Best prepaid or "Pay As You Go" cel plan for occasional user?
Doc
convenient to have a cel phone, but I don't feel like tithing for a
monthly fee for this little usage. Any opinions as to the best
provider for a very occasional user?
WalMart had something like 9 vendors on display, some of which seemed
very pointedly aimed at the Hispanic market.
Also wondering about issues like whether the given service is likely
to be around for a while, how the service compares to other providers,
if the phone itself is likely to work when I use it, etc. One of the
complaints I keep seeing is customer service - activation being a
hassle, reps somewhere in S. American who barely speak English.
Thanks for all input.
Shawn Hirn
<39351e0e-6585-4187...@a35g2000prf.googlegroups.com>,
Doc <docsa...@yahoo.com> wrote:
What's your definition of "best?"
Where cell phone service is concerned, all bets are off if the reception
is lousy in the area where you intend to use the cell phone most. Go
with the service that offers the best reception. Talk with friends,
neighbors, co-workers who are in your area to see what their experience
is with the different cell phone carriers, then go for that carrier's
pay as you go plan.
Chloe
news:srhi-E65C33.0...@newsgroups.comcast.net...
I loved my frugal Tracfone for several years, until they changed service
providers and the phone became essentially useless due to poor reception and
dropped calls. I used online activation; it was kind of a pain but I didn't
have to speak with any English-impaired people.
timeOday
For a dozen calls per year, I really think a payphone is your best bet.
Each call will be a ripoff, but I think you'll still come out ahead.
Dennis
wrote:
>I loved my frugal Tracfone for several years, until they changed service
>providers and the phone became essentially useless due to poor reception and
>dropped calls. I used online activation; it was kind of a pain but I didn't
>have to speak with any English-impaired people.
I just activated a new Tracfone for my wife a couple days ago. I had
to do it over the phone, because their website was having problems
when I tried to do it online (I have always activated online in the
past with no problem). I got a fellow with a hispanic accent. I had
a bit of trouble understanding him, mostly because of a noisy phone
connection, but he was patient and polite. We got through the
activation and transferring the old phone number to the new phone
without problems. Took about 20 minutes, including the initial hold
time.
I get great service on the west coast (carrier is Cingular/ATT), but I
was pretty disappointed in the coverage on a recent roadtrip through
the plains states.
Dennis (evil)
--
I'm behind the eight ball, ahead of the curve, riding the wave,
dodging the bullet and pushing the envelope. -George Carlin
Evelyn C. Leeper
Unless you need the phone for incoming calls (e.g., you're traveling but
may get an emergency call). And assuming you can find a payphone.
--
Evelyn C. Leeper
I believe I found the missing link between animal
and civilized man. It is us. -Konrad Lorenz
tedk...@hotmail.com
Virgin Mobile phones are $20 to $100 and a $20 "recharge" to your
account every 3 months. The money never expires and "web" browsing is
$5 per month/5 mb. They use sprint eecch.
catalpa
"Doc" <docsa...@yahoo.com> wrote in message
news:39351e0e-6585-4187...@a35g2000prf.googlegroups.com...
Prepaid comparison at http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm .
Best deal is PagePlus cellular using the Verizon network. Buy a cheap
Verizon phone on Ebay, then buy a PagePlus activation on Ebay for $5.00 or
less and add $10.00 in airtime every 120 days to keep the phone active. The
activation was easy and last time I called customer service the rep was
bilingual. The difficult part is remembering to add time every 120 days so
as not to lose your accumulated minutes.
Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
> There are maybe half a dozen or fewer times a year when it might be
> convenient to have a cel phone, but I don't feel like tithing for a
> monthly fee for this little usage. Any opinions as to the best
> provider for a very occasional user?
About.com has a wizard to make recommendations based on what you want to
use it for. I found it very helpful.
http://cellphones.about.com/od/buyersguides/qt/best_cell_phone.htm
--
Every job is a self-portrait of the person who does it. Autograph your
work with excellence.
Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
http://cellphones.about.com/library/bl_pt_q1.htm?q=PT-LB-SH
Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
>
> For a dozen calls per year, I really think a payphone is your best bet.
> Each call will be a ripoff, but I think you'll still come out ahead.
Or just buy a Tracfone or other prepaid one from a store, leave it
unopened, and only activate it when you need it.
Ron Peterson
> Virgin Mobile phones are $20 to $100 and a $20 "recharge" to your
> account every 3 months. The money never expires and "web" browsing is
> $5 per month/5 mb. They use sprint eecch.
