iPhone 5 & T-Mobile's $30 Plan

heyload2

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This summer my son is heading to college in Chicago and I'm planning on switching him from my VZW family plan and onto his own plan. Walmart has a $30 5gb data, Unlm Text and 100 voice minutes plan for T-mobile and the plan is to get him on that. Someone on the forums must have done this recently and I wanted to make sure that I am not wasting any time or money getting something I don't need so I wanted to run it past all of you, so here is the plan.

Buy an iPhone5 16gb outright from Apple $649
Buy a Sim activation lit from Walmart $9.99
Buy Nano Sim cutter from Amazon $7.99

After I get all of those I should be able to just go to the T-Mobile website and select the $30 pay as you go plan right? By switching him to this plan it will save me $17 a month. If it works out I plan on doing the same thing for my wife's line and then mine when the ETF gets reasonable.
 

heyload2

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He's going to be right downtown and T-Mobile has good coverage there as far as I can tell. Do you have any experience with their service in Chicago?
 

androidluvr2

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He's going to be right downtown and T-Mobile has good coverage there as far as I can tell. Do you have any experience with their service in Chicago?
No I don't. I just know it is not good where I live. That is the first thing I would check out. If it is good service, then T-Mobile is a good deal. The only other thing to worry about is coverage when he is traveling back and forth from school to home.

Also, are you going with Straight Talk's T-Mobile compatible SIM cards?
 

androidluvr2

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I was going to buy the phone from Apple without any sim. Doesn't the T-Mobile sim activation kit have a sim in it?
yes, it does, just checking whether you were going with T-Mobile directly or the Straight Talk T-Mobile compatible SIM but now that I went to the walmart site, the ST TMobile SIM is not available for Chicago zip codes so sorry if I have confused you.

The only thing I did notice is that the Walmart plan seems to require that you purchase the phone from Walmart yet I didn't see the T-Mobile iphone 5, only the straight talk iPhone 5 on the website.

https://goto.walmart.com/c/1943169/...imited-Web-Text-with-100-min-of-talk/15443357

Can you use the Walmart $30 plan without buying the phone from walmart? Or is this a different plan because it has unlimited data?
 

androidluvr2

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Why would I need to buy a phone if they sell just the sim?
I was just reading what the walmart site said. It actually looks like a better deal - 100 minutes and unlimited text and unlimited data for $30. However, to get that deal it looks like you have to buy the phone from walmart and I didn't see any tmobile iphone 5's.

The nice thing about unlimited data is you can get a google voice number and route your voice calls through data effectively giving you unlimited voice calls, too. Wow, unlimited talk, text and data for $30 a month if you use google voice to route your calls.

The walmart site says:

"The $30 Unlimited Web & Text with 100 min talk plan works only with T-Mobile Phones purchased from a Walmart store or from Walmart.com."

But if you read through the reviews, they reviewers are saying you don't need to purchase the phone from Walmart.
 

androidluvr2

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However, to get that deal it looks like you have to buy the phone from walmart and I didn't see any tmobile iphone 5's.
I just confirmed with my local walmart that they don't sell tmobile iphone 5s. I told the guy that the reviews on walmart's very own site say you don't have to buy the phone from walmart to get the $30/mo unlimited data plan and he wouldn't confirm it but wouldn't deny it either.

It is certainly worth a try to buy an unlocked iphone 5 from apple, the tmobile SIM from walmart, the SIM cutter from amazon and then try to get on the $30/mo tmobile unlimited data/text + 100 minute walmart plan.

If you can use google voice for calls, that is quite a deal and you never have to worry about running out of minutes.
 

androidluvr2

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Update - just double checked, it is Google Talk that uses data, not Google Voice. Google Voice use minutes.

To use Google Talk, you have to use a 3rd-party app like GrooVe IP to make calls over Google Talk using data (VoIP) to the US or Canada. You also can use it over a WiFi connection to make calls. If you are in a moving vehicle, though, if your data signal varies during the call, call quality can vary due to varying quality data signals.

Unfortunately, it looks like GrooVe IP is only for android as of now. It looks like they are planning on having an app for iPhone because they want you to give them your email address if you are waiting for GrooVe IP for iPhone.

