Hey guys, I know there are other threads like this in the 7 inch but "this may be crazy, so call me maybe." but all terrible pop culture jokes aside, I am planning on using a GT 10.1 as a phone. I current have a Droid Charge on Verizon, which I am fond of, but I am always looking for something new/different.
My plan is to save lots of money by doing this, be quite unique, and functional.
Yesterday I purchased a GT10.1 with service capabilities (Is that the 10.1v?) and it should be here next week. And no I did not pay $800 from Verizon. Also, my main reason for this is I'm that weird person that doesn't like their phone in their pocket. I am always checking for it because I can't feel it. With this, I will always have it in my hand or somewhere close. *NOTE* I'm not attached to it, I just like to know where it is at all times.
I was mainly posting to see if anyone has done this with the 10.1 and any problems they ran across, or tips, tricks, anything to help me out on this transition. I will be dropping my unlimited plan to save money, and getting a 1 or 2GB plan, seeing as I am on WiFi 99% of the time being at a college campus.
If anyone has other program suggestions than the following, please step in. That is why i'm posting! If all possible I would like to keep my phone number, I'm not sure if that is possible due to me switching contracts and not having a mobile plan.
As of now, I plan on doing the following:
Galaxy Tab 10.1 16GB
-Caller: GrooveIP (Uses Google Voice) (Or should I use something along the lines of skype?)
-Messenger: N/A (Need one, Not sure what yet)
-3G/4G card from my Charge
I will root and theme etc, that's a given!
I know this is a giant wall of text, I tried to break it up a bit, but thanks for reading and I hope I get some good feedback and helpful tips.
I do something similar but not on the tab. I have an unlocked galaxy nexus gsm phone, no contract needed. I use tmobile prepaid, $30 per month for 5gb, at 4g (hspa) speed, then unlimited throttled. But it comes with only 100 minutes per month, so must be supplemented with calls over data. I have used grooveip and talkatone. The free talkatone app seemed to be about the same quality as grooveip. The monthly $2 high quality talkatone may be a little better. The quality of Skype is much much better than both, and since most everyone I talk to have Skype I just use that for free. But if you get a google voice number, you can use grooveip or talkatone as a phone too. Google voice will also work for sms. I only use that app, never the phone messenger app, I like it so much. No mms though. Also keep in mind data speeds matter. With 4g speeds you are ok. May have trouble in a moving car, I'm not a big talker so I haven't really noticed. At 3g speeds it will probably still work but quality will be worse. No way to use it if you drop to edge. So this is what I do on the phone. If I need data on the tab, I turn on the wifi widget in the nexus phone and voila I have data on my wifi tab. No expensive tablet/contract, no expensive monthly bills, $30/ month gets me what I need. You do have to pay a premium to escape the carrier contract, but think how fast you make back the extra cost of the phone. The galaxy nexus with jelly bean is only $350 in the google play store, not a bad deal at all.
Thanks a ton Kisrita, I bought my GT10.1v for $350, which seemed like a pretty good deal. And TMobile in our area does not have 4g, and what little service they have, sucks. And that helps me out a lot, I'd like to use skype a lot, but the hassle of this day and age at least for my generation, is not a lot of people USE the Skype on their phone. They have it, but they don't have it open to be "online" everyone just texts via messenger, so in theory, to communicate, I also have to be on a "Messenger" but knowing that GV can work for SMS is a good thing.
Sorry, nevermind, didn't read carefully enough.
All is good. Thanks for the free bump atleast!
Well, My tablet gets here today. Still looking for some answers!
I don't know if you knew this, but the Galaxy Tab 2 10.1 (GT-P51xx) works as a phone and for SMS.
www.samsung.com/global/microsite/galaxytab2/10.1/mobile/index.html?type=find
However, if you must go with the 10.1v, you have the option of doing the SMS mod on it and using Whatsapp as a primary messenger. It's fairly popular and a lot of people have it. For phone calls, I believe work is on to enable phone calls, and it may be possible some time in the very near future. Until then, you could always use Skype with a Skype paid number for incoming and outgoing calls through 3G/4G. Google Voice also has some interesting similar options.
Sent from my GT-P5100 using xda premium
No SIM card?
I'm not sure if this applies. Have 10.1, but it has no visible SIM or SDCard setup. Would like to see if some kinda way to run my T Mobile service through it. Is this possible if I can't put in a sim card?
Related
Going on a cruise that will take me to Key West and then Cozumel, Mexico. Anyone with cruise experience that can share the best way to avoid crazy fees?
phone fees? airplane mode. cruise fees? there are none. all you pay for is drinks and tips and sometimes your tips are even paid in advance. pour tequila in an empty listerine bottle (brown kind) to offset drink prices.
craig.pulliam said:
phone fees? airplane mode. cruise fees? there are none. all you pay for is drinks and tips and sometimes your tips are even paid in advance. pour tequila in an empty listerine bottle (brown kind) to offset drink prices.
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Click to collapse
Yea phone/data fees.
