dslreports logo
 
    All Forums Hot Topics Gallery
spc
view:
topics flat nest 
Comments on news posted 2012-09-21 16:38:17: After several years where the term MVNO was synonymous with total failure (it still may be), we've seen a flurry of new MVNOs in the last six months emerge that are intent on price disruption. ..


TingTing
@sbcglobal.net

TingTing

Anon

So...

When will I have an opportunity to bid on their office supplies and furniture when the company goes under in 2 years?
robertg1234
join:2004-04-19
Palo Alto, CA

robertg1234

Member

Re: So...

Auction houses (especially office/industrial) are as rigged as the MVNO itself. With even more hidden fees than the carrier!
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT
·Frontier FiberOp..

1 recommendation

tired_runner

Premium Member

Not Solavei, but SIMPLE Mobile

I just bought an unlocked LG phone to try out with SIMPLE Mobile, another T-Mobile MVNO.

Yes, their 3G service is unlimited. What they don't tell you about this 3G service is that is throttled to 300kbps/120kbps.


tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72

Premium Member

Re: Not Solavei, but SIMPLE Mobile

Cool Story, Bro

PapaMidnight
join:2009-01-13
Baltimore, MD

PapaMidnight

Member

Re: Not Solavei, but SIMPLE Mobile

Yes, it was; and it serves as a notice to those seeking to hop aboard without knowing what they're getting into.
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT
·Frontier FiberOp..

tired_runner

Premium Member

Re: Not Solavei, but SIMPLE Mobile

Well... I personally felt there would be a catch for the price. But overall for what you get, it's still a good deal. Unlimited call, domestic and international text, and web access for $40 flat, no taxes, no fees and no surcharges, and you're riding on T-Mobile's network. You even get $5 credit monthly for international calls, and the international rates are fairly competitive.

I'm curious to find out what they're throttling down to for 4G service. I'm soon adding 4G to my SIMPLE Mobile account and then borrowing my brother's unlocked Samsung Galaxy S2 to try it. Their 4G service costs $50 per month.

Cabal
Premium Member
join:2007-01-21

Cabal to tired_runner

Premium Member

to tired_runner
It won't stay that way. Simple Mobile is now owned by TracFone (America Movil).
tired_runner
Premium Member
join:2000-08-25
CT

tired_runner

Premium Member

Re: Not Solavei, but SIMPLE Mobile

Aww crap... I remember TracFone from when they sold the $20 phone at the Dollar Tree store and calls were $0.25/min and text messages $0.05/message.

I guess SIMPLE Mobile is about to become just as worthless. Or have they upped their game yet?
Angrychair
join:2000-09-20
Jacksonville, FL

1 recommendation

Angrychair

Member

What's the advantage?

T-mobile already charges 49.95/month for their own tier one provider service when you bring your own device.

Why should I go with an MVNO and get no roaming or any of the other small perks that come with using a tier one provider when the price is the same?

ArrayList
DevOps
Premium Member
join:2005-03-19
Mullica Hill, NJ

ArrayList

Premium Member

Re: What's the advantage?

they pay for referrals.

SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Atlanta, GA

SysOp to Angrychair

Member

to Angrychair
Tmobile $50 unlimited prepaid is only 2G data.
broccoli
join:2007-11-29
Portland, OR

broccoli

Member

Re: What's the advantage?

There are no '2G-only' T-Mobile data plans. You are free to use whatever is avaliable, whether it's GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, HSPA, HSPA+, as long as you subscribe to data.

SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Atlanta, GA

SysOp

Member

Re: What's the advantage?

Sorry. *First 100MB at up to 4G speeds

After that you get throttled to 120kbps aka 2G speeds.

gar187er
I DID this for a living
join:2006-06-24
Seattle, WA

gar187er

Member

Re: What's the advantage?

thats why i had to up to the next tier. :-/
mobipaysme
join:2012-10-19
Schaumburg, IL

mobipaysme to Angrychair

Member

to Angrychair
TMobile's Unlimited Plus plan allows for 2gb of data at full speed for $69.99 w/2 yr. contract. Or you can get the no contract plan for $60/month with the same allowance. Solavei offers unlimited with 4gb at full speed for $49/month. You do get roaming with Solavei. If you have multiple lines for your family, you can take advantage of their referral incentives and save even more.

