Help a virgin smart phone buyer

[JamesV]

Never really needed a smart phone, but there have been times one would have been handy. I've decided on the Moto G, from the Anandtech article and word of mouth.

But, I want a cheap monthly or pay as you go plan. I looked at Page Plus, and even talked with a rep, and still can't figure out if the Moto G will work with their service. They use Verizon's network, which requires CDMA from what I can tell, but you can only get that version through Verizon with a $50+/month plan. GSM phones won't work on Verizon's network - did I get that right?

I just want to buy the US GSM Moto G, and find a sub $20 monthly, or pay as you go plan. Which budget carriers would that phone work with?

Besides the GSM/CDMA issue, are there any other things I need to know before buying the Moto G off of Motorola's website?

 

[ImDonly1]

You are correct the CDMA (Verizon) Moto G won't work on pageplus. It has to be active on verizon service for 6 months before they allow it to be activated elsewhere.

As for GSM, depends... if you wany pay as you go or monthly, att or tmobile, do you want minutes or data?

Per minute Lycamobile (t-mobile network) is cheapest, 2 cents per minute. Their data is routed through a proxy in the UK (lyca is a UK company) so pings are high I believe. Also, the balance on lycamobile doesn't expire as long as you use the phone once every 3-4 months or so (check on this). Other pay as you go services expire more frequently I believe.

There is also platinumtel, t-mobile prepaid ($30 plan), and many others.

Att gsm there is airvoice, h2o wireless, aio wireless and many others.
H2o is probably the cheapest monthly service for att network. $30 for unlimited talk, text, and 500mb data is pretty good.


Make sure you buy the us gsm model. The global gsm model will only work on att if you are using it in the usa. The us model will work on att and t-mobile.

 

[ImDonly1]

dbl post

 

[Channeledbymodem]

+1 for Ptel. Switched from Virgin and haven't looked back. Paygo is as little as $5/mo.

 

[GregMal]

If you can get by with unlimited voice/text, don't mind paying $300 for a very good Android phone, will only access the web by WiFi, then look at Republic Wireless for $10 per month......Moto X...

 

[Pardus]

+1 for Ptel. Switched from Virgin and haven't looked back. Paygo is as little as $5/mo.

Ptel wants $50/mo for 2GB data, unlimited v/t, might as well use t-mobile instead of a mvno.

 

[Yuriman]

If you can get by with unlimited voice/text, don't mind paying $300 for a very good Android phone, will only access the web by WiFi, then look at Republic Wireless for $10 per month......Moto X...

I'm on Republic's $10 per month plan with a Moto X, and I'm a very happy camper. You can change over to a data plan for a weekend if necessary (and then change back) and only get charged data for the days you use it.

 

[cronos]

Ptel wants $50/mo for 2GB data, unlimited v/t, might as well use t-mobile instead of a mvno.

He's saying Ptel paygo and you counter by mentioning their unlimited $50/month. These are two completely different plans meant to serve two completely different people. Not to mention the OP specifically mentioned going for sub $20/month and/or a paygo plan.

Anyway, OP, if you're going for paygo with data capabilities on a Moto G, then your best options are:

T-Mobile network: Ptel
AT&T network: H2O, Airvoice

Notice that Airvoice has two different 'paygo' options. Airvoice '250 minutes' plan is technically not a 'true' paygo but it acts like a paygo with all balance and expiration date rolled over after a refill, it's just that you're forced to pay $10 each month but with much better rates than their actual 'paygo plans'.

Added: I see a couple of suggestions for Republic Wireless. Can you BYOD on RW? If you can't and you have to buy a phone that's locked to them, OP, then I suggest you don't consider this option. There's zero reason for you to get a GSM phone (especially for $300!) and then get restricted like that.

I forgot to mention that the Motorola G (verizon prepaid version) will *not* work on PagePlus (at least for now). No need for more confusion.

 

[JamesV]

Data is something I'd only look into later on, because I don't think there are very many places without wifi around there. I also won't be using it that much, so an unlimited plan is complete overkill for me.

Thanks for the suggestions on carriers, will check them out today.

 

[crashtestdummy]

Data is something I'd only look into later on, because I don't think there are very many places without wifi around there. I also won't be using it that much, so an unlimited plan is complete overkill for me.

Thanks for the suggestions on carriers, will check them out today.

If you're not much interested in data use, T-Mobile has an unlimited talk/text pay as you go plan for $35/month.

If you really only use the phone sparingly, there's a $2/day plan, where you only get charged on the days you use the phone.

 

[techtechie]

I think your better off going to straight talk. they have gsm which offers a ton more flexibility when it comes to switching to, from and around devices. And the verizon prepaid moto g has to be active for 6 months before it can be activated on a post paid acount. also many of these pay-as-you-go carriers don't accept phones that are acquired through a prepaid deal

 

[gmaster456]

H20 wireless has a $30 Unlimited talk/text plan with 500mb of data.

Straight talk has a $45 unlimited everything plan. Although after 2.5gb of data it goes from LTE to 2g but from the sounds of things you probably wouldn't use that much anyway.