Heads Up: Straight talk, Net10, tracphone removing AT&T offering. AT&T SIMS still available at walmart.com until sold out
 

I spoke with Straight Talk tonight about switching and was told that they recently have decided that AT&T will no longer be offered. Anyone with a current AT&T SIM will continue to receive service but once SIMs are sold out, no more will be offered.

So as a heads up to people who love ST or net10, might want to buy another backup AT&T SIM while supplies last at walmart.

Retail price may be a hot deal as sold out = gone for good.

Rep did not tell me why they were doing this but the straightalk website confirms it as you can now only order a T-mobile SIM.

Link to walmart SIM:

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Straigh...d/21550824

This post can and should be edited by users like you :)
 

AT&T Regular SIM - $14.96 [walmart.com] (OOS as of 2/25)

AT&T Micro SIM - $14.96 [walmart.com] (OOS as of 2/15)

AT&T Regular SIM with $45 AirTime Card - $54.96 [walmart.com] (OOS as of 2/25)

AT&T Micro SIM with $45 AirTime Card - $54.96 [walmart.com] (OOS as of 2/15)

More info can be found here:
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2120957


Straight Talk live chat log confirms SIMs are JUST out of stock... but who knows I guess? Live chat is found under their Support -> FAQ page at the top...


Online Help
Prime
Chat History
> Prime has entered the session.
> 12:40:30 PM You wrote: Hi! Are the AT&T Sim cards simply sold out, or are they no longer being sold by straight talk?
> 12:40:53 PM Prime: Thank you for visiting Straight Talk Wireless. I would be happy to check on that information for you.
> 12:41:01 PM You wrote: Great, thanks.
> 12:41:14 PM Prime: You are welcome.
> 12:44:34 PM Prime: I regret to informed you that, AT&T SIMS are not available at this time in your area, please check back within couple of weeks to see availability of AT&T SIMS. In addition, we do not have an update for its availability as of this time.
> 12:44:43 PM Prime: Is there anything else that I can assist you with?
> 12:45:01 PM You wrote: Are they sold out, or not being sold anymore at all?
> 12:45:40 PM You wrote: It is not just my area, but nationwide they are sold out. So I am wondering if there are no longer going to be sold anymore. Or is it simply just an out of stock issue
> 12:45:44 PM Prime: They are sold out.
> 12:46:10 PM You wrote: So straight talk is still selling them? They are just temporarily out of stock?
> 12:46:28 PM Prime: Yes, you are correct.
> 12:46:40 PM You wrote: Thank you. Have a good one.
> 12:46:49 PM Prime: You are welcome.
> 12:47:01 PM Prime: Have a wonderful day.
> 12:47:06 PM Prime: Thank you for chatting with Straight Talk Wireless. If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact one of our customer care representatives at 1-888-251-8164. For your convenience, our representatives are available Monday-Sunday from 8:00 AM to 11:45 PM EST.

I work at Walmart. The Straight Talk section was just updated, and all AT&T Android phones were removed. The only thing we still have is an AT&T flip phone. Note that each store carries different items, but I find it curious as we used to be half Verizon tower phones and half AT&T tower phones. Plus, the new ST iPhones are on Verizon's towers.

----
If you visit StraightTalkSIM.com to buy the SIM you will see that at&t is no longer an option there... only T-mobile and unlocked GSM phones. See Screenshot...

oh wow... well thats the end of it for me t-mobile is dead where am at....... time for pageplus cellular to rise up!

so if I buy this sim can I activate it or is it only good for a backup?

All SIMs can be activated but once gone, they're gone.

So these are kinda like twinkies

My guess is AT&T might have realized that it was cutting into their sales. $45/month if far less than going with AT&T directly, even if you have to put up with throttled data.

Thanks man

Do they sell micro SIMs for use on an unlocked S3?

I have 2 backup sims for 3 lines total. I would like to pick up a couple more AT&T sims to have on reserve just incase.

Forgive me - this question might sound odd since I'm not a Straight Talk or Net10 user. What's so special about this SIM card? You can get a blank SIM card from any AT&T store on the corner, usually for free if you ask a sales associate nicely enough. Or you can buy them separately from phone repair kiosks in a mall, or directly from AT&T themselves. SIM cards can be carrier unlocked by sales associates. So what's so special about this Straight Talk - AT&T SIM card? As long as you have the right version number, shouldn't they be able to activate any SIM card on the Straight Talk network?

Straight Talk offers $45/mo Unlimited Talk, Text, and some Data (4G HSPA+ only, no LTE). People who use a lot of data are throttled, seems to be around 2GB soft cap.

No AT&T plan can compete with that.

I believe only SIM cards sold for the purpose of using Straight Talk can be activated for use with Straight Talk. A SIM card that is serialized for another carrier will probably not work. This is not the same as a phone being locked to a specific carrier.

Thanks for the info OP.

You have to get a branded Straight talk sim an order to use straight talk. You can't get the att sim card to work with straight talk, although it is att service. That's how it works.

Wait till Tmobile pulls out too for their own gosmart mobile. ATT will follow and launch their own. Why pay an MVNO when you can pocket the money, do it yourself, and still not tarnish the contract side?

The only MVNO's left will be shitty 2G CDMA because no one wants it.

Try H2O ...mvno on ATT

There's no contract. SIM's are kind of pointless when you can't refill them. 30 days or initial balance load is about the max you can get.

If ATT is leaving tracfone, they will be leaving all MVNO's when their respective contracts end.

Because ATT doesn't want to loose money to themselves. My guess is Straight Talk was a way for them to use up their extra bandwidth and make some money on it. When Straight Talk started using more than ATT's extra bandwidth they cut the cord.

Just picked up two sims, one for my brother and another for my girlfriend. Glad I found out about this now otherwise I'd be screwed later on.

