Truphone SIM for emergencies to supplement Millenicom?

[Dandelion]

I have been pouring over the forums here and browsing the web for answers to the cell and data question. I think I am finally shaping a good plan that would suit my needs. The Millenicom MiFi hotspot seems like the best option for internet access providing 20Gb per month on the Verizon network for $89.99. This coupled with a VoIP app on my smart phone would give me free voice calls. I like that!

I also believe it is wise to supplement the Millenicom data plan with an emergency cell phone for voice calls, as someone had suggested on this site. Plus, I still would need an actual phone number, so I can be reached in case of emergency.

Emergency Cheapo Cellphone Plans:

Page Plus with Verizon or H2O on AT&T seemed like terrific options with Page Plus offering 100 minutes for $10 to be used within 120 days and H2O offering 200 minutes for $10 to be used within 90 days. But in my research I stumbled upon what seems to be a little gem of a solution called Truphone. They advertise prepaid international travel SIM cards. I hadn't considered a travel SIM for van dwelling purposes before. That would mean I wouldn't have to carry around a second phone, I could just pop the SIM into the otherwise vacant SIM tray of my paid-for and unlocked smart phone

Truphone works on T-mobile's 3G network (stay with me) but switches to AT&T's 2G network when T-Mobile is not available. Although they are marketing to people who travel abroad, some have said Truphone is a good solution for those who just want light cellphone service within the U.S. on their unlocked phones.

I know many of you are advocates of Verizon's services for good reasons and that's why I am choosing Millenicom for internet. Using Truphone for an emergency calling plan would give me access to T-Mobile and AT&T's networks, so I don't have all my eggs in one basket. On top of that, I can receive calls for free on Truphone's prepaid voice plan and make the bulk of my outgoing calls using a VoIP app with the Millenicom data plan. Truphone's data would be a good backup plan too if I were ever to exceed 20Gb of data on Millenicom.

But what about Truphone's rates? Their travel SIM costs $29.99 but that gets you a U.S. phone number and $15 of that goes toward your starting account balance. Then they deduct .09 per minute for outgoing calls but incoming calls cost nothing. Text messaging on Truphone is also .09 per text, yet incoming texts are free. It appears that data is .09 per megabyte. I figure I can just turn off data on my smart phone so I don't incur data charges. They also claim that your account balance never expires. I scoured their website trying to find fault with this setup. So far I can't. Their website was easy to navigate and I quickly found answers to all my questions. You can check them out here: http://www.truphone.com/us/consumer/sim/

Has anyone here actually used the Truphone service? If so, is it reliable and would you recommend it? If not, I am willing to be a guinea pig to find out! It sure would be nice to be able to give a real phone number out to the necessary peeps. Right now it's really a hassle to use just the Magic Jack app's convoluted call-back number where people trying to reach me must dial an access code, then a series of asterisks and numbers all while rubbing their tummy and patting their heads I would like to ask those of you with with experience in these matters, those of you already using this combo of tech in the real world (as I have not yet started out on the road), can you find fault with this pairing of Millenicom and Truphone? Are there alternatives to be considered? Your comments and insights are greatly appreciated!

ヾ(＠⌒ー⌒＠)ノ

 

[Dandelion]

I can dial 911 without a voice plan. I would imagine that there would need to be a SIM installed for this to work.

 

[offroad]

Dandelion - I was using H2O like this. Paying $10 every $90 days as they are on AT&T cell towers.

My primary account is tmobile but coverage is poor. Can you force truphone to switch to an AT&T tower?

When on tmobile plan only I can still text. Mostly. But voice and data fails to work. So tmobile works minimal out in the boonies

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Am thinking your truphone will never switch to AT&T. But it sounds good.

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Also of note. Get an SMIR.ch account to do text searches with. Allows search with text only.

 

[Dandelion]

@offroad, were you satisfied with H2O? Do you not use them anymore? And YIKES! T-Mobile sounds truly awful. From what I've been reading, I don't think you would have any control with Truphone as to whose towers it taps into. My understanding is that it defaults to T-Mobile and falls back on AT&T's 2G network automatically. Hmmmm, I wonder if you could turn off the 3G radio on your phone so it looks for the AT&T 2G tower only though.

 

[offroad]

Yes H2O was functional and effective. Though it was expensive. I also just downloaded an offline wifi hotspot database to the phone. And the Starbucks app. Between the two I can find wifi and get my functionality for data when needed.