What smartphone/service do you get.

[ajbuck68]

I'm going to start a thread on here and hopefully others will see it.

I am currently on Virgin Mobile and I am interested in buying an unlocked GSM smartphone and buying a SIM from Straight talk.

Does anyone currently have a GSM smartphone through straight talk? If so what kind of 3g/4g(hspa/hspa+) do you get? There isn't much information on the internet about the service and the straight talk site doesn't say much either.

I'm curious as how this works and what I can get out of this service.

 

[shiv81]

I know for sure that there is no real "4G." As for HSPA+, it depends on what sim you're getting. If it's the Att one, you'll be on Att's network. I'm thinking you'll have HSPA+. Same goes for T-Mobile. As for using the normal unlocked sim, I have no clue what service is uses. If you get ahold of an Att or T-Mobile locked phone, you do not have to get it unlocked since it will work just like if you were on the actual network. Good luck.

 

[androidfonefan]

I have a gsm T Mobile phone. With the ST/TM sim in it. Works fine, however data is not as well covered as it was when I was on virgin mobile, had to get a MiFi device for data when going out of town.
Talk and text work fine all over though. In town data works great.

 

[kolosus]

I haven't seen anyone using it first hand but from a good source I've gathered that you can use the iPhone on ST.

Information follows
__________________________________________
Thought I would do a quick how to.

If you have a iPhone (3G, 3GS, 4) and want to use StraightTalk $45 unlimited WITHOUT!!! unlocking your phone, here is what you need to do.


A few thing you should know

1. Your phone does not need to be jailbroken to make calls, send plain text or use the internet! The only reason to jailbrake your phone is to make MMS work!

2. Your phone does not need to be unlocked to make any of these thing work!

3. All of this was tested on a iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, both on iOS 4.2.1, on the newest baseband. IF you have problems, upgrade to the newest IOS.




Goto Walmart (And only Walmart!!! NOT EBAY, NOT CRAIGLIST!!!! WALMART!!!!!)and buy either a Nokia E71 or Nokia 6790 phone and a $45 unlimited card. Bring it home and activate it. (other phones will not work!!! only the e71 and 6790 comes with a compatible sim) Before you activate, make sure the sim card from either the E71 or 6790 says TF64PSIMC4 on it, if its missing the P in the part number, it will not work!

After it has been activated and you can make calls from the Nokia phone, take out the sim and put it in your iPhone (you will need a sim cutter to make it fit in the iPhone 4, go here to buy one for about $7 http://www.amazon.com/Noosy-Cutter-M...8045936&sr=8-2)

Your iPhone does not need to be unlocked or jailbroken for this to work!!!

At this point, you will only have access to phone calls and plain texting!

To get your internet to working follow one of the 2 methods below, pick one, it doesnt matter which one, just one that you think is easier for you. (You can skip this step IF you are going to jailbreak your phone for MMS to work! Just go right to the "If you want MMS" instructions)

Method 1 - download the attached StraightTalk.zip file below, unzip it, and e-mail the StraightTalk.mobileconfig file to your iphone.

StraightTalk.zip

Open the e-mail in your iphone (which should be connected via wifi at this point so it can get e-mails) and open the attachment and install it.

Method 2 - Goto http://unlockit.co.nz from your phone while on wifi, click/tap on continue, click/tap on Custom APN, then type in att.mvno in the APN field, leave the user name, pasword and carrier fields blank. Click/tap on create profile, then install the profile.

You should now have access to 3G internet!!!!!

Nothing further is needed if you dont want MMS

IF YOU WANT MMS, KEEP READING!

But if you want MMS to work, you will need to jailbreak your phone, to do so, visit this link, and follow all of the instructions to jailbreak using greenpois0n http://www.jailbreakmatrix.com/iphon...ered-jailbreak You can download the newest version of Greenpois0n from www.greenpois0n.com just click on the windows or mac icon to download.

