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frontpage Posted by WackyP • Jan 31, 2025
frontpage Posted by WackyP • Jan 31, 2025

Helium Mobile Zero Plan w/ 100 Minutes Talk, 300 Texts + 3GB Data Per Month

(ID Verification & Location Sharing Req.)

Free

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Deal Details
Helium Mobile has Helium Mobile Zero Plan w/ 100 Minutes Talk, 300 Texts & 3GB of Data (per month) for Free when you Bring Your Own Device and follow the instructions below by using code BREAKFREE at signup.

Thanks to community member WackyP for finding this deal.

Deal Instructions:
  1. An unlocked T-Mobile-compatible device is required.
  2. Download the Helium Mobile app (Android / iOS)
  3. Open the app and when prompted, enter invite-only code BREAKFREE
  4. Proceed through the setup process by proving the following details:
    • Valid email address
    • Your name, home address and date of birth
    • Complete the identity security check using a valid government-issued ID (i.e. a driver's license) and taking a 'selfie' photo.
  5. No credit card or other payment info is required for this free plan.
  6. You may select eSIM or physical SIM card activation (SIM card ships free).
  7. Your monthly Zero Plan w/ 100 talk minutes, 300 texts and 3GB of data will be Free

How is Helium Mobile able to offer a free phone plan? (source)
  • "Helium Mobile's free plan is made possible with its community-built network, a new type of infrastructure that is less expensive than legacy carriers. In exchange for the free plan, you'll share your anonymized location data, enabling the community to create coverage where it's most needed."
Plan Features (per month):
  • 100 minutes talk
  • 300 texts
  • 3GB of high-speed data (4G LTE/5G)
    • Note: hotspot data is not available on the free Zero plan.
  • No credit card needed
  • You may port your existing number to Helium Mobile if desired
  • Earn Rewards with Cloud Points
    • Redeem points for gift cards to travel, dining, and other experiences.
  • Helium Mobile operates on the T-Mobile network

Editor's Notes

Written by RevOne | Staff
  • Click here to read the Frequently Asked Questions page for more details.
  • Please see the original post for additional details & give the WIKI and additional forum comments a read for helpful discussion.

Original Post

Written by WackyP
Community Notes
About the Poster
Deal Details
Community Notes
About the Poster
Helium Mobile has Helium Mobile Zero Plan w/ 100 Minutes Talk, 300 Texts & 3GB of Data (per month) for Free when you Bring Your Own Device and follow the instructions below by using code BREAKFREE at signup.

Thanks to community member WackyP for finding this deal.

Deal Instructions:
  1. An unlocked T-Mobile-compatible device is required.
  2. Download the Helium Mobile app (Android / iOS)
  3. Open the app and when prompted, enter invite-only code BREAKFREE
  4. Proceed through the setup process by proving the following details:
    • Valid email address
    • Your name, home address and date of birth
    • Complete the identity security check using a valid government-issued ID (i.e. a driver's license) and taking a 'selfie' photo.
  5. No credit card or other payment info is required for this free plan.
  6. You may select eSIM or physical SIM card activation (SIM card ships free).
  7. Your monthly Zero Plan w/ 100 talk minutes, 300 texts and 3GB of data will be Free

How is Helium Mobile able to offer a free phone plan? (source)
  • "Helium Mobile's free plan is made possible with its community-built network, a new type of infrastructure that is less expensive than legacy carriers. In exchange for the free plan, you'll share your anonymized location data, enabling the community to create coverage where it's most needed."
Plan Features (per month):
  • 100 minutes talk
  • 300 texts
  • 3GB of high-speed data (4G LTE/5G)
    • Note: hotspot data is not available on the free Zero plan.
  • No credit card needed
  • You may port your existing number to Helium Mobile if desired
  • Earn Rewards with Cloud Points
    • Redeem points for gift cards to travel, dining, and other experiences.
  • Helium Mobile operates on the T-Mobile network

Editor's Notes

Written by RevOne | Staff
  • Click here to read the Frequently Asked Questions page for more details.
  • Please see the original post for additional details & give the WIKI and additional forum comments a read for helpful discussion.

Original Post

Written by WackyP

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Top Comments

If someone asked me how to make a free mobile data plan, my very first thought would be "control its DNS, packet-inspect everything on my network so I can tell who's doing what, sell that info to data brokers, advertisers, marketing agencies, etc., and insert enough legalese to my long-AF-that-nobody-reads-it terms of service that it's totally OK for me to do that." Classic case of "if it's free, it's because you are the product."

If you think I'm joking, check your own current paid ISP plan's terms of service. Non-trivial probability they're already doing similar to you, at least if you're not protected by something like the EU's GDPR.

