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Anybody who has post a ton in this thread (is there a way to find out?) and want to help me to maintain the google doc, feel free to PM me you email, I will add you as an editor of the document.
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Jul 12, 2014 03:21
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Loucks posted:My wife needs a phone for the next week for reasons (FedEx sucks). All she needs is text and voice, no data. We do need to get the phone in person this weekend. Is a Go Phone from Walmart on the $25 unlimited voice/SMS plan with no data the most part economical way to do this? Are any of the low end handsets worth a drat? Is there a better way? Buying a used phone is basically a non starter because I won't be around to troubleshoot, and we have no old handsets to activate. How many days is it? You can get a goPhone flip phone for like $15 and then its $2 a day for unlimited phone/text.
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Jul 12, 2014 03:58
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I should have the new thread done after the weekend, most likely around Tuesday. Birthday weekend for family members (including myself, actually) so it'll be a busy one. I actually got most of it finished though. 
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Jul 12, 2014 04:32
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Athenry posted:How many days is it? You can get a goPhone flip phone for like $15 and then its $2 a day for unlimited phone/text. Four days. I didn't see that option, so thanks. She'll have zero use for a smartphone without data, so that seems like the best plan.
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Jul 12, 2014 13:11
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Am I able to purchase the Cricket sim and plan and whatever and wait a while until I activate it? I'd like to purchase it now and then switch away from T-Mobile as I get closer to the end of my billing cycle. Unless T-Mobile does prorated billing because Verizon doesn't.
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Jul 13, 2014 17:57
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Cojawfee posted:Am I able to purchase the Cricket sim and plan and whatever and wait a while until I activate it? I'd like to purchase it now and then switch away from T-Mobile as I get closer to the end of my billing cycle. Unless T-Mobile does prorated billing because Verizon doesn't. Yes.
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Jul 13, 2014 18:19
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For the record, T-Mobile prorates
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Jul 13, 2014 19:01
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Leaving Sprint from a contract because while their customer service has been great to me, the insane price combined with lackluster signal in my area is upsetting. So, some quick questions: If you get a phone from Cricket, will you be able to just switch the SIM out and go to another plan with that same phone down the line? Also, has anyone had any issues with straight talk? I would like to use AT&T's networks in my area because I hear good things (and I can't find a tool to find out which company has the best coverage in my area), and voice roaming would be kind of important to me. Last but not least: On motorola's website for the moto x, they sell it at a discount "Unlocked GSM" with a "Net10 sim". For some reason this is cheaper than without a net10 sim. Does anyone know if it can still be used on AT&T's network?
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Jul 13, 2014 19:49
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Cojawfee posted:Am I able to purchase the Cricket sim and plan and whatever and wait a while until I activate it? I'd like to purchase it now and then switch away from T-Mobile as I get closer to the end of my billing cycle. Unless T-Mobile does prorated billing because Verizon doesn't. Yep, no problem. You can hold it for awhile and activate when you're ready. If you port, the port won't complete until you activate the SIM. mugrim posted:Leaving Sprint from a contract because while their customer service has been great to me, the insane price combined with lackluster signal in my area is upsetting. If you get a phone from Cricket I think it's locked to Cricket, but they'll give you an unlock code after 6 months. At least that's what it was with the Moto G. I'd stick with Cricket over Straight Talk. Cricket is using AT&T towers and service now and is just better in general that ST ever was (I used ST for a year). Cricket is cheaper, easier to deal with, has a nice app, good service, etc. The unlocked with Net10 SIM is okay to buy, it's not locked. You can just disregard the Net10 SIM and use whatever SIM you want.
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Jul 13, 2014 21:01
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SB35 posted:If you get a phone from Cricket I think it's locked to Cricket, but they'll give you an unlock code after 6 months. At least that's what it was with the Moto G. I thought Straighttalk used AT&T towers as well, and had roaming with voice services on T-Mobile.
