Hello,
To whomever reads this, I'm hoping I'm in the correct area as I haven't found a means of procuring a solution myself thus far.
My issue started about a month ago with the OnePlus 6T, I work for a Fire Department and have a service provided by AT&T Called, FirstNet, they are working in tandem together and FirstNet is a Government owned non-profit organization that has a contract with AT&T in order to build the new infrastructure that is under way. My current issue is that I switched to FirstNet 2 months ago with my Samsung S7 Active, which was running Oreo 8.1.
When I did this the Representative told me that my phone wouldn't be fully compatible with FirstNet so I wouldn't receive the "Priority" Features until I upgraded as it didn't support band 14, which I was fine with.
I started looking for a new phone in which someone mentioned the OnePlus 6T, I looked into it and was immediately for it, essentially a Samsung S9 for half the price, brand new with a warranty? hard to beat that. So I looked into it and decided to purchase it. Thinking that because it was Band 14 capable (Which is what FirstNet runs off of) it would work with my provider just fine, especially since it was up to par with the Samsung S9. Upon receiving it, I tried to activate it on FirstNet but it wouldn't recognize the device. Surprise surprise, so I went through this runaround for 4 days with FirstNet, they sent me a new SIM card, I managed to activate it for the phone but now, I can't receive calls? wonderful. (It's actually been quite nice to not get phone calls for a while lol.)
I called FirstNet about it and they said because it's not a "FirstNet" ready phone, I wont get to use all of the features. Turns out this is because AT&T implements the code into their phones, the code/software known as IOC2/Evolved Packet Core/First Priority(TM) . Surprise surprise the only phones that have them are phones like Samsung, Apple, Moto, LG, Blackberry and Sonim which immediately set me off as because my phone isn't a mainstream popular device, it's unacceptable to use on FirstNet. When something as simple as code from a non-profit organization could've been distributed to other phone producers as well and yet.. it hasn't?
Priority on FirstNet means, if we are attacked by Terrorists, have some kind of Natural Disaster or even have a massive event that bogs down the network, It will set my phone calls to priority so that I can communicate with other emergency service personnel, with FirstNet we also do get this at a discounted rate as I'm sure this is part of the incentive to join and populate the network.
Because my phone is out of the loop I'm unable to receive calls, I can call out just fine, I can text, send photos, use the internet, all just fine, I just can't receive phone calls, which can be troubling for my employer especially if a large event occurs.
The OnePlus 6T supports Band 14 along with a whole other array of bands my Samsung S7 Active didn't, yet it's unable to communicate properly, setting the APN doesn't resolve anything and I've tried contacting both FirstNet and OnePlus, to which both of their replies are to see what the other company can do about it, FirstNet is stating I need to get an AT&T SIM card which will possibly add yet ANOTHER fee to my bill and take away the feature of Priority. OnePlus states they can't do anything about it but are elevating it to their Technician Team (I'm assuming that means Developers.).
Currently, my OnePlus 6T is running off of Oxygen OS 9.0.7, which is based on Oreo 8.1 (Which had IOC2/Evolved Packet Core/First Priority(TM) implemented into it already.) but yet it doesn't have the IOC2/Evolved Packet Core/First Priority(TM) code/software implemented? The way that FirstNet explained it is that the software acts like a kind of switch or filter, operating off of multiple APNs and switching to whichever one is allowing priority requests and since my phone doesn't have that software, I can't receive phone calls.
I'm sure that there's probably a multitude of phones that are experiencing this issue as FirstNet has a very small group of phones that are FirstNet capable. I'm not sure if there's other Emergency Service Personnel experiencing this problem thus far but if there's anyone who can provide a solution to this, not for just the OnePlus 6T but for every phone that's not on the FirstNet list, It would greatly help out, especially since a lot of us don't have much of an income.
To whoever takes the time to read this, I thank you for your time and hope that maybe some kind of resolve can come from this.
Yours truly,
A Concerned Fire Fighter.
It works, apparently
Hi. I hope this message finds you well, and maybe other OnePlus 6 series users who have or are considering FirstNet since they'll likely find this thread as their first hit from Google.
I'm a 6T user. I had my account switched to FirstNet yesterday from normal AT&T. In my case it had to be transitioned from prepaid, to postpaid, then to FirstNet, though I don't know if that's related.
Switch happened around 3pm, at around 6pm I noted I could not receive calls. Tested with multiple carriers. Phone didn't acknowledge the calls at all. Only indication was if a voicemail was left. At that time I found this thread.
I called FirstNet and they suggested because it was not an officially supported device it couldn't use the black Sim and suggested sending me a standard at&t Sim and losing some of the benefits. I said I'd follow up with my local guy first.
I contacted my FirstNet rep who agreed to meet me the next day. By noon we met and his first try my phone rang. All subsequent attempts have worked fine and it looks like I'm fully functional.
He indicated he made no changes and I don't believe FirstNet did either. I'm not sure of the reason but perhaps in some cases it takes longer for the carrier acknowledge sending calls to the correct Sim. Wish I knew more about cellular networks to provide something more useful.
Let me know if I can help OP or another user in some way. I'll subscribe to this thread.
I am a first responder as well with a 6T. Did you ever figure out any way to make this phone work with first net? I also considered Verizon First Responder.
Hello and thank you for the reply and information.
If I'm reading your response correctly, you currently have a working OnePlus 6/6T phone with Firstnet utilizing the black sim card? Are you getting full benefits of First net (priority access to data)? Does mms/sms and VoLTE work still?
I'm in the same boat as you, Im on ATT and qualify to move to Firstnet.
I had the same issue. Just go to att and have them give you a att sim card instead of using the firstnet sim card. The firstnet sim cards are not yet fully functional.
sxyshotta said:
I had the same issue. Just go to att and have them give you a att sim card instead of using the firstnet sim card. The firstnet sim cards are not yet fully functional.
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Click to collapse
Yes, This is true although what this does is take you off of FirstNet, it only gives you the same rate without being throttled, you will not get Priority over text/voice when using the AT&T Sim card.
As far as them stating that the FirstNet sim cards are not yet fully functional is false.
