Subject:
I am purchasing a iPhone 5s from straight talk and plan on hooking up on the verizon carrier. I live in Showlow, Az and I'm told LTE is not supported in this area. Will my iPhone 5s work on 3G until that technology is available here? Also, my son wants to purchase the same phone and he DOES live in an area that supports LTE, but what will happen when he comes home? Will he still have service? thanks so much for your help!
iPhone 5s
The iPhone will work on whatever band is available in a particular area. If LTE is not available, it will fall back on the other band. If LTE is available, then it should work with LTE. You will need to discuss coverage issues with Straight Talk and find out what they support in whatever area.
Straight talk is telling me that this phone will not work in my area. I don't believe that is true. If LTE phones don't work in areas where no LTE service is available, wouldn't that be a mess? Anyone traveling outside an LTE area wouldn't get service.
You'll have service, just not LTE. You'll have 3G or Edge, or whatever is available where you live.
You wouldn't get LTE service, but you'll still get either 4g/3G service.
The reason it might not work has nothing to do with LTE. If your local cell service is not provided directly by Verizon, but instead is a local carrier that is a Verizon partner, Straight Talk may not want to pay the connection fees involved. This is a rare, but not unknown situation. Check a Verizon coverage map and see if it shows your location as Verizon network or an independent network provider.
What they are probably referring to has to do with their coverages. Many of the MVNO services will not work in other areas. This is one of the drawbacks from those carriers. They know what bands they support and what support they get from the major carriers. If they tell you it won't work, then it won't work. You may need to look into purchasing a phone from another carrier that supports services where you live.
Niklynnb wrote:
Subject:
I am purchasing a iPhone 5s from straight talk and plan on hooking up on the verizon carrier.
If you mean that StraightTalk is using the Verizon network for service on their iPhones, that's correct.
If you mean you intend to get a service plan from Verizon for the phone you purchased from StraightTalk, you can't do that.
Straight talk is telling me that this phone will not work in my area. I don't believe that is true.
What you believe will not alter reality. If StraightTalk is telling you they do not offer service for the iPhone in that area, then they probably don't offer service in that area.
StraightTalk is an MVNO. They do not operate their own network. They lease the network from various "real" cellular providers. They use the Verizon network to service the iPhone. They do not least the entire Verizon network. They only lease it in areas where they have a large enought customer base to make a profit.
Does anyone have experience with this issue? I would really like to buy the most current iPhone so when the LTE technology becomes available I have a phone to access it. Does the iPhone 5 have LTE capability?
I use ATT and I have never had a problem, including outside the US, except in areas in which there is no cellphone service (like parts of south Georgia and Cuba). The iPhone will pick up whatever service is available: LTE, 4G, 3G, E . . .
George
Yes, the iPhone 5 does have LTE capability. The most current phones right now are the 5C and 5S. Both have LTE capability as well. Right now both of those devices support the LTE bands for AT&T and Verizon.
The iPhone supports LTE. However, that does not mean that the phone will work AT ALL if Straight Talk says it won't. As I said in my earlier post, this is not really an LTE issue.
Yes straight talk is using the verizon network for service on their iPhones. I have been on the verizon network here for years and it has very good coverage it just doesn't offer the 4g or LTE service here yet. Verizon is the major (almost only) cell service provider in my area. There are no independently owned towers in my area. So would the straight talk iPhone 5s pick up service from verizon towers provided what I have told you is true?
My boyfriend was told that his galaxy s3 wouldn't work on straightalk in His area by a straightalk representative and it worked perfectly fine. I think they tell you that so they don't have to pay high roaming charges to the other provider but it's not always true.
As I said earlier, these are the risks you take with using an MVNO. If you know the device worked in the other area, then you decide to use it. You have been told by numerous posters that the iPhone supports a list of bands, and if a carrier uses that band, you should get coverage. The only other issue is if the carrier prevents the use of certain bands. Your call here.
Ok thanks everyone for your help to an inexperience and unknowledgable person :)
Help with iPhone 5s and LTE in my area
