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Cell Phone (somewhat OT)
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RST Engineering
Aug 6, 2012, 1:30:29 PM8/6/12
to
I want a cell phone that only charges you when you make a call. I
want it for the glove box of the car on the off chance that I break
down far from a landline phone. The only ones I can find have a
monthly charge or a cleverly disguised annual charge that approximates
the monthly charge.
Even at $1 a minute for a quick "come get me" call beats $15-50 a
month that some services get.
Thanks,
Jim
k...@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz
Aug 6, 2012, 2:04:16 PM8/6/12
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You don't really think a carrier is going to take you on as a customer in the
off-chance that you *may* make a call this year?
Jeff Liebermann
Aug 6, 2012, 2:14:03 PM8/6/12
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>I want a cell phone that only charges you when you make a call.
Those are called prepaid cellular. I use PagePlus:
<http://www.pagepluscellular.com>
I'm paying 50 cents per month, plus about 5 cents per minute. It uses
the Verizon system. Minutes expire every 90 days.
AT&T has their GoPhone sevice that does what you want. No charge if
you don't use it, but verrrrrry expensive per minute when you do. Best
plan for emergencies is where you pay $3 per *DAY* for every day that
you use it. Having the phone available and not running out of minutes
during an emergency is better than loading the phone full of estimated
minutes and running out of minutes.
Other pre-paid vendors:
<http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm>
Watch out for minimum monthly charges and expiring minutes.
--
Jeff Liebermann je...@cruzio.com
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558
Joerg
Aug 6, 2012, 2:56:58 PM8/6/12
to
(so it's slightly above $5/mo) and that gives you 25-30 mins of talk
time per month. You can top-up some more in case you do become stranded
and decide to have a long chat with an old girlfriend :-)
I don't think it can get much cheaper than that. After all, the company
has to pay to keep your phone number and taxes and all that.
--
Regards, Joerg
http://www.analogconsultants.com/
Rich Webb
Aug 6, 2012, 2:54:15 PM8/6/12
to
exactly what you've asked for but it may be close enough. They have a
$10/month zero minutes plan that's pay-as-you go ($.25/minute).
--
Rich Webb Norfolk, VA
sms88
Aug 6, 2012, 3:32:31 PM8/6/12
to
On 8/6/2012 10:30 AM, RST Engineering wrote:
> Even at $1 a minute for a quick "come get me" call beats $15-50 a
> month that some services get.
You can use ARN (American Roaming Network) for outgoing calls only. You
> Even at $1 a minute for a quick "come get me" call beats $15-50 a
> month that some services get.
don't get a phone number.
<http://www.americanroaming.com/retail_home.php>
You buy a PIN, that's good for a year, for $10. You need to buy an
unregistered CDMA phone in order to use the service.
Next cheapest is Pageplus which will cost you $10 every 120 days (about
$2.50/month), but at least you get a phone number.
sms88
Aug 6, 2012, 3:35:38 PM8/6/12
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For $10 every four months on Pageplus (Verizon MVNO) you get 80 minutes
($10 buys you 100 minutes, but there is a 50�/month fee so you end up
with $8/80 minutes).
sms88
Aug 6, 2012, 3:43:00 PM8/6/12
to
On 8/6/2012 11:56 AM, Joerg wrote:
> We have VirginMobile phones on 90-day top-up. You pay $15 every 90 days
> (so it's slightly above $5/mo) and that gives you 25-30 mins of talk
> time per month. You can top-up some more in case you do become stranded
> and decide to have a long chat with an old girlfriend :-)
>
> I don't think it can get much cheaper than that. After all, the company
> has to pay to keep your phone number and taxes and all that.
Avoid Virgin Mobile at all costs. Not only is it very expensive for
> We have VirginMobile phones on 90-day top-up. You pay $15 every 90 days
> (so it's slightly above $5/mo) and that gives you 25-30 mins of talk
> time per month. You can top-up some more in case you do become stranded
> and decide to have a long chat with an old girlfriend :-)
>
> I don't think it can get much cheaper than that. After all, the company
> has to pay to keep your phone number and taxes and all that.
prepaid, there is absolutely no roaming allowed off of Sprint's very
geographically limited network (other than 911 calls). It's a very poor
choice as an emergency phone unless you never leave urban areas, and
it's quite expensive compared to other prepaid providers.
