Nexus 5 T-Mobile $30 Prepaid Plan with Hangouts & Google Voice

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jnbanda

Member
Aug 31, 2012
18
5
IF YOU EVER WORRY ABOUT USING UP YOUR 100 MINUTES AND DON'T WANT TO SET UP A SIP ACCOUNT, KEEP READING.
***THIS APPLIES IF YOU HAVE A GOOGLE VOICE NUMBER THAT YOU CONSIDER YOUR PRIMARY NUMBER***

So I know everybody and his/her mothers already knows about the beauty of Tmo's $30 prepaid plan, which comes with 5 GB of LTE data (2G after that), 100 minutes, and unlimited text. I just wanted to add a tip that I thought might come in handy.

My personal situation is the following:

--->Tmo subscriber with Nexus 5 and two phone numbers: Google Voice and Tmo. (I have LTE coverage virtually everywhere I live. No hit or miss.)
--->Ported my old Sprint number over to Google Voice. This is the only number I give out. I don't mind not having full MMS functionality just yet (I can receive MMS from other Tmo subscribers). My Tmo number is just linked to my Google Voice account.
--->I have Hangouts and Google Voice apps/extensions installed everywhere and anywhere: Nexus 10, Nexus 5, laptop, work PC, etc.
--->I have a yearly subscription with Skype ($30/yr) that I use to make calls over LTE. I like the integration with my phone, especially when I use Google to make calls with the "OK Google" detection. The Skype Dialer always comes up as an option, and I'm allowed to decide whether to make calls over Skype or via the phone. (This allows me to show either my Google Voice number or Tmo number).

So my personal setup usually involved answering the calls over Hangouts via my PC, since I always had access to the internet via WiFi or LAN.
But now with the Hangouts and Google Voice integration, I let Hangouts ring whenever people dial my Google Voice number, and I set Google Voice to not ring my personal Tmo number anymore. Whereas I used to debate about whether or not to set up a SIP account, now I don't need one. Hangouts will automatically ring my phone whenever people call my Google Voice number, and whenever I answer the calls, they are automatically answered over LTE. No more worrying about using up my 100 minutes.

This, of course, depends on the user having guaranteed LTE, HSPA+, or even decent 3G everywhere.

With regards to the Skype subscription, I may or may not get rid of it. I like being able to dial using my voice, and the Hangouts Dialer currently doesn't appear as an option for making calls whenever I issue the voice command.

Hope somebody found this useful. Comments welcome.
 
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B

BinkXDA

Senior Member
Mar 1, 2012
387
137
Been doing something similar since Google updated Hangouts—particularly since my home office is in the basement and I get poor T-Mobile (same prepaid plan) coverage there. Go Google!
 
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J

jnbanda

Member
Aug 31, 2012
18
5
BinkXDA said:
Been doing something similar since Google updated Hangouts—particularly since my home office is in the basement and I get poor T-Mobile (same prepaid plan) coverage there. Go Google!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Sounds like a plan! I just hope that the devs can hammer out a few of the minor issues with Hangouts, specifically the lag. All in good time though. Happy to have what I got so far!
 
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adrman

adrman

Senior Member
Jul 17, 2012
1,603
634
NYC
I also disabled forwarding to my sip did and tm #. Hangouts/GV is doing just fine on its own.
 
denis_y_s

denis_y_s

Senior Member
Aug 29, 2010
65
9
New York
Does someone knows if the Google Voice app now can be uninstalled? Will I be able to make and receive calls with my Google voice number from the Hangouts without G.Voice app?
 
J

jnbanda

Member
Aug 31, 2012
18
5
denis_y_s said:
Does someone knows if the Google Voice app now can be uninstalled? Will I be able to make and receive calls with my Google voice number from the Hangouts without G.Voice app?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I guess it depends on how you want to make and receive calls.

I uninstalled the Google Voice app because it no longer receives my SMS messages. The messages automatically get forwarded to Hangouts.
Furthermore, I don't make calls using the stock dialer app, so I don't have a need to make calls from my phone via Google Voice. (I don't need Google Voice to generate an automatic number for the person I wish to call anymore. This issue led me to saving two numbers for every contact: one labeled as their "true carrier" number, and one labeled as the Google Voice assigned number that I would see on my phone.)

If you still intend to make calls using the stock dialer, I'd say leave Google Voice installed. If you don't plan on making calls through the stock dialer anymore, but instead wish to make and receive calls via Hangouts only, then it should be OK to uninstall.

