Prepaid smartphone plans(iPhones and Androids): mo' contracts, mo' problems

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Inspect Your Gadgets > Prepaid smartphone plans(iPhones and Androids): mo' contracts, mo' problems

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

Basically if you want to go TMobile prepaid, you get a TMo brand phone. Galaxy Nexus has TMo support because google was planning to sell it unlocked online.

There is also the rare exception of ATT Galaxy Note, which can be flashed to run TMo 3G.

# ¿ May 8, 2012 02:31

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# ¿ May 19, 2013 02:16

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

Well, every company has different porting policy.

For example, google only loving accept ports from 4 major carriers.

I find the easiest way to find answer is just search on howardforums, or call up.

Fun fact about phone account and the 4 digit pin, the Page Plus pin is just the last 4 digit of the phone number. I don't think there is anyway to change it either. You can port anyone's phone number if you know he is on Page Plus.

# ¿ May 9, 2012 13:07

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

3D is a gimmick, but EVO 3D still has better spec than Sensation, which was HTC's global faltship one year ago.

# ¿ May 14, 2012 11:49

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

EVD 3D has more memory. I really don't use camera on phones. Couldn't care less.

# ¿ May 15, 2012 02:53

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

I only use voip with Skype on wifi, even that only work 80% of time. I seldom use voice however, so 100 minute is enough for me even if I don't use voip.

# ¿ May 25, 2012 01:34

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

There seem to be more pentaband android phone now. Huawei P1 is pentaband, cost about 10% more than Galaxy Nexus in China.

(There is also the Huawei D1 (P1 w/ larger screen) not release yet. Also an used Nokia n9 you can flash to Android.)

whatever7 fucked around with this message at May 26, 2012 around 11:45

# ¿ May 26, 2012 11:38

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

Rastor posted:

The G2 was sold through T-Mobile and only supports the 3G frequencies T-Mobile uses. You need a T-Mobile SIM.

Doesn't TMo phone have the ATT band, which is 1900? Maybe the phone can flash a European ROM + baseband?

# ¿ Jun 4, 2012 03:24

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

mixitwithblop posted:

Ok, so what's the best unlocked phone usable on Straight Talk AT&T or Verizon with ICS stock/upgraded for under $300? I've been told by folks that T-mobile isn't great in my hood. My signal and 3G speed on VM leaves much to be desired.

You should spend the extra 100 and get a new Galaxy nexus. Or buy an used Verizon Galaxy Nexus for under 300.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2012 06:08

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

Lblitzer posted:

Re: T-Mobile monthly 4G
For my 2nd month in a row, I've got a text message the day before my account is auto-renewed that I used up all my minutes and they disconnected my service. I used 4 minutes this month. Wish I could call customer support right now, but has anyone else had this happen?

I haven't received any unusual text. My renewal is tomorrow.

# ¿ Jun 5, 2012 18:01

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

spengler posted:

I'm thinking hard about an HTC Evo V on virgin. What's the best phone I can get for $300 for t-mobile prepaid?

Used sensation, used Amazed, used Galaxy Nexus.

# ¿ Jun 12, 2012 05:16

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

Evil_Greven posted:

Welp, I'm needing to get a new cell phone. I'm with AT&T right now, and have tired with contracts. I also don't use voice much nor text a lot (though I do text more than talk). Lastly, I don't care particularly much about data plan poo poo. I have a good desktop for a reason, and I'm not coordinated enough to gently caress around with internet on a phone for very long.

I'd considered getting some old dumb phone, but texting is really quite slow with the old 10-key, so I've been looking around and found this Pantech Crossover thingamajig. Seems to be pretty well received, and at a decent price to boot. I figure if I really want to, I could hit up a wireless spot for data. The $25/mo plan looks pretty swell to me - 250min calls for a month ought to cover me with unlimited texts, and AT&T has pretty awesome coverage in Oklahoma (also, Verizon has broad swaths of 'roaming prepaid' in areas I sometimes go to).

Any thoughts on this phone/brand and/or plan? Pantech doesn't seem to be one of the big names, so I'm slightly skeptical.

I would get whatever Verizon phone I can afford and go Page Plus. 250 minutes cost you $10.

# ¿ Jun 23, 2012 05:23

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

You can only port in from 4 big mobile carrier to google voice (this is a GV limitation.) So you would need to port it to T-Mo prepaid and then port to google voice.

My experience with porting from TMo to gv is pretty straight forward.

# ¿ Jun 26, 2012 00:19

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

Concurred posted:

Man what the hell. My contract up and ended yesterday (July 1st) and I thought I was good to go with the Galaxy Nex + T-Mobile $30 a month but looking at their coverage map my area is in the smallest part of reception. I've had T-Mobile before but that was like 4 years ago and if I walked towards the interior of my apartment I would lose a signal. The AT&T $45 coverage map shows that everything in my area is the best speed. How reliable are those maps?

And also I have no idea what's gonna happen with the Nexus now, so...

you really should just pay 30 and find out it yourself. Even inside NYC, I get noticeably different 3G speed from TMobile and Sprint.

