dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
Search similar:


uniqs
224163

Nothlit
Premium Member
join:2001-02-04
Lexington, MA

Nothlit to Cabal

Premium Member

to Cabal

Re: re

That is exactly the scenario that happened to me. I bought an iPhone 4S and renewed my AT&T contract in Feb 2012, switched to Straight Talk in July 2012, and was never billed an ETF by AT&T. I was fully prepared to pay the ETF, but I'm certainly fine with not having to.

SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Atlanta, GA

SysOp

Member

You just stopped paying ATT?

Don't be suprised if your att account is accuring fees and/or penalties since you didn't cancel the account. Or they may never attempt to collect. Only ATT knows.

Nothlit
Premium Member
join:2001-02-04
Lexington, MA

Nothlit

Premium Member

No, AT&T stopped billing me. I was set up for autopay, which ceased (from their end) once I ported my number to Straight Talk. In fact, AT&T credited me something like $2.75 for the unused days on my final billing cycle. They sent me a check in the mail.

Like I said, I fully expected to receive a bill for the ETF, and was prepared to pay it. I was as surprised as anyone when that bill never came.

SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Atlanta, GA

SysOp

Member

nice!

Hagar
join:2004-10-31
Sunnyvale, CA

Hagar

Member

Yup too nice AT&T had to stop it.

Interesting no reports that you can avoid ETF with Net10 SIMs.

Andrew J
Premium Member
join:2001-11-09
Lancaster, PA

Andrew J to pandora

Premium Member

to pandora

Re: AT&T dropping Straight Talk due to phone unlocking law?

Go into Walmart get a $30 phone. Take the Sim out and pitch the phone, problem solved.

Hagar
join:2004-10-31
Sunnyvale, CA

Hagar

Member

I went to my local Walmart, no phones with AT&T SIM in them. At least not that I recognized as such, I could only find phones with t-mobile SIMs.

If you can use an AT&T SIM and get out of a contract without paying ETF then phones with AT&T SIM will also disappear. I expect that the SIM will come back but not until they have fixed the billing system ETF error.

Cabal
Premium Member
join:2007-01-21

Cabal to Andrew J

Premium Member

to Andrew J
said by Andrew J:

Go into Walmart get a $30 phone. Take the Sim out and pitch the phone, problem solved.

Most Tracfone (and sibling companies) AT&T phones have the SIM locked to the phone, although a few do not. Research required.

jchambers28
Premium Member
join:2007-05-12
Peculiar, MO

jchambers28 to pandora

Premium Member

to pandora
What is a person to do if you have no access to Tmobile in your area like me.

Hagar
join:2004-10-31
Sunnyvale, CA

Hagar

Member

The easy route go with Net10.

The expensive route buy a ST AT&T SIM on Ebay.

The adventurous route buy a Nokia e71 phone from Wal-Mart, the sim is unlocked so you can put it into another phone.

RobNyc
Premium Member
join:2002-03-06
New York, NY

RobNyc

Premium Member

said by Hagar:

The easy route go with Net10.

The expensive route buy a ST AT&T SIM on Ebay.

The adventurous route buy a Nokia e71 phone from Wal-Mart, the sim is unlocked so you can put it into another phone.

I been using the nokia e71 sim card for the past 2yrs, but the Network has gotten so slow on my iPhone now.

Net10 reported ATT sim card now have a 1.5gb data limit at 3G speeds, after that it will be throttled. Supposedly the Tmobile sim cards not throttled. But good luck having good service with tmo (just like sprint).
IanR
join:2001-03-22
Fort Mill, SC

IanR to pandora

Member

to pandora
I am trying to buy a micro SIM card from Straighttalk. When I follow their site despite their sayig they work with both AT&T and TMobile I seem ONLY to be offered TMobile. IS there a way to force a AT&T compatible card?
I rather think the AT&T coverage will be better than TMobile that's why I am leaning in that direction.

RobNyc
Premium Member
join:2002-03-06
New York, NY

RobNyc

Premium Member

said by IanR:

I am trying to buy a micro SIM card from Straighttalk. When I follow their site despite their sayig they work with both AT&T and TMobile I seem ONLY to be offered TMobile. IS there a way to force a AT&T compatible card?
I rather think the AT&T coverage will be better than TMobile that's why I am leaning in that direction.

