Phone/carrier suggestions

Just wanted to mention that my experience just trying to sign up with Straight Talk has, so far, been terrrrible. First they couldn't tell me that the new account had to be activated before unlocking the phone, so T-mobile sent me a new one thinking that it was a glitch with the phone. Then, for even the most basic activation service the rep I spoke to on the phone couldn't help me, so she forwarded the call to a higher up who asked me a couple of questions before we got disconnected. I think they work in a phone bank overseas.

I looked up reviews of ST and the average satisfaction rating from 627 reviewers is only one star out of a possible five! So another carrier may cost more, but at the end of the day I think it'll probably be worth it. The complaints with ST, with the exception of price, seem to be across the board.

_http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/straight_talk_wireless.html
 
I think the problem is T-Mobile is GSM and Straight Talk is CDMA. I think in the US, a phone is either GSM or CDMA, and not both and not interchangeable.
 
hlat said:
I think the problem is T-Mobile is GSM and Straight Talk is CDMA. I think in the US, a phone is either GSM or CDMA, and not both and not interchangeable.
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The Straight Talk set up kit which I purchased at a Walmart provided a sim card for T-mobile phones and has instructions for both GSM and CDMA, which is what impressed me with the service to begin with. But it only seems to go so far unfortunately.
 
Fwiw, I needed a new phone when I moved, as my phone was over a decade old, and wouldn't work with any of the carriers. Verizon is the only provider that has reliable service anywhere is the area. I ended up signing a two-year contract with them, for about twice the price of Straight talk ($72/mo), but getting a new 3G Iphone that works everywhere has been worth it. The plan has plenty of minutes, text, and data allowances for my purposes. And I can keep up with Signs and the Forum. Still kinda suck at using the keyboard though. How do the young'ins do it??? :)
 
herondancer said:
Fwiw, I needed a new phone when I moved, as my phone was over a decade old, and wouldn't work with any of the carriers. Verizon is the only provider that has reliable service anywhere is the area. I ended up signing a two-year contract with them, for about twice the price of Straight talk ($72/mo), but getting a new 3G Iphone that works everywhere has been worth it. The plan has plenty of minutes, text, and data allowances for my purposes. And I can keep up with Signs and the Forum. Still kinda suck at using the keyboard though. How do the young'ins do it??? :)
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My brother got me a 4G LTE iPhone 5e (Verizon) for my birthday a few months ago. Previously, I was using an old flip phone for six something years with only calls and texting. Now, I am able to check the forum/sott when I'm in the middle of nowhere. Heck, if I ever get lost in the woods, I can still check the Forum. That was pretty cool, I think. The keyboard thing is pretty tricky to deal with at first, but over time, I got used to it.

It's pretty convenient. :)
 
I grabbed a temp 4G Verizon phone when I was in NC to help with the move since my carrier doesn't have good coverage there. Bought the phone used on Craigslist from a local. Turns out the service is decent at the new house and all around that area. There was only one spot where the service disappeared for a brief stretch on the highway to Almond. Not a big deal.

After reading through all their pricing and talking to a sales person I realized that their prepaid no contract pay as you go plan is a much better deal at $45 a month plus tax for unlimited talk and text + 500MB of 4G data for net surfing. And right now they're running a special where if you sign up for automatic payment on the prepaid plan they toss in an extra 500MB of data. So basically 1GB overall, which is more than enough for simple net access needs ( Google Maps to check traffic or routes, read SoTT once when you're waiting around somewhere, stream a podcast or radio show for a few hours a month in the car, etc. )

And their customer service is pretty good too ( seems to be based in the USA ), assuming you can figure out how to get a live person on the line from the voice menu. For the record, when you dial 611 on the phone it calls Verizon support. Right now the menu nav route is to press 2 - 4 - 6 - 4 to get a live person ;)
 
Forgot to mention also that if you're looking to get a new phone ( instead of used ) for Verizon you might find better prices at Target. For example where I live they had in the store a new Galaxy S series ( I forget if it was S3, S4, or S5 ) for $200.
 
m is right on the money:
If you're in the U.S. visit Target/Walmart/eBay to get an inexpensive Android phone.
The best (coverage-wise) cell providers in the U.S. are AT&T (GSM) and Verizon (CDMA).
I would suggest going with Verizon based on m's input, above.

I personally have T-mobile. Their coverage in non-metropolitan areas is ridiculously bad.
Their pricing, ever since they got rid of contracts, has gone up overall, so it is my recommendation to stay away from them (and any sub-carriers they let on their network like Net10, etc...).
 
For just talking and texting, Republic Wireless uses the Verizon network for roaming. $10 a month for unlimited is really good. I'm trying to coming up with an emergency data solution, maybe direct Verizon prepaid by the day data for $0.99 on a basic phone.
 
After having Straight Talk for about a month, the only real problems I've had were trying to get started with a plan. Since that little headache it's been smooth sailing, a few glitches in my phone's ability to connect to the internet and randomly restarting when using Pandora but nothing major like losing signal or dropping calls.

And honestly I think that those minor issues would be solved with a nicer phone, but I can't be certain of that until I get a new one which may not be for a while.

I'll be going to NC next week for a few days, and it's a 3.25 hour drive. So we'll find out just how good the coverage is as I traverse the backwoods of north Georgia, if I lose signal or my phone constantly restarts while trying to use Google Maps or Pandora then I may have to switch back to Verizon. We shall see.
 
hlat said:
For just talking and texting, Republic Wireless uses the Verizon network for roaming. $10 a month for unlimited is really good. I'm trying to coming up with an emergency data solution, maybe direct Verizon prepaid by the day data for $0.99 on a basic phone.
Click to expand...

If all you need is data you can get one of their mobile hotspots and pay as you go ( see what they sell online then check Craigslist for a used one ). Otherwise, if you want phone and data, their newer Android OS versions ( 4.4.x ) have mobile hotspot functionality built in at no extra cost.
 
You could also invest in a cheap shock proof casing to go on your phone. I have one that cost $12 au on eBay. It's waterproof too in the event it falls in the loo or something- or you could go rain walking one day and need to take the phone.
I do agree that limiting usage of mobile phones where possible is a good idea and also try not to sleep with it on in the same room :zzz:
 
Still investigating Verizon MVNOs. Tracfone in only CDMA models looks promising for a cheap phone, regular talk and text, with a little data usage.
 
I learned that some of these MVNOs have both GSM and CDMA phones. However, they are still not interchangeable. A GSM phone will not go on CDMA network, and CDMA phone will not go on GSM network.

So I am finding Tracfone CDMA Verizon network phones for around $40 good for 150 days service with 600 minutes, and 600 texts, and 600 MB data. These are new phones, but old models, eg Android 2.3. I rarely use data so it's fine for me. I will buy it and see how it goes.
 
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