I’ve had one reader who says they are having an issue with the SIM card not being able to be read on the HTC Inspire 4G phone. Some of the things that I have foundto be case are how people insert the card into the Inspire but we are going to give out a quick tip that will help keep that sim from sliding out ever so slightly. This workd for me and while I do not use the phone anymore.
Best Hack ever!
This is some what a really good way to keep that sim from loosening the connection to the phone. I found on SIM card that you can make them thicker.
Use thin tap on the back of the SIM card. Basically, you keep putting tape on the back until it is snug. Usually on need to it once or twice but no more than that. You can not put tape on the side with all the metal but only on the plastic. It has to be tape that is really smooth so if you use use ruff tape it might not work as well.
This will help those who have been problem. It might solve your problem but it also might not, it just varies from device to device!
I've had plenty of time playing around with AT&T and their so called 4G. I've once talked about Data Speeds and broadband Modems. So I thought it was high time, we talk about understanding your coverage area. Even though you have a smart phone, in essence it is just a modem because you are basically using it for Data. I'm not saying that buying a Cell Phone Antenna sticker [Affiliate Link] will not work, it just varies because of personal opinion on them. Some say it will work others claim it is just foolishly wasting money. I tend to think if you paying a dollar to try it out, it at least is a good try!
Why Do I get poor Reception or Signal?
This is almost a really common question because everyone at some point as a really bad signal strength and thus some blame it on their cell phone, others on their service provider. I'm here to explain to you that it is more than likely more than one reason why your not getting the signal you are wanting and I am going to go into detail about that. Even if you were standing right next to an cell tower, you might still not get any signal! Some of the more common reasons are:
Cell Phone Antenna -- Depending on where the manufacturer put the antenna, you may always have problems but it isn't always the culprit.
Other devices -- you may not know this but your TV is putting out interferences and even you Microwave could be causing problem with your signal getting to your phone.
Location of Cell Tower -- Even if you next to a cell tower that might not be in your network and thus you may not be connecting to that tower. Depending on which provider you are using will depend on which tower you will user.
Walls -- If you are in an open park, you will have problems with signal strength due to the thickness of walls and how radio waves have a hard time getting through them. Another reason why you might have low signal strength.
As you can see there are many factors to why you might not be getting a very good signal where you are. I am not saying that you can't blame it on your phone or provider. This is just so you might figure out ways to increase you signal strength.
Straight Talk With T-mobile!
I've decided to have a little try on the T-mobile network using the Straight Talk Sim card. I'm going to be ordering the SIM to use with the HTC Inspire to see if that works any better. I think this will be very educational for me to find out some of the APN Modifications that I will have to do to my phone and thus will teach me a lot about T-mobile in the process! In the coming weeks, I will have a step by step guide on which APN'S seem to work best for me and hopefully it will help you out in the same process. Thank you for all your support and using my Amazon Affiliate Link, every time you use it to buy from Amazon really helps keep my blog up and running.
I'm not saying that you will find a ROM that is ever going to be perfect. It is however going to make your job a lot more hassle free! I say that with the aticapation that some of the readers, one of them is Todd Lacy, told me about a ROM that I Must try. So I downloaded that one one and it will be list a few of the ROMS that I've tried for my HTC inspire. I will have a fun time with these ROM in the hopes that in the next few weeks, I can buy me another HTC Phone [Affiliate Link], I believe HTC is the best company right now and I want to stick with the company.
ROM's That I recommend!
This won't be a really big list unless someone wants to comment but here are the ones that I thought might be really nice to try and I downloaded and will try in the next few days. I am going to report back on each one of these and tell you what I think of each and everyone of them in a blog post detailing the problems I had and if there was a solution. Once I do a ROM, and explore them. You will get as much information as I can come up with to assist your decision on which ROM is for you!
Cyangen MOD -- I used this MOD for a few weeks and it hasn't been bad but It could be better! It had so many bugs with the HTC Inspire that I thought it was time to look somewhere else. Some of the bugs that I think it had was Signal Strength. I simply don't know so I decided to try other MOD's!
ClearDroid -- This is looking promising but I won't hold my breathe. As I install it, it made me feel really good. It came up with the HTC Logo as if it was an official ROM from HTC. Everything that I have done with this little ROM as been promising because it even install all the HTC Apps that you would normally see! So give a week or two to check this one out and I'll let you know!
