Holy cow. Straight Talk AT&T sim card prices are insane!

[ponyo]

I just checked Ebay and new Straight Talk AT&T sim card activation packages are going for about $100 now. I have unopened microsim kit I bought for $5 as backup during their promotion sale last year. I know couple of people here also ordered some for backup during that sale. Now might be a good time to unload it.

 

[AkumaX]

did something happen?

 

[gorcorps]

did something happen?

They are no longer selling att sims. Anybody who had them can sill use them but no more new ones.

I have one that I bought a while ago for when my att contract expires, but now I don't think I'll use it. I've grown too accustomed To LTE and now I don't know if straight talk will eventually stop service on these sims altogether some day.

 

[OBLAMA2009]

so what does this mean. you cant use any att phone with straighttalk on att? so are they only using tmobiles network or something.does this mean straighttalk sux now?

 

[gorcorps]

http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2300731

 

[ImDonly1]

Yeah people that buy those are unaware. You can just get net10 att sim instead for $1. Owned by the same company almost same price for the service.

 

[SunnyD]

Yeah people that buy those are unaware. You can just get net10 att sim instead for $1. Owned by the same company almost same price for the service.

Except the net10 sims are capped at 1.5gb/month, and the straighttalk ones aren't.

 

[Midwayman]

I thought ST said they were just OOS and not discontinuing them?

 

[lothar]

Except the net10 sims are capped at 1.5gb/month, and the straighttalk ones aren't.

Not to mention the fact that Net10 refill cards cost more than the Straight Talk ones as well.

 

[Thegonagle]

I thought that Straight Talk AT&T had data caps as well, except they just don't tell you what the cap is. Maybe they should change their name from Straight Talk to Ambiguous Data.

 

[ImDonly1]

Except the net10 sims are capped at 1.5gb/month, and the straighttalk ones aren't.

As if straight talk is unlimited?
With net10 setting the cap at 1.5GB, they let you stream and do whatever you want with the data since there is now a limit.

ST doesn't have an announced limit (even though it is around 2GB), but you can't stream with it.

It is almost the same thing. On ST, I have been throttled as low as 1GB/mo, so saying ST has higher data limits is false.

Not to mention the fact that Net10 refill cards cost more than the Straight Talk ones as well.

St is $45/mo and net10 is $50/mo.
Straight talk sims are only sold at walmart and are never sold at a discount anywhere. net10 sims can be sold by dealers and anywhere else. This means you can buy the net10 sims at discount. If you buy them from a dealer at discount (callingmart or anywhere else), it will be almost the same price. Also, buying refills for straight talk (in most states) charge sales tax. Buying net10 refills online from dealers you don't have a sales tax.

Net10 even gives you $5 off per month for signing up for auto refill. St only gives you $2.50 off. Total difference per month $2.50.

I use straight talk, but there is no different from net10 really.



Even better, if st sim cards are selling for $100, you can buy a nokia e71 for straight talk used on ebay for less than the sim cards are selling for. The nokia straight talk phones have unlocked sims and can be swapped to other phones. Anyone who buys a st sim card for $100 is unaware and getting ripped off.

 

[fstime]

Why would people want a 2 gb capped plan so badly.

The T-Mobile straight talk sounds superior as I don't think it has any caps and T-Mobiles HSPA is good for what, 20+ mbps? Anything other 10 is fast enough anyways.

 

[Slick5150]

Why would people want a 2 gb capped plan so badly.

The T-Mobile straight talk sounds superior as I don't think it has any caps and T-Mobiles HSPA is good for what, 20+ mbps? Anything other 10 is fast enough anyways.

Except for many people (myself included) T-Mobile's coverage is rubbish.

 

[QueBert]

Why would people want a 2 gb capped plan so badly.

The T-Mobile straight talk sounds superior as I don't think it has any caps and T-Mobiles HSPA is good for what, 20+ mbps? Anything other 10 is fast enough anyways.

In my area T-Mobile's coverage is horrible, but for a lot of people I'm sure they have AT&T phones and want cheaper service without getting a new phone. I currently have a T-Mobile phone on Airvoice, which uses AT&T's network. And anything data related is EDGE.

On the flip side, I'm sure if ST had pulled T-Mobile sim's you'd see them going for crazy prices on Ebay for the T-Mobile phone people who don't want to deal with EDGE. Edge was barely usable when it 1st came out, I don't even use internet on my phone unless it's Wifi.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Straight Talk is fine, I've been using it for a month now since I got my Nexus 4 and it's been excellent. The T-Mobile-network plan has a 2GB limit before they throttle to around 256-512Kbps, which is fine considering 2GB is enough for me to watch some YouTube most days and do a lot of web browsing. The speeds are also very good, in my experience anywhere from 6-15Mbps. Also, if you enroll in auto-refill the plan is only $42.50 a month.

