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"At most" is not nearly large enough of a phrase for T-Mobile to hide behind considering that throttled speeds on T-Mobile fall short of 128kbps by more than an order of magnitude. And to be clear, yes, I am talking bits here. Once my 5 GB is up I'm looking at speeds that top out at 10 kilobits per second, barely enough to load the Google home page (over 800 kilobits) yet alone browse to the T-Mobile website and feed more money to the beast. It's a stupid game to play, balancing cheap phone bills with the best of the worst service available. I assume T-Mobile fully understands this and enjoys seeing how well they can train me to use exactly 4.99 Gb every 30 days.
https://support.t-mobile.com/d...

Wouldn't it be cheaper to buy a SIM card in another country and pay 30 Euros/Australian dollars/Kronas/Great British Pounds/ect... instead of using an American SIM? Umm.

Because T-Mobile actually has a decent international roaming plan.

That's not to say that buying a local SIM card is not generally a good idea.

Apparently going through the FCC is the only way to get anyone to fix anything.

https://support.t-mobile.com/t...

IIRC they still sell them locked, but will unlock them if the device meets their requirements (e.g., paid for, not listed as stolen, etc.)

T-mobile says here it is possible for the customers to block ALL third party service provider billing.

I'm not sure about T-mobile, but Verizon has various flags which cause this to get turned back on, such as getting a new phone, signing a new contract, changing your rate plan, etc.

Third-party service provider billing Certain third-party charges (games, apps, ringtones, etc.) may be included on your T-Mobile bill. If you want to block those third-party charges from being included on your T-Mobile bill, you may do so at no charge by visiting www.my.T-Mobile.com or calling T-Mobile Customer Service.

I have used it and I have not seen any such slammed bills over a number of years. But one constant complaint I have is that, every time I go to Niagara Falls, (I am an Indian American, all my relatives and friends from India insist on visiting Niagara when they come here. I have gone there some 35 times, might qualify as a guide too ;-)), my T-mobile phone would connect to Rogers Wireless and they will bill me through T-mobile. I have blocked international calls, international roaming and general roaming. Still it gets through and I have to call them to have these reversed.

http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-p...

$50 = 1 GB data, unlimited talk and text. NO OVERAGE CHARGES -- they just throttle you after you hit your limit. Isn't that nicer than being throttled at some mystery point by another carrier?

$60 = 3 GB. $70 = 5 GB. $80 = unlimited, and since they're honest about the other stuff, I'm *almost* inclined to believe them. Feel like experimenting? Sign up and post the results in a couple months.

Do the math: if she goes through 1 GB in 2-3 days, she needs 10-15 GB per month. Either pay for a lot of cellular data, or pay for Internet access in her room. I don't know why you're expecting to get 10 GB of data at a price no one offers. Are they all dicks for putting limits on what they call "unlimited" service? OF COURSE. Take your argument to the FCC, the FTC, and the supreme court if you want, it's not gonna do you any good. At best, you'll get them to stop calling it "unlimited" but they'll still charge THE EXACT SAME THING THEY'RE CURRENTLY CHARGING.

The best thing to do, of course, would be to pay for internet access to her room, then give her an AP and charge a discounted rate to a couple neighboring rooms. :D

I would just go in for the extra $15 from $65.
But if you want to go on the cheap side, t-mobile's prepaid phone plans currently has something similar to what you asked for.

$30/month
100 min talk
unlimited text
unlimited data, first 5 gigs are unthrottled.

Maybe you could figure out a way to pay $60 for 10 gigs of unthrottled, or some sort of pay as you go data plan with them.

Unlimited text/talk/data

http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-p...

Here's the facts, straight from the horse's mouth http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-7261

On demand data passes (aka domestic data roaming) are only "Available for plans with a monthly allotment of high-speed data."

While you're becoming educated, go learn the difference between "prepaid" plans (what you described) and "pay-go" plans (the only true no-commitment plans). Among other differences, pay-go plans never involve giving the provider authorization for recurrent monthly billing.

One of the revolutionary things Apple did when they introduced the iPad was require all partner providers to finally offer at least a data-only pay-go plan.

