Walmart and Straight Talk Wireless Now Carrying iPhone 5

Magrathea · Jan 8, 2013

2nd Month in with Straight Talk

2nd month on ST with iphone 4s 32gig. CL iPhone 4S for $340 and my pockets are getting heavier every day that passes.

Setup is a bit of a pain but once you jump through the hoops and realize that customer support is via their facebook page as you'll spend 45mins on hold if you call then on a phone you're golden.

Their ain't no such think as a free lunch peeps!

DL speeds are ok and about the same as my buddy on Verion who pays $100 pm with limited minutes.

OneMike · Jan 8, 2013

Just want straight talk nano sim.

jclardy · Jan 8, 2013

My AT&T contract is up in a few months and I bought my 5 off contract (So as to not extend another 2 years...)

This is precisely what I was waiting for. If it supports LTE I will actually be getting more for less. (Currently $72/mo for 1000 text, 2GB data, 500+rollover minutes) $27/mo cheaper sounds really nice.

I may even be willing to let go of LTE to save that much, as long as I can still use HSPA+ and have "unlimited."

Arcady · Jan 8, 2013

I don't see how this really saves anything. I pay $150/month for two iPhones on AT&T with unlimited text and data, and more minutes than we can ever use. (I think I have 8000 rollover minutes right now.) The old iPhones can be sold for almost as much as a new phone costs every two years, so they are basically free at this point. So... $140 with crippled voicemail or $150 for the real thing. Wow, $10. How does that add up to $950?

Magrathea · Jan 8, 2013

LTE? why why why ??

I see no reason for LTE ever unless you have a truly unlimited plan which does not exist on paper, anywhere - read the fine print. My 1Mbps to 4Mbps on ST is just fine for $45pm PLUS TAX folks.

LTE, you'll just use up your data faster. I can stream youtube videos ok and if I fired up Netflix and had LTE I'd burn through my data allocation for the month in a few days?

LTW why why why ????

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Arcady said:
I don't see how this really saves anything. I pay $150/month for two iPhones on AT&T with unlimited text and data, and more minutes than we can ever use. (I think I have 8000 rollover minutes right now.) The old iPhones can be sold for almost as much as a new phone costs every two years, so they are basically free at this point. So... $140 with crippled voicemail or $150 for the real thing. Wow, $10. How does that add up to $950?

I see your point but a new Att user would pay more pm , no?

andyx3x · Jan 8, 2013

BiggAW said:
And it's more cost effective if you buy a used iPhone 4 or 4S.

This is true. I don't know how successful they are going to be in selling the phone for $649 plus tax, even with the installment plan.

2298754 · Jan 8, 2013

This is way better than using your iPhone on ****** TMo.

Superior network, but $649 is crazy. People are better off going to CL and buying one off there

FooMan2011 · Jan 8, 2013

***k you AT&T!! I'm finally gone!! I wonder if I can use my AT&T iPhone 5's and 4S's with Straight Talk? Anyone know?

shenan1982 · Jan 8, 2013

Magrathea said:
I see no reason for LTE ever unless you have a truly unlimited plan which does not exist on paper

The logic behind this comment is baffling. The transfer of 2 GB of "information" to your phone is the same information at HSPA and LTE, you just get it faster at LTE speeds, so when you're trying to look up a phone number it takes 1 second instead of 10 seconds to access the same info.

It's like saying if you had to chose between home internet capped at 1GB per month that it's better to have dial up instead of cable\dsl because it's the same amount of data. WTF... use some common sense people. Same data consumption, but stuff gets to you 10x as fast with LTE.

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andyx3x said:
This is true. I don't know how successful they are going to be in selling the phone for $649 plus tax, even with the installment plan.

So they sell the plan as "no contract" yet if you cancel you're still paying monthly for your phone for 2 years. And the average person who finances a cell phone for 2 years doesn't have the credit rating to get approved for said financing, lol. This is a a new low, even for Walmart... bringing in the most ghetto of clientele.

cheezeit · Jan 8, 2013

FooMan2011 said:
***k you AT&T!! I'm finally gone!! I wonder if I can use my AT&T iPhone 5's and 4S's with Straight Talk? Anyone know?

Yes just put in your sim and it works. Friend just put his straight talk sim into my note 2 and got service without having me do anything to the phone so I imagine the same would work for the iPhone

EddieCurrent · Jan 8, 2013

Interesting...

So unless I am missing something this is an AT&T compatible carrier unlocked iPhone 5.

So as an AT&T customer this is NO RISK to try out. Use the service while keeping my existing AT&T service for a couple of months. If it meets my needs, good. If not just go into AT&T and get a new SIM and use the unlocked iPhone 5 with AT&T and still NOT have to reup my contract (I have been out of my contract since June of 2012). Then if for some reason I want to switch to a non-compatible carrier (Verizon or Sprint) I have an unlocked iPhone 5 I can EASILY sell for a decent amount of money and I don't have to pay any early termination fee to AT&T when I do move.

AT&T has got to HATE this.

