Motorola X just got announced. Might fit with your budget pricing.
Budget Phone Service
- Thread starter HalfEatenPie
- Start date
It looks like Motorola X is a phone. If not, link me to the service because I love carrying cheap phones.
Last edited by a moderator:
DearLeaderJohn
New Member
http://www.freedompop.com/
Saw that whilst reading Forbes the other day. Sounds interesting but I don't know much about it as I do live in the UK
Saw that whilst reading Forbes the other day. Sounds interesting but I don't know much about it as I do live in the UK
It's a phone. Just thought you'd need a phone along with the service
That freedom pop looks interesting
http://www.freedompop.com/phone
Looks like you get 200 minutes, unlimited texts and 500mb of data for free. As long as you stick to wifi you should be pretty much good.
What I don't get is why companies are either $50/month or $0/month - why can't there be something you know relatively cheap like $5/month for what freedompop gives for free.
I'd rather pay $5/month then having to worry about my phone company going out of business - these people seem to make money on advertising and gathering user data as you can take surveys to pay for your service.
http://www.freedompop.com/phone
Looks like you get 200 minutes, unlimited texts and 500mb of data for free. As long as you stick to wifi you should be pretty much good.
What I don't get is why companies are either $50/month or $0/month - why can't there be something you know relatively cheap like $5/month for what freedompop gives for free.
I'd rather pay $5/month then having to worry about my phone company going out of business - these people seem to make money on advertising and gathering user data as you can take surveys to pay for your service.
That's why I quite like Ting: I pay for exactly what I use (within 'buckets') instead of being required to sign up for an arbitrary $xx-per-month plan that may come with values that i'll never use, like minutes.
Current Ting usage:
"9 days left" because I had some wireless hotspots on the account before switching cellphones over. Messages and minutes are starting as-of 7/31.
My only issue with Ting is you pay $6/Month just to hold the phone in your hand.
I have the the old Sprint (VirginMobile, their prepaid arm) plan at $25/mo for unlimited txt / data / 300 minutes. They'll throttle you down to 256Kbps after 2560MB, I've had this happen once. I push a couple GB of data through it to get my monies worth... This isn't my primary phone, and I've considered RW, but we don't have a large enough WiFi foot print where I am...
If your wondering about the network speeds --
This isn't my primary phone, and I've considered RW, but we don't have a large enough WiFi foot print where I am... If your wondering about the network speeds --
I'm currently using Virgin Mobile, I've been with them for a while now (years) I've had the LG Optimus, Motorola Triumph, HTC Evo 3d, and now the iPhone 5. I started paying $25/m when that's what the price was for the first two phones, then I got switched onto their new pricing with the HTC so $35/m, but now since I have the iPhone I'm paying $30/m. Sprint changes their network to give Sprint customers priority for data, first is Sprint, then Virgin Mobile, then Boost. With 3G where I'm at in a greatly populated area I get pretty shit 3G speeds. Usually around 0.5mb/s-1mb/s. With LTE it improves greatly. The best I got was when I was up north:
http://www.speedtest.net/iphone/593108482.png
I've never had a problem with coverage like some were saying, but I was quite pleased with the new LTE speed, and even though it does not list me as being covered at all around my house, I still get it on the roads around here. So quite happy overall, and I'm glad knowing that everyone else that has a iPhone is paying 3x as much as I am.
I still liked the other day when I was in the back of a building in Dearborn, MI and I had 5 bars and my boss and another worker we're hovering on 0-1bar while they have Verizon. I laughed.
I'm guessing your on Optimus V? Was a great phone by the way. Don't switch to RW. As noted they randomly will decide your using too much data. I was thinking about switching to them for a while. I would say wait until your covered with LTE by Sprint and just upgrade your phone. Virgin Mobile is really the leader when it comes to prepaid phones, they have the iPhone 5 and some great Android phones. LTE just really makes the Virgin Mobile network amazing, there's no need for AT&T's fastest LTE network when all you really need is 5Mb/s maybe. For random app downloads, instagram posts etc the network is doing well. RW also overchages for their crappy old android phones, what I'm guessing is in August / September they will be releasing a new phone and that's why they keep spamming me trying to get me to sign-up for this one with special deals. Just wait and stick with what you got
http://www.speedtest.net/iphone/593108482.png
I've never had a problem with coverage like some were saying, but I was quite pleased with the new LTE speed, and even though it does not list me as being covered at all around my house, I still get it on the roads around here. So quite happy overall, and I'm glad knowing that everyone else that has a iPhone is paying 3x as much as I am.
