scottydl
Site Team
I know lots of RV folks out there use prepaid cell phones to avoid a monthly charge for a phone that rarely gets used... at least "rarely" compared to the thousands of minutes/texts, and GB of downloads for today's "typical" smart phone user. (I'm NOT one of those people by the way.) I've had a Blackberry on Boost Mobile phone for a couple years now, paying 10 cents per minute/text. It's my work phone, used rarely (used maybe a few minutes/texts per day) and I average spending less than $10/month on it. It's been nice because the phone still had some decent features when connected to wifi.
Amidst the Boost (owned by Sprint) transitioning from IDEN (the old Nextel network) to CDMA, their prepaid prices are going up to 20-25 cents per minute/text. That is too much and I don't plan on staying with them. Verizon and AT&T's prepaid prices are no better.
I looked at Kajeet phones, marketed as "cell phones for kids" but frankly look pretty decent for my uses too... although the plan I'd need is $15/month and I'd have to buy one of their $60+ phones or find a compatible Sprint device (and they don't tell you which ones work on their website).
Then I remembered Tracfone (the original prepaid) and they have some pretty good deals on their website too, decent phones for $20-30. What's unclear about them are the "minute" cards you buy (instead of putting actual cash on an account like I've done with Boost). What do minute cards cost on average? How many texts you get for each minute? If you've had Tracfone, what's been your experience with service/signal and average monthly price for your usage?
Any comments are welcome!
Amidst the Boost (owned by Sprint) transitioning from IDEN (the old Nextel network) to CDMA, their prepaid prices are going up to 20-25 cents per minute/text. That is too much and I don't plan on staying with them. Verizon and AT&T's prepaid prices are no better.
I looked at Kajeet phones, marketed as "cell phones for kids" but frankly look pretty decent for my uses too... although the plan I'd need is $15/month and I'd have to buy one of their $60+ phones or find a compatible Sprint device (and they don't tell you which ones work on their website).
Then I remembered Tracfone (the original prepaid) and they have some pretty good deals on their website too, decent phones for $20-30. What's unclear about them are the "minute" cards you buy (instead of putting actual cash on an account like I've done with Boost). What do minute cards cost on average? How many texts you get for each minute? If you've had Tracfone, what's been your experience with service/signal and average monthly price for your usage?
Any comments are welcome!