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I'm somewhat interested in Google Voice. Does it have to ring one of my current phones? The main reason I have this phone is so people don't call my cell. Otherwise the 10 cents a minute plan from AT&T might work for me if they don't expire. I'd be surprised if I used more than a couple hundred minutes a year on that line.
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May 1, 2013 20:18
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Caught Cubs Posting
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Devo posted:I'm somewhat interested in Google Voice. Does it have to ring one of my current phones? The main reason I have this phone is so people don't call my cell. All prepaid plans expire the minutes eventually. You can buy old cards with low limits and just add like $10 once every 90 days. So you only use this for outgoing calls I don't understand?
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May 1, 2013 20:25
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Stick100 posted:All prepaid plans expire the minutes eventually. You can buy old cards with low limits and just add like $10 once every 90 days. Basically any time I sign up for a service that wants my phone number I use this one. Home loans, car loans, electric company, etc. Businesses I don't care about answering the phone right away because I can just listen to the voicemail later. Also less chance of my real phone number getting sold that way so I don't get telemarketers calling my cell. And for some reason my boss always calls this number no matter how many times I've told him to just call my cell phone because he doesn't know how to change my number in his phone or something. I've considered just ditching this number many times but I don't want Wells Fargo or whoever getting pissed at me because I don't have a current number on file.
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May 1, 2013 20:29
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Devo posted:Basically any time I sign up for a service that wants my phone number I use this one. Home loans, car loans, electric company, etc. Businesses I don't care about answering the phone right away because I can just listen to the voicemail later. Also less chance of my real phone number getting sold that way so I don't get telemarketers calling my cell. And for some reason my boss always calls this number no matter how many times I've told him to just call my cell phone because he doesn't know how to change my number in his phone or something. Port it over to google voice and don't connect it to device. They can call and leave a voicemail, you'll get an email with the wav file and a transcription. This was the first thing I found that explains what google voice does. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTAZCHz8d9Y I believe they also have a video on the google voice site.
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May 1, 2013 20:40
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That looks like it might work. Thanks for the help. e: except Google Voice doesn't do porting in my area. Oh well, prepaid it is.
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May 1, 2013 20:46
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Devo posted:That looks like it might work. Thanks for the help. FYI, AT&T prepaid works with either $100 that lasts one year, or $25-75 to last 90 days. Under $25 only lasts 30 days. $0.10 a minute with that plan. $100 a year for $0.10 a minute or $9.99 on your voice plan (assuming you don't have mobile share), I'd probably lean towards the $9.99.
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May 1, 2013 20:52
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Yeah that's not really a great deal for a phone I don't really use anyway. I probably should just drop the line. I just wanted to keep using my old phone without a data plan on it 
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May 1, 2013 20:56
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Devo posted:Yeah that's not really a great deal for a phone I don't really use anyway. I probably should just drop the line. I just wanted to keep using my old phone without a data plan on it Get yourself a google voice number, and drop that line. Start giving out the Gvoice number as the one you'll never answer. That way you'll just get voicemails via email and you can call them back when you feel like it. The time it takes to change over a few phone numbers with banks, credit cards, etc. Is time well spent to not need to spend $100+ /yr for a phone you never use.
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May 1, 2013 21:02
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Is buying smartphones off ebay a bad idea? I have tried getting two $80 HTC Evo 4G. The first had a missing or stolen ESN and the second arrived today but the screen does not work at all. Thankfully the return shipping is being covered this time. Unless I've just been really unlucky I'll try glyde or gazelle. I'm planning to go with ting so I have the option for a 2nd line.
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May 2, 2013 04:48
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Chunjee posted:Is buying smartphones off ebay a bad idea? I have tried getting two $80 HTC Evo 4G. The first had a missing or stolen ESN and the second arrived today but the screen does not work at all. Thankfully the return shipping is being covered this time. Unless I've just been really unlucky I'll try glyde or gazelle. I've had good luck with Gazelle's eBay store. Any other phone purchases, I always make sure to check the seller's history and feedback. I would try to buy from someone who is selling multiple phones rather than some random guy who is just throwing his old clunker up on there hoping to get some cash. The people selling more than one phone seem to know what they're talking about when it comes to specifics in the devices.
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May 2, 2013 11:14
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Chunjee posted:Is buying smartphones off ebay a bad idea? I have tried getting two $80 HTC Evo 4G. The first had a missing or stolen ESN and the second arrived today but the screen does not work at all. Thankfully the return shipping is being covered this time. Unless I've just been really unlucky I'll try glyde or gazelle. Craigslist and SA Mart tend to be where I buy/sell. Craigslist is nice because you can insist on meeting them at a store.
