Develop Bugs

let me get this straight

Buying a phone without contract is unlocked?
Or is it still under the current plan? Or new plan with that carrier?

No. It will still be carrier locked if you buy it from them. It will be carrier locked unless its explicitly stated otherwise.

bazhip said:
No. It will still be carrier locked if you buy it from them. It will be carrier locked unless its explicitly stated otherwise.
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Yep, this is generally the case. Unless buying an unlocked European phone. Aka buy the phone put any carrier SIM in it that works on those GSM bands.
OP, if you buy the phone on a contract you can always take it to a new line/account on the same carrier by switching SIM cards, but the obligation lies in paying the old contract out, that's where the ETF is. The bonus of buying a phone unlocked, or at least unsubsidized is not having the carrier contract.

Oh okay, the main reason I asked is because I seen a thread and someone was talking about trading in there phone for the Incredible S and someone said to buy it for like 599 or something unlocked and it just gave me the idea that buying a phone at the retail price meant your not tied down to a contract hence price, which seems to make sense.. But also makes sense that you are in fact tied down to that specific carrier hence buying from them.
The contract price is to lock you in basically, and the retail price is because you ALREADY have a contract and simply want to switch your device without messing up your contract. OR... maybe your credit isn't the greatest so just paying out of pocket is your best bet!

melodicjunkie said:
Oh okay, the main reason I asked is because I seen a thread and someone was talking about trading in there phone for the Incredible S and someone said to buy it for like 599 or something unlocked and it just gave me the idea that buying a phone at the retail price meant your not tied down to a contract hence price, which seems to make sense.. But also makes sense that you are in fact tied down to that specific carrier hence buying from them.
The contract price is to lock you in basically, and the retail price is because you ALREADY have a contract and simply want to switch your device without messing up your contract. OR... maybe your credit isn't the greatest so just paying out of pocket is your best bet!
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You've got it. If you've got a contract already and don't want to extend it or aren't eligible for an upgrade, you can pay full price for the phone and just insert your SIM card.
Should also be said that GSM phones can be unlocked with unlock codes to be used on different carriers in different countries etc.. This isn't much of an issue in the US because T-mobile and AT&T are the only 2 big national's that offer GSM service (aside from Simple Mobile, etc. but those are on AT&T/T-mo towers anyways), and they operate on different 3G frequencies so unlocking your T-mo phone will only get you EDGE on AT&T and vice-versa. So really the only reason to unlock is for international travel.

martonikaj said:
You've got it. If you've got a contract already and don't want to extend it or aren't eligible for an upgrade, you can pay full price for the phone and just insert your SIM card.
Should also be said that GSM phones can be unlocked with unlock codes to be used on different carriers in different countries etc.. This isn't much of an issue in the US because T-mobile and AT&T are the only 2 big national's that offer GSM service (aside from Simple Mobile, etc. but those are on AT&T/T-mo towers anyways), and they operate on different 3G frequencies so unlocking your T-mo phone will only get you EDGE on AT&T and vice-versa. So really the only reason to unlock is for international travel.
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Thanks! What do you think is faster at&t or tmobile? I'm really liking my service, tmobile doesn't have the best coverage but when 4g kicks in, its fast. Tmobile will be switching to hpsa++ so I can't wait for that.
At&t seems obsolete because of veriPhone.

melodicjunkie said:
Oh okay, the main reason I asked is because I seen a thread and someone was talking about trading in there phone for the Incredible S and someone said to buy it for like 599 or something unlocked
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They probably meant for a retailer not associated with your carrier. There are various cellphone vendors online, etc. that sell phones unlocked. Carriers don't sell unlocked phones typically. Its against their self interest. The only reason cell companies sell phones at all is to lure new customer and retain existing ones. They make little or no profit from selling phones.
If you buy a phone full retail price from your carrier, you can use it on your current plan. But its not really linked to a plan. Some carrier will let you walk into a store and buy a phone for full price without a contract or service with them even, I believe. Although some apparently won't. With a GSM phone, it doesn't really matter, you can swap your SIM in and out of whatever device (as long as its SIM locked to your carrier, or unlocked, and uses the same frequency bands). Its the SIM that is linked to your account, not the device.