At the first of this year, I woke up to find out my service from FirstNet on my phone completely shut off, after talking with FirstNet they stated that my phone wasn't guaranteed full coverage as it's not a FirstNet compatible phone. Now it wouldn't be so strange that my phone got cut off if it had been any other day, but the 1st of the year, which is typically when new policies or procedures are put into place it happens that my phone got cut from having service?.. that's awfully strange, and now my phone that even though I stuck with it, having 4 months of issues with not being able to receive calls now it suddenly just doesn't do anything? When before I could call out, text, sms, use my hotspot and my data.
With this I felt betrayed and immediately switched to Verizon because here's the kicker. When I asked them the things I questioned about their "Compatibility" after doing troubleshooting, I asked the representative to explain to me what the issue was as I stated over the phone. "I don't understand why my phone isn't compatible, from my understanding it has an operating system that uses all of the features and capabilities that Oreo 8.1 has and more, including the IOC2/FirstPriority TM Software and Security update, It's able to use all of the bands required and everything sounds like it's more of a software issue but I don't understand why my phone, that was MOSTLY working before now suddenly doesn't work at all?" To which he had replied, not in exact words because I don't remember the exact words. "It's not approved by our network".
There it is, the biggest lie I've heard so far, it's not that our phones are incompatible, they're not APPROVED by FirstNet. But what is? Samsung, Moto, LG, Blackberry, iPhone. Your more expensive mainstream phones. In my experience this has lead me to believe they have a contract with these phone vendors and have a "VIP List" with them essentially, for what gain, I'm unsure of exactly but it's the only thing that makes sense. If this phone has all the features and security updates just like any other phone.. why is it unapproved?
I was able to trick their tower a couple of times to receive calls but I really feel like it's on their side and they're purposefully doing this to people who don't have phones that aren't on their VIP List, as a previous customer of FirstNet I'm disgusted with this fact as it makes me feel as though I've been falsely advertised to as "Compatible" and "Approved" are two very very different words meaning entirely different things, had I known that was the case, I might have gotten a different phone to save hassle, but, here I am..
Well.. That's my update.
I'm sorry to say this guys, the only way to have a One+ 6T phone on FirstNet is without being able to use the very benefits the network was created for and using it on AT&Ts network instead, for unexplained reasoning on FirstNet's part. The fact that they mixed those words just makes me feel as though it was intended to deceive the consumers and I feel very betrayed by the company and will not invest another penny into it, I feel as consumers we have the right to know what we're signing up for and we have the right to be informed and over all, we have the right to use the equipment we purchase.
Thank you for your time.
A Concerned FireFighter.
That sounds very unfortunate, I'm sorry to hear about the ATT hassle. How are you liking Verizon on First Responder program? Are you having issues with it and do you have priority access to data like advertised or is it only during emergency?
InvalidFelix said:
Yes, This is true although what this does is take you off of FirstNet, it only gives you the same rate without being throttled, you will not get Priority over text/voice when using the AT&T Sim card.
As far as them stating that the FirstNet sim cards are not yet fully functional is false.
At the first of this year, I woke up to find out my service from FirstNet on my phone completely shut off, after talking with FirstNet they stated that my phone wasn't guaranteed full coverage as it's not a FirstNet compatible phone. Now it wouldn't be so strange that my phone got cut off if it had been any other day, but the 1st of the year, which is typically when new policies or procedures are put into place it happens that my phone got cut from having service?.. that's awfully strange, and now my phone that even though I stuck with it, having 4 months of issues with not being able to receive calls now it suddenly just doesn't do anything? When before I could call out, text, sms, use my hotspot and my data.
With this I felt betrayed and immediately switched to Verizon because here's the kicker. When I asked them the things I questioned about their "Compatibility" after doing troubleshooting, I asked the representative to explain to me what the issue was as I stated over the phone. "I don't understand why my phone isn't compatible, from my understanding it has an operating system that uses all of the features and capabilities that Oreo 8.1 has and more, including the IOC2/FirstPriority TM Software and Security update, It's able to use all of the bands required and everything sounds like it's more of a software issue but I don't understand why my phone, that was MOSTLY working before now suddenly doesn't work at all?" To which he had replied, not in exact words because I don't remember the exact words. "It's not approved by our network".
There it is, the biggest lie I've heard so far, it's not that our phones are incompatible, they're not APPROVED by FirstNet. But what is? Samsung, Moto, LG, Blackberry, iPhone. Your more expensive mainstream phones. In my experience this has lead me to believe they have a contract with these phone vendors and have a "VIP List" with them essentially, for what gain, I'm unsure of exactly but it's the only thing that makes sense. If this phone has all the features and security updates just like any other phone.. why is it unapproved?
I was able to trick their tower a couple of times to receive calls but I really feel like it's on their side and they're purposefully doing this to people who don't have phones that aren't on their VIP List, as a previous customer of FirstNet I'm disgusted with this fact as it makes me feel as though I've been falsely advertised to as "Compatible" and "Approved" are two very very different words meaning entirely different things, had I known that was the case, I might have gotten a different phone to save hassle, but, here I am..
Well.. That's my update.
I'm sorry to say this guys, the only way to have a One+ 6T phone on FirstNet is without being able to use the very benefits the network was created for and using it on AT&Ts network instead, for unexplained reasoning on FirstNet's part. The fact that they mixed those words just makes me feel as though it was intended to deceive the consumers and I feel very betrayed by the company and will not invest another penny into it, I feel as consumers we have the right to know what we're signing up for and we have the right to be informed and over all, we have the right to use the equipment we purchase.
Thank you for your time.
A Concerned FireFighter.
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Click to collapse
Update, now on an AT&T SIM. This is a theme you should probably get used to.
Apparently the other day my phone was on HSPA when we tested, possible due to signal strength issues, which is why the calls came in no problem. I did a lot of troubleshooting by myself, with FirstNet support, and with a good amount of time spent by my local FirstNet specialist. Tried every setting I could think of including every preferred network type.
The issue in short...
On AT&T SIMs the phone starts on LTE/LTE for voice/data respectively. When a call comes in it switches to UMTS/HSPA in order to take the call over UMTS. The phone rings, and after the call it promptly returns to LTE.
On FirstNet SIMs the phone usually still switches to UMTS/HSPA when a call is incoming but the device won't actually ring. This behavior also occurred on another 8.0 android of mine. After the call it can take a protracted amount of time to switch back to LTE.
