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Save $ on cell service -- Ting Mobile / Solavei (+ other MVNOs) (1 Viewer)

Are chrome and gmail on android (specifically the nexus 4) the exact same as chrome and gmail apps on apple ?

 
Qwowned.

I've never used iOS but I believe they're the same mostly.

I love the nexus 4. Jaysus switched to one as well and loves it too

 
Yep, I'm a big fan of the Nexus 4.

I've never used the iOS version either - I have to imagine that they are, at least, a bit different though. I can post some Android screenshots if that would help.

 
Update:

Ting has been very helpful and proactive helping me to deal with stolen phone purchased via Glyde.

Folks at Glyde are not the best as they have to know they are operating a shady business. They know ahead of time that they are selling stolen phones. The don't do anything to check the phones they are selling. They just act as the middleman It wouldn't take much for them to check the MEID against lists of ones that are stolen, but they don't.

Purchased a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S2 via Ting. Will update again after I get up and running.

 
Hulk> I have confirmed that this works on T-Mobile MVNOs as well:

T-Mobile and MLB continue partnership, offer MLB At Bat for free
Cool. You're on T-Mo's $30 plan though, right?
yes, worked for me no problem ;)
How is GrooveIP working for you?
Well enough that I have not tried any alternatives yet.

I used 23 actual cell minutes in month 1. I am at 21 minutes about half way through month 2.

I think this plan may be a keeper.

 
Hulk> I have confirmed that this works on T-Mobile MVNOs as well:

T-Mobile and MLB continue partnership, offer MLB At Bat for free
Cool. You're on T-Mo's $30 plan though, right?
yes, worked for me no problem ;)
How is GrooveIP working for you?
Well enough that I have not tried any alternatives yet.

I used 23 actual cell minutes in month 1. I am at 21 minutes about half way through month 2.

I think this plan may be a keeper.
Cool. You using it over HSPA+ or just over wifi?

 
Hulk> I have confirmed that this works on T-Mobile MVNOs as well:

T-Mobile and MLB continue partnership, offer MLB At Bat for free
Cool. You're on T-Mo's $30 plan though, right?
yes, worked for me no problem ;)
How is GrooveIP working for you?
Well enough that I have not tried any alternatives yet.

I used 23 actual cell minutes in month 1. I am at 21 minutes about half way through month 2.

I think this plan may be a keeper.
Cool. You using it over HSPA+ or just over wifi?
I am still using the free GroVe IP app... which is limited to WiFi only.

 
Hulk> I have confirmed that this works on T-Mobile MVNOs as well:

T-Mobile and MLB continue partnership, offer MLB At Bat for free
Cool. You're on T-Mo's $30 plan though, right?
yes, worked for me no problem ;)
How is GrooveIP working for you?
Well enough that I have not tried any alternatives yet.

I used 23 actual cell minutes in month 1. I am at 21 minutes about half way through month 2.

I think this plan may be a keeper.
Cool. You using it over HSPA+ or just over wifi?
I am still using the free GroVe IP app... which is limited to WiFi only.
I've heard it has issues going over data anways. Don't recommend upgrading and it doesn't look like you need to anyways.

 
For those of you in more rural areas, you'll be pleased to know that in June AT&T is launching a new prepaid company of their own called All in One. They'll have a plan for unlimited mins/texts + 2GB of data for $50. Pretty good if you require that network. No LTE though, just HSPA+21.

 
Found a ics st phone for 99 that uses verizonso I'm giving it a try Haven't activated it yet but using it like a ipod touch till tomorrow. So far so good. Galaxy century is the phones name.

 
Hulk> Check out AIO Wireless... AT&T announced it yesterday, it is only limited availability during the the initial release but it looks like it is going to be a winner.

I'd sign my wife up for the $40 plan right now if I could.

 
Hulk> Check out AIO Wireless... AT&T announced it yesterday, it is only limited availability during the the initial release but it looks like it is going to be a winner. I'd sign my wife up for the $40 plan right now if I could.
Uh...scroll up.
 
