At&t's Aio Wireless going nationwide

[fatclue_98]

How are the speeds after throttling? I spend so much time on WiFi, that I'm strongly considering the $40 option (which you apparently can get if you bring your own phone).

Those are the speeds I'm getting. The speeds they throttle to are 8MB for LTE and 4MB for 4G (HSPA).

 

[fatclue_98]

They advertise themselves as a contract free carrier. However officially per policy you must have service with them for 4 months to get a phone that you paid for, clear of subsidies, to get it unlocked. That is a form of contract plain and simple. I'm very fortunate I suppose that my 620 was unlocked, and it should be the case for all of their phones, but they are running a different network ID on ATTs infrastructure just so they can foist these shady policies on you.

It's not free of subsidies at the $99 price point. That's a $180 phone that they're offering at half cost in exchange for 4 months worth of service. They're not doing anything that other MVNOs do already. Buy a Boost phone - stuck with Boost. Buy a Virgin phone - stuck with Virgin. Same goes for Verizon Prepaid-branded, Straight Talk-branded, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. If you have a gripe with AT&T, I get it. But don't spread misinformation without the proper backup.

 

[fatclue_98]

Well I think it still works for me as I won't be buying their device, getting real tired of network errors and poor reception with Tmo.

The way I look at it, $55 for 2gigs of data is slightly high. But if you consider that T-Mo has a plan that's only $5 cheaper but throws you into EDGE after only 500 megs, it's not a bad deal. I live in a re-farmed area but the coverage is horrible unless you're standing in the middle of the street. Page Plus has the same exact plan at the same price but is relegated to CDMA 3G devices only so unless you really like the Trophy, there are no other WP choices available. As I stated earlier, Miami is a big city with congestion issues and my speeds are probably slower than most other places. I've always said that Miami is a foreign country that accepts American currency.

 

[theefman]

The way I look at it, $55 for 2gigs of data is slightly high. But if you consider that T-Mo has a plan that's only $5 cheaper but throws you into EDGE after only 500 megs, it's not a bad deal. I live in a re-farmed area but the coverage is horrible unless you're standing in the middle of the street. Page Plus has the same exact plan at the same price but is relegated to CDMA 3G devices only so unless you really like the Trophy, there are no other WP choices available. As I stated earlier, Miami is a big city with congestion issues and my speeds are probably slower than most other places. I've always said that Miami is a foreign country that accepts American currency.

I agree about the coverage, literally I can walk 3ft within my house and go from 2-3 bars of EDGE to 1-4 bars of HSPA+, I have to have LTE turned off because it seems to have a problem switching to slower speeds in the areas i'm in. So being capped at max 8Mbps download shouldn't be too much different. I definitely like Tmo's pricing for what they offer but I have used them for years and the coverage has not improved and that is really what counts and when i had att I had better coverage in the same areas so I will most likely give Aio a go when they go nationwide.

 

[Kebero]

Those are the speeds I'm getting. The speeds they throttle to are 8MB for LTE and 4MB for 4G (HSPA).

That doesn't sound too bad. I wonder if that's what I'd see in Broward after passing 250MB on the $40 plan. The idea of going from $160/mo to $80/mo for my wife and I is more and more appealing.

 

[fatclue_98]

That doesn't sound too bad. I wonder if that's what I'd see in Broward after passing 250MB on the $40 plan. The idea of going from $160/mo to $80/mo for my wife and I is more and more appealing.

Doubt it. When I used to live in Hollywood by the Hard Rock, coverage was atrocious. Anywhere between 95 and the Turnpike is bad until you get past Commercial.

 

[TheSuperShoe]

This may seem like a dumb question, but is the HSPA+ part of the limited or unlimited data?

 

[theefman]

This may seem like a dumb question, but is the HSPA+ part of the limited or unlimited data?

Depending on the plan you sign up ffor and your device/area you will have either 250MB, 2GB or 7GB of HSPA+ data, after that you will be throttled to a slower speed till your next bill cycle.

 

[inteller]

It's not free of subsidies at the $99 price point. That's a $180 phone that they're offering at half cost in exchange for 4 months worth of service. They're not doing anything that other MVNOs do already. Buy a Boost phone - stuck with Boost. Buy a Virgin phone - stuck with Virgin. Same goes for Verizon Prepaid-branded, Straight Talk-branded, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera. If you have a gripe with AT&T, I get it. But don't spread misinformation without the proper backup.