ATT Sense 3 ROM (Thanks to Todd Lacy) -- Haven't done anything to this one yet but it was a 300 meg download and thus I will do this last. I haven't done anything else but to download this one. I will look at this one in a few weeks after I give Cleardroid a chance!
Those are the three that I've found so far and would love to hear which ones you recommend for your HTC Inspire 4G Phone that works with Straight Talk. Other than those three, I've not tried anything else or will try anything else unless you request it. So be sure to Contact me and tell me which ones you want me to try with my HTC Inspire and I'll be certain to look into them for you and tell you what I think!
After many long months with the HTC inspire 4G, I've pretty much decided that is probably time to get a new phone. I've had many great success with the phone and I like it very much, so I'm not about to leave the HTC phone maker [Affiliate Link]. I've had many times of finding that right phone, and I've even shared how I do find phones. It just means I not going to buy a new phone, because buying a new phone is way to expensive for my taste. I however know what I'm interested in and I'll be sharing them with you. I'm more interested in what people think of these phones and if they how they work than anything else but I will also be sharing how to use them with Straight Talk over, once I buy one of these phones.
HTC Droid Incredible Music WiFi GPS PDA Phone Verizon [Affiliate Link] -- Looks to be a more sturdier than the Inspire and probably even more easily to put one of the Other O/s on like Jelly Bean or Ice Cream Sandwich!
HTC EVO 4G Bluetooth Camera WiFi GPS PDA Phone Sprint [Affiliate Link] -- Great little Phone but it is still a lot newer and more money out of pocket but still looks to be a very sturdy phone. It works on Sprint Network so It should be good to use with Straight Talk.
HTC Desire Bluetooth WiFi Music PDA Phone US Cellular [Affiliate Link] -- A newer version of the Inspire so it is a step up from the Inspire but not a very big step in my opinion and thus I am unsure as to how long it will last!
HTC ThunderBolt High-End Android 4G LTE Phone Verizon [Affiliate Link] -- A lot higher in expenses than most used phones but it could very well be used on AT&T when they roll out in my Area. Until then I would still be able to use this on their network but without the speed of LTE
As you can see I'm really thinking about this and how I can best make my choice. I am open to the possibilities of getting a phone in the next few weeks and you can help me decide which one you want me to work with in reguards to unlocking it for Straight Talk. Just leave a comment and tell me what you think and which ones you like yourself.
So why bring up the mouse, well I used to have a post about water damage on the mouse and how to fix it. It went out the window when I upgraded to Squarespace I believe. Oh well, it was a great post about how to fix your mouse in case it got wet.
My Cell Phone got dunked in liquid!
I won't say how, but I will say most people will say that it now longer will work and I think even the cell companies like to use that lie to get you to buy a new cell phone when this happens. Anyway, I don't know who came up with the idea of getting electronics wet means it is ruined. I also know about the side effects of rust and moisture but most of the time you can fix that with a little sun and letting it dry. If moisture got in the electronic it can get itself out! That at least is what I think and what I have seen it do in the past.
Some Points to Consider!
Don't expect it to work right after you think it is dry. It might take a little longer than usual for it to be dry enough to work.
If your 10$ keyboard needs clean, just drop it in water and then let it dry. You'd be surpised how cleaner it is afterwards. Just remember to disconnect it from power supply and give it plenty of time to dry off approximately a day or two should do!
If your Cell phone or Keyboard gets wet, remove batteries or power it down quickly to prevent any electrical arching which could result in damage to the electrical equipment.
If you can keep the battery door open to let it dry!
If you think it is ruined, then you can't do any more damage by trying to dry it off and use it again!
I don't recommend this for anything else. If you happen to get your laptop wet then you have problems. I am talking about a keyboard for the desktop and only a desktop.
After I'd dried off my cell phone, it started to work again. If it didn't at least I had a way to go buy a cheap HTC Cell phone and thus saving me money. If you need a used cell phone, I suggest checking Cellular Country [Affiliate Link], they guarantee that it will work on delivery or your money back! That's where I'm going to buy my next cell phone from when it is time!