Lol. Turns out their initial plans are not so good. Jaysus, that $40 plan is only for feature phones, so if you're wife uses a smartphone no joy. The next plan up is $55 for unl/unl + 2GB of "highspeed" data.

FYI, their "highspeed" data is throttled to 4MBps. You'll never get faster with them.

Honestly, as is, these plans are only a good deal for people forced by their location to be on AT&T's network.

 
(HULK) said:
Lol. Turns out their initial plans are not so good. Jaysus, that $40 plan is only for feature phones, so if you're wife uses a smartphone no joy. The next plan up is $55 for unl/unl + 2GB of "highspeed" data. FYI, their "highspeed" data is throttled to 4MBps. You'll never get faster with them. Honestly, as is, these plans are only a good deal for people forced by their location to be on AT&T's network.
:wall:
 
(HULK) said:
Lol. Turns out their initial plans are not so good. Jaysus, that $40 plan is only for feature phones, so if you're wife uses a smartphone no joy. The next plan up is $55 for unl/unl + 2GB of "highspeed" data. FYI, their "highspeed" data is throttled to 4MBps. You'll never get faster with them. Honestly, as is, these plans are only a good deal for people forced by their location to be on AT&T's network.
:wall:
There are still a bunch of AT&T MVNOs out there. What is your usage again?

 
(HULK) said:
Lol. Turns out their initial plans are not so good. Jaysus, that $40 plan is only for feature phones, so if you're wife uses a smartphone no joy. The next plan up is $55 for unl/unl + 2GB of "highspeed" data. FYI, their "highspeed" data is throttled to 4MBps. You'll never get faster with them. Honestly, as is, these plans are only a good deal for people forced by their location to be on AT&T's network.
:wall:
There are still a bunch of AT&T MVNOs out there. What is your usage again?
m on ST right now, probably gonna get a Tmo GS3 and switch over in a month or so. I hate Verizon with a passion (Ill never, EVER use Verizon. Ever.) and Sprint sucks here. I love AT&T and their coverage but their refusal to play along is gonna force me to jump ship altogether.

I need unlimited texts and 3+ GB of data a month, I have no idea how much talk time I use (probably between 500 and 1000 minutes), and price/feature wise Tmo looks to be my best option around here.

 
(HULK) said:
Lol. Turns out their initial plans are not so good. Jaysus, that $40 plan is only for feature phones, so if you're wife uses a smartphone no joy. The next plan up is $55 for unl/unl + 2GB of "highspeed" data. FYI, their "highspeed" data is throttled to 4MBps. You'll never get faster with them. Honestly, as is, these plans are only a good deal for people forced by their location to be on AT&T's network.
:wall:
There are still a bunch of AT&T MVNOs out there. What is your usage again?
m on ST right now, probably gonna get a Tmo GS3 and switch over in a month or so. I hate Verizon with a passion (Ill never, EVER use Verizon. Ever.) and Sprint sucks here. I love AT&T and their coverage but their refusal to play along is gonna force me to jump ship altogether.

I need unlimited texts and 3+ GB of data a month, I have no idea how much talk time I use (probably between 500 and 1000 minutes), and price/feature wise Tmo looks to be my best option around here.
Solavei is $49 a month for unl talk/text and 4GB of highspeed data (throttled past the cap). They're an MVNO on T-mobile's network. I use it in the DC area and download speeds are about 12-14 MBps typically. You can do hotspotting with them too. If you go with them, PM me or hit up the link in my sig as I give out free sim cards for them. Downsides with them is mostly that their call in customer support is donkey poo. But their forums have a lot of decent information.

The other cheaper option is GoSmart Mobile, a wholly owned T-mobile prepaid susiderary. Their plan is $45 for unlimited talk/text and 5 GB of 3G data. This data speed is capped at 900 Kilobytes per second downloads, so you're not even getting one 12th of the speed on Solavei. If you're typically a 3 GB user, this is probably wrong for you. But its cheaper. Also, no hotspotting.

Next cheapest is T-Mobile's uncarrier plan. $70 gets you unlimited talk/text and unlimited 4G highspeed data, either HSPA+42 or LTE, depending on where you live. Hotspotting is free up to 500MB per month.

