Just wondering guys and hope to hear your input. I am grandfathered on AT&T unlimited data 6 months into new contract that ends in Jan 2014 and pay $78 a month. Was thinking about breaking contract to go to StraightTalk for $45 a month for unlimited everything. Early termination fee would be $275. I heard on StraightTalk you get 3G speeds and everything what do you guys think and any experience.
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Break AT&T grandfathered unlimited contract for StraightTalk $45 Unlimited
- Thread starter corey407woc
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Umm, hate to break it to you, but AT&T no longer has unlimited, even for 'grandfathered' users. See link:
http://www.newser.com/story/140901/have-an-att-unlimited-plan-not-anymore.html
http://www.newser.com/story/140901/have-an-att-unlimited-plan-not-anymore.html
I've been sticking with AT&T - I'd rather have throttled speeds after 3GB of use than have my data disabled for the rest of the month if they don't like how I use it. I've given straight talk a shot a couple of times the past 15 months and within 2 or 3 weeks I've come across some issue that makes me afraid to switch. Emphasis on the "I've" because it's largely dependent on how I use my phone and data plan - I doubt many people would have the same problems.
lol hate to break it to you, but you still have unlimited. After 3 gigs its slowed down. they speeds have actually been much better now too. When throttled i was getting 5-10 kb/s now i get 50-60 kb/s. (i tried switching to sprint, but their 3g is god awful, i would get 150kb/s at best) Your upload is not throttled. I still get 150 kb/s up even when throttled.
I know 50 kb/s isnt anything awesome comparted to my 650 kb/s at normal speeds, but i can still use siri just fine, listen to spotify and use google maps/ youtube with it being throttled now.Since the upload isnt throttled at all, i can still just as easily back up my stuff to icould.
I still used 7gb for the month despite it being throttled at 3 gb lol
yeah it sucks but still cheaper than a tiered plan.
@ OP straight talk throttles you at 2 gb i believe, but its muchhh cheaper than a full priced att plan.
I thankfully am on a family plan with my friend who works at att, so we ge ta discount. My grandfathered phone with unlimited talk and data only cots me $60 a month.
If i was paying close to a $100 like most people, (even more if you want unlimited talk) i wouldnt hesitate about switching to straight talk.
if you plan on upgrading to the new iphone this fall(5?) i wouldnt. Straight Talk doesnt support LTE, which im sure the new phone will have.
As much bitching as i have with AT&T, they are still beter then Straight Talk if you care about the whole experience. Visual voice mail is a feature I use a lot. Straight Talk has from what i hear pretty bad customer service whereas AT&T has been very good for the past 2 years.
yeah i bet they do.
att sucks the big one. I have more dropped calls with them then others providers, and the call quality sounds low quality compared tosprint and verizon
they just have me hooked with their fast data speeds. damn you att, damn you.
I had heard stories of Straight Talk cancelling accounts for using more than 2GB past, but recent posts over at Howard Forums seem to suggest that they now just throttle your usage after 2GB if you're using an AT&T ST SIM (3GB if you are using a T-Mobile ST SIM).
Given that AT&T throttles unlimited plans, and my belief that AT&T will completely phase out unlimited data(maybe when the new iPhone is released or when they introduce something similar to Verizon's shared data plan), saving at least $30/month with Straight Talk is absolutely worth it.
Given that AT&T throttles unlimited plans, and my belief that AT&T will completely phase out unlimited data(maybe when the new iPhone is released or when they introduce something similar to Verizon's shared data plan), saving at least $30/month with Straight Talk is absolutely worth it.
Look back at this forum thread. Looks like several are getting throttled after 2-2.5 GB/month. Some are getting away with more. That's primarily downloads. Someone posted that they uploaded 13 GB using ustream with no issues then when they started downloading a lot they were throttled to just over 200kb download speed.
