Just an update on my straight talk wireless fiasco. I tried out AT&T's GoPhone plan tried both plans at a variety of locations around town. At home, the reception is still shitty enough to require disabling the cell radio, but it's better than what I got on STW. I would be on EDGE most of the time on my upper floor on STW, on GoPhone I get (low signal)HSPA. At the hospital I got HSPA on STW, while 2-3 bars of LTE on GoPhone. Oddly, my reception hasn't changed much around the airport. Still, this confirms that STW doesn't have access to towers that regular ATT customers do(and GoPhone is treated as a regular customer).
Ping times are much better on GoPhone(no proxy forwarding). The speedtests aren't shit either. I got speedtest results on GoPhone HSPA+ that are better than Verizon's LTE around here. Lastly, it looks like GoPhone doesn't close data ports like STW does. So that doesn't mean an up to 28 minute delay on a push notification.
GoPhone costs a bit more(you can easily get refills for $54/month) than STW. But for better speeds, pings, and coverage, it's worth the extra few dollars. With a N5, you're still saving quite a bit of money per month. STW might still be suitable for people that live in large cities. But then again, TMO is probably suitable then too, and cheaper.
