GPS / WiFi booster ?

[henry II]

What type of CIM card should I get for my S7? I would like to use the CIM card for (1) Navigation when there is no local wireless internet (is my thinking correct on this), (2)To make Phone calls (say Skype calls) when there is no local wireless internet (3) to make Skype conference calls ( waiting for Video). I am sure you can think of more uses.

Today I have a Sprint phone so GSM is not relevant. It is my understanding that I need to acquire a 3G GSM CIM card for the S7. I am under the impression that I need to buy a phone service such as ATT to acquire the card. Please confirm. Since I do not need a phone, which is the best phone to get because it has the best CIM card?

 

[lemmyslender]

henry II:

Google Navigation requires a data connection to find the route. It will work as you noted without a connection after that. It may or may not be able to calculate a new route if you miss a turn, etc.

There are some navigation apps available that do not require a data connection, so you may want to look into those.

As I understand it, you should be able to get just a sim card from AT&T (for 3G) or T-Mobile (for 2G) without buying a phone. AT&T can be used for both data and calls, pay as you go data is expensive. T-Mobile you can do either calling or data, but not both currently.

*edit* You can either go contract or pay as you go for either carrier.

I have modded the S7 for use with ad-hoc wifi connections, this lets me share my phones connection to the S7 for data. Might be an option for you.

 

[henry II]

What is the ad-hoc mod, how do I get it, and would it be useful to me in many instances? I work in the open where I do not have access to a local wireless infrastucture network. I have never used an ad hoc network.

I have another question. about the sim card. Does the S7 automatically switch to the GSM network when a wireless connection cannot be found?

Thanks again for your help...Henry

 

[lemmyslender]

Ad-hoc lets me share the data connection from my other phone. The other phone must support this as well. In other words, my Nokia N900 shares its' 3G data via wifi to the as S7.

The S7 should switch to cellular data if there is no wifi available.

 

[henry II]

I installed a SIM with an ATT voice plan with the hopes of getting a connection to the Internet when I am not within a wireless range for when I am in the field. My ATT plan allows for data but does not have a data plan. I installed the SIM chip in the S7

To test, I shut down wireless and activated the ATT cell. I could make a phone call using the phone app but I could not sign on to SKYPE or onto any other wireless application. The response was consistently "incorrect password" no matter what the application. All the normal application syncs failed or did not complete.

DO you have any ideas as to how to correct this problem? I am hoping that I miss some setting.

 

[henry II]

After I installed the ATT SIM Card, the installation enabled me to make a call. So now I had a large S7 cell phone. The next step was to get data without buying a data plan. I perused several S7 forums and arrive at the following inputs that instructed me on changes. ATT data now works apparently without data charges.

The first item I found was a manual for the S7. This was on the Clove site; there is also a full spec on the S7: Huawei S7 Android Tablet - from Clove Technology

It was mentioned in our forum that the default browser failed when going to ebooks. Well it does not fail all the time; however Skyfire works all the time. I installed Skyfire and now I can get books easily from Kindle, eBooks, and Gutenberg

Well then I focused on the solving the SIM card problem. Here are the steps I used to set the variables right. CLick through the following:

Settings
Wireless Networks
Mobile Networks
GSM/UMTS option
(1) Network Operators...After a long while a list will be presented to you...chose preference...3G
(2) Access Point Name (APN) ( here is a copy of material at Forums | MyTabletLife.com from nrage23

AT&T data only apn settings:
APN Name: AT&T
APN: broadband (all lowercase per AT&T)
MMC: 310
MNC: 410
everything else leave at default(Blank)…
to save setting press menu…save APN
May or may not have to restart…

AT&T voice and data apn settings:
Name: AT&T
APN: wap.cingular
Proxy: leave blank
Port: leave blank
Username:[email protected]
Password:CINGULAR1
Server: leave blank
MMSC: http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMS Proxy: wireless.cingular.com
MMS Port: 80
MCC:310
MNC:410
APN Type: leave blank


Things are working now. I had to go to Meeting. I left from home and went to a place with no wifi in the parking lot. After meeting I could bring up maps and and navigate to my next destination.

I have checked with ATT to see if I am accruing any data charges and the answer is there has been none. I will continue to check.

I now have a little "T" with up and down arrows on the top of my screen does anyone know what that is?

 

[50cals]

Not sure

Sent from my S7 thru space & time

 

[spb37]

Henry, I don't know much about Att Sim cards. Are there different types. Is yours prepaid or postpaid. If you are comfortable, how much monthly. Thx for sharing such useful info.

 

[henry II]

spb37:

All my experience is AT&T Based. They are the primary retailer in our area and they were for a long time the only provider of Iphone service. First I do not know what you mean by Post and Pre paid. If you mean do you pay for use prior to or or after use, AT&T has this line of products. Thus they would have this line of chips. The only chip I used was a direct purchase of a chip in a AT&T store. The sales person placed the chip in my S7. Then he installed the service. My S7 now is a non described phone without a data plan. ( In truth I do not know if I purchased the lowest priced package). I have monthly voice plan that costs me approximately $50/month. I have checked to see that I am not being charged for data. I will certianly know at the end of the month.

Others in the forum can join in this conversation.

I listen to music using Pandora with my S7 as I travel about without connecting to wireless and the same applies to Navigation. Let me know if this helps.

I have a friend that has taken his att chip out of the back of his iPhone and plugged it into his S7 and used it as a phone.

 

[lemmyslender]

henryII

If you didn't get a data plan, but are using data, be prepared to expect a rather large bill. Looking at the AT&T website, Nationwide 900 minute plan, the default data option is $2 per MB. I'd be very careful about using data until you get an answer from AT&T.

 

[buzzman]

And depending on what cs rep you get-some don't know what they are talking about. Some are good. I have been with att for > 10 years. If you are using data You WILL be charged for it. It sometimes takes weeks to be posted to your account. If you get hit with a large bill they usually let you negotiate a pass of paying in return for signing up for a data plan. Play stupid. You can usually get away with this only once. If you're lucky. Be careful.

Sent from my S7

 

[spb37]

Henry, Thx for responding to my q. Hope your generosity in sharing your experience is rewarded with good luck dealing with ATT. If not I did notice on ATT prepaid that they sell 100 mb of data for 20 dollars / per month. That is enough data to keep opera mini happy.

 

[henry II]

Henry, Thx for responding to my q. Hope your generosity in sharing your experience is rewarded with good luck dealing with ATT. If not I did notice on ATT prepaid that they sell 100 mb of data for 20 dollars / per month. That is enough data to keep opera mini happy.

Thank you for your nice comments.

My experience with ATT has been good. I am dealing with Zack at the ATT store in Cary, NC. He was not knowlegable about SIM card swapping or the S7. But he was been willing to learn. Therefore you should demand the same.

I drive from Raleigh NC to Chicago. When I did this experiment I was under the 1 month return policy of ATT. I place the ATT SIM chip in in my S7 and I did two things on my long drive. I listened to Pandora and Navigated with Google. I incurred over a $100.00 data bill in less than 24 hours. I got three warning emails for ATT.

I went back to the ATT store and bought a data plan and had the $100 charge removed by Zack with the cooperation of his manager. Now you may ask why did I try the experiment without a dataplan. Well I was trying to see if I could get data like my friend Jack was getting data on his iPhone when he showed me he could move the SIM chip from his iPhone to his S7. He did not mention that he had a dataplan. It was only when I asked how he was doing data. Then he said "Oh I have a dataplan" duh!

I will keep all of you posted on my actions in the next few weeks and the various ATT bills that I receive.