Is Straight Talk the only AT&T MVNO?

[fuzzybabybunny]

I'm looking for a few things:

1. A phone that I can use internationally. So either a Pentaband phone or a Quadband phone. using AT&T's network (no T-Mobile). The Galaxy S3 is a good choice. The Google Nexus has some things I don't like about it (no TouchWiz and no MicroSD card expansion).

2. If I get a quadband phone, I have to use a carrier with AT&T.

3. I'd like to stream Pandora, watch YouTube videos, etc while connected to 3G/4G. I don't think I could consistently keep it under 100MB a day. I'd get kicked off of Straight Talk.

Any other alternatives? Is the only option to just go for a real AT&T plan?

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

sgs3 seems to be the way to go for you.

 

[jpeyton]

Straight Talk is the best AT&T MVNO based on coverage and price.

Since it's pre-paid with no contract, you can try it and see if it works for you. Order an AT&T compatible SIM from http://www.straighttalksim.com

Buy a month's worth of service. If you don't get booted for your data usage, continue enjoying Straight Talk and renewing your service every month.

If you use too much data and get booted, the most you're out is $45.

This is a much better option that locking yourself into a 2-year $3000 service contract with AT&T.

 

[kaerflog]

What is your strategy ??
Do you get bad coverage with T-mobile ?? Because all T-mobile phones are also international phones.
Pretty much all T-mobile phones come with the international 2100mhz 3G band.

 

[gorcorps]

Straight Talk is the best AT&T MVNO based on coverage and price.

Since it's pre-paid with no contract, you can try it and see if it works for you. Order an AT&T compatible SIM from http://www.straighttalksim.com

Buy a month's worth of service. If you don't get booted for your data usage, continue enjoying Straight Talk and renewing your service every month.

If you use too much data and get booted, the most you're out is $45.

This is a much better option that locking yourself into a 2-year $3000 service contract with AT&T.

Sounds awesome... I need to try this when I'm done w/ ATT. They're the best for service at work so if it's the same service for less money I'm golden.

 

[s44]

Does Straight Talk have LTE? Otherwise, might as well get the T-Mo S3, which has both AT&T and T-Mo bands (includes international 2100).

 

[jpeyton]

Does Straight Talk have LTE? Otherwise, might as well get the T-Mo S3, which has both AT&T and T-Mo bands (includes international 2100).

Straight Talk does not have LTE. You would need to unlock the T-Mobile S3.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

i think you should check where you are and how the data speeds are. HSPA+ on my SGS2 can get 10mbps at my gf's place in SF. It's a mediocre 2-3mbps at home, but that's good enough for me.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

What is your strategy ??
Do you get bad coverage with T-mobile ?? Because all T-mobile phones are also international phones.
Pretty much all T-mobile phones come with the international 2100mhz 3G band.

Ahhhh.... I'm so confused. There's so much fragmentation and different bands and standards that I can't keep it straight.

I want my phone to:

Be able to be used internationally.

Have a good (read: cheap) data plan while in the states.

Someone told me that T-Mobile's AWS network isn't implemented anywhere else but with T-Mobile, so I figured that T-Mobile phones are a no-go for me. I should be getting an AT&T phone then, or the AT&T version of the Galaxy 3 then, right?

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samsung_Galaxy_S_III

Middle of the page on the chart:

The SGH-T999 (T-Mobile Version) does:

850, 1,700 (AWS/Band IV), 1,900, 2,100 MHz
UMTS / HSPA+ / DC-HSPA+ for 3G

The SGH-I747 (AT&T Version) does:

850, 1,900, 2,100 MHz UMTS / HSPA+ for 3G *and* 700, 1,700 (AWS) MHz for 4G

The GT-I9300 (International Version) does:

850, 900, 1,900, 2,100 MHz
UMTS / HSPA+ (LG U+ variant CDMA2000 EV-DO Rev. A)

http://www.worldtimezone.com/gsm.html

It looks like every version and every country supports 2,100 MHz UMTS/HSPA+/DC-HSPA+

Does this mean that if I get the AT&T version of the GS3 I would still get fast HSPA+ on the T-Mobile network?

 

[kaerflog]

Ahhhh.... I'm so confused. There's so much fragmentation and different bands and standards that I can't keep it straight.

I want my phone to:

Be able to be used internationally.

