Post: #1

I've been wanting to update my phone for quite some time now. I'm down to at least two plans, Virgin Mobile and Metro PCS. I prefer a no contract plan since I hate having to deal with contracts. I also don't want to spend more than 50 a month.

Is 4g that much better than 3g? That's the big advantage Virgin has over Metro, yet it has a limit on talk time time.

Metro PCS seems to have nicer plans but is more likely 3 g. Granted I'm coming from a Razr phone and Consumer Cellular with no texting and internet, so both plans would be a big improvement.

Post: #2

Look at this page
http://www.reddit.com/r/Android/comments...b_of_data/

Post: #3

WHoa they go to 2g? How slow is that?

What's wrong with metro pcs coverage?

Post: #4

Just don't let people find out you have phones from those carriers.

So this Cricket plan is actually cheaper than other major brands. it works fine too.
The only issue I see is that I see all kinds of ghetto people lining up at cricket store.

I don't want to look like one of them by having a cricket phone. maybe I am too pretentious....

Post: #5

(09-15-2012 01:16 PM)kbell Wrote:  I've been wanting to update my phone for quite some time now. I'm down to at least two plans, Virgin Mobile and Metro PCS. I prefer a no contract plan since I hate having to deal with contracts. I also don't want to spend more than 50 a month.

Is 4g that much better than 3g? That's the big advantage Virgin has over Metro, yet it has a limit on talk time time.

Metro PCS seems to have nicer plans but is more likely 3 g. Granted I'm coming from a Razr phone and Consumer Cellular with no texting and internet, so both plans would be a big improvement.

I think I can help point you in the right direction. I'm currently with Verizon, though my account is suspended because I dropped my Samsung Galaxy S3 and cracked the screen after owning it for just 4 days, and according to Verizon I didn't have insurance on the device, which I told them to add when I purchased the phone. My word against theirs, so I lose. Anyways, after some fighting I got them to reset my upgrade eligibility date. So I'm now free to order any phone I want, though I lost out on the $200 I had paid for the S3. The iPhone 5 and the Motorola Razr Maxx HD are both on my radar and are yet to be released, so I'm waiting. In the meantime I've been using AT&T's pre-paid service, and I have had zero issues thus far. In fact, I am considering telling Verizon to shove it and switch to AT&T altogether. I pay $55 per month for unlimited talk/text, but only have 3G service. Which, for me, is more than adequate. The only reason I pay $55 and not $50 is because I pay an additional $5 per month fee for the e-mail client AT&T offers, but it isn't necessary. I bought the Pantech 7040P, and again, I love it. For $49.99 it's somewhat stylish, well built, and has great call quality. It's like having a Blackberry to be honest. I notice no difference. Metro PCS has spotty coverage, at least in my area. Virgin runs on the Sprint network if I remember correctly, and they offer some of the better HTC phones. They may be worth looking into, also. But for the money I love what I'm currently using and am in no rush to upgrade. Though I'm sure the new iPhone or Razr will sway me sooner or later, just because of the functionality they offer over what I currently have.

Post: #6

(09-15-2012 01:16 PM)kbell Wrote:  I've been wanting to update my phone for quite some time now. I'm down to at least two plans, Virgin Mobile and Metro PCS. I prefer a no contract plan since I hate having to deal with contracts. I also don't want to spend more than 50 a month.

Is 4g that much better than 3g? That's the big advantage Virgin has over Metro, yet it has a limit on talk time time.

Metro PCS seems to have nicer plans but is more likely 3 g. Granted I'm coming from a Razr phone and Consumer Cellular with no texting and internet, so both plans would be a big improvement.

You have the choice between virginmobile, boost, and metropcs. I have virginmobile and I believe I made the right choice. I pay 25 dollars for 300 minutes and unlimited texting. The phones are better than the other two. 4G is not much faster than 3G and from the many people that I have sparked up conversations with about how fast their 4G network is, it's not something you should care about much. However, if you're looking at videos online, it does load faster.

Whatever you do, do not opt for an HTC evo. Virgin mobile just came out with HTC Evo and I only hear bad reviews about that phone. Virgin has upped their monthly rate to 35 dollars a month to appease the 4G network that they now have. And if ever I feel like I should upgrade my phone, I will definitely opt for an iPhone 5.

Just so you know, the customer service isn't very good. PM me if you want details.

