Straight Talk $45/mo Bring Your Own Device

[anon(5335877)]

I've mentioned Straight Talk before in a few threads, so basically it's a brand owned by TracFone and one of the plans they offer is $45/mo for unlimited talk, text and data*. Now Straight Talk is an MVNO, which means they provide wireless services to customers without actually owning the core network infrastructure. Instead they have deals with other carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, and Sprint which allows Straight Talk customers to use their networks as long as Straight Talk pays carriers a fee.

So this $45 unlimited plan I was talking about, it would run on the AT&T network, and previously it was only for specific phones that Straight Talk offered. What people would do is buy the Nokia E71 (since it had the SIM that gave you AT&T service and was swappable) activate it, throw the E71 in the drawer (SIM and phone are tied together, if anyone else activates using that E71 your SIM will be deactivated), and put the SIM in any AT&T phone or unlocked phone and be good to go.

But now, Straight Talk is now allowing you to bring your own device (pay full price for the phone or go to eBay or Craigslist) and they'll sell you a SIM ($15) for the $45 unlimited* plan for either T-Mobile or AT&T service. So no more buying the Nokia E71 to gather dust in a drawer, and no more SIM swapping and no more lying to Straight Talk about whether you have put your SIM card in a different phone.

So this all seems great right? Well there's a few issues. You probably noticed I kept putting an asterisk (*) next to unlimited plan? Here's my post from another thread:

• Customer support is terrible. As long as you don't have to deal with them you'll be okay.
• Unlimited data is not really unlimited. They're not telling us what the limits are, but it seems to be 2GB per month, and no more than 70MB (possibly 100MB) per day. If you get cut off for exceeding their hidden data limits, you might be able to get reinstated once, but after that, they may just cut off your entire service, no refund.
• MMS. MMS can work, but you need to change some settings. However, many Windows Phones do not let you change any MMS settings, just APN settings (you need to change APN settings also btw). My Dell Venue Pro had a diagnostic menu where I could edit MMS settings, but my HTC Titan does not. So I can MMS on my DVP, but not on my Titan.
• Might not get LTE in the future.

I think that's it. But if you're not worried about those things (I'm not) it's worth the savings.

You didn't think you could get AT&T for half the price that easily, did you?

Also, one more thing to note, is while the people who did the E71 SIM swap get some roaming, this plan seems not to allow any roaming at all. So basically you'd want to look at the AT&T GoPhone coverage map.

AT&T Coverage Viewer

So what do you guys think, is it worth $45/mo for Unlimited Talk, Text, and 2GB of data (w/100MB max per day), AT&T GoPhone coverage, terrible customer support, no MMS for some of us, and no contract?

Welcome | Straight Talk | Bring Your Own Phone

 

[reelon]

It sounds very good, but it wouldn't work for me. I use more than the 100 mbs per day and the 2 gb per month, no High speed internet where I live. Hopefully I will not get the email about data usage, I'm just over 4 gb with 7 more days to go.

 

[scottcraft]

It does seem like a pretty good deal. I think redpocket sounds pretty good too.

 

[speedtouch]

Just so you know, T-Mo has the same $60 plan as Red Pocket in the Monthly 4G section.

 

[scottcraft]

For me redpocket would be preferable than the T-Mobile plan because it appears redpocket is based on AT&T's network and they have better coverage in my area.

Sent from my Windows7 Phone using Board Express

 

[speedtouch]

For me redpocket would be preferable than the T-Mobile plan because it appears redpocket is based on AT&T's network and they have better coverage in my area.

Sent from my Windows7 Phone using Board Express

Ah yes, I didn't see that about Red Pocket. I'd go with RP as well.

 

[scottcraft]

From what I'm reading about redpocket you have to change setting to allow mms to work. Does this rule out using WP if mms is important? I am very interested in switching, but I think I'll have to wait until my contract is expired.

Sent from my Windows7 Phone using Board Express

 

[anon(5335877)]

From what I'm reading about redpocket you have to change setting to allow mms to work. Does this rule out using WP if mms is important? I am very interested in switching, but I think I'll have to wait until my contract is expired.

Sent from my Windows7 Phone using Board Express

Pretty much, yes. Unless you can find a phone that lets you change MMS settings (like my Dell Venue Pro that had that secret diagnostic menu) or if Microsoft lets you edit MMS settings in the future, then no MMS.

Also note, no roaming.