, since I can't have incoming calls directly to that number through voip.


----------



## andy o (May 30, 2014)

mojo6911 said:


> I am on a different provider now.  I was planning on porting my number to GV and using voip most of the time, but I need MMS.  Ring to won't forward MMS.  I was going to see if I could port my number to Tmobile instead, but doesn't look like that is a viable option, since I can't have incoming calls directly to that number through voip.

Click to collapse



You might wanna wait a bit (maybe a month or so) until Google comes out with the new Hangouts. They've said they were working on MMS, and right now the Chrome and iOS versions of it have free VoIP calls via the GV number.


----------



## adrman (May 30, 2014)

laramo said:


> I'm in the USA and I'm on $50 prepaid. Does anyone know if T-mobile charges taxes if you pay online?

Click to collapse



They'll charge whatever your local tax is. You're better off refilling via callingmart.com to avoid taxes.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## sirxdroid (May 30, 2014)

adrman said:


> They'll charge whatever your local tax is. You're better off refilling via callingmart.com to avoid taxes.

Click to collapse



It probably depends on the state. I bought a refill card at Target in California and was not charged any tax, just the $30 value of the card. I was surprised.


----------



## mojo6911 (May 30, 2014)

andy o said:


> You might wanna wait a bit (maybe a month or so) until Google comes out with the new Hangouts. They've said they were working on MMS, and right now the Chrome and iOS versions of it have free VoIP calls via the GV number.

Click to collapse



I think you're right, I should just wait. I think we will just go to MetroPCS for now. My wife was going to get the $40 Tmo plan and I would get the $30. Since MetroPCS offers the family discount of $5 per line, if I get the $50 and my wife gets the $40, it's only going to cost us $10 more for the time being.


----------



## Joshmccullough (May 30, 2014)

mojo6911 said:


> Sorry, I wasn't clear.  I meant incoming calls to my Tmobile assigned number.  I guess not, since no forwarding is allowed.

Click to collapse



I think T-Mobile's system or policy or something is a little less than 'concrete' on call forwarding.  I couldn't get my Google Voice forwarding and voicemail to work on my line forever and a day and then one day it just started working.  I tried everything that people had recommended, but nothing seemed to work other than just dumb luck or circumstance or something beyond my control.


----------



## macallik (May 30, 2014)

Has anyone had recent issues with their 'minutes tracking' via the 'T-Mobile My Accounts' app? My data is up-to-date but my minutes and text count haven't updated since 5/26


EDIT: Going to 'app info' and clearing the data forces the widget and app to update with proper info. Not sure if I have to do that every time though...


----------



## lchiu7 (May 30, 2014)

adrman said:


> It hasn't. CSipSimple is still the best.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I tried this and was unimpressed. But it could be user error. I only wanted CSipSimple to receive calls but I could not work out how to stop the app from dialing out.  I wanted to dial out via Google Voice callback and have GV call me via CSipSimple but I could not get that to work.

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## adrman (May 30, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> I tried this and was unimpressed. But it could be user error. I only wanted CSipSimple to receive calls but I could not work out how to stop the app from dialing out.  I wanted to dial out via Google Voice callback and have GV call me via CSipSimple but I could not get that to work.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I haven't used GVCB, but couldn't you select that as your preferred dialer? As far as forwarding GV to CSS, you'd need to have a US DID that can forward to a SIP address. You could try a free number from Callcentric.


Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## lchiu7 (May 30, 2014)

adrman said:


> I haven't used GVCB, but couldn't you select that as your preferred dialer? As far as forwarding GV to CSS, you'd need to have a US DID that can forward to a SIP address. You could try a free number from Callcentric.
> 
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



I do have a Callcentric number and it's currently setup as a SIP account on my N5. I have GV call that when I do GVCB. I was just seeing if CSipSimple had better call quality for the callback but it seems to intercept the call going out no matter what rules I try. I was using GrooveIP as the callback number but the call quality was so variable and had so many dropouts, I gave up. I will probably just stick to the native SIP client in Android.


----------



## andy o (May 31, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> I do have a Callcentric number and it's currently setup as a SIP account on my N5. I have GV call that when I do GVCB. I was just seeing if CSipSimple had better call quality for the callback but it seems to intercept the call going out no matter what rules I try. I was using GrooveIP as the callback number but the call quality was so variable and had so many dropouts, I gave up. I will probably just stick to the native SIP client in Android.

Click to collapse



Have you tried disabling dialer integration in user interface settings? I had it working pretty well with the Voice+ callback app.


----------



## adrman (May 31, 2014)

Heads up. I just got the following email from callingmart.

" This is an important notification about your scheduled auto-purchase at*callingmart.com. Starting June 1, 2014, T-Mobile will increase their reseller pricing further nationwide! In order for us to continue selling this product online, we have to charge 2% extra so we will not be losing on this product considering the costs of selling this online. Please see pricing below:*

Denomination/New Price
$10.00/$10.20
$25.00/$25.50
$50.00/$51.00
$100.00/$102.00

We appreciate you for being a loyal customer with CallingMart, as such, you will still get 1% instant discount on your auto-refill purchase. If you do not wish to be charged with the new pricing, please login to your callingmart account and disable your auto-purchase prior to your scheduled purchase date."

I guess my $30 auto refill will now be $30.60 -$.30 discount or $30.30. For me, it's still cheaper than refilling directly with T-Mobile and paying NYS/NYC taxes, but that might not be the case for everyone.


----------



## sirxdroid (May 31, 2014)

In the states where there is no sales tax for refill cards, the best deal I think is Target. The refills go on sale sometimes, I think 5% off or so. Plus if you have a Target Red card you get another 5% off. Stock up when you find such a deal, but be careful as these cards expire -- it's unclear to me though when they expire or what the exact rules are, so if you buy a lot and they expire unused it may be an expensive purchase. You can find the same deal online at target.com at times (and you get free shipping with the Target red card).


----------



## lchiu7 (May 31, 2014)

andy o said:


> Have you tried disabling dialer integration in user interface settings? I had it working pretty well with the Voice+ callback app.

Click to collapse



I think I fiddled with all the settings.Then just deleted the app and installed it again and lo and behold, it works now. So I can call out using my regular dialer, have GVCB look at the dialing rules and then invoke callback if the rules apply. The callback goes to my Callcentric number and CipSimple picks it up!  No need to have the callback go to GV and then forward to Callcentric since the GVCB tool and GV allow you to chose what number to call back to. That saves one forwarding and some possible delay.


----------



## macallik (Jun 1, 2014)

adrman said:


> Heads up. I just got the following email from callingmart.
> 
> " This is an important notification about your scheduled auto-purchase at*callingmart.com. Starting June 1, 2014, T-Mobile will increase their reseller pricing further nationwide! In order for us to continue selling this product online, we have to charge 2% extra so we will not be losing on this product considering the costs of selling this online. Please see pricing below:*
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Repped for the heads up. Figured I'd purchase $100 today and save $2 as a result. Every penny counts


----------



## kopower (Jun 2, 2014)

I just encountered a weird problem. A website I visit frequently, all of a sudden gives me a 504 error gateway timeout. I have a unlocked, rooted Nexus 5 with a custom rom. The website works fine on wifi, and acually loads if I temporarily switch from wifi, back to cell. I looked into the gateway error and it seems like others have also had this problem on T Mobile with the N5.  A few days earlier, I flashed a new rom, and the website was working fine. I started receiving the error Sunday morning. It's a fantasy mma website called mmaplayground.com. Thoughts??


----------



## tokuzumi (Jun 2, 2014)

kopower said:


> I just encountered a weird problem. A website I visit frequently, all of a sudden gives me a 504 error gateway timeout. I have a unlocked, rooted Nexus 5 with a custom rom. The website works fine on wifi, and acually loads if I temporarily switch from wifi, back to cell. I looked into the gateway error and it seems like others have also had this problem on T Mobile with the N5.  A few days earlier, I flashed a new rom, and the website was working fine. I started receiving the error Sunday morning. It's a fantasy mma website called mmaplayground.com. Thoughts??

Click to collapse



T-Mobile has some web nanny setting, which I think is enabled by default. I remember I had to turn this setting off.


----------



## kopower (Jun 2, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> T-Mobile has some web nanny setting, which I think is enabled by default. I remember I had to turn this setting off.

Click to collapse



I believe you are referring to the web guard setting. I turned that off awhile back, and I remember getting a notification when it was enabled, after trying to access certain websites.


----------



## BinkXDA (Jun 4, 2014)

macallik said:


> Has anyone had recent issues with their 'minutes tracking' via the 'T-Mobile My Accounts' app? My data is up-to-date but my minutes and text count haven't updated since 5/26
> 
> 
> EDIT: Going to 'app info' and clearing the data forces the widget and app to update with proper info. Not sure if I have to do that every time though...

Click to collapse



I’ve had similar issues for a little while now.  I use http://ma.web2go.com/home.do?src=m.tmo instead of the app—but both seem to be very similar—and my minutes count has simply disappeared.  #MIN#, #BAL# and #999#, which I don’t normally use, are useless for minutes as well.

Way to go T-Mobile.


----------



## tokuzumi (Jun 4, 2014)

BinkXDA said:


> I’ve had similar issues for a little while now.  I use http://ma.web2go.com/home.do?src=m.tmo instead of the app—but both seem to be very similar—and my minutes count has simply disappeared.  #MIN#, #BAL# and #999#, which I don’t normally use, are useless for minutes as well.
> 
> Way to go T-Mobile.

Click to collapse



That's my biggest beef with T-Mobile.  When I was on Verizon and Sprint, I could make a call, send a text, surf the web, and go check my account, and I'd see that reflected against my call/text/data allowance almost immediately.  I know they can provide real time data, but I think they don't solely because they make more money in overages that way.  It's not enough for me to go all  "FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!", but it is an annoyance.

But it looks like my work will finally be ponying up for an Android device for business (currently I'm using a Blackberry *head explodes*).  Since I've ported to GV, I can continue to use Vonage, or similar service for my personal calls, and my work cell will just ring the device directly.  And texts will be the same, as well.  I will be able to cancel my personal line, and just let work pay for my service.  It's only $30.75/month I'm saving, but I also don't need to worry about buying phones, since work provides that too (I'll just have to put up with a S4 for a while - a great phone, but a downgrade from my N5).  We all know device purchases can become an expensive habit.


----------



## TiltedAz (Jun 6, 2014)

There's some hurdles, but looks like Sprint and T-mobile could tie the knot as soon as July. 

Gotta wonder what happens to this $30/month pre-paid deal. Maybe it stays if the T-mobile ceo runs the new company.

I'd think coverage and signal strength will only improve. The combined entity should be more able to get better 4G coverage where there currently is none. 

But less competition almost always means increased cost to consumer.


----------



## baiju2012 (Jun 6, 2014)

mojo6911 said:


> Sorry, I wasn't clear.  I meant incoming calls to my Tmobile assigned number.  I guess not, since no forwarding is allowed.

Click to collapse



Check out Vonage Mobile App. If you are on the T-Mobile postpaid plan, then ReachMe Roaming can be your answer.

Nexus IV


----------



## Gaffadin (Jun 7, 2014)

An industry analyst said today he thinks the deal has a 10% chance of approval, so I think we're safe for the time being.


----------



## mojo6911 (Jun 8, 2014)

baiju2012 said:


> Check out Vonage Mobile App. If you are on the T-Mobile postpaid plan, then ReachMe Roaming can be your answer.
> 
> Nexus IV

Click to collapse



Explain to me how ReachMe Roaming would allow me to use my Tmobile number without GV.


----------



## baiju2012 (Jun 8, 2014)

mojo6911 said:


> Explain to me how ReachMe Roaming would allow me to use my Tmobile number without GV.

Click to collapse



Not without GV. You must have seen instructions from acegolfer (http://forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-4/general/free-gv-incoming-outgoing-calls-using-t2754991) about that. But for international travel you can use t-mobile number without GV. But that is not what you want.

Install the Vonage App and go to ReachMe Roaming. It is explained very clearly there.

Nexus IV


----------



## macallik (Jun 8, 2014)

BinkXDA said:


> I’ve had similar issues for a little while now.  I use http://ma.web2go.com/home.do?src=m.tmo instead of the app—but both seem to be very similar—and my minutes count has simply disappeared.  #MIN#, #BAL# and #999#, which I don’t normally use, are useless for minutes as well.
> 
> Way to go T-Mobile.

Click to collapse





tokuzumi said:


> That's my biggest beef with T-Mobile.  When I was on Verizon and Sprint, I could make a call, send a text, surf the web, and go check my account, and I'd see that reflected against my call/text/data allowance almost immediately.  I know they can provide real time data, but I think they don't solely because they make more money in overages that way.  It's not enough for me to go all  "FFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!", but it is an annoyance.
> 
> But it looks like my work will finally be ponying up for an Android device for business (currently I'm using a Blackberry *head explodes*).  Since I've ported to GV, I can continue to use Vonage, or similar service for my personal calls, and my work cell will just ring the device directly.  And texts will be the same, as well.  I will be able to cancel my personal line, and just let work pay for my service.  It's only $30.75/month I'm saving, but I also don't need to worry about buying phones, since work provides that too (I'll just have to put up with a S4 for a while - a great phone, but a downgrade from my N5).  We all know device purchases can become an expensive habit.

Click to collapse



I deleted the app (who has time to clear cached data every time?) and favorited: https://my.t-mobile.com/Default.aspx?rp.Logon=true on my phone which seems to do the trick and doesn't have the updating issues that the App did. I am prompted to log-in each time, but with my pw saved on chrome, it isn't much of a hassle.

---------- Post added at 05:56 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:45 PM ----------




mojo6911 said:


> Explain to me how ReachMe Roaming would allow me to use my Tmobile number without GV.

Click to collapse



I don't think there is any way to use your mobile # for incoming calls without an intermediary such as Google Voice. 

Fwiw, if you don't mind letting calls go to Voicemail, you can use Vonage so that outgoing calls look like they are from your T-Mobile # even when it is not. 

Additionally, when it comes to MMS, I tell the people that I text frequentlyto send MMS to my 'other' (read: T-Mobile #). Also, if your main contact(s) of concern are with Sprint, I _think_ their MMS attempts are always automatically forwarded to your Gmail account as a picture email that you can view.


----------



## 954wrecker (Jun 11, 2014)

Anyone notice this issue over the past week or so?
https://t-mobile.jive-mobile.com/#j...jive-mobile.com/api/core/v2/discussions/71275
Been using #min# for years and this is the first time it hasn't worked. How hard is it for tmobile to figure out and fix already? 

sent from my note 3


----------



## whitedragonz83 (Jun 11, 2014)

didito said:


> Tmobile told me i cant get the $30 plan because they said they dont provide it in my area.

Click to collapse



If you talked to someone, you did it wrong.  This only works via the T-Mobile website, not via phone calls/local stores.

Check page 1 of this thread, it might have some more information there or in the FAQ of the thread:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/galaxy-nexus/general/guide-smartphone-service-30-month-t1646755


----------



## tokuzumi (Jun 11, 2014)

didito said:


> Oh ok. So I need to get the plan off the website is what youre saying. So what does the plan entail exactly?

Click to collapse



Details of the plan:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tmobile-30-Wireless-Airtime-Card/15443357


----------



## ski522 (Jun 12, 2014)

judeReview01 said:


> nice offer hope it is still available

Click to collapse



The plan is very popular for T-Mobile, doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon. Info on the plan can be found 3/4's of the way down on T-Mobiles Prepaid URL http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans.  

Basically reads:

*$30 per month--Unlimited web and text with 100 minutes talk

100 minutes talk | Unlimited text | First 5 GB at up to 4G speeds
Now get unlimited international texting from the U.S. to virtually anywhere included in your plan—at no extra charge.
This plan is only available for devices purchased from Wal-Mart or devices activated on T-Mobile.com*


----------



## acegolfer (Jun 12, 2014)

ski522 said:


> The plan is very popular for T-Mobile, doubt it's going anywhere anytime soon. [/COLOR][/I][/B]

Click to collapse



Some analysts predict that this plan may disappear if Sprint/T-mobile merger goes through. (sorry I didn't save the source) I hope they are wrong.


----------



## tokuzumi (Jun 12, 2014)

acegolfer said:


> Some analysts predict that this plan may disappear if Sprint/T-mobile merger goes through. (sorry I didn't save the source) I hope they are wrong.

Click to collapse



Predictions are the same as internet rumors, and "I was told by customer care....." statements.  

We shall see what happens.  Either way, if the merger goes through, we are quite a ways off before any plan/pricing changes are made for either sprint or T-Mobile.


----------



## ski522 (Jun 12, 2014)

acegolfer said:


> Some analysts predict that this plan may disappear if Sprint/T-mobile merger goes through. (sorry I didn't save the source) I hope they are wrong.

Click to collapse



Doubtful since John Legere is actually the in the running to take over the CEO spot, but as tokuzumi point out rumors are the same as something being true because it's on the internet! 

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-06-05/t-mobile-s-legere-said-likely-ceo-after-sprint-merger.html

But if Bloomberg is right that that actually makes the merger is a good thing.


----------



## acegolfer (Jun 12, 2014)

Ski

Thanks for the article. However, it didn't address the prepaid plans. 

Same tmo CEO running the merged company doesn't necessarily mean the pricing won't change. Less competition usually results in higher prices. But I hope this plan survives. 

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk


----------



## tokuzumi (Jun 12, 2014)

If the merger goes through, my prediction (source: synapses in my brain firing) is that T-Mobile's prices will rise slightly, and Sprint's prices will drop to match T-Mobile's.  But the prices will be very comparable to what you would get on AT&T/Verizon.  

I'd love for Sprint's unlimited mobile to any mobile to make its way to the $30 prepaid plan, or any plan that does not have unlimited minutes.  Or at least mobile to mobile to any Sprint/T-Mobile customer.  I know it's a lofty goal, but a man's gotta have dreams, you know


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jun 13, 2014)

didito said:


> Oh ok. So I need to get the plan off the website is what youre saying. So what does the plan entail exactly?

Click to collapse



Yeah, don't listen to customer service, just do it on the website.  I spoke with one customer service rep who told me that I had to buy a SIM kit through Wal-Mart in order to get this plan; I quoted the website verbatim and sent her a link to the site just to hammer in the point that she was wrong.


----------



## Vegasden (Jun 18, 2014)

If you happen to be in Target (I don't work for them) $30 refill cards $28.49. No purchase limit.

- - - - - - -


----------



## sirxdroid (Jun 18, 2014)

Vegasden said:


> If you happen to be in Target (I don't work for them) $30 refill cards $28.49. No purchase limit.

Click to collapse



Use the Target Red Card and save another 5%. Careful though, these cards expire, though it's unclear to me what the exact rules are, is it from date of purchase or from the date you add them to your TMo account?


----------



## gcbxda (Jun 25, 2014)

Is this still a good plan? this thread is impossible to follow up.. :/

also, a more specific question, what about 800 numbers?

my current AT&T unlimited (being canceled because, now that i quit using hotspots for a year or more, but bought a new phone, they started to harass me that i'm using too much hotspot and will have to pay extra... can anyone be more clueless than at&t?!?!) 

anyway, i mostly call 800 numbers for work calls. my usual bill is like 500 of my 700 minutes used... but they were all 800 numbers that shouldn't even count! anyway AT&T counts them while you are still burning the plan minutes. then they are free if you are out of plan minutes... but by then, every other call is being charged extra because now you have no more plan minutes.

anyway, i'm considering the $30 or the $45... will they do the same crap and deduct 800 numbers from the 100min?


