Need Prepaid Cell Advice

[Caveman]

Two of my kids are getting old enough to go out on their own away from the house on bike rides, swimming, etc... If there's an emergency, I'd like to have them be able to call me on my cell.

Their total cell usage might be 1-5 hrs per month max. So... I'm thinking a dirt cheap phone with a small amount of prepaid minutes useable any time for say $50 is the way to go. Does anything like this exist?

Any recommendations?

 

[cronos]

If it's just a phone to make calls from time to time, I'm thinking the best option is a non-smartphone on PagePlus standard plan (pay-to-go).

The $10/25/50 PINs are good for 120 days, and the $80 PIN is good for a year. Rates are different depending on the PIN (larger PIN dollar - lower rate).

Any old Verizon phone will work (as long as it's not a Verizon Prepaid phone or have been activated on Verizon Prepaid). There should be tons of them on eBay. Most are used, but I'm sure there are some brand new ones out there if you looked.

 

[bamx2]

I agree. You could use a smartphone (wifi for data) but make sure to have 3g data disabled when you set up the acct . see more on info about Page Plus and the other prepaid wireless services here - http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php/325-US-Prepaid-MVNO-Discussion

If it's just a phone to make calls from time to time, I'm thinking the best option is a non-smartphone on PagePlus standard plan (pay-to-go).

The $10/25/50 PINs are good for 120 days, and the $80 PIN is good for a year. Rates are different depending on the PIN (larger PIN dollar - lower rate).

Any old Verizon phone will work (as long as it's not a Verizon Prepaid phone or have been activated on Verizon Prepaid). There should be tons of them on eBay. Most are used, but I'm sure there are some brand new ones out there if you looked.

 

[arod]

ting would work well for this purpose.... you only pay for what you use.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Wow, I didn't realize how Ting actually worked. I thought it was a thing where you basically get to choose your plan, mixing and matching different tiers of voice, text, and data usage, but they actually automatically bump you up or down tiers based on your ACTUAL usage.

So it's essentially like prepaid, in that you pay for whatever you use, but instead of true pay-per-use, there are breakpoints above which you pay extra. The rates are really good though - if you strictly limit your data and don't go too nuts on talking or texting, you would probably pay under $30 a month.

Ting uses the Sprint network, so that's something to keep in mind. They don't have the best coverage everywhere.

I was going to point out Platinumtel, which has true pay-per-use on everything, with pretty good rates. It's 5 cents per minute, 2 cents per text message, and 10 cents per MB of data. Again, if you watch your data like a hawk or just disable it altogether you could have really low bills. And you don't have to worry about paying for minutes you don't use or incurring overage charges.

It uses T-Mobile so again there are some network concerns, although it appears that they do offer voice roaming on AT&T towers THIS IS ACTUALLY NOT TRUE, I WAS MISTAKEN (important for me since I travel across Wisconsin every few months and there are no T-Mobile towers anywhere between Eau Claire and Green Bay).

One nice thing about T-Mobile is the data is actually fast, unlike Sprint. But it sounds like, for your use, data is not a concern.

Also, both Ting and Platinumtel offer Bring Your Own Device - Ting lets you bring over any Sprint device (other than iPhones and Windows phones), while Platinumtel will let you bring any GSM device, just pop in a sim card.

 

[cronos]

ting would work well for this purpose.... you only pay for what you use.

Ting is Sprint vs. PagePlus' Verizon. OP will be able to decide which carrier works better in his area.

Also, Ting isn't 'only pay for what you use', it has customized packages. For really low usage (I'm talking about lower than 50 min/50 txt per month), with Ting it's already a mandatory $12/month before you even do anything, which does get you 100 minutes and 100 text, but if you don't use it, it's money gone. With paygo, you pay exactly what you use.

For really low usage, true pay-to-go is almost always the best option. No, this is not something that the carriers hope is popular, because they don't get any profit from it. Some MVNOs don't even have this option anymore, or trying their best to make it very unattractive so people choose to go for the monthly plans.

