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[Need Info] Alternative for ATT for Iphone 4s-Coverage, speed et

My ATT plan is so expensive and I have an unlocked iphone 4s. My concern is if I drop ATT I will lose coverage, data speed etc. Has anyone switched from ATT to another service like Straight Talk etc. and what has your experience been. Have you lost services or capabilities like visual voice mail etc.
Thanks for your help!

Re: [Need Info] Alternative for ATT for Iphone 4s-Coverage, spee

Straight Talk (ST) is a brand names that could use Verizon, Sprint, ATT or T-mobile network. You need to qualify ST to which network it is using. ST does not roam on different network for data. Some people claim ST might roam on voice.

I switch two phones from AT&T to ST (AT&T). Did not even have to modify voice mail password on one phone it behaved like a internal AT&T plan change.
Could not tell any difference on coverage.

Switch one phone from AT&T to T-mobile (not ST branded plan) different coverage but OK in the metro areas I visit. Faster data in metro areas worse or no data outside metro areas than AT&T.

»www.aiowireless.com/en.html is ATT's prepaid service.

it would be pretty good too, if it wasnt for the 8mbps speed cap. but since its an iphone, it should be fine with the lack of lte
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I found the key to success but somebody changed the lock.

aio uses lte too.

its capped at 8mbps . i was talking about the iphones lack of lte

Didn't know that, still not bad though.

I have an AT&T unlimited plan (work's), LTE is faster than that, sometimes as high as 40Mbps.
After 6 GB data transfer on this unlimited plan, it slows down to 0.5 Mbps, which is ok, but the latency increases to over 200 mS, that isn't good.

I heard that ATT dropped any piggy backing on their towers and now it is only T Mobile towers that can be used

Yes there were no AT&T SIMs for a while but they are back but you need to go to a different url than before.

»www.straighttalkbyop.com/

Have you considered ATT prepaid GoPhone? They have a new smartphone plan: $60 a month for unlimited voice and text and 2GB data. That includes visual voicemail and LTE, and you can bring your own phone. You probably wouldn't even need a new SIM. I've had that plan, with an out-of-contract iPhone 4, for a couple of months, and it works fine. Also, aio (a subsidiary of ATT) has roughly the same plan for $55.

MMS is a nightmare to get working right on an iPhone with ST and most other AT&T MVNOs. The only two I know of that send the required config info to the phone are GoPhone and Aio. If you use MMS I would suggest narrowing your search to those two as other posters have mentioned.

Edit: Most AT&T MVNO coverage is native only, no roaming. This doesn't affect most users, but check the GoPhone/AIO coverage maps JIC.

We unlocked our iPhones and moved to Tmobile no-contract byod. The process was a little convoluted and they misconfigured my account at first, but we got it straigtened out. The price is good, but the coverage isn't as good and I get periodic dropouts. Tmobile automatically updates the MMS settings and now supports visual voicemail but sometimes it becomes unavailable. I wish the coverage was better but we are spending half of what we were spending on our grandfathered in unlimited plans. We have a family plan and have three phones on it currently with my older son looking to move his iPhone over to it soon as well.
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Fios 15/2 - Fios TV - Fios Voice + Vonage - Pacific NW

I just signed up for AIO (yesterday). Once I get my sim card, I'll update if the visual voicemail or MMS features are any different than the "contract" ATT service I had.

(I understand that AIO is ATT's no-contract service. For $55, it is +$30 off per month for the same features and same coverage. But I don't have LTE and they supposedly do cover LTE service now).

My iPhone 4 is unlocked (by ATT) and I'm just waiting for the hype on the 5s to wane before I get one unlocked at Apple (maybe when the 6 comes out... I dunno... only priority is to save $)
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Splat

Just an update: I got AIO. $55 2GB plan, unlimited all else. MMS, Text, calling 3-Way, forwarding, Voicemail. Nothing about "visual voice mail" if that is important. All domestic. It is based on GSM (ATT network) and I got the sim card within 2 days of ordering. Put the card in, went online to activate. Took less than 30 mins to activate. Then Setup voicemail and online account (do that last as it will text you a temp pword).
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Splat