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| Once your contract is up switch to prepaid Take your phone or device and switch to a prepaid MVNO. Heck, with paying full price for your phones, and the ridiculously cheaper plans thru prepaid MVNOs, you will actually spend less overall per year than you would with a subsidized phone. I pay 45 per month for unlimited everything(thru Straight talk on my Iphone). Sure, while the data isnt truly unlimited, its still cheaper than any post-paid plan out there. There are a number of prepaid MVNOs that use Vzw's network(and even roam on sprint too), so the coverage is the same as it would be as with one of the big 4, but its just cheaper, or you can even go back to an old pay by the minute plan if you only use a few minutes per month. | |
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| Re: Once your contract is up switch to prepaid Coverage isn't th same.
U can't just roam into another carrier network. Sonic your mnvo is on Verizon you can't roam on sprint or some regional CDMA carrier in more rural areas.
U also most likely can't use abroad especially its not on sim card though there are some exceptions and some allow roaming in Canada or Mexico but you won't be able to roam in Europe. | |
| | | | Re: Once your contract is up switch to prepaid said by chgo_man99:Coverage isn't th same.
U can't just roam into another carrier network. Sonic your mnvo is on Verizon you can't roam on sprint or some regional CDMA carrier in more rural areas.
U also most likely can't use abroad especially its not on sim card though there are some exceptions and some allow roaming in Canada or Mexico but you won't be able to roam in Europe.
Some MVNOs will allow calling to Mexico (e.g. MetroPCS), but they don't have the coverage to call from Mexico to the U.S.
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Illegal aliens have always been a problem in the United States. Ask any Indian. Robert Orben
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| | said by Chubbysumo:Take your phone or device and switch to a prepaid MVNO.
About Straight Talk- can you use an existing VZW CDMA dumb phone and use it on Straight Talk's network?
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“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
Sinclair Lewis | |
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| Re: Once your contract is up switch to prepaid said by djrobx:I did the math. If I go through an MVNO, i'll pay about the same price, and get unlimited talk and text. Problem is that I don't use my allotments for either of those things. I do enjoy getting the latest smartphone every year. Our family plan lets us do this at the fully subsidized price (hand me down system).
My current AT&T plan is quite ideal for my use. 550 shared minutes, 3 phones (2 iPhones with unlimited data, 1 phone-only), 200 texts on the two iPhones, and it costs me around $122 per month.
I'm better off sticking with AT&T and enjoying the subsidy, at least until AT&T unveils their own evil plan to force me out of what I have now. If it looks anything like what Verizon is foisting onto its own subscribers, I'll walk in a heartbeat.
There are many more plans available with Prepaid carriers than there are with post paid. you can even go down to pay by the minute if you want. I get unlimted everything for $45 per month. for $30 per month, I could get 1000 minutes, and 1000 text/pic/video messages, and only 30MB of data(and pay per use data after that). For 2 Iphones, plus a dumb phone, depending on the amount of data you use, you could get by really cheaply, and with more minutes and text per phone. 2x45 per month is 95 after taxes, plus another 30 for the dumb phone is 125, and you get more for that 125, with the same exact coverage as you have now(since Straighttalk contracts with ATT, Verizon, Sprint, and Tmo). The benefit, is that if you felt that you wanted to drop a line for a month, you can with no repurcussions, and with no hassle.
said by jazzlady:About Straight Talk- can you use an existing VZW CDMA dumb phone and use it on Straight Talk's network?
There are ways to make most existing smartphones work with straight talk. A little google will go a long way here. They currently dont officially have a CDMA BYoD program, but if you google around enough, you will see that in most cases, you can get them to activate it on a prepaid plan.
Coverage is exactly the same as the big 4 on most MVNOs, since they contract and have roaming agreements with all 4(or 2 of the 4, who then have roaming agreements with the other 2). In my example, is straighttalk. Up in my area, GSM is primarily AT&T, but if I go to an area that is better coverage with T-mobile, it will roam on them. Same with CDMA, since they contract with both verizon and Sprint, it will put your "home" carrier as the one with the best natural coverage in your activation area, but you can roam on the others if they have better coverage.
Prepaid is the way to go right now, because it can save you a few thousand dollars over the course of a year versus postpaid(with similar services), and there is lots of competition in the prepaid market, so, the plans are getting cheaper and better all the time. Look up some prepaid MVNOs in your area, and if anything, go with Verizon prepaid, or AT&T prepaid if you fear coverage issues(which those are a farce generated to try and make postpaid look much better, which its exactly the same cell towers, signal, and service provider). | |
| | | | | Re: Once your contract is up switch to prepaid said by Chubbysumo:said by jazzlady:About Straight Talk- can you use an existing VZW CDMA dumb phone and use it on Straight Talk's network?
There are ways to make most existing smartphones work with straight talk. A little google will go a long way here. They currently dont officially have a CDMA BYoD program, but if you google around enough, you will see that in most cases, you can get them to activate it on a prepaid plan. Thank you. 
My husband flat out needs a new phone, but I have a Motorola V325 dumb phone that I hacked, and am quite attached to. They don't make 'em like this any more and I would hate to give it up.
I'll delve into this further, as I keep hearing good things about Straight Talk.
