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T-Mobile $30 Monthly4G Play on 4S/5...

VolceOntra

VolceOntra

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 25, 2007
342
124
Is anyone using T-Mobile $30 Monthly4G plan....

Is anyone on it?

I'm really tempted to do this as I don't talk much on the phone but use the GPS/DATA a lot and this would be perfect.

There aren't a lot of talk about it in the forums so I was hoping someone could help me out.
 
The reason why there is little forum discussion is because their 1900MHz spectrum HSPA+ refarming project only covers a tiny footprint.

See the 4G refarming map.

I don't use the T-Mobile $30 Monthly4G plan, however I do have a third-party SIM that uses T-Mobile as an MVNO. I have tried one of the 1900Mhz HSPA+ towers (the one in Santa Clara, CA) with this SIM and their 1900MHz HSPA+ network works very well.

T-Mobile's reception quality has always been a bit weak in less populated/rural areas and I don't expect much improvement on that front.

Once T-Mobile has an adequate footprint in my area, I will switch to this offering and ditch my $45 Straight Talk service.
 
I'm on $30 plan it's amazing in NYC in areas where the release 10 equipment is in place and and 1900Mhz spectrum has been refarmed. Seeing much reduced latency and blazing fast throughout although its not 42mbps DC-HSPA+ it's only a single carrier 21mbps.
0FJWW.png
 
cvaldes said:
The reason why there is little forum discussion is because their 1900MHz spectrum HSPA+ refarming project only covers a tiny footprint.

See the 4G refarming map.

I don't use the T-Mobile $30 Monthly4G plan, however I do have a third-party SIM that uses T-Mobile as an MVNO. I have tried one of the 1900Mhz HSPA+ towers (the one in Santa Clara, CA) with this SIM and their 1900MHz HSPA+ network works very well.

T-Mobile's reception quality has always been a bit weak in less populated/rural areas and I don't expect much improvement on that front.

Once T-Mobile has an adequate footprint in my area, I will switch to this offering and ditch my $45 Straight Talk service.
Click to expand...

I agree. I'm on Straight Talk, too, and I plan on switching to T-Mobile when their refarming is close to complete.
 
I unlocked my 4S to try out the $30 plan, works sell expect for data speeds as mentioned above. Would be quite nice indeed with real 3G.

I also got a Galaxy Nexus to play with and the TMobile sim in that device just flies. AT&T 3G speeds suck, but TMobiles's are quite fast, fast enough anyway where I don't really need LTE.

That's my dilemma now, Galaxy Nexus at $30/month or iPhone 5 at $80/month.
 
VolceOntra said:
Is anyone using T-Mobile $30 Monthly4G plan....

Is anyone on it?

I'm really tempted to do this as I don't talk much on the phone but use the GPS/DATA a lot and this would be perfect.

There aren't a lot of talk about it in the forums so I was hoping someone could help me out.
Click to expand...

How can you get this plan? Is it available online?
 
JRoDDz said:
How can you get this plan? Is it available online?
Click to expand...

It's a Walmart-exclusive plan. It's available on Walmart's website I believe.

The reason for my confusion is that it says that they phones have to be T-Mobile phones purchased from Walmart, so I didn't know if they are locking out phones that don't meet that criteria.

Thank you for the help! It's available in my city so I'll totally consider it! I appreciate it.
 
VolceOntra said:
Unlimited Data (Throttled after 5 GB) & Unlimited Messaging, 100 minutes.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tmobile-30-Wireless-Airtime-Card/15443357




So, am I able to buy just a SIM card and put this in my phone, anyone know how that works?
Click to expand...

T-Mo doesn't have the nano-SIM yet so you can't just purchase that sized SIM. They sell an activation kit online for $0.99, but it's for a regular sized SIM, not even a micro SIM. For iPhone 4/4S, you can just buy the activation kit online and cut it. Not sure if you can cut a regular SIM to a nano SIM since I heard they were slightly different thickness. I could be wrong on that.
 
VolceOntra said:
Unlimited Data (Throttled after 5 GB) & Unlimited Messaging, 100 minutes.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Tmobile-30-Wireless-Airtime-Card/15443357


So, am I able to buy just a SIM card and put this in my phone, anyone know how that works?
Click to expand...

The T-Mobile "Prepaid SIM" and the $30 plan are two different things, you need both.

I ordered the .99 prepaid sim kit from Tmobile and ordered the $30 plan from Walmart online with email delivery. Walmart just sends you a PIN code basically.

When I received my Tmobile prepaid sim kit I just cut it down to a micro-sim and put it in my iPhone, went to tmobile online and activated the prepaid sim, asks for auth code, sim card number and imei. Takes about 2 minutes, then you plug in your Walmart PIN from the $30 plan and you're set to go.

There is also a website you can go to which will auto update your APN info on your cell phone, or you can plug in the tmobile apn info, Again, not too difficult.

Edit:

There are also ebay sellers that will sell you the prepaid sim already activated on the $30 plan. I did that as well as I was figuring this all out, never have used it yet but it was a real simple process.
 
VolceOntra said:
It's a Walmart-exclusive plan. It's available on Walmart's website I believe.
Click to expand...

No, it's also available on T-Mobile for new activations too.

Also, right now, it has free tethering included. It's not technically included, but since it's not specifically disabled on the iPhone, it works just fine.

BEWARE of one thing though: if you let the plan lapse for 60 days they will automatically roll you to pay-as-you-go and you'll be unable to switch back. That's probably not going to happen for most of you, but I have an unlocked iPhone 4 I'm only using for tethering via T-mobile and let it lapse recently.
 
How to cut Sims to micro or nano

Until tmo carries them in store, Here's how to convert any sims you want. I've done this several times for people. It's easy and it works. simply follow instructions...they key is make sure its 100% scale when printed. Click the *here* link after (downloaded), print, and follow instructions.

http://m.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=24489
 
milan03 said:
I'm on $30 plan it's amazing in NYC in areas where the release 10 equipment is in place and and 1900Mhz spectrum has been refarmed. Seeing much reduced latency and blazing fast throughout although its not 42mbps DC-HSPA+ it's only a single carrier 21mbps.
Image
Click to expand...

That's an amazing latency!
 
EIGHTYTHREE said:
Until tmo carries them in store, Here's how to convert any sims you want. I've done this several times for people. It's easy and it works. simply follow instructions...they key is make sure its 100% scale when printed. Click the *here* link after (downloaded), print, and follow instructions.

http://m.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=24489
Click to expand...

Even if T-Mobile carries them in store, only specific SIM cards from Wal-Mart or T-Mobile online can be activated with the $30 plan. Believe me, I've tried. You're going to have to cut the miniSIM you get from those places yourself.
 
dagamer34 said:
Even if T-Mobile carries them in store, only specific SIM cards from Wal-Mart or T-Mobile online can be activated with the $30 plan. Believe me, I've tried. You're going to have to cut the miniSIM you get from those places yourself.
Click to expand...

I know and my link I provided is a guide to show you how to cut them yourself. Am I missing something?
 
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