 

[cronos]

So it's essentially like prepaid, in that you pay for whatever you use, but instead of true pay-per-use, there are breakpoints above which you pay extra. The rates are really good though - if you strictly limit your data and don't go too nuts on talking or texting, you would probably pay under $30 a month.

Yes, Ting can be perfect for that price range, if you manage your usage well, know what you need and keep yourself off of the other services (which will bump you into the next level if you're not careful). For users who are aiming around $5-$15/month though, it's not so good.

I was going to point out Platinumtel, which has true pay-per-use on everything, with pretty good rates. It's 5 cents per minute, 2 cents per text message, and 10 cents per MB of data. Again, if you watch your data like a hawk or just disable it altogether you could have really low bills. And you don't have to worry about paying for minutes you don't use or incurring overage charges.

What's also really important to know is that PlatinumTel has this seemingly perpetual coupon code that will get you the $40 PIN for half-off, so you only need to pay $20 for it. This effectively lower its paygo rates in half (2.5c/min, 1c/txt, 5c/MB, which is totally awesome). There's no guarantee that this code will never expires, but this code has been good since January. I bought three of them already and it will last me through early next year . If you have good TMobile coverage, PTel is great!

Having said that, for the purpose of the OP though, depending on the network coverage in his area, I would still suggest PagePlus Standard plan with a non-smartphone.

 

[arod]

Wow, I didn't realize how Ting actually worked. I thought it was a thing where you basically get to choose your plan, mixing and matching different tiers of voice, text, and data usage, but they actually automatically bump you up or down tiers based on your ACTUAL usage.

So it's essentially like prepaid, in that you pay for whatever you use, but instead of true pay-per-use, there are breakpoints above which you pay extra. The rates are really good though - if you strictly limit your data and don't go too nuts on talking or texting, you would probably pay under $30 a month.

Ting uses the Sprint network, so that's something to keep in mind. They don't have the best coverage everywhere.

I was going to point out Platinumtel, which has true pay-per-use on everything, with pretty good rates. It's 5 cents per minute, 2 cents per text message, and 10 cents per MB of data. Again, if you watch your data like a hawk or just disable it altogether you could have really low bills. And you don't have to worry about paying for minutes you don't use or incurring overage charges.

It uses T-Mobile so again there are some network concerns, although it appears that they do offer voice roaming on AT&T towers (important for me since I travel across Wisconsin every few months and there are no T-Mobile towers anywhere between Eau Claire and Green Bay).

One nice thing about T-Mobile is the data is actually fast, unlike Sprint. But it sounds like, for your use, data is not a concern.

Also, both Ting and Platinumtel offer Bring Your Own Device - Ting lets you bring over any Sprint device (other than iPhones and Windows phones), while Platinumtel will let you bring any GSM device, just pop in a sim card.

I know its not directly related to this issue but the biggest reason I chose ting over the other prepaid options was they offer the "good" sprint devices and you get full access to sprints service (so full lte and tethering). Most of the other prepaid offerings only offer you old and crappy phones and their 3g network for data.

It's also an unwritten rule that you just set your plan at 0 for all of the tiers and as you move up it automatically increases based on usage.

My family bill is like $69/month for 4 lines because we are on wifi most of the time so our actual data usage is under 500 megs and sharing txt/mins is not that high.

 

[AstroManLuca]

It uses T-Mobile so again there are some network concerns, although it appears that they do offer voice roaming on AT&T towers (important for me since I travel across Wisconsin every few months and there are no T-Mobile towers anywhere between Eau Claire and Green Bay).

I just learned this is not true. Ptel's website is a bit deceptive in this way - they still show non-T-Mobile coverage area as "service partner" and in their terms they say that "on network roaming" is allowed, whatever that means, but that "off network roaming" is not.

Went over to Howard Forums and found that, in fact, Platinumtel does NOT offer ANY kind of roaming. You must be in a native T-Mobile coverage area.

At least T-Mobile's own prepaid plans offer voice roaming, which is very important for me so I am at least able to make a call if I am on one of my road trips.