I don't think AT&T pays MVNO's and instead get paid by them for providing them with cell network bandwidth. It's not like Tracfone has any towers of their own. My guess is that AT&T was seeing a good deal of churn with Straight Talk directly marketing that AT&T phones could be used with there service. I've also heard that Apple doesn't like the idea of loosing that type of control too, so that may have played a part in it. This is why it's a big deal when Cricket and Virgin Mobile strike a deal to be able to sell there own iPhones.


Maybe if Softbank buys out Sprint and gets to it, we can see more MVNO's on their network. Ting is a good example of a CDMA network that utilizing Sprint's 3G and LTE bands. Ting, imho, is the poster child of what the future of network operators should look like.

Once activated the SIM is tied to an account that stays active for as long as you have a balance on it, which you can keep refilling so it can last much longer than 30 days. I, for example, am paid out till Aug.

I think you misunderstood my question, but I appreciate the response.

So it seems that Straight Talk will not rewrite your SIM card to make it compatie with their phones, so you must stock up on the correctly pre-formatted cards before they're sold out.

FYI for nyone who doesn't know - SIM cards can be reflashed to hold any type of data. You can convert an AT&T to T-Mobile, to a "carrier test" ID, or just completely erase it to hold your own data. You used to be able to purchase SIM writers on EBay, but I think US laws have gotten extremely strict. Ask your friendly neighborhood cell repairman to see if be can customize your SIM for you ;)

nevermind. My question was answered up here^. Cool deal on these twinkies

I remember when u could reformat them on any carrier

Is there a micro sim available, or can these be cut to size for a t-mo Note 2

Thanks grabbed two.

Live in exburb where att and vzn are the only two realistic choices.

Tracfone profit is very easy money (especially today) left on the table by ATT. That is what I meant by that. $5 says an ATT owned subsidiary will launch soon. MVNO's really don't have a place anymore.



Virgin Mobile is owned by sprint.

Sorry cant get link to work right mobile browser.

You can google walmart straighttalk micro sim.

I suppose that is one way of looking at it. The issue isn't writing to the SIM card, but having the serial number that is already in the Straight Talk system ready for activation. Just like a gift card or a credit card, the medium isn't as important as the data on the strip that matches the data on service's side.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Straight-Talk-Post-Paid-Micro-SIM-AT-T-Bring-Your-Own-Phone-Card/21550826

Here is the MICRO Sim link

Can we buy these instore at Walmart or they just available online only?

AT&T will still have the "advantage" of offering subsidized phones. Most of us SD'ers know it works out cheaper to pony up for the unlocked phone and pay far less every month, but the average person might not be ready to drop $500+ for a Galaxy S3 or iPhone 5, even if it works out cheaper in the long run.

T-Mobile reportedly is going to do away with phone subsidies, so we'll see how it plays out, AT&T may still have a niche.

So there is no micro sim for T-mobile from ST? I thought people were able to use ST with their Tmobile S3. If so they would need the micro sim for that phone. I don't see it listed on Walmart's site.

I think online they do, but eitheway people could easily just use micro sim cutters.

Online only.

I'm on Virgin Mobile's $35 plan and the 300 min. are killing me. I might actually consider this Straight Talk for AT&T later down the road. Is this possible? Can I activate let's say, 1-2 years from now on a GSM phone? Also, which is better service and quality? AT&T or T-Mobile? Thanks.

My question would be if they're not going to sell AT&T cards anymore, when are they going to cancel service on us AT&T Straighttalk users? I just started last month and bought a 6 month extension. Buying extra cards now may do no good at all.

1-2 years from now is a long way to go; that would depend if Straight Talk's still in business and if they still support ATT at that time...

Suggestion .... For AT&T / Straight Talk user ... If your going to buy a spare Sim consider purchasing Straight Talk AT&T Compatible SIM w/ $45 AirTime Card Bundle [walmart.com] ($5 Savings). Use Air time for current cell, save SIM for backup / next Straight Talk AT&T Cell phone purchase. But this does beg the question .. Will Walmart offer / stock AT&T cells in the foreseeable future?

Quick question... If I activate an att sim and use that, bt then after a while i get a new phone and get a Tmobile sim, if I saved the att sim, could I go back to it?

What are the chances that Straight Talk will be sending out T-Mobile SIMs to all of it's ATT SIM customers once this contract with ATT ends? Maybe buying out these SIMs is a waste of money...

Good point. Meh, I think I'll hold off on this and save $15.

thx for the heads up, will order a micro for the GF while her contract isn't up for a few more months.
I helped a friend switched from AT&T last week, good timing on our end

The root of the issue is that it's AT&It's service and AT&T wanted to sell it, at a lower price, to a more "price conscious" crowd. Now that it's getting popular with the ignorant masses, they want to kill it.

Its kinda like tailors, they raise their price based on the customer's ability to pay, not the amount of work needed. A suit, is a suit, is a suit, and the price always matches the shoes.

Feel free to skip trying to understand the unclear tailor analogy

Update: don't panic, they are just out of stock

I was planning on switching from ATT to ST also, but this is risky.
ST is not known for their great customer service to start...activating this a few months from now may be a nightmare.:sadwalk:

I was switching from regular sim to a micro sim I had laying around, both ATT branded.
The micro sim was accidently sent to me when the iPhone4 came out. It was like 6 months old..but could not be activated with the numbers I read from the back of it.
ATT had to send me a fresher micro sim by mail.

Thanks! Ordered one for my Grandma, who's planning on moving soon and switching to my old iPhone 4 and ST, from her landline.

Any way to get free shipping ? each sim cost its own shipping cost wtf.

I think they are close to Ho Ho's:bounce:

Ah, good point!

Yea.. grind it down
or purchase a cheapo micro sim cutter on Amazon.
I've got one.. perfect.

Link [amazon.com]

I am currently one of the old school ST AT&T users, I am using a Nokia e71 SIM in an iphone. If something happen to my sim (iphone gets stolen).. Will this suffice as a backup sim for me? it would keep my current number and everything?