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“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
Sinclair Lewis | |
| | | |  BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | Re: Once your contract is up switch to prepaid said by jazzlady:said by Chubbysumo:said by jazzlady:About Straight Talk- can you use an existing VZW CDMA dumb phone and use it on Straight Talk's network?
There are ways to make most existing smartphones work with straight talk. A little google will go a long way here. They currently dont officially have a CDMA BYoD program, but if you google around enough, you will see that in most cases, you can get them to activate it on a prepaid plan. Thank you. My husband flat out needs a new phone, but I have a Motorola V325 dumb phone that I hacked, and am quite attached to. They don't make 'em like this any more and I would hate to give it up. I'll delve into this further, as I keep hearing good things about Straight Talk. You have to make sure you get the right phone. Our wal-mart only sells Straight Talk phones that go off of at&t's network which only offers EDGE coverage in my area. What good is unlimited data on EDGE? | |
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BF69Premium
join:2004-07-28
Camden, TN | said by Chubbysumo:Take your phone or device and switch to a prepaid MVNO.
You can't do that with a CDMA phone. | |
| | | | Re: Once your contract is up switch to prepaid said by BF69:said by Chubbysumo:Take your phone or device and switch to a prepaid MVNO.
You can't do that with a CDMA phone. Yeah, that's what I seem to be finding out.
So you have to use a GSM type phone, like AT&T uses? One with a SIM card? Does it have to be an "unlocked" one?
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“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
Sinclair Lewis | |
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| Re: Once your contract is up switch to prepaid said by jazzlady:said by BF69:said by Chubbysumo:Take your phone or device and switch to a prepaid MVNO.
You can't do that with a CDMA phone. Yeah, that's what I seem to be finding out. So you have to use a GSM type phone, like AT&T uses? One with a SIM card? Does it have to be an "unlocked" one? I have heard ou can do it with CDMA phones. Straighttalk sells both CDMA and GSM phones up here. Just have all of your phones info ready(ESN, IMEI, S/N, ect..), and give their customer care center a call and see if they will(sometimes they will, sometimes they wont).
The big thing to remember, is that their phones are crippled so that you cant do anything useful on them(as in, no real web browser, no android store, no apps, ect..), which is why bringing your own device is useful. I have heard(and read) stories of them activating a CDMA phone for customers that was not a straighttalk CDMA phone, but i guess its now quite rare.
They have contracts and roaming agreements with all of the big 4(well, CDMA phones dont roam), so, they do sell GSM and CDMA phones.
GSM is markedly easier, because all you do is pop in a sim card(as long as its AT&T, it doesnt even have to be carrier unlocked. Im using my carrier locked iphone4, and it worked no problem. I even had a voicemail that I left in my mailbox, and it was still there after I switched from AT&T gophone to Straighttalk). If you have a tmo locked phone, you just select a Tmo sim card, and if you have an AT&T locked GSM phone, you just select an AT&T compatible sim card.
They do sell CDMA phones, but at this point, they will rarely activate a customers CDMA phone on their network. You can always try and give their sales department a call and see if they will activated it(the CDMA phone) for you, worse they can say is no. | |
| | | | | | Re: Once your contract is up switch to prepaid said by Chubbysumo:I have heard ou can do it with CDMA phones. Straighttalk sells both CDMA and GSM phones up here. Just have all of your phones info ready(ESN, IMEI, S/N, ect..), and give their customer care center a call and see if they will(sometimes they will, sometimes they wont).
GSM is markedly easier, because all you do is pop in a sim card(as long as its AT&T, it doesnt even have to be carrier unlocked.
They do sell CDMA phones, but at this point, they will rarely activate a customers CDMA phone on their network. You can always try and give their sales department a call and see if they will activated it(the CDMA phone) for you, worse they can say is no.
I would hate to give up my phone, but sometime in the future it might be nice to have an internet capable phone without getting raped by Verizon to have one.
My husband's phone is ready to die, when that happens I think he may be amenable to finally kicking VZW to the curb. We've been contract-less for years, so no ETF to worry about.
You *can* port your old VZW # to ST, can't you?
Thanks for the info. I'm going to check into this.
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“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
Sinclair Lewis | |
| | | | | Reviews:
·Charter
| Re: Once your contract is up switch to prepaid said by jazzlady:You *can* port your old VZW # to ST, can't you?
Thanks for the info. I'm going to check into this.
Yes, as long as you have all the info from the account. You will need the account number, pin(if there was any), password for it if you had one, name, registered address(including zip). It took a bit to port over my own number(4 hours), but it was a really painless process. | |
| | | | | | | | Re: Once your contract is up switch to prepaid said by Chubbysumo:said by jazzlady:You *can* port your old VZW # to ST, can't you?
Thanks for the info. I'm going to check into this.
Yes, as long as you have all the info from the account. You will need the account number, pin(if there was any), password for it if you had one, name, registered address(including zip). It took a bit to port over my own number(4 hours), but it was a really painless process. Thanks for the info.
Of course I expect a hard time from VZW when I try and do this, but since we haven't had a contract for years, I can happily tell them to go take a flying leap. LOL
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“When fascism comes to America it will be wrapped in the flag and carrying a cross.”
Sinclair Lewis | |
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