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

I'll stick with Verizon

I'll never do business with an MVNO. I will only do business with tier 1 providers (that actually own and control the infrastructure). I have had US Cellular (when I lived in Iowa, Cingular/AT&T, and Verizon. I like Verizon the best but was forced to do business with Cingular/AT&T because Verizon had good coverage in Iowa but had very spotty coverage when I moved to Springfield, MA so I did business with AT&T for a while until Verizon could fill the dead spots in Springfield (which they did and now they have better coverage than AT&T) and now I finally was able to add Mom and Grandma to my Share Everything plan because they use the phone for mostly talk.

Can't wait to get the iPhone 5 (which ill probably get in December as I am elgible for an upgrade at the end of November). I am glad that the iPhone 5 has LTE and we have plenty of LTE coverage in the Northeast.

SysOp
join:2001-04-18
Atlanta, GA

1 recommendation

SysOp

Member

Re: I'll stick with Verizon

off topic much?

IowaCowboy
Lost in the Supermarket
Premium Member
join:2010-10-16
Springfield, MA

IowaCowboy

Premium Member

Re: I'll stick with Verizon

Must be an ADHD moment...

Some posters above were discussing why do business with the MVNO in question when the host carrier charges the same for the exact same service (which I based my comment on) so I thought I'd share my experience with cell phones and providers. I have no experience with MVNO carriers but I have heard of them coming and going like here today gone tomorrow one hit wonders in the music industry. I have been using cell phones since 2001 and the carrier (Verizon) that I had in high school (I graduated in 2002 and hid a Verizon prepaid phone in my pocket since we were not allowed to possess them in school) is still around today and is better than ever with their LTE network. In the 10 years since I graduated, many MVNOs have come and gone (like Chumbawumba and 'NSYNC in the music world) but Verizon is still strong today. I have had AT&T for about six years but I think that Verizon has much better phones. When I left VZW for then Cingular, I felt like the phone I bought (an LG L1400) was a downgrade from my LG VX6000 on VZW. I had to switch do to Cingular because of poor VZW reception but I am back on VZW today. Phone quality is no longer an issue as I have been using the iPhone since 2009 and plan on buying the iPhone 5 in December.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72

Premium Member

Re: I'll stick with Verizon

said by IowaCowboy:

I have no experience with MVNO carriers but I have heard of them coming and going like here today gone tomorrow one hit wonders in the music industry.

Considering MVNOs are month-to-month and are typically replaced by something *better* than the MVNO before it, I don't really get the big deal?

MVNOs ride on the exact same network. Typically the only difference is a general lack of customer service. When I figure that the only time I ever called the cell company was over billing disputes, then going to a prepaid model made perfect sense. No more billing issues means no more service calls for me. Bing-bang-boom. In Solavei's case, they ride on T-Mobile but actually have a superior roaming agreement for ATT than T-Mobile and other MVNOs offer.

Personally i'm not interested in Solavei's pyramid model. But no tier-1 carrier provides the same packages as the MVNOs do. Sure T-Mobile has a $50 tier, but it's 100MB of 3g. All of the other MVNOs offer 2GB of data for the same price-point. Simple Mobile offers 2GB on T-Mobile. Straight-Talk offers 2GB on TMO or ATT. Boost/Virgin are unlimited (but Sprint's network is crap now, so good luck hitting even 2GB in a month).

I'm glad to hear that Verizon works wonders for you. For others, paying $100 for the same effective service that costs $45 elsewhere isn't very attractive. For some of us, saving $1300 over 24 months means something.
tmc8080
join:2004-04-24
Brooklyn, NY

tmc8080

Member

pricepoint

$49, $50.. is not a market disrupting pricepoint.. and unlimited still has a limit ring to it when the carrier involved is tmobile.. who charges alot more for unlimited data.. upwards of $70+ on a smartphone plan last time I checked.

cingular offers this around the same price.. and are more aggressive in offering deals than a tmobile mvno.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72

Premium Member

Re: pricepoint

said by tmc8080:

$49, $50.. is not a market disrupting pricepoint.. and unlimited still has a limit ring to it when the carrier involved is tmobile.. who charges alot more for unlimited data.. upwards of $70+ on a smartphone plan last time I checked.

cingular offers this around the same price.. and are more aggressive in offering deals than a tmobile mvno.

got any examples?
There's quite a comprehensive thread at XDA on MVNOs which could use your insight on ATT mvno's with "more aggressive" offerings.
»forum.xda-developers.com ··· =1455014

ctceo
Premium Member
join:2001-04-26
South Bend, IN

ctceo

Premium Member

This the one?