I still liked the other day when I was in the back of a building in Dearborn, MI and I had 5 bars and my boss and another worker we're hovering on 0-1bar while they have Verizon. I laughed.
I have the the old Sprint (VirginMobile, their prepaid arm) plan at $25/mo for unlimited txt / data / 300 minutes. They'll throttle you down to 256Kbps after 2560MB, I've had this happen once. I push a couple GB of data through it to get my monies worth...
I'm guessing your on Optimus V? Was a great phone by the way. Don't switch to RW. As noted they randomly will decide your using too much data. I was thinking about switching to them for a while. I would say wait until your covered with LTE by Sprint and just upgrade your phone. Virgin Mobile is really the leader when it comes to prepaid phones, they have the iPhone 5 and some great Android phones. LTE just really makes the Virgin Mobile network amazing, there's no need for AT&T's fastest LTE network when all you really need is 5Mb/s maybe. For random app downloads, instagram posts etc the network is doing well. RW also overchages for their crappy old android phones, what I'm guessing is in August / September they will be releasing a new phone and that's why they keep spamming me trying to get me to sign-up for this one with special deals. Just wait and stick with what you got
Last edited by a moderator:
Hmm, I wonder if I can get away with using my S3 for free. Ditch the contract. Use a google number or something, I'm typically around wi-fi anyway. The money saved may be worth not having service when im out of the house, camping, or something. Hmm.
drmike
100% Tier-1 Gogent
In defense of Sprint, they are rolling out massive upgrades to their cell installations. Still stuck with prior generation rollouts that were supposed to be done this year and won't until 2014 at least.
Softbank is investing a fortune and seems to be very wide 4G upgrade. That's their new next generation rollout that will go through 2018 by my estimate.
Why are Sprint towers so dang slow? Heck if I know. Usually comes down to SLA/QoS controls to control the trickle of people connected to the tower. I suspect they don't have enough fiber / bandwidth at many prior installations. Couple that with a host of "unlimited" users and it's resource contention issue.
I know a bit of this as some work I do involves cell site upgrades for a variety of companies.
Softbank is investing a fortune and seems to be very wide 4G upgrade. That's their new next generation rollout that will go through 2018 by my estimate.
Why are Sprint towers so dang slow? Heck if I know. Usually comes down to SLA/QoS controls to control the trickle of people connected to the tower. I suspect they don't have enough fiber / bandwidth at many prior installations. Couple that with a host of "unlimited" users and it's resource contention issue.
I know a bit of this as some work I do involves cell site upgrades for a variety of companies.
ComputerTrophy
New Member
Just so British people don't miss out here, check out http://giffgaff.com/. Like Tesco Mobile, they piggyback on O2's network.
For £10 a month get:
500 UK minutes
Unlimited UK texts
1GB internet
Free to giffgaff
For £12 a month, get 250 UK minutes, unlimited UK texts and unlimited Internet (no tethering :c).
For £10 a month get:
500 UK minutes
Unlimited UK texts
1GB internet
Free to giffgaff
For £12 a month, get 250 UK minutes, unlimited UK texts and unlimited Internet (no tethering :c).
ComputerTrophy
New Member
The catch is that you either wait a one to three business days from a reply from GiffGaff staff should you have any problems, or you are assisted by a very large and active consumer-driven forum.
The consumers are actually rewarded for spreading the word and helping out people on the forum.
Last edited by a moderator:
ihatetonyy
New Member
MVNOs are nice for getting cheaper deals - their plans are mostly cheaper than their host carriers.
- T-Mobile has its venerable $30/mo 100 min/Unl text/5GB data plan; after 5GB you get throttled (not an MVNO, so kill me - it does include LTE, though..)
If you go T-Mobile, you do get the added chore of finding an AWS phone if you want 3G unless you're in a rebanded area
- Voyager Mobile has unlimited everything for $40/mo (with LTE service, Sprint)
- Solavei is an T-Mobile
multi-level marketing cultMVNO that has unlimited everything for $49/mo; if you indoctrinate others, you can theoretically make money (rumored to have LTE) - Chit Chat Mobile is a little more flexible (and a little more expensive) with base $9/mo or $19/mo packages + data bolt-ons (3G or LTE, Sprint)
- Expo Mobile looks promising but they're dragging their damn feet to launch
What do you think of the content over at S4GRU? I've always wondered how accurate their data is.