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libertysat

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 10, 2010
247
124
I am currently a iP4 user on Verizon

Once the new iPhone hits street I plan on buying an unlocked GSM from Apple.
I intend, or rather, I want to go to a prepay provider to lower my monthly costs.
Driving me nuts paying over $100/month.
I never use over a gig of data but rack up 3000+ minutes and ~500 texts/month.

I MUST keep my current number, so intend to port my number from Verizon
Are there any gotchas to my plan?

This is my business line and I absolutely do not want to risk losing this number, now or in future.

I know it will be a while before new phone is out but want to have everything in place & ready to go when the day comes.

Most grateful for suggestions...
 

Akack

macrumors 6502a
Mar 5, 2011
685
44
USA
As long as you live in a medium-large city I would give t mobile a try.

$60 bucks for unlimited calls/texts and 2.5 gb data, it's no contract POSTpaid. $50 for same but only .5 gb data.

There is a prepaid mvno that uses t mobiles towers which will be a cost little less but not sure what it all includes.
 

CEmajr

macrumors 601
Dec 18, 2012
4,448
1,228
Charlotte, NC
I second the suggestion of T-Mobile provided that they have coverage in your area. The $60 plan would do you well and you still get the benefits of being postpaid with a major carrier and still having a much cheaper bill than Verizon.

Some of the MVNOs are cheaper but can be a nightmare to deal with if you ever have problems because customer service is almost nonexistent.
 

BruiserB

macrumors 68000
Aug 9, 2008
1,728
701
Keeping your number is not a problem as long as you handle things correctly. With your usage you'll want an unlimited minutes and text plan. Sounds like you wouldn't need unlimited data.

I know T-mobile best because I made the switch to them from AT&T last December. Unless you already know their coverage will work for you, I would recommend you first start with a new number, then try out the service for a while and once you're happy you can port your VZ number just by calling customer service. Time it so that you port very near the end of your billing month as I've heard most companies don't give you a prorated refund of your unused days. AT&T didn't refund me.

At T-mobile you can get unlimited talk and text plans for $50 which include 500MB of 4G and unlimited 2G. This is available both as pre and post paid.

Prepaid can be had for no additional taxes if you buy refill cards online. In fact you can even find discounts on the cards. You will have to pay extra if you want hotspot. T-mo also has less coverage for prepaid than postpaid because they don't allow roaming if you leave T-mo's native coverage area. This might not matter depending on where you use your phone.

Postpaid is more convenient, but your bill will be more than $50 with your state and local taxes. You will get free hotspot capability for some data though. You'll get better roaming if you need it. With postpaid you don't have to worry about refilling.
 

libertysat

macrumors regular
Original poster
Nov 10, 2010
247
124
Thanks for replies so far

I left out couple importent-to-me details.
1) TM/Sprint coverage won't do it for me. They are good urban area but I am in boonies a lot in Arizona
2) Gotta use ATT network, Verizon is better for me but page plus warns about possible iphone porting occasionally goes wrong and number gets permanently lost in ozone - unwilling to risk it.
 

Diseal3

macrumors 65816
Jun 29, 2008
1,072
95
Thanks for replies so far

I left out couple importent-to-me details.
1) TM/Sprint coverage won't do it for me. They are good urban area but I am in boonies a lot in Arizona
2) Gotta use ATT network, Verizon is better for me but page plus warns about possible iphone porting occasionally goes wrong and number gets permanently lost in ozone - unwilling to risk it.

Try ATT's new AIO prepaid. I woulden't go straighttalk because if you use to much data they will oust your account thus loosing the number.
 

Mrbobb

macrumors 603
Aug 27, 2012
5,009
209
The big-3 nicely logs ur calls and provide u with history, nice for business. Others don't.
 

lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,720
Boston, MA
Try tmobile $30 prepaid plan and see what kind of reception you get (before doing number porting). You get free roaming on AT&T network, so if tmobile a network is no good, it should work for you. I plan on trying this when we travel this summer. I'd try it now, but Boston has good tmobile coverage so my results would be biased.
 

BruiserB

macrumors 68000
Aug 9, 2008
1,728
701
I think the StraightTalk iPhone is supposedly operating on Verizon. If you really don't use or plan to use too much data, that could be a good option. The only scary thing is that they do just turn off your number if they think you are abusing data and the rules seem pretty arbitrary. So you could port successfully and then find out you're cut off somewhere down the road.

Another option would be to port your number over to Google Voice. Then the number is yours forever and you can get whatever number for your actual phone. Only concern there is that Google keeps Voice going or at least allows a way to port number out if it ever goes away.
 
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