2 sim cards total $38 including taxes and shipping

honestly this is the worst price I ever seen for sim cards... I am still holding back from pulling the trigger and hoping ST will soon resume selling ATT sim cards.

ATT finally ate small fish. They should realize their troubled past. There was article about people going to prepaid and that pushed att n apple. Looks like results of some meetings are here. Soon we would be forced to use 2g speeds if we choose prepaid and 4g would be at premium with contracts. I am pissed to know this.

I am planning to switch to some MVNO once my contract expires in May. Will it work if I buy this SIM right now and activate in May?

hm, $3 for shipping, do they have these in the store?

Yeah, that's what I thought, too. It costs the like 55 cents to mail this. WhereTF is the free ship to store option?

You are buying a "gift/credit card" for a store that is going out of business. Stockpiling these is a waste. Service will be degraded/throttled and you will get bombarded to "upgrade" to a tmobile SIM (for $$).

Tailor analog makes a lot of sense actually :)

if I already own a SIM, will I be able to continue the $45/mo deal? Should I be upgrading to the yearly plan if I want to stay with Straight Talk?

How come most of you want this ATT/ST sim card? Is ATT the only service in your area? I am just wondering because i know many people who complain about ATT's reliability. There are others like Simple Mobile MVNO of Tmobile, Boost Mobile of Sprint, and Page Plus of Verizon. So how come a lot of you want these sims? I just want to understand

I'm betting high.. lets face it ATT and Straight talk's contract was more than likely not renewed maybe because like everyone is saying ATT doesn't want their user base switching to the deal. Straight talk will surely try their best to keep the current users by offering T-Mobile sims for free to those already with them, eventually ATT service under Straight talk will end no matter..

My dad in fact just got straight talk under att just like 10 days ago haha.. Me I went with T-Mobile's 30 dollar plan.. even though I took a coverage hit its not bad in town and as long as I don't head out west Texas I should be fine.. that and I didn't care about 100 mins since most of my friends and family txt anyways..

that being said the Sims that don't get activated that people are buying to think they can use it 6 months down the road.. Id be careful the service will shut off sooner or later and all Straight talk can do is offer money back and or switch you to T-Mobile..

At the same time this is good for T-Mobile lol! they need that extra money to build out their network anyways and hopefully ill get Edge or 3G/4G after the reframing is done.. cause to tell you the truth GPRS is just horrible

Once Ma-Bell always Ma-Bell..

that is exactly why I switched to T-Mobile I'm tired of ATT and Verizon's crap.. they want you to pay a arm and a leg for everything.., T-Mobile and Sprint are way smaller but hopefully they can grow as soons as their mergers and networks get beefed up.. The day I see ATT fall will be a amazing one! lol

Relax. They'll get them back. No need to hoard.

lol repped

AT&T is the only service that works at home - I live in what seems to be about a 3-4 square block dead zone for Sprint (without their booster) and T-Mobile. Straight Talk is the best deal for my needs (more than 100/300 voice minutes and > 1GB - not slow-ass Sprint 3G - data), particularly w/the ATT network.

If this is a permanent change, then that really erodes at Straight Talk's value for those who can't rely on T-Mobile's network, TMO's LTE networking coming online later notwithstanding.

agreed, T-Mobiles LTE network will be great but prob is T-Mobile themselves don't cover all of the USA.. AT&T and Verizon do easy, T-Mobile's LTE is only suppose to be done in urban areas first with a few rural but that's to be determined by their people..

after the reframing process on T-Mobiles network maybe some people will move to their service.. others wont because of the hit of coverage..


good thing is LTE(possibly) and HSPA+ on T-Mobiles beats the crap out of AT&T's but again its limited to the areas that get it.. here im hopeing for something better than GPRS, which a rep told me that most if not all GPRS locations will be reframed, and that they are prob just waiting on the merger to finish (since Metro-Pcs is in my town) to push 3G to my phone and what not..

Wow you must be in the boondocks, just 2G with TMobile?

I've tried both company's SIM cards with Straight Talk and while TMobile had 5 bars 100% HSPA+ signal in my house I had to go with ATT. I've found that the ATT SIM will allow the phone to roam differently and I'm able to get better data service when I'm in some rural areas that I hunt out of. The TMobile SIM on the other hand would roam, but didn't allow me to have any data access except on the TMobile network. So.. if I'm forced over to the TMobile SIM I'll probably stick it out until I'm sick of my Galaxy Nexus but eventually have to get on with another carrier.

http://blog.pe.com/watchdog/2013/...-complete/

Don't know whats true and whats BS. But I grabbed a micro just in case, I will need one within the next month.

I hope this isn't a "we lost our lease", oops, we found our lease, sorta thing..

Are people getting backups for if their phone is lost / stolen, or do these sims sometimes go bad?

This is just as bad as the idiots that rush to the supermarket to stock up on food when the weatherman erroneously states there's a storm coming

Thats what I was wondering. I cant imagine ever needing a new SIM, but I guess some people have situations where it may be warranted.

I am VERY surprised this has taken this long, I think it is due to their commercials. Once you see one of those the question is right there, why would they be able to use everybody elses services for less? Even though it is less, it is very cool to have your phone ROAM into anothers service and to much like right. I have very much enjoyed the getting along of services but this was only an obvious changa comin'. Good things ALWAYS end, unfortunately....

For those of you considering Net10 as opposed to StraightTalk, SIM cards in all three sizes are available on eBay for $0.99

I am biding my time until my Sprint contract is up, and I just ordered $10 worth of SIM cards in various sizes on net10.
I am sick and tired of Sprint promising me 4G is coming, and then selling me a WiMax phone, and then telling me that they changed their plans, and theye going with LTE, but I should keep paying a $10/month 'premium data charge' for 1G speeds which they have the audacity to call 3G

$3 shipping per card, uhhh wut

I couldnt live with 2gb cap, I used 10gb last month,

I thought the main carriers have to lease their lines to these smaller companies under the law.

