US Pre pay sims, Costs and roaming?

GadgetKen · 17-02-2007, 01:14

Nextel/BoostMobile in the US uses an old digital standard called iden that they will eventually phase out in favor of CDMA technology used by Sprint who they merged with(rumor of 2010). Handsets may be locked, but you can buy a kit with a phone and an iden sim card inexpensively on the web or from a department store when you visit. Also has a useful PTT feature at a flat rate per day.
Good chart of prepaid options in the Northeast US:
http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm
Agree with others a TMobile or Cingular prepaid GSM sim off ebay may be your best bet so long as your handset covers the 800/1900 Mhz bands used in North America.

Malkav · 17-02-2007, 01:45

Quote:

Originally Posted by GadgetKen

Nextel/BoostMobile in the US uses an old digital standard called iden that they will eventually phase out in favor of CDMA technology used by Sprint who they merged with(rumor of 2010). Handsets may be locked, but you can buy a kit with a phone and an iden sim card inexpensively on the web or from a department store when you visit. Also has a useful PTT feature at a flat rate per day.
Good chart of prepaid options in the Northeast US:
http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm
Agree with others a TMobile or Cingular prepaid GSM sim off ebay may be your best bet so long as your handset covers the 800/1900 Mhz bands used in North America.

excellent, maybe will get either a tmobile or boost sim, i am going to go to the us when gwb sod's off! (i really don't like him!)

PhotoJim · 17-02-2007, 16:26

I got my T-Mobile SIM off a guy on eBay. It came with a Los Angeles, California (+1 323) number, which was okay with me - I will not be in any particular place in the US regularly, except for parts of North Dakota that T-Mobile does not natively serve. There is no long distance charge for inbound or outbound US calling anyway.

I paid about $5 (plus an exhorbitant $8 for shipping, which is okay - I knew I was paying it) and got about $20 in calling time. I've since added a $100 card so now I'm good until early February of 2008. (My original time expired in early February but I topped up before that happened.) Now even including my playing I have about $121 in credit (you get a bonus when you are in the Gold Rewards program).

Cingular has better coverage, but with the roaming areas included, T-Mobile is not that much worse. I think it's going to work out very well for me.

I have a PagePlus phone just in case, though. Verizon has the best coverage footprint of any network (when you include the roaming partners) and that's the network PagePlus uses. As mentioned above, boring CDMA, though.

My plan is to use PagePlus when I must and T-Mobile when I can.

Malkav · 17-02-2007, 19:26

ok, tmobile, cingular and boost are the one's to look at, when i get there.....mmmm again early 09 i will be off to the US (Bob help you all!)

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	(#1)
GadgetKen (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 342 Join Date: 14 Dec 2004 Location: Connecticut, USA Country:	17-02-2007, 01:14 Nextel/BoostMobile in the US uses an old digital standard called iden that they will eventually phase out in favor of CDMA technology used by Sprint who they merged with(rumor of 2010). Handsets may be locked, but you can buy a kit with a phone and an iden sim card inexpensively on the web or from a department store when you visit. Also has a useful PTT feature at a flat rate per day. Good chart of prepaid options in the Northeast US: http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm Agree with others a TMobile or Cingular prepaid GSM sim off ebay may be your best bet so long as your handset covers the 800/1900 Mhz bands used in North America. Phones/Wireless Devices: Doogee S90, Isatphone Pro, Amazon Kindle 3G, SkyRoam MiFi device, Karma MiFi device, AT&T Liberate MiFi device Sim Cards: T-Mobile (Mint), AT&T (Mifi device or Kindle), Koko Satphone: InMarSat Broadband US Wireless Data: AT&T postpaid, Sprint (Karma Mobility prepaid) Broadband International Data: SkyRoam VOIP: Skype

	(#3)
PhotoJim (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 389 Join Date: 10 Dec 2006 Location: Regina, SK, CA Country:	17-02-2007, 16:26 I got my T-Mobile SIM off a guy on eBay. It came with a Los Angeles, California (+1 323) number, which was okay with me - I will not be in any particular place in the US regularly, except for parts of North Dakota that T-Mobile does not natively serve. There is no long distance charge for inbound or outbound US calling anyway. I paid about $5 (plus an exhorbitant $8 for shipping, which is okay - I knew I was paying it) and got about $20 in calling time. I've since added a $100 card so now I'm good until early February of 2008. (My original time expired in early February but I topped up before that happened.) Now even including my playing I have about $121 in credit (you get a bonus when you are in the Gold Rewards program). Cingular has better coverage, but with the roaming areas included, T-Mobile is not that much worse. I think it's going to work out very well for me. I have a PagePlus phone just in case, though. Verizon has the best coverage footprint of any network (when you include the roaming partners) and that's the network PagePlus uses. As mentioned above, boring CDMA, though. My plan is to use PagePlus when I must and T-Mobile when I can. CA: SaskTel, Wind postpaid; Rogers, Bell postpaid iPad flex plans; US: T-Mobile postpaid data, prepaid voice; PureTalk (AT&T MVNO) prepaid voice/data; AT&T prepaid iPad plan Hardware: Too much but notably iPhone 5, iPad Mini Retina LTE, Moto G LTE (N.A. version), iPhone 4. All unlocked.

	(#4)
Malkav (Offline) Senior Member Prepaid Expert Posts: 267 Join Date: 09 Jun 2006 Location: Malkavian University Country:	17-02-2007, 19:26 ok, tmobile, cingular and boost are the one's to look at, when i get there.....mmmm again early 09 i will be off to the US (Bob help you all!) Current networks: Orange 3g UK, 3 pay monthly, Virgin pay as you go UK, 3UK payg, Tesco payg, Asda mobile Active phones: Blackberry Torch (02), Google Nexus one (Vodafone) Inactive Sims: Oskar Czech R, BT Genie Pay as you go UK. Spare (unused phones) NEC 616, Ericsson t68/i, Nokia 3310, Sendo m550, Mototorola v66i, Motorola a1000.lg u880, Sony Ericsson t230. Orange spv m5000, Samsung z400, Motorola SLVR (Red)!, lobster tv700, spv m700, prada phone, motorola l7e, Skype phone, siemens sl65, blackberry 8810, Nokia 6500 slide X2.