$30 t-mobile plan - switching over

[rh71]

Anyone actually do it? I'm currently on VZW unlimited with a Galaxy Nexus but don't want to pay $70/mo. anymore and don't need unlimited anyway. 5GB is plenty especially for $30. I may sell the unlimited after I try out the T-mobile service for a bit. So I'm switching over without a qualifying phone.

1) Can I port my number if I don't sell my unlimited on ebay? Can I keep my number somehow if I DO sell my unlimited?

2) I'm checking the t-mobile website http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans which says: This plan is only available for devices purchased from
Wal-Mart or devices activated on T-Mobile.com. There doesn't seem to be any way to buy a phone and choose that plan on the t-mobile site. I would do swappa (Galaxy S4) as a last resort because I don't really want used. Are people jumping on that plan while having a T-mobile phone already and/or doing the swappa thing? I guess it's just not clear-cut to me how someone would take advantage of this plan if not already with t-mobile.

3) Is this automatically recurring vs. having to buy a bunch of prepaid cards like walmart's site shows? I would rather the recurring but then that doesn't sound like pre-paid.

4) Walmart's site shows just 1 no-name phone for sale to go with this plan: http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-A...Phone/29317202 - does that seem right?

5) I don't mind waiting for the S5 release. Will I somehow be able to buy the phone subsidized ($30/mo. for 24 months or whatever it will be) and do just this plan?

 

[cronos]

The most important answer: If you port your number out, then your account is forfeited, and it's gone. There's absolutely no way to keep your number *and* sell your account.

2. Yes, you can use any unlocked GSM phone or T-Mobile phone. You will be able to activate it online, just buy T-Mobile SIM card online. With the SIM card inside the phone, go here to activate: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-activate

3. Yes you can set it up for recurring.

4. Just ignore that and buy whatever phone you want (swappa/ebay/amazon/etc - they do have brand new phones there).

 

[IeraseU]

The person above answered your questions pretty well, so I will just add that I recently (within the last month) switched over to the T-mobile $30 plan as well.

I use Talkatone and a Google Voice number for phone calls. It works fine for the short conversations I typically have ("Hey, I'm downstairs. Please open the gate"....ect). You can port your mobile number to Google Voice or T-mobile, but if you do so, you will not be able to sell it.

I also agree with the above poster on 'subsidized' pricing. You don't really save anything over buying the phone outright, but yes, you can take advantage of the 'pay it off as you go' plan once the S5 launches.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Regarding 5. Pretty much all of T-Mobile's plans are pre-paid now. So I see no reason why you couldn't go into the T-Mobile store later this summer and setup a payment plan for a Galaxy S5 and put it on your existing $30 pre-paid plan.

 

[Sid59]

Regarding 5. Pretty much all of T-Mobile's plans are pre-paid now. So I see no reason why you couldn't go into the T-Mobile store later this summer and setup a payment plan for a Galaxy S5 and put it on your existing $30 pre-paid plan.

Phone financing is only for post paid accounts.

Edit: Source:
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1674

 

[theeedude]

Love my $30 plan
I am not much of a talker tho, so for me, 100min is perfect.

 

[shortylickens]

Love my $30 plan
I am not much of a talker tho, so for me, 100min is perfect.

Ditto. Would rather have unlimited data and texts.

 

[bearxor]

Phone financing is only for post paid accounts.

Edit: Source:
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1674

Correct. You will not be able to do EIP with a prepaid plan. But at $30/mo you're saving more than enough to cover a new phone every couple of years.

 

[Ravynmagi]

I'm confused. If T-Mobile doesn't have any service contracts or ETFs anymore, wouldn't that mean all their plans are pre-paid now?

 

[dagamer34]

I'm confused. If T-Mobile doesn't have any service contracts or ETFs anymore, wouldn't that mean all their plans are pre-paid now?

No, pre-paid means you pay for service in advance. Post-paid means you pay for service after you have "used" it, because it is possible that you incurred charges within a month (going over texts, minutes, etc...). Instead of cutting you off immediately, they increase the amount you need to pay on your bill.

Pre-paid vs. post-paid also has a difference in quality of customer service, as well as priority of traffic in a cell tower (post-paid > pre-paid). There is also no data roaming when on pre-paid. You also need to be careful that if you go over your 5GB of high speed data, you will be capped to "2G-like" speeds (~60kbps) with NO option to speed them up until your month is over.

Pre-paid also does not have access to the ability to pay for a phone via the Equipment Installment Plan, you need to be on a post-paid account in order to get a phone for $0 down. You will be required to buy the phone full price at the store otherwise get it from craiglist or eBay (and make sure the IMEI has not been banned because the phone has been marked as stolen).