This is what I found on Sprint's website:
Pricing
All cruise ship calls: $2.99/minute
Data: $0.020/kb (with capable device where available)
Text Pricing: Send: $0.50/recipient; Received $0.05/msg
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Click to collapse
So looks like the phone will be left off and only turned on once or twice a day to check and see if any important text messages come through. I'll have to tell my friends to avoid texting me unless it is extremely important.
Transfer your cruise tickets to me... I'll take care of the charges...
Edit: seriously tho have fun!
Sent from 3D A.W.E.S.O.M-O
Some cruises also offer wifi. Turn on airplane mode then connect via wifi to check your email and websites. Not sure what the price for wifi is, but I'm sure it's not cheap.
Google Voice, if enabled, can be used over WiFi for your text messages... So if you have access to WiFi on the cruise..?
I thought the point of a cruise was to get away from it all?
When I was camping in the Sierra Nevada, I didn't expect and in fact enjoyed not having a signal.
Kept mine in airplane mode. While docked in St Thomas, was using it. Make sure you are away from the ship while in U.S. territory before you use a phone.
WiFi was close to unusable and a total wallet-rape on RCL's Oasis of the Seas.
Sent from my PG86100 using XDA App
3 minute call on my account was $8 when I went on a cruise last year. I didn't use my phone at all.
I think Internet access is at least 1 per minute at the computer kiosks, which you have to buy in at least 15 or 30 minute packages. Google Voice would be useful for texting here.
Remember to change your mobile network setting to Sprint only if you don't want the phone to use the ship's transmitter when a Sprint tower is available. This can especially happen in port if the cruise ships cell phone transmitter is not turned off. Change it to roaming as needed.
Cheaper solution is to look into buying a gsm phone and pre-paid international sim card for use on the ship and in port. It's also useful to have a couple of these phones between a couple or group of people as its easy to get separated on the ship and while on excursions in port.
Cheapest solution is to turn the phone off and experience the cruise lifestyle for a few days. It's a vacation!
walk to room...enter...open closet....open safe...put in your cell phone...close and lock safe....go outside to lido deck and proceed to drink and eat.
enjoy your cruise
I did the airplane mode the whole time it wasnt worth the cost and it was nice to not worry about calls or text.... On another note my Original Evo lasted 5 days in airplane mode with no charging and still used it for games.
Funnel deck, no phone, no clothes, no worries
Check out google voice if they have wifi (they should) They charge like $.02 for mexico and like $.06 for japan(not sure if that applies for both incoming and outgoing but I know they say google voice is US only right now). Not exactly sure how it works, but its worth looking into. You can definitely use google voice to text though, keep yourself in airplane mode with wifi on. That's if they have free wifi on the ship, I havnt been on a cruise in many years.
We tried to stick to just texting on board ship. Saves a little.
Watch out though, we would send a text and it would repeat 10-20-30 times and they bill you for it! Receiving texts was the same deal.
When we got back last December, there was more than $100 worth of texts on our bill!!! Called Sprint and they could see the problem and said that it was a "known problem," it took me three tries to get it back to what it really was, about $20.
Enjoy.
I would just leave it at home.
heres what i dont understand, if your going on a cruise why would you even want to use your phone, if i was going I wouldnt be touching my phone unless it was for emergencys
you can also call up sprint and ask them to put a bill cap on your account, so it can not exceed 100 or whatever you tell them
Surely the boat has wifi. You could then intergrate with Google voice while on the boat so atleast u can text and see any important calls. Then use gmail to call people I suppose
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using XDA Premium App
ITS A VACATION.. LEAVE YOUR DAMN PHONE AT THE DOCK.. that is all. all contact information for loved ones is left on the kitchen counter for contact via the ships administrators. Forget the damn phone and have good time. lol
What I did when we spent some time in Mexico is use wifi for Google Voice texts and emails and use Groove IP to make calls. This uses your Google Voice account/number and your phone to make VOIP calls.
Best single app on my phone IMO. Both for these international issues as well as when I can get a 4G signal but no 3G/Voice.
I have an AT&T Galaxy S II "grandfathered in", meaning I get Unlimited Data for $30 per month.
I'm looking for a way to tether the HSPA+ connection to my iPad and MacBook. I use to do this on my iPhone 4 via PDANet. I can recall PDANet having an option which "stealth's" the connection, making it seem as traffic is going through the phone instead of another device instead. This way, you can get past AT&T's stupid restrictions and use your devices data plan to tether to other devices. I use to use about 30GB-50GB of 3G Data per month tethering and never had any problems!
I downloaded PDANet through the Market, but cannot find any "stealth" setting, neither can I find a way to tether wirelesses.
To sum this up: I'm looking for a way to tether my Galaxy S II's wireless connection wirelessly (making a wireless hotspot and having other devices connect to it). I want to do this while bypassing AT&T extra overpriced tethering fees; using my unlimited data plan instead.
Note: I can easily root my device. Actually, I'm about to now! (Booting Windows 8 rig)
Thank you for the help! XDA FTW!
Search is your friend. There have been million threads about this.