There was a rumor that Virgin was going to start allowing off-network
roaming (at extra cost) but it did not happen. "Virgin Mobile USA Hi
everyone. I need to clarify comments about roaming on Virgin Mobile.
Roaming is not available. We did recently update our terms and
conditions (effective 7/1/12) in order to make our language more
consistent with Sprint�s. There is a new reference to roaming, but we
have no plans to add roaming at this time."
Joerg
Aug 6, 2012, 3:52:48 PM8/6/12
to
sms88 wrote:
> On 8/6/2012 11:56 AM, Joerg wrote:
>
>> We have VirginMobile phones on 90-day top-up. You pay $15 every 90 days
>> (so it's slightly above $5/mo) and that gives you 25-30 mins of talk
>> time per month. You can top-up some more in case you do become stranded
>> and decide to have a long chat with an old girlfriend :-)
>>
>> I don't think it can get much cheaper than that. After all, the company
>> has to pay to keep your phone number and taxes and all that.
>
> Avoid Virgin Mobile at all costs. Not only is it very expensive for
> prepaid, there is absolutely no roaming allowed off of Sprint's very
> geographically limited network (other than 911 calls). It's a very poor
> choice as an emergency phone unless you never leave urban areas, and
> it's quite expensive compared to other prepaid providers.
>
Expensive? At about five bucks a month? Since all those Dollar translate
> On 8/6/2012 11:56 AM, Joerg wrote:
>
>> We have VirginMobile phones on 90-day top-up. You pay $15 every 90 days
>> (so it's slightly above $5/mo) and that gives you 25-30 mins of talk
>> time per month. You can top-up some more in case you do become stranded
>> and decide to have a long chat with an old girlfriend :-)
>>
>> I don't think it can get much cheaper than that. After all, the company
>> has to pay to keep your phone number and taxes and all that.
>
> Avoid Virgin Mobile at all costs. Not only is it very expensive for
> prepaid, there is absolutely no roaming allowed off of Sprint's very
> geographically limited network (other than 911 calls). It's a very poor
> choice as an emergency phone unless you never leave urban areas, and
> it's quite expensive compared to other prepaid providers.
>
into minutes that is 18c/min on my plan, 20c on newer ones. They roll
over forever so now I've piled up a whopping 13h of talk time. Some day
they can write on my grave marker "And he had 15,672 minutes left on his
cell" :-)
No roaming but it's on the Sprint network. Nothing "very limited" about
that. Case in point, it has happened numerous times that seasoned biz
folks with fancy iPhone had to ask me if they could make a quick call
from my little phone because ... gasp ... _they_ had no coverage.
[...]
SMS
Aug 6, 2012, 4:04:33 PM8/6/12
to
On 8/6/2012 11:14 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
> AT&T has their GoPhone sevice that does what you want. No charge if
> you don't use it, but verrrrrry expensive per minute when you do. Best
> plan for emergencies is where you pay $3 per *DAY* for every day that
> you use it. Having the phone available and not running out of minutes
> during an emergency is better than loading the phone full of estimated
> minutes and running out of minutes.
Isn't that now a $2/per day of use plan? If there are no monthly
> AT&T has their GoPhone sevice that does what you want. No charge if
> you don't use it, but verrrrrry expensive per minute when you do. Best
> plan for emergencies is where you pay $3 per *DAY* for every day that
> you use it. Having the phone available and not running out of minutes
> during an emergency is better than loading the phone full of estimated
> minutes and running out of minutes.
minimums and no monthly fees, that's a good deal. Better than even ARN.
<http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/voice/sku4940399.html>
I wonder if they'll dump you if you rarely make a call.
SMS
Aug 6, 2012, 4:31:01 PM8/6/12
to
On 8/6/2012 12:52 PM, Joerg wrote:
> Expensive? At about five bucks a month? Since all those Dollar translate
> into minutes that is 18c/min on my plan, 20c on newer ones. They roll
> over forever so now I've piled up a whopping 13h of talk time. Some day
> they can write on my grave marker "And he had 15,672 minutes left on his
> cell" :-)
Yes, comparatively speaking it's quite expensive. I.e., on the four
> Expensive? At about five bucks a month? Since all those Dollar translate
> into minutes that is 18c/min on my plan, 20c on newer ones. They roll
> over forever so now I've piled up a whopping 13h of talk time. Some day
> they can write on my grave marker "And he had 15,672 minutes left on his
> cell" :-)
Pageplus phones we have, the _most_ expensive minutes you can purchase
are 10¢/minute. Generally I buy the $80/year refill which is 4¢/minute,
> No roaming but it's on the Sprint network. Nothing "very limited" about
> that.