Having had my HTC Inspire for over a few months, it was a brand new inspire. It was actually a used one from my sister. So I got what I wanted to get an actually android working on the Straight Talk Network and all life is good! Until recently, I've started to notice a few things with my phone that I wanted to share with everyone else in case you've had the same problem I had! If you've not had this problem before you might have it later on!
Phone just Shuts off while unplugged!
As you know this might not be the only time it shuts off but it will be a good indication that something is wrong with the battery! There is a great explanation on how batteries work over at HowStuffWorks, I won't go into detail about this but I will explain some of what is happening. The rest after all should fall in place when you read the article! Over the past 2 months or so, I've had the phone just randomly shut down but it didn't start doing it like it did yesterday and today.
Why Does it Shut down!
Basically the cell phone thinks it has more power than what the battery pack is telling it. You see batteries that are stored in this fashion or even used can only be charged and discharged to a certain extent and thus once you hit that no power threshold in that cell batter then it can't be charged due to fact that you might just blow up the cell. While on the subject, what is a battery cell? A battery cell is typically more than one battery but can also be one battery. It is used in either parallel or sequential series, you can find out more about that by reading that article also. This is all fascinating but what does this have to do with the battery? You're probably asking yourself this question.
Each battery cell has a circuit where you once it hits the charge limit it just shuts the that cell down and you can no longer access it or use it. So when your cell phone thinks it has a full and you loose power quickly then that is basically the reason. The battery knows how much it can send to your phone but your phone is only learning this over time. It is definetly a process that just is crazy.
How does this help me?
It basically is a good indication that your battery is get old in age and needs to be replaced. If it happens to you at least once a few weeks it is probably a good idea to replace the battery. Now I must comment, sometimes it isn't the battery but the software. I thought so, and I put my old Froyo OEM version of Android back on my phone and it still did it. So if you don't want to have to send off for that battery and pay extra to over night it, it is probably a good idea to have one who two batteries ready once you start seeing symptoms like this. I sure learned my lesson for next time this happens.
I have been doing a lot of stuff with this HTC Inspire that I got from a family member. Here are some of my observations about this phone that I wanted to share with you before we get into making it work with Straight Talk. Afterall I want to be fair to you my readers.
The HTC Inspire in whole, isn’t really that bad of a phone. There will be some caviates of the phone though. The battery that was in the phone has been charged and discharged so many times that I can’t reliably say that the battery is bad. So with that in mind, I plan on making a trip to Batteries Plus to buy me a new battery. The Screen on the Inspire gives you so much more than you get on most other smart phones. The Resolution of the screen is crisp and you can do a lot with the Apps from the Marketplace.
How I did it!
If you’ve been reading my blog the last week or so, you would of noticed that I showed you how to unlock the HTC Inspire 4g AT&T Phone yourself for free. I did unlock it successfully, because when I got the new sim it had to be set to be used it but didn’t say it couldn’t use that SIM. If your really unsure of it yourself you might just got buy an unlocked HTC Inspire 4g AT&T Phone . I really don’t want you to brick you phone but you can also try to get AT&T to unlock it or you could buy the Unlock Code. I really don’t know if they will or not but it is always a possiblity.
Getting the Right Sim Card from Straight Talk!
I’ve found in the past that if your are going to use a phone from a carrier unlocked it sometimes the best results can be continueing to use the same carrier in one aspect or another. So choose the right Sim for the phone you have and you won’t be disappointed. This will be a short tutorial for the AT&T HTC Inspire that I just got done unlocking. You will need to unlock your HTC Inspire to do this successfully, but if your are successfull, you will be able to use their service for much less than you normally would.
Make sure you pick the AT&T Compatible Sim!Once you unlocked the cell phone and gotten the AT&T Compatible Straight talk SIM card, you will need to set up some Access Point Names(APNS) for the HTC Inspire 4g Unlocked Cell phone.
On the Inspire itself hit:
MENU > Settings > Wireless & networks > Mobile Networks > Access Point Names
There you will see two APN’s already set by AT&T. They are MEdia Net and MMS (Wap.cingular). Mine were locked but I left them alone on my phone In order to get both internet and mobile calls on you phone you will need to create two APNS: (This would be a good time to bookmark my site in case you need to come back to it!)