Is that what's going on here, or is their business model different somehow?
Right now their 20$ a month plan turns out to cost a couple of dollars a month if you opt in to their location tracking. They are trying to build a network of hotpots to fill in what traditional cell towers miss. Turn on tracking and they map whenever they hit one of their hotspots. Then they try to get new ones in empty areas.

Anyways...So they will pay you in their crypto token., Which they then accept as payment.Or you can sell yourself. Im assuming they are going to expand on this somehow.

Also a while back they were talking about another app that carriers were going to opt into that allows people to use each others phones a a hotspot for a small fee.
Just a guess but maybe something with this as well.

They are not the only company going this way there are going to be some announcements very soon of others going this path
I gave them my email address for spam, so we'll see. Right now it looks like they just offer one plan -- $20/mo for unlimited.

632 Comments

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Feb 1, 2025
1,197 Posts
Joined Mar 2008
Feb 1, 2025
dealwars
Feb 1, 2025
1,197 Posts
Quote from serg499 :
Sounds like a RingPlus
Good enough for a spare line for CL, FB marketplace, SD promo offers, contests, and car dealers.
1
4
Feb 1, 2025
58 Posts
Joined Apr 2015
Feb 1, 2025
JediNick23
Feb 1, 2025
58 Posts
Quote from lizard5102 :
Good point. Would using Cloudflare as the DNS, or better yet, hosting your own DNS using a Raspberry-pi that does authoritative lookups work around that? I ask because I already do that to block ads/tracking using AdGuardHome DNS server running locally on my network. I have set my Android Private DNS under settings -> Network & Internet to use that all the time via DoT (DNS over TLS); so I never use the ISP DNS at all. My home router is set to use that as the DNS server (so all devices on my local network, including TVs, go through that). I have also configured all Google Home / Nest devices at home to not use GoogleDNS in the app settings. I know 99.9% of the people will not go to this length, but curious if that atleast reduces the concern of your data being used for something like this. Eventually I understand that the ISP can sniff anyway, but most websites today use HTTPS and TLS, so nearly everything is encrypted to the point where that sniffing will be not-so-useful for the ISP. So really, the most useful data is location information that they can easily get by triangulating towers; and I admit that would still be very valuable data to sell.
Those steps certainly help. The one thing I'll point out is that you'd want at least a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 instead of just a 3b+ or lesser if you're setting up something like a pi-hole. The CPU/RAM on a 3b+ can meet the minimum requirements for pi-hole just fine, but the ethernet on the 3b+ is gigabit in name only. It goes through the 3b+'s USB 2.0 interface, bottlenecking it to 300Mbps at best. Source: https://www.raspberrypi.com/produ...el-b-plus/
3
Feb 1, 2025
845 Posts
Joined Nov 2004
Feb 1, 2025
lizard5102
Feb 1, 2025
845 Posts
Quote from JediNick23 :
Those steps certainly help. The one thing I'll point out is that you'd want at least a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 instead of just a 3b+ or lesser if you're setting up something like a pi-hole. The CPU/RAM on a 3b+ can meet the minimum requirements for pi-hole just fine, but the ethernet on the 3b+ is gigabit in name only. It goes through the 3b+'s USB 2.0 interface, bottlenecking it to 300Mbps at best. Source: https://www.raspberrypi.com/produ...el-b-plus/

I use pi4 with AdGuardHome. I find it more resource efficient and easier to use than PiHole.
Feb 1, 2025
25 Posts
Joined Oct 2018
Feb 1, 2025
Reflex1664
Feb 1, 2025
25 Posts

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Quote from booda3000 :
The worst thing about Ringplus was the shills.
with crypto there will be even more!
1
Feb 1, 2025
1,010 Posts
Joined Oct 2004
Feb 1, 2025
washerebefore
Feb 1, 2025
1,010 Posts

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Yes RingPlus was something - :/
Wish my FreeUp lines had data..
Too bad they don't offer that service any more - just need to make one call a month with FreeUp and it stays working - no credit card and no garbage apps too deal with..

Freedompop is horrible with trying to renew ur lines every month
And TextNow you have to babysit your lines

Hope this service is better - hopeing Smilie
1
Feb 1, 2025
2,043 Posts
Joined Sep 2008
Feb 1, 2025
himeko123
Feb 1, 2025
2,043 Posts
Nice, it'll be good for old spare phone and getting more one offer on the per phone number deals.
1
Feb 1, 2025
1,704 Posts
Joined Nov 2005
Feb 1, 2025
g10ny
Feb 1, 2025
1,704 Posts
Quote from dealwars :
Good enough for a spare line for CL, FB marketplace, SD promo offers, contests, and car dealers.
Won't be viable as business, it will end swiftly like RingPlus, hype can only go so far.
1