(Verizon prepaid) coverage here: <http://i45.tinypic.com/2jcg18l.jpg>.
Sprint's native network is very very limited. If you stay in cities with
Virgin Mobile you're usually fine. If you go outside metro areas you're
in trouble. With regular, postpaid, Sprint service you get extensive
roaming onto other CDMA networks, including Verizon, U.S. Cellular,
Golden State Cellular, and other smaller networks. Unfortunately Sprint
doesn't extend those roaming privileges to their prepaid customers. Even
MetroPCS now offers extra-cost off-network roaming to their customers. I
don't know why Virgin won't do this as well, but I expect it's because
doing so would lessen the value of regular Sprint service.
Virgin actually has even less coverage than T-Mobile prepaid. If you
ever venture outside of an urban area you need to take some other phone
with you, because Virgin doesn't allow roaming, even at extra cost. In
my area, if you drive to Yosemite, up the California coast to Oregon,
through the Sierra Nevada on state highways, etc, you will have no
Virgin Mobile coverage.You can call 911, but that's it.
> Case in point, it has happened numerous times that seasoned biz
> folks with fancy iPhone had to ask me if they could make a quick call
> from my little phone because ... gasp ... _they_ had no coverage.
has coverage. The bigger problem with the iPhone is that the radio (the
phone part of the iPhone) is not as good as the radios in many of the
older non-smart phones.
Roberto Waltman
Aug 6, 2012, 4:30:55 PM8/6/12
to
RST Engineering wrote:
>I want a cell phone that only charges you when you make a call.
>...
>I want a cell phone that only charges you when you make a call.
>Even at $1 a minute for a quick "come get me" call beats $15-50 a
>month that some services get.
$10 /month for Tracfone. That includes 30 minutes, that roll over to
>month that some services get.
next month if you don't use them.
--
Roberto Waltman
[ Please reply to the group,
return address is invalid ]
SMS
Aug 6, 2012, 5:13:40 PM8/6/12
to
On 8/6/2012 1:30 PM, Roberto Waltman wrote:
> RST Engineering wrote:
>> I want a cell phone that only charges you when you make a call.
>> ...
>> Even at $1 a minute for a quick "come get me" call beats $15-50 a
>> month that some services get.
>
> $10 /month for Tracfone. That includes 30 minutes, that roll over to
> next month if you don't use them.
Avoid Tracfone at all costs. Not only is the monthly minimum far more
> RST Engineering wrote:
>> I want a cell phone that only charges you when you make a call.
>> ...
>> Even at $1 a minute for a quick "come get me" call beats $15-50 a
>> month that some services get.
>
> $10 /month for Tracfone. That includes 30 minutes, that roll over to
> next month if you don't use them.
than other prepaid services, the per minute cost is very high.
What you want to look for in a prepaid provider is:
a) Low monthly minimum, definitely not more than $3.33/month
b) Low per-minute cost. Should range from 2¢ to 10¢ per minute
c) Coverage. Some prepaid plans limit you to native coverage of one
network. This is bad no matter which of the four nationwide carriers is
being used, but it's intolerable if it's T-Mobile or Sprint.
A good place to start is at <http://cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm>.
If the lowest monthly cost is more than $3.33/month, forget about that
provider. If they don't allow roaming, forget about that provider. If
the per minute cost is more than 10¢/minute, forget about that provider.
Not all of the plans are listed on that site.
