Prepaid cell phone carriers

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fan-of-fans

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Does anyone here have a prepaid mobile phone carrier they recommend? Right now I have AT&T and I'm paying $80 a month. My contract long expired. I get enough data to get me by fine and I get unlimited calling and text. But I rarely make phone calls and don't text that often typically. I'm thinking of going prepaid. I also need a new phone, I have a Samsung Galaxy 3 that's 6 years old and needs a new battery. A lot of websites don't work on my phone either. I'm thinking of getting an iPhone this time but I'm not sure.

My dad has Cricket and pays $40 a month and says he has no problems.
 
I’ve been using Tracfone since 2002, with no problems. I make very few calls with it now, its mostly for emergencies while I’m away from home. I buy the 1 year service card with 400 mins for $99.00 every year and the mins I don’t use roll over as long as I don’t let the airtime expire. My phone gives me double mins. on all airtime purchase, so I get 800 mins with the 1 year card. I now have over 4000 mins airtime. Before we switched to Comcast for our home phone, which has unlimited nationwide calling, I made all my LD calls from the Tracfone, and never had problems with calls dropping or poor reception, saved my a lot of money.

Eddie
 
I've used prepaid for about ten years. It's worked well. But then I hardly ever use the phone. No one in his or her right mind wants to talk to Lord Kenmore. LOL

It's probably the best if you look up all the various plan options and see what fits your needs. In your case, the question is data. How much do you use a month, and who can provide that much at the lowest price?

It may also be a good idea to find out what networks have the best service in your area. In a big city, it probably doesn't matter so much. But where I live, "who has consistent coverage" is an important question.

Also worth noting: there are many companies providing service, but there are far fewer actual networks--a lot of those providers are either divisions of some big company, or else have an arrangement to use a network. So if network X works well in your area, and Company Z uses that network, chances are the service will work for you.
 
Like Eddie, I have had a Tracfone for ages. My plan is $5/month for 30 more automatic service days. I have nearly 5000 minutes racked up as its basically only used for an emergency. So I do not want any more airtime added. But this state has sporadic cell service at best and the Tracfone almost always gets me service from somewhere.
 
My husband and I both use Straight Talk. We pay cash for our phones, instead of financing them like the major carriers have you do, and our plans are $35 a month each. We use our phones quite a bit and rely on our data as well but if you had simpler wireless needs you can get away with pay as you go plans that can be immensely affordable.
 
Tmob 55

If you are 55 or over, t-mob has 2 lines unlimited for flat $70. Free phones or bring your own. I talk and text constantly ..... and constantly on-line and most video and music services don't count against your data. Never been throttled either since all my video watching doesn't count.

Almost forgot .... unlimited text and calls in 260 countries + free in flight internet (that I never used) + free netflix + several other perks that I don't remember + free Tuesdays. Worth a look at their website.

Was in Israel last March for 10 days. Talked and text my head off and not a dime added to my next bill.

My mom has Affinity with 2gb a month of data and unlimited talk and text = $24 if you are a AAA member. No overage fees either. [this post was last edited: 10/5/2019-18:40]
 
Like Eddie & Tim, I am a longtime user of Tracfone. The newest iPhone they have (for where I live, anyway) is an iPhone 7. Bought one through Tracfone about a year ago and love it. Everything else in my life is Apple/Mac, so the phone works seamlessly with my MacBook Pro laptop and iPad.

I don't use my iPhone for going online much (I tend to use my iPad for laptop for that), but I text a lot. With Tracfone, you can purchase "add ons" with only data ($10 for 1 gb, I believe) or talking minutes or texts. When I start to run low on texts, I simply buy a text add on ($5 for 1000 texts, as I recall).

I generally buy a year's worth of service and then add on whatever I run low on separately.

No problems with service or dropped calls, etc.

If you want to check them out, go to tracfone.com and type in your zip code. It will show you which brands & models of phones they have available for your area. I think they also have a "bring your own phone" option now, but I've always bought mine through them. I used an LG flip-phone (no camera or internet) for years, then bought an LG smartphone (had it for about 5 years), then the iPhone 7 (which I have now.)

Tracfone is much, much cheaper for me than using Verizon or ATT.
 
<span style="font-size: 14pt; color: #008000;">Being the very old man that I am and having a land-line that's part of my cable package, I rarely use my Tracfone cell. I pay about $8.00 a month. It's one of those triple-minute phones so adding an hour of talk time turns into 3. Currently I have about 4,000 minutes of time. I do occasionally add a GB of data since I use the phone to watch TV or connect to Pandora on my car audio. I spend a lot of time in chemo and radiation (ain't life grand?) and the phone connects instantly to the hospital's wi-fi. I prefer to multiply monthly charges by 12 to get a "truer" picture of what I'm paying. Then again, I'm cheap.</span>
 
Then there is this...

 

<h1 class="speakableText">This Ultra Mobile deal is insane: 12 months of service for $126</h1>
That nets you a fairly modest 3GB of high-speed data -- but maybe that's enough?

 

It's on a T-Mobile MVNO.

www.cnet.com

Best Verizon Deals: Get Up to $1,300 Off Your Next Samsung, Apple or Google Phone

Plus, check out service plan discounts that can save you as much as $25 per month, and discounted subscriptions for just $10 per month.
www.cnet.com www.cnet.com
 
Actually ....

The Ultra Mobile deal ..... after reading the fine print, you will have to pony up for added taxes and fees they don't tell you about. AND .... is only good for the first year. After that it goes back to the $21 a month price plus taxes and fees.
 
ATT prepaid

I have ATT prepaid. Lowest package. $30 per month with Auto Pay. It is billed to a credit card. Includes 1 GB of data, which is enough for me. Uses you WiFi for data when you are at home. I switched from TMobile because the ATT network is better outside of the city. ATT has good coverage.
 
You can always buddy up with friends or family.  I'm on a T-Mobile plan with a few of my cousins.  All told there are 6 active lines, a few of are low data users - under 2g - pay $20/mo.  If we go over 2g it's $25.

 

If I wasn't on this plan I'd use Mint, very good deal.
 

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