In my testing the number of calls that actually successfully switched from LTE to UMTS and then actually rang was about 2%.
More worrisome, the other person in my department who adopted FirstNet did so on an iPhone XS is FirstNet Ready. They still had issues and had to switch to an AT&T SIM, so it appears even officially supported devices are not a guarantee for full functionality. The Primary User Regional FirstNet rep was even indignant when I expressed concerns about the state of device support. FirstNet seems a bit of a half baked and not consumer choice friendly. I am also concerned about long term prospects given AT&T has something of a history only supporting certain features with first party versions of devices and not BYOD, such as VOLTE. Oh and to answer that question, no, VOLTE is not yet available on FirstNet for any device.
Ultimately is the AT&T SIMified FirstNet still worth considering? In my opinion yes. The pricing is on par with their prepaid plans, but unlike prepaid you're now put at the top of the priority list instead of the bottom and you won't be throttled. Yes, you still get prioritization with the AT&T SIM over other commercial traffic, though you won't ever trump FirstNet users and all your traffic will be handled by the commercial core, you don't touch the FirstNet core or band 14.
It is true you do not want to exceed 22GB for 3 months in a row. Our regional rep said you can get the "data-only devices" plan which he claims has no cap penalty, but my reading of the official terms and conditions seems to refute that.
Verizon is the other main option though last time we saw their pricing strategy it was more expensive and I don't recall any benefits over FirstNet other than possible coverage benefits. Then again slapping a Verizon SIM in your OnePlus will actually give you VOLTE2 without any of AT&T's shenanigans. Bonus Weirdness: When calling FirstNet's support line, if I called while my FirstNet SIM was in an iPhone it just told me they weren't open. If I called with my OnePlus it let me through. WTF.
So my take away is I'd really like FirstNet to make an earnest effort to make device support at least on par with the commercial network. I personally would not feel comfortable putting a FirstNet sim in anything other than a strict data usage device given the compatibility issues, and their device strategy gives me long term concerns. That said if AT&T has good coverage in your area, I'd at least suggest looking into the FirstNet plan with an AT&T SIM since it's still arguably a better deal than prepaid and consumer postpaid.
When it comes to agency paid plans though the story, at least from we're being told, changes a lot. Our Verizon rep says their non-consumer public safety lines are going to have no caps. I can find no such reference in FirstNet's terms. Our Battalion units on their current plans are throttled after 22GB and they still manage to use 50+GB. There's no way they could be put on FirstNet.
A few more fun things to add...
On my AT&T sim of course wifi calling and VoLTE aren't enabled because F you and your BYOD. Call FirstNet support and ask them to turn it on and you get stonewalled. Give them an iPhone IMEI and they turn it on right away. Thanks for being pro consumer AT&T. Also when you do this you need to call FirstNet support and ask for tech support. If your local rep tries it apparently doesn't take.
Another neat thing for FirstNet customers to try. Log into your FirstNet admin console, go to Manage Services and Billing, click Upgrade a device and then just put another person's phone number in who you think uses FirstNet, they don't have to be related to your account at all. Boom, you get to see their name, type of device, and their upgrade cycle information. Not too good for a supposedly more secure environment.
So the takeway today is FirstNet needs to look into account information access rights since they're clearly askew, and if they ever add VoLTE to FirstNet (or fix the black sim card configuration) just call in and give them an iPhone IMEI and you might be good to go with your OnePlus.
Related
So I stopped by a friends house a couple of weeks ago and noticed he had a new phone... a Hero to be exact and since he noticed I had one also he asked if I could fix it to allow him on the market and sync with his google account.
So I checked the phone out and right away I noticed the phone was not stock and asked him where he got it... he replied Nextel. So I was really confused as this was the branded cdma sprint Hero and then checked the software and lo and behold I noticed then that the phone was rooted and had the Fresh rom installed....
long story short he's not a tech guy at all and didn't even understand what rooted or roms were and swore that nextel had hooked the phone up for him and told him they had todo some "specail" stuff to it to get it to work on there service... the gmail account was something like nextel1212121 at gmail and he had no password for it and no dataplan.
Is this legal for them todo? I just told him he needed to get the gmail pw from nextel or have them resetup to phone with his gmail account.
really hes going to want to use his own gmail account. just do a wipe and configure it with his info.
i thought sprint owned nextel?
Sounds like whoever did that was trying to rip him off or something by getting his mail sent to their account.
this is really simple to answer actually. He bought his hero at a Nextel phone retailer that profits from prepaid and low income account setups. Since they are the middle man between the customer and the wireless company the hero has been rooted and provisioned to work on nextel's wireless service. The fact that the gmail was setup with that account is just a way to test the functionality of the phone to make sure it works correctly on Nextel's network. I wouldnt be suprised that that nextel gmail address is used over and over again to test out android phones from sprint and verizon that get provisioned to nextel wireless. This behaviour happens quite often with cricket wireless as they do the same thing with ex sprint and verizon phones that have been ****listed and tied to accounts with an outstanding balance basically rendering thier ESN worthless on the wireless account they are tied to. Cricket/Nextel/MetroPcs/etc.. is the asshole of the phone world, eventually all phones who are owned by people who dont pay thier bills get provisioned to those companies who offer ****ty services that barely work at extremely low prices. Its basically phone hell.
Powers16 said:
this is really simple to answer actually. He bought his hero at a Nextel phone retailer that profits from prepaid and low income account setups. Since they are the middle man between the customer and the wireless company the hero has been rooted and provisioned to work on nextel's wireless service. The fact that the gmail was setup with that account is just a way to test the functionality of the phone to make sure it works correctly on Nextel's network. I wouldnt be suprised that that nextel gmail address is used over and over again to test out android phones from sprint and verizon that get provisioned to nextel wireless. This behaviour happens quite often with cricket wireless as they do the same thing with ex sprint and verizon phones that have been ****listed and tied to accounts with an outstanding balance basically rendering thier ESN worthless on the wireless account they are tied to. Cricket/Nextel/MetroPcs/etc.. is the asshole of the phone world, eventually all phones who are owned by people who dont pay thier bills get provisioned to those companies who offer ****ty services that barely work at extremely low prices. Its basically phone hell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That makes so much sense.
WHAT!?!?!?!
