If you're in Iowa --- iWireless prepaid $45

[webOpete]

So yes, i think it's worth it for only $45 a month no contract.
I was comparing to Wally world ST $45 a month, but you are confined to which sim you have, TMO or ATT. Where IWireless you get IWS, TMO and ATT(more coverage)

So you consider it a good value to get basically 3G speeds for around $40/45/month? I'm on Verizon LTE right now, much more expensive, but trying to figure out if going to iWireless could be worth it.

I'm supposed to get cap at 3gb of 4g, i'm in my 5gb and seem to still be fast.

 

[Aquila]

So yes, i think it's worth it for only $45 a month no contract.
I was comparing to Wally world ST $45 a month, but you are confined to which sim you have, TMO or ATT. Where IWireless you get IWS, TMO and ATT(more coverage)


I'm supposed to get cap at 3gb of 4g, i'm in my 5gb and seem to still be fast.

Okay, I get 20-50mbps on LTE, but I'm really on wifi way more than I'm on 4G anyways. I wonder if they have any working devices at a store I could play with. thanks for your help!

 

[webOpete]

Wow, that's good. You're on contract with more than $50 per month tho right? Are you with grandfather plan $50 unlimited?
Yea, if you are mostly on wifi I would say I wouldn't spend $70 on a monthly bill and cap at 2gb data with VZN.
I'm more for availability and unlimited so I dont have to worry about getting over. I stream video a lot. Adult stuff you know? LOL j/k.
I have IP cameraS installed at home where I watch my kids LIVE and that draw a lot of data.

They have working phone on display but not activated. You can ask the personal to check theirs.

Okay, I get 20-50mbps on LTE, but I'm really on wifi way more than I'm on 4G anyways. I wonder if they have any working devices at a store I could play with. thanks for your help!

 

[Aquila]

Wow, that's good. You're on contract with more than $50 per month tho right? Are you with grandfather plan $50 unlimited?
Yea, if you are mostly on wifi I would say I wouldn't spend $70 on a monthly bill and cap at 2gb data with VZN.
I'm more for availability and unlimited so I dont have to worry about getting over. I stream video a lot. Adult stuff know you. lol j/k.
I have IP cameraS installed at home where I watch my kids LIVE and that draw a lot of data.

They have working phone on display but not activated. You can ask the personal to check theirs.

No, my plan is around $75-80 per person, unlimited data.

 

[webOpete]

See, that's too much for me. nice to get 20mbps, but not really needed. That's as fast as my phone internet.
Phone equipment also has to do with the speed too. Mine might be slower because of slow processor, its basic 4g android.

 

[mmtowns]

Does anyone have speed tests from iWireless in the dark green and/or pink areas?

While I do not have specific speed tests, my experience suggests dark green is edge and pink is 3g or 4g, depending on your location.

 

[electrochoc]

I know about all this.
Very Fast Mobile Web = 3G/4G
Fast Mobile Web = 2.5G EDGE
Mobile Web = 2G GPRS
Their service partners with T-Mobile and roaming doesn't cost at all.

What I have learned about their 4G service is that it isn't congested and it has high speeds.
The coverage map isn't really up to date at the moment, I would suggest going by:
4G Coverage - i wireless

That list mainly shows what their first rollout intentions were I believe.

I have a speed test from Mason City, IA.
HTC One S:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hatu560zezgmvt4/Screenshot_2012-10-26-10-39-51.png

You can expect typical speeds of 5-7mbps with full bars.

i wireless - Coverage Map Viewer
And as stated before, they are doing a giant build out this year.

 

[awnry]

Hey guys, I just signed up for this plan and am using an unlocked ATT Galaxy S 3 but am only getting EDGE speeds. Any ideas on how to get this to work with the 3G/4G? My phone service is fine. Thanks for any help anyone can provide me!

 

[electrochoc]

What is your location?

 

[awnry]

Followup - I finally got this to work.

Long story short - I bought an ATT galaxy S3 and was only able to get EDGE speeds initially. I did some reading over at xda-forums and was able to flashed it over to Tmobile and have been able to get 3G/4G since.

Hey guys, I just signed up for this plan and am using an unlocked ATT Galaxy S 3 but am only getting EDGE speeds. Any ideas on how to get this to work with the 3G/4G? My phone service is fine. Thanks for any help anyone can provide me!

 

[dunni88]

I know about all this.
Very Fast Mobile Web = 3G/4G
Fast Mobile Web = 2.5G EDGE
Mobile Web = 2G GPRS
Their service partners with T-Mobile and roaming doesn't cost at all.

What I have learned about their 4G service is that it isn't congested and it has high speeds.
The coverage map isn't really up to date at the moment, I would suggest going by:
4G Coverage - i wireless

That list mainly shows what their first rollout intentions were I believe.

