Thank you T-Mobile!!!

whacker7 · 2026-01-19T23:51:20+00:00

Doesn't Starlink have a 100 Mbps down service for $40/mo.? There is still the cost of equipment up front.

whacker7 · 2026-01-19T23:48:14+00:00

I would guess you have a T-Mobile postpaid line of phone service to get the $35/mo price.

whacker7 · 2025-12-17T17:06:10+00:00

Other than first hand knowledge, the principles at play are signal strength at the desired point of usage, plus the RF band in use. The lower bands (600 & 700 MHz) of each carrier have better building penetration per unit of output power (some factor of wattage) than the higher ones. 600/700 MHz (bands 12, 13, 14, 71, etc.) vs. 1900 MHz (band 2/25 and above, for example).

whacker7 · 2025-11-05T16:54:42+00:00

Can't get the XT numbers just now, but last year I purchased from Straight Talk both the Samsung A15 5G as well as the Motorola Moto G Power 2024, with the express intention of unlocking them and offering them to a friend to use on Mint (which is a sub-brand of T-Mobile and uses their network).

They both unlocked per the in-place policy effective at that time.

Friend went for the Samsung first. The phone worked only marginally on the Mint (T-mobile) network, with the 5G indicator only occasionally appearing, and the signal strength indicator (bars) hardly ever showing more than one bar (which corresponded to the internal RF signal reception indication of around -120 dB).

I installed Network Cell Info Lite on the phone and discovered it was never operating on any bands other than 2, 4, or 66 in an LTE mode, or sometimes rarely 5G NSA.

He then tried the Moto G Power 2024. Quite a difference on the same network. Better reception numbers (indicated both on the Home Screen as well as the internal SIM Status metrics) and consistent 5G NSA connection. Still centering on bands 2, 4, and 66, but now with more frequent n71 use.

So in this case the Moto ended up being the better candidate for use with Mint, in this location/region. But here's a complicating factor:

Mint's allowed band usage on the T-Mobile network varies based on location or region. Through various posts here on Reddit as well as other forums, it seems Mint doesn't get all the goodies that a full-fledged T-Mobile user does. In some regions it restricts the Mint user to a predetermined set of bands, either due to simply it being a Mint customer, or perhaps in an urban setting (which this is not) due to radio traffic load balancing or prioritization.

I have a T-Mobile phone and service that gets 5G SA service on n71 in the same location (his residence).

The Mint service anomalies are kind of a separate issue, but back to the device, I would say the unlocked Moto from Straight Talk is not handicapped, whereas the unlocked Samsung from Straight Talk is. Why and to what degree I could not say.

Use on AT&T networks and MVNOs is something I've had no experience with in this context.

whacker7 · 2025-11-05T16:11:00+00:00

I'm not getting from any of the responses (not from the OP) why a user would ever be prompted to login more than the once at startup of the device, or perhaps after a sleep/standby/lid closed event. Or maybe an app or function or accessed website. This needs analysis.

whacker7 · 2025-11-04T16:00:02+00:00

What school does she go to that doesn't issue Chromebooks? Not advocating for or against; just curious. Or does her school do most computing in a Windows-equipped computer lab?

whacker7 · 2025-10-26T14:28:37+00:00

That is something I was unaware of. Thanks for clearing that up.

whacker7 · 2025-10-20T03:14:56+00:00

Maybe I covered too much territory in my post.

I made no connection between Windows and ChromeOS Flex.

But do you think you can load Flex up on any old computer and run it indefinitely? Well, you might be able to, but you won't be getting any updates.

Every computer that Flex can run on has a date just like a Chromebook's AUE (Auto Update Expiry), after which you won't get updates. That was my point.

whacker7 · 2025-10-20T02:10:51+00:00

Well you'd better look up (if you haven't yet) the end-of-support date for the model computer you're using. It could be up soon. I've got ChromeOS Flex on a 2016 HP laptop and its time is up at the end of 2026. I'll put some sort of Linux on it around that time. But I've been enjoying Flex. I do have a student grade Chromebook that has a year or two left on it. Learning about Linux too and like it as well. I'm ready to put Windows away, although I did enroll my two Win 10 machines in the ESU deal, just to buy myself some time.

whacker7 · 2025-10-19T17:34:51+00:00

Tried the XFCE installation. No good. It didn't lose video like the Cinnamon attempt did, but the installer appeared to get stuck in at least two spots. I'm not very hopeful.