melodicjunkie said:
Thanks! What do you think is faster at&t or tmobile? I'm really liking my service, tmobile doesn't have the best coverage but when 4g kicks in, its fast. Tmobile will be switching to hpsa++ so I can't wait for that.
AT&T seems obsolete because of veriPhone.
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Click to collapse
AT&T is the second largest cell carrier in the country, and that was true long before the iPhone. And they only barely trail Verizon in the number of customers. Why would VZN getting the iPhoney make AT&T obsolete? If anything, I personally feel that things are looking BETTER on AT&T for Android users. Now that iPhone exclusivity is gone, AT&T has the freedom to release some REAL Android devices (which they are now doing).
It seems that AT&T's network size has also been a hindrance in its move to 3G, and now 4G. T-Mob seems to be well ahead of AT&T in deploying 4G/HSPA+. Just based on comments on these forums, it seems that people are getting up to 7 Mbps on T-Mob in some areas, with number often being in the 4-5 Mbps range. Best I've seen on AT&T is just under 4 Mbps, with the typical case being more like 2-3 Mbps. And I haven't seen any comments by AT&T users on here and the AT&T forums about getting any faster than that (and often slower). Plus AT&T has only stated theoretical download speeds of "up to" 6 Mbps on HSPA+ (and thats probably optimistic), so we likely won't see any faster than that until they deploy LTE. But as you said, T-Mob coverage tends to not be the greatest in some areas.
I'd ask around with friends, co-workers, etc. in your local market to try to determine which carrier has the best coverage and data speeds in your area. Also compare plan prices and phone selection, and from there determine which carrier is best for you.

SGSII and T-Zones - Help!

So my T-Mobile account uses T-Zones for data, and it's only $5.99 a month unlimited on the grandfathered plan. I had an iPhone 4 unlocked to Tmo, and it worked great. I just bought a T-Mo Galaxy SII, and using the SIM in that phone gets me no data. Voice works great, but no data at all. When putting a different active SIM in the SII it gets data fine. And I'm using a brand new 4G SIM so I know that's not the issue.
The question is - how can I continue on my current plan and use the SII with T-zones for my data? Will a custom ROM work? Do they use EIN to determine if you need the Android data plan? I'm rooted but on stock right now. I really really want to keep my current data plan because it's unlimited and cheapo.
Anyone know the answer to this one? Thanks so much for any help you can provide.

They told me I had to upgrade from my 19.99 unlimted Internet plan to use 4G on my old HTC Sensation. I can only imagine what they woudl say if you inquired about the 5.99 plan on your SG2.
Contact 611 & please keep us posted on the outcome

It looks like you need to manually enter the APNs.
http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/5381...ed-data-for-5-99-works-wiphone-and-nexus-one/
Hope it helps.

fbueller said:
So my T-Mobile account uses T-Zones for data, and it's only $5.99 a month unlimited on the grandfathered plan. I had an iPhone 4 unlocked to Tmo, and it worked great. I just bought a T-Mo Galaxy SII, and using the SIM in that phone gets me no data. Voice works great, but no data at all. When putting a different active SIM in the SII it gets data fine. And I'm using a brand new 4G SIM so I know that's not the issue.
The question is - how can I continue on my current plan and use the SII with T-zones for my data? Will a custom ROM work? Do they use EIN to determine if you need the Android data plan? I'm rooted but on stock right now. I really really want to keep my current data plan because it's unlimited and cheapo.
Anyone know the answer to this one? Thanks so much for any help you can provide.
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I had the same plan as you on my Nokia N82 and after upgrading to Samsung Vibrant, I found out there is no way to use tzones with android phones except Nexus one. Now I pay for the android data plan, hopefully you have better luck.

mastapsi said:
It looks like you need to manually enter the APNs.
http://www.tech-recipes.com/rx/5381...ed-data-for-5-99-works-wiphone-and-nexus-one/
Hope it helps.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've tried all the APNs out there for Tmo and none work. I'll call retentions tomorrow (I'm out of contract so they should take good care of me) and let you know what happens.

T-Zones is a grandfathered plan and it only works with phones that uses 2G, which are only the basic phones. The SGS2 requires the Android data plan/Smartphone data plan which if you call retention, they should offer you for 20$.

DyingBlade said:
T-Zones is a grandfathered plan and it only works with phones that uses 2G, which are only the basic phones. The SGS2 requires the Android data plan/Smartphone data plan which if you call retention, they should offer you for 20$.
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Yeah, but that'd be 2GB before throttle, correct? And 5GB for $30? Sucky.

fbueller said:
Yeah, but that'd be 2GB before throttle, correct? And 5GB for $30? Sucky.
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Click to collapse
Ask for the 5gb $20 plan.
Deebo took your bike too?

