Sim card’s aren’t always easy!
Let’s face it, nothing in life is ever going to be easy and this is no exception in my book. I’ve had my Straight Talk sim and I’ve posted about it on my blog. I’ve been asked a few different questions about the Sim Cards from Straight Talk and I’ve figured a good little post about this would help people out. Some of these questions will be repeats, please skip the ones you have already read!
Do I have to unlock my phone to use Straight Talk?
The Short answer is NOT necessarily. You’ll probably have to need to unlock your cell phone later on but if you have a T-Mobile phone and use Straight Talk T-Mobile Sim, you shouldn’t need to unlock it. Just because I did it with my HTC Inspire AT&T 4g Phone, Doesn’t mean you will need to unlock your phone. I did it just to be on the safe side, this was my first HTC phone after all and of course because I could. As long as you buy the right SIM for your phone from Straight Talk, you really shouldn’t have much problems with the SIM.
Will the HTC Inspire have “Jelly Bean”/”Ice Cream Sandwich”?
The Short answer is NO! The HTC Inspire is basically end of life cycle and won’t be updated. It is be replaced with the HTC Desire and others like that but that doesn’t necessarily mean you can’t have those Operating Systems on your Phone! You can get past that if you really want to use that operating System. You basically have to Unlock your Inspire and Root it all at the same time.
Can I tether with my HTC Inspire and Can I use 4g Speeds?
Short Answer is YES! Long answer is if your want to tether your Straight Talk phone you will most likely need to unlock it and root it. Although if your are planning to use the 4g network you will need to make sure you area has it. You can do that from AT&T, T-Mobile, Or sprint website depending on which card you use and if they have the capability for 4g. Remember if your are downloading heavy and other such stuff they might call you, so you just need to remember not to use to much of their so called Bandwidth.
Also, If you have great signal strength then you will have better speeds but if you don’t have the signal strength the you will have slower speeds. Just keep that in mind when you are traveling and tethering.
Why do I See the Word HOME on my screen?
Short answer is “It’s basically your local network, where you live!“. Although some people also have ROAMING and I get that whenever I go to a different city. It isn’t going to charge me any more or any less, it is just their. If you are worried about it, just remember that this is for the network to identify with more than you. Straight Talk and other MVNO’s like to keep cost down so they don’t have to pay higher fee. This is one way they do that, by telling you are either HOME or Roaming. It really is an ingenious idea because most people will unconsciously stay closer to home!
Why am I not getting any signal from Straight Talk?
This is something that I’ve had to deal with on the HTC Inspire. I’ve not had a good signal strength while using the Inspire on Straight talk thru AT&T network I should add. I’ve troubleshooter this and found out that it was the way I was holding my phone. I did occasional have to take the SIM card out and reboot and replace the SIM to get my network back. I don’t know if it is just a loose connection or if the phone just forgets that it has a SIM card. This also could just be a problem with Ice Cream Sandwich version that I’m using. You’ll have to figure out your own little way to hold you phone and get signal. I’ve found having a bluetooth earpiece [Affiliate Link] to work really well in my situation!
These are a few of the questions I get when I’m out and about and thought I’d make a post about it and hopefully help someone who might need that little nudge in the right direction. I’ll post another one if I get more questions. Have a Good day!