I wonder if this is the plan wherein Unlimited = 5gb?
mobipaysme
join:2012-10-19
Schaumburg, IL

mobipaysme

Member

Re: This the one?

Solavei's unlimited is 4gb at full speed. Only the top 5% of users really ever use this much (for all carriers), so this is a very generous allowances. I switched to Solavei and actually get better reception on it at my location than Verizon (Schaumburg, IL). I save about $500 a year for each line when compared to my Verizon 700 minutes share plan.
elray
join:2000-12-16
Santa Monica, CA

elray

Member

Fail...

If the service is truly unlimited (no caps, throttling, tethering or hotspot restrictions, no Simple-Mobile redefinition of 3G/4G), then it will be an overnight success ... until a few months later when it crashes and burns as the data-hogs latch on and drag response time down to "2G" speeds for all.

If it isn't truly unlimited, it will remain unremarkable, and fail to attract customers.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA

Premium Member

More aggressive pricing

Same terrible T-Mobile coverage. T-Mobile and Sprint could be free, and they will wouldn't compete with AT&T and Verizon's networks.

fuziwuzi
Not born yesterday
Premium Member
join:2005-07-01
Palm Springs, CA
Hitron EN2251
Nest H2D

1 recommendation

fuziwuzi

Premium Member

Re: More aggressive pricing

said by BiggA:

Same terrible T-Mobile coverage. T-Mobile and Sprint could be free, and they will wouldn't compete with AT&T and Verizon's networks.

There you go again, spewing the same crap that everyone has debunked again and again. I have to give you credit for being persistent... persistently wrong, nonetheless. Are you still mooching off your Mom?

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72

Premium Member

Re: More aggressive pricing

said by fuziwuzi:

said by BiggA:

Same terrible T-Mobile coverage. T-Mobile and Sprint could be free, and they will wouldn't compete with AT&T and Verizon's networks.

There you go again, spewing the same crap that everyone has debunked again and again. I have to give you credit for being persistent... persistently wrong, nonetheless. Are you still mooching off your Mom?

BWAHAHAHAHA too true

TuxRaiderPen2
Make America Great Again
join:2009-09-19

TuxRaiderPen2 to fuziwuzi

Member

to fuziwuzi
said by fuziwuzi:
There you go again, spewing the same crap that everyone has debunked again and again. I have to give you credit for being persistent... persistently wrong, nonetheless.
TMobile coverage and sproostgin coverage is HORRIBLE..

Tmobile should rename to TMetro.I would loose coverage on a route I travel daily for work for over an hour. Which VZW quite nicely covers very well. No need for an external antenna, amp, or foil...

This is most decidely a rural area, and if VZW and before the acquistion AllTel could cover it then so could the others... The towers were/are there, yeah the leases for space were probably not that great, but when your hurting for coveage you pay till you invest (oh theres a concept) in your own.. There won't been any NIMBY nazis in this area.

Sproostgin.. NOPE, not *natively*, the only coverage is via roaming on VZW and if your on the boost or virgin MVNO's NO COVERAGE, period till you get back to native sprint.

At least sproostgin's coverage map is more accurate then Tmobiles. And not trying to stretch it and hide the dead zones.. Tmobles is so dependendt on perfect conditions its pathetic... Real world phones from Tmobile and sproostgin don't work. VZW does. All in an area Tmobile is saying is "Satisfactory" only if your cheating with an external amp, antenna, on a spectrum analyzer, v. a phone with no real antenna, 1/2 the sensitivity, 1/3 the selectivity thats behind a body mass which just loves to absorb RF...

Same goes for sproostgin in a urban area.. their MVNO fails to cover an area that is not rural... major holes... sprint customers get coverage by...wait for it... VZW! mvno's suckers...

All you have to do is a look at coverage map for Tmobile and notice all the white areas v. their blessed magenta (or green in their online case) or sprint in many areas their *NATIVE* coverage is a joke, and were it not for roaming there would be no coverage, and compared to VZW who has native coverage there.

