Picking Your Wireless Carrier (USA) part 06: iPhone Tips and Tricks

All right, after exploring the choice of wireless service MVNOs, which one would you want to pick? From my experience, it depends on your phone. So let’s start with the big elephant in the room, the iPhone. My assumption is we are using an officially unlocked iPhone. Don’t ask me about unlocking, ask your carrier or ask yourself why you bought a locked phone to begin with. Right now, Apple is selling unlocked iPhones openly in the US, so the days of having to import expensive iPhones or jailbreaking are gone. All iPhones, the 5, 4S, and 4, are available unlocked straight from Apple. Obviously, you’ll be getting a GSM iPhone. The unlocked iPhone 5 will be the “AT&T” version.

Now, what if you have an iPhone from a carrier. Currently, iPhones are officially offered by AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon, plus the 4/4S are offered by certain Sprint MVNOs/regional carriers. iPhones from carriers are provider locked by default, with one exception. AT&T now will unlock your iPhone if you are done with your contract or if you bought the iPhone full price (no contract or pay ETF). Sprint will not unlock their iPhones, other than for international use. Same thing with Verizon (with one exception).

Then, there is the model. If you have an iPhone 4, the only one that is unlockable is the GSM AT&T version. Sprint and Verizon iPhone 4 are CDMA only. As for the iPhone 4S, it’s a hybrid GSM/CDMA device. AT&T version is unlockable. Verizon and Sprint version are only unlockable for international carriers, meaning that Verizon and Sprint are blocking US GSM carriers’ SIM. (More reason to hate CDMA carriers). The iPhone 5 is also a hybrid device, with versions supporting GSM and AT&T LTE, and another one supporting CDMA, GSM, and Verizon/Sprint’s LTE. AT&T version is of course, unlockable after meeting the requirement I mentioned above. Sprint’s policy is unlocking only for international use. Verizon iPhone 5, however, is unlocked OUT OF THE BOX! Yes, if you have a Verizon iPhone 5, you can put in an AT&T/T-Mobile SIM and it will work just fine. No need for unlocking. Of course, you won’t get LTE on AT&T as the LTE frequency support differs than the AT&T version, but hey, this is huge. Verizon is forced to do this due to an agreement they had with the US government when they got the 700 LTE band.

In short, if you are on AT&T, you can get your iPhone unlocked by paying ETF or after the end of your contract. If you are on Verizon, only the iPhone 5 is unlocked. If you are on Sprint, you are screwed.

First thing first, you want to decide on which of the two parent carriers you want to go with. The choice is either AT&T or T-Mobile. All GSM iPhones (4/4S/5) support quad-band HSDPA (850/900/1900/2100) bands. So for the longest time, to be able to have 3G speed, you have to use AT&T or their MVNOs. Luckily, T-Mobile started to refarm their 1900 band for 3G on certain areas. You can check their coverage here, a site with a map from users indicating which areas have sightings of 3G access on 1900 band on T-Mobile. I would go and see your area first. If your area has many people indicating 3G access, then good news, your choice of providers expanded considerably as you won’t have to be stuck with EDGE if you pick T-Mobile or its MVNO. Do note that even if T-Mobile has “rolled” out the refarm, coverage may still be iffy. T-Mobile has officially announced my area to be a refarmed area. When I get 3G signal, it’s fast, way faster than AT&T’s 3G, However, it is also often that the connectivity reverted back to EDGE, especially indoors. So caveat emptor.

After you decide on the operator you want, next step is buying the SIM. Apple is not making things easy by using a micro SIM for the iPhone 4/4S and a nano SIM for the iPhone 5. Most MVNOs now do offer micro SIM as they realize the popularity of iPhone 4/4S. However, not many offer the nano SIM. If your desired operator doesn’t offer the SIM size that you need, check Amazon and ebay. There are plenty of resellers that are selling pre-cut SIM to the size you desire for cheap (some even sell them for cheaper than buying the SIM straight from the operator). Of course, there are sellers using this to gouge you, especially if you are looking for a nano SIM. Just be smart and don’t spend more than what you would spend for buying the SIM directly with the operator. You can also buy a SIM cutter and do it yourself, but considering there are some sellers selling SIMs for a few dollars or even less, it’s probably cheaper and easier to just buy a pre-cut one. If you decided to stick with the main carriers, aka AT&T or T-Mobile, and if your existing SIM is not micro/nano, just go to the respective corporate stores and ask them for a new micro/nano SIM. They should be able to give it to you for free.

Okay, you have an unlocked iPhone, and you rather stick with AT&T. Then refer to my second post on the selection of AT&T MVNOs. There is a catch though. Unlike normal phones or Android, Apple put the control of certain carrier settings to the carrier. This setting is usually known as the APN setting, a setting for access point names that will tell your phone how it would connect to the network for data and MMS. Normally, this setting is accessible by the user. It’s been the case on cellphones for ages, even on Android. But not on iPhones. AT&T, being AT&T, chose to lock out this setting from users as they “know better” than the users. Unfortunately, this restriction extends to the AT&T MVNOs as Apple thinks you are on AT&T. Meaning if you put in a SIM from those AT&T MVNOs into your unlocked iPhone, even the one purchased overseas or straight from Apple, options like APN settings and portable hotspot will be unavailable. So right off the gate, your iPhone won’t be able to obtain data connectivity nor MMS.

There are workarounds. First one is through a website called unlockit.co.nz. You have to have internet connectivity via wifi on your iPhone first. Simply go to that website via Safari and it will give you options to create a custom APN based on your operator. The site will install the setting on your iPhone and you will have data connectivity. Unfortunately, no MMS.

