Pre-paid Phone Advice Needed

**carguy37757** · 06-13-2012, 09:52 AM

Hey all. I'm currently with Verizon and have been for nearly 13 years. I'm right in the middle of my 2 year contract and all the changes that have been made over the past few years as well as what seems like increasing costs with Verizon, has left me wanting to move to pre-paid. If for nothing else, to save some dang money.

Here's my question. I'm in TN and it looks like Straight Talk is pretty good, however, it looks as though their phone selection may be a bit limited. What I had in mind was purchasing a phone from craigslist that I liked, dropping in the ST sim and being done with it. But I don't want to end up with a partially working phone if some features aren't supported, or the coverage is going to suck. Anyone have any experience here that might give me some tips on which pre-paid carriers/phones would b my best bet?

I currently have a Verizon Charge and really don't care about losing my 4g as long as i have 3g and wifi.

Any help is appreciated.

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**cgardnervt** · 06-13-2012, 12:30 PM

Originally Posted by carguy37757

Hey all. I'm currently with Verizon and have been for nearly 13 years. I'm right in the middle of my 2 year contract and all the changes that have been made over the past few years as well as what seems like increasing costs with Verizon, has left me wanting to move to pre-paid. If for nothing else, to save some dang money.

Here's my question. I'm in TN and it looks like Straight Talk is pretty good, however, it looks as though their phone selection may be a bit limited. What I had in mind was purchasing a phone from craigslist that I liked, dropping in the ST sim and being done with it. But I don't want to end up with a partially working phone if some features aren't supported, or the coverage is going to suck. Anyone have any experience here that might give me some tips on which pre-paid carriers/phones would b my best bet?

I currently have a Verizon Charge and really don't care about losing my 4g as long as i have 3g and wifi.

Any help is appreciated.

Sent from my SCH-I510 using Tapatalk 2

Greetings CarGuy!

Your in luck! Here are a fgew things to do BEFORE you jump ship from Verizon...

1) Figure out what carrier is better in your area. ATT or Tmo...When you order your SIM from their website it will ask you what carrier towers you would like to use. Keep in mind that you can use HSPA+ on either one!

Plus if your going with ATT then you can get an ATT branded phone and use it right out of the box. No adding APNs or anything. The same can be said for Tmo branded phones with their Tmo SIM.

2) Look at your data usage! Even though they say its "unlimited data" its really not. They will allow you to use up to 100megs a day and less then 2gigs a month. If you go over in data (Even per day) they will call you and tell you that your using to much data. Then the 2nd time they will just shut your service off. You will also lose your phone number as well. If you do a Google search about this you will find a bunch of info on this from the Howard forums...

3) Do you want to keep your current phone number? If you DO then DO NOT TURN VERIZON SERVICE OFF! If you do you will lose the number forever! After you get your SIM and activate it you can port your number. You will need your contract#, phone# and any passwords on the account to allow the number to port. All of this information can be found by simply calling Verizon and asking them for it or you last phone bill.

Also Note: It can take any where from 10 minutes to 48 hours to port your number. So you may be down for a little bit.

So if ST can work for you then you can save a TON of money! $45 a month for full access is not to bad IMO.

If for some reason the data usage does not work out for you check out Red Pocket. They use ATT towers and it will run you about $60 a month for unlimited everyting and 2 gigs of data. With them you can use that data anyway that you see fit.

Or H2O wireless. They also use ATT...

IF Tmo is good in your area also check them out...Prepay Tmo.

Check them out too! I hope this helps you out in your quest to save money! I did all of the same research last month. I just ended up at ATT for the time being with no contract. However if I was going to jump ship...It would be Red Pocket all the way!

Cheers!

**Judo** · 06-14-2012, 12:36 AM

I say get boost mobile. If you can find a store, I'm use they can unlock your phone and maybe even tell you what you can use or use, but they also got a cool line up of phones.
HTC design 4G
ZTE Warp
Samsung Transfer
Samsung prevail and so on.
I do recommend the HTC Design 4G, but it cost $300, but you could do a trade in for your phone on a fixed price for the phone.
You start with $55 plan ($50 phone plan plus Android plan extra $5) with shrinkage plan brings down to $40 by18 months of on time payments. Their network is on the Sprint network so make sure you have coverage in your area.

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**91_z28_4me** · 06-15-2012, 09:23 PM

You might want to consider Ting wireless. They are a pure pay as you go setup. If you are around wifi a lot and can configure google voice to work VOIP and use GV for texting you could be spending next to nothing for service.

**flash4yish** · 06-15-2012, 11:39 PM

Not sure if you have looked at Simple Mobile? If there is decent AT&T coverage in your area it might be worth a look. They issue you a SIM for free or under 10 bucks. Take a look at their prices and compare. I believe they beat Straight Talk.

**inyourface09** · 06-20-2012, 03:30 PM

I got a log optimus from virgin mobile for 35 dollars a month. I get 300 mins of talk unlimited text and data

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**mistichunter** · 06-23-2012, 09:14 PM

u might want to try virgin mobile 35$ month for 300 minutes unlimited web throtled and ulmtd text or 45$ for 1500 mnts and unlmtd web throtled and ulnmtd text.

or 50$ for unlimited evrything.