Tmobile and sproostgin MVNO's may work if you never ever stray from native coverage of the mother ship.. but for most thats not the case and will find out what a crock these 2 networks are...

You want coverage, you get VZW, period. You want 3rd rate coverage you get crApTT, you want 5th rate coverage take your pick from MetroPCS, sproostgin, Tmobile, cricket and any one else.

Cell phone coverage stating "coveraging 96% of the US..." yeah thats 96% of the population, thats WORTHLESS! If you covered 96% of the US you would have spend more in WV on cell sites alone than you spend on 5 states combined to get that level of coverage. Even VZW doesn't cover as much of WV as they should, but its better and has been for decades than any of the others.

Coverage costs, and yes VZW has made some crap moves in re data and some other items, but if I have a phone it better work when I need it or theres not reason to have it.. Tmobile and sproostgin fail that test.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72

Premium Member

Re: More aggressive pricing

said by TuxRaiderPen2:

said by fuziwuzi:
There you go again, spewing the same crap that everyone has debunked again and again. I have to give you credit for being persistent... persistently wrong, nonetheless.
TMobile coverage and sproostgin coverage is HORRIBLE..

Tmobile should rename to TMetro.I would loose coverage on a route I travel daily for work for over an hour. Which VZW quite nicely covers very well. No need for an external antenna, amp, or foil...

This is most decidely a rural area, and if VZW and before the acquistion AllTel could cover it then so could the others... The towers were/are there, yeah the leases for space were probably not that great, but when your hurting for coveage you pay till you invest (oh theres a concept) in your own.. There won't been any NIMBY nazis in this area.

Sproostgin.. NOPE, not *natively*, the only coverage is via roaming on VZW and if your on the boost or virgin MVNO's NO COVERAGE, period till you get back to native sprint.

At least sproostgin's coverage map is more accurate then Tmobiles. And not trying to stretch it and hide the dead zones.. Tmobles is so dependendt on perfect conditions its pathetic... Real world phones from Tmobile and sproostgin don't work. VZW does. All in an area Tmobile is saying is "Satisfactory" only if your cheating with an external amp, antenna, on a spectrum analyzer, v. a phone with no real antenna, 1/2 the sensitivity, 1/3 the selectivity thats behind a body mass which just loves to absorb RF...

Same goes for sproostgin in a urban area.. their MVNO fails to cover an area that is not rural... major holes... sprint customers get coverage by...wait for it... VZW! mvno's suckers...

All you have to do is a look at coverage map for Tmobile and notice all the white areas v. their blessed magenta (or green in their online case) or sprint in many areas their *NATIVE* coverage is a joke, and were it not for roaming there would be no coverage, and compared to VZW who has native coverage there.

Tmobile and sproostgin MVNO's may work if you never ever stray from native coverage of the mother ship.. but for most thats not the case and will find out what a crock these 2 networks are...

You want coverage, you get VZW, period. You want 3rd rate coverage you get crApTT, you want 5th rate coverage take your pick from MetroPCS, sproostgin, Tmobile, cricket and any one else.

Cell phone coverage stating "coveraging 96% of the US..." yeah thats 96% of the population, thats WORTHLESS! If you covered 96% of the US you would have spend more in WV on cell sites alone than you spend on 5 states combined to get that level of coverage. Even VZW doesn't cover as much of WV as they should, but its better and has been for decades than any of the others.

Coverage costs, and yes VZW has made some crap moves in re data and some other items, but if I have a phone it better work when I need it or theres not reason to have it.. Tmobile and sproostgin fail that test.

YMMV. Verizon is shit in the middle of my city. Dropped calls. reception crap. Garbled voices.

ATT, TMO, and Sprint are all better (although my ATT line drops calls, it's still better than VZW here, lulz).

To play off your words, this is most decidely an urban area, and if TMO, ATT, and Sprint can cover it then so could VZW... The towers were/are there, yeah the leases for space were probably not that great, but when your hurting for coveage you pay till you invest (oh theres a concept) in your own.. There aren't been any NIMBY nazis in this area.

Again. YMMV. Not sure why people rag on TMO so much. So it doesn't work for you? Whoop-de-fkin-doo. They don't force you to use their network. From your hatred, you make it sound like they raped your mother, buried her in a ditch, then raped her again.