Tmobile reception is really shitty where I live and I want GSM phone so AT&T is the best way to go especially if you have iphone. Dont believe tmobile with their 4G coverage on iphone for major cities, its all lies. I used to have tmobile and 99% of time i could only get Edge speed except when driving on the freeway then i get 3G

can anyone recommend a small, cheap, reliable, smart phone to put these in? I am a complete noob here, but I just got yelled at for the misuse of my work phone... lol

i have enough refill cards to be good until april of 2014. hope it wasn't a waste of money. kind of want to get a micro sim just in case. i could get a sim cutter but feel like i'd mess it up.

from my reading, on HOFO and other sites, ATT sim cards WILL be returned.

The sky is not falling.

Bought one of these about a week ago when I heard the news and just got it in the mail. It has the At&t APN settings included with the paperwork so its the real deal. I wish they had ship to store on this item would have saved me a few bucks.

Now I just have to wait a few months for my Verizon contract to end then I'm switching over.

Guys AT&T is still, on st.

bingo!!!

I'll take shitty 2G for the right price.

Yes, there has been nothing definitively stated that AT&T service is gone for good. Further more, it is possible that ST would have to sunset the AT&T service for current users too at some point, making the rush for SIMs somewhat moot (if it turns out AT&T was pulling out).

It has also been rumored that ST is simply changing the way the sims work (modifying the APN settings , getting rid of the ETF loophole).

You'd be surprised. I have gotten a number of the free T-Mobile SIM and MicroSIM cards delivered and they are thick, heavy padded envelope packages. They've got included paperwork, with one thick booklet for terms, etc. It's ridiculous.

"Extra bandwidth" :lmao:

This is bad...I am on PP and was planning to switch to ST since they had ATT network....so what other options do we have beside PP that are little cheaper and on Verizon/ATT network??

Thanks! My friend had ordered a phone just to use ATT straight talk. Hope the service will last a while.

The sky is not falling. MVNOs will remain MVNOs. So they will continue to sell the bandwidth obtained from the gods. Note that the link by the OP is about for a SIM that is meant for unlocked phones. (Note: it says "UNLOCKED PHONE ACTIVATION KIT"). Unlocked phone is not restricted to any carrier so you really don't need a carrier compatible SIM.
Its illegal to use unlock hack for the phones. Well that does not mean you cannot unlock your phone because you don't need hacks to unlock the phone. Just call the carrier and have them unlock it for you for free. Yes they do it without hesitation for the phones that are no longer bound by the contract agreements. Use the IMEI and call the carrier to verify that the phone is out of contract if you are buying a used device.
The compatible SIMs matter only in case of locked down phones not unlocked phones. And what is being sold is meant for UNLOCKED PHONES not for a carrier specific phone. So no reason to hoard these "UNLOCKED PHONE ACTIVATION KIT" SIMs. Check for ATT compatible SIMs if they are still available. If you are out of contract and plan to switch to ST calll your carrier to get your phone unlocked and switch to ST using this kit peacefull/legally.

is there an expiration date on activate for these SIMs?

For $10 or $20 more you can get 1200 minutes or unlimited respectfully on Virgin

I have an (ebay purchased) HTC Incredible 2 running on PP. Best network coverage and it rocks!

Virgin, Boost, ATT, Tmobile, Metro all have crap coverage around the US. If you stay put they are ok, but again..PP rocks!

Straight Talk will only activate its service on Straight Talk's own SIM cards. It's not a technical constraint, it's a business constraint.

Why do you care for the expiration? You don't need to hard them.

TMobile is the best carrier if you spend most of your time in a city. If you see slow 3G speeds from them its likely that your phone can't handle HSPA+ that hits throughput up to 42 MBps, faster than most home cable connections.

Unfortunately they have no towers outside of major cities so you are stuck with voice roaming onto AT&T towers pretty much.

...but isn't it true that if you put the T-Mobile SIM into your unlocked phone, you will still only get 2G on AT&T? I think the point for these folks is to keep 3G coverage on AT&T's network, even if something happens to their current SIM card.

I'd like to have a backup in case I drop my phone in a lake or something.

There are conflicting info, so will ST continue to sell ATT sim cards, yes or no?

Not sure I understand your point. If you are using Straight talk you will need ST SIM. If T-Mobile you will need T-Mobile SIM and so on. ATT compatible SIM from ST is still Straight talk SIM not ATT's. It is meant for ATT locked phones activation but it is still Straight talk service. You may get ATT tower coverage but that is not guaranteed but you cant tell if its ATT's tower of T-Mobiles.

Do these SIM cards actually go bad at any point? Like is there a lifespan to which they break down? Otherwise if you have an AT&T one you should be in good and i don't understand people saying they are stockpiling them? I just purchased one to use for an Nexus 4 and haven't activated yet but plan on doing it over the next 3 days. T-mobile, sprint is dead in my area.

I don't think so. A SIM possibly does not determine the 4g or 3G coverage. Its the ability of the phone and the nearest tower that it is communicating to.

And only if T-Mobile has a roaming agreement with AT&T for that region.

So if you drop your phone in the lake. You either buy 1. an unlocked phone OR 2. buy a used phone out of contract and unlock it from the carrier.
In any case you don't need carrier specific SIM. Btw OP is about "UNLOCKED PHONE ACTIVATION" regardless of ATT compatible or T-Mobile compatible.
I would rather have a generic SIM than compatible SIM. That way you get the best speed on the nearest tower it is communicating to and not restricted to carrier specific frequencies.

Also with this sim you get free ATT wifi

You don't know what you are talking about.

You can't get a GSM phone activated on AT&T via Straight Talk or Net 10 without a Straight talk branded SIM card for a specific carrier. If you lose the SIM then you are out of luck. There is no "generic" SIM card for straight talk. The AT&T ones will be no more after this.

After this you can only buy TMobile. Many people want AT&T instead of TMobile for the much better coverage.

