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Save $ on cell service -- Ting Mobile / Solavei (+ other MVNOs) (1 Viewer)

Just picked up a Consumer Cellular nano sim card, going to pop it in the Nexus and sign up for an account, using Brady Marino's referral code, thanks buddy. When I swap sim cards is my device going to be empty (lose all my pics, texts, audio, etc that are stored on the device)? Going to sign up for the $20 600/min and $30 2.5gb plan and see how it goes.

 
I can't get a straight answer out of Verizon on the phone about their 4 for $160/10GB plan. What is the catch? Do we have to be out of our contracts for all 4 of us? Do we have to buy new phones (that is what I was getting, but not clear I really have to). If we have to buy the phones - which ones - do they have to be the priciest? My wife recently got a nice galaxy and isn't going to want to replace it again (me either - big waste).

 
Been on Ting (3 phones - me, wife, daughter) for about 1.5 years now. Love love love the lower costs. Only complain was the crappy Samsung S2 phones we purchased. Finally making myself pick up an Iphone 4s this coming week. Just didn't like the Android operating system. Looking forwward to working wtih iOS again. Will update again in a few weeks.
:hifive: My wife & two kids are on Ting with ebay purchased phones. I'm still on Verizon until next month, when Ting will start supporting the LG G2. It will be my first smartphone and I can't wait since I'm sick of paying Verizon. My cell phone bill will go down by $40 per month with just this one change.

ps - I'm convinced that LG is THE value in tablets and smartphones right now. Whether it's their G series or their Nexus series, for the combination of price and power, I don't really think anyone else comes close.

 
Is there such a thing as a "pay as you go" wifi hotspot (mifi?) where you buy data and replenish it as needed?

Bought a wifi only iPad and I have some kids that might get some use on long distance trips, and my plan with Net10 doesn't allow Hotspotting.

I suppose I could switch to another service, but this is the only downside I've found to Net10, and after switching twice earlier this year, I'd like to stay in one spot for a while.

Thanks as usual!

 
SIM doesn't hold pics, texts, audio, etc. Not enough space on it. I think the only thing it may store is your contact list, so just make sure that list is synced with google or back it up somewhere.

 
Binky The Doormat said:
I can't get a straight answer out of Verizon on the phone about their 4 for $160/10GB plan. What is the catch? Do we have to be out of our contracts for all 4 of us? Do we have to buy new phones (that is what I was getting, but not clear I really have to). If we have to buy the phones - which ones - do they have to be the priciest? My wife recently got a nice galaxy and isn't going to want to replace it again (me either - big waste).
Ugh, Verizon customer service is the worst. Just had the same issue trying to get the same plan. After stopping in 2 or 3 stores I finally got somebody who knew what they were talking about and could explain it clearly. It works like this:The 10GB runs $80 for the data alone (I think this is a promo, regularly $100). Then you pay per phone.

Per phone costs:

$40/month for each phone that is under contract.

$15/month for each phone not under contract (have to enroll in the "Edge" program).

That's just for service. Let's talk the phones themselves:

If you like your phones, you can keep them. Any smartphone that works on the VZW network will work, it could be a $300 entry level smartphone or the $700 Note 4. If you want to upgrade now or in the future, under the Edge program, you either pay the full price of the phone upfront or you can spread it out over 24 months (so a phone that retails for $600 would be listed on your bill at $25/month for 24 months). The Edge program also allows you to upgrade phones before you fully pay off an old phone, but then you have to turn the old phone in to them and you are stuck paying full price for a new one (not sure why somebody would do this).

Real life example that I did 2 weeks ago:

We had 4 lines (2 basic phones not under contract, 2 existing smartphones under contract that we wanted to keep)

10GB data for $80.

Line 1 & 2 (new smartphones w/ Edge Program) - $15 each - $30 total

Lines 3 & 4 (kept the old smart phone, can't get the discount until they roll off contract) - $40 each - $80 total

Current monthly bill: 80 + 30 + 80 = 190.

But, when lines 3 & 4 roll off contract, it'll be 80 + 30 + 30 = $140.

Note: This ignores the price of the new smartphones.

Let me know if there are other questions.

