Rollback on Straighttalk Phone and new $30 Card Limitation

[Canine]

I had my phone for a year and a half and it was finally fading, so I bought a new one, the LG 441G flip phone, at Walmart today. It is the same phone I previously owned with slightly improved software. This is the best phone I've had with Straighttalk and am really happy it is still available. Got it for $15. Couldn't pass that up.

FYI, the $30 card is usable only on the phone I bought and one other phone which is a smart phone. All other phones now require the $45 card. The guy at the counter said they still sell a lot of the flip phones, so hopefully it will be a while before those become obsolete. I like my flip phone- makes me look cool when I close it.

 

[Goshawk]

Two different phones. One is voice only. The other has voice and data. That's why you see the cost difference. Can see getting voice only and just using data at public wifi to save money.

 

[WheelEstate USA]

I use one of their cheaper smartphones and the plan includes 5 gigs of data for $45.
It's more than I need so I watch a bunch of videos to use as much as I can.

 

[Canine]

Two different phones. One is voice only. The other has voice and data. That's why you see the cost difference. Can see getting voice only and just using data at public wifi to save money.

Are you saying the flip phone is voice only and the other smart phone that will still accept a $30 card is voice and data? Forgive me for being a little obtuse here; it seems pretty straight forward, but I think I'm missing something.

 

[Goshawk]

Looked closer at website. Old plan used to have just voice. Looks like the $30 plan now includes unlimited text and 100 Meg data. Not a bad minimal service. Think they use ATT cell towers, so you need to have att coverage.

 

[ramblingvanman]

I have been using straight talk for several years, but I plan to leave them soon since Total Wireless is also offered by wallyworld and it is $10/month cheaper. The coverage map looks identical to me.

 

[SoulRaven]

We use Straight Talk and in our current city, Straight Talk uses Verizon lines. Very good service. We dumped Sprint about 3 years ago. Straight Talk purchases from different providers depending on the area served. We have the flip phones, $30.00 card is 1500 minutes, used to be 1000, unlimited texts and 100 MB Data. I rarely text and don't use the data.

 

[cognitive dissonance]

Just bought a Straight talk phone to try out.  Here's what I learned: down in the bottom left corner on the front of the box is a carrier code. These codes are: CDMA-S (Sprint) CDMA-V (Verizon) GSM-A (AT&T)  GSM-T (T-Mobile)

I'm testing the Verizon service, which seems to have a good reputation for stronger signals inside buildings and better coverage in rural areas. Between work and play, both of these matter to me. 

Right now, I'm running two phones side by side.  Both are Samsung Galaxy phones, although different models.  So far, the Straight Talk Verizon service beats my T-Mobile service (which is direct from T-Mobile) hands down.  I have more bars on the Verizon phone wherever I go along the Colorado Front Range. Haven't tested the roam performance on the road yet, which can be a problem with the virtual networks (resellers who don't own their own towers).

The Straight Talk plan is a pretty good deal at $45/mo. for unlimited talk and text plus 5GB at 4G speeds.

 

[Goshawk]

Still using my STRAIGHT TALK bring your own phone on Verizon cell towers. 5G data per month at LTE speed. Older iPhone 5 but very functional.

 

[VanGrrl57]

Yeah, I use Straight Talk as well. My phone is a Samsung Galaxy Core Prime. I just buy those $45.00 cards at Walmart. It works for me.

VanGrrl57

 

[SoulRaven]

I just now jumped on the Straight Talk bandwagon as of this morning. I gotta say, the ability to bring in my old smartphone I hadn't sold yet and have my number successfully ported over to activate the new phone without even calling them was a surprisingly hassle-free experience. I did end up needing to call them for specifics on updating the DNA settings. I've called in twice now and got someone with a very thick accent but thus far it's a much better customer service experience than Safelink/Tracfone.

I don't know how it is with a Straight Talk brand phone, but when you bring your own phone you are using different reception based on what type of phone you have (GSM or CDMA) and also which carrier it's affiliated with. I purchased a starter kit from WalMart that contained every type of sim card--3 sizes of dualism for at&t phones, 3 sizes of dualsim for T-Mobile phones, and 3 sizes of dualsim CDMA for all other phones.

From reading the Straight Talk website, it appears GSM doesn't have internet available when roaming, whereas CDMA does not have that limitation. For now I simply went with what I have, and if it becomes a problem I'll switch.

Also, I noticed about $5 tax is added to the $45 card when purchased from Straight Talk. I auto-enrolled to get $5 off the first 3 months and the total came to about $45 anyway due to taxes and fees. I see now why some buy the cards at Walmart.

Fingers crossed!

 

[SoulRaven]

We pick them up at Wal-Mart but the sale is still subject to sales tax here in KS which is nearly 10% in our city. I need a state without sales tax!

