Looking for a new cell phone provider - CHEAP/Smartphone/No data....is it possible?

There is a good thread at Howard Forum [howardforums.com] about PagePlus and which phones will work. It's also important to monitor your data usage and control data (turning off/on).

I have been with Telna Mobile for 6 months now and they are pretty cheap if you don't use a lot of minutes. They are on the T-Mobile network. I used to be on T-Mobile prepaid and Telna is even cheaper and the minutes don't expire b/c it's post-paid (so you do pay taxes which is a bit of a negative). They will need to run a credit check. They are a small company so you may not get a phone with your desired area code.

My average bill per month is about $3.00 since I don't use many minutes.

They offer the following for a $19/year annual fee and you provide your own unlocked GSM phone:

http://telnamobile.com/

$0.05/min inbound minutes (or free via wifi with their FREE android app similar to Groove IP)
$0.08/min outbound minutes (or $.028 via wifi with their FREE android app)
1000 free outbound texts (inbound texts are free)
data is pretty expensive so I turn that off and just use wifi

I've been happy with them so far. They had a few texting issues in April where texts were not being sent right away but this appears to have been resolved. Haven't had a problem since.

Buy someone's grandfathered Virgin Mobile plan off ebay. $25 a month. 300 minutes unlimited talk and text

Quote from JaTaN : You can use VZ phones that were on a contract plan (they don't allow VZ prepaid phones or VZ 4G phones on PP network) When buying on eBay ask the seller if it was a prepaid or contract phone -- if they don't know then I wouldn't risk buying it (you can also go to eBay's cell phone section and just search for "pageplus")

I want to put a shout out and thanks to Jabbit here on SD who was very kind to answer all my questions ahead of time which made this a terrific deal for me.

I purchased on eBay a HTC Droid Incredible for $77 delivered. Set it up with PagePlus and works like a charm. If I need the data I will move to the $55 plan but for now I have a Smartphone for $30/month (as I only use WiFi and very little data needed) and it is awesome. No subscription, no crazy tax and junk charges, $30/mo.

Definitely exciting and worthwhile move.

Quote from tiedyed1 : I want to put a shout out and thanks to Jabbit here on SD who was very kind to answer all my questions ahead of time which made this a terrific deal for me. I purchased on eBay a HTC Droid Incredible for $77 delivered. Set it up with PagePlus and works like a charm. If I need the data I will move to the $55 plan but for now I have a Smartphone for $30/month (as I only use WiFi and very little data needed) and it is awesome. No subscription, no crazy tax and junk charges, $30/mo. Definitely exciting and worthwhile move.

I don't understand why PP isn't flooded with customers. I guess people think they "need" data all the time, when WiFi is almost everywhere. Glad it is working out for you!

Quote from tiedyed1 : Definitely exciting and worthwhile move.

Also wanted to let you and others know about a method to control data usage on Android-based PP phones. Check out this link

http://www.howardforums.com/showt...mited-Data

Quote from Jabbit : Also wanted to let you and others know about a method to control data usage on Android-based PP phones. Check out this link

I don't have root and I use just two apps for this data management. One is called Data Enabler - it's a one-touch to toggle data on/off. I also use 3g watchdog that monitors data usage over periods of time (and you can set the 100meg quota to see what % you are at over the month). I don't remember all the tweaks I made, but basically turn off syncing of accounts, email, etc. If I know I will need to check email on the road, I will connect to wifi and do all my syncing and app updates before I leave.

Quote from ruralben : One is called Data Enabler - it's a one-touch to toggle data on/off.

There is an option for a one-touch switch built in to the Android OS. Good info on the other app, I will check it out. Thanks.

I have $25 Virgin Mobile with the Triumph and although the plan is probably the best overall value (300min/unlimited SMS & MMS/Sprint data @3G until 2.5GB) data performance has steadily gone downhill and will only get worse now that Virgin is getting the iPhone.

I use T-mobile prepaid SIM as a backup in a Nokia smartphone on Pay as you Go and would recommend this plan if you don't need data. [I haven't gotten anything close to 4G speeds on their $30 monthly prepaid data plan although it's often more consistent than Sprint's data.] Also, you will reach Gold status (which will give your minutes a 365 day expiry instead of the standard 90 days) as soon as you reach $100 in credits to your phone with Pay as you Go, even if you recharge in $10 increments. So year 1 you can put in as little as $40, year 2 you put in $40, then half way through year 3 you reach gold and your future balances will stay active for a year. Pretty cool. Also T-mobile allegedly has roaming on prepaid and short codes DO work which is a very good thing.

Quote from Jabbit : I don't understand why PP isn't flooded with customers. I guess people think they "need" data all the time, when WiFi is almost everywhere. Glad it is working out for you!

Well your average Joe is going to want to walk into a store when something is wrong, even if he switched his Android into download mode and can't figure how to get it out. PP support is nowhere near the level you can get with a post-paid contract. Plus they won't activate/support many phones (berrys, palms).

I wonder if PP still offers free QNC data. I used to be able to use it with my RAZR. 120 day expiry on their minutes is pretty awesome. For low usage, $30/year for cellular service, only T-mo prepaid with gold is a better deal in the long run.