The second workaround will enable MMS, but it’s much trickier to perform. It’s called a SIM swap method. DISCLAIMER: *Since I’m on Simple Mobile now, I have not tested this method again since Simple Mobile doesn’t lock out the APN setting screen. However, I did try this method on Straight Talk’s AT&T SIM and iOS6, and it worked, both data and MMS.* First, you have to have a T-Mobile SIM (or any of its MVNOs), since T-Mobile, unlike AT&T, doesn’t lock out the APN setting option in iPhone. You will also need to write down the APN information of your provider of choice (most provide it on their website). Basically you will put the T-Mobile SIM first, turn-on your phone, open an app, go back home and then go to Settings and the Cellular sub menu, and Cellular data network setting. These options are locked out when you use AT&T or its MVNO’s SIM. While you are on that screen, use the multitasking feature to switch to the app you first opened. Then open the SIM slot without turning off the phone and put in the AT&T MVNO SIM. Use the multitasking app switcher to go back to Settings and you will find that you are still on that APN setting screen that would normally be inaccessible. Type in the information, and make sure they are correct as this menu will be inaccessible once you go out and you would have to do it all over again. Note that you will be able to enter all information, including settings for MMS. Once you are done, get out of the screen and reboot your phone. The settings will remain even if you turn off your iPhone and remove the SIM as long as the same SIM is inserted again before you turn it on, but it will be reset if you switch to a different SIM or update iOS. So you have to do this everytime Apple updates iOS. Annoying, but blame it on AT&T. Note that you will never get ability to do portable hotspot/tethering unless you jailbreak.

In general, AT&T MVNOs will provide better coverage than T-Mobile’s. However, speed wise, it’s AT&T. Depending on your area, AT&T connectivity is just poor, and easily overwhelmed when there is a lot of people in the area (eg. an event).

Now, let’s move on with T-Mobile. Let’s say you find that T-Mobile has refarmed the 1900 spectrum for 3G in your area. This allows you to safely pick any of its MVNOs as I have stated on my third post. Even better, T-Mobile doesn’t lock out the APN and MMS settings so you can easily enter the necessary information without having to do any workarounds. Even the portable hotspot/tethering menu is available. Of course, the catch is that you are depending on that 1900 spectrum as the iPhone doesn’t support AWS, which is T-Mobile’s main 3G frequency, so you may still get EDGE here and there. Still, I consider the savings in my pocket is worth it as I picked Simple Mobile.

What if you are not sure. You see T-Mobile has refarmed the 1900 spectrum in your area, but you don’t want to commit to switching. Well, this is the beauty of prepaid/MVNOs, no contract required. Don’t cancel your current plan/carrier yet though. Best bet is to buy T-Mobile’s SIM online for 99 cents, sign up online for their $30 plan that gives you 5GB of data. Note that you will not be able to get this plan at T-Mobile physical stores. It’s only available at Walmart and online. Then you have 1 month to test the coverage, data speed and connectivity on your preferred locations. 5GB should give you a ton of room to do many things. After you are convinced, then pick your desired operator at the price/feature you want.

And that’s about it. Enjoy your iPhone without paying an arm and a leg.

 

Poor Shotaro (Kamen Rider W) :D

Found this funny scenario from pixiv. The four Kamen Riders (Wizard, Fourze, OOO, and W) are ready to henshin…

And when they are trying to henshin…

…we have this. LOL. Basically, recent riders have their belts talk and sing, especially Wizard and OOO. So we have Wizard’s belt singing, Fourze’s belt counting down, OOO’s belt singing, and Fourze’s yelling “Uchuu Kitaa!.” Meanwhile, Shotaro is trying to call Philip to henshin, and Philip couldn’t hear him because of all the noise. 😀 I really really want to see this scene enacted in the actual live-action movie because it would be extremely hilarious, but I think W actors are not in contract anymore.

 

Picking Your Wireless Carrier part 05: Data Plans for Tablets

Part 5 on my ongoing post about picking a wireless carrier in the US. I am going to touch broadband data plans. Broadband data plans mean plans that are intended for use with data only devices, such as tablets. We are seeing more and more tablet devices equipped with cellular radio for data. Unfortunately, not many MVNOs offer specific data plans for these devices. In the US, just like phones, most cellular radio equipped Android tablets like the Samsung Galaxy Tab lineup are carrier locked, meaning you can only buy them through a carrier (the big 4), and thus you can only use that tablet with that carrier as your provider. The only unlocked Android tablet available is the Nexus 7 3G. Apple iPads, on the other hand, are unlocked. But more on that later.

After searching around, the only MVNO that I can see offering a specific data plan of this type is Simple Mobile, and it’s not cheap. $45 a month gives you 2GB data, and $25 gives you 750MB. That’s not much.

Luckily, the major four carriers are not that bad in their rates on data plans. T-Mobile, the carrier that Simple Mobile uses, offers a much better deal. $15 gives you 300MB for 7 days, $25 for 1.5GB that’s good for 1 month, $35 for 3.5GB, and $50 for 5GB. A lot better than Simple Mobile.

As for AT&T, Sprint, and Verizon, again, Apple’s website offers a straightforward comparison between the three. AT&T offers 250MB a month for $15, 3GB for $30, and 5GB for $50. Verizon offers 1GB for $20, 2GB for $30, and 5GB for $50, while Sprint offers 300MB for $15, 3GB for $35, and 6GB for $50. And they all are on a no-contract basis. Of course, AT&T and Verizon allow you to add your tablet into your existing data-shared plan if you are already with them for an additional fee (additional $10 per month without any additional data), but we are not going there in the first place as they already rip you off on your phone plans.

The prices are very similar and competitive with each other. I mean sure, you will not use this as your main internet as it will be prohibitively expensive due to the paltry data quota, but for occasional use, it’s not bad. Plus, you are not under a contract so you can simply sign up for the data plan, and discontinue it when you are not using it.

Now, this won’t mean much for most people as like I said, most Android tablets with cellular radio in the US are provider locked. If you want a Samsung Galaxy Tab with 3G/LTE, well, pick the carrier you love as it will be locked to that carrier. In my view, for Android, there is only one choice, the Nexus 7 3G. Not only it’s fairly inexpensive (just $300 for the 32GB with 3G model), it has penta-band HSDPA radio (thus works with both AT&T and T-Mobile’s 3G) and unlocked. No LTE, so stop reading and go to your favorite carrier if you want LTE. Google sells two kinds of the Nexus 7 3G, one with AT&T SIM, another one with T-Mobile SIM. Don’t worry, the device itself is not locked and you can use either carriers later, you just pick which SIM you want to get from Google.

