Cell phone question for net10

[Sadmin]

Im looking at a phone on ebay that states its unlocked but used t-mobile specs.
What does that mean? Can I put an At&T sim in it since its unlocked?

Thanks for any info. Im trying to find a phone that I can buy used that will work with a net10 plan.

[RoyGBiv]

If the phone is SIM unlocked you can use an ATT SIM (I am not familiar with Net10 so I can't say) and make PHONE CALLS, but you cannot surf the web using ATT on a phone branded TMobile. The data network frequencies are not the same. Again, I'm not sure how this would apply to using a T-Mo handset on Net-10.

[RoyGBiv]

So I'm reading here: http://net10byop.com/
and it says....

Keep 4G speeds when bringing a 4G T-Mobile compatible device

This leads me to believe that Net-10 uses the same frequencies as T-Mo... If this is the case, you can buy an unlocked T-Mo handset and insert a net-10 SIM card and it will work for both phone and data (including text)..

The best way to confirm is to ask Net-10 if a standard unlocked 4G T-Mo handset will work on their 4G data service.
Based on that web page link, it appears the answer will be yes, but, I'm not gonna be the one to tell you for sure since I've not had any experience at all with Net-10.. Call net-10.

[RoyGBiv]

For $50/month you can get a T-Mo plan direct from T-Mo...

Do you have hard facts that Net-10 has better coverage in your area?

If I was to guess.... based on the compatible frequencies between t-Mo and Net10, I guess that Net10 is just reselling T-mobile service... Just a guess...

[RoyGBiv]

Well... this was bugging me and I did some digging..

All you ever wanted to know is here:
http://www.howardforums.com/showthre...-America-Movil

http://www.howardforums.com/forumdis...Tracfone-Net10

A quick read gives me the following impression... However, you should verify before spending your money..

1. Net10 is, indeed, reselling other carriers... ATT, TMo, etc..
2. They can cover CDMA and GSM... so you have a wide variety of phones if you want to BYOP.
3. The handset limitations on services (specifically data) still apply.. Unless you have some way to retune the radio on a TMo phone, it's not going to transmit data over ATT's network and vice-versa. You CAN make regular phone calls on an ATT cell tower using a TMo handset, assuming your Net10 SIM card is authorized to do so.. (getting confused yet?)...

Bottom line....

If you know that ATT has good coverage in your area, you need to get an ATT-branded handset, unlock it and take it to Net10. HOWEVER, you need to confirm with Net10 that they are reselling ATT service in your area. If they can only provide service over TMo in your area, your ATT handset will make phone calls (probably) but will not provide data service (or very old-tech, slow data service at best).

If you have decent coverage from TMo in your area, I'd sign up directly with TMo and make sure to buy a relatively new handset that supports TMo 4G LTE data service. When TMo finishes moving all the Virgin Mobile customers out of the Virgin spectrum, LTE will really take off with better data speeds. TMo will leapfrog to the front of the pack IMO.

Hope that's helpful.

[mnealtx]

I'm sorry, but your point 3 and bottom line recommendation are incorrect.

There's no 're-tuning' of the radios in the cell phone, but he'll have access to the full capabilities of the phone and will be able to connect to any cell tower that has compatible radio freqs. The only thing he may need is the network setup info for Net-10. Once he has that, it'll access and roam between networks just like any/every other phone, assuming that Net-10 has roaming agreements with the other carriers.

4G data *may* be an issue if the phone doesn't use the same bands as the towers in his area. In that case, the phone would fail back to the common 3G / UMTS / GPRS bands.

[Sadmin]

Wow, thanks Roy. Very informative. Yes, I was aware that net10 resells for at&t and t-mobile. Unfortunately, the t-mobile coverage isnt great anywhere outside of tyler, so im tied to at&t. I was just confused on what the "unlocked but used t-mobile settings" means. The data over 3g doesnt mean that much to me, but its crucial the wifi works.
thanks again!

[RoyGBiv]

I'm sorry, but your point 3 and bottom line recommendation are incorrect.

There's no 're-tuning' of the radios in the cell phone, but he'll have access to the full capabilities of the phone and will be able to connect to any cell tower that has compatible radio freqs. The only thing he may need is the network setup info for Net-10. Once he has that, it'll access and roam between networks just like any/every other phone, assuming that Net-10 has roaming agreements with the other carriers.

4G data *may* be an issue if the phone doesn't use the same bands as the towers in his area. In that case, the phone would fail back to the common 3G / UMTS / GPRS bands.

Forgive me... my suggestion that he would need to retune the radio was tongue-in-cheek... I don't know of any way for a typical end user to do this.

Your suggestion that he would have "access to the full capabilities of the phone" but only if the cell tower has "compatible radio freqs" seems to agree exactly with what I said. Perhaps I missed the difference.?

[mnealtx]

Forgive me... my suggestion that he would need to retune the radio was tongue-in-cheek... I don't know of any way for a typical end user to do this.

Your suggestion that he would have "access to the full capabilities of the phone" but only if the cell tower has "compatible radio freqs" seems to agree exactly with what I said. Perhaps I missed the difference.?

No, not really. You said he wouldn't be able to use the Net10 SIM card for data in the ATT phone. If the phone was *not* unlocked, he would have to get an ATT SIM card to use it at all. Unlocked, he has full access to voice/data just as if he had an ATT SIM in it (making the presumption that Net10 has roaming agreements in place with the other carriers). It's *possible* that none of the towers in the area have compatible 4g connectivity with the phone, but that won't affect fallback to older data protocols/frequencies that are common to all the carriers.

Sadadmin - You may have to do some playing around with WiFi channels and security stuff (WEP/WPA/TKIP, things like that) to find settings that match between your WiFi router and the phone, but WiFi access in and of itself shouldn't be an issue.

[RoyGBiv]

No, not really. You said he wouldn't be able to use the Net10 SIM card for data in the ATT phone. If the phone was *not* unlocked, he would have to get an ATT SIM card to use it at all. Unlocked, he has full access to voice/data just as if he had an ATT SIM in it (making the presumption that Net10 has roaming agreements in place with the other carriers). It's *possible* that none of the towers in the area have compatible 4g connectivity with the phone, but that won't affect fallback to older data protocols/frequencies that are common to all the carriers.

Sadadmin - You may have to do some playing around with WiFi channels and security stuff (WEP/WPA/TKIP, things like that) to find settings that match between your WiFi router and the phone, but WiFi access in and of itself shouldn't be an issue.

The original post asked specifically about taking a T-Mobile phone and putting in an ATT SIM card.
So I made the following point, which is correct and on point. I never said he could not use a ATT SIM in an ATT phone... Please reread.

Unless you have some way to retune the radio on a TMo phone, it's not going to transmit data over ATT's network and vice-versa. You CAN make regular phone calls on an ATT cell tower using a TMo handset, assuming your Net10 SIM card is authorized to do so.....