I was planning on keeping the 4s, i haven't really researched the MNVO options closely enough to see which ones support it, just know I pay too much now.
Anyway, I don't really care about privacy/security as long as they can't interrupt my conversation, just the occasional call to a relative. I'm fine with being limited to email but just thought it would be nice to speak to some occasionally, if it wasn't ridiculously overpriced.
Any idea how much a SIM card would cost or where I would get one? I've never bought a SIM even locally so I apologize if I'm asking a dumb question. Thanks for the advice
Pretty much any AT&T MVNO will work perfectly for you here domestically, and any T-Mobile MVNO will work as well if you don't care too much about potential wireless data throughput speeds (it'll be uneven from market to market due to the phone's lack of GSM1700/2100MHz band support -
just covered this topic with Paul the Octopus in the Superguide today).
As to the whole privacy/security thing, it should be something you care a bit more about with mobile devices and public WiFi hotspots. We're talking about account credentials here, after all, and a lot of third party apps can sometimes have sloppy to non-existent security and encryption in place with username/password handling. I point this out because
WhatsApp has had a rather sordid history with this stuff. You should also be aware of the fact that apps like Talkatone (which uses Google Voice) basically requires that you trust your Google credentials to a third party to be stored on a remote server. These are just things you should be aware of with this sort of thing. I'm just enough of a security spook to advocate caution when using an open and public wireless internet connection with a device that has quickly become the digital equivalent of a wallet.
If you're just looking to possibly call back the the States for uber-cheap, there's plenty of VoIP apps available for just that already, more than plenty. More than you can even shake a stick at, even. Here's one with a terms of service that doesn't inspire absolute skin crawling conditions about your privacy:
NetTALK's smartphone app. You still get what you pay for, though, and I'm not a fan of "free" services as they frequently have a lot of hidden costs. If you're willing to pay for the minutes back to the US, you probably couldn't get much cheaper than a pay as you go account on VOIP.ms or CallCentric paired with the
3CX Softphone - just the price of data.
As to how much a SIM card would cost, no idea, but likely far cheaper than one of those disposable handsets for tourists. As for
where you'd get one, the same place you'd get those disposable handsets for tourists. Just be sure if you're using the iPhone that you get the
3FF micro SIM card, or you bring tools (a
micro SIM punch or a knife and emory board) to cut down a 2FF mini SIM.
