Best prepaid cell carrier for value, service

[acura9927]

I cut my Sprint 450 min, unlimited web and text that cost 80 per month.

So today I tried Net10 and it was a horrible time. Their retail refill cards do not work with Net10's own Android cell phones. This is not mentioned on the card at all and I had to drive back to Best Buy for a refund. Now I cant get activated cause of tech difficulties. So I will return the stupid phone tommorrow.

So now I see Prepaid commericals are pushed more by Tmobile and it looks pretty good.

Should I just go with this 50 per month plan they have going. I suppose it add up to 60 with taxes right?

So which prepaid carrier should I AVOID - tracfonde, Virgin Mobile, Boost.

 

[Gut4Tennis]

It all depends on the area you're in and if that carrier gets good reception

also do you text mostly?

Most people text mostly, as I do. I use my cell for text only and home magic jack internet phone for calls.

I use an ATT pay as you go on an older blackberry. 1k texts for 10 bucks. Ends up costing me about 15 bucks a month for all the texts I need. Its not a smart phone so no internet. Internet on the phone is dumb anyway IMO

I looked into boost and virgin. I know with Virgin you can try them and if it does not work in the first month you can get a full refund on the phone, as you have to buy a virgin locked phone.

good luck man

 

[Deleted member 232704]

Try Straight talk, H2o, Simple Mobile, and T-mobile's new idea for no contract plans.
Straight talk and H2o run on ATT mvno ( Meaning, it uses everything ATT offers. These sim-cards will work on any GSM unlocked devices. ATT devices do not need to be unlocked for this to work. You will get HSPA+/4g speeds on 4g enabled phones. ) .
Simple Mobile runs on T-mobiles mvno ( Same as above except with T-mobile phones ) .
I've used Straight Talk, and H2o for a while after my contract was over and the cell signals and data speeds were exactly the same from what i checked on SpeedTest.net . Most of these carriers/services should offer a $50 unlimited everything ( with exception of data caps ) with minutes, data usage, and text. Though these are only talking about the monthly rates, not the phone itself, you will need to go buy one on the internet or CL, anything along those lines.
Try picking up a Nexus 4 from Google's playstore. $299.99 off-contract for the 8gb model. ( currently using ) This phone is quadband ( might be pentaband, i forgot. ) so it will work on both mvno's to receive HSPA+/4g.
Back on AT&T since im on a family plan but i would still recommend this.

PS : GSM are phones from T-mobile, AT&T and any carrier/service that uses sim-cards. CDMA are phones from Verizon, Sprint, Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile. ( does not use sim-cards. )

PSS : Avoid CDMA carriers. GSM can be used globally, any service, any time as long as its unlocked which is now illegal but the Nexus 4 is factory unlocked. GSM also has higher resell value.

 

[acura9927]

Thanks Andy great tips.

Now I am going to check out Straight Talk and H2o.

 

[Deleted member 232704]

Looks like Straight talk switched from using ATT mvno to T-mobile mvno. H2o might be the only ATT mvno atm. If you are looking for a Nexus 4, choosing which mvno shouldnt be a problem. This also applies to the Galaxy s3.

 

[acura9927]

Forget to say
I am not into anything fancy. I had the best out there the Note 2 and cut the service 18 months early. Was really only using the wifi portion of the phone at work and home so the unlimited web on Sprint's lousy 3G service was a waste of cash.

Now just looking for 200 mins per month and web access to check addresses, movie times and emails which I hardly think will hit 1gb per month.

I just kept the Note 2 for home entertainment.

 

[Gut4Tennis]

Forget to say
I am not into anything fancy. I had the best out there the Note 2 and cut the service 18 months early. Was really only using the wifi portion of the phone at work and home so the unlimited web on Sprint's lousy 3G service was a waste of cash.

Now just looking for 200 mins per month and web access to check addresses, movie times and emails which I hardly think will hit 1gb per month.