The interesting device is the iPad/iPad mini with LTE. For LTE speed, you have to pick the iPad that specifically said for the carrier you want to, ie. if you want Verizon LTE, you have to pick the Verizon iPad model. Now, all iPads with cellular radio also have GSM/HSDPA radio in them, and that is unlocked. That means you can put in an AT&T SIM on your Verizon iPad, and it will connect to AT&T just fine. The catch is, no LTE, just HSDPA/3G. Still, it’s not a bad compromise, plus any iPad you buy works with any GSM carriers overseas (again, LTE being the exception. Apple gives a bit more detail on which model supports which LTE in what country).

For the Nexus 7 3G, both T-Mobile and AT&T offer prices that are neck to neck with each other. At the low end, for $15, T-Mobile gives you 300MB, but only lasts for 7 days, while AT&T gives you 250MB that lasts for 30 days. At the top end, they are the same, 5GB for $50. In the middle, T-Mobile has $25 for 1.5GB and $35 for 3.5GB while AT&T has $30 for 3GB. Very close to each other. Personally, if my area has good T-Mobile coverage, I would go with T-Mobile on the Nexus 7 3G as T-Mobile’s HSPA+ is faster than AT&T’s. However, AT&T may offer better coverage in some areas.

If you are buying an iPad with LTE, go with Verizon. Verizon’s $20 for 1GB for 30 days is hard to beat in terms of value. It is usually enough for casual browsing, and Verizon’s LTE coverage is better than AT&T and Sprint. Plus, the iPad is unlocked, so you can put in AT&T SIM for 3G access later on if you want to, or even T-Mobile’s (if T-Mobile has refarmed their 1900 band for 3G in your area).

Now, you must be wondering that there are some smartphone plans that have better prices than these. The big one is T-Mobile’s $30 a month with 5GB data. Well, T-Mobile is not stupid. I personally have tried this, putting the SIM with that plan on my Nexus 7 3G. Nada. T-Mobile blocks devices that are identified as tablets on that plan. I would think the same applies with other carriers/MVNOs too.

How about tethering? You already pay for a smartphone plan, right? Well, sure. If your phone is not restricted by your carrier, and you only use your tablet outside wifi access occasionally, you can save some money by buying wifi only tablets, and simply use your phone as a portable hotspot when needed. The downside is the inconvenience having to set up your phone all the time to do this, and you are draining both your phone’s battery life and your data quota on your existing plan. Considering the data plans I mentioned here are under a no-contract basis, personally I would rather have a cellular radio equipped tablet. Having that instant data anywhere really increases the enjoyment in using the device.

TIPS:

• If you look at T-Mobile’s website for the mobile broadband SIM, T-Mobile sells them for $7. That’s a rip-off. Meanwhile, they are selling the SIM for the monthly 4G phone plans for 99 cents a piece. Well, guess what, you can activate that 99 cent SIM for a broadband plan, so stock up and don’t be tricked into paying $7. 😉
• If you already activated a SIM (let’s say AT&T) on an iPad, you can use the same plan on the Nexus 7 3G, but you won’t be able to access your account via the Nexus 7’s browser nor AT&T’s website. They will say you have to do it on the iPad itself. There is a workaround, via this old AT&T’s website (note the copyright year, 2010!). You can log-in to your account and you can access it normally.

That’s all for broadband data plans. More tips and tricks in the future.

 

Cuticle Detective Inaba AMV #cdinaba

I was searching for some anime to fill my watch list while waiting for season 2 of Accel World, and I happened to see this anime on Hulu. Cuticle Detective Inaba. It’s hilarious! 😀 It’s pure silliness. We have Inaba, a cross between human and wolf. He used to work as a detective dog for the police, but now he’s an independent detective searching for his long lost brother. He is a hair fetish, and he can find out details of criminals just by chewing on their hairs. Together, he has two assistants. One is a cross dresser that has a disturbed affection towards him, and second is a normal cat-lover student. His old detective partner frequently asked him to solve various police cases. The series started with a mafia goat making counterfeit money. Yeah, don’t think too much about the details, just enjoy the ride.

This anime is so hilarious that I immediately decided to make an AMV of it, using a fun eurobeat track, Hanky Panky by Bubbles. It’s a short AMV as I just did this overnight, but enjoy! ^_^

 

Picking Your Wireless Carrier part 04: CDMA MVNOs

First of all, I would like to say that I am not a fan of CDMA carriers (Verizon, Sprint, and their MVNOs). The reason is that you are forced to buy their phones, which are branded and controlled by them. Plus you cannot use your phone anywhere else other than the operator your pick. Imagine buying a car where you can only fill up your gas at one gas station company. Imagine buying a computer where you can only use with one ISP for internet. With GSM, I can buy an unlocked GSM phone and use it with any GSM carrier I want to, worldwide.

Having said that, CDMA is pretty prominent in the US. The biggest carrier, Verizon, is using CDMA (and recently LTE). Let’s take a peek at their prepaid plans. Verizon only offers two plans, $60 and $70 a month. $60 gives you 500MB data, $70 gives you 2GB. Unlimited minutes and text. Compared to their own post paid plans, it’s not bad. However, your phone selection is severely limited as Verizon only offers three old smartphones on their website (2 Android phones, and 1 Blackberry, all 3G only). Plus, you are limited to 3G EVDO. No LTE access. And once you compare prices with the plethora of MVNOs we have seen so far, $60 a month is a lot of money, especially when you cannot use the phone that you want.

