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Google always has plans. There has to be a reason they went with T-Mobile. Is T-Mobile going to get an overhaul, or just continue to be the carrier with the worst reputation? I think Google is going to completely rebuild the infrastructure. Does anyone have any theories or facts?
droiddrop said:
Google always has plans. There has to be a reason they went with T-Mobile. Is T-Mobile going to get an overhaul, or just continue to be the carrier with the worst reputation. I think Google is going to completely rebuild the infrastructure. Does anyone have any theories or facts?
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Click to collapse
It's too early to say... but I don't think it's a coincidence that T-mobile implemented their Even More Plus plans a few months back. They are tailor-made for unsubsidized phones.
Maybe Google will just buy T-mobile USA
I too, am thinking it will become G-Mobile.
I'm just glad I got a next gen smartphone on T-Mobile finally.
"Carrier with the worst reputation"? I suppose you've misconstrued a lack of (excessive) marketing from T-Mobile as an indication of inferiority. It's a shame so many people actually believe AT&T and Verizon's advertisements.
SurrealNetworks said:
"Carrier with the worst reputation"? I suppose you've misconstrued a lack of (excessive) marketing from T-Mobile as an indication of inferiority. It's a shame so many people actually believe AT&T and Verizon's advertisements.
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MOD EDIT - When you knowmanners, please come back
I got a chuckle out of that one
SurrealNetworks said:
"Carrier with the worst reputation"? I suppose you've misconstrued a lack of (excessive) marketing from T-Mobile as an indication of inferiority. It's a shame so many people actually believe AT&T and Verizon's advertisements.
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I'm a 7 year T-mo customer and can't think of a single reason to switch for the foreseeable future... but I'm the first to admit their network isn't as wide as the other three national carriers. They have plenty of room to improve. Their customer service, however, is amazing.
Calm down, Napoleon, I can see your T-Mobile logo. Your bratty reponse and previous post speak volumes about the quality of your theory and debate. You claim the comment was meant to highlight the perception of the general public. If this is simply a perception then why would an "overhaul' be necessary? Please provide reference to the study that shows the "general public's opinion on wireless carriers". The general public's opinion is typically guided by marketing, but you already know that given how truly smart you are </sarcasm>
Instead of defending your post of ignorance, why don't you speak about your actual experience. If its good you can help to reverse these negative perceptions. If your experience is poor you can provide feedback about that experience, including the type of problems and areas that are affected. This will help other users to make an informed decision about their wireless provider. Here, I'll start by saying in the Midwest you'll be hard pressed to find a better carrier. Specifically I've experienced few, if any, dropped calls in the last several years. 3G speed has been exceptional; speeds ranging from 2-3mbps.
droiddrop said:
I too, am thinking it will become G-Mobile.
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I didn't think about that name. That's a perfect fit!
btmec said:
I didn't think about that name. That's a perfect fit!
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Pretty coincidental, eh?
g-mobile
I like that name, i have been with t-mobile ever since they where called voicestream. Never had a reason to change either. If/when Google ever acquires them that would be the biggest telecomm news ever. i would miss t-mobile, but then again bring on G-mobile. Maybe then we'll see true VOIP.
A theory I heard was that Google may/may not buy T-Mobile, but T-Mobile will become nothing but Google's data carrier and upgrades are due for 4G and more towers. No hard facts, just speculation, but it makes sense.
mikesm1234 said:
I like that name, i have been with t-mobile ever since they where called voicestream. Never had a reason to change either. If/when Google ever acquires them that would be the biggest telecomm news ever. i would miss t-mobile, but then again bring on G-mobile. Maybe then we'll see true VOIP.
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Voip should ideally be carrier independent. I don't think Google needs to be getting into the telecom business. They are great at what they do, and merging with a cellular phone carrier is way outside of the scope of that. Just my opinion.
Google is a business that does that business well. Look at all of the other unheard of products that they have bought up, re-manufactured and now are quite amazing. Grand Central - Google Voice, there are others. I think Google does not want be a cell provider, but completely revamp the way cell phones are used by employing VOIP/Google Voice technologies.
droiddrop said:
Google always has plans. There has to be a reason they went with T-Mobile. Is T-Mobile going to get an overhaul, or just continue to be the carrier with the worst reputation? I think Google is going to completely rebuild the infrastructure. Does anyone have any theories or facts?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I went to 2 t-mobile stores today and the people that worked there didn't know **** about the N1's, the purchase options, the plan options, nothing. They were nice and I got my insurance, but dumb as ****, I knew more about the plans and phones then they did.
droiddrop said:
A theory I heard was that Google may/may not buy T-Mobile, but T-Mobile will become nothing but Google's data carrier and upgrades are due for 4G and more towers. No hard facts, just speculation, but it makes sense.
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T-Mobile USA has already said they will add a little more to their USA 3G coverage, but their focus is on 4G because they believe that is the true longer term future, and 3G is just a very expensive "short term" service that doesn't fit with their business model of low prices, top notch customer service, and economically sound coverage to match those low prices.