Ebay

Cabal
Premium Member
join:2007-01-21

Cabal to IanR

Premium Member

to IanR
There are a lot of Straight Talk kiosks/vending machines still selling the SIM card 3-pack, if you have one in your area. Around here, I've seen one at our airport and at various malls.
IanR
join:2001-03-22
Fort Mill, SC

1 edit

IanR

Member

I dropped by Walmart and was surprised that they told me they do NOT sell ST's SIM/Mico SIMs at all. Haven't seen a kiosk for them yet.
pandora
Premium Member
join:2001-06-01
Outland

1 recommendation

pandora to IanR

Premium Member

to IanR
said by IanR:

I rather think the AT&T coverage will be better than TMobile that's why I am leaning in that direction.

Fortunately T-Mobile coverage is decent in my area. For a few months, I've tried an AT&T Straight Talk SIM vs a T-Mobile. Overall AT&T has better coverage (more bars, rarely if ever no high speed Internet). T-Mobile mostly has high speed Internet, but does have areas of slow Internet and no Internet, more so than AT&T. Both have decent voice coverage.

The problem is AT&T seems more capped or is just slower. This may be due to how Straight Talk is managed, or due to AT&T congestion. I do not know.

When T-Mobile high speed is available, it's typically 4-6 times faster than AT&T.

Eventually I decided to let my AT&T SIM go without automatic refill, and rely on T-Mobile. AT&T coverage is great, but the speed is not so great.

I have 4 unused AT&T and T-Mobile SIM's. As my family needs 5 phones. I don't know if I'll part with the AT&T SIM's just yet, but maybe they'll be worth something in the future.
IanR
join:2001-03-22
Fort Mill, SC

IanR

Member

Thaks for all that info.

Mystress
@suddenlink.net

Mystress to Hagar

Anon

to Hagar
My friend has ATT contract plan through his mother in law. He had an HTC smartphone on that contract and recently broke it. He took the SIM and put it in a Sharp FX - the sim worked fine, contacts and number stayed the same, he just said he called ATT and they unlocked it. Its been a couple months and now The phone is glitchy and near death. He isnt due for an upgrade and for whatever reason, wants out from the MIL. He HAS an ATT SIM activated and wanted to get a straight talk smart phone that would keep his number, etc. And go with the unlimited 45$ route instead. I've read this entire thread and as split as it is on whether or not it can be done, it is all about the difficulty of getting the ATT SIM, which he already HAS. Would he be wasting his time purchasing the ST phone? Im trying to look at specs and cant find one that I know of for sure that would even accept his SIM.. as Im sure size does matter >=P I told him I'd put him on my plan and he'd get a free phone but he doesnt have wifi and I think the data useage would be outrageous considering he accesses the net with phone only, no home computer. Do you have any advice?
Michman
join:2013-04-21
Kalamazoo, MI

Michman

Member

@Mystress, An ATT SIM from AT&T is different from a StraightTalk ATT SIM that allows StraightTalk pre-pay service on the AT&T network; The SIM dictates the billing company; ST AT&T SIMS are now hard to find except on Ebay.
If you put him on your plan he will be using your network, whatever that is, and will need a phone compatible with that network. AT&T and T-Mobile share the GSM network for phone, text and slower data HOWEVER 3G and 4G-plus are different frequencies, different smartphones.
medbuyer
join:2003-11-20
Memphis, TN

medbuyer to pandora

Member

to pandora
this might be the answer....

»AT&T Planning Launch Of New Prepaid Wireless Brand [44] comments

»www.fiercewireless.com/s ··· ialMedia
telekomet
join:2012-12-25
Dallas, TX

1 edit

telekomet

Member

I think I know why ST is no longer offering SIMs for AT&T (luckily I already have one).

ST and Net10 are the same as Tracfone, same parent company as has been mentioned earlier in this thread. I'm familiar with the rates AT&T offers it's MVNO's and honestly the DATA rates are not all that hot and ST was probably loosing money offering "unlimited", even soft capped at 2GB. Not to mention, the cap only works when you program the Tracfone proxy in your APN settings, most don't as this is a commonly known work around.

Rates offered by T-Mobile to MVNO's are much better than those offered by AT&T, so they simply cut the AT&T SIM's. AT&T did NOT "turn them off" or force ST to stop selling them, no way would they want to loose the business of Tracfone, the largest prepaid wireless company.

Look at other AT&T MVNO's, cap is 1GB firm or 2GB but much higher in price. This includes...

