phone help

[dyamond]

Does anyone here have a prepaid plan? if you do, how is it?

I'm contemplating switching my cell from a monthly post paid (meaning a contract) to a monthly pre paid. The reason is my bill is seriously getting way too expensive for something I barely use and I found a relatively cheap pre-paid plan that would be nice but I'm hesitant. I've had pre-paid before and that was a headache and a half (but to be honest, that was back in the 90's lol) and I guess I'm still scarred from then. I've had this post paid account for over a decade and I know that it won't matter if I cancel, because it doesn't report to your credit, but still I'm not sure I want to take such a leap.


Any thoughts, suggestions, ideas, stories on pre paid vs post paid? help me with this decision! Thanks all.

[Phantom]

I always use prepaid these days, Dy. I don't make a lot of outgoing calls, (except for texts, I guess), and I find that 30 bocks is usually plenty for the month. Over here, if you top up with $30 or more, you get a lot of "free time"thrown with it, too, plus the credit lasts for six months, if you choose the "Extended Time" package, or whatever it's called. Yeah, I know that you're in the U.S., but you should be able to find similar deals over there in abundance.

[dyamond]

Originally Posted by Phantom

I always use prepaid these days, Dy. I don't make a lot of outgoing calls, (except for texts, I guess), and I find that 30 bocks is usually plenty for the month. Over here, if you top up with $30 or more, you get a lot of "free time"thrown with it, too, plus the credit lasts for six months, if you choose the "Extended Time" package, or whatever it's called. Yeah, I know that you're in the U.S., but you should be able to find similar deals over there in abundance.

I barely make/receive calls myself. Last month I used a total of 3 whole minutes, and I have "unlimited". You are spot on about the price though.The plan I was looking at is $30. It's more than a generous deal considering I'm almost getting the same thing (minus some minutes) that I'm paying $90 for now (post paid). I guess I'm just a little nervous about dropping the whole "contract" thing. Right now, since I've been with them (post paid) for so long, I have some leeway when it comes to negotiating deals on phones. I don't know if I'll get that if I go pre-paid. Also, if I do leave and go pre, and I want to go back to post I'm going to have to "qualify" meaning, submit to credit checks, etc all over again. I dunno. Do the pros outweigh the cons?

[Sgt. Tibbs]

My niece has one through MetroPCS. For $50 a month she gets unlimited voice, text and data. The only catch is it doesn't so much have coverage if you get more than about 20 miles from a city.

I've been kinda considering it, since my phone with 450 minutes (unlimited nights and weekends), 500 texts, and unlimited data is $95 per month. What's stopping me is my unlimited data...if I hate the prepaid and come back, my grandfathered data plan will no longer exist. And for the level of data usage I'm at, I'm looking at more than twice what I pay now.

[dyamond]

Originally Posted by Sgt. Tibbs

My niece has one through MetroPCS. For $50 a month she gets unlimited voice, text and data. The only catch is it doesn't so much have coverage if you get more than about 20 miles from a city.

I've been kinda considering it, since my phone with 450 minutes (unlimited nights and weekends), 500 texts, and unlimited data is $95 per month. What's stopping me is my unlimited data...if I hate the prepaid and come back, my grandfathered data plan will no longer exist. And for the level of data usage I'm at, I'm looking at more than twice what I pay now.

Yea, that's a good point about the grandfathered plan. I had a good (grandfathered - 300 minutes for $30 and 1000 texts for $7.99) plan that I stupidly changed because someone asked me to get more minutes so that we could talk more, who then made up a lame excuse and changed their mind only a few days later.

So now I'm stuck with my current plan which is everything unlimited. Which I barely use any of. I use the internet occasionally, mainly just to check facebook and read the news. I do send/receive a lot of emails and texts. I usually do about 800/1000 per month. This pre paid plan I'm eyeing is $30 with unlimited texts and unlimited data (up to 5GB of high speed) but still, I don't know if I really want to kick the old contract, just for the sake of the costs of the phones.

[the mekanic]

I have an LG Optimus through Net10 (phone was $99.99). It's fifty bucks a month, unlimited everything. Android 3.2, streams Pandora, I can check e-mail, and even post here. And it even has good reception except in places where there acutally isn't good service for anyone out "in the boondocks" where I live. I work nights at K-Mart for the holiday season when things at work slow down, so my discount put a nice dent in the overall price too.

I've had a Net10/TracFone for years and have been very happy with them.

