Best GSM prepaid service?

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Chrono

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Jan 2, 2001
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Anybody purchase cell phone prepaid service? What's the best GSM based unlimited prepaid service out there? I have been reading up and it seems there are a bunch of prepaid providers but a lot of them suck hard.

I currently have sprint but they're starting to piss me off with their lack of LTE/Wimax and slow 3g service. My plan is to buy a Galaxy Nexus off of google and go with a prepaid provider, thus saving money in the long run as well.
 
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lxskllr

lxskllr

No Lifer
Nov 30, 2004
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Chrono said:
I checked out http://www.prepaidreviews.com/straighttalk.html and there are a lot of pissed off customers... Hm...
Click to expand...

You get pissed off customers with everything. You couldn't look up reviews for a loaf of bread without finding someone who's pissed about it. With cell service in particular, what matters most is people in the area you intend on using it. An opinion from bumfuck Montana isn't very valuable unless you're using it in bumfuck Montana. All the telcos are sleazy scheisters, so you can be assured they'll try to screw you at some point.
 
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bignateyk

Lifer
Apr 22, 2002
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Consumer Cellular is good if you don't need a ton of data. They use AT&Ts network and any AT&T phone will work without needing unlocked.

I pay $70/month for a share everything plan (2 lines) with 700 minutes, 5000 texts, and 500mb data.

I was paying $150/month for basically the same thing from AT&T
 
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bignateyk

Lifer
Apr 22, 2002
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You have to be careful with straight talk. If you have a smartphone they make you use T-Mobile network. Otherwise you are on AT&T. T-Mobiles network is pretty terrible coverage-wise.
 
Sheep

Sheep

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Jun 13, 2006
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bignateyk said:
You have to be careful with straight talk. If you have a smartphone they make you use T-Mobile network. Otherwise you are on AT&T. T-Mobiles network is pretty terrible coverage-wise.
Click to expand...

That's not true. My friend has a GSM Galaxy Nexus, ordered a Straight Talk sim card and we configured it to use an AT&T APN per the instructions that came with the sim card. The phone is working fine for both voice calls and data.
 
Druidx

Druidx

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Jul 16, 2002
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bignateyk said:
You have to be careful with straight talk. If you have a smartphone they make you use T-Mobile network. Otherwise you are on AT&T. T-Mobiles network is pretty terrible coverage-wise.
Click to expand...
Depends on the area, mine uses ATT towers.
 
Slacker

Slacker

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Oct 9, 1999
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T-Mobile 100 minutes, unlimited text and data at HSPA+ speed up to 5gb for $30.00 a month plan is like it was designed for me. I never use all my minutes and the most data I pulled in a month was around 3gb.
Even if I were to go over my minutes it is only ten cents per, and if I go over 5gb I would still get edge and of course there is WiFi.

Signal for me has been better than att or sprint in my area.
 
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Thegonagle

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Jun 8, 2000
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T-Mobile if it works for you, or StraightTalk BYO device if you need unlimited minutes but less data, or need to use the AT&T network for coverage issues.

StraightTalk BYO device is available for the T-Mobile or AT&T network. The thing about StraightTalk is it's a subsidiary of TracFone, who is known for not-so-good customer support, and that reputation carries on with the StraightTalk brand. Straight talk's unlimited is only unlimited until they deem your usage as unreasonable. 100 MB per day, 2 GB per month is the commonly accepted threshold of their definition of "reasonable" data usage.

T-Mobile has less network breadth, but where they have service, the service tends to be pretty good, and they have data plans that can work for heavy users. T-Mobile also never charges for data overages, nor do they cut you off. They just throttle their 3G/"4G" back to approximately 120 kbps. (They don't kick you back to the EDGE network; they just limit the transfer speed from the 3G/"4G".)
 
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jpeyton

jpeyton

Moderator in SFF, Notebooks, Pre-Built/Barebones
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Aug 23, 2003
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Chrono said:
I checked out http://www.prepaidreviews.com/straighttalk.html and there are a lot of pissed off customers... Hm...
Click to expand...
If you need hand-holding from your wireless provider's customer support, I don't recommend Straight Talk. That said, I had a positive first experience with Straight Talk customer support this morning. It was the first time in 6 months I've ever had a problem with their service (my monthly refill wasn't posting to my account), and after a 10 minute wait to speak to a live person, they had the problem fixed in about 30 seconds.

Straight Talk's $45 plan is unlimited voice/text, ~2GB data (although they don't publish a limit). When you order a SIM off their website, you can choose between AT&T GSM or T-Mobile GSM; I went with AT&T based on coverage and speed in my area.

I'm using an AT&T Android smartphone, so all I needed to do to make Straight Talk work was edit the APN settings (it takes about 1 minute and they provide clear instructions). This does not require root access, and there are even free applications in the Google Play store to make the process easier.

bignateyk said:
You have to be careful with straight talk. If you have a smartphone they make you use T-Mobile network. Otherwise you are on AT&T. T-Mobiles network is pretty terrible coverage-wise.
Click to expand...
False, you have the option when you order the SIM to pick the network. I chose AT&T (most people do).

