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Cheap cellular service w/o contract - incoming free



 
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grm
magicJack Apprentice


Joined: 25 Jan 2008
Posts: 23

PostPosted: Fri Jan 07, 2011 10:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

jongasse wrote:
grm wrote:
Check out Straight Talk, cheapest is $30 a month 1000 min talk 1000 text the use Verizon and AT&t service I also like Net10 but my favorite is ST. I know this is not in your price range but might be the only source.


Would they allow me to use an unlocked GSM phone that I already have?

Would they require me to buy a phone from them before I can use their service?

i don't think you can byod go to their homepage and look under phones, i bought 3 reconditioned phones for $30 each and got a $30 1000min card with them all total i got the phone free. straighttalk.com
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jongasse
MagicJack Contributor


Joined: 23 Oct 2009
Posts: 74

PostPosted: Tue Jan 11, 2011 10:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I am not interested in monthly plans over $15.

From what I was able to find so far - NET10 does attract me.

However - do they require me to buy a phone from them first?

Question is also whether they allow calling out to toll free numbers for free?
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mjplus2000
Dan isn't smart enough to hire me


Joined: 04 Jan 2012
Posts: 131

PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 6:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The refurbished phones on their site aren't badly priced. I've been looking into Tracfone. Does anyone have any experience with their service? Just need talk and text(no data).
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nailgunner
MagicJack Sensei


Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1548

PostPosted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 10:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mjplus2000 wrote:
I've been looking into Tracfone. Does anyone have any experience with their service?


I use TracFone as my cell back-up to MJ. Works great for me, as good if not better than the T-Mobile service I dropped it for TracFone.

They have various plans. Since I use it only for MJ back-up and car use, I use a basic plan. If you plan on using it a lot, it's probably not the cheapest option out there. I originally went with a 60 minute for $20 plan that only had to be renewed every 3 months. The phone I bought at WalMart doubled any subsequent minutes I bought so I was getting 120 at a shot. Any unused minutes do carry-over.

Last year I changed and got a 400 minute/one year "card" (doubled to 800 with a 200 bonus for 1,000 minutes) for $100 off of their web-site. My year is up at the end of March and I still have about 650 minutes left.

Not sure what I will do this year since I will have quite a few minutes left, but you either have to buy more, or the phone gets shut off regardless of the unused minutes you have left. I did notice their web-site has a few phones for $50 or so that will triple any minutes you buy.

They charge half a minute or less per text. Thought it was a half minute, but somehow I recently ended up with .3 at the end of my remaining minutes.
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mjplus2000
Dan isn't smart enough to hire me


Joined: 04 Jan 2012
Posts: 131

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 12:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nailgunner wrote:


Not sure what I will do this year since I will have quite a few minutes left, but you either have to buy more, or the phone gets shut off regardless of the unused minutes you have left. I did notice their web-site has a few phones for $50 or so that will triple any minutes you buy.

They charge half a minute or less per text. Thought it was a half minute, but somehow I recently ended up with .3 at the end of my remaining minutes.


This was my only concern with them. Right now I have over 3000 rollover minutes that I will never get to use because I'm on a plan. It's a joke. I use about 150 minutes a month and my wife uses even less. We text, but never use the web or email. The triple minute plan looks pretty promising, but what happens when you've built up all these minutes and your service is about to run out? Like Nailgunner said, Buy more minutes? Doesn't make much sense, but in the long run I think it's worth it. Right now, between the 2 of us, we're spending well over $100 a month. And that's the cheapest plan I can get with my contract. Couldn't get much worse that's for sure. With the triple minute deal it looks like I could probably get away with $50 a month between the two of us(maybe even less). Now I have to get out of my contract early and port the two numbers over at the same time. That's where it gets ugly.
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nailgunner
MagicJack Sensei


Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1548

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 2:47 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mjplus2000 wrote:
what happens when you've built up all these minutes and your service is about to run out? Like Nailgunner said, Buy more minutes? Doesn't make much sense, but in the long run I think it's worth it.


The nice thing about pre-paids like TracFone is that you have all kinds of options. They have monthly automatic plans that I'm pretty sure you can sign up for or drop at any time. Or you can buy various minute packages for various time frames.

In your case you could buy whatever block of minutes gets you closest to your 150 minute a month requirement. If you have a lot of rollover minutes left you can buy less minutes for the next month/3 month reload.

In my case I have leftover minutes with what is close to their lowest package. 1,000 minutes for the year was more than enough. Probably 100 of the 400 minutes I have used was calling my own MagicJack trying to get my GoogleVoice issue fixed (which just started working fine again last week after about 3 months, it had to be something on MJ's end that just fixed itself since nothing I did worked) Regardless, it still works out to only about $8.50 a month.