There is a Verizon MVNO called PagePlus. They will activate Verizon phones (you still have to buy the phone somewhere, and since CDMA is provider locked, most of the time you have to buy them at full price from Verizon). *EDIT: I guess I was misinformed, another reason I hate CDMA. PagePlus is not activating Verizon phones, more like people are flashing their Verizon phones to be usable on PagePlus.* Prices are a bit more reasonable. $30 a month gives you 1200 minutes, 3000 text, and 250MB data. $40 a month gives you unlimited minutes and text, but dialed down the data to just 200MB. $55 a month bumps the data to 2GB. If you already have a Verizon phone, this is a good alternative to save some money. Do note that you will be using EVDO 3G, not LTE. EVDO 3G is slower than HSDPA (which is the 3G technology used by GSM carriers).

Next, let’s look at Sprint. Being the “little” guy against Verizon, Sprint is akin to T-Mobile, offering better values and more MVNOs. They only have one prepaid plans for smartphones, $70 a month for unlimited everything, including data, but no tethering. Also, Sprint only offers two Android phones. The plus side is they offer an LTE phone. The downsides are Sprint’s LTE coverage is extremely limited at this point, and their 3G EVDO speed is slower than even Verizon’s (which is already slow).

Sprint’s MVNOs are more interesting. First, there is Virgin Mobile. $35 a month for 300 minutes, $45 for 1200 minutes, and $55 for unlimited. Text is unlimited. Data is “unlimited,” up to 2.5GB at 3G/4G speed. Tethering/portable hotspot is $15 extra, and will give you an extra 1GB of high-speed data. 4G here means Wimax. It’s no LTE, and it’s not going to be expanded any further as Sprint decided to adopt LTE instead, so caveat emptor. On the bright side, Sprint’s Wimax coverage is a bit better than Sprint’s LTE right now. In addition, Virgin Mobile’s phone selections are more varied, including iPhone 4S and 4 (CDMA iPhone, thus slow 3G EVDO speed). A good option if you know what you want and get.

Another Sprint MVNO that is offering an ala-carte style plan is ting. This is a very interesting model. Unlike most plans, you have a plethora of options on how many minutes, text, and data you want to pay per month. Even more interesting is if you exceed the pre-determined limit, ting will simply bump your plan up to the higher one, and will bring it down on the next billing cycle. So no crazy overages. How is this interesting? Well, since ting will bump your plans up automatically, one can simply pick no minutes, no text, and no data, and just pay $6 access fee per phone. That way, if you are a light user, you will be paying the minimum amount possible. They even include tethering at no additional charge (the way it should be as tethering is a feature of your phone, not the network). Of course, if you look at the upper end prices, it can be very expensive (3000 minutes by itself already cost $52, while other operators are offering unlimited minutes, text, AND data for less than that). ting allows you to bring an existing Sprint device (except for iPhone). They also offer a more “up-to-date” lineup, including the Galaxy Nexus, Galaxy S3, and Galaxy Note 2. Catch is, it’s still CDMA, and it’s Sprint. So if your area has no LTE, you’ll be getting the slow EVDO 3G.

Again, I’m not a fan of CDMA in general as I have pointed out in the beginning. GSM opens a lot more choices in terms of phones. If you have to go CDMA route, ting and Virgin Mobile offer very good prices. If you must have Verizon coverage, and you want LTE, then paying up to the nose for Verizon’s post-paid plans is the only choice.

Next I would explore tips and tricks in picking your phone and operators.

 

SAO x Accel World AMV 02 – Love, Past and Future #accel_world #SAO

Time for another Eurobeat AMV, classic Eurobeat! So old school that I made the AMV with 4:3 aspect ratio. 😀 Despite the number 02, this is actually the first SAO AMV that I uploaded to the net. I used the classic Eurobeat track called Love by Lisa Johnson. I tried to portray the love couples from Sword Art Online (Kirito x Asuna) and Accel World (Haruyuki x Kuroyukihime) as love from the past and the future. Hope people enjoy it. ^_^

As usual, one from dailymotion and one from youtube, in case one is blocked/deleted.

 

Picking Your Wireless Carrier part 03: T-Mobile MVNOs

All right, now we already see the savings you can get by switching to these MVNOs. IMO AT&T MVNOs are still a bit “pricey,” probably because of AT&T itself. How about T-Mobile? Being the fourth largest carrier (the bottom last), T-Mobile seems to offer more value, and with that, there are tons of T-Mobile MVNOs out there.

Before we go further, let’s take a look at T-Mobile’s own prepaid plans, dubbed “monthly 4G.” Please note that the term 4G here is faux 4G, aka 3G or 3.5G, HSPA+. T-Mobile has not rolled out LTE yet. If you go to their site, T-Mobile is touting its $70 unlimited everything (minutes, text, and data). Doesn’t sound to bad. The catch is there’s no tethering/portable hotspot. T-Mobile actually advertise unlimited data on all of their plans, a common recurring theme amongst the MVNOs too. The differentiation is how much of that data is at 3G speed. The $60 plan gives you 2GB. $50 plan gives you 100MB. You still get unlimited minutes and text. What happens after you reach the specified quota? Your data is throttled to 2G/EDGE speed (more like ISDN speed, ~128kbps).

The most interesting part of T-Mobile’s offering is not those plans though. It’s the $30 a month plan that gives you 100 minutes, unlimited text, and 5GB of data at 3G speed. That is an unbeatable deal if you know you won’t talk that much on your phone. Really, if you know you don’t use that much minutes, stop looking and get this plan. You’ll find no better deal anywhere else. This is such a good deal that even T-Mobile doesn’t offer this at their own stores. You have to buy the SIM (mini and micro SIM are available) online or go to Walmart.