If you lose your Straight Talk SIM you need a new one. If you de-activate your line or change your number, Straight talk doesn't let you re-use the same SIM - the existing one is trash and you NEED a new one.

Sorry if this is dumb, but i keep hearing you guys say you have "PP". What service is this? I have a jailbroken (had to to switch) iPhone 4 with a microsim that allowed me to switch from AT&T. I live in a small town, so I doubt "PP" would cover my area, but a backup plan is not a bad thing to have.

Straight from Straight Talk Rep on Facebook.

"Ashley ST Hi Tara. Straight Talk Wireless is not selling SIM cards that are compatible with AT&T devices at this time. We’ll bring them back as soon as we can and will work to keep you up to date on this issue."

This is 100% false. The SIM is for either TMobile or AT&T and which one you have determines which prepaid network you will have access to. Please stop posting on this thread because you are spreading inaccuracies.

Please see the coverage maps in this thread:
http://www.howardforums.com/showt...-8-16-2012

pageplus

Page Plus

What is the "ETF loophole"?

It wouldn't surprise me if the lack of availability couldn't be chalked up to the "Nexus 4 effect."

wasn't Verizon network available on Straighttalk?

Page Plus. They are resellers of Verizon prepaid coverage (an "MVNO"). It uses a different technology so you need to have a Verizon phone (or a Sprint phone that handles Verizon's frequencies "flashed" to work with Verizon).

There's 2 main technologies used for cell phones so in general, so in general a phone is GSM (AT&T and TMobile) or CDMA (Sprint and Verizon). Some phones could have multiple radios so they work across networks or some may support only certain bands/frequencies so full functionality is only available on one (your AT&T phone may get voice and 2G on TMobile but not 3G).

These 4 companies are pretty much the only companies that have their own equipment in towers that they own or lease from private parties.. AT&T, TMobile, Verizon and Sprint.. (well, there's Cricket too in some areas). If you pay for cell service from another company you are just buying it from a re-seller (who may offer pricing options that are cheaper for you than buying direct).

The easiest thing to do if you want to save money and have a phone that's out of contract is to look at this list and find an MVNO that covers your carrier:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List..._operators

my cdma moto defy xt bought from StraightTalk got poor signal in upper NY. But if i transfer to att simcard using my other phone, then this Moto phone become useless right? Any way to let both the att sim and current cdma moto work in the same time?

Tks!

This, plus Cricket runs a large portion of their network off of sprint (with a few of their own towers here and there). In fact, Sprint has many MVNOs.

Dear everyone, take a chill pill!

My theory... is that the Nexus 4 is back on sale and lots of people are buying ST AT&T sim cards. Due to unexpected demmand they are out-of-stock, and there is nothing to worry about.

The 2-3 tech sites that have gone on record about this are stating that they are simply OOS. I haven't seen anyone come out and state that the SIMs are gone for good. However, it was easy to reach that conclusion because ST just ripped all mention of AT&T off the site, implying that the relationship had been severed.

Even if ST was going to stop offering AT&T, it would make sense that they would even put a end date on current accounts too (which would make hoarding SIMs moot anyway).

I live in Austin, TX. A major city i guess? I switched to AT&T while my gf is still with Tmobile and almost everywhere we go I have better phone reception than her. And I guess the iphone just hates tmobile, EDGE is slow as fck

Look on Cowboom for sub-$100 AT&T phones. Today only use coupon Snake2013 for $8 off of $88 or higher.

http://www.cowboom.com/product/887310

http://www.cowboom.com/product/1063601

Although the Atrix 4G is the option I would recommend if you can install a custom ROM. Unfortunately Cowboom recently increased the price on these.

whats your price limit???? 100? 150?

Pantech Burst -100 via ebay
Pantech Flex- 150 via ebay
Iphone 3g - 50 (gamestop just had a sale ad is on slickdelas)
Iphones 3gs 90 via gamestop
Atrix 2 135 via cowboom

there is a huge list.

I have t-mobile's $30 a month plan and have been contemplating about switching to straight talk, for that reason.

The only thing is it true you cant stream on straight talk? Someone said they boot you off if you stream music and or videos even if you have a 2gb limit?

Some people don't need 4G data if they have good wifi coverage. So CDMA is the best option for some. Where I am, Verizon has the best coverage, so CDMA (Page Plus) is ideal and cheaper than Straight Talk.

Good call on the Gamestop sale. $50 for a cheap iPhone would work.

The Straight Talk terms of service explicitly prohibit the streaming of audio and the watching of videos.

Call the ST REP (painful I know) and they will send you a replacement compatible to the one you originally had. I dont see a reason to hoard on to carrier specific SIMs unless they are dropping the customers on that carrier altogether.

Interestingly I have a very old go phone number with a 2G SIM that put on a 4G phone. The network shows 4G. Makes me think that the phone is experiencing a typo.

I wonder if I can buy one as an backup and not activate it til the day my current plan is over?

I'm on sprint so I already do!


(though not for the right price)

I don't get it. My I phone is factory unlocked (originally ATT version). What will stop me for getting a straittalk for T-Mobile sim and use it?

Questions to those who have it. I googled a few and people have conflicting answers.

For AT&T Plan

- Does it provide conditional call forwarding?
- Does it provide LTE (I guess not)
- What is 4G limit per month
- How much is each international sms (SimpleMobile provides them unlimited free)

Thanks for your help!

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2...768,00.asp

Now i'm not sure what to do. I like the cheap price and i dont use that much data but it seems they are shady with the TOS on their site compared to PR statements.

Possibly T-Mobile speeds in some areas.

That's because each carrier has their own 4G network and you are connecting to the 4G network of whatever carrier your SIM is tied to. Also some phones show 4G for HSPA+ access.

You get HSPA+ but not LTE. Whether HSPA+ is considered "4G" is up for debate.

You get "unlimited" but many customers report being throttled down to very slow speeds after consuming over 1GB a month or more than 100MB in a day. StraightTalk is kind of shady here and doesn't provide any specific information on when you will be throttled.