I use Virgin Mobile because I make few calls.
At least they aren't using the ATT network.
My nephew decided to let his daughter use Virgin Mobile after she ran
up a tremendous number of text messaging charges on a regular cell
phone.
--
Ron
SMS 斯蒂文• 夏
In general you want to avoid all the prepaid services sold at places
like Wal-Mart. In particular, TracFone, Net10, Boost, Virgin, AT&T and
Verizon InPulse should be avoided.
Go to "http://www.prepaiduswireless.com/".
There are basically three choices for very low cost and very low use.
T-Mobile, which will cost you $100 the first year, but only $10 in
subsequent years. 7-11 SpeakOut, which will cost you a minimum of $2.08
per month, and PagePlus which will cost you a minimum of $2.31/month.
Each has pros and cons which that web site evaluates in detail.
You are right to be concerned about the service being around. Many MVNOs
have gone belly-up. I'd be a little concerned about SpeakOut as it
doesn't seem to be doing too well.
Personally I have my two kids on PagePlus. The customer service is all
in the U.S., but in reality the need for customer service has been low.
Once I failed to add more time within four months and the balance
disappeared, and I called them and they restored it right away. Another
time I called to move the phone number to a different phone, and they
told me I had to go through a dealer, which I did online in about 15
minutes (but I had to pay about $6). The two big advantages of PagePlus
is the very low per minute cost, and the excellent coverage. The
disadvantage (compared to T-Mobile To Go and 7-11 SpeakOut) is that you
have to add time every 120 days, versus 365 days).
SMS 斯蒂文• 夏
> Best deal is PagePlus cellular using the Verizon network. Buy a cheap
> Verizon phone on Ebay, then buy a PagePlus activation on Ebay for $5.00 or
> less and add $10.00 in airtime every 120 days to keep the phone active. The
> activation was easy and last time I called customer service the rep was
> bilingual. The difficult part is remembering to add time every 120 days so
> as not to lose your accumulated minutes.
This happened to me once, and I called them and they restored the
balance (and they extended the re-upping for another 120 days without me
having to purchase more airtime , which I didn't ask for or expect them
to do).
SMS 斯蒂文• 夏
For outgoing only, and excellent coverage, you can get by with spending
21¢ per month. Just buy $10 worth of time every two years on ARN.
"http://www.emergencycellphones.com/mot_v120e.html"
"http://www.americanroaming.com/buyprepaid.php"
Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
>
> In general you want to avoid all the prepaid services sold at places
> like Wal-Mart. In particular, TracFone, Net10, Boost, Virgin, AT&T and
> Verizon InPulse should be avoided.
I have had a Tracfone for YEARS and only had one problem with them,
which was, admittedly, a little out of the ordinary (porting a telephone
number from an analog Tracfone to a digital Tracfone).
Call reception here in the San Francisco Bay Area has been great, costs
me about $6-7 a month, and works perfectly.
Chloe
news:5-qdnUmxseBwaura...@comcast.com...
>
> For a dozen calls per year, I really think a payphone is your best bet.
> Each call will be a ripoff, but I think you'll still come out ahead.
Depends on whether the OP wants to be able to use the phone at a given
location or in an emergency. In the Midwestern metro area where I live, pay
phones are nearly nonexistent. I believe this is a national trend.
Evelyn C. Leeper
When we were driving on the Trans-Canada Highway, we stopped at a truck
stop. Every booth had its own pay phone! I suspect that pretty soon
the only places with pay phones will be truck stops, airports, schools
and libraries, and other places which have large numbers of people who
need to make calls but may not have cell phones.
h
"Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply" <mme...@TRASHsonic.net> wrote in
message news:47788448$0$84203$742e...@news.sonic.net...
> Doc wrote:
>> There are maybe half a dozen or fewer times a year when it might be
>> convenient to have a cel phone, but I don't feel like tithing for a
>> monthly fee for this little usage. Any opinions as to the best
>> provider for a very occasional user?
>
My Tracfone costs me $6.50 a month. I just renewed for a full year with 250
minutes for $99 and then was able to add another full year for half price.
If you use it a lot you will run out of minutes, but I've had my phone for 5
years and I have over 700 minutes currently, and I've never had to add any.
I only use this phone for emergencies or when I'm traveling, which isn't
often.
