Lol. I think it's around $600 a month now. Not too shabby for a single guy with included room and board.
Mike On Nov 14, 2012 7:52 PM, "WILTON" <wilt...@nc.rr.com> wrote: > How does a Pvt. handle all of that on $78 per month - oh, I guess pay's > gone up a little since my E-1 days. ;<) > (And rightly so, of course, after all, It's been only nearly 56 years.) > > Wilton > > ----- Original Message ----- From: "Michael Canfield" <slozuk...@gmail.com > > > To: "Mercedes Discussion List" <mercedes@okiebenz.com> > Sent: Wednesday, November 14, 2012 7:36 PM > Subject: Re: [MBZ] Military Cel Phone ???'s > > > Thanks everyone. He ended.up with a Boost Mobile phone. It is an Android >> called a Kyocera Hydro. Supposed to be waterproof and seemed sort of >> sturdy. Price is $55 per month for "unlimited" everything with data >> throttling after 2gb or something. He will set it up to be taken out of >> his account every month and after 18 months of current payments the price >> will be down to $40 per month. The phone was $99 so worth it to give it a >> try for a few months and see how it works. >> >> Thanks again, Mike >> On Nov 14, 2012 2:30 PM, "Tim C" <bb...@crone.us> wrote: >> >> On Tue, Nov 13, 2012 at 8:17 PM, Michael Canfield <slozuk...@gmail.com >>> >wrote: >>> >>> > I have heard the wallymart straight talk is a good deal. I just wonder >>> > about service coverage. >>> > >>> >>> With Straight Talk you choose either AT&T or T-Mobile as your base >>> network. >>> You can voice roam to the other, but it is not technically supported - >>> in >>> other words they might turn that off. There is no data roaming, from >>> what >>> I understand, though SWMBO is not a heavy data user. >>> >>> You can buy "normal" phones on Straight Talk that are CDMA (i.e. no SIM, >>> no >>> worky in Europey), I know nothing about those other than they are >>> slightly >>> cheaper and run on Sprint, so I would not buy one*. >>> >>> Big disadvantage of prepaid is the up-front cost of the phone, you are >>> basically buying a computer with a fancy radio and touchscreen at retail >>> price so it can be quite expensive. Google's $300 Nexus 4 was a low >>> price, >>> but average smartphones would be around $500, give or take, new, less >>> 30-40% on Craigslist. ALSO NOTE if your prepaid account goes inactive >>> you >>> will lose your phone number. Look at Google Voice to get a permanent >>> number to forward, but your caller ID will be wrong and it is another >>> level >>> of indirection. >>> >>> >>> > He is mostly interested in unlimited text/data so he can use it for >>> > internet access/entertainment as well as a communication device for > >>> calls >>> > back home. Limited calling minutes aren't much of an issue with > >>> Sprints >>> > 450 minute plan as cel to cel and after 7pm to 7am are unlimited. That >>> is >>> > $69.99/month. Everything else including roaming on other networks is >>> also >>> > included. >>> > >>> >>> T-Mobile's 100-minute, 5GB data plan ($30) is the best price if you don't >>> average more than 250 minutes per month ($0.10/min overage). If you have >>> an Android phone (possibly also iPhone?) there are apps to use data for >>> calls, if that's an issue. 5GB is pretty much unlimited, in my >>> experience, >>> and I think they just downgrade you to 3G rates if you go over. >>> >>> Postpaid Sprint and T-Mobile offer unlimited data, VZ and AT&T do not. In >>> my experience the connection rates on Sprint have become very poor since >>> they got the iPhone - I often see rates in the 50-80Kbps range now. That >>> could be regional. T-Mobile offers HSPA+ rates up to 42Mbps which should >>> be a much better experience, but I think the initial cost for phones is >>> higher. >>> >>> >>> > Is roaming included in the prepaids? Do they have the same coverage as >>> > contract phones? I have been told that they don't and that in rural > >>> area >>> > they don't work as well. Is there any truth to that? >>> > >>> >>> Generally no, yes but of course without roaming, and sort of. It isn't >>> so >>> much rural as region - I get horrible Sprint service in DC and VA, for >>> example, but I get service fine in the empty forests around NC. Meanwhile >>> a friend couldn't get Verizon at his new house south of Raleigh. The >>> northern SC coast has strange T-Mobile coverage. Moral of the story is >>> that there are pockets everywhere, so it is worth going to the places >>> where >>> you will be and borrowing someone's phone - no one network has universal >>> coverage, especially indoors. Also, not to be ignored, phone hardware is >>> really significant to receiving a signal - Samsung is the worst I've had, >>> Motorola is the best, but I don't know how if that holds true across >>> product lines. >>> >>> * I have recently had to force roaming [to Verizon] at home just to get a >>> Sprint signal, I assume it's because of their LTE conversion since I used >>> to get good signal with this same phone in the same place. Because of >>> that >>> I would not buy a Sprint-based prepaid phone if I expected to keep it >>> for a >>> while. >>> >>> You can always dial '911' in the US from an inactive phone, so you can >>> just >>> keep a charged battery and a phone from another network in the trunk if >>> that's a concern. >>> >>> As you can see from Mitch's response, voice-only prepaid plans are priced >>> much more competitively, so your son might give some thought as to >>> whether >>> he could survive without data. I use Google Maps too much, but a lot of >>> my >>> iPhone-toting peers are always in WiFi range and navigation doesn't >>> matter >>> to them. >>> >>> Best, >>> Tim >>> ______________________________**_________ >>> http://www.okiebenz.com >>> For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com >>> To search list archives >>> http://www.okiebenz.com/**archive/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> >>> >>> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >>> http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com> >>> >>> ______________________________**_________ >> http://www.okiebenz.com >> For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com >> To search list archives >> http://www.okiebenz.com/**archive/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> >> >> To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: >> http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com> >> > > > ______________________________**_________ > http://www.okiebenz.com > For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com > To search list archives > http://www.okiebenz.com/**archive/<http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/> > > To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: > http://mail.okiebenz.com/**mailman/listinfo/mercedes_**okiebenz.com<http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com> > _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com For new and used parts go to www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com