 
(HULK) said:
Novice2 said:
Found a ics st phone for 99 that uses verizonso I'm giving it a try Haven't activated it yet but using it like a ipod touch till tomorrow. So far so good. Galaxy century is the phones name.
What carrier are you activating it on?
sshoulda capitalized ST. It's a straight talk phone. Activated and doing well so far. Good call reception and data speeds match what I use to get on my old Verizon phone. Now I'll just have to see if I get in trouble for the data usage Im use to using.
 
(HULK) said:
Novice2 said:
Found a ics st phone for 99 that uses verizonso I'm giving it a try Haven't activated it yet but using it like a ipod touch till tomorrow. So far so good. Galaxy century is the phones name.
What carrier are you activating it on?
sshoulda capitalized ST. It's a straight talk phone. Activated and doing well so far. Good call reception and data speeds match what I use to get on my old Verizon phone. Now I'll just have to see if I get in trouble for the data usage Im use to using.
good luck, let us know how it goes
 
You can now order the Galaxy S4 from Ting. Ships in 2 to 3 weeks. So, they're only a week behind Verizon, not bad imo.

 
Old situation: Was paying about $185 per month for two iPhones (3GS) and a crappy flip phone through AT&T. Was using about 200 total combined minutes per month of talk time, about 1000 total text messages, and very little data as we all have access to WiFi most of the day. Contract expired just over 18 months ago.

New situation: Expect to be paying about $70 to $80 for three refurbished Samsung S2 phones through Ting. I will update after a month or two. Got hooked up last night. Can't speak highly enough of Ting's customer service. When you call a person answers and they're helpful. The few times I exchanged emails with a rep I got quick replies.

Other details:

* We live just outside our city limits. Its just outside the range for Sprint in our area. If I head about 100 yards down the road towards our city I get 1 bar worth of reception. Its gets progressively better as I get closer to the city. To deal with this situation we bought an Airave. It works as a VOIP device for cell phones through your high speed internet connection. Ting sells them for $279 through their website, but I was able to purchase a new one for $56 through eBay. If you want to go this route and purchase an Airave be sure that the device is new in the box and is one from Sprint. If you buy a cheaper used one there's a chance that Sprint won't activate it. The process of setting it up took a couple of hours, but so far it seems to be solid. All the reviews I read on the web were positive.

* Liking the Ting web interface and mobile app. Easy to monitor your usage. Also, you can set up alerts that let you know when you are close to a limit that you can set for yourself.

* A negative: I bought a used HTC Evo through the Ting website when I first started contemplating this switch. The purchase actually wasn't through Ting. It was through Glyde. Glyde works as an intermediary for people that want to buy/sell used phones. Glyde doesn't regulate who sells what on their site. I ended up buying a stolen phone. I just barely made it under the 48 hour window to return the stolen phone. I wanted to play around with the operating system and such before I activated it. I got lucky here. My advice would be to avoid Glyde.

* I'm glad I went the refurbished route. All three Samsung Galaxy S2 phones we purchased look like new. They come with a new case, screen, power cord, and battery. We ported all three of our old phone numbers to these refurbished phones. Two worked well, but one had an issue. A Ting customer service rep walked me through the steps rather quickly to update the profile. Only took a few minutes.

* Wife isn't thrilled moving from the Apple iOS to Android, but I was able to show her that my new and old phones look nearly the same. Exact same apps set up the same way, but on a much larger screen. Also, she really liked how her iPhone worked with the bluetooth system in her car. The Galaxy S2 is supposed to work the same way. Hopeful we don't run into problems there.

Will update after a month or so. Super encouraged with the potential to be saving $100 or more a month.

Thanks HULK. Hope the couple of bucks they throw your way through the referral process buys you something cool.

 
Old situation: Was paying about $185 per month for two iPhones (3GS) and a crappy flip phone through AT&T. Was using about 200 total combined minutes per month of talk time, about 1000 total text messages, and very little data as we all have access to WiFi most of the day. Contract expired just over 18 months ago.

