US Prepaid SIM Cards

Vivixenne

Okay so I might be heading out to the US in the late summer/early fall for a cross-country visit (yes, PAX is a planned destination if the trip becomes a reality). I have a cell phone that is GSM-ready and all that fun stuff (my phone will work pretty much anywhere in the world), but what I need is a US-based SIM card.

My SIM card here in China doesn't roam and the ones that do are ridiculously expensive.

I've looked online a bit and it looks like the only prepaid SIM cards I can get have to be bought online and then shipped to me, and that's not exactly ideal.

Are there cellphone providers in the States that sell only prepaid SIM cards? Not prepaid phones/plans or whatever? If I walked up to a kiosk or into their store, would they even know what I'm talking about?

(I used T-Mobile when I lived in the States and had the full plan and everything so I never bothered asking them about this sort of thing.)

The exact number of minutes that come with the SIM card itself isn't important; I know I can charge it up later if necessary.

Thanks in advance!

Deusfaux

what bands does your gsm phone support? or which phone do you have?

you MIGHT just have to buy the cheapest prepaid GSM phone you can find here to get the SIM that comes with it

probably like $30 or something

AngelHedgie

I'd take a look at T-Mobile - they may have SIM chips for their pay-as-you-go service.

Vivixenne

t Deusfaux:

My phone supports GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900. (It's a quadband phone. Samsung D900. Oh gosh I really want the U600 though.)

I kinda figured that getting the SIM card would be cheaper than getting a cheap phone with the card in it... is that not the case, then?

The Cat

even here, prepaid phones are cheap enough that I wouldn't bother mucking around with a special SIM - they come with their own anyway and $10 credit, which should cover most of a shortish holiday. I got one for $60 total when my old phone broke near the end of my contract. its handy to have a backup around, too, I've used it a few times since.

Jimmy King

Vivixenne wrote: »

t Deusfaux:

My phone supports GSM 850, 900, 1800, 1900. (It's a quadband phone. Samsung D900. Oh gosh I really want the U600 though.)

I kinda figured that getting the SIM card would be cheaper than getting a cheap phone with the card in it... is that not the case, then?

It's not so much whether it's cheaper or not, it's whether you can get one without the phone at all. The US mobile phone market is all retarded and very different than most (all?) other places in the world. The carriers do everything they can to lock you in and force you to buy all equipment from them, so they don't really do things like just sell the SIM, so that you HAVE to buy a phone from them even for pre-paid stuff. I know I've never seen just the SIM for sale (not that I've looked).

The Cat

eh, its the same here. Didn't think there was any other system. Are europe outdoing us again?

GiantRobo

Vivixenne wrote: »

Okay so I might be heading out to the US in the late summer/early fall for a cross-country visit (yes, PAX is a planned destination if the trip becomes a reality). I have a cell phone that is GSM-ready and all that fun stuff (my phone will work pretty much anywhere in the world), but what I need is a US-based SIM card.

My SIM card here in China doesn't roam and the ones that do are ridiculously expensive.

I've looked online a bit and it looks like the only prepaid SIM cards I can get have to be bought online and then shipped to me, and that's not exactly ideal.

Are there cellphone providers in the States that sell only prepaid SIM cards? Not prepaid phones/plans or whatever? If I walked up to a kiosk or into their store, would they even know what I'm talking about?

(I used T-Mobile when I lived in the States and had the full plan and everything so I never bothered asking them about this sort of thing.)

The exact number of minutes that come with the SIM card itself isn't important; I know I can charge it up later if necessary.

Thanks in advance!

If you get to the US, grab a cheap go phone for $20 with a chip, or go into Cingular or something and sign up for their pre-paid plan. I've had two friends do it.

Jimmy King

The Cat wrote: »

eh, its the same here. Didn't think there was any other system. Are europe outdoing us again?

Yep. I work for a company that deals with content for mobile phones and was originally UK based (not that that would be a requirement for knowing this). Over there you can just pick up a SIM for cheap/prepaid access and drop it in any unlocked GSM phone as long as the phone works on the correct frequency. That's why it's usually recommended to people in the US who will be travelling in europe and will need to use their cell phone to pick up a tri-band (or preferably quad-band now) GSM phone.

Vivixenne

Everywhere in Asia, you can buy a phone OR a SIM card OR both together.

I mean here it's as easy as walking up to a kiosk, pointing to the number you want that's stuck on the board behind the counter, and picking up the SIM card for like USD10. Stick it in a tri- or quad-band phone and you are good to go.

That's generally it.

Still, thanks for the advice guys, looks like I'll have to go with a cheap phone rather than the SIM chip.

Deusfaux

I can call the GSM providers here in canada and ask them if they sell prepaid sims standalone or what their cheapest prepaid phone is

but that might not be teh answer you need for the US

I would suggest emailing customer support for Cingular/AT&T and T-Mobile, the 2 big GSM providers in the US

Vivixenne

Thanks for the offer, DF, it's greatly appreciated.

Yeah I think I'm gonna talk directly to T-Mobile about this... or at least ask one of my friends Stateside to.

Thanks again.