Moving to US .. Need advice on selecting Mobile Carrier and Plan ..

[ahmadka]

Hi all ! Well I will soon be moving to the US for a little less than 2 years, and I need advice on selecting a mobile carrier, and a plan ..

My requirements are the following:
---> I need SIM only, no phone, as I plan to use my Nokia N73 there.
---> I need a GSM and 3G supported network
---> Should give me access to the internet on my mobile.

Questions:

1) So which service is better ? AT&T or T-Mobile ?
2) Do either of the above two carriers offer video calling option ?
3) Please also tell me if I should just get the Prepaid plan, or should I get a contract. My mobile usage patterns are somewhat like this:
---> I generally don't call that much. Maybe on average, I may make about 0 to 5 calls a day, each lasting between a minutes or so, or maybe 3-4 minutes sometimes ..
---> I generally receive about the same number of calls per day too .. And of the same average duration too ...
---> I may call internationally (to my folks in home country) once every one or two days too, with each call lasting about 2 to 4 minutes .. Same goes for receiving international calls too.
---> Don't message much too. Maybe just 0 to 10 a day, and receiving about 0 ~5 messages a day ..
---> But my internet usage maybe a little higher. I like to remain connected to my email inbox, and use the internet on the move, so I may need an unlimited data plan (how much would that cost?)

So which should I go for ? Simple prepaid SIM only, or a SIM with a Contract ? Which would be cheaper for me ?

4) Lastly, I heard an AT&T SIM costs $25 ... Isn't that too much for just a SIM !??

Any help here would be greatly appreciated



Moved.

ATOT Moderator ElFenix

 

[Nik]

http://www.mycricket.com

 

[pm]

Cricket is CDMA.

-> I don't think the N73 is US 3G compatible with either T-Mobile or AT&T. GSMArena.Com and Wikipedia both say it's "UMTS 2100". To work with AT&T, it needs to be UMTS 850/1900 and to work with T-Mobile it has to be the very rare UMTS 1700. I'm not absolutely certain about this, but based on this it doesn't seem like the N73 will work with either AT&T or T-Mobile's 3G network. You'll be on EDGE instead.

1. For coverage, AT&T is better. They have more towers, more coverage and they are on better frequencies for building penetration. T-Mobile tends to be a little cheaper, and their customer service is a little nicer (generally speaking).

2. Nope - the US is definitely behind most of the rest of the world in terms of our cell network technology. Prepare yourself to be unimpressed.

3. No one offers data plans with prepaid - well, maybe Cricket and possibly Virgin Mobile, but they are both CDMA. On GSM, you can't get data with prepaid. Or if you can, tell me how to do it.

4. T-Mobile charges $20 for a SIM, AT&T charges $25. Both waive the fee if you sign a contract. And, yes, I agree this seems outrageous for a small SIM that normally costs $5 in Europe.



One thing that is more common in the US than I have seen in the rest of the world is open/free WiFi. It's easier in the US to go into stores and restaurants and cafes and bookstores and use their WiFi. In my town here in Colorado, several of the large grocery stores, dozens of coffee shops, and the entire downtown area are all free/open WiFi. It's not a blanket citywide, but it's vastly more available than anything that I saw when I was in Europe last week. This doesn't help for your N73. But if you have a WiFi cell phone (or netbook), that's a possibility for data. And Skype on a compatible device is a possibility for your international calls.

Nik has a good point - for what you describe Cricket is your best choice... except that it's CDMA and won't work with your N73. To come close to what you describe, you will need to get a new phone.

 

[ahmadka]

About Prepaid v.s. Postpaid .. I understand that in the US, Postpaid connections may be the majority, but since I come from a place where Prepaid is more common, it would really help me if someone could give me some sample costs from both these connection types, and how Postpaid would save me money ..

Why I am asking for this is because someone told me that on AT&T, the monthly Postpaid bill is $30, whereas in Prepaid, you could get a $100 balance with one year validity too .. And since the number of calls I make/receive per day, and the number of messages I send/receive per day are minimal (mentioned in first post), I'm not sure if Postpaid would be the right choice or not .. Because from where I come, Postpaid connections are basically for people who are constantly on the phone, or business people, since Postpaid suits them here ..

But don't get me wrong, I am not completely saying 'No' to Postpaid yet .. I just need to know how it can save me money in the long term .. and if this is so, I can just go Postpaid, no problem

Thanks again to all those helping me out here !!

 

[corkyg]

Your GSM and 3G parameter just about lock you in to AT&T or T-Mobile. T-Mobile, by comparison, has much less coverage than AT&T. In the final analysis, it really depends on where you are - location rules. Study the coverage maps relating to where you will be using the phone.

If you already own the phone, and no new equjipment is involved, AT&T will serve you with out a contracty on a month to month basis, automatic billing to a credit card.

 

[pm]

It looks like AT&T does support prepaid GSM data. 100MB for $20.