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May 2, 2013 14:35
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Venkmanologist posted:I've had good luck with Gazelle's eBay store. Any other phone purchases, I always make sure to check the seller's history and feedback. I would try to buy from someone who is selling multiple phones rather than some random guy who is just throwing his old clunker up on there hoping to get some cash. The people selling more than one phone seem to know what they're talking about when it comes to specifics in the devices. I've also had good luck with Gazelle's eBay store. They sold me an iPad with a iPhone charger instead of an iPad charger and when I complained they gave me a $10 partial refund. I was happy enough with that resolution. The device itself was perfect/with original packaging and shipped well and fast. Ebay general rules: pay with paypal and feel free to request a refund for any reason. I've sold 30 or sold items on eBay and had to process something like 6 refunds usually the user didn't know what they wanted. It's not hard for the seller to process the refund, but they have to request to get the final value fee refunded (also not hard).
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May 2, 2013 17:59
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It's weird because the two I chose specifically because it was easy to see they were "professional" cell phone sellers, 50 available units and hundreds of feedback. It seems pretty clear to me that they just get a huge batch of cellphones and ship them out without much testing; then deal with whatever percent don't actually work. They didn't even have the time to check the ESN/MEID. In this case they had two listings, a heavily used and good condition for $20 more. Figuring I didn't want scratched up piece of crap with a nearly dead battery I opted for the good condition.
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May 2, 2013 18:59
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My Sprint contract will be thankfully be expiring in about a month and a half and I'm looking at my options. I average about 180 minutes a month, 3-400 texts a month, and 300mb of data most months, but up to a couple gigabytes on months when I travel a lot. Right now I'm comparing between Virgin, T-mo, and Voyager. On the T-mo $30 a month plan (100/unlimited/unlimited), does anyone know what the overage rate is for minutes over 100? I looked but couldn't find it on their website. Does anyone here use Voyager? I like that I won't have to buy a new phone, but can't find any reviews of them by people who use it. I apologize if any of this has already been covered in the thread- I looked, but it's a big thread.
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May 3, 2013 06:15
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z16bitsega posted:My Sprint contract will be thankfully be expiring in about a month and a half and I'm looking at my options. I average about 180 minutes a month, 3-400 texts a month, and 300mb of data most months, but up to a couple gigabytes on months when I travel a lot. Right now I'm comparing between Virgin, T-mo, and Voyager. What about Ting? You basically pay for what you use and in your case around $27 tops (based on your usage). I really like their model and am going to stick with it for a while. Edit: Oh and you can most likely bring your current phone over there if you still like using it. cage-free egghead fucked around with this message at 06:54 on May 3, 2013 |
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May 3, 2013 06:33
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z16bitsega posted:My Sprint contract will be thankfully be expiring in about a month and a half and I'm looking at my options. I average about 180 minutes a month, 3-400 texts a month, and 300mb of data most months, but up to a couple gigabytes on months when I travel a lot. Right now I'm comparing between Virgin, T-mo, and Voyager. It's $.10/min, so at 180 minutes, you'll be paying about $38/mo. However, if you're on wifi during your calling times, you can use Vonage to make phone calls, which means you have infinite free minutes during that time.
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May 3, 2013 06:40
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Lblitzer posted:What about Ting? You basically pay for what you use and in your case around $27 tops (based on your usage). I really like their model and am going to stick with it for a while. It can be quite a bit more if you put in 2 gigabytes of data. Ting is great if you talk and text but never use data. Start using a lot of data and the price goes up quickly. Also, I'm getting ~33 a month for 1 device 180 min/300 text/300MB of data. The other problem with Ting is being on Sprint. You must be in an area that has had the network upgraded because when I had Sprint a year ago I could barely get over 10K/sec. I'm with T-Mobile $30/month and couldn't be happier. Other ways around the minute problem is to purchase an obihai and use Google Voice as a VOIP provider or Skype which is $3/month for Skype Premium.
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May 3, 2013 14:35
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Ting's selling the HTC One. drat, if it wasn't for Sprint's lovely rear end network... I hope Sprint's network vision upgrade is a success, Ting is a very compelling service.
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May 3, 2013 14:44
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gariig posted:It can be quite a bit more if you put in 2 gigabytes of data. Ting is great if you talk and text but never use data. Start using a lot of data and the price goes up quickly. Good news for sprints network: you get about double that speed now! (Non LTE)
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May 3, 2013 14:50
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Sprint does actually have OK speeds in some areas. Dayton is one such area. Probably not competitive with other carriers but fast enough that I barely notice it.
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May 3, 2013 15:09
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Tedronai66 posted:Good news for sprints network: you get about double that speed now! (Non LTE) *Not applicable to all areas.
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May 3, 2013 18:50
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The Entire Universe posted:*Not applicable to all areas. I think I found a network worse than Sprint here in Omaha.  US Cellular.They advertise 4G but there is none. A friend of mine came here from Iowa, expected to get 4G as all of the banners and signs say..but nope.
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May 3, 2013 18:56
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AT&T is going to open a brand new prepaid brand: http://www.theverge.com/2013/5/3/4297278/att-reportedly-launching-new-all-in-one-prepaid-brand-june?utm_source=feedly
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May 4, 2013 06:06
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Mister Fister posted:AT&T is going to open a brand new prepaid brand: And I might might be jumping to AT&T soon...wow.
