Database Users

[Q] Best pay-as-you-go data plan?

I have a Blackberry supplied by my employer. I can't use it for personal e-mail and Web content is very limited. I'd like to get a smart phone for personal use but wouldn't use it enough to warrant a full plan under my wireless carrier (AT&T). Does anyone have any pay-as-you-go or cheap data-only plan and carrier suggestions? My MB usage would be low as it's really just for e-mail and a small amount of Web use. I'm located in Florida.

i wud say THREE 3 , there best for price plans , but signal isnt all that well . its certain areas .
i pay 15 pound a month and get 600 mins, 3000 texts, 1gb internet . i dont use 600 mins so i wanna go down to £10 a month 300 mins 3000 texts 1gb internet .
hope this helped
just seen ur in florida . sorry , any1 else this may help

three do a good deal for 15.00 a month like the other poster states , but it now offers unlimited internet (yep truely unlimited) same minutes and texts etc, good deal , plus if you buy through say quidco or topcashback websites , you will get a nice rebate also

Virgin Mobile may be your best bet. $25 for unlimited text, data, email etc. and 300 minutes.
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/cell-phone-plans/beyond-talk-plans.jsp

three in uk is best for data plan..
I have the £15 month all you can eat (its not unlimited as most think see the terms and conditions) 80gig data a month yep 80 gig!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I have the normal pay and go topup monthly (not rolling contract) which is 300 mins 3000 texts and 80gig a month the rolling contract is 600 mins and 6000 texts and 80gig a month data.. its £15 no matter which plan you go for..., so pick best for you.
signal is not always the best but data speed is best every had. And does tend to work most every where I go(inc most mountain areas but not all but this is same across the networks)....
word of warning they will soon be stopping the all you can eat sim!!!(friend works for them and told me after I bought it) so get it whilst you can...

Sometimes I wish I was in the UK but I am in the States (Florida). Virgin seems to be the best bet for now. I will go by a local AT&T store to see if they will offer me an unadvertised deal, though. Thanks!

Florida resident here, I'm with tmobile, have 5 phones and a broadband stick. Pay about $200 a month, data, unlimited voice and text on even more plus plan. I'm decently happy with the service. For me, I work at a car dealership, and tmobile gives me a discount for being a "Kia" employee although I technically work for many different dealerships.

Straight Talk I think would be a good choice for you. They have a nice $30/month plan that would work well for you. Check out the Howard Forums Straight Talk threads for info on how to use one of their sim cards in a phone of your choice.
AT&T just took away my unlimited data plan since I upgraded to a Nexus One... I will likely be switching to Straight Talk at the end of the month.
Edit: I forgot to mention that they use AT&T's towers!

If all of this is true Straight Talk may just take over the market I know once get my hands the right equipment they might just win me over!!
Sent from my Synergy Rom using XDA App

styndall said:
Straight Talk I think would be a good choice for you. They have a nice $30/month plan that would work well for you. Check out the Howard Forums Straight Talk threads for info on how to use one of their sim cards in a phone of your choice.
AT&T just took away my unlimited data plan since I upgraded to a Nexus One... I will likely be switching to Straight Talk at the end of the month.
Edit: I forgot to mention that they use AT&T's towers!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Do you by chance have a link for this I've searched and haven't found it? Thank you in advance
Sent from my Synergy Rom using XDA App

Ack, sorry I took forever to reply.
Here is the link to the threads: http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php/551-Straight-Talk

Does the DVP work on Prepaid?

So I just purchased and am awaiting a DVP BNIB for $200 which I think is a decent deal. The more I read, the more worried I become. I am familar with WP7 I have owned an HD7 and currently have an Arrive, but my concern is that I read in a few places that the DVP doesn't support T-Mo prepaid. Can anyone please confirm or deny this??? Thank you so much.

Denied...
I'm using mine on Simple Mobile which uses t-mo's network and it runs fine. The only unsupported items are call forwarding and visual voicemail which wouldn't be supported on t-mo prepaid anyway.

Just assume from now on that all phones that support the network you are trying to use the prepaid service on, support the said prepaid service. so any TMO phone that is certified as one, will support TMO's prepaid service.

Thank you both.

Yes! Using DVP on T-mobile's $30 walmart plan, 100 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited web (5GB at 4G speed).

Just activated my DVP on Simple Mobile today. Everything looks fine so far. One nice little bonus I didn't expect is that there are no taxes or fees on the $40 Unlimited plan.

