Nexus 4 and T-Mobile "Pay as you Go" prepaid

[Ithuno]

Is it possible to use the N4 and T-Mobile's pay-as-you go plans? I'm not talking about the monthly pre-paid plans (e.g. $30 per month for unlimited web & text + 100 minutes). I mean the pay-as-you go plans that includes the $100 for 1000 minutes which expire after 1 year.

 

[N4Newbie]

Is it possible to use the N4 and T-Mobile's pay-as-you go plans? I'm not talking about the monthly pre-paid plans (e.g. $30 per month for unlimited web & text + 100 minutes). I mean the pay-as-you go plans that includes the $100 for 1000 minutes which expire after 1 year.

I don't see why not...

Go to Support: Topic: Customer Service Chat, start a Chat session, and ask them!

 

[natehoy]

According to T-Mobile's site, you would buy a $1 "SIM Activation Kit" which comes with a SIM and an activation code if you want to bring your own phone.

Keep in mind that the pay-as-you-go plan is a voice/SMS plan only, and provides no mobile data. If you're good with that, $100 should buy you a quite happy year of service, and you can always use WiFi where it is available to do all your data-centric stuff.

I'd start by purchasing the $10 initial card which gives you a half hour of talk time over 90 days. You can always "recharge" that plan with the $100 card when you are running low on minutes, once you've confirmed it all works to your satisfaction (and if it doesn't, your total outlay is under $15).

 

[Ithuno]

Keep in mind that the pay-as-you-go plan is a voice/SMS plan only, and provides no mobile data. If you're good with that, $100 should buy you a quite happy year of service, and you can always use WiFi where it is available to do all your data-centric stuff.

Yep, that's exactly my hope. I carry around my antiquated cell phone for emergency/very important calls only and wind up using about 50 mins per month (no date plan). I have an iPod touch which I use all the time (WiFi only obviously). Having a single device to do both these functions, and also add in a much better camera plus Groove IP + Google Voice for VoIP phone calls and text messages while on WiFi and I'll be a very happy camper.

 

[davey11]

Wow this is a nice option. 80% of my data usage is on wifi anyway and I hardly get phone calls so I could save major bucks. VZ rapes me at $85/month. When I was on pay as you go on att several years back, $100 would last 3 months.

 

[natehoy]

Yep, that's exactly my hope. I carry around my antiquated cell phone for emergency/very important calls only and wind up using about 50 mins per month (no date plan). I have an iPod touch which I use all the time (WiFi only obviously). Having a single device to do both these functions, and also add in a much better camera plus Groove IP + Google Voice for VoIP phone calls and text messages while on WiFi and I'll be a very happy camper.

I'd say pick up the $10 card and a $1 SIM and give it a shot, then. If it works out, and especially if you start using GrooveIP a lot when in WiFi signal areas, that $10 card might well last you the three months until it expires.

I mentioned this on another thread, but I'll repeat it here - if you ever decide to add data, keep in mind that T-Mo doesn't offer data on their "partner"/roaming networks, though they do offer voice and SMS. But if you decide to start getting into data, it might be time to look into AT&T-based StraightTalk or something, and the Nexus 4 will support that just fine. Or if you live in a pretty urban area where T-Mobile is offering the service, you'll be fine.

 

[natehoy]

Wow this is a nice option. 80% of my data usage is on wifi anyway and I hardly get phone calls so I could save major bucks. VZ rapes me at $85/month. When I was on pay as you go on att several years back, $100 would last 3 months.

You can also look into other plans that include data and are a LOT cheaper than $85/month. StraightTalk is $45 a month, and includes unlimited (*) Voice, SMS, and Data.

(*) Unlimited doesn't really mean unlimited. It means they have soft limits that they don't publish. Most people seem to be OK with data up to about 2GB a month, for example. Some people can use a lot more than that in markets that have fewer customers and more towers and not have any problems. But the nice thing about prepaid is that they can only cut off service or throttle it - they can't start charging you hundreds and hundreds of dollars in overage fees. You buy the card up front and you're only committing to $45 at a time. If you don't like the service, stop buying cards and find another provider.

