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Ask Slashdot: Best Pay-as-You-Go Plan For Text and Voice Only?

Posted by timothy on from the sticking-things-places dept.

sconeu writes "My wife uses an assistive communication device. She wants to use it for SMS texting... We currently have Verizon, so we don't have a SIM. The computer will take a SIM. I'm looking for a pay-as-you-go plan where I can take the SIM from a cheap phone and put it in her computer. Any suggestions?" It would be interesting to hear how this question would be best answered both in the U.S. and around the world.

31 of 246 comments (clear)

  1. Local sims are better for roaming by Joe_Dragon · · Score: 2

    Local sims are better for roaming as the costs are VERY HIGH.

  2. StraightTalk by jhaygood86 · · Score: 5, Informative

    StraightTalk has a program just for this called StraightTalk SIM. It's $30/mo for 1000 minutes / 1000 texts or $45 for unlimited.

    1. Re:StraightTalk by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      StraightTalk has a program just for this called StraightTalk SIM. It's $30/mo for 1000 minutes / 1000 texts or $45 for unlimited.

      I work at Walmart and sell a lot of straight talk phones to people, and have activated many "bring your own hardware" plans with the straight talk SIM card, and you can NOT use the $30 a month plan with it, you can only use the thirty dollar plan with the dumbphones with the SIM card locked to the phone serial number that it came with.

      If you're using a straight talk SIM with an unlocked device you can only use the $45 plan, and if you use more than 100-150 MB a day or more than 2GB in a month your service WILL be turned off, without warning or refund.

    2. Re:StraightTalk by gooman · · Score: 2

      "I work at Walmart..."

      You have my deepest sympathy.

      --
      "Kittens give Morbo gas!"
  3. T-mobile by Kotoku · · Score: 4, Informative

    T-Mobile will sell you a SIM only (No Need To Buy A phone) for pay-as-you-go and is a pretty cheap option. Otherwise, many of the pay-as-you-go providers are CDMA based, But for SMS anyone should do.

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    1. Re:T-mobile by OzPeter · · Score: 4, Informative

      T-Mobile will sell you a SIM only (No Need To Buy A phone) for pay-as-you-go and is a pretty cheap option.

      I use T-mobile and when it works it works great. When I decided on them several years ago they were the ones that met my requirements (GSM, unlocked phones, true pre-pay and not monthly contracts). Buying in bulk I get $100 for 1000 minutes, and they don't expire for a year, and I typically use no more than 2000 minutes a year so it is way cheaper than a contract and I hardly ever text anyway (and I also reserve my data usage for when I am in front of a dedicated computer). However I do encounter quite a few dead spots with the network (including my own home), especially once you get away from the more populated areas where it is more a case of dead regions than dead spots. So you need to balance out your particular requirements with the downsides.

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    2. Re:T-mobile by jittles · · Score: 4, Informative

      It's $50 a month for unlimited talk/text and you're still stuck paying for data (included in the price) even if you never use it. I've been wondering the same thing as the author and I still haven't found it. Not everyone needs mobile data.

      Bah. Just sign up for Walmart Family Mobile. You still get T-mobile service and its $45 for unlimited everything. Well, they cap your 3G data, but you can get unlimited edge after you hit the cap. And I rarely hit the cap anyway.

    3. Re:T-mobile by slashkitty · · Score: 4, Informative

      I'll second the T-Mobile option. If you don't send a lot of messages, it's insanely cheap to keep the service activated.. $100 for 1000 messages lasts 1 year... $10 per year after that to keep service active. $1 to buy the sim card with 10 minutes to start to test out.

      --
      -- these are only opinions and they might not be mine.
  4. UK by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    UK Giffgaff.
    Free giffgaff-to-giffgaff texts/calls given £5 top-up every few months.
    Otherwise 6p/text, 10p/min.

    1. Re:UK by thoughtlover · · Score: 2

      Can someone explain to me why this was modded down?

      Overzealous modders that didn't note timothy mentioning that it would be "best answered both in the U.S. and around the world"?

      --
      No sig for you! Come back one year!
  5. Dunno about USA... by tanveer1979 · · Score: 2

    But in India you have a choice of

    GSM prepaird SIM
    GSM postpaid SIM
    CDMA prepaid
    CDMA postpaid

    CDMA network is rare though, India is primarily GSM country.
    Depending upon whether you want lots of free minutes, you have your "packs" and packages.

    Other countries where I have used this is Thailand, where some 200rs equivalent in Indian rupee(4 USD) got me data which was enough for daily skype call for 7 days. Some kind of 15 day unlimited data on GPRS and 3G thing.