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May 4, 2013 08:22
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Mister Fister posted:AT&T is going to open a brand new prepaid brand: Looks like a probable reason they've been jerking around Straight Talk so much lately.
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May 4, 2013 15:01
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SB35 posted:Looks like a probable reason they've been jerking around Straight Talk so much lately. Exactly my thoughts too. The only question is the coverage. Would it be like AT&T Go Phone or ST's? ST's coverage is the same as AT&T postpaid, roaming to T-Mobile and all. AT&T Go Phone's coverage is AT&T without roaming. The main reason to switch would be to get AT&T's customer service (and not to be worried about random throttling). Someone commenting on The Verge said that AT&T Go Phone's CS is intentionally frustrating but nothing like ST's.
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May 4, 2013 15:11
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Yeah roaming is going to either make or break it. If it has standard Go Phone coverage there's no way in hell I'd even consider making the switch.
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May 5, 2013 04:31
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I live an area with comparably similar service between T-Mobile and AT&T. T-Mobile has also reassigned the spectrum in our area to the iPhone's "4g" spectrum. Can I just buy ST T-Mobile SIMs, cut them appropriately, and use it in a iPhone 4s and a 5?
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May 6, 2013 00:50
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Lrigwoc posted:I live an area with comparably similar service between T-Mobile and AT&T. T-Mobile has also reassigned the spectrum in our area to the iPhone's "4g" spectrum. Yes, but realize that the refarmed spectrum may not be as abundant as their regular aws. So I would still get a new 5 with aws support.
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May 6, 2013 00:53
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Don Lapre posted:Yes, but realize that the refarmed spectrum may not be as abundant as their regular aws. So I would still get a new 5 with aws support. So it may just end up being easier to go with Net10 in the long-run? Or waiting for the supposed $50.00 AT&T prepaid plan to debut?
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May 6, 2013 00:58
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Lrigwoc posted:So it may just end up being easier to go with Net10 in the long-run? Or waiting for the supposed $50.00 AT&T prepaid plan to debut? Just depends on the coverage in your area. I wouldn't buy a non AWS phone to use on tmobile though unless you can live with EDGE, even with the refarming.
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May 6, 2013 01:52
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Don Lapre posted:Just depends on the coverage in your area. I wouldn't buy a non AWS phone to use on tmobile though unless you can live with EDGE, even with the refarming. Gotcha. Thanks!
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May 6, 2013 02:30
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Has anyone used Walmart's T Mobile Family Mobile setup? Getting extremely annoyed at Virgin Mobile right now, because my Reverb lost data on Friday and so far nothing. Tech support has been a big  and it kinda defeats the point of having a smartphone when data doesn't work.
Stupid_Sexy_Flander fucked around with this message at 16:08 on May 6, 2013 |
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May 6, 2013 16:03
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Has anyone used Walmart's T Mobile Family Mobile setup? Please link to that setup. Many of use us or have used the Walmart TMo 30 5 GB 100 minute plan and love it. Obviously it only works if you have decent TMO but if you've been putting up with Virgin then you'll probably love TMO service. As always when talking about the $30 TMo plan, the most commonly suggested phone is the N4, you can get one for $299 with no contract. It's a top of the line phone with user experience many like more than the HTC One or Galaxy S4 for 1/2-1/3 the normal cost.
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May 6, 2013 17:04
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https://www.myfamilymobile.com is the link from the pamphlet I got at the store yesterday. Didn't see anything about a 30$ Tmo plan though.
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May 6, 2013 17:26
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Very bottom of this page: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans
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May 6, 2013 17:39
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Family Mobile is a mvno run by Walmart, and their plans don't look as good of a deal as you can get through straight talk or Tmo's prepaid. The $30 plan everyone calls the Walmart plan really has nothing to do with Walmart at all, it is just a Tmo prepaid plan that I guess was once only available to buy at Walmart.
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May 6, 2013 18:21
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:https://www.myfamilymobile.com is the link from the pamphlet I got at the store yesterday. So it looks like unlocked phone unlimited everything for $40 with 1 Gb fast able to add lines for $30 per month post paid. Several of us have enjoyed TMo service, this seems like a good deal what is your usage/family usage? Personally I'm staying away from post paid even contract free post paid because I don't want the possibility of getting stuck with a $20,000 accidental roaming bill.
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May 6, 2013 19:17
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Can't really decide between the 30$ tmobile plan (some months I do go above 100 mins, but not often), and something like ting. Hopefully I can sell my HTC One V and my Samsung Reverb for enough cash to grab a new phone with minimal irritation though. Has anyone compiled a pros/cons list? I live in La so I know I won't be getting 4g service, but I'd like to know if something has roaming or something extra that charges for when I am out and about.
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May 6, 2013 22:21
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:Can't really decide between the 30$ tmobile plan (some months I do go above 100 mins, but not often), and something like ting. Tmobile Pro: tmobile Ting Con: sprint
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May 6, 2013 22:39
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