The_Biz said:
Ask for the 5gb $20 plan.
Deebo took your bike too?
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Yeah, if you've been a long time customer with T-Mobile, they should be able to offer you the 5GB 20$ plan.

DyingBlade said:
Yeah, if you've been a long time customer with T-Mobile, they should be able to offer you the 5GB 20$ plan.
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Click to collapse
Yeah, that's pretty much what I got. 5GB plan for $20 and $10 off each month for two years. It's basically $2 more a month than I was paying before, I can live with that. 2 year contract required.
Thanks for all the help!

on a side note, tzone won't work with phones that have tmobile logo on them because tmo scan the
imei #, a phone id.
it should work with phones that have international versions..check sensation, o3d ( make sure tmo version because they also have att version with same model p920)

The only Android phone I ever go to work on $5 and $10 unlimited internet was my HD2 which wasn't technically an Android phone . Was pretty pissed when I had to switch to the EM+ $20 5GB plan.

Any phone thats not branded tmobile will work. I would never get rid of that plan. If you get the galaxy s2 from telus it will work fine. For some reason the htc tmobile mytouch slide will work also just popped my sim in one and it's been working for over a month and other android phones on tmobile stop working right away. Data is data that android plan stuff from tmobile is a scam if they dont have your imei listed in there logs the phone will work.

Yep.... It's IMEI locked and not according to some fallacies that some people threw out there (only works with 2g/3g, older phones). It WILL work with new smartphones just not ones purchased from T-mobile. The European Sensation works with T-zones. The Telus SGS2 will work with T-Zones. The upcoming Galaxy Nexus will work with T-zones (if bought elsewhere BUT t-mobile) Do your own research before listening to other people's advice.
Never get rid of that plan. It's truly 100% unlimited and unthrottled. If you got rid of it because of people here, i feel sorry for you man. If I were you, I would return the phone, get the T-zone option back and purchase the Telus SGS2. It's more expensive but worth it in the long run ($15 savings every month). Alternatively, just wait for the penta-band GSM HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus from ATT, Sprint and directly from google.

goonx said:
Yep.... It's IMEI locked and not according to some fallacies that some people threw out there (only works with 2g/3g, older phones). It WILL work with new smartphones just not ones purchased from T-mobile. The European Sensation works with T-zones. The Telus SGS2 will work with T-Zones. The upcoming Galaxy Nexus will work with T-zones (if bought elsewhere BUT t-mobile) Do your own research before listening to other people's advice.
Never get rid of that plan. It's truly 100% unlimited and unthrottled. If you got rid of it because of people here, i feel sorry for you man. If I were you, I would return the phone, get the T-zone option back and purchase the Telus SGS2. It's more expensive but worth it in the long run ($15 savings every month). Alternatively, just wait for the penta-band GSM HSPA+ Galaxy Nexus from ATT, Sprint and directly from google.
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The only set back with keeping the tzone plan and with the phones that would work on the plan are the download speed. With this phone, I can get 10mb easy, but with my N1, using tzone, the max I ever got was 3mb (average of around 1.6-2.0). If you get a unsubsidized phone for say $500, you'll need 2 years or so just to break even (assuming you get the tmobile version for $200. you can get it for way less now).
The only good thing about tzones are the real unlimited usuage, but not many ppl uses 5gb every month. I know cause I was using the N1.

safeplayer22 said:
The only set back with keeping the tzone plan and with the phones that would work on the plan are the download speed. With this phone, I can get 10mb easy, but with my N1, using tzone, the max I ever got was 3mb (average of around 1.6-2.0). If you get a unsubsidized phone for say $500, you'll need 2 years or so just to break even (assuming you get the tmobile version for $200. you can get it for way less now).
The only good thing about tzones are the real unlimited usuage, but not many ppl uses 5gb every month. I know cause I was using the N1.
Click to expand...
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Not sure about the speeds.. but i don't know enough/read enough to see if they put you on a different speed profile. They talked a lot of T-zones on Howardforums and that's where i picked up the IMEI restriction. Probably a lot more info there if people want to check it out.
But the N1 vs. the GSG2 radios are way different. Perhaps it's just the phone. A fair comparison would be the telus vs. t-mo version. But i doubt anyone has both to compare.
Up to the OP, depends on his/her usage and what they're willing to pay.

from my understanding as far as speeds are concern, sg2 and htc amaze are the only fist ones that have 42mb data chipset build in. most other ones are either 14.4 or 21mb chip.

anduios said:
from my understanding as far as speeds are concern, sg2 and htc amaze are the only fist ones that have 42mb data chipset build in. most other ones are either 14.4 or 21mb chip.
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Yep. I got the telus sgs2x.... amazing. The highest I ever got was only 10mbps though. But that might change with tmobile getting free crap from AT&T .

