Prepaid phone and data plans options???

[Cory Schuller]

After doing a brief search on the internet I see that there is a bunch of prepaid phone and data plans out there. I'm curious if anybody uses this? I see Straight talk offers unlimited talk, text, and data for $45.00 month and no contract (yes, very limited phone options but on Verizon network). PagePlus offers unlimited talk and text and small amount of data for $39.95 (CDMA and you can use your current phone). This sounds reasonable since on the normal cellular plans you pay so much for the taxes and fees(about 15%) let alone the 2 year contract.

Cory

 

[JeffGonzales]

Hmm that sounds like a good deal. I wonder though if they have good coverage over the plains and if its unlimited data or a 5G cap on data like most other prepaid data plans.

 

[Cory Schuller]

Here are a couple of the sites. I'm going to bet they don't allow tethering to a PC.


http://straighttalk.com/
http://www.pagepluscellular.com/

 

[JeffGonzales]

Thanks for the link. Ya looks like for stright talk the data is just for the phone and no seperate data card plans. I dont see anything about tethering to a pc with the data either. It also doesnt say if its 3g or not. Its still a good deal if u are looking for something just for your phone and not worried about tethering.

The Page plus looks like the dont have an unlimited data plan with it, but it does say that they have good evdo coverage which i think is the same as 3G, howevere since its not unlimited and they charge per kb i bet it could get expensive.

Stright talk looks like a good deal and the one to go with. would be awsome if its 3g and allow tethering

 

[Steve Polley]

Here are a couple of the sites. I'm going to bet they don't allow tethering to a PC.


http://straighttalk.com/
http://www.pagepluscellular.com/

Pageplus is an excellent option if you are wanting just a dumbphone with no tethering. They use Verizons network. They have an unlimited talk/text option which is a prepaid of 39.99 a month. As soon as my Verizon contract is up I will be moving to this as I am sick of the smartphones and would rather just have a plain phone. AFAIK they dont offer tethering of any kind either. It appears that straight talk runs on gsm which might workout better for the southern plains chasers.

 

[Robert Edmonds]

I've never used a prepaid plan, but I have been curious as to how they stand up compared to the other plans out there. The other company I have heard of is slingshot wireless.

Their wireless data card and plan is sold at a truck stop near by. I've always been curious since I'm not a fan of having a year contract, when I will only really need a data plan for a few months. I used to have alltel, I could add data and tether with my phone, with no connect or disconnect fees, and it was unlimited. Guess I'll see what verizon now offers and hopefully I can find more info about these prepaid plans.

 

[Jake Tyson]

i have a verizon prepaid, $1.50 per day of use with a $10 message plan/month (unlimited verizon mobile 2mobile)

i bluetooth to my phone (lg VX8350) and use it as my internet connection whenever im on the road, it is unlimited (i've downloaded 39gb this month with it) and has decent speeds. anywhere between 100-300KB/sec down and 80-100KB/sec up

 

[Cory Schuller]

Thanks all to who responded. After looking at the responses this may be something I'll look at this upcoming year. Thanks again and everyone have a safe and happy holiday season.
Cory

 

[Jim Saueressig]

Just ran into the straighttalk deal tonight at walmart, got it for a friend. It is an offshoot of trackfone so it supposedly works everywhere they do which is pretty much anywhere you can get a signal. $30 a months gives you 1000, minutes, texts and 30 mb of data along with 30 days of service, $45 a month is all unlimited. They have 3 phone options at that walmart from $39 to $99 with the latter 2 having the internet browsers and the last having a full small keyboard. That's about a 3rd of the price of anything contract comparable. The guy at walmart said people are dropping their main plans by the 100's even paying the $175 - $250 early termination fees because they save that in about 2 months of straight talk. Their website has a bigger selection of phones and more info.

Actually they say it is anywhere on the Verizon network.

I just read that a few phones can be tethered via usb but its not real fast.....

