Pinephone on Cricket Wireless (USA) no service

[Zebulon Walton]

C0ffeeFreak, does Google Voice have a feature where it can notify another device like a numeric pager when someone leaves a voice message? AT&T has this feature (they call it "outcall notification") and it's real handy since I can leave the phone off most of the time and be notified with a simple receive-only pager if someone leaves a message. (That feature is one of the reasons I've stayed with AT&T and its predecessors for nearly 30 years now for cell phone service, despite them being more expensive than competitors.)

[C0ffeeFreak]

C0ffeeFreak, does Google Voice have a feature where it can notify another device like a numeric pager when someone leaves a voice message? AT&T has this feature (they call it "outcall notification") and it's real handy since I can leave the phone off most of the time and be notified with a simple receive-only pager if someone leaves a message. (That feature is one of the reasons I've stayed with AT&T and its predecessors for nearly 30 years now for cell phone service, despite them being more expensive than competitors.)

No, It does act like a pager though. If you turn on do not disturb on your GV number your phone never rings. People will only get your voicemail. GV will forward you that in a text or email.

[Zebulon Walton]

No, It does act like a pager though. If you turn on do not disturb on your GV number your phone never rings. People will only get your voicemail. GV will forward you that in a text or email.

I'm not surprised, really the outcall notification is a legacy feature from back when cell phone airtime was very limited and expensive. If I have to leave AT&T I could probably live with email notification if I can't find a phone service that can work with a pager, though that would not be as immediate or convenient as the pager setup. (My usage pattern is the phone stays turned off all the time unless I receive notification of a voice message or I need to call someone. Unlike a lot of people today I am not addicted to my phone and don't live on it.) However, using my already-activated SIM and avoiding the use of cellular internet service I may be able to stay with AT&T even though the Pinephone is not on their whitelist. Guess it depends on how deeply they check.

[Zebulon Walton]

I had a thought about AT&T using browser's user agent string to ID the Pinephone as a non-whitelisted device. What about when phones use their cellular data connection for internet hot-spots? Basically any kind of device or browser might be connecting through the provider's network in that situation. How would AT&T distinguish between a Pinephone browser reporting that it's running on a Linux computer and any number of other devices that might be connected via the hot-spot reporting the same thing?

[KC9UDX]

I've seen reports that they actually do use this to determine if you are using your phone with their service as a hotspot.

[C0ffeeFreak]

I had a thought about AT&T using browser's user agent string to ID the Pinephone as a non-whitelisted device. What about when phones use their cellular data connection for internet hot-spots? Basically any kind of device or browser might be connecting through the provider's network in that situation. How would AT&T distinguish between a Pinephone browser reporting that it's running on a Linux computer and any number of other devices that might be connected via the hot-spot reporting the same thing?

Yep, I mention this in my instructions for adding Chromium and freezing and changing the user agent. Desktop data packets can go against your hotspot data limit if you have one. It can get you disconnected if you don't have a hotspot plan. It will get you looked at if all your packets are desktop instead of mobile all the time. They will thing it's being used for main WIFI. Best to follow those instructions and make sure your user agent isn't leaking with certain carriers and plans. I think that's whats getting people busted on Cricket. They either aren't paying the $10 a month for the hotspot or they are going over their 10GB allotment if they have it. It wouldn't be hard to do it you stream YouTube all day.

[MtnSk8]

I had a thought about AT&T using browser's user agent string to ID the Pinephone as a non-whitelisted device. What about when phones use their cellular data connection for internet hot-spots? Basically any kind of device or browser might be connecting through the provider's network in that situation. How would AT&T distinguish between a Pinephone browser reporting that it's running on a Linux computer and any number of other devices that might be connected via the hot-spot reporting the same thing?

Yep, I mention this in my instructions for adding Chromium and freezing and changing the user agent. Desktop data packets can go against your hotspot data limit if you have one. It can get you disconnected if you don't have a hotspot plan. It will get you looked at if all your packets are desktop instead of mobile all the time. They will thing it's being used for main WIFI. Best to follow those instructions and make sure your user agent isn't leaking with certain carriers and plans. I think that's whats getting people busted on Cricket. They either aren't paying the $10 a month for the hotspot or they are going over their 10GB allotment if they have it. It wouldn't be hard to do it you stream YouTube all day.

TCP/IP packets have other meta that providers use to sniff out hotspot bandits (like me), namely they use TTL. There are many tutorials on ways to obfuscate that data but all you really need is VPN configured on your gateway connection.

When I cannot pass hotspot traffic I switch to my vpn config and boom.  The spice must flow!  :D

Cheers!

[mikehenson]

Question: Can someone with PinePhone see if their IMEI will work with FaithWireless? (A virtual provider using AT&T) (https://www.faithwireless.com/)

Reason: I have 3 Sony phones. 2 on Cricket and 1 on Faith wireless. All 3 will not work on Cricket anymore. Only the 2 older ones currently on Cricket will not work on Faith wireless. The newer one currently on Faith wireless still checks out OK on Faith wireless. I will buy a Pine Phone if it will work on Faith wireless.

[calinb]

Question: Can someone with PinePhone see if their IMEI will work with FaithWireless? (A virtual provider using AT&T) (https://www.faithwireless.com/)

Reason: I have 3 Sony phones. 2 on Cricket and 1 on Faith wireless. All 3 will not work on Cricket anymore. Only the 2 older ones currently on Cricket will not work on Faith wireless. The newer one currently on Faith wireless still checks out OK on Faith wireless. I will buy a Pine Phone if it will work on Faith wireless.

Just a mention here that AT&T MVNO H2O Wireless is still working for me. I don't use it very often, because they have no service near my home, but I check phone functionality each time I travel to the big city!

I'm still waiting for Inland Cellular (CDMA provider) to bring VoLTE online. Then I'll have service at home. Inland seems to welcome all customers, regardless of their hardware or software.

[KABA]

Is it feasible to use Pine on Cricket with the hotspot option and just use Google Voice?

Feel like Pine may be the kodi of phones, like Tank said, very exciting time!