 

[Ithuno]

I'd say pick up the $10 card and a $1 SIM and give it a shot, then. If it works out, and especially if you start using GrooveIP a lot when in WiFi signal areas, that $10 card might well last you the three months until it expires.

I mentioned this on another thread, but I'll repeat it here - if you ever decide to add data, keep in mind that T-Mo doesn't offer data on their "partner"/roaming networks, though they do offer voice and SMS. But if you decide to start getting into data, it might be time to look into AT&T-based StraightTalk or something, and the Nexus 4 will support that just fine. Or if you live in a pretty urban area where T-Mobile is offering the service, you'll be fine.

Good tips, thanks. I'm going to try to get confirmation that the N4 will work with the pay-as-you-go from T-Mobile before I actually purchase the phone. I'd hate to buy it then find out this wasn't possible. T-Mobile's chat support is currently unavailable.

 

[saeufer]

Good tips, thanks. I'm going to try to get confirmation that the N4 will work with the pay-as-you-go from T-Mobile before I actually purchase the phone. I'd hate to buy it then find out this wasn't possible. T-Mobile's chat support is currently unavailable.

It'll definitely work; the N4 works even without a SIM. As others have mentioned, you'll have NO DATA over T-Mobile's network, though. Unless you live your entire life covered by wifi, though, I bet you get addicted to the N4 and have to trade up to a plan with data in a couple months

Also, once you've spent $100, your minutes last a year, and any refill extends all the minutes. My "backup" phone has been live for 4+ years for about $120 (total).

 

[stockandroidguy]

On the $30 month plan 100 min unlimited text and unlimited data (4g speeds up to 5 gigs) as of now. Awesome plan suits my needs perfectly.

 

[N4Newbie]

On the $30 month plan 100 min unlimited text and unlimited data (4g speeds up to 5 gigs) as of now. Awesome plan suits my needs perfectly.

Me too; I don't talk much...

My wife however talks A LOT but uses very little data. So I put her N4 on TMO's $50 / 1500 minutes/texts, 100MB data plan.

Between the two of us we will be spending $80/month instead of $185 we had been paying Sprint.

 

[Ithuno]

Hmm, so I just noticed this:
Prepaid Cell Phone Plans, No Annual Contract | Monthly4G | T-Mobile

Of the two options there the Mirco SIM card, which I believe the N4 is, says "Compatible with select T-Mobile phones" and when you click "Learn More" it does not list any Prepaid - Pay As You Go plan options on the right. The regular SIM card (non-Micro) option does list Preapid - Pay As You Go options when you click "Learn More".

I'm thinking this might mean the N4 potentially won't work with the T-Mobile Micro SIM card, at least not the plan I want. Gotta give them a call, their chat support has been unavailable most of the day.

 

[N4Newbie]

Hmm, so I just noticed this:
Prepaid Cell Phone Plans, No Annual Contract | Monthly4G | T-Mobile

Of the two options there the Mirco SIM card, which I believe the N4 is, says "Compatible with select T-Mobile phones" and when you click "Learn More" it does not list any Prepaid - Pay As You Go plan options on the right. The regular SIM card (non-Micro) option does list Preapid - Pay As You Go options when you click "Learn More".

I'm thinking this might mean the N4 potentially won't work with the T-Mobile Micro SIM card, at least not the plan I want. Gotta give them a call, their chat support has been unavailable most of the day.

Well, FWIW, when I bought two SIM cards from T-Mobile online, they didn't have any micro Sims in stock, so I got regular full-size SIMs instead. I cut one of them down by hand with a sharp scissors and a template you can easily locate on the web. The other one I took to my local T-Mobile store and asked if they could swap it out for me (read online that they will often do this). Instead, he offered to cut it with a device that looks a bit like a hole punch and can be found online selling for around $10.

Pay-as-you-go SIMs and Micro SIMs are here Prepaid Cell Phone Plans, No Annual Contract | Monthly4G | T-Mobile.

 

[natehoy]

Me too; I don't talk much...