The T-Mobile SGS2 is definitely IMEI locked on the APNs, as i've learned the hard way. There is also a number of other limitations being imposed that i've only come across on this handset:
Tethering - Instead of stock Android tethering, there is a tethering manager app that checks for tethering subscriptions and prevents data on the phone from working while tethering. Easily frozen or removed with titanium backup to work.
Wifi Calling - claims to need a new sim card, but according to rep requires a newer data plan (currently on one of the legacy plans). my plan seems to work with the g2 and it's wifi calling app, however i haven't looked for a work around yet
There were some other things i noticed that were software enforced on the handset, but didn't make notes as I went along

@fg I was told by customer service that I don't need to change my data plan. I was told I can keep my 200mb data plan but I would need to go to tmobile store to pick up a new sim card for free to enable wifi calling.

Opinions please: Will At&t flag the GNEX in their systems

Will At&t flag the Galaxy Nexus in their systems, now that Google Play sells it unlocked? Because i remember back i first got my N1 from the Google a few years back, At&t flagged it and required me to add a smartphone data plan.
Do u guys think this will happen now? I'm thinking of getting the Gnex from google play for my brother, but he doesnt want to have to pay for a real data plan
*the reason that I am concerned about this is because I feel like the Google Play version of the GNEX is a whole new version due to new software version as well as the lack of 900mhz UMTS band (Band III)*
opinions pls ( and facts if possible)

Yes, if you have a smartphone it will eventually get flagged and you will have to add a data plan, this is not limited to the GN.

jopherr said:
Will At&t flag the Galaxy Nexus in their systems, now that Google Play sells it unlocked? Because i remember back i first got my N1 from the Google a few years back, At&t flagged it and required me to add a smartphone data plan.
Do u guys think this will happen now? I'm thinking of getting the Gnex from google play for my brother, but he doesnt want to have to pay for a real data plan
*the reason that I am concerned about this is because I feel like the Google Play version of the GNEX is a whole new version due to new software version as well as the lack of 900mhz UMTS band (Band III)*
opinions pls ( and facts if possible)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its the same exact device that's been on sale in Europe for 5 months now. Its not different. Still an i9250.
As the previous poster said, its not limited to the GNex, they'll kick you off of a non-smartphone plan sooner or later. Its not hard to figure out. Just switch to an AT&T MVNO and save yourself the trouble.

martonikaj said:
Its the same exact device that's been on sale in Europe for 5 months now. Its not different. Still an i9250.
As the previous poster said, its not limited to the GNex, they'll kick you off of a non-smartphone plan sooner or later. Its not hard to figure out. Just switch to an AT&T MVNO and save yourself the trouble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
what is a MVNO? it seems to be that the only phones that At&t will add a mandatory data plans to are the ones in their system & of course iPhones. there were plenty of people in the SGS2 thread that were using the international SGS2 on At&t without data plans. same with the international Galaxy note but thanks for the input xD

MVNO is like someone who resells AT&T service.
For example.... Boost Mobile and Virgin resell Sprint's service.

Straight talk uses at&t
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

Yes. I got my gf a Samsung Vibrant to put in her ATT family plan. She had previously been using a feature phone that had Web access but no smartphone data plan. It was flagged the second month in.
She switched to Simple Mobile. A MVNO of T-Mobile. $40/month unlimited voice text 3g data.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Disregard att, acquire straight talk.
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

jopherr said:
Will At&t flag the Galaxy Nexus in their systems, now that Google Play sells it unlocked? Because i remember back i first got my N1 from the Google a few years back, At&t flagged it and required me to add a smartphone data plan.
Do u guys think this will happen now? I'm thinking of getting the Gnex from google play for my brother, but he doesnt want to have to pay for a real data plan
*the reason that I am concerned about this is because I feel like the Google Play version of the GNEX is a whole new version due to new software version as well as the lack of 900mhz UMTS band (Band III)*
opinions pls ( and facts if possible)
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Of course they will, it's a smart phone. If you want more control over your service, go with pre-paid from any number of vendors.
Also, JBQ verified it's the same pentaband hardware, just a marketing typo.

