- Frugal Smartphone? - 16 Updates
- Frugal Smartphone? - 1 Update
| The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com>: Aug 12 08:21PM -0700 On 08/12/2015 12:17 PM, Bob F wrote: > Just turn off data except when you need it. 2000minutes/1yr for $80, 100 > minutes/4mo $10, minutes carry over if you don't let them expire, so you have to > keep track of renew date. Data available, texts $.05, data $.10/megabyte. Got a URL? I looked at the PP site and couldn't find anything even close to that :-( -- Cheers, Bev xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx "Once you've provoked a few people into publicly swearing they are going to hunt you down and kill you, the thrill wears off." -Elric of Imrryr |
| "Bob F" <bobnospam@gmail.com>: Aug 12 09:48PM -0700 The Real Bev wrote: >> Data available, texts $.05, data $.10/megabyte. > Got a URL? I looked at the PP site and couldn't find anything even > close to that :-( Pay-as-you-go plans https://www.pagepluscellular.com/plans/ |
| RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com>: Aug 13 08:37AM +0100 On 13/08/2015 05:48, Bob F wrote: >> close to that :-( > Pay-as-you-go plans > https://www.pagepluscellular.com/plans/ Is this one of the few things that we get cheaper in the UK? I pay £10/month ($15) for the equivalent of their $30 plan. Not exactly a reason to up sticks . . . ;-) Mind, the home broadband effectively costs $50/month for a 100Mb service. -- Cheers, Rob |
| Dee <d@d.d>: Aug 13 11:23AM Beaver_Fever@live.com wrote in > what should I do here? > This has the opportunity to be the last great MCFL on topic > thread, let's make it count! Tracfone now has BYOP (Bring Your Own Phone). Buy a used Verizon post-paid smartphone on eBay (or even new, there is a seller with new Moto G phones for $45 on eBay). Then switch your service to the new phone (may require an ESN change and/or new SIM card, I'm not sure). I'm on Page Plus now and have recommended them in the past, but they are more expensive than Tracfone. I'll probably be switching to TF in the next couple of months. Dee |
| trader4@optonline.net: Aug 13 06:39AM -0700 On Wednesday, August 12, 2015 at 12:13:40 PM UTC-4, Beaver...@live.com wrote: Check out Ting. It's prepaid where you buy the amount of V, T, D that you need. Like most VMNOs, Ting rides on Sprint, so how well it would work depends on the Spring coverage in the area you're using it in. |
| trader4@optonline.net: Aug 13 06:58AM -0700 On Wednesday, August 12, 2015 at 6:09:29 PM UTC-4, Bruce Esquibel wrote: > A friend of mine was using them, keyword, was. > -bruce > bje@ripco.com And getting refunded for what you don't use is such a bad thing? From what I see, you can get a plan with unlimited V/T, 500mb of data for $17.50, and if you don't use all the data, they refund a few bucks at the end of the month. I think the bigger issue with Republic is that the voice call default uses wifi and it only goes on the cellular network if wifi isn't available. I've tried several VOIP services on my phone and they have ranged from terrible to barely acceptable. Nothing like the call quality and reliability from traditional cell companies. Maybe Republic is better, but I don't want to be the one to figure it out. |
| "Bob F" <bobnospam@gmail.com>: Aug 13 07:29AM -0700 RJH wrote: > reason to up sticks . . . ;-) > Mind, the home broadband effectively costs $50/month for a 100Mb > service. Both substantially less than the US. Similar for cable TV I suspect. I've heard much of europe is similarly less. I don't have a cap on my internet though. |
| "Bob F" <bobnospam@gmail.com>: Aug 13 07:38AM -0700 Bob F wrote: > Both substantially less than the US. Similar for cable TV I suspect. > I've heard much of europe is similarly less. I don't have a cap on my > internet though. Oops! No cap memtioned. That's twice as fast as my service. |
| RJH <patchmoney@gmx.com>: Aug 13 04:06PM +0100 On 13/08/2015 15:38, Bob F wrote: >> I've heard much of europe is similarly less. I don't have a cap on my >> internet though. > Oops! No cap memtioned. That's twice as fast as my service. No cap. I'd guess your telecomms people have stitched it all up and created cartels. We have a strange legacy issue, in that our 'backbone' provider (British Telecom) used to be state owned. Since privatisation (mid-80s, Thatcher), government has regulated prices to an extent, but that grip is being loosened. So we'll catch you up ;-) On TV, we have 'Free to Air', which provides a pretty good service for many, but a $200 licence fee is payable to the BBC. Quite a few (me included) don't pay, because we use internet 'catch up' service like the BBC iPlayer. So TV is effectively free, unless you want sports, movies et - in which case it's over to Murdoch etc. It's a funny do. Your food is a lot cheaper than ours, and property in all but the prime areas is a factor of many less to buy/rent. Our direct taxes are higher but then we get the health service. Etc :-) -- Cheers, Rob |
| The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com>: Aug 13 10:12AM -0700 On 08/12/2015 09:48 PM, Bob F wrote: >> close to that :-( > Pay-as-you-go plans > https://www.pagepluscellular.com/plans/ Crap, I just didn't look far enough down the page. With the prepaid 'plans' do you buy unexpirable data in advance or just pay for it as you use it? -- Cheers, Bev +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Little Mary took her skis upon the snow to frisk. Wasn't she a silly girl her little * ? |
