Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

[sam60]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

Next step is to get the AT&T phones unlocked and set up the new wireless. Put this here as I am not to keen on the wireless plans.

I hope this isn't a hijack.

View attachment WIRELESS COSTS.pdf

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

Not sure you even need to get them unlocked. See this post..
Going from AT&T to Straight Talk was very smooth (iPhone 4s) - Cellphones, Providers, and Plans | DSLReports Forums

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

You don't have to get them unlocked if you are going to be on the ST ATT plan but you need to do it right away when you leave ATT. Reason is that someday that phone may get sold or someone may want to use it on T-Mobile. You want to get the phone unlocked before you switch. There is an ATT website you go to to get it unlocked. It takes a few days.

Just be aware that the iPhone won't be able to do MMS messages(picture messages) on straight talk. You can do iMessages between iphones and other iphones however.

Make sure you get it working on Straight Talk before you quit ATT as the ATT account needs to be active to port the number over.

 

[southkogs]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

...Just be aware that the iPhone won't be able to do MMS messages(picture messages) on straight talk. You can do iMessages between iphones and other iphones however...

This is anecdotal, so do don't take it any other way: Bruce is right; all the lit says you can't MMS/Picture message except via "messages" in iOS. But I've actually gotten several to go through. I don't use that feature very often so I can't tell if there has been some common anomaly in those messages, but it has worked for me.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

This is anecdotal, so do don't take it any other way: Bruce is right; all the lit says you can't MMS/Picture message except via "messages" in iOS. But I've actually gotten several to go through. I don't use that feature very often so I can't tell if there has been some common anomaly in those messages, but it has worked for me.

If you are using an iPhone, look at the color of the messages you send out. If they are blue it's an iMessage. If it's green its an SMS. If the messages to that particular person is green(SMS), you won't be able to send pictures(MMS). Ypu and the person both have to be on iPhones and you both have to have iMessages enabled.

There is actually a trick you can do to send MMS messages with an iphone on ST and it involves the temporary swapping out of a T-Mobile sim card which allows you to get into a menu that is normally hidden on ATT. I have used it and it's a pain and it doesn't work forever which is why I stopped doing it.

So the issue is not ST's fault, it's ATT/s version of the iPhone that is at fault. I can send MMS messages on my Android phone on ST just fine.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

Based on experiences here, I just bought a new phone (unlocked AT&T HTC 8X phone) off of e-bay and opened a Net10 account (same as Straight talk). Everything went very smoothly and I have a fully functional phone running on the AT&T network with 5 bars of LTE.

The only difficulty, which was minor, was finding thie right APN and MMS settings. Once I found those I was up and running. Most of my data usage is on the WIFI at home and the WIFI network at work. I would expect the 2.5GB high speed limit to not be an issue.

So far so good. I think unbundling the phone from the plan is the way to go. With 4 kids, three of which are on my T-mobile plan with data, moving to this model will make it easier to cut them off when the time is right and to also let them buy a more expensive phone if they want one instead of getting the upgrade gift when your contract is up. Once my current t-mobile plan is up, I think I will go this route with the rest of them.

BTW, the differece with Net10 is that there is a discount for multiple phones. So the auto upgrade plan is $45. If you have 2 lines, you get a $5 discount. So for two users it would be $45 + $40 or $85 total. And another hidden piece is that you are not paying all those fees and taxes. When I bought my plan card, I paid state tax but that was it. That is a big savings right there.

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

What kind of t mobile plan do you have that you are looking for cheaper? You can always buy your own phone with T-Mobile - my latest is a Nokia 821 for $99 from the MS store. The T-Mobile simplechoice costs me around $120 (including tax) for 5 phones with unlimited talk/text and data (the first 500MB is faster data)

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

I'll definitely do the price compare when the time comes as we already are on a plan that does not have the phones built in. They are currently sharing 1000 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited data for three phones and a voice and text only phone for ~$120. The things I am looking at is the t-mobile network at our cabin is only 2G - AT&T has 4G. Also, I have a son going into his 3rd year of college and am conisdering bumping him to pay his own plan. T-mobile has been very good in the TC and their service has been very good. So if the price is right after the current contract is up we may keep them there. If not, the the net10 will be the path.

You went the Windows phone route as well. How do you like it? I have the HTC 8X and really like the interface. Could use more apps, but what I need is there..

 

[oldjeep]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

You went the Windows phone route as well. How do you like it? I have the HTC 8X and really like the interface. Could use more apps, but what I need is there..

