Author Topic: What cheap cell service are you using?  (Read 11879 times)

HipGnosis

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #50 on: February 06, 2019, 10:29:25 AM »
One note of warning;
One thing I REALLY do NOT like about Red Pocket: they do NOT notify you in any way when you reach your limit of talk, texts or data.  That function simply stops working!!
Oh, and you can't buy more than one month 'plan' at a time.   You can buy one (select and checkout/pay) and repeat to buy another, but the additional one (or more) doesn't show in your balance.

fuzzy math

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #51 on: February 06, 2019, 10:38:52 AM »
Looking for cell service recommendations.  I am growing less and less tolerant of Republic's shoddy service, which seems not to work at the most inopportune times.  Right now I pay $50 total for two phones, total of 3 gigs (2+1).

I'm a Republic customer and have noticed some shoddy service lately as well. My only question: What makes you think some of the other companies that have been mentioned do not have similarly shoddy service?

That is what I was thinking.  Not sure if I am ready to jump ship quite yet.

I posted above about Page Plus. I jumped ship from Republic last summer and I'm 1000x happier. I work in an "on call" capacity in a hospital, and  my coworkers were telling me that my phone never worked. I can't afford (and don't want the professional liability) to miss out on an emergent call and have someone die and I get sued and fired.
I don't think it was the cell service that was bad TBH. I think its the way Republic overtakes your phone and inhibits cell service.
My phone wouldn't ring and would go straight to voicemail. Sometimes I wouldn't even get notification of a missed call or a voicemail. Calls would drop 90% of the time when transitioning from wifi to cell. Wifi calling would repeatedly fail when I'd be in a great wifi area. I'd frequently just turn off wifi service so I could make a call. This was with a newer phone (the huawei 6 one they offered for $120 with 6 months free service), so again hard to know how much of the glitches were a shitty phone, shitty republic app, or T mobile service. I'm going to guess it wasn't actually T mobile that was a problem. When my phone started glitching doing basic tasks like reading email and not receiving text notifications it was time to go. Since the phone was useless on any other service it was pretty easy to leave Republic. I was with them for 4 yrs, had an old Moto E and my service wasn't great back then either. I had hoped that their migration to T mobile was going to help but it didn't.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2019, 10:42:30 AM by fuzzy math »

Daley

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #52 on: February 06, 2019, 01:02:47 PM »
One note of warning;
One thing I REALLY do NOT like about Red Pocket: they do NOT notify you in any way when you reach your limit of talk, texts or data.  That function simply stops working!!
Oh, and you can't buy more than one month 'plan' at a time.   You can buy one (select and checkout/pay) and repeat to buy another, but the additional one (or more) doesn't show in your balance.

@HipGnosis - not entirely true. The issue is likely far more dependent upon the underlying network being used with them. (You're probably Sprint/Verizon, right?) I've been using Red Pocket GSMA (AT&T) myself for several months now ($10/500/500/500 plan), and I've gotten text notifications when I hit the 50 remaining SMS messages threshold one busy month, and an audible warning beep during an hour plus phone call a couple minutes before running out of minutes during that same busy month. I've never even remotely approached using all my data, so I can't comment on that front.

Their GSM based plans (both AT&T and T-Mobile) support short code texting for balance inquiries, too.
GSMA: https://help.goredpocket.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016326811-Can-I-check-my-account-balance-from-my-phone-
GSMT: https://help.goredpocket.com/hc/en-us/articles/115003670347-Handy-short-codes-for-GSMT

They also offer add-ons to pad out a heavy usage month or enable international long distance, so you don't have to buy yet another month early just to keep service active. They sell bolt-on units of minutes/SMS messages/MB of data starting at 100 for $2, 250 for $5, and 1000 for $10, but you have to specify whether the add on is for texts, minutes or data, and they do not roll over. You can only access the options to buy those things after logging into the line management page on their website.