H20 : Capped at 2GB but $60 vs. ST's $45.
Red Pocket: Capped at 2GB but $59.99 vs. ST's $45

And many more...

Point is, it's much easier for ST to kill the AT&T SIM cards instead of either raising the price or creating a AT&T only plan which would only be confusing to consumers.

Has nothing to do with AT&T's launch of a new prepaid brand, you could see this coming anyway. It's not like they can or would all of a sudden change rates on Tracfone.

Hi AT&T!

Nice Day!
Don

khs11
@bellsouth.net

khs11

Anon

I just went through the whole process of signing up for ST with an AT&T iPhone 4, out of contract. You can buy the AT&T Sim card at 'certain' Walmarts, not all. The ST rep actually read me a list of all participating Walmarts in Georgia. One in Atlanta has many (the BYOD package, which includes several sims, including AT&T, and 45 minutes, for $60 total), and another in Atlanta doesn't participate. You can call various Walmarts to check.

My issue is that coverage is VERY bad. I'm good at my house, but probably 50% of the places I go, my phone shows 1 bar and calls are dropped (or the caller can't hear me). I was recently in another state, in a medium sized town, and couldn't place or receive calls at all- in the whole town. There are many parts of Atlanta (intown) that I have no coverage. I had called AT&T and asked them to unlock my phone, and they did (or said they did, how do I know?), and I'm wondering if this has to do with my poor coverage? I went to the Apple store and the genius said my phone was fine, and that ST uses AT&T's older network system, not what current AT&T customers use. ST admits that there are some streets in Atlanta that don't have coverage, but my coverage is way worse than what they list. Any info/advice would be appreciated. I love ST otherwise- I primarily text, which is fine- but so often not having basic coverage to make calls is an issue. Thanks.

DSLucky
Premium Member
join:2002-04-23
Maud, OK

DSLucky to Nothlit

Premium Member

to Nothlit

Re: re

I had signed up to AT&T's Go Phone service, and added our two phones to my son's AT&T microcell's list so we could use our phones in the house using the Microcell. I bought two Iphones, but the AT&T sim would not work, as AT&T locks out the SIM to the initial phone. I went to Straight Talk, bought two AT&T SIM's, ported my numbers, and still am able to use the microcell device, as the phones are still on their network.

However, I am no longer able to send MMS messages as of this Friday. I'm not sure whether it's a change by AT&T or Straight Talk. I used the MMS settings that worked before, but both of our phones can no longer send MMS messages.

TMobile has nothing but crappy EDGE service for a 100 mile radius around my home, so their service is a definate HELL NO. Got to stick with the ATT sim.

Good
@mycingular.net

Good to pandora

Anon

to pandora

Re: AT&T dropping Straight Talk due to phone unlocking law?

If Walmart is stilling selling AT&T ST phones like the ZTE Merit and LG Optimus why don't people buy those phones, take the sim out, and put the sim in their iPhone? Would that work?
medbuyer
join:2003-11-20
Memphis, TN

1 recommendation

medbuyer to DSLucky

Member

to DSLucky

Re: re

said by DSLucky:

I had signed up to AT&T's Go Phone service, and added our two phones to my son's AT&T microcell's list so we could use our phones in the house using the Microcell. I bought two Iphones, but the AT&T sim would not work, as AT&T locks out the SIM to the initial phone. I went to Straight Talk, bought two AT&T SIM's, ported my numbers, and still am able to use the microcell device, as the phones are still on their network.

However, I am no longer able to send MMS messages as of this Friday. I'm not sure whether it's a change by AT&T or Straight Talk. I used the MMS settings that worked before, but both of our phones can no longer send MMS messages.

TMobile has nothing but crappy EDGE service for a 100 mile radius around my home, so their service is a definate HELL NO. Got to stick with the ATT sim.

I have an AT&T gophone micro sim in 2 iphones and mms works...

did the tmobile apn trick...and got mms to work..iOS 6 is to blame....

joako
Premium Member
join:2000-09-07
/dev/null

joako to Good

Premium Member

to Good

Re: AT&T dropping Straight Talk due to phone unlocking law?

said by Good :

If Walmart is stilling selling AT&T ST phones like the ZTE Merit and LG Optimus why don't people buy those phones, take the sim out, and put the sim in their iPhone? Would that work?

Because straight talk / net 10 / trackphone have always and will continue to be locked to hell. People would do that if it's possible, but it's not!

That is why you have to buy Nokia E71 that is the only SIM you can swap into another phone.