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Jul 13, 2014 22:55
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mugrim posted:I thought Straighttalk used AT&T towers as well, and had roaming with voice services on T-Mobile. They do, you're right. Cricket and ST have the same service using AT&T towers. But Cricket does it better, and is actually cheaper as long as you use Autopay. Only downside is LTE/HSPA speeds are limited to 8mb/4mb respectively. The speeds are still plenty fast to do everything I need to do on my phone (except win internet dick-measuring contests).
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Jul 14, 2014 00:27
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Looks like T-Mobile modified their prepaid plans - Also can't tell if they've axed the dork plan or if its just not available on the list because I already have it. It used to be it showed the plan you were already on with "current plan" noted.
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Jul 15, 2014 21:43
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Geoj posted:Looks like T-Mobile modified their prepaid plans - They show it near the bottom of the prepaid plans. $80 is pretty steep for Tmobile even with unlimited. If their coverage was as good as Verizon or AT&T it would be a great deal if you use a lot of data.
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Jul 15, 2014 22:08
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Geoj posted:Looks like T-Mobile modified their prepaid plans - It's still listed on the website, so it's probably still there.
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Jul 15, 2014 22:09
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Geoj posted:Looks like T-Mobile modified their prepaid plans - That's how it's always been. When you sign up online the first time with a fresh sim you can choose the dork plan but you can never again choose the dork plan. You have to get a new sim. This also applies if you ever cancel a plan.
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Jul 15, 2014 22:36
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^ It looked like this as recently as March of this year: 
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Jul 15, 2014 22:48
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Yes, I'm still working on the new OP. Is Cricket's site constantly in a zip code redirect loop when trying to look at plans/phones/most things not on the main page for anyone else? I've tried Chrome, IE, and Firefox. Also, it looks like U-Prepaid is now just US Cellular period.
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Jul 17, 2014 04:52
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http://www.droid-life.com/2014/07/15/verizon-announces-4g-lte-connectivity-for-allset-prepaid-plans/ Verizon's prepaid has 4G LTE for it's prepaid plans and it looks like you can bring any Verizon device onto the network now. $45 a month gets you 1 gig of data (using autopay). Any other additional data lasts 90 days. Doesn't sound too bad?
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Jul 17, 2014 05:20
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Mister Fister posted:http://www.droid-life.com/2014/07/15/verizon-announces-4g-lte-connectivity-for-allset-prepaid-plans/ It makes it easier to recommend Verizon prepaid, since you can get a real smartphone now and not be forced to be able to only use the awful 3G network, but honestly, there are still better value options in prepaid at the same price or lower. The T-Mobile nerd plan still can't be beat, and Cricket offers way more data at the same price (or $5 cheaper if you use autopay,) with the only caveat being the throttled speed, and both allow you to bring in any unlocked GSM phone. I would recommend it if someone was in the lovely situation of Verizon being the best, or only viable, option in their area - which is certainly better than before. ThermoPhysical posted:Is Cricket's site constantly in a zip code redirect loop when trying to look at plans/phones/most things not on the main page for anyone else? I've tried Chrome, IE, and Firefox. I was having that problem with Chrome, but using Firefox gave me no issues, so who knows.
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Jul 17, 2014 08:50
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Merv Burger posted:It makes it easier to recommend Verizon prepaid, since you can get a real smartphone now and not be forced to be able to only use the awful 3G network, but honestly, there are still better value options in prepaid at the same price or lower. The T-Mobile nerd plan still can't be beat, and Cricket offers way more data at the same price (or $5 cheaper if you use autopay,) with the only caveat being the throttled speed, and both allow you to bring in any unlocked GSM phone. I would recommend it if someone was in the lovely situation of Verizon being the best, or only viable, option in their area - which is certainly better than before. Yep. It just got a lot better for those who must have Verizon as their carrier. My father falls into this category, guess I can get him off postpaid now when his contract is up.
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Jul 17, 2014 09:12
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ThermoPhysical posted:Yes, I'm still working on the new OP. You can probably drop all U-Prepaid / US Cellular stuff, it only ever got one or two comments in this thread. And of course drop MetroPCS as their own network, as they have been absorbed.
