I was in Walmart the other day and straight talk is selling iPhones unsubsidized for their no contract $45 a month service. Just curious anyone use one? If so, how has the service been overall? I think they run on Verizon's 3G network too
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Anyone try the straight talk iphone?
- Thread starter hunterheath33
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I personally have heard very mixed reviews about straight talk. It seems like they were really good at first, but now that more people are using their network they are struggling (again all what I have heard, not experienced since I use att)
The asking price for the iphone made me steer clear to begin. I am not sure I would go for it if the price was reduced to tell the truth. Just wait it out if interested instead of going with Straight Talk.
Yeah. I was looking for people with experience since I'm curious why someone would pay that much for an iPhone to be used with that one prepaid carrier. Sadly, only verizon and us cellular get service in my area with the latter not carrying the iPhone. If I was going to go with straight talk I'd buy an iphone from CL and just use it on the BYOP program and just live without service at my home.
No. I'm talking about if you walk into Walmart there are iPhones that you pay full price for and they run off of verizon CDMA.
Don't buy it
I bought one - big mistake.
Walmart.com sold me a $700 iPhone 5 with a dirty MEID (serial number) that Straight Talk could not activate.
I tried to activate with Straight Talk multiple times (in store, online at straighttalk.com, and using the 1-800 number). Straight Talk could not find the serial number registered as being legitimately sold and the representative told me the phone appeared the same as a stolen phone in their system. After going back to the store four separate employees (including the manager) were unable to fix the problem. They recommended I call the site-to-store telephone representative as the phone was purchased at walmart.com and delivered to my local store. That individual was similarly powerless to properly register the MEID as being legitimately sold.
Long story short - Walmart is selling iPhones with dirty MEIDs that cant be activated with Walmarts own cell phone carrier.
I bought one - big mistake.
Walmart.com sold me a $700 iPhone 5 with a dirty MEID (serial number) that Straight Talk could not activate.
I tried to activate with Straight Talk multiple times (in store, online at straighttalk.com, and using the 1-800 number). Straight Talk could not find the serial number registered as being legitimately sold and the representative told me the phone appeared the same as a stolen phone in their system. After going back to the store four separate employees (including the manager) were unable to fix the problem. They recommended I call the site-to-store telephone representative as the phone was purchased at walmart.com and delivered to my local store. That individual was similarly powerless to properly register the MEID as being legitimately sold.
Long story short - Walmart is selling iPhones with dirty MEIDs that cant be activated with Walmarts own cell phone carrier.
The problem with ST is that it's so vague. Technically they don't cap at 2 GB but many ST users report that in fact they do. The problem is that ST does not offer a clear answer as to how and when they choose to throttle. But if you look online you'll see countless posts in a variety of forums that state that 2 GB is when throttling does indeed occur. Personally I'd want a clear answer as to when a service would in fact potentially throttle me. I've also seen mixed responses as to whether ST can allow for MMS with the iPhone 5. I know for iPhone 4/4S users it almost always required a bit of work. Lastly there was a well documented data issue last August with ST. Howardforums lit up with ST customers having serious data issues.
My gut says that these prepaid services are simply a get what you paid for scenario. You won't get LTE. You won't get real customer service (I believe it's limited to their Facebook wall). There might be data issues. I think it could potentially be huge savings, especially if your state has notorious smartphone fees. Lastly I would keep in mind that T-Mobile will be providing their own MVNO service very soon and they'll be offering a $45 unlimited talk/text plan with 5 GB of data. It remains to be seen if that's 3G or 4G data though.
My gut says that these prepaid services are simply a get what you paid for scenario. You won't get LTE. You won't get real customer service (I believe it's limited to their Facebook wall). There might be data issues. I think it could potentially be huge savings, especially if your state has notorious smartphone fees. Lastly I would keep in mind that T-Mobile will be providing their own MVNO service very soon and they'll be offering a $45 unlimited talk/text plan with 5 GB of data. It remains to be seen if that's 3G or 4G data though.
ST uses ATT's network
I have been using ST since July with my 4s and I have no complaints
Wow that's sweet, have any more info or links? I hope they allow tethering for a small fee, tethering is the only reason I stay with ATT over any of the pre paids.
Here is the source. The catch is that the speeds are limited to 3G and not 4G on T-Mobile. Still that's a pretty solid deal IMO for $45.
I've been using Straight Talk's sim-card only program with an iPhone 4S since last summer with no problems. I just bought an unlocked iPhone from the Apple Store, then ordered the sim online. Support for the phone is entirely through Apple so I haven't needed to worry about the lack of retail presence. I haven't tried it under the new scheme marketed by Walmart, though. Honestly I can't see any reason too aside from the no interest financing, but you could always no interest finance an iPhone through Barclaycard at the Apple Store anyway.
I brought over mine and my wife's 4s phones 3 months ago and have had no complaints. I have since switched to a Galaxy S3 and all is well.
Couple points: as others have pointed out Straight Talk uses AT&T network so this means 1) you can't use Verizon or Sprint and 2) the person who said their "network isn't good anymore because more people have signed up" is wrong because they have no network, they are simply reselling AT&T network.
If you are a serious user who uses over 2GB of data per month I wouldn't go the Straight Talk route as they seem ready to drop people who go over that threshold regularly. On very busy months when I am off wifi a lot I might hit 1GB and I have never had any problems.
Couple points: as others have pointed out Straight Talk uses AT&T network so this means 1) you can't use Verizon or Sprint and 2) the person who said their "network isn't good anymore because more people have signed up" is wrong because they have no network, they are simply reselling AT&T network.
If you are a serious user who uses over 2GB of data per month I wouldn't go the Straight Talk route as they seem ready to drop people who go over that threshold regularly. On very busy months when I am off wifi a lot I might hit 1GB and I have never had any problems.