You will do much better than $50 a month combined. If you both needed 150 minutes a month (1,800 a year), it would be about $25 a month if you both went with a triple minute phone. The annual 400 minute card is $100, and a 3 month 200 minute card is $40. 600 minutes tripled gets you your 1,800 annual minutes. And the $280 total is a tad less than $25 a month.
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mjplus2000
Dan isn't smart enough to hire me


Joined: 04 Jan 2012
Posts: 131

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

nailgunner wrote:


You will do much better than $50 a month combined. If you both needed 150 minutes a month (1,800 a year), it would be about $25 a month if you both went with a triple minute phone. The annual 400 minute card is $100, and a 3 month 200 minute card is $40. 600 minutes tripled gets you your 1,800 annual minutes. And the $280 total is a tad less than $25 a month.



Thanks for doing the math for me. You really can't beat that deal. The triple minute phones look pretty decent too. I only have a few months left on my contract. Almost tempted to port the numbers now and deal with At&t on the early cancellation fees. Maybe I can sell all my unused minutes back to them and break even(yeah right). Are the minutes only good for 1 phone or would both phones on my account share the minutes?
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lymon
Dan isn't smart enough to hire me


Joined: 31 May 2008
Posts: 164

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 3:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Page Plus Cellular http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans.aspx has some very decent prices. It uses the Verizon network and you can bring your own Verizon phone to be activated on Page Plus or buy one directly from them. You could probably find a used Verizon phone for cheap, possibly free if you have any friends with Verizon service that have upgraded and tossed the old phone in a drawer

I have been using them for a second cell phone for years with no problems.

There is a $12 a month plan with 250 minutes and 250 texts as well as several options available.
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nailgunner
MagicJack Sensei


Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1548

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 4:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mjplus2000 wrote:
Are the minutes only good for 1 phone or would both phones on my account share the minutes?


I believe only good for 1 phone. Also, I ported my T-mobile number into them in about a day or so.
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mjplus2000
Dan isn't smart enough to hire me


Joined: 04 Jan 2012
Posts: 131

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 4:13 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

lymon wrote:

There is a $12 a month plan with 250 minutes and 250 texts as well as several options available.


This looks pretty good. $24 for 2 phones and that gets you 500 minutes a month talk time and 500 texts. I'm not sure I'm gonna beat that. Porting's only $9. Might be worth the cancellation fee just to do it now. At&t wants $150 to get out of our family plan. I'm sure if I tried hard enough I could get that down some. Has anyone ever successfully canceled mid-contract without paying an early cancellation fee?

Just checked porting again and this time it said no cost. Will check that further.
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lymon
Dan isn't smart enough to hire me


Joined: 31 May 2008
Posts: 164

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 4:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mjplus2000 wrote:
lymon wrote:

There is a $12 a month plan with 250 minutes and 250 texts as well as several options available.


This looks pretty good. $24 for 2 phones and that gets you 500 minutes a month talk time and 500 texts. I'm not sure I'm gonna beat that. Porting's only $9. Might be worth the cancellation fee just to do it now. At&t wants $150 to get out of our family plan. I'm sure if I tried hard enough I could get that down some. Has anyone ever successfully canceled mid-contract without paying an early cancellation fee?


I canceled a Verizon contract without a fee after they made some relatively minor change to the terms of their service. Watch your bills for changes in terms or service, then insist that they let you out of the contract. Other than that, I kind of doubt that they will let you slide for free.
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mjplus2000
Dan isn't smart enough to hire me


Joined: 04 Jan 2012
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 5:15 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

It's funny you say that because I was just looking at my last 2 bills. The only thing I noticed was some telecom charge. was $0.02 in November and $0.04 in December. That was the only change I could see. Not sure if that is considered a change to the TOS. I'll keep checking every month.
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cell14
Dan Should Pay Me


Joined: 23 May 2009
Posts: 673
Location: South FL

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:

In my case I have leftover minutes with what is close to their lowest package. 1,000 minutes for the year was more than enough

I generally dislike MVNOs.
I have as my second cell phone a former Alltel prepaid, now Verizon. I was able to keep my Alltel plan, although it has been a heroic battle- Verizon plans are almost twice as expensive.
The advantage of Verizon prepaid is that it has essentially the same coverage as the post paid plans, something very rare with other providers.
I buy the 100$ plus tax refill card which means 106 or now 107 $ (because Verizon charges higher sales tax Rolling Eyes ) and I also have some minutes extra at the end of the year. But I do not see it as a problem because sooner or later I will have a situation when i can use them up. It provides me A. a back up cell phone B.coverage where t- mobile does not C.spare phone for visiting relatives D. spare minutes when my 1500 t-mobile minutes are up.
BTW there is a way to receive incoming text messages for free- get an overseas prepaid phone for as little as 10 Euros per year and all your incoming text messages globally will be free.
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mjplus2000
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Joined: 04 Jan 2012
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 8:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

May be a stupid question, but I can't seem to find the answer on Pageplus faq's. Are mobile to mobile calls free and if not are carrier to carrier calls free or do you have to use your minutes?
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cell14
Dan Should Pay Me


Joined: 23 May 2009
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Location: South FL

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 7:35 pm Post subject:
May be a stupid question, but I can't seem to find the answer on Pageplus faq's. Are mobile to mobile calls free and if not are carrier to carrier calls free or do you have to use your minutes?