**Djedgarftw** · 06-25-2012, 04:33 AM

Straight Talk is you best choice I went from attention to straight talk and I get great service for just 50 a month nd I got to keep my AT&T phone. I also get 4G speeds

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**cgardnervt** · 06-25-2012, 08:31 AM

Originally Posted by Djedgarftw

Straight Talk is you best choice I went from attention to straight talk and I get great service for just 50 a month nd I got to keep my AT&T phone. I also get 4G speeds

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When you say 4G its not LTE its HSPA+ only. So its really 3G speeds...But FAST 3G speeds in most cases. HSPA+ where I live ranges from 5-7meg down!

Still a great bang for the buck if you don't need that much data on a daily bases.

**montenell** · 06-25-2012, 09:56 AM

I got a log optimus from virgin mobile for 35 dollars a month. I get 300 mins of talk unlimited text and data

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This is what I use and I'm pretty pleased overall .. probably gonna upgrade to the HTC evo v soon

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**Djedgarftw** · 06-25-2012, 02:10 PM

Originally Posted by cgardner

When you say 4G its not LTE its HSPA+ only. So its really 3G speeds...But FAST 3G speeds in most cases. HSPA+ where I live ranges from 5-7meg down!

Still a great bang for the buck if you don't need that much data on a daily bases.

Well yeah but I get average 6meg so that's good

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**inyourface09** · 06-25-2012, 10:41 PM

I have one bar were I live and virgin mobile uses sprints network and using. Speedtest.com I got 250kb/s

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**Airwolf79** · 07-25-2012, 05:37 PM

I've been doing a lot of research on prepaid providers lately, and I'm surprised more people aren't recommending Pageplus. Like the OP, I don't really need 4g speeds cuz all I do is the occassional web browsing, Facebook, and mostly on the forums using tapatalk, which doesn't need a fast connection at all. So 3g speeds are plenty fast enough for me. For me, its more important to have a signal everywhere. Plus, coming from Sprints crappy data speeds their 3g feels fast to me, lol! U can bring any Verizon phone to Pageplus (although, i think the iphone has problems), and I'm paying $55 for unlimited talk and text with 2gbs data. Maybe not the best deal out there, but it is the only prepaid using Verizon's network. Anyone else have experience with Pageplus? I've only been with then for a month, but so far I'm happy with their service.

**Djedgarftw** · 07-25-2012, 06:17 PM

Originally Posted by Djedgarftw

Well yeah but I get average 6meg so that's good

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I think straight talk started to slow me down but I called them and after an hour I was back up to speeds

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**goldieosb** · 10-19-2012, 11:17 PM

Check-out the Best 5

**gypsy_guy** · 03-16-2013, 05:33 PM

Hello. I have very similar problem as the original post here. I am looking to switch to Straight Talk because I travel to a very rural part of Illinois several times a year for weeks at a time. THE ONLY carrier in that area seems to be VERIZON. (not AT&T, Sprint, Virgin, T-Mobile, MetroPCS, etc.) The Straight Talk coverage map shows good coverage in the rural area. (and the price is affordable at $45/mo or less).

I want to buy a good used smartphone and am looking at the Samsung Galaxy S3 (now that the S4 just came out, the S3 should drop in price too). I am thinking that I DON'T want to buy a used AT&T or T-Mobile (GSM) brand Samsung Galaxy S3 because I would then have to buy the Straight Talk sim card and that would put me back on the AT&T or T-Mobile network WHICH DOES NOT GET COVERAGE in the rural area I will be traveling (Am i thinking this through clearly? ___ )

So, I am thinking that if I buy a used Verizon or Sprint (CDMA) brand Samsung Galaxy S3, then all I have to do is buy the Straight Talk service and call to activate the phone on Straight Talk.

I am guessing that the ESN has to be clean and the phone unlocked? not sure how to do that, but i am sure there are answers already posted on this forum on how to do that or at least check it.

THANKS for your help. This has been so confusing for someone like me and i need to make sure i get the right set up BEFORE I travel again or i will be _____ out of luck!

**mmtowns** · 03-17-2013, 04:43 PM

Originally Posted by gypsy_guy

So, I am thinking that if I buy a used Verizon or Sprint (CDMA) brand Samsung Galaxy S3, then all I have to do is buy the Straight Talk service and call to activate the phone on Straight Talk.

THANKS for your help. This has been so confusing for someone like me and i need to make sure i get the right set up BEFORE I travel again or i will be _____ out of luck!

From my understanding of Straight Talk's bring your own phone plan (buy a Sim card from them), it only works with GSM phones (I.e. AT&T, T-Mobile, or unlocked) and not with CDMA phones (I.e. Sprint and Verizon), because CDMA phones do not accept Sim cards. I've heard of people bringing used CDMA phones to a company called PagePlus, but I do not have any personal experience.

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**Airwolf79** · 03-18-2013, 12:06 AM

Yep, he's right. Straight Talk only offers BYOD with GSM service. Their CDMA services require their branded phones. Pageplus is the ONLY Verizon MVNO, and does connect to most Verizon phones, but not all. The Galaxy S3 is compatible for sure though, u can look up videos on youtube for proof. They can also flash some Sprint phones to their network, but I believe you have to either take the phone to a store or send it in to get it flashed. Pagplus does not offer 4g either, but again its Verizon service for a reasonable price. My wife has been with them for almost a year now and we've been happy with their service.