Powers16 said:
this is really simple to answer actually. He bought his hero at a Nextel phone retailer that profits from prepaid and low income account setups. Since they are the middle man between the customer and the wireless company the hero has been rooted and provisioned to work on nextel's wireless service. The fact that the gmail was setup with that account is just a way to test the functionality of the phone to make sure it works correctly on Nextel's network. I wouldnt be suprised that that nextel gmail address is used over and over again to test out android phones from sprint and verizon that get provisioned to nextel wireless. This behaviour happens quite often with cricket wireless as they do the same thing with ex sprint and verizon phones that have been ****listed and tied to accounts with an outstanding balance basically rendering thier ESN worthless on the wireless account they are tied to. Cricket/Nextel/MetroPcs/etc.. is the asshole of the phone world, eventually all phones who are owned by people who dont pay thier bills get provisioned to those companies who offer ****ty services that barely work at extremely low prices. Its basically phone hell.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This has got to be the worst post I have ever read. There is no possible way that the Hero is running on Nextel. Sounds to me like a third party dealer sold him a used phone. Probably a salesperson got the EVO and sold his/her Hero. The Sprint Hero is CDMA only and will only function on a CDMA network. The Nextel network is iDen which is SIM based, owned by Sprint and in no way falls into the Cricket/Metro/etc. set of companies you are talking about. There is a slim possibility to get the Hero onto Boost now that they have access to Sprint's CDMA network, but with the hoops that a customer would have to jump through to do it, I can't think of a dealer that would do it for a customer. The payout on Boost is so low, it wouldn't be worth it.
So, in short, from reading your post, you have no idea what you are talking about.
HelgesenJ said:
This has got to be the worst post I have ever read. There is no possible way that the Hero is running on Nextel. Sounds to me like a third party deal sold him a used phone. Probably a salesperson got the EVO and sold his/her Hero. The Sprint Hero is CDMA only and will only function on a CDMA network. Nextel is iDen and SIM based and in no way falls into the Cricket/Metro/etc. set of companies you are talking about. There is a slim possiblity to get the Hero onto Boost now that they have access to Sprint's CDMA network, but the hoops that a customer would have to jump through to do it, I can't think of a dealer that would do it for a customer. The payout on Boost is so low, it wouldn't be worth it.
So, in short, from reading your post, you have no idea what you are talking about.
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This. Tell him to return it and get on a real sprint plan, with a new phone. It sounds like he got ripped off.
HelgesenJ said:
This has got to be the worst post I have ever read. There is no possible way that the Hero is running on Nextel. Sounds to me like a third party dealer sold him a used phone. Probably a salesperson got the EVO and sold his/her Hero. The Sprint Hero is CDMA only and will only function on a CDMA network. The Nextel network is iDen which is SIM based, owned by Sprint and in no way falls into the Cricket/Metro/etc. set of companies you are talking about. There is a slim possibility to get the Hero onto Boost now that they have access to Sprint's CDMA network, but with the hoops that a customer would have to jump through to do it, I can't think of a dealer that would do it for a customer. The payout on Boost is so low, it wouldn't be worth it.
So, in short, from reading your post, you have no idea what you are talking about.
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Click to collapse
In short i provided more information to the question than your ****ty response did. you wanna 1 up me, then do it right, dont be an asshole.
@OP:
If your friends has a device that isn't stock HTC or stock carrier, have him/her return it and obtain one that is. If the device was not intended to function on the network in question, it's likely that there will be no warranty coverage.
Thread closed.
I've been a T-Mobile customer for seven or eight years now and have never regretted a moment of it. These people have always gone above and beyond to make me feel like I was worth something to them as a customer and a person. I haven't had to contact them often, but when I did, I always knew I would hang up the phone with a smile on my face. T-Mobile US has one of the best customer service departments in the world in terms of customer satisfaction. If I were planning to commit suicide, I would probably call T-Mobile, since I know they would be able to talk me down.
On the flip side of this is AT&T, with whom I've had some of the worst customer service and just service in general in all of my life. I started out with my first cellular device through Cingular Wireless. I wouldn't say they were the best service (they were far from it), but most of my friends and family were on the network and it was in the early days of the talk for free within the network deals. AT&T came along a few years later and ruined any creditability Cingular Wireless had provided me. When the networks in my area finally were updated to EDGE through AT&T, I immediately began having problems with dropped calls and spastic data rates. Calling to complain about this service garnered me a generic response from them along the lines of "What do you want me to do about it?" The customer should not be the one who suggests that the cellular connection to the tower needs to be reset.
After a full year of waiting out my contract and the remainder of my patience with them, I began searching for an alternative solution. I narrowed down my list to All-Tel and T-Mobile for their outstanding customer service. T-Mobile won me over, since, at the time, I was using my HP iPAQ hw6945 (HTC Sable), and needed a GSM network. Since that day, I have constantly raved about their phenomenal customer service, support and network speed. I was also blown away by their astonishingly competitive pricing.
I am currently paying the same $50 for service that I was when I signed up initially. I have a plan consisting of 1000 minutes a month (unlimited for me), unlimited text, and unlimited data ($30+$10+$10). This data plan also includes tethering for free. I haven't been under a contract with them since the first year I was with them, as it was required. I have never been hassled about updating my terms of service, or anything of the sort. It has been one completely happy ride other than the spotty 3G coverage which has been growing rapidly.
With all of this considered, I must say that I am completely shocked and appalled that the company is being sold off to the only other GSM network in the country with a national footprint: AT&T. Though the transaction isn't completely finalized yet, I see no reason why the FCC would oppose this as the also let Verizon's "Net Neutrality" rules pass, even though they were completely one-sided.
Other than customer service from AT&T (or lack thereof, rather), this also presents yet another problem for the customers of T-Mobile: 4G. We will now be set to move into AT&T's field of using LTE instead of HSPA+ or WiMax for our 4G coverage. For those of you who don't already know, LTE is not the happy trail to the Internet you may think.
The LTE standard was designed with carriers in mind, not consumers. This means that the format allows carriers to control the content they show you. You will begin seeing tiered data plans with access to partial content coming soon as the networks expand. For example, if you decide to get the cheapest data plan, you will not only be limited in maximum data caps, but also certain things like YouTube may be filtered out of your service because you would have to pay extra for it. AT&T and Verizon have already come out and said that this will happen with services like Skype and YouTube. WiMax does none of this as it was intended to be an open format set up with end users in mind. HSPA+ simply doesn't support the concept.