https://help.goredpocket.com/hc/en-us/articles/360002889591-How-do-Red-Pocket-add-ons-work-

As for multi-month credits/refill options, you have to buy those through their Ebay store front, and once you have that plan in the system, you can just set up auto-refill. Multi-month refill plans should actually show up as such on the line management page.
« Last Edit: February 06, 2019, 01:08:46 PM by Daley »

Chris @ Saturday Financial

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #53 on: February 06, 2019, 01:12:50 PM »
I've been using Red Pocket GSMA (AT&T) myself for several months now

Daley, I feel strangely proud of the fact that you and I are currently using the same MVNO (albeit on different networks).  In case any of you aren't aware, Daley is an absolute legend when it comes to saving money on Communications expenses and helping others do the same.

Daley

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #54 on: February 06, 2019, 01:20:23 PM »
I've been using Red Pocket GSMA (AT&T) myself for several months now

Daley, I feel strangely proud of the fact that you and I are currently using the same MVNO (albeit on different networks).  In case any of you aren't aware, Daley is an absolute legend when it comes to saving money on Communications expenses and helping others do the same.

Heh. Just glad to help. :)

I have to ask, have you (or others) opted out of their liberal CPNI/PII policies, yet?
https://redpocket.com/privacy
« Last Edit: February 06, 2019, 01:24:39 PM by Daley »

Chris @ Saturday Financial

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #55 on: February 06, 2019, 01:29:59 PM »
I've been using Red Pocket GSMA (AT&T) myself for several months now

Daley, I feel strangely proud of the fact that you and I are currently using the same MVNO (albeit on different networks).  In case any of you aren't aware, Daley is an absolute legend when it comes to saving money on Communications expenses and helping others do the same.

Heh. Just glad to help. :)

I have to ask, have you (or others) opted out of their liberal CPNI/PII policies, yet?
https://redpocket.com/privacy

I haven't yet - thanks for the heads up!

eostache

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #56 on: February 06, 2019, 05:20:19 PM »
I've been happy with Tracfone since 2007. I'm a light cell phone user and watching my minutes use is not much different than watching my dollars.

I have a lot of minutes/texts/data stacked up and I have service days out to 2039 (due to a series of glitches/perks that were going on a few years back). I could go a few years without adding any more minutes. The phone I'm using right now is an LG Stylo 3 that I got as a refurb from the Tracfone website for $60. Since their phones are so cheap I have extras on hand that I use on wifi or can put my SIM card in if needed.

dacalo

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #57 on: February 06, 2019, 06:22:43 PM »
Xfinity Mobile. We use Xfinity for internet (no other real alternatives around here) so we decided to go with their mobile plan. Unlimited talk and text for free. 100MB free and $15 per GB. If you use less than 100MB data, it's a free plan using Verizon's network. We used to have AT&T (was on it for around 15 years) and was paying around $160 for 3 phones. Now we pay $60 for unlimited data on one line and 1-2GB between two other phones.

Rubyvroom

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #58 on: February 06, 2019, 06:49:58 PM »
We did the Sprint one year free deal which was a very noticeable loss of coverage from Verizon (but obviously the price was right), so after the free year we switched to Total Wireless. $60/month for two phones on Verizon towers and you get 15GB of shared data that we never come close to using.

HipGnosis

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #59 on: February 06, 2019, 06:52:19 PM »

@HipGnosis - not entirely true. The issue is likely far more dependent upon the underlying network being used with them. (You're probably Sprint/Verizon, right?) I've been using Red Pocket GSMA (AT&T) myself for several months now ($10/500/500/500 plan), and I've gotten text notifications when I hit the 50 remaining SMS messages threshold one busy month, and an audible warning beep during an hour plus phone call a couple minutes before running out of minutes during that same busy month. I've never even remotely approached using all my data, so I can't comment on that front.
I'm on the AT&T network.  But it was about a year ago and on an older phone when that happened.