Only fill in the ones I tell you, Leave all the rest blank or <Not set> and it all CASE Sensitive:
MENU > Add APN
Name : straight talk
APN: ATT.mvno
MMS protocol: WAP 2.0
MCC: 310
MNC: 410
MENU > SAVE
MENU > Add APN
Name: mmsc
APN: ATT.mvno
MMSC: http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMS Proxy: 80
MMS protocol: WAP 2.0
MCC: 310
MNC: 410
APN type: mms
MENU > SAVE
So if you have done this right, it is now time to reboot your HTC Inspire 4G unlocked Cell phone. Hold the power button down for 3 seconds and hit RESTART once you have done this you should be able to use both internet and make calls on the Straight Talk Network with your SIM. Remember you will need to register the sim with Straight Talk before you can use it but if you haven’t now would be a good time to Activate the SIM and associate that SIM with your Account.
I hope this helps you figure out how to use your new found freedom with yoru android device and thus you should be all set to make calls and surf the web with your HTC Inspire 4G. If you have any questionns please feel free to contact me or leave a comment.
Paul Sylvester
Update on Monday, July 15, 2013 at 11:12AM by
Paul Sylvester
Remember to reboot first and check if it did work. Try Changing the MMS Port to 8080. Then reboot again. if that doesn’t work try this. Delete all existing APNS and enter this:
Name: HOME
APN:att.mvno
Leave everything else alone EXCEPT the bottom selection that says:
APN type (here you must enter the following): default,supl
Then save, next choose to add another APN
make it look like this:
Name: MMS
APN: att.mvno
skip down to
MMSC: http://mmsc.cingular.com
MMS proxy: proxy.mvno.tracfone.com
MMS port: 80
skip to:
APN type (enter the following): mms
THEN SAVE
You will see that only one APN has the option to be chosen, that is ok, Just choose the one that is able to be chosen.
Now go back to Homescreen and then reboot your phone.
For T-mobile:
APN type: default,supl,mms
APN Name: any
APN: wap.tracfone
proxy. blank
port: 8080
mmsc: http://mms.tracfone.com
mms proxy: leave blank
mms port: 8080
Remember to reboot first and check if it did work. Try Changing the MMS Port to 8080. Then reboot again.
If your like me, you really don't want to pay to unlock your used AT&T Phone but yet your not one to do it yourself. This is going to be a simple way to unlock it and be able to use any SIM you might want to use with that phone. I've recently done it and it really wasn't as hard as I thought. You will need a few things and thus these steps are ESSENTIAL! If you don't feel comfortable doing this, you can always either pay to have unlocked or go buy an Unlocked HTC Inspire 4g phone [Amazon Affiliate] or Buying the Unlock Code [Affiliate Link] for it!! I have done this and it works just fine as long as you follow the Effen Manual. Yes I know it sounds like a cuss word, not my idea.
The Five Steps:
Either Find a USB to Micro B Cable or buy it [Amazon Affiliate]!
Read the Manual -- You can check it out and get the idea of what you will need to do but it is a MUST!
Download the File -- You can find that right after the Manual. Make sure to figure out which system you will use to do this with though.
Windows USERS -- If your using Windows you will need to remove all possible interferences. So you will need to stop Antivirus Software, and other such software. I recommend creating a Boot LINUX with Ubuntu on it to do this. Just make sure you have the file that you just downloaded on to the USB Drive. [The instructions for this in the manual!]
Plug in you phone and Run the Program -- After you have verified that you can access the SD card, you should be able to run the program. Let it run for a while, it will reboot several times. It only took me like 20 mins if I remember correctly.
Nothing in the Manual is hard!
If you follow the manuals instructionns like I did, you will probably have no problems. I can't say that you are going to be successful. You may brick your phone but if you are patient and keep trying you are more likely to succeed than fail. If your looking to save money by switching to another provider you can always try Straight Talk, which still go through AT&T but only pay 45$ a month for Unlimited everything plan! They even sell you sim card to use with you Unlocked Cell phone. I don't know if you can use a Locked AT&T Phone with them but you can always call them to verify it.
Blog, 
Tuff little Phone!
It isn't hard really!