 
So, coming up on a month with Ting. Couldn't be happier. When you call there is no phone tree - The phone is picked up by someone who can help you, and speaks good old American English. My bill is going to be right about $19+fees, compared to 72 with Sprint. The service is exactly the same as when I was with Sprint. So saving $45-50 per month with better customer service. Thanks for this thread. I never would have even known about this option without it.

 
A little off topic, but figured I'd pose this here...

Looking to get Mom into the 21st century with her phone. She's currently on the Verizon More Everything plan with unlimited talk and text - my brother and sister in law have that plan paid for through SIL's work, and they just threw her on, so she basically has free talk & text. As such, she's not leaving for a MVNO or anything like that. However, her phone is an ancient flip phone with which she still has to text by mashing the number keys repeatedly to get to the right letter. Hence, I figured a smartphone would be a nice Xmas gift. She's tech stupid and anything is an upgrade to her, so I was looking at a new in box Droid X2 on eBay for $80. Doesn't have 4G LTE, but since she'll have mobile data off, who cares? Brother is getting her a wireless router for Xmas to light her house up for WiFi, and that's the only time she'll use internet on her phone.

So, my question is, how do I find out for sure that this (or any other) phone is compatible with this plan? Do I simply need any Verizon Wireless phone? i also see a lot of prepaid Verizon phones out there, but do they work with a non-prepaid plan? TIA.

 
A little off topic, but figured I'd pose this here...

Looking to get Mom into the 21st century with her phone. She's currently on the Verizon More Everything plan with unlimited talk and text - my brother and sister in law have that plan paid for through SIL's work, and they just threw her on, so she basically has free talk & text. As such, she's not leaving for a MVNO or anything like that. However, her phone is an ancient flip phone with which she still has to text by mashing the number keys repeatedly to get to the right letter. Hence, I figured a smartphone would be a nice Xmas gift. She's tech stupid and anything is an upgrade to her, so I was looking at a new in box Droid X2 on eBay for $80. Doesn't have 4G LTE, but since she'll have mobile data off, who cares? Brother is getting her a wireless router for Xmas to light her house up for WiFi, and that's the only time she'll use internet on her phone.

So, my question is, how do I find out for sure that this (or any other) phone is compatible with this plan? Do I simply need any Verizon Wireless phone? i also see a lot of prepaid Verizon phones out there, but do they work with a non-prepaid plan? TIA.
Any Verizon branded phone should work. Verizon loves to slap logos on everything, so just check for that red logo.

Maybe consider something with a slide out keyboard imo

 
A little off topic, but figured I'd pose this here...

Looking to get Mom into the 21st century with her phone. She's currently on the Verizon More Everything plan with unlimited talk and text - my brother and sister in law have that plan paid for through SIL's work, and they just threw her on, so she basically has free talk & text. As such, she's not leaving for a MVNO or anything like that. However, her phone is an ancient flip phone with which she still has to text by mashing the number keys repeatedly to get to the right letter. Hence, I figured a smartphone would be a nice Xmas gift. She's tech stupid and anything is an upgrade to her, so I was looking at a new in box Droid X2 on eBay for $80. Doesn't have 4G LTE, but since she'll have mobile data off, who cares? Brother is getting her a wireless router for Xmas to light her house up for WiFi, and that's the only time she'll use internet on her phone.

So, my question is, how do I find out for sure that this (or any other) phone is compatible with this plan? Do I simply need any Verizon Wireless phone? i also see a lot of prepaid Verizon phones out there, but do they work with a non-prepaid plan? TIA.
Any Verizon branded phone should work. Verizon loves to slap logos on everything, so just check for that red logo.Maybe consider something with a slide out keyboard imo
+1 on the keyboard. I'd recommend that (like a Samsung Intensity II or whatever) over the smart phone for 2 reasons:First, it will be cheaper and much easier for her to use.

Second, I believe Verizon will require a data plan to activate any smartphone. We're talking $40 a month minimum last I checked.

 
A little off topic, but figured I'd pose this here...