----------



## 954wrecker (Jun 25, 2014)

Sorry about the bad news but 800 numbers count against the 100 minutes then it's .10 a minute after the 100 are up

sent from my note 3


----------



## tokuzumi (Jun 25, 2014)

gcbxda said:


> Is this still a good plan? this thread is impossible to follow up.. :/
> 
> also, a more specific question, what about 800 numbers?
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Personally, if you need to have 700-800 minutes per month, this plan is not right for you, unless you are always in a area with strong signal, or are on WiFi all the time. You could then use one of the many WiFi calling options available.


----------



## andy o (Jun 25, 2014)

So after trying out Groove IP with Ring.to for some weeks now, I gotta say, it's remarkably better than what  was available with GIP/GV. The lag is very minimal, especially if you are calling directly from their service (no GV forwarding). They added GV forwarding too, and the lag is still probably comparable with GV forwarding to cell.

If you're making 800 calls, you probably don't need to use GV, Groove IP by itself should work very well on a consistent WiFi connection.

My only 2 peeves are that Groove Forwarder is screwed up, the advanced WiFi automatic settings aren't working, and for some reason if I use different forwarding to groups (e.g. "coworkers") in Google Voice, then Groove IP takes a very long time to connect those incoming calls, long enough that they almost always will hang up.


----------



## acegolfer (Jun 25, 2014)

gcbxda said:


> Is this still a good plan? this thread is impossible to follow up.. :/
> 
> also, a more specific question, what about 800 numbers?
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Yes.
Yes.


----------



## Vegasden (Jun 26, 2014)

I highly doubt you'll find any cell phone company that doesn't charge for calling 1-800 #s on a measured minutes plan.


----------



## SuperC2 (Jun 28, 2014)

I use t-mobile everytime I'm in the US for more then a month (I'm Canadian). I've had zero problems with them so far.


----------



## macallik (Jun 29, 2014)

gcbxda said:


> Is this still a good plan? this thread is impossible to follow up.. :/
> 
> also, a more specific question, what about 800 numbers?
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



If you make calls somewhere where there is access to WiFi, you can use this plan w/ the Vonage App. It makes free high quality calls over WiFi and they do not charge for 800 #s
http://www.vonagemobile.com/support/vonagemobile/knowledge_base_article.php?id=21

Here is the link to figure out how to set things up or if you have questions
forum.xda-developers.com/nexus-4/general/free-gv-incoming-outgoing-calls-using-t2754991


----------



## gcbxda (Jun 29, 2014)

thanks! you're spot on. I'm using either Skype or gmail's talk with gvoice (desktop) for my 0800 numbers.

more info on 0800 with mobiles: http://www.dslreports.com/forum/r20875860-Is-calling-a-toll-free-number-from-a-mobile-is-really-free

Sent from my XT1053 using XDA Free mobile app


----------



## 954wrecker (Jun 30, 2014)

Anyone on this plan know what USSD code  to enter to get my monthly minutes used or remaining? For years #646# was quick and easy but it's gone for some reason. Really hate having to go online and log into my account just to see my minute balance. Anyone know the secret code? 

sent from my note 3


----------



## mojitochica (Jun 30, 2014)

Looks like Calling Mart doesn't carry the refill card for $30 prepaid plan anymore   Calling Mart is only offering $50, $60, and $70 refill cards. Does anyone know of any online alternatives that don't collect taxes?

ETA: I found PrePaid Online.  I'll give it a try and report back on my experience.

ETA 2: PrePaid Online charges a $1 convenience  charge.



> CONVENIENCE FEE ADDED TO ALL T-MOBILE ORDERS
> 
> T-Mobile has increased their prices to dealers like us again so we will no longer be able to offer discounts, rebates, rewards or any other promotions on T-Mobile refills. Because of these increased costs it is no longer profitable to even offer T-Mobile products. The credit card transaction fees alone are greater than the profit margins. As a service to our customers we will continue to offer T-Mobile refills however a convenience fee between $1.00 and $2.50 will be added to each refill to offset costs.

Click to collapse


----------



## adrman (Jun 30, 2014)

mojitochica said:


> Looks like Calling Mart doesn't carry the refill card for $30 prepaid plan anymore   Calling Mart is only offering $50, $60, and $70 refill cards. Does anyone know of any online alternatives that don't collect taxes?
> 
> ETA: I found PrePaid Online.  I'll give it a try and report back on my experience.

Click to collapse




Just use the "TMobile To Go RTR/Topup - Autoload to phone" product from Callingmart.  You can do that for as little as $10.


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 1, 2014)

mojitochica said:


> Looks like Calling Mart doesn't carry the refill card for $30 prepaid plan anymore

Click to collapse



It's still there: http://www.callingmart.com/products...T-Mobile-To-Go-RTR/Topup---Auto-Load-To-Phone

Even factoring in the extra they charge, it still works out cheaper than refilling from T-M directly with the tax they would charge on top.


----------



## 954wrecker (Jul 1, 2014)

I don't remember ever getting charged tax to buy a card in person here in California. I never payed tax online on the tmobile website. Maybe it's the one thing California doesn't tax

sent from my note 3


----------



## joey4321 (Jul 1, 2014)

*wifi calling*

Does anyone know if there is a way to enable wifi calling with the Nexus 5 with the T-Mobile plan?  I have a weak signal at my job, but I do have a strong wifi signal.  Or is it not possible with the Nexus 5?


----------



## macallik (Jul 1, 2014)

joey4321 said:


> Does anyone know if there is a way to enable wifi calling with the Nexus 5 with the T-Mobile plan?  I have a weak signal at my job, but I do have a strong wifi signal.  Or is it not possible with the Nexus 5?

Click to collapse



Regular wifi calling via TMobile will use plan minutes. However, check out the link I posted a day or two ago. Vonage App allows for high-quality wifi calls for free through September 23rd and shows your real # shows on caller ID. I use Vonage at home and work so my 100m is now my emergency minutes.


----------



## coorsleftfield (Jul 3, 2014)

Grooveip also works well and has been updated to use ring.to instead of Google voice xmpp 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## BinkXDA (Jul 3, 2014)

BinkXDA said:


> I’ve had similar issues for a little while now.  I use http://ma.web2go.com/home.do?src=m.tmo instead of the app—but both seem to be very similar—and my minutes count has simply disappeared.  #MIN#, #BAL# and #999#, which I don’t normally use, are useless for minutes as well.
> 
> Way to go T-Mobile.

Click to collapse



FWIW, #MIN# appears to be unbroken now—everything else is still useless for minutes though.

Come on T-Mobile—you can do better.


----------



## yahanna (Jul 3, 2014)

Under the $30 plan, will wifi calling work internationally?


----------



## andy o (Jul 4, 2014)

yahanna said:


> Under the $30 plan, will wifi calling work internationally?

Click to collapse



Internet calling depends on which VoIP service you're using, not on the T-mo plan (disregarding T-mo's own "WiFi calling" which the Nexus phones don't have and is irrelevant to this plan anyway). I don't think any provides free calling to phones internationally but for most people it's easy enough to set up apps like Viber or the many others like it.


----------



## 954wrecker (Jul 4, 2014)

I'm happy to report #min# once again displays your remaining minutes. 


sent from my note 3


----------



## yahanna (Jul 4, 2014)

andy o said:


> Internet calling depends on which VoIP service you're using, not on the T-mo plan (disregarding T-mo's own "WiFi calling" which the Nexus phones don't have and is irrelevant to this plan anyway). I don't think any provides free calling to phones internationally but for most people it's easy enough to set up apps like Viber or the many others like it.

Click to collapse



If you mean that internet calling depends on your VoIP service for domestic calling then thats very incorrect. For international I dont know. I just thought that wifi calling would apply to any tmibile plan inxlyding the $30 plan


----------



## Anderson2 (Jul 5, 2014)

I'm on the $30 plan and wonder if there is a way to delete a voice mail from the phone without listening to it. 
I can't even delete its notification on the phone by swiping it.


----------



## 954wrecker (Jul 5, 2014)

it's free and you can listen to them before you delete them if you want. 
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.tmobile.vvm.application





sent from my note 3


----------



## andy o (Jul 5, 2014)

yahanna said:


> If you mean that internet calling depends on your VoIP service for domestic calling then thats very incorrect. For international I dont know. I just thought that wifi calling would apply to any tmibile plan inxlyding the $30 plan

Click to collapse



If you're talking about T-mo's own "WiFi calling" service which requires a T-mo phone then that's not relevant to this plan or Nexus phones. Otherwise, for all the options we've talked about here, internet calling does depend on your VoIP provider. Some provide only free incoming calls (Talkatone), some free outgoing (Vonage), and some both (Groove IP/Ring.to)


----------



## horn34 (Jul 6, 2014)

Since this thread doesn't have a wiki and searching "refill" returns 100+ hits, can someone recommend the best way to refill this plan monthly? Do I have to buy a new $30 Walmart card every month or can I top it off online through Tmobile? 

And is there a reliable cheaper source, like ebay?

Thanks


----------



## Vegasden (Jul 6, 2014)

You can set up a credit card to do an auto refill in the T-Mobile site. Or you can watch places like Target that occasionally puts refill cards in sale.

I'm kind of miffed at T-Mobile. Yesterday they sent me a text telling me my refill was in 2 days. I made a note to hit their site this am to enter in a refill card I got in sale at Target. Woke up with a text from T-Mobile this am saying they used my CC to refill...a day early.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jul 7, 2014)

Anderson2 said:


> I'm on the $30 plan and wonder if there is a way to delete a voice mail from the phone without listening to it.
> I can't even delete its notification on the phone by swiping it.

Click to collapse



If you're near a computer you can actually listen to them online in your T-Mobile account page; bit of a hassle, but it works.  Plenty of other people were/are able to get the T-Mobile Visual Voicemail app working, I've never been able to get it running for some reason but I've got Google Voice so all's well.


----------



## rnaka530 (Jul 7, 2014)

Vegasden said:


> You can set up a credit card to do an auto refill in the T-Mobile site. Or you can watch places like Target that occasionally puts refill cards in sale.
> 
> I'm kind of miffed at T-Mobile. Yesterday they sent me a text telling me my refill was in 2 days. I made a note to hit their site this am to enter in a refill card I got in sale at Target. Woke up with a text from T-Mobile this am saying they used my CC to refill...a day early.

Click to collapse



I would try looking for reputable sellers on Ebay.  It is often the case you will not pay sales tax and the shipping is free. 

Otherwise, paying through T-Mobile  online should still be flat rate $30, and you don't have to go anywhere....


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 8, 2014)

..


----------



## 954wrecker (Jul 10, 2014)

Play store purchases are working again for me with this plan.
***it's back to not working again***
sent from my note 3


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 14, 2014)

I've started the process of porting my Google Voice number to T-Mobile. I was hoping Google would have done something with the Hangouts integration by now, but other than a couple of test menus nothing seem to be going forward with it, so I am just porting my number out. I'm getting tired of MMS messages just vanishing into the ether.

Has anyone done this? How long did it take?

I'm concerned as I told T-Mobile that I had no PIN number for Google Voice (they just recorded the number, the account number [which is the same] and a blank PIN). Afterwards I found that I had set a Voice PIN forever ago, I just always bypassed it for known phones so I didn't think about it.

I'm hoping the port won't fail, although if it does then I imagine this will be the reason. I unlocked my GV number at www.google.com/voice/unlock first and that was done without issue. I also had T-M re-enable my voicemail, which I had had disabled when I first started using GV on T-M.


----------



## adrman (Jul 15, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> I've started the process of porting my Google Voice number to T-Mobile. I was hoping Google would have done something with the Hangouts integration by now, but other than a couple of test menus nothing seem to be going forward with it, so I am just porting my number out. I'm getting tired of MMS messages just vanishing into the ether.
> 
> Has anyone done this? How long did it take?
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I've been considering this as well. About the only problem I see people having after the port, is receiving SMS/MMS from people on other carriers than TM. Something gets hung up in the port process. There are plenty of complaints about it on Google groups, but since people that have ported successfully aren't complaining, I'm not sure what percentage are actually having the issue.


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 15, 2014)

I'm actually on hold with T-M right now trying to see if I can edit the first port request to give them the PIN, or whether I have to wait for it to fail and then submit a second request.


----------



## yahanna (Jul 15, 2014)

What does it mean when you port your google number to tmobile?


----------



## forrestcate (Jul 15, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> I'm actually on hold with T-M right now trying to see if I can edit the first port request to give them the PIN, or whether I have to wait for it to fail and then submit a second request.

Click to collapse



Are you still on hold?


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 15, 2014)

No 

The port is still pending. They couldn't edit the request, but it's still not gone through. According to their automated system it's scheduled to be completed tomorrow, although previously when I've ported numbers it was done in a handful of hours, so I'm still not sure it's going to be approved.

I guess I'll be calling them again tomorrow evening if nothing's happened by then.

I did get my T-M voicemail turned back on though, and installed the T-M Visual Voicemail app; it's actually pretty slick.


----------



## adrman (Jul 16, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> No
> 
> The port is still pending.

Click to collapse




Post your results good or bad please.


----------



## Crichton333 (Jul 16, 2014)

yahanna said:


> What does it mean when you port your google number to tmobile?

Click to collapse



Just the Google Voice number.


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 16, 2014)

Just just got a text at 2am "welcoming me to T-Mobile", and giving my Google Voice number as my new T-M number. It looks like the port went through successfully after all.

I'm receiving calls, but texts are still being held at Google Voice (seeing them in my Voice inbox). Hopefully this gets resolved in the next few hours, although since it's Google Voice I am at least still getting them.


----------



## yahanna (Jul 16, 2014)

Crichton333 said:


> Just the Google Voice number.

Click to collapse



I dont get it. What exactly do you mean? What does porting mean and what does it mean to port your google number to tmo?


----------



## whitedragonz83 (Jul 16, 2014)

yahanna said:


> I dont get it. What exactly do you mean? What does porting mean and what does it mean to port your google number to tmo?

Click to collapse



Porting is transferring your phone number to another carrier/service.

So in this case, from Google Voice to T-Mobile.


----------



## TheDannemand (Jul 16, 2014)

yahanna said:


> I dont get it. What exactly do you mean? What does porting mean and what does it mean to port your google number to tmo?

Click to collapse



Porting is the general term for moving a phone number from one carrier (in this case Google Voice) to another (in this case T-Mo).

After porting the number OUT from a carrier, the account is normally closed (Google Voice accounts remain open, but without an associated phone number). After porting a number IN to a carrier, the number replaces whatever existing number was on that account (a temporary number in the case of new accounts).

Edit: Oops, I was beat to it


----------



## yahanna (Jul 16, 2014)

whitedragonz83 said:


> Porting is transferring your phone number to another carrier/service.
> .

Click to collapse





TheDannemand said:


> Porting is the general term for moving a phone number from one carrier (in this case Google Voice) to another (in this case T-Mo).
> 
> After porting the number OUT from a carrier, the account is normally closed (Google Voice accounts remain open, but without an associated phone number). After porting a number IN to a carrier, the number replaces whatever existing number was on that account (a temporary number in the case of new accounts).

Click to collapse



So the google number thats ported replaces the tmobile number. So if I port my google number it means that the tmobile number wont work since it would be a dead number. Only the google number will work. Is this right?


----------



## TheDannemand (Jul 16, 2014)

yahanna said:


> So the google number thats ported replaces the tmobile number. So if I port my google number it means that the tmobile number wont work since it would be a dead number. Only the google number will work. Is this right?

Click to collapse



Yes, after porting any calls to your former GV number will go straight to your T-Mo phone, no GV forwarding in between. And your current T-Mo number is lost.


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 16, 2014)

Yeah.

I basically got tired with Voice. I've been trying to fit a square peg into a round hole for some time, but Google's continual lack of attention to Voice just got too much.

Right now I can make and receive calls to my Voice number (which is now my T-M number too), and I can send texts, but _incoming _texts still go to my Voice inbox instead of my phone. From googling around this is a common problem, and usually resolves itself with a few days of the port. It's a minor annoyance, but I can just keep the Voice app installed for a few more days to receive them.

If it's still happening by Monday I will probably call T-M and let them know. There are apparently some things that can be done on their end which can usually resolve this.


----------



## TheDannemand (Jul 17, 2014)

@Gaffadin: We're in the same situation with my wife's number, which we ported to GV in Dec ($20) when we got Nexus 5's and switched to T-Mo. We used Talkatone at first, expecting Google to deliver something in May. But of course that never happened, and we're now thinking of porting her number to T-Mo.

To make VoIP calls with GV, the only convenient solution is to get an iPhone, where Google famously added it to the iOS version of Hangouts. I cannot think of a more effective way to alienate Android users


----------



## acegolfer (Jul 17, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> To make VoIP calls with GV, the only convenient solution is to get an iPhone, where Google famously added it to the iOS version of Hangouts. I cannot think of a more effective way to alienate Android users

Click to collapse



I know this is a sarcasm. But if any Android user wants to make/receive VoIP calls with his GV number, then use Vonage mobile app. Everything is free till September.


----------



## whitedragonz83 (Jul 17, 2014)

acegolfer said:


> I know this is a sarcasm. But if any Android user wants to make/receive VoIP calls with his GV number, then use Vonage mobile app. Everything is free till September.

Click to collapse



Facebook messenger has a good VOIP, for taking to friends and family.


Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 17, 2014)

I got an email from Google today saying that my number had completed porting out. At that point I saw I was still not getting text messages (since the number was gone from Google I could no longer get them from the Google Voice app). I could still send texts, but not receive them at all.

I called T-M and talked to a nice guy there. He wound up having me turn my phone off, then deactivated and reactivated the texting service on my plan. After I turned it back on (it took like 2 mins) I started receiving texts again, so whatever he did seemed to solve the issue just fine. I expected them to say just wait a few more days, but the fact he solved it almost instantly was a nice little sidebar. T-M's support has been pretty good every time I've had to get in touch, with only one notable exception.

Anyway, I now seem to be completely up and running sans Google Voice. My number is ported, I can make and receive calls and now send and receive texts, too.

One thing for anyone who is considering doing this: your online access at http://my.t-mobile.com changes to your new number once the port is completed, so you login with the new number and the existing password you previously set.


----------



## TheDannemand (Jul 17, 2014)

acegolfer said:


> I know this is a sarcasm. But if any Android user wants to make/receive VoIP calls with his GV number, then use Vonage mobile app. Everything is free till September.

Click to collapse



Thank you. I saw the posts about the Vonage app, and it sounds good, but is again only a temporary promotion. Like with Talkatone, we'd have to go through another conversion in a few months.

Another free option (as I understand) is the new GrooveIP partner. But that's a new number (unless you forward GV, which causes lags).

If there is a long-term, convenient way to use GV I'd love to hear it. But so far it's fitting square pegs into round holes, as Gaffadin pointed out.


----------



## adrman (Jul 18, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> I called T-M and talked to a nice guy there.

Click to collapse



I know this is the $30 thread, but just to confirm, you did port your gv # to TM prepaid? I've had pretty mixed experiences with prepaid support. That's why I ask. If they've improved, that's a big plus. Also, did you have any problem reactivating your TM voicemail?


