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Comment by tlianza | Hacker News Reader

The USA has these things, don't they? They're just not popular options. BoostMobile, AT&T's "GoPhones", Verizon PrePaid, etc. You can either get a cheap phone, or bring your own phone, without a contract. Is it that different?

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Not really cheap SIMs, nor can you usually pay 10 bucks a month pre pay for your voice/data needs.

I live in China, and prepay is great. I still pay full price for my phones, but I come out ahead in the end.

You can prepay, for example on T-Mobile. The sim card is $1, and while you won't get by on $10, if you stay in the city $30 gets you all you need. Definitely still cheaper in China and Europe.

The USA does not have cheap pre-paid sims with data. I visited Singapore. Got a $50 credit pre-paid sim. Got 1gig of data for $7 a week, taken from the pre-paid sim.

As far as I can see there are no pay as you go data plans in the US. Only subscription plans. If there are I'd like to know of them

AT&T sells a plan with 5GB/month for $50/month[1] (pay-ahead, not prepay). It is a monthly subscription with no commitment - cancel it at any time. I walked into a AT&T store and the lady behind the counter gave me a free SIM (list price $5.95). I bought the $15/month for 250MB data plan since I was just experimenting.

I found out that AT&T has annoying restrictions based on the IMEI number - for a IMEI that maps to a computer, they will only offer you the $50/month plan. For a IMEI that maps to a tablet, they will allow you to to buy the $15/month plan. FWIIW, they require you to enter a IMEA number, not the number of the device you are using the SIM in. ;-)

I am currently running my phone on a T-Mobile on a $30/month pre-paid plan[2] with unlimited (for some definition of "unlimited") data and 100 minutes of talk. Unfortunately, they have poor coverage in about half the area I frequent... I end up roaming on AT&T and don't get data coverage there.

Both those options are essentially the same as your Singapore plan.

[1] http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/data-plans.html

[2] http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

The $50 AT&T data plan requires a 24-month voice plan, which starts at $40 per month.

See footnote 6 on the page you linked to, then click on any of the plans, then click View Details next to any of them.

Jesus, a 2-year commitment to a shitty voice plan just to get a 3G data sim?

I'm visiting New Zealand now. The first thing I did when I got off the plane was purchase a 3G prepaid (2GB) USB dongle for $70, and I can top it up if I need to and move the sim card to a phone if I want to. I didn't have to sign or agree to purchase anything extra.

I can do this in Australia, too. What the hell, USA?

Sorry, wrong link. They make it pretty hard to find the plan that you really want (both AT&T and T-Mobile).

https://buyasession.att.com/sbd/Common/ShopRatePlans.action

Note that the plan you really want is the "Tablets and Gaming Devices". The "Computers, Netbooks, Aircards, Others" plan is a rip-off except for the $50/month 5GB plan, which is the same as the "Tablet" plan. On the "Computers" lower data rate plans, it is $15 per day, $30 per week. Data is data, so they are just ripping you off.

AT&T DataConnect Pass plans

* No Long-Term Contract

* Plans are active for 30 days or until depleted.

* Plans automatically renew every 30 days for domestic data plans, unless you cancel.

* International plans do not automatically renew.

* Plans can be cancelled at any time.

   Domestic DataConnect Pass Plans 	Cost
   DataConnect Month Pass 250MB 	$14.99
   DataConnect Month Pass 3GB 		$30.00
   DataConnect Month Pass 5GB 		$50.00

I use T-Mobile's prepaid with my unlocked Android phone. I get 100 minutes voice per month and unlimited data for only $30. They certainly don't advertise it, but you can buy a prepaid SIM card from their website for only a couple bucks and then sign up for this plan. I go over my minutes frequently and pay $.10 per minute for the rest of the month at that point, but it still comes out far cheaper than any regular plan.

I have done the same thing, using a Galaxy Nexus. It's a brilliant combo - I got a brand new cutting edge phone for $350, and I'll spend only $360 this year for unlimited data and text on this T-Mobile plan (with no contract, to boot).

It's such a good deal that even with carrier penalties for breaking contract it is still much cheaper over the course of a year.

FWIW, T-Mobile has recently withdrawn this plan, it is no longer available for new or switching customers. Cheapest "unlimited*" prepaid data plan is now $50 a month.

Must have been quite recent... I signed up for this plan about 12 hours ago.

Oh! Sorry, looks like I'm wrong. I do see it being offered on their website, but it's for new activations only - that would explain why I was under the impression it's no longer offered after not seeing it in the prepaid plan switcher in my account.

I've done that with my last two phones -- currently i'm using a Samsung Galaxy Mini I bought off Ebay jailbroken for 100.00, with a t-mobile pay-as-you-go sim card in it. I don't miss data at all since I can get wifi plenty of places.

I use StraightTalk. Unlimited minutes, texts and data\* about $50 a month for a pre-paid sim.

\* I understand there's a soft cap on the data of about 2GB a month, but I haven't run into it yet.

Much like another poster, I walked into the AT&T store and asked for a prepaid SIM. I handed over $10 in cash and got a SIM card with $10 credit on it. By logging in to their website, I was able to allocate the $10 between voice, texts, and data. When that's used up, you can go and add more money to the card. All in all, it was pretty damn convenient.

Where I live, Verizon and AT&T are the only carriers with service, and both of them are more or less dedicated to the phone/contract ball and chain. To my knowledge it is not even possible to buy a retail, unlocked CDMA phone (for Verizon).

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