are there any cheap plans with just data?

[holden j caufield]

I've been using hangouts on my phones with no sim card and realized that I don't really make too many calls and I can chat and call with my contacts via hangouts, FB and skype.

 

[Yuriman]

You have quite a few options.

Republic Wireless will sell you unlimited everything for $25 per month (at 3G speeds), but you have to buy one of their phones. T-Mobile will sell you unlimited data (4G to 5GB) and 100 minutes of talk for $30 per month. With something like Ting (a prepaid), you can pay for what you use, so if you're only using 1GB of data per month you could pay as little as $25. None of these have a contract.

How much data do you need?

 

[gmaster456]

Straight talk has data only plans for tablets but as long as the Sim fits you could probably use it in a phone. I may be wrong on that because I'd think there would be a lot more people doing something like that.

 

[RossMAN]

You have quite a few options.

Republic Wireless will sell you unlimited everything for $25 per month (at 3G speeds), but you have to buy one of their phones. T-Mobile will sell you unlimited data (4G to 5GB) and 100 minutes of talk for $30 per month. With something like Ting (a prepaid), you can pay for what you use, so if you're only using 1GB of data per month you could pay as little as $25. None of these have a contract.

How much data do you need?

Two great suggestions.

OP - I would choose whichever carrier has a better coverage in your area (home/work/school), T-Mobile or Sprint (Republic Wireless). If you don't know, Google it or better yet as friends or family.

If T-Mobile has good coverage in your area I'd go with their 5GB for $30/mo plan, yes it offers 100 voice minutes but you don't have to use them - makes a nice backup phone, just in case.

 

[paperwastage]

If t-mobile works for you in your area, the 5GB $30 100-min plan is probably best... 100-min for use if there isn't good LTE, 5GB for everything else

http://goredpocket.com/plans#gsmt-mi

red pocket has data-only sims and starts at $10/1GB, but t-mobile's $30 5GB is cheaper more price-efficient for 5GB

 

[Red Storm]

If t-mobile works for you in your area, the 5GB $30 100-min plan is probably best... 100-min for use if there isn't good LTE, 5GB for everything else

http://goredpocket.com/plans#gsmt-mi

red pocket has data-only sims, but t-mobile's $30 5GB is cheaper

Red Pocket has a pretty affordable data only plan, $10 a month for 1GB of data via T-mobile's network.

 

[isekii]

that or latch on to someone's family plan

 

[cronos]

If you are someone who are mostly covered by wi-fi like me (and only need little bits of data sporadically) and has good T-Mobile coverage, Red Pocket has a nice data only monthly plan of $5/512 MB or $10/1GB.

Edit: I thought for sure I read all the replies and didn't see this mentioned *stand up to get that cup of coffee I obviously need*

 

[cronos]

that or latch on to someone's family plan

Can you elaborate?

I don't think this works with AT&T, because the 'data only' add-on line would only work on tablets, and not phones. But maybe that's changed now?

 

[Midwayman]

Can you elaborate?

I don't think this works with AT&T, because the 'data only' add-on line would only work on tablets, and not phones. But maybe that's changed now?

Technically this sort of thing will work. However they can detect its not the device that the sim was provisioned for and may force you to switch to an appropriate plan. I remember people playing this game with the dumbphone plans on a smartphone since they had very low data usage. ATT might not do anything for awhile, but then they'd get moved to a smartphone plan and they'd have to try and change back again.

I imagine its similar with the family share plans. Its like $25 for a smartphone on next to add a line, but $10 for a tablet. Probably get get away with it for awhile, but don't be surprised if you get switched.

 

[holden j caufield]

thanks, AT as always has good info. If anyone doesn't know you can now make wifi calls through hangouts/google voice, text through google voice/hangouts. I've been experimenting with a backup phone with no sim card and just on my wifi. The $10 red pocket sounds awesome.

 

[isekii]

Can you elaborate?

I don't think this works with AT&T, because the 'data only' add-on line would only work on tablets, and not phones. But maybe that's changed now?

If he has any friends with T-mobile, he can just get a line from them and pay them at a discounted rate instead of signing up individually with the provider.

 

[cronos]

If he has any friends with T-mobile, he can just get a line from them and pay them at a discounted rate instead of signing up individually with the provider.

Tagging along on a friend's family plan is a common trick, but that's not 'data only', which is what the OP was asking. And like I said, if he meant tagging along as a 'data line', then the carriers don't usually allow that on phones.

 

[stlc8tr]

Tagging along on a friend's family plan is a common trick, but that's not 'data only', which is what the OP was asking. And like I said, if he meant tagging along as a 'data line', then the carriers don't usually allow that on phones.

I think he was asking for data only because he thought it would cheaper. He mentions using Skype and Hangouts for voice.

Adding a 3rd line on TMobile is only $10. You get 1GB of LTE data and unlimited talk/text. Hard to beat that.