***NOTE: Be sure to check the two boxes in the Hangouts App settings labeled "Incoming Phone Calls" and "Messages" under
Settings->"yourgmailaccount@gmail.com". If you don't want your phone to ring twice for every call, you need to disable forwarding of calls to your carrier number through the Google Voice website settings, under the tab "Groups & Circles". Be aware that your phone WILL NOT RING THROUGH THE STOCK DIALER APP ANYMORE if you disable the call forwarding. It will ONLY RING THROUGH HANGOUTS, which requires an active internet connection.***
 
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J

jnbanda

Member
Aug 31, 2012
18
5
BinkXDA said:
Outside of call setup, I have no lag! That said, Hangouts does seem to use FAR more of the battery for calls compared to the built-in Internet calling.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Hmmm.. Interesting. The only lag I see is in the amount of time it takes to launch the app and allow me to open up/tap a conversation. At first I had a few crashes when I would try to open up a convo pretty fast, like immediate tapping on the screen as soon as Hangouts launched. The crash issue seems to be resolved with the update. Perhaps it is an issue with my personal setup. I'm running rooted/stock/Franco kernel/Dalvik.
 
S

seagood3

Member
Jan 4, 2013
21
1
Still uses minutes

I have been making calls through the hangout dialer and have confirmed that the call is going out as my Google Voice number. The problem is that it still uses minutes. I just got off the chat with a rep at T-Mobile and she confirmed that on the $30 T-Mobile plan VOIP and wifi calling still use minutes.

Is there any way around this?
 
B

BinkXDA

Senior Member
Mar 1, 2012
387
137
seagood3 said:
I have been making calls through the hangout dialer and have confirmed that the call is going out as my Google Voice number. The problem is that it still uses minutes. I just got off the chat with a rep at T-Mobile and she confirmed that on the $30 T-Mobile plan VOIP and wifi calling still use minutes.

Is there any way around this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have the same plan. Hangouts does not use your plan minutes—just data. That said, T-Mobile does have a special Wi-Fi Calling option, which does use minutes, but it’s not available on the N5, at least not at this time.
 
S

seagood3

Member
Jan 4, 2013
21
1
BinkXDA said:
I have the same plan. Hangouts does not use your plan minutes—just data. That said, T-Mobile does have a special Wi-Fi Calling option, which does use minutes, but it’s not available on the N5, at least not at this time.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

Are you rooted or something? I have a moto x and running 4.4.4. I just put $10 dollars into my account yesterday and have using google hangout dialer exclusively and now am down to $3. I had a chat with T-Mobile just now and the rep confirmed that it does use minutes. What am I missing here? The rep even credited me $7 for the confusion that I thought it would use data not minutes. She said that on the post pay plans it does not use minutes.
 
B

BinkXDA

Senior Member
Mar 1, 2012
387
137
seagood3 said:
Are you rooted or something? I have a moto x and running 4.4.4. I just put $10 dollars into my account yesterday and have using google hangout dialer exclusively and now am down to $3. I had a chat with T-Mobile just now and the rep confirmed that it does use minutes. What am I missing here? The rep even credited me $7 for the confusion that I thought it would use data not minutes. She said that on the post pay plans it does not use minutes.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Nope. Not sure what’s going on—unless somehow your T-Mobile number is involved. Hangouts simply uses data so I’m uncertain why your minutes are being decremented.
 
S

seagood3

Member
Jan 4, 2013
21
1
BinkXDA said:
Nope. Not sure what’s going on—unless somehow your T-Mobile number is involved. Hangouts simply uses data so I’m uncertain why your minutes are being decremented.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

I even tried putting it in airplane mode and turning wifi on and it wouldn't connect. Can you do that and it works?
 
marquimsp

marquimsp

Senior Member
Jun 16, 2011
238
75
Is there a way to purchase this plan before going to the US? I'm planning a trip and will need this as soon as I arrive.

Thanks in advance!

ps: I already have a gv #, everytime I travel to the us I have to go to a mall, explain that I need a short term plan, get the sim chip, wait for it to work, call t-mobile complaining that I've run out too quickly... lol
 
Last edited:
F

frigidazzi

Senior Member
Apr 21, 2011
1,533
265
Nexus Player
OnePlus 5
seagood3 said:
I have been making calls through the hangout dialer and have confirmed that the call is going out as my Google Voice number. The problem is that it still uses minutes. I just got off the chat with a rep at T-Mobile and she confirmed that on the $30 T-Mobile plan VOIP and wifi calling still use minutes.

Is there any way around this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The only way this would be happening is if you're not really using the hangouts dialer, but using the Google voice app which integrates with the regular dialer on the phone. In that case it will use minutes, because you're using the regular dialer (ie minutes) where calls are being routed through to Google voice.... not the same as using the hangouts dialer directly.
 
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V

vboyz103

Senior Member
Apr 9, 2006
878
141
seagood3 said:
I have been making calls through the hangout dialer and have confirmed that the call is going out as my Google Voice number. The problem is that it still uses minutes. I just got off the chat with a rep at T-Mobile and she confirmed that on the $30 T-Mobile plan VOIP and wifi calling still use minutes.

Is there any way around this?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse

If you use Hangouts to dial phone numbers, it should not use your minutes. I had this $30 T-Mo plan for a while now and been using it with the 5GB just fine.

One way to check is using the Android Phone Dialer app (NOT Hangout dialer) and dial...