Been pretty happy with it, although it definitely does not have the app support that Android/Apple have. Out of the 5 phones we have 4 are Win 8 and one is android (my daughter likes a full slider keyboard)

Signal strength is always a crapshoot when we travel. At the lake place in WI I get a 2G signal, but sprint gets nothing there so I guess it is better than that

 

[sam60]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

I completed the 1st phase of the AT$T delete today by gettting a different ISP. A dish pointing to a nearby tower, twice the speed of what I had this morning. 4.88 down, .88 up.

Just ordered a second SIM card for wife's phone as her's wasn't a micro. OOPS. :laugh:

 

[Floridaguy32514]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

I wish I was able to do this, but I use my phone wayyy to much, I use around 5 gigs a month. I use a lot of streaming video, and the wifi @ my work sucks, so I can't always use it. plus I do a lot of side jobs that I need the phone for.

 

[MH Hawker]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

I have been using net10 for several years, but just for phone service, I use the 15.00 a month plan at 300 minutes and it has 10 times the coverage of ATT and verision, I used to travel all over the us and never had a service problem.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

I wish I was able to do this, but I use my phone wayyy to much, I use around 5 gigs a month. I use a lot of streaming video,

I figured that if I could save over $700/year I could forgo streaming video.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

I have been using net10 for several years, but just for phone service, I use the 15.00 a month plan at 300 minutes and it has 10 times the coverage of ATT and verision, I used to travel all over the us and never had a service problem.

Since Net10 is either Verizon, Sprint, ATT or T-Mobile, does that mean you are using T-Mobile or Sprint?

 

[sam60]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

Just thought I would stop by and thank everyone for the ideas provided in this thread. Thank You! :hail:

I followed through and eliminated the AT&T bill. Savings are about $100 a month. :dance:

Digis Internet (very limited region).
Straight Talk for cells.
Magic Jack for house.

 

[generator12]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

Another alternative that is similar to ST and that has family plans is Net10.
NET10 Wireless

I've had Net10 for several years now. The service coverage is quite decent; the rates are as well. But their customer service is as difficult to access as any I've ever used. Usually a concentric circle from website to phone, each telling you to use the other and neither dealing with the issue you have, tighter and tighter until you disappear into your own #$@%.

Just had to do it again today in order to activate a new phone. I came within an inch of the decision to leave them for another provider.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

Ok I'll try to answer some of the questions posed since my last reply.

No, straight talk doesn't mind if you stream anything like pandora (very light data usage) or movies, just when you hit 2.5gb for the month they will throttle you. This doesn't mean CUT YOU OFF, it means slow you down. The only thing you can't do is use the phone as a wi fi hot spot.

Someone said "I can't do this because I really need my phone" Um, I really need mine to. I was a manager of a corporate jet hangar and would receive flight alerts and flight info from pilots via text and cell calls. I never missed a lick. Now I use it at my new job. It's not substandard service, it uses the same networks and towers.

Net 10, Tracfone and Straight talk are NOT the same. They might all be prepaid, and straight talk even owned by Tracfone, but they aren't the same service. ST and TF can't even use the same phones.

If you have ST and on your phone it shows ATT, you are on that network. You're not going to get "worse" coverage than someone who is subscribed through ATT, you're using the same towers, same everything. So if ATT is strong in your area, you can drop your ATT contract and get ST with ATT service and you're back on the same towers at half the cost.

 

[bruceb58]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

The only thing you can't do is use the phone as a wi fi hot spot.

I use my ATT ST as a wifi hot spot no problem.

 

[rogerwa]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

I believe Net10 and ST to be just marketing fronts. My ATT unlocked phone with Net10 wireless ATT sim show TRacfone as the service.. You even use the same internet and picture messaging settings. I have been on Net10 now for 3 or so months and it has worked great. I use a lot less data than I thought I would, like less than 500mb a month. With wifi at home and work, that covers a lot of the data usage.

I swapped out my work blackberry for a Windows phone with Good Mobile. I got a new number and ported my BB number to google voice and set it to forward to the new number. Works flawlessly. Now I have my work phone and personal phone separated but using the same device. The text messages even get forwarded.

 

[waterinthefuel]

Re: Forget everything you heard about prepaid cell phone service!!

I use my ATT ST as a wifi hot spot no problem.

Well, so do I. But IF THEY CATCH YOU, they can terminate you.