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Feb 1, 2025
914 Posts
Joined Jan 2008
Feb 1, 2025
Bikeman
Feb 1, 2025
914 Posts
OP - thanks for the post. I was on Ring + for a long time. Used that number without any major issues for selling/buying, stores, etc to avoid giving out my main number.
Feb 1, 2025
38,256 Posts
Joined Aug 2013
Feb 1, 2025
tedcruz
Feb 1, 2025
38,256 Posts
Quote from PhantasmX :
Ringplus died really fast. I remember having service for like three months before the company went kaput.
I had it for 2 years IIRC. Saved $400.
Feb 1, 2025
1,093 Posts
Joined Feb 2023
Feb 1, 2025
oasisallure
Feb 1, 2025
1,093 Posts
I thank ringplus, used it for a few months. Sprint signal is better than my main tmobile line
Feb 2, 2025
2,099 Posts
Joined Oct 2011
Feb 2, 2025
MWink
Feb 2, 2025
2,099 Posts
Quote from JediNick23 :
Those steps certainly help. The one thing I'll point out is that you'd want at least a Raspberry Pi 4 or 5 instead of just a 3b+ or lesser if you're setting up something like a pi-hole. The CPU/RAM on a 3b+ can meet the minimum requirements for pi-hole just fine, but the ethernet on the 3b+ is gigabit in name only. It goes through the 3b+'s USB 2.0 interface, bottlenecking it to 300Mbps at best. Source: https://www.raspberrypi.com/produ...el-b-plus/
I don't think anyone is doing 300Mbps worth of DNS requests. Even a 10Mbps connection would likely be massive overkill.
Feb 2, 2025
262 Posts
Joined Mar 2016
Feb 2, 2025
greenhandle
Feb 2, 2025
262 Posts
Quote from Satoshi_N :
Right now their 20$ a month plan turns out to cost a couple of dollars a month if you opt in to their location tracking. They are trying to build a network of hotpots to fill in what traditional cell towers miss. Turn on tracking and they map whenever they hit one of their hotspots. Then they try to get new ones in empty areas. Anyways...So they will pay you in their crypto token., Which they then accept as payment.Or you can sell yourself. Im assuming they are going to expand on this somehow. Also a while back they were talking about another app that carriers were going to opt into that allows people to use each others phones a a hotspot for a small fee. Just a guess but maybe something with this as well. They are not the only company going this way there are going to be some announcements very soon of others going this path
Recent reports in reddit indicate the location mapping is no longer nearly as lucrative, and can no longer be used for partial payment against your monthly bill. You have to save until you have enough to pay in full.
Feb 2, 2025
1,070 Posts
Joined Sep 2017
Feb 2, 2025
Vice_Monkey
Feb 2, 2025
1,070 Posts
Quote from JediNick23 :
If someone asked me how to make a free mobile data plan, my very first thought would be "control its DNS, packet-inspect everything on my network so I can tell who's doing what, sell that info to data brokers, advertisers, marketing agencies, etc., and insert enough legalese to my long-AF-that-nobody-reads-it terms of service that it's totally OK for me to do that." Classic case of "if it's free, it's because you are the product."

If you think I'm joking, check your own current paid ISP plan's terms of service. Non-trivial probability they're already doing similar to you, at least if you're not protected by something like the EU's GDPR.

Is that what's going on here, or is their business model different somehow?
Right now most requests are encrypted so there's a lot less data to sell than you think. Even if you tried to lock down the dns, which maybe you can do in IOS, that's just a lawsuit waiting to happen no matter what the EULA.
Feb 2, 2025
1,524 Posts
Joined Apr 2016
Feb 2, 2025
Rontron
Feb 2, 2025
1,524 Posts
There will be caveats but let's wait and see before speculating

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Feb 2, 2025
1,042 Posts
Joined Jul 2011
Feb 2, 2025
AdvaComp
Feb 2, 2025
1,042 Posts

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Quote from PhantasmX :
Ringplus died really fast. I remember having service for like three months before the company went kaput.

I used it for years, sounds like you were just late to the party
1
Feb 2, 2025
5,273 Posts
Joined Nov 2005
Feb 2, 2025
SouthPawNd
Feb 2, 2025
5,273 Posts
Nothing is free. Ring+ started out ok but they kept wanting you to upgrade with better "one-time" fee for more data. I did this like half a dozen times on a few lines. Didn't lose much money but I definitely didn't trust their business model to use them permanently for my cellular service. It was just fun spare lines I knew that would eventually die, it was just a matter of time. I see this "free" service as no different, I bet after some time they will force you to pay $5-$10 / mo for one of their cheap plans, it will be like Freedompop which is way worse than Ring+

I bet this will have catches like ads, very slow data (3g) unless you pay to upgrade for higher priority speed, etc. I wouldn't depend on this for your main cellular service.
Last edited by SouthPawNd February 1, 2025 at 06:56 PM.
1

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