T-Mobile 4G $30 Plan SIM Card

[jpr]

This $30 plan with unlimited data is only for New Customer? What if I decide that I need to get a more expensive plan, and then want to go back to this $30 plan? Can I do that? I am kinda confused on this whole New Customer thing.

Thanks

It's for new activations, so if you wanted to get a new number you could do it again, but you could not switch from it to another plan and switch back. The main reason for having this cheap plan is to get to new customers. They don't want people they've already got switching to it and losing money. I'm sure they also hope that some people they get to switch to Tmo for this plan will find the voice minutes too little and will upgrade their plan.

 

[Lanhoj]

Also, what happens if Tmo decides to cancel that plan - does everyone lose it or just no new people can get it (the way it works with contract plans)?

...I'm sure they also hope that some people they get to switch to Tmo for this plan will find the voice minutes too little and will upgrade their plan.

Ya...the suckers that don't have Androids w/ Google Voice or smartphones with access to Apps that can do Data calls *cough cough* Blackberries *cough cough*
Does WP7 have those types of Apps, even?
Hmm, anyways, ya those that don't have real smartphones.


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[jpr]

Also, what happens if Tmo decides to cancel that plan - does everyone lose it or just no new people can get it (the way it works with contract plans)?

Although I can't speak for Tmobile, I would expect they would let existing prepaid customers on the plan keep it as long as the customer kept continuous service. Otherwise, they'd end up losing a lot of customers they just got, since the next cheapest plan is $50 I think, which is getting close to doubling your bill, even though it's still cheap compared to others. But I only switched to them a month ago so I don't have any personal experience with how they deal with these things. But people could be driven away to the other cheap prepaid carriers and I think they'd keep that in mind.

 

[Lanhoj]

...But people could be driven away to the other cheap prepaid carriers and I think they'd keep that in mind.

True, true.

Anyhow, hope they still have when I move this month.


Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Android Central Forums

 

[Andrew Martonik]

Also, what happens if Tmo decides to cancel that plan - does everyone lose it or just no new people can get it (the way it works with contract plans)?

There's really no reason for them to keep letting you use it if they choose not to offer it anymore. There's no contract here so they can just stop offering it at any time. In that case, they'd let you finish out your month then you'd either have to switch to one of their other plans or leave.

Luckily, it's really the market forces that will keep them from canning this plan without replacing it with a comparable one. They know that the prepaid customers can (and will) leave for someone else if you change their plan.

 

[myrcgarage]

after activated the SIM, how long before I can get data?

 

[jpr]

Right after you pay the $30 you will get a text message confirmation and be good to go. I did my activation with the phone off and by the time it booted up I had data. If your phone was on when you activated, you may need to reboot to get the correct phone number however. I suggest activating with it off so you have a fresh boot with your new number from the activation.

 

[myrcgarage]

Thanks. That was the exact problem. I had to reboot the phone.

How do I use Google Voice mail? I tried to use Google Voice as voice mail under phone setup but it said cannot forward and I should contact carrier. Is it possible to use Google voice mail with prepaid?

 

[scottyhifi]

Have you tried to setup voicemail online? Under Settings > Phones you will need to add the new phone number and then you will get an "activate Google voicemail on this phone" option.

 

[jpr]

In order to do this you have to use your Google number, not your TMO number. You cannot forward on TMO prepaid. But you can use your Google number as your main number if you want to use Google voicemail (you can port your number to GV if you want) and then use the Google voice app and a VOIP app to make and receive calls through your GV number.

There are good instructions on XDA Dev forum and some other places. Don't know if someone wrote it all out on this forum or not. Even though I've read all about it and looked at all the settings awhile back, I'm not using this setup so I don't recall all the details off hand. But to answer your question, no you cannot set up TMO prepaid to forward to Google Voice. So you have to do it the other way around and use GV (through apps) to send calls through your phone.

 

[myrcgarage]

Thanks for the information.

 

[chuckiewuckie]

I ran into a glitch when I ordered my T-Mobile sim card. Somehow, they managed to ship me a sim card with an invalid activation code, so I had to call a T-Mobile rep to activate it. When I went to set up my account inline, the $30 100 min./unlimited data/text plan wasn't available. They informed me that the plan I wanted was only available with online activation, which I would've done had they sent me a valid activation code. After numerous calls, explaining the problem and that I had an unlocked phone and didn't have to do business with T-Mobile, I finally got someone who realized that what I was asking for wasn't unreasonable and set up the account for me. It was distressing to me, though, that I encountered so many T-Mobile CS reps who were willing to say, "No, we can't do that."

 

[jpr]

Yeah, I'm not of fan of TMO customer service reps. I didn't have an activation problem but I called them for something else and it was idiotic the conversations I had and the all that I had to go through to finally talk to someone who even understood and spoke English and could deal with my very simple issue. Right now, I'm willing to put up with it for the price and considering the alternatives and just hope I don't have to deal with them much. But one of the good things about being on prepaid is that I can leave anytime I want.