MikeDupp said:
Just activated my DVP on Simple Mobile today. Everything looks fine so far. One nice little bonus I didn't expect is that there are no taxes or fees on the $40 Unlimited plan.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Can you run a speed test? I was contemplating switching to that plan but it is a well known fact that Simple Mobile throttles the speed on that plan to 119 kbps. You can force the phone to edge to get a little faster speed. I stuck with the $60 plan because of that. My wife has the AT&T HTC Fuze. Since it can only use edge on T-mo's network, I got her the $40 plan.
Also, you can go to online stores like callingmart that have discount promos every month and reduce it even further. I have 2 lines ($60 plan and $40 plan) and with 5% off, I pay only $95 every month!

kimo_kris said:
Yes! Using DVP on T-mobile's $30 walmart plan, 100 minutes, unlimited text and unlimited web (5GB at 4G speed).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This was my plan.
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium

crav4speed said:
Can you run a speed test? I was contemplating switching to that plan but it is a well known fact that Simple Mobile throttles the speed on that plan to 119 kbps. You can force the phone to edge to get a little faster speed. I stuck with the $60 plan because of that. My wife has the AT&T HTC Fuze. Since it can only use edge on T-mo's network, I got her the $40 plan.
Also, you can go to online stores like callingmart that have discount promos every month and reduce it even further. I have 2 lines ($60 plan and $40 plan) and with 5% off, I pay only $95 every month!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Is that really a good deal? T-Mo is offering $49.99 for unlimited talk+text+data (2GB). Or you can go even lower with monthly plans depending on your needs for texting etc.

tai4de2 said:
Is that really a good deal? T-Mo is offering $49.99 for unlimited talk+text+data (2GB). Or you can go even lower with monthly plans depending on your needs for texting etc.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That is an excellent deal considering I live in New York City. NYC has the the third highest cell phone taxes in the country at almost 25%. If you were to get any postpaid plans, I would have to add 25% on top of it. So, 2 lines at $49.99 would cost me approximately $125 a month. At $30/month, I'm saving $720 just in taxes over a two year contract period!!

abowlby said:
This was my plan.
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I switched from the $40 Simple Mobile plan since the 3G is quite slow for streaming music escpecially now that Mango offers streaming in the background. Viewing pictures on facebook also takes a while. They also don't support subscription to machine-generated text messages. With the $30 T-Mo plan, you get 4G speeds for up to 5GB. Sweet!

After a week on the Simple Mobile $40 3G plan, I have to say it's not such a great deal. The Voice and texting are fine but the data is pretty bad. It is capped at Edge speeds and I have problems connecting even when I show 5 full bars and the 3G icon. Fortunately, I average less than 100 minutes of calls per month, so the $30 "Walmart" plan on T-Mo pre-paid should be perfect for me. I will be signing up for that after my 30 days with Simple expire in December.

MikeDupp said:
After a week on the Simple Mobile $40 3G plan, I have to say it's not such a great deal. The Voice and texting are fine but the data is pretty bad. It is capped at Edge speeds and I have problems connecting even when I show 5 full bars and the 3G icon. Fortunately, I average less than 100 minutes of calls per month, so the $30 "Walmart" plan on T-Mo pre-paid should be perfect for me. I will be signing up for that after my 30 days with Simple expire in December.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Mike I'm using the TMo plan. It works like a charm and data is very acceptable.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium

I am definitely planning on trying that T-Mo plan as soon as my 30 days are up with Simple. Fortunately, I never come close to using 100 talk minutes a month, so it really sounds like the perfect plan for me. The only thing that has me a bit confused are the billing/payment options. I would prefer to keep a credit card on file with them and have them take the $30 out automatically every month. From what I read about the plan on the howard forums, most people seem to use those pre-paid cards to re-up every month. That sounds like it would be a bit of a hassle to do it that way.

MikeDupp said:
I am definitely planning on trying that T-Mo plan as soon as my 30 days are up with Simple. Fortunately, I never come close to using 100 talk minutes a month, so it really sounds like the perfect plan for me. The only thing that has me a bit confused are the billing/payment options. I would prefer to keep a credit card on file with them and have them take the $30 out automatically every month. From what I read about the plan on the howard forums, most people seem to use those pre-paid cards to re-up every month. That sounds like it would be a bit of a hassle to do it that way.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, per my mileage, the prepaid card didn't work for me. So, I had to use a debit card. It works. Set up is easy.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda premium

Is T-Mobile monthly 4g $70 plan unlimited now?

Today I was at a third party retailer they told me that T Mobile $70 dollar unlimited plan is truly unlimited but they cap the speed at 14.4mbps. Do anyone have this plan? Plus I have a couple pics!