SMS 斯蒂文• 夏
> SMS 斯蒂文• 夏 wrote:
>>
>> In general you want to avoid all the prepaid services sold at places
>> like Wal-Mart. In particular, TracFone, Net10, Boost, Virgin, AT&T and
>> Verizon InPulse should be avoided.
>
> I have had a Tracfone for YEARS and only had one problem with them,
> which was, admittedly, a little out of the ordinary (porting a telephone
> number from an analog Tracfone to a digital Tracfone).
>
> Call reception here in the San Francisco Bay Area has been great, costs
> me about $6-7 a month, and works perfectly.
I only say to avoid them, because other prepaid services are much less
expensive, both in the minimum cost per month, and the cost per minute.
For example, PagePlus is as little as 5.3¢ per minute, with a minimum
cost of $2.31 per month.
Tracfone was using the Verizon CDMA network for a while, and you
probably have one of those phones if you're getting good coverage in the
Bay Area (where I also am). I think that their current models are all
GSM on AT&T, which has less coverage.
rick++
> For a dozen calls per year, I really think a payphone is your best bet.
> Each call will be a ripoff, but I think you'll still come out ahead.
They maybe hard to find.
Plus many peole have cell#s with long distance. Many payphones dont
do long distance.
SMS 斯蒂文• 夏
Huh? I've never found a payphone that doesn't do long distance, either
by coins, credit card, or calling card. Plus there's always toll free
access to extremely low cost calling long distance services like
OneSuite or TalkLoop.
Payphones are a dumb idea for other reasons, including the fact that
they are being removed at a rapid pace due to lack of use, and due to
use by criminal elements. And of course the whole reason that some
people want occasional use cell phones is to have access to a phone
ITMON (in the middle of nowhere). With the ability to have a cell phone
for as little as 21¢ per month, a pay phone makes no sense at all.
Dennis
>
>"Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply" <mme...@TRASHsonic.net> wrote in
>message news:47788448$0$84203$742e...@news.sonic.net...
>
>My Tracfone costs me $6.50 a month. I just renewed for a full year with 250
>minutes for $99 and then was able to add another full year for half price.
>If you use it a lot you will run out of minutes, but I've had my phone for 5
>years and I have over 700 minutes currently, and I've never had to add any.
>I only use this phone for emergencies or when I'm traveling, which isn't
>often.
If you go to Tracfone's website, there is an option to add any airtime
quantity and bump the expiration up to a year. So the minimum cost
comes with the $20/60 min/90 day airtime card plus the $50 one year
expiration bump, giving an average monthly cost of $5.83. For a while
they had a $10 airtime card, dropping the minimum to $5.00/month
average, but they don't seem to offer that one any more.
Like you, I don't use many minutes per year, so this deal works well
for me.
Dennis (evil)
--
The honest man is the one who realizes that he cannot
consume more, in his lifetime, than he produces.
Chloe
>>in
>>message news:47788448$0$84203$742e...@news.sonic.net...
>>
>>My Tracfone costs me $6.50 a month. I just renewed for a full year with
>>250
>>minutes for $99 and then was able to add another full year for half price.
>>If you use it a lot you will run out of minutes, but I've had my phone for
>>5
>>years and I have over 700 minutes currently, and I've never had to add
>>any.
>>I only use this phone for emergencies or when I'm traveling, which isn't
>>often.
I forget if the OP mentioned traveling or not. The thing that caused me to
ditch my Tracfone wasn't even the dropped calls I started getting locally
when the carrier changed--although that was troublesome and annoying. What
did it for me was when I went out of town for a week to a conference on a
college campus and planned on using the phone for daily chats with my
husband. There was literally no place in the vicinity of my dorm or
elsewhere on campus where I could maintain a connection for more than about
20 seconds. The class schedule was such that I didn't have time or energy to
run around finding an alternative way to phone. I couldn't get rid of the
Tracfone fast enough when I got home. I think I even discarded some minutes,
which tells for a tightwad like I am, I was really hacked off <g>.
I *would* caution anyone buying Tracfone service to realize the carrier can
change at any time--so be cautious of getting stuck with a bunch of minutes
that don't actually work anymore.
SMS 斯蒂文• 夏
> I *would* caution anyone buying Tracfone service to realize the carrier can
> change at any time--so be cautious of getting stuck with a bunch of minutes
> that don't actually work anymore.
I wonder if you had an old TDMA Tracfone. TDMA service is rapidly going
away, and will be completely gone for the larger carriers soon.
Now Tracfone seems to be mostly GSM, with some CDMA.
