Prepaid cellular - Page 3

 
Bill wrote:

I post this website all the time, but nobody seems interested in
checking them out, but when I considered buying prepaid, I went there
and the folks helped me out tremendously. It's a basic discussion
forum, but the people know their stuff.  in the rare event that you
look there, just scroll down the list of forums to "prepaid"

www.howardforums.com

To answer your question, Page Plus and I have been together for about 8
months.  Their web site is horrible, but an alternate web site on their
Yahoo store front is a bit better:

http://store.yahoo.com/pagepluscellular

Page Plus is a reseller of Verizon airtime. You'll get the same
coverage as Verizon prepaid customers.  To "get" PP, you need a
"verizon phone" that is not activated with Verizon.  You can buy them
often times at stores...just don't let them activate it. Or you can get
them used OR brand new from other places such as EBAY.  Just has to be
a phone that is a verizon phone.

So, say you have a "verizon" phone. Well, the very cheapest way to
activate it is through an ebay seller. Search under Page Plus and
Pageplus because some sellers spell it one way, some the other.

Look for activations.  You should be able to activate for under $10.
Most all of the sellers will include 100 free minutes with the
activation.  Look for a seller with like 99 percent reliability. I know
a couple of them, but in the interest of not being a spammer, I won't
mention them.

You can also activate through some various online stores. But costs
will usually be around $25 or so.....

the ebay seller will need your HEX or ESN code from your phone and then
they'll e-mail you a code.....they'll give complete instructions.

Now, the pros:

Cheap enough. Coverage is pretty good. Lets you know you are roaming by
making you dial the number twice.  After the initial bank of minutes
that last 3 months, ever other purchase lasts for four months. Unused
minutes rollover if you purchase additional minutes before your time is
up.

Cons:

Coverage is nowhere as good in MY area as the T-Mobile to Go prepaid
plan. fifty cent a month charge. Minutes are more expensive than
T-Mobile.

Speaking of T-mobile. I can get a TM2GO phone for around $30 (even free
through one website offer right now) and up. I can become a gold TM2GO
and my minutes last a full year.

If you buy your T-mobile minutes right (howard forums has extensive
discussion), you can actually get the per minute cost down to something
like seven cents (maybe less) vs. 14 on PP.

Good luck. Nothing really wrong with PP, and the Verizon network may
work better where you need to use your phone.  As said, I have both,
but in my view, edge goes to TM2G0

 

I've had them for about 3 months so far.  I bought a used former Verizon
phone on eBay for $30, then got activation from a dealer on eBay for $8.  
The dealer didn't complete the activation properly, so I called Page Plus
directly and they were very nice and walked me through it.

I like knowing that I have a phone if I need one, even though I rarely use
it.  I could never justify $35-40/month for a regular plan, but $3.00/month
is great.

Dee

 
Bill wrote:

One thing I forgot to mention, PP DOES NOT always have a local
telephone number. So, for example if you live in Portland Oregon, you
might have to settle for a Denver, Colorado number if you want to go
with PP.  Usually not much of an issue, but it can be for some folks.