ST Noob - Verizon or ATT BYOD

[winglessbuzzard]

I've been a Sprint customer (Galaxy Nexus - purchased on contract from Sprint years ago) for quite some time due to a grandfathered discounted plan. My phone is getting old/slow/unbearably laggy (even after a hard reset) and I'm done with Sprint's crappy network and spotty 25-200 kb/s network speeds. I also am not a fan of the concept of bending over and taking all 10 inches of Verizon's bill each month for use of their better network... so now I'm considering Straight Talk.

I currently have a Galaxy Nexus and I went through the Straighttalk BYOP process at the Straighttalk website yesterday... seemed to go smoothly until I had to dial ##code# to finish the process and instead got an error message about an invalid code. This led me to their customer support live chat gal who was helpful enough to tell me... to keep trying for a day then call them. I mentioned to her that I would like to be on the Verizon network... and she told me that she has no control over that and "the system" automatically assigns the network.... all this accumulates into a few questions that I hope someone out there in the aether can either help me answer... or ridicule my ignorance over:

0. Does anyone have an idea of what is going on with my "code"? It may be useful to call the tech support people after I have an idea of what they need to do to fix it.
1. With my BYOP Sprint Galaxy Nexus phone (it's technically a GSM/CDMA phone, but the sim card slot is missing), if I transfer it to StraightTalk... will I have a choice not to be automatically assigned back to the Sprint network?
2. I've read vague allusions to Verizon fed Straighttalk plans not offering 4g speeds, and only allowing 3g speeds. Is this true? If somehow I was able to get on the Verizon network with my phone, would it be perma-throttled to 3g (which is sadly still about 10x faster than I currently average with Sprint)?
3. I'm planning on getting a Nexus 6 (when it is available for sale to us) and this phone is available on the the big 4 networks. After getting this phone, would it also be a gamble of whether it gets assigned to the Sprint or Verizon network if I go CDMA vs GSM?
4. Should I just get some other phone and "settle" with the AT&T network (coverage is worse than Verizon... and I'd probably only notice the difference for about 10 days a year while traveling)?
5. If the recommendation is to just get an AT&T Straighttalk phone/plan, understanding my preference for a plain vanilla android system, what are the requirements for a phone which will work with AT&T's fastest data network option? (I assume that is what LTE means)
6. If your goals were to get good coverage, good data speeds, an upper-end newer pure android phone, what combination of phone + Straighttalk plan would you target?

 

[BartCunningham]

I believe you can use a Nexus 6 on the AT&T network. Just need the right SIM card.
I have also heard Verizon throttles Straight Talk users to 3G.

 

[Unforgiven]

The downside is that you will be limited to Sprint towers as VZW does limit them to 3G AFAIK and that is CDMA. The CDMA radios in a Sprint phone are different than the CDMA radios in a Verizon phone, and are therefor incompatible. Even if you had a choice to use the VZW network it would do you no good as your phone cannot technically talk to VZW towers. I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news.

On the upside, there are many used phones far better than the GNex (I own a GNex and know it's shortcomings) that you can buy in like new condition for use on Straight Talk.

 

[epp]

Verizon LTE on Straight Talk is throttled to 3Mbps down, 1Mbps up.

 

[cookedgoose]

Verizon LTE on Straight Talk is throttled to 3Mbps down, 1Mbps up.

Any idea how stringently the advertised 3gb cap is enforced by VZW/ST before they throttle you into oblivion? I'm hearing mixed things. Some say it depends on how clogged your network is, which might put me in my neighborhood in a bad spot. Others say the advertised 3gb number isn't really enforced and that you can be throttled or kicked off well before reaching that level.

 

[epp]

Any idea how stringently the advertised 3gb cap is enforced by VZW/ST before they throttle you into oblivion? I'm hearing mixed things. Some say it depends on how clogged your network is, which might put me in my neighborhood in a bad spot. Others say the advertised 3gb number isn't really enforced and that you can be throttled or kicked off well before reaching that level.

If what a customer is doing with the bandwidth, is causing issues with the network, I'm sure ST has the right to throttle that customer. I have read online elsewhere, where some have reported using considerably more than 3Gb and have not been throttled. In this instance, the underlying carrier has so few customers in the area, they could be letting it slide.

Terms and Conditions: StraightTalk Wireless

Section 6 of the TOS pertains to intended use of the service and it includes examples (without limitation) of unauthorized uses.

On and off during the day, I will listen to various radio stations, but I am mindful to use a low bit-rate stream, which uses less data.

 

[cookedgoose]

If what a customer is doing with the bandwidth, is causing issues with the network, I'm sure ST has the right to throttle that customer. I have read online elsewhere, where some have reported using considerably more than 3Gb and have not been throttled. In this instance, the underlying carrier has so few customers in the area, they could be letting it slide.

Terms and Conditions: StraightTalk Wireless

Section 6 of the TOS pertains to intended use of the service and it includes examples (without limitation) of unauthorized uses.

On and off during the day, I will listen to various radio stations, but I am mindful to use a low bit-rate stream, which uses less data.

I've also heard of them kicking you off their network if you use more than 100mb in a day....

I was contemplating trying using ST for a month, but I think since VZW, TMO, and potentially ATT have saturated 4G networks that I'll pass.

 

[epp]

I've also heard of them kicking you off their network if you use more than 100mb in a day....

More than a few times, I have used more than 100Mb in a day via both AT&T and VZW, usually due to listening to radio stations on and off during the day, again mindful to use low bit-rate streams.

All my Straight Talk phones are still active, with regular speeds on all.

 

[kate]

I've also heard of them kicking you off their network if you use more than 100mb in a day....

How recently? Last year Straight Talk was sued for cutting off peoples data, but that was while they advertised unlimited instead of 3GB.

Straight Talk And Walmart In California Class-Action Suit Over Unlimited Data

 

[freeups]

I was throttled two weeks ago on ST AT&T. Had the plan over a year. Then I decided to watch some YouTube videos on the way home from work three days in a row. Found out I was throttled even though I had only used 2.2 GBs for the month. If you prefer to have choice on how you use your data I would avoid.

 

[cookedgoose]

How recently? Last year Straight Talk was sued for cutting off peoples data, but that was while they advertised unlimited instead of 3GB.

Straight Talk And Walmart In California Class-Action Suit Over Unlimited Data

I was throttled two weeks ago on ST AT&T. Had the plan over a year. Then I decided to watch some YouTube videos on the way home from work three days in a row. Found out I was throttled even though I had only used 2.2 GBs for the month. If you prefer to have choice on how you use your data I would avoid.

For some odd reason, that doesn't inspire a lot of confidence.

I'm hearing you are far less likely to be kicked if you live near towers that aren't used by many people. Translation: If you're like me and you live in a major metropolitan where Verizon's, AT&T's, or TMO's towers are saturated, you're taking a risk if you sign up with Straight Talk. I live in Orange County where even my buddy with the mighty Verizon has witnessed his speeds drop steadily since the day he first clocked some eye-popping speeds on his 4G HTC Thunderbolt phone. And it's not just Verizon. I've seen my HSPA+ and LTE speeds drop quite a bit too since the beginning of 2014.

I was originally going to try ST for a month, but considering how things are in my area, it's not worth the risk.