N5100/i467 (T311?) experiences on T-Mobile USA?

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bob60626

Senior Member
Feb 7, 2013
263
17
Chicago
I currently have a Note 2 on an unlimited family plan add-a-line, a Samsung 7.0+ on a 3 gig, $10 data plan that the store rep ASSURES me is grandfathered, and an AT&T Nokia 520 (best $40 phone ever!) as a backup. I'd like to add a bigger data enabled tablet into the mix but I'm undecided whether to get a 5100 to occasionally swap my phone sim into OR an AT&T model to replace the 7.0+ on the data line. I've also considered the international Tab 3 8.0 (T311) instead of the 5100.

I live in Chicago, a strong LTE and 1900 city (AWS HSPA seems to be getting worse though). I've also considered a Nexus 7 LTE thorough T-Mobile (Wi-Fi price!) but don't think it'd be a huge improvement for the money spent over what I already have. Roms and development don't matter much to me, just root for Adaway, Cerberus, and some de-bloating. I'm also not a gamer beyond Tetris. The S-pen is handy for the basketball leagues I work but I think I could work around that. I average 10 gigs a month, almost all through Netflix.

5100's and T311's are hard to find used and are running about 400 and 320 respectively new on Amazon. Used AT&T Note 8's are much more common and seem to go for around 250 on Swappa, often with a case.

I've also read that T-Mobile seems to view the AT&T Note 8 as a phone though it doesn't make cellular calls (does it have sms ability? I really like that option on my 7.0+) and the 5100 as either a phone or tablet.

Any thoughts on battery life as a phone or anything else about my idea? I've had a hard time finding battery stats on specifically the cellular models; my Note 2 has spoiled me!
If I do get one of the voice enabled tablets I could see going between just that and Nokia (as a compact option, also much easier to swap sims than with my Defender wrapped Note 2!) and not having a data only line.




/ramble :)
 

djfmf

Member
Dec 27, 2010
11
1
I currently have a Note 2 on an unlimited family plan add-a-line, a Samsung 7.0+ on a 3 gig, $10 data plan that the store rep ASSURES me is grandfathered, and an AT&T Nokia 520 (best $40 phone ever!) as a backup. I'd like to add a bigger data enabled tablet into the mix but I'm undecided whether to get a 5100 to occasionally swap my phone sim into OR an AT&T model to replace the 7.0+ on the data line. I've also considered the international Tab 3 8.0 (T311) instead of the 5100.

I live in Chicago, a strong LTE and 1900 city (AWS HSPA seems to be getting worse though). I've also considered a Nexus 7 LTE thorough T-Mobile (Wi-Fi price!) but don't think it'd be a huge improvement for the money spent over what I already have. Roms and development don't matter much to me, just root for Adaway, Cerberus, and some de-bloating. I'm also not a gamer beyond Tetris. The S-pen is handy for the basketball leagues I work but I think I could work around that. I average 10 gigs a month, almost all through Netflix.

5100's and T311's are hard to find used and are running about 400 and 320 respectively new on Amazon. Used AT&T Note 8's are much more common and seem to go for around 250 on Swappa, often with a case.

I've also read that T-Mobile seems to view the AT&T Note 8 as a phone though it doesn't make cellular calls (does it have sms ability? I really like that option on my 7.0+) and the 5100 as either a phone or tablet.

Any thoughts on battery life as a phone or anything else about my idea? I've had a hard time finding battery stats on specifically the cellular models; my Note 2 has spoiled me!
If I do get one of the voice enabled tablets I could see going between just that and Nokia (as a compact option, also much easier to swap sims than with my Defender wrapped Note 2!) and not having a data only line.




/ramble :)

i have an at&t i467 on tmobile with the 200mb for life plan. i've made phone calls with talkatone at the time and have used it with sms. i just finally got a phone recently so i dont dwell on my note 8.0 much. i'm too busy on my ipad mini lte and nexus 7 lte also on tmobile network. i have quite a bit of electronic devices, lol.
 