Then follow these instructions after your phone is jailbroken and is booted into cydia.

search (in cydia) for TetherME and install it. It costs $1.99, not a big deal.

UPDATE: A bit of an update, you no longer have to install TetherMe APN Editing, the new version of TetherMe already includes TetherMe APN Editing. So skip the installation of TetherMe APN Editing below

After you purchase it and install it, search for and install TetherME APN Editing, its free. <---NO LONGER NEEEDED! READ ABOVE!!!

(The reason for installing TetherMe is to gain access to the Cellular Data Network tab, without it, you cant get MMS to work!!!)

After TetherMe is installed, exit cydia and go to your home screen.

Go to Settings, then General, then Network, then click on Cellular Data Network

This is what your settings should look like!

Cellular Data
APN: att.mvno
Username:
P***word:

Visual Voicemail <----dont know the settings for this one yet, will update it when I figure it out!

MMS
APN: att.mvno
Username:
P***word:
MMSC: http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMS Proxy: proxy.mvno.tracfone.com:80
MMS Max Size: 1048576
MMS UA Prof URL:

How to change the carrier name from HOME to anything you want (like AT&T, or StraightTalk)

Search Cydia for a app called Fake Operator, install it. It will ask you to reboot your device, do it. After it reboots, go to settings and scroll down, you will see a new tab called Fake Operator, tap to enable fake operator, then tap on the bottom to edit the text. After you edit the text to whatever you want, reboot your phone and the new carrier text will appear at the top.

 

[ajbuck68]

I haven't seen anyone using it first hand but from a good source I've gathered that you can use the iPhone on ST.

Information follows
__________________________________________
Thought I would do a quick how to.

If you have a iPhone (3G, 3GS, 4) and want to use StraightTalk $45 unlimited WITHOUT!!! unlocking your phone, here is what you need to do.


A few thing you should know

1. Your phone does not need to be jailbroken to make calls, send plain text or use the internet! The only reason to jailbrake your phone is to make MMS work!

2. Your phone does not need to be unlocked to make any of these thing work!

3. All of this was tested on a iPhone 3GS and iPhone 4, both on iOS 4.2.1, on the newest baseband. IF you have problems, upgrade to the newest IOS.




Goto Walmart (And only Walmart!!! NOT EBAY, NOT CRAIGLIST!!!! WALMART!!!!!)and buy either a Nokia E71 or Nokia 6790 phone and a $45 unlimited card. Bring it home and activate it. (other phones will not work!!! only the e71 and 6790 comes with a compatible sim) Before you activate, make sure the sim card from either the E71 or 6790 says TF64PSIMC4 on it, if its missing the P in the part number, it will not work!

After it has been activated and you can make calls from the Nokia phone, take out the sim and put it in your iPhone (you will need a sim cutter to make it fit in the iPhone 4, go here to buy one for about $7 http://www.amazon.com/Noosy-Cutter-M...8045936&sr=8-2)

Your iPhone does not need to be unlocked or jailbroken for this to work!!!

At this point, you will only have access to phone calls and plain texting!

To get your internet to working follow one of the 2 methods below, pick one, it doesnt matter which one, just one that you think is easier for you. (You can skip this step IF you are going to jailbreak your phone for MMS to work! Just go right to the "If you want MMS" instructions)

Method 1 - download the attached StraightTalk.zip file below, unzip it, and e-mail the StraightTalk.mobileconfig file to your iphone.

StraightTalk.zip

Open the e-mail in your iphone (which should be connected via wifi at this point so it can get e-mails) and open the attachment and install it.

Method 2 - Goto http://unlockit.co.nz from your phone while on wifi, click/tap on continue, click/tap on Custom APN, then type in att.mvno in the APN field, leave the user name, pasword and carrier fields blank. Click/tap on create profile, then install the profile.

You should now have access to 3G internet!!!!!

Nothing further is needed if you dont want MMS

IF YOU WANT MMS, KEEP READING!

