Comment by programminggeek | Hacker News Reader

Comment by programminggeek | Hacker News Reader

programminggeek

I have tried lots of different prepaid and no contract services and here's where I landed. Virgin Mobile is ok if you like the Sprint network. Net10/Tracfone are both fantastic if you don't want/need a smartphone and just want voice and text. Straight Talk is awesome if you want a smartphone.

I do Straight Talk SIM with an iPhone 4 on AT&T's network and the only problem I've had is no media messaging, which is not a huge deal. Also, iMessage is great for that. If you care about MMS, buy a phone from Straight Talk directly. The iPhone on Straight Talk is on the Verizon network, but since it's a VZW phone, you can use SIM as well.

Straight Talk SIM now supports LTE on AT&T if you want to go that route.

The point is, for phone service, you don't need to spend more than $45 a month and off contract phones can be had for $400 or less for top end phones (like iPhone 5 or Galaxy S3). If you don't want data, you can drop down to $25 a month or less.

There is no reason to be on contract, it no longer makes financial sense.

I'm trying to set up a system where I have google voice and a data plan only. Currently trying out google voice + wifi which is working fine, but I sometimes do need coverage when I'm wifi inaccessible. Any insights on data only plans?

edit: oddly enough, another alternative is to sign up for one of those providers that have free wifi hotspots all across the city (e.g. CableWifi, XfinityWifi), which could be cheaper than a data plan

T-Mobile has a plan where it's $30/mo for 5GB of 4G/LTE data (no overages, just throttled after that), unlimited SMS/MMS and 100 voice minutes. If you have a solid LTE signal, FaceTime Voice works very well. I'm sure other services would work similarly well. It's a bit meh over 3G due to latency and T-Mobile's LTE coverage is very mediocre at best. But, you absolutely get what you pay for.

I'm also trying to find a data only plan. I know verizon offers data only for iPad.. I wonder if there is anyway to sign up for that and hack an iPhone to use it?

I certainly don't know enough to say but I imagine someone here might.

I bought my iPhone (3GS) in France when I lived there. I signed up for a 1 year contract and cancelled it after 10 months, no penalty because I was leaving the country. Bouyges unlocked my phone without any hassle.

When I got home (US) I bought an iPad with AT&T 3G and put that SIM card into the 3GS. I had to install a special profile to make everything work, but that was all it took for a data-only 'phone' plan.

It's a bit klunky. I make calls with an app called Talkatone, and the quality when I'm on 3G gets very bad. It's better at home and work over wifi, but some friends still complain about sound quality and lag.

I'm still trying to find my pre-paid provider. I have two AT&T phones, a Lumia 920 and a Nexus 4. On both phones with Net10/AT&T, I ran into an issue where, like you had mentioned, MMS was flaky to non-existent. Also, a 1.5GB cap on data for AT&T.

I switched to T-Mobile prepaid on their 5GB "unlimited" plan, but there are even worse drawbacks there. For one, I struggle to get service. My apartment is half underground, and neither VZW or TMo have coverage, even though I'm in the city. AT&T does, but they don't deserve my money. The second issue is that it only comes with 100 minutes, and I can't figure out how to activate the 10c per minute overage (my phone just tells me I'm out of minutes and I should upgrade the plan).

My SO gets frustrated when I'm out of contact, and is seriously pushing for me to get back on a contract. Maybe Google Voice and a SIP gateway would be a better option? I really don't know.

T-Mobile has calls over wifi. It's active on the my touch line and there are packages for the CyanogenMod versions I've installed. It might still not be up to par for you but T-Mobile is good in my area so I really like it.

TMo will (or at least used to) give you a range extender for free if you wouldn't get service in your residence. Probably not for prepaid though.

The Net10/Straight Talk data cap on AT&T SIM cards has actually been lifted,[0] now it's just 2.5GB at full speed and then throttled until the month is over.

I find that the BYOP offerings of Net10 and Straight Talk don't differ that much: both offer LTE, similar APN settings, same throttling limits, etc., as both companies are owned by TracFone. The only difference is that Straight Talk costs $45/month while Net10 costs $50/month, although if one sets up recurring payments on Net10's website the cost will be reduced to $45/month as well.

[0]: http://androidforums.com/net10/763501-net10-t-sim-card-data-...

If you have wireless network in your apartment get a google voice number. That is what I had to use for 2 years in my apartment. Forward your Google voice number to your cell phone so that it will ring on your phone, through wireless, just like a normal phone. The only reason I ever used my minutes was when I wasn't within a wireless network.

From personal experience, Net10 customer service sucks, and you can't bring your own phone.

For the past year or so I've been using a $10 plan from Airvoice Wireless (an AT&T MVNO) for voice & text on an unlocked old BlackBerry (= good signal quality + long battery life). I'm not sure how long Airvoice will last (they seem like a tiny operation) but at least their customer service has been more responsive than Net10's.

I did Bring Your Own Phone on Net10. I used a Lumia 920 and a Nexus 4 interchangeably. I bought the Smartphone BYOP SIM card from Best Buy and just popped it in my phone and changed the APN settings.

Ah; didn't know Net10 did BYOP now.

I am thinking of going with the $10 plan with a a Nexus 4. Turn on data when you need it for 6cents/MB. Have you been happy with the call quality, etc?

Ya; call quality is same as with AT&T (haven't had any dropped calls; good signal even in rural areas). Site is simple to use & easy to pay. Only time I had to call customer service (during porting) they were responsive and intelligent.

Whenever people talk about pre-paid, I always think Pay-as-you-go. I am currently thinking of switching from a Tmobile family plan to one of the Pay-as-you-go services that are ultra cheap, like $10 for 100 minutes good for 3 months. Use Voip at home. We'll see how it goes.

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