New Straight talk customer

[okra77]

I am new to ST i was convinced to get it for its price and for its unlimited plan. Now I realize after reading and studying the net for a little bit that it is not unlimited as far as web access goes it is limited to 2g and to no streaming. We previously had 4 phones on our account and were paying 290 a month for 2 unlimited lines. I just had a few questions about people who have had experience with ST.

1. what is the best verizon based phone to use for straight talk?


2. is ST good for customers who just talk text and use the web for facebook and twitter?

3. can you use a verizon based iphone on st?

4. where can you purchase good used phones for this service?

[pzwnyc]

You can only use the Verizon phones offered by ST. Which right now, I think only means the Proclaim; there may be others, but I'll leave it to other to point out.

ST is not for people who think of their phones as "Lifestyle Devices." For just talk, text, email, Facebook, Twitter, etc; go for it! The average American only uses about 1 GB of data. The ranting and beaching you read on HoFo are from those who are not average (among other things).

[cooter55]

welcome to the forum and st.yes it is good for twitter and fb.

[okra77]

Thanks so much for the information we have 2 phones presently on straight talk and the coverage is excellent at our new house. I have just heard horror stories about people using straight talk we have had it about a month and love it i just don't want to get dropped or lose my number. Our previous big carrier did not have service at our house its amazing that we have service now!!!!

[ChazzMatt]

Thanks so much for the information we have 2 phones presently on straight talk and the coverage is excellent at our new house. I have just heard horror stories about people using straight talk we have had it about a month and love it i just don't want to get dropped or lose my number. Our previous big carrier did not have service at our house its amazing that we have service now!!!!

I just ended by 2nd month with Straight Talk, on their BYOP plan. My wife and I both brought Galaxy Nexus phones to Straight Talk. I chose the "AT&T" sim, instead of the "T-Mobile" sim.

Most people will not be in trouble. As you see below, last billing cycle I used 4.113 GB of data. But like most people, most of it was over wi-fi at home and work. I used less than 500MB over Straight Talk's network -- which is actually typical of a 95% of smartphone owners.




If you have an Android, you can get the excellent free My Data Manager to help you out, to let you know how much data you are using (over mobile and wi-fi) and what is using it. (2nd best is 3G Watchdog.) With My Data Manager you can set multiple alarms to let you know as you are approaching certain limits -- like 100MB per day or 2GB per month (which are the rumored limits). You can even set a self-governor that will cut off data to your phone, as you reach the limits you set, so you won't go over and risk the ire of Straight Talk. I don't use that feature, but that's one reason it's superior to 3G Watchdog. With 3G Watchdog, you need another app for that functionality. My Data Manager has it all.


What most ST users are concerned about right now are two things:

1) ST advertises "unlimited" data, but after a certain point they shut off that data. However, as some idiots on here like to point out, ST leaves a minuscule dribble of data active, so technically it's not completely shut off. And thus, the idiots say that ST is still giving you unlimited data. Right...

That would be like your boss, withholding your regular paycheck and tossing you some pennies and saying,



"Hey, what are you complaining about? I still gave you some money! I still PAID you."

We would like clear limits stated, as that would be more honest. Other carriers/MNVOs do it. For instance, MetroPCS says first 2.5GB is fast, the rest will be throttled. (By the way, their LTE is like 3 mbps-5 mbps -- comparable to ST's HSPA+ on AT&T.



Yes, MetroPCS still claims UNLIMITED data. However, customers know the cap is really 2.5GB -- because Metro told them so.

The new Solavei MNVO says you can have 4GB of HSPA+ data before they throttle you. And they also claim "unlimited" data. But at least they tell you when you are going to be degraded.

I don't mind that fiction as long as you clearly tell me the limits of the so-called unlimited data! That is ALL we are asking of Straight Talk. There IS a number, they just don't want to tell us. There's at least a "fail safe" number. Be upfront, so we can know. Again, the data issue probably will never affect me personally, but I feel sorry for those people who are getting slammed by Straight Talk's false advertising.



2) Starting in mid-August there were massive rolling data outages for people on ST's AT&T service. You would have to reboot your device 2 or 3 times to get a data connection. Whatever was causing the problems, by now -- almost mid-September -- it seems to have abated. Yet during that time, Straight Talk customer service would never admit there was any problem. Some people thought they were being throttled to the minuscule data stream (see Point #1), but really it was a separate issue only affecting the AT&T sim customers.


______

Other than that, Straight Talk seems to be an excellent budget cell phone service.

[maestroteague]

I am new to ST i was convinced to get it for its price and for its unlimited plan. Now I realize after reading and studying the net for a little bit that it is not unlimited as far as web access goes it is limited to 2g and to no streaming. We previously had 4 phones on our account and were paying 290 a month for 2 unlimited lines. I just had a few questions about people who have had experience with ST.

1. what is the best verizon based phone to use for straight talk?


2. is ST good for customers who just talk text and use the web for facebook and twitter?

3. can you use a verizon based iphone on st?

4. where can you purchase good used phones for this service?

I've been on ST since mid-February, and I've been very happy with the service. I am on the AT&T sim, started out with an iPhone 4S. When I lost it on a roller coaster a few months ago, I replaced it with a Galaxy
Nexus from the Google Play store. A couple of your original questions weren't answered yet, so I,ll take a stab at it.
2. This is exactly the type of user that ST is aimed at.
3. Technically, you can use a Verizon iPhone, but not in the Verizon network. You can get a Gevey sim and use the AT&T sim and use it on ST on the AT&T network. Verizon iPhones are supposed to only use GSM sims overseas, but the Gevey sim allows you to use it on AT&T. The downside is that when apple updates the ios, you have to wait until there is an update to the gevey before you can update your phone, similar to a jailbreak. That said, if you aren't a techie kind of guy, this wouldn't be a good solution for you.
4. Well, craigslist is becoming a concern due to the new program with AT&T to reduce fraud and theft. The short version is that a large number of people have bought used phones, they work great for a month or two, then stop working because the seller reported it stollen or lost to collect on insurance. These phones then become blacklisted, and soon there will be one database with all the big four carriers where blacklisted phones will be unusable on any network. As a result, even though I've bought and sold many phones through Craigslist, I'm more wary now. eBay would be more stable when buying from a seller with many feedbacks. The Galaxy nexus from the play store is one of the best band for your buck androids, $350 + shipping and tax for a brand new device, and a pretty nice one at that. A number of members have mentioned cowboom.com, which is owned by bestbuy, as a good place to buy as well.

That's all for now. I need to go to bed LOL. More questions, just ask.

[okra77]

thanks so much for all the help i presently have an okay phone that works on verizon towers i am looking for one that is a little more up to date and works well with verizon towers.