Have you successfully changed to Straight Talk and kept your number?

[bjscheel]

Currently the kids are on Tracfone but I am thinking about Straight Talk. I'm currently at a crossroads where in the next month or two I need to get DD13 more minutes and renew DD16's annual service; or switch them. Unlimited text and data would be nice. Adding them to DH's Verizon would cost quite a bit and I would worry about them going over on his data. So I'm looking at Straight Talk. I've read that trying to port your number to them is often unsuccessful. Has anyone here done it successfully?

 

[bjscheel]

Another question I have is when you look at their phones to buy, they say this phone only works with the 30 day unlimited plan. Can you get the phone with the 30 day plan and then add the 1 year service?

It also says the 30 day unlimited data plan gives you 3GB at high speed, and then you get slow speed until your next 30 days. If you are on the 1 year plan, do you have any limits on the high speed?

 

[KKB]

No issues changing to my same number.
It does occasionally have connectivity issues--but that way they keep you from going over the 3GB (it used to be 2GB).
Honestly if your kids are going over 3GB they are probably on their phone too much...so you don't really want a way to override that! My children know to always connect to available wifi to avoid using up data. Honestly I am the data hog--don't really use my phone at work but we travel often so I suck it up then.
Overall I was happy with the but the occasional connectivity issues were annoying...
You can buy 3-6-12 months of service at a time.

 

[havaneselover]

I pay annually. I didn't port my number so I'm not sure. But I've had good luck with their customer service despite the horror stories I've read.

 

[Dakota731]

yes, and so did my 3 kids

 

[bjscheel]

I am not worried about them going over 3GB...just curious how that applied to the 1 year plan. DD13 has data with her Tracfone smartphone and she has never even tried it. But if they had unlimited I'm sure they will try it out.

The sticky post on Howard Forums scared me a bit. I guess I hear horror stories about Tracfone too but I have gotten along with them for many years- sometimes a hiccup when changing phones but otherwise it's a good deal. Now just to decide whether to spend the money and get them this upgrade or not. Just got DD13 her phone recently so it's very new and apparently you can't bring a Tracfone over.

 

[havaneselover]

I am not worried about them going over 3GB...just curious how that applied to the 1 year plan. DD13 has data with her Tracfone smartphone and she has never even tried it. But if they had unlimited I'm sure they will try it out. The sticky post on Howard Forums scared me a bit. I guess I hear horror stories about Tracfone too but I have gotten along with them for many years- sometimes a hiccup when changing phones but otherwise it's a good deal. Now just to decide whether to spend the money and get them this upgrade or not. Just got DD13 her phone recently so it's very new and apparently you can't bring a Tracfone over.

The 3gb is reset monthly. You can text them and they tell you how much you have used. I use < 1 MB/ month checking email, FB, disboards, shopkicking, etc.

 

[havaneselover]

The 3gb is reset monthly. You can text them and they tell you how much you have used. I use < 1 MB/ month checking email, FB, disboards, shopkicking, etc.

I meant < 1 gb.

 

[okeydokey]

What is the benefit of the 1 year service? Is there a price reduction?

 

[blana]

I ported my number from Virgin Mobile to Straight Talk with only a little bit of a hiccup. DH had no problems porting his old Verizon number over to ST.

ETA: Yes, as PP said, if it says it only works with the 30 day unlimited plan, you can buy 3/6/12 month unlimited coverage. It just means you can't switch it to the lower tier plans.

ETA2: The issue I had with porting the number was on the Virgin mobile side, not the Straight Talk side.

 

[havaneselover]

What is the benefit of the 1 year service? Is there a price reduction?

I think over a year it's $45 cheaper to pay annually (so basically a free month).

 

[bjscheel]

Okay, did you guys switch online or go to a store (Walmart, Best Buy)?

 

[NeverlandClub23]

My husband is a Realtor and has two StraightTalk phones (an iPhone 5 and a Samsung smartphone) he uses for business. He's had both for 2 years. We buy the yearly plan, since it's cheaper in the long run. He had a Sprint phone before and was able to take his phone number with him. Set up was easy. He's never had any issues with reception or speed (but he doesn't watch movies/shows on his phones). StraightTalk uses the nearest Verizon or AT&T cell towers for service.

We bought both phones at Walmart and switched everything over when we got home via StraightTalk's website.

 

[blana]

DH bought my phone in the store, but I handled the porting online.

Also, you may want to check to see what phones are supported by which network. Some run on AT&T, some on Verizon, and some on Sprint. http://www.prepaidphonenews.com/2011/12/how-to-get-tracfone-net10-or-straight.html

 

[bjscheel]

DH bought my phone in the store, but I handled the porting online.

Also, you may want to check to see what phones are supported by which network. Some run on AT&T, some on Verizon, and some on Sprint. http://www.prepaidphonenews.com/2011/12/how-to-get-tracfone-net10-or-straight.html

Thanks, definitely need to be on Verizon.

 

[JB2K]

I've been with both Tracfone and Net10 (both are sister brands to ST), and never had any problems porting my number in or out.

When it comes to the Tracfone family of brands, I've found the BEST way to resolve an issue is to submit a "Support Ticket Request" from the TF/Net10/ST Facebook pages...

 

[eeyorethegreat]

I got a straight talk phone this month. So far I am mostly happy with the service. It was meant to replace my cell phone (tracfone and home landline). I tried to port my home phone to my straighttalk phone so that I wouldn't have to change my phone number everywhere. Magicjack has the worst customer service ever and the service itself is not very good either which is why we made the move away from having a landline. They would not release the phone number saying that the account information I gave straighttalk was not accurate even though it was copied directly from the magicjack site. So the issue was not on the side of straight talk on porting though my one complaint is that straight talk did not notify me that they were having problems porting. I had to call them to find out what was taking so long. That part I was not at all pleased with. So I had to get a new phone number but the service has worked well otherwise. I could not use it at all in my son's college town however so I wasn't happy about that as my tracfone did work in the college town but my straight talk does not. Not sure why. At any rate Magicjack was a nightmare so straight talk has got to be better!

 

[MOpGrad2013]

Yes, I ported my number from ATT and to StraightTalk. Was told it would take 3 days, but only 17 hours.

And if you ever need to change the number to another on same device, DS and DD have done that with great ease. 4 hours and just remember to restart your phone.