I've been on Walmart's plan for four years. Price hasn't changed 30 dollars limited. 45 unlimited. No grandfather clause and now they have 100 dollar 3g smart phones. The wave of the future.
Most of the world uses this method. American companies are just good at forming oligopolies, lobbying in Congress, and ultimately screwing the consumer.
The hook for contracts is the cheaper phone. Since I don't do much on my phone . . .i don't need the latest greatest Rocket River
I am waiting for my all my contracts to expire in Verizon then I'll be making the move to one of those prepaid plans. Verizon is too expensive. I love having unlimited 4g data on it, but I'm willing to give that up to save some money in the long run. I can't even switch phones anymore unless I update to one of their crappy share plans.
Correction: Can't update phones for cheaper unless I switch to the share data plans or one of their limited internet plans. Screw that.
I love the coverage with Verizon. That said, its freakin expensive! Any prepaid companies out there with just as good coverage?
You can get the latest and greatest phone with prepaid (not sure about Simple Mobile, but since they seem to just be repurposing T-Mobile plans, probably the same). Has to be GSM* (usually get the international version), but you can use a Galaxy S3, Nexus 4, etc. Not sure about iPhone and Windows 8 phones...but probably (if they're unlocked and international). Will pay $500-$700 for it (unless it is a Nexus, in which case, ~$300), but probably worth it in the long run (especially if you go with a $30/month plan). *Well, there are some CDMA prepaid operators, but think you have to get their phone, and the selection isn't as good. Mostly Sprint phones. Straight Talk can use AT&T's network, so you can get that kind of coverage (not sure if that's good for you). I think Verizon does have a prepaid network (or offers it to some operator), but the plans don't really compare well to the GSM ones. Plus not sure what phones you can get.
i sometimes get verizon error messages so i'm pretty sure straight talk is on verizon's network. also, whenever i call customer service, there is a prompt to go to a different menu if you have an iphone
That's right, I forgot that apparently Straight Talk offers CDMA phones too (using Verizon and Sprint). Again, not sure what kind of phones you can use though.
I have been on prepaid for at least 7 years. Here's my prepaid history: 1) TMobile (10 cents/minute) 2) Boost Mobile (10 cents/minute) 3) Page Plus Cellular (4 cents/minute) 4) Virgin Mobile ($25/month on an Android Phone) 5) Back to TMobile ($30/month on a Google Nexus 4) It has saved me tons of money over postpaid, and I can switch plans or companies without penalty whenever I want. I can easily afford postpaid, but why pay extra for the same service, as well as lock myself into a contract? I hated when I was on contract with Sprint.
If you use up a lot of data and you're going to one of the prepaid services because you think they are cheap and "unlimited" - is that really the case? Just looking at this, it does look very unlimited if you go by definition of unlimited http://www.straighttalk.com/wps/por...GtXYpLtvbrGuXg!!/dl4/d5/L2dBISEvZ0FBIS9nQSEh/
glancing over that, it looks like a don't use our cell phones for your business clause. i haven't had any trouble and i've used plenty of data
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I'm paying $160 total/month for my Razr Maxx, and my parents' 2 dumbphones (Motorola Rival) for 700mins and unlimited data for me through Verizon. After being laid off and VZW dropping my 50% discount, its getting ridiculous. We barely even use our mins, I mostly texts, while my parents rarely use it when they are outside the house. My contract ended this month, waiting on my Nexus 4 to ship and will hop on the TMo prepaid 100 min/unlimited data for $30/month. My parents don't end till April, which I'm going to get them iPhone 4 once its over through Walmart finance offer ($25/month, 18 months, no interest) and get them the same $30/plan. So for all of our 3 smartphones will be around $150/month after taxes for 18 months, then $100 after that. can even save more when buying prepaid billing cards. Target sells them, and use your Target card to get 5% off. Callingmart.com has the same thing (thanks Scionxa), 5% off cards, and they give u the codes instantly when u buy it thorough their website. 5% may not be much but adds up by years end. As for the other providers, Straight Talk, Simple Mobile, Virgin Mobile. I've read through other boards, they are truly unlimited, but throttles you to from 4G (HSPA+/LTE) to 3G or even 2G. It varies, I've heard as little as 2GB to 5GB.
On SimpleMobile. The unlimited Data plan. Got a message saying I am about to be shut down because I have used too much data. WTF.
