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Best prepaid plan + recommend unlocked phone

S

slackerinabox

Lifer
Looking to get rid of verizon and my every increasing cell phone bill. Unlimited data's a must and NYC coverage as well. Suggestions?

Also, looking for 2 unlocked phones, let's say sub-$300. I'd like one to last all day without needing to be charged the other to have a decent to good camera on it. I'm thinking windows phone 7 for mine and android for my wife's, but I'm flexible. Suggestions?

Thanks!
 
No such thing as unlimited data and bring your own device on prepaid. Only choice is sprint or it's prepaid parts boost, virgin mobile, etc if you want unlimited data.
 
freedomsbeat212 said:
Is that true? I thought t-mobile sold prepaid sims for use in unlocked phones?
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They still throttle you after 5GB of data to dialup speeds. So yes it is unlimited if you are fine with 10KB/s download speeds after 5GB.

Verizon barely lets its prepaid providers offer 300MB of data.
ATT providers claim unlimited but will cut you off after 2GB (cancel your service).
T-mobile resellers do the same as ATT ones, they might throttle, but not sure.
Sprint is unlimited (maybe throttling on Virgin Mobile), but their data speeds aren't always the fastest.

You can bring any phone you want to most prepaid providers if its compatible, but finding unlimited data = no.

If you are fine with under 2GB of data, then I suggest Straight Talk E71 SIM swap trick for $45/mo using the ATT network.
Or just t-mobile's prepaid service for $60/mo for 5GB of data and unlimited talk, text. You could also try t-mobile's $30/mo plan with 100 minutes only if you don't use many minutes but still want GBs of data.

As for $300 phones, used iPhone 4 (not unlocked, but if you go with Straight Talk it can be locked to ATT and still work since they use the ATT network). It has good battery life and camera. Samsung Focus S if you want windows phone 7, most WinPhones have decent battery, don't know about camera.
On T-mobile, the HTC Sensation or maybe the Galaxy S2 if you can find it for $300 (I don't think so). Don't know anything about their battery life or cameras.
 
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Score a refurbished E71 from Straight talk, activate it, buy sim cutter from ebay, buy used iPhone 4/4S from Craigslist, put activated, trimmed SIM card in iP4/4S, profit.

You can also use any Android AT&T phone.

$45/month, unlimited data (2gb, then throttled or whatever they do), unlimited text (SMS, the MMS texts are problematic), unlimited voice. If you pay for a year of service, it drops down to around $40/month.
 
Pliablemoose said:
Score a refurbished E71 from Straight talk, activate it, buy sim cutter from ebay, buy used iPhone 4/4S from Craigslist, put activated, trimmed SIM card in iP4/4S, profit.

You can also use any Android AT&T phone.

$45/month, unlimited data (2gb, then throttled or whatever they do), unlimited text (SMS, the MMS texts are problematic), unlimited voice. If you pay for a year of service, it drops down to around $40/month.
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Cool! Is this against their TOS in any way?
 
Pliablemoose said:
Of course it is 🙂
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But everyone is doing it and they have not blocked it yet. I think they are just going to phase the Nokias out. They already don't sell them on their website, only refurbished ones. The E5 was supposed to replace the E71 and I don't see it listed on their website anymore.
 
Ok, about to pull the trigger on the Straight Talk deal. Question, I'm thinking about getting a Dell Venue Pro (win phone 7 seems neat enough and I don't need a huge app ecosystem for my work phone). Do I get the AT&T version or completely unlocked version? Both are the same price without a contract.

Thanks!
 
freedomsbeat212 said:
Ok, about to pull the trigger on the Straight Talk deal. Question, I'm thinking about getting a Dell Venue Pro (win phone 7 seems neat enough and I don't need a huge app ecosystem for my work phone). Do I get the AT&T version or completely unlocked version? Both are the same price without a contract.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

For straight talk it doesn't matter. But if they are the same price then unlocked is always more valuable. Just make sure you get the Nokia e71 from straight talk, other sims won't work.

Edit:
Like the guy below said make sure it has ATT 3g bands. Don't get an unlocked one that only has t-mobile bands. ATT is 850/1900 UMTS 3g.
 
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