has anyone tried a factory-unlocked iphone on ST? you should be able to just modify the network settings manually on one of those. or does the fact its running on ATT somehow confuse the phone and make it use incorrect MMS settings etc?
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Walmart and Straight Talk Wireless Now Carrying iPhone 5
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You are correct EXCEPT for streaming video through YouTube!! I watch a lot of YouTube videos and Facebook videos so let me explain.
If you have an LTE iPhone and an hspa iPhone with 2gb I would probably go through my data faster on LTE when watching YouTube because lets say you wanna watch a video that's 2 min long and say 50 mb. The LTE iPhone would load 50 mb instantly wether I choose to finish the video or not! Now the hspa or 3G iPhone would load it as fast as its playing so lets say the video is dumb 15 sec in and I get off YouTube then the iPhone with hspa would of only loaded about 10 mb before quitting therefore you technically would use more data with LTE!!
I'm assuming it's the same in the US as it is here in Canada... when you're on contract we're only allowed to pick a plan costing a minimum $50 or $55. They've calculated that's how much they need to make off of you to be able to sell you a $650?$700? phone for $200. When you're off contract you're able to go on to ANY plan (even the crappy $30/$40 plans) but of course don't expect them to offer you that bit of advice, they want you to either re-sign your contract or be dumb enough to stay on the same plan that you got when you signed up.
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I've read about people with these insanely high monthly bills for their cell phones and I've never understood why do people pay so much unless of course you're a big power user and need all the perks that come with it.
Here in Canada about $60/65 gets you everything you need (everything most* people need). Even that I find too expensive and I'll be switching my girlfriend over to a unlocked phone on a cheaper plan when the 5S comes out.
That's exactly what happens.
The iPhone detects that an AT&T SIM has been inserted into the phone and applies the settings that AT&T has provided to Apple.
One of those settings disables the menu where you can configure things like cellular data and MMS.
I didn't realize Apple products and phones were status symbols, especially since relatively speaking, real status symbols can only be purchased by so many people. Anyone who saves a few hundred dollars can buy an iPhone even minimum wage workers and afford a sensible plan. Maybe back in 2007 it was when it first came out, but when even my niece and nephew play with their own iPhone 4s (no service), their rarity has ceased.
WalMart? So, what? It's a price-conscious store. Ever been to Sam's Club? Then you've essentially been to WalMart.
Exactly! I think of Apple as trying to make great products for ANYONE to want and be able to use.
When you have more bandwidth, Netflix sometimes switches you over to a higher quality stream, making you use up more data per minute of streaming video.So... when you have a bigger pipe you *MUST* consume more? If you don't watch netflix today, when you have more bandwidth, now you *HAVE* to watch netflix?
It's no longer has any status. A status symbol isn't purchased at Walmart with 0% financing OAC!
Can I have my own iPhone and buy just SIM?
Last year, when I spent holidays in US, I had huge problem with getting just SIM for my phone. I have tried also in Straight Talk. Actually I gave up. Is it posssible now? I live in Europe (Poland) and it is very strange for me, because we can get starter (just SIM) in almost all petrol stations and groceries.
Mirek
Last year, when I spent holidays in US, I had huge problem with getting just SIM for my phone. I have tried also in Straight Talk. Actually I gave up. Is it posssible now? I live in Europe (Poland) and it is very strange for me, because we can get starter (just SIM) in almost all petrol stations and groceries.
Mirek
If you can download 1 MB / second and they cap you at 2 GB, that's 2,000 seconds. Just over 33 minutes.
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You got that wrong. The price of subsidising your phone _is_ built into your monthly rates. However, after two years, when your contract runs out and you paid the full price of your phone, they _still_ continue to charge you. Which means the companies profit goes up by maybe $25 a month.
STRAIGHT TALK SUCKS! I recently talked a friend in to switching over so he would buy my old phone and he's had nothing but problems. ST will throttle you at the drop of a hat, especially if you try to stream youtube over their network. You have been warned!
Last year, when I spent holidays in US, I had huge problem with getting just SIM for my phone. I have tried also in Straight Talk. Actually I gave up. Is it posssible now? I live in Europe (Poland) and it is very strange for me, because we can get starter (just SIM) in almost all petrol stations and groceries.
Mirek
You can get a pre-paid sim from an AT&T store. I did this 2 years ago when I was on holiday there. The staff at AT&T weren't too knowledgable about it working in an iPhone but once I entered the correct APN settings (found online) it was fine.
