Prepaid Cell Phone Carrier, T-Mobile Phone

burbo

Hey folks. I'm looking to do a career switch that will probably result in me having less money for a while. I want to save money in all the places that I can, and this seems like an easy one. Do you have any advice on prepaid cell phone carriers? Who should I be looking at for T-Mobile?

I remember seeing one that I liked quite a bit a while back could take any phone. It was called Red-something I think, I can't remember the name. Any help with advice or the best companies to use where I wouldn't have to switch phones is much appreciated! Thanks!

VishNub

Do you already own a phone outright that you’re happy with?

burbo

Yes, I do.

VishNub

All the major carriers (mobile, att, verizon) have prepaid plans between $35-45 with 3-8gb of high speed data and unlimited everything else. It's fairly trivial to switch between them (I've had all three in the past 12 months), but it's worth asking your friends/coworkers/etc... about who has the best coverage in your area. Tmobile is usually (though not always) a little bit cheaper than ATT/Verizon for the same data, but coverage is worse, in my experience.

The other carriers basically run on the same networks, and sometimes cost less, but have (as I understand it, though I'm far from expert) lower priority on the network so sometimes it will be slower. The cost savings may be worth it to you.

Check the websites, see what they're offering (ie. https://www.verizonwireless.com/prepaid/) then walk into the corresponding store and have them set it up.

zepherin

Walmart's plan (straight talk) uses the T-mobile network (GSM), and is cheap.

Cricket Wireless uses AT&T's network and that is also GSM so you should be able to keep your phone.

ASimPerson

I used T-Mo's prepaid for years. If you own the phone outright and have T-Mo it should be easy to unlock it as well.

Burtletoy

I just switched from T-Mobiles prepaid plan of 4gb for $40 to Walmarts TMobile plan of 3gb for $30. I'm always on wifi so the data don't matter much

And my phone just autocorrected TMobile two different ways?

burbo

Anyone heard if Red Pocket works well? That seems to be the cheapest option I can find.

Nathrak

I was looking at Mint Mobile, but haven't used them myself. Uses T-Mobile's network and seems like they have good prices. They have a $5 trial pack on Amazon you can get to test performance and comes with another sim card to use if you want to get a plan and continue service.