Quote
Their GSM based plans (both AT&T and T-Mobile) support short code texting for balance inquiries, too.
GSMA: https://help.goredpocket.com/hc/en-us/articles/360016326811-Can-I-check-my-account-balance-from-my-phone-
Thanks for the tip!  They didn't have that when I signed up.

dodojojo

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #60 on: February 07, 2019, 01:32:12 PM »
Xfinity Mobile. We use Xfinity for internet (no other real alternatives around here) so we decided to go with their mobile plan. Unlimited talk and text for free. 100MB free and $15 per GB. If you use less than 100MB data, it's a free plan using Verizon's network. We used to have AT&T (was on it for around 15 years) and was paying around $160 for 3 phones. Now we pay $60 for unlimited data on one line and 1-2GB between two other phones.

Interesting, I switched to Xfinity last September and I pay $12 per GB.  With taxes and fees, my monthly bill is less than $18.  Though weirdly I did have one month when they just charged me $12. Not sure what happened to the fees and taxes.  And when I travel or need it, I switch to unlimited data--for $45.  Hmmm...I wonder why my rates are slightly different.

I was with Puretalk prior and I liked them a lot.  I had 500mb for $20 a month.  I only switched to Xfinity because of a Samsung S9 deal.  As much as I liked Puretalk, Xfinity gives me visual voicemail, free texting to int'l numbers and wifi calling (yet to use it) at a lower price.  I liked Puretalk's customer service.  It wasn't 24-7 and you had to call or email and it had a very mom and pop feel.

All before that, I was with T-Mobile for years and years where I was paying $55 a month and using about 150mb in data....The only thing I miss about T-Mobile is free international roaming for texting and data.  Very, very convenient. 

stoaX

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #61 on: February 07, 2019, 03:31:57 PM »
Posting to follow.  In a few months my work-supplied phone will be going away.  The last time I actually had my own phone that I paid for was 2005.  I hear things have changed a bit since then. 

In any event, I'm going to have to figure this out or join GuitarStv on the nophone plan.

robartsd

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #62 on: February 07, 2019, 04:32:27 PM »
But this website  https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407896,00.asp  says Verizon is dropping CDMA at the end of the year.
Looks like I'll have to get a smartphone soon (I currently use a Verizon CDMA slider). Searching GSM Arena for phones compatible with AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile LTE G4 networks (voice on Sprint still requires CDMA) that have removable batteries yields just 3 results - Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo (G903W not G903F), Motorola Moto E4 (also compatible with Sprint), Motorola Moto E5 Play (Motorola's site says this is AT&T and T-Mobile only - I guess doesn't work with Verizon's VoLTE).

Shane

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #63 on: February 07, 2019, 04:59:11 PM »
Since returning to the US last summer, we've been happy using H2O Wireless. Apparently H2O uses AT&T's towers. For unlimited talk/text and 3Gb of data, each, for two lines, we're paying $54/mo including the autopay discount.

Adam Zapple

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #64 on: February 07, 2019, 06:12:45 PM »
Looking for cell service recommendations.  I am growing less and less tolerant of Republic's shoddy service, which seems not to work at the most inopportune times.  Right now I pay $50 total for two phones, total of 3 gigs (2+1).

I'm a Republic customer and have noticed some shoddy service lately as well. My only question: What makes you think some of the other companies that have been mentioned do not have similarly shoddy service?

That is what I was thinking.  Not sure if I am ready to jump ship quite yet.

