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Ask Slashdot: A Cheap US Cellphone Plan With an Unlocked Phone?
metrix007 writes "I am a recent immigrant to the U.S. I am used to going to countries and paying a small amount, say, $30, for a simcard and using it with my unlocked phone. I can't seem to do that in the U.S., where the only options seem to be to buy a phone and buy minutes as I need them such as with Tracfone, or a contract where I pay an amount per month to pay off a phone and a certain amount of minutes. I have a Google Nexus One, which is better than any phone offered on the basic plans from all the cell providers. Is there any way I can use it as a cell phone in the U.S. for about $30-$50/month? It seems a shame to waste it and have to pay for a lesser phone."
Simple Mobile. Enough said.
get the online/walmart $35 plan which has unlimited data or pay by the minute at 10 cents a minute if you don't use it much. You can also get unlimited text/data/voice on at&t or t-mobile through net10 for $45/month - check their website as the deal is online only. tell it you are using an at&t locked phone if you want at&t otherwise they send t-mobile by default
Get a web developer
Go to the T-Mobile web-store and buy a SIM activation kit for $1. When you receive it, follow the activation instructions on the web and when it asks you to choose your plan, select "Monthly 4G $30"
* Unlimited internet*
* Unlimited Text
* 100 minutes talktime
It's basically a prepay deal where the available balance will drop by $30 a month, so you just need to top-up once a month, and make sure you have enough credit to cover any calls you make over the 100 minutes No ongoing contracts.
Deal is web-only.
*Unlimited internet means up to 5GB at HSPDA+ speeds.
I'm surprised to see that nobody has mentioned frequency bands yet. It sounds like your phone is a European model. The problem is that different parts of the world use different frequencies for mobile phone service, and now even different technologies, too.
From what I understand, pretty much all of Europe uses the GSM on the same frequency bands, so you can shuffle around SIM cards all day. But in the US, the frequencies are different from Europe. Even more of a problem is that GSM isn't dominant here. And now 3G and 4G are coming.
So sure, you could stick in a SIM card, but can your phone even talk on the right frequencies? If it is a "quad band" phone, you may be in luck.
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http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm I think you'll find something you can use.