The reasons you might not want to use a Tmobile sim are that TMobile provides poor rural coverage or that your phone may not support the bands required to access TMobile 3G.

The coverage issues I understand, but my unlocked 4s should be capable to get all the bands t mobiles or any other gsm career has to offer, no?

So this is just an overreaction, no?

I have locked ATT phone so if they really do drop ATT service and go with TM I'm SOL right?

I currently have a Galaxy SII on the Tmobile 5gb plan but would like to switch to this StraightTalk AT&T plan. Any advice on how to make this switch? Should I purchase the Unlocked phone activation kit then unlock the phone? <- Not that I would do that now that it's illegal ;)

Mostly no. AT&T iphone doesn't support TMobile's 1700MHz band.

Tmobile has rolled out some 1900MHz towers to support unlocked AT&T phones, but your coverage is going to completely depend on where you live. If you are outside of a supported area you will be stuck on 2G.

Tmo doesn't seem to have a coverage map for 1900MHz coverage but this blog post from december seems to indicate: Bay Area, Seattle, Atlanta, Minneapolis
http://blog.t-mobile.com/2012/12/...nneapolis/

ST is out of both micro sims and regular sims for ATT. Not many folks willing to cut up a regular sim so it fits into a micro sim which is what the Nexus 4 takes.

If the reason is that ST "ran out" of ATT sims one would think they would simply list it "OOS" instead of yanking the entire option off the website.

I have no idea what the contractual obligations are between ATT and ST regarding it's current customers or what happens if they decide to sever their relationship. Maybe they smooth things out. Or they cannot and ST either gets to keep servicing their current ATT customers or force them to "upgrade" to T-Mobile based service.

Definite possibility that buying extra sim cards is a waste of money.

can anyone answer this?
I am currently one of the old school ST AT&T users, I am using a Nokia e71 SIM in an iphone. If something happen to my sim (iphone gets stolen).. Will this suffice as a backup sim for me? it would keep my current number and everything?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/HP-Palm...d/21281000

I LOVE my HP Veer and HP Pre 3. App selection is poor at best, but for a small phone with a nice web browser (with flash) and great email/keyboard it's hard to beat.

No way I woud switch to an MVNO and forgo LTE which is 5x faster than any other MVNO crap. This is like the argument for dialup vs. cablet internet when high speed internet went mainstream. Of course you don't need faster internet, but it sure as hell is nice not to have to wait.

Except you're wrong.

My HSPA+ speeds on Tmobile are more than half what my LTE speeds were on Verizon...for 1/3rd of the price (more like 1/5th with the new plans). 10mbit is nothing to scoff at on a phone.

Coverage isn't as good, but $30/month is worth it. My phone is still very much usable, even as a heavy user.

Thanks for your information, does it provide conditional call forwarding on ATT plan?

I would not bother to "stock up." There would be no need for ATT to drop ST. At the worst they would just make their network a lower priority on the ATT bandwidth. ST is like a "refurbished" sale for ATT.

Also, If they decided to drop ATT, they would not activate any new sims, whether they were previously purchased or not.

also, dont prepaid sims expire after so long if not activated?

I always hear this talk of throttling. I always say that I don't stream movies or music, but I use my phone for many hours a day otherwise....and I never come close to the limits.

Right now, I'm on day 24 of my 30 days and I've used just over 1GB (1,018.9MB to be exact). No throttling. The most I've used has been between 1.2-1.4GB and I've used close to 200MB in a day without ever getting throttled or getting any kind of warning message. I know I've read plenty of stories about people who get cut off, so I can't say that it doesn't happen......but I've also read some people saying that they used 5GB without an issue. It's hard to know what to believe. I stay below 2GB because it's easy enough for me.

I'm not sure why you're saying not many folks are willing to cut up a regular sim into a micro sim size. Sure they are. So many folks are willing to do it that there are plenty of tools for sale for like $5-7 on Newegg and Amazon that will help you do it if you don't trust yourself with a pair of scissors. It's insanely easy with one of those tools. I've done several and have yet to have a problem. I've even used a Nano cutter and cut both a full-size and a micro SIM down to Nano size for the iPhone 5 with no problem. I did have to use a nail file to thin the ST sim a bit so it would fit comfortably. I didn't need to file the Tmobile sim down. I ordered 6 of the full-size sims today because I know it's easy enough to trim them down if I want a smaller size. You can also buy adapters to use a micro or nano sim in a full-size slot. In my personal phone, a Galaxy SII, I use a microSIM that is in a cheap $1.10 adapter....but I'll admit that it's a bit of a pain in the rear to pop it in sometimes.

And I TOTALLY agree that this isn't just a matter of ST being out of the SIMs. They even removed the APN settings for AT&T from their website for setting up the APN on your phone. It seems like a more permanent move potentially. That said, this has been under discussion for a week or more both here and on HowardForums. There has been lots of speculation with little concrete fact. At any rate, I got 6 more sims for friends and family who plan to make the switch when their contracts end and to have a couple as backups. We'll see what happens......

ST is already a lower priority , my wife has Iphone4 on att and I have ATT S3 oon ST, at many locations she gets a good signal and I have a shitty signal.... plus i many times get proxy error on my S3 , her data is always smooth.

Mods this not a hot deal,
it should be move to The Lounge

You're opinion about the sims seem unrealistic. None of us are privy to the details in the ST and ATT contract, but If they did drop ATT it's HIGHLY unlikely for contractual reasons, promotional reasons, and probably even for legal reasons, that ST would not activate all the remaining sim cards on the market, (within a reasonable time, a year from purchase date). That being said AT&T owns 25% of Straight Talk's parent company as it is.