But if you want MMS to work, you will need to jailbreak your phone, to do so, visit this link, and follow all of the instructions to jailbreak using greenpois0n http://www.jailbreakmatrix.com/iphon...ered-jailbreak You can download the newest version of Greenpois0n from www.greenpois0n.com just click on the windows or mac icon to download.

Then follow these instructions after your phone is jailbroken and is booted into cydia.

search (in cydia) for TetherME and install it. It costs $1.99, not a big deal.

UPDATE: A bit of an update, you no longer have to install TetherMe APN Editing, the new version of TetherMe already includes TetherMe APN Editing. So skip the installation of TetherMe APN Editing below

After you purchase it and install it, search for and install TetherME APN Editing, its free. <---NO LONGER NEEEDED! READ ABOVE!!!

(The reason for installing TetherMe is to gain access to the Cellular Data Network tab, without it, you cant get MMS to work!!!)

After TetherMe is installed, exit cydia and go to your home screen.

Go to Settings, then General, then Network, then click on Cellular Data Network

This is what your settings should look like!

Cellular Data
APN: att.mvno
Username:
P***word:

Visual Voicemail <----dont know the settings for this one yet, will update it when I figure it out!

MMS
APN: att.mvno
Username:
P***word:
MMSC: http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMS Proxy: proxy.mvno.tracfone.com:80
MMS Max Size: 1048576
MMS UA Prof URL:

How to change the carrier name from HOME to anything you want (like AT&T, or StraightTalk)

Search Cydia for a app called Fake Operator, install it. It will ask you to reboot your device, do it. After it reboots, go to settings and scroll down, you will see a new tab called Fake Operator, tap to enable fake operator, then tap on the bottom to edit the text. After you edit the text to whatever you want, reboot your phone and the new carrier text will appear at the top.

Um. well. I was thinking about just going here: http://www.straighttalk.com/ShopSims
and buying a sim card. wouldn't that work too?

 

[androidfonefan]

The sims from the ST web sight will work the same way, you will need to use the APN settings that come with your sim.
The directions given above appear to be those that were around when the only option for a ST iPhone or android involved purchasing one of the ST Nokia's from Walmart.
Not that ST is selling the AT&T and T Mobile sims people can do the same thing with then at a fraction of the cost.
My work phone is a Nokia to Android swap and my personal phone is a ST sim card on Android.
Both work well except that outside of Saint Louis my data on the TM phone drops off to very slow to nothing. The other phone is on the ST/AT&T card and has far better coverage.

In short, yes you can buy the ST sim and do the same thing.

 

[ajbuck68]

The sims from the ST web sight will work the same way, you will need to use the APN settings that come with your sim.
The directions given above appear to be those that were around when the only option for a ST iPhone or android involved purchasing one of the ST Nokia's from Walmart.
Not that ST is selling the AT&T and T Mobile sims people can do the same thing with then at a fraction of the cost.
My work phone is a Nokia to Android swap and my personal phone is a ST sim card on Android.
Both work well except that outside of Saint Louis my data on the TM phone drops off to very slow to nothing. The other phone is on the ST/AT&T card and has far better coverage.

In short, yes you can buy the ST sim and do the same thing.

If I buy an unlocked phone, do you know of any way to make sure I get an ATT card instead of a T-mobile card?

 

[Jator]

If I buy an unlocked phone, do you know of any Jay to make sure I get an ATT card instead of a T-mobile card?

It will ask you what service phone you have and thus you will get the appropriate sim.

I picked up 2 Motorolla Atrix 4G off e-bay/craigslist to replace my wife and my LG Optimus we had on Virgin Mobile, very nice upgrade in term of phone and service vs. what we had previously.

 

[androidfonefan]

Jator is correct. When you order the sim it will ask you if you want AT&T or at Mobile sims. You pick what you want and pay as you go, ha!