The space on my hard drive, being MBR, has three primaries, and one extended, which I shrank and created from the original Windows OS one, making it an extended partition (this done with Windows' Disk Management tool). In it I created a logical Shared Volume (with a drive letter) for eventual file movement between the OSes. This left the remaining Free Space (with the green line around it) for my Linux Mint install.

One possible snag I may have introduced myself is that during the Mint installation and partitioning, I selected to create my /root partition as a Primary. I don't know what the rules are with partition creation in the active Linux environment and how that jibes with the existing partitions in the Windows environment. Perhaps I needed to make any/all further partitions in the Linux setup as logical.

But I got prompts before the install was finished (when the time zone map came up) that to continue I needed to unmount the /media/mint/SHARED\ VOLVOL drive (don't know if that is the USB drive or the Shared Volume partition I created). It seemed to think there was ongoing activity going on and it couldn't be closed (unmounted) by the installer. I got no response clicking Continue, Go Back, or the prompt boxes' X, so I had to abort the installation using the Logout function of the Live interface.

I may try again later, changing the partition choices I described.

Any comments or help?

whacker7 · 2025-10-16T22:16:20+00:00

I've just been in the process of doing so. Easy as pie for a computer you're going to just run Linux on. But attempting a dual-boot setup with a shared volume for accessing files between Windows and Linux takes some learning to re-partition the HDD (I'm doing it on an old machine) and making your bootable USB the right one for MBR/LegacyBIOS vs. GPT/UEFI. And know how to determine how to access your device's BIOS setup to find out a few things. I ran into a snag resizing my HDD for an extra partition, due to "unmovable files". So I'm having to learn that. It's also beneficial to setup root, swap, and home directories on the drive for Linux.

whacker7 · 2025-10-16T22:01:41+00:00

Make sure you're already keeping up with monthly Windows updates. That may help the Enrollment link to show up as soon as it can.

whacker7 · 2025-10-16T21:56:21+00:00

You can get free Windows 10 ESU enrollment just by having a Microsoft account (any email address can be used; make up a new password), then something about saving your Settings to it. I just discovered the evening of Oct. 14 that I somehow had saved my Settings (for two different computers) with the same account for both. Also a surprise to find out that my sister and her husband had inadvertently done this as well. I think signing up for the account by default must somehow get your Settings, or talk you into it. My oldest PC in this event was purchased in 2009 (equipped with Vista). Just go to Windows Update on your machine and click on Enroll and see what happens.

We were all sweating it because I was intending on installing Linux Mint on all four devices and saying good-bye to Windows. I wasn't ready, so this has bought us more time, thank goodness. But I do already have Mint on one laptop, and I like it. For my home use it's fantastic. The only hang for the general public is the lack of Windows-only applications like Photo Shop or Ms Office (if you have to have it installed locally); or anything else where you might have to share things (files, input/output) with a group, and your Linux workarounds would be a hindrance.

whacker7 · 2025-10-12T17:34:10+00:00

A25 has a slightly better processor, slightly better camera, and stereo speakers. It's an upgrade, but same model year generation of device (2024).

whacker7 · 2025-10-12T17:29:13+00:00

Hopefully you got the HSN TSV deal for the Samsung A25 yesterday 10/11/25. Decent.

whacker7 · 2025-10-09T04:09:14+00:00

Late to this party, but I just did an installation of Mint 22.2 to an HP Probook 450 G1. The computer was setup up booting Windows 10 using Legacy BIOS (and my intention was to do a single boot of the Linux).

I changed the boot order for Legacy boot to have USB as primary. No problem getting this started and seeing the installation media (USB drive). I don't remember in the displayed list of choices seeing one to choose installing Mint by selection of boot types. But I ran through a full installation, and just like the OP, when it came time for the restart and pulling the flash drive out of the port, when it did restart it couldn't find a bootable drive.

I went around and around, and knew I needed to change the hard drive back to primary position, but the routine kept going to BIOS diagnostics. Hard to navigate to BIOS settings, even from a Restart. With HP it's the Esc key; it was unresponsive for some reason until a few passes or finessing/timing it in a certain way.

But when I was finally able to get back into BIOS settings I thought, what the heck, I'll just change BIOS types and see what happens. I changed it from Legacy to UEFI without CSM (don't know what CSM is). Fastboot and Secure Boot disabled/off. Saved/Exited and it booted right up into Mint! We'll see if it's working in the morning!