Have a good (read: cheap) data plan while in the states.

Someone told me that T-Mobile's AWS network isn't implemented anywhere else but with T-Mobile, so I figured that T-Mobile phones are a no-go for me. I should be getting an AT&T phone then, or the AT&T version of the Galaxy 3 then, right?

I'll put this in a nutshell for you.
If you are getting good coverage with T-mobile then stick with T-mobile.
T-mobile uses 1700mhz for their 3g/4g for right now.
Att uses 850/1900mhz.
Most international uses 2100mhz for 3G.
But pretty much ALL smartphones for ATT and T-mobile will include the 2100mhz band for 3G.

Whats confusing for people is that most international phones include ATT 850mhz and 1900mhz 3G bands so people usually think international=ATT.
But if your plan is just able to use your daily phone when you are traveling, T-mobile smartphones will also have the 2100mhz 3G band.
Plus its easier to have a T-mobile unlocked too.

 

[ImDonly1]

No there are lots of other ATT MVNOs.

Straight talk
Red pocket
Jolt mobile
Airvoice
H2O wireless

If you want to stick with t-mobile, just stay with t-mobile or their prepaid. Get a pentaband phone and enjoy t-mobile + worldwide band support. The link you posted says the t-mobile gs3 has 850/1900/1700(aws)/2100 band support. So it can work on tmobile usa using 1700 aws bands, on att using 850 and 1900 bands, and in Europe/other countries using 2100 band.

Might as well get the t-mobile sgs3 version unless I am missing something.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

No there are lots of other ATT MVNOs.

Straight talk
Red pocket
Jolt mobile
Airvoice
H2O wireless

If you want to stick with t-mobile, just stay with t-mobile or their prepaid. Get a pentaband phone and enjoy t-mobile + worldwide band support. The link you posted says the t-mobile gs3 has 850/1900/1700(aws)/2100 band support. So it can work on tmobile usa using 1700 aws bands, on att using 850 and 1900 bands, and in Europe/other countries using 2100 band.

Might as well get the t-mobile sgs3 version unless I am missing something.

Right. So there are literally no downsides to getting the T-Mobile version of the galaxy s3, right? Even if I had at&t I shouldn't get the at&t version, right?

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

 

[s44]

AT&T gives you LTE on the Death Star's network.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

AT&T gives you LTE on the Death Star's network.

What. The. Hell. Is that the 700, 1,700 (AWS) MHz that I see under 4G? Verizon uses the *GSM* 700MHz band on their predominantly CDMA network for their 4G LTE? Can this get any more confusing?

So: considering that people complain that Verizon 4G LTE isn't widely available, and T-Mobile's HSPA+ band is already so fast it's considered 4G (what frequency is that BTW?), I should just ignore AT&T using Verizon's LTE and get the T-Mobile version?

 

[lothar]

LTE frequency bands between AT&T and Verizon are inoperable.
Don't get confused by them.

 

[ImDonly1]

What. The. Hell. Is that the 700, 1,700 (AWS) MHz that I see under 4G? Verizon uses the *GSM* 700MHz band on their predominantly CDMA network for their 4G LTE? Can this get any more confusing?

So: considering that people complain that Verizon 4G LTE isn't widely available, and T-Mobile's HSPA+ band is already so fast it's considered 4G (what frequency is that BTW?), I should just ignore AT&T using Verizon's LTE and get the T-Mobile version?

You won't get LTE on prepaid, at least anytime soon. So it should not matter to you.
Sprint will probably be the first to offer LTE to prepaid.

Based on what I posted above, if it is correct, I don't see why anyone would get the ATT version for use on prepaid. You should have to get the t-mobile version unlocked though, which probably shouldn't be too hard. If you pay full price, you will probably have to call them and ask for an unlock code.
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1588

 

[kaerflog]

What. The. Hell. Is that the 700, 1,700 (AWS) MHz that I see under 4G? Verizon uses the *GSM* 700MHz band on their predominantly CDMA network for their 4G LTE? Can this get any more confusing?

So: considering that people complain that Verizon 4G LTE isn't widely available, and T-Mobile's HSPA+ band is already so fast it's considered 4G (what frequency is that BTW?), I should just ignore AT&T using Verizon's LTE and get the T-Mobile version?

You're confusing yourself too much with all these bands.

