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[tmd012]

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[ketchup]

Platinumtel is the way to go.  You've got data covered, and 5 cent/min calls are all you'd have to pay for.  GSM too, so wide compatibility with common phones.  I've used them since December of 2012 and they've been pretty great.  Uses T-mobile network.

I would recommend against trying to shoehorn VoIP onto a mobile data network.

However, if you want your own phone number, one other option is to port it to Google Voice and have it forward to the work phone.  So you'd have two numbers (the GV number, and the direct work number) but one phone.

[eil]

Many of us are fans of Ting, which is an ideal MVNO for for people who don't use a lot of data. (Real mustachians use wifi everywhere they can.) I rarely use the carrier services so my phone bill is under $14 every month. (The minimum bill varies by state due to local taxes, fess, and whatnot.)

You'll need to have or buy a particular Sprint-compatible phone (but you don't have to get it from Ting, you can get them used) but then the service is dirt-cheap. I have a Samsung Galaxy Nexus which is under $100 on the used market these days but if you want the latest and greatest, the new Google Nexus phone is not a bad deal and can be used on Ting.

There are many Ting threads here if you're looking for more information. The Ting website is pretty informative and their customer service simply rocks. There's a Ting referral thread on here somewhere, if you use one of the links then you get an immediate $25 credit on your account before you've even bought anything. (I can PM you my referral link if you wish, but I don't want to flog it here because I think there are rules against that.)

Good luck!

[zolotiyeruki]

I'm in west chicagoland as well, and I use Airvoice.  I'm on their $10/mo plan, and use about $13/mo of minutes and texts.  I've had no problems with them so far, *except* that they couldn't port my 815 area code number (and there a bunch of others they can't port, either--the reason they gave me is that the other carriers charge them too much to complete the port), so I had to get a new one.  Airvoice have a $30/mo plan for unlimited talk/text and 500MB of data as well.

[Shade00]

Get a Boost Mobile Moto G (think I saw them on sale for $69.99 at Kmart) and flash it yourself for use on Page Plus. You can get the $12 monthly plan which will give you 250 minutes/250 texts/10mb data per month, or keep the line active for a year for $80, which will give you 2000 minutes for the year. You'll get Verizon's 3G coverage.