WiredPirate said:
Yes, if you have a smartphone it will eventually get flagged and you will have to add a data plan, this is not limited to the GN.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
My sister's vibrant hasn't been flagged for almost a year. This is because the Vibrant's IMEI range is not available to at&t.
The OP is asking whether we think AT&T will be given that imei range now that the GNEX is officially for sale, unlocked in the US, like the nexus one was. IE. Can I get away with dumb phone true unlimited data? This is never monitored or metered, (trust me my sister constantly tethers to 40 gigs of usage per month).
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

martonikaj said:
Its the same exact device that's been on sale in Europe for 5 months now. Its not different. Still an i9250.
As the previous poster said, its not limited to the GNex, they'll kick you off of a non-smartphone plan sooner or later. Its not hard to figure out. Just switch to an AT&T MVNO and save yourself the trouble.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Have been using my Galaxy Nexus on the AT&T $50 unlimited everything, including internet for dumbphones, GoPhone plan for quite a while now and my data still works. Still averaging 5mpbs or more. The good thing about it is that it's not metered. Last month, I used over 6gb of internet and have never been throttled or shut off.
I am concerned that Google will provide AT&T the IMEI numbers of all the Galaxy Nexus that they sell in the play store. If that's the case, then my days of $50 truly unlimited are over. I find that I don't use many minutes, so I might just go back to the $30 T-Mobile plan.

seriously?? I would have thought they would have been more strict about not having smartphones connected to the $50 unlimited everything plan.

Yeah, there are two ways to go about it. $15 internet for quick messaging phones on postpaid or $50 unlimited everything on prepaid.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using Tapatalk 2

DOHCtor said:
Have been using my Galaxy Nexus on the AT&T $50 unlimited everything, including internet for dumbphones, GoPhone plan for quite a while now and my data still works. Still averaging 5mpbs or more. The good thing about it is that it's not metered. Last month, I used over 6gb of internet and have never been throttled or shut off.
I am concerned that Google will provide AT&T the IMEI numbers of all the Galaxy Nexus that they sell in the play store. If that's the case, then my days of $50 truly unlimited are over. I find that I don't use many minutes, so I might just go back to the $30 T-Mobile plan.
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Yes this was exactly what I'm asking about. :/ I have a feeling that Google might give the carriers the IMEI numbers of the gnex as to not piss them off. I doubt the carriers are happy with Google selling an unlocked phone that is interoperable with the GSM carriers in the US.(similar thing happened two years ago with the nexus one but that was two years ago n Google might be bolder about their reentry into the unlocked phones business)
I wanna keep my $10 data plan D:
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk

So, has anyone that just received the U.S. Galaxy Nexus test this out on AT&T dumphone plan yet?

My friend does it on his international galaxy nexus (uses a gophone sim with a 50/month prepaid), I'm thinking about doing it myself.

[Q] GSM...how does it work?

Currently I'm on Verizon and to be honest, I hate it. I'm in an area where Verizon doesn't have 4G and AT&T HSPA+ speeds are much higher at my house on my girlfriend's phone.
I'm thinking about going GSM when my Verizon contract is up in August.
Here's my question/s:
How does GSM work and how do you pay for your phone service?
How much data do you pay for?

Just pop my t mobile sim card in and go. I'm on contract with them and pay 30 bucks for 5 gb
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium

Exodian said:
Just pop my t mobile sim card in and go. I'm on contract with them and pay 30 bucks for 5 gb
Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
But you don't have to be on contract with a carrier to use a GSM phone correct?

nklenchik said:
But you don't have to be on contract with a carrier to use a GSM phone correct?
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Click to collapse
Correct, if you provide your own phone, they will provide a sim card and you pick your plan
Don't bait the trolls.

