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Straight Talk and LTE
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Having had LTE, it is a hard thing to pass up, but so is $45 a month. If I didn't get a 25% discount with ATT I would use straight talk. I honestly think a lot of people still with ATT and Verizon are with them b.c of corporate discounts.
Rolling out LTE isn't cheap so the cost is being passed onto the customers. If you don't have a need for the new network, though, these MVNO setups will continue to deliver.
Do you think it is worth switching over? I know its personal opinion for most just wondering how many people will be switching back
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Since Straight Talk uses AT&T's network, is it possible that Straight Talk would eventually offer LTE as well?
Do you think it is worth switching over? I know its personal opinion for most just wondering how many people will be switching back
I use AT&T at the present, but their LTE build out has completely voided my small little area. If you go five miles in any direction you'll be covered, but I reside in the no mans land.
Sucks i currently dont have lte as well and i don't know when to be expecting it either so i am kinda tempted to switch to straighttalk but i feel that once my area gets lte i would want it so bad
That's a hard question to answer. I'm thinking that the strategy now is to turn LTE into VoLTE[Voice over LTE]. At the present LTE is a data only network. Therefor AT&T also has to ensure that some sort of UMTS standard has to be operating on a different frequency to handle voice traffic. This means that in some areas there's three different types of networks being operated. EDGE/HSPA(+)/LTE. Occasionally you'll find an operational GPRS setup where EDGE data connectivity was never deployed. This was solved later on as a type of UMTS was deployed over these areas eliminating the need for an EDGE upgrade.
Only after the necessary network configurations are complete do I honestly think the MVNOs will get their hands on the next generation of technology.
Although a LTE iPhone is pretty tempting, I'd much rather save money, and Straight Talk is doing just that at $45/month (and I'm extremely happy with their service even though they use AT&T). For the time being anyway, I'll stick with my 4S on ST until I persuade myself otherwise.
Data is unlimited with the $45/month plan, but they can suspend your access if you abuse it. I mainly use it to check Twitter, Facebook, email, and stream Rdio and I have been fine.
I'm unable to check the speeds since the speed test app doesn't work when on ST. But essentially you're going to get the same speeds you would get if you were on AT&T.
Petsmart haha. I worked there all through high school and college and I guess they never follow up so I will have it forever
I posted a similar question in the main ST thread.
Since ST uses the AT&T network, why wouldn't they have LTE?
An MVNO is essentially a reseller, they don't have their own antennas.
They buy capacity from AT&T, call it Straight Talk and re-sell it to us.
A lot of people have never heard of ST, therefore don't know how it works. When you say ST, they think it's an entirely different carrier which is a "yes and no" type of question. Yes, they're called ST but it's really AT&T.
I'm in San Francisco and coverage has been great, always 3-5 bars, internet is working well now (it had its hiccups throughout the last month) but overall I'm satisfied with the service considering the price.
To come back on topic, it is entirely possible for Straight Talk to have LTE and Nano SIMs.
I'm expecting an announcement once the US Apple Store starts selling unlocked iPhones. At this time, it doesn't make sense for ST to announce Nano SIMs or LTE. And I would be perfectly fine with getting HSPA+ until they turn on LTE.
Since ST uses the AT&T network, why wouldn't they have LTE?
An MVNO is essentially a reseller, they don't have their own antennas.
They buy capacity from AT&T, call it Straight Talk and re-sell it to us.
A lot of people have never heard of ST, therefore don't know how it works. When you say ST, they think it's an entirely different carrier which is a "yes and no" type of question. Yes, they're called ST but it's really AT&T.
I'm in San Francisco and coverage has been great, always 3-5 bars, internet is working well now (it had its hiccups throughout the last month) but overall I'm satisfied with the service considering the price.
To come back on topic, it is entirely possible for Straight Talk to have LTE and Nano SIMs.
I'm expecting an announcement once the US Apple Store starts selling unlocked iPhones. At this time, it doesn't make sense for ST to announce Nano SIMs or LTE. And I would be perfectly fine with getting HSPA+ until they turn on LTE.
I would think that there are 2 issues involved. Straight Talk would have to be willing to pay ATT for LTE capability, and ATT would have to be willing to sell it to other companies.
Even with ATT, you apparently have to get an LTE compatible SIM or you don't get that service on a phone.
ATT would rather have you as a direct customer than a prepaid customer.
Even with ATT, you apparently have to get an LTE compatible SIM or you don't get that service on a phone.
ATT would rather have you as a direct customer than a prepaid customer.
Not in the near term. Eventually, yes. Verizon doesn't allow prepaid customers to access LTE either (with the exception of tablet data packages). It's one of the last things they can hold over your head to keep you paying 2 to 3X as much (besides family plans...)
There's a possibility that AT&T can't block you if you have a LTE capable phone?
Back during the Edge days, I was able to use my Edge sim in a 3G phone, and got 3G speed.
So there's a possibility that cutting up and putting a StraighTalk sim into an iPhone 5 will get you LTE speed.
We'll have to wait till someone does that.
I help a friend get his iPhone 4S onto StraightTalk and side by side with my old iPhone, we got the same exact speed. It's really is AT&T service through and through. Pretty nice for $42-$45 a month, no tax, no contract.
Back during the Edge days, I was able to use my Edge sim in a 3G phone, and got 3G speed.
So there's a possibility that cutting up and putting a StraighTalk sim into an iPhone 5 will get you LTE speed.
We'll have to wait till someone does that.
I help a friend get his iPhone 4S onto StraightTalk and side by side with my old iPhone, we got the same exact speed. It's really is AT&T service through and through. Pretty nice for $42-$45 a month, no tax, no contract.
There's a possibility that AT&T can't block you if you have a LTE capable phone?
Back during the Edge days, I was able to use my Edge sim in a 3G phone, and got 3G speed.
So there's a possibility that cutting up and putting a StraighTalk sim into an iPhone 5 will get you LTE speed.
We'll have to wait till someone does that.
I help a friend get his iPhone 4S onto StraightTalk and side by side with my old iPhone, we got the same exact speed. It's really is AT&T service through and through. Pretty nice for $42-$45 a month, no tax, no contract.
Nope. You can cut the ST SIM to Nano size and use it with iPhone 5 but you will NOT get LTE access. Nor will any other devices using Straight Talk at this time.
trust me, I'm still with ATT because of my corporate discount.
Just got my 5s via ordering through ATT yesterday and am loving the phone and everything new other then the iOS7 which I already had.
Activating it last night with ATT assured me that I not only keep the corporate discount, but have unlimited data with ATT. My son has a phone too, I'll be buying him his 5s for his birthday in less than 2 weeks. But, you're certainly right Matt, if not for the corporate discount, I'd have gone elsewhere by now.
Untrue, I get LTE access with the new SIM card for Straight Talk...
Edit: Sorry, just realized this post was from 2012...