That depends on your plan. Some plans allow for free calls within the network.
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nailgunner
MagicJack Sensei


Joined: 18 Mar 2010
Posts: 1548

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 9:42 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

cell14 wrote:
BTW there is a way to receive incoming text messages for free- get an overseas prepaid phone for as little as 10 Euros per year and all your incoming text messages globally will be free.


I use GoogleVoice for 99% of my texting which costs exactly nothing.
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cell14
Dan Should Pay Me


Joined: 23 May 2009
Posts: 673
Location: South FL

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 10:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I use GoogleVoice for 99% of my texting which costs exactly nothing.

Yeah, if you are at home. I use texting only minimally, only on my prepaid every blue moon. On my main cell phone it is disconnected . Smile
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mjplus2000
Dan isn't smart enough to hire me


Joined: 04 Jan 2012
Posts: 131

PostPosted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 10:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

cell14 wrote:

That depends on your plan. Some plans allow for free calls within the network.


Thanks so much for the info. Very Happy
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donschjr
MagicJack User


Joined: 24 Jan 2010
Posts: 33

PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

mjplus2000 wrote:
May be a stupid question, but I can't seem to find the answer on Pageplus faq's. Are mobile to mobile calls free and if not are carrier to carrier calls free or do you have to use your minutes?


All minutes are billed, incoming, outgoing, mobile to mobile it's all the same. I've been a customer for a couple years and been quite happy.
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mjplus2000
Dan isn't smart enough to hire me


Joined: 04 Jan 2012
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 8:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

donschjr wrote:
All minutes are billed, incoming, outgoing, mobile to mobile it's all the same. I've been a customer for a couple years and been quite happy.


Thank you! Very Happy Still a great deal. The 12 is looking real good. Even if I happened to go over, the per minute rate is still low.
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VaHam
Dan Should Pay Me


Joined: 13 Feb 2008
Posts: 851

PostPosted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 11:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The wife and I have been on PagePlus for a year or so now and love it. We were both on their $29.95 1200 plan until this month when I switched to the $12 250 plan........left the wife on 1200 Smile I am sure you can all guess why!

Most any phone which has been on Verizon will work on PagePlus so if you have a phone laying around which also has WiFi you can make good use of it to make calls via that when available. I am almost always around a WiFi link so I use that most of the time except when driving.
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kedwards
MagicJack User


Joined: 20 Nov 2011
Posts: 48
Location: Suffolk, VA

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 7:58 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

lymon wrote:
Page Plus Cellular http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans.aspx has some very decent prices. It uses the Verizon network and you can bring your own Verizon phone to be activated on Page Plus or buy one directly from them. You could probably find a used Verizon phone for cheap, possibly free if you have any friends with Verizon service that have upgraded and tossed the old phone in a drawer

I have been using them for a second cell phone for years with no problems.

There is a $12 a month plan with 250 minutes and 250 texts as well as several options available.


Thanks for the heads-up on Page Plus Cellular. I am a very light cell phone user, but recently ported my Tracfone number to Page Plus. I am using The 12 plan, and like having Data available, if needed. I usually have the Data service turned off, and use WFi.

I bought a year-old LG Ally for cheap on eBay. I had been using an LG Ally for WiFi only, for the last year.

Keith
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mjplus2000
Dan isn't smart enough to hire me


Joined: 04 Jan 2012
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PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 9:51 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

They don't force you to buy a data plan like the big boys?
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kedwards
MagicJack User


Joined: 20 Nov 2011
Posts: 48
Location: Suffolk, VA

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2012 11:36 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

mjplus2000 wrote:
They don't force you to buy a data plan like the big boys?


They have various plans, including the $10 voice-only plan (good for 120 days). They also have a text-addon to the voice plan, but The 12 is cheaper, for my expected usage.
http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Plans.aspx

The 12 plan comes with 10 MB of Data for a month, and $.20 per MB above that (?). I like to have it available, but I am used to seeking out WiFi hot spots. I will have to monitor how I use it.

Keith
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ertooso
MagicJack Newbie


Joined: 16 Jan 2020
Posts: 3

PostPosted: Thu Feb 20, 2020 3:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've never heard of such an offering from any cellular service.

Please let us know if you find something even close to what you are looking for.

(edit to add: I can find plenty of plans with free incoming - for 40-50 per month, just nothing for 15.)
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