Best Prepaid Cell Service?

[xXFaNtAsMaXx]

Straight Talk is getting a low end android phone in 2-3 weeks. The phone might not be the greatest (it looks decent, though), but $45/month for unlimited calling/texting/data is damn cheap.
http://preorder.straighttalkandroid.com/

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0057GUFEI

LG 800G, 1200 minutes, 1 year of service, triple minutes, $115.

 

[gsaldivar]

nm

 

[zerocool84]

I'd go Virgin as it has the best phone ever for a pre-paid carrier.

 

[ew915]

I'd go with straight talk $45 monthly for unlimited everything, well data is limited to 2gb but you can use any att phone without the need to unlock, even the iphone 4.
The only catch is the you need to buy the nokia e71 and use the sim for 99.99

 

[cronos]

I just can't award the 'best' to a carrier that doesn't allow BYOD (it's one of the most important features of prepaid), so with its generous plans and Verizon network coverage, PagePlus wins this out right.

AT&T GoPhone gets an honorable mention for casual smartphone users. Their pay-to-go package is perfect for people with low-to-zero minutes, no text, and relatively low data usage. With the rollover feature, you can use 100% of your balance for data if you want to.

Second honorable mention goes to Platinumtel (Sprint MVNO), with the best straight-up pay-to-go rate in the country (2c/txt, 5c/minute, 10c/MB). The disadvantage is the fact that it doesn't allow BYOD, and because it uses only Sprint native network (which, to be fair, would only be a problem for people with weak Sprint coverage).

 

[corkyg]

All notes contain good advice, founded mainly on experience. But, the really important factor not cited is, where you live. Not all services have equal coverage in terms of reliability and signal strength. When responses assume one size fits all, they need to be taken with many grains of salt.

 

[Pretty Cool]

Any Verizon phone can be ported in as long as it isn't a Verizon Prepaid phone (unless it has had service for something like 6 months).

check Big Lots stores for a brand new prepaid Verizon feature phone, and convert over to Page Plus after 6 months.

Just wondering if you guys have done this before. Reason for asking is seems like everybody is telling me that you cannot use a Verizon prepaid phone on Page Plus even after 6 months. Only exception is if you were grandfathered in from a few years ago.



As for the original question, monthly plans of course gives you more for your money. However in your case, it would be overkill. I would say your best option would be to go pay-as-you-go. That would mean Page Plus ($80 card good for 1 year), T-Mobile ($100 card for 1 year), Tracfone ($100 for 1 year if you can get that triple minutes for life offer), or Platinumel Tel (Real Paygo).


Page Plus
-Verizon towers. 29 cents/minute for roaming
-Uses Verizon postpaid phones. You probably have to buy a phone from a private party, Ebay, or Craigslist. Sometimes a daily-deal website might have a Verizon phone.
-With that $80 card, you pay 4 cents/minute for calls. Texts are 5 cents.
-Data is 99 cents a MB.
-50 cents monthly fee.

T-Mobile
-T-Mobile towers
-Use any T-Mobile or unlocked gsm phone. You could even use a T-Mobile prepaid phone.
-Calls are 10 cents a minute. Texts are also 10 cents.
-Has a $1.49 daily webpass.
-No monthly fee.

Tracfone
-The triple minutes for life usually gives you a AT&T sim with that triple minutes phone. Tracfone has free roaming.
-Must use a Tracfone. That LG LG800G is probably their only touchscreen phone.
-Tracfone uses units. Not positive, but I believe texting costs something like .5 units where calls are 1 unit per minute.
-Web access costs .5 units a minute.
-No monthly fee.

Platinum Tel
-Sprint native coverage only. No roaming at all. Look at the coverage map.
-Need a Platinumtel Phone. If you previously used a Sprint MVNO phone, you could use that instead if you have a code from the previous provider.
-Talk is 5 cents a minute. Texts are 2 cents each.
-Web is 10 cents a MB.
-50 cents a month fee.

 

[Gonad the Barbarian]

^Thanks for that rundown. Tracfone texts are .3 units. Also, the sender isn't identified unless you open the text on all phones except 420g. And Tracfone has another touchscreen phone, the Motorola ex124g.