 

[lothar]

St is $45/mo and net10 is $50/mo.
Straight talk sims are only sold at walmart and are never sold at a discount anywhere. net10 sims can be sold by dealers and anywhere else. This means you can buy the net10 sims at discount. If you buy them from a dealer at discount (callingmart or anywhere else), it will be almost the same price. Also, buying refills for straight talk (in most states) charge sales tax. Buying net10 refills online from dealers you don't have a sales tax.

Net10 even gives you $5 off per month for signing up for auto refill. St only gives you $2.50 off. Total difference per month $2.50.

I use straight talk, but there is no different from net10 really.



Even better, if st sim cards are selling for $100, you can buy a nokia e71 for straight talk used on ebay for less than the sim cards are selling for. The nokia straight talk phones have unlocked sims and can be swapped to other phones. Anyone who buys a st sim card for $100 is unaware and getting ripped off.

I've been buying monthly Straight Talk refills from CrazyGameTime for $37.xx for the past 6-8 months now.
Buying Straight Talk refill cards from Straight Talk's website is foolish because they add a bunch of stupid taxes. You can buy those same refill cards at Wal-Mart for cheaper than Straight Talk's auto-refill price without having to pay any stupid taxes.

 

[ImDonly1]

I've been buying monthly Straight Talk refills from CrazyGameTime for $37.xx for the past 6-8 months now.
Buying Straight Talk refill cards from Straight Talk's website is foolish because they add a bunch of stupid taxes. You can buy those same refill cards at Wal-Mart for cheaper than Straight Talk's auto-refill price without having to pay any stupid taxes.

Walmart still charges sales tax on it, at least in my state.
I bought from crazygametime before, they aren't selling them for that cheap anymore. They sell for $42 now. Also, let's be real crazygametime isn't exactly the most reputable shop (even if my refills work). No idea where they are getting the refills from and the payment is sent to some random person in china.

 

[SAWYER]

I wonder if the Nokia sim swap work around will still work with newer Nokia phones

 

[lothar]

Walmart still charges sales tax on it, at least in my state.
I bought from crazygametime before, they aren't selling them for that cheap anymore. They sell for $42 now. Also, let's be real crazygametime isn't exactly the most reputable shop (even if my refills work). No idea where they are getting the refills from and the payment is sent to some random person in china.

Both in store and online? Really?
It's not just only sales tax, but all those other pesky little fees and other regulatory charges that Straight Talk tacks on if you purchase the refills from their website. You don't have to pay such stupid fees if you purchase Straight Talk refills at Wal-Mart(both B&M and Online), eBay, crazygametime, or wherever have you.
http://www.straighttalkwirelessforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=6808&t=71298

Which is why one should either use gift cards(which you can get for free without paying activation fees if you purchase from American Express directly) or a "virtual" credit card if your credit card account supports such.

 

[s44]

Straight Talk is fine, I've been using it for a month now since I got my Nexus 4 and it's been excellent. The T-Mobile-network plan has a 2GB limit before they throttle to around 256-512Kbps, which is fine considering 2GB is enough for me to watch some YouTube most days and do a lot of web browsing.

Wait, ST is throttling the T-Mo side now? Ugh.

 

[Gooberlx2]

Wait, ST is throttling the T-Mo side now? Ugh.

They always have (officially), but historically they haven't been a strict with enforcement on Tmo sims.

 

[Nvidiaguy07]

I bought 3 ATT sims for when i switch my family over. Shoould i just sell them and then go with net10 instead? (and make some money off of these sims?) Or am i better off keeping them and going with ST?

 

[Capt Caveman]

I just checked Ebay and new Straight Talk AT&T sim card activation packages are going for about $100 now. I have unopened microsim kit I bought for $5 as backup during their promotion sale last year. I know couple of people here also ordered some for backup during that sale. Now might be a good time to unload it.

Yeah, I have an extra sim laying around, might be worth the effort to sell it.

 

[Red Storm]

I bought 3 ATT sims for when i switch my family over. Shoould i just sell them and then go with net10 instead? (and make some money off of these sims?) Or am i better off keeping them and going with ST?

I have no experience with Net10, but if they are just like ST then I would definitely do that.

 

[ImDonly1]

I bought 3 ATT sims for when i switch my family over. Shoould i just sell them and then go with net10 instead? (and make some money off of these sims?) Or am i better off keeping them and going with ST?

If you could sell them for $100+ each then I would sell.

Check out the listings for the nokia e71 on straight talk on ebay.

They have been selling for $40-50. The sims in them are unlocked and can be swapped on straight talk to any smartphone just like the BYOD sims. So if you really wanted to get straight talk, sell your BYOD sims and get nokia e71's with swappable sims. You just would have to cut them to microsim size.

Or just go net10.

I have no experience with Net10, but if they are just like ST then I would definitely do that.

Me either since I use straight talk, but they are both owned by the same company (tracfone/american movil). Only difference is straight talk is specifically branded for walmart. Net10 is for everyone else such as cell phone dealers.