I am currently on At&t and paying about $100 a month for my Nexus 4 with 3GB of data and Unlimited texts. Now I see this straight talk by walmart for $45 unlimited everything. That is one great deal. But as usual the old saying if it sounds to good to be true it usual is comes to mind. I'm in the Bay Area so coverage is good. I usually never leave this area too much. Is Straight talk a good service and worth it or are their hidden problems with it?
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Straight Talk Reviews?
- Thread starter zod96
- Start date
They stopped selling AT&T SIM cards, so you'd have to buy one off ebay, and they go for up to $100.
That being said, Straight Talk is decent for what it is. It's been talked about to death on here, so a quick recap: Expect to be cut off around 1-2GB of data, coverage is the same as AT&T, speeds are slightly slower due to being deprioritized. I used ST for 6 months, had no complaints, but I'd personally rather pay $20 more and get T-Mobile unlimited.
That being said, Straight Talk is decent for what it is. It's been talked about to death on here, so a quick recap: Expect to be cut off around 1-2GB of data, coverage is the same as AT&T, speeds are slightly slower due to being deprioritized. I used ST for 6 months, had no complaints, but I'd personally rather pay $20 more and get T-Mobile unlimited.
kirbyrj
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ST AT&T sims go for around $60 on ebay. Depending on your data needs, ST would be fine for you. It's definitely not "unlimited" like they say, but it's not bad either. Supposedly the cap is going to be 1.5GB when they start re-releasing the AT&T sims. They already offer Net10 sims for AT&T and they have a 1.5GB cap. They are the same company (Tracphone) as ST. No LTE either from what I understand, but you don't have an LTE phone, so no big deal.
well...where i live we only have 2g. 15 miles away my phone shows 4g, but its not truly 4g. I think i get around 5-6mb down
kirbyrj
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I got the 3.5G / HSPA+ whatever it is (My nokia actually said 3.5G). I didn't have an LTE phone at the time, but I don't think LTE works with it.
That is if T-Mobile doesn't suck for data like it does in most places. I plan on switching to AT&T ST sims I bought soon here b/c they can't even provide data (and even straight phone service half the time) most all of the time next to DFW airport.
ST is going to start releasing AT&T sims again? Where did you hear this? I think I should just sell my 2 sims on Ebay then and just get some Net10 sims if so.
kirbyrj
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I think I heard it one of the Android forums. Nothing official in any way. But it seems probable. Here was the highlights of the article from what I remember. T-Mobile is launching their own pre-paid service to compete with ST, and it hardly makes sense for T-mobile to be in competition with themselves. Net10 and ST are the same company. Net10 sells sims with a 1.5GB cap. Rumor is that ST will start releasing the sims again just with the 1.5GB cap and force the "unlimited" users to the 1.5GB cap with the start of a new month.
I guess it sucks for those who are still "unlimited" but its well known that there was a soft cap and no specific as to what that cap was. I guess it helps people ration their data better.
Personally, I was going to switch off my unlimited Verizon account to ST, but at least Verizon unlimited is still actually unlimited if you BYOP.
I guess it sucks for those who are still "unlimited" but its well known that there was a soft cap and no specific as to what that cap was. I guess it helps people ration their data better.
Personally, I was going to switch off my unlimited Verizon account to ST, but at least Verizon unlimited is still actually unlimited if you BYOP.
My wife and I are on the Straight Talk w/AT&T sims, using Nexus 4 phones. T-Mobile wasn't an option really, as here in this town, the best I have ever seen for data speeds has been 2G. Thankfully, we bought both our AT&T sims when they were still selling them at Walmart, so I got them dirt cheap compared to what they go for now!
Straight Talk service, thus far, has been okay. We had a bit of issue with the porting of our numbers process, but got it sorted out. Data speed is as advertised.. the 3.5G/HSPA. I get around 7mb/download, 1mb/upload. I have heard about that throttling cap at 1.5 or 2gb, but have yet to witness it. Any streaming I do, I do over wifi, and just keep data use on the network limited to web pages, Facebook, email, and occasional romps at Google Play. Once the CORRECT APN's are setup (the stuff on the sim card doesn't give correct APNs... found the best ones online!), MMS, and texting work great, as do calls and data.
Straight Talk service, thus far, has been okay. We had a bit of issue with the porting of our numbers process, but got it sorted out. Data speed is as advertised.. the 3.5G/HSPA. I get around 7mb/download, 1mb/upload. I have heard about that throttling cap at 1.5 or 2gb, but have yet to witness it. Any streaming I do, I do over wifi, and just keep data use on the network limited to web pages, Facebook, email, and occasional romps at Google Play. Once the CORRECT APN's are setup (the stuff on the sim card doesn't give correct APNs... found the best ones online!), MMS, and texting work great, as do calls and data.