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 18, 2014)

adrman said:


> I know this is the $30 thread, but just to confirm, you did port your gv # to TM prepaid? I've had pretty mixed experiences with prepaid support. That's why I ask. If they've improved, that's a big plus. Also, did you have any problem reactivating your TM voicemail?

Click to collapse



Correct, I ported from GV to T-M after having an assigned T-M number since last November or thereabouts.

The voicemail took a little longer to reactivate than it did to deactivate, but the online chat guy had it done in five minutes or so. He said they had recently changed the system they use for deactivating and reactivating it. According to him it used to take a couple of clicks, but now they have to do a bunch of other stuff. Either way, it's working fine now.


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 18, 2014)

Ok I take back what I said about their customer service.

It turns out that the "fix" earlier only started to let me receive text messages sent through email gateways, not normal text messages like from other people.

I did a chat support session again, who said I had to call 1-877-789-3106 and request one of these mythical "rebroadcasts". I call that number, and after a ten minute wait am told they can't do it, but connect me to the people who do. Ok, so I talk to this new set of people, except when she finds out it's a prepaid account says that she cannot help me, but again connects me to people who can. I'm now on my fourth representative in about 20 minutes (counting the online chat too) and it's not looking good.

After more hold time I finally get through to someone who can purportedly help me, so I describe the situation. Apparently she cannot hear me well from her end (it was perfect for me, as with all of the other reps) and asks me to confirm a completely different problem than what I described. I repeat it again, and this time she gets closer, but thinks that I want to stop receiving text messages. After my third explanation and her, again, not understanding what I was saying, I called it quits and hung up. To be clear here, she spoke perfect English, she just had a terrible connection or something because she could not understand what I was saying.

So yeah, I need to have this "rebroadcasting" done apparently, but getting it done is like getting blood from a stone. I wish they had email support, or a single point of contact. I am a little tired of being bounced around from pillar to post. And I still can't receive most texts!


----------



## adrman (Jul 18, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> I am a little tired of being bounced around from pillar to post. And I still can't receive most texts!

Click to collapse



Yeah, I've experienced the bouncing first hand with an auto refill billing issue. After that debacle, I started using callingmart and the like exclusively. Good luck getting the text issue resolved. Keep us updated.


----------



## TheDannemand (Jul 18, 2014)

@Gaffadin: Thanks for sharing your ongoing porting adventure. I understand your suffering. Hang in there.

Like you, I found T-Mo customer service to be mostly quite good -- and well meaning (NOT Comcast-like). But sometimes it just falls though the cracks completely, like what happened to you on that last call. Another call next day can make all the difference.


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 18, 2014)

I can't fault their politeness, but politeness is not getting my incoming texts working again.

I've located supposedly a "higher-up" support email address - [email protected] - and have sent them a polite mail seeing if they can help. I will certainly post back here with any response.


----------



## adrman (Jul 18, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> I can't fault their politeness, but politeness is not getting my incoming texts working again.

Click to collapse



Here's a link to a post over on the GV Group that may be of some use to you.  It sounds as if being polite didn't work in this instance either.  FWIW, He's blaming the problem on TM.


----------



## tokuzumi (Jul 18, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> I can't fault their politeness, but politeness is not getting my incoming texts working again.
> 
> I've located supposedly a "higher-up" support email address - [email protected] - and have sent them a polite mail seeing if they can help. I will certainly post back here with any response.

Click to collapse



The couple of times I called T-Mobile CC, I wasn't sure I'd ever get anything taken care of, because they spent most of the call thanking me for being a t-mobile customer.


----------



## 954wrecker (Jul 18, 2014)

Been with them for years (~10) on the prepaid side. No offense but there is definitely a language barrier. I've given up on asking them to do things because they usually do the opposite of what I request. Can you stop texting me those reminders over and over every month please I know when my account renews I have never missed a payment and I have plenty of cash in the account to renew like always. The few times I told them that and asked them to stop texting me they completely turned off my texting capabilities! I know it's my fault for trying repeatedly but every few years I try and they always F it up.

sent from my note 3


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 18, 2014)

Thanks for the link. It does pretty much describe the issue. And yeah, T-M reps absolutely like to tell me how great a customer I am.

No response from the "executive" email address yet, which I am a little disappointed about. Maybe T-M executives don't work Fridays.

Still no incoming texts, and apparently my outgoing are not always working, either. I thought they were, as they had been going through, but when I checked with some people I had sent texts to yesterday they had not received them.

Good times.


----------



## yahanna (Jul 19, 2014)

954wrecker said:


> Been with them for years (~10) on the prepaid side.

Click to collapse



How can u be with tmobile for 10 years on prepaid when prepaid didnt exist that long on tmobile?


----------



## TheDannemand (Jul 19, 2014)

yahanna said:


> How can u be with tmobile for 10 years on prepaid when prepaid didnt exist that long on tmobile?

Click to collapse



I read the post to mean the member has been with T-Mo for about ten years, currently on prepaid. He/she could've switched between postpaid and prepaid a few times during those ten years, that's not really important.


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 20, 2014)

Quick update. Still no texts 

Made a post on T-M's community forums last night. Still no reply by this afternoon, so I sent them a tweet to their support team. Got an email address to start to correspond with ([email protected]) and they have done a rebroadcast but I'm still not receiving texts.

They have asked me to get three people to text my number, and then note down the time, number, and network each was coming from, so I just got three people to send me texts (I received none of them) and sent the info to T-M. They said this would help their engineers find out exactly what was happening.

Wish me luck!


----------



## segin (Jul 20, 2014)

I'm here to recant an experience I have had with this plan. 

Recently, they were off-and-on blocking tethering on this plan. Read the prepaid site's plans page, read all the fine print, it suggests $30 can tether.

Call 611, they say no, it cannot.

I wrote email to an inbox belonging to someone high up, asking what's going on with the tethering, because no disclaimer at all is on the website.

Someone from T-Mobile left voicemail a few days later informing me that they had given me a $30 credit. They got my name... and gender... wrong, but who cares.

I used a VoIP app to call voicemail and record the message, which is attached.

In the meantime, I've been working on a little "iptables" frontend for changing the TTL of all outgoing packets on a given interface to a single value, which may or may not hide tethering usage. You can find it on Google Play as "TTL Editor"


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 20, 2014)

There is a fix floating around on this thread that enables tethering on the $30 plan, too. It involves editing the protected file settings.db, and so requires root. I've read there are options which do not need root, but I haven't tried them.

With regards to tethering, I'm of the opinion that I've paid for that 5GB and so I should be free to use it in any way I wish, be that from the phone, tethered to a PC, or as a wireless hotspot for my kids. It's ridiculous that they (not just T-M, all carriers do this) can get away with charging you extra. This should be the next thing their "Uncarrier" strategy hits.


----------



## yahanna (Jul 21, 2014)

I'm on a $40 prepaid plan on tmobile. I got a phone with wifi calling. But I cant make free wifi calls internationally. I thought wifi calling was free. Am I wrong?


----------



## jkaiser10123 (Jul 21, 2014)

wifi calling using your voice mins if you dont have unlimited mins

---------- Post added at 02:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:43 PM ----------

I actually been using harbormobile.com lately with a 30$ plan unlimited text and calls and 1gb lte for 30$. They basically have every tmobile play 20$ cheaper and you use tmobile sim and get all benifts like the music streaming not counting toward fast data. They are not an MVNO so you get same speed as Tmobile proper


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 22, 2014)

I am partially receiving texts now. After the [email protected] people did a rebroadcast on my number, I started to receive some, but not all texts sent to me. I can receive messages from Verizon, and some online services (my electric company, my credit card company) but not AT&T or Twitter SMS notifications. I'm unsure on receiving from T-Mobile or Sprint as I didn't have anyone to hand on those services.

The T-Force people opened a ticket with their engineering department to take a closer look at things. I then received a message tonight from the engineering department, saying that they had modified some further settings and that normal texting should now work (it doesn't), but that while they were looking at my stuff they noticed something else which would make MMS messages not work properly. She said they should have picture messaging working by tomorrow.

The weird thing was, my phone didn't ring, and it wasn't a missed call, she just left it directly for me as a voicemail. At first I thought there was an issue with my phone, but then after it rung fine when I tested it I figured that since she worked for engineering it was probably well within her abilities to leave me a voicemail directly if she wished to. She said she was going to call me again tomorrow, so hopefully I'll actually get to speak with her.

I also finally got a callback from T-Mobile's "office of the president" executive support team, whom I had emailed last week, and he gave me his number to call in case I was still having problems. When I found I still wasn't receiving some texts I did try to call him back, but he didn't answer and his voice mailbox was full so I couldn't even leave him a message. At this point I'll probably just stick with dealing with the engineering department, since that's probably just who he would put me in touch with anyway, and they're already handling it.

So yeah, still dealing with this. I'm really hoping this gets resolved soon.


----------



## baiju2012 (Jul 22, 2014)

jkaiser10123 said:


> I actually been using harbormobile.com lately with a 30$ plan unlimited text and calls and 1gb lte for 30$. They basically have every tmobile play 20$ cheaper and you use tmobile sim and get all benifts like the music streaming not counting toward fast data. They are not an MVNO so you get same speed as Tmobile proper

Click to collapse



How long have you been with harbor mobile? How is their service? I mean to resolve any issues, like billing etc.

Nexus IV


----------



## jkaiser10123 (Jul 22, 2014)

Been with harbor only a month but billing works like prepaid no contract and though I did have issue by phone getting them to do stuff on my account normally if you chat them online or email I have good reseults


----------



## CptanPanic (Jul 22, 2014)

Ran out of data for month with week to go due to streaming works cup. Damn it is slow.


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 23, 2014)

Finally got text messaging working completely.

At first my MMS messages to others were being delayed by a couple of hours, but eventually they became instant again. I am now receiving all text messages and picture messages from everyone, and they are receiving all of mine. So it took about a week to shake everything out, all told.


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jul 26, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> Finally got text messaging working completely.
> 
> 
> 
> At first my MMS messages to others were being delayed by a couple of hours, but eventually they became instant again. I am now receiving all text messages and picture messages from everyone, and they are receiving all of mine. So it took about a week to shake everything out, all told.

Click to collapse




What did you have to do? I'm currently having this issue and it's very annoying.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 26, 2014)

dinggus said:


> What did you have to do? I'm currently having this issue and it's very annoying.

Click to collapse



Per my other messages above, email [email protected] giving your name, T-Mobile number, and account PIN, and ask for a rebroadcast on your number. It will take ~24 - 48 hours to be effective, and should hopefully fix the issue. If it doesn't, email TForce back and ask them to open a ticket with engineering to take a closer look at your account.


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jul 26, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> Per my other messages above, email [email protected] giving your name, T-Mobile number, and account PIN, and ask for a rebroadcast on your number. It will take ~24 - 48 hours to be effective, and should hopefully fix the issue. If it doesn't, email TForce back and ask them to open a ticket with engineering to take a closer look at your account.

Click to collapse



Thank you.

If I could wish for one thing for the Nexus 5, it would be to have an iMessage like function. When I travel, I gotta be on WiFi, so I can't receive texts to my number like on iMessage.


----------



## adrman (Jul 26, 2014)

dinggus said:


> Thank you.
> 
> If I could wish for one thing for the Nexus 5, it would be to have an iMessage like function. When I travel, I gotta be on WiFi, so I can't receive texts to my number like on iMessage.

Click to collapse



That would be Google Voice. ?


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jul 26, 2014)

adrman said:


> That would be Google Voice. ?

Click to collapse



But I'd have to port my number over to Google Voice, right? Then get a new T-Mobile one?


----------



## adrman (Jul 26, 2014)

dinggus said:


> But I'd have to port my number over to Google Voice, right? Then get a new T-Mobile one?

Click to collapse



If you wanted to keep using the same number, then yes.  It's exactly the situation that @Gaffadin ported away from.


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jul 27, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> Per my other messages above, email [email protected] giving your name, T-Mobile number, and account PIN, and ask for a rebroadcast on your number. It will take ~24 - 48 hours to be effective, and should hopefully fix the issue. If it doesn't, email TForce back and ask them to open a ticket with engineering to take a closer look at your account.

Click to collapse



I asked for them to rebroadcast and they responded asking to explain what that means...


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 27, 2014)

dinggus said:


> I asked for them to rebroadcast and they responded asking to explain what that means...

Click to collapse



You ported your number and that's when these issues started, correct?


----------



## yaconsult (Jul 27, 2014)

jkaiser10123 said:


> I actually been using harbormobile.com lately with a 30$ plan unlimited text and calls and 1gb lte for 30$. They basically have every tmobile play 20$ cheaper and you use tmobile sim and get all benifts like the music streaming not counting toward fast data. They are not an MVNO so you get same speed as Tmobile proper

Click to collapse



That is a very interesting variation of the t-mobile $30 plan!  Going from 4 GB of LTE to 1 GB of LTE in exchange for unlimited voice.  And the coverage is exactly the same as my current t-mobile coverage, eh?

I need to use my first 4G phone - a Moto G LTE - more to see how much data I can actually use in a month.  I really don't want to stream movies or tv to my phone - lots of other devices to watch that stuff on.

I would be very interested in feedback from other users who have switched from t-mobile to harbormobile about what, if any, differences you noticed.


----------



## cas8180 (Jul 27, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> You ported your number and that's when these issues started, correct?

Click to collapse



I am sure it varies with each carrier but I have sprint and I configured google voice to work with my sprint phone number but just installing the app and going through the settings. Now even my other phone ( which obviously has a different number) and my tablets all get synced with google voice as the app is on all of them so I always get my text messages AND phone calls from my main phone number particularly when there is no cell reception available and just over WiFi. Google voice is the sh** and probably Trump's I message in many ways.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app


----------



## Gaffadin (Jul 27, 2014)

One thing I have found the past few days which is kindof awesome is mySMS: http://www.mysms.com/

It basically lets you text from your browser and then syncs those texts to your phone, or vice versa. It's similar to MightyText if anyone has heard of that, but it uses the new KitKat SMS API so you don't get duplicate notifications, as mySMS becomes your new SMS handler.

You can also use mySMS on a tablet or another phone, and keep all messages in sync everywhere.


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Jul 27, 2014)

Gaffadin said:


> You ported your number and that's when these issues started, correct?

Click to collapse



Yes. They had me verify I was updated to KitKat. Then informed me Hangouts doesn't support MMS over WiFi.


----------



## 954wrecker (Jul 27, 2014)

Party is over sorry guys they must have figured out the mistake and pulled the plug on it


----------



## saaggee (Jul 27, 2014)

954wrecker said:


> $50 cards for $38-$40
> Everyone is always asking for a discount so here's the best 100% legitimate one I've ever found.
> 24% discount in California with NO tax and my 5% target card discount.
> CONFIRMED THE PIN WAS DELIVERED IN 2 HOURS AND $$$ ADDED TO MY ACCOUNTS SUCCESSFULLY
> ...

Click to collapse



It's not coming up as $40 for me for some reason.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Jul 27, 2014)

jkaiser10123 said:


> wifi calling using your voice mins if you dont have unlimited mins
> 
> ---------- Post added at 02:59 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:43 PM ----------
> 
> I actually been using harbormobile.com lately with a 30$ plan unlimited text and calls and 1gb lte for 30$. They basically have every tmobile play 20$ cheaper and you use tmobile sim and get all benifts like the music streaming not counting toward fast data. They are not an MVNO so you get same speed as Tmobile proper

Click to collapse



Checking out this website, seems really cool....do you use Google Voice with Harbor Mobile, and if so have you had any problems?  Also, how does their WiFi Calling work?  Good quality, works with custom ROMs?


----------



## jkaiser10123 (Jul 27, 2014)

dinggus said:


> What did you have to do? I'm currently having this issue and it's very annoying.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

Click to collapse





Gaffadin said:


> I am partially receiving texts now. After the [email protected] people did a rebroadcast on my number, I started to receive some, but not all texts sent to me. I can receive messages from Verizon, and some online services (my electric company, my credit card company) but not AT&T or Twitter SMS notifications. I'm unsure on receiving from T-Mobile or Sprint as I didn't have anyone to hand on those services.
> 
> The T-Force people opened a ticket with their engineering department to take a closer look at things. I then received a message tonight from the engineering department, saying that they had modified some further settings and that normal texting should now work (it doesn't), but that while they were looking at my stuff they noticed something else which would make MMS messages not work properly. She said they should have picture messaging working by tomorrow.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse






Joshmccullough said:


> Checking out this website, seems really cool....do you use Google Voice with Harbor Mobile, and if so have you had any problems?  Also, how does their WiFi Calling work?  Good quality, works with custom ROMs?

Click to collapse



Its basically like the company signed you up under like a business line so once you sign up you can create T-Mobile login. It is a postpaid account for T-Mobile that you are paying harbor mobile to get their discount. Technically you should be a business line but they don't check. So it is for all purposes of service regular postpaid T-Mobile with no contract paid through harbor mobile so can not do phone upgrades or anything and plan changes you go to harbor mobile

---------- Post added at 09:37 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:30 PM ----------




Joshmccullough said:


> Checking out this website, seems really cool....do you use Google Voice with Harbor Mobile, and if so have you had any problems?  Also, how does their WiFi Calling work?  Good quality, works with custom ROMs?

Click to collapse



I use google voice on it and if phone has T-Mobile WiFi calling it works fine I used WiFi calling on T-Mobile note 2 no issuse but now on verizon unlocked lg g2 so no WiFi calling on my stock install . I did use crDroid 4.4.4 cm11 based ROM on my lg g2 with it a bit no issues


----------



## Child's Play (Jul 30, 2014)

Google voice is the bomb! I wish it supported mms


----------



## acegolfer (Jul 31, 2014)

Has anyone migrated or been thinking about harbor mobile, which uses T-mo network?

https://www.harbormobile.com/

$30 plan: unlimited talk, text, web + 1 Gb LTE

This plan sounds better than Tmo $30 plan, especially when one doesn't use more than 1 Gb data. Any downside?


----------



## tokuzumi (Jul 31, 2014)

That's a great plan if you don't use much data, or are always connected to wifi.  I guess the only downside would be T-Mobile will give preference to their pre and post paid subscribers before 3rd party resellers, with regards to accessing a tower (higher ping and latency).  And I don't know anything about their customer service, but I would imagine it would be on par with other 3rd party providers.


----------



## ski522 (Jul 31, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> I guess the only downside would be T-Mobile will give preference to their pre and post paid subscribers before 3rd party resellers, with regards to accessing a tower (higher ping and latency).

Click to collapse



How do you know they would do this or are you making an assumption? Sounds like bad business to me if TM did such a thing.


----------



## adrman (Jul 31, 2014)

ski522 said:


> How do you know they would do this or are you making an assumption? Sounds like bad business to me if TM did such a thing.

Click to collapse



That's standard business practice when dealing with an mvno. However, there's a thread over on Howard Forums that states Harbor isn't operating as a mvno, but as value added reseller for businesses, in which case you'd get the same priority as a post paid TM subscriber. It also means that, technically, Harbor shouldn't be signing up individuals, unless it's for your own business. I'm not sure what will happen when TM figures it out. The HF thread contains some opinions on that as well.