If you live in the SE, T-Mobile actually has the best coverage of any carrier for voice, and they have done a lot more for rural coverage than any other carrier can even hope to claim, yet alone back up.
As well, if T-Mobile were to jump in on the 3G hate war(they won't because they like seeing those other 2 go at it) they could point out AT&T is actually not forth right about having the fastest 3G, T-Mobile has the fastest 3G(both in terms of average market speed and peak market speed), but they also have the smallest footprint.
Anyone else worried that the N1s stuggles and the blame game going on in costumer service will spoil a Tmo/Google relationship ?
What if an N1 or N2 hits for Verizon and is a smash hit ?
for the record...by all accounts Tmos customer service is miles ahead of all the other carriers. The fact the service for N1 is so ****ty is squarely on Google...but I wonder if pissed off people are going to see it that way damaging Tmos already sensitive reputation.
May not make sense. . lol
Why doesn't Verizon just die already(Since they are just as expensive as at&t, but are locked down and limited in so many ways)? And at&t just man up and actually do some work to improve their phone line up(and service, 3G speeds are suffering because of a certain phone. . ) with something other then the 'assphone'. Seriously, it just ruins its reputation and line up, since they aren't focusing too much on anything else. I am a loyal at&t customer since 2002, but I might have to jump ship to T-Mobile because at&t has neglected the other side(Sure there are some other phones, but we still don't have any android devices, and most of the new WM devices are getting thrown at other carriers, plus the premium of the plans. . .).
If Google chose at&t, then it would be over shadowed by the iPhone, and I see that logic, but come on, we need some lovin' too.
But T-Mobile seems cool because of the "Even More" Plans since they are cheap, and they have some good phones lined up soon, and they don't solely rely on one phone to bring in the Benjamin Rolls(Toilet paper made out of 100 dollar bills).
My 2 cents.
As a longtime iPhone owner, i'm concerned over the news that iPhone is coming to Verizon. ATT was not always a crappy network. iPHone made them crappy. Pushing millions of new data users was detrimental to the network. Now we get them on the Verizon soon. I'm stuck on Verizon for 2 years so i hope this doesn't go through.
I did think i read that iphone would only come to verizon on the LTE network which would not impact us 3G users. But will verizion take bandwidth/towers away from 3G for LTE?
I got with AT&T back in 98. They kinda sucked back then too. I do think the iPhone created some saturation on the network, but I also think the increase in users made a network that sucked suck more. But what do I know?
"we have to earn it" is a quote used by Verizon Wireless' CEO.
Earning it, dissected by a few people means that Verizon has to increase the stability of their network and push out LTE faster. I don't think Verizon's network won't suffer too hard if the iPhone does get pushed.
There is a chance that by getting the iPhone, that Verizon's network will get stronger, bigger and better to be able to handle that much more data. On a side note, Android users are already consuming more data than iPhone users, and since Verizon is the largest carrier with android devices, adding the iPhone to the mix just = more customers, data consumption may differ.
If you switch to another carrier because of the iPhone, i believe you will make the wrong decision. Verizon has been behind on the 4G/LTE update only because they want to cover a lot of people and do it right. Their roadmap in 2011+ coupled with LTE is just the first step to having the ultimate mobile service at your finger tips.
Additional edit:
Also, the latest rumors also indicate that there could be two different versions coming out. The first one having a CDMA/LTE based chip to work right away, and then once LTE is fully established, a full 4G/LTE phone. Time will only tell, but the fact still remains that so much of this talk about the iPhone just means that it's eventually going to go there, when is the question.
AT&T has always had a relatively crappy data network, as far as reach and availability.
The launch of the iPhone created so much additional load on the network that the crappiness was exposed.
If you look at it, there were very few high data-consumption devices on AT&T before the iPhone.
AlexDeGruven said:
AT&T has always had a relatively crappy data network, as far as reach and availability.
The launch of the iPhone created so much additional load on the network that the crappiness was exposed.
If you look at it, there were very few high data-consumption devices on AT&T before the iPhone.
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If you look at my sig, i've had at least 4 phones on Cingular/ATT prior to iPhone.
-->HTC Wallaby (siemens SX56)
-->HTC Alpine
-->HTC BlueAngel (siemens SX66)
-->HTC Hermes TyTN(Cingular 8525)
Media Max was the fastest you could get (2G), but that was in days before Heavy Flash loaded sites. You could shoot through websites without any constraints. I also always had weather widgets, newsfeeds, and instant messaging. None ever had issues. In the same places i've lived in for the last decade, i now got dead spots for calls and data. I think ATT towers now gets taxed easily, bringing the communication down. I just don't want to see that same thing happen to Verizon, of which I've grown to love what it was once like to keep a call going clearly from where i started driving to where i ended up.
If indeed iPhone is coming to VZW and early next year, it would be just 3g not lte. I am already experiencing slow downs ever since Motorola Droid was launched.
Sent from my SCH-I500 using XDA App
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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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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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.
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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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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.
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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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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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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!
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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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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!
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.
Click to expand...
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.
Click to expand...
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.