VZW doesn't work for me. And FOR ME, ATT still drops calls, Sprint's data is slow, and T-Mobile's the only reliable service for my personal needs. Y.M.M.V.

j1349705
Premium Member
join:2006-04-15
Holly Springs, NC

j1349705

Premium Member

Re: More aggressive pricing

said by tiger72:

YMMV. Verizon is shit in the middle of my city. Dropped calls. reception crap. Garbled voices.

ATT, TMO, and Sprint are all better (although my ATT line drops calls, it's still better than VZW here, lulz).

To play off your words, this is most decidely an urban area, and if TMO, ATT, and Sprint can cover it then so could VZW... The towers were/are there, yeah the leases for space were probably not that great, but when your hurting for coveage you pay till you invest (oh theres a concept) in your own.. There aren't been any NIMBY nazis in this area.

Again. YMMV. Not sure why people rag on TMO so much. So it doesn't work for you? Whoop-de-fkin-doo. They don't force you to use their network. From your hatred, you make it sound like they raped your mother, buried her in a ditch, then raped her again.

VZW doesn't work for me. And FOR ME, ATT still drops calls, Sprint's data is slow, and T-Mobile's the only reliable service for my personal needs. Y.M.M.V.

Same here with Verizon... they have issues in a few places in the city that other carriers don't seem to struggle with. Then again, they work fine in other places (especially rural areas in NC... 850MHz has its advantages, and there's no 850MHz GSM in the state).

The T-Mobile and Sprint bashing that occurs so often in forums just doesn't make sense. No wireless carrier works everywhere, but so many people assume that their bad experience applies to everyone.

For what it is worth, I have found T-Mobile's coverage map to be fairly accurate. No coverage map is ever going to be perfect for marketing reasons and technical limitations. A lot of things can impact wireless signals, so predicting how they will travel isn't easy. The maps provide a general idea of how the service will be.

Verizon actually has the least detailed maps of the 4 nationwide carriers... just "yes or no" for 1X/EV-DO and "strong/weak" for LTE.
BiggA
Premium Member
join:2005-11-23
Central CT

BiggA to TuxRaiderPen2

Premium Member

to TuxRaiderPen2
Part right part wrong. AT&T and Verizon both have large, capable networks. T-Mobile and Sprint don't. There are many areas AT&T covers that Verizon doesn't and visa versa, but the same can't be said about Sprint or T-Mobile.

j1349705
Premium Member
join:2006-04-15
Holly Springs, NC

j1349705

Premium Member

Re: More aggressive pricing

said by BiggA:

Part right part wrong. AT&T and Verizon both have large, capable networks. T-Mobile and Sprint don't. There are many areas AT&T covers that Verizon doesn't and visa versa, but the same can't be said about Sprint or T-Mobile.

Sprint and T-Mobile still cover most people, as well as the places that most people travel.

tiger72
SexaT duorP
Premium Member
join:2001-03-28
Saint Louis, MO

tiger72 to BiggA

Premium Member

to BiggA
said by BiggA:

Part right part wrong. AT&T and Verizon both have large, capable networks.

Oh, ok. So my ATT sim must just be broken, where it causes my phone to drop data. I know the phone works fine, because the data drops don't happen when my phone's on the ?un-capable? T-Mobile network. Go figure! Thanks again for your deep, knowledgeable input.

fuziwuzi
Not born yesterday
Premium Member
join:2005-07-01
Palm Springs, CA
Hitron EN2251
Nest H2D

fuziwuzi

Premium Member

If you don't investigate coverage for YOUR needs before getting service, or utilize the 14-30 day return policies, then you don't deserve any sympathy. There are places where Verizon has no signal, would you still claim that people there should buy Verizon just because you get good service from them?

T-Mobile has given me excellent service for going on 9 years now. I travel a lot all over the US and have not had any issue with service, except in a very rural area where my parents live. But guess what, my brother using his AT&T iPhone also gets no service there. It is what it is. I'm not going to change my provider, which gives me great service 99.9999999% of the time simply because in one location that I visit for maybe 4 days every 2 or 3 years has no signal. Especially since I get unlimited anytime calling, unlimited text, and unlimited (truly unlimited) data for $60/month. And I have an unlocked phone that also works with foreign SIMs when I'm in China, Japan, Europe... even getting HSPA+ high-speed data in China.