I posted above about Page Plus. I jumped ship from Republic last summer and I'm 1000x happier. I work in an "on call" capacity in a hospital, and  my coworkers were telling me that my phone never worked. I can't afford (and don't want the professional liability) to miss out on an emergent call and have someone die and I get sued and fired.
I don't think it was the cell service that was bad TBH. I think its the way Republic overtakes your phone and inhibits cell service.
My phone wouldn't ring and would go straight to voicemail. Sometimes I wouldn't even get notification of a missed call or a voicemail. Calls would drop 90% of the time when transitioning from wifi to cell. Wifi calling would repeatedly fail when I'd be in a great wifi area. I'd frequently just turn off wifi service so I could make a call. This was with a newer phone (the huawei 6 one they offered for $120 with 6 months free service), so again hard to know how much of the glitches were a shitty phone, shitty republic app, or T mobile service. I'm going to guess it wasn't actually T mobile that was a problem. When my phone started glitching doing basic tasks like reading email and not receiving text notifications it was time to go. Since the phone was useless on any other service it was pretty easy to leave Republic. I was with them for 4 yrs, had an old Moto E and my service wasn't great back then either. I had hoped that their migration to T mobile was going to help but it didn't.
It wasn't your shitty phone, I have the exact same problems with my Motorola.  I'll add the echoing back of my own voice to that list.

fuzzy math

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #65 on: February 07, 2019, 06:34:18 PM »
Looking for cell service recommendations.  I am growing less and less tolerant of Republic's shoddy service, which seems not to work at the most inopportune times.  Right now I pay $50 total for two phones, total of 3 gigs (2+1).

I'm a Republic customer and have noticed some shoddy service lately as well. My only question: What makes you think some of the other companies that have been mentioned do not have similarly shoddy service?

That is what I was thinking.  Not sure if I am ready to jump ship quite yet.

I posted above about Page Plus. I jumped ship from Republic last summer and I'm 1000x happier. I work in an "on call" capacity in a hospital, and  my coworkers were telling me that my phone never worked. I can't afford (and don't want the professional liability) to miss out on an emergent call and have someone die and I get sued and fired.
I don't think it was the cell service that was bad TBH. I think its the way Republic overtakes your phone and inhibits cell service.
My phone wouldn't ring and would go straight to voicemail. Sometimes I wouldn't even get notification of a missed call or a voicemail. Calls would drop 90% of the time when transitioning from wifi to cell. Wifi calling would repeatedly fail when I'd be in a great wifi area. I'd frequently just turn off wifi service so I could make a call. This was with a newer phone (the huawei 6 one they offered for $120 with 6 months free service), so again hard to know how much of the glitches were a shitty phone, shitty republic app, or T mobile service. I'm going to guess it wasn't actually T mobile that was a problem. When my phone started glitching doing basic tasks like reading email and not receiving text notifications it was time to go. Since the phone was useless on any other service it was pretty easy to leave Republic. I was with them for 4 yrs, had an old Moto E and my service wasn't great back then either. I had hoped that their migration to T mobile was going to help but it didn't.
It wasn't your shitty phone, I have the exact same problems with my Motorola.  I'll add the echoing back of my own voice to that list.

Oh yeah, no speakerphone on wifi or the other person would hear me echoing. That one was a real hassle

Boofinator

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #66 on: February 07, 2019, 08:02:22 PM »
Looking for cell service recommendations.  I am growing less and less tolerant of Republic's shoddy service, which seems not to work at the most inopportune times.  Right now I pay $50 total for two phones, total of 3 gigs (2+1).

I'm a Republic customer and have noticed some shoddy service lately as well. My only question: What makes you think some of the other companies that have been mentioned do not have similarly shoddy service?

That is what I was thinking.  Not sure if I am ready to jump ship quite yet.