I didn't know about the 14.4mbps speed limit, thank you very much for including that. But yes, it is unlimited which I don't think you can find on any other GSM carrier for a reasonable price (under $100). I was told by a T-mobile rep that I would be able to download 10gigs per day (or however much, used 10gb for example) 30 days a month. Talk about pioneering the industry! And if you don't use many minutes you can get the same plan with 500 minutes for $10 less. I hear an additional $5 less if you are affiliated with a business.

ol omsun
I had no idea if they capped speed. (Even though that capped speed is still pretty good enough for me)
Guess I gotta research this a little bit. I was planning to jump on this plan.

dralways said:
I didn't know about the 14.4mbps speed limit, thank you very much for including that. But yes, it is unlimited which I don't think you can find on any other GSM carrier for a reasonable price (under $100). I was told by a T-mobile rep that I would be able to download 10gigs per day (or however much, used 10gb for example) 30 days a month. Talk about pioneering the industry! And if you don't use many minutes you can get the same plan with 500 minutes for $10 less. I hear an additional $5 less if you are affiliated with a business.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I believe you are talking about the postpaid plan. This is a monthly 4g plan (prepaid). But if this is true I plan on getting this plan.

Well on the t-mobile website, the $70 monthly prepaid has a cap for 5GB of 4G data.
I am getting confused >.>
Where'd you find it to be unlimited 4G data? Which 3rd party?

shlk7 said:
Well on the t-mobile website, the $70 monthly prepaid has a cap for 5GB of 4G data.
I am getting confused >.>
Where'd you find it to be unlimited 4G data? Which 3rd party?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
At a boost mobile store (a prepaid store with a boost Mobile sign) there flyer are different from the one at the T-Mobile store and website. Wonder is it just a offer just for 3rd parties retailer?!

freeborock said:
Today I was at a third party retailer they told me that T Mobile $70 dollar unlimited plan is truly unlimited but they cap the speed at 14.4mbps. Do anyone have this plan? Plus I have a couple pics!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
who told you that speed cap to 14.4mbps,

Red Wolf said:
who told you that speed cap to 14.4mbps,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It on the picture he has attached on the original post. Never seen that before

I heard that if you bring your phone there. The $70 plan is $60. I read it in their web site. Not sure if it is true
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

Red Wolf said:
who told you that speed cap to 14.4mbps,
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Its on the flyer in my first post.

shlk7 said:
It on the picture he has attached on the original post. Never seen that before
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I still don't see where lol
freeborock said:
Its on the flyer in my first post.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
still don't see and i think they are wrong doesn't know anything at all check this
So its not cap it 14.4mbps

A better pic

To be honest I was on that 70.00 plan up until last friday and TRUST ME it will cap at 5gb. I was on the walmart special 30.00 monthly tmo 4g plan (100mins/unlimited text/5gb) but i kept running out of mins thats why the last month i decided to try out the 70.00 monthly unlimited plan. Only tmo truly unlimited contract plans come with no cap. To be honest being a full time student i couldnt afford 70 a month so i started shopping around for other prepaid offers....I recently switched to solavei which is a Tmobile mvno company (they work off tmo towers, same towers your phone is connected to right now) I signed up monday received my micro sim card weds and the service is amazing I get faster download speeds with them then the actual Tmobile Monthly 4g plan Ive been on for the last 18 months!!!!.....Im currently using the service with a samsung galaxy s3....its 49.00 a month unlimited talk text and 4gb of internet....you also get paid, every three people that sign on under you, you wlll get paid 20.00 every month that they are active, payout comes on a prepaid visa card solavei sends to you. I havent received mine yet since I just activated. my google+ profile gives more info since ive been telling everybody about it. let me know if you have any questions
here is my google+ profile if you wanna see the speed test I have done since being on Solavei https://plus.google.com/photos/104158389637045624794/albums/posts/5808785640460793522

How sure are you that Solavei pays you $20/month for every 3 referrals. I'm pretty sure it's a one-time payment of $20 per every 3 referrals.

Even if they do cap it to 14.4mbps that is still plenty of speed to do anything on a phone.. You're really complaining about those speeds?? Where I live I'm lucky if I hit 100kbps as I'm on EDGE all the time. Be happy with your "4G"
Sent from my GT-P7310 using xda premium

dralways said:
How sure are you that Solavei pays you $20/month for every 3 referrals. I'm pretty sure it's a one-time payment of $20 per every 3 referrals.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I've done alot of research on it before I switched over and talked to people that have been doing it.....it is every month. Every 3 people is 20.00 a month and if they add 3 ppl you are also paid 20.00/month. I just received my Solavei prepaid visa card in the mail today. Link below gives you more details. I'm not sure where you're getting your info from but they clearly don't know what they are talking about.
http://www.solavei.com/how-it-works/compensation

I work for a T-Mobile corp Store and there is no speed cap on any of tmobiles plans only cap is how much data you get. The $70 M4G plan is unl talk and text and up to 5gb of data at as fast as your phone can go then it slows down to dial up or slower. Unl everything on a contract is $70 a month that is truly unl data no slow downs.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

Considering you work where you do, can you answer me this? Does Tmo offer discounts to business owners? If so, what is the discount and can the discount apply to senior managers of the business?