----------



## bcook75 (Aug 10, 2014)

I have moved my Google voice number back to T-Mobile. I'm using T-Mobile visual voice mail (which they told me wouldn't work on my Nexus 5, but does) to get voice mail directly on my phone without calling in, Mightytext to get texting from my PC, and Wephone for outbound calling on WiFi or data without using my 100 minutes. Wephone isn't free,  but $. 01/min is 100 minutes for $1, and the quality is good , and it can spoof my real number for caller ID on the receiving end. I use Textra for texting and it handles MMS when on WiFi. Seems like a pretty good alternative to Google voice to me. 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using XDA Free mobile app


----------



## ctlvr (Aug 20, 2014)

*VoIP question ?*

Hello. Been sitting on this plan for 2+ years. Works great with GVoice. But having trouble finding how to make calls over data/wifi. All VoIP apps ive used stopped working with GVoice or started asking to create an account and add funds ( Talkatone , MO+ etc ). I am already paying for a plan, just need a reliable way of using GV with my ported number . Any tips on whats out there still works and uses GV number ? Thanks .


----------



## sirxdroid (Aug 20, 2014)

ctlvr said:


> Hello. Been sitting on this plan for 2+ years. Works great with GVoice. But having trouble finding how to make calls over data/wifi. All VoIP apps ive used stopped working with GVoice or started asking to create an account and add funds ( Talkatone , MO+ etc ). I am already paying for a plan, just need a reliable way of using GV with my ported number . Any tips on whats out there still works and uses GV number ? Thanks .

Click to collapse



Use an older version of GrooveIP, it still works with GV (but it may stop at any time). Or maybe you can port your number to ring.to via the new GrooveIP app and get free calls. The Vonage app also lets you make free outgoing calls and you can set your GV number as the caller ID. Otherwise there are other affordable but paid VOIP services that lets you set caller ID.


----------



## lchiu7 (Aug 20, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> Use an older version of GrooveIP, it still works with GV (but it may stop at any time). Or maybe you can port your number to ring.to via the new GrooveIP app and get free calls. The Vonage app also lets you make free outgoing calls and you can set your GV number as the caller ID. Otherwise there are other affordable but paid VOIP services that lets you set caller ID.

Click to collapse



I use Vonage but sometimes I find it won't call certain (types) of numbers.

So I also use a Callcentric free SIP service and configure my phone to point to that SIP account. I then forward my GV number to the Callcentric number so calls to my GV number ring on my phone.

For outbound calls,  if Vonage doesn't complete I use Google Voice callback (available on the Amazon Android store). This app intercepts your outbound call and then arranges for Google Voice to call you back (on a predefined number which could be your SIP account as above so no minutes). When you answer the phone Google connects you to the originally called party.  It sounds  a bit fiddly but once you've set it up, it works pretty well.


----------



## sirxdroid (Aug 20, 2014)

lchiu7 said:


> I use Vonage but sometimes I find it won't call certain (types) of numbers.
> 
> So I also use a Callcentric free SIP service and configure my phone to point to that SIP account. I then forward my GV number to the Callcentric number so calls to my GV number ring on my phone.
> 
> For outbound calls,  if Vonage doesn't complete I use Google Voice callback (available on the Amazon Android store). This app intercepts your outbound call and then arranges for Google Voice to call you back (on a predefined number which could be your SIP account as above so no minutes). When you answer the phone Google connects you to the originally called party.  It sounds  a bit fiddly but once you've set it up, it works pretty well.

Click to collapse



Good point about GV callback option. I forgot about it. Sounds like a good choice with Callcentric.


----------



## coorsleftfield (Aug 24, 2014)

I have the new GrooveIP with Ring.to working great on this plan.  You don't need to port a number,  GrooveIP creates a ring.to number for you. 
The app has some built-in GV support as well so that outbound calls go over GV and callers see your GV number.   

For inbound calls, forward GV to your new ring.to number, and GrooveIP will ring. 

Been playing with this setup for a few days, and so far, inbound and outbound calls are working perfect, and all with the GV number.


----------



## whatthephil (Aug 24, 2014)

trsix said:


> This thread is for all users who might be interested in using T-mobiles Unlimited $30 plan/
> 
> Had to cancel the plan. Anytime i go over my 100 minutes the system insists on charging me $80.
> I have to call customer service each time and spend nearly an hour on the phone. I'm so sorry Mr. Customer and blah blah blah. They never fix it so adios tmobile!

Click to collapse



This is the plan I have too. It never tried to charge me $80. When I go over the 100 minutes it charges me 10c/min if I have any money in the account. 

It's tax free if I buy a prepaid card. $30 flat. I only wish I could have tethering for this 5GB plan.


----------



## lchiu7 (Aug 24, 2014)

whatthephil said:


> This is the plan I have too. It never tried to charge me $80. When I go over the 100 minutes it charges me 10c/min if I have any money in the account.
> 
> It's tax free if I buy a prepaid card. $30 flat. I only wish I could have tethering for this 5GB plan.

Click to collapse



Not sure what you mean. My daughter tethers all the time on this plan. She in college and between apartments and her phone is the only way she can do Internet at the moment. 

I think there are some issues with tethering with a Nexus 5 since TMO has found a way to block that but there is an entire thread on XDA which describes how to get around this.


----------



## HzMeister (Aug 26, 2014)

I was considering this but ended up going with page plus for voice, a messaging app for text, and freedompop for data. I pay something like $10 a month for everything i need albeit at a small inconvenience. 

Btw, has anyone else been to europe lately? Data is basically free - like it should be. You only have to pay for voice minutes you use - which are fairly inexpensive.


----------



## brockkk (Sep 10, 2014)

Noooooo. Didn't know google voice voicemail didn't work with this plan. Bummer.


----------



## gf6 (Sep 11, 2014)

My wife hates it, she's going to switch back to VM


----------



## emd2009 (Sep 11, 2014)

gf6 said:


> My wife hates it, she's going to switch back to VM

Click to collapse



OK...


----------



## brockkk (Sep 11, 2014)

What's VM?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app


----------



## Joshmccullough (Sep 11, 2014)

brockkk said:


> Noooooo. Didn't know google voice voicemail didn't work with this plan. Bummer.

Click to collapse



It seems that's not entirely true; mine didn't at first, but one day it just magically did.  There's plenty of people on various forums around here who have had problems, lots who didn't have problems, I'm not sure what T-Mobile's system is or isn't doing consistently but I'm using GV for voicemail exclusively and turned off my T-Mo voicemail months ago.

You might try getting in touch with Customer Service and having them turn off your T-Mobile voicemail and see if that works; if not they can always turn it back on.


----------



## AdamHart612 (Sep 11, 2014)

Google Voice voicemail works just fine. Are you using your Gvoice number? I had Tmobile deactivate my Tmobile voicemail so that there wasn't a weird overlap, and everything works perfectly.


----------



## Gaffadin (Sep 11, 2014)

Looks like the oft-rumoured Hangouts / Voice merging finally started today: http://www.xda-developers.com/android/hangouts-2-3-calling-new-ui/

The good news if you still have a Voice number is that you can receive voicemails in the Hangouts app, and MMS messages to your Voice number now actually work (kinda: http://www.droid-life.com/2014/09/10/mms-now-a-part-of-google-voice-hangouts-sort-of/). Also, if you make WiFi calls through Hangouts it shows your Voice number as the outgoing number for the caller ID.

Since I ported my Voice number out to T-Mo a couple of months back I see some random 646-560-XXXX number as the caller ID when I make WiFi calls through Hangouts. It would be nice if that was my real T-Mo number, but maybe that is fixable.

Either way, good news for anyone still using Voice.


----------



## yellowsnow4free (Sep 11, 2014)

*Quick Questions Regarding 3 Plans*

Hey everyone,

I'm about to join the 20th century and get a cell phone soon.

I'm trying to decide between these 3 plans and I have some questions:

Harbor Mobile - $30 + tax / month unlimited talk, text, and data (1st 1 GB @ 4G LTE speeds)
T-Mobile - $30 / month 100 min talk, unlimited text and data (1st 5 GB @ 4G LTE speeds)
BrightSpot - $35 / month 300 min talk, unlimited text and data (1st 3 GB @ 4G speeds)

Are there any additional fees to be wary of on the Harbor Mobile plan?
Does the T-Mobile plan charge tax here in California?  Is #MUSICFREEDOM included?
Does BrightSpot offer 4G HSPA+ or 4G LTE data?  Is there tax in CA?  Is #MUSICFREEDOM included?

I was reading earlier in this thread that the T-Mobile plan didn't charge tax, just a straight $30 / month.  Not sure if that applies to prepaid cards.  If they do charge tax, that'll put it at the same price as Harbor Mobile.

I don't know much about BrightSpot (their website is pretty sparce, and I didn't get any info when I called their support).

If any of my info is incorrect please let me know.

Thanks!


----------



## 954wrecker (Sep 11, 2014)

Go with 5gb of 4g LTE. Especially now that Google voice can take and make calls for free on Wi-Fi and data through hangouts. In California I've never paid tax for refill cards and target always gives me 5%-15% off the price.

The plan definitely includes music freedom I'm using it now and it never touches my 5gb of LTE

I've made calls and taken calls with my Google number through hangouts on Wi-Fi and LTE without costing me any plan minutes.

The calls go over LTE for me and use almost no data

sent from my note 3


----------



## slowpok22 (Sep 12, 2014)

So we'll be able to make voip calls again? That sure would be nice


----------



## brockkk (Sep 12, 2014)

Well I ported my old number from Verizon to T-Mobile prepaid. I hadn't even thought of porting the number to google voice. (For $20 right). Then after I do that I would have to get a different Sim from Walmart and just use it for data/text?

When I brought up google voice voicemail I was talking about the call forwarding option. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app

---------- Post added at 01:32 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:28 AM ----------

I also live in ca and don't pay taxes to refill. I just pay through autopay and it charges exactly $30 every month. 

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app


----------



## bentleyboy (Sep 12, 2014)

Excuse me for being insanely late to the party here, but can anyone give me some TLDR links?  Never heard of this plan and wondering what kind of text/data/etc it's got going on with it.  Same goes for phones and whatnot.  Sounds like a sick deal.


----------



## sirxdroid (Sep 12, 2014)

Anyone know how much data Hangouts phone call use per minute? Is there a way to set Hangouts to only allow phone calls (incoming and outgoing) when connected to wifi, just like the GrooveIP setting?


----------



## macallik (Sep 12, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> Anyone know how much data Hangouts phone call use per minute? Is there a way to set Hangouts to only allow phone calls (incoming and outgoing) when connected to wifi, just like the GrooveIP setting?

Click to collapse



I've heard variations between 87.5kbs and 1mbs. I made two overseas calls lasting about 110 mins and used up 78MB so my personal experience is in the middle around 690kbs at the moment. 

I haven't seen any settings that allow you to toggle hangout Calls via wifi only like Groove IP. Call quality is much more consistent over Mobile data than groove IP though so I wouldn't be too concerned personally. When I'm at home, I do prefer connecting to wifi though to ensure consistency. I recommend getting a cheap NFC tag and program it to activate wifi. I have two in my apartment : one for when I get home and my phone is going to be on wifi, playing music, and one for when I am leaving my apartment.


----------



## drago10029 (Sep 12, 2014)

sirxdroid said:


> Anyone know how much data Hangouts phone call use per minute? Is there a way to set Hangouts to only allow phone calls (incoming and outgoing) when connected to wifi, just like the GrooveIP setting?

Click to collapse





macallik said:


> I've heard variations between 87.5kbs and 1mbs. I made two overseas calls lasting about 110 mins and used up 78MB so my personal experience is in the middle around 690kbs at the moment.
> 
> I haven't seen any settings that allow you to toggle hangout Calls via wifi only like Groove IP. Call quality is much more consistent over Mobile data than groove IP though so I wouldn't be too concerned personally. When I'm at home, I do prefer connecting to wifi though to ensure consistency. I recommend getting a cheap NFC tag and program it to activate wifi. I have two in my apartment : one for when I get home and my phone is going to be on wifi, playing music, and one for when I am leaving my apartment.

Click to collapse



I actually made a thread on that today Right Here!  check it out


----------



## yellowsnow4free (Sep 12, 2014)

*Thanks!*



954wrecker said:


> Go with 5gb of 4g LTE. Especially now that Google voice can take and make calls for free on Wi-Fi and data through hangouts. In California I've never paid tax for refill cards and target always gives me 5%-15% off the price.
> 
> The plan definitely includes music freedom I'm using it now and it never touches my 5gb of LTE
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Thanks!

I've been a Google Voice user for a long time now, and the recent Hangouts Dialer might sell this plan for me.

10%+ cheaper than Harbor Mobile, and they offer 4G LTE (unlike BrightSpot, AFAIK).  If BrightSpot ever offers 4G LTE I might consider switching, but until then I'll be going with this $30 plan from T-Mobile


----------



## brockkk (Sep 12, 2014)

954wrecker said:


> I've never paid tax for refill cards and target always gives me 5%-15% off the price.

Click to collapse



Hey. How do you get the 5-15% off? Just a T-Mobile refill card goes on sale?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using XDA Free mobile app


----------



## QkTreasures (Sep 30, 2014)

Hi so question my sister is on T-Mobile $50 prepaid plan, unlimited talk & text with 1 gig of data can she switch to this plan without activating online & losing her Tmo # that she had for a good few years or can it be ported from the $50 plan to the $30 plan. Thanks in advance Ron.


----------



## Gaffadin (Oct 5, 2014)

rubberman365 said:


> Hi so question my sister is on T-Mobile $50 prepaid plan, unlimited talk & text with 1 gig of data can she switch to this plan without activating online & losing her Tmo # that she had for a good few years or can it be ported from the $50 plan to the $30 plan. Thanks in advance Ron.

Click to collapse



She should be able to login to her account online and switch to this plan.


----------



## acegolfer (Oct 7, 2014)

I thought SIM activated with this plan doesn't work on tablets. I took out the SIM from my N4 and put in my 3-4 yr old tablet. The tablet recognized T-mobile network and didn't require setting up APN. I could browse internet using cell data (not wifi).  Is this normal?


----------



## bob60626 (Oct 8, 2014)

what model of tablet?


----------



## yahanna (Oct 8, 2014)

I'm on the $40 plan with Tmo. I'm thinking of switching to the $35 plan with Go Smart. I read they use Tmo's network. Are they as reliable and good as Tmo?


----------



## acegolfer (Oct 8, 2014)

bob60626 said:


> what model of tablet?

Click to collapse



It's 1st gen IPAD 3G.


----------



## Alttwo (Oct 11, 2014)

yahanna said:


> I'm on the $40 plan with Tmo. I'm thinking of switching to the $35 plan with Go Smart. I read they use Tmo's network. Are they as reliable and good as Tmo?

Click to collapse



The only problem I have with go smart is that they do not have lte. They have hspa+ plans but no lte


----------



## yahanna (Oct 11, 2014)

Alttwo said:


> The only problem I have with go smart is that they do not have lte. They have hspa+ plans but no lte

Click to collapse



Yes but is GoSmart as good as tmo when it comes to reliable service and quality calls?


----------



## Alttwo (Oct 11, 2014)

yahanna said:


> Yes but is GoSmart as good as tmo when it comes to reliable service and quality calls?

Click to collapse



Yes of course. They pretty much are T-Mobile with the exception of lte


----------



## emacsomancer (Oct 11, 2014)

whatthephil said:


> This is the plan I have too. It never tried to charge me $80. When I go over the 100 minutes it charges me 10c/min if I have any money in the account.
> 
> It's tax free if I buy a prepaid card. $30 flat. I only wish I could have tethering for this 5GB plan.

Click to collapse



How does one do the prepaid card thing?  (I've just been having TMobile auto-charge me each month.)


----------



## QkTreasures (Oct 11, 2014)

emacsomancer said:


> How does one do the prepaid card thing?  (I've just been having TMobile auto-charge me each month.)

Click to collapse



Are u trying to get the walmart $30 100 min, unlimited text & 5 gig data?


----------



## emacsomancer (Oct 11, 2014)

rubberman365 said:


> Are u trying to get the walmart $30 100 min, unlimited text & 5 gig data?

Click to collapse



I already have a prepaid connection from Tmobile with 100min talk/unlimited text/5 gig hispeed data, but it seemed to be suggested above that one can manage to get it for $30 without addition fees/taxes, and I was curious about that.


----------



## salvorhardin80 (Oct 11, 2014)

There's some states that don't charge taxes on prepaid accounts. I'm in California and I get charged a flat $30 each month.


----------



## emacsomancer (Oct 12, 2014)

salvorhardin80 said:


> There's some states that don't charge taxes on prepaid accounts. I'm in California and I get charged a flat $30 each month.

Click to collapse



Ah.  Is there a list or something to check this?  I moved from one state to another (i.e. a different one from where I started the Tmobile plan) - I wonder if my new state charges taxes on prepaid accounts.


----------



## TheDannemand (Oct 12, 2014)

emacsomancer said:


> How does one do the prepaid card thing?  (I've just been having TMobile auto-charge me each month.)

Click to collapse



I buy $30 T-Mo Refills from callingmart.com each month (for wifey and myself) and they don't charge sales tax. They give 1% rewards I can use next time, and I used to pay $29.70 after applying the previous month's rewards. But T-Mo is squeezing these resellers, so they've had to add a 2% handling fee. It now comes out to $30.30. Still less than sales tax, but a bit more hassle than just using T-Mo Auto-pay.

After purchase I immediately get a pin which I enter on my.t-mobile.com to refill the account.

WirelessRefill.com has a similar deal, but can automatically apply the refill to your T-Mo account. They're a bit too pushy for me, though, but it's a matter of preference.


----------



## adrman (Oct 12, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> I buy $30 T-Mo Refills from callingmart.com each month (for wifey and myself) and they don't charge sales tax. After purchase I immediately get a pin which I enter on my.t-mobile.com to refill the account.
> 
> WirelessRefill.com has a similar deal, but can automatically apply the refill to your T-Mo account. They're a bit too pushy for me, though, but it's a matter of preference.

Click to collapse



Callingmart can also automatically apply the refill as well. That's how I work it.


----------



## baiju2012 (Oct 12, 2014)

adrman said:


> Callingmart can also automatically apply the refill as well. That's how I work it.

Click to collapse



Where is that option after buying the refill card?

Nexus IV


----------



## emacsomancer (Oct 12, 2014)

adrman said:


> Callingmart can also automatically apply the refill as well. That's how I work it.

Click to collapse



This was going to be my next question  - I really like that I can set up the Tmobile autopay and then not worry about it.  

How easy is it to set up the automatic application with Callingmart and/or Wirelessrefill?  Any snags?


----------



## adrman (Oct 12, 2014)

baiju2012 said:


> Where is that option after buying the refill card?
> 
> Nexus IV

Click to collapse



It's actually a  different product  Just select $30.



emacsomancer said:


> How easy is it to set up the automatic application with Callingmart and/or Wirelessrefill?  Any snags?

Click to collapse



I've actually found them to be more reliable than T Mobile. Just set up the recurring purchase under "my account".


----------



## baiju2012 (Oct 12, 2014)

Got it adrman. Thanks.

Nexus IV


----------



## emacsomancer (Oct 12, 2014)

adrman said:


> It's actually a  different product  Just select $30.
> 
> 
> 
> I've actually found them to be more reliable than T Mobile. Just set up the recurring purchase under "my account".