Joerg
Aug 6, 2012, 5:26:45 PM8/6/12
to
SMS wrote:
> On 8/6/2012 12:52 PM, Joerg wrote:
>
>> Expensive? At about five bucks a month? Since all those Dollar translate
>> into minutes that is 18c/min on my plan, 20c on newer ones. They roll
>> over forever so now I've piled up a whopping 13h of talk time. Some day
>> they can write on my grave marker "And he had 15,672 minutes left on his
>> cell" :-)
>
> Yes, comparatively speaking it's quite expensive. I.e., on the four
> Pageplus phones we have, the _most_ expensive minutes you can purchase
> are 10�/minute. Generally I buy the $80/year refill which is 4�/minute,
> On 8/6/2012 12:52 PM, Joerg wrote:
>
>> Expensive? At about five bucks a month? Since all those Dollar translate
>> into minutes that is 18c/min on my plan, 20c on newer ones. They roll
>> over forever so now I've piled up a whopping 13h of talk time. Some day
>> they can write on my grave marker "And he had 15,672 minutes left on his
>> cell" :-)
>
> Yes, comparatively speaking it's quite expensive. I.e., on the four
> Pageplus phones we have, the _most_ expensive minutes you can purchase
>
I can't see that $80/year on here:
https://www.pagepluscellular.com/Online%20Store/Minutes.aspx?card=All
>> No roaming but it's on the Sprint network. Nothing "very limited" about
>> that.
>
> You can compare the native Sprint coverage (Virgin Coverage) to Pageplus
> (Verizon prepaid) coverage here: <http://i45.tinypic.com/2jcg18l.jpg>.
> Sprint's native network is very very limited. If you stay in cities with
> Virgin Mobile you're usually fine. If you go outside metro areas you're
> in trouble. With regular, postpaid, Sprint service you get extensive
> roaming onto other CDMA networks, including Verizon, U.S. Cellular,
> Golden State Cellular, and other smaller networks. Unfortunately Sprint
> doesn't extend those roaming privileges to their prepaid customers. Even
> MetroPCS now offers extra-cost off-network roaming to their customers. I
> don't know why Virgin won't do this as well, but I expect it's because
> doing so would lessen the value of regular Sprint service.
>
> Virgin actually has even less coverage than T-Mobile prepaid. If you
> ever venture outside of an urban area you need to take some other phone
> with you, because Virgin doesn't allow roaming, even at extra cost. In
> my area, if you drive to Yosemite, up the California coast to Oregon,
> through the Sierra Nevada on state highways, etc, you will have no
> Virgin Mobile coverage.You can call 911, but that's it.
>
could, and where others don't. Like up in the Siskiyou area.
>> Case in point, it has happened numerous times that seasoned biz
>> folks with fancy iPhone had to ask me if they could make a quick call
>> from my little phone because ... gasp ... _they_ had no coverage.
>
> It's extremely rare for AT&T or Verizon to have no coverage when Sprint
> has coverage. The bigger problem with the iPhone is that the radio (the
> phone part of the iPhone) is not as good as the radios in many of the
> older non-smart phones.
worse. Fact is, this hasn't only happened once and the guys had zero
signal. Nada. In places where I had a pretty good signal level. One
executive went to the extreme: He carried a smart phone on one of the
major networks for email access et cetera and then in addition... tada
... the same Nokia 2115i on Virgin that I use. So he'll get a connection
out in the boonies.
Jeff Liebermann
Aug 6, 2012, 6:02:32 PM8/6/12
to
On Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:04:33 -0700, SMS <scharf...@geemail.com>
wrote:
Y'er right. It's now $2/day. It was $3/day about a year ago when I
was on the service. However, you now have to buy a $25 refill card in
order to start the service. There's also a one time activation fee.
The AT&T site does not show an amount. AT&T also deducts applicable
taxes monthly from the account, which do tend to add up.
>I wonder if they'll dump you if you rarely make a call.
As long as the credit card used to pay the bill is active, or you have
money left from a refill card, the service will be there. I had it
for about a year, made exactly one call, and then passed the phone to
a friend for emergencies. The only gotcha is that you have to buy a
GoPhone from some AT&T or some retail outfit and keep some money in
the account:
<http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/packages/prepaid-packages.html>
--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558
# http://802.11junk.com je...@cruzio.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS
wrote:
was on the service. However, you now have to buy a $25 refill card in
order to start the service. There's also a one time activation fee.
The AT&T site does not show an amount. AT&T also deducts applicable
taxes monthly from the account, which do tend to add up.