    As an international traveller, all you need is an unlocked GSM phone. If you need micro sim card, buy a sim card, and cut it yourself with a sim cutter(costs 120 INR(2.2$). Shops will cut it for you for 1$ equivalent.

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  6. Re:why here? by Dexter+Herbivore · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Because the shop will try to sell you whatever generates the highest commission for them. On /. there's a fair chance that there are some readers who are literally experts on this topic and would be happy to share their knowledge, why not?

  7. Re:Did you go to the store? by demonlapin · · Score: 2

    Not in the US, there aren't. A significant portion of American mobile phones don't even take SIM cards.

  8. Ting! by bziman · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Check out Ting. Brought to you by Tucows. They run on Sprint's CDMA/4G LTE network. I have voice, text messaging, AND data, and I'm paying less than $30 a month (no contracts) - less than half what I was on with Sprint.

    Each component is priced separately, and you only pay for what you use - they automatically move you to the correct service level for each part at the end of each month.

    They have awesome tech support - they actually turn off their hold system during the day, and the phone rings until a human picks up the phone... and then the person you talk to actually KNOWS something, not just follows a script.

    The only "catch" is that you have to buy your phone - but honestly the "free phone" nonsense from other providers is just a way to rope you into a contract where you pay ten times the cost of the phone over the life of the contract.

    Check them out!

    (Disclaimer: Yeah, I get a discount if you use that link to sign up, but go ahead, they're freakin' awesome.)

    1. Re:Ting! by bziman · · Score: 2

      Right, but you need a SIM card... somehow missed that part. But you don't actually need a cell phone contract for that - you can send and receive e-mail using SMS. Check out Email to SMS. Basically, you use the e-mail address associated with their phone number to send a text message. They text back, and you get an e-mail. And if you need mobile Internet, Ting does allow tethering, and sells mobile hotspots. See, I'm on topic!

    2. Re:Ting! by pesho · · Score: 2

      Ting is great (I am with them), bit it is not going to work in this specific case. They need a SIM that can be plugged in the laptop or be exchanged between the laptop and the phone. From the original post it looks like they may be traveling outside US and want to have the option to stick a local SIM to avoid roaming charges. This is not going to work with Ting. Ting is using not only the Sprint network but also Sprint phones (complete with the Sprint logo). These are locked down in chains buried in concrete. Even the LTE phones with radios that can work abroad don't have removable SIMs. So once you step outside US you will be paying like a champ.

    3. Re:Ting! by theskipper · · Score: 2

      Modup. Ting is fantastic for what they do (very low priced usage-based plans) but it's too heavily locked into Sprint for what the article submitter wants. It's basically Sprint opening up their network to capture more price-sensitive customers, but still retains the downside of ESNs. My Galaxy III bill is about $12/mo for text + voice, but to me it's worth the trade-off because I don't use much capacity.

      One of the nicest things about Ting (and other MVNOs) is that it puts pressure on At&t, Verizon and T-mobile to start opening up their networks too. (Except for the iPhone of course; none of them want to lose that $80/mo, 2yr lock-in customer.)

  9. A SIM only plan? by NoNeeeed · · Score: 3, Informative

    Here in the UK (and Europe in general) cheap SIM-only plans are numerous, offered by both the major operators and the large number of "virtual" operators (known as MVNOs) who piggy-back on the actual network operators.

    No need to buy a cheap phone and remove the SIM, they just pop the SIM in the post, or you can buy them at any mobile phone shop.

    There's normally no (or very little) upfront cost. They are available as both pay-as-you-go and contract. Some will offer data, others will be just for voice and text.

    Do you not have such things in the US?

    --
    Paul Leader
    1. Re:A SIM only plan? by NoNeeeed · · Score: 2

      I knew the US mobile "market" was a bit crap, but I hadn't realised that things have been that badly stitched up.

      Not that the UK market is perfect of course (especially now we only have three big operators), but the MVNOs and SIM only plans do create at least some competition.

      --
      Paul Leader
    2. Re:A SIM only plan? by OAB_X · · Score: 4, Informative

      The parent AC is mostly incorrect. The major telecoms only emphasise post-paid plans, but do have pre-paid available without the need to purchase a phone. They don't want to sell them to you however, and will only tell you about pre-paid if you visit their website or ask them specifically.

      In Canada there a dozen or so MVNO's, most of whom operate on a pre-paid model in addition to the 'big three' incumbent companies. Each of the 'big three' providers (Rogers, Bell, Telus) owns one or two MVNO's. Rogers has Fido and Chatr, Bell has Virgin and Telus has Koodo. There are also several highly regional carriers (SaskTel, MTS, Lynx, TBayTel, ICE Wireless, etc.) that offer services where the 'Big 3' do not operate (Northern Quebec, Northwest Territories, Northern Ontario, etc.).