Most US providers charge $5-10 for a SIM. They often waive it with the purchase of a new phone and, less commonly, with a new contract, but that doesn't mean they don't charge for them. That's beside the point, though; for T-Mobile, AT&T, or Sprint on the current-gen iPads, it's Apple SIM or bust, and you're buying that from Apple, not your carrier; the only carrier-specific SIMs that will work in the current iPads are for carriers not participating in the Apple SIM program, AFAIK. So yes, that AT&T would essentially brick the SIM for other carriers is outrageous.

Furthermore, buying SIMs is fairly common.

It is written on their website that you must have an existing tmobile plan of some sort to qualify for the 200mb of free data.

No, it isn't : http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/news/t-mobile-reiterates-free-data-for-life-details.htm

Q. If I buy a tablet device outright, do I need a service payment relationship with T-Mobile?
A. No. Bring it in to us or buy it in full from us and we'll get you on the network where you'll get 200MB of free data (plus SIM card purchase), every month, for as long as you own your device.

T-Mo plays some other sleazy Carrier-grade games to show their hate for pay-go SIMs, but if you've got a fully paid tablet then you can get 200 MB of data each month for just the one-time cost of a pay-go SIM.

Check out T-Mobile. I live in Chicago, and they're great. Yes, almost everyone I know uses either Verizon or AT&T. But they complain about overage charges and dropped calls. I don't have that problem.

Seemingly every year or two T-Mobile actually lowers their price. I used to pay about $150 for two lines. Now I pay $80 total for both lines, with completely unlimited voice, text, and data. They include 1GB of 4G LTE data per line per month, and then I pay an extra $10 per line per month to bump both of them up to 3GB of LTE each. But even if I used 15GB per month, I still wouldn't be charged more than the $100 ($80 + $10 + $10) that I normally pay. After I go beyond 3GB, my data speed gets dropped down to 3G. But I can continue to use as much data as I want. I just switch to wifi for data when I get home, and I have never had a problem with going over 3GB.

I traveled to another country over the summer, and I was even able to use my phone for free over there. It was awesome!

There's no downside to T-Mobile. There's no contract, no overage fees, no nonsense. If they have LTE coverage in your city, check them out.

http://www.t-mobile.com/covera...

It's on this page, scroll down about 60% or search for "Wal-Mart". You'll need a prepaid SIM card, about $10, I think. I don't know if you can transfer your number from a regular plan to a prepaid plan.

Keep in mind that you'll lose data roaming, so you will only be able to use T-Mobile towers. In cities this isn't a problem, but in rural areas it will be more difficult to use data than if you're on the other plans.

T-Mobile plans already include tethering according to T-Mobile's page.

T-Mobile is aware of their shortcomings: http://explore.t-mobile.com/test-drive-free-trial

T-Mobile has been making a huge push in Voice over LTE (VoLTE) on the 700 MHz band
nd I imagine that as everyone switches over, it won't matter which carrier you have,
since eventually you'll be able to roam on any network.

Most people aren't set up to lay down a few hundred dollars for a phone at time of purchase. Getting a phone for free and paying for a couple years makes more sense.

T-Mobile allows financing your cell phone purchase over 2-years, with no interest.

http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/p...

Most pre-paid providers have extremely cheap Android smartphones, some as little as $30.

I don't know why you had such a problem. There are many GSM carriers that offer SIM/pre-pay, and have for as long as I can recall.

Agreed. He doesn't say exactly when his last trip to the US was, but AT&T and T-Mobile had prepaid SIMs "a few years ago". I don't know if there are any airport shops that sell them (seems like there would be), but as you say, they're readily available in various stores outside the airport.

However, AT&T's prepaid plans suck for tourists... if you have a smartphone (and seeing that this is /., I bet OP does), AT&T will make you get a "smartphone" plan, which starts at $25 for a month of service, and doesn't actually include any data--that's an extra $5 for a measly 50MB. T-Mobile has prepaid plans that I think would work better for a short-term visitor, e.g., perhaps their $3/day unlimited plan.