| Dennis <dgw80@hotmail.com>: Aug 13 08:03PM >have ranged from terrible to barely acceptable. Nothing like the >call quality and reliability from traditional cell companies. Maybe >Republic is better, but I don't want to be the one to figure it out. I've been using Republic for about 8 months now (my kids have been on it for about 1 year longer - they were my test cases). I have had no problems with the call quality on wifi (at home, at work or at any of the hotspots I've used), but maybe it varies with the quality of your wifi signal. My only other experience with VOIP was with the GrooVeIP app (via Google Voice) and the Republic quality is consistenly better than that was. My phone is on their $10/month plan (unlimited cell talk and text, plus wifi talk, text and data when available). It works great for me, but I am intrigued by their new scheme where I can buy some cell data and then get refunded for what I don't use. Seems ideal for me as I would only rarely use data when away from wifi. My only complaint is that my daughter's $300 Moto-X phone died after 14 months - just outside of the one-year mfg warranty. Republic support was very slow to respond and didn't offer me any special consideration outside of the mfg's warranty. Maybe that is no different than any other carrier would do - I don't know. (I was kind of hoping for some special treatment since I was a Beta early adopter.) So that kind of erased any savings I might have enjoyed from using Republic vs. any other conventional carrier's plan. Dennis (evil) -- My output is down, my income is up, I take a short position on the long bond and my revenue stream has its own cash flow. -George Carlin |
| trader4@optonline.net: Aug 13 01:26PM -0700 On Thursday, August 13, 2015 at 4:03:24 PM UTC-4, Dennis wrote: > adopter.) So that kind of erased any savings I might have enjoyed from > using Republic vs. any other conventional carrier's plan. > Dennis (evil) IDK what, if anything, a regular carrier would do to help you out with a phone that was out of warranty. I had a friend who had a Motorola Razor with Verizon, he had been a customer for decades, was currently on a ~$100 month plan and Verizon wouldn't do anything for him. Finally, after standing there, arguing in front of other customers, a supervisor finally gave him a number to call at Moto and told him that they might swap it for $100. That's what he ended up doing, so at least he got some help from someplace, but it looks like V just tries to make you go away. And in the case of Republic, with a $10 plan they are hardly making anything to begin with, so they don't have margin to work with. |
| The Real Bev <bashley101@gmail.com>: Aug 13 02:40PM -0700 On 08/13/2015 01:03 PM, Dennis wrote: > than that was. > My phone is on their $10/month plan (unlimited cell talk and text, > plus wifi talk, text and data when available). I got tired of looking around for plans -- all I saw was PHONESPHONESPHONES and I already have one (Motorola Moto G #2, which is a fine phone. http://www.amazon.com/Motorola-Moto-2nd-generation-Unlocked/dp/B00MWI4HW0locked/dp/B00MWI4HW0 > but I am intrigued by their new scheme where I can buy some cell data > and then get refunded for what I don't use. Seems ideal for me as I > would only rarely use data when away from wifi. The only data I seriously want to use when wifi is unavailable is google maps. Osmand is kind of a nuisance to use if you just want to find a place. > 14 months - just outside of the one-year mfg warranty. Republic > support was very slow to respond and didn't offer me any special > consideration outside of the mfg's warranty. You mean you didn't buy it with a credit card that gives you an extra year's warranty? Shame on you! -- Cheers, Bev oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo "I read somewhere that 77 per cent of all the mentally ill live in poverty. Actually, I'm more intrigued by the 23 per cent who are apparently doing quite well for themselves." -- Emo Philips |
| trader4@optonline.net: Aug 13 02:57PM -0700 On Thursday, August 13, 2015 at 5:41:01 PM UTC-4, The Real Bev wrote: > I got tired of looking around for plans -- all I saw was > PHONESPHONESPHONES and I already have one (Motorola Moto G #2, which is > a fine phone. Look at *prepaid plans*. All the carriers have them, they are the lowest cost option and every one I've seen you can bring your own phone, provided it's compatible. |
| Dennis <dgw80@hotmail.com>: Aug 13 10:03PM >And in the case of Republic, with a $10 plan they are hardly >making anything to begin with, so they don't have margin to >work with. I guess what torqued me off most was that I am reasonably convinced that it is a software problem (i.e., there may be a relatively simple, user applicable fix available), but Republic support offered no assistance or even much interest, just suggested that I toss a year-old $300 phone and buy a new replacement at full price. I'm no expert on Android phones, but I am an experienced systems engineer and know my way around PC networking and hardware. And I have done my share of customer technical support. If I find the time, I still may futz around with it and see if I can get it back to normal operation. What have I got to lose? Dennis (evil) -- I'm behind the eight ball, ahead of the curve, riding the wave, dodging the bullet and pushing the envelope. -George Carlin |
| "Bob F" <bobnospam@gmail.com>: Aug 13 03:29PM -0700 The Real Bev wrote: > Crap, I just didn't look far enough down the page. With the prepaid > 'plans' do you buy unexpirable data in advance or just pay for it as > you use it? You pay for it, then use it. I bought 2000 minutes a couple years ago, now add $10 for another 100 minutes every 120 days. Still have lots of the 2000 left carrying over. |
| Derald <derald@invalid.net>: Aug 13 08:47AM -0400 more Pageplus: Neglected to mention that MMS, SMS (etc.), voice mail may be disabled and, unlike other services, they _remain_ disabled until explicitly reactivated. On some services, those functions either cannot be disabled or they reactivate each month.. I use the $10 (no tax in my state) "standard" plan for the emergency/honey-do phone that stays in the truck and the $12.00 ($13+, with tax added) plan for the "home" phone. It's nice to have the phone ring long enough for an old fart to find it. -- Derald |
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