My wife however talks A LOT but uses very little data. So I put her N4 on TMO's $50 / 1500 minutes/texts, 100MB data plan.

Between the two of us we will be spending $80/month instead of $185 we had been paying Sprint.

If your wife's plan doesn't work out for her, StraightTalk also has an unlimited voice/talk/data (not really unlimited, but your wife is unlikely to break their reasonable use clauses with 1,500 minutes) for $45 a month, and they have a T-Mobile and an AT&T option.

 

[N4Newbie]

If your wife's plan doesn't work out for her, StraightTalk also has an unlimited voice/talk/data (not really unlimited, but your wife is unlikely to break their reasonable use clauses with 1,500 minutes) for $45 a month, and they have a T-Mobile and an AT&T option.

Thanks for the reminder.

And, I actually misspoke above: T-Mobile's $50 plan is unlimited talk & test plus 100 MB data.

 

[natehoy]

Thanks for the reminder.

And, I actually misspoke above: T-Mobile's $50 plan is unlimited talk & test plus 100 MB data.

Yes, I saw that on their site. Of course, it's probably subject to the same "reasonable unlimited" clause as Straight Talk's.

Either way. It only saves you $5 a month, and offers more data that your wife may or may not ever use. It's not an earth-shattering savings like, say, switching from a postpaid plan to prepaid.

But it's still $60 a year and gives her more data in case she ever decides to get hooked on Google+ or streaming media. So it may or may not be worth looking into.

 

[Mike_Walks]

So did this work out, I was planning on doing the exact same thing as you and didn't want to pay for a phone where the plan i'm using won't work

 

[olgeezer44]

It'll definitely work; the N4 works even without a SIM. As others have mentioned, you'll have NO DATA over T-Mobile's network, though. Unless you live your entire life covered by wifi, though, I bet you get addicted to the N4 and have to trade up to a plan with data in a couple months

Also, once you've spent $100, your minutes last a year, and any refill extends all the minutes. My "backup" phone has been live for 4+ years for about $120 (total).

My wife and I had these types of plans with Vzn and Att with our flip phones. We hardly ever used those, since we have free voip at the house, exce[t while away from home. We got tired of trying to keep track of 30 day or 90 day refills so we would just pay $100 for a year. I think we got 400 minutes. We figured that we were paying $8.33 per month for the benefit of having a cell phone. A few weeks ago we decided that we really need some of the smartphone (with a large screen that we can see) features--especially a master calendar, so we decided on N4's. We are currently on the TMbl family $80/mo. for 2 phones and we added 2gb each for an additional total of $20. We are going to try this for a couple of months and see if this is what we need knowing that it may not be. When we dumped our flip phones, we both had balances left on them of around $150 each, which we obviously lost. I don't think that Att would have allowed the transfer of the prepaid phone balance if we had stayed with them. We couldn't even use our N4s with Vzn. The big carriers have really limited consumer choices, IMO.

 

[vlee]

Not too related to the subject at hand, but...

When I ditched my flip phone and joined my brother's family plan, i had a fair amt of $ on it as well. I ended up looking for charities that accepted texted money, such as red cross and donated to them. I figured since I couldn't reclaim my money, I'd rather see it go to a good cause than to my original carrier who wouldn't refund. (Not that I really had any expectation of it being refunded).

Anyhow, just a thought for people in that position needing to jettison some of their prepaid funds.

Eg-
By Text Message | American Red Cross | Text Donations says:

"Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief".

 

[olgeezer44]

Not too related to the subject at hand, but...

When I ditched my flip phone and joined my brother's family plan, i had a fair amt of $ on it as well. I ended up looking for charities that accepted texted money, such as red cross and donated to them. I figured since I couldn't reclaim my money, I'd rather see it go to a good cause than to my original carrier who wouldn't refund. (Not that I really had any expectation of it being refunded).

Anyhow, just a thought for people in that position needing to jettison some of their prepaid funds.

Eg-
By Text Message | American Red Cross | Text Donations says:

This really bums me out. I wish we would have though of tjis. Duh! We already ported our numbers.