New situation: Expect to be paying about $70 to $80 for three refurbished Samsung S2 phones through Ting. I will update after a month or two. Got hooked up last night. Can't speak highly enough of Ting's customer service. When you call a person answers and they're helpful. The few times I exchanged emails with a rep I got quick replies.

Other details:

* We live just outside our city limits. Its just outside the range for Sprint in our area. If I head about 100 yards down the road towards our city I get 1 bar worth of reception. Its gets progressively better as I get closer to the city. To deal with this situation we bought an Airave. It works as a VOIP device for cell phones through your high speed internet connection. Ting sells them for $279 through their website, but I was able to purchase a new one for $56 through eBay. If you want to go this route and purchase an Airave be sure that the device is new in the box and is one from Sprint. If you buy a cheaper used one there's a chance that Sprint won't activate it. The process of setting it up took a couple of hours, but so far it seems to be solid. All the reviews I read on the web were positive.

* Liking the Ting web interface and mobile app. Easy to monitor your usage. Also, you can set up alerts that let you know when you are close to a limit that you can set for yourself.

* A negative: I bought a used HTC Evo through the Ting website when I first started contemplating this switch. The purchase actually wasn't through Ting. It was through Glyde. Glyde works as an intermediary for people that want to buy/sell used phones. Glyde doesn't regulate who sells what on their site. I ended up buying a stolen phone. I just barely made it under the 48 hour window to return the stolen phone. I wanted to play around with the operating system and such before I activated it. I got lucky here. My advice would be to avoid Glyde.

* I'm glad I went the refurbished route. All three Samsung Galaxy S2 phones we purchased look like new. They come with a new case, screen, power cord, and battery. We ported all three of our old phone numbers to these refurbished phones. Two worked well, but one had an issue. A Ting customer service rep walked me through the steps rather quickly to update the profile. Only took a few minutes.

* Wife isn't thrilled moving from the Apple iOS to Android, but I was able to show her that my new and old phones look nearly the same. Exact same apps set up the same way, but on a much larger screen. Also, she really liked how her iPhone worked with the bluetooth system in her car. The Galaxy S2 is supposed to work the same way. Hopeful we don't run into problems there.

Will update after a month or so. Super encouraged with the potential to be saving $100 or more a month.

Thanks HULK. Hope the couple of bucks they throw your way through the referral process buys you something cool.
Nice. Hope it works out well for you, particularly with the AirRave. I have no experience with those. And thanks for the $25, it'll help keep my wife's phone free all year :)

 
I only went through the last couple of pages, but my contract expires in a few months and was thinking of going this route... Is there a way to tell if a particular MVNO utilizes the Verizon network (pretty much the only network that works well where I live)

 
Ting is sprint and solavei is tmobile?

Any word on the new AT&T offering that is coming soon? Plans and supported devices?

 
Ting is sprint and solavei is tmobile?Any word on the new AT&T offering that is coming soon? Plans and supported devices?
yes and yes. And there are about fifty other ones too. Let me know your zip code, and the minutes, texts, and data usage for each line you have and I can start pointing you in the right direction and we can narrow it down on the finer points.Newest from at &t will be called AIO. Plan look less than awesome IMO. Read back a page for some talk about them. Any SIM based phone would work with them.
 
I'm sorry to ask such a dumb question, but:

I turned off my wi fi on my android phone today to see if the battery gets more life. But I am still receiving e-mail and Facebook notifications.

I thought that wi fi was the very thing that made these things possible? :bag:

 
I'm sorry to ask such a dumb question, but: I turned off my wi fi on my android phone today to see if the battery gets more life. But I am still receiving e-mail and Facebook notifications. I thought that wi fi was the very thing that made these things possible? :bag:
No. You have data on your phone plan they gets you these things when you aren't connected to wifi.
 
I'm sorry to ask such a dumb question, but: I turned off my wi fi on my android phone today to see if the battery gets more life. But I am still receiving e-mail and Facebook notifications. I thought that wi fi was the very thing that made these things possible? :bag:
No. You have data on your phone plan they gets you these things when you aren't connected to wifi.
I have a plan with unlimited text and data (+300 minutes talk) for $35 a month. What does the wi fi give me if I don't need it for the internet and for e-mail? Just faster?