When my HD2 was on the old WM baseband, I could get 10,000 kbs, when I am on the newer android baseband, I get about 1,000 kbs. All these are 3G speed. Basically they are fast enough.

whatever7 fucked around with this message at Jul 2, 2012 around 16:49

# ¿ Jul 2, 2012 16:47

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

Straker posted:

Well hey, my prepaid TMo gnex roamed onto Rogers just fine... 20 cents a text is reasonable for emergencies but not sure I want to find out how expensive $10/mb for data works out to in practice

For that kind of rate, I would Droidwall the gently caress out of the phone and only allow google voice to go through.

When I was in china I had to do it. The carriers changed their policy once you activate a sim you can't change to a higher bandwidth plan until next cycle date. I don't know why would they do this. When I was in China 4 years ago they let you upgrade in the middle of the plan. But 4 years ago they only had edge.

# ¿ Jul 6, 2012 15:09

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

cheese eats mouse posted:

Trip report after a month on StraightTalk with an iPhone 4.

It's awesome and I highly recommend it to all iPhone owners that are getting raped on AT&T. I've done streaming with Spotify in my car, all my MMS have worked perfectly, and I don't have a delay in texts, and YouTube videos load at a pretty good clip. The speeds are good, but I came from Sprint and T-Mobile EDGE so it's been great to have some decent download speeds. I do get some dropped calls, but it's usually been in my house where my service with any network is crap. I use my phone for EVERYTHING now because it's just so nice to have a good smart phone.

Jailbreaking is super simple now, but you really don't have to jailbreak to get on StraightTalk to get MMS working. I do anyway for the extra features.

Porting took longer than I'm used too (about 8-12 hours), but it worked by the next morning when I released my number form T-Mobile that night.

Final bill with taxes and fees was $49. Just can't be beat for a smart phone plan.

You have to pay tax? Thats kind of a bummer.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2012 17:31

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

anakha posted:

Which is kind of surprising considering how big a hit the Optimus One (and all its variants) were when they came out.

LG dont get android. Their models are designed by non-engineers and software are put together as roughly as the old Sony phones. Get don't a LG unless you are ready to flash the ROM as soon as you get it.

Cheap phones for the hardware though.

# ¿ Jul 14, 2012 02:42

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

ddogflex posted:

... The whole VM iPhone deal is hosed. Buy a locked phone for full unlocked price! Yay!

You are buying an unsubsidized phone at unsubsidized price. Locking has nothing to do with it. Blame FCC/Verizon/ATT for lack of interoperability in the United States.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2012 18:24

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

Rastor posted:

Sorry, but you're wrong. Apple specifically selected / designed hardware which would be compatible with all the US networks. It wasn't easy, but they did it.

Correct. All iPhone 4S incompatibility is due to locking / software.

Regardless of the reasons, a VM iPhone will be locked to VM, and you are unlikely to convince any of the involved parties to unlock it via legitimate means.

Lol, dont know why you want to pat Apple on the back in this case. You unlock an Att iPhone, it runs on slow rear end 2g speed on Tmobile. You can't use a a verizpn or Sprint iPhone on neither Att nor Tmobile. So what has Apple achieved with unified hardware? Nothing!

Btw Apple still has to make a special version of iPhone for China Mobile, the largest carrier inthe wprld anyway. The unified hardware thing is a gimmick.

# ¿ Jul 20, 2012 23:53

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

SB35 posted:

Apple never has made a special phone for China mobile. Only China Telecom (CDMA), and China Unicom (GSM/WCDMA) offer the iPhone. China mobile users use unlocked iPhones on 2G data.

They are going to, for the next iPhone. Android phones are outselling iPhone 4:1 in China so obviously the unified hardware strategy hasn't worked in China.

# ¿ Jul 21, 2012 11:54

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

Choadmaster posted:

Forgive me if this has been asked; I read the OP and the first few pages and it wasn't covered.

I have an old iPhone 3Gs I keep around and active as a spare (in case mine gets lost/broken, a visiting guest needs a phone, the kids go on a trip and need a phone, whatever). Currently it is set up with a T-Mobile prepaid by-the-day plan: in theory, I pay $2/day for unlimited talk/text/data when the phone is used, and nothing when it isn't.

In theory.

T-Mobile is a bunch of dicks and they rip off their prepaid customers, who have no recourse because T-Mobile holds all the cards (there is no usage/billing information available on T-Mobile prepaid). Example: I last used my spare phone a month ago (gave it to the kids for a weekend), and when I got it back, I turned it off altogether and have not touched it since. I had $20 in prepaid credit left when I did this. Today I check my balance, and it is $0.80. What the gently caress have they been charging me for when the phone is off? They can't/won't tell me, and can't explain how the hell I have an odd number like 80 cents left if they're charging me an even $2 per day. Apparently, they can just reach into my account whenever the gently caress they want and pull out random amounts of money; since there is no usage or billing history to see, there's poo poo all I can do about it.

So gently caress that.

Are there any recommendations for a non-T-Mobile pay-by-the-day plan (obviously needs to be GSM)? Do they even exist anywhere else? Are there any other sorts of plans that will work for me? I don't want just prepaid minutes because either data and/or unlimited texting is a necessity, and I don't want to prepay $30/month for that, either.