I posted above about Page Plus. I jumped ship from Republic last summer and I'm 1000x happier. I work in an "on call" capacity in a hospital, and  my coworkers were telling me that my phone never worked. I can't afford (and don't want the professional liability) to miss out on an emergent call and have someone die and I get sued and fired.
I don't think it was the cell service that was bad TBH. I think its the way Republic overtakes your phone and inhibits cell service.
My phone wouldn't ring and would go straight to voicemail. Sometimes I wouldn't even get notification of a missed call or a voicemail. Calls would drop 90% of the time when transitioning from wifi to cell. Wifi calling would repeatedly fail when I'd be in a great wifi area. I'd frequently just turn off wifi service so I could make a call. This was with a newer phone (the huawei 6 one they offered for $120 with 6 months free service), so again hard to know how much of the glitches were a shitty phone, shitty republic app, or T mobile service. I'm going to guess it wasn't actually T mobile that was a problem. When my phone started glitching doing basic tasks like reading email and not receiving text notifications it was time to go. Since the phone was useless on any other service it was pretty easy to leave Republic. I was with them for 4 yrs, had an old Moto E and my service wasn't great back then either. I had hoped that their migration to T mobile was going to help but it didn't.
It wasn't your shitty phone, I have the exact same problems with my Motorola.  I'll add the echoing back of my own voice to that list.

Oh yeah, no speakerphone on wifi or the other person would hear me echoing. That one was a real hassle

My major problems with Republic have been occasionally not receiving texts or phone calls, occasionally receiving or sending double texts for some odd reason, and occasionally not being able to open group texts. Hasn't been the end of the world, but I assumed all the cheap carriers (MVNOs) had similar issues. If not, maybe it's high time to jump ship.

Daley

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #67 on: February 07, 2019, 08:12:12 PM »
My major problems with Republic have been occasionally not receiving texts or phone calls, occasionally receiving or sending double texts for some odd reason, and occasionally not being able to open group texts. Hasn't been the end of the world, but I assumed all the cheap carriers (MVNOs) had similar issues. If not, maybe it's high time to jump ship.

Nope. Republic's problems are uniquely Republic's. Nobody else, except maybe Freedom Pop at this point, offers even a remotely similar kludgy proprietary VoIP/mobile hybrid service. There are no shortage of reasons why I had never bothered recommending them the six plus years I ran the guide.
« Last Edit: February 07, 2019, 08:14:03 PM by Daley »

Sand101

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #68 on: February 07, 2019, 08:35:03 PM »
Cricket.  4 lines, unlimited data. $100 all in.  So $25 a line.  We love it, and works great for us. Now works in Mexico and Canada.

This is what I have and it really shines the more lines one has. 

soccerluvof4

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #69 on: February 08, 2019, 05:16:31 AM »
I switched now 14 months ago from US Cellular to Sprint. We have 6 phones Unlimited everything and free Hulu and pay 206$ a month. That included buying out our contract and Giving us 6 Apple 8 phones.  And the 6 of us are in 3 different states. Cheapest no BUT to be able to face time our college kids and all the other stuff we do its saved us a lot of money vs what we were doing. And I like Hulu.

Boofinator

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #70 on: February 08, 2019, 09:01:43 AM »
My major problems with Republic have been occasionally not receiving texts or phone calls, occasionally receiving or sending double texts for some odd reason, and occasionally not being able to open group texts. Hasn't been the end of the world, but I assumed all the cheap carriers (MVNOs) had similar issues. If not, maybe it's high time to jump ship.

Nope. Republic's problems are uniquely Republic's. Nobody else, except maybe Freedom Pop at this point, offers even a remotely similar kludgy proprietary VoIP/mobile hybrid service. There are no shortage of reasons why I had never bothered recommending them the six plus years I ran the guide.

Interesting. I guess I was under the impression some other MVNOs use similar software (Google Fi comes to mind).

So I did some sniffing to try to find IP's latest iteration of the guide and came up short; could you point me in the right direction?

Daley

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #71 on: February 08, 2019, 01:40:19 PM »
Interesting. I guess I was under the impression some other MVNOs use similar software (Google Fi comes to mind).

