Prepaid cell service - everything I need to know in one spot

[mamatohaleybug]

My contract with ATT is up in July. DH and I want to go to prepaid cell service. We use our phones almost entirely to call each other and a few other people. I check the weather on mine but otherwise don't use internet. He loves to use the internet on his phone and generally uses 100-200 mb of data a month. We do text and definitely want to keep that option. I used 1068 minutes one month this year but normally use 500 or so. DH uses even less than that.

What is the best bet for us? Right now we pay $125 a month (a few times a year we pay $140 for going over our data limit).

 

[manhattanman]

My contract with ATT is up in July. DH and I want to go to prepaid cell service. We use our phones almost entirely to call each other and a few other people. I check the weather on mine but otherwise don't use internet. He loves to use the internet on his phone and generally uses 100-200 mb of data a month. We do text and definitely want to keep that option. I used 1068 minutes one month this year but normally use 500 or so. DH uses even less than that.

What is the best bet for us? Right now we pay $125 a month (a few times a year we pay $140 for going over our data limit).

To me this seems extremely expensive. I am on T-mobile and use my phone to predominantly call or text my wife. After the first 100 dollars you are gold and minutes do not expire for a year, nor are there daily fees for when you dont use the phone.

If you want a la carte internet you can add this for 3 bucks a day, I think its 200 mb at 4G then it gets throttled. As we are never far from wifi my wife uses this to access the internet. If we are travelling we switch to the three dollar a day plan which is unlimited calls and texts for three bucks. The speeds are good enough for browsing and to update google maps along with the GPS in her phone. with the mobile hot spot from the phone the kids can do some things on thier ipads as we drive, it really depends on the data signal strength. I tried to stream netflix but it was super choppy and loading big files as you drive ( like TEd talks) did not work well although we were really in the middle of nowhere when we tried this.

I really like the T-mobile prepaid, I think that for people like me who want occasional internet access, it cant be beat. the prepaid android phones are middle of the road but if you really wanted you could get an unlocked nexus4 as I think they are supported on tmobile.

I think it really depends on how often you are away from available wifi networks.

 

[lady_hlh]

We got my DD a T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy 4G for $175 at Wal-Mart and we buy a card for $30 every month that gives her unlimited texting and data but there is a limit on the talk time. I think unlimited everything is just $50 a month. I have a Virgin Mobile pay as you go flip phone that I paid $20 for at Target but all I do is talk on it very infrequently so I can get away with loading $20 to it every 90 days. When we go on vacation to WDW $20 doesn't last me 90 days because we are calling my DH constantly to meet up with him.

 

[IUTBAM]

I've had TracFone since 2004, with no complaints. I bought myself a Virgin Mobile iPhone 4S at Target on Black Friday, and will be activiating it with the $35/mo (discounted to $30/mo for auto-renewal) plan (unlimited text and data, and 300 minutes a month). They also have 1200 minutes plus unlimt text and data for $45, and unlimited everything for $55. The nice thing is that you can change your plan every month if you want, so if you know in advance you are likely to use more minutes (vacation, whatever), you can plan for it.

 

[mamatohaleybug]

Thanks to all of you for the great information!

 

[S. C.]

Lots of good info here
http://www.howardforums.com/forums.php
HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - HowardForums Home
www.howardforums.com
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We just got straight talk a few weeks ago. DH and I hardly ever text or use data on phones. We both got the $30 pre paid card gives us 1000 talk, 1000, text and 30mb of data a month. For $45 a month you get unlimited everything. They also have an international plan if you are going out of the country, seems it is $60 not sure if i'm right on that one.
We live in drop call, out in the country so had a hard time figuring out what to go with. Straight talk has different services for different phones. We got the cheapy $29 ones and have had not one dropped call. With verizon if i moved a 1/2 inch it dropped.

We were told if we didn't like the phones or the service we got that we had 30 days to return them for a refund. That is not a refund on the pre paid card just the phone. said if you know someone with straight talk and decide to return your phone you could transfer your minutes, etc to them.

We were paying $110 a month with our verizon contract. So glad to be rid of them.


ETA: from their website ... Bring your own phone. Purchase a Straight Talk SIM card and get the service on the best nationwide networks.

 

[mamatohaleybug]

Lots of good info here
http://www.howardforums.com/forums.php
HowardForums: Your Mobile Phone Community & Resource - HowardForums Home
www.howardforums.com
------------


We just got straight talk a few weeks ago. DH and I hardly ever text or use data on phones. We both got the $30 pre paid card gives us 1000 talk, 1000, text and 30mb of data a month. For $45 a month you get unlimited everything. They also have an international plan if you are going out of the country, seems it is $60 not sure if i'm right on that one.
We live in drop call, out in the country so had a hard time figuring out what to go with. Straight talk has different services for different phones. We got the cheapy $29 ones and have had not one dropped call. With verizon if i moved a 1/2 inch it dropped.