Looking to get Mom into the 21st century with her phone. She's currently on the Verizon More Everything plan with unlimited talk and text - my brother and sister in law have that plan paid for through SIL's work, and they just threw her on, so she basically has free talk & text. As such, she's not leaving for a MVNO or anything like that. However, her phone is an ancient flip phone with which she still has to text by mashing the number keys repeatedly to get to the right letter. Hence, I figured a smartphone would be a nice Xmas gift. She's tech stupid and anything is an upgrade to her, so I was looking at a new in box Droid X2 on eBay for $80. Doesn't have 4G LTE, but since she'll have mobile data off, who cares? Brother is getting her a wireless router for Xmas to light her house up for WiFi, and that's the only time she'll use internet on her phone.

So, my question is, how do I find out for sure that this (or any other) phone is compatible with this plan? Do I simply need any Verizon Wireless phone? i also see a lot of prepaid Verizon phones out there, but do they work with a non-prepaid plan? TIA.
Any Verizon branded phone should work. Verizon loves to slap logos on everything, so just check for that red logo.Maybe consider something with a slide out keyboard imo
+1 on the keyboard. I'd recommend that (like a Samsung Intensity II or whatever) over the smart phone for 2 reasons:First, it will be cheaper and much easier for her to use.

Second, I believe Verizon will require a data plan to activate any smartphone. We're talking $40 a month minimum last I checked.
They have a data plan, she just won't be utilizing the network for data, she'll use WiFi only. I'll definitely look at the keyboard. Now, when you guys say "a Verizon branded phone" does it matter whether it's a prepaid phone or not?

 
Switched to Ting earlier this month. First months' savings for 3 phones looks like it will be around $100.

Currently sporting an S3 and ready to move on. Looks like my newest options are the S4, One (M7), iPhone 5, Nexus 5, Nexus 6 (ginormous), MotoX 1st gen or wait until May for the One M8 to be available on the network.

Any thoughts?

Bummed that the newest MotoX isn't available for the Sprint network as that would have been my choice. Leaning towards the Nexus 5 at the moment, I think.

 
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I remember reading somewhere that newer phones are coming out with a new band to take advantage of faster lte networks. Something like band 12.

Any idea what I'm talking about and what phones/networks will be rolling these out? Are the wide band lte services?

 
Thanks to everyone contributing to this thread, especially (HULK). Planning on switching my wife and I to Consumer Cellular after the first of the year once my line goes out of contract. Will still have to pay a $200 ETF for her line, but even with that and purchasing pretty pricey new devices (iPhone 6 and Moto X 2nd Gen) we'll come out about $800 ahead over the course of two years. CC also will let you easy pay the iPhones to make things easier.

I'm hopefully going with the 2nd Gen Moto X. Motorola is offering the no-contract version at a $150 discount for Cyber Monday here, if anyone else might be interested. Hopefully it will be less of a debacle than last year. If not, I'll snag an N5.

 
What is the cheapest way to get a phone number? I have a Google voice number on my main line already so I can't add another. I need a phone that takes incoming calls and has voice mail. That's it. Is there a way to buy a trac phone or something and have it not cost by the month but rather by the minute, even if it takes me 6 months to use 100 minutes or whatever? I really just need a number so I can create a new Google voice line for my new business adventure.

 
I think we are finally settled on the best approach for us since our last phone is off contract in mid-December. No other carrier is close to Verizon for coverage/quality in our area so we have to stick with them, but look to qualify for the $160/10GB plan now. I want to buy a couple of decent used Verizon phones on ebay.

What phones do you guys recommend? Looking to spend in the $75 area. I got a Droid 2 that works ok for $50 - anything better out there?

 
I think we are finally settled on the best approach for us since our last phone is off contract in mid-December. No other carrier is close to Verizon for coverage/quality in our area so we have to stick with them, but look to qualify for the $160/10GB plan now. I want to buy a couple of decent used Verizon phones on ebay.

What phones do you guys recommend? Looking to spend in the $75 area. I got a Droid 2 that works ok for $50 - anything better out there?
you're more or less asking what was a good phone 2-3 years ago at best.

 
I think we are finally settled on the best approach for us since our last phone is off contract in mid-December. No other carrier is close to Verizon for coverage/quality in our area so we have to stick with them, but look to qualify for the $160/10GB plan now. I want to buy a couple of decent used Verizon phones on ebay.