Not quite, and this was one of the problems I had with Republic as their sales and marketing muddied the waters in an attempt to look like they were somehow doing something industry leading and pioneering instead using kludgy workarounds to make VoIP work on slow, high-latency mobile networks. What Fi (and everyone with VoLTE networks now) uses is built on a decade plus old GSM standard for call hand-off through the mobile network that T-Mobile's made available in this country long before any other network carrier, especially to their MVNOs (P'tel was the first, with Ting, US Mobile, and Ultra/Mint all providing it with native compatible handsets as well, no proprietary apps to make it happen as it was baked into the OS - the old Nokia S40 and BBOS platforms were the first, and Windows Mobile also reliably supported it long before iPhone and Android did). VoLTE is actually just an extension of the original GAN extensions, which is how the old WiFi calling feature works. The biggest hurdles on widespread adoption were modems that supported the feature, and beefy enough hardware to provide low enough latency audio processing on these monolithic kernel smartphone operating systems (read iOS and Android's code bloat slowed adoption down).

Though Republic is now a TMo MVNO (and I'd hoped they'd finally just operate as an MVNO), they're still apparently relying on proprietary apps to trunk and hand-off calls independent of T-Mobile's call routing as a way to save money. Republic is basically a VoIP provider trying to make itself look like a mobile carrier by using a mobile network to fall back on when necessary. You can reproduce the experience using any VoIP provider that supports SMS texting and uses Counterpath's server technology coupled with the Bria SIP app on whatever internet connected smartphone you have... or just using Google Voice.

So I did some sniffing to try to find IP's latest iteration of the guide and came up short; could you point me in the right direction?

I hung the towel up on the guide nearly a year ago. My last serious post on the subject can be found here.
« Last Edit: February 08, 2019, 01:52:57 PM by Daley »

Boofinator

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #72 on: February 08, 2019, 02:30:02 PM »
I hung the towel up on the guide nearly a year ago. My last serious post on the subject can be found here.

Well, appreciate all of the insight you provide on the topic. I'm certainly beginning to rethink Republic, which I've been using for 5 years now.

Adam Zapple

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #73 on: February 11, 2019, 08:09:40 AM »
Just wanted to thank everyone for the replies.  Very helpful.

CCCA

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #74 on: February 12, 2019, 04:43:50 PM »
I'm also using Red Pocket.  I got an ebay deal where I got the $60 yearly plan for $50, which includes 100min, 100txts and 500 MB each month.  I'm using verizon's network though you can use any of the big 4 networks.  I don't get visual voicemail, but my wife is still on page plus (also verizon MVNO) and does get visual voicemail (on an iPhone).




justaguy

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #75 on: February 26, 2019, 08:09:58 AM »
We use Tello.  On the Sprint network, good service for us.  $14/month - unlimited everything (data speeds are throttled to 2G after 1GB).  We are happy with them. 

LSUFanTX

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #76 on: March 08, 2019, 07:20:02 PM »
I did the year of free Sprint BYOD device plan but that expired and nothing else has seemed to work for me.

We're on our second year of free Sprint BYOD unlimited. After the first year just had to temporarily port the numbers to T-Mobile sims and then port them back to Sprint under the promo using my wife's info. $7/mo for two lines unlimited is a pretty sweet deal. No noticeable drop in coverage until we travel out to the boondocks.

LaineyAZ

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #77 on: March 08, 2019, 08:45:31 PM »
Chiming in to add I'm having considerable problems with Consumer Cellular here in the metro Phoenix area.  I've had them for one year and all was fine except the last month when I've had dropped calls and failed texts.  Have made 3 calls to their customer service and all they were able to do was to "resend the signal" or something similar? 
Anyway, I'll be looking to switch by month end if things don't get fixed.  Very disappointed.

robartsd

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #78 on: March 11, 2019, 01:29:29 PM »
We use Tello.  On the Sprint network, good service for us.  $14/month - unlimited everything (data speeds are throttled to 2G after 1GB).  We are happy with them.
I like that Tello decouples voice and data usage on their plans. I don't talk much on mobile, so could easily stick to 100 min/month - $10/month with your level of data. I currently don't subscribe to data, but would find it useful sometimes - I'll have to think about if it is $90/year useful. Does Tello include taxes and fees in the advertised price?