People have said the prepaid support people are different so I don't know what contract support is like, but considering that TMO is only still in business because of their prepaid offerings, they need to step up support and start focusing on retaining prepaid customers. Even in the countries they outsource this to, it wouldn't cost them anymore to hire people who speak English and have the very low intelligence level it takes to handle these very basic issues. There are lots of people in those countries who can handle this and will do it for low pay and be happy to work for T-Mobile. They clearly don't have any kind of screening process at all for their prepaid reps.

 

[Daithi66]

I used T-Mobile's non-data pay as you go service before getting a Galaxy Nexus phone. After getting my new phone, I went into my local T-Mobile to get the $30 plan. They didn't have a clue what I was talking about. After going home, a bit ticked off, and looking at the T-Mobile website again, I figured out that I needed to go to either Walmart or sign up online through the T-Mobile website. The T-Mobile stores don't offer this plan.

I wanted to keep my old number, so I went to Walmart so that I could speak to a human. I took the SIM out of my old phone and tried activating it under the $30 plan. No dice. It is for new activations only, so I needed to buy a new SIM card. Walmart didn't have a SIM card (unless you bought a phone), so it was back to T-Mobile. While trying to activate with the old SIM card the tech from T-Mobile said it was going to cost $6. When I was at the T-Mobile store they said their tech didn't know what she was talking about, and the cost was $22. I complained briefly, but at this point I just wanted to get the thing working, so I paid the $22 bucks. (Note: if you have an existing T-Mobile SIM, tell them you were moving it to a new phone and dropped the SIM and lost it. They will give you a new one for free. I found this out afterwards.)

Back to Walmart. The guy at Walmart calls T-Mobile again and this time I get the phone activated, and they also took care of transferring my old phone number to the new SIM. I was told by the T-Mobile tech that it would take 24 hours before it would start working, but I checked 30 minutes later and it was all set.

 

[Ldubz83]

I just got it done. I ordered a sim card package from t-mobile. When it arrived I tried to activate it online but the activation code was invalid so I called up tmob and they provided me with a new activation code. I put in the new activation code and sim IMEI and then selected the $30 plan through the website. Paid the $30 online. Then I called up t-mobile and told them I wanted to port my old number over to my newly activated account. I ran into a small problem because I my existing number was with T-mobile as well, so you need to tell t-mobile to cancel the account associated with your old number so that it's available to port to your newly activated account. Once that was taken care of, the port took a couple hours to complete.

 

[cognus]

QUESTION: you guys that are successfully using Nexus on T-mo - you own/use the"GT-i9250", correct? Pentaband? I'm going to find one but gotta make sure I get the right model, unlocked, right radio, etc.... I currently use the T-mo monthly with my Optimus and it has been all I need and then some. In a typical day I keep Data turned off all day - I only switch it on when I'm traveling, in need of something via web, and can't find a convenient WIFI. to my knowledge I've never overrun my data allocation. when I'm in the office I'm on wifi all the way.... out to eat, wifi - out to lunch - wifi - even at church ha!! no kiddin'

speaking of WIFI - does WIFI calling work pretty much flawlessly on the stocker ROM?

 

[Andrew Martonik]

QUESTION: you guys that are successfully using Nexus on T-mo - you own/use the"GT-i9250", correct? Pentaband? I'm going to find one but gotta make sure I get the right model, unlocked, right radio, etc.... I currently use the T-mo monthly with my Optimus and it has been all I need and then some. In a typical day I keep Data turned off all day - I only switch it on when I'm traveling, in need of something via web, and can't find a convenient WIFI. to my knowledge I've never overrun my data allocation. when I'm in the office I'm on wifi all the way.... out to eat, wifi - out to lunch - wifi - even at church ha!! no kiddin'

The i9250 Galaxy Nexus is the unlocked model. i515 is the CDMA/LTE one, don't want that.

Why are you trying to buy a GNex though? The Nexus 4 is a great price.

speaking of WIFI - does WIFI calling work pretty much flawlessly on the stocker ROM?

Yes it's not the strongest signal, but it works.

 

[cognus]

well, that is a perfectly rational question andrew. to be honest I had just skimmed the details on the nex4 and didn't pay attention to the pricing - when I saw the lower $299 price my brain filter went "with a 2 year contract" - which I don't do.
I shall take your advice. in no particular hurry.
sounds like a great device if there are no early-life buggies

The i9250 Galaxy Nexus is the unlocked model. i515 is the CDMA/LTE one, don't want that.

Why are you trying to buy a GNex though? The Nexus 4 is a great price.



Yes it's not the strongest signal, but it works.

 

[synchronous]

I have been using the T-Mobile pay as you go plan for many years, I am planning on getting a nexus 4 and decided to go with the 100 min unlimited data. I still have about 50 dollars in my account. Is it possible to transfer my balance and number with a new Sim card ? If so should I activate online first and then call customer service.

 

[patruns]

I have been using the T-Mobile pay as you go plan for many years, I am planning on getting a nexus 4 and decided to go with the 100 min unlimited data. I still have about 50 dollars in my account. Is it possible to transfer my balance and number with a new Sim card ? If so should I activate online first and then call customer service.

Considering that the plan is intended for new customers (new activation) my guess would be no. You will need to get a new number and account. My advice would be to run your current one down first.