 

[kaerflog]

You won't get LTE on prepaid, at least anytime soon. So it should not matter to you.
Sprint will probably be the first to offer LTE to prepaid.

Based on what I posted above, if it is correct, I don't see why anyone would get the ATT version for use on prepaid. You should have to get the t-mobile version unlocked though, which probably shouldn't be too hard. If you pay full price, you will probably have to call them and ask for an unlock code.
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1588

ImDonly1 is right in every aspect.

 

[kaerflog]

T-mobile Galaxy s3 seems to include ATT 850/1900 bands also so it make sense to get the T-mobile version.
ATT version includes LTE of course but your plan to go prepaid and you're not going to get ATT LTE on prepaid anytime soon.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

What's the advantage of a pentaband phone?

Comparing the

Galaxy Nexus:

2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 900 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100

To the Galaxy S3 (T-Mobile) Samsung SGH-T999:

2G Network GSM 850 / 900 / 1800 / 1900
3G Network HSDPA 850 / 1700 / 1900 / 2100

It looks like the HSDPA 900 band is the only difference. Is the 900MHz band that important for domestic or international use? I'm about to pull the trigger on the GS3. The stock Android experience is bullshit. I need TouchWiz.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

T-mobile Galaxy s3 seems to include ATT 850/1900 bands also so it make sense to get the T-mobile version.
ATT version includes LTE of course but your plan to go prepaid and you're not going to get ATT LTE on prepaid anytime soon.

The SGH-T999 (T-Mobile Version) does:

3G: 850, 1,700 (AWS/Band IV), 1,900, 2,100 MHz UMTS / HSPA+ / DC-HSPA+

The SGH-I747 (AT&T Version) does:

3G: 850, 1,900, 2,100 MHz UMTS / HSPA+
4G: 700, 1,700 (AWS) MHz

1. It looks like both versions support T-Mobile's HSPA+ "4G" network?

2. The T-Mobile version supports the DC-HSPA+, which doubles HSPA+ speed, allowing up to 21Mbit/s x 2 = 42Mbit/s. But 42Mbit/s is stupid fast. That's faster than my residential cable which is 30Mbit/s. 21Mbit/s is fast enough, right? Even if you have DC-HSPA+ you're not going to get close to even regular HSPA+ 21Mbit/s speeds...

3. Plus both support the T-Mobile 1,700 AWS network, but the AT&T version adds the 700MHz Verizon 4G network if I choose to go Postpaid AT&T in the future.

Based on this, isn't the AT&T version better?

 

[Strk]

T-mobile phones support the at&t/international 800mhz bands. It's other phones (at&t and international phones) tend not to support T-mobile's 3g/4g bands. That's what makes the Nexus so unique. You rarely find a non-branded phone that supports T-mobile's 3g/4g bands.

 

[kaerflog]

Facepalm.

 

[Thegonagle]

Geez! You really are confused.

First, separate the frequency (800 MHz, 1700 MHz, etc.) from the communication protocol (HSDPA, LTE, etc.) in your mind. Any protocol can technically use any frequency.

Second, don't get hung up on the number of G's. It's just a term the carriers use to mark the next generation of speed improvements. AT&T and T-Mobile both used to call their HSDPA networks "3G," but they've made some speed enhancements in the past 2-3 years, so they decided to call those same networks "4G." Older "3G" HSDPA phones also connect to the "4G" HSDPA network.

Third, AT&T's LTE is not Verizon's LTE. While they are the same protocol, an AT&T phone will not pick up Verizon's LTE signal (nor will a Verizon phone pick up AT&T's LTE signal). That's all you really need to know about LTE at this point. Since no prepaid account is allowed to access LTE on any carrier, you can put that info on the back burner. Bottom line: you don't need LTE this go round.

Finally, T-Mobile gets "4G" speed of up to 42 Mbps from HSDPA in part because they actually use 1700 and 2100 MHz simultaneously. They use one frequency for the uplink, and the other for the downlink. (I forget which is which, but this effectively lets them dedicate more radio bandwidth to each task, which makes "room" to move more data at a time.) This simultaneous frequency usage is why most unlocked or unbranded phones don't connect on T-Mobile's 3G/4G HSDPA network. If you wish to use T-Mobile, this needs to be considered. Something like the Nexus is just the ticket for a true multi-carrier world phone.


Hope this helps.