But I think the best prepaid plans in the US for visitors come from "MVNO"s--basically companies that resell access to either AT&T's or T-Mobile's network, such as Airvoice or Ultra. Unfortunately, their SIMs tend not to be available in actual physical stores, which makes buying their service impractical for a visitor.

To which U.S. prepaid carrier should I try switching? Ting?

I have an Android phone on a T-Mobile prepaid plan. Ok, it's 1.6, but it's Android. (It's my landline replacement, just needed something as cheap as possible to which I could assign the home phone number I got back in 1995, so as long as it makes and receives calls at my home location I'm satisfied -- my other phone is the smart phone I carry, I'm pickier about that.)

Ookla says the exact opposite about T-Mobile: http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/p...

You mean like AT&T or T-Mobile? http://www.att.com/shop/wirele... http://www.t-mobile.com/bring-...

Databases already exist with stolen IMEIs. This will prevent those devices from registering on a carrier's network, rendering them wifi-only.

Both systems require the owner to report the theft, which you wouldn't do if your phone is >2-3 years old - value is > insurance deductible.

Since the existing systems are already not used, there won't be any change by any new system.

http://www.t-mobile.com/verify...
https://prod.eie.net.au/portal...
http://www.imei.info/blacklist...

The response is that thieves change the IMEI number (which can be hard). What is says is that any new system would have the same result - the thieves would change the identification number used to lock out the device.

For wired connections, that may be the case. But I have no contract unlimited data for $30/mo. That's less than half the price I pay for cable, and the 4G is as fast as cable. I'm teetering on cancelling cable already.

In the US, you can get pure plans and unlocked phones, too.
Go to amazon.com and search "unlocked cell phone."
Plenty of stores have them, even your local drug store.
Any cell phone carrier offers plans without a phone bundled in.
T-Mobile and many smaller carriers base their business around them. For instance, here is an advertisement: http://www.t-mobile.com/bring-your-own-phone.html

It's 0% if you have good credit.

http://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-deals.html

It's unlimited in that they drop him to Edge speeds if he goes over. It costs $20/line for unlimited 4G. Which is still the best deal going. Sprint probably just cuts users off, and other carriers start charging per MiB.

https://www.t-mobile.com/cell-phone-plans?cm_mmc_o=VzbpjmwzygtCjC-czywEwllCjCVzbpjmwzygtCjCVzbpjmwzygt

Two quick statements, and then the rest. First, I agree fully with your comment. Second, I disagree with your subject line entirely, since the OP was describing a completely different problem than the one you're addressing.

I agree that OSes need to be EOL'd and that there's nothing wrong with companies doing so, but that it would be far better if they wouldn't take steps to obsolesce devices before their time by making it more difficult than necessary to continue using a perfectly functional device. That said, wouldn't you agree that there's quite a big difference between EOLing your iPod touch almost two years after it was no longer on sale, and what we see with many Android phones, where they're effectively EOL'd while they're still on sale? That's the sort of problem the OP was talking about, rather than the one you discussed.

Your iPod touch:
  Last available for purchase in September 2008
  Came with the latest version of iOS at the time of purchase
  Capable of running the latest version of iOS until June 2010

Contrast that with T-Mobile's Android offerings, all of which are available for sale today, yet only two of them (the Nexus 4 and the Galaxy S4) out of the fourteen listed will be running the latest version of Android when you open the box of your "new" smartphone. Some of them support upgrades, of course, but not all of them, and many of those that do offer upgrades only upgrade as far as 4.1.2, which hasn't been the latest version of Android since last November. I'm sure if I went poking around hard enough, I could probably dig up some 2.3 phones that are still being sold as new today too.

So, yes, while both Android and iOS make it more difficult to use a perfectly functional, older device than it should be, the problem being addressed here is an entirely different one that Android bears.

I realize that none of these carriers are in the US

Deutsche Telekom is on the list, and it has a U.S. division.

I totally agree with the AC and disagree with raehl. I live in Minneapolis, and I get excellent coverage (HSPA = up to 18 megs down at work in Eden Prairie). I recently went on a trip to Tucson, Arizona, not knowing what to expect; I was getting 4G coverage in areas on the outskirts of town.