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1733397-45-Unlocked-SIM-Data-Limit/page25
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php/1733397-45-Unlocked-SIM-Data-Limit/page25
Does anyone know if they actually do end unlimited if you will be able to break your contract for free? Since they are breaking theirs to us can't we to them?
They didn't break it, they only modified the contract (as the one you signed says they can). If you didn't like the new terms, you were allowed to leave without an Early Termination Fee BEFORE the new rules went into effect.
Since they announced their plans to throttle over a year ago and began doing so last October, there's nothing you can do about it now.
They didn't even modify the contract. IIRC, there's language in the original contract that states AT&T can change or modify services for the purposes of keeping their network infrastructure entact, and there's also language that prohibits abuse of network services.
I was in almost an identical situation. I upgraded to the iPhone 4S in February and renewed my AT&T contract for another two years at that time. Grandfathered unlimited data plan. I was paying between $65-70 a month (depending on per-use SMS charges) thanks to a FAN discount through my employer.
I found out about Straight Talk's bring-your-own-device plan a few weeks ago and started seriously considering it. I ended up switching to Straight Talk a couple of weeks ago, and so far so good. I obviously haven't been with them long enough to speak about data limits or throttling, but then again, my peak month with AT&T over four years was only 1.2 GB, and I averaged closer to 700-800 MB most months, so I doubt I will ever have that problem.
The switch itself was really easy and smooth. I ordered the SIM card kit from their web site (beware: they require an in-person signature upon delivery). I activated and initiated my number port online. It was all complete within 10 minutes, and this was on a Sunday afternoon.
I get full "4G" using a Straight Talk AT&T-compatible micro-SIM. I have noticed no difference whatsoever in terms of coverage or speed since switching, which makes sense -- I am still using all the same towers I was using as an AT&T customer. I have not yet received a bill from AT&T for my ETF, but I'm sure it will arrive soon. Once I've paid that, I plan to call them and get them to unlock my iPhone per their new unlocking policy.
The biggest downside (for me) is the lack of visual voicemail. However, I set up a workaround using Google Voice and conditional call forwarding. All missed/rejected calls get forwarded to my Google Voice number, so I can still have "visual" access to my voicemail that way. The lack of MMS doesn't bother me; I haven't even tried to use any of the tricks mentioned at Howard Forums for getting it working. Most of my friends who would send pictures are already iPhone users anyway, so it would go over iMessage rather than MMS.
The biggest caveat is this: even though your AT&T account is "post-paid," it is actually billed in advance, and I found ample complaints online that AT&T will not credit you for unused days if you terminate your account mid-month. I don't know for a fact that this is true, but just to be safe, I waited until the next-to-last day of my billing cycle before initiating the transfer to Straight Talk.
This is a great debate. I work with Straight Talk. Wondering if you guys could let me know who to contactso I can get MacRumors to review the service. I figure they try it out for a week and let us know what it's like for heavy usage, and also what ut's like for moderate usage. Remember also that toward the end of the year T-Mo will be supporting HSPA+ on the same spectrum theniPhone uses so if youre on Straigh Talk via AT&T and don't like it, moving over to T-Mo's SIM might be the way to go. But really-- lets have MacRumors' pros do a deep dive. Send me a PM or hit me up on Twitter(@dwayned) so we can put a press kit together and answer these questions. In the meantime, check out the SIM site because we're about to update it with some new stuff that'll help explain what we're trying to do here: http://www.straighttalksim.com
I have been using ST the past two weeks on my Nexus and iPhone 4. The service is just as good as AT&T. Sometimes its even better. The speeds are usually 4-7Mbps. So far I have used 9GB and have not been cut off. The Tech Support told me as long as I am using data on the device and not tethering its unlimited. I currently drive over the road for a summer job and I have been through Michigan, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Pennsylvania, upstate New York, Maine, Connecticut, Mississippi, Arkansas, New Hampshire, and Illinois. Of course this is mostly sticking to major interstates but I pretty much have had excellent coverage everywhere. 4G 90% of the time.