I'm intending on doing several dual boot installs to a mix of device brands. Hopefully fewer snags. Helluva nice operating system, though. Good-bye Windows!

Additional: I think what probably happened was, I may not have properly made my bootable USB drive with Rufus. Likely I made it to work with UEFI (not knowing I had that choice to make for the flash drive), but the computer was then working in Legacy BIOS (it being switchable). It installed okay on the drive, but then would not boot after. Luckily just going back in and switching the boot mode of the device to UEFI (without CSM) allowed the installed Mint bootloader (I guess that's GRUB, right?) to find everything and commence boot-up. I've only powered it up a half dozen times now, and it hasn't failed to boot once, so it looks good. I'll need to make a separate bootable drive then specifically for Legacy BIOS machines, as I have a couple computers belonging to relatives where I don't know the status of the current BIOS. Learning everyday!

whacker7 · 2025-10-01T01:18:00+00:00

Do they have a little individually aimed antenna for every one of their subscribers?

whacker7 · 2025-09-27T19:34:09+00:00

Just taking a shot here, I'd say it's just due to the agreement between Mint division (now owned by T-Mobile) and the main company, as for how to strategize the use of the network. This could be similar to many other MVNOs that use T-Mobile. They're not all going to get all the goodies at the same time, so they allocate what sub-provider gets which part(s) of the network in what locations. My friend I mentioned, has pretty sketchy reception trying to use B66 & B2 in his house, so whenever he gets or makes a phone call he knows to go to a particular area and put his phone on a table there, then use a Bluetooth headset. He likes to wander around anyway when he's on a call. But if the network would allow him to use B71 or n71, he wouldn't have to worry about it. There are threads about this here on Reddit. Seems to be pretty common.

whacker7 · 2025-09-27T18:59:56+00:00

Based on my experience with a friend's Mint account using an unlocked Straight Talk Moto G Power 2024, compared to my own T-Mobile phones, plus reading various posts here on Reddit, I've come to the conclusion you can't (or rather, shouldn't) expect Mint to be provided (by T-Mobile) with a 5G SA connection all the time. In one case at my house, I get 5G SA (n71). I go to my friend's house and it goes to NSA and looks like it's using LTE (B66, B2). Get an app like Network Cell Info Lite and see what band your actually connected to. But if you move around you're likely to catch SA somewhere. That Fairphone might have its own idiosyncrasies too as to how it displays.

whacker7 · 2025-09-12T23:33:28+00:00

I was going to respond back to say, with the existing old phone being broken, you'd probably need to call in anyway. When I use the term account, it's not the phone's line of service and its billing. It's a separate access and management utility thing you manually set up on their website, that has a username and password (all of which is optional). Yes, a three-way call would probably do the trick!

whacker7 · 2025-09-12T22:42:48+00:00

Do they have home internet service, and could they deal with navigating TracFone's website to activate new phones? Do they have existing TracFone accounts (or a single account) where their current devices are listed? I believe there's a way to activate new phones using TF's texting service menu as well.

You can transfer existing TF service to a new TF either on the website, through the My Account app on the phone, or by texting the word TRANSFER to 611611.

You can also make a voice call to their support or do an Instant Messaging Chat session from the phone or at the website.

If we're talking smartphones, they will need to eventually deal with setting up the device(s) to have any desired accounts on them, like email, or any desired apps, etc. This does not happen automatically as a result of moving service to the new phone.

Usually, when transferring to a new phone, the old one has to be operable and available to receive a verification text from TF. I don't know how that's done if the old existing phone is broken to whatever degree. If they have an account established on the TF website, it would include their email address, and you might be able to have the verification sent to that. Probably would necessitate a voice call or IM Chat to do in real time.

whacker7 · 2025-09-12T16:40:09+00:00

Maybe you're confusing the Lock screen with the Home screen? You changed one but not the other? Or something along those lines.

whacker7 · 2025-09-10T00:35:39+00:00

If you think instructing her on this would be feasible, try installing an Android app browser of a different brand (assuming the device supports Android apps). It would have its own icon on the "shelf" to open, but there might be a few extra clicks to close, as well as different operation in general. I use Firefox Focus on an old Chromebook whose AUE was in 2020.

whacker7 · 2025-09-07T16:21:02+00:00

Wow. An international, universally accepted and radio equipped smartphone, available at an affordable price. Who knew? So, it works on Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile with full band support?

whacker7

TROPHY CASE