Tracfone is heavily advertised and promoted, but in reality it's one of
the poorest choices for prepaid in terms of cost and coverage. It's just
easy to buy as it's sold in so many retail stores. I remember going to
Alaska about five years ago, when there was no GSM service (and no
Nextel service), and being so glad I had CDMA/AMPS. The local stores
were doing a booming business in Tracfones for tourists.
Dean Hoffman
You might take a look at Alltel. Their prepaid per minute
plan was 15¢/minute. They had a $4/month charge if the phone wasn't
used. One call lasting a minute would be enough to avoid the $4 charge.
I don't know if that's still the case. The bad thing about their
service is the need to double dial when roaming.
Dean
The Real Bev
> In general you want to avoid all the prepaid services sold at places
> like Wal-Mart. In particular, TracFone, Net10, Boost, Virgin, AT&T and
> Verizon InPulse should be avoided.
>
> Go to "http://www.prepaiduswireless.com/".
>
> There are basically three choices for very low cost and very low use.
> T-Mobile, which will cost you $100 the first year, but only $10 in
> subsequent years.
Perhaps a bit less. Last year Target had a sale on T-Mobile stuff --
for something like $90 you got a $100 top-up card, a free no-frills
phone and a $10 card. I have until March for them to have another sale,
but one of the survey groups pays me off in Target cards so the next
year will be free.
The supercheap dialarounds for LD landline service seem to have
evaporated. Either "billing fees" or exhorbitant per-call charges on
top of the reasonable per-minute charges seem to be the order of the day.
--
Cheers,
Bev
------------------------------------------------
There are 10 types of geek in this world,
those who understand binary and those who don't.
SMS 斯蒂文• 夏
> SMS wrote:
>
>> In general you want to avoid all the prepaid services sold at places
>> like Wal-Mart. In particular, TracFone, Net10, Boost, Virgin, AT&T and
>> Verizon InPulse should be avoided.
>>
>> Go to "http://www.prepaiduswireless.com/".
>>
>> There are basically three choices for very low cost and very low use.
>> T-Mobile, which will cost you $100 the first year, but only $10 in
>> subsequent years.
>
> Perhaps a bit less. Last year Target had a sale on T-Mobile stuff --
> for something like $90 you got a $100 top-up card, a free no-frills
> phone and a $10 card. I have until March for them to have another sale,
> but one of the survey groups pays me off in Target cards so the next
> year will be free.
Yeah, I've seen those Target deals. Unfortunately T-Mobile doesn't work
well in California, though it's very slowly improving.
Refills are a bit cheaper at
"http://www.callingmart.com/products/wireless/ProductDetail.aspx?ID=35"
as well.
> The supercheap dialarounds for LD landline service seem to have
> evaporated. Either "billing fees" or exhorbitant per-call charges on
> top of the reasonable per-minute charges seem to be the order of the day.
I don't find it any more difficult to dial the OneSuite or TalkLoop
access number than dialing 1010xxx, and it's 2-2.5¢/minute. However you
have to add $10 every six months.
Duff
Payphone?
or you absolutely nuts?
Payphones have been removed from most communities and are in the
process of being removed from others.
Payphones are history.
On Sun, 30 Dec 2007 05:56:32 -0700, timeOday
<timeOda...@theknack.net> wrote:
>Doc wrote:
>> There are maybe half a dozen or fewer times a year when it might be
>> convenient to have a cel phone, but I don't feel like tithing for a
>> monthly fee for this little usage. Any opinions as to the best
>> provider for a very occasional user?
>>
>> WalMart had something like 9 vendors on display, some of which seemed
>> very pointedly aimed at the Hispanic market.
>>
>> Also wondering about issues like whether the given service is likely
>> to be around for a while, how the service compares to other providers,
>> if the phone itself is likely to work when I use it, etc. One of the
>> complaints I keep seeing is customer service - activation being a
>> hassle, reps somewhere in S. American who barely speak English.
>>
>> Thanks for all input.
>
Todd Allcock
> > Or just buy a Tracfone or other prepaid one from a store, leave it
> > unopened, and only activate it when you need it.
> >
>
> help! help!
> Killers are after me.
> Please wait; I have to activate my phone.
> LOL
You must lead a far more interesting life than most of us, if te first
"emergency" situation you envision is "killers are after me."
You'd think MI5'd pay for YOUR phone. :-)
For the rest of us, the advice was ok. I imagine you have a few minutes to
kill activating a phone for an emergency as mundane as "my car broke down."