      All that being said, there is only one major GSM network, the Rogers/Fido network. Thus, (until 2008/2009) only Rogers/Fido were offering pre-paid plans you could use with a GSM phone. Telus and Bell were CDMA. In the last few years Telus and Bell have built their own HSPA+ network. Now that they have a network that takes SIM cards, all three of the major players are offering inexpensive pre-paid SIM cards, with fairly expensive per-minute rates (40c/minute, unless you get a pre-paid 'plan'. Some of the plans are even 'free' if you top up frequently enough).

      Further muddying the waters is the fact that most of the MVNOs don't specialise in pre-paid 'long distance' rates or pre-paid 'local' rates. Part of this is because of foreign ownership restrictions. These have been recently eased, but are still tighter than most other countries. Canada is also extremely large, with a small population. Canada is the size of Europe, with 10x fewer people. England, is approximately the same size as Southern Ontario (130,000km^2), but England has 50,000,000 people and Southern Ontario has 12,000,000. Let us not forget that a large part is because the owners of the networks don't want to give anyone a better deal than they give their own customers, at least not appreciably.

      All that being said, the 'big three' all offer prepaid SIMs for $10-$20 dollars, so do most of their sub brands. The MVNOs Petro-Canada Mobility and 7-11 'Speak out' wireless are reasonably easy to find and offer prepaid services depending on where you are visiting.

      Rogers Wireless - http://www.rogers.com/web/content/wireless-products/plans#,Tabset1--4
      Telus Mobility - http://www.telusmobility.com/en/ON/prepaid/rate-plans.shtml
      Bell Mobility - http://www.bell.ca/Mobility/Cell_phone_plans/Prepaid_plans

      Big three 'sub brands' (frequently with regional restrictions ie: major cities):
      Virgin Mobile - Bell Mobility - http://www.virginmobile.ca/en/plans/prepaid-talktext-plans.html?itcid=NAV:58
      Koodo - Telus Mobility - http://koodomobile.com/en/on/plansandboosters.shtml
      Fido - Rogers Wireless - http://www.fido.ca/web/page/portal/Fido/PrepaidPlans?forwardTo=prepaidPlans
      Chatr - Rogers Wireless - http://www.chatrwireless.com/web/chatr.portal?_nfpb=true&_pageLabel=PlanBrowse

      Regional Operators:
      Sasktel - http://www.sasktel.com/personal/mobility/prepaid/index.html
      MTS - http://www.mts.ca/mts/personal/wireless/mts+prepaid+wireless ... etc.

      Independent MVNOs:
      Petro Canada Mobility - (Rogers Network) -

    3. Re:A SIM only plan? by smccurry · · Score: 2

      There's a reason you never hear about the pre-paid plans though, it's because they all cost more than the post-paid ones.

      Not true, they are often cheaper because there's no cost added to pay for your phone subsidy. They aren't advertised because they can't hit you with $1000 of unexpected roaming charges when you leave the country and forget to turn off roaming, because they can't charge you more money than you already pre-paid. They also can't cram a bunch of surcharges onto your bill.

    4. Re:A SIM only plan? by green1 · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Let us test your theory:

      TELUS post paid: cheapest plan $25/mo includes 100 minutes, unlimited evenings and weekends minimum 20c/minute, includes a phone on 2yr term
      TELUS pre paid: cheapest plan $20/mo includes ZERO minutes, unlimited weekends (no evenings), cheap phone about $100 (works out to just over $4/mo over 2 years)
      Breakeven point 3minutes a month of daytime or evening calling. Anything over 3 minutes and you were cheaper on the post paid plan.

      Bell post paid: cheapest plan $27/mo includes 150 minutes, unlimited talk to 5 friends, unlimited messaging, free phone on 2yr term
      Bell pre paid: cheapest plan $10.75/mo, 10c/minute, 10c/message, cheap phone about $120 (works out to $5/mo over 2 years)
      Breakeven point: 112 minutes or texts. Anything over 112 minutes, or 112 texts, or any combination and you were cheaper on the post paid plan.

      Rogers post paid: cheapest plan $27/mo includes 150 daytime, unlimited evening minutes, unlimited texting, $10 phone on 2yr term. (less than 50c/mo)
      Rogers pre paid: cheapest plan $15/mo, 25c/minute + 75c "non government fee", cheap phone about $100, (works out to just over $4/mo over 2 years)
      Breakeven point 30minutes a month. Anything over 30 minutes and you were cheaper on the post paid plan.