What phones do you guys recommend? Looking to spend in the $75 area. I got a Droid 2 that works ok for $50 - anything better out there?
you're more or less asking what was a good phone 2-3 years ago at best.
Why not a Moto G?

 
(HULK) said:
saintfool said:
I think we are finally settled on the best approach for us since our last phone is off contract in mid-December. No other carrier is close to Verizon for coverage/quality in our area so we have to stick with them, but look to qualify for the $160/10GB plan now. I want to buy a couple of decent used Verizon phones on ebay.

What phones do you guys recommend? Looking to spend in the $75 area. I got a Droid 2 that works ok for $50 - anything better out there?
you're more or less asking what was a good phone 2-3 years ago at best.
Why not a Moto G?
Hulk - it looks like the G only supports 3G ...right? I have the Droid2 and it supports 4G ...I think anyway, it says 4G LTE by my bars at the top ...

I was hoping for some guidance as a "not too costly" step up from the Droid2, the MotoG looks like a step down.

And yes to Saintfool - just want mid-range, 2-3 generation back 4G LTE phones for my 2 kids - I am definitely not looking to get the latest and greatest.

 
all right, it's time for us to make a change.

I've been with T-mobile for almost 15 years. Recnetly moved, and don't get great service in our area. My wife begins a job as a real-estate agent this week, and needs to have great coverage in our whole area, so we need to make a change tom T-mobile.

Good service in this area looks like Verizon and AT&T are the best.

Over the past 3 months, I average 230 minutes, 200 messages, and 778 Mb of data. My wife averaged 1300 minutes, 1006 messages, and 306 Mb of data.

with her being out of the house more regularly and using her phone for work, I expect her talk time and data usage to go up.

Data speed isn't terribly important to us. We rarely stream anything, sometimes I stream sports talk radio from Denver to keep up w/ Broncos - that's a majority of my data usage. The rest of it is web page views, etc.

Currently, we pay $92 for the two lines - that gets us unlimited talk, text, and 1 Gb of shared data, where if we go over the 1 Gb, they just throttle speed back - no overage charges which is nice.

also, we need two new phones. We both have Galaxy S3 and have loved them, but they are not in good shape any more...couple of toilet drops and a shattered screen has left them worse for wear. After using a flagship phone for two years, I'm not sure I can deal with downgrading.

Thanks!

 
all right, it's time for us to make a change.

I've been with T-mobile for almost 15 years. Recnetly moved, and don't get great service in our area. My wife begins a job as a real-estate agent this week, and needs to have great coverage in our whole area, so we need to make a change tom T-mobile.

Good service in this area looks like Verizon and AT&T are the best.

Over the past 3 months, I average 230 minutes, 200 messages, and 778 Mb of data. My wife averaged 1300 minutes, 1006 messages, and 306 Mb of data.

with her being out of the house more regularly and using her phone for work, I expect her talk time and data usage to go up.

Data speed isn't terribly important to us. We rarely stream anything, sometimes I stream sports talk radio from Denver to keep up w/ Broncos - that's a majority of my data usage. The rest of it is web page views, etc.

Currently, we pay $92 for the two lines - that gets us unlimited talk, text, and 1 Gb of shared data, where if we go over the 1 Gb, they just throttle speed back - no overage charges which is nice.

also, we need two new phones. We both have Galaxy S3 and have loved them, but they are not in good shape any more...couple of toilet drops and a shattered screen has left them worse for wear. After using a flagship phone for two years, I'm not sure I can deal with downgrading.

Thanks!
Go with either Consumer Cellular or Cricket (both ride the AT&T network).

Consumer Cellular: 2,500 shared minutes, 15,000 shared texts, 2.5 GB of LTE (full speed) shared data, 2 lines = $80 total

Cricket: Unlimited calls/texts + 3 GB of LTE (throttle capped @ 8MBps) shared data = $90 total

 
all right, it's time for us to make a change.

I've been with T-mobile for almost 15 years. Recnetly moved, and don't get great service in our area. My wife begins a job as a real-estate agent this week, and needs to have great coverage in our whole area, so we need to make a change tom T-mobile.