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Jul 17, 2014 11:50
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I am trying to find a 200-500MB, 300 minute-ish plan for my wife. It seems to me that there are very little option in this kind of frugal plans, and all of them are from Sprint. Right now my only option is pretty much Ring Plus $10 plan (300MB 400min). From the GSM side, the closest thing is Lycamobile $23 plan (100MB unlimited min) what do you guys think? whatever7 fucked around with this message at 12:28 on Jul 17, 2014 |
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Jul 17, 2014 12:26
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whatever7 posted:I am trying to find a 200-500MB, 300 minute-ish plan for my wife. It seems to me that there are very little option in this kind of frugal plans, and all of them are from Sprint. Which carrier do you prefer? Basically for 500mb on AT&T or T-Mobile your looking at $30-35. Unlimited mins, SMS, 500mb data. Ting or ringplus have what you want, but you're stuck on Sprint.
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Jul 17, 2014 13:50
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Rastor posted:Thanks again for making a new OP. No problem! Awesome, It'd make things easier. :v I was going to focus mainly on Sprint, Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile anyway. That's all we seem to get in the thread in terms of people asking about them...
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Jul 17, 2014 19:08
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Just a head's up for fellow phone lurkers considering a switch to Cricket: the support is terrible. Worse than any Comcast or utility company I've ever had to deal with kind of terrible. I attempted to order a new SIM from their website for my gf's cell, including her info for a port. Needless to say it didn't work out; I got an email 2 days after ordering saying that the order couldn't be processed due to an issue with the port. The email included a support phone number which no longer works. Calling the main support line will eventually connect you with a live human being who apparently has no idea what the words "Sim", "port" or "cell phone" mean. I'm not generalizing here, because I think I've talked to every single person at their call center. Talking to a supervisor got me a phone number to the old AIO porting team, but they informed me that they're unable to actually help with ports anymore (unless I already have a Sim card in hand which was my whole problem to begin with). Long story short, I was on the phone with about ten different reps for roughly four hours while getting frequently hung up on or transferred to dead numbers before I figured out that great customer support is no longer an AIO/Cricket hallmark. Maybe things will get better after this merger works out the kinks, but for now I'm staying far, far away.
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Jul 19, 2014 08:16
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peterjmatt posted:Just a head's up for fellow phone lurkers considering a switch to Cricket: the support is terrible. Worse than any Comcast or utility company I've ever had to deal with kind of terrible. To be honest, if there's a problem with the port, it could easily be the other carrier dragging their rear end. Carriers HATE porting because they not only lose a number but a customer as well. Who were you porting from? Also, I don't believe that no one at Cricket has any idea what a port or SIM card is. Especially since I know they all read from scripts and they have to mention ports as it's by law that they must allow them. Sorry you had a bad CS experience and all but I really think you're exaggerating. Cricket's new CS isn't the best, but it's a lot better than what it used to be when Leap Wireless owned them.
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Jul 19, 2014 13:45
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I know for a fact that the cricket porting specialist team still does help with porting phone numbers. My brother just did it two weeks ago, and another friend earlier this week. I'm sorry you had so much trouble. Do you have PMs? I can send you the email of a porting specialist who I know can help you. I personally really love cricket service it's so much easier to manage then straight talk and less guessing as to whether not my data will actually work.
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Jul 19, 2014 14:49
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That really sucks, my port went flawlessly. I activated my sim and ported my number over. My number for calling was instant, I was able to make calls. Texting fully ported over less than two hours later. My T-mobile account was closed instantly, so I hope they just take my money from the autopay or they send me a bill or something.
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Jul 19, 2014 15:05
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I was trying to port from AT&T postpaid (contract is over). I was honestly shocked at how little help every single person I talked to was. Maybe I just got really, really unlucky but it's definitely soured me on a company I've heard almost nothing but good things about. I was planning on driving an hour to their only store in the greater Boston area to talk to someone in person, but the more I think about it the less appealing it sounds. And I don't have PM, but thanks for the offer.
