Author Topic: iPhone Carriers on the cheap?  (Read 7387 times)

Greenroller

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iPhone Carriers on the cheap?
« on: November 03, 2014, 11:17:50 PM »
Hello,
 I am a long time lurker with a question:
Hubby and I are looking to break up with Verizon. I have an iPhone 4s, he has the iPhone5. Contract is up this January :-)
What is the best plan to switch to that we can take our phones and keep our same phone #'s? I hear Ting used a lot around here, but I am not sure what is compatible with verizon iPhones? Can someone please enlighten me to some option? TIA

Frankies Girl

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Re: iPhone Carriers on the cheap?
« Reply #1 on: November 04, 2014, 02:57:14 AM »
From what I've read, Ting only uses Sprint compatible phones, so while they do work with iPhone 4s, yours are the wrong carrier and you won't be able to bring them over at all. 

Check out the POP's posts on their move from Verizon to Ting here:
http://www.plantingourpennies.com/lowered-cell-phone-bill-100month/
http://www.plantingourpennies.com/lowered-cell-phone-bill-100month-part-2/
http://www.plantingourpennies.com/cut-cell-phone-bill-100month-part-3/

catccc

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Re: iPhone Carriers on the cheap?
« Reply #2 on: November 04, 2014, 06:44:35 AM »
I think you can also use Page Plus with old verizon phones, they have prepaid plans starting at $12, if you are a light (or primarily wifi) user:
https://www.pagepluscellular.com/plans/

Daley

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Re: iPhone Carriers on the cheap?
« Reply #3 on: November 04, 2014, 07:11:24 AM »
This is a topic covered in the guide (though it is a section that requires a little bit of an update), along with a lot of other useful and relevant information.

If your 4S is carrier unlocked for international use, you can either take it to Truphone or to either Verizon-based MVNOs Page Plus or Selectel. (This said, Truphone is more of a hardcore minimalist service option for someone looking to go with a PAYGO plan to begin with.)

The Verizon branded 5's GSM/LTE SIM slot is already carrier unlocked for domestic GSM networks, so you can take it to any AT&T or T-Mobile based MVNO, or you should be able to take it to Page Plus with the purchase of a PP LTE SIM card and a commitment to at least their $30/month plan. Selectel is not currently set up for LTE support. If you do want to take it to Selectel or to use one of Page Plus' cheaper plans, it rapidly gets more technical and complex as you'll need to flash the handset to only use 3G data connectivity, and even then you may have trouble activating at this point.

If you're going to waste your time, money and resources replacing like for like handsets to use a different carrier, don't bother keeping yourself locked into a CDMA network and jumping from Verizon to Sprint (even if there's still Verizon roaming as is the case with Ting), as Sprint MVNOs can only activate Sprint branded handsets. You'll have far greater coverage and flexibility either staying with a Verizon MVNO or going GSM if you have the network coverage. Your iPhone 5 is already in the sweet spot for that level of flexibility, so keep it, because needlessly switching to a Sprint iPhone 5 to use Ting will strip you of the option to go with a GSM carrier and not give you any better network footprint.
« Last Edit: November 04, 2014, 07:16:10 AM by I.P. Daley »

skunkfunk

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Re: iPhone Carriers on the cheap?
« Reply #4 on: November 04, 2014, 07:37:02 AM »
I was gonna +1 for Ting (which would require a phone swap but let you keep the number,) but I.P. Daley is kinda the expert on this. Do what he says.

AndThen

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Re: iPhone Carriers on the cheap?
« Reply #5 on: November 04, 2014, 11:46:06 AM »
This is a topic covered in the guide (though it is a section that requires a little bit of an update), along with a lot of other useful and relevant information.

If your 4S is carrier unlocked for international use, you can either take it to Truphone or to either Verizon-based MVNOs Page Plus or Selectel. (This said, Truphone is more of a hardcore minimalist service option for someone looking to go with a PAYGO plan to begin with.)