>I wonder if they'll dump you if you rarely make a call.
money left from a refill card, the service will be there. I had it
for about a year, made exactly one call, and then passed the phone to
a friend for emergencies. The only gotcha is that you have to buy a
GoPhone from some AT&T or some retail outfit and keep some money in
the account:
<http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/packages/prepaid-packages.html>
--
# Jeff Liebermann 150 Felker St #D Santa Cruz CA 95060
# 831-336-2558
# http://802.11junk.com je...@cruzio.com
# http://www.LearnByDestroying.com AE6KS
mike
Aug 6, 2012, 8:02:36 PM8/6/12
to
nearest available phone number was in the next state. I wouldn't
have been able to call my own phone.
SMS
Aug 6, 2012, 8:42:01 PM8/6/12
to
On 8/6/2012 3:02 PM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
> On Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:04:33 -0700, SMS <scharf...@geemail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On 8/6/2012 11:14 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>>
>>> AT&T has their GoPhone sevice that does what you want. No charge if
>>> you don't use it, but verrrrrry expensive per minute when you do. Best
>>> plan for emergencies is where you pay $3 per *DAY* for every day that
>>> you use it. Having the phone available and not running out of minutes
>>> during an emergency is better than loading the phone full of estimated
>>> minutes and running out of minutes.
>
>> Isn't that now a $2/per day of use plan? If there are no monthly
>> minimums and no monthly fees, that's a good deal. Better than even ARN.
>>
>> <http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/voice/sku4940399.html>
>
> Y'er right. It's now $2/day. It was $3/day about a year ago when I
> was on the service. However, you now have to buy a $25 refill card in
> order to start the service. There's also a one time activation fee.
> The AT&T site does not show an amount. AT&T also deducts applicable
> taxes monthly from the account, which do tend to add up.
That's what I didn't see shown. I suspect that the taxes and fees make
> On Mon, 06 Aug 2012 13:04:33 -0700, SMS <scharf...@geemail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On 8/6/2012 11:14 AM, Jeff Liebermann wrote:
>>
>>> AT&T has their GoPhone sevice that does what you want. No charge if
>>> you don't use it, but verrrrrry expensive per minute when you do. Best
>>> plan for emergencies is where you pay $3 per *DAY* for every day that
>>> you use it. Having the phone available and not running out of minutes
>>> during an emergency is better than loading the phone full of estimated
>>> minutes and running out of minutes.
>
>> Isn't that now a $2/per day of use plan? If there are no monthly
>> minimums and no monthly fees, that's a good deal. Better than even ARN.
>>
>> <http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/plans/voice/sku4940399.html>
>
> Y'er right. It's now $2/day. It was $3/day about a year ago when I
> was on the service. However, you now have to buy a $25 refill card in
> order to start the service. There's also a one time activation fee.
> The AT&T site does not show an amount. AT&T also deducts applicable
> taxes monthly from the account, which do tend to add up.
it a poorer deal than Pageplus, but it could be a back-up phone if you
have Virgin or T-Mobile for your normal prepaid service but need service
in more rural areas. I was up on CA108 a few times this summer since my
child-unit is working at a camp up there. No T-Mobile coverage, no
Sprint coverage, only AT&T and Verizon (via Golden State Cellular). At
the camp you had to climb a hill to get coverage at all, but up on 108
the AT&T and Verizon coverage was fine.
> As long as the credit card used to pay the bill is active, or you have
> money left from a refill card, the service will be there. I had it
> for about a year, made exactly one call, and then passed the phone to
> a friend for emergencies. The only gotcha is that you have to buy a
> GoPhone from some AT&T or some retail outfit and keep some money in
> the account:
> <http://www.att.com/shop/wireless/packages/prepaid-packages.html>
I have a phone. But it doesn't sound like a good deal, even as an
emergency phone.
It's rather sad that so many people get suckered into these expensive
prepaid plans like Virgin, Consumer Cellular, and Tracfone. Pageplus
needs to do some marketing. I do see the Pageplus refills sold in more
places lately, but who buys those refill cards at Walgreens?
SMS
Aug 6, 2012, 8:48:00 PM8/6/12
to
On 8/6/2012 5:02 PM, mike wrote:
> I was all set to pull the trigger on pageplus when I found that the
> nearest available phone number was in the next state. I wouldn't
> have been able to call my own phone.
Pageplus makes sense only if you've got native Verizon coverage in your
> I was all set to pull the trigger on pageplus when I found that the
> nearest available phone number was in the next state. I wouldn't
> have been able to call my own phone.
area, which is most places.
Do you have Verizon in your area and Pageplus just lacks local numbers?