Am I the only one concerned here? I think if this does go through, I'll be booking it over the Sprint. I am not fond of CDMA networks, but it's FAR better than the alternative.
Sources:
Lots of good LTE vs. WiMax links in this thread
AT&T/T-Mobile US acquisition details
AT&T is taking over T- Mobile.
Well said Cajunflavoredbob. I went through similar experiences that you speak of. Like I said in another thread, after AT&T stuck me hard, I vowed never to give them my business again. Now after hearing this news, I will end up eating my own words!
I have the Touch Pro2 (T-mobile brand) and I really like this phone, especially after the modified ROMs here on this site. I have no intention to get another phone. So now I have to wait until this deal gets finalized and then determine if keeping this phone is worth going through the headaches with AT&T all over again.
All plans will be grandfathered. Also better service coverage too, so I don't think it will be so bad. I hope we can use At&t frequency phones on a T-Mobile service.
We have so many threads about this topic.
Androidboy35961 said:
We have so many threads about this topic.
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Click to collapse
Care to share which ones? I looked through this forum and hadn't found a single one talking about the acquisition. If I had, then I wouldn't have started this thread. If there are threads about it in other areas of the site, then there isn't much I can do about that as those threads would be in the wrong place. This thread was started to allow open general discussion of the subject. Obviously, if threads you may be referring to are in device specific forums, then not everyone is going to see them.
I don't know much about the world of mergers except I read that this one will take at least 12 months. Is this a done deal? Or is there something sufficiently monopolistic about it that could run into legal troubles?
Jake
jakfish said:
I don't know much about the world of mergers except I read that this one will take at least 12 months. Is this a done deal? Or is there something sufficiently monopolistic about it that could run into legal troubles?
Jake
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Click to collapse
The deal could take up to a year to finalize if it is allowed. This acquisition would make AT&T the only nation wide GSM carrier. AT&T is also looking to acquire more radio spectrum from Qualcomm who had those FloTV things for a while that bombed. It still has a lot of red tape to go through, but, honestly, I doubt that it will run into much opposition unfortunately. The other downside to this is that we now know that DT is looking to offload T-Mobile US to the highest bidder. Before this, there was a rumor about Sprint trying to acquire the company. I doubt Sprint can afford the price tag on T-Mobile now that AT&T has set the bar. It is a loose-loose situation for T-Mobile customers. No matter what happens, Big Daddy is still putting up TMoUS for sale. The question now becomes, who will get it in the end?
if this goes through im going to Sprint because i hate AT&T AND dont like the idea of youtube being a premium service on Verizon. but isnt this deal like monopoly. i doubt the US government will allow this too happen without some legal troubles and a lot of money being payed to the government.
The only positive things I can see out of this, are that a) it's a true gsm marriage, which continues to maintain a world flavor to the phone and b) AT&T will have boatload of different bands: 1700, 2100, and whatever AT&T uses. That should free up 4G considerably.
Had T-Mobile and Sprint gotten together, I just can't see the CDMA-GSM thing. What were they going to use, half a sim card?
But I'm old enough to remember the bad AT&T days and can't feel that these will be any better.
Jake
AT&T is not that bad..lol
I have been with T-mobile since the company was Voicestream... Im hurt to see DT sell us out like this I hope google will outbid AT&T because I dont like any of the other cellular providers.
Androidboy35961 said:
AT&T is not that bad..lol
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Click to collapse
I am very glad to hear someone speak well of AT&T, because my personal experience has not been good. I am convinced that CFB is dead-on with his assessment about why they purchased T-Mobile (his LTE argument). This is NOT even remotely good for the consumer.
I know only one person who has been happy with Sprint (out of dozens), but they seem to be the least restrictive which may force me to give them another try. But they'll probably have the same indoor reception issues Verizon has - CDMA doesn't penetrate walls as well as GSM does. It's kind of funny: we have two groups of people huddled outside the office doors - smokers and Verizons customers.
FWIW:
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03...es-but-will-consumers-see-the-benefit/?hpt=T2
jakfish said:
FWIW:
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2011/03...es-but-will-consumers-see-the-benefit/?hpt=T2
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I read that this morning before leaving for work. It doesn't help to ease my tensions about the acquisition.
Given that it's a Republican, hence laissez faire, House, I can't see them stopping this merger, but the initial political chatter is very much against it. That could be nothing more than posturing for constituents, but for AT&T to take over 80% of the mobile market in one fell swoop, politicians are really going to have to look the other way.
They often do, however,
Jake
. The question now becomes said:
Well stated, and an apt analogy! That is as well the conundrum of the new prisoners at the state prison...
ATT will play the part of Bubba perfectly!
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Everybody needs to take a deep, deep breath and calm down. We're a two cellular carrier household; T-Mobile and AT&T. According to T-Mobile at their home page they addressed several questions one being our current devices and plans and they said they will honor them. For many of us who have been with T-Mobile for example were with two other companies in the SE USA - PowerTel and VoiceStream. It was no secret Deutsch TeleComm had been shopping T-Mobile USA around for quite some time and their statement reflects they will be concentrating with their business in the countries of Germany and other European countries. Current trends suggest AT&T has a 50-50 chance at obtaining T-Mobile USA; however their lobby in Washington is strong and there has been no hint from the Obama administration to curtail this merger as other big name mergers have yet to be turned down. There will be stipulations and this will be watched very carefully. Judging my the speed which this has moved in the past two days, much of the legwork prior to announcement seems to had been done well in advance. Whether we like it or not; we're at the whelm of these companies and they are going to do what is in their best interest and we're all along for the ride; we have a choice whether we like it or not, it's whether there are enough of us after the two companies merge.
jakfish said:
Given that it's a Republican, hence laissez faire, House, I can't see them stopping this merger, but the initial political chatter is very much against it. That could be nothing more than posturing for constituents, but for AT&T to take over 80% of the mobile market in one fell swoop, politicians are really going to have to look the other way.
They often do, however,
Jake
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Click to collapse
It actually not on the Republicans this time. Democrats are the ones fighting for a nation-wide broadband network. This merger would be the basis for that goal. Our president has outlined this several times before. I would not be surprised in the least if AT&T becomes a monopoly...again. It's not that they would look the other way, it's more about will they allow it to happen to further their goal? I'm all for a national broadband infrastructure, but AT&T is NOT the way to achieve that.