Click to collapse



Thanks!

So this will indeed work for the $30 month 100talk/5G-4Gdata plan? Does TMobile need to know what the $30 is for?  Or do they only care that $30 has been applied to the account?


----------



## adrman (Oct 12, 2014)

emacsomancer said:


> Thanks!
> 
> So this will indeed work for the $30 month 100talk/5G-4Gdata plan? Does TMobile need to know what the $30 is for?  Or do they only care that $30 has been applied to the account?

Click to collapse



I've been using it for the last year. As long as the credit is applied to your #, T-Mobile doesn't care. My wife uses this same method with her $50 plan as well.


----------



## Puremin0rez (Oct 14, 2014)

I renewed my plan (auto pay) yesterday and now the site is showing I have 100/100 minutes used and I'll be charged extra...

The T-Mobile app shows the correct minutes used (only 4 so far) - looks like they made a mistake on their site? So weird.


----------



## horn34 (Oct 14, 2014)

Puremin0rez said:


> I renewed my plan (auto pay) yesterday and now the site is showing I have 100/100 minutes used and I'll be charged extra...
> 
> The T-Mobile app shows the correct minutes used (only 4 so far) - looks like they made a mistake on their site? So weird.

Click to collapse



yep, I'm seeing the same thing, renewed on the 12th


----------



## forrestcate (Oct 14, 2014)

Puremin0rez said:


> I renewed my plan (auto pay) yesterday and now the site is showing I have 100/100 minutes used and I'll be charged extra...
> 
> The T-Mobile app shows the correct minutes used (only 4 so far) - looks like they made a mistake on their site? So weird.

Click to collapse



I'm also showing 100/100 minutes used but have used less than 40


----------



## adrman (Oct 14, 2014)

Puremin0rez said:


> I renewed my plan (auto pay) yesterday and now the site is showing I have 100/100 minutes used and I'll be charged extra...
> 
> The T-Mobile app shows the correct minutes used (only 4 so far) - looks like they made a mistake on their site? So weird.

Click to collapse



The same thing happened several months back. As you said though, the app is correct. I don't believe anyone had any problems with additional charges.


----------



## baiju2012 (Oct 14, 2014)

adrman said:


> The same thing happened several months back. As you said though, the app is correct. I don't believe anyone had any problems with additional charges.

Click to collapse



Yes, I remember. But, it was corrected after few days. I renewed two days ago, but my next renewal date is 04/20. Weird.

Nexus IV


----------



## pier11 (Oct 14, 2014)

forrestcate said:


> I'm also showing 100/100 minutes used but have used less than 40

Click to collapse



The same thing here.
Just a day or two on a new cycle - $30 Walmart plan. Used for one 6 min call only. Nonsense.


----------



## acegolfer (Oct 14, 2014)

Talked to tmo about 100/100 issue. They are aware of the bug.


----------



## macallik (Oct 15, 2014)

Came to see if anyone else was having the same issue. It happens every couple of month's I've found. With Hangouts I am never really close to the 100 minute mark anymore so I know something was up. Just made a call @ 100/100 minutes and no additional $ was deducted so the system recognizes that I still have minutes left fwiw. Still how many minutes left is a guessing game unless I download the permission-heavy app.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Oct 15, 2014)

macallik said:


> Came to see if anyone else was having the same issue. It happens every couple of month's I've found. With Hangouts I am never really close to the 100 minute mark anymore so I know something was up. Just made a call @ 100/100 minutes and no additional $ was deducted so the system recognizes that I still have minutes left fwiw. Still how many minutes left is a guessing game unless I download the permission-heavy app.

Click to collapse



See the post right above yours, it's a known issue to TMo.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## edog11 (Oct 16, 2014)

I'm having same 100 minute used issue.  Hopefully will be fixed before my plan renews in 10 days.  You can check actual minutes remaining by clicking 'view plan' under the data usage on my t-mobile.com.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Oct 17, 2014)

edog11 said:


> I'm having same 100 minute used issue.  Hopefully will be fixed before my plan renews in 10 days.  You can check actual minutes remaining by clicking 'view plan' under the data usage on my t-mobile.com.

Click to collapse



Thanks for the tip; the minutes shown there are minutes remaining, I assume?   I know there's no way I've gone through 97 minutes this month....


----------



## acegolfer (Oct 17, 2014)

I was on this $30 plan for 2 years and loved it. But I just found a better deal (which is not new) that may work for those you only need data.

$5 Data-only plan: 512MB / 30days using T-mobile 4G LTE network (works on both phones and tablets)
http://goredpocket.com/gsmt-all-onetime.html

1. no contract 512MB/30 days for $5. 
2. T-mobile 3G/4G LTE network. no 2G fallback after 512MB. (you can renew on the go)
3. 30 day auto renewal option
4. also offers 1GB $10 plan
5. activated SIM works on (unlocked or Tmo) phones/tablets

If interested, follow this:
1. Get $0.01 SIM card (free shipping) from http://www.amazon.com/Red-Pocket-...B00IUQEHDW (about 2-day delivery)
2. Activate the SIM at http://goredpocket.com/activate
3. Select the plan from http://goredpocket.com/gsmt-all-onetime.html
4. Pay and you are good to go.


----------



## kendalf (Oct 17, 2014)

edog11 said:


> I'm having same 100 minute used issue.  Hopefully will be fixed before my plan renews in 10 days.  You can check actual minutes remaining by clicking 'view plan' under the data usage on my t-mobile.com.

Click to collapse



I'm going to have to look out for this on my wife's phone. Haven't really been checking since I set up autopay.


----------



## baiju2012 (Oct 19, 2014)

I have been on this plan since the Nexus 4 launch in Nov'12. I am getting a new Nexus 5. The question is, will the two year old T-Mobile SIM work in the Nexus 5? Also, can the LTE functions on Nexus 5 be used with this SIM? Do I need to replace this SIM with a new one? Thanks in advance.

Nexus IV


----------



## acegolfer (Oct 19, 2014)

baiju2012 said:


> I have been on this plan since the Nexus 4 launch in Nov'12. I am getting a new Nexus 5. The question is, will the two year old T-Mobile SIM work in the Nexus 5? Also, can the LTE functions on Nexus 5 be used with this SIM? Do I need to replace this SIM with a new one? Thanks in advance.
> 
> Nexus IV

Click to collapse



1. No need for a new SIM. You can take out the SIM from N4 and place it in N5. In some (not all) cases, you can even use the SIM on 4G tablets.

2. May I ask why upgrade from N4 to N5? N4 is capable of LTE.


----------



## baiju2012 (Oct 19, 2014)

acegolfer said:


> 1. No need for a new SIM. You can take out the SIM from N4 and place it in N5. In some (not all) cases, you can even use the SIM on 4G tablets.
> 
> 2. May I ask why upgrade from N4 to N5? N4 is capable of LTE.

Click to collapse



Great. Thanks.

Yes, I know. I am not into rooting the phone and meddling with radio binaries. I wish Google allowed LTE for Nexus 4 with T-Mobile only as the hardware was there. 

My other reasons to jump to N5 are better overall phone after two years on Ñ4. Better screen, better camera, better processor, etc.

I wish I had the time and patience needed to root and deal with all the issues come with it. In any case, I will be happy with my Nexus 5 now.

Nexus IV


----------



## James62370 (Oct 20, 2014)

I logged on to the T-Mobile website and it is again reporting that I have used up all of my minutes and will now be charged .10 cents per minute for calls.  The same thing happened back in April of this year.

I called support and got someone from the Philippines and they advised that I still have all of my minutes according to their system so it appears to be some sort of glitch on their website reporting incorrect information.

Could anyone else confirm?  Thanks!


----------



## adrman (Oct 20, 2014)

James62370 said:


> Could anyone else confirm?  Thanks!

Click to collapse



Just read from the previous page.

On a related note, you'll know if T Mobile is going to charge you $.10/minute because you'll get a recorded announcement stating so when you place a call.


----------



## BobbaLouie (Oct 23, 2014)

James62370 said:


> I logged on to the T-Mobile website and it is again reporting that I have used up all of my minutes and will now be charged .10 cents per minute for calls.  The same thing happened back in April of this year.
> 
> I called support and got someone from the Philippines and they advised that I still have all of my minutes according to their system so it appears to be some sort of glitch on their website reporting incorrect information.
> 
> Could anyone else confirm?  Thanks!

Click to collapse



I'm seeing this, quick workaround is to click here:







---------- Post added at 09:27 AM ---------- Previous post was at 09:22 AM ----------

Search is broken so I'll ask.

Anyone notice if T-Mo is charging Hangouts data calls to your voice minutes? I assumed they would after prowling around their website for a few hours last week but I see no evidence of this behavior yet.

I used to use GrooveIP and never saw it affect my voice minutes even when using the 3g.


----------



## tokuzumi (Oct 23, 2014)

BobbaLouie said:


> I'm seeing this, quick workaround is to click here:
> 
> 
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



I can't comment specifically on T-Mobile, but the other day when I used hangouts to make a call, it asked if I wanted to make a hangouts call using data (I'm on Verizon).  I didn't check my account afterwards, but I'm assuming it used up part of my data allowance.

I still need to get used to the ringing sound when you dial someone on hangouts.  It sounds like I'm calling someone from europe.


----------



## BinkXDA (Oct 23, 2014)

Whenever I dial #646# I now get the following:
“Due to scheduled maintenance, your balance is not available at this time. Please try again in about five hours.”

This uselessness has been going on for at least a week.  #T-MobileFail


----------



## donwhall70 (Oct 23, 2014)

I went over my 5GB for the first time this morning.. I forgot how painfully slow 2G is  Luckily I reload tomorrow.


----------



## wideasleep1 (Oct 23, 2014)

My Nexus 4 at home doesn't even have a sim card and I'm making calls fine on hangouts dialer.

Sent from my amazing LGG3!


----------



## tokuzumi (Oct 23, 2014)

wideasleep1 said:


> My Nexus 4 at home doesn't even have a sim card and I'm making calls fine on hangouts dialer.
> 
> Sent from my amazing LGG3!

Click to collapse



It works great over wi-fi.  I do this method on my Nexus 5.


----------



## baiju2012 (Oct 23, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> It works great over wi-fi.  I do this method on my Nexus 5.

Click to collapse



Other weekend I used N4 and this App to call a friend in Canada. The call was more than hour and a half and my friend claimed that the voice quality was better than the land line call. The good part is that it was all free. 

Nexus IV


----------



## BobbaLouie (Oct 23, 2014)

BinkXDA said:


> Whenever I dial #646# I now get the following:
> “Due to scheduled maintenance, your balance is not available at this time. Please try again in about five hours.”
> 
> This uselessness has been going on for at least a week.  #T-MobileFail

Click to collapse



Yea, same issue here. Pretty annoyed at this point.


----------



## macallik (Oct 24, 2014)

BobbaLouie said:


> Anyone notice if T-Mo is charging Hangouts data calls to your voice minutes? I assumed they would after prowling around their website for a few hours last week but I see no evidence of this behavior yet.
> 
> I used to use GrooveIP and never saw it affect my voice minutes even when using the 3g.

Click to collapse



If they didn't do it for Groove IP  then why would they block it for Hangouts? If the phone call is not through their mobile tower or phone #, then I don't see how they would have a basis for charging voices minutes.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Oct 24, 2014)

BobbaLouie said:


> I'm seeing this, quick workaround is to click here:
> 
> 
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Nope, i use Hangouts Dialer almost exclusively, not cutting into my minutes at all.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## DrErect (Oct 24, 2014)

I will be switching to this plan in a couple of weeks, and I'm a bit puzzled as I have read that this deal is a Walmart exclusive. But I have seen the 30$ cards at other various stores. Maybe someone can clear this up for me. Thanks

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## wideasleep1 (Oct 24, 2014)

DrErect said:


> I will be switching to this plan in a couple of weeks, and I'm a bit puzzled as I have read that this deal is a Walmart exclusive. But I have seen the 30$ cards at other various stores. Maybe someone can clear this up for me. Thanks
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



You get the SIM from tmo.com (often 99 cents free ship) and ACTIVATE SIM online or by calling activation robot and follow the prompts. Choose the $30/m 100 minutes plan w/5GB data. Add some funds to your account, and bingoboomshakalaka!


----------



## brockkk (Oct 24, 2014)

Yep. Been running this plan for months. Sucks to have to throw more money on when you run out of minutes. But this plan is amazing.


----------



## parkson (Oct 24, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Nope, i use Hangouts Dialer almost exclusively, not cutting into my minutes at all.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



How to do this? Any workarounds involved?


----------



## Joshmccullough (Oct 24, 2014)

parkson said:


> How to do this? Any workarounds involved?

Click to collapse



Just make sure that in Settings for Hangouts Dialer, you've checked the 'Use Google Voice Number for calls' option (may not be the exact wording, but you'll see it) so you don't accidentally use your regular minutes when you don't intend to.


----------



## TheDannemand (Oct 24, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Just make sure that in Settings for Hangouts Dialer, you've checked the 'Use Google Voice Number for calls' option (may not be the exact wording, but you'll see it) so you don't accidentally use your regular minutes when you don't intend to.

Click to collapse



I use hangouts for most of my outgoing calls, and they don't use minutes.

But I have no option like that in Hangouts settings. As far as I know, you have to go to Hangouts and use its dialer (after installing dialer for hangouts) and make the call from there.

Unfortunately there is no integration with the system Dialer -- which also means no calling from People and other places.

If I am wrong and there is a system dialer integration, I would love to hear about it.


----------



## forrestcate (Oct 24, 2014)

pier11 said:


> The same thing here.
> Just a day or two on a new cycle - $30 Walmart plan. Used for one 6 min call only. Nonsense.

Click to collapse



Correct minutes showing on my T-Mobile again


----------



## baiju2012 (Oct 24, 2014)

forrestcate said:


> Correct minutes showing on my T-Mobile again

Click to collapse



Same for me too.

Nexus V


----------



## Joshmccullough (Oct 25, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> I use hangouts for most of my outgoing calls, and they don't use minutes.
> 
> But I have no option like that in Hangouts settings. As far as I know, you have to go to Hangouts and use its dialer (after installing dialer for hangouts) and make the call from there.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Ah, misunderstood you.....yeah, no system dialer integration at this point, at least to the best of my knowledge unless someone's found a clever workaround or something.


----------



## TheDannemand (Oct 25, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Ah, misunderstood you.....yeah, no system dialer integration at this point, at least to the best of my knowledge unless someone's found a clever workaround or something.

Click to collapse



You were answering another member's question. No misunderstanding there. I just jumped in with my own question when I saw your post


----------



## Gaffadin (Oct 25, 2014)

DrErect said:


> I will be switching to this plan in a couple of weeks, and I'm a bit puzzled as I have read that this deal is a Walmart exclusive. But I have seen the 30$ cards at other various stores. Maybe someone can clear this up for me. Thanks
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



It's not a Wal-Mart exclusive.


----------



## BobbaLouie (Oct 25, 2014)

forrestcate said:


> Correct minutes showing on my T-Mobile again

Click to collapse



Yup, finally. Was a pain.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Oct 25, 2014)

Hey all, I keep getting dual incoming calls when my Google Voice number is dialed; my Hangouts Dialer will ring first, and then a few seconds later my regular dialer/number will ring.  I've got 'Incoming Phone Calls - Ring Hangouts for all GV incoming calls' selected in Hangouts Dialer settings, I've got my cell phone number added to Google Voice but unchecked through the web settings so as not to mark it as a number to forward too, I've even signed out of the old Google Voice app......but this keeps happening.

Anyone else have this happen, or any suggestions on how to make sure that only my HDialer rings when I get calls to my GV number?


----------



## norwoodesteel (Oct 25, 2014)

Uncheck your phone in the Google Voice settings online


----------



## baiju2012 (Oct 25, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Hey all, I keep getting dual incoming calls when my Google Voice number is dialed; my Hangouts Dialer will ring first, and then a few seconds later my regular dialer/number will ring.  I've got 'Incoming Phone Calls - Ring Hangouts for all GV incoming calls' selected in Hangouts Dialer settings, I've got my cell phone number added to Google Voice but unchecked through the web settings so as not to mark it as a number to forward too, I've even signed out of the old Google Voice app......but this keeps happening.
> 
> Anyone else have this happen, or any suggestions on how to make sure that only my HDialer rings when I get calls to my GV number?

Click to collapse



Uninstall the GV App and try. I never had the GV App on my phone. When GV phone was integrated to Hangouts App, I installed the Hangouts App and the Hangouts Dialer App. Linked it to the GV phone account. That's it. I never had this issue.

Nexus V


----------



## Joshmccullough (Oct 26, 2014)

baiju2012 said:


> Uninstall the GV App and try. I never had the GV App on my phone. When GV phone was integrated to Hangouts App, I installed the Hangouts App and the Hangouts Dialer App. Linked it to the GV phone account. That's it. I never had this issue.
> 
> Nexus V

Click to collapse



Tried that, same result tho. I was afraid to delete the GV app, all least now i know everything's fine without it.


norwoodesteel said:


> Uncheck your phone in the Google Voice settings online

Click to collapse



Already did that.  Also tried just deleting the phone/number in GV online but then i didn't get any calls at all.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## baiju2012 (Oct 26, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Tried that, same result tho. I was afraid to delete the GV app, all least now i know everything's fine without it.
> 
> Already did that.  Also tried just deleting the phone/number in GV online but then i didn't get any calls at all.
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Okay, then uninstall the hangouts App and its dialer App. Suggestion is to start from beginning. Make sure the GV account is not forwarding the phone to any number. Also, if you had set conditional times in the GV account to call some numbers, remove that. Once all that is done, install the update on the hangouts App and install the dialer App. Relink the hangouts so to your GV account again and give it another try.

Also, if you have another device, Nexus 7, etc., try installing the hangouts apps on it,  while not present on the phone, and see if the same behavior is repeated.

Nexus V


----------



## Joshmccullough (Oct 26, 2014)

baiju2012 said:


> Okay, then uninstall the hangouts App and its dialer App. Suggestion is to start from beginning. Make sure the GV account is not forwarding the phone to any number. Also, if you had set conditional times in the GV account to call some numbers, remove that. Once all that is done, install the update on the hangouts App and install the dialer App. Relink the hangouts so to your GV account again and give it another try.
> 
> Also, if you have another device, Nexus 7, etc., try installing the hangouts apps on it,  while not present on the phone, and see if the same behavior is repeated.
> 
> Nexus V

Click to collapse



Tried this, still no go.  Strange thing: when i answer a call with Hangouts Dialer, it connects without sound/transmission of voice in either end but there's sound on both ends of the call.  I'll keep troubleshooting, the help's appreciated!

EDIT: I figured out that I needed to delete my carrier number from the GV website, that fixed the dual-ring issue, but I'm still stuck with no audio on either end of the line when I receive a call.  Making calls is perfect, tho, and I've made sure that I didn't accidentally hit 'Mute', too.  