GrooVe IP for iPhone by snrb Labs - Ollapp.com


The good news is that Tmobile has a VoIP app for US and Canada calls using data or WiFi. It seems to be limited to outgoing calls unless the other caller is also using it (bobsled).
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/bobsled-calling-unlimited/id456700444?mt=8&at=10l3Vy

So by using TMobile's own app, you can save on minutes by using it for outbound calls.
 

androidluvr2

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Another update - TMobile throttles the Walmart unlimited data plan after 5GB of data. Still not bad, though because unless you are streaming video/music all the time, it is not that easy to use 5GB of data in a month.
 

darkoman4

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I have this plan and use it with my Nexus 4. It is excellent and I have no problem with coverage at all. I see no reason to buy this sim through Wallmart as you can get it directly from T-Mobile site for 99 cents and they ship it overnight for free. What is even better, it includes $3.49 credit so your first month would cost less then $30. The only thing I am not sure you can do is activate it before getting actual T-Mobile phone. You will need emei # to activate it on line, and again I don't know if T-Mobile will sell you I-Phone without activating it on some other plan of theirs. But I guess it is workable. You could activate SIM on any T-Mobile phone and then go to T-Mobile and buy iPhone and tell them to use your sim. I know for sure, they can not offer you that plan in the store.

Edit, I just saw you were going to buy an iPhone from Apple and not T-Mobile. I don't know if Apple is selling T-Mobile phones yet, but if you are planning to buy unlocked model it will not work with T-Mobile AWS frequency for Data. It will work only where T-Mobile has reconfigured their HSPA+ to use 1900 MHz spectrum. And there are just few markets to have that. Your best bet is to buy phone from T-Mobile.

Edit again. I realized you are on Verizon and if you have iphone 5, it is unlocked and you are good to go. Just insert T-Mobile sim and activate it and enjoy it. You will get edge speeds where T-Mobile have AWS frequency and HSPA+ where it is reconfigured on 1900mhz. Any time after that, you can buy T-Mobile phone and switch sim.
 
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androidluvr2

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Edit again. I realized you are on Verizon and if you have iphone 5, it is unlocked and you are good to go. Just insert T-Mobile sim and activate it and enjoy it.
Verizon iPhone 5 is only International GSM unlocked. What that means is that you can insert a foreign (non-U.S.) SIM card in the Verizon iPhone 5 and it will work in countries other than the U.S. on their GSM networks.

A Verizon iPhone 5 is not U.S. GSM unlocked so you can't insert a U.S. GSM SIM card from, for instance TMobile or ATT, and use their networks.
 

androidluvr2

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I don't know if Apple is selling T-Mobile phones yet, but if you are planning to buy unlocked model it will not work with T-Mobile AWS frequency for Data. It will work only where T-Mobile has reconfigured their HSPA+ to use 1900 MHz spectrum. And there are just few markets to have that. Your best bet is to buy phone from T-Mobile.
That is important. This is why I said to the OP to make sure they understood TMobile's coverage in Chicago or whereever they want to use their iPhone 5.
 

epicness4G

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Verizon iPhone 5 is only International GSM unlocked. What that means is that you can insert a foreign (non-U.S.) SIM card in the Verizon iPhone 5 and it will work in countries other than the U.S. on their GSM networks.

A Verizon iPhone 5 is not U.S. GSM unlocked so you can't insert a U.S. GSM SIM card from, for instance TMobile or ATT, and use their networks.

I've seen you in tons of topics giving incorrect information to people. The Verizon iPhone 5 is GSM unlocked and it will work with ANY GSM Company in the world. Including AT&T and t-mobile. Do better research please. Not trying to bash you or anything but if you're going to live in our forums please please don't give people incorrect information.

The $30 plan is 5GB of 4G. 100 minutes and unlimited texting. The customer buys the kit then calls or activates through the website. You can either buy the SIM card cutter or you can have tmobile themselves give you a nano sim after you activate it.
 

natasftw

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So I'm curious...

649-199 = $450
7.99+9.99 = $17.98
$450 + $17.98 = $467.98
$467.98/$17 = 27.52

$17 * 24 = $408

Two years of savings equates to $408 versus your current plan. Your out of pocket for this solution would be $467.98. It would take 28 months for this to start benefiting you.

Am I missing something? Or is the $17/mo not the driving factor in the decision?
 

epicness4G

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So I'm curious...

649-199 = $450
7.99+9.99 = $17.98
$450 + $17.98 = $467.98
$467.98/$17 = 27.52

$17 * 24 = $408

Two years of savings equates to $408 versus your current plan. Your out of pocket for this solution would be $467.98. It would take 28 months for this to start benefiting you.

Am I missing something? Or is the $17/mo not the driving factor in the decision?

Never mind, I see lol sorry blonde moment. Compared to a family plan it's not cost effective to buy a phone out right and then switch it. Your math is right
 

epicness4G

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tons is quite an exaggeration, lol! But l am not the type to get upset by random anonymous people on the internet so I will let it slide.

Like I said I am not trying to be rude or anything of sorts I am not one to get into e-arguments. Just some simple constructive criticism between well behaved individuals :)
 

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