H2O Wireless PayGo seems to be working fine for me at this point. They send a free account update after every call and text to show how much is left in the kitty.
We got our phone number ported to H2O PayGo within around four hours. It was a bit unclear exactly how to proceed after submitting the port request. Within a couple of hours ptel service stopped completely and I assumed the port was underway. I eventually installed the sim. I never really received a 'It is completed' confirmation and further instruction email or text message from H2O, but finally just went ahead and created an online account with H2O and linked with her ported phone number. The account recognized the phone number and said the account was expired, which I assumed was because there was no minutes on it. I topped it off with $10 and we were up and running.
I definitely appreciated I.P.'s post listing the ptel alternative providers with sims that could be bought locally. That really helped to narrow the field and make the determination to go with H2O. Thanks I.P.!
Some comparisons with ptel...
1. H2O charges 5 cents for a text message, while ptel charged 2 cents. Price for minutes and data are the same.
2. H2O's $10 top off lasts 90 days, whereas ptel's only lasted 60 days. That's nice as it should save us money in the long run as not a lot of minutes and text are used on the phone.
3. H2O seems to use the AT&T network, while ptel used T-Mobile. We noticed that there were coverage gaps in parts of western Kansas and Nebraska with ptel. H2O's coverage map seems to be more comprehensive. We'll see. Hopefully on our next trip across Kansas, service won't be a problem.
4. H2O's autorecharge saves 10%, but cannot be set to implement for a duration more than a month. Ptel's autorecharge could be set to implement when out of money or when the current minutes expired. With ptel I could just forget about it, but with H2O, I will have to manually top it off every 90 days or so.
5. Ptel's website allowed an account holder to get a list of phone activity in the last 45 days. I don't see this option with H2O.
Considering $10 for a new sim, with the longer lasting $10 recharge, if we stick with H2O at least 6 months we should break even with what we would have paid with ptel. After that' we'll be saving about $20 per year.
The ptel ting $75 credit was attractive, but I didn't like that the minimum monthly charge with ting would be at least $12 if one used even a small number of call minutes and text. That and I didn't want to worry about ordering a sim online and getting it shipped in time to make the switch over. If H2O fails, we'll likely go back to T-Mobile and sign on to their $3/month 30/30 pay as you go plan. Myself, I still have a legacy T-Mobile pay as you go account on my phone and only need to pay about $20 a year to satisfy my needs.