Every carrier has low spots. It's not the carrier's job to make sure there is 4G coverage in every little zone you are going to be driving, that would be a waste of money ! It's your job as a consumer - go ask coworkers, friends, family, etc, who are using that specific carrier before you make the jump. Also, T Mobile has a perfectly functional coverage map that you could have used http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/pcc.aspx/ .

I realize T mobile isn't perfect. I use the $30 pay-per-month 5GB unthrottled @ 4G plan, and sometimes they treat you like a second-rate customer when you call in. I would have tried Republic Wireless if they didn't have such outdated phones.

So which U.S. prepaid carriers do you recommend for fewer than 30 minutes a month and no data?

T-Mobile prepaid plan is the cheapest per year (me thinks) - $100 gets you 1000 minutes that last for a year and remaining mins carry over on renewal. My parents have been on this plan for more than 3 years. They've never complained (N. California residents)

Thanks for the info. I would guess that paying an early term fee would count as "fully satisfying contractual obligations." Or maybe T-Mo can unlock it for you. Now that I've had time to look at it, their site says "If you need to unlock your phone, contact your carrier or visit a smartphone unlocking website" and a link to www.releasemycode.com . Fine print says "Check your warranty and contract with your carrier to see what conditions apply to unlocking your device. T-Mobile is not affiliated with and does not endorse releasemycode.com. Use at your own risk."

Probably, it depends on who you talk to. If you walk into an AT&T store, you might get a cool guy who will unlock it for you with no hassle, or you might get a guy who won't unlock it no matter what documentation you shove in his face. And an early term fee will be at least $95 from AT&T, and that's if you only have one month left: "$325 minus $10 for each full month of completed Service Commitment" -- so 23 months in you'd still owe ($325 - $230) = $95.

You mean 4G speeds. It's still right there on their prepaid plan page. "$30 per month — Unlimited web and text with 100 minutes talk: 100 minutes talk | Unlimited text | First 5GB at up to 4G speeds"

There's a pretty trivial hack to disable TMoUS's ability to detect tethering, so unless they've changed how they do that the nominal limit on tethering is irrelevant. Basically, use a "custom" APN that just happens to be the normal phone-data APN. The default configuration uses a different APN for tethered data, which they use to track your usage. By setting the custom APN, all data is routed through there and treated as phone data.

The $30/mo for 1500min plan is still available, it's just been relegated to relatively small print near the bottom of the page. http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans still lists it (and the $30 for unlimited texts and data, 100min talk) though, as well as the new plans. You just have to scroll down a bit.

They actually still do, those plans just aren't marketed hard anymore. See the last two plans listed on this page, specifically the one on the left: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans

Yeah, I don't know why they aren't marketing plans those better; to most people I think they're much better options. I'm sure there are people who still need unlimited minutes, but personally I almost never use even the 300 minutes that it would take to make that plan have the same cost as the baseline new plan ($30/mo w/ 100min + 200 addl. min/mo at $0.10/min = $50/mo for 300mi/mo) and I definitely use a hell of a lot more data than that (it helps that I'm on an effectively unlimited plan, but even counting tethering I almost never break 2GB; I'm currently at around 1GB).

Or, you can look at these plans and get 2.5gb data, unlimited talk, unlimited text, for 60$/mo, no commitment.

Been on that plan for over a year now. These plans aren't new, just previously burried.

Many phones can work with T-mobile's service over wifi. For me that's at least as good as having a local cell extender.

http://t-mobile-coverage.t-mobile.com/4g-wireless-broadband-service

However, it appears the iPhone may not be able to use this initially.

http://www.engadget.com/2013/03/26/t-mobile-iphone-no-wifi-calling-feature-enabled/

From the t-mobile web page, below the big banner saying "No annual contract":

General Terms: At participating locations. Domestic only. Credit approval, $35/line activation fee, and two-year contract with up to $200/line early cancellation fee required; deposit may apply. If you switch plans you may be bound by existing or extended term (including early cancellation provisions) and/or charged an up to $200 fee. You may be unable to switch to some plans.

Maybe it's just a glitch but I wouldn't bank on it.

For what it's worth: I'm a T-mobile customer. This new deal would cost me $5/month more than I pay now. It would get more but it's more than I don't actually use.