 

[SoulRaven]

Wait... Straight Talk will enable all data stuff except my phone's hotspot?


I called them before switching to confirm that I could use my phone's hotspot on their service. The rep I spoke with said that yes, I could, but it would use up a lot more data so I'd just want to be careful with it. He went on and on about how laptop screens have higher resolution and thus use more data. I found it a bit odd because 5GB is plenty for my regular use, but I shrugged it off.

But my phone says it's not enabled when I try to turn it on. The rep I spoke with today says Straight Talk doesn't support that option.


When I explained, he was like "well your phone will always have the ability to use it, but you know it uses up massive amounts of data so it's really risky." And I'm like "....my normal usage is 2GB. My plan is 5GB. The data is fine. But something needs to happen on your end to enable the hotspot." And they're basically just like "sorry, can't help you."

Has anyone else been able to use their phone's hotspot through Straight Talk? If not I'll probably have to find a different solution for phone and internet. I'm trying to make money writing so connecting my laptop to internet is essential.

 

[darude]

I just now jumped on the Straight Talk bandwagon as of this morning. I gotta say, the ability to bring in my old smartphone I hadn't sold yet and have my number successfully ported over to activate the new phone without even calling them was a surprisingly hassle-free experience. I did end up needing to call them for specifics on updating the DNA settings. I've called in twice now and got someone with a very thick accent but thus far it's a much better customer service experience than Safelink/Tracfone.

I don't know how it is with a Straight Talk brand phone, but when you bring your own phone you are using different reception based on what type of phone you have (GSM or CDMA) and also which carrier it's affiliated with. I purchased a starter kit from WalMart that contained every type of sim card--3 sizes of dualism for at&t phones, 3 sizes of dualsim for T-Mobile phones, and 3 sizes of dualsim CDMA for all other phones.

From reading the Straight Talk website, it appears GSM doesn't have internet available when roaming, whereas CDMA does not have that limitation. For now I simply went with what I have, and if it becomes a problem I'll switch.

Also, I noticed about $5 tax is added to the $45 card when purchased from Straight Talk. I auto-enrolled to get $5 off the first 3 months and the total came to about $45 anyway due to taxes and fees. I see now why some buy the cards at Walmart.  

Fingers crossed!

https://www.callingmart.com/

i use these people to buy my airtime from and living in so cal where the tax is almost 19% i don't pay taxes on my airtime and plus they give you a little discount on the airtime also!!

 

[darude]

Wait... Straight Talk will enable all data stuff except my phone's hotspot?


I called them before switching to confirm that I could use my phone's hotspot on their service. The rep I spoke with said that yes, I could, but it would use up a lot more data so I'd just want to be careful with it. He went on and on about how laptop screens have higher resolution and thus use more data. I found it a bit odd because 5GB is plenty for my regular use, but I shrugged it off.

But my phone says it's not enabled when I try to turn it on. The rep I spoke with today says Straight Talk doesn't support that option.


When I explained, he was like "well your phone will always have the ability to use it, but you know it uses up massive amounts of data so it's really risky." And I'm like "....my normal usage is 2GB. My plan is 5GB. The data is fine. But something needs to happen on your end to enable the hotspot." And they're basically just like "sorry, can't help you."

Has anyone else been able to use their phone's hotspot through Straight Talk? If not I'll probably have to find a different solution for phone and internet. I'm trying to make money writing so connecting my laptop to internet is essential.

go phone supports tethering from a smartphone to a laptop so does cricket on certain plans. i mentioned go phone cause i don't know how much you want to spend on service every month.. now that said you can get go phone with 2 GB of data at high speed and once you go over that 2 GB then they just throttle you down to a 128 KBS so it's basicly unlimited data. and what ever high speed data you don't use that rolls over to the next billing cycle for you to use providing that your plan renews ontime

 

[WriterMs]

I use StraightTalk for phone (one of the models that accesses the Verizon network), but I was told from the start that they don't allow tethering. That was a couple of years ago and maybe you can with some of the more expensive phones. BUT, StraightTalk sells hotspots and data cards separately (I have one), so I would be very surprised if they do allow it.

I think they are still one of the cheapest per GB of the name-brand companies working off of Verizon towers -- 2 GB is $40 still I believe.

 

[darude]

I use StraightTalk for phone (one of the models that accesses the Verizon network), but I was told from the start that they don't allow tethering. That was a couple of years ago and maybe you can with some of the more expensive phones.  BUT, StraightTalk sells hotspots and data cards separately (I have one), so I would be very surprised if they do allow it.

I think they are still one of the cheapest per GB of the name-brand companies working off of Verizon towers --  2 GB is $40 still I believe.

40.00 will get you 4 GB of data