SnittyKitty said:
Everybody needs to take a deep, deep breath and calm down. We're a two cellular carrier household; T-Mobile and AT&T. According to T-Mobile at their home page they addressed several questions one being our current devices and plans and they said they will honor them. For many of us who have been with T-Mobile for example were with two other companies in the SE USA - PowerTel and VoiceStream. It was no secret Deutsch TeleComm had been shopping T-Mobile USA around for quite some time and their statement reflects they will be concentrating with their business in the countries of Germany and other European countries. Current trends suggest AT&T has a 50-50 chance at obtaining T-Mobile USA; however their lobby in Washington is strong and there has been no hint from the Obama administration to curtail this merger as other big name mergers have yet to be turned down. There will be stipulations and this will be watched very carefully. Judging my the speed which this has moved in the past two days, much of the legwork prior to announcement seems to had been done well in advance. Whether we like it or not; we're at the whelm of these companies and they are going to do what is in their best interest and we're all along for the ride; we have a choice whether we like it or not, it's whether there are enough of us after the two companies merge.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well, more than anything, this is a financial move for DT. They get a payout no matter what happens. If the merger goes through, they will get an 8% stake in AT&T as well as a DT board member on AT&T's board of directors. Even if the deal falls through by some chance, T-Mobile gets $3 billion, a roaming agreement, and a hefty chunk of spectrum for AT&T, just for doing nothing. Either way, DT wins. No matter what, T-Mobile customers loose.
I was sent an automated txt message saying I 'qualified for an upgrade', so, for grins and chuckles I called to kind of inquire. I think the lady was from India or something because I don't think she quite understood what I was asking but, she did inform me that their trying to upgrade all their customers to equipment compatible with At&t. She also informed me that equipment changes must be made before May 2012 when the conversion to At&t is complete. Startling news considering I thought the FCC is still mulling over the legal stuff and here I'm told the deal is already done.....sucks if it's true because I loathe At&t with a passion. Just thought I share this information with all of you.
She's probably just giving you generic whatever and has no idea on what's going on really.
Recently I've noticed a peculiar increase in dropped calls on my and my wife's G2s, as well as two friends... li wonder if we were pushed the same OTA upate, either that or the AT&T network switch may have already happened
Well the odd thing(s) I've noticed is a specific area where I used to get full bars of 3G has now reverted to EDGE service. I say odd because T-Mobile was the only 3G service in said area not even Verizon or Sprint had 3G. Now all of a sudden At&t pops up, which never did before.
I called again because I was curious about the LG G2X and I was told similar information regarding At&t and May 2012. I really am a tad concerned, anyone else have any info regarding this date? I don't mean to come off paranoid but, that's 2 people now that gave the same exact date.
I see quite a few posts about the note IMEI not being in AT&T systems and how you can get around smartphone data plans or what not....
The note IMEI is in AT&T systems, we had to because our systems for whatever reason categorized out as a tablet mistakingly and caused a lot of people to lose their data plans as they were "incorrect"
Just a heads up for anyone.
This is old news and not true anymore.
Tapatalk is good
This was fixed more than a month ago, and isn't true anymore.
Enjoy your Note!
JFizDaWiz said:
I see quite a few posts about the note IMEI not being in AT&T systems and how you can get around smartphone data plans or what not....
The note IMEI is in AT&T systems, we had to because our systems for whatever reason categorized out as a tablet mistakingly and caused a lot of people to lose their data plans as they were "incorrect"
Just a heads up for anyone.
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Our IMEI's are not in AT&T's system. What had happened is that some of our Note's (not all) happened to coincide with an erroneously entered range of IMEI's in AT&T's database. It was down to human error.
I work for AT&T And I talk to note users and it shows up as the n7000
Sent from my SGH-T989 using xda premium
As an AT&T employee, I can also confirm this.
Although this has been well documented for the last couple months.
Right now the best way around it is to backup and then wipe your EFS folder.
Maroon Mushroom said:
As an AT&T employee, I can also confirm this.
Although this has been well documented for the last couple months.
Right now the best way around it is to backup and then wipe your EFS folder.
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Click to collapse
As already mentioned above, one of the members here contacted some AT&T execs and made them aware of the problem. AT&T discovered that when entering IMEI numbers for a certain 10" galaxy tab into their database, they messed one up, transposing 2 digits. This erroneous number range just so happened to coincide with a range of Galaxy Note IMEIs. That caused some Note owners to have their device identified as a 10" galaxy tab. They have since fixed the database error, so Notes are no longer being identified as tablets.
Whether or not the proper IMEIs for international Notes are in their system, I don't know. However, when I log onto my online account management, the system doesn't recognize my phone. It shows a generic flip phone. When I go to manage features, the only data options it gives me are the dumbphone data plans; $15 for unlimited. This leads me to believe that AT&T does NOT have the international Notes' IMEIs in their system. Sure, the system may somehow be capable of telling the rep that the phone model is reported as N-7000, but the system clearly doesn't "know" that it's a smartphone.
maxh said:
As already mentioned above, one of the members here contacted some AT&T execs and made them aware of the problem. AT&T discovered that when entering IMEI numbers for a certain 10" galaxy tab into their database, they messed one up, transposing 2 digits. This erroneous number range just so happened to coincide with a range of Galaxy Note IMEIs. That caused some Note owners to have their device identified as a 10" galaxy tab. They have since fixed the database error, so Notes are no longer being identified as tablets.
Whether or not the proper IMEIs for international Notes are in their system, I don't know. However, when I log onto my online account management, the system doesn't recognize my phone. It shows a generic flip phone. When I go to manage features, the only data options it gives me are the dumbphone data plans; $15 for unlimited. This leads me to believe that AT&T does NOT have the international Notes' IMEIs in their system. Sure, the system may somehow be capable of telling the rep that the phone model is reported as N-7000, but the system clearly doesn't "know" that it's a smartphone.
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Click to collapse
And your EFS folder hasn't been wiped? When did you get your phone?
