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Advise on prepaid cell plans?

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MWink said:
Actually, Page Plus is $10 (for 100 minutes) every 120 days (which is 4 months). It's also possible to get 2000 minutes for $80, which lasts 1 year.




That can easily be beat. Just look at the Page Plus rates mentioned above. 1 year of service is $20 less and gives you twice as many minutes.


I've used a number of prepaid services over the years and Page Plus is probably my favorite. I can spend as little as ~$35 per year (for 300 minutes) and it runs on the native Verizon network.

I also liked the old T-Mobile Pay as you go with "gold rewards". That allowed you to keep a phone active for as little as $10 per year but that is hard to find these days. I also used PlatinumTel for a while, before they moved from the Sprint network to T-Mobile's. I liked their price structure but, after the move, you had to refill your account more often. FreedomPOP can be a great deal but you have to make sure you know what you're getting yourself into. Be prepared to play games and expect sub-par service.
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Nm youre right
 
Just get freedompop. Got a android smartphone for my son for $25 last promotion and we pay a total of $0 per year.
 
Scarpozzi said:
I've heard a lot of people that only do basic phone service have success with Page Plus wireless. If you like talking with your wife, you could look into prepaid Verizon that does V-to-V minutes for free...but I don't know if Verizon does rollover.

Page Plus Wireless uses Verizon towers and around here, that's more important than anything. Most of the other companies have more dead spots than Verizon in my area.

http://pagepluswireless.com/ $12/month for their most basic plan.
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pageplus $10 card every 3 months = $40/yr.
minutes carry over
 
Fanatical Meat said:
From a former wireless guy, you can't beat ATT for $100 = 1000 minutes & 12 month to use them. Unused balance (up to $500) will carry over to the next card.
**Sounds like you are not looking for data beyond WiFi**
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Yeah but ATT gives your info to the government.
 
Just got off the phone with Anthony, a very helpful *American* rep at Pageplus Wireless. Had to call him back because I did not have all the info he needed. 20 minutes later, with no press 1 for this, or press 2 for that, guess who answers the phone in 2 rings? ANTHONY! He then walks me though how to verify the ID codes on my phone, how to set up an account, and that *HE* will notify Verizon. I have not seen customer service like this in like, -
FOREVER! Again, I do not text, chat, app, download, send pics etc. I have *talked* less than 7 hours in 2 years, so Pageplus seems to be the perfect match for me. I thank you all for your input!
 
We have four cells, 3x Tmobile prepaid, $0.10/min when refilled with $100, $10 is only like 35 min, but any refill rolls balance over for 365 days, and one WalMart Tmobile $30/mo 100 min voice unlimited 4G LTE data and messages. Also a freedompop $0 hot spot that may or may not still work, never really used it, run on Sprint.
 
runzwithsizorz said:
Just got off the phone with Anthony, a very helpful *American* rep at Pageplus Wireless. Had to call him back because I did not have all the info he needed. 20 minutes later, with no press 1 for this, or press 2 for that, guess who answers the phone in 2 rings? ANTHONY! He then walks me though how to verify the ID codes on my phone, how to set up an account, and that *HE* will notify Verizon. I have not seen customer service like this in like, -
FOREVER! Again, I do not text, chat, app, download, send pics etc. I have *talked* less than 7 hours in 2 years, so Pageplus seems to be the perfect match for me. I thank you all for your input!
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That's good to hear, because I always heard that PP's direct customer service was not that good. You can buy refills from other places like kittywireless and exclusive cellular.
 
Triumph said:
That's good to hear, because I always heard that PP's direct customer service was not that good. You can buy refills from other places like kittywireless and exclusive cellular.
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Just used their online chat for a couple of questions, was fast, and worked well. Since I am porting my number, they tell me it may take a couple of days.
 
DaveSimmons said:
I'm on a legacy T-Mobile plan, but you can't get it anymore.

Last time I looked they also had another "pay as you go" plan that was $3 a day for any day that you used the phone. Maybe they still do.
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MWink said:
I also liked the old T-Mobile Pay as you go with "gold rewards". That allowed you to keep a phone active for as little as $10 per year but that is hard to find these days.
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mikeford said:
We have four cells, 3x Tmobile prepaid, $0.10/min when refilled with $100, $10 is only like 35 min, but any refill rolls balance over for 365 days, and one WalMart Tmobile $30/mo 100 min voice unlimited 4G LTE data and messages.
Click to expand...

T-Mobile prepaid Pay As You Go changed about a year ago to $3 minimum per month (but includes that value in minutes & text @ .10 each) and allows a data add-on. Legacy ($10 min per year) pre-activated SIM may be available on eBay.
 
Auric said:
T-Mobile prepaid Pay As You Go changed about a year ago to $3 minimum per month (but includes that value in minutes & text @ .10 each) and allows a data add-on. Legacy ($10 min per year) pre-activated SIM may be available on eBay.
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Whoa wait, what? You can have data add-on now on T-Mobile Paygo? Somehow I missed this.

poofyhairguy said:
I so want to go prepaid but I am so scared about losing my number.
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I take it you're not okay porting your number to Google and use it as a forwarder?

It's understandable, but your fear of losing your number is unwarranted. It's probably FUD that caused you to be scared so much. I'm not saying numbers lost between porting never happens, but the percentage of that happening is really really small, and it doesn't really have anything to do with going prepaid (i.e. postpaid carriers carry the same risk). If you are worried about carriers that go bankrupt, just go with MVNOs that are well known and/or a direct subsidiary of a major carrier (GoPhone, Cricket, etc.) Even a prepaid carrier that got dissolved allow their customers plenty of time to port their numbers out.
 
cronos said:
Whoa wait, what? You can have data add-on now on T-Mobile Paygo? Somehow I missed this.
Click to expand...

But before getting too excited... it is a daily or weekly pass. So if generally always wanting data available (regardless of voice usage) it is not cost effective versus a monthly plan (especially given unlimited with roaming).
 
cronos said:
I take it you're not okay porting your number to Google and use it as a forwarder?
Click to expand...

No, not unless Google is my carrier (like with Fi).

It's understandable, but your fear of losing your number is unwarranted. It's probably FUD that caused you to be scared so much. I'm not saying numbers lost between porting never happens, but the percentage of that happening is really really small, and it doesn't really have anything to do with going prepaid (i.e. postpaid carriers carry the same risk).
Click to expand...

I could be completely off base, but it seems to me that prepay is a much greater risk. I have read so many stories of people being kicked off of prepay carriers for overutilization or some other reason, which would make the entire process a failure for me. Plus as you say prepay companies are not the most solid in many cases and I am kinda not that responsible. I would hate to miss a payment one month and lose my number or something. That has never happened in years of AT&T postpay and I have been late on many many payments.

Even if the risk factor is like 10% higher that is too great for me. My phone number is the primary way less technical people in my life can get ahold of me, and it hasn't changed since I was in college so there are a lot of people in my past who today can only get ahold of me as long as I keep it. It would really mess up my life to lose that number, in my line of work it would literally cost me big money.

Maybe I am irrationally scared. If so I would love to hear it.
 
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