If you use more than 100 voice minutes per month, Straight Talk is the best deal going. If you can keep voice chatter to an absolute minimum, T-Mobile's $30 plan is worth considering (if their coverage in your area is good).
 
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lothar

Diamond Member
Jan 5, 2000
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bignateyk said:
You have to be careful with straight talk. If you have a smartphone they make you use T-Mobile network. Otherwise you are on AT&T. T-Mobiles network is pretty terrible coverage-wise.
Click to expand...
That is completely false.
 
Robert Munch

Robert Munch

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Oct 11, 2006
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jpeyton said:
Text
Click to expand...
I looked at that one a few moments ago before you posted that and the first review kinda bothered me since the guy had to use his foot to apply pressure to make the sim card :p

What I was thinking is if I do a prepaid T-Mobile for a month and then see if straight talk will allow me to use the sim that T-Mobile provided me?
 
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ImDonly1

Platinum Member
Dec 17, 2004
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Robert Munch said:
I looked at that one a few moments ago before you posted that and the first review kinda bothered me since the guy had to use his foot to apply pressure to make the sim card :p

What I was thinking is if I do a prepaid T-Mobile for a month and then see if straight talk will allow me to use the sim that T-Mobile provided me?
Click to expand...

No you can't use a sim from t-mobile on straight talk.

And about the SIM cutter, I have that one and so do lots of other people. I used it to cut my straight talk sim a while ago. It works fine. Do you really think you need to step on it to cut a piece of plastic? I have no idea what that guy was doing.

The only thing is, make sure none of the metal contacts of the sim are near the cutting area. Sometimes depending on sim and sim cutter, the metal part of the sim may be under the cutting area. If you cut any part of the metal area, the sim is broken. So don't just jam the sim all the way in the cutter and cut. Check to see if its ok to cut and pull the sim out a little if you need to, then cut.
 
looper

looper

Golden Member
Oct 22, 1999
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Slacker said:
T-Mobile 100 minutes, unlimited text and data at HSPA+ speed up to 5gb for $30.00 a month plan is like it was designed for me. I never use all my minutes and the most data I pulled in a month was around 3gb.
Even if I were to go over my minutes it is only ten cents per, and if I go over 5gb I would still get edge and of course there is WiFi. Signal for me has been better than att or sprint in my area.
Click to expand...

How would I get that plan with a specific smartphone I want to buy... the SgS3? (T-Mo will only let you use a few phones with that plan)
 
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bignateyk

Lifer
Apr 22, 2002
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lothar said:
That is completely false.
Click to expand...

Not sure why their customer service agent and their website would lie about it. The coverage map clearly shows Android phones are made to use T-Mobiles network. I saw that and called to ask about it and the guy told me that they had different agreements with AT&T and TMobile with regard to data usage and that smartphones were put on the TMobile network.
 
Druidx

Druidx

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Jul 16, 2002
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Robert Munch said:
I looked at that one a few moments ago before you posted that and the first review kinda bothered me since the guy had to use his foot to apply pressure to make the sim card :p

What I was thinking is if I do a prepaid T-Mobile for a month and then see if straight talk will allow me to use the sim that T-Mobile provided me?
Click to expand...

I've used that exact same sim cutter, twice without any problems.
 
Ravynmagi

Ravynmagi

Diamond Member
Jun 16, 2007
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looper said:
How would I get that plan with a specific smartphone I want to buy... the SgS3? (T-Mo will only let you use a few phones with that plan)
Click to expand...

You can use any compatible GSM phone with T-Mobile's Monthly 4G plan.

The only catch though is the plan is only intended for new customers, so you'll need to buy a new SIM to activate the plan online. Also it's best not to try to get this plan in a T-Mobile retail store, because they don't seem to be able to activate it correctly on their computers and you'll probably have to buy a new SIM.

Just buy the activation kit and follow the instructions.
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/T-Mobile-Prepaid-SIM-Activation-Kit
 
looper

looper

Golden Member
Oct 22, 1999
1,655
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Ravynmagi said:
You can use any compatible GSM phone with T-Mobile's Monthly 4G plan.
The only catch though is the plan is only intended for new customers, so you'll need to buy a new SIM to activate the plan online. Also it's best not to try to get this plan in a T-Mobile retail store, because they don't seem to be able to activate it correctly on their computers and you'll probably have to buy a new SIM.
Just buy the activation kit and follow the instructions.
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-phone/T-Mobile-Prepaid-SIM-Activation-Kit
Click to expand...

Ok. But, I need to buy the T-Mo SgS3, correct? And the unlocked one?
 
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tHa ShIzNiT

Platinum Member
Feb 15, 2000
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I am ready to do this too. Can this activation kit be bought in stores, or do you need to order it online?
 
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