AT&T analyses the data patterns of what's being transmitted to determine whether someone's tethering. I have no idea how accurate it is but my guess is if you're a high data user you'll probably get flagged.
BarryH_GEG said:
AT&T analyses the data patterns of what's being transmitted to determine whether someone's tethering. I have no idea how accurate it is but my guess is if you're a high data user you'll probably get flagged.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's probably one contributing factor - their detection methods probably consume enough resources that they're not enabled in most cases until something flags you for investigation.
However I do know of at least one light tetherer (approx. 1GB usage) that apparently got nailed.
Just an update: I found out about Barnacle Wifi Tether, which seems to be my best bet. Two problems:
1. I'm not rooted (SuperOneClick is hanging while trying to root, but I do have a new kernel running). SuperOneClick hangs on "waiting for device". USB Debugging is checked in my settings and I have tried unplugging the device, turning off USB debugging, turning USB Debugging back on, then plugging the device back in. NO GO. Does anybody happen to know what my problem could be? I'm running the program as Admin on Windows 8 x64; running on a good rig.
2. "This item is not available on your carrier." SMD, AT&T. I'm sure there is a way around this - by downloading the APK elsewhere, perhaps? Any two cents on this?
Google has a Tether app. Does everything for you.
No, I don't have the link. No, I won't search for it. Why? Because people like you that use 30-50GB a month are the reason AT&T started cracking down on tethering. It's thanks to you that tethering plans are so expensive and why they keep trying to nail people that tether. I rarely tether but I use my phone pretty heavily and I still very rarely break 3GB a month. 30-50GB is stupidly excessive. Hope they backcharge you.
+1 on this ^^^
I never tether and use 6-8 GB a month using Pandora 5+ hours a day.
In the captivate forum someone claimed it was tracked down to the browser user agent. If you use IE they look for that browser agent. There was also someone that used the IE user agent data in the android browser to force desktop view and got a warning to stop tethering even though they never had. That might explain why you never got noticed with your iPhone, if you used safari on your Mac.
I don't think we'll ever know for sure how att sniffs it out, I bet they keep it under tight wraps.
Sent from my SGS II
quarlow said:
+1 on this ^^^
I never tether and use 6-8 GB a month using Pandora 5+ hours a day.
In the captivate forum someone claimed it was tracked down to the browser user agent. If you use IE they look for that browser agent. There was also someone that used the IE user agent data in the android browser to force desktop view and got a warning to stop tethering even though they never had. That might explain why you never got noticed with your iPhone, if you used safari on your Mac.
I don't think we'll ever know for sure how att sniffs it out, I bet they keep it under tight wraps.
Sent from my SGS II
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The User Agent on iPhone's Safari and Mac's Safari are different; but AT&T may just be stupid enough to get them mixed up
Not to mention, I use a desktop user agent on my Galaxy S II sometimes. Hmm. Makes you think.
User agents can EASILY be changed, though I can't find an option for Dolphin HD to change it...Weird.
hotleadsingerguy said:
Google has a Tether app. Does everything for you.
No, I don't have the link. No, I won't search for it. Why? Because people like you that use 30-50GB a month are the reason AT&T started cracking down on tethering. It's thanks to you that tethering plans are so expensive and why they keep trying to nail people that tether. I rarely tether but I use my phone pretty heavily and I still very rarely break 3GB a month. 30-50GB is stupidly excessive. Hope they backcharge you.
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Click to collapse
Google's tethering App automatically activates AT&T's tethering data plan as far as I know. I went to activate it once and it said "Waiting for Activation" or something of that sort. I canceled it, though.
I don't use 30-50GB per month; that was only once and was due to my cousins watching porn and torrenting 24/7. It was actually accidental, I never knew they were using so much data until I checked my data usage one day at school to see how much I had used.
I use 4GB per month; max. Not to mention, I mainly tether to my iPad only most of the time. MacBook just isn't *that* portable.
Google Tethering in this forum instead !
Answers and solutions are already there. No, you don't need another app. Yes, you have to root your phone.
Colton127 said:
I have an AT&T Galaxy S II "grandfathered in", meaning I get Unlimited Data for $30 per month.
I'm looking for a way to tether the HSPA+ connection to my iPad and MacBook. I use to do this on my iPhone 4 via PDANet. I can recall PDANet having an option which "stealth's" the connection, making it seem as traffic is going through the phone instead of another device instead. This way, you can get past AT&T's stupid restrictions and use your devices data plan to tether to other devices. I use to use about 30GB-50GB of 3G Data per month tethering and never had any problems!
I downloaded PDANet through the Market, but cannot find any "stealth" setting, neither can I find a way to tether wirelesses.
To sum this up: I'm looking for a way to tether my Galaxy S II's wireless connection wirelessly (making a wireless hotspot and having other devices connect to it). I want to do this while bypassing AT&T extra overpriced tethering fees; using my unlimited data plan instead.
Note: I can easily root my device. Actually, I'm about to now! (Booting Windows 8 rig)
Thank you for the help! XDA FTW!
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Click to collapse
Honestly, what a dbag. Get out of here with your 30-50gb/mth, thanks for making the rest of us suffer because you can't afford a land line.