Okay, let’s assume that you will need a lot more than 100 minutes. Let’s take a look at Simple Mobile. Simple Mobile has been around for a while. You will find their kiosks in malls. Their plans selection is very simple. For smartphones, there are two choices, depending on how much data you need at 3G speed. $40 will give you 250MB data at 3G speed, $50 will bump that to “unlimited” (it ends up being about 2GB). Speed is throttled down to 2G/EDGE speed after you reach the quotas. Both plans offers unlimited minutes and text. Cheaper than T-Mobile’s own offerings. Another extra point for Simple Mobile is unlimited international text. Yes, you can text to most countries around the world, no extra charge. The list is pretty extensive. Consider that other carriers charge you up to 30 cents per international SMS, this is a great deal. Of course, if you have been utilizing alternative services like Whatsapp, twitter, Facebook, Line, etc, it’s a moot point.

I am using Simple Mobile now, the $40 plan (pincheap.com is selling the $40 PIN for $38.40. With careful use and wifi at home, I can get by with the 250MB 3G data. Even if I use more, it’s just going to be slower instead of me being charged overages or cut off data completely).

Next operator I would like to mention would be Straight Talk. I have mentioned Straight Talk on my AT&T MVNO post. Straight Talk seems to offer only T-Mobile SIM for right now. Their plan is simple, $45 ($50 with taxes) a month for unlimited minutes, unlimited text, and “unlimited” data. The “unlimited” data turns out to be about 100MB per day and 2GB per month usage. It’s a good deal if you want to have a plan with plenty of minutes and data.

I used to use Straight Talk (with the AT&T SIM). One warning, DO NOT sign up for auto-refills. Sure, the convenience of auto-refills is tempting, but do not sign up for it. Why? If you want to quit Straight Talk, there is no way to cancel your auto-refill/credit card info from their website. The only way to do it is to call their customer service. Well, guess what. I tried calling their customer service many times and I only got a message about how busy they are and to call back later. WTF? Yes, you cannot get a hold of them. You have been warned.

Ultra Mobile did a different approach on their plans, using speed as the differentiating factor. Their $40 per month plan gives you unlimited everything, data at 128kbps speed. For $50 a month, you get 1GB data at 3G speed. Just like Simple Mobile, Ultra gives you unlimited international text. If you think about it, their plans are actually not any different than Simple Mobile’s. With Simple Mobile, at $40 a month, at least you get 250MB data at 3G speed before bumped down to 2G. The upside of Ultra is that it gives you some international long distance credit ($20 for the $50 plan, $5 for the $40 plan), and you can actually pay extra to get some 3G data quota if you need it ($10 for 500MB). More choice, the better. Ultra sells a double-punch mini + micro SIM for $10.

Oh we are not done yet. There is another T-Mobile MVNO called Platinum Tel. Their plans parodied Simple Mobile’s. $40 for 250MB 3G data, $50 for 2GB. Unlimited everything, including international SMS. The special thing to note about Platinum Tel is their pay-as-you-go plan, where the rates are actually pretty reasonable. 5 cents per minute, 2 cents per SMS/international SMS/MMS, 10 cents per MB, and $10 denomination good for 60 days. They sell their mini SIM for $5.

There’s another T-Mobile MVNO called Solavei. I’m not going to talk about it as it’s more of a pyramid scheme, and you have to pay some sort of a membership fee.

Last but not least, Go Smart mobile. This is actually launched by T-Mobile themselves. Prices are pretty good. $45 will net you 5GB at 3G speed, while $35 gives you unlimited 2G speed. Unlimited minutes and text. Unlike the other MVNOs, international SMS cost extra, $5 for unlimited international SMS. Do note the fine print though, T-Mobile will prioritize packets for its regular post-paid customers first. Although this shouldn’t be an issue during normal use, people sometimes are getting busy signals during peak hours.

So, plenty of options. Again, remember how you would be paying at least $80 a month an up on those post paid plans with the big carriers? Now, the prices hover around $40-$50 a month.

I do need to point out that not everything is rosy on the MVNO sides. I already pointed a caveat on Go Smart, where it gets less priority compared to T-Mobile’s own post paid customers. Also, despite everybody claiming unlimited this and that, in reality, there is a limit. Although it shouldn’t hinder normal usage, if you really want unlimited minutes in a literal sense, getting into the expensive post paid plans with the big carriers might be a safer way than having your service interrupted. Also, certain services might not be available on MVNOs. For example, with Simple Mobile, I cannot accept short code SMS, which is used frequently for mobile banking. Something to consider if you rely on something like that.

Once you know what you are getting into, enjoy the savings. I might touch a little bit on CDMA MVNOs next.

 

Accel World EX02 Impression #accel_world

I have been playing the second Accel World game, Kasoku no Chouten, and subsequently, been watching the second OVA too, EX02. After watching it for like five times or so, I think it’s time to give my impression.

Just like the first OVA, EX01, these Accel World OVAs’ stories are original, ie. they are not part of the novel, although unlike the game, they follow the original timeline. EX02, titled Vacation, is pretty much the onsen episode of Accel World. Yes, apparently it is standard for any anime/manga to have an onsen episode, where most, if not all the characters, are relaxing in an onsen somewhere. The premise of EX02 is that Haruyuki needed to pass his physical examination so he can continue participating in the territorial battles of Brain Burst, so he went into a diet/exercise program, led by Chiyuri and Fuuko. As with any onsen episode, cutesy encounters and fan services ensued.

In the beginning, we actually see Sky Raker in battle for the first time, complete with her wheel chair. Just because she’s on a wheelchair, doesn’t mean she’s incapable of fighting. In fact, she’s pretty deadly, dodging bullets and killed another player in one slice.

After the exhausting territorial battle, Chiyu is criticizing Haru’s appetite, that he immediately prepared a pizza and ate it after the battle.

We also got a glimpse of Kuroyukihime’s inferiority complex, seeing her friend Megumi having a fuller set of breasts. ^_^ And if you go to pixiv, a fan art of the scene is already made showing the full breasts.

Kuroyukihime told Haru that if he didn’t pass the physical exam, he won’t be able to join the territorial battle. Haru, of course, didn’t want that to happen, so Chiyu offered her service to whip Haru into shape. First program is swimming, complete with Niko and Pad joining in to cheer for “oniichan.” Of course, swimming pool means swim suits, and some fan service shots are necessary. Now, I also noticed that Taku had two girls with him. What a playboy. 😀

Haru continued his extensive exercise and diet with Chiyu and Taku, but he didn’t get very far. Fuuko chimed in and suggested a visit to the onsen where burst linkers go.