Great. Now all they need to do is expand coverage - as much as I want to switch from Verizon to T-Mobile, it won't do me much good if half the time I can't get a signal.

Question for anyone with T-Mobile currently: I've been talking with my wife about switching to the prepaid, 100 minutes/month, unlimited text/data plan, but a big hangup is that her hometown is in the "Service Partner" coverage area on the T-Mobile coverage map. What data speeds/caps do the prepaid plans in service partner areas, if they are allowed to use data at all?

Actually, wifi calling is not aimed at the cheapest plans. It still uses your minutes unless you purchase an unlimited wifi add-on which is only available for the more expensive plans.
http://support.t-mobile.com/docs/DOC-1680#Billing

You think that's true, but quote a few offers to prove it.

T-Mobile unlimited is $70 a month: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

That's about $20 less per month than a similar AT&T or Verizon plan, which is $480 over 2 years. Saves maybe $30, but then again T-Mobile's 4G sucks compared to the LTE for AT&T and Verizon (in my area, at least) so the extra $1.25 a month for LTE seems fair.

http://www.howardforums.com/showwiki.php?title=General+Prepaid+Wiki:Prepaid+Rate+Plan+Comparison

T-Mobile still offers their "unlimited web & text with 100 minutes talk" plan through their web site. It was originally a Wal-Mart plan. I've been quite happy with it. Never needed more than 100 minutes, but if I do, it's only 10 cents per extra minute.

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

I get my prepaid refills from third party web sites that offer them at a slight discount. For example, $30 of refill value for $29.70 (or less with a coupon code). Here's one:

https://www.callingmart.com/

It's worth noting that, unlike most postpaid/contract plans, there are no additional tariffs or other fees to push a $30 plan up to $35 or so. I really do pay less than $30 per month.

T-Mobile prepaid has some of the lowest rates. They have a 1500 minutes/text plan for $30 a month, or you can just do a flat 10 cents per text. http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com

There's also H2O Wireless that has a 5 cent per minute plan.

Try living in the Western half of the US, having T-Mobile, and going on a road trip.

http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/pcc.aspx/

I plan to: T-Mobile has $30 for 5gb 4G+unlimited txt+100 min. talk and Ting's plans are only for smartphones; both get good reviews.

According to this page it looks like they're still doing it.

T-Mobile does have monthly prepaid plans so I'd expect it is something like this, paid for a month starting at the time they put these things together, which means they probably have a week or so left on them now.

If they'd sell me an iPhone with voice only service and let me access WiFi only for my data, I'd be on-board, even at $600 up front

T-Mobile value plans are $40/mo for 500 minutes of talk plus 2GB of data. That's what I was paying on AT&T just for voice.

You have to bring your own phone, and the iPhone is not compatible with their 3G network. But I like my Nexus S well enough.

Show me the free iphone WITHOUT a contract. A contract phone is not free because you end up paying more for service than on a MTM plan.

mtm
$60/mo, "unlimited" talk/text/web (2 gb @ 4G)
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

contract
$69.99/mo, "unlimited" talk/text/web (2 gb @ 4G)
http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/individual-plans.aspx

So over two years, the free phone costs 239.76.

Show me the free iphone WITHOUT a contract. A contract phone is not free because you end up paying more for service than on a MTM plan.

mtm
$60/mo, "unlimited" talk/text/web (2 gb @ 4G)
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/monthly-4g-plans

contract
$69.99/mo, "unlimited" talk/text/web (2 gb @ 4G)
http://www.t-mobile.com/shop/plans/individual-plans.aspx

So over two years, the free phone costs 239.76.

The problem is the lack of advertising, and different sales markets for plans.

T-Mo advertises their contract plans, but most people don't know jack about their pay as you go monthy no-contract plans. Most don't know you can get unlimited talk, text, and data on those plans.

While more expensive than 16euro a month, the 60$/mo pay as you go plan looks pretty compelling.

T-mobile prepaid and pay as you go plans

No ETF, unlimited voice, text, and data (but with a cap...), and cheaper than ATT and verizon ever thought about being. Also, those plans allow tethering. :D