1. Check for minutes: dial #646# (#MIN#) then hit the talk button
2. Check for data usage: dial #932# (#WEB#)

You should see your data usage going up and talk minutes should remain low.
 
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S

salvorhardin80

Member
Jul 11, 2012
24
7
I would make sure hangouts and voice are updated and that you have hangouts dialer installed. Make sure that under settings in hangouts is showing your gvoice number and if you open voice that it let's you know that hangouts had taken over. Use the dialer to make a call that will be easy for you to see the caller ID. Your gvoice number should show up.
 
chaco81

chaco81

Senior Member
Sep 28, 2010
472
140
OH
Google Pixel 3 XL
Google Pixel 6 Pro
i dont have GV....
i do have Tmo $30... i love i can call everyone now over LTE since now calling my parents once wont kill my 100 minutes....BUT, people i call see "UNKNOWN" on their caller ID when i called via Hangouts... thats the only thing that sucks for me because most of people wont answer those types of calls, i have to text them before calling saying to expect it.
wish there was a way to set a ANI number on hangouts to show my number
 
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    baiju2012
    After getting the Nexus 5 (LTE), Hangouts App (with Dialer App) + GV Phone has reliably replaced the T-Mobile number. Now I truly have unlimited plan for $30 a month. I love it. :D

    Nexus V
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    vboyz103
    seagood3 said:
    I have been making calls through the hangout dialer and have confirmed that the call is going out as my Google Voice number. The problem is that it still uses minutes. I just got off the chat with a rep at T-Mobile and she confirmed that on the $30 T-Mobile plan VOIP and wifi calling still use minutes.

    Is there any way around this?
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    If you use Hangouts to dial phone numbers, it should not use your minutes. I had this $30 T-Mo plan for a while now and been using it with the 5GB just fine.

    One way to check is using the Android Phone Dialer app (NOT Hangout dialer) and dial...

    1. Check for minutes: dial #646# (#MIN#) then hit the talk button
    2. Check for data usage: dial #932# (#WEB#)

    You should see your data usage going up and talk minutes should remain low.
    View
    1
    J
    jnbanda
    IF YOU EVER WORRY ABOUT USING UP YOUR 100 MINUTES AND DON'T WANT TO SET UP A SIP ACCOUNT, KEEP READING.
    ***THIS APPLIES IF YOU HAVE A GOOGLE VOICE NUMBER THAT YOU CONSIDER YOUR PRIMARY NUMBER***

    So I know everybody and his/her mothers already knows about the beauty of Tmo's $30 prepaid plan, which comes with 5 GB of LTE data (2G after that), 100 minutes, and unlimited text. I just wanted to add a tip that I thought might come in handy.

    My personal situation is the following:

    --->Tmo subscriber with Nexus 5 and two phone numbers: Google Voice and Tmo. (I have LTE coverage virtually everywhere I live. No hit or miss.)
    --->Ported my old Sprint number over to Google Voice. This is the only number I give out. I don't mind not having full MMS functionality just yet (I can receive MMS from other Tmo subscribers). My Tmo number is just linked to my Google Voice account.
    --->I have Hangouts and Google Voice apps/extensions installed everywhere and anywhere: Nexus 10, Nexus 5, laptop, work PC, etc.
    --->I have a yearly subscription with Skype ($30/yr) that I use to make calls over LTE. I like the integration with my phone, especially when I use Google to make calls with the "OK Google" detection. The Skype Dialer always comes up as an option, and I'm allowed to decide whether to make calls over Skype or via the phone. (This allows me to show either my Google Voice number or Tmo number).

    So my personal setup usually involved answering the calls over Hangouts via my PC, since I always had access to the internet via WiFi or LAN.
    But now with the Hangouts and Google Voice integration, I let Hangouts ring whenever people dial my Google Voice number, and I set Google Voice to not ring my personal Tmo number anymore. Whereas I used to debate about whether or not to set up a SIP account, now I don't need one. Hangouts will automatically ring my phone whenever people call my Google Voice number, and whenever I answer the calls, they are automatically answered over LTE. No more worrying about using up my 100 minutes.

    This, of course, depends on the user having guaranteed LTE, HSPA+, or even decent 3G everywhere.

    With regards to the Skype subscription, I may or may not get rid of it. I like being able to dial using my voice, and the Hangouts Dialer currently doesn't appear as an option for making calls whenever I issue the voice command.

    Hope somebody found this useful. Comments welcome.
    View
    1
    B
    BinkXDA
    Been doing something similar since Google updated Hangouts—particularly since my home office is in the basement and I get poor T-Mobile (same prepaid plan) coverage there. Go Google!
    View
    1
    J
    jnbanda
    BinkXDA said:
    Been doing something similar since Google updated Hangouts—particularly since my home office is in the basement and I get poor T-Mobile (same prepaid plan) coverage there. Go Google!
    Click to expand...
    Click to collapse

    Sounds like a plan! I just hope that the devs can hammer out a few of the minor issues with Hangouts, specifically the lag. All in good time though. Happy to have what I got so far!
    View

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