The Straight Talk SIM for AT&T isn't specifically "meant for ATT locked phones activation". It's meant to activate any GSM phone on the Straight Talk service using AT&T's towers/coverage/frequencies rather than T-Mobile's towers/coverage/frequencies. Even if you have an unlocked phone, unless you have Straight Talk's AT&T SIM, you'll be using the T-Mobile network. For people with phones designed for AT&T's network, Straight Talk on the T-Mobile network will only give you EDGE (2.5G) data speeds.

In other words, if you want 3G or HSPA+ data speeds with Straight Talk using any phone designed for the AT&T network, you will have to have Straight Talk's SIM for AT&T even if the phone has been unlocked by AT&T. (The only exceptions are the handful of markets where T-Mobile has set up networks with AT&T HSPA+ frequencies.)

I'm not convinced this is temporary... otherwise they would simply show AT&T sims as out of stock, instead its physically removed...

LOL! That's one way to do it if you didn't buy the micro sim. Personally I think it's best to always buy the micro sim and then an adapter on eBay if you need a standard size one.

I'm not an expert at this, but I don't think having an AT&T sim locks you onto the AT&T towers that Straight Talk rents out. It just allowed a phone to bypass the internal carrier lock almost the same way a Gevey does it- with the exception that you would still be locked to ST as your carrier.As long as your phone supports the bands, you could be on whatever tower is available that Straight Talk rents out in your area.Also, there is no word that ATT is giving the boot to ST or ST is dropping ATT. It simply may just be that ST or ATT didn't want to provide easy access of AT&T phones to be used on ST. Someone can still unlock their AT&T phone (legally of course) and pop in a t-mobile version of the ST card in the phone and it should still work fine.

Straight Talk live chat log confirms SIMs are JUST out of stock... but who knows I guess? Live chat is found under their Support -> FAQ page at the top...


Online Help
Prime
Chat History
> Prime has entered the session.
> 12:40:30 PM You wrote: Hi! Are the AT&T Sim cards simply sold out, or are they no longer being sold by straight talk?
> 12:40:53 PM Prime: Thank you for visiting Straight Talk Wireless. I would be happy to check on that information for you.
> 12:41:01 PM You wrote: Great, thanks.
> 12:41:14 PM Prime: You are welcome.
> 12:44:34 PM Prime: I regret to informed you that, AT&T SIMS are not available at this time in your area, please check back within couple of weeks to see availability of AT&T SIMS. In addition, we do not have an update for its availability as of this time.
> 12:44:43 PM Prime: Is there anything else that I can assist you with?
> 12:45:01 PM You wrote: Are they sold out, or not being sold anymore at all?
> 12:45:40 PM You wrote: It is not just my area, but nationwide they are sold out. So I am wondering if there are no longer going to be sold anymore. Or is it simply just an out of stock issue
> 12:45:44 PM Prime: They are sold out.
> 12:46:10 PM You wrote: So straight talk is still selling them? They are just temporarily out of stock?
> 12:46:28 PM Prime: Yes, you are correct.
> 12:46:40 PM You wrote: Thank you. Have a good one.
> 12:46:49 PM Prime: You are welcome.
> 12:47:01 PM Prime: Have a wonderful day.
> 12:47:06 PM Prime: Thank you for chatting with Straight Talk Wireless. If you have any further questions or concerns, please contact one of our customer care representatives at 1-888-251-8164. For your convenience, our representatives are available Monday-Sunday from 8:00 AM to 11:45 PM EST.

I ordered one from Walmart before I read this.
 

From what I've read the Straight Talk Website doesn't show availability or backorder when they don't know when they are getting more.

http://www.androidpolice.com/2013...ont-panic/

Certainly doesn't hurt to stock a spare or two, but if you aren't abusing data and you don't need additional service, I wouldn't bother.

I suspect this may happen as well. :eek:

:iagree:

Same with me. I had problems with ST's data service. Tried it for 2 months and then switched back to ATT.

I am planning to switch to ST after my contract with at&t is over in June. Does any one know whether it will work if I buy ST sim now but not activate it until June?

- sent by iPhone App Deals & Steals 3.5.8 -

Very strange. I was told by a rep last night (by phone) that AT&T was being discontinued. Now I don't know who to believe.

I was planning the same thing for June when my 2 year ATT contract completes.
If ST contract with ATT is no longer valid they may choose to switch existing users to T-mobile and not even activate these SIMS??
Only time knows...:confused:

Hi p49k. Straight Talk Wireless is not selling SIM cards that are compatible with AT&T devices at this time. We’ll bring them back as soon as we can and will work to keep you up to date on this issue. Thank you.

http://www.talkandroid.com/149593...ible-sims/

So how will it work on ATT locked phones that Customers are already using ?

I think people are waking up, buying phone at full out of contract price and saving the moneys through a much cheaper monthly bill via ST.

ATT cant lose their cash cow of ignorant masses now!

I was on AT&T (Cingular) TDMA for years until they forced me to switch by offering me a cheap/free GSM phone. That phone plan was pretty slick $15.99 per month.:D

Walmart just cancelled my order.

Are they out of stock too?

It's probably too late for you but to anyone else that is reading who is going to use Straight Talk: you do not need to input the proxy address into the APN settings that they give you. This makes the "Speet Test" app slow to a crawl and not give accurate results. Who knows, it may be limiting throughput in other situations to.

not really, and ive seen that to T-Mobile has 5 in town where as ATT has 4-3

T-Mobile supports 3G here in town but only on their phones.. I'm using my iphone from ATT on their network.. kinda surprising they didn't have edge so im really running 1G lol, but thankfully not that many people here in town use them they either use sprint or att.. a very few use Verizon

Texas, 1 hour west of fortworth in a town called mineral wells lol

I'll be visiting the local Wal-Mart stores on the way home from work tonight and buying a back-up sim card or two...if available...

got one not too long ago from walmart after getting a free one from ST after they messed up my order....

straight talk doesn't rewrite anything. they dont even have much of fone. it's just a gsm simcard that u can use on any unlock fone or att/tmobile fone. we just switch my wife. 45 bucks a month. better than paying 78 a month on at&t for 200 MB and go over and get charge 15 more.. plus if u do autorefilled u get $2.5 off

damn you are right ... removed proxy .. restarted ... and now

with proxy: ping ~300ms, download / upload = time out/netwok issues

without proxy: ping ~150ms, download = 2.2MBps Upload ~ 200kbps

ihear radio works fine, you tube works fine ... yepieeee

reps .....

people already got ST to work with iphone 5 with LTE buddy :D

Repped ( i would rep 10 times if i could).