MetroPCS still has a connotation with it that it's a cheap phone and honestly, it's bad for social rapport. I always mock girls who have a MetroPCS phone, even if they are paying more than me.

Boost doesn't have as many good phones as virgin.

Post: #7

(09-15-2012 01:16 PM)kbell Wrote:  4G is not much faster than 3G and from the many people that I have sparked up conversations with about how fast their 4G network is, it's not something you should care about much. However, if you're looking at videos online, it does load faster.

Agreed. I forgot to touch on the 4G question. When I had my S3 I saw the 4G signal pop up maybe twice during the period of time that I had it. It all depends on where you live and what the coverage is like. You may not get any 4G coverage where you live. In that case, it's a moot point. As long as you're running at 3G I wouldn't worry too much about it. I doubt you're going to be downloading tons of content with your cell anyways, so it's really a non-issue as kbell said. Virgin Mobile was my second choice when I went pre-paid shopping. I really liked this HTC model, the Wildfire.

Post: #8

There's a good thread on this somewhere, but I can't find it. Mechanico knows a lot about the different carriers.

Post: #9

I tried to find the best thread to put this in and this seems like the best one...

Since coming back to the US I needed to find a prepaid service for my Iphone. Don't want a contract as i will be leaving the country again soon.

After a shit load of research I came across http://www.platinumtel.com/ I have been using it for about 2 months and it is cheap as shit compared to all the other pre-paid services. I just bought a sim card from them online and got it 4 days later and added some credit and it worked right away.

Fees:
https://www.platinumtel.com/plans
Talk 5 cents/min
SMS 2 cents/sms

This is WAY CHEAPER than at&t or t-mobile prepaid.

It uses the t-mobile network or at least that is what my iphone says it is using. Thought some of you might find this useful.

Post: #10

(03-04-2013 05:42 PM)DirectDanger Wrote:  I tried to find the best thread to put this in and this seems like the best one...

Since coming back to the US I needed to find a prepaid service for my Iphone. Don't want a contract as i will be leaving the country again soon.

After a shit load of research I came across http://www.platinumtel.com/ I have been using it for about 2 months and it is cheap as shit compared to all the other pre-paid services. I just bought a sim card from them online and got it 4 days later and added some credit and it worked right away.

Fees:
https://www.platinumtel.com/plans
Talk 5 cents/min
SMS 2 cents/sms

This is WAY CHEAPER than at&t or t-mobile prepaid.

It uses the t-mobile network or at least that is what my iphone says it is using. Thought some of you might find this useful.

Can you use ATT old iphone 3 or 4 ?

Post: #11

I know two members that use GoRedPocket, or Net10, and speak highly of the service. I'm getting ready to ditch ATT, and go with one of the others.

http://www.net10wireless.com/#/plans/monthly

http://goredpocket.com/plans

Do your research on the international calls. The hang up is free to another country is when calling a landline, not a cell.

Post: #12

I'm not an expert, but T-mobile has unlimited everything for $45/mo pre-paid, and is a sim card phone you can use overseas. It's just that you have to pay $500 and up for a decent phone, and apparently if you are surfing all day, your internet limit will run out, but it's plenty for me. I'm considering switching but honestly, with the up front for the phone, you're not really saving that much money.

Post: #13

Simple Mobile. $40/month for unlimited everything.

Post: #14

(03-04-2013 06:28 PM)houston Wrote:  Simple Mobile. $40/month for unlimited everything.

They piggyback off T-Mobile towers. Not the best coverage out there.

Post: #15

I pay $35 for tmobile pre paid that gets me unlimited data, text and voice (with help from skype)

Post: #16

Tmobile just launched a budget service called Go Smart. I'm switching to them next month. I'm using the regular Tmobile right now and paying $60/month. I can get an unlimited everything with 2G/Edge speed for $35/month. 3G for $45. I'm going to try out the 2G since I'm not one of these people streaming movies on my phone or anything.

Post: #17

Verizon is the best.

Who cares how much it costs?

Post: #18

I bought a Samsung Galaxy in Korea and have been using it for a year. I took it to the Philippines and switched out the sim card and it worked great there too.

Should I bring it back to the US or turn it in? I like the phone but it's a little too bulky for my taste. I don't need that big of a screen.