Amazingly enough, mankind managed to crawl out of the muck and create
nearly all of human acheivement in the 1,999,970 years before the invention
of the cellular telephone.
George
available...please call back tomorrow...
h
"George" <geo...@nospam.invalid> wrote in message news:WoSdnYoxsMrDC->>
> <beep><beep><beep> sorry our activation service is not available...please
> call back tomorrow...
When I activated my tracfone years ago you could only do it online or over
the phone. It might be possible to do it just with the phone now, but back
then you had to spend quite a few minutes punching in codes and then wait
10-12 hours for the number to become "active". The phone didn't work until
the number was "active". Maybe all that's changed, but I sure wouldn't want
to chance it.
The Real Bev
> I don't find it any more difficult to dial the OneSuite or TalkLoop
> access number than dialing 1010xxx, and it's 2-2.5¢/minute. However you
> have to add $10 every six months.
Hey, I can't even remember my children's phone numbers!
--
Cheers, Bev
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$
Don't tax me. Don't tax thee. Tax that man behind the tree.
The Real Bev
> At 01 Jan 2008 17:09:02 +0000 Stephen King wrote:
>
>> > Or just buy a Tracfone or other prepaid one from a store, leave it
>> > unopened, and only activate it when you need it.
>>
>> help! help!
>> Killers are after me.
>> Please wait; I have to activate my phone.
>> LOL
>
> You must lead a far more interesting life than most of us, if te first
> "emergency" situation you envision is "killers are after me."
If there aren't serious consequences it's not an emergency, it's just a
nuisance.
> You'd think MI5'd pay for YOUR phone. :-)
>
> For the rest of us, the advice was ok. I imagine you have a few minutes to
> kill activating a phone for an emergency as mundane as "my car broke down."
That depends on where you are, how visible you are, and how fast cars or
hoodlums are approaching.
> Amazingly enough, mankind managed to crawl out of the muck and create
> nearly all of human acheivement in the 1,999,970 years before the invention
> of the cellular telephone.
Yeah, but Thag an Urg didn't have to worry about 18-wheelers coming at
them at 80 mph.
SMS 斯蒂文• 夏
> For the rest of us, the advice was ok. I imagine you have a few minutes to
> kill activating a phone for an emergency as mundane as "my car broke down."
Probably not okay actually. Tracfones can be activated on-line, or by
calling a toll free number. However you should still be able to call 911
on an unactivated phone.
> Amazingly enough, mankind managed to crawl out of the muck and create
> nearly all of human acheivement in the 1,999,970 years before the invention
> of the cellular telephone.
One negative about the penetration of cell phones has been the wholesale
removal of pay phones. It's a lot harder to get buy without one now.
SMS 斯蒂文• 夏
> SMS wrote:
>
>> I don't find it any more difficult to dial the OneSuite or TalkLoop
>
> Hey, I can't even remember my children's phone numbers!
Me neither. I have them programmed into my contact list.
larry
"USA based, AT&T has announced plans to exit the shrinking
payphone business by the end of 2008. AT&T's Public
Communications unit has continued to experience significant
pressure from reduced payphone usage, primarily as a result
of the growth of mobile phones.
The company plans to phase out both public pay phones and
phones provided under contracts at government correctional
facilities through the end of next year. All customers will
receive advance notification of specific plans as well as
information on other potential providers and product options."
-- larry / dallas
Dennis
<scharf...@geemail.com> wrote:
>The Real Bev wrote:
>>
>> Hey, I can't even remember my children's phone numbers!
>
>Me neither. I have them programmed into my contact list.
A curse of the modern age. I used to be able to recall a large list
of phone numbers -- heck, I can still remember my old girlfriend's and
best bud's numbers from when I was a teenager, and neither have had
those numbers for 30 years. Now like most I've grown old and lazy,
and rely on electronic phonebooks. All well and good until you are in
a position where you need to call someone and don't have the gadget
handy.
Dennis (evil)
--
I'm a hands-on, footloose, knee-jerk head case. -George Carlin
Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply
>
> Hey, I can't even remember my children's phone numbers!
I have no problems remembering phone numbers. It's names I have
problems with. But I come by it honorably -- my mama was called
Mary-Mildred-Gloria-Georgianna her whole life, because her mom just
started at the top and went down the list until she hit the right one.
When I'm in really bad shape, I start calling my 20YO by his dog's name.
YIKES!