$30 t-mobile plan - switching over

[lopri]

As long as the coverage is good in your area and you don't use a phone for phone calls it's an unbeatable deal. ^^ I get similar LTE speed as stlc8tr where covered. But the real benefit of LTE as I see is not throughput but latency.

Though in my situation the other $30 deal of T-Mo (1,500 min talk and unlimited text + 100 MB data) would be better as a main plan since Wi-Fi is quite ubiquitous around here. VOIP solutions using mobile data/Wi-Fi were not reliable enough for my usage.

 

[Todd33]

The T-mobile guy told me you can buy a cheap pre-paid phone that qualifies for the trade in, anyone know of a model?

 

[lopri]

Trade-in for what?

There are cheap ($50~$100) pre-paid smartphones at Walgreens.

 

[bearxor]

if they'll take any phone, then just go buy the cheapest, crappiest flip phone you can buy. Look in a pawn shop. They might have crappy ones that will work.

 

[rh71]

Though in my situation the other $30 deal of T-Mo (1,500 min talk and unlimited text + 100 MB data) would be better as a main plan since Wi-Fi is quite ubiquitous around here. VOIP solutions using mobile data/Wi-Fi were not reliable enough for my usage.

I work from home full time and judging from my data report I still need at least 300mb on avg, just going out on weekends, occasional lookup, using waze, etc. I didn't believe it myself.

On the same token, I'm currently paying VZW $70/mo. to use < 100 minutes, no texts, and 250mb data.

 

[IeraseU]

I should mention that it's 100 minutes included. You can go over your minutes for $0.10 per minute. So if you use 200 minutes one month you pay $40 instead of $30. It's not as if once you use up your 100 minutes you can't make anymore calls.

If you are a high data user and average about 100 minutes or less but go over that figure once in a while, the $30 plan is probably still more affordable then most alternatives.

If you need unlimited minutes and still a decent amount of data (2.5gb), the next best thing is Straight Talk for $45 a month.

 

[dbk]

check out Ting if Sprint is ok in your area... www.ting.com/calculator

 

[Todd33]

Trade-in for what?

There are cheap ($50~$100) pre-paid smartphones at Walgreens.

For the ETF pay-off deal, you have to trade a qualifying phone in.

The T-mobile guy told me Safeway has a flip phone for $30 he T-13?, but my online searches only find a T-139 that is $60, not $30. So the cost of the switch is $60 up front, I'm not willing to trade in my GNex for $16.

 

[stlc8tr]

For the ETF pay-off deal, you have to trade a qualifying phone in.

I think to qualify for the ETF payoff, you have to switch to a TMo postpaid plan and also buy a phone from them. So quite a bit of savings is sucked up by those things.

 

[halik]

I've had the $30/mo virgin mobile plan for almost a month now, works as good as the verizon place that it replaced... at 40% the cost.

 

[glenn1]

I've had the $30/mo virgin mobile plan for almost a month now, works as good as the verizon place that it replaced... at 40% the cost.

What's your total monthly all-in costs with taxes, fees, and whatnot? Same question to anyone on the T-Mobile $30 plan. I presume the feds and state still get their pound of flesh regardless whether it's a "pre-paid" plan or not.

 

[IeraseU]

What's your total monthly all-in costs with taxes, fees, and whatnot? Same question to anyone on the T-Mobile $30 plan. I presume the feds and state still get their pound of flesh regardless whether it's a "pre-paid" plan or not.

I pay exactly $30 per month. They do charge sales tax, but only if you pay your bill through T-mobile. If you buy a prepaid card online (various vendors), you can avoid paying sales tax. I don't believe that there are federal taxes on prepaid plans. I've used Virgin Mobile, MetroPCS and now T-mobile prepaid, and there have never been any federal taxes on my bill. MetroPCS (T-mobile network) even covers sales tax themselves so you don't have to do 'the dance' of having to buy prepaid cards online from a 3rd party vendor.

 

[stlc8tr]

I pay exactly $30 per month. They do charge sales tax, but only if you pay your bill through T-mobile. If you buy a prepaid card online (various vendors), you can avoid paying sales tax. I don't believe that there are federal taxes on prepaid plans. I've used Virgin Mobile, MetroPCS and now T-mobile prepaid, and there have never been any federal taxes on my bill. MetroPCS (T-mobile network) even covers sales tax themselves so you don't have to do 'the dance' of having to buy prepaid cards online from a 3rd party vendor.

That's weird. Must vary by state. I pay using the TMo website and they do not charge sales tax. Just a straight $30/month.

 

[shortylickens]

That's weird. Must vary by state. I pay using the TMo website and they do not charge sales tax. Just a straight $30/month.

ditto. love it.

 

[lopri]

Yah that's what I like about prepaid. No taxes or incomprehensible fees that I did not sign up for. Sucks that their coverages aren't as good as postpaid.

 

[Todd33]

I think to qualify for the ETF payoff, you have to switch to a TMo postpaid plan and also buy a phone from them. So quite a bit of savings is sucked up by those things.

Yep, you need to trade in a phone and buy a phone. I don't mind buying a phone, but I'm not giving them my Gnex for $16. I'll buy something cheap and sell my Gnex.

 

[ImDonly1]

ditto. love it.

It varies by state.
It isn't the regular postpaid taxes and fees. It is just your state's sales tax I believe.

Otherwise, callingmart.com or your favorite online vendor for refills.

 

[dagamer34]

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.

Band 12 (700Mhz Lower A) provides 3x better coverage than AWS (1700Mhz/2100Mhz) or PCS (1900Mhz). It's a HUGE jump and the main reason why it was previously cost prohibitive for T-Mobible to build out their network in rural areas.

 

[rh71]

^ is that the same as saying it will be 3x better coverage/penetration than VZW (750/1700) is now?

It seems it's an issue of both the number of cell towers and how far they reach due to the penetration issue. Does TMo have as many cell towers as VZW in popular areas currently? Or would a roll-out include putting up more towers?

 

[s44]

^ is that the same as saying it will be 3x better coverage/penetration than VZW (750/1700) is now?

No, the idea is to equal VZ range and penetration.

In urban areas, tower density makes high-frequency band coverage (here, AWS) much more important, especially on the street.