$45 Unlimited Talk, Text, Data on Straight Talk (AT&T MVNO)?

[bohbot16]

Well since the Straight Talk BYOP plan launched a year ago, some interesting things have happened with Tracfone.

They launched a similar BYOP program under the Net10 brand.
T-Mobile started refarming HSPA+ to 1900MHz.
They purchased Simple Mobile, a fast growing T-Mobile MVNO.
They launched the Straight Talk iPhone on Verizon EVDO.

My hope is that they are just re-organizing their offerings. Perhaps Straight Talk will become a Walmart-only offering, Net10 will offer AT&T BYOP, and Simple Mobile will offer T-Mobile BYOP.

[bohbot16]

Originally Posted by Bob Coxner

Micro sims are sold out on walmart.com. Full size sims are still available there.

The MicroSIMs appear to be back in stock now.

[umiwangu]

Originally Posted by Baggio

Let me know if you get a response. Thanks!

----------



I saw the SIMs on eBay and they were anywhere between $20-$50 for a unactivated SIM and no plan. I'll wait it out a bit. My guest isn't coming for couple months anyway. Thanks!

The Straight Talk CS rep said they were out of stock at the moment. No idea what to read between the lines there (if anything).

[Baggio]

Originally Posted by umiwangu

The Straight Talk CS rep said they were out of stock at the moment. No idea what to read between the lines there (if anything).

Thanks for the update.

[andyx3x]

Does anyone know if Apple supports the Straight Talk iPhone 5? I have seen complaints that they don't support the Cricket iPhone.

[umiwangu]

Originally Posted by andyx3x

Does anyone know if Apple supports the Straight Talk iPhone 5? I have seen complaints that they don't support the Cricket iPhone.

What do you mean, "support"?

[araje]

Originally Posted by Bob Coxner

Micro sims are sold out on walmart.com. Full size sims are still available there.

Oh nice I read this thread. I was looking at buying the tmobile sims because I thought they just mentioned tmobile compatible phone. I didn't realized that if I use those on iphone5 unlocked, they will only connect me to tmobile and not AT&T.

I need to be connected to AT&T towers so do I have to wait for AT&T sims?

Net10 is available in best buy. Does net10 also have this problem of carrier specific SIM cards? At best buy they told there is just one pack for 14.99 and you buy an unlimited plan along with it to activate. They couldn't answer if it connects to tmobile or AT&T.

I am on tmobile and their 3G is hopeless. Sick and tired of being on E for 99% of the time. So I want to be sure that I latch to AT&T so that I get stable 3G at least.

I don't think Walmart sells just the sims. You need to buy a phone along with that and that's minimum 50$ when I have a iPhone 5 unlocked in hand. So that's a nono.

Anyone recommending net10 over straight talk ?

[corvus32]

Originally Posted by araje

Oh nice I read this thread. I was looking at buying the tmobile sims because I thought they just mentioned tmobile compatible phone. I didn't realized that if I use those on iphone5 unlocked, they will only connect me to tmobile and not AT&T.

I need to be connected to AT&T towers so do I have to wait for AT&T sims?

Net10 is available in best buy. Does net10 also have this problem of carrier specific SIM cards? At best buy they told there is just one pack for 14.99 and you buy an unlimited plan along with it to activate. They couldn't answer if it connects to tmobile or AT&T.

I am on tmobile and their 3G is hopeless. Sick and tired of being on E for 99% of the time. So I want to be sure that I latch to AT&T so that I get stable 3G at least.

I don't think Walmart sells just the sims. You need to buy a phone along with that and that's minimum 50$ when I have a iPhone 5 unlocked in hand. So that's a nono.

Anyone recommending net10 over straight talk ?

Inside the Net10 SIM pack there are three SIM cards - an AT&T mini SIM card, AT&T micro SIM card, and a T-Mobile mini SIM card.

You choose which network you want (AT&T or T-Mobile).

After that decision is made, you may need to cut the SIM to fit your iPhone.

Activate it with an Unlimited airtime card, then update your APN settings.

The instructions are in the package. It's very straightforward.

[araje]

Thanks for the info. I think I will just do net10 instead of straight talk.
Can you tell me if you can see 3G or 4G on your phone. I think it should be 3G with speeds in the order of 3-5Mbps?

Originally Posted by corvus32

Inside the Net10 SIM pack

The instructions are in the package. It's very straightforward.

[bohbot16]

Originally Posted by araje

Thanks for the info. I think I will just do net10 instead of straight talk.
Can you tell me if you can see 3G or 4G on your phone. I think it should be 3G with speeds in the order of 3-5Mbps?

Net10 and Straight Talk are different brands offered by Tracfone. The AT&T service should be identical between the two and you will see the available HSPA+ speeds in your area. That service will be listed as 3G on an iPhone 4 or older, since they max out at HSPA. An iPhone 4S or 5 will list 4G.

[dukebound85]

net10 is 50 and ST is 45? Wonder why the difference if by same parent co

[corvus32]

Originally Posted by dukebound85

net10 is 50 and ST is 45? Wonder why the difference if by same parent co

Net10 is $45 if you sign up for auto pay.

