WP Updates with Cricket Service

[bschiav]

I'm debating making a switch from AT&T To Cricket and buying the phone outright. It just makes sense as they're the same service, and it will be cheaper long term.

How do the windows phone updates work? Those are controlled by carrier, correct? Since AT&T owns Cricket, do they run off the same testing/update cadence? Or will AT&T likely have better support for new firmware / OS releases?

 

[us66]

Buy the ATT version, not the Cricket. ATT phones have been more reliably updated, and should you want to go to another ATT MVNO, the ATT will be usable that way, not the Cricket.

 

[SOCMOB]

=bvone21;2844338]I'm debating making a switch from AT&T To Cricket and buying the phone outright. It just makes sense as they're the same service, and it will be cheaper long term.

How do the windows phone updates work? Those are controlled by carrier, correct? Since AT&T owns Cricket, do they run off the same testing/update cadence? Or will AT&T likely have better support for new firmware / OS releases?

I use Cricket and the monetary cost is definitely cheaper, but that decreased cost does come with some trade-offs. I feel that I should warn you that what you are proposing could cause you some problems.

First, it appears that the inherent capability for visual voicemail on Lumias using Cricket doesn't function unless the phones have Cricket-specific firmware. I use a third-party workaround solution to this problem*, but it's less than ideal since VVM should work natively.

Secondly, yes, over-the-air software upgrades are controlled by the carriers in the US. The upgrade situation with Cricket seems quite suspect and it is separate from the process through AT&T. If you check out the official notice of Lumia Cyan availability for North American carriers**, you will see that despite Cricket having sold both the Lumia 520 and 620, neither model received any software updates, whereas all of AT&T's Lumia models have received every applicable upgrade.

Having a Cricket sim in your AT&T phone might preclude your receiving the updates that would come via AT&T. You might be able to clarify this issue if you speak with AT&T's support personnel. It's unlikely that Cricket's support people will be sufficiently knowledgeable or forthcoming to be of help.


n.b. I could not include links in my response because my post count is too low. Add the usual web prefix after the = for both lines below.
*= forums[DOT]windowscentral[DOT]com/nokia-lumia-1520/317506-visual-voicemail-cricket[DOT]html
**= www[DOT]microsoft[DOT]com/en/mobile/support/software-update/wp8-software-update/availability-in-north-america/

 

[us66]

I got Cyan on my 920 using Cricket and Black on my 822 also using Cricket. Heck, my ATT 520 had no sim card and got Cyan on Wi-Fi. I can't speak to Visual Voicemail as I have never used it and frankly have no idea what it is.

 

[camaroz1985]

My 1020 on Cricket gets the updates at the same time as they are released to AT&T customers. Have had no issues at all using it. I recommend getting the AT&T phone and using it wiht Cricket.

 

[fdalbor]

That's true, you don't Even need a Sim in a phone to get updates

 

[SOCMOB]

It's a relief to learn that the use of a Cricket SIM doesn't by itself preclude receiving updates. However, it's important to note that for the two posters above who report that their phones got updates while using Cricket service, none of those phones was a Cricket-branded phone.

At least in the US, branded phones receive updates in cadence with the timetable for the carrier whose brand is on the phone. I presume that's why the 520, 822, 920, and 1020 mentioned above received updates despite using Cricket service.

As I specified previously, Cricket has not issued any updates for any of their branded windows phones that they have sold. So for anyone in a similar situation to that of the OP, it appears that using a phone other than one that is branded by Cricket / Aio would be the best choice to ensure future updates without having to resort to flashing the ROM on the phone yourself.

 

[bschiav]

Thank you all for the responses!

I purchased the Lumia 830 outright from AT&T a few weeks ago, the other day, I activated it with Cricket. So far the service looks "good", same as AT&T, LTE speeds seem to be ok (to be expected). I guess we'll see on the update front with whatever comes after Denim. At least without a contract, I can always switch back if need be. At the moment I like the idea of frequently being able to sell the current device while resale is still high, and purchase the latest and greatest without contract worries (AT&T next is still a robbery if they're only knocking $10-15 off your bill. My Cricket bill is ~$35 / month cheaper)