[Phantom]

Originally Posted by dyamond

... I don't know if I'll get that if I go pre-paid. Also, if I do leave and go pre, and I want to go back to post I'm going to have to "qualify" meaning, submit to credit checks, etc all over again. I dunno. Do the pros outweigh the cons?

Well, you should be able to just buy a $30.00 'Startup Pack' and just activate the card over the 'Net. All need to supply is the phone No. and the SIM card No., in my experience.

[Fred_G]

I am trying to find a cell phone that will get a signal in my house... AND work with the plan I want to use. Very frustrating.

If you don't use many minutes, you might want to check into the Page Plus prepaid. They have one plan that is $80 for 2000 minutes, good for 365 days. And one that is $29 for 1200 minutes good for a month.

http://www.mysupplyworld.com/Page-Pl...FQQ4nAod6hcAzw

I know a few people that use them, and no complaints from them, but have not used it myself. Yet.

[gman863]

Originally Posted by the mekanic

I have an LG Optimus through Net10 (phone was $99.99). It's fifty bucks a month, unlimited everything. Android 3.2, streams Pandora, I can check e-mail, and even post here. And it even has good reception except in places where there acutally isn't good service for anyone out "in the boondocks" where I live. I work nights at K-Mart for the holiday season when things at work slow down, so my discount put a nice dent in the overall price too.

I've had a Net10/TracFone for years and have been very happy with them.

If you just want basic phone service and texts, Net10 is one of the best deals out there - as little as $15/month for 150 minutes. I'm pretty sure it uses Sprint's network, so the coverage is halfway decent.

Walmart has recently introduced its own prepaid service. I think it's around $40/month for unlimited service and it uses T-Mobile's network.

One I'd stay away from is Cricket. Unless you live in and make all your calls in a metro area where Cricket has service I've heard their rural coverage/roaming is spotty - not a good thing if you're traveling and your car breaks down.

[TimW]

I use the plan available through Wal-mart. It's billed monthly through my credit card. 1000 minutes, 1000 texts and 8gigs of internet ( which I don;t use). Total cost is $33 per month. Straight Talk. The carrier is Verison so it covers everywhere.

[mjnc]

Originally Posted by dyamond

I barely make/receive calls myself. Last month I used a total of 3 whole minutes, and I have "unlimited".

I've had a few months like that. I use my cell only as a convenience and to have for something urgent.

I have the cheapest plan I could find which typically works out to be about $9 a month.
I renew the service every 90 days and get 90 minutes. That's typically all I need.

Tracfone has some inexpensive phones, like $15, that you can get at Walmart, Target, etc.
and many now come with 'double minutes' for the life of the phone.
Simply, that means that you get two minutes for every one minute that you buy.
The minutes never expire as long as you keep the phone service active.

When I started about three years ago, I got the cheapest phone they had at that time and I'm still using it.
It's very basic - no camera, no internet.
Now there are inexpensive phones with more features.

[BoredOutOfMyMind]

Originally Posted by gman863

If you just want basic phone service and texts, Net10 is one of the best deals out there - as little as $15/month for 150 minutes. I'm pretty sure it uses Sprint's network, so the coverage is halfway decent.

Walmart has recently introduced its own prepaid service. I think it's around $40/month for unlimited service and it uses T-Mobile's network.

One I'd stay away from is Cricket. Unless you live in and make all your calls in a metro area where Cricket has service I've heard their rural coverage/roaming is spotty - not a good thing if you're traveling and your car breaks down.

And in my area, the opposite is true. Sprint is lousy out of more than 25000 population and Cricket seems to cover more.

[Sgt. Tibbs]

Originally Posted by BoredOutOfMyMind

And in my area, the opposite is true. Sprint is lousy out of more than 25000 population and Cricket seems to cover more.

That's the thing a lot of people don't seem to get. It totally depends on where you are who has the best coverage. Obviously those with the biggest coverage map will service more areas, but the quality of service differs greatly. Verizon has been good to me over a larger range of places, but the service at my house pretty much blows. I still stick with them, though, because only about three times in ten years have I ever been somewhere I didn't have service of some kind, at least enough to text if nothing else.

[gloozit]

I've found that TracFone has the best coverage, at least in this state. I believe they use, any and everyone's towers. But the pricing isn't the best plan out there.
You can get Double Minutes for life, on some of their phones (buy X minutes, get XX)
Wouldn't recommend it, for a real phone user, though.
Works for me. I use a very low amount of minutes, monthly
And they have never dropped one of my calls. Unlike nearly, every other service.
MetroPC is big here, I think they lower your charge after so many on time payments.

[dyamond]

Thanks all for your input, I appreciate it!

I still haven't made up my mind though.