afblangley

Senior Member
Jan 11, 2013
379
91
I have the N5100 and the Tab 3 (Sprint variant). The 5100 is my primary phone. The Tab 3 functions as the head unit in my car. T-Mobile classifies the 5100 as a smartphone, I had it on their $30 5 GB plan. Curiously, they also allow it on their 200 MB data only plan. This is what was reported on the thread entitled i467 Adding Phone Support: *
I have my SGHI467 ATT tablet unlocked and running on T-Mobile, and here is a little bit that I learned, just as an fyi. * I originally tried to get T-Mobiles free 200MB/month data plan, but my IMEI in their system comes up as a phone, not a tablet. And it DOES matter which model you have. I went back and forth with them for a month before I decided to get the 30 dollar unlimited data plan (to do this go to T-Mobile and buy a microsim for 10 bucks.
*

At minimum, this suggests T-Mobile distinguishes between the 5100 and 467 models. I know that AT&T's database flags the 5100 as a smartphone, so unless a store employee manually overrides the system, it cannot be registered on an AT&T data only plan. If you want to do this, find a clueless employee (I did it a year ago, they may wiser on by now).

Battery life is probably not as good as what you've experienced with the Note 2. According to my battery monitoring app, I average 4 hours of on screen time (100% -> 20%). I typically have brightness set to auto +3, WiFi off, Bluetooth off, GPS off. For me, most days, it lasts all day but needs to be charged every night.

Sent from my GT-N5100 using xda app-developers app
 

bob60626

Senior Member
Feb 7, 2013
263
17
Chicago
Thank you, that was very helpful! I'd imagine the 8" voice Tab 3 has similar battery life then. I usually get about 6 hours screen time on my Note 2.

The size (and being able to use my unlimited data) would be great but it sounds like there are too many compromises for me as a primary mobile device. I actually scored a LNIB LTE Nexus 7 two days ago at a SWEET price that I still shouldn't have bought, but I'll probably still keep my eyes open for a cheap i467 as I can live with the camera and battery life (I keep my 7.0+ in airplane mode unless I actually need data) on a 2nd/3rd/... tablet.

Thanks guys!
 
Last edited:

ahmadshawki

Senior Member
Aug 1, 2007
564
107
Mansoura
I have the N5100 and the Tab 3 (Sprint variant). The 5100 is my primary phone. The Tab 3 functions as the head unit in my car. T-Mobile classifies the 5100 as a smartphone, I had it on their $30 5 GB plan. Curiously, they also allow it on their 200 MB data only plan. This is what was reported on the thread entitled i467 Adding Phone Support: *
*

At minimum, this suggests T-Mobile distinguishes between the 5100 and 467 models. I know that AT&T's database flags the 5100 as a smartphone, so unless a store employee manually overrides the system, it cannot be registered on an AT&T data only plan. If you want to do this, find a clueless employee (I did it a year ago, they may wiser on by now).

Battery life is probably not as good as what you've experienced with the Note 2. According to my battery monitoring app, I average 4 hours of on screen time (100% -> 20%). I typically have brightness set to auto +3, WiFi off, Bluetooth off, GPS off. For me, most days, it lasts all day but needs to be charged every night.

Sent from my GT-N5100 using xda app-developers app

I have the AT&T Note 8.0 -SGHi467 on the T-Mobile free 200 MB plan. I went to T-Mobile store and told them I need a SIM card for my Nexus 7 LTE and I need it activated already so that it will work right out of the box, and it did.
Hope this helps.
I also have the AT&T Note 3 on the same plan with another data only SIM card...
 

bob60626

Senior Member
Feb 7, 2013
263
17
Chicago
So, I picked up a used i467 two months ago and have been using it on my T-Mobile tablet add a line. With the exception of a few small issues, this thing rocks!

Battery life was the first one- manually resetting it fixed that. I now average 7 hours of screen time with 4g and GPS on.
However, it freezes up occasionally, never for more than a few seconds. I also don't get LTE on it in a T-Mobile LTE area. It seems that AT&T may have a firmware lock on that. That's not a deal breaker but I also occasionally have data and signal drops on hspa, even in a strong 1900 area.

Despite the above, I like it so much I'm planning on getting a N5100 as this thing has taken me off my Note 2 in a big way. I just need to check out my two remaining issues.

Are my freezes and signal drops unique to the AT&T model, or could I expect the same issues with a N5100?
 

afblangley

Senior Member
Jan 11, 2013
379
91
I've had the N5100 since shortly after launch. It's my primary phone. I don't have any problem with the screen freezing or signal dropping, but I'm on AT&T's network. Be advised, the N5100 is not LTE. Also, I don't get anywhere close to 7 hours screen time. When actively using GPS with Google Maps running, my battery will go from 100% --> 15% in 2 hours.