[kevingadd]

I ended up switching to T-Mobile for their $30 prepaid plan - 5GB of data (not at reduced 2G speeds either, actual data) a month, plus a reasonable amount of voice minutes and the ability to text. Way cheaper than what I'd pay on AT&T or other carriers, really simple to set up.

[eropple]

I was using that plan, but I was finding that I didn't really have enough voice minutes (100 was less than I'd need). T-Mobile does throttle after 2GB on that plan, though that wasn't a big deal for me. The big problem for me was that T-Mobile's coverage area sucks; there were whole areas of Boston and Cambridge where I got absolutely no signal.

I recently moved to the $45 unlimited-everything plan on Straight Talk, which uses AT&T SIMs, and I'm pretty happy with it. (I don't know if they too throttle over 2GB, but I rarely hit it anyway.)

[gergles]

T-Mobile throttles after 5GB on that plan, not 2. Straight Talk straight up terminates your data connection after 2 GB. They claim that they throttle, but they effectively terminate it - the throttled connection is so slow and has so many packets dropped that I couldn't use a single app on my 'throttled' phone without it timing out and giving up.

[eropple]

I've read that elsewhere, but that doesn't match my experience in the New England area on TMO. I had my connection completely croak after my phone read 2GB of data usage. Maybe the behavior is different in different geographic areas?

(The last time I went over 2GB was a year ago on TMO when my home internet wasn't yet installed, so for me it's basically academic.)

[kevingadd]

Are you sure you weren't just on a plan with a 2GB cap? Different plans are different.

[eropple]

$30, "Unlimited" data and text, 100 minutes?

[naner]

I was interested in StraightTalk but this article scared me a bit:

http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2414418,00.asp

[eropple]

Yeah, I've seen that. I don't really care, though - my real number is on Google Voice, so if I get tossed I'll just put my TMO SIM back in my phone. In the meantime, I get way better coverage.

[judk]

All I see is a giant popup ad bigger than my screen. Is it a news story about cell phones?

[MacsHeadroom]

So talk using VoIP over 3g/4g and have unlimited minutes.

T-Mobile will not throttle until at least 5GB. In my experience they just don't throttle at all though.

[mahyarm]

VoIP for me over 3G tends to be not nearly as stable as an actual phone call.

[selectodude]

I think the plan works over LTE, which would make it a much more tenable position once T-Mobile's LTE rollout is a bit more fleshed out.

[kevingadd]

The few months where I need more than 100 minutes, I can just add balance to the account and keep making calls. I usually just use Skype.

[hazelnut]

Do you have a link to the $30 prepaid plan? I can just find the $50 one (?)

[kevingadd]

As mcpherrinm said, you can get a SIM for it at Walmart, or you can get it online. I got it online:

http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans

Scroll down and you'll see '100 minutes talk | Unlimited text | First 5 GB at up to 4G speeds'

You have to buy the SIM card online and have them ship it to you; then you open it up and use the activation info in the box to set up the $30 plan and pay for your first month. It's pretty straightforward. When I did it the SIM only cost like a buck so it's pretty much as advertised - no hidden costs.

[mcpherrinm]

It's the walmart special. http://see.walmart.com/t-mobile/

[RockyMcNuts]

http://news.cnet.com/8301-33620_3-57587175-278/is-this-the-b...