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Hey Tx, mind sharing those APN's? I'm trying to decide if it's worth it at this point to just pay the ETF for Tmo and see if I come out ahead paying $45 a month instead. My contract still has a year left on it with Tmo so I think I would come out in the black by paying the ETF.
NoxTek
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Straight Talk can go fuck themselves with a big rubber dick.
If I sound jaded it's because I am. I recently switched from T-Mobile to Straight Talk (AT&T side) and within the first week my data speeds were throttled to 128k and below. This was after using about 250MB worth of data....
Needless to say I ordered another SIM card from T-Mobile, went back to their awesome $30 per month 100 minute / 5GB 4G plan, and don't plan to ever look back. The coverage isn't as good as AT&T but I don't have to worry about Straight Talk's stupid wishy-washy throttling crap.
I will do my best to steer future customers away from Straight Talk from this point forward.
About the ONLY way I'd recommend Straight Talk to someone is if you needed unlimited TALK and do not care about data whatsoever.
If I sound jaded it's because I am. I recently switched from T-Mobile to Straight Talk (AT&T side) and within the first week my data speeds were throttled to 128k and below. This was after using about 250MB worth of data....
Needless to say I ordered another SIM card from T-Mobile, went back to their awesome $30 per month 100 minute / 5GB 4G plan, and don't plan to ever look back. The coverage isn't as good as AT&T but I don't have to worry about Straight Talk's stupid wishy-washy throttling crap.
I will do my best to steer future customers away from Straight Talk from this point forward.
About the ONLY way I'd recommend Straight Talk to someone is if you needed unlimited TALK and do not care about data whatsoever.
Wow Blue, I know we had discussed you had switched over to ST, but I never heard anything from you on it since then. I figured you were good. What kind of data were doing? Any streaming or such? I've been giving though to selling my 2 sims on Ebay for a nice tidy profit. Its looks like I should.
I think I figured out that in my neck of the woods over by the airport that it's saturation. During the day my data is poor to non-existent. When I get off work at 5 it works good all of a sudden. I pretty sure Tmobile still doesn't care....why should they?
Name: straight talk
APN: att.mvno
Proxy: Not set
Port: Not set
User Name: Not set
Password: Not set
Server: Not set
MMSC: http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMS proxy: 66.209.11.33
MMS port: 80
MCC: 310
MNC: 410
Authentication type: Not set
APN type: Not set
APN roaming protocol: IPv4
APN enable/disable: APN enabled (this is grayed out with a check mark in the box)
Bearer: Unspecified
Thus far, works like a charm! I also use wifi whenever I can, but the download speeds on the network have been impressive. Hope it helps!
NoxTek
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Admittedly a good portion of that data was used streaming music from Google Play... so yea technically it goes against their AUP, but then again so does pretty much ANYTHING that would use data on your handset.
It's pretty much like buying a car and then being told you can only start the car and let it idle - under no circumstances can you drive it anywhere.
It really sucks because the actual data coverage using the AT&T network was incredibly good.
With that being said T-Mobile is getting better. A few weeks ago we drove eight hours from D/FW, Texas to New Orleans, Louisiana and I was surprised at how many places I was able to get HSPA+ data at on the road.
I also think T-Mobile's network is only going to get better as time goes on. They're bulldozing right along with the 1900mhz refarm and they've just lit up their LTE network.
I'm thinking of giving T-Mobile's new 'GoSmart Mobile' service a try... $45 a month for Unlimited voice and texting, and 5GB of 4G data with unlimited 2G afterwards. That's pretty much the best of both worlds right there for the same price as Straight Talk.
Well, from what I'm finding out talking to people over here by the airport, Irving is just screwed. I've heard about the $45 plan Tmo is going to put out too though. I think I might hold off until the end of the year to see if this network gets any better, because right now I have absolutely nothing good to say about Tmo short of the price we pay.
Thanks Tx, I appreciate it!
I was wondering about ST.I was hoping for an Iphone or S3 on the verizon side. Seems like its too good to be true. I need better data than what I get from my sg2 wimax on sprint. Sprint did text me saying they are upgrading the network. I have until December when my contract is up.
I'm so glade I found this current post!. I'm using boost mobile paying $55 before tax Shrinkage plan... I really want the galaxy note 2 and i've read that you can use att note on st with the compatible sim. My question is I live between Sarasota - Fort Myers Florida and was wondering if I should go with the T-mobile version or att.. I use the internet allot mainly for looking up things not gaming or streaming I also know there will be no 4G only HSPA or edge. So what would be the best network and phone? att or t-mob I've heard allot of bad things about the network speed with the international unlocked version..
Unless you plan on shelling out about $75 on Ebay, you won't be able to get an AT&T sim any longer. So otherwise Tmobile would be your only choice.
T-mobile is very spotty in my area but I heard there speed is really good.. If I have to dish out $50-$75 for a sim to get a better coverage then then so be it. I just wasn't sure on the speed. Let me ask you this if I get att and it sucks can I get it unlock and try either t-mobile or straight talk sim?