Finally got my device rooted. It was a driver issue, damn Samsung. Somehow the PDANet installer automatically installed working drivers for me.
I installed Barncale Wifi tether from their website and hooked up my MacBook and iPad. Pretty decent speeds, but since I live out in the country (around trees and such), I won't get above 3G speeds. In my town I get about 6mbit, though.
link12245 said:
Honestly, what a dbag. Get out of here with your 30-50gb/mth, thanks for making the rest of us suffer because you can't afford a land line.
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Click to collapse
The time I hit 30GB+ of usage was a LONG time ago. If I were to hit that again, then I'd be throttled at about 10GB. You aren't suffering much.
Oh, and I do have a land line. It just sucks (4mbit). That's the highest I can get where I live.
Not to mention, I can't take a land line with me.
Colton127 said:
Finally got my device rooted. It was a driver issue, damn Samsung. Somehow the PDANet installer automatically installed working drivers for me.
I installed Barncale Wifi tether from their website and hooked up my MacBook and iPad. Pretty decent speeds, but since I live out in the country (around trees and such), I won't get above 3G speeds. In my town I get about 6mbit, though.
The time I hit 30GB+ of usage was a LONG time ago. If I were to hit that again, then I'd be throttled at about 10GB. You aren't suffering much.
Oh, and I do have a land line. It just sucks (4mbit). That's the highest I can get where I live.
Not to mention, I can't take a land line with me.
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Dude just ignore them they are clearly the kind of people who think you should use the amount of data ATT thinks you should!
I on the other hand pay for unlimted so i use as much as i can and don't care what others think.
Definitions of unlimited (adj)
un·lim·it·ed [ un límmitəd ]
not restricted: without limits, restrictions, or controls
infinite: lacking or appearing to lack a boundary or end
complete or total: not subject to qualification or exception
Synonyms: limitless, infinite, unrestricted, unrestrained, boundless, unconstrained, on tap, indefinite, ad nauseam, bottomless
lordstrife said:
Dude just ignore them they are clearly the kind of people who think you should use the amount of data ATT thinks you should!
I on the other hand pay for unlimted so i use as much as i can and don't care what others think.
Definitions of unlimited (adj)
un·lim·it·ed [ un límmitəd ]
not restricted: without limits, restrictions, or controls
infinite: lacking or appearing to lack a boundary or end
complete or total: not subject to qualification or exception
Synonyms: limitless, infinite, unrestricted, unrestrained, boundless, unconstrained, on tap, indefinite, ad nauseam, bottomless
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+1 and I have never tethered. I was FORCED to a unlimited plan many many hears ago with a Motorola Q9h I think it was called, upgraded to a cappy grandfathered in, and now on the SGS2. So like it says I have UNLIMITED and that is exactly how it should be, directly taken from your example from a dictionary. I have ALWAYS used dolphin HD with it set to desktop and so far I have never received a warning text from them. Maybe lucky, maybe will in time, nut I WILL argue my point with them about it if/when it does come up. I understand that those who use a lot of bandwidth slow it for others but we shouldn't be able to gripe about it since most HAD TO be forced onto the unlimited plan at some point when att made us. So don't worry about others that cry about it, they GET what they pay for as do us with the UNLIMITED plan. It is just their tough luck they didn't get it when they could have.
Brought to you by my KICKASS CM7 AT&T SGS2
Flashing a custom rom and using the mobile tether ive never had a problem. Well.last september i used about 5gb tethering my touchpad and i thought that was a lot lol~ havnt flashed a custom rom on my sgs2 so cant test lol
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
lordstrife said:
Dude just ignore them they are clearly the kind of people who think you should use the amount of data ATT thinks you should!
I on the other hand pay for unlimted so i use as much as i can and don't care what others think.
Definitions of unlimited (adj)
un·lim·it·ed [ un límmitəd ]
not restricted: without limits, restrictions, or controls
infinite: lacking or appearing to lack a boundary or end
complete or total: not subject to qualification or exception
Synonyms: limitless, infinite, unrestricted, unrestrained, boundless, unconstrained, on tap, indefinite, ad nauseam, bottomless
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You paid for unlimited WITHOUT tethering.
Tether abusers caused AT&T to kill the unlimited plans for those who actually use our devices in a reasonable fashion, and caused AT&T to institute the advanced tethering detection mechanisms they have in place now.
As a result, those who do tether responsibly are still at risk of getting nailed because of those that didn't.
Running cognition rom I can use the native tether and no probs here
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using xda premium
Entropy512 said:
You paid for unlimited WITHOUT tethering.
Tether abusers caused AT&T to kill the unlimited plans for those who actually use our devices in a reasonable fashion, and caused AT&T to institute the advanced tethering detection mechanisms they have in place now.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What killed the unlimited data plan is not directly connected to tethering. It's the fact that AT&T was unable to handle the iPhone on their network alone.
Anyways, the new plans are making them MUCH more money. For one, people can now afford a smartphone as it's only $15/month more instead of $30/month more. This has caused many of my friends to get a smartphone, upgrading from their dumbphones.
