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Cheap cell phone plan for three months in US

Busoni — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 17:55:01 -0800

Looking for a cheap pay-as-you-go or pre-paid plan, to use until the end of December. I have a Motrola Razr (v3r, or something like it, as I recall), which I used to use with T-Mobile, although I'm not opposed to buying a cheap phone for the interim (although it'd have to very cheap). What are my options? I might go through the entire week without making a call, or if I'm out, maybe three calls max. I'm not interested in texting.

Ups and downs of international broadband card rentals?

middleclasstool — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 09:35:10 -0800

How good are international broadband rental places like wifirents.com? Friend is going to Mexico to do some missionary work, doesn't have a broadband card for his laptop, and doesn't want to get locked into a contract, as he's planning to switch carriers when his current cell plan runs out and get a new smartphone. Meantime, he'd like to have broadband access while he's out of the country.

I'm trying to find him a decent solution, and unfortunately so far can't find anyone in the US that sells mobile broadband cards with international access on a month to month or pre-paid basis. I found wifirents, which sounds like it could work, but have never heard of it and don't want to accidentally rope this friend into a bunch of hidden charges or dodgy service. He's a minister and doing this out of pocket, so he's very much on a budget here.

Has anyone here had experiences with services like this that they'd recommend, or another solution?

Help me find 3G data in the USA!

nafrance — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 02:40:50 -0800

I'll be in NYC and Boston for a couple of weeks, and I'd like to get a SIM card for Pay-As-You-Go 3G data. I have the requisite hardware, I just need the SIM. I have an unlocked USB 3G modem (UK O2 Huawei E160G), as well as my unlocked BlackBerry Bold.
I'd like to find a SIM card to pop in either one to get me some 3G data.

Clearly I want PAYG as I can't get a contract and am not in the US for long.
Speeds aren't so much an issue, nor is transfer - some emailing and light browsing is all I need.

Some Google research offered the ATT GoPhone as a suggestion, but it seems the unlimited-$20-a-month-data is out now.

Any suggestions, HiveMind?
(Somewhere to get the SIM or cheap phone package in EWR or BOS would be awesome too!)

Should we go with a pay-as-you-go cellphone from kajeet?

misha — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 17:00:19 -0800

We think it would be a good idea for our teens to have (a) cell phone(s) . We're considering kajeet and a pay-as-you-go plan. Good/bad idea? Details inside. Here's the situation:
Our kids, like most teens, have lots of social/school-related activities going on, and we need a way to contact them and vice versa to arrange pick-up times, in case of emergencies, the usual stuff.

I have an Iphone (original, not new hotness version), and use AT&T, but only because that's all that's available. AT&T phone service is awful in our area--people can't even hear me when I'm calling from our home. My spouse's Blackberry (Verizon) has great service, but it's a work phone, and they pick up the tab.

We don't feel there would be any savings for us, in our situation, to go with some kind of family plan. I can't see making anyone else go with AT&T, and he can't share his Verizon (which is much better) with us all.

Our oldest hates talking on the phone unless he absolutely has to (prefers gmail), but our youngest is more social and I could see him accidentally racking up overages (something other parents have told us horror stories about). We'd prefer to keep it simple, not have to pay a lot of incremental fees, and just set a reasonable limit on the phone(s).

So, we are considering a pay-as-you-go-plan with Kajeet, which offers budgeting options (so the kids can pay for more time if they want it) and parental controls if we need them. Anyone have any experience, good or bad, with them specifically?

Also, if you have a "pay as you go" plan with your kids with another carrrier, how is that working out for you? Is this the right way to go, in our situation, or are we making a huge mistake?

How to get a PAYG first generation iPhone

alitorbati — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 02:03:16 -0800

I'm interested in buying an OLD iPhone and using it with AT&T's pay as you go service. If I choose the Pay as You Go Unlimited plan, which is 10 cents per minute + 1 dollar per day only on the days I use my phone, should I be able to 1) use a payg sim card with the iphone straight out of the box, and 2) add a text messaging bundle to this? Also, is it possible to get a payg sim card without having to purchase a phone directly from at&t? If possible, can someone give me a quick run through of the steps i would take? for example, 1) buy first gen iphone on craigslist; 2) visit at&t store and sign up for payg; 3) add text bundle; 4)?

I am aware that I won't have unlimited data. Is there some setting I can change so that I never connect to the edge network for data?

Is it totally pointless for me to get PAYG with an iphone? My reasoning is that instead of carrying an ipod and a cheap-o PAYG phone, I can combine them. I won't loose any functionality i currently have and the price will be comparable to what i currently pay (hopefully).

Cellular Seoul

artof.mulata — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 23:23:46 -0800

s. korea filter: in seoul for two weeks and wondering about pay-as-you-go phones. existent? procurable? where? how? i sure could use one while i'm there...

Pay-as-you-go unlimited data for first-gen iPhone in the UK?

-1 — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 08:16:33 -0800

I've got an unlocked iPhone (first-gen) running 1.1.4. Currently, I use AT&T's PAYG w/ Unlimited MediaNet to get unlimited data for $20/month. I'll soon be going to the UK, and I'd like to set up a similar arrangement. I'd like some advice as to how to accomplish this. I rarely make calls (<10 a month), and I almost never send texts -- what I really want is unlimited data on my iPhone. I'm having a hard time figuring out what (if any) pay-as-you-go tariffs in the UK will allow me to do this.

Since I've got a first-gen iPhone, I can't just use any old 3G SIM, so I'd like any recommendations as to what networks have plans that allow for unlimited EDGE usage. I'm willing to deal with GPRS if I have to, but EDGE is definitely preferred.

(I say "unlimited", but realistically I'm not gonna use more than 5GB/month, so reasonable caps are fine.)

Thanks in advance!

What's the cheapest cell phone plan?

k8t — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 12:37:39 -0800

Finding a cell phone plan. 517 + cheap - $20/month or less. I'm looking for a cell phone plan for a college student who has almost no money. I would be willing to pay for a phone for her that would be $20/month or less. This is for her safety and to ensure that I can get ahold of her easily.

Her zip code is 49224 and the area code is 517.

She would probably do some text messaging. Her phone calls would mostly be to people in her area code and some to people in other area codes. I would instruct her to try to keep her calls to a minimum outside of the freebie times. She does occasionally travel outside of her area code and would need to use the phone outside of her area.

I don't know if a pay-as-you-go would end up being more expensive than a plan. Aren't most pay-as-you-go plans rip offs? I have a used Sprint phone here that I think could be transferred over to her, I think. Sprint has a $30/month plan with 200 anytime minutes. I also have an older Nokia CDMA phone that I could give to her.

Any recommendations?

How do I pay for my adventures?

Blandanomics — Thu, 16 Mar 2006 11:22:36 -0800

Travelers I need your help....how did you pay for it? Im your average college kid who need to get out in the world, but budget is lacking. I've seen previous posts on getting jobs at the places you are traveling and such, and I understand there a cheap ways of staying places with couch surfing and hostels a but eventually I would take on some costs. So I am curious:
Those of you who have done extensive traveling how did you pay for it?
Did you save up a whole bunch of money and go?
Did you say "screw it" and just left?
Did you do odd jobs along the way?