Off plan cell phone service

[DBissett]

Awhile back I ran across a website that listed a variety of companies offering cell phone plans that didn't include a phone, so you could bring your phone with you. Now I can't find it, so does anyone know a site like that? Specifically, I'm looking for an alternative to Verizon after our contract is up. Thanks.

 

[bearxor]

I don't know a site like that, but both AT&T and TMobile allow you to bring your own phone and get a discounted rate for not having to get a phone through them. What are your current Verizon phones?

 

[DBissett]

An Iphone4 and an HTC One. I didn't think Verizon phones would work on those services. From the site I'm trying to find there were some services that used those networks and others that used Verizon's network.

 

[Scarpozzi]

Try Page Plus Cellular. https://www.pagepluscellular.com/

They use Verizon Towers and your phones will work with them. They have unlimited plans available....but if you are willing to set your phone to use Wifi only, the $30/month plan gives you like 500MB of data a month. A coworker of mine does this and loves it....

The only con to all the pros of switching to them is they don't own the towers, so they only get 3G service. If you've got an iPhone4, that will be perfect for you.

StraightTalk is the other Verizon-tower service....they have far worse customer service and I've been instructed to stay away from them...they grew too big, too fast and still haven't adjusted.

 

[bearxor]

An Iphone4 and an HTC One. I didn't think Verizon phones would work on those services. From the site I'm trying to find there were some services that used those networks and others that used Verizon's network.

You are correct in that the iPhone 4 will only work on Verizon's network or a reseller of Verizon's network like Page Plus.

The HTC One should actually work just fine on AT&T's network. You won't get LTE, but should get HSPA just fine.

You can check out this Wiki on MVNO's. That might have the info you're looking for.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_mobile_virtual_network_operators

Try Page Plus Cellular. https://www.pagepluscellular.com/

They use Verizon Towers and your phones will work with them. They have unlimited plans available....but if you are willing to set your phone to use Wifi only, the $30/month plan gives you like 500MB of data a month. A coworker of mine does this and loves it....

The only con to all the pros of switching to them is they don't own the towers, so they only get 3G service. If you've got an iPhone4, that will be perfect for you.

StraightTalk is the other Verizon-tower service....they have far worse customer service and I've been instructed to stay away from them...they grew too big, too fast and still haven't adjusted.

Agreed on this. Page Plus is a great way to keep your Verizon service if you're not a heavy data user.

 

[pm]

A friend of mine on PagePlus said you have to hack a phone to get it onto PagePlus. You guys kind of imply that if you have a Verizon phone, it will just work, but that's not what he told me and what I've read.

 

[bamx2]

Verizon 4g phones will have to flashed operate on the Verizon network MVNOs ( Page Plus ,Selectel) and the cellular data will be 3G. Your Iphone 4s does not have to be flashed but HTC One has to be flashed . Some phones can be flashed DIY fairly easily (tutorials online) and professional flashing (local or remote) costs $35-50.

Look around at these links -

http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php/325-US-Prepaid-MVNO-Discussion

http://www.prepaidphonenews.com/

http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm (needs updating)