Good service in this area looks like Verizon and AT&T are the best.

Over the past 3 months, I average 230 minutes, 200 messages, and 778 Mb of data. My wife averaged 1300 minutes, 1006 messages, and 306 Mb of data.

with her being out of the house more regularly and using her phone for work, I expect her talk time and data usage to go up.

Data speed isn't terribly important to us. We rarely stream anything, sometimes I stream sports talk radio from Denver to keep up w/ Broncos - that's a majority of my data usage. The rest of it is web page views, etc.

Currently, we pay $92 for the two lines - that gets us unlimited talk, text, and 1 Gb of shared data, where if we go over the 1 Gb, they just throttle speed back - no overage charges which is nice.

also, we need two new phones. We both have Galaxy S3 and have loved them, but they are not in good shape any more...couple of toilet drops and a shattered screen has left them worse for wear. After using a flagship phone for two years, I'm not sure I can deal with downgrading.

Thanks!
Go with either Consumer Cellular or Cricket (both ride the AT&T network).

Consumer Cellular: 2,500 shared minutes, 15,000 shared texts, 2.5 GB of LTE (full speed) shared data, 2 lines = $80 total

Cricket: Unlimited calls/texts + 3 GB of LTE (throttle capped @ 8MBps) shared data = $90 total
Cricket is running a 50% off on the S4 and S5 sale today as well.

P.S. anyone have an unused Cricket SIM card they can throw my way?

 
Jaysus said:
(HULK) said:
moleculo said:
all right, it's time for us to make a change.

I've been with T-mobile for almost 15 years. Recnetly moved, and don't get great service in our area. My wife begins a job as a real-estate agent this week, and needs to have great coverage in our whole area, so we need to make a change tom T-mobile.

Good service in this area looks like Verizon and AT&T are the best.

Over the past 3 months, I average 230 minutes, 200 messages, and 778 Mb of data. My wife averaged 1300 minutes, 1006 messages, and 306 Mb of data.

with her being out of the house more regularly and using her phone for work, I expect her talk time and data usage to go up.

Data speed isn't terribly important to us. We rarely stream anything, sometimes I stream sports talk radio from Denver to keep up w/ Broncos - that's a majority of my data usage. The rest of it is web page views, etc.

Currently, we pay $92 for the two lines - that gets us unlimited talk, text, and 1 Gb of shared data, where if we go over the 1 Gb, they just throttle speed back - no overage charges which is nice.

also, we need two new phones. We both have Galaxy S3 and have loved them, but they are not in good shape any more...couple of toilet drops and a shattered screen has left them worse for wear. After using a flagship phone for two years, I'm not sure I can deal with downgrading.

Thanks!
Go with either Consumer Cellular or Cricket (both ride the AT&T network).

Consumer Cellular: 2,500 shared minutes, 15,000 shared texts, 2.5 GB of LTE (full speed) shared data, 2 lines = $80 total

Cricket: Unlimited calls/texts + 3 GB of LTE (throttle capped @ 8MBps) shared data = $90 total
Cricket is running a 50% off on the S4 and S5 sale today as well.

P.S. anyone have an unused Cricket SIM card they can throw my way?
damn, their S5 is sold out. That would have been a winner.

 
So was telling a friend about how much I've been liking Ting and the savings and he's interested but he's on AT&T. Any similar pay as you go providers for AT&T?

 
Nexus 5 not available to be had anywhere and Google rumoured to not be making it any more. Stick it out until May for the One M8 or go with the M7 or S4?

 
Bought my LG G2 from ebay today. Bye bye Verizon - Ting, here I come (to join my wife and 2 kiddies).

:thumbup:

 
Paging hulk - sprint has become unbearable - what service works well in 94939 - I have a nexus 5 so I think it also works with at&t or tmobile or something...use about 500 min, 500 text and 1-2 GB data. Currently with ting.

 
Paging hulk - sprint has become unbearable - what service works well in 94939 - I have a nexus 5 so I think it also works with at&t or tmobile or something...use about 500 min, 500 text and 1-2 GB data. Currently with ting.
If AT&T is good in your area, I can't recommend Consumer Cellular highly enough. I have similar needs and my plan costs $45 a month.