It depends on the plan you get setup on but yes most if not all bus accounts gets more discounts then a personal account. You would have to call and talk to a bus rep and see what they can offer you. Most of the time it is on the plan only you still pay the same price on the phone that everyone else does. I am on vacation right now. Next time I work is Tuesday if you want to pm me some info on your bus I can pass it along when I work Tuesday.
Sent from my Xoom using Tapatalk 2

[Q] Best Phone T-Mobile's Monthly4G Unlimited $30 Plan w/ Google Voice Free Tethering

Want to get T-Mobile's monthly4G $30 per month Unlimited web & text with 100 min. talk. First 5 GB at up to 4G speed and use google voice to make and receive calls and want to tether it for free to my laptop.
Is this still possible?
Would I need to root my phone?
Will this work better on some phones then others?
What should I look for in a phone and what's the best phone to get for implimenting this plan?

It sounded good until you said free tethering. Because if you visit related forums, you'll see that they've been shutting that down pretty hard, lately. You can pay them for it and it's still pretty cheap - but dunno if it's worth it for just 5Gb.
I have this plan on the Galaxy S3. Because I'm a cheap jerk. Best phone for you is whatever you want and meets your needs.
You'd have to root your phone to try tethering without paying for it - but it's not something I would count on since they are so quick to shut it down.

BentSpace said:
Want to get T-Mobile's monthly4G $30 per month Unlimited web & text with 100 min. talk. First 5 GB at up to 4G speed and use google voice to make and receive calls and want to tether it for free to my laptop.
Is this still possible?
Would I need to root my phone?
Will this work better on some phones then others?
What should I look for in a phone and what's the best phone to get for implimenting this plan?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There's no tethering (plan available) on prepaid AFAIK (legally, anyway )
Sent from somewhere....if I could only remember where....

I'm on the $40 prepaid unlimited talk, text and and data for a work line. I have no issues tethering with my rooted phone for work. I'm running the cm10 hackfest.
I would never pay extra for the tethering. It's my data that I already paid for, I'll do whatever I want with it. Dunno if they throttle after a certain amount but I never go over 3gb
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda app-developers app

ryanjv said:
I'm on the $40 prepaid unlimited talk, text and and data for a work line. I have no issues tethering with my rooted phone for work. I'm running the cm10 hackfest.
I would never pay extra for the tethering. It's my data that I already paid for, I'll do whatever I want with it. Dunno if they throttle after a certain amount but I never go over 3gb
Sent from my LG-P999 using xda app-developers app
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
T-Mobile has a $40 plan now?

MrObvious said:
T-Mobile has a $40 plan now?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Simple mobile maybe?
Snowflake approved this message

It is possible to do everything you want, please contact me
BEST PLAN FROM T-MOBILE NO CONTRACT
$30/mo WEB EXCLUSIVE ONLY
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans
100 Minutes Talk
Unlimited Data up to 5GB
Everyone, do some research before posting, please. Don't just throw out random carriers because you don't have an answer.

Where is tethering included in what you posted??
Snowflake approved this message

Thank you. Just bought a Samsung Galaxy S2 from Walmart. They made me buy a $50 card with it, said it was their policy with the S2 but I also bought a $30 card, cause I just want the $30 plan. He said I had to activate it with the $50 plan to start, but could change it after the first month, but did not force me to activate in the store. So it possible to activate from the start with the $30 plan?

Yeah I don't see why you couldn't activate it with a $30 dollar plan.It pre-paid.
Sent from my HTC Sensation using xda app-developers app

BentSpace said:
Thank you. Just bought a Samsung Galaxy S2 from Walmart. They made me buy a $50 card with it, said it was their policy with the S2 but I also bought a $30 card, cause I just want the $30 plan. He said I had to activate it with the $50 plan to start, but could change it after the first month, but did not force me to activate in the store. So it possible to activate from the start with the $30 plan?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Go online to T-Mobile.com and activate it there
Hickory, Dickory, Dox...Snowflake approves of my HOX....

Babydoll25 said:
Simple mobile maybe?
Snowflake approved this message
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I haven't paid in a couple months since i only get it when i travel to the US for work. I've had this plan for over a year. It is now the $50/month plan, I guess the price has gone up. I'm surprised my "old" plan didn't grandfathered in. I guess i'm switching to the $3/day since i'm only there a week or two at a time.