We were told if we didn't like the phones or the service we got that we had 30 days to return them for a refund. That is not a refund on the pre paid card just the phone. said if you know someone with straight talk and decide to return your phone you could transfer your minutes, etc to them.

We were paying $110 a month with our verizon contract. So glad to be rid of them.


ETA: from their website ... Bring your own phone. Purchase a Straight Talk SIM card and get the service on the best nationwide networks.

Thank you for the link and information.

 

[Kies99]

Virgin Mobile - $35 per month gets you 300 anytime minutes, unlimited text and data. No contract so you can cancel at anytime. Uses Sprint network so wherever Sprint is you are covered.

Been using it for years with no problems.

 

[caribear]

Unfotunately, the only carrier with good reception in my area is Verizon. DH and I just ended our contracts and signed up with Page Plus Wireless....which uses the Verizon network....so our coverage is the same. I bought a used smartphone on Ebay...as I was not using one prior....and am now on the $29.99/month plan which includes 1200 talk minutes, 3000 texts and 250mb of data. Sounds like this might be close to your needs. Howard Forums has lots of info....just search for Page Plus.

 

[DawnM]

I have Straight Talk for me. I have the unlimited $45 plan because I have a big mouth and average 3,000 min. per month. Now that my home phone is cut, I use my cell for everything. I have it with an iphone and it uses ATT towers for the phone I have.

My kids barely use their phones for calling or texting and I got them Spot Mobile. I top it off with $5 every 90 days. Each min. is .10 and each text is .05. Spot Mobile uses T-mobile towers.

Dawn

 

[Pigeon]

Try to find people who have the various plans in your area and ask them how the coverage is. We have VM, and are reasonably happy. But I bought a smart phone primarily to play with during my kids' various lessons. Sadly, done of the places where their lessons are have wi-fi.

While VM says we have good coverage on the Sprint network where I live, it's actually kind of spotty. At two of the places where the kids take lessons, I can't get on the internet with any reliability at all. Other places that are close by, it's just fine.

 

[mamatohaleybug]

I knew this was the place to ask! Lots to research and think about. Thanks!!

 

[anniemck]

H2O wireless... uses AT&T Towers, and you can use your AT&T Phones. Purchase the sim card for 9.99 at best buy or online and they have a service plan that is $25 a month for 1000 minutes talk/text, $30 a month unlimited talk/text, $40 a month unlimited talk/text/100mb data, $50 a month unlimited talk/text/500mb data.

My husband and I are both on the $25 a month right now, but I will be moving us to the $30 when our payment is due in a couple weeks. We don't go over the $25 but we do get close and I did use a bit more text this month than normal because of my trip to WDW without my husband.

 

[RitaE]

I knew this was the place to ask! Lots to research and think about. Thanks!!

One thing to keep in mind is that when you say - I use XXXX minutes - are those your total minutes or are those the minutes you use against your current ATT plan? Keep in mind that ATT has those free mobile to mobile minutes so when you talk to your DH and other ATT mobile customers, it isn't being deducted against your plan package minutes.

When it comes to Cell phones it is ALL about who has good coverage where you live, work, and play. You know that you have good ATT coverage, look at the Verizon and Sprint maps to decide whether or not the others are even a possibility. A cheap plan is a worthless plan if you can't use your phone when you want to use your phone.

The good news is that there are several good Pre-Paid providers that use the ATT towers so you are going to have choices right off the bat. PagePlus (using Verizon) is another solid contender and so is Virgin Mobile if it works well in your area.

 

[mamatohaleybug]

One thing to keep in mind is that when you say - I use XXXX minutes - are those your total minutes or are those the minutes you use against your current ATT plan? Keep in mind that ATT has those free mobile to mobile minutes so when you talk to your DH and other ATT mobile customers, it isn't being deducted against your plan package minutes.

When it comes to Cell phones it is ALL about who has good coverage where you live, work, and play. You know that you have good ATT coverage, look at the Verizon and Sprint maps to decide whether or not the others are even a possibility. A cheap plan is a worthless plan if you can't use your phone when you want to use your phone.

The good news is that there are several good Pre-Paid providers that use the ATT towers so you are going to have choices right off the bat. PagePlus (using Verizon) is another solid contender and so is Virgin Mobile if it works well in your area.

Excellent points! Thank you!!