Double edit: figured out that calling from my home forwarding phone was causing the trouble, now fixed.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## Notorious (Nov 9, 2014)

Hello I'm using the prepaid plan on my N5 but when I use the My T-Mobile app from the play store it shows I have 100messages and 100minutes any reason why it says I have a limit on messages? Or does the app just read it wrong the data is correct though unlimited 5GB of high speed data


----------



## Joshmccullough (Nov 9, 2014)

Notorious said:


> Hello I'm using the prepaid plan on my N5 but when I use the My T-Mobile app from the play store it shows I have 100messages and 100minutes any reason why it says I have a limit on messages? Or does the app just read it wrong the data is correct though unlimited 5GB of high speed data

Click to collapse



There's been a lot of goofiness on the app, check your info on the website to be sure but if you've got unlimited texts in your plan you've got unlimited texts.  It might be a TMo issue, to; there was some strangeness last month where it said everyone had reached their minute limit when they hadn't, didn't affect ability to call, tho.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## dev997 (Nov 9, 2014)

*How to get this plan ?*

Hello guys !

I am sure its kinda noob, but can anyone pl lemme know from where I can get this plan ? I am an international student here in the US without SSN, so need a prepaid plan with no credit check required. Will this work for me ? 

Thanks
Dev


----------



## macallik (Nov 9, 2014)

dev997 said:


> Hello guys !
> 
> I am sure its kinda noob, but can anyone pl lemme know from where I can get this plan ? I am an international student here in the US without SSN, so need a prepaid plan with no credit check required. Will this work for me ?
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



You don't need a credit check, home address, SSN etc. 
This plan would work for you. If you want the best summary, I'd recommend reading this post here: http://slickdeals.net/f/3377172-please-read-before-you-ask-any-questions?p=43494736#edit43494736


----------



## dev997 (Nov 9, 2014)

macallik said:


> You don't need a credit check, home address, SSN etc.
> This plan would work for you. If you want the best summary, I'd recommend reading this post here: http://slickdeals.net/f/3377172-please-read-before-you-ask-any-questions?p=43494736#edit43494736

Click to collapse



Thanks alot mate ! 
One query though .. its mentioned there that I need to get the phone activated from walmart or tmo .. can't I just get a simcard and use it on my existing phone?

---------- Post added at 02:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 02:51 AM ----------




macallik said:


> You don't need a credit check, home address, SSN etc.
> This plan would work for you. If you want the best summary, I'd recommend reading this post here: http://slickdeals.net/f/3377172-please-read-before-you-ask-any-questions?p=43494736#edit43494736

Click to collapse



Also does this one also has that restriction where u dont get automated service messages from banks etc ? I have heard that no-credit check family plans have that issue.


----------



## macallik (Nov 9, 2014)

The phone can be activated online through T-Mobile's website if you are a brand new customer

As far as I'm aware, auto service messages come through (I'm guessing you mean short code texts). I know there was issues previously about when you try to get short code texts through a Google voice number...?


----------



## dagaetch (Nov 10, 2014)

does anyone know the best way to end this plan? I'm headed overseas for 6 months, so don't want to pay while I'm gone. The refill date is like 4 days after I leave, so I can just cancel the auto refill and let it end that way, right? Not concerned about keeping the number.


----------



## Telemachus13 (Nov 10, 2014)

dagaetch said:


> does anyone know the best way to end this plan? I'm headed overseas for 6 months, so don't want to pay while I'm gone. The refill date is like 4 days after I leave, so I can just cancel the auto refill and let it end that way, right? Not concerned about keeping the number.

Click to collapse



That should work just fine.  The only thing I'd add is that you'll need a new sim to get back on the plan after you let it expire.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus


----------



## emd2009 (Nov 12, 2014)

Currently have a nexus 5 and this plan. When I upgrade to the nexus 6, seeing that it has a different type of Sim card, what do I need to do?


----------



## macallik (Nov 12, 2014)

emd2009 said:


> Currently have a nexus 5 and this plan. When I upgrade to the nexus 6, seeing that it has a different type of Sim card, what do I need to do?

Click to collapse



When I upgraded from my old phone (regular sim) to the nexus 4 (micro sim), I just took it to a local T-Mobile and they did their magic. There are probably sim card adapters online, but the physical store is the quickest route imo.

---------- Post added at 09:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 AM ----------




dagaetch said:


> does anyone know the best way to end this plan? I'm headed overseas for 6 months, so don't want to pay while I'm gone. The refill date is like 4 days after I leave, so I can just cancel the auto refill and let it end that way, right? Not concerned about keeping the number.

Click to collapse





Telemachus13 said:


> That should work just fine.  The only thing I'd add is that you'll need a new sim to get back on the plan after you let it expire.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus

Click to collapse



If I am reading this correctly this means that you will lose your phone number potentially. One alternative to look into is to see if you can change to a pay as you go plan ($3/mo) and then if possible switch back to the Walmart Plan. I know the first half will be easy, but you may have to Google a work-around to signing up on the 100m 5GB plan as an existing T-Mobile customer. 

Alternatively, you can contact T-Mobile to see if Prepaid plans have the ability to be temporarily suspended so that your bill is reduced/free.


----------



## tokuzumi (Nov 12, 2014)

macallik said:


> When I upgraded from my old phone (regular sim) to the nexus 4 (micro sim), I just took it to a local T-Mobile and they did their magic. There are probably sim card adapters online, but the physical store is the quickest route imo.
> 
> ---------- Post added at 09:08 AM ---------- Previous post was at 08:58 AM ----------
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



dagaetch isn't concerned with keeping his number.


----------



## macallik (Nov 12, 2014)

yeah... looks like I read everything but the last sentence. D'oh


----------



## dagaetch (Nov 13, 2014)

tokuzumi said:


> dagaetch isn't concerned with keeping his number.

Click to collapse





macallik said:


> yeah... looks like I read everything but the last sentence. D'oh

Click to collapse



haha I appreciate the responses. My actual phone number is on Google Voice, so I just forward it to whatever number the cell company assigns me. Makes changing services so much easier!

I did look into suspending service, but it's a 3 month maximum, at least on the regular T-Mobile plans, and you still have to pay something. No big deal, just means I'll have to stop at a Walmart when I get back to the States.


----------



## baiju2012 (Nov 20, 2014)

Completed two years on this plan. With the GV Hangouts integration, this is one of the best plans which provides everything unlimited for now. Meanwhile, I could side load Lollipop into my new Nexus 5. :thumbup:

Nexus V Lollipop


----------



## coorsleftfield (Nov 20, 2014)

It's a great plan if you can live with T-mobile coverage and no roaming.    Harbor wireless also has a T-mobile plan that is $30 with unlimited min but only 1g data


----------



## yahanna (Nov 20, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> It's a great plan if you can live with T-mobile coverage and no roaming.    Harbor wireless also has a T-mobile plan that is $30 with unlimited min but only 1g data

Click to collapse



Yeah but is Harbor as good as Tmobile? Many telephone companies use Tmobile's towers. But the service sucks in many cases. Thats the problem.


----------



## coorsleftfield (Nov 21, 2014)

yahanna said:


> Yeah but is Harbor as good as Tmobile? Many telephone companies use Tmobile's towers. But the service sucks in many cases. Thats the problem.

Click to collapse



No idea.. they are an authorized t-mobile re-seller. Who knows if their customers get throttled more. With only 1G of data, it probably only a plan for lower data users anyway. If you use lots of data, the TMO 5G/100m plan is better.

Personally I think Straighttalk @ $45 is worth the extra $15 to be on the AT&T network and not deal with having limited minutes, but gotta do what fits your usage.


----------



## yahanna (Nov 23, 2014)

coorsleftfield said:


> No idea.. they are an authorized t-mobile re-seller. Who knows if their customers get throttled more. With only 1G of data, it probably only a plan for lower data users anyway. If you use lots of data, the TMO 5G/100m plan is better.
> 
> Personally I think Straighttalk @ $45 is worth the extra $15 to be on the AT&T network and not deal with having limited minutes, but gotta do what fits your usage.

Click to collapse



But the problem with straight talk, despite using at&t towers, is that u'll experience poor call quality and dropped calls. I tried it and my experience was horrendous. Always be careful not to go into a plan just for the price. You get what you pay for.


----------



## RainMotorsports (Nov 23, 2014)

yahanna said:


> But the problem with straight talk, despite using at&t towers, is that u'll experience poor call quality and dropped calls. I tried it and my experience was horrendous. Always be careful not to go into a plan just for the price. You get what you pay for.

Click to collapse



...that just describes AT&T for the last 10 years. I mean it seriously does. Their superior coverage over TMo never really offered superior service.


----------



## tokuzumi (Nov 23, 2014)

yahanna said:


> But the problem with straight talk, despite using at&t towers, is that u'll experience poor call quality and dropped calls. I tried it and my experience was horrendous. Always be careful not to go into a plan just for the price. You get what you pay for.

Click to collapse



This is location dependant.  Wife has been using straight talk, with at&t for over 18 months, with no issues. I used it for several months, and had awesome service, especially once lte was enabled. I only had to contact customer service once, and the experience was pleasant.


----------



## yahanna (Nov 24, 2014)

RainMotorsports said:


> ...that just describes AT&T for the last 10 years. I mean it seriously does. Their superior coverage over TMo never really offered superior service.

Click to collapse



Exactly. To this day I see people complain non-stop about Straight Talk. Theres another smaller but new carrier called Sinple Mobile that uses Tmo's towers. I was tempted into replacing my Tmo with them. But ever since my past experience with Straight Talk, I steered clear of 3rd party carriers. Lesson learned. 

I'd rathr pay an extra $5 - 10 for superior quality than risk a cheaper service that delivers just that, cheaper service.




tokuzumi said:


> This is location dependant.  Wife has been using straight talk, with at&t for over 18 months, with no issues. I used it for several months, and had awesome service, especially once lte was enabled. I only had to contact customer service once, and the experience was pleasant.

Click to collapse



Its not necessarily location dependent. In a place like NYC where I had Straight Talk, you'd think ST would offer equal quality as Tmo since they lease towers from them. Well you'd be dead wrong. I had to switch back to Tmo. Was on the phone barking like mad at the ST rep to release my number back to Tmo.

All in all, never make decisions entirely based on price. Cheap can be very expensive, as in my case with stupud ST.


----------



## Joshmccullough (Nov 24, 2014)

Speaking of T-Mo competitors, anyone had any experience with Cricket?  I know they use AT&T's network, I've read some unflattering things about them in the past but it's been mostly customer service-related vs. call/data service related.  Their Unlimited Talk/Text/10GB data is looking awfully attractive, I'm using more data than I thought I would and coming close to my 5GB cap.


----------



## QkTreasures (Nov 24, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Speaking of T-Mo competitors, anyone had any experience with Cricket?  I know they use AT&T's network, I've read some unflattering things about them in the past but it's been mostly customer service-related vs. call/data service related.  Their Unlimited Talk/Text/10GB data is looking awfully attractive, I'm using more data than I thought I would and coming close to my 5GB cap.

Click to collapse



Cricket is now owned by AT&T


----------



## Joshmccullough (Nov 24, 2014)

rubberman365 said:


> Cricket is now owned by AT&T

Click to collapse



Ah, gotcha, thought they were an MVNO/separate entity.


----------



## BinkXDA (Nov 24, 2014)

*Call forwarding notification*

So, I’ve been on this awesome plan for a while and, to keep my number of minutes in check, I forward all calls to voicemail.  This works well, but ever since upgrading to Lollipop I now have a constant annoying Call forwarding notification on my lock screen and I can’t get rid of it.  Lollipop allows you to Block most app notifications, but this option does not appear to be available for Call forwarding (yes, I’ve tried blocking Google Dialer to no avail).  Anyone else have this issue?  Anyone know of a fix or workaround?  Suggestions welcome—I also wonder how others with this plan control their minute usage (yes, I also use VoIP and Hangouts).

Cheers.


----------



## QkTreasures (Nov 28, 2014)

Joshmccullough said:


> Ah, gotcha, thought they were an MVNO/separate entity.

Click to collapse



Well I think att has only owned cricket for like a year or so?


----------



## nola mike (Dec 13, 2014)

Having a hard time sorting through this thread to determine if this plan will work for me:
Currently have my cell #, and 2 different GV #'s with different accounts.  One of the GV numbers I use, the other not so much.  Outgoing calls don't seem to be a problem, as I can just use hangouts on wifi, and presumably over 4g. 
1. What are my inbound options so that people can use my cell number without burning my minutes? I'm thinking I can port my cell number to google, but then I lose my current GV number.  Not a big deal on one of the accounts, but would rather not on the other.
2. I can't seem to do MMS on hangouts--have seen conflicting reports on whether this is available, or if it's been pulled, or what.
3. If I port my cell # to GV, can I still have both numbers active/ringing on my galaxy s4 at once?  IOW, can hangouts listen on 2 accounts at the same time?
4. What effect does this have on battery life? I currently use xposed/deep sleep and amplify. I'd have to do away with deep sleep I suppose in order to make sure that my phone wakes for incoming wifi/cell data--right now it will away for cell voice/sms, but emails and what have you don't get synced until my screen is on.


----------



## TheDannemand (Dec 13, 2014)

nola mike said:


> Having a hard time sorting through this thread to determine if this plan will work for me:
> Currently have my cell #, and 2 different GV #'s with different accounts.  One of the GV numbers I use, the other not so much.  Outgoing calls don't seem to be a problem, as I can just use hangouts on wifi, and presumably over 4g.
> 1. What are my inbound options so that people can use my cell number without burning my minutes? I'm thinking I can port my cell number to google, but then I lose my current GV number.  Not a big deal on one of the accounts, but would rather not on the other.
> 2. I can't seem to do MMS on hangouts--have seen conflicting reports on whether this is available, or if it's been pulled, or what.
> ...

Click to collapse



You can just tell Hangouts to receive Incoming GV phone calls (under Settings). Then in GV Settings (in a browser) set it to forward calls to Google Chat, but NOT to your phone. That way Hangouts will receive calls to your GV number(s) and not use minutes, the same as outbound GV calls in Hangouts. Of course you'd have to port your current cell number to GV if you want your contacts to keep using that number.

This does NOT prevent Deep Sleep. I get plenty of deep sleep with this setup. My phone too   Depending on your data and cell connection quality, power consumption during the actual call may be more or less than a regular cell call.

MMS through the GV number works too, but since GV is actually a landline, they treat it as a link to a picture on a Google server. A bit clumsy.

It never occurred to me that Hangouts might be able to handle multiple Google Voice numbers, but it does indeed allow adding additional Google accounts, so maybe it does. I haven't tried it.

Edit: Another option for saving minutes is to use the Vonage app for free outgoing data calls. You can tell it to display your cell number as Caller ID so the recipient won't be confused. I find Vonage's call quality better than Hangouts'.


----------



## nola mike (Dec 15, 2014)

> You can just tell Hangouts to receive Incoming GV phone calls (under Settings). Then in GV Settings (in a browser) set it to forward calls to Google Chat, but NOT to your phone. That way Hangouts will receive calls to your GV number(s) and not use minutes, the same as outbound GV calls in Hangouts. Of course you'd have to port your current cell number to GV if you want your contacts to keep using that number.

Click to collapse



Yup, that's what I figured.



> This does NOT prevent Deep Sleep. I get plenty of deep sleep with this setup. My phone too   Depending on your data and cell connection quality, power consumption during the actual call may be more or less than a regular cell call.

Click to collapse



Might not prevent it entirely, but certainly uses more battery. I think I'll need a constant data connection, be it wifi or mobile, if I want to receive incoming calls in real time. Did a bit of an experiment and disabled the DS app, and tried to suppress as many wake locks as I could with per app hacking. Found that my idle usage went from 0.4%/hr to 1.0%/hr--that was on wifi. Guessing that a mobile data connection is worse. Wifi was active the whole time. Also my wake time went from 1% to 6%.



> MMS through the GV number works too, but since GV is actually a landline, they treat it as a link to a picture on a Google server. A bit clumsy.

Click to collapse



I'll have to experiment with this, but I was talking more about group messaging than pics.



> It never occurred to me that Hangouts might be able to handle multiple Google Voice numbers, but it does indeed allow adding additional Google accounts, so maybe it does. I haven't tried it.

Click to collapse



Yeah, I'm not sure if they can both be active at the same time though. I'll give it a try as well.



> Edit: Another option for saving minutes is to use the Vonage app for free outgoing data calls. You can tell it to display your cell number as Caller ID so the recipient won't be confused. I find Vonage's call quality better than Hangouts'.

Click to collapse



That's a great idea. 
I'm thinking that I'll just port my number to t-mo, and leave the GV #'s as they are. That way, I can always get texts in real time, and I'll always know if someone's trying to reach me through my real number, even if data is disabled.  My friends and family use my real number for the most part.


----------



## TheDannemand (Dec 15, 2014)

nola mike said:


> I'll have to experiment with this, but I was talking more about group messaging than pics.

Click to collapse



Ahh, group messaging: While GV received group messaging a few years ago, it does NOT work (for whatever reason) in Hangouts. Any time you send messages from GV, the option to add more recipients goes away. Quite annoying.

I'll say the way Hangouts brings hangout threads, mobile SMS and GV SMS under the same room is a bit confusing -- and broken in some cases. I think that may be why Google revived a separate Messenger app, because plain old SMS tends to get buried and unnecessarily complex in Hangouts.


----------



## macallik (Dec 16, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> Ahh, group messaging: While GV received group messaging a few years ago, it does NOT work (for whatever reason) in Hangouts. Any time you send messages from GV, the option to add more recipients goes away. Quite annoying.
> 
> I'll say the way Hangouts brings hangout threads, mobile SMS and GV SMS under the same room is a bit confusing -- and broken in some cases. I think that may be why Google revived a separate Messenger app, because plain old SMS tends to get buried and unnecessarily complex in Hangouts.

Click to collapse



Looks like they may have added that functionality in the latest update perhaps? I see an 'Invite' option available while you are conversing with someone. Alternatively, there is a group messaging option in the app settings.


Speaking of which, what is everyone's opinion of the update? I finally got it today and I like it. The ability to add contacts from your call log is something that should have been built into the original but I am glad that they added it regardless.


----------



## TheDannemand (Dec 16, 2014)

macallik said:


> Looks like they may have added that functionality in the latest update perhaps? I see an 'Invite' option available while you are conversing with someone. Alternatively, there is a group messaging option in the app settings.
> 
> Speaking of which, what is everyone's opinion of the update? I finally got it today and I like it. The ability to add contacts from your call log is something that should have been built into the original but I am glad that they added it regardless.

Click to collapse



The Invite feature is something else, not group messaging. Enabling the Group Messaging option in Settings IS how you enable it in the first place. And it works fine with regular SMS/MMS messages sent from your Carrier number. But it does NOT work with GV messages: The option to add more people to a discussion does not show up for GV messages.

Unfortunately the new version seems to be just visual tweaks, no functional changes. Probably some bug fixes too.


----------



## andy o (Dec 17, 2014)

*HD Voice?*

Hey guys, any of you on this plan getting HD Voice? I tried a call between my Nexus 6 and a friend's LG G3 and there wasn't HD Voice. I know his G3 is capable because right before I'd used it for another call to someone else and there was an HD Voice indicator during the call, and of course it was much clearer. I'm wondering if it's the N6 or this plan. He has one of the post-paid T-mo plans, so it's the same network.