Was a little expensive compared to the UK pay as you go, but worth it for me so I didn't get lost etc.
If I ever lose my FAN discount, I will be all over this. Right now I pay $70 a month for 450 talk (unlimited mobile to mobile w/ 3000 roll over mins), unlimited text, and unlimited web with at&t.
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t-mobile is the only US carrier where your monthly bill changes b.c of a subsidized phone. att/verizon/sprint your bill is the same whether you paid full price for your phone or got it at a subsidized price.
With those major 3 carriers it only makes sense to extend your contract if you would stay with them otherwise...saves you A LOT on your phone.
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t-mobile is the only US carrier where your monthly bill changes b.c of a subsidized phone. att/verizon/sprint your bill is the same whether you paid full price for your phone or got it at a subsidized price.
With those major 3 carriers it only makes sense to extend your contract if you would stay with them otherwise...saves you A LOT on your phone.
It's an illusion. Take a pie and cut it up into 4 slices. Take same pie cut it up into 16 slices. The pie's size never changes.
Buy a phone a full price and pay lower monthly fees. Buy a subsidized phone and pay higher monthly fees. Ultimately pretty much the same $ is coming out of your pocket, just different increments at different times.
Wide choice of carriers is a good thing, but let's not think one is less expensive than another. You get what you pay for.
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I'm not saying the contract carriers' plans are good for the consumer. I was just replying to the OP's assertion that paying monthly for a phone wouldn't fly, compared to subsidized pricing. I agree that it would be nice if the contract carriers would adjust monthly pricing after the contract was up in order to allow for the fact that the subsidy is over. But that would put more transparency in their plans, and they don't want that transparency.
However, let's be honest here. How many people really keep their smartphones much beyond the two year contract? Heck, a lot of people (most?) have trouble keeping theirs more than a year, and "need" to have the latest and greatest hardware as soon as it comes out.
Very interesting. Surely, they won't cut back on LTE.. there's no point in getting the phone without that.
And for an unlimited plan, this sure is a steal. (relatively speaking)
And for an unlimited plan, this sure is a steal. (relatively speaking)
Hi Arcady,
The $140 you mention includes the cost of financing the new phones on two contracts. The cost would only be $90 total a month if you had your own iPhone. In order to do a true comparison, you need to either factor in the cost of the phones on both companies, or neither on both companies. On AT&T, you paid at least $200 for the phone, so that needs to be factored in.
I've done the comparison on this before when I've considered going to ST when it was time to either renew my AT&T contract and get a new phone. It breaks down like this (in my case, I was looking at the 64GB, and my AT&T bill is around $150 for 2 lines):
AT&T:
Subsidized 64GB iPhone = $399 * 2 phones = $798
$150/mo for 2 lines (unlimited talk, text, 4GB shared) @ 24 month contract = $3600
Total Spend for phone and 2 years of service = $3600 + $798 = $4398
ST:
Unsubsidized 64GB iPhone = $849 * 2 phones = $1698
$90/mo for 2 lines (unlimited talk, text, 2GB per line) @ 24 months (month to month) = $2160
Total Spend for phone and 2 years of service = $2160 + $1698= $3858
Difference: $4398 - $3858 = $540/ 24 months = $22.50 savings per month
*updated above numbers to reflect two phones, as I originally posted with just one phone purchased*
So there is a savings if you go with ST. However, you wont get LTE (at least not that we've seen), and VVM has been known to be an issue (not sure if they fixed it, now that they are officially supporting the iP5 now). Guess it's a matter of what's more important. Saving $22.50+ a month, but some limited features, or full features but more money.
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Highly unlikely. Such services typically come with a full on block system wide so no LTE, no MMS, perhaps even no visual voicemail. Certainly no tethering, FaceTime on 3G etc
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Actually they could be quite. Because this is more how all services should be. You pay full price or installments that are a separate line item from phone service so once that part is over you are paying less. Unlike AT&T etc where you basically overpay for our device because that roughly $15 a month doesn't drop off or you pay it even if you bring in a full price phone.
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For the phone yes. But nothing in regards to the service.
Generally you would have paid for the phone up front. But on AT&T service you pay the same $89.99 and up a month as someone on subsidy but you have no phone to pay off to AT&T so your bill should be lower by like $15 a month