 
I'm sorry to ask such a dumb question, but: I turned off my wi fi on my android phone today to see if the battery gets more life. But I am still receiving e-mail and Facebook notifications. I thought that wi fi was the very thing that made these things possible? :bag:
No. You have data on your phone plan they gets you these things when you aren't connected to wifi.
I have a plan with unlimited text and data (+300 minutes talk) for $35 a month. What does the wi fi give me if I don't need it for the internet and for e-mail? Just faster?
Faster and it uses less battery than using the data.

 
Question about Android phones...

Still learning the ins and outs of moving from an iPhone to an Android (Samsung S2). Situation is that my battery gives out really fast every day. Testing it out today to see what I should be able to expect.

All data services are turned off. Only WiFi is turned on at the moment, but I don't have the phone syncing at all. In my mind the phone is doing nothing but sitting there with only connection to Sprint turned on in case I get a text or phone call. Two hours after unplugging the phone this morning the battery is already down to 85%. Is this normal? Is it possible the wifi antenna is draining the battery even though its not doing anything? It seems a pain to have to turn the wifi on/off every time I want to use it to connect to the web.

 
Question about Android phones... Still learning the ins and outs of moving from an iPhone to an Android (Samsung S2). Situation is that my battery gives out really fast every day. Testing it out today to see what I should be able to expect. All data services are turned off. Only WiFi is turned on at the moment, but I don't have the phone syncing at all. In my mind the phone is doing nothing but sitting there with only connection to Sprint turned on in case I get a text or phone call. Two hours after unplugging the phone this morning the battery is already down to 85%. Is this normal? Is it possible the wifi antenna is draining the battery even though its not doing anything? It seems a pain to have to turn the wifi on/off every time I want to use it to connect to the web.
You bought a refurb, right? It may be worth purchasing a new battery to see how that performs. You should be able to find them for pennies from eBay via Hong Kong or something like that.Worst case scenario? you have a spare battery for when one runs low.P.S. yout situation seems a bit odd, but not unsettling
 
Question about Android phones... Still learning the ins and outs of moving from an iPhone to an Android (Samsung S2). Situation is that my battery gives out really fast every day. Testing it out today to see what I should be able to expect. All data services are turned off. Only WiFi is turned on at the moment, but I don't have the phone syncing at all. In my mind the phone is doing nothing but sitting there with only connection to Sprint turned on in case I get a text or phone call. Two hours after unplugging the phone this morning the battery is already down to 85%. Is this normal? Is it possible the wifi antenna is draining the battery even though its not doing anything? It seems a pain to have to turn the wifi on/off every time I want to use it to connect to the web.
You bought a refurb, right? It may be worth purchasing a new battery to see how that performs. You should be able to find them for pennies from eBay via Hong Kong or something like that.Worst case scenario? you have a spare battery for when one runs low.P.S. yout situation seems a bit odd, but not unsettling
Yes, it a refurb. However, the battery that came with it is new. I called Ting to confirm that it was a brand new battery. I've been looking on eBay for batteries and noticed there's a lot of aftermarket batteries available including some that have higher capacities.

 
I have a coworker with an S2. I'll ask him about battery life after lunch.

I am assuming that part of it is due to "new phone syndrome" ;) you may be killing the battery life with screen time. Try turning down the brightness as well.

 
I have a coworker with an S2. I'll ask him about battery life after lunch.I am assuming that part of it is due to "new phone syndrome" ;) you may be killing the battery life with screen time. Try turning down the brightness as well.
I understand what you mean about new phone syndrome, but yesterday was the day that worried me most. Went and played a round of golf yesterday morning. Tee time was 8:15am. Unplugged the phone at about 7am. Didn't use it for anything. Never touched the phone during the round of golf. Phone was dead when we finished our round. I'm not sure if I had the data stuff turned on or not, but regardless it just doesn't seem right.

 

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