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Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 6:02 am
by snyder66
I am getting tempted to get an actual data plan along with an Iphone. I'm on wifi only with page plus and there are many instances where I could use data. Any suggestion?

Re: Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 6:30 am
by ataloss
Probably I am odd but other than email I don't use data. Screen is small and I am usually not far from a pc. What is it that people us big data plans for?

Re: Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 6:36 am
by Sidney
There are a lot of data oriented apps that present the info in a way that makes the small screen useable. Plus there are streaming apps like Pandora and internet radio that give you access to a lot of music & talk radio. If you go into a phone store, the thing that is very noticeable is that the new models are coming out with bigger screens. Apple will have to adjust their offering. Samsung and HTC have some pretty nice units with larger screens.

Re: Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 7:03 am
by Tom_T
Sidney wrote:There are a lot of data oriented apps that present the info in a way that makes the small screen useable. Plus there are streaming apps like Pandora and internet radio that give you access to a lot of music & talk radio. If you go into a phone store, the thing that is very noticeable is that the new models are coming out with bigger screens. Apple will have to adjust their offering. Samsung and HTC have some pretty nice units with larger screens.
Rumor is that the next iPhone will have a bigger screen (same size unit, but screen will be taller.)

Re: Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 7:20 am
by centrifuge41
Cheapest plan? Buy a used AT&T iPhone (say, a 3gs or iPhone 4). Go on Straight Talk Sim and buy a $15 AT&T compatible sim. This lets you use the $45 "unlimited"* talk/text/data straight talk plan (AT&T network) on your GSM iPhone.

*Just don't exceed ~100MB/day or ~2GB/month of data usage, or you might get warned.

Re: Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 7:59 am
by Sidney
centrifuge41 wrote:Cheapest plan? Buy a used AT&T iPhone (say, a 3gs or iPhone 4). Go on Straight Talk Sim and buy a $15 AT&T compatible sim. This lets you use the $45 "unlimited"* talk/text/data straight talk plan (AT&T network) on your GSM iPhone.

*Just don't exceed ~100MB/day or ~2GB/month of data usage, or you might get warned.
So, according to StraightTalk, "unlimited" means only a certain amount?

Any experience with their service level (connect, drops etc)?

Re: Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 8:14 am
by tetractys
Checkout Simple Mobile. -- Tet

Re: Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 8:35 am
by jebmke
Tom_T wrote:Rumor is that the next iPhone will have a bigger screen (same size unit, but screen will be taller.)
I looked at the HTC One the other day. Nice form factor. Can't comment on functionality because I didn't get a chance to tinker with it.

Re: Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 9:37 am
by norookie
:happy

Re: Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 9:51 am
by jebmke
norookie wrote:
centrifuge41 wrote:Cheapest plan? Buy a used AT&T iPhone (say, a 3gs or iPhone 4). Go on Straight Talk Sim and buy a $15 AT&T compatible sim. This lets you use the $45 "unlimited"* talk/text/data straight talk plan (AT&T network) on your GSM iPhone.

*Just don't exceed ~100MB/day or ~2GB/month of data usage, or you might get warned.
You get warned @ 75%, and charged if you exceed your time. Thats the deal you made, right.
How is it that they can sell it on their web site as "unlimited"?

Re: Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 10:06 am
by norookie
:happy

Re: Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 10:38 am
by jebmke
I see. You are talking about AT&T. The previous poster was talking about Straight Talk, not AT&T. AT&T does not sell an unlimited data plan if I recall correctly.

Re: Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 12:02 pm
by dcb
centrifuge41 wrote:Cheapest plan? Buy a used AT&T iPhone (say, a 3gs or iPhone 4). Go on Straight Talk Sim and buy a $15 AT&T compatible sim. This lets you use the $45 "unlimited"* talk/text/data straight talk plan (AT&T network) on your GSM iPhone.

*Just don't exceed ~100MB/day or ~2GB/month of data usage, or you might get warned.

I am a rather light user of my cell phone and even lighter user of cellular data on my phone. I only use cellular data on the road when no free wireless available).

Here is what I have done to keep the cost low.

I accepted a gift of an 'outdated' iPhone 3 from one of my adult kids who 'needs' the latest and greatest iPhone when available. Then bought an unactivated AT&T Go Phone sim card for a couple of bucks on Ebay. I activated the phone on the ATT Go Phone web site and signed up for the $25 pay-as-you-go plan (250 minutes and unlimited messagges). I then added a $25 data package (1Gb). As long as I keep my account active by refilling the $25 pay-as-you-go plan, the data will rollover month to month. The 1GB of data will last me 4-5 months or more, so for approximately $30/mo a get all the talk time, messaging, and data I need.

Up until a few months ago one could do the same thing on their 10 cent a minute pay plan and just add $5 (50MB) of data each month but that no longer works.

don

Re: Cheapest Iphone Plan

Posted: Sat May 26, 2012 12:27 pm
by cacophony
The cheapest iPhone plan depends on your usage patterns.

For really low usage, these are the best options...

ATT network (if your phone is locked to ATT):
Airvoice $10 monthly plan (http://www.airvoicewireless.com/Plans10Min.aspx)
H20 $10 minute plan (https://www.h2owirelessnow.com/pageCont ... category=W) <-- need to switch the tab to "Minute Plans"
These plans are similar but Airvoice support is much better. If you add $10/month the remaining balance rolls over for both plans.

T-Mobile/ATT network (if your GSM iPhone is not locked to ATT):
Tru Phone Sim (http://www.truphone.com/en-US/Products/ ... e-Checker/)
This is a good option if you also want to use your phone internationally. The money you add also never expires, so for *really* low usage this is a great option (as low as 4 cents per month!). The big disadvantages are: (1) Data is currently only on Edge network (2) Data usage is rounded up to 100KB per usage and the iPhone uses 1-2KB per hour for background stuff. So you'll end up being charged about 2 cents per hour for data if you leave your cellular modem on. In other words, you need to make sure you disable 3G/Edge when not in use to avoid this constant data drain.

Here are some useful sites:
http://www.prepaidphonenews.com/2012/04 ... s-you.html
http://www.prepaidphonenews.com/
http://www.howardforums.com/forumdispla ... discussion