 

[Richard Dickson]

Jim,

Thanks for the news about the Straight Talk system. If I can make this work, it sounds like just what I have been looking for.

I had called one of their service reps (polite and efficient, but definitely overseas) and found out the Samsung R451C was one of the models that could be tethered to a USB port but the cable had to be purchased elsewhere. I didn’t think to ask about the connection speed. What information did you come up with that indicated that it might not be too fast?

I did a bunch of looking at their web site after the phone call because I won’t be making a switch until about March and wanted some more information. I read through their “Terms and Conditions†section (Yuk) and was just a little concerned about some of the wording that could possibly be interpreted to say that connecting to an “automated update†would be a violation of the contract. I was thinking about when the GRLevel3 runs continuously for four or five hours as opposed to downloading from a few sites.

Just to have it in writing for my records, I mailed a letter to their office in Miami asking about that situation and if it would if fact be a violation. In addition, I asked about the process for switching between the $30 plan for most months of the year and then to the $45 (unlimited) during the chase season. Using my address in Arizona, I also wanted to know how much their “Additional Taxes and Fees†were on a monthly basis as I hate surprises.

I’ll post an update when I hear back from them.

TANK

 

[Richard Dickson]

I received a PM from Teri Mooney inquiring if I had received a reply to my letter that I mailed to Straight Talk.

I was greatly disappointed trying to get some answers from Straight Talk. I had mailed them a letter asking several specific questions about the terms and charges. I had requested they send me a written answer so that I would have it for my records. After about two weeks, I got a phone call from a representative with a terrible accent who wanted to sign me up right away. I asked about my letter and my request for a written response and after a lot of 'dancing around' it became obvious they had no intention of putting anything in writing. I thanked the gentleman and told him I was not interested. It still took a long time to get rid of him. Some people may think this is a good company, but I am very skeptical at this point.

Has anyone else signed up for this product and if so, what are your thoughts?

 

[Jim Saueressig]

In the fine print tethering is not allowed and it can result in cancelations. Also there is no additional taxes beyond possibly sales taxes on the card.

 

[Jim Saueressig]

A little bit of a warning about Straight Talk, They have a lot of stuff in the fine print regarding acceptable uses of their data services but what you may not notice is a few important things. They don't allow any international texting or calling, no roaming off the verizon towers etc.

But most importantly is that if you have time or days left they will reset and delete all of them on the adding of a new card. So if you still have 5 days left on your current plan adding a new card resets you to 30 days and you lose the other remaining 5 days from the previous card.

 

[Jim Saueressig]

Do not under any circumstances buy a damn thing from Straight Talk. They are a nightmare beyond anything you could possibly comprehend.

If you can ever get through to the customer disservice you stand a high chance of getting an Indian who you cannot possibly comprehend.

If you ever do actually get through to customer disservice and after a great wait ask a tough question you find yourself mysteriously disconnected.

Porting a line? Good luck with that one.... They manage to lose your address information in your account, change your name in your account and such as that repeatedly till they might finally get it right.

Expecting the internet to work? Ha! forget it, if you are lucky enough to actually get it working you are not really allowed to do anything with the usage including apparently view an image, the Samsung 451c phone wont even do that, it will tell you the pictures info and such but not actually display it or any other picture that I can see.

If you ever get to tech support you will be far smarter than the scripted questions they will ask you. After a half an hour of re-doing the things you already have done repeatedly to avoid calling the fools in the customer disservice department in the first place they will speak to a supervisor who is also not informed and will then finally tell you they have to escalate the problem.

My guess is that in the end no one will have any answer for the problem regardless.

And just so you know: When you return the phones to walmart the next day, the cards are non refundable.

 

[dhodges]

I been with straight talk now for two months. Before that I was with US Cellular on a month to month basis after my contract expired. I am glad I switched. In my view Straight talk is the best deal out there. It is saving me a ton of money.
I highly recommend.