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Maybe a long shot, but does anyone have actual, real-life experience with a prepaid network in the greater Santa Barbara area? I'm seriously debating the T-Mo $30 plan (unlimited text, 5gb "4G", 100 voice minutes) and the $45 AT&T Straight Talk plan (unlimited everything, but restrictions on web). If I can't get halfway decent reception on one of these, then...I don't even know.
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Feb 6, 2013 05:55
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 23:51 |
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gariig posted:For T-Mobile buy two SIM cards which was free or up to $3. Activate one of them with a daily plan and try for a few days where you will be out on the town. If you like it activate the other SIM with the $30/month plan. Straight Talk is harder to test but if you can get a friend's AT&T SIM that would give you an idea of how it is. Come to think of it, I think I can find a person who has AT&T service.
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Feb 6, 2013 06:55
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I wanted to share my experience switching to prepaid T-Mobile. I had Sprint, which gave me barely acceptable voice coverage in my area and very slow sub-CDMA data speeds. I had previously purchased Roam Control, which allows you to force supported phones into "roam only" service. This was occasionally the best thing, as it allowed me to roam at 2g speeds on Verizon towers, so I would basically be forcing my phone to receive service instead of having it constantly search for Sprint towers. I had originally signed up for a Sprint SERO plan, which was 500 minutes with text & web for $30/month. I had a phone stolen, and my insurance replacement forced an "upgrade" in my plan -- the same exact plan for $60/month. I was extremely irritated, but obviously I was in need of activating a phone and didn't have time to dick around with a solution. I decided I was ready for a Nexus 4 with prepaid service. I turned on Roam Control, and every night I plugged in my phone, turned the volume off, and streamed Google Music. I was attempting to get my service cancelled with no ETF by "roaming excessively." I was still waiting for delivery of the N4 when my service abruptly, without notice OF ANY KIND, was canceled. There was no ETF. But. They straight up tried to tell me that I couldn't port my number because my account was canceled. Several short internet chats and phone calls later, they restored my account and allowed me to port. They also charged me an extra month for service and wouldn't refund me anything. I was nervous about service with a prepaid carrier. I live near a mid-size California city, and I work in a different suburb. So I need service in the city (not an issue), but also in two different smaller suburbs (possible issue). With no service, I just took the plunge on the $30/month 5gb/100min/text T-Mo plan without testing beforehand. The voice service and data coverage is similar to Sprint. In the city, I get perfect coverage. At home, I'm on WiFi anyway, but the voice coverage is imperfect and I need to be in certain parts of the house. At work, I only get coverage in about 80% of the total area where I am located. The data speeds, even on those rare occasions where I drop to EDGE, beat what I used to get with Sprint. I never once connected to WiMax (lol!), even in goddamn San Francisco, and I got out before their LTE rollout. The voice service is fine. I have had no issues with activation, porting, service, or anything else that has necessitated contacting support (beyond the initial call to port my number). I got a SIM for $0.99 online, but before I got it, I tried to just buy one in-store, and they tried to charge me $20. Bitch please. The first month I went over my 100 minutes, for a total overage of like $3. I don't use 5GB of data and I don't foresee that I will, but I generally use 1-2 and it's nice to know I won't get throttled. For my use, it's really close to the perfect plan.
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Jun 1, 2013 18:54
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Abu Dave posted:I have the worst luck. Straighttalk refuses to get any service in my house, yet T-Mobile does. I'm guessing T-Mobile must have a deal in place to roam onto Verizons towers but Straighttalk doesnt? Anyone know? That's basically impossible, since T-Mo is GSM and Verizon is CDMA. Verizon and Sprint are CDMA, T-Mo and AT&T are GSM.
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Aug 25, 2013 23:45
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