So, it's great that you get good service with Verizon and you're happy with it. But, your experience doesn't mean everyone should get the same thing. I'm happy with my service with T-Mobile, it works exactly the way I want and need.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

Lone Wolf
Retired
Premium Member
join:2001-12-30
USA

Lone Wolf

Premium Member

SimpleMobile

For only $40 monthly I use SimpleMobile, another TMo MVNO.

No problems, great coverage and I'll never go back to paying full price when I can get everything I need for $40, no tax, no FCC fees, only $40 unlimited.

I can remove the SimpleMobile SIM card from my Android phone and drop it in my Samsung Galaxy Tablet and have a giant NAV system with phone service for the road.

»www.mysimplemobile.com/
Love it!

mustang0328
@verizon.net

mustang0328

Anon

Re: SimpleMobile

Ive been a tmobile customer for 10 years and always liked there service. recently they tried to bully me into giveing them direct debit access to my bank account for payments even though i have a good payment history. I switched to simple mobile and i cant figure out why i didn't a while ago. It get the unlimited everything for much less then I was paying for half the service from tmobile. Only thing im going to miss is the wifi calling tmobile had.

cehanis
I see nekked people
Premium Member
join:2002-12-05
Renton, WA

1 edit

cehanis

Premium Member

Well... As a long time DSLR member..

I can say I first learned of this back in early July. Signed an NDR after a long discussion with an acquaintance (who is a sports star you would all recognize). Started service during the beta about 4 weeks ago.

I left Sprint after 12 years, the last two being miserable. Solavei is for real. Yes there has been some small challenges during beta, but none were show stoppers, for example I needed to manually setup the APN as their push to the device didn't work on my phone. Took about 45 seconds and it's been perfect since.

If you do the research there are some big, big names involved in this. Jim Ryan left a very high ranking position at ATT Wireless to come to Solavei. John Rittenhouse former Wal-Mart COO is the COO at Solavei. Several key, high ranking, executives from T-Mobile are on the executive team.

Bottom line this isn't your average MVNO. Toss out the psuedo MLM money making opportunities and it's still a great value at $49 a month (I'm getting full speed data here in Seattle, averaging about 14Mbps downstream on my Samsung Galaxy Note).

I've taken advantage of the bring your friends feature and just had my first deposit on the Visa Debit Card they issue. In the past two weeks I've ported my 2 son's phones and my wife's. After our time at Sprint they are ecstatic with the service.

So far so good.
dragger
Premium Member
join:2002-06-19
united state

dragger

Premium Member

It's no longer 2005

I've been enjoying the new competition in the cellphone market, so I clicked on the link for Solavei. Down for Maintenance it says. Poor timing at best.

I had heard all the stories about T Mobile but then I started checking the latest comments on the net. Most people were having pretty good service.

They DO have a good, cheap BYOD plan, though it's only available on the internet and you can't be much of a chatterbox. You get 100 minutes of talk but text is unlimited as is data. The only kicker is that after 5 gig of data a month you get throttled. That hasn't been a problem at all since I would rather use my plasma than squint at a 4" screen on my phone.

So I paid $350 for a Galaxy Nexus, and Jelly Bean was pushed about a week after it got here. I pay $30 a month, or actually 28.50 if I use a third party refill card with a discount.

It's painless and cheap.

Lone Wolf
Retired
Premium Member
join:2001-12-30
USA

Lone Wolf

Premium Member

Re: It's no longer 2005

said by dragger:

I've been enjoying the new competition in the cellphone market, so I clicked on the link for Solavei. Down for Maintenance it says. Poor timing at best.

The site is up now and with a little bit of Googling you'll find the poster that claimed how great the service is, actually is an employee.

"Solavei Mobile Service Powered by Relationships" is an MLM (Multi Level Marketing) scheme. The board of directors is loaded with employees of a company called Motricity that trades for $.54 on NASDAQ.

I think you're smart to stick with TMo because your plan sounds right for you.

cehanis
I see nekked people
Premium Member
join:2002-12-05
Renton, WA

cehanis

Premium Member

Well I'm not new to DSLR reports

And I switched to Solavei a month ago and have ported over all the phones in the family.

I'd posted previously with some relevant information and for some reason that post was deleted.