These are the GSM plans:

AT&T Prepaid "GoPhone":
http://www.wireless.att.com/ce...g-cell-phone-plans.jsp

T-Mobile's Prepaid:
http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/Prepaid-Plans.aspx

Their "1000 min for 1 year for $100" plan:
http://www.t-mobile.com/promot...et=Pro_Pro_GoldRewards

If you switch to CDMA, then look at the Cricket link that Nik sent - but check if Cricket is where you will be living because they don't have nation-wide service. Although I've never seen any carrier except Verizon with true cross-the-whole-US coverage.

 

[corkyg]

RTP! "I need SIM only, no phone, as I plan to use my Nokia N73 there"

He can get a SIM from AT&T for that GSM phone, and be on a pay-as-you-go basis.

 

[pm]

I did read the post.

He also said he wants 3G data - and a bit of investigating shows his phone isn't compatible with 3G data. And he says that he doesn't make a lot of calls, but uses a fair bit of data - prepaid data is super expensive. $20 for 100MB, I go through 100MB in about 48 hours.

If he really doesn't make a lot of calls, wants a lot of fast data and doesn't want to pay a lot for it, then he doesn't want a prepaid AT&T sim. He wants to switch phones to either Sprint or Cricket. Or get an AT&T plan with unlimited data... and then use his phone on EDGE.

 

[ahmadka]

OK, have to admit, this is all very confusing .. .. too much information to digest in a short time

Anyways, I looked at the AT&T Links posted above, and have made 2 Packages .. one postpaid and one prepaid:

------> Post-Paid <--------

OK, so this is what I know: ATT has a $40/month package, which offers:

450 Anytime Minutes
5000 Night & Weekend minutes
Unlimited Mobile to Mobile minutes
$.45 per minute Additional minutes
$36.00 One-time activation fee
2 years Contract length

Regarding the above pack, I have the following questions:

1) What happens if I have to leave the US before the 2 years finish ? Do I pay a penalty fee or what ?
2) The mobile which comes with this plan (from AT&T's choice of mobiles), would it be mine after the two years finish ?
3) Can I take the SIM out of this mobile (which comes with the package), and use my own N73 (or N97 later) ? (Yes/No)
4) What is the cost of sending messages in the above package, assuming I did NOT select any Messaging deal with this ?
5) And what is this I am hearing that I have to pay a $500 or so deposit in the start ?? Is it meant to stop me from just leaving US before the contract finishes ? :bulging:
6) Is there any way to avoid paying this $500 deposit ? What if I let a friend (whose settled in the US) buy the connection for me ?

------> Prepaid <-------

OK, I have made a Pay As You Go Package like so:

-- Nokia 2610 -- $30
-- Chose the $40 Plan, which includes 300 Anytime Minutes, and 500 Night/Weekend Minutes
-- $5 Messaging Plan which gives me 200 Text Messages
-- $20 gives me 100 MB Data Plan

So my monthly bill would be $65 ...Regarding this Package, I have the following Qs:

7) Do I have to pay any initial deposit (like the $500 in postpaid) for a Prepaid GoPhone connection ? (Yes/No)
8) At what rate would I send Texts after those 200 have finished ?
9) I can cancel this connection anytime right ? (Yes/No)

Keep up the good work guys ..

 

[A5]

Texts are $0.20 each outside of a plan on AT&T. International texts are $0.25 each. If you went with that post-paid plan (plan 1), make sure to disable the data on your phone - it'll cost you at least $0.01 per KB.

 

[pm]

Post-paid:
1) What happens if I have to leave the US before the 2 years finish ? Do I pay a penalty fee or what ?
AT&T's termination fee is $175 -$5 per month you've completed. So after a year it's $175 - 12*$5 = $115.

2) The mobile which comes with this plan (from AT&T's choice of mobiles), would it be mine after the two years finish ?

Yes. Although AT&T locks them to their network. But they supposed will unlock at the end of two years.

3) Can I take the SIM out of this mobile (which comes with the package), and use my own N73 (or N97 later) ? (Yes/No)

Yes.

4) What is the cost of sending messages in the above package, assuming I did NOT select any Messaging deal with this ?

$0.20 per message.

5) And what is this I am hearing that I have to pay a $500 or so deposit in the start ?? Is it meant to stop me from just leaving US before the contract finishes ? :bulging:

I don't know. What I do know is that post-paid contracts are typically for people who have no credit, or horrible credit ratings.

6) Is there any way to avoid paying this $500 deposit ? What if I let a friend (whose settled in the US) buy the connection for me ?

No idea. I've never met anyone on the post-paid plan. I still can't figure out why someone would do it instead of a Pay-As-You-Go.

7) There's a $36 start up fee for service. No deposit or anything like that.

8) $0.20/message

9) Yes. "GoPhone Pay As You Go" is contract free.

 

[vshah]

i would definitely try NOT to make international calls on your cell phone except for emergencies. use skype or something for that...

 

[uli2000]

also remember that a texting package only covers domestic texts. any international texts (including Canada) will cost $.25 each.

 

[Pliablemoose]

TMobile's 3G network will not work with your phone, so it looks like you're stuck with ATT.

Does your n97 have Nokia's built in Skype support?

Might I suggest you get a contract with ATT and get an iPhone & sell it?