I don't think the actual cell phone number matters to most people
anymore since few people pay for long distance calls any more, or if
they do it's not more than 1-2¢/minute.
We have four smart phones on Pageplus right now. I think we spend about
$30/month total. We're very careful with data usage, but we don't really
make an effort to minimize voice and texting, other than to use the
landline when at home.
SMS
Aug 6, 2012, 8:50:33 PM8/6/12
to
On 8/6/2012 2:26 PM, Joerg wrote:
> SMS wrote:
>> On 8/6/2012 12:52 PM, Joerg wrote:
>>
>>> Expensive? At about five bucks a month? Since all those Dollar translate
>>> into minutes that is 18c/min on my plan, 20c on newer ones. They roll
>>> over forever so now I've piled up a whopping 13h of talk time. Some day
>>> they can write on my grave marker "And he had 15,672 minutes left on his
>>> cell" :-)
>>
>> Yes, comparatively speaking it's quite expensive. I.e., on the four
>> Pageplus phones we have, the _most_ expensive minutes you can purchase
>> are 10¢/minute. Generally I buy the $80/year refill which is 4¢/minute,
> SMS wrote:
>> On 8/6/2012 12:52 PM, Joerg wrote:
>>
>>> Expensive? At about five bucks a month? Since all those Dollar translate
>>> into minutes that is 18c/min on my plan, 20c on newer ones. They roll
>>> over forever so now I've piled up a whopping 13h of talk time. Some day
>>> they can write on my grave marker "And he had 15,672 minutes left on his
>>> cell" :-)
>>
>> Yes, comparatively speaking it's quite expensive. I.e., on the four
>> Pageplus phones we have, the _most_ expensive minutes you can purchase
>>
>
> I can't see that $80/year on here:
>
> https://www.pagepluscellular.com/Online%20Store/Minutes.aspx?card=All
It's here <http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans.aspx>. You buy it from
>
> I can't see that $80/year on here:
>
> https://www.pagepluscellular.com/Online%20Store/Minutes.aspx?card=All
a reseller. I usually buy it from callingmart.com when they have a 5%
off promotion.
k...@att.bizzzzzzzzzzzz
Aug 6, 2012, 9:04:09 PM8/6/12
to
On Mon, 06 Aug 2012 17:48:00 -0700, SMS <scharf...@geemail.com> wrote:
>On 8/6/2012 5:02 PM, mike wrote:
>
>> I was all set to pull the trigger on pageplus when I found that the
>> nearest available phone number was in the next state. I wouldn't
>> have been able to call my own phone.
>
>Pageplus makes sense only if you've got native Verizon coverage in your
>area, which is most places.
>
>Do you have Verizon in your area and Pageplus just lacks local numbers?
>
>I don't think the actual cell phone number matters to most people
>anymore since few people pay for long distance calls any more, or if
>they do it's not more than 1-2�/minute.
Our cell numbers are from 1200 miles away. ;-) The only problem I've had was
>On 8/6/2012 5:02 PM, mike wrote:
>
>> I was all set to pull the trigger on pageplus when I found that the
>> nearest available phone number was in the next state. I wouldn't
>> have been able to call my own phone.
>
>Pageplus makes sense only if you've got native Verizon coverage in your
>area, which is most places.
>
>Do you have Verizon in your area and Pageplus just lacks local numbers?
>
>I don't think the actual cell phone number matters to most people
>anymore since few people pay for long distance calls any more, or if
>they do it's not more than 1-2�/minute.
the gate at my apartment required a local phone number to operate the entrance
gate remotely. I didn't expect any company (just a place to crash during the
week) so I didn't bother with it.
David Lesher
Aug 7, 2012, 12:37:48 AM8/7/12
to
I have a T-mobile prepaid. You must reup every 90 days for $10
(~33c/min) or initial year $100 (1000 min) and then $10/year.
--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
(~33c/min) or initial year $100 (1000 min) and then $10/year.
--
A host is a host from coast to coast.................wb8foz@nrk.com
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433
Robert Baer
Aug 7, 2012, 2:46:33 AM8/7/12
to
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
> On Mon, 06 Aug 2012 10:30:29 -0700, RST Engineering
> <jwe...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I want a cell phone that only charges you when you make a call.