 
Paging hulk - sprint has become unbearable - what service works well in 94939 - I have a nexus 5 so I think it also works with at&t or tmobile or something...use about 500 min, 500 text and 1-2 GB data. Currently with ting.
If AT&T is good in your area, I can't recommend Consumer Cellular highly enough. I have similar needs and my plan costs $45 a month.
thank you!
 
StrikeS2k said:
So was telling a friend about how much I've been liking Ting and the savings and he's interested but he's on AT&T. Any similar pay as you go providers for AT&T?
No. But if he's a low usage user, its probably cheaper for him on Consumer Cellular.

 
sbonomo said:
Paging hulk - sprint has become unbearable - what service works well in 94939 - I have a nexus 5 so I think it also works with at&t or tmobile or something...use about 500 min, 500 text and 1-2 GB data. Currently with ting.
Yup, can be used on both AT&T and T-Mobile as well. I'd ask your neighbors and see if they're happy with their coverage and who it is with.

As for your usage, you'll probably end up with Straight Talk on AT&T... $45 for unlimited calls/texts and 2 GB of data.

 
sbonomo said:
Paging hulk - sprint has become unbearable - what service works well in 94939 - I have a nexus 5 so I think it also works with at&t or tmobile or something...use about 500 min, 500 text and 1-2 GB data. Currently with ting.
Yup, can be used on both AT&T and T-Mobile as well. I'd ask your neighbors and see if they're happy with their coverage and who it is with.As for your usage, you'll probably end up with Straight Talk on AT&T... $45 for unlimited calls/texts and 2 GB of data.
You get more with Straight Talk...just pray he never needs their customer service.
 
sbonomo said:
Paging hulk - sprint has become unbearable - what service works well in 94939 - I have a nexus 5 so I think it also works with at&t or tmobile or something...use about 500 min, 500 text and 1-2 GB data. Currently with ting.
Yup, can be used on both AT&T and T-Mobile as well. I'd ask your neighbors and see if they're happy with their coverage and who it is with.As for your usage, you'll probably end up with Straight Talk on AT&T... $45 for unlimited calls/texts and 2 GB of data.
Just checked their website and it says 3 GB of data!

 
sbonomo said:
Paging hulk - sprint has become unbearable - what service works well in 94939 - I have a nexus 5 so I think it also works with at&t or tmobile or something...use about 500 min, 500 text and 1-2 GB data. Currently with ting.
Yup, can be used on both AT&T and T-Mobile as well. I'd ask your neighbors and see if they're happy with their coverage and who it is with.As for your usage, you'll probably end up with Straight Talk on AT&T... $45 for unlimited calls/texts and 2 GB of data.
I assume this is no contract?
 
sbonomo said:
Paging hulk - sprint has become unbearable - what service works well in 94939 - I have a nexus 5 so I think it also works with at&t or tmobile or something...use about 500 min, 500 text and 1-2 GB data. Currently with ting.
Yup, can be used on both AT&T and T-Mobile as well. I'd ask your neighbors and see if they're happy with their coverage and who it is with.As for your usage, you'll probably end up with Straight Talk on AT&T... $45 for unlimited calls/texts and 2 GB of data.
Just checked their website and it says 3 GB of data!
Oh yeah, they updated it and I forgot lol

 
sbonomo said:
Paging hulk - sprint has become unbearable - what service works well in 94939 - I have a nexus 5 so I think it also works with at&t or tmobile or something...use about 500 min, 500 text and 1-2 GB data. Currently with ting.
Yup, can be used on both AT&T and T-Mobile as well. I'd ask your neighbors and see if they're happy with their coverage and who it is with.As for your usage, you'll probably end up with Straight Talk on AT&T... $45 for unlimited calls/texts and 2 GB of data.
I assume this is no contract?
Yeah, no contract

 
Drifter said:
Nexus 5 not available to be had anywhere and Google rumoured to not be making it any more. Stick it out until May for the One M8 or go with the M7 or S4?
it's available now on google play.

 

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