Where were you, like, 6 months ago?

my speed test after fix

ping 110
down 4460
up 391

before - ping 300+
down/up couldnt perform the test

So sorry if someone already posted this but as a current ATT customer with a 3G iphone, can someone direct me on which sim card I should purchase (my contract ends in a few weeks and planned on switching to ST).

I also have the iphone 4 - would this be the same SIM (was thinking of getting it activated for my mom)?

Thanks!!

3G iPhone would need this one http://www.walmart.com/ip/Straigh...w9MynSeamY regular sim card

iPhone 4 and 4s Require this one http://www.walmart.com/reflect.gs...10&veh=aff

Thanks so much - repped!!

Bit of a gamble too, no reason they cant say you need to reset for use on Tmobile instead of AT&T towers whatever SIM used

What kinds of problems? ATT owns 25% of Straight Talk, Straight Talk AT&T sims use the same exact towers as AT&T post paid. If you had problems with data, it was either the phone itself or an anomaly.

Unless you watch video on the fly, why the hell do you need LTE. LTE is a battery draining SOB.

I actually am happy using my 920 with straight talk. Extends my battery life tremendously!

So which do I get for the iphone?

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Straigh...w9MynSeamY

is that all I need to buy? I feel dumb! HELP! PLEASE!! :)

ATT iphone or Verizon?

what model?

3G or 4's?

Depends on how you look at it. If I can accomplish something in half the time then turn off my phone, I bet I use the same or less battery than you to accomplish a task. A phone's screen is the biggest battery drain. Also, if you have a phone with a removable or large battery it is a non-issue. My Galaxy Note 2 LTE lasts a day and a half with moderate use before recharge. All I need is for it to get me through the day so it is more than enough. Your argument might hold water if you have a crap LTE phone with a small non-removable battery.

even though ATT owns 25% of ST, there's no guarantee that they'll support them. They might just even buy them out, sell their stake and run or kill them later on just like what they did with Bellsouth.

last I heard, ST uses the gophone / prepaid coverage of ATT towers which is almost as big anyway as postpaid coverage.

no problem!

Assuming we're talking about smartphone and not dumb phones...

1. Most MVNO's run on the same "crap" 3G networks and use the same towers as post paid contracts.
2. Some MVNO's are starting to offer LTE.
3. LTE isn't even available in most areas anyway.
4. This is nothing like dial-up vs cable. 3G in caparison to LTE is MUCH faster than dial-up compared to cable. Now, if you were to compare EDGE to LTE, that would be closer to dial-up vs cable.

att 3g

There is no special "pre-paid coverage" for Straight Talk. The coverage you get is the exact same as if you signed a two year AT&T or Verizon contract. There has been exactly no proof whatsoever that ATT and ST are going their separate ways. On the other hand, Straight Talks reps, on Facebook, on Straightalks forums, in posted chats and in emails have repeatedly said, the ATT sim cards will be back in stock.

you can purchase this one and it will work, you will need a service plan also, but other than that nothing else is required

http://www.walmart.com/ip/Straigh...w9MynSeamY

Another important point is "3G" differs GREATLY between networks. Sprint 3G and AT&T 3G are very different in terms of speed. AT&T 3G (in my personal experience) is 10 fold faster than sprint

Depends on who you are. If you are not in an area that has LTE, fine. Doesn't matter to you. If you are in an area with LTE, however, it does matter. Where you will notice the most difference is in upload speeds. Upload speeds will be on the order of about 15x faster. This is considerably faster, and I feel the comparison with dialup/cable holds here. Have you ever tried to send a 3MB picture to someone through email on your MVNO? Takes awhile doesnt it? I send those files instantaneously. Download speed matters too. Do you ever have to wait while your youtube video buffers? Does your pandora lag a bit when skipping to a new song? Doesn't happen on LTE.

While that may be all fine and good.. is THAT worth double the price? It's a matter of personal preference.. I live in Miami, and we have LTE across the board.. I'll take the $45 (42.50 now on autopay :D) over the ridiculous amounts AT&T,Verizon,Sprint, AND T-Mobile charge. That said, if AT&T on ST goes way of dodo.. my wife's iPhone5 is Unlocked from Apple Store, so she will move there.. I will be buying an unlocked 5S when they come out so I'd move too if needed.

200+ replies and not one mention of the fact that Straight talk sells the most popular phone in the world (iphone), via Verizon's network @ $45 a month, that MIGHT have something to do with it, AT&T can barely keep their network modern for their non cheap contract customer's, lets face it, the market is saturated at this point.

I didn't say they were parting ways...

What I said was there's always the probability of those two not seeing eye to eye anymore and do whatever is best for their business.

We all know ATT to be greedy sometimes if not most of the time and they certainly have the financial capability to gobble up or leave ST if they desire.

IF they were NOT planning on grandfathering already shipped/available AT&T sim cards, than why in the world would walmart still have them widely available online and in store, Walmart is and always has been Straight Talks only retail partner, and Straight talk was crazy popular way before they even used AT&T/Tmobile/Sprint, Verizon served them very well.

For just two people you are probably right. However, I have 5 people on my ATT family plan, 4 out 5 of which have data plans. Costs me 190-200 per month. Same price as straight talk.

Not that rediculous when it comes to family plans, Straight talk would actually cost more.

Remember people if it weren't for those "Oh so stupid" contract customer's, we wouldn't have major networks to leach from! don't gp ruining it by calling them suckers.