Second, users who want a lot of data will have to pay more and more.
Third, most users didn't even go over 2GB of usage.
Verzion did the exact same thing, and I do believe Sprint is too follow. Sprint's network is slow enough already.
Don't go blaming people who tethered the reason behind no unlimited plan. Blame AT&T, the greedy bastards who just wanted to make more $$$. It's not our fault, sir.
Detection
So, I've had AT&T for quite some time and enjoyed the 'unlimited' plan for equally as long. I had a Nokia N900 and I was able to tether/share and pretty much what-ever I want. Only problem was I never got 3G speeds on it.
About a year ago I was messing with a friends Android. I slapped my SIM in the phone, rebooted, played around some and then took my SIM out and gave it back to him. About an hour later on my phone I get this text message 'You've been switched to the 2GB Smart phone plan'. WTF?!?! So I call up AT&T support and they explain why it was switched and give me back my unlimited account (once I promised them that my friends phone wouldn't show up with my SIM in it again)
This brings me to last week. I see the S2 and decide that its the new phone I want. I call up and find out under no uncertain terms that my 'unlimited' plan will be taken from me the second I upgrade to any sort of smart phone. My only option is to leave AT&T and they are fine with that.
So then I think, I'll just buy another phone and be sneaky. Just to test I drop my SIM into my blackjack II I have laying around. Check my AT&T account about an hour later and find that sure enough, I've now been switched to the Smartphone plan again. No text message, no notification, nothing. No back out options, zip, nada, zilch.
In the end I gave up. It seems almost pointless to try and play games since I'm on their network which they run and control. Sure I'm quite sad about losing my unlimited plan and would do just about anything to get it back. I even considered leaving but everyone else's 'unlimited' plans aren't unlimited once you read the small print. I'm not a huge data user, but I do tend to go a little beyond the 4GB limit since I like to stream pandora and there are times when I'll need to download an iso image for someone's computer that I'm working on remotely somewhere and can't get online. Those options are now all gone for me.
If anyone has any suggestions I've only had my phone for a few days. If I knew I could call up AT&T and get my unlimited plan back with my S2 I'd do it. But each rep I talked to on the phone said that the 'unlimited' code that I had was no longer in the system and there was nothing they could do for me (of course). How everyone else is getting away with this or holding on to their unlimited plans I've no idea.
Entropy512 said:
You paid for unlimited WITHOUT tethering.
Tether abusers caused AT&T to kill the unlimited plans for those who actually use our devices in a reasonable fashion, and caused AT&T to institute the advanced tethering detection mechanisms they have in place now.
As a result, those who do tether responsibly are still at risk of getting nailed because of those that didn't.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Blah that's BS. We all know why they got rid of unlimited plans and created tethering plans... MONEY. Cash is king and we are pawns for them to make money off of. They could care less how much data we use. What they care about is a way to score some cash for what we use the data for. Give it time, unlimited will be back to compete for dominance over a traditional land line.
Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I777 using XDA App
So I've been using the Gear S for a few days, and thoroughly enjoyed leaving my Note 4 in the truck or at home for quick errands. But aside from call forwarding I think I'm a bit confused about the functionality of the watch in terms of it as a stand alone device, and don't get me wrong it came through as promised as a stand alone, and I love this thing, the wait was worth it.
But the question is: when paired to my phone as Bluetooth I can not receive calls direct to my Gear S number, unless I'm missing something, but it goes straight to voicemail when I'm connected to my phones, can I set call forwarding to phone from my watch number or just only my phone to my watch? And do I only get text/calls forwarded, or all of my notifications (aside from emails which I know you got to add to the email app.) and does my phone need to stay on while at home?
I studied the crap out of this watch for 2 months before release, but a lot of the information was vague or speculation, then out of no where it dropped and just kind of looking for solid informed information now.
Overall, I'm still on the fence about using it on a plan, not because its come up short on what it promised, but because I'm not sure how often I'll use it. Im mainly just looking for any and all advice/tips to get the most out of this thing thinking maybe I've missed something ...
I justify the At&t $10 a month, because out the gate I saved $100 (Basically a free 10 months of stand alone service) and I do see the beauty of leaving my phone at home sometimes, plus for hitting the gym or taking the dog for a walk, I love my Note phones, but they do take up a lot of pocket real estate, so the watch is a nice feature.
And as far as battery life, I def get more on Bluetooth than as a stand alone, I can easily get a full day with cellular connection, but probably 2+ with just Bluetooth, and those numbers are wifi off/motion off.
Today: 8am - 100% - 12:45pm 92%.
Bluetoothed, Motion on, 19 Apps set to notify, brightness very readable but low.
Chances are I'll keep the cell plan on it, as far as the watch try and pry this thing from my hand ... at least until the Gear S2 drops lol. I'm just looking for any tips or tricks with the watch I might have missed, or maybe stories on how having there stand alone watch has improved your life.
It seems as if they focused too much on locking this watch down so you can ONLY use it with Samsung devices that they ended up with a watch with so much potential.
