H20 Wireless vs. Straight Talk?

[mmtowns]

I have been using Straight Talk (AT&T sim) with my Nexus 4 for nearly a year now (after a brief stint with local carrier iWireless and a few weeks with T-Mobile). I do not have good T-Mo coverage in my area, so AT&T towers are the ideal GSM option.

I am currently paying $45 for unlimited voice, SMS and data (well, 2.5GB... through ST, but just read about H20 Wireless plans.

$30 = unlimited voice, SMS and 500MB data
$40 = unlimited voice, SMS and 1GB data
$50 = unlimited voice, SMS and 2GB data
$60 = unlimited voice, SMS and unlimited data

H20 also throws in some international credits that are not of interest to me. I plan to measure my data usage during the next 30 days to get an idea of the exact amount I use. Because I am on wifi at home and work most of the day, I am guessing that I use less than 1GB/month, so I could essentially save $5/month by switching from ST to H20's $40/month plan.

My question for anyone reading this forum that might be an H20 Wireless customer:

• How is their customer service?
• Have you experienced any irregular billing issues?
• Are there any other pros/cons you've seen from H20?

 

[jdbii]

I looked into using them but a chat cr rep told me they only have 3g speeds.

 

[jeremmar]

Mmtowns, is ST now allowing AT&T sim card customers 2.5 GB of data on the $45 plan? Before I left them a number of months ago they cut AT&T customers down to 1.5 GB of data a month...

Posted via Android Central App

 

[mmtowns]

Good question, jeremmar. Here is what I found on Straight Talk's site:

30 day Unlimited Plans include 2.5 GB of high speed data per 30 day cycle. After 2.5 GB, your data speed will be reduced for the remainder of the 30 day cycle. High speed data is restored once a new 30 day service plan is redeemed at the end of the 30 day plan cycle.

 

[jeremmar]

Good question, jeremmar. Here is what I found on Straight Talk's site:

Thanks for checking. When I was on their AT&T sim, their "customer service" person told me all AT&T sim user were capped at 1.5 although all other users were 2.0 or so. That was a few months back though......

Sent from my Nexus 4 using AC Forums mobile app

 

[ajginth]

H20 wireless is bad news. I was constantly being throttled and having to contact customer service to get it corrected and reset. At 2.1GB I was throttled to unusable speeds again (.03mps.) When I contacted live chat to complain, they responded by cutting off my data entirely.

I had not been tethering or streaming much, some YouTube.

Avoid H2o like the plague. The have rip off non-transparent plans, and they top it off with horrible customer service.

 

[Sayileela Nulu]

My question for anyone reading this forum that might be an H20 Wireless customer:
How is their customer service? ------------------------------------------------ Very good! ( few times I chatted with them they are very good).
Have you experienced any irregular billing issues? -- NO
Are there any other pros/cons you've seen from H20?
Pros - Very happy with $30.00 unlimited bill + $5.00 international calls. ( gets me about 60 min to India)
now with Auto recharge I only paid $27.00
call quality is good. Occasional ( once or twice a month) call drops , so what I just redial and reconnect.
I recommend this to anyone who like the fact it is unlimited talk and text.
used GPS on my phone with this service and it works just fine.

con's: None I can think .

 

[npaladin-2000]

There's not too much wrong with either carrier. I haven't used ST (I hate WalMart) but I have used Net10, which is basically the same service with a different name on it (both owned by TracFone owner AmericaMovil) and more plan options. In both cases CS was friendly but largely powerless, but I didn't have to use them much anyway. I've confirmed that Net10 and StraightTalk share CS.

Net10 give you 4G LTE service, as a plus, but as a minus, there's no international texting, international calling requires going through an access number, and they specifically do not allow streaming of anything per their terms of service, so theoretically they can cancel you just for using Pandora. Net10 has more plan options than ST, but both have the $45 for 2.5 GB of 4G data and unlimited talk and text. They throttle down to EDGE after you run out of data. And you could just use GV or Skype for international calling, but then you have to factor in purchasing minutes for either one. Good choice if you must have LTE but can't stand contracts.

H2O does not give you 4G LTE, even though their coverage maps show it: LTE is limited to their broadband services. On the other hand. HSPA+ is plenty for me, since I'm on WiFi a lot of the time anyway, and not using LTE means one less radio sucking up the battery, and I like battery life. H2O DOES have direct international support, both texting and direct dial. There's actually a $36 plan that gives you 1 GB of data, a plan below with 500 MB, and a plan above with 2 GB. I like having the "tweener" option for data, and a lot of carriers like to force you to get the 2 GB plan by only offering a 500 MB plan below that. Caveat with H2O's data: it's a hard cutoff after you use it up, unless you add more for the month, rather than being throttled down to EDGE speeds. The $36 plan includes 100 international SMS (outgoing, unlimited incoming) and $10 worth of international calling credit per month. Streaming is not specifically disallowed, but their terms are worded such that they can cancel you for anything they consider "harmful" or abusive to their network.

Overall H2O works better for my needs. I need the international capability and don't need the LTE. Others might need the LTE and not need international. That's fine too.

 

[sulla1965]

H20 now offers 4G/LTE service

 

[32gig]

Straight talks at&t Sim now has 3 gigs of high-speed data, aka 4g LTE, just like the rest of their sims.. which I am getting on my nexus 5..

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Pink10]

I am interested in H2O. Could someone please tell me how their call quality is, both within the US and international long distance?

TIA

 

[GreenghostUvln]

Tmo and MetroPcs has LTE. Cricket do too. Sprint has prepaid now and them and their prepaid carriers have LTE also.

Sent from my T-Mobile Nexus 4 LTE using Tapatalk

 

[Dustin And Vonda]

i Had H2O For 4 months and at first i loved them! but if you have to do a software update take you phone in and reprogram it (its something they have to do for you're web, it takes like 2 seconds) i love them and I'm switching back here in a few days. on the H2O vs. Straight Talk, H2O Wins!! the service is great! The reason that i switched from H2O is because i needed a new phone. long story.

 

[DahDee]

I am interested in H2o wireless for my wife, but she uses the Good for Enterprise messaging app and I cannot find anything on whether H2o (1) allows use of the app on its network, and/or (2) whether it charges an additional fee for that use if allowed.

Can anyone provide this info? Thanks so much for any help!