The Verizon branded 5's GSM/LTE SIM slot is already carrier unlocked for domestic GSM networks, so you can take it to any AT&T or T-Mobile based MVNO, or you should be able to take it to Page Plus with the purchase of a PP LTE SIM card and a commitment to at least their $30/month plan. Selectel is not currently set up for LTE support. If you do want to take it to Selectel or to use one of Page Plus' cheaper plans, it rapidly gets more technical and complex as you'll need to flash the handset to only use 3G data connectivity, and even then you may have trouble activating at this point.

If you're going to waste your time, money and resources replacing like for like handsets to use a different carrier, don't bother keeping yourself locked into a CDMA network and jumping from Verizon to Sprint (even if there's still Verizon roaming as is the case with Ting), as Sprint MVNOs can only activate Sprint branded handsets. You'll have far greater coverage and flexibility either staying with a Verizon MVNO or going GSM if you have the network coverage. Your iPhone 5 is already in the sweet spot for that level of flexibility, so keep it, because needlessly switching to a Sprint iPhone 5 to use Ting will strip you of the option to go with a GSM carrier and not give you any better network footprint.

With the iPhone 5, can you use Page Plus on a pure voice plan without data and not need to flash it or whatever else?

peabody58

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Re: iPhone Carriers on the cheap?
« Reply #6 on: November 04, 2014, 12:22:05 PM »
Wife and I just went through the same hunt as we are actively trimming our budget to support FIRE next Oct.  We both have iPhone 4S with Verizon and are paying $150/month for 2 GB shared.  We couldn't find anything to effectively get our bill to an acceptable level and still keep our iPhones.

So we will soon be Republic Wireless users starting tomorrow when our new Moto G phones arrive.  Bill going down to $25/month.  We'll just use our iPhones as fancy iPods.

MooseOutFront

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Re: iPhone Carriers on the cheap?
« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2014, 12:29:44 PM »
If you need heavy "unlimited" data, talk, and text the 2 best options are StraightTalk and Cricket Wireless.  You can bring your own iphone to either.  You'll end up at about $50 a month with cricket being a little cheaper after taxes.

Daley

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Re: iPhone Carriers on the cheap?
« Reply #8 on: November 04, 2014, 12:34:07 PM »
With the iPhone 5, can you use Page Plus on a pure voice plan without data and not need to flash it or whatever else?

Nope.



Wife and I just went through the same hunt as we are actively trimming our budget to support FIRE next Oct.  We both have iPhone 4S with Verizon and are paying $150/month for 2 GB shared.  We couldn't find anything to effectively get our bill to an acceptable level and still keep our iPhones.

Have you read the guide yet? This is pretty low hanging fruit to pull off without having to purchase and create even more electronic waste.

dragoncar

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Re: iPhone Carriers on the cheap?
« Reply #9 on: November 04, 2014, 03:44:11 PM »
First thing that came to mind


Greenroller

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Re: iPhone Carriers on the cheap?
« Reply #10 on: November 04, 2014, 05:12:38 PM »
Thanks so much for all the info and links

peabody58

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Re: iPhone Carriers on the cheap?
« Reply #11 on: November 04, 2014, 05:42:31 PM »
Wife and I just went through the same hunt as we are actively trimming our budget to support FIRE next Oct.  We both have iPhone 4S with Verizon and are paying $150/month for 2 GB shared.  We couldn't find anything to effectively get our bill to an acceptable level and still keep our iPhones.

Have you read the guide yet? This is pretty low hanging fruit to pull off without having to purchase and create even more electronic waste.
[/quote]

I've just bookmarked 'the guide' on my 8 yo laptop.  Lots of great items to consider when we retire to GA next year.  I'll take all the low hanging fruit I can get.

arebelspy

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Re: iPhone Carriers on the cheap?
« Reply #12 on: November 05, 2014, 08:07:36 PM »
My wife's iPhone is on FreedomPop.  $0/month.
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