I personally experienced the issue on my own Galaxy Note just 3 weeks ago where it was showing up as a tablet.
maxh said:
Whether or not the proper IMEIs for international Notes are in their system, I don't know. However, when I log onto my online account management, the system doesn't recognize my phone. It shows a generic flip phone. When I go to manage features, the only data options it gives me are the dumbphone data plans; $15 for unlimited. This leads me to believe that AT&T does NOT have the international Notes' IMEIs in their system. Sure, the system may somehow be capable of telling the rep that the phone model is reported as N-7000, but the system clearly doesn't "know" that it's a smartphone.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You summed it up perfectly. My experience as well.
Maroon Mushroom said:
And your EFS folder hasn't been wiped? When did you get your phone?
I personally experienced the issue on my own Galaxy Note just 3 weeks ago where it was showing up as a tablet.
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Click to collapse
My EFS folder is virgin, untouched. I got my Note at the beginning of November.
I talked personally with an AT&T product manager about this very issue. Here was his response:
********
I just spoke with our supply chain team and we figured out the issue – a digit was transposed when we loaded in a set of IMEI TAC ranges to our systems in October and this resulted in classifying a subset of Samsung Galaxy Note products erroneously. Your IMEI range was not impacted and your product will work without issue and without concern of losing your unlimited smartphone data plan experience.
To be clear, you have not actually received any “alerts” from AT&T about data plan eligibility because you have not moved your SIM card into the Samsung Galaxy Note product as of yet? You can do so without issue at this time.
*****
As if the imminent launch news hasn't confirmed this, despite what people think on the internet, it's not a tablet according to AT&T. No EFS trickery necessary.
Maroon Mushroom said:
As an AT&T employee, I can also confirm this.
Although this has been well documented for the last couple months.
Right now the best way around it is to backup and then wipe your EFS folder.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not all international IMEI's were affected. I too have an untouched /efs folder, and I haven't run into any issues. Been two weeks so far. The system does however know that I have a GT-N7000 though.
Jade Eyed Wolf said:
Not all international IMEI's were affected. I too have an untouched /efs folder, and I haven't run into any issues. Been two weeks so far. The system does however know that I have a GT-N7000 though.
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Click to collapse
AT&T knows what devices we are using. The IMEI is logged every time your phone turns on and connects to a tower. Just because OLAM may show a generic flip phone when you are using an unlocked device doesn't mean that AT&T doesn't really know what it is. They just haven't chosen to tie the two systems together for billing/tracking purposes.
There was a thread on HoFo a few years back where folks were bragging about AT&T having no clue about their unlocked unbranded smartphones while on the $15 MediaNet plan. A CSR posted the link to an AT&T/Cingular website (it was publicly available) where you input either your phone number or the IMEI and it returned exactly what device you were using. So they know.
I'm not convinced it's a huge issue for them either, beyond going after huge data users/tetherers. The percent of customers using unlocked phones on their network is likely tiny. The vast majority of cellular users in the US aren't even aware of unlocked phones and even if they were, most wouldn't pay the upfront costs to buy one. De la Vega said as much in the Engadget interview a couple of years ago. This is a problem for enthusiasts only. As much as AT&T gets maligned in the press (mostly due to the old iPhone/network issues which I'm convinced were 100% the fault of the iPhone and it's lousy "air interface"), I'm impressed that they took care of this issue with the unlocked Notes and the incorrect IMEIs so quickly. They really had no reason or incentive to do so, especially with their own version of the Note coming so quickly thereafter.
dwboston said:
AT&T knows what devices we are using. The IMEI is logged every time your phone turns on and connects to a tower. Just because OLAM may show a generic flip phone when you are using an unlocked device doesn't mean that AT&T doesn't really know what it is. They just haven't chosen to tie the two systems together for billing/tracking purposes.
There was a thread on HoFo a few years back where folks were bragging about AT&T having no clue about their unlocked unbranded smartphones while on the $15 MediaNet plan. A CSR posted the link to an AT&T/Cingular website (it was publicly available) where you input either your phone number or the IMEI and it returned exactly what device you were using. So they know.
I'm not convinced it's a huge issue for them either, beyond going after huge data users/tetherers. The percent of customers using unlocked phones on their network is likely tiny. The vast majority of cellular users in the US aren't even aware of unlocked phones and even if they were, most wouldn't pay the upfront costs to buy one. De la Vega said as much in the Engadget interview a couple of years ago. This is a problem for enthusiasts only. As much as AT&T gets maligned in the press (mostly due to the old iPhone/network issues which I'm convinced were 100% the fault of the iPhone and it's lousy "air interface"), I'm impressed that they took care of this issue with the unlocked Notes and the incorrect IMEIs so quickly. They really had no reason or incentive to do so, especially with their own version of the Note coming so quickly thereafter.
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Click to collapse
Not that it affects me directly, yet, but as an unlimited data user, I really do dislike US carriers' move towards tiered data policies and throttling, at least in principle. That said, I guess I'm not really opposed to it as long as it is merely a stop-gap solution to buy them some time while they simply focus on upgrading their capacity in order to be capable of managing the ensuing tsunami of high-volume mobile data users.
I guarantee that if carriers (not just AT&T) re-introduced unlimited data access devoid of any kind of throttling and so forth, the "top 5% of data users" figure would jump significantly, especially with LTE. More and more, wireless carriers are becoming common ISP's, and voice and text features are getting less important to people as the importance of data rises in the general public.
Personally, I think the best solution for consumers would be service bought and paid for through Google or Apple or RIM or Nokia, but on carrier agnostic devices.
Think about it this way:
Imagine you buy a Google Nexus device, and rather than paying VZW, or Sprint, or AT&T, or T-Mobile for your service, you pay Google instead. Google would in turn have service agreements with the carriers, so you wouldn't have direct interaction with them anymore. And now, your phone simply connects to whatever network is providing you the best service in any particular area, whether it be any of the carriers mentioned above, or maybe even to just a WiFi hotspot, and the transition to and from all those different carriers and technologies would be totally transparent to the user. It'd be like the ultimate MNVO!
Republic of Wireless is already headed in this direction, and it would be amazing to see it gain some traction and get even bigger!
Jade Eyed Wolf said:
Not that it affects me directly, yet, but as an unlimited data user, I really do dislike US carriers' move towards tiered data policies and throttling, at least in principle. That said, I guess I'm not really opposed to it as long as it is merely a stop-gap solution to buy them some time while they simply focus on upgrading their capacity in order to be capable of managing the ensuing tsunami of high-volume mobile data users.