I'm device shopping anyway as I'm currently using a Verizon CDMA device. I'm going to try to snag a phone that works on all major carrier LTE networks. Strongly considering Moto E4 (this is the only phone that I've identified with the network coverage that does not have a sealed case - but getting to the the battery is still quite a bit of disassembly). I might also look at later Moto phones or the Google Pixel phones, or an LG Stylo 4 (I have liked other LG android devices). I also know that many recent iPhones and some recent Samsungs also have the network coverage (a Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo model covered all but Sprint and had an easily replaceable battery). Any recommendations?

zolotiyeruki

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #79 on: March 11, 2019, 03:27:11 PM »
I'm device shopping anyway as I'm currently using a Verizon CDMA device. I'm going to try to snag a phone that works on all major carrier LTE networks. Strongly considering Moto E4 (this is the only phone that I've identified with the network coverage that does not have a sealed case - but getting to the the battery is still quite a bit of disassembly). I might also look at later Moto phones or the Google Pixel phones, or an LG Stylo 4 (I have liked other LG android devices). I also know that many recent iPhones and some recent Samsungs also have the network coverage (a Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo model covered all but Sprint and had an easily replaceable battery). Any recommendations?
As an E4 owner, I can tell you that it's actually quite trivial to get to the battery.  You just pull/pry on one corner of the back cover, and comes off with minimal effort.  The SIM card and SD card are also under the cover.

robartsd

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #80 on: March 11, 2019, 05:31:36 PM »
I'm device shopping anyway as I'm currently using a Verizon CDMA device. I'm going to try to snag a phone that works on all major carrier LTE networks. Strongly considering Moto E4 (this is the only phone that I've identified with the network coverage that does not have a sealed case - but getting to the the battery is still quite a bit of disassembly). I might also look at later Moto phones or the Google Pixel phones, or an LG Stylo 4 (I have liked other LG android devices). I also know that many recent iPhones and some recent Samsungs also have the network coverage (a Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo model covered all but Sprint and had an easily replaceable battery). Any recommendations?
As an E4 owner, I can tell you that it's actually quite trivial to get to the battery.  You just pull/pry on one corner of the back cover, and comes off with minimal effort.  The SIM card and SD card are also under the cover.
This video indicates otherwise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXuoeX3SI5s.

Indexer

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #81 on: March 11, 2019, 05:56:55 PM »
Mint. $15/month, as I bought a 12 month plan. They recently bumped the data from 2GB to 3 GB, just one month into my current plan.

Same. The extra gig was a surprise. I've yet to use the extra gig, but it's good to know it's there if I vacation at an airbnb without wifi.

zolotiyeruki

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #82 on: March 11, 2019, 06:04:24 PM »
I'm device shopping anyway as I'm currently using a Verizon CDMA device. I'm going to try to snag a phone that works on all major carrier LTE networks. Strongly considering Moto E4 (this is the only phone that I've identified with the network coverage that does not have a sealed case - but getting to the the battery is still quite a bit of disassembly). I might also look at later Moto phones or the Google Pixel phones, or an LG Stylo 4 (I have liked other LG android devices). I also know that many recent iPhones and some recent Samsungs also have the network coverage (a Samsung Galaxy S5 Neo model covered all but Sprint and had an easily replaceable battery). Any recommendations?
As an E4 owner, I can tell you that it's actually quite trivial to get to the battery.  You just pull/pry on one corner of the back cover, and comes off with minimal effort.  The SIM card and SD card are also under the cover.
This video indicates otherwise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXuoeX3SI5s.
There are actually multiple versions of the E4.  Mine works as shown in this video.

billy

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #83 on: March 12, 2019, 07:16:30 AM »
FreedomPop $0.00/mo. plan.