Interestingly enough, Ash roller was there too.

And of course, a compulsory scene where the main character blushed (yes, they had Silver Crow blushed) seeing his girlfriend’s beautiful body, just like when Haru was in the swimming pool.

But enough of the avatars. Fans don’t want to see the avatars in the onsen.

Rin made a cameo. Of course, they didn’t actually mention her name, and they didn’t even have her talk, but by now, one can put two and two together and guess who she is.

Meanwhile, Namco took the opportunity for some shameless product placement. Haru came by a Tekken Tag Tournament 2 arcade cabinet. He even said it, “Tekken!” Namco did the same product placement in episode 21 of the series too, but they didn’t have anybody saying the name. Haru was reminded of the time his dad showing him the game while he was little. At the same time, Fuuko inquired Chiyu about Haru’s weight problem and what might be the cause.

Meanwhile, Kuroyukihime was dozing off and had a dream about Haruyuki becoming Alibaba, I mean he became tall and slim, and decided to not be involved with Kuroyukihime anymore as he had other girls clamoring over him (yeah, like he is not already). It made Kuroyukihime shed a tear and anxious. Aaawww.

While enjoying a relaxing bath, Haru was trying to remember some events of his parents fighting with each other. This scene, along with the Tekken and Chiyu + Fuuko’s discussion scenes are actually very important for Haru’s character background, something that was completely skipped in the series. In the anime, we only know that Haru lives with his mother. That’s it. No other details were disclosed. In the first novel, it was explained how Haru became overweight and bullied. His parents were divorced, and Haru’s mother is a career woman, thus she was not home most of the time, leaving Haru eating unhealthy food and playing video games.

And finally we reached the climax moment of a typical onsen episode, where the main female and male characters are happened to be together in the bath by “accident.” Kuroyukihime entered the bath, not knowing Haru was already there. Haru turned red and tried to leave, but Kuroyukihime stopped him after she was reminded of her dream. Kuroyukihime then told Haru about her anxiety, how she was afraid that they won’t be able to accelerate once they are adults and about their relationship. Haru reaffirmed her that he is dedicated to Kuroyukihime’s wish, that he will continue to fight. Kuroyukihime confessed to Haru once again, that she loves him regardless of his appearance. Haru turned completely red and passed out. ^_^

Finally, the diet paid off, as Haru managed to pass the exam while looking like a zombie.

The OVA ended with another territorial battle, with Chiyu complaining about Haru’s body turning back to the way it was so quickly. Kuroyukihime then ordered the team to start the battle. I noticed that other than the main characters, the other duel avatars are pretty bland looking. As if they are too lazy to design something unique. Heck, they have two of the same one, just different color and one has a horn. Compare them to Ash Roller. This is also true in the game. Kinda disappointing and a bit jarring, seeing a nicely designed duel avatars like Black Lotus, and then some generic simple opponents.

Well, there you go. Accel World EX02, a cutesy OVA. Even though it doesn’t have any significant battles, I really love it. It explained Haru’s background story, something that was skipped in the series. It also showed the cutesy shyness between Haru and Kuroyukihime. Makes me craving for more! MOAR! I mean really, I have watched this like at least five times. It is okay to hold off my addiction, but it is not a long term solution! Need season 2! I guess I’ll continue playing the game for now. Hopefully something would be mentioned when I see Reki Kawahara. ^_^ Amazingly, he is going to be a guest at Sakura-con. Gotta pay tribute to the creator of my addiction.

 

Picking Your Wireless Carrier part 02: AT&T MVNOs

Now that we know how expensive it is to have a smartphone using the big carriers, how can we save money? Enter the MVNOs, short for Mobile Virtual Network Operator. What are they? They are virtual operators, meaning they don’t have any spectrum on their own, so they lease some from the big carriers (AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon) and resell it to consumers. Since they are competing against the companies that own those spectrum to begin with, MVNOs generally offer better prices to attract consumers, and most, if not all of them, offer their plans as contract free, as prepaid and/or pay-as-you-go.

Notice that I said no-contract. Although most MVNOs still sell phones under their brand (mostly outdated cheap phones), the idea is to bring your own phone. This means no subsidy. Considering the savings you would get on the monthly plans, you still end up cheaper, especially if you purchase your phone for cheap (ie. a Nexus 4, or second hand).

Before we go further, I need to point out that the concept of prepaid and pay-as-you-go is separate in the US. In most other countries, those terms are the same. You put in money in your account, and it will be deducted when you use the service.

In the US, the terms prepaid is not considered to be the same as pay-as-you-go. The classic definition of prepaid, where you put money on your account, and then your account is deducted when you make calls based on the per minute rate is called pay-as-you-go. The concept of prepaid in the US is similar to post-paid, meaning you pay a fixed amount on a monthly basis for a pre-determined service. The difference is you pay for the service in advance before you can use the service, pre-paid, compared to post-paid where you pay after you use the service at the end of the billing cycle. In the end, it’s the same thing, you pay in advance to use the service, but you will see the two different terms being used separately in most US wireless carriers’ sites. I probably will not cover pay-as-you-go plans as most MVNOs’ pay-as-you-go offerings are lousy (very expensive per minute/per SMS/per kb rates).