Post: #19

Metro sucks. My friend has it and he's always getting texts hours after they were sent and his coverage is horrible. I don't know if it's his service or phone, but I always have trouble hearing him. I signed a 2 year contract with AT&T, and I get coverage virtually everywhere. I get free mobile to mobile, texting, and 3 gigs of data (Though I think I should be getting unlimited for what I pay, that's the only thing that bothers me about the plan). I pay a lot, but I also got my iPhone 4s at a fraction of the cost. They are also flexible. I went out of the country for two months and they let me freeze my account since I wasn't using my phone. I only had to pay $10 a month when I wasn't using it. I also have ill insurance. I can basically do anything with my phone, lose it, break it, drop it in water, whatever, and get another iPhone for $50.

Post: #20

(03-04-2013 10:36 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  Tmobile just launched a budget service called Go Smart. I'm switching to them next month. I'm using the regular Tmobile right now and paying $60/month. I can get an unlimited everything with 2G/Edge speed for $35/month. 3G for $45. I'm going to try out the 2G since I'm not one of these people streaming movies on my phone or anything.

What's the downside?

I pay way more than that.

Post: #21

(03-06-2013 04:50 PM)thegmanifesto Wrote:  

(03-04-2013 10:36 PM)speakeasy Wrote:  Tmobile just launched a budget service called Go Smart. I'm switching to them next month. I'm using the regular Tmobile right now and paying $60/month. I can get an unlimited everything with 2G/Edge speed for $35/month. 3G for $45. I'm going to try out the 2G since I'm not one of these people streaming movies on my phone or anything.

What's the downside?

I pay way more than that.

The downside of the Go Smart plan? The downside would be that if you have a 4G phone as all new phones are, you will only get 2G speeds which is not really fast enough for streaming youtube without a lag time or downloading large files. But it's good enough to surfing the web, checking email and light data uses. And if your phone has wifi, then as long as you're at home or somewhere with a hotspot you can get high speed connection anyway. I use an LG Optimus Android phone, probably a couple years old now, but it serves my purposes. It's compact and fully featured. Only bad this is the camera sucks balls. Only gets 3G speed but that's good enough.

Post: #22

(03-04-2013 06:41 PM)Aliblahba Wrote:  

(03-04-2013 06:28 PM)houston Wrote:  Simple Mobile. $40/month for unlimited everything.

They piggyback off T-Mobile towers. Not the best coverage out there.

I have no problem with the service. I can use the internet anywhere and get all my calls/texts. I don't know if you can use any carrier's phone with them but T Mobile phones work. No contract and no name or address attached to your number. I've heard Net 10 is good too.

(03-06-2013 09:08 AM)silverbullit Wrote:  Verizon is the best.

Who cares how much it costs?

Ok Big Baller. Some of us don't see the point of paying $90+ a month and getting stuck in a contract when you can pay less than half of that with more minutes to use and no contract.

Post: #23

Has anyone used Ting?

I heard about it on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast and am thinking about getting a no contract phone. I like the wide availability of phones they offer and the different types of plans you can set up, but I wonder what their data coverage is like. I know that they use the Sprint network.

I think I may wait until the Samsung Galaxy SIV comes out since with these no contract plans you have to buy the phone at regular price and I might as well wait until I can buy the SIV since the rumors are it will be a badass phone.

Post: #24

Look into straight talk. I bought a galaxy nexus when I came back from Europe. Didn't wanna get sucks into a. Contract.

Straight talks 45 a month plan is unlimited everything. 4g
I've used it insincere last August and never had a problem. In fact once they charged me to much and i didn't realize it. They sent me a text saying they noticed the error and would credit my account.

Back in the day when I had sprint I would have had to spend an hour on the phone to get my money back.

Straight talk also uses both tmobile and AT&T towers. You ca request a card for whichever towers give you the best service.

Ps. Samsungs nexus 4 is just about the cheapest best phone out.. Google sells them for a loss directly from their site.
You can also find a lot of google phones cheap on eBay..people buy them up and then upgrade and sell their owe ones. I bought a galaxy nexus for 270 from a guy that used it for about a week before getting a s3

Post: #25

Last year I paid $75 for at&t unlimited everything (including data which was what I needed the most) when I was in Florida.

It’s odd how the US cell plan market is more restricted and expensive than many more regulated European cell markets. I suspect that if people diversified what cells they bought the US operators couldn't lock in users in expensive and restrictive plans.