You can't get this directly. You need to sign up for a paid plan (I think $15/mo. is their cheapest) then you have to call to downgrade (can't be done online). I get unlimited calls. I think 250 texts and 1GB of data.

There is no VM, and they'll try to trick you into upgrading to a paid plan. If someone calls and you don't answer, they will be prompted to leave a message. Then you'll get a text from FP informing you that someone left a VM, but the only way to retrieve it is to upgrade your plan. The way around this is to get a Google Voice number. Link it to your cell phone number. Only give out your GV number. You can retrieve your VMs or get a transcript in your email.

edited for typos

I bought freedompop 1 yr prepaid at best buy for $55, I get the same as you. And use GV as well, just use wifi and cellular data for everything.  I wonder if I can switch to your plan with the same sim later? More I learned about republic wireless more I realized you might as well roll you own VOIP.

Phoenix_Fire

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #84 on: March 12, 2019, 08:39:21 AM »
I'm using Mint Mobile (uses T-Mobile) (chunky milk commercial: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k0hKMDMWYwU).  Marketing must have worked because I hadn't heard of them before the super bowl, but checked them out and switched off of Google Fi the next day. 

I was getting tired of constantly policing my data usage on Fi.  If they ever bring their prices down, I would consider going back.  I haven't had any coverage issues with Mint, but I'm in a large city.  When my initial 3 month period is up, I will probably go ahead and pre-pay for a year at either $15 (3GB) or $20 (8GB) a month. 

referral link: http://fbuy.me/l24sj

ducky19

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #85 on: March 12, 2019, 10:45:16 AM »
Total wireless 4 phones 25 gb shared data $100 a month no contract
We had page plus before it it was unreliable and customer service was a PITA
So far this has been hassle free
We need to be on Verizon's network to get reception here

Same. We were on Republic for the longest time, but in our area the kids have no cell service anywhere within or directly outside of their school. Since that's the main reason they have a phone - to call if practice is over early, etc. Verizon is the only provider with a cell tower in the area, so TW works great for us! We've never come close to using the 25 GB of shared data (on wifi at home), and we have 20 GB of bonus data that stays with us until we cancel in case we ever do go over.

AlotToLearn

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #86 on: March 31, 2019, 06:36:01 AM »
I really need to go cell service shopping after reading some of these monthly bill amounts. I have been with Verizon for 7 years, and was happy my bill for 1 line was less than $90 haha.

GreenToTheCore

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #87 on: April 01, 2019, 04:14:18 PM »
I really need to go cell service shopping after reading some of these monthly bill amounts. I have been with Verizon for 7 years, and was happy my bill for 1 line was less than $90 haha.

Do it. Do it now. It'll feel amazing.


Almost a year on Red Pocket, $15, 1G, piggybacking off of the Verizon network. Switched from Verizon. Haven't noticed a lick of difference, except for all the money in the bank. Gotta love the green ;)

AlotToLearn

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #88 on: April 01, 2019, 04:36:17 PM »
Thanks - will be checking them out tonight. Can I use my same phone I use now on Red Pocket?

GreenToTheCore

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #89 on: April 01, 2019, 07:12:15 PM »
I was able to use my phone. You should find their Getting Started section helpful: https://help.goredpocket.com/hc/en-us/categories/115000418988-Getting-Started

MoneyTree

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Re: What cheap cell service are you using?
« Reply #90 on: April 01, 2019, 09:22:20 PM »
I want to +1 those who mentioned Xfinity mobile, if you are an Xfinity Internet customer.

If you are skeptical, so was I, as I have had a less than pleasant experience with their other services over the years. But I've been surprised by their mobile service.

Unlimited minutes. Unlimited texts. You pay $12 per GB of cellular data.

But if you don't use cellular data like me and keep your usage to under 100MB/month...I end up paying about $0 + some minimal required regulatory fees (works out to ~$3/month).