I need to go DOUBLE CHECK Walmart's fine print for their financing to make sure I don't lose my $25/month interest free payment if I cancel my ST service. And yes I know I could just get an unlocked iPhone, but I don't know anyone else that would finance that for $25/mo no interest guaranteed for the life of the loan.

Virgo · Jan 8, 2013

The iPhone isn't classy anymore

mrbrown · Jan 8, 2013

Well here's the big question for me: Will Apple come out with a carrier bundle that includes Straight Talk's MMS settings now?

Virgo said:
The iPhone isn't classy anymore

You're not a very smart consumer if you are more concerned about the "classiness" of a provider versus cost. Straight Talk uses the exact same towers and provides the exact same service as AT&T, for a lot less per month. Granted, there is a "soft" data limit (2GB), but for me, it's half the cost that I was paying on AT&T, where I was getting throttled anyways on my "unlimited" data plan.

FooMan2011 · Jan 8, 2013

shenan1982 said:
The logic behind this comment is baffling. The transfer of 2 GB of "information" to your phone is the same information at HSPA and LTE, you just get it faster at LTE speeds, so when you're trying to look up a phone number it takes 1 second instead of 10 seconds to access the same info.

It's like saying if you had to chose between home internet capped at 1GB per month that it's better to have dial up instead of cable\dsl because it's the same amount of data. WTF... use some common sense people. Same data consumption, but stuff gets to you 10x as fast with LTE.

----------

So they sell the plan as "no contract" yet if you cancel you're still paying monthly for your phone for 2 years. And the average person who finances a cell phone for 2 years doesn't have the credit rating to get approved for said financing, lol. This is a a new low, even for Walmart... bringing in the most ghetto of clientele.

Dude, I kinda agree... Ghetto!!

cheezeit · Jan 8, 2013

mrbrown said:
Well here's the big question for me: Will Apple come out with a carrier bundle that includes Straight Talk's MMS settings now?

unlockit.co.nz should be able to set you up. Got my iPad setup with an att sim in a verizon ipad that way...

QCassidy352 · Jan 8, 2013

EddieCurrent said:
AT&T has got to HATE this.

Huh? ST uses AT&T's network through a contract with AT&T. They clearly have no problem with ST's existence, as they essentially enable them to operate.

cerote · Jan 8, 2013

Att is still getting paid since ST is using ATT backbone. Also if your not happy with service of ATT in your area be weary of ST because again it uses ATT.

mrbrown · Jan 8, 2013

cheezeit said:
unlockit.co.nz should be able to set you up. Got my iPad setup with an att sim in a verizon ipad that way...

Data is not a problem. MMS is. An iPhone Configuration Utility profile, even those provided by unlockit.co.nz, will not provide the proper settings for MMS. MMS can only be achieved on Straight Talk on the iPhone through a) the T-Mobile SIM swap trick or b) jailbreaking.

Why? Because the phone automatically uses AT&T's carrier bundle, which automatically uses the AT&T MMS settings and disables any changes to said settings. The only way to "properly" fix the issue is for Apple to issue a Straight Talk carrier bundle.

tasset · Jan 8, 2013

I put my wife and her iPhone 4S on a Straight Talk plan a few months ago. It has worked, but with ALOT of caveats:
-Straight Talk is VERY shady about unlimited web* data. Sure I understand no tethering allowed, but you are not to even watch YouTube or stream Pandora "extensively" and they can kick you off the network and you'll lose your number if so.
-MMS is only functional by kludgy workarounds as others mention. Though I was able to successfully pull it off on my wife's phone.
-No native visual voicemail.
-Uses AT&T's network through proxy servers known to be throttled at AT&T's discretion.

I doubt this includes LTE either, though I would love to be proven wrong.

Alfuh · Jan 8, 2013

I am on month 2 with Straight Talk.

Took a 4s over and since switched to a S3.

Everything works fine once you get it setup

I found the only way to get MMS working was to use the t-mobile sim hack, which was a PITA

If they come out with a carrier bundle for Straight Talk that would be a big deal, currently I don't see how they can promote the iPhone unless they plan this. Most average people have no clue how to setup APN settings, especially with the way Apple has the iPhone locked down

stars_fan · Jan 8, 2013

tasset said:
I put my wife and her iPhone 4S on a Straight Talk plan a few months ago. It has worked, but with ALOT of caveats:
-Straight Talk is VERY shady about unlimited web* data. Sure I understand no tethering allowed, but you are not to even watch YouTube or stream Pandora "extensively" and they can kick you off the network and you'll lose your number if so.
-MMS is only functional by kludgy workarounds as others mention. Though I was able to successfully pull it off on my wife's phone.
-No native visual voicemail.
-Uses AT&T's network through proxy servers known to be throttled at AT&T's discretion.

I doubt this includes LTE either, though I would love to be proven wrong.

This is 100% my experience. My wife and I had nothing but loss of data and missed phone calls on straight talk. We used 3 different iphones and 1 android with nothing but problems.

RUN AWAY FROM STRAIGHT TALK PEOPLE YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED

Gemütlichkeit · Jan 8, 2013

I just signed up for a 2 year contract with AT&T.

cameronjpu · Jan 8, 2013

No visual voicemail though.