      So true, if you don't use your phone at all, all 3 have a cheaper pre paid than post paid option. Bell even has a small window where the pre-paid might be cheaper. TELUS has the cheapest post paid plan, and there's no chance of being cheaper on pre-paid with them, Rogers you'd have to be a VERY light user to be cheaper pre-paid.

      We could examine a larger range of plans, but you'll find the same thing throughout. If you take your phone out of the drawer and use it, pre-paid is always more expensive. The carriers want you on post paid for more than just roaming charges, they want the guaranteed revenue stream, it looks much better on their books than pre-paid does. They're willing to give you all sorts of bonuses to make it happen to. You'd be a fool not to take advantage of them.

  10. Re:My Verizon phone by wiredlogic · · Score: 2

    That's because it's a global phone with GSM support. The SIM isn't used when a CDMA network is available.

    --
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  11. Alternate suggestion by XxtraLarGe · · Score: 2

    You can send text messages to e-mail addresses and vice-versa (see here ), then get a cheap phone from Tracfone or something for voice service if she is able to use a phone for talking. I have my wife set up with a phone that gets triple minutes on the family value plan for $10 . She gets 150 minutes, which roll over from month-to-month. She almost never uses all of them, so this works out quite well for us.

    --
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  12. Re:Did you go to the store? by gsgriffin · · Score: 2

    Confirmed. You have to search for phones on the major providers that can take a SIM card. They are usually called "Global" phones....because you can actually use them outside the US. Most phones come locked into the provider that sells them...like Verizon or AT&T. It really sucks, but you get suckered in by getting a nice phone requiring a 2 year contract. I've avoided those contracts for years, but they really lock you in long term when all of your friends and family are on the same network and then they don't charge for any airtime minutes you use when talking with someone on the same network...ie. I have Verizon....all of my calls to other Verizon users is unlimited for no additional cost.

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  13. Simple Mobile by slimak · · Score: 2

    Wife and I recently signed up for Simple Mobile. It works with TMobile or unlocked GSM phones and is $40 for unlimited talk/text/data (ok, data is probably not really unlimited, but enough for my basic needs). I've only had about 10 days but seems fine. I also found that I can buy the plan online (I used a place called pinzoo) and then avoid tax. May not be best for you since you really only want texting.

  14. Re:Did you go to the store? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    CDMA (though not LTE) phones in the US don't have SIM cards. Look anywhere you like for confirmation. Those that do have SIM cards are almost all carrier-locked.

    You want a GSM service provider if you want to use a SIM card. That is mainly going to limit you to AT&T, T-Mobile, and a few minor prepaid carriers. You can order just a SIM card through these companies if you're going to do pre-paid. They can be had for $1-$10 online.

    GSM is the way to go if you want to have a phone not locked to a specific provider. It also lets you use a different provider just by switching SIM cards. If you want to be able to do that, you need to have an unlocked phone. If you get one through a carrier, it's going to be locked to that carrier. Technically the provider may unlock your phone for you if you meet certain criteria, but in practice they are not very cooperative about doing it. Unlocking the phone yourself was legal in the US until a few days ago. If you want a phone you can easily swap to another carrier, you can search for unlocked phones on Amazon, there's a pretty good selection, but obviously you're going to pay full price for the phone.

  15. Re:pay as you go. by green1 · · Score: 2

    We have monthly plans, and pre pay plans.
    The difference is the monthly plans are honest about it.
    In a monthly plan you pay $X per month to get Y minutes and Z texts
    in a pre-pay plan you pay $X to get Y minutes and Z texts that expire if you don't use them in a month.

  16. Here's a chart of prepaid plans by Foresto · · Score: 4, Informative

    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.

  17. Re:pay as you go. by number11 · · Score: 2

    We have monthly plans, and pre pay plans.
    The difference is the monthly plans are honest about it.
    In a monthly plan you pay $X per month to get Y minutes and Z texts
    in a pre-pay plan you pay $X to get Y minutes and Z texts that expire if you don't use them in a month.

    Most T-mobile (except the $10 cards) expires in 3 months, and roll over if you refill before it expires. After you've spent $100, expiration period lengthens to a year.

  18. Re:Where is the monthly plan dishonest? by green1 · · Score: 2

    I didn't say the monthly plans were dishonest, I said the pre-pay plans were dishonest. and pre-pay is what the carrier calls "pay as you go", they're the same thing.

    Monthly plans are always pay X, get Y. they are honest that way.
    Pre-paid plans on the other hand are pay X and get Y, but only if you use Y within a month. so in effect they are the same as monthly plans, but they pretend to be different because you only buy what you need, when in fact they force you to "need" more than you actually do, so much so that you end up paying as much as a monthly plan anyway.