Straight Talk: Day 1, Activation

Straight Talk: Day 1, Activation

Posted by on Aug 14, 2012 in All Posts, Android | 9 comments

UPDATE: Great news for all you Straight Talk users! Since I’ve posted a few articles here on WireValley in regards to my experience with Straight Talk, APN settings, tutorials, screenshots, helping others, etc. I thought it would be a great idea to start a support website for all of us Straight Talk users! Visit http://StraightTalkSupport.com to ask questions, learn tips, tricks, and plenty more.

 

I wrote an article about why I was switching to Straight Talk, to save money of course. I explained the benefits and the one downfall; you must bring your own cell phone which can be expensive.

Anyway, I officially received my Straight Talk sim card in the mail today and was fully activated and operational within 10 minutes! Activation was as easy as pie. I simply visited the website and entered in all the details required, such as sim card number, my first month’s prepaid service card number, and my name and address. Once I inserted my new sim card into my cell phone, I had to do one last step; enter my new APN settings.

In layman’s terms, APN settings are a gateway that allows you to connect to the cell phone towers. If you have the wrong settings, your phone won’t know where to go to connect to the network.

I won’t write how to change your APN settings, but if you’re using an Android phone, it’s fairly simple and there’s already quite a few “how-to” guides on the Internet. The APN settings are buried in your network settings, but if you need help, just post a comment below and I’ll get back quick.

After everything was all said and done, I was in business! I could receive and make calls, send text messages, and the Internet worked great. However, there was ONE item I could not get to work, picture messaging, otherwise known as MMS. After doing a little bit of research I found that you must enter in another APN setting in order to receive and send MMS picture messages using Android. Straight Talk did not tell me this whatsoever which leads me to believe they don’t have their act together, at least not completely. As soon as I entered these settings below for another APN, picture messaging worked perfect!

Straight Talk APN Settings for Picture Messaging:

___________________________________________

Name
MMS

APN
att.mvno

skip down to
MMSC
http://mmsc.cingular.com

MMS proxy
proxy.mvno.tracfone.com

MMS port
80

skip to:
APN type (enter the following)
mms
THEN SAVE

___________________________________________

 

Since I’m pretty tech savvy I’d say activation went smoothly. However, if my parents were to try and get a smartphone and activate Straight Talk, they would not be able to do this whatsoever. I see this as a downfall for some users. However, if you’re like me, you should have no issues getting setup with Straight Talk.

I’ll continue to post my experience with Straight Talk as the days go by! If you ever have any questions or want to check-in, feel free to drop me a line via e-mail or the comments.

 

Read Day 2 and 3 with Straight Talk.

  • Jesse

    Hi @Richard,

    I’m really interested in taking the same setup as you, but I was wondering what should I get. Should I buy a factory unlocked S3 or an unlocked S3 from a specific carrier? US or International version?

    Thank You,
    Jesse

    • WireValley

      Hey! Straight Talk is still going good. I actually tweaked my settings yesterday. I found that you do have to have two APN settings in your phone. One for call, text, and data. The 2nd one is for MMS. I tweaked the call/text/data APN. Anyway, I can help you if you decide to go Straight Talk route!

      Since I’ve been with Straight Talk, August 13th I’ve had little trouble. It seems when I’m in a building with a big infrastructure (such as my school, it’s in the basement of a skyscraper downtown Mpls), I still get service, but the data has troubles connecting. I connect to WiFi at work and home, and I’ve still only used like 350MB data. I listen to Pandora on my way into work while I get all caught up on the news, etc.

      Other than the small hiccup in my school, it’s like I’m walking around with regular AT&T service!

      It’s up to to you to decide what version of the phone you want to go with. Do you have good AT&T coverage in your area? I do, that’s why I went with the AT&T version of the S3 than T-Mobiles. (Plus I already had the AT&T version). The unlocked version of S3 would be just fine too. However, you might be able to buy a S3 from AT&T outright at full price and save money over the unlocked S3. You can then buy an unlock code later on down the road to make the phone truly unlocked. A year from now unlock codes will be dirt cheap. Another advantage going with AT&T’s version of the s3 is should you ever feel that need you want to go back into contract with them, you can bring your S3 and it will have LTE capability (when LTE gets in your area).

      Hopefully this helps! Let me know if you have anymore questions.

    • WireValley

      Here you go! I posted the two APN settings you’ll need to use with Android. These settings will get you perfect talk, text, data, and MMS without any hiccups:
      http://wirevalley.com/ultimate-apn-settings-for-straight-talk-with-android/

  • Yusuf

    I have a Samsung Captivate with 4.1.2 CyanogenMod 10.0.0 using StraightTalk as my provider. I haven’t had any success in getting MMS or internet with either of your APN configs. Any other suggestions?

    • WireValley

      Delete MMSC in your first APN setting. Jelly Bean has slightly different settings. I will post an update by this weekend with Jelly Bean settings.

  • shellmaster

    Does anybody know what the apn setting is for an htc hd7. Everything works except i cant send pics through text message.

    • WireValley

      You’re using a Windows phone. Microsoft doesn’t let you edit the settings needed to be able to get picture messages through Straight Talk. You’re SOL. I’d recommend the Galaxy S III.

  • barbk21

    i have a Android 4.1.1 jelly bean with straight talk, and like you can not send or recieve pic messages……..HELP please if you can! Thank you