To be honest, I really wouldn't switch to T-Mobile until you can get a phone with Band 12 because that is going to give far better coverage and building penetration like you are used to on Verizon and that's not happening until Q4 2014. If you find that you are unable to use T-Mobile's service, you aren't going to be able to get that $70/month plan anymore (and you will kiss unlimited data goodbye). Instead, to get 4GB data on Verizon is going to cost you $110/month, and 6GB is $120/month. The decision to switch off a plan with unlimited Verizon data should not be taken lightly.

Best of luck!

 

[Chrono]

You get taxed by the feds/local government for the post paid plans. I currently use the $30 and paid $6 for skype so that I can call out for unlimited minutes. In essence it is $36 for unlimited talk, text, and 5GB of data. I use google voice to forward to my skype # and have my skype callerid setup as my google voice #. The 100 voice minutes are saved as emergency minutes just in case I don't have data and need to call out.

Skype is superior to all other VoIP solutions I've used. GrooveIP/Viber/etc all suck ass compared to paying an additional $6 for skype unlimited. Woot. So far very minimal complaints.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Still seems like a very minor difference between prepaid and postpaid, paying at the beginning of the month vs paying at the end of the month. Seems weird to not that pre-paid would not be eligible since it seems like T-Mobile went through the trouble of separating the EIP from their service plans. They do the credit check, require a down payment, and require a contract for the EIP, seems like they are protected, and if you are a prepaid or postpaid customer, they are still getting their money.

 

[s44]

The most important answer: If you port your number out, then your account is forfeited, and it's gone. There's absolutely no way to keep your number *and* sell your account.

Actually there is.

http://rootzwiki.com/topic/42073-how-to-sell-verizon-contract-and-keep-your-number/

The best way is to port to GV and then change your VZ number from your online account.

 

[cronos]

Actually there is.

http://rootzwiki.com/topic/42073-how-to-sell-verizon-contract-and-keep-your-number/

The best way is to port to GV and then change your VZ number from your online account.

This 'trick' is so risky and extremely time-sensitive that I would never suggest it to anyone. I would even go so far as calling this 'exploiting a bug', and there's absolutely zero guarantee that it would work consistently, while in the meantime doing this means you're risking losing both the unlimited plan *and* the number.

But I guess technically you're right, there have been cases where it's possible to keep an account alive and port the number out (in fact, I've personally done it once before, as I've mentioned in this forum some years ago), but it is not something that I would try if I value the phone number or the account.

 

[Sid59]

Still seems like a very minor difference between prepaid and postpaid, paying at the beginning of the month vs paying at the end of the month. Seems weird to not that pre-paid would not be eligible since it seems like T-Mobile went through the trouble of separating the EIP from their service plans. They do the credit check, require a down payment, and require a contract for the EIP, seems like they are protected, and if you are a prepaid or postpaid customer, they are still getting their money.

The only real difference between post /pre is the credit check. Not many large businesses are offering financing without a credit check. Post paid OAC get the $0 down.

 

[paperwastage]

The only real difference between post /pre is the credit check. Not many large businesses are offering financing without a credit check. Post paid OAC get the $0 down.

well, postpaid has a no credit check option too. i don't think you get some of the benefits though (like int'l roaming, dunno if $0 financing works on this either)

http://explore.t-mobile.com/simple-choice-no-credit

 

[bearxor]

If you simply sign up for service, TMobile doesn't run a credit check.

Only when you go for the EIP installments will they run a credit check. They're pretty lenient on the credit as well. You can have terrible credit and still get a EIP plan, provided you pay 50% of the device cost up front.

 

[paperwastage]

If you simply sign up for service, TMobile doesn't run a credit check.

Only when you go for the EIP installments will they run a credit check. They're pretty lenient on the credit as well. You can have terrible credit and still get a EIP plan, provided you pay 50% of the device cost up front.

no, t-mobile still did a hard pull when I signed up for service in nov 2013, 2 lines, no EIP

the rep said it was to determine how many lines I qualify for - 8 in my case. they are still extending credit (since you pay @ the end of the month)

you can still do the non-credit-check postpaid that I mentioned above (max 4 lines), but it's not exactly the same

 

[rh71]

To be honest, I really wouldn't switch to T-Mobile until you can get a phone with Band 12 because that is going to give far better coverage and building penetration like you are used to on Verizon and that's not happening until Q4 2014. If you find that you are unable to use T-Mobile's service, you aren't going to be able to get that $70/month plan anymore (and you will kiss unlimited data goodbye). Instead, to get 4GB data on Verizon is going to cost you $110/month, and 6GB is $120/month. The decision to switch off a plan with unlimited Verizon data should not be taken lightly.