Here's a thought though, many complaints about T-Mobile (at least from those people I know) are customer service issues mostly related to billing. A TMO based MVNO as a prepaid service eliminates most billing issues and therefore most customer service issues.

Barb
@rr.com

Barb

Anon

I Have Solavei

I used AT&T for the last 6 years and Sprint before that and Solavei has great service. I have not drop any calls or have had any trouble texting and my data speeds great! I did have to buy a phone to but if you "get" one with one of the other mobile services, believe me you are paying for it over the 2 years you have to have that service. Anytime I find I'm not happy with Solavei's service, I can just walk away and it won't cost me a thing. Can you say that about the service you have? As far as being an MLM company, it's a company that pays its customers for recommending there service to other people, just like you all are doing about AT&T, Verizon, Smart Mobile, etc, except those companies are giving you nothing.

SCtiger
@bellsouth.net

SCtiger

Anon

I switched to Solavei from Verizon - Very easy decision

My wife and I switched to Solavei last month. We were paying $165/month with Verizon with nothing unlimited. All we did was switch to Solavei and pay $100/month now for unlimited everything. I did it for the savings not really intending on referring many people.
However, as people started asking me about it they wanted more info and I have had 6 people that have also switched to save $.
Yes, it has an MLM piece to it, but it's totally optional. You don't have any investment or required quota like typical MLMs. I'm now glad we switched, because now we only pay $60/month total and we're not limited or locked into a contract. Way more simple than most people assume. $ just get's placed on a Visa card each month.

Also, coverage has been excellent. I live in SC and get it great here. Also Atlanta and NC have been fine as I travel some.

Levtcus1928
@comcast.net

Levtcus1928

Anon

Solavei

I don't know as much about cell phone services as you guys but check out a couple youtube videos about solavei and then look for pyramid scheme...it works exactly like solavei!!!The founder even says that the product is your adverts (the vague product). Once the bottom of the pyramid drops out you have effectively switched to T-Mobile, you have to buy in for 6 months and get 6 people or so to do the same for 6 months anyhow to get paid anything. It's legal because you bought the phone and you get service (hope you like it). They even go so far as to say that a bunch of big wigs have signed off on it but so what. If I sold phones on the internet promising some kind of return to you for bringing me customers...oh yeah pay me for six months and get your friends to as well...as long as everybody keeps paying...you get $40 minus all the ridiculous fees. If not, so what. Welcome to T-Mobile. Of course they're signing off on it. I just brought them 7 suckers who bought 7 phones and paid 7x$300.

ccccccccc
@comcast.net

ccccccccc

Anon

Re: Solavei

Do your research Solavei is the furthest thing from a pyramid scheme. Guys your all missing the boat. Simple mobile has Nothing on Solavei unless you are calling international.
By referring only 3 people Solavei pays you $50 and $20 per month.
Hello! After 9 referrals Your service is FREE! That's Unlimited talk Text and Web on A 4 G network and unlimited International texting for FREE. TRY and find a better deal.
come speak with me on www.solavei.com/paulcerminara.
ill show you how I am making $860 a month and thatis onli in 6 weeks.

TrishSego
@myvzw.com

TrishSego

Anon

I'm doing this...

So I've been doing the service for a few weeks now and since I'm in a 2G area with Solavei I kept my Verizon one to use the data because I got grandfathered into the unlimited data plan. But the talk and text on solavei is very good and even when I tether it to my computer it is pretty good data too. It's just slow on my phone. But they are putting 9 billion dollars into their towers and coverage so I can deal with crappy coverage for a cheaper phone. I already referred my three trios so this phone is free and costs me nothing every month and will continue to cost nothing for as long as I keep three trios under me and it was very easy. I live very close to Las Vegas where they finished the upgraded towers and we went there and did a test with an iphone from solavei and one from ATT and the solavei one ran 70% faster on solavei than it did on ATT so I'm excited about when they get finished with the upgrade. Sssooo. don't get how it's a scam either? They give you your money right away...it's not like zeek where it just sat there to be lost anytime a company went down. Worse case scenerio...I have to go back to paying what I was with verizon and it doesn't really scare me that much... People like to save money but they don't like to change. I added it up and even if I keep this verizon phone and the solavei phone and just lowered everything on my verizon to almost nothing but data i still save $1920 a year. Yep I consider a penny saved is a penny earned. And they aren't going to stop with phone service they will go to insurance, TV service, energy, ect. And you should look at who is on their advisory and investment board, pretty impressive. I did a TON of research on this company before I got involved because I too hate change and have been with verizon for fourteen years. But so far i'm happy with it! I have been putting my updates on what I think of it on my you tube channel. If you would like to keep up with it keep watching!