 

[ajbuck68]

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=galaxy_nexus_hspa

I'm drooling over here thinking about a galaxy nexus for $399 on ATT networks for $45 a month. I was going to wait... But I don't know if I can.haha

 

[craZDude]

https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=galaxy_nexus_hspa

I'm drooling over here thinking about a galaxy nexus for $399 on ATT networks for $45 a month. I was going to wait... But I don't know if I can.haha

I know how you feel. I can't wait for my contract to be up with Verizon this summer. Boy was that a mistake in the first place.

 

[kolosus]

Yeah. Sorry. The information about the iPhone was a bit dated. I found out, from this thread, that you can use the iPhone on straight talk without all the jumping hoops. I might jump ship and go with them. I'll never do an iPhone but I have two Android phones waiting at home, one 3d (AT&T, lg) and one 4g (TMobile, HTC). Can I swap phones at will? They are both carrier unlocked.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

 

[ajbuck68]

Yeah. Sorry. The information about the iPhone was a bit dated. I found out, from this thread, that you can use the iPhone on straight talk without all the jumping hoops. I might jump ship and go with them. I'll never do an iPhone but I have two Android phones waiting at home, one 3d (AT&T, lg) and one 4g (TMobile, HTC). Can I swap phones at will? They are both carrier unlocked.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

If they're both unlocked and have the right frequency bands, I don't see any reason why you couldn't swap phones at will. It would be more of a technical thing not a carrier thing, and technically it would work.

 

[androidfonefan]

You should be able to, the ease will depend on what sims you get.
If you get two ATT or two TMobile then after doing the APN settings switching the sims should be painless and everything should work. But if you have a ATT sim and a TM sim it will be more detailed.
You can still switch out but you will have to change the APNs from ATT to TM and and back again.

 

[4ndroidtech]

Question: I am thinking of buying the HTC Amaze 4G and unlocking it to put it on ST using at&t towers. I have heard that the Amaze comes with the band frequencies of both tmobile and at&t, so this should work, right? The reason I ask is because Tmobile isn't very good where I am and at&t is. If I unlock it and get an at&t sim from ST can I get at&t coverage on the Amaze 4G? Thanks!

 

[ab30494]

I know for sure that there is no real "4G." As for HSPA+, it depends on what sim you're getting. If it's the Att one, you'll be on Att's network. I'm thinking you'll have HSPA+. Same goes for T-Mobile. As for using the normal unlocked sim, I have no clue what service is uses. If you get ahold of an Att or T-Mobile locked phone, you do not have to get it unlocked since it will work just like if you were on the actual network. Good luck.

no network has real 4g

 

[ajbuck68]

no network has real 4g

I love that someone else realizes this. I never want to start arguments, but if I remember correctly IEEE sets the bar for "4G" at 100 Mbps, far from any available spectrum on any carrier. Hell not many hardline internet providers offer anything that fast.

 

[4ndroidtech]

no network has real 4g

Yes I realize this. But now the standard for "4G" has been dropped, so technically it is 4G. But wouldn't I theoretically be able to get 4G on the Amaze? Being that it has the band frequencies to support att?

 

[mugabuga]

I haven't seen anyone using it first hand but from a good source I've gathered that you can use the iPhone on ST.

This info is really outdated. Don't do this.Just buy a SIM at straighttalksim.com and pop it in your phone, then add the APNs.

 

[mugabuga]

Yeah. Sorry. The information about the iPhone was a bit dated. I found out, from this thread, that you can use the iPhone on straight talk without all the jumping hoops. I might jump ship and go with them. I'll never do an iPhone but I have two Android phones waiting at home, one 3d (AT&T, lg) and one 4g (TMobile, HTC). Can I swap phones at will? They are both carrier unlocked.

Sent from my PC36100 using Tapatalk 2 Beta-5

If you want the 4G speeds and the 3D, why not just tether the 4G phone to the LG Thrill?