Original Post
Written by
Edited December 9, 2019
at 08:16 AM
by
500 minutes/texts & 500MB data every 30 days [ebay.com]
All 4 carriers & renewal
Free calls and texts to over
70 countries [goredpocket.com]
Must be activated within 90 days off purchase
IMPORTANT info about using this to "renew" your current Red Pocket plan
iPhone MMS currently doesn't work but Red Pocket is working on it. Should be out next year.
Minutes, texts, and data are all separate. If you run out of minutes texts and data will still work
Data is hard capped. No unlimited 2G
120 Comments
Your comment cannot be blank.
Featured Comments
As a part of this phone hobby, I've also tried several carriers, such as Visible, Total Wireless, Simple Mobile, Mint Mobile, Cricket, and Tello. Tello's customer service is notably the best. Their coverage is completely dependent on how strong sprint-native (no roaming) is in your area; in central TX I was able to get 100 mbps and am overall very happy. I also learned that Sprint service requires a specific model number (not just size) of sim card for each phone/phone-family, which differs from most other carriers that have universal sim (no specific model numbers, assuming the size fits). This sim card issue was a huge pain since the Pixel 3a XL that I am using accepts eSim but Tello does not, so no sprint stores carried the sim card I needed and I had to buy one from Tello. I didn't learn this until after porting so I was in limbo with no working number for 3 days.
A huge benefit of Red Pocket is they have all 4 networks that you can choose from, which gives you the opportunity to pick the one with the best coverage in your area, best available features (VoLTE, etc), and supports your current phone. The downside for these deals is that if you find a better deal or the coverage/data speed/other features aren't as good as you thought, you've already paid for a full year. Red Pocket seems to have some great deals, but I'd personally buy a single month first before committing to a full year. For example, these eBay listings claim they accept returns for 30 days, so if you initially bought a single month a-la-carte (slightly more expensive) in addition to a yearly deal, that would let you confirm that the service will work well for you by using the single month before you activate the full year. If it doesn't, then you could return the year of service before your 30-day return window expires on the full year.
Tello's advantage is that you are only committing to a month at a time, and the minutes and data amounts are adjustable. For example, I pay $11.24 total for 100 min / unl text / 2 GB LTE. After the 2 GB, it's supposed to throttle to 2G, but hopefully, that would still let data-based messages (like Google Hangouts) go through. I haven't hit the LTE limit yet, so I can't confirm. Unfortunately, they say that group and picture messages will no longer work if you run out of LTE data; which is a notable downside IMHO.
If you have a compatible phone and Sprint has solid coverage in your area, I can wholeheartedly recommend Tello. But if you need different coverage, Red Pocket seems like a sweet deal, but you may want to test it for 1 month before committing to a full year.
How many did you use to get blocked? 1000+?
You could also use Google voice if you have WiFi nearby. I stay under my 100 minutes on tello that way.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
Just picked one up for $82 + tax and 8% ebay cash back.
Well, this deal specifically is only 500 minutes.
How many did you use to get blocked? 1000+?
You could also use Google voice if you have WiFi nearby. I stay under my 100 minutes on tello that way.
I believe the Red Pocket deal provides options for all 4 carriers, but it would be great to understand the general comparisons especially with Tello.
I am currently deciding between Tello and Red Pocket but don't fully understand the pros and cons between each.
Thanks.
How many did you use to get blocked? 1000+?
You could also use Google voice if you have WiFi nearby. I stay under my 100 minutes on tello that way.
Sign up for a Slickdeals account to remove this ad.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/4-42-Mo-...100623.m-1
I got one last year for $49 and use it on verizon.
I believe the Red Pocket deal provides options for all 4 carriers, but it would be great to understand the general comparisons especially with Tello.
I am currently deciding between Tello and Red Pocket but don't fully understand the pros and cons between each.
Thanks.
As a part of this phone hobby, I've also tried several carriers, such as Visible, Total Wireless, Simple Mobile, Mint Mobile, Cricket, and Tello. Tello's customer service is notably the best. Their coverage is completely dependent on how strong sprint-native (no roaming) is in your area; in central TX I was able to get 100 mbps and am overall very happy. I also learned that Sprint service requires a specific model number (not just size) of sim card for each phone/phone-family, which differs from most other carriers that have universal sim (no specific model numbers, assuming the size fits). This sim card issue was a huge pain since the Pixel 3a XL that I am using accepts eSim but Tello does not, so no sprint stores carried the sim card I needed and I had to buy one from Tello. I didn't learn this until after porting so I was in limbo with no working number for 3 days.