I just kept the Note 2 for home entertainment.

what you mention is exactly what virgin offers. 300 anytime min and unlimited talk text and web 2.5 GB for 35 a month
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-plans/overview/

get some of the phone for cheap on craigslist for virgin or buy from them and if after 1 month you dont like it you get a full refund. does verizon give you a refund after a month on a phone and service? hell no
who cares if the phone is international unless you need that which is rare.
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/shop/cell-phones/

gl

 

[diredesire]

Try Straight talk, H2o, Simple Mobile, and T-mobile's new idea for no contract plans.
Straight talk and H2o run on ATT mvno ( Meaning, it uses everything ATT offers. These sim-cards will work on any GSM unlocked devices. ATT devices do not need to be unlocked for this to work. You will get HSPA+/4g speeds on 4g enabled phones. ) .
Simple Mobile runs on T-mobiles mvno ( Same as above except with T-mobile phones ) .
I've used Straight Talk, and H2o for a while after my contract was over and the cell signals and data speeds were exactly the same from what i checked on SpeedTest.net . Most of these carriers/services should offer a $50 unlimited everything ( with exception of data caps ) with minutes, data usage, and text. Though these are only talking about the monthly rates, not the phone itself, you will need to go buy one on the internet or CL, anything along those lines.
Try picking up a Nexus 4 from Google's playstore. $299.99 off-contract for the 8gb model. ( currently using ) This phone is quadband ( might be pentaband, i forgot. ) so it will work on both mvno's to receive HSPA+/4g.
Back on AT&T since im on a family plan but i would still recommend this.

PS : GSM are phones from T-mobile, AT&T and any carrier/service that uses sim-cards. CDMA are phones from Verizon, Sprint, Virgin Mobile, Boost Mobile. ( does not use sim-cards. )

PSS : Avoid CDMA carriers. GSM can be used globally, any service, any time as long as its unlocked which is now illegal but the Nexus 4 is factory unlocked. GSM also has higher resell value.

More or less correct. It IS mentioned above, but not explicitly -- you will not get LTE (at least through ATT) via MVNOs.

I use Straight Talk, and you can still go through ATT if you can get a SIM, but they're gouging on **** right now. Net10 is the other MVNO through ATT, but depending on your area, you'll need to get a GSM unlocked (OR att branded) phone. If T-mobile coverage is good in your area, you can use Straight talk @ ~$50/month for "unlimited" everything, or you can get the TMobile plan, which IIRC is ~$30/month w/ unlimited data + 100 minutes talk. This is sufficient for most light usage (and I'd say most "modern" usage). You can also start (ab)using VoIP services and/or Google Voice + some magic tricks to receive voice via data if your coverage is good.

You WILL run into those issues in the rare occasions you go outside your service area (travel, etc) if you go this route, but if it's worth the savings, go for it.

(I'm currenly on Straight Talk).

 

[Larrysümmers]

I use virgin. 35 a month for unlimited text and web and 300 minutes. 45 for 1200 and 55 for unlimited.
I've been using it for a while and I'm a fan

 

[Gut4Tennis]

I use virgin. 35 a month for unlimited text and web and 300 minutes. 45 for 1200 and 55 for unlimited.
I've been using it for a while and I'm a fan

see this is what I'm talking about

Virgin also has decent phones ate good prices.

having the newest i phone is dumb as all it does is cause massive amounts of radiation to the body

 

[Deleted member 232704]

More or less correct. It IS mentioned above, but not explicitly -- you will not get LTE (at least through ATT) via MVNOs.

I use Straight Talk, and you can still go through ATT if you can get a SIM, but they're gouging on **** right now. Net10 is the other MVNO through ATT, but depending on your area, you'll need to get a GSM unlocked (OR att branded) phone. If T-mobile coverage is good in your area, you can use Straight talk @ ~$50/month for "unlimited" everything, or you can get the TMobile plan, which IIRC is ~$30/month w/ unlimited data + 100 minutes talk. This is sufficient for most light usage (and I'd say most "modern" usage). You can also start (ab)using VoIP services and/or Google Voice + some magic tricks to receive voice via data if your coverage is good.