For this post, I am going to focus on AT&T and its MVNOs. Before looking at the MVNOs, let’s look at AT&T itself. AT&T offers a prepaid plan on its own, part of its go-phone plans. It’s a bit confusing as AT&T disallow smartphones on certain plans. I’m going to focus mainly on plans that you can use on smartphones with data plan. AT&T’s most economical prepaid plan for smartphone would be the $25 plan + data packs. The $25 per month plan gives you 250 minutes, unlimited text, and you can add on 1GB data for an additional $25. So basically it’s $50 a month for 250 minutes, unlimited text, and 1GB data. You can bump the data pack down to $15 for 200MB if you wish to. Moving up to $65 a month will give you unlimited minutes. Compare this to AT&T’s own post-paid plan for smartphones, where the cheapest option would be $60 a month for 450 minutes, no text, and a mere 300MB data, this is not a bad deal. The catch is that the go-phone coverage area is less extensive than the post-paid plans, but shouldn’t be an issue for most people that live in cities. You can get the SIM chip for free by going to AT&T stores. I would recommend going to an actual AT&T corporate store, not a reseller, as most resellers would try to charge you money and/or scam you.

Now, let’s take a look at the MVNOs. First I would like to mention Red Pocket. They are one of the bigger AT&T MVNOs. Their prepaid plans are very simple. The most economical one for smartphone usage would be the $50 a month plan that gives you unlimited voice, unlimited text, and 500MB of data. A fair trade-off compared to AT&T’s own go-phone plan. You get unlimited minutes, but less data. There is also a $55 a month plan that bum up the data quota to 1GB. Red Pocket is one of the few MVNOs that actually sells a nano-SIM for iPhone 5 users.

I would also like to point out that you can save up a bit more (a dollar or two) on your monthly cost by purchasing the refill PIN from 3rd party resellers. For example, the $49.99 PIN at pincheap.com is $47.99, no tax. Hey, those extra dollar adds up you know. 🙂

Next, another popular AT&T MVNO is Airvoice. For $40 a month, you get unlimited minutes, unlimited text, and 500MB data. It gets better already huh, especially when you compare to the post-paid plans from the big carriers that will cost you at least eighty ninety dollars per month. $55 a month bumps the data to 1GB. There is a catch with Airvoice though. Even though you have 500MB of data, you only have access to the first 200MB (I think. 400MB for the 1GB plan). For the rest, you have to call their customer service to enable it. This can be really inconvenient. So caveat emptor.

I would like to point out Airvoice’s pay-as-you-go plan. Although the rates are nothing special (10 cents a minute, 10 cents per SMS, $1 monthly charge), their lowest denomination, $10, is good for 90 days. This is a good pick for a backup phone, even if you are paying $1 per month to keep the line. Most other operators and carriers will only give you 30 days. Airvoice only sells a mini SIM chip, although you can search ebay or Amazon to find people selling a pre-cut SIM to micro/nano size easily (for cheaper too!)

Lastly, I want to mention good2go mobile. I don’t think it’s a well-known company, but it offers a neat feature. Its most economical plan would be $40 a month that gives you unlimited calls, unlimited text, and 250MB of data. For $50 a month, you get 1GB data. The neat thing about good2go is that you can add on some more data when you need it. So instead of paying $50 a month for 1GB of data that I might not use, I can just pick the $40 a month plan, and I can add 500MB data for $10 when I actually need it. They offer mini and micro SIM from their website.

Well, how about that. Looking back when the cheapest smartphone plan from the big carriers would cost you $80-$90 a month, now you are looking at less than $60 a month prices. Consider a typical 2 year contract. Let say you save $20 a month by going with an MVNO. In 2 years, you have saved $480, and that doesn’t include taxes that you have to pay on those post-paid plans. Add on to the fact that you can buy refill PINs for a dollar two less, that is quite a big savings. If you save $30 a month, that’s at least $720 in your pocket for two years! You can buy a new iPhone with that. Oh, and get this, if you finish your contract on those big carriers’ post-paid plans, your monthly plans are not getting any cheaper, even though technically you have fulfilled your subsidy.

As a side note, there used to be another large MVNO utilizing AT&T towers called Straight Talk. Straight Talk offered both AT&T SIM or T-Mobile SIM. You can find them at Walmart, but they also sell the SIMs on their website. Their plan is $45 a month ($50 with taxes if you buy the PIN from the website) for unlimited minutes, unlimited text, and “unlimited” data (which translates to about 2GB. Still, it’s not bad). Comparing the prices, Straight Talk had the best deal if you need a bit more data than the 1GB offered by the other MVNOs. Problem is, for some unknown reason, they no longer offer the AT&T version of their SIM on their website. Only T-Mobile SIM is listed now.

On my next post, I will explore T-Mobile MVNOs, where the selections are a ton more, and also the bang for the buck.

Addendum: I forgot to mention H2O wireless, another AT&T MVNO. They have decent plans, although fairly similar to the other MVNOs. $50 a month gives you unlimited minutes, text, international text, and 500MB data. $60 bumps the data to 2GB. $40 bumps the data down to 100MB. Mini and micro SIM are available for $10.

 

Picking Your Wireless Carrier (USA) part 01

You hear it all the time, how expensive cellphone bills are, especially in the US. Even worse with smartphones and data plans. This is true if you are using any of the major carriers, especially AT&T and Verizon. Yet whenever you try to find more information from the numerous tech “blogs” and tech “journalists,” their recommendations never go far from the big carriers that are ready to rip you off.

How much are we talking about? Well, Apple actually provides a very good tool on their website to compare the monthly post-paid plans between AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint. I am going to focus more of individual plans instead of family plans. US wireless carriers have been squeezing more and more money from their customers by simply eliminating choice.

Greatest example is Verizon, where your only choice is to go with the data shared plan. The table on Apple’s website shows the cheapest plan to be $80 a month for an individual with one smartphone. 80 freaking dollars a month just to use a smartphone! It’s ridiculous. The carriers are making the excuse that you are getting unlimited talk and text. Well, what if I don’t use that many minutes or text? You are stuck paying more than you need. To make it worse, that $80 a month plan only comes with 300MB of data. Although 300MB might be okay for some people, with the future being in the cloud, 300MB is nothing, considering we used to have unlimited/5GB data as the norm. To bump the data to 1GB, you have to fork out $90 a month. On the bright side, tethering and portable hotspot are included. However, this was a scam to begin with, as the ability to tether and/or do portable hotspot is the capability of your phone, not the carrier’s network. So US carriers have been charging users extra money to use the features of their own phones. Now those charges are “bundled in.” Having said all these, Verizon does have the power to charge that much money as their network coverage is considered to be the better one compared to the rest of the carriers, and people are willing to give them more money.

