# MMS, StraightTalk, Google Voice and Hangouts



## Southrncomfortjm (Jun 29, 2012)

Hey everyone,

So, my wife and I are currently T-Mobile customers, but its just not working out. The price is okay, but the service is just too spotty. I can sit in the same spot and they signal will cycle between everything for 2G up to LTE, then to no signal. To get better service, I'm thinking of switching to the AT&T side of Straight Talk. Just want to be sure things will work the way I want them to before I make the switch and I'm hoping you all can help. Lots of questions - any help would be greatly appreciated.

I have a Nexus 5 and she has an iPhone 5s - both are in the process of being carrier unlocked.

1) Any issues using GSM unlocked iPhone 5s or Nexus 5 on the AT&T side of Straight Talk?

2) If we switch to Straight Talk, will we be able to MMS without issues? I see stuff from as recent as a few months ago talking about MMS problems so I'm not sure.

3) I see that Straight Talk lets you bring your old number over, but its limited to "local number porting." My number is local, but hers is from another state. Is that actually an issue? Or is there some workaround? She really doesn't want to change her number again.

4) If there is an issue with porting her out of state number to Straight Talk, can she port her number to Google Voice instead and still use MMS? I've seen that MMS doesn't seem to work with Google Voice, so I'm wondering if she can change her default MMS app (maybe to Google Hangouts?) in some settings somewhere. She wants to be able to send MMS messages right from the camera/gallery app rather than having to open another app. I know I can do that on my Nexus, but I don't have her phone in front of me to try it out.

Thanks for any help!

SoCo


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## mmmburrr (Nov 12, 2011)

I would caution against Straight Talk. I had two nexus 5 on it until a few days ago. I kept having problems with their AT&T Sims dropping data connections whenever the phone went idle. After much time with customer service, they couldn't figure out the problem. I then ported us to AIO Wireless, which uses AT&T network, and costs the same (if you set up automatic payments). I have. KT had any issues since. Thanks and good luck. BTW, as long as both of those phone numbers originated as cell numbers, there shouldn't be any issues porting it to different carriers.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk


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## AquilaDroid (Mar 14, 2012)

I've been on ST-AT&T for two months and haven't had any problems and have been pleasantly surprised by the coverage compared to VZW on my G-Nex. I had to rma my N-5 (GPS issues) and switched the Sim card to the new phone and it connected right away. Give it a try - all you can lose is the price of the Sim and a month's usage.

From my Nexus 5


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## shiznu (Jun 14, 2012)

Shouldn't be a problem with either phone but I have no experience with apple. Service has been great IMO 2.5 GB before any slowdown.


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## pkelly517 (Apr 28, 2012)

Setting up MMS with the iPhone is a real pain. You'll be to hold onto the T-Mobile sim.
The procedure you'll need is on the interwebs.

Sent from my Nexus 10 using Tapatalk


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## RealPetChicken (Mar 5, 2014)

Funny, I went from at&t crappy signal to T-Mobile which is better for me. I guess it matters where you live.


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## endlessben (Jun 7, 2011)

A bit late on this but as I haven't seen it mentioned yet - Google Voice does not support MMS. By that I mean not just the app, but the service as a whole. If you port a number to Google Voice, any MMS sent to that number will simply never be received. That said, there are rumors that Google is going to shut down Voice and roll its functionality into Hangouts so we'll just have to wait and see what that implementation is like. The lack of MMS is the only thing keeping me from porting my own number to Voice. Fingers crossed.

As for AT&T StraightTalk, I had much better reception with them than I did with T-Mobile but significantly lower data speeds so I ended up going with T-Mobile.


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## Paradinglunatic (Feb 2, 2012)

I've kinda moved away from Rootzwiki since this site doesn't seem to really focus on devices not on VZW. Anyways I figured I'd give my .02.

I have been using both T-Mo and ST. I've noticed random data drops with ST/ATT then I do with TMo. Data drops as in my N5 will say I'm connect to LTE or HSDPA but when I check, I don't actually HAVE a data connection. With TMo sure I very often don't have a data connection which is obvious (unlike with ST/ATT) but when I do have a connection it seems much better and more reliable. Could just be a ST issue, not sure.

As far as porting the number to GT etc...thats exactly what I did. I ported my # to GT as but I usually only received MMS from 2 or 3 people. With that being said..the statement that you can't get MMS on GV at all is untrue. They support receiving MMS from SOME carries..just not all carries. Basically what it does (and I think it only works when someone from Sprint or TMo sends you an MMS), is it takes the MMS and sends it to your gmail. But unfortunately they don't support all carriers so it kinda makes it pointless. Personally I just tell people to send me email or you can possibly use some other form of messaging.


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