I thought I would be able to log in to my Google account on my watch and still be able to receive notifications on it. But nope, Samsung can't have us set up the phone temporarily and keep using it without a Samsung device. There's really no justification at this point to have a SIM card on this watch and being charged a monthly plan.
I wish another company would have released this device without the greediness of Samsung.
See I only buy Note series phones, so the locked to Samsung phones doesn't bother me, all the other watch companies would do the same if they weren't only making Android Wear devices and had proprietary software, just like the Iwatch will only run off an iPhone and not a peep will be said about that, people will praise it's old tech and uglymess as the second coming of jesus. Only samsung seems to catch the heat.
Let me reiterate that I'm 1000% happy with this watch, it's beautiful and functional, and the stand alone is great, just looking for a reason to keep it on a data plan in terms of fitting my lifestyle and need, I can see a lot of people needing this feature. The watch will stay on my wrist regardless. Me, I'm trying to justify the contract just to leave my phone in the truck during a shopping trip or to run errands or something. But again it's just $10 so it's not a huge deal.
It really depends on how your going to use it. Everyone is not going to use it the same way.
The price plan was not a concern at all and i was fine with that. I knew I was going to have the plan on it. Mines is mainly used for going on walks or runs. Sometimes i may still bring my phone, sometimes i may not. Felt i was covered either way. Making quick trips to shop, I'm set. Basically an "quick and short insurance policy" for me. Everything else is cool for me, but chances of me using is slim to none. And to do for $10. I'm good with that. It's doing every bit of what I had hoped it would.
Sent from my SM-N910P
Dmac1984 said:
See I only buy Note series phones, so the locked to Samsung phones doesn't bother me, all the other watch companies would do the same if they weren't only making Android Wear devices and had proprietary software, just like the Iwatch will only run off an iPhone and not a peep will be said about that, people will praise it's old tech and uglymess as the second coming of jesus. Only samsung seems to catch the heat.
Let me reiterate that I'm 1000% happy with this watch, it's beautiful and functional, and the stand alone is great, just looking for a reason to keep it on a data plan in terms of fitting my lifestyle and need, I can see a lot of people needing this feature. The watch will stay on my wrist regardless. Me, I'm trying to justify the contract just to leave my phone in the truck during a shopping trip or to run errands or something. But again it's just $10 so it's not a huge deal.
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THIS
---------- Post added at 08:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 08:19 PM ----------
Dmac1984 said:
But the question is: when paired to my phone as Bluetooth I can not receive calls direct to my Gear S number, unless I'm missing something, but it goes straight to voicemail when I'm connected to my phones, can I set call forwarding to phone from my watch number or just only my phone to my watch? And do I only get text/calls forwarded, or all of my notifications (aside from emails which I know you got to add to the email app.) and does my phone need to stay on while at home?
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The Bluetooth thing if you forward your calls to GS your phone (on smartphone will ring) If you forward GS calls to smartphone it will ring both numbers. Its how you set up your GS. Think of GS as a house phone. When your home bluetooth/wifi your GS to pair with the smartphone. When you are out and about leaving your phone at home you may forward your calls to bluetooth as well as accept calls from your GS.
I have a Sprint note 4 and a Gear S T-mobile. I will not pay the Sprint plan for the GS the detailed plan does not work for me so T-mobile GS I got. I many never use my GS number on my watch but it's nice having it in case I may need an emergency phone.
gingy13 said:
how unique are you?
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I'm not your average bear boo-boo (Yogie)
Super subjective ...
I see that dilemma as one of extreme subjectivity ...
I carry my phone with me everywhere I go, for the most part. What I discovered today is that if my phone is at home, and I connect my watch to WiFi wherever I am, I can still see missed calls, browse the web, receive and respond to text messages, and view new emails (though there is a weird glitch in there with composing), all of which came to my phone while I was out.
That said, having a mobile plan can certainly be a safety net because it allows calls when you leave your phone somewhere ... and when you're out of WiFi range ... but I can't say for me that's all that much of a problem. When I run to court or have to do quick errands, I'm not usually gone long enough to have to worry all that much about receiving urgent messages -- that's not to say that it isn't convenient to still be able to.
Ten dollars monthly really isn't a lot of money. It's actually kind of a negligible amount. For me, though, it costs a lot more. I threw in a StraightTalk sim because I bought the device at AT&T but have Verizon phone service, and it was pricey, plus it doesn't feel worthwhile to pay 30 bucks for something that I only need as a safety net or a convenience.
I just went through the full specifications of the device via the model-config.xml file on it, and I also started digging through the folders on the device. This thing is nowhere near its potential right now ... but we will have to see what Samsung does with it, and more importantly, what developers do with it. It really is a phone on the wrist and it has a ton of power that isn't being used just yet.
Anyone using bought nexus 6p with project Fi deal. If so how was your experience
I did, I am actually using the Fi network and financing the device through Fi. To start with, the Fi network seems to be great so far (could be just my area though). I have full signal no matter where I go and haven't dropped a call yet. Download speeds seem to be anywhere between 20-30Mbits down and 10-20 Mbits up.