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Jul 19, 2014 16:36
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peterjmatt posted:I was trying to port from AT&T postpaid (contract is over). I was honestly shocked at how little help every single person I talked to was. Maybe I just got really, really unlucky but it's definitely soured me on a company I've heard almost nothing but good things about. Honestly, it sounds like this is mostly on AT&T and not just Cricket. When you ask a company to do a port, they basically take your account number and login information, contact your carrier, and ask them to release the number to them. This can take up to 3 days or so but it can also take a lot longer. The FCC forces carriers to allow this, but they don't mandate a specific time to do it, just make sure it's done. TracFone is very well-known for taking weeks or months just to port a number to another carrier because they hate to let numbers go. If it was on AT&T's end, there's nothing Cricket could've done about it. Despite Cricket being owned by AT&T, they're still a whole other company that AT&T just lays claim to. You probably would've gotten more help if you went to Cricket physically (and probably talked to AT&T as well) but I get if you're upset about it.
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Jul 19, 2014 16:43
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peterjmatt posted:I was trying to port from AT&T postpaid (contract is over). I was honestly shocked at how little help every single person I talked to was. Maybe I just got really, really unlucky but it's definitely soured me on a company I've heard almost nothing but good things about. Go to the physical store. They can get you sorted pretty quickly. You had an unfortunate experience but the store can help you out and it's a lot better than it could be. Try porting from straight talk or Google voice; there's an exercise in patience.
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Jul 19, 2014 17:13
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I was thinking of porting to GV because I wanted to go with a new carrier, but there's a  fee. That kinda sucks, but to be honest that's about what I'd pay for a cheapy at&t phone to port from, so enh.
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Jul 19, 2014 18:25
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Stupid_Sexy_Flander posted:I was thinking of porting to GV because I wanted to go with a new carrier, but there's a Jesus the service GV offers far outweight 20 dollars.
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Jul 19, 2014 19:58
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whatever7 posted:Jesus the service GV offers far outweight 20 dollars. I would bet $20 it will be the victim of a Google "spring cleaning" soon. I don't trust Google to keep it alive in any meaningful way.
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Jul 19, 2014 23:41
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Venkmanologist posted:I would bet $20 it will be the victim of a Google "spring cleaning" soon. I don't trust Google to keep it alive in any meaningful way. You'd probably lose that bet. They'll be merging Voice into Hangouts http://www.droid-life.com/2014/07/01/hangouts-debug-activates-migrate-to-google-voice-menu-doesnt-work/
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Jul 19, 2014 23:49
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Venkmanologist posted:I would bet $20 it will be the victim of a Google "spring cleaning" soon. I don't trust Google to keep it alive in any meaningful way. Google Voice is not Google Wave. Google charged people money for it. They have obligation to keep the service running. The reason Google doesn't push it is that its too powerful and it gets too much resistance from the carriers. But it doesn't mean Google will stop the service.
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Jul 20, 2014 02:01
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For the T-Mobile section, I'm thinking of really just pointing people to just go with T-Mobile's own plans and skip out on SIMple Mobile and ST/Net10 (pretty much all the same carrier anyway). I'll talk about Harbor Mobile though since it's got decent plans (the $60/mo allows for tethering, apparently!). Would people be ok with this?
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Jul 20, 2014 06:13
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ThermoPhysical posted:For the T-Mobile section, I'm thinking of really just pointing people to just go with T-Mobile's own plans and skip out on SIMple Mobile and ST/Net10 (pretty much all the same carrier anyway). I'll talk about Harbor Mobile though since it's got decent plans (the $60/mo allows for tethering, apparently!). I wonder if Harbor Mobile can issue numbers in the 402 area code.
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Jul 20, 2014 06:52
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FAUXTON posted:
Looks like Harbor is business only...but the new prepaid feels heavily against ST, Net10, SIMple Mobile, and TracFone in general.
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Jul 20, 2014 22:27
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I assume everybody already knows this, but Straight Talk, Net10, SIMple Mobile, and TracFone are all the same company. And said company's reputation for customer service seems to get worse all the time.
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Jul 20, 2014 23:00
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