Depends if you subsidize and sign a contract. Best deal right now is get $30 T-Mobile plan, gnex $400 goggle play and get best phone ever. The catch with T-Mobile plan is 100 voice minutes and 10c minute overages which isn't bad if you don't talk a lot or use Google voice or something. T-Mobile also offers very competitive regular plans. If T-Mobile isn't great in your area Atnt has some decent alternatives especially if you can get a corporate discount. Or try the other carriers. There's a good thread on it somewhere in gnex forums.
teach a man to fish, you feed him for life. teach a man to fastboot, and you create competency. and less threads on xda.

nklenchik said:
Currently I'm on Verizon and to be honest, I hate it. I'm in an area where Verizon doesn't have 4G and AT&T HSPA+ speeds are much higher at my house on my girlfriend's phone.
I'm thinking about going GSM when my Verizon contract is up in August.
Here's my question/s:
How does GSM work and how do you pay for your phone service?
How much data do you pay for?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You have some serious reading to do. I think you're confusing "GSM" and "Prepaid"... GSM is a network technology used around the world on hundreds of carriers. Prepaid is a type of service.
nklenchik said:
But you don't have to be on contract with a carrier to use a GSM phone correct?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
No, its your choice. You don't have to have a contract with Verizon or Sprint either... You just have to buy a phone full price and no one will force you.
If you're going to pay full price for a device, I would recommend going with an MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) which runs off of AT&T or T-Mobile's network, but saves you about 50% of the cost of running on AT&T or T-Mobile proper. These are "Prepaid" with no contract. You save money because they're not subsidizing prices of phones, and they often have little or no customer service.
As @rbiter mentioned above, there is a great service plan (which I use) from T-Mobile that is only $30 monthly but of course has severely limited minutes. The other front runner on AT&T's network is "Straight Talk" which offers UL Talk/Text and "Unlimited" (actually like 2gb) data for $45. Above that, T-Mobile offers similar prepaid plans with 2gb throttles for $60 or 5gb throttles for $70. Other options include Simple Mobile which has similar plans/pricing.
I recommend reading the Prepaid thread in General. LOTS of people are doing this with the Galaxy Nexus. Read through and ask in there we'd be happy to help with the specifics.

[Q] Getting an S6E on T-Mo (USA) Prepaid

Has anyone had any luck pre-ordering an S6 Edge from T-Mobile USA on a pre-paid plan?
There doesn't seem to be any way to do this on their website. I went to 2 different stores and they both said I would have to wait until a couple months (!) after launch before I could get one on a prepaid plan. I complained about this on twitter and a t-mo rep said that I should be able to get one on launch day so I guess we'll see about that.
I don't care about financing (I'd actually prefer to buy it outright) so I figured there must be a way to get one, but it doesn't look like it.
I put in a pre-order at gsmnation.com but I don't have a ton of faith anything will come of that.
Other options I've considered:
1. Signing up for a post-paid plan and then cancelling it right away. Kind of a pain, plus it means paying $50 for the first month of service and $15 for the sim card (I can't believe they actually charge you for the sim card when you're signing up for a plan. Total rip).
2. Buying one from AT&T and then getting them to unlock it immediately (they say they'll do it - https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/#/). The AT&T price is $35 more than T-Mo and it doesn't include the "free" year of Netflix that T-Mobile is offering.
I might end up doing one of those two but I just feel like I'm getting ripped off. Anyone have any better suggestions?

I went the tmobile route. Paid the 870 plus the 50 and the 15 and the 62 for tax. Bought it outright to use with cricket wireless. Just waiting on the unlock code to be delivered hopefully sometime soon. Will likely not be able to get a prepaid one unless you get the metro pcs or the cricket wireless s6
Sent from my SM-G925T using Tapatalk

I tried this very thing. I called TMO and they would not budge on it. The only option i can find is to do what @osmosizzz suggested.

smaskell said:
Has anyone had any luck pre-ordering an S6 Edge from T-Mobile USA on a pre-paid plan?
There doesn't seem to be any way to do this on their website. I went to 2 different stores and they both said I would have to wait until a couple months (!) after launch before I could get one on a prepaid plan. I complained about this on twitter and a t-mo rep said that I should be able to get one on launch day so I guess we'll see about that.
I don't care about financing (I'd actually prefer to buy it outright) so I figured there must be a way to get one, but it doesn't look like it.
I put in a pre-order at gsmnation.com but I don't have a ton of faith anything will come of that.
Other options I've considered:
1. Signing up for a post-paid plan and then cancelling it right away. Kind of a pain, plus it means paying $50 for the first month of service and $15 for the sim card (I can't believe they actually charge you for the sim card when you're signing up for a plan. Total rip).
2. Buying one from AT&T and then getting them to unlock it immediately (they say they'll do it - https://www.att.com/deviceunlock/#/). The AT&T price is $35 more than T-Mo and it doesn't include the "free" year of Netflix that T-Mobile is offering.
I might end up doing one of those two but I just feel like I'm getting ripped off. Anyone have any better suggestions?
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Will AT&T unlock it right away? What's with the part under prepaid that says it must be active for 60 days before unlocking? I'm also T-Mo prepaid ($30 plan) but am unable to buy it at full retail price without buying a simple choice plan. In the end the extra $35.00 would be cheaper than the $50.00 deposit plus $15.00 sim card with the simple choice contact-free plan. But I wouldn't want to use it for 2 months on AT&T lol.