Please don't quote a bunch of CDMA carriers, apples to oranges. And the ST branded phones are subsidized so again not valid.

So let's pretend for a second that you are right (which you are not) What excuse do you have for the people that bought it (620) at $180 only a few weeks ago?
Are you going to sit there and smugly try to tell us that the 16Gb iPhone 4S that they are selling for $550 is subsidized? We weren't born yesterday. There is no subsidy on the phone, but they are trapping you into a contract like condition. They know it which is why they are using an entirely different network ID.

If they were using an ATT network ID we wouldn't be having this conversation because they would be playing fair like all the other ATT MVNOs.

 

[theefman]

Speeds vary of course, Miami has slower speeds than most places because of the bandwidth traffic day or night. My iPhone 5 has LTE from AT&T and D/L speeds are usually about 2200 kbps. My L620 has faux G and it's usually around 1650. As for tethering, turn on Internet Sharing, set your device's SSID & password. That's it. No hacking, no muss, no fuss.

Sent them a tweet this morning and they say they don't offer tethering which is strange. Going to wait and see if that gets clarified when they go national.

 

[EBynum]

Just checked their web site and now all U.S. customers can order online. I have an unlocked Lumia 620 that I use as a second phone. I'm currently trying it on T-Mobile, but the coverage in my area is horrible. Around my house, I either get Edge or "No Network Found". Needless to say, I'm done with T-Mobile. Now I'm debating whether to go with AT&T GoPhone or Aio Wireless. I also have a Lumia 520 ATT GoPhone (couldn't pass up the deal when Amazon had it for $88), but I haven't activated the sim yet. Just using it on WiFi. I believe the GoPhone sim would also work on my 620. I'm wondering if the Aio sim would work on the 520. I'm assuming the 520 is locked to AT&T. I've read comments in other online forums where people said their Aio sim worked on locked AT&T phones (even those still under contract), but I've also read comments that said the phone had to be unlocked for the Aio sim to work. So not sure which is true. Anybody know?

Since Aio and GoPhone both use the AT&T network, I assume coverage would be the same for both. My primary phone is a Lumia 920 on AT&T and the coverage here is very good and I get LTE. I know the 620 isn't LTE capable, but I assume I should get 4G HSPA+ here. If it's true that you can sign up for the $40 plan on Aio if you bring your own phone (on their web site, it says that plan is for basic phones only), then I'm leaning toward Aio. GoPhone also offers a $40 plan, but it's capped at 200 MB, compared to Aio's 250 MB. And with Aio, they just throttle the speed down after 250 MB, vs. GoPhone which would cut off data access (granted they do have the option to buy another 100 MB for $5).

What are everyone's thoughts on Aio vs. GoPhone? Pros/Cons for each?

 

[TheSuperShoe]

I'm curious as to what the throttled speed is. I probably won't care if it's like a Mb or 2. I really only use it for email and surfing and even then I'm usually on WiFi, but I'll have to pay the ETF. I'll probably wait until the end of my cycle (7 days) and go ahead and get the $55... plus the third month is free.

 

[theefman]

Signed up with AIO yesterday, Tmo has good prices but coverage hasn't changed for the better in my area since I used the HD2 in 2009 so its time to bid them a final goodbye. Did some research and their speeds seem to compare favorably with att and I know that coverage is better where I live so made a lot of sense. Did have trouble signing up initially because I didn't have the right porting info but the second time worked fine so just waiting for my SIM card to complete the switch. Will post how well it works when I start their service.

Edit: got my SIM today (2 day via FedEx) and have had no problems. Getting LTE and while its capped at 8Mbps max it feels as fast as any service I've used so far. Internet, app updates, email, push notifications all seem to work fine. Their mobile app has a chat feature, used that to get the default PIN code, quick and painless. Cons, no VVoicemail or tethering, the former may come according to another poster, the latter less likely. Overall no complaints, very pleased with the service for $70 inc taxes.

 

[rdubmu]

If the price was $50 a month, I would probably switch. But I'm paying $45 a month with Straight Talk right now for AT&T service. Sure, there's no LTE, but I have reached speeds over 6Mbps with HSPA+, so I'm pretty happy there as well. I don't want to pay $10 more just for LTE.

T-Mobile is still a better deal for family plans.

 

[fatclue_98]

T-Mobile is still a better deal for family plans.

MVNOs are geared for individuals. Multiple lines are still better on post-paid, except Verizon of course.