I have a speed test from Mason City, IA.
HTC One S:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/hatu560zezgmvt4/Screenshot_2012-10-26-10-39-51.png

You can expect typical speeds of 5-7mbps with full bars.

i wireless - Coverage Map Viewer
And as stated before, they are doing a giant build out this year.

Good info, thanks for sharing. If they start expanding their 4G to cover more of the state I might be interested in trying them. For now I have been fairly happy with Net10.

 

[electrochoc]

They plan to have the whole state covered in 4G by the end of 2013.

 

[mmtowns]

They plan to have the whole state covered in 4G by the end of 2013.

Can you confirm this with a source or online flyer? I may be interested...

 

[dunni88]

great news if it happens, I'm a little surprised that they don't already cover almost all of Iowa since they are a regional carrier.

 

[mmtowns]

great news if it happens, I'm a little surprised that they don't already cover almost all of Iowa since they are a regional carrier.

It looks like they've covered the state fairly well when it comes to voice, but when it comes to 3g/4g, I'm waiting to see what happens this year. As a T-Mobile affiliate, I wonder what the expectation is for iWireless to build their own towers vs. wait for the mother ship to take over the state?

 

[dunni88]

It looks like they've covered the state fairly well when it comes to voice, but when it comes to 3g/4g, I'm waiting to see what happens this year. As a T-Mobile affiliate, I wonder what the expectation is for iWireless to build their own towers vs. wait for the mother ship to take over the state?

I really hope that they start covering at least the major highways in addition to the larger cites/towns. Most of the time when I'm away from wifi I'm either on the road or doing something in a city, so that's the minimum coverage I'd consider adequate.

It seems like T-Mobile is the one in charge of deploying 4G. iWireless seems to be in charge of the voice in Iowa.

 

[cassidyjames]

So the "Fast Mobile Web" is not 3G?? If that's only 2G then what is the one called "Mobile Web"? I'm dissapointed to hear that they aren't any good, I live in Cedar Falls and it seemed like this plan plus a Nexus 4 would be a winner. Where are you located? Which carrier will you go with now? I've debated between Net10 AT&T sim or this iWireless plan.

I live in Cedar Falls as well and just switched to iWireless. I have a Nexus 4 and was super unhappy with Straight Talk.

iWireless apparently does have their own towers, and the Cedar Falls/Waterloo area is covered in HSPA+.

They're a T-Mobile affiliate (not MVNO). I asked the guy at the local shop what that was all about and apparently it means they don't run on T-Mobile in their markets (most of Iowa and some of the midwest), but they do roam on T-Mo (and AT&T?), and there is some sort of an agreement to not compete in the same markets. I'm not 100% sure about the details, but it seems pretty cool that they're local and seem to have good service so far.

Posted via Android Central App

 

[Zimeron]

I live in the DSM area and the coverage isn't to bad. The biggest draw back is that it often swaps between 3G and H+, which has had a noticeable impact on my battery life. Note that I'm on prepaid, not contract. ATT prepaid was always H+ and was a lot faster in general, but it also cost $60 a month and coverage in many of the places I visited (in Iowa) was nonexistent (hence the switch).

Additionally, I can't use Google Voice for my Voice Mail, which really bites, I was able to do so with ATT prepaid and Straight Talk (ATT sim). Does anyone know if it works if you go contract? Online, it looks like TMobile prepaid it doesn't work, but with TMobile contract it does, so I'm hoping it's a similar situation.

All in all for $45 a month, I like it. I'll be heading to a different part of Iowa this weekend and if I have coverage, will probably keep it, even though I greatly miss Google Voicemail.

 

[Aquila]

I ended up staying with Verizon while I wait for T-Mobile to show up themselves.

XT1060. Through spacetime.

 

[mmtowns]

I live in the DSM area and the coverage isn't to bad. The biggest draw back is that it often swaps between 3G and H+, which has had a noticeable impact on my battery life. Note that I'm on prepaid, not contract. ATT prepaid was always H+ and was a lot faster in general, but it also cost $60 a month and coverage in many of the places I visited (in Iowa) was nonexistent (hence the switch).

Additionally, I can't use Google Voice for my Voice Mail, which really bites, I was able to do so with ATT prepaid and Straight Talk (ATT sim). Does anyone know if it works if you go contract? Online, it looks like TMobile prepaid it doesn't work, but with TMobile contract it does, so I'm hoping it's a similar situation.

All in all for $45 a month, I like it. I'll be heading to a different part of Iowa this weekend and if I have coverage, will probably keep it, even though I greatly miss Google Voicemail.

I am currently using Straight Talk (AT&T sim), but am wrestling with the idea of going back to iWireless prepaid. (I used it for one month before switching to ST...because iWireless has 2g where I work and live vs. ST that has 3g/hspa). In your experience, which carrier has provided better voice coverage in Iowa for you?