30$ unlimited is online only. Therefore you need to buy it online unless you get a rep and have sob story to tell them that you didn't know, I'd like the promo, etc/

BentSpace said:
Thank you. Just bought a Samsung Galaxy S2 from Walmart. They made me buy a $50 card with it, said it was their policy with the S2 but I also bought a $30 card, cause I just want the $30 plan. He said I had to activate it with the $50 plan to start, but could change it after the first month, but did not force me to activate in the store. So it possible to activate from the start with the $30 plan?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What carrier is it for

Yeah, this plan is for on-line or WAL-MART purchases. You could try to activate it that way, but I'm not sure it will work.
You cannot switch to this plan (new activations only) so it needs to be from the start.
Sent from my SGH-T999 using xda app-developers app

Yes, I activated my T-Mobile phone online with the $30 unlimited plan.

Cheapest Texting Family Plan?

What is the cheapest way to get three people on a plan in the united states that has unlimited, or many texts? I don't need data for any of the phones, and basically any number of minutes above 150 will do. I know 150 is EXTREMELY low, but I just want to allow any suggestions. I don't have a preference for whether its prepaid or contract based, gsm or cdma, as long as the service is decent or good and it allows smartphones. I am looking at $60 or below, though again, all suggestions are welcome. Also, if you somehow find a plan that has data or anything else, I'm obviously not against it .
Thanks a lot guys, I know you're taking time out of your day to help me.

T-mo Family Value talk/text plan , take your pick.

Yeah I was looking at t-mobile. Though t-mobile, though cheap, still turns out to be around $70 a month after taxes. Do you know any cheaper alternatives?

I spend $180 a month for 2 phones through Verizon. I wish I could only spend $70.
Sent from my Nexus 7 using xda app-developers app

If you have Chit Chat wireless, they use Sprint and it's $9.99 for like 4000 texts and a thousand minutes and $19.99 unlimited talk and text. T-Mobile has a $15 plan that you might be able to still get if you call them and it's unlimited texting and 10 cents per minute. Your only other bet is maybe a family plan postpaid with contracts. T-Mobile's Value plan might fit your needs in this regard if you add it to your main plan.
Prepaid is probably the better option though.

Wow I really like the pricing and plan of chit chat wireless, but I don't like that they use sprint. Are there any prepaid GSM carriers that have a similar plan?

cardboardhome said:
Wow I really like the pricing and plan of chit chat wireless, but I don't like that they use sprint. Are there any prepaid GSM carriers that have a similar plan?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not really. But for talk and text that isn't bad to use Sprint.
Sent from my DROID3 using xda app-developers app

I have two lines on the T-Mobile 1000 Minute Family Value Plan. The plan is $49.99 for the minutes and $10 per month for unlimited texts on all lines. You're gonna be hard pressed to find a much better deal. T-Mobile Value plans are VERY affordable. I only pay $10 per month per line for unlimited data too (slower after 2GB, but unlimited nonetheless). My total bill, including 2 lines, 1000 minutes, unlimited texts for both lines, and unlimited data for both lines, is $80. It'd be $60 total for 1000 minutes and unlimited texts with no data. I know that's more than what you're looking for, but there is not a cheaper plan out there with all those features.
If texting is all you care about and you have WiFi access all day, you could just use Google Voice and any Android, Windows Phone, or iPhone.

The only thing I don't like about the tmobile value plan is that you have to sign a two year contract for it. Is there any other option that doesn't require a contract. It doesn't need to actually be a family plan, just the cheapest option for 3 people to get individual texting and some (we don't use a lot at all) minutes.
Thanks guys.

The only way I can think of would be like I said above. I looked long and hard for my phones.

Yeah I would have to agree. For a family plan w/ contract they are easily the cheapest. But for prepaid and others, there are cheaper that don't have unlimited texting. I guess I don't need unlimited as long as there is a decent amount of texts. Btw, thanks a lot for your help, I know what I'm asking for might be impossible.

Yup. I know, it's frustrating.

Doubt you will find anything cheaper really. As the T-mo prepaid 30$ /mo (per line of course) is 100min/unlimited text/data. SO thats 90$/mo plus taxes and stuff.
You may be able to find someone's older shared plan that works for you. on a site like cellswapper or similar.
I have tried, but because of my gf need more minutes. Oye!

Yeah but now what I'm looking for is prepaid plans. Plan wise I doubt anyone can compete with tmobile.

Especially if you wish to avoid Sprint.
Sent from my XT862 using xda app-developers app