DanRyb said:
Will AT&T unlock it right away? What's with the part under prepaid that says it must be active for 60 days before unlocking? I'm also T-Mo prepaid ($30 plan) but am unable to buy it at full retail price without buying a simple choice plan. In the end the extra $35.00 would be cheaper than the $50.00 deposit plus $15.00 sim card with the simple choice contact-free plan. But I wouldn't want to use it for 2 months on AT&T lol.
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AT&T's site says this
Non-AT&T Mobility Customers
You’ve never had an AT&T wireless account and you meet the General Requirements for unlock requests.
Not sure how that works if you previously had an account that you cancelled but that doesn't apply to me. You should be able to just buy the phone outright and then get it unlocked immediately. The 60 day thing only applies to current AT&T customers.

Oh I didn't even see that! I just tried to buy it for retail price but even AT&T's website won't let me purchase just the phone. They want me to select a plan. Did you try or are you just going the T-Mobile route?

DanRyb said:
Oh I didn't even see that! I just tried to buy it for retail price but even AT&T's website won't let me purchase just the phone. They want me to select a plan. Did you try or are you just going the T-Mobile route?
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Ah, that sucks. I haven't decided what I want to do yet. Probably going to wait until the 10th and see if anything changes.

Mine came with an app called device unlock from tmobile and I just tapped unlock and it unlocked for my phone. No unlock codes needed.
Sent from my SM-G920T using XDA Free mobile app

iPathik said:
Mine came with an app called device unlock from tmobile and I just tapped unlock and it unlocked for my phone. No unlock codes needed.
Sent from my SM-G920T using XDA Free mobile app
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Have you tested it at&t sim card? and did you purchase it at full price as a t-mobile customer?

Be Careful with Unlocked Flagship Phones on Different Carriers
On Tmobile Flagships you will have VoLTE and WiFi calling.
IF you get an AT&T Device and unlock it - and use on Tmobile or another Carrier you may not have VoLTE so phone will drop to 3G on calls and may interrupt temporarily your Internet Data and Connection..
Your speed on a fast Network like Tmo may be slower with a non carrier optimized Device.
Your speed and performance on a Flagship Device on ANY Network is unlikely to be equal to a Device Software Optimized for that Network.
If you are buying a Powerhouse Phone for a specific Carrier - you need the Carrier Software to get ALL the features and speed.
The exceptions to this are rare.
All the info about BYOD and all the Internet Articles about Bands and Towers and etc. do NOT mention this.
For example is there ANY DEVICE that has VoLTE across multiple Carriers ?
Or even VoLTE on AT&T and Tmobile ?

robertkoa said:
On Tmobile Flagships you will have VoLTE and WiFi calling.
IF you get an AT&T Device and unlock it - and use on Tmobile or another Carrier you may not have VoLTE so phone will drop to 3G on calls and may interrupt temporarily your Internet Data and Connection..
Your speed on a fast Network like Tmo may be slower with a non carrier optimized Device.
Your speed and performance on a Flagship Device on ANY Network is unlikely to be equal to a Device Software Optimized for that Network.
If you are buying a Powerhouse Phone for a specific Carrier - you need the Carrier Software to get ALL the features and speed.
The exceptions to this are rare.
All the info about BYOD and all the Internet Articles about Bands and Towers and etc. do NOT mention this.
For example is there ANY DEVICE that has VoLTE across multiple Carriers ?
Or even VoLTE on AT&T and Tmobile ?
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Good info, but I'm doubting most people who are doing this care about carrier optimizations. Most are buying T-mobile devices for the unlocked bootloader so they can run custom ROMs that likely wouldn't have this software anyways.

I went to a T-mobile store this morning and they refused to sell me one. They said I could order one from Samsung but that's just not true. This is so annoying.

smaskell said:
I went to a T-mobile store this morning and they refused to sell me one. They said I could order one from Samsung but that's just not true. This is so annoying.
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Went to another store after work and they sold me one. I don't know what the deal is here but I'm happy I got one.