[bohbot16]

Originally Posted by corvus32

Net10 is $45 if you sign up for auto pay.

I know Net10 also has a family plan option where it costs $40 for each additional line. Is there an autopay discount for these lines, or does it only apply to the primary line?

[araje]

Originally Posted by corvus32

Net10 is $45 if you sign up for auto pay.

Has anyone tried the international calling based 65$ plan. Any caps on international calling minutes ?

[araje]

So, I finally got all setup with Net10. The calling and all is good. The iPhone latches to 4G all the time and stable. The international calling is good too. You just need to call 1 number and then call your international number from there. It is a 2 step process for every international call.

Quick question: what happens to the other 2 sims I have in the net10 package? Can I use one with a different unlimited activation card for another phone ?
Those who have net10 - what are you doing with your other SIM cards.

[davidinva]

Originally Posted by Block

The website seems to imply that the plan is BYOD, so I don't think there should be a need to use some loophole or buy any additional smartphones.

The talk (un-verified) is that the plan is not really unlimited. Needs more research.

[Chanabbott]

Originally Posted by Block

Has anybody tried using Straight Talk for their iPhone? From reading around it looks like they use AT&T's postpaid network. I read that they will work with any AT&T locked phone, including the AT&T locked iPhone, because they are supposedly an AT&T MVNO. Can anyone confirm this?

http://www.straighttalksim.com/

I bought an unlocked iPhone 5 (ATT model) from the apple store. Using the straight sim card (it must be cut down, but is very safe and easy to do), I can get unlimited calls and text, and "unlimited' data, which is actually about 2GB or as long as you don't stream media. I can get 4G HSPA, 3G, 2G, EDGE on ATT. NO LTE. The service that the phone operates on is called "AT&T 13.0" of which I found in settings. All other actual straight talk phones either work on sprint or verizon. I highly recommend getting an iPhone on straight talk. The only cons are somewhat capped data, no text picture messaging without jailbreak (can still imessage pics) no LTE, and the customer service is horrible. However, after paying upwards of $70 a month for 450 minutes and texts for a feature phone, straight talk is a blessing. I get ATT service on an iPhone 5 with no contract.

[corvus32]

Originally Posted by araje

Quick question: what happens to the other 2 sims I have in the net10 package? Can I use one with a different unlimited activation card for another phone ?

Yes.

Those who have net10 - what are you doing with your other SIM cards.

Give one to a friend.

[miniguu]

I have a Verizon iPhone 5. Which network would I get service on if I went to straight talk?

[bohbot16]

Originally Posted by miniguu

I have a Verizon iPhone 5. Which network would I get service on if I went to straight talk?

AT&T or T-Mobile depending on which SIM you buy.

[pdxster]

Does anyone know if you can buy the Best Buy 3 pack for Net10, use one of the AT&T SIMs first to ensure I get the AT&T service, and then later use the T-mobile SIM in the pack for the SIM swap to get the MMS working?

[araje]

Originally Posted by pdxster

Does anyone know if you can buy the Best Buy 3 pack for Net10, use one of the AT&T SIMs first to ensure I get the AT&T service, and then later use the T-mobile SIM in the pack for the SIM swap to get the MMS working?

Yes you can. When you put the tmobile sim, you will get access to the carrier menu. It's okay even jf the sim is inactivated.

[pdxster]

Originally Posted by araje

Yes you can. When you put the tmobile sim, you will get access to the carrier menu. It's okay even jf the sim is inactivated.

Thank you so much!

[bohbot16]

When the AT&T Straight Talk SIMs disappeared from their website, the AT&T Net10 SIMs disappeared from Net10's website. This wasn't much of a surprise, since Straight Talk and Net10 are just different brands of Tracfone and their BYOP SIM plans are essentially identical.

Net10 just released new info @ https://net10data.com/ stating that as of March 1st the Unlimited SIM plan will be capped at 1.5GB for people with AT&T SIMs. It's likely that the same will be announced for Straight Talk soon.

Even with a 1.5GB cap, it's a better deal than the 1GB plans from GoPhone, Red Pocket, or Airvoice.

[slu]

Originally Posted by bohbot16

When the AT&T Straight Talk SIMs disappeared from their website, the AT&T Net10 SIMs disappeared from Net10's website. This wasn't much of a surprise, since Straight Talk and Net10 are just different brands of Tracfone and their BYOP SIM plans are essentially identical.

Net10 just released new info @ https://net10data.com/ stating that as of March 1st the Unlimited SIM plan will be capped at 1.5GB for people with AT&T SIMs. It's likely that the same will be announced for Straight Talk soon.

Even with a 1.5GB cap, it's a better deal than the 1GB plans from GoPhone, Red Pocket, or Airvoice.

Interesting. Thanks for posting this. While I'd obviously would prefer a 2GB cap, I can live with 1.5 for the price. If only T-Mobile would finish up the refarm around here. The 3G is still real spotty.