Next is Sprint. Cheapest plan is also $80 a month, with a tradeoff of getting 450 voice minutes and unlimited data. People that don’t really use minutes might prefer this, but it is still a freaking 80 dollars per month to use a smartphone! Bumping to 900 voice minutes will have you fork $100 a month! Seriously? People are complaining having to pay $10 a month for their prescription drugs, yet wireless carriers can get away with this highway robbery. Also, Sprint’s network is not the greatest. Sprint’s CDMA EVDO network is slower than even Verizon’s (which is already slow to begin with compared to HSDPA 3G). Their LTE network is very sparse as Sprint was doing Wimax instead of LTE as their pick for “4G.” The bright side, you get unlimited data (albeit with restriction on tethering, only up to 300MB per month).

Last but not least, AT&T. Like Verizon, AT&T is also pushing their shared data plan, where the cheapest plan would be $85 a month for unlimited voice and text, and 1GB of data. For $5 more a month, you get 1GB instead of 300MB on Verizon. Still, it’s 85 freaking dollar per month. At this point, you should wonder how people can even afford owning a smartphone. However, unlike Verizon, AT&T still offers their classic individual plan which gives you a bit of granularity (not much though) on your plan. Cheapest plan would be $60 a month, for 450 minutes, no text (pay as you go for 20cents per SMS and 30cents per MMS, another rip-off), and 300MB of data. Unlike the data shared plan, however, this individual plan doesn’t include tethering/portable hotspot. You have to pay an additional $30 a month (so $90 per month) to get those features and 5GB of data. This is a far cry from the old plan where you simply pay $30 for an unlimited data plan. Coverage wise, AT&T is better than Sprint, but not that great compared to Verizon. AT&T’s LTE coverage is more prevalent than Sprint’s. Also, AT&T uses GSM/HSDPA, so your phone selection is not as limited as the other two CDMA carriers.

For my subsequent posts, I am going to focus mostly on GSM/HSDPA carriers as I despise carrier locking, which is inherent to CDMA phones offered by Sprint and Verizon (with a tiny exception on Verizon).

So, to recap, Verizon’s cheapest plan is $80 a month for unlimited minutes and text, and 300MB data. Sprint’s cheapest plan is also $80 a month for 450 minutes, unlimited text and data. AT&T cheapest plan is $60 a month for 450 minutes, pay-as-you-go text, and 300MB data without tethering/portable hotspot. For $85 a month, you can have the shared data plan that gives you unlimited minutes and text, and 1GB data. Knowing this, with services like push email, twitter, Google Voice, Whatsapp, Line, iMessage, Facebook, etc, we are at the point that one can go by without any SMS, as long as one has data plan. This is why the carriers are eagerly “bundling” unlimited minutes and text and charging you an arm and a leg for data, because that’s the money maker with smartphones.

From those three, I say the winner is AT&T in terms of value. The tradeoff with Verizon is coverage. I would only pick Sprint if they offer LTE coverage in your area.

Then there’s the “other” GSM carrier, T-Mobile. T-Mobile is not featured on Apple’s website because T-Mobile does not sell iPhones… yet. It is mainly because T-Mobile uses an odd frequency for their 3G network, AWS, which is not supported by iPhones, nor many other phones worldwide. Thus if you use an iPhone on T-Mobile, you would stuck with 2G EDGE speed. However, this has changed recently. T-Mobile starts to re-farm their PCS 1900 band for 3G. The 1900 band is supported by many phones, including the iPhone. You can check airportal.de to see how the coverage is in your area. Knowing this, expect coverage to still be spotty. T-Mobile also has been promoting their HSPA+ 3G speed as “4G.” Although it’s fast, their coverage is not that great when you start comparing them to AT&T, let alone Verizon.

T-Mobile has been the choice for most people looking for value. Their post-paid plans offer more granularity and bang for the buck. Their cheapest plan with data will snag you for $70 a month that gives you 500 minutes, unlimited text, and unlimited data (2GB at 3G speed), but no tethering/portable hotspot. That’s not bad compared to the other carriers, although still expensive in my book.

T-Mobile also offers a “value” plan, in which you bring your own device (or pay the device in full). This plan allows you to go as low as $40 a month for 500 minutes, no text, and 200MB data. For the same features as above (500 minutes, unlimited text, 2GB 3G data), the price is $50 a month. That is much more reasonable, although there’s a catch. Despite you bringing your own device/paying the device in full, you are still signing up for a 2 year contract, complete with an ETF. In my opinion, that’s a total scam. The point of signing a contract is in exchange for a subsidy. If I bring my own phone, or pay for the phone in full, WTF the contract is for? So caveat emptor.

This is the first part of my post. At this point, you have to wonder how one can afford owning a smartphone, and how can these wireless carriers charge so much money, and people are still willing to cough up the dough. Couple reasons. First, most people actually have family plans (usually under their parents). This kinda reduces the per-person monthly cost, especially when you have multiple family members. Second, many big companies offer employee discount for their employees if they sign up with one of the major carriers (usually the big three, ie. AT&T, Verizon, or Sprint). Now, just because you are under a family plan and/or have an employee discount, doesn’t mean your plan is a good deal. Sure, it’s cheaper, but most people are still spending $60, $70, or even $90 and more a month for their cellphone bill, per person. That is a lot of money.

I was in that boat, on AT&T using an employee discount. At that time, I picked the bare minimum individual plan (when AT&T used to offer unlimited data for $30). I still end up with ~$60 a month bill after taxes. Imagine now, with those expensive plans, and the extra taxes you have to pay. I find those prices to be unacceptable. Thus my search for a better deal in the sea of MVNOs, coming up in part 2.