A huge benefit of Red Pocket is they have all 4 networks that you can choose from, which gives you the opportunity to pick the one with the best coverage in your area, best available features (VoLTE, etc), and supports your current phone. The downside for these deals is that if you find a better deal or the coverage/data speed/other features aren't as good as you thought, you've already paid for a full year. Red Pocket seems to have some great deals, but I'd personally buy a single month first before committing to a full year. For example, these eBay listings claim they accept returns for 30 days, so if you initially bought a single month a-la-carte (slightly more expensive) in addition to a yearly deal, that would let you confirm that the service will work well for you by using the single month before you activate the full year. If it doesn't, then you could return the year of service before your 30-day return window expires on the full year.
Tello's advantage is that you are only committing to a month at a time, and the minutes and data amounts are adjustable. For example, I pay $11.24 total for 100 min / unl text / 2 GB LTE. After the 2 GB, it's supposed to throttle to 2G, but hopefully, that would still let data-based messages (like Google Hangouts) go through. I haven't hit the LTE limit yet, so I can't confirm. Unfortunately, they say that group and picture messages will no longer work if you run out of LTE data; which is a notable downside IMHO.
If you have a compatible phone and Sprint has solid coverage in your area, I can wholeheartedly recommend Tello. But if you need different coverage, Red Pocket seems like a sweet deal, but you may want to test it for 1 month before committing to a full year.
I have different phones as well, to get around the issue of no coverage on one vs the other.
I am currently on AT&T Prepaid and Sprint BYOD.
I find that ATT Prepaid is equally as good as Sprint in my location in the Bay Area California.
Ideally, I should have one phone on Tello (Sprint BYOD ends in Feb) ; and have Red Pocket (ATT Sim) on my another phone.
Until I get a cheap phone with Band 71, then I shall attempt to try Mint.
Do you happen to know if Red Pocket is higher vs Tello in prioritization assuming exact same location, and same hardware/device?
Perhaps I should just try Red Pocket (CDMAS sim) on Sprint, and concurrently also run Tello on another phone. It would be very interesting who has higher priority on the Sprint native network.
As a part of this phone hobby, I've also tried several carriers, such as Visible, Total Wireless, Simple Mobile, Mint Mobile, Cricket, and Tello. Tello's customer service is notably the best. Their coverage is completely dependent on how strong sprint-native (no roaming) is in your area; in central TX I was able to get 100 mbps and am overall very happy. I also learned that Sprint service requires a specific model number (not just size) of sim card for each phone/phone-family, which differs from most other carriers that have universal sim (no specific model numbers, assuming the size fits). This sim card issue was a huge pain since the Pixel 3a XL that I am using accepts eSim but Tello does not, so no sprint stores carried the sim card I needed and I had to buy one from Tello. I didn't learn this until after porting so I was in limbo with no working number for 3 days.
A huge benefit of Red Pocket is they have all 4 networks that you can choose from, which gives you the opportunity to pick the one with the best coverage in your area, best available features (VoLTE, etc), and supports your current phone. The downside for these deals is that if you find a better deal or the coverage/data speed/other features aren't as good as you thought, you've already paid for a full year. Red Pocket seems to have some great deals, but I'd personally buy a single month first before committing to a full year. For example, these eBay listings claim they accept returns for 30 days, so if you initially bought a single month a-la-carte (slightly more expensive) in addition to a yearly deal, that would let you confirm that the service will work well for you by using the single month before you activate the full year. If it doesn't, then you could return the year of service before your 30-day return window expires on the full year.
Tello's advantage is that you are only committing to a month at a time, and the minutes and data amounts are adjustable. For example, I pay $11.24 total for 100 min / unl text / 2 GB LTE. After the 2 GB, it's supposed to throttle to 2G, but hopefully, that would still let data-based messages (like Google Hangouts) go through. I haven't hit the LTE limit yet, so I can't confirm. Unfortunately, they say that group and picture messages will no longer work if you run out of LTE data; which is a notable downside IMHO.
If you have a compatible phone and Sprint has solid coverage in your area, I can wholeheartedly recommend Tello. But if you need different coverage, Red Pocket seems like a sweet deal, but you may want to test it for 1 month before committing to a full year.