You WILL run into those issues in the rare occasions you go outside your service area (travel, etc) if you go this route, but if it's worth the savings, go for it.

(I'm currenly on Straight Talk).

Yeah, you wouldn't get 4G LTE. My area barely has coverage for that anyway lol. I doubt someone would cough up $50+ for an ATT sim. My dad is currently using the $30 T-Mobile plan with an HTC one X. T-Mobile is still in the process of refarming the areas so He gets 4G in some places. once they completely refarm, it would make transferring services a lot more easier. And as He said, He had a horrible time with Net10 so I wouldn't assume Hes going to try that again lol

 

[acura9927]

Yeah, you wouldn't get 4G LTE. My area barely has coverage for that anyway lol. I doubt someone would cough up $50+ for an ATT sim. My dad is currently using the $30 T-Mobile plan with an HTC one X. T-Mobile is still in the process of refarming the areas so He gets 4G in some places. once they completely refarm, it would make transferring services a lot more easier. And as He said, He had a horrible time with Net10 so I wouldn't assume Hes going to try that again lol

Net10 should never been unleashed on anyone. Even try to get on it with a refill card or credit card was torture.

 

[diredesire]

see this is what I'm talking about

Virgin also has decent phones ate good prices.

having the newest i phone is dumb as all it does is cause massive amounts of radiation to the body

If you're going to post sensationalist comments, you should back it up with some sources. Additionally, you should make sure the "massive amounts of radiation" are out of spec of the FCC limits. If they're within specs, I don't think it makes too much sense to say something like this. Obviously an iPhone is going to have more radiated emissions as compared to a dumb phone. There are many, MANY more radios on an iPhone/Smartphone (bluetooth, cellular data/voice, wifi, perhaps additionally LTE, depending on phone). I'm as much of a "skeptic" as the next guy out there, but if you think Apple is shipping product outside of FCC specs, I can't say I am a believer unless there is some data to prove it...

Yeah, you wouldn't get 4G LTE. My area barely has coverage for that anyway lol. I doubt someone would cough up $50+ for an ATT sim. My dad is currently using the $30 T-Mobile plan with an HTC one X. T-Mobile is still in the process of refarming the areas so He gets 4G in some places. once they completely refarm, it would make transferring services a lot more easier. And as He said, He had a horrible time with Net10 so I wouldn't assume Hes going to try that again lol

Yeah, LTE isn't as big a deal as people make it out to be (at least for consumers that are using a phone as a phone, IMHO). I picked up an extra SIM (or two) for Straight Talk once I heard they were rumored to be dropping ATT. I've got a spare, but I'm holding it in case any one in my family decides to make a switch

 

[acura9927]

I went with Verizon prepaid at 35 per month for 500 mins and unlimited mobile web and text.
I considered Virgin Mbbile but wanted a store to go to for problems and make payments.

 

[Deleted member 232704]

If you're going to post sensationalist comments, you should back it up with some sources. Additionally, you should make sure the "massive amounts of radiation" are out of spec of the FCC limits. If they're within specs, I don't think it makes too much sense to say something like this. Obviously an iPhone is going to have more radiated emissions as compared to a dumb phone. There are many, MANY more radios on an iPhone/Smartphone (bluetooth, cellular data/voice, wifi, perhaps additionally LTE, depending on phone). I'm as much of a "skeptic" as the next guy out there, but if you think Apple is shipping product outside of FCC specs, I can't say I am a believer unless there is some data to prove it...



Yeah, LTE isn't as big a deal as people make it out to be (at least for consumers that are using a phone as a phone, IMHO). I picked up an extra SIM (or two) for Straight Talk once I heard they were rumored to be dropping ATT. I've got a spare, but I'm holding it in case any one in my family decides to make a switch

When you need that extra $50/$100..... And nobody wants to switch..... you know what to do.....