>
> Those are called prepaid cellular. I use PagePlus:
> <http://www.pagepluscellular.com>
> I'm paying 50 cents per month, plus about 5 cents per minute. It uses
> the Verizon system. Minutes expire every 90 days.
>
> AT&T has their GoPhone sevice that does what you want. No charge if
> you don't use it, but verrrrrry expensive per minute when you do. Best
> plan for emergencies is where you pay $3 per *DAY* for every day that
> you use it. Having the phone available and not running out of minutes
> during an emergency is better than loading the phone full of estimated
> minutes and running out of minutes.
>
> Other pre-paid vendors:
> <http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm>
> Watch out for minimum monthly charges and expiring minutes.
>
I have a dumb Tracphone; comes with 30 minutes (usually doubled).
> On Mon, 06 Aug 2012 10:30:29 -0700, RST Engineering
> <jwe...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I want a cell phone that only charges you when you make a call.
>
> Those are called prepaid cellular. I use PagePlus:
> <http://www.pagepluscellular.com>
> I'm paying 50 cents per month, plus about 5 cents per minute. It uses
> the Verizon system. Minutes expire every 90 days.
>
> AT&T has their GoPhone sevice that does what you want. No charge if
> you don't use it, but verrrrrry expensive per minute when you do. Best
> plan for emergencies is where you pay $3 per *DAY* for every day that
> you use it. Having the phone available and not running out of minutes
> during an emergency is better than loading the phone full of estimated
> minutes and running out of minutes.
>
> Other pre-paid vendors:
> <http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm>
> Watch out for minimum monthly charges and expiring minutes.
>
If you do not use them, they do not diminish with time.
BUT you get so many "service hours" which appears to be in the region
of a year, at which time you renew minutes to get more service hours.
SMS
Aug 7, 2012, 12:09:55 PM8/7/12
to
On 8/6/2012 9:37 PM, David Lesher wrote:
> I have a T-mobile prepaid. You must reup every 90 days for $10
> (~33c/min) or initial year $100 (1000 min) and then $10/year.
I have a T-Mobile prepaid account that I now keep active by adding
> I have a T-mobile prepaid. You must reup every 90 days for $10
> (~33c/min) or initial year $100 (1000 min) and then $10/year.
$10/year, though I rarely use the T-Mobile phone. The cost per minute is
much higher than my Verizon/Pageplus phone and the coverage is okay in
the Bay Area, but poor to non-existent in rural areas. Even where AT&T
has GSM service T-Mobile often can't roam onto it, it only can make 911
calls in those areas. I was hoping that the AT&T penalty for the failure
of the acquisition would add more roaming to T-Mobile (that was part of
the deal) but I haven't seen it happen yet. We're up in areas with no
T-Mobile coverage quite often, in the Sierras. AT&T has decent coverage,
and Verizon/Pageplus roams onto Golden State Cellular which has
excellent coverage, i.e. check zip code 95335 and 95389.
I got the T-Mobile service when I bought a quad-band prepaid phone from
T-Mobile to use when traveling to Asia. It's useful between home and the
airport so I don't need to carry my Verizon/Pageplus phone on the trip.
At 83�/month (after the first year at $8.33/month) it's a very good
deal, but alas it's not a great choice for an emergency phone if you
need it to work outside of major metropolitan areas (unless being able
to call 911 is sufficient). I think for an emergency phone coverage is
very important, so I would not use T-Mobile or Virgin or any MVNO that
uses the T-Mobile or Sprint network that does not allow roaming (even
extra cost roaming is fine). Pageplus charges for roaming on non-Verizon
CDMA networks, and I've used it on occasion, and that's fine. The
monthly savings over Verizon itself are so significant that occasional
roaming charges are lost in the noise.
Owen Roberts
Aug 7, 2012, 12:20:11 PM8/7/12
to
Any current model cell phone should dial 911 without a active account.
It was part of the FCC rules. Not that I'd want to depend on that.
I have Boost mobile, and they have a 35$ a month account.
I use their 50$ a month unlimited, runs on the Sprint backbone.
I get good service everywhere but Florida, West Virgina and
Cleveland, Ohio.
Everything South of Cleveland is fine.
Steve
It was part of the FCC rules. Not that I'd want to depend on that.
I have Boost mobile, and they have a 35$ a month account.
