Does Smart Talk makes sense for my needs?

[ganchan]

I am downsizing my apartment expenses and investing in a mobile data solution for my extended road trips at the same time -- which makes me think I should be using a single voice/data plan for both environments. The simple one-device solution would be a smartphone tethered to my laptop, both at home and on the road,which would take the place of my home Internet provider and also give me access to the web when there's no Wi-Fi around.

Verizon's Unlimited plan is probably outside my comfort zone, since I need to get both a plan and a smartphone to run it on. Smart Talk's options look much cheaper, but the $55 nationwide plan maxes out at 10G, after which the speed drops from 4G to 2G. Still ... maybe a couple of hours of light internet browsing a day, if I stick to YouTube instead of Netflix.... maybe good enough?

I do want to make use of the Verizon network. Looks like Wal-Mart offers some very good prices on Verizon-ready phones....

 

[DuneElliot]

Do you mean Straight Talk?

I have never maxed out on my 5GB per month on my $45 plan but I rarely stream video. I do use it for Pandora for a few hours a week.

I also don't believe you can tether/hotspot with Straight Talk, but I could be wrong. You'd have to check the TOS.

At $80 for Verizon Unlimited with 4G/LTE up to 22GB/mo (10GB hotspot use) vs the $55 for Straight Talk you're not gaining much for less money

I use ST from Walmart currently but since I have home internet currently it works for me. I will be switching to Verizon's Unlimited plan when I hit the road as I will need the higher data for streaming.

 

[ArtW]

I was on straight talk at one point, they did not, at that time, allow tethering

 

[ganchan]

Do you mean Straight Talk?

I have never maxed out on my 5GB per month on my $45 plan but I rarely stream video. I do use it for Pandora for a few hours a week.

I also don't believe you can tether/hotspot with Straight Talk, but I could be wrong. You'd have to check the TOS.

At $80 for Verizon Unlimited with 4G/LTE up to 22GB/mo (10GB hotspot use) vs the $55 for Straight Talk you're not gaining much for less money

I use ST from Walmart currently but since I have home internet currently it works for me. I will be switching to Verizon's Unlimited plan when I hit the road as I will need the higher data for streaming.

Oops, yes, sorry for the typo. And yeah, no tethering would make it pretty pointless.

If I could just find a dirt-cheap smartphone, I would buy it and bring it to a regular Verizon plan. Or maybe do a prepaid deal like this:
https://www.verizonwireless.com/prepaid/smartphones/lg-optimus-zone-3-prepaid/

 

[DannyB1954]

Straight Talk and Verizon prepaid phones will not let you tether. If you buy a large phone, or have good young eyes, it can be a way to go.

 

[ganchan]

Straight Talk and Verizon prepaid phones will not let you tether. If you buy a large phone, or have good young eyes, it can be a way to go.

Well...I guess there's no downside to buying a cheap-ish phone and starting out prepaid, switching over to the full plan if that isn't a satisfactory arrangement. Could I use the phone I originally bought for my prepaid deal as part of a "bring your own device" setup? Oh, wait, no I can't. Then I might as well get the full plan with a "free" phone like the LG K20 V.

 

[DannyB1954]

Straight Talk SOMETIMES uses Verizon towers so those phones would be compatible. Sometimes they use other carriers. It used to be when buying a Straight Talk phone at Walmart there was a colored symbol on the outside of the package. If it was one color it was Verizon compatible if it was the other color it was not. Can't remember which color was what, but the clerk should know if you ask them.

 

[DuneElliot]

Straight Talk sells CDMA or GSM phones in different parts of the country depending on which company's towers they are predominantly using. Here they use Verizon and I couldn't buy a GSM-based phone at Walmart or online. I have never had an issue with my CDMA phone anywhere in the US, but I think it was mostly due to contracts and available service.

I can transfer my phone and number to Verizon but I don't know if it will then work as a hotspot/tethering as my current Straight Talk S5 doesn't seem to even have that option, even grayed out and unavailable.

 

[DannyB1954]

I can transfer my phone and number to Verizon but I don't know if it will then work as a hotspot/tethering as my current Straight Talk S5 doesn't seem to even have that option, even grayed out and unavailable.

You would have to sign up for one of their contract plans. They charge an extra $20 a month besides whatever they list the phone plan as costing, (I don't see how this can be legal, but that is what they do). So it will end up costing you about $80 a month to tether. If you buy a Verizon tablet, you can tether up to something like 2 gig a month. That will cost you about $40 a month, and you still have to have a different phone for talk and text.

 

[DuneElliot]

You would have to sign up for one of their contract plans. They charge an extra $20 a month besides whatever they list the phone plan as costing, (I don't see how this can be legal, but that is what they do). So it will end up costing you about $80 a month to tether. If you buy a Verizon tablet, you can tether up to something like 2 gig a month. That will cost you about $40 a month, and you still have to have a different phone for talk and text.

This I know, but good to share for others

A Straight Talk phone's programming/Android OS doesn't have a menu option for tethering is my point.

 

[DLTooley]

Cell phone plans are constantly changing.  Unlimited plans are the new thing, though they aren't completely unlimited.  When boondocking 3g service levels are common anyway, at least on my recent rambles.

I use a Tracfone BYOP plan, transferring my Straight Talk refurbished iPhone 5.  It is a very good basic plan, $25 for two months of cell connection plus 500 mb of data.  Additional data can be purchased at $10 a gigabyte, which I do depending on how much I travel.  (I'm a part-timer).

This article has a very good review of the new unlimited plans.  It looks like the major carrier off brand pre-pay programs are the way to go.  Some have tethering, some do not.

https://www.howtogeek.com/302152/which-cell-phone-carriers-unlimited-plan-is-the-best/