The ordering process was simple, the app is great, and Google upgraded me to overnight shipping free of charge. I already installed TWRP and PureNexus custom ROM, everything works flawlessly! All-in-all I'm very impressed with Google and Fi. As long as it stays like this, I will more than likely use Fi for the foreseeable future.
RPelham said:
I did, I am actually using the Fi network and financing the device through Fi. To start with, the Fi network seems to be great so far (could be just my area though). I have full signal no matter where I go and haven't dropped a call yet. Download speeds seem to be anywhere between 20-30Mbits down and 10-20 Mbits up.
The ordering process was simple, the app is great, and Google upgraded me to overnight shipping free of charge. I already installed TWRP and PureNexus custom ROM, everything works flawlessly! All-in-all I'm very impressed with Google and Fi. As long as it stays like this, I will more than likely use Fi for the foreseeable future.
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What are the benefits of ordering the phone as a bundle with Fi?
Loving Fi with it.
I pre-ordered through Fi the very day I got my invite from them on 10/16. I bought a 32gb graphite outright. I have LTE more or less everywhere and I get similar speeds as posted above. Google also upgraded me to overnight shipping free of charge. Honestly not bad.
Aside from that, when I signed up on their site there was no option for nexus protect like when you order from play store. I inquired with Google and Fi does not yet have device protection, but when it is available it will be a monthly charge on your bill (no price available yet). It will cover the device as long as you have it on the service from what I was told.
He had no other timeframe besides a few months. You can also call to have your email added to a list to be notified when device protection is available.
Call quality is never an issue and I really love the phone. I love the FI app as well. It makes everything pretty simple. No complaints so far.
anglerstock said:
What are the benefits of ordering the phone as a bundle with Fi?
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There are no added benefits, order through Google/Fi or Huawei, it's all the same phone, only difference was I was looking to get out of my current Carrier and decided to try out Project Fi. So far I do not regret my decision.
RPelham said:
There are no added benefits, order through Google/Fi or Huawei, it's all the same phone, only difference was I was looking to get out of my current Carrier and decided to try out Project Fi. So far I do not regret my decision.
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I will try it end of this month. I suppose it is worth it only if you use low amount of data.
Ordering through Fi gives you the option of 0% financing for 24 months.
anglerstock said:
I will try it end of this month. I suppose it is worth it only if you use low amount of data.
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Bingo. I love the concept and used fi for a few months, however the economics do not make sense if your data hawg just quite yet IMO.
I already have an unlimited plan w/T-Mobile and coverage for where I travel didn't merit the switch at this time.
I got on Fi with my 32GB Nexus 6P.
I was previously on AT&T on a friend's account since he got a pretty good discount through his previous employer, and splitting a shared data plan ended up being pretty good for me too. I was only paying hi $60 a month. I barely used any data, so I went with Fi.
I requested the invite and ordered the SIM right before I purchased the 6P. I bought the phone through the Play Store instead of through Fi. I was debating going with the 5X, but went with the 6P. Since I had the SIM before I had the phone, I just filled out the account information on the Fi webpage and when I got the phone, slapped the SIM in it, fired it up and went through the transfer. Took about 2 hours to be complete, but it went smoothly.
Since I'm mostly at home or at the office, I haven't had much time outside. Works fine on wifi. Only made a couple calls, so far it's been fine. I've got a coworker that likes the idea so much, he's getting on it soon, too.
i bought my 6p outright from google with the plan to transfer my work account to it, but verizon gave me the run around. i figured i'd try FI since it so cheap, but worrried about service since it uses tmobile and sprint towers. Fortunately it had far exceeded my expectations. the week i have had it has had full service when my verizon note 3 has had very little or no service. only once has it lost service, in the middle of nowhere, which is also a complete dead zone for everyone else . i have no complaints, and love the fact my boss gets angry everytime his verizon s6 edge doesnt have service and he has to use my phone. my experience is in the triangle area in north carolina.
I had a few hiccups setting up the service and getting SMS to work with Messenger instead of Hangouts, but Google Support was available immediately on chat and helped resolve the issue (I figured out the SMS problem before them). Their email support is definitely not as knowledgeable as the chat folks from my experience.
I haven't ventured anywhere too crazy to make an in-depth statement about the service quality, but I had TMO before... so I wasn't expecting it to be significantly different.
My biggest complaint so far is not having a standard greeting option for voicemail... meaning you have to leave an actual voice recording for the greeting. More of a personal annoyance I suppose. The nice thing about their voicemail service is that the visual voicemail translates the message to text.
One other thing I noticed... I couldn't list files on my FTP server running at home via the project fi network, but I could over a remote wifi network. Also, seems to be an issue connecting to my VPN configuration at my house over the fi network which I believe has to do with IPv6 implementation on TMO. There is a way to modify the APN on TMO to correct this, but I don't think there is a way to do this with Fi.
I ordered the SIM card separate from the phone.