----------



## nicotheandroidguy (Dec 17, 2014)

andy o said:


> Hey guys, any of you on this plan getting HD Voice? I tried a call between my Nexus 6 and a friend's LG G3 and there wasn't HD Voice. I know his G3 is capable because right before I'd used it for another call to someone else and there was an HD Voice indicator during the call, and of course it was much clearer. I'm wondering if it's the N6 or this plan. He has one of the post-paid T-mo plans, so it's the same network.

Click to collapse



Is your Nexus 6 on H (HSPA+) on the call or LTE? If it's on HSPA+ it is not HD voice,  if it's on LTE it is a HD Voice call over VoLTE.


----------



## andy o (Dec 17, 2014)

nicotheandroidguy said:


> Is your Nexus 6 on H (HSPA+) on the call or LTE? If it's on HSPA+ it is not HD voice,  if it's on LTE it is a HD Voice call over VoLTE.

Click to collapse



That's interesting, hadn't thought of that. Pretty sure it was connected to wifi though, which I also thing my friend's G3 was, so I couldn't tell. I'll test tomorrow again, thanks.


----------



## nola mike (Dec 17, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> The Invite feature is something else, not group messaging. Enabling the Group Messaging option in Settings IS how you enable it in the first place. And it works fine with regular SMS/MMS messages sent from your Carrier number. But it does NOT work with GV messages: The option to add more people to a discussion does not show up for GV messages.
> 
> Unfortunately the new version seems to be just visual tweaks, no functional changes. Probably some bug fixes too.

Click to collapse



Actually, I now have the ability to group message through hangouts.  Not sure why. Also, the issue with using 2 GV accounts with hangouts seems to be on the google end--you can't have 2 GV #'s forwarded to the same real number. Also, you can't forward one GV number to another.


----------



## forrestcate (Dec 17, 2014)

nola mike said:


> Actually, I now have the ability to group message through hangouts.  Not sure why. Also, the issue with using 2 GV accounts with hangouts seems to be on the google end--you can't have 2 GV #'s forwarded to the same real number. Also, you can't forward one GV number to another.

Click to collapse



Can you group message through SMS or only to others who have hangouts installed on their devices?


----------



## nola mike (Dec 17, 2014)

forrestcate said:


> Can you group message through SMS or only to others who have hangouts installed on their devices?

Click to collapse



Crap, Now I don't know what's going on. Took some unintuitive keypresses to be able to add Multiple people to what I thought was an MMS message . However, it doesn't appear that the sent message ever goes through. I'm definitely still able to do it through Google voice though . Take a look at the screenshot. I cropped out the names of the contacts that I sent to, but there were several.


----------



## forrestcate (Dec 17, 2014)

I never get mms as an option in lower left. it's either sms or hangouts.


----------



## nola mike (Dec 17, 2014)

Yeah, it's weird. send a message to someone; I think they need a hangouts account. At that point you're sending the default hang out message. There is an option there to invite someone else. Now change the message type to SMS. Then you can still invite other people , and if you choose their cell phone numbers it will show up as an MMS. But again, at this point when you hit send it doesn't seem to work.


----------



## TheDannemand (Dec 17, 2014)

Hangouts has three different types of messaging:

1) Hangouts, like the old Google Talk chats. All participants must use Hangouts. Here you can have a group of multiple participants, voice calls, video calls -- all on data, no phone numbers involved.

2) SMS/MMS through the carrier number. All participants must use SMS/MMS through a mobile number. Here you can have multiple participants (add more recipients under *People and Options*) for which it will use MMS (SMS only supports a single recipient). You must have *Group Messaging* enabled in Settings.

3) SMS/MMS through GV. All participants must use SMS/MMS through a mobile number. But GV itself is actually a landline, and only partially supports MMS. Here you can NOT have multiple participants -- at least I have not been able to. The icon to add more recipients doesn't show up under *People and Options*.

If someone is able successfully send a (single) GV message to multiple recipients from Hangouts, I would love to hear it.

Annoyingly, Hangouts makes it difficult to manually control which type of message you send, particularly if *Merged conversations* is enabled in Settings. If a specific number (carrier or GV) is selected under *Send SMS from* it will of course use that, but it can cause strange behavior when you receive messages on any other number.


----------



## TheDannemand (Dec 17, 2014)

nola mike said:


> Actually, I now have the ability to group message through hangouts.  Not sure why. Also, the issue with using 2 GV accounts with hangouts seems to be on the google end--you can't have 2 GV #'s forwarded to the same real number. Also, you can't forward one GV number to another.

Click to collapse



As mentioned above, Hangouts can group message actual hangouts discussions as well as messages from your carrier number. But I will be surprised (and very happy) if you are able to group message from your GV number in Hangouts.

About forwarding multiple GV numbers to the same mobile number: That was always a deliberate restriction in GV, and quite annoying in my opinion. As we discussed earlier, you want to disable call forwarding in GV settings itself (accessed from the browser) and only forward to Google Chat. Otherwise it will use minutes. That way you should be able to receive calls from multiple GV numbers in Hangouts (at least theoretically, I haven't tried adding multiple accounts in Hangouts).

If you forward calls to your mobile number AND enable *Incoming phone calls* in Hangouts Settings, you will receive calls to your GV number BOTH as an incoming carrier call (using minutes) AND as a data call (through Hangouts). It gets messy very quickly.



forrestcate said:


> I never get mms as an option in lower left. it's either sms or hangouts.

Click to collapse



The moment you attach a picture or add more recipients (which you can only do when sending hangouts or from your Carrier number, and only if *Group messaging* is enabled in Settings) it should convert the message to MMS.

If you send from your GV number and attach a picture, it will NOT convert the message to MMS, but rather upload the picture to a Google server and include a link in the message. Again, GV is a landline and doesn't fully support MMS.


----------



## forrestcate (Dec 17, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> As mentioned above, Hangouts can group message actual hangouts discussions as well as messages from your carrier number. But I will be surprised (and very happy) if you are able to group message from your GV number in Hangouts.
> 
> About forwarding multiple GV numbers to the same mobile number: That was always a deliberate restriction in GV, and quite annoying in my opinion. As we discussed earlier, you want to disable call forwarding in GV settings itself (accessed from the browser) and only forward to Google Chat. Otherwise it will use minutes. That way you should be able to receive calls from multiple GV numbers in Hangouts (at least theoretically, I haven't tried adding multiple accounts in Hangouts).
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



So anyway to send from carrier number but have it show up as gv number to recipients?


----------



## TheDannemand (Dec 17, 2014)

forrestcate said:


> So anyway to send from carrier number but have it show up as gv number to recipients?

Click to collapse



That would be spoofing your number (but in your case for a legitimate reason). I don't know if there is a way to do that.

Instead of letting Hangouts handle your GV messaging, you could try and go back to handling it through the GV webpage and/or the GV app. Maybe they have the ability to send to multiple recipients. I do remember reading some (long) time ago that GV gained that feature, but I never used it myself. Now that I switched over to Hangouts, GV itself no longer lets me send or view messages unless I Opt Out again from using Hangouts. Otherwise I would be happy to test it for you


----------



## forrestcate (Dec 17, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> That would be spoofing your number (but in your case for a legitimate reason). I don't know if there is a way to do that.
> 
> Instead of letting Hangouts handle your GV messaging, you could try and go back to handling it through the GV webpage and/or the GV app. Maybe they have the ability to send to multiple recipients. I do remember reading some (long) time ago that GV gained that feature, but I never used it myself. Now that I switched over to Hangouts, GV itself no longer lets me send or view messages unless I Opt Out again from using Hangouts. Otherwise I would be happy to test it for you

Click to collapse



I think I'm resolved to have one number for text and one number for phone calls. Pretty happy with dialer update today BTW. It was annoying not to be able to use hangouts from other apps for phone calls


----------



## TheDannemand (Dec 17, 2014)

forrestcate said:


> I think I'm resolved to have one number for text and one number for phone calls. Pretty happy with dialer update today BTW. It was annoying not to be able to use hangouts from other apps for phone calls

Click to collapse



I can see that working in some cases (two numbers).

I hadn't downloaded that Hangouts Dialer update yet and didn't realize they had fixed that. That was indeed very annoying. Thank you for pointing it out 

Hmmm... I still cannot make a Hangouts call from Contacts. Can you?


----------



## forrestcate (Dec 17, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> I can see that working in some cases (two numbers).
> 
> I hadn't downloaded that Hangouts Dialer update yet and didn't realize they had fixed that. That was indeed very annoying. Thank you for pointing it out
> 
> Hmmm... I still cannot make a Hangouts call from Contacts. Can you?

Click to collapse



Not sure about from contacts. But say from a website or text or email. Click on it confirm use hangouts to make call and voila minutes free calling


----------



## TheDannemand (Dec 18, 2014)

forrestcate said:


> Not sure about from contacts. But say from a website or text or email. Click on it confirm use hangouts to make call and voila minutes free calling

Click to collapse



Yes, I saw that in the release update notes. Hopefully it's just me who cannot make Hangouts calls from Contacts (or People). If they forgot about that, it is the final proof that nobody at Google uses Android phones themselves. After all, users do call more people from their Contact list than from websites and maps


----------



## nola mike (Dec 18, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> As mentioned above, Hangouts can group message actual hangouts discussions as well as messages from your carrier number. But I will be surprised (and very happy) if you are able to group message from your GV number in Hangouts.
> 
> About forwarding multiple GV numbers to the same mobile number: That was always a deliberate restriction in GV, and quite annoying in my opinion. As we discussed earlier, you want to disable call forwarding in GV settings itself (accessed from the browser) and only forward to Google Chat. Otherwise it will use minutes. That way you should be able to receive calls from multiple GV numbers in Hangouts (at least theoretically, I haven't tried adding multiple accounts in Hangouts).
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Yeah, you're right I think. I managed to get it to look like I was messaging mult recipients with my GV number, but I don't think it actually did it. It took a lot of poking around in the settings just to get the ability to MMS with my cell #, though that works. Confirmed that MMS works as intended with the GV app. Which makes me question what the advantage is of hangouts (if you're only using it for SMS/VOIP). Also wondering why google wouldn't include a basic function in hangouts, when they have it in their presumably deprecated voice app already...
Oh, and as to why google won't let you forward mult #'s to the same landline--they'd rather you pay them $20 to combine several GV numbers under one account (which you can do)


----------



## Telemachus13 (Dec 21, 2014)

nola mike said:


> you can't have 2 GV #'s forwarded to the same real number.

Click to collapse




TheDannemand said:


> About forwarding multiple GV numbers to the same mobile number: That was always a deliberate restriction in GV, and quite annoying in my opinion.

Click to collapse




nola mike said:


> Oh, and as to why google won't let you forward mult #'s to the same landline--they'd rather you pay them $20 to combine several GV numbers under one account (which you can do)

Click to collapse



Actually, it is possible to have multiple Google Voice numbers forwarding to the same mobile/landline number, but you have to set the number as a "work" number on all of the accounts you forward to it from. This removes the option to forward text messages to that number through SMS, although the Google Voice and Hangouts apps will still work for texting just fine. My family has been using this trick to forward our old landline number to our cell phones in addition to having each person's individual Google Voice number forward to their phone.

Sent from my Moto G LTE


----------



## adrman (Dec 21, 2014)

TheDannemand said:


> Hopefully it's just me who cannot make Hangouts calls from Contacts (or People).

Click to collapse



Calls from contacts is not working for me either.


----------



## baiju2012 (Dec 21, 2014)

adrman said:


> Calls from contacts is not working for me either.

Click to collapse



Same for me. But it worked when I clicked a phone number link from the chrome browser. It gave the choice with the hangouts dialer.

Nexus V Lollipop


----------



## TheDannemand (Dec 22, 2014)

adrman said:


> Calls from contacts is not working for me either.

Click to collapse





baiju2012 said:


> Same for me. But it worked when I clicked a phone number link from the chrome browser. It gave the choice with the hangouts dialer.

Click to collapse



Yeah, it's confirmed: They didn't change Contacts. So we can initiate calls from other apps (which is nice) but still not from Contacts (the logic of which escapes me).


----------



## QkTreasures (Dec 25, 2014)

Happy Holidays ppl!!!!  :sly:


----------



## emd2009 (Jan 22, 2015)

Just purchased a nexus 6, whats the process for getting a nano Sim ? Currently have nexus 5


----------



## baiju2012 (Jan 22, 2015)

emd2009 said:


> Just purchased a nexus 6, whats the process for getting a nano Sim ? Currently have nexus 5

Click to collapse



Check with a T-Mobile store. You may get lucky and they will exchange your Nexus 5 micro SIM. Or you can cut the micro SIM to nano size.


----------



## emd2009 (Jan 22, 2015)

baiju2012 said:


> Check with a T-Mobile store. You may get lucky and they will exchange your Nexus 5 micro SIM. Or you can cut the micro SIM to nano size.

Click to collapse



Why do I have to be lucky ? Is this not a standard procedure?


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 22, 2015)

emd2009 said:


> Why do I have to be lucky ? Is this not a standard procedure?

Click to collapse



My store wants a tenner for a Sim unless you buy some accessory...then it's free.

Sent from my Nexus 6


----------



## baiju2012 (Jan 22, 2015)

emd2009 said:


> Why do I have to be lucky ? Is this not a standard procedure?

Click to collapse



There is nothing standard about this plan. If you were on a regular postpaid plan, then the standard concept would apply. Just cut the SIM to nano and roll. All other ways will require you to spend some money.


----------



## ski522 (Jan 22, 2015)

Or $15 online http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/T-Mobile-Mobile-Broadband-SIM-ONLY-KIT-Kit-Nano-SIM. Is $10-$15 really that big of a deal for people...


----------



## emd2009 (Jan 22, 2015)

ski522 said:


> Or $15 online http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/T-Mobile-Mobile-Broadband-SIM-ONLY-KIT-Kit-Nano-SIM. Is $10-$15 really that big of a deal for people...

Click to collapse



if i order online, how do i switch my service from the micro sim to the nano? i am currently on this $30 plan


----------



## wideasleep1 (Jan 22, 2015)

emd2009 said:


> if i order online, how do i switch my service from the micro sim to the nano? i am currently on this $30 plan

Click to collapse



If you already have this plan do this in store. It will cost you anywhere from 0 to 15 dollars for the sim based on store and they will need your PIN to verify your ID and account they scan the new sim and off you go.

Sent from my Nexus 6


----------



## adrman (Jan 22, 2015)

emd2009 said:


> if i order online, how do i switch my service from the micro sim to the nano? i am currently on this $30 plan

Click to collapse



Just call customer service and give them the info from the new sim.


----------



## forrestcate (Jan 23, 2015)

emd2009 said:


> if i order online, how do i switch my service from the micro sim to the nano? i am currently on this $30 plan

Click to collapse



Just get a converter tray?

---------- Post added at 01:59 AM ---------- Previous post was at 01:57 AM ----------




forrestcate said:


> Just get a converter tray?

Click to collapse


http://m.miniinthebox.com/nano-sim-...EkxzcSh390u2QVprlMt_Y3NGBAJhEKqtmRBoCgRvw_wcB


----------



## baiju2012 (Jan 27, 2015)

My T-Mobile app suddenly stopped working after the last update. Now, it is not available on play store. Anybody wise affected ?


----------



## forrestcate (Jan 28, 2015)

baiju2012 said:


> My T-Mobile app suddenly stopped working after the last update. Now, it is not available on play store. Anybody wise affected ?

Click to collapse



Not me


----------



## macallik (Jan 28, 2015)

baiju2012 said:


> My T-Mobile app suddenly stopped working after the last update. Now, it is not available on play store. Anybody wise affected ?

Click to collapse



The website went down Saturday night (the day I was scheduled to pay my monthly bill. I had no service on my phone when I went to sleep around 4am but it was back by 10am when I woke up. Unsure if it is related. I just bookmarked their my account page personally. App was too intrusive and buggy


----------



## 954wrecker (Jan 29, 2015)

They changed some plans recently if you look they have some strange plans that cap the max download to 8mbps.
http://explore.t-mobile.com/unlimited-prepaid-plans?icid=WMD_TM_Q115CYRN_XI8Q628GCDF1528
I wonder if the ftc fining tracphone for throttling people on unlimited data plans will affect this plan.
http://phandroid.com/2015/01/28/ftc-fines-tracfone-40-million-dollars-for-throttling-data/
When I do get throttled it is the slowest Internet I've ever had since the days of dial up.
I know the fine print says up to 128k when throttled but I've never gotten more than 12k when they throttle me.


----------



## Batmensch (Feb 13, 2015)

*Throttled to 64kbps!*

Just ran over my 5 GB limit, and they throttled me to 64 kbps!  That's what it said in the text I got from T-Mobile about it.  As I remember, I was promised "3G" which to me suggests at least EDGE performance.  A little deceptive, to my mind.

Also, be aware that if you go over your 5 GB limit, there is no way to refresh your data; you just have to wait for the next billing period to start to get 4G/LTE speeds back.  I called T-Mobile about it and support told me the $30/mo plan is "promotional" and that there is no mechanism available to them to turn your fast speeds back on.

This is not going to make me change to a different plan, but something to keep in mind.


----------



## ski522 (Feb 14, 2015)

> As I remember, I was promised "3G" which to me suggests at least EDGE performance. A little deceptive, to my mind.

Click to collapse



Don't know who promised that but it's always been that you get throttled to 2G when you go over your 4G limit.


----------



## macallik (Feb 15, 2015)

Batmensch said:


> Just ran over my 5 GB limit, and they throttled me to 64 kbps!  That's what it said in the text I got from T-Mobile about it.  As I remember, I was promised "3G" which to me suggests at least EDGE performance.  A little deceptive, to my mind.
> 
> Also, be aware that if you go over your 5 GB limit, there is no way to refresh your data; you just have to wait for the next billing period to start to get 4G/LTE speeds back.  I called T-Mobile about it and support told me the $30/mo plan is "promotional" and that there is no mechanism available to them to turn your fast speeds back on.
> 
> This is not going to make me change to a different plan, but something to keep in mind.

Click to collapse



Also I think technically you can force your bill to be restarted via the website if you are very desperate.


----------



## 954wrecker (Mar 12, 2015)

Anyone else that never tethers notice your Hotspot usage start creeping up recently? I got tired of watching it happen so I tested every app I use daily to see who the culprit was. My results surprised me to find out tapatalk is 100% responsible for it. No matter what version I tried using (older, newer, newest) xda free even had the same results I just checked.


----------



## baiju2012 (Mar 12, 2015)

954wrecker said:


> Anyone else that never tethers notice your Hotspot usage start creeping up recently? I got tired of watching it happen so I tested every app I use daily to see who the culprit was. My results surprised me to find out tapatalk is 100% responsible for it. No matter what version I tried using (older, newer, newest) xda free even had the same results I just checked.

Click to collapse



Yes, I have seen it. Generally, it is very insignificant amount and I don't use much tethering, so it does not bother me.

---------- Post added at 01:34 PM ---------- Previous post was at 01:32 PM ----------




baiju2012 said:


> Yes, I have seen it. Generally, it is very insignificant amount and I don't use much tethering, so it does not bother me.

Click to collapse



Also, XDA Free App was becoming a joke, popping ads willy-nilly. Bought the paid version. No ads anymore. Peace.


----------



## James62370 (Mar 13, 2015)

I was wondering why it shows usage even though I never enabled it.  That is very strange that Tapatalk increase hotspot usage, even though it is a very small amount.  Thanks for sharing.