I use their 50$ a month unlimited, runs on the Sprint backbone.
I get good service everywhere but Florida, West Virgina and
Cleveland, Ohio.
Everything South of Cleveland is fine.
Steve
Joerg
Aug 7, 2012, 1:04:08 PM8/7/12
to
SMS wrote:
> On 8/6/2012 2:26 PM, Joerg wrote:
>> SMS wrote:
>>> On 8/6/2012 12:52 PM, Joerg wrote:
>>>
>>>> Expensive? At about five bucks a month? Since all those Dollar
>>>> translate
>>>> into minutes that is 18c/min on my plan, 20c on newer ones. They roll
>>>> over forever so now I've piled up a whopping 13h of talk time. Some day
>>>> they can write on my grave marker "And he had 15,672 minutes left on
>>>> his
>>>> cell" :-)
>>>
>>> Yes, comparatively speaking it's quite expensive. I.e., on the four
>>> Pageplus phones we have, the _most_ expensive minutes you can purchase
>>> are 10�/minute. Generally I buy the $80/year refill which is 4�/minute,
> On 8/6/2012 2:26 PM, Joerg wrote:
>> SMS wrote:
>>> On 8/6/2012 12:52 PM, Joerg wrote:
>>>
>>>> Expensive? At about five bucks a month? Since all those Dollar
>>>> translate
>>>> into minutes that is 18c/min on my plan, 20c on newer ones. They roll
>>>> over forever so now I've piled up a whopping 13h of talk time. Some day
>>>> they can write on my grave marker "And he had 15,672 minutes left on
>>>> his
>>>> cell" :-)
>>>
>>> Yes, comparatively speaking it's quite expensive. I.e., on the four
>>> Pageplus phones we have, the _most_ expensive minutes you can purchase
>>>
>>
>> I can't see that $80/year on here:
>>
>> https://www.pagepluscellular.com/Online%20Store/Minutes.aspx?card=All
>
> It's here <http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans.aspx>. You buy it from
> a reseller. I usually buy it from callingmart.com when they have a 5%
> off promotion.
>
That is a good deal for people who do use their cell phones quite a bit.
>>
>> I can't see that $80/year on here:
>>
>> https://www.pagepluscellular.com/Online%20Store/Minutes.aspx?card=All
>
> It's here <http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans.aspx>. You buy it from
> a reseller. I usually buy it from callingmart.com when they have a 5%
> off promotion.
>
Although not quite as good as mine with VirginMobile. With those
$15/90day top-ups I pay $61 per year. Ok, that "only" 339 but this
equates to over 5h and I never used those up, so far. So for very low
volume callers Virgin is lower in cost.
You get over 30h but my ear would fall off if I used my cell that much :-)
I guess your plan also allows $10/120day? Then you win. Nice thing about
Virgin is you can register auto-pay and then never have to worry about
forgetting to renew. That's important to me.
sms88
Aug 7, 2012, 2:01:35 PM8/7/12
to
now Boost is also offering CDMA service on Sprint's native network, and
it's a good deal. Unfortunately, Boost has the same coverage issue as
Virgin, you aren't allowed to use other carrier's networks, even at
extra cost. I don't understand why Sprint doesn't take advantage of a
revenue generating possibility and allow roaming at extra cost on their
prepaid services (well I do have an idea why they don't want to do this).
I recall being at the Anchorage airport in the mid 2000's and the guy
next to me on the curb was trying to make a call on his Nextel phone.
Alaska has no Nextel service in the entire state so he was out of luck.
He said he really needed a phone while he was in Alaska (on business) so
I suggested that he go buy a Tracfone at Walmart. Back then, TDMA and
AMPS were the dominant networks in Alaska and CDMA was available in
cities and towns, but not between them. I could use AMPS on my Verizon
CDMA/AMPS phone. AMPS coverage was a necessity because Alaska is so vast
and AMPS covers larger areas with fewer cells due to its higher power
radios.
josephkk
Aug 10, 2012, 9:48:32 PM8/10/12
to
On Mon, 06 Aug 2012 15:02:32 -0700, Jeff Liebermann <je...@cruzio.com>
wrote:
Not even that good. The prepaid minutes age out depending on how many you
bought but never longer than one year. That's why i dumped them.
?-(
wrote:
bought but never longer than one year. That's why i dumped them.
?-(
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