I guarantee that if carriers (not just AT&T) re-introduced unlimited data access devoid of any kind of throttling and so forth, the "top 5% of data users" figure would jump significantly, especially with LTE. More and more, wireless carriers are becoming common ISP's, and voice and text features are getting less important to people as the importance of data rises in the general public.
Personally, I think the best solution for consumers would be service bought and paid for through Google or Apple or RIM or Nokia, but on carrier agnostic devices.
Think about it this way:
Imagine you buy a Google Nexus device, and rather than paying VZW, or Sprint, or AT&T, or T-Mobile for your service, you pay Google instead. Google would in turn have service agreements with the carriers, so you wouldn't have direct interaction with them anymore. And now, your phone simply connects to whatever network is providing you the best service in any particular area, whether it be any of the carriers mentioned above, or maybe even to just a WiFi hotspot, and the transition to and from all those different carriers and technologies would be totally transparent to the user. It'd be like the ultimate MNVO!
Republic of Wireless is already headed in this direction, and it would be amazing to see it gain some traction and get even bigger!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I agree it would be fantastic. The US wireless carriers are deathly afraid of becoming dumb pipes. It's their own fault they haven't managed to come up with a value-added service beyond the network itself.
I think it's more likely that Google does something like buy T-Mobile and combine that network with Google's fiber optic network to get nationwide coverage. It's unlikely, but one can dream right?
I have looked thru thread after thread for days and cannot seem to enable WiFi calling on my OnePlus 5 on the AT&T network, Does anyone have a clue?
I switched from AT&T to T-Mobile when I got my OnePlus, so I can't say for sure, but I believe AT&T limits WiFi-Calling to certain devices, and even then, only the AT&T variants of those. (Mostly newer and from big name brands e.g. Apple, Samsung, HTC, LG). Since to my knowledge even an unlocked Galaxy s8 won't have WiFi calling on AT&T, it is unlikely that any OnePlus device will ever have that ability.
reffu said:
I switched from AT&T to T-Mobile when I got my OnePlus, so I can't say for sure, but I believe AT&T limits WiFi-Calling to certain devices, and even then, only the AT&T variants of those. (Mostly newer and from big name brands e.g. Apple, Samsung, HTC, LG). Since to my knowledge even an unlocked Galaxy s8 won't have WiFi calling on AT&T, it is unlikely that any OnePlus device will ever have that ability.
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Yes, I remember reading you can NOT do Wi-Fi calling on att with bring your own device.
Sent from my OnePlus 5 using XDA Labs
MrWilsonxD said:
Yes, I remember reading you can NOT do Wi-Fi calling on att with bring your own device.
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Le Pro3 is the only device that is BYOD and works on AT&T I believe.
Just another reason TMobile is the real deal
Eric214 said:
Just another reason TMobile is the real deal
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Yeah, or any of their mvno's!
I was with family today in Anaheim, a highly populated, very modern city I mean Disneyland is there.
My dad has AT&T, I have mint sim (a t mobile mvno) I had near 70-80db signal, he was bouncing between 120 and up.. Had no signal whatsoever for extended periods of time. And with their low band frequency purchase, it's only getting better. It's anecdotal evidence, but still..
While I don't think t mobile offers the best network, I strongly feel they are going to get there in a couple years should they keep this up..
Sent from my OnePlus 5 using XDA Labs
I'm wondering about WiFi texting can the oneplus 5 do it? Also I noticed when in connected to WiFi I can't send any texts.
Att does not allow the 1+5, albeight the technology is there, to do VoWifi or VoLte. They reserve those features for devices solely purchased from Att, ie Only branded devices. If the Le eco does work it out of the box, that's awesome. Don't tell Att that, lol. I got into a huge argument with Att NatCs and filed troubleshooting tickets only to be told, sorry, since it wasn't purchased directly, no work. I have since made the move to TMobile. Im in NJ as a reference. And to be honest, I find the voice quality vastly better to what I had with Att, with hd voice too. I've hit some spots with little to no coverage, usually at a friend's house but my VoWifi kicks in and I have service once again with no issues.
Sent from my ONEPLUS A5000 using Tapatalk
Many retail/unlock mobiles have "Wifi Calling" function but not any menu entry to enable , The APP can check the hidden function and enable it if can use.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.widget7.wifi.calling
ppgirl said:
Many retail/unlock mobiles have "Wifi Calling" function but not any menu entry to enable , The APP can check the hidden function and enable it if can use.
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.wikimediacom.wifi.calling
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Click to collapse
Interesting app. But I'm not sure it works.
I install it, on my un-rooted OnePlus 5, then run it - hey! there's a convincing looking setting, for wifi - and so I activate it. But everytime I return to the app, the setting is 'off' again. Does that mean the setting doesn't 'stick' and my phone (running on AT&T) cannot actually use wifi?
Plus, it looks to me as though the app has to remain running (although there's a setting to not display the notification icon, it doesn't seem to 'stick' either).
Ultimately, I cannot seem to get my phone to actually make a wifi call. For this reason, I'm skeptical this app is able to enable wifi calling, on the AT&T network.
I just called ATT.
I want to upgrade to the 5 and i need it to call over wifi as most of the time i'm in a rural situation with no coverage.
The ATT tech support said there would be no problem.
I hate to say it, but they lied (unless there's been a drastic change as-of-late).
Even if you can get them to provision your 5T, it'll only "stick" for a minute or so, and then revert.
AT&T is somewhat "famous" for their lack of BYOD (non-branded) WiFi call/text support. The exception is iOS devices, and a couple of "certified" Android phones; I think the HTC 10 (or maybe it was the 9) was an example, you can probably count these on one hand.
I call At&T today. No changes so far.
AT&T has an issue like this forever, as they do not wish to give that option to all. That is like a drop in profits, and drop in latency and lags. Anyways, too long to explain, but the gist is, they will have loss if they allow full coverage (at least loss on journal entries)..
vdbhb59 said:
at&t has an issue like this forever, as they do not wish to give that option to all. That is like a drop in profits, and drop in latency and lags. Anyways, too long to explain, but the gist is, they will have loss if they allow full coverage (at least loss on journal entries)..
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Click to collapse
BOO... At&t... BOO!