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· =mh_lolz
jimsocal
join:2002-01-12
Los Angeles, CA

jimsocal

Member

Solavei cell phone - mobile unlimited

It amazes me how people are so negative about something they know very little about. I read this thread and I found so much misinformation and just plain negativity about something that is actually a great deal for many people.

I say "many people" because it does depend on if you life in an area with good TMobile coverage.

When you sign up with Solavei they first have you check a coverage map - it's part of the sign up process because they don't want people signing up who are not going to get good coverage.

I live in Los Angeles and my Solavei coverage is fantastic, my data speed is super fast (as fast as my dsl internet at home) and texting, calling and net surfing is unlimited. "Unlimited" has an asterisk because you do get unlimited data but it's only 4G for the first 4 gigabytes of data per month. 4 gigs is a huge amount that most people don't need, AND it's more than any other service provider offers with an "unlimited" plan. After 4 gigs in a month you still get unlimited net, BUT they do throttle you to 2G speed for the rest of that month.

As to it being a pyramid scheme etc. it is not technically that. If it were the Feds would shut them down just like they shut down Zeekler/Zeek Rewards. It's not exactly MLM either. Does it have elements of these? Yes. But if you think the people/companies involved in Solavei are going to put up all this money and effort to start a company that is going to get shut down or going to be out of business in 2 years you're crazy. Is it possible it won't work and they'll have to close their doors or sell it to another company? Yes, that is possible. Is it likely? I think not. They have too much $ and effort invested in it and plans to make it world wide and go into other fields such as utilities. If this "word of mouth" no ads business model works, it will revolutionize how business is done.

Basically Solavei:
1) Offers great service at a great price with no contract. There is no other company out there that offers 4 gigs of data on a 4G network as part of an under $50/month plan
2) Offers people the chance to get their service free just by signing up 3 people. If those 3 people also get 3 people, your service will be free for as long as they remain members. And if one drops out and you have another person signed up who is not part of a Trio (that's a group of 3 signed up by you) then that person will automatically fill in your broken trio so you do not lose income.
3) Offers people the chance to make a monthly income. If this thing takes off like it is expected to with millions of subscribers, it may not be hard for someone who has a web site in place, knows a lot of people or otherwise markets this, to get 30, 40 or 50 sign ups. With that one could get a very good income with very little work.

These are the facts. If you want to be negative and say it won't work, fine, you have the right to your opinion. And you could be right in the long run. On the other hand if you investigate this and see that it's NOT MLM, it's NOT a pyramid scam, and it IS a company that is affiliated with major corporations and top people from major corporations, and you want to give it a chance you might end up a) not having a phone bill even though you have excellent 4G data/text/talk; and b) making some money.

»cheapcellphoneservice.us

Here's a video review:

»www.youtube.com/watch?v= ··· sJoTP_1M
cuchigarcia
join:2012-12-18
San Juan, PR

1 edit

cuchigarcia

Member

I love solavei

Hello all:

I never heard about the company until 1 week ago when I went to a concert and I was talking with a friend of mine that one to change my phove provider.. I used to have a year ago T-Mobile and I love their features but then I was unemployed and I couldn't spend $120 monthly for a phone with unlimited txt, calls, data, tethering, etc. And she told me she had Solavei. She explain me that they use the same carrier as t-mobile, that I can still use mytouch phone, and that for $49 monthly I can have unlimited txt, internet, tethering, calls, roaming... I was like whats the catch? She explain me that the company doesn't spend money in advertising, and that for that reason if you recomend the service to 3 people they give you $20... I really want my smartphone back to function and I need internet so I told her I'm going to do it. So next day I get my mytouch working with Solavei, and I really like it a lot. I don't have any complaints. You can go through their website www.solavei.com if you want more info. Is prepaid so you can cancel any time without any fee, no background check.. You can also can buy 10 sim cards for $10 I think so you can create over the internet the connection to any person you want to add, is like you been the sales person from the company...

Regards,

Carmen "Cuchi" Garcia