Does call forwarding work on project fi? I plan to forward all calls of another line to my project fi account
teknomar7 said:
I had a few hiccups setting up the service and getting SMS to work with Messenger instead of Hangouts, but Google Support was available immediately on chat and helped resolve the issue (I figured out the SMS problem before them). Their email support is definitely not as knowledgeable as the chat folks from my experience.
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What did you do to fix the SMS issue on Hangouts, I've got the same problem, slow or no SMS unless I use Messenger.
jawmail said:
What did you do to fix the SMS issue on Hangouts, I've got the same problem, slow or no SMS unless I use Messenger.
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That wasn't exactly my issue. Basically, I found that there was two settings to change to make Messenger the SMS app. Even though I had Messenger set at the default, I was still receiving incoming messages in Hangouts. If you go in the Hangouts app, settings, your account ([email protected]), then uncheck the box next to 'Messages' under where it says "Project Fi calls and SMS - your phone number". That wasn't intuitive because where I was originally going was in the settings of Messenger and setting that as the default app for SMS... which I believe is still necessary.
Not sure if this will solve your issue, but I haven't had problems since changing it. Maybe clear the hangouts and/or Messenger data too?
Edit: Sorry, seems like you want to use Hangouts as the SMS app? I wanted to use Messenger.
I ordered the 6p 128gb direct from Fi they upgraded shipping to over night for free. Had a few problems with Boost mobile porting my number but the Fi rep conferenced called them to port it over. A few hours later everything worked. I live about 80 miles from DC and travel there quite a bit. I noticed on my LG F7 because of all the wifi connections I use I was only using about .5 gb per month even though I listen to a lot of music and watch a lot of video. The last month i experimented with the F7 and turned off wifi and I used 2.5 gb of data. I figured why pay Boost for the extra 2gb when I am not using it, and Boost phone suck even though their rate is good. With Fi I only pay for the Data I use so it should average about 25 per month instead of the 35 I was paying Boost. The Nexus 6p wifi connects faster than the f7 also so that might save an additional amount. I have travelled to DC several times and my Data usage was 49 mb next to nothing since every where I go has wifi. The connections were flawless and the features on the phone are fantastic. FI also says it has a relationship out there for wifi networks. I dont know who that is but Google should have a lot of connections available. I also have a xfinity password from my best friends network so that should increase coverage.
I would recommend Fi to anyone that has the coverage of the Sprint and Tmob. networks. It would help to have a concentrated area such as Wash DC so as to take advantage of Wifi. I am not looking back.
I am using Fi right now in Louisiana.....been only a few days but so far it has been good.
I'll be using Fi in Puerto Rico tomorrow. I'll be posting a review soon.
Even though I got invited to Fi, my data usage is the issue for me. I currently have "unlimited" data with T-Mobile which is why I haven't budged yet. On average a month, I use 12-15 GB's a month. I do a lot of web surfing and watching videos.
And its 2 lines for $100 for unlimited text,talk and data. Can't beat that at the moment. If Fi offers unlimited data in the future, I might consider it.
I ordered my phone through FI. But they have a big issue with numbers ported to FI from Google Voice. You can get SMS messages, but you can't send to some carriers. You can send if you use the GV app to send, but that's clumsy. They are working on it, but have no ETA for an actual fix yet. So I cancelled.
But the whole 'pay for only what you use' thing sounds great. But it makes you very conscious of every MB you use. Do you want to stream music on this trip? It's going to cost you a dollar. It just felt too much like the old days of paying 35 cents per minute for every call you made.
I am a rooted Verizon vs996 user (also use the us998 twrp rom as well (currently on vs996). My wife and I are going for a 2-3 week cruise next week around the British Isles. I am wondering how people use their Verizon LG v30 overseas so as not to incur huge phone/data minutes and bills?
A couple of suggestions are to buy a pre paid sim card once we have arrived or I also know that Verizon offers different plans, but they seem quite expensive ($10.00 per day per phone as an example?). Not sure of the pricing on pre paid sim card. Other ideas? (remembering we each have a phone +my wife's new apple iPad).
Or plan is not to use the phone for a lot of calls or emails, but to be able to periodically check emails and texts from family mostly and I have to be able to surf the internet (read xda[emoji3]).
I have the rooted LG v30 and my wife has an iPhone.
Any suggestions, recommendations or advice?
Thx
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As I recall, VZ offers international roaming, and IIRC it wasn't that badly priced, so you may want to look into that: https://www.verizonwireless.com/solutions-and-services/international-travel/
Of course, local SIM-carding is certainly going to be lower cost, if you can figure it out. I think it just involves plugging in a local SIM and off you go? But I'm not sure as I've never done it.
When we went to Jamaica, I simply disconnected the cell radio, and relied on wifi for everything. That worked fine for us (I try to remain disconnected on vacation anyway)... and if I had to make a call, I used Wifi and Google Hangouts Dialer to make the call at no cost. Sounds like this may work for you, overall, since you're only planning to use email/text anyway. Note, I used Hangouts for texting as well, since it worked on Wifi too. I believe the new Google Messages will do that now, as well, so you may be able to just use that (makes it easier than explaining to people why you have two phone numbers).