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Best SIM for 30days only

C

Cobb

macrumors member
Original poster
Nov 8, 2011
45
0
London, UK
Hi there! I am for a visit in NYC and looking for a BYOP and PAYG or 30 day plan for my unlocked iPhone. 1GB of data is minimum I need. Have been to an AT&T shop and they sales person recommended the plan $45 monthly for unlimited talk, text and data with 1.5GB at high-speed. Sounds good but bit expensive.
How about Lyca mobile? Their plan is $35 monthly for unlimited talk, text and data with 2GB. Is Lyca any good?
Thanks
 
Just for the record: the guy in the T-Mobile shop told me he could not sell me this $30 plan in store. I would have to order online to get this plan. I really can't image this to be true but well if they don't want my money I will spend it elsewhere.
 
Cobb said:
Just for the record: the guy in the T-Mobile shop told me he could not sell me this $30 plan in store. I would have to order online to get this plan. I really can't image this to be true but well if they don't want my money I will spend it elsewhere.
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You can get the $30 TMo plan and sim card at Walmart.

http://www.walmart.com/ip/T-Mobile-Complete-SIM-Kit/39081494

The TMo clerk was correct. They aren't allowed to sell that plan in-store. It's either Walmart or online. Basically, it's somewhat a Walmart exclusive.
 
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I actually *have* the $30 TMobile plan and love it. But for someone who only needs a plan for one month while traveling--go with Cricket Wireless. It's GSM, runs on AT&T's network, it's available in close to 100 stores in NYC according to their site...and it doesn't require any further research to figure out coverage in the area you're in. I'm a huge TMobile fan, but it can be very spotty in some areas. AT&T's coverage is generally more reliable. Heck, going Cricket won't save you much over what AT&T offered you. Prepaid service in the US just isn't all that popular, and the options are still very limited.

As far as Cricket or AT&T go, unlike TMobile's $30 deal, you won't have to go out of your way to find a WalMart just to get a SIM right away. Obviously if your hotel is right across from WalMart, no problem, but I know around Seattle, you'd be driving a pretty fair distance from downtown in order to get to one. Any money you saved by using TMobile, you'd end up spending in gas and time.
 
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Thanks for all your replies! However after the TMobile shop I went straight to a tiny one man mobile shop the next corner and got SIMPLE Mobile for 50 bucks because I did not have any mobile internet to look up a cricket shop. I know this is a really bad deal... Anyway thanks for all your advice!

Just one more question: I was told the AT&T GoPhone $25 Data Only plan (for 2GB) is not working on a phone but only on a tablet or mobile hotspot. In Europe thats def not a problem to use a data only SIM in a phone but the sales person insisted this would not work in US. Is this true?
 
Cobb said:
Just one more question: I was told the AT&T GoPhone $25 Data Only plan (for 2GB) is not working on a phone but only on a tablet or mobile hotspot. In Europe thats def not a problem to use a data only SIM in a phone but the sales person insisted this would not work in US. Is this true?
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Only if they catch you. AT&T does routine sweeps of its systems to make sure you're subscribed to the "correct" plan. If it's just a month, you can probably get away with it. The thing is you'd likely need a tablet or hotspot to be able to sign up for the Data Only plan in the first place and then just switch the SIM to your phone afterwards.
 
T Mobile has a prepaid USD 3.00 (yes, three, not thirty) per month Plan that provides the ability to have the same phone number as long as you are paying that USD 3.00 per month. it has some associated free minutes of talk time as well.
along with that 3.00 per month you buy a Data Pass for your data. very cheap.
that is a great plan for persons visiting the USA infrequently who want to just have the same number all the time and not worry about not using your phone for several months since it is so cheap.
you need to purchase the SIM first then buy the data package. the SIM itself costs between USD 5.00 and USD 15.00 depending if you buy off amazon or other place.
 
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niji said:
T Mobile has a prepaid USD 3.00 (yes, three, not thirty) per month Plan that provides the ability to have the same phone number as long as you are paying that USD 3.00 per month. it has some associated free minutes of talk time as well.
along with that 3.00 per month you buy a Data Pass for your data. very cheap.
that is a great plan for persons visiting the USA infrequently who want to just have the same number all the time and not worry about not using your phone for several months since it is so cheap.
you need to purchase the SIM first then buy the data package. the SIM itself costs between USD 5.00 and USD 15.00 depending if you buy off amazon or other place.
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That might be good for a week or two, or if you don't need data for the entire trip. Otherwise, that ends up being $43 for just a few minutes worth of calls (30, iirc) and 1GB data per week ($3 base + 4*$10 1GB weekly pass). Would certainly be nice if T-Mobile added longer data passes. I reckon $30 for 3GB/30 days would work pretty nicely.
 
rui no onna said:
Only if they catch you. AT&T does routine sweeps of its systems to make sure you're subscribed to the "correct" plan. If it's just a month, you can probably get away with it. The thing is you'd likely need a tablet or hotspot to be able to sign up for the Data Only plan in the first place and then just switch the SIM to your phone afterwards.
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Thats not a problem as I cold have done this with my iPad. Many thanks for your reply! So I know what to buy next time when going to US again.
 
Back to the US and same problem again with finding the right tariff. Went straight to a GameStop to pick up a Cricket SIM but the cheapest the sell is $40 and on top there is a whooping $25 activation fee. Sorry Cricket wireless this is a deal breaker for me.
 
Cobb said:
Back to the US and same problem again with finding the right tariff. Went straight to a GameStop to pick up a Cricket SIM but the cheapest the sell is $40 and on top there is a whooping $25 activation fee. Sorry Cricket wireless this is a deal breaker for me.
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Buy the cricket sim at Walmart and activate it via a computer. Here is Wisconsin the sim cost $10 then when you activate it, you pay for the first month / plan that u choose.

That way you not paying that $25 that cricket charges to activate it.
 
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Ok sounds better than $25 activation fee, but when you add up cricket will cost you $40 plus $10 for the SIM. So $50 in total is still very very expensive...
 
Cobb said:
Ok sounds better than $25 activation fee, but when you add up cricket will cost you $40 plus $10 for the SIM. So $50 in total is still very very expensive...
Click to expand...

Look into Straight Talk, they are exclusive to Walmart locations. Go to the electronic department and find a sim kit. Straight talk can run off AT&T network for your phone and is unlimited talk/text and 5gb of Data for $45 for 30 days.
 
I thought AT&T's prepaid deal was good and saw them at a kiosk at JFK.

Internationally, in Aruba, I paid $51 for 3gb of Data, no text and like 10 minutes of Aruba talk time. LOL. SIM fee included. So I think the US prepaid deals are decent.
 
Very stupid question here, I've been looking into the $30 T-Mobile plan myself to test cell reception around me every so often. It's a prepaid plan, so it works until I run out of my allotted data, minutes, etc right? Or do you have to use it all in a month and refill?
 
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