Edit: Having no luck finding much myself. AT&T has a pay by the day plan now too, but their data prices are insane. I can live without data if there's a way to disable it completely on the phone so I'm not paying AT&T's outrageous prices. Has anyone here tried the AT&T pay by the day plan? I don't want to get screwed again.

Second edit: I did some research into this issue, and what other T-Mobile customers do as a workaround is switch their plan to pay-by-the-minute before turning their phones off, and reinstating the pay-by-the-day plan when they need it again. This seems to stop T-Mobile from randomly charging $2 every few days. Absent any better plan from another company, I'll satisfy myself with this workaround even though I really want to tell T-Mobile to gently caress off.

T-Mobile is the cheapest. You can go Page+ but you need to pay at least 80 (2000min) a year.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2012 02:56

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

hotsauce posted:

Ok so after much haranguing back and forth, I think I've finally decided to kick AT&T to the curb and use my $30 T-Mobile plan full-time. Won't save me much (only $32/month since it's an add-a-line) but that adds up. I carry two phones (work iPhone w/unlimited minutes) and a Galaxy Nexus. I plan on using the T-Mobile SIM in my GNEX full-time after porting my personal AT&T number to Google Voice. Here is where my questions begin.

I have had my AT&T cell number for 12 years (843 area code). I want to keep it obviously, so I will port that number to GV as my primary number. I also have a GV number I've had since the Grandcentral days (404 area code) that I want to keep also (I use it for craigslist and telemarketers).

How do I keep and manage both numbers with GV? I know you can keep your old GV number (my Grandcentral 404) if you claim it within 90 days of porting in a new number to GV (my 843 one) but how, in practice, would I manage using two numbers with the Android and iPhone apps? I know that with GV I would have to set my Android phone to always use GV to dial (using my primary 843 number) but how would I call with my 404 number so it shows on caller ID? Is there a way with the GV app (both iPhone and Android) to choose which CID to show, so I can choose either the 843 or 404 number when placing a call?

Also, my iPhone has it's own work number (801 area code). Would I be limited to using only the primary 843 number on the GV app? Would I be able to use both the 843 and 404 number on the iPhone app to make calls and send/receive texts (on my 801 area code work number line).

Of course I will not give out my new T-Mobile number since I won't actually use it to place any calls (will be using the GV app 100% of the time).

Sorry if this seems obvious, but I am not clear on the logistics.

Not so ninja edit: this may not be pre-paid per-se, but it sorta falls in the prepaid topic since a move to prepaid is what's generating these questions. I didn't see a GV thread anyway.

You can't use the 404 number to dial out. You can only receive calls with it.

If you have 1 android phone, there is no way to call out from 2 different google voice number. Unless you pay for a service like 2nd line or something.

I haven't tried it but line2 is free.

whatever7 fucked around with this message at Jul 24, 2012 around 12:17

# ¿ Jul 24, 2012 12:12

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

Uthor posted:

Alright, I'm down to under $2.50 right now. I'm trying to see how far $35/month takes me; maybe I'll up it to $40/month next month.

I ended up installing Prepaid Widget and it's pretty neat. You set it up to send #BAL#, #MIN#, and #WEB# to get your balance, minutes, and data used (respectively) from TMobile and set up widgets to display that info. It was a little confusing setting up at first, but seems to work nicely. I ended up paying the $2 for the pro version so it automatically updates every 24 hours and after every call that I make.

Or you can use the official TMo Android app, T-Mobile My Account.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2012 01:45

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

Zero VGS posted:

Has anyone ever seen this before? http://www.freedompop.com/

It's a sleeve for iPhones/iPods that is just a 4G hotspot (via the provider ClearWire) with battery.

The gimmick here is that you buy the device for $99, and then they supply you with 500mb of 4G each month for free. It's $10 a gig after that. Allegedly they let you trade unused data with others on social networks.

I would assume that you could probably get this to work with any phone since it's just a hotspot, with case mods or just holding it in proximity. Also, it makes me think that you could buy several up front and trade the extra data to the one you use (i.e. 3 devices for $300 upfront for 1.5gigs a month).

The downside I'd imagine is that if either this startup or ClearWire go out of business, you have a $99 paperweight. They say the 500mb a month is "guaranteed" but don't explain for how long or what happens if it isn't.

Still, I could see myself exploiting this with Google Voice/GrooveIP for something ultimately cheaper than any prepaid plan, at the tradeoff of the least reliable voice service ever.

I can see this work for a cheap low data user. You can just use Opera Mini to compress the bandwidth.

Its not going to work as VOIP. The quality of VOIP is just not here yet. If you just use Skype as call out only you probably can get calls work 60-80% of the time.

# ¿ Aug 1, 2012 15:12

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# ¿ May 19, 2013 02:16

whatever7: Jul 26, 2001; "My ugly duckling"

Guys, if you are on Tmo plan and get the tethering warning page, just change your browser's user agent. Opera 12 IME is the best alternate user agent.

Real simple.

# ¿ Aug 3, 2012 22:46

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