----------



## 530farm (Mar 17, 2015)

*Updating sim?*

So i'm currently enrolled in this plan, using a oneplus one.  I get a nexus 6 tomorrow which will use a nano sim instead of the micro sim i'm currently using. I have an extra t-mobile nano-sim however I can't seem to find how to update my sim card on my account. Any idea?


----------



## 954wrecker (Mar 17, 2015)

530farm said:


> So i'm currently enrolled in this plan, using a oneplus one.  I get a nexus 6 tomorrow which will use a nano sim instead of the micro sim i'm currently using. I have an extra t-mobile nano-sim however I can't seem to find how to update my sim card on my account. Any idea?

Click to collapse



Call customer service *8646 give them the new nano sim number and they will transfer your account right over. I just did this 2 weeks ago and I was surprised how fast they activated it. Phone call took 2 minutes and then in another 2 minutes the new sim was active.


----------



## macallik (Mar 18, 2015)

T-Mobile announced today that on 3/22, Simply Prepaid T-Mobile users will be eligible to have data rollover like the postpaid users. Would be great if this were also available to us Walmart plan users but I guess we will have to wait and see.

http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/issues-insights-blog/prepaid-data-stash.htm


----------



## Deleted member 5149701 (Apr 29, 2015)

If I max out my data, is there a way I can refill it so I can get more or do I need to wait until my cycle date?


----------



## 954wrecker (Apr 29, 2015)

dinggus said:


> If I max out my data, is there a way I can refill it so I can get more or do I need to wait until my cycle date?

Click to collapse



I've never gone over in all my years until I do it on purpose the night before my plan renews. When I hit the button to add more data it just gives me the other available plans. I've heard you can call in and renew the plan early but no choice for that online that I could find.


----------



## baiju2012 (Jun 9, 2015)

http://www.tmonews.com/2015/06/mobi...ed-on-all-active-t-mobile-plans-from-june-12/


----------



## AxlxA (Jul 8, 2015)

Thinking hard about getting this plan. So only 5GB/mo allotment then throttled to dialup speeds? How much hot spot data do you get on this plan? 

Currently on an AT&T add-a-line $30 unlimited data grandfathered line so if i switch to tmo, it'd still be $30


----------



## BinkXDA (Jul 8, 2015)

AxlxA said:


> Thinking hard about getting this plan. So only 5GB/mo allotment then throttled to dialup speeds? How much hot spot data do you get on this plan?

Click to collapse



A near useless 100MB.


----------



## AxlxA (Jul 8, 2015)

BinkXDA said:


> A near useless 100MB.

Click to collapse



Wow, tethering is my #1 wish list for any phone/service 

Maybe I have to reconsider. 

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## baiju2012 (Jul 9, 2015)

I don't use tethering to a laptop, but to a Nexus 7 tablet and an iPad, it works flawlessly without any limits on this plan. Last week on vacation, my kids played games during travel in the car. With music freedom, I used 7.2 GB and T-Mobile counted just 1.7 GB. There is no plan like this in USA ATM.


----------



## Mr Ian B (Jul 10, 2015)

What is everyone using to compensate for the 100 mins limit.  I know Skype USA is $2.99 but are there any other options or buy $10 card and add additional 100 mins??

Ian B


----------



## sirxdroid (Jul 10, 2015)

Mr Ian B said:


> What is everyone using to compensate for the 100 mins limit.  I know Skype USA is $2.99 but are there any other options or buy $10 card and add additional 100 mins??

Click to collapse



Hangouts app for outgoing calls. If you use GV as your main number you can also get incoming calls in the Hangouts app.

Vonage app used to offer free outgoing calls (2000 min.) and could use a number you verified as your CID, not sure whether they still offer free calls.


----------



## Mr Ian B (Jul 10, 2015)

sirxdroid said:


> Hangouts app for outgoing calls. If you use GV as your main number you can also get incoming calls in the Hangouts app.
> 
> Vonage app used to offer free outgoing calls (2000 min.) and could use a number you verified as your CID, not sure whether they still offer free calls.

Click to collapse




Thanks for info. Don't use hangouts nor have go number. Vintage was atrocious when I used in the past.

Ian B


----------



## slowpok22 (Jul 10, 2015)

I use hangouts for out going and incoming calls, even works over LTE,  very rarely do I use my minutes


----------



## Johnny Broccoli (Jul 10, 2015)

baiju2012 said:


> I don't use tethering to a laptop, but to a Nexus 7 tablet and an iPad, it works flawlessly without any limits on this plan. Last week on vacation, my kids played games during travel in the car. With music freedom, I used 7.2 GB and T-Mobile counted just 1.7 GB. There is no plan like this in USA ATM.

Click to collapse



I was under the impression that "music freedom" wasn't valid with their prepaid, no contract plans? That's the thing they started where you can stream most of the main music sites without it counting against your data plan, right?

---------- Post added at 10:04 PM ---------- Previous post was at 10:03 PM ----------




Mr Ian B said:


> What is everyone using to compensate for the 100 mins limit.  I know Skype USA is $2.99 but are there any other options or buy $10 card and add additional 100 mins??
> 
> Ian B

Click to collapse



I don't talk on the phone all that much but usually throw an additional ten dollars on my account each month just in case (this amount/credit rolls over to the next month if not used).


----------



## AxlxA (Jul 10, 2015)

baiju2012 said:


> I don't use tethering to a laptop, but to a Nexus 7 tablet and an iPad, it works flawlessly without any limits on this plan. Last week on vacation, my kids played games during travel in the car. With music freedom, I used 7.2 GB and T-Mobile counted just 1.7 GB. There is no plan like this in USA ATM.

Click to collapse



Wow how did you set up the WiFi hotspot to bypass the 100mb limit?

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## Anderson2 (Jul 10, 2015)

Sorry if this has been asked already. I just read 
http://www.tmonews.com/2015/06/mobi...ed-on-all-active-t-mobile-plans-from-june-12/

and am not sure if it applies to me. I have the "Walmart" $30 a month prepaid t-mobile plan. Does it? 

I've never used tethering. What do I need to do to implement it and use it for my nexus 7?


----------



## baiju2012 (Jul 11, 2015)

Music Freedom is available on this plan for a long time now. I used to use 3 - 4 GB every month before. Now, it is less than .5 GB. Only goes over that when my kids require me to tether.

---------- Post added at 06:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:10 PM ----------

What I learnt about tethering on this plan was that it was blocked by detecting the browser's user agent. That is how they are able to block it after 100 MB limit on laptops. On tablets, that limit is not applied, in my experience. Nexus 7 and iPad with flawlessly with this tether for me. By switching the user agent on the laptop's browser, it may work their too.

---------- Post added at 06:21 PM ---------- Previous post was at 06:19 PM ----------




AxlxA said:


> Wow how did you set up the WiFi hotspot to bypass the 100mb limit?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



Just setup and use it with tablets. It just works.


----------



## macallik (Jul 11, 2015)

Mr Ian B said:


> Thanks for info. Don't use hangouts nor have go number. Vintage was atrocious when I used in the past.
> 
> Ian B

Click to collapse



As someone who has used Talkatone/Groove IP/Vonage and Hangouts, a lot has changed in the last year or so.

1.) *RAM has improved.* The first phone I tried VoIP calling on was a Samsung Galaxy Exhibit II. It had maybe 1GB of RAM. Issues like the phone not waking out of sleep quick enough for me to answer were major issues.

2) *Integration is better*: Things were hit and miss with other providers but with Voice and Hangouts in-house, the compatibility is a lot more evident.

3)* LTE*: My Nexus 4 experience was better than my Galaxy Exhibit II but my Alcatel Idol 3 w/ all T-Mobile bands is even better. I made an international VoIP call while walking around for 40 minutes and it was great. Before, I could make a decent call over HSPA if I stayed stationary, but LTE allows much more freedom. 

I feel like I am becoming a cheerleader for Hangouts, but you really owe it to yourself to try it again imo. Especially since it is free.  Project Fi uses Hangouts for all Wi-Fi calls so you can also check there to see if any complaints are being lodged by Nexus 6 users,


----------



## Mr Ian B (Jul 11, 2015)

macallik said:


> As someone who has used Talkatone/Groove IP/Vonage and Hangouts, a lot has changed in the last year or so.
> 
> 1.) *RAM has improved.* The first phone I tried VoIP calling on was a Samsung Galaxy Exhibit II. It had maybe 1GB of RAM. Issues like the phone not waking out of sleep quick enough for me to answer were major issues.
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Thanks for all info. Vonage and hangouts works on wifi only or works on LTE too?

Do we get the initial 10gb data stash on this plan?

Ian B


----------



## slowpok22 (Jul 11, 2015)

Hangouts works on LTE and wifi, not sure about vonage


----------



## baiju2012 (Jul 11, 2015)

Vonage works on cellular days too, LTE or otherwise.

This plan has no data stash. Just 5 GB pet month of bought speed data. Use it or lose it.


----------



## Mr Ian B (Jul 12, 2015)

baiju2012 said:


> Vonage works on cellular days too, LTE or otherwise.
> 
> This plan has no data stash. Just 5 GB pet month of bought speed data. Use it or lose it.

Click to collapse



Thanks for info. I thought all prepaid plans had it too.

Ian B


----------



## Johnny Broccoli (Jul 26, 2015)

Hello, all. I have a question to all on this plan: are you aware of there being separate pricing for buying a phone outright from T-Mobile depending on whether you're a prepaid or postpaid customer? 

I went to purchase the LG G4 at the heavily advertised discount price of $479.99 earlier this evening. They asked what my phone number was and then told me there was a "slight" price difference if I wanted to keep my phone number and stay on a prepaid plan. I told them that I had no interest in changing my plan and they proceeded to tell me I'd have to pay a whopping $629.99 for a new LG G4. I asked them if they were sure of this and if there was any way around it and they insisted they were completely sure of themselves and there was definitely no way around it. 

I saw nothing stating as much in any of the articles or ads advertising this new discounted price, and most directly say that $479.99 is the OFF CONTRACT price. Am I missing something here or just dealing with incompetent T-Mobile employees?


----------



## Anderson2 (Jul 26, 2015)

My understanding is that that is the primary difference between any contract and non contract phone. 

When you buy a contract phone you pay a higher monthly charge because you are paying off - during the length of the contract - the amount of money the company has subsidized the phone. That is why the price of contract phones are lower than the full phone price. 

If you don't agree to a contract, with its higher monthly cost, nobody is subsidizing the price of the phone so of course you pay the full cost of the phone.

---------- Post added at 11:54 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:50 AM ----------

Does the $30 Walmart T-Mobile no contract plan include the option of having a second line (on another phone) for $10? 
Thanks.


----------



## Johnny Broccoli (Jul 26, 2015)

Except all the articles clearly stated that $479.99 is the price....OFF contract. Which seems to kinda contradict what you just wrote.


----------



## Johnny Broccoli (Jul 28, 2015)

Just to confirm for anyone else dealing with the same BS in an attempt to not get raped on phone price: this deal (and others like it) are definitely doable whether you are prepaid or postpaid. They just made me buy $40 in "credits" for my next month's bills. Just gotta talk to someone who knows what the hell they're doing.


----------



## whmaurer (Aug 17, 2015)

I've been using the $30/5gb plan for almost 2 years, and it has been mostly great, but this new family plan that T-Mobile is taking right now is pretty tempting ($30/month for unlimited talk/text and 10gb data per line).

Has anyone done this? If yes, I'm curious what the "taxes and fees" come out to, generally speaking. Assuming that you're not financing a phone, did this track on an extra $4-5? Or is it more than that?

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## James62370 (Aug 17, 2015)

Is there a minimum amount of lines required for that price?


----------



## baiju2012 (Aug 17, 2015)

James62370 said:


> Is there a minimum amount of lines required for that price?

Click to collapse



I suppose it's at least 4. Otherwise, I would jump right in. 

---------- Post added at 07:31 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:28 PM ----------




whmaurer said:


> I've been using the $30/5gb plan for almost 2 years, and it has been mostly great, but this new family plan that T-Mobile is taking right now is pretty tempting ($30/month for unlimited talk/text and 10gb data per line).
> 
> Has anyone done this? If yes, I'm curious what the "taxes and fees" come out to, generally speaking. Assuming that you're not financing a phone, did this track on an extra $4-5? Or is it more than that?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



It is generally close to 10%. My guess is $12 for $120 plan for 4. If the corporate discount works on this plan, then you may get 10-15% off on the $120 base price.


----------



## lchiu7 (Aug 17, 2015)

James62370 said:


> Is there a minimum amount of lines required for that price?

Click to collapse



You need at least two lines and that's $50/line. You only get $30 for 4 people so if you can find 3 friends it might be worthwhile but you get only 2.5GB each.


----------



## whmaurer (Aug 17, 2015)

lchiu7 said:


> You need at least two lines and that's $50/line. You only get $30 for 4 people so if you can find 3 friends it might be worthwhile but you get only 2.5GB each.

Click to collapse



Actually, this promotion (availability ends in September) includes 10gb per line, not 10gb total shared data.

explore.t-mobile.com/simple-choice-family-plan-with-10gb-data

Twice the data for almost the same price is the main reason I'm interested, though not relying on hangouts for phone calls will be nice too.

If the per line cost added on by taxes and fees is $5, it might be worth finding 3 other people to do this with...

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


----------



## lchiu7 (Aug 17, 2015)

whmaurer said:


> Actually, this promotion (availability ends in September) includes 10gb per line, not 10gb total shared data.
> 
> explore.t-mobile.com/simple-choice-family-plan-with-10gb-data
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



In that case if you can find 3 friends, it's a pretty good deal.


----------



## AxlxA (Aug 17, 2015)

I am trying out T-Mobile through this prepaid plan. So far service/signal is absolutely terrible. Would love to keep T-Mobile but if I can't even get 4g let alone LTE.... Not sure how I can be happy at the $80 plan

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk


----------



## whmaurer (Aug 17, 2015)

AxlxA said:


> I am trying out T-Mobile through this prepaid plan. So far service/signal is absolutely terrible. Would love to keep T-Mobile but if I can't even get 4g let alone LTE.... Not sure how I can be happy at the $80 plan
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 7 using Tapatalk

Click to collapse



t-mobile coverage definitely varies by location a lot.  i live in a big metro area, so my t-mo coverage is pretty great and the $30 prepaid plan is perfect for me.  if i travel to the far suburbs or into the country, i generally expect to have zero service.  i actually have an AT&T gophone SIM handy sometimes, just in case i am traveling somewhere that may not have reliable t-mo coverage.  if you don't get signal where you live/work, t-mo probably isn't a good idea for you.


----------



## vmenonvz (Aug 17, 2015)

Hello

Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk


----------



## macallik (Aug 18, 2015)

I will say that my T-Mobile coverage was decent with a HSPA+ phone, but amazing with a LTE-phone with all bands (Alcatel Idol 3)


----------



## 954wrecker (Nov 19, 2015)

THE GOOD
Watched a Netflix movie on LTE and my data moved .1mb





THE BAD
Looks like the prices in California are going up 10% for prepaid cell service.
http://www.mtsnotice.com/


----------



## Gaffadin (Nov 20, 2015)

Some weird stuff happening with Binge On and our $30 plan, or at least my $30 plan.

I tried the Netflix sample short to get a bitrate, and it seemed to cap out at 750kbps on the stream. Perfectly watchable, but I wanted to see what it was like with Binge On disabled. I went to the site and checked the box to modify Binge On, but it would never progress to the next screen. I tried three different browsers and all were the same.

Ok, so I downloaded the T-Mobile My Account app and tried to do it through that instead. Success, and I was able to disable Binge On. Now Netflix showed as capping out at 1750kbps over 4G, so a little difference. I went to toggle Binge On back on and... the option is gone. Both on the site and in the app, there isn't a Binge On option anymore. Either it's teething issues, or perhaps they only let you disable it once a day? I'll see if the option reappears tomorrow I guess...


----------



## andy o (Nov 21, 2015)

954wrecker said:


> Looks like the prices in California are going up 10% for prepaid cell service.
> http://www.mtsnotice.com/

Click to collapse



I also got that notice by text. It's dependent on location though. Also, it seems from the looks of it that T-mo itself will still charge you $30, only when you buy credit the taxes and fees will apply, so if you wanna save a few bucks you may buy as much credit as you can before the cutoff date.


----------



## milesius (Nov 28, 2015)

954wrecker said:


> THE GOOD
> Watched a Netflix movie on LTE and my data moved .1mb
> 
> 
> ...

Click to collapse



Can someone provide the Binge on apk?  I am also having this problem.


----------



## ritchea (Nov 28, 2015)

milesius said:


> Can someone provide the Binge on apk?  I am also having this problem.

Click to collapse



Don't think there is an app. Some are using the T-Mobile app to access controls. 

Sent from my Nexus 9 using Tapatalk


----------



## BinkXDA (Jan 4, 2016)

Gaffadin said:


> I tried the Netflix sample short to get a bitrate, and it seemed to cap out at 750kbps on the stream. Perfectly watchable, but I wanted to see what it was like with Binge On disabled...
> 
> Ok, so I downloaded the T-Mobile My Account app and tried to do it through that instead. Success, and I was able to disable Binge On. Now Netflix showed as capping out at 1750kbps over 4G, so a little difference.

Click to collapse



How noticeable was the difference in the stream quality?



Gaffadin said:


> I went to toggle Binge On back on and... the option is gone. Both on the site and in the app, there isn't a Binge On option anymore. Either it's teething issues, or perhaps they only let you disable it once a day? I'll see if the option reappears tomorrow I guess...

Click to collapse



Lame.  Any update on this?


----------



## Gaffadin (Jan 4, 2016)

BinkXDA said:


> How noticeable was the difference in the stream quality?
> 
> Any update on this?

Click to collapse



Bit of a long story.

First, the difference was noticeable, but not overly so.

And it took me almost two months to get the Binge On toggle thing sorted out. Long story short (with the help of T-Force Twitter) I now have a toggle under https://manage.my.t-mobile.com/profile/profilelanding.aspx (bottom left -> Phone Controls -> Binge On). This is only meant to be there for post-paid T-Mo customers, and prepaid is meant to instead toggle it under https://manage.my.t-mobile.com/Plan/Prepaid/PrePaid.aspx?unavid=PrepaidPlan (Add Available Services -> Other Services -> Binge On). However, like I said, if I toggle it there, it just disappears.

So now I have a normal toggle and it seems to work fine. Not sure if other $30 prepayers have the same toggle or what, but this is what I ended up with.


----------



## next_1989 (Jan 6, 2016)

Good job


----------



## andy o (Jan 19, 2016)

EDIT 2: should have checked 2 posts up.

Anyone else noticed that video is being throttled? Youtube and Netflix maybe others, top out at about 1.6Mbps measured with Network Monitor Mini, and when connecting through a VPN or Wifi it's of course much faster, and also the speed tests, and non-video services. HD video is impossible to watch without interruptions on LTE.

So it would appear it's Binge On, but there's no way to turn it off. The instructions for prepaid plans don't work with this plan. There is no "disable Binge On" option, just one that says "Binge On" as if you were to add it to your plan, but that does nothing when pressing "next".

*EDIT: Found out how, it's undocumented apparently. You need to go to your profile, and there are phone options, and there is a Binge On button, turned on by default.*


----------