Best of luck!

Thanks for the insight (and also everyone else). I tend to keep phones for a while so I may hold out for that band 12 thing you mention. The Galaxy S4 wiki says they do band 12 on US Cellular - so is this more a T-Mobile support thing rather than the phone? I suppose the Galaxy S5 is good to go when the carrier supports it? My big concern is will this $30 plan be around for that long. I am guessing once I'm on it, I can stay grandfathered on it even if it's prepaid. Most plan pricing across the board is going up and here we have one that is still reasonable.

BTW, is the $30 taxed and how much? I'm just running numbers. If I stay on VZW I will pay $1632 after 2 years. If I move to the $30 plan I will have paid $1120 after 2 years and that's including paying $400 for a phone.

 

[paperwastage]

Thanks for the insight (and also everyone else). I tend to keep phones for a while so I may hold out for that band 12 thing you mention. The Galaxy S4 wiki says they do band 12 on US Cellular - so is this more a T-Mobile support thing rather than the phone? I suppose the Galaxy S5 is good to go when the carrier supports it? My big concern is will this $30 plan be around for that long. I am guessing once I'm on it, I can stay grandfathered on it even if it's prepaid. Most plan pricing across the board is going up and here we have one that is still reasonable.

the whole band 12 problem is an interesting read (if you have the time)

it's both - t-mobile will support it (once the deal with verizon completes at end 2014), and phones need to support it (currently, few phones do... but it should be a simple switch from support band 17 to band 12 in future phones, but not current phoens)

http://www.extremetech.com/electron...e-of-regulatory-and-interoperability-failure/

http://www.fcc.gov/rulemaking/12-69

 

[bearxor]

no, t-mobile still did a hard pull when I signed up for service in nov 2013, 2 lines, no EIP

the rep said it was to determine how many lines I qualify for - 8 in my case. they are still extending credit (since you pay @ the end of the month)

you can still do the non-credit-check postpaid that I mentioned above (max 4 lines), but it's not exactly the same

Really? They didn't do one for me earlier in the year. Like Oct or so. Only when I looked in to getting phones.

As for band 12, I don't see it being a driving factor in waiting on a device unless you're in FL, CA or New England. Those will be the areas most likely deployed first (probably CA and NE before FL) because those are the areas TMo is hurting the worst. I don't think you'll see TMo really use 700mhz A anywhere else for a couple of years at which point you'll be wanting a new phone anyways.

So unless you live in CA or NE, I wouldn't let band 12 affect my purchasing decision.

 

[Sid59]

well, postpaid has a no credit check option too. i don't think you get some of the benefits though (like int'l roaming, dunno if $0 financing works on this either)

http://explore.t-mobile.com/simple-choice-no-credit

Nice catch! I'm not sure if the Simple (post paid, no credit) apply for financing, i doubt it but for no credit, post paid, the customer will put a large deposit in-lieu of the credit check.

http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans/scnc-family.html - then click on
Compare plans with a credit check vs. without a credit check
No Credit Check - Family Plan
Does not receive the benefits of:
Unlimited Talk/Text - International,
EIP
Jump
Billed Premium Content
--
Cost at Activation
Full Device + Refundable Deposit
(approx 1 month of service)

 

[stlc8tr]

Really? They didn't do one for me earlier in the year. Like Oct or so. Only when I looked in to getting phones.

As for band 12, I don't see it being a driving factor in waiting on a device unless you're in FL, CA or New England. Those will be the areas most likely deployed first (probably CA and NE before FL) because those are the areas TMo is hurting the worst. I don't think you'll see TMo really use 700mhz A anywhere else for a couple of years at which point you'll be wanting a new phone anyways.

So unless you live in CA or NE, I wouldn't let band 12 affect my purchasing decision.

How much better is band 12? TMobile is already fine in my area. I get 8-12 Mbit (some areas peak at 25) when LTE is available. Not astounding fast but good enough and a hell of a lot better than Sprint.

 

[Sid59]

How much better is band 12? TMobile is already fine in my area. I get 8-12 Mbit (some areas peak at 25) when LTE is available. Not astounding fast but good enough and a hell of a lot better than Sprint.

building penetration and better coverage overall.

 

[stlc8tr]

building penetration and better coverage overall.

Both are good enough for me right now so no point in waiting, IMO.

I will have saved enough by switching so if I needed to, I can buy a new band 12 device next year if band 12 proves to be a killer app.