Rurik · Jan 8, 2013

I've been using a factory unlocked Verizon iPhone 5 on straight talk since day the iPhone 5 came out. Yes the Verizon iPhone 5's SIM card will work with staight talk. For some reason the Verizon version of the iPhone comes fully unlocked, no need to jailbreak,etc.

All you gotta do is either call or go to straight talks website and order the micro SIM card for $10 or $15 bucks. When u get it be carefull and trim all the non copper parts of the Smcard (using sissors). Next takeout the nano SIM card of your iPhone 5 and place it on top of your straight talk SIM card, making sure you have it lined up facing correct direction you will notice your straight talk SIM card is only slightly larger now. Next you must trim off a tiny tiny sliver of the copper chip on all 4 sides ( other only cutting the top or bottom to make it match the nano is card will result in ruining your new SIM card). After you trim all 4 sides , you need only to do 1 last thing in order to get it to work. Looking at the iPhone nano SIM card, you will notice 1 corner has a 45 degree angle, you must make 1 last tiny cut to match this on your new SIM card. After that. Try to place in the SIM card tray. It should fit nice and snug. NOTE ( make sure you trim tiny tiny tiny slivers off at a time, you can always go back and take a little more if it doesn't fit first time) this whole process was easy and painless and took less then 10 minutes.

I have been using this service for 3 1/2 and love it. I cut my verizon bill Down from $220 a month for 2 iPhones to $90.

I can corferm using verizon iPhone, you get 4g speeds up and down, as long u in service area, it even says 4g, and same for 3G. I've used 4gig a month per phone without any problems ,slow downs etc.

I own a semi truck company and travel east coast. T west coast on a bi monthly basis , and service works everywhere on I10/20 I40,I80 from California all way to east coast, on all 3 lanes of travel.

There are a few areas in your 3,000 mile journey where you loose Internet for a short time 4-5 per lane and2-3 no service for a few miles, but the othe 99.99% it's great.

You do loose visual mail, but maybe it's fully supported it may work, I'll have to mess with it.

No hotspot feature, gotta wait for jailbreak, but FaceTime works, and. Mms.

Hope this helps someone.

Here is a link of detailed instructions, NOTE ( you don't need to use sandpaper to reduce the SIM cards thickness, worked fine for my 2 phones without it)

http://www.ehow.com/how_12209600_make-iphone-work-straight-talk-e71-sim-card.html

Rurik

tasset · Jan 8, 2013

Rurik said:
I've been using a factory unlocked Verizon iPhone 5 on straight talk since day the iPhone 5 came out. Yes the Verizon iPhone 5's SIM card will work with staight talk. For some reason the Verizon version of the iPhone comes fully unlocked, no need to jailbreak,etc.

All you gotta do is either call or go to straight talks website and order the micro SIM card for $10 or $15 bucks. When u get it be carefull and trim all the non copper parts of the Smcard (using sissors). Next takeout the nano SIM card of your iPhone 5 and place it on top of your straight talk SIM card, making sure you have it lined up facing correct direction you will notice your straight talk SIM card is only slightly larger now. Next you must trim off a tiny tiny sliver of the copper chip on all 4 sides ( other only cutting the top or bottom to make it match the nano is card will result in ruining your new SIM card). After you trim all 4 sides , you need only to do 1 last thing in order to get it to work. Looking at the iPhone nano SIM card, you will notice 1 corner has a 45 degree angle, you must make 1 last tiny cut to match this on your new SIM card. After that. Try to place in the SIM card tray. It should fit nice and snug. NOTE ( make sure you trim tiny tiny tiny slivers off at a time, you can always go back and take a little more if it doesn't fit first time) this whole process was easy and painless and took less then 10 minutes.

I have been using this service for 3 1/2 and love it. I cut my verizon bill Down from $220 a month for 2 iPhones to $90.

I can corferm using verizon iPhone, you get 4g speeds up and down, as long u in service area, it even says 4g, and same for 3G. I've used 4gig a month per phone without any problems ,slow downs etc.

I own a semi truck company and travel east coast. T west coast on a bi monthly basis , and service works everywhere on I10/20 I40,I80 from California all way to east coast, on all 3 lanes of travel.

There are a few areas in your 3,000 mile journey where you loose Internet for a short time 4-5 per lane and2-3 no service for a few miles, but the othe 99.99% it's great.

You do loose visual mail, but maybe it's fully supported it may work, I'll have to mess with it.

No hotspot feature, gotta wait for jailbreak, but FaceTime works, and. Mms.

Hope this helps someone.

Here is a link of detailed instructions, NOTE ( you don't need to use sandpaper to reduce the SIM cards thickness, worked fine for my 2 phones without it)

http://www.ehow.com/how_12209600_make-iphone-work-straight-talk-e71-sim-card.html

Rurik

4GB a month? Well congrats, and good luck to ya at some point not being terminated by Straight Talk. I wish they were upfront about the unspoken data limits.

Walmart and Straight Talk Wireless Now Carrying iPhone 5

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