Mobile rate?

[Wasp]

hi,

I need some advice with my mobile.

I am from germany and I seek a good mobile rate thats payable and allows I-Net using in your country. At first I would use cellion, but than I realize with them I can´t surf the i net.

Maybe you can help me.

thanks

Jan

[Coffee]

Take a look at Virgin Mobile prepaid phones. I have a Virgin Mobile "dumb phone" (no internet) and I pay $20/month for 450 minutes. But they also have cheap smart phones with service plans around $30 I think.

[Odd Man Out]

Be advised that Verizon (one of the largest mobile service providers, and one that tends to give good reception on the AT) does not use GSM technology. So if you are using a GSM phone with a Sim card, you would have to connect to one of the other providers so you are more likely to have spotty service in remote areas.

[German Tourist]

Jan,
unlike Europe prepaid internet and phone flat rates are relatively expensive in the US. Part of the problem is that in US you can only buy complete packages including calls, text and internet, whereas in Europe most providers have a modular system. During my last visit I shopped around around a lot and the cheapest option for prepaid unlimited smartphone data was T-mobile (yep, that is your Deutsche Telekom for you in the US). Unlimited calls in the US, unlimited text and data are 50$ per month. That is expensive, but I honestly could not find a better deal. The good news is that for only 10$ more you get unlimited calls to landlines in about 100 countries, including Germany. But 50$ is steep.
Also keep in mind that reception is far more limited in the US than in Germany. On the AT I had reception mostly only on mountain tops - and there it was very weak and slow.
Check out this website for more info: http://prepaidwithdata.wikia.com/wiki/USA
Good luck on the AT,
GT

[Wasp]

Thx @ all.

I will check it :)

@ GT, I notice the offer from T-Mobile, but I hoped there is another maybe cheaper way to stay tuned :)

[BrianLe]

The two major carriers that do GSM are T-Mobile and AT&T. AT&T is better for backcountry (backpacking) use. I don't use them anymore as they stopped allowing use of smartphones on their pay-by-the-day plan, but if a no-contract pay-by-month plan works for you I would check that out. While not as good in some places as Verizon, AT&T isn't bad on the trail. Less coverage in the south than Verizon, excellent coverage in mid-Atlantic, and it seemed like no one got very good coverage in the most northern bits.

[DeerPath]

Take a look at Walmart's STRAIGHT TALK. You must buy a phone from them and you can get Unlimited Phone, Text, Internet. I purchased the Samsung GALAXY SII AT&T phone, (I think you get it on Verizon). It cost $45.00 + state sales tax per month, and it's set up on AutoPay thru my checking account, or you can charge it to a credit card. I have downloaded many Android Apps. Works great for me.:sun

[German Tourist]

The two major carriers that do GSM are T-Mobile and AT&T. AT&T is better for backcountry (backpacking) use. I don't use them anymore as they stopped allowing use of smartphones on their pay-by-the-day plan, but if a no-contract pay-by-month plan works for you I would check that out.

Two months ago T-mobile still had the pay by the day option. When I checked prices T-mobile and AT&T seemed both to be 50$ per month. But beware of the fine print: AT&T offers unlimited data only for "old" smartphones that do not "suck" so much data. If you have a recent smartphone you will have to pay extra.

I have been in Jan's situation just 5 months ago and after shopping around for an entire day I came to the conclusion that T-mobile is the cheapest, although expensive option. Because you won't have reception every day on the AT you might want to go with the day by day option, but that won't allow you the 10$ surcharge for international calls.

[yellowsirocco]

Page Plus Cellular has good rates. They resell Verizon and roam onto US Cellular and Sprint so it has the best coverage in prepaid. They don't roam with data, only voice and text. Straight Talk uses Verizon but doesn't roam so they get very good coverage, but not the best. Both are good options

Stay away from Virgin Mobile that was mentioned above, they only use Sprint which has a tiny native footprint. Basically no service on the trail. A lot of the cheaper prepaid companies use only Sprint towers so make sure to check the coverage map. The same goes for T-mobile and their resellers, they have a tiny native footprint.

[Wasp]

yeha right, atm T-Mobile offer only no-contract pay-by-month plans, or contracts with 24 month ;( bad...but I think I have to take it...or skip the I net...

[Camel2012]

I would think going with straight talk for $45 a month using at&t towers would be much better than t-mobile.

[Wasp]

My fault...now i found the pay-by-day options...

25 days left to make a decision Tcom or at&t :)

Your answers help a lot, again thx for it.

I now close the thread, I got my straightforward answers and an idear what I have to do.