PAYG dataplan can work.

[Hook]

Thank you for this thread. It has probably been the most useful reading I have found anywhere during several weeks of research. I came to it via another link in where the author was claiming you could get a sim and use an unlocked Nokia 5800 thru PAYGO T-mo to access the internet, via wifi, without a data plan. Can anyone here confirm that this is true, because at $100 for a year and then $5 to roll over it's a great bargain. I would hate to try it and then get penalized, and I'm finding dissenting opinions online about this tactic.

Here's my situation: I'd like to use a cell phone for uber-light home business use and travel security. On occasion, it would be useful to be able to check my email when away from home, or to listen to music/podcasts or view short downloaded YouTube videos when traveling. I never text. (ps - I already have an Acer Aspire netbook for heavier usage needs.)
So it seems like the best PAYGO options are:
1. "Hook's ATT + Nokia 5800 solution", or the
2. Nokia 5800/T-Mo wifi solution, if possible, or
3. just using a nice dumb phone with T-Mo and getting something like a Nokia 810 for mobile wifi access. (multiple devices are fine..... that's what purses are for!)
4. Is it possible to use option 1, and tether a "dumb" phone to an 810?

I'd love any advice on these options. If option 3 or 4, what would be a good unlocked gsm quad band phone that takes nice pictures, has a decent mp3 player, and can record passable video?

BTW, Prior to now, my only cell experience was a light-travel-use Virgin Mobile PAYGO.

Welcome to Brighthand, Latitude40.

T-Mobile has a non-contract (month-to-month pre-pay) plan called "Even More Plus." If you use a good deal of voice, messaging and data in a month, it is not bad. I think it is $60/mo for maybe 500 mins/unlimited text/unlimited data. There are other configurations-- I think $50 is the cheapest, but check it out. They do not have a simple PAYG plan to which you can add data like you can with AT&T. Also, you would need a GSM phone with T-Mobile's frequencies or you will get Edge (2G) data rather than 3G. The 5800 has AT&T's 3G frequencies.

If you are going to be around a lot of wifi, the 810 might be a good choice and, then, yes, get a dumb phone for your calling needs. Especially if you need T-Mobile. However for photos, music and video it is going to be hard to find a dumb phone that is good at these.

Given your light usage needs, the 5800 with an AT&T gophone chip may be your best bet as long as you have good AT&T coverage where you need it. The 5800 is very reasonably priced.

I can't really speak to tethering, not much experience with it. Hopefully someone else will come along and give you more input.

[Mi An]

Specifically relating to your TMo per minute plans question, you can avoid having to pay for any data, because they don't even offer the option unless you are a sidekick user (for now, at least).

If you're hoping to use data, of course, you'll need to have accessible wifi hotspots everywhere you want email/youtube/music download access. I don't know what frequencies the 5800 has, so I can't speak to whether it will work with TMo, though I imagine it would.

[Hook]

Specifically relating to your TMo per minute plans question, you can avoid having to pay for any data, because they don't even offer the option unless you are a sidekick user (for now, at least).

If you're hoping to use data, of course, you'll need to have accessible wifi hotspots everywhere you want email/youtube/music download access. I don't know what frequencies the 5800 has, so I can't speak to whether it will work with TMo, though I imagine it would.

As I said above, the 5800 has AT&T frequencies. It will work on TMo, but will only provide Edge, not 3G.

[o3v3tz]

Hook,

FYI - In 2008 we drove west to east across I-80 Nebraska, so we were parallel to your route on I-70 but north. I had a similar experience with my AT&T Go phone. No signal on the Go phone across Nebraska until we were close to Omaha at the eastern end of the state. However, I was able to make phone calls using our Verizon cell phone while in areas of western Nebraska where there was no ATT Go phone voice service.

My comments

1-- Looking at the ATT map of USA coverage, I see that there is very little Go phone coverage in North Dakota down thru Kansas and west to Nevada. The map for ATT post pay voice and data does show greater coverage in those areas.

Therefore it seems worthwhile emphasizing that someone considering the Go Phone approach should carefully review the Go Phone coverage map.

2-- Thanks for all your posts describing the benefits and methods of this Go Phone approach.

On several trips to larger cities, I have used a Nokia 6126 cell phone with an ATT Go Phone sim card bluetoothed to my Palm TX for web access to my email and other quick checks of web info.

[Hook]

It seems worthwhile emphasizing that someone considering the Go Phone approach should carefully review the Go Phone coverage map.

Absolutely, and I should probably be emphasizing that more. This works for me not only because of my peuliar use habits but because I live in and mostly travel to (at least my business trips) areas well-served by AT&T. However, I never could have done this 4 years ago when I lived in a fairly remote area of Southeastern AZ where Verizon was all there was.

[latitude40]

Thanks for your responses! It was really tough to decide between the Nokia 5800 and n810, but the 810 finally won out, and one is on the way!
Meanwhile, I've been testing TMo service on a Moto Renew (phone cost less than the free minutes it came with after Bing cash back) and it hasn't connected that well inside my house, which is a problem. Don't know if it's the phone or the TMo coverage?
My next question is, If I unlocked the Renew now, would it be possible to test an AT&T sim simultaneously with the TMo sim? Does the phone use the Tmo number when the Tmo sim is in, and switch to an AT&T number when the ATT sim is inserted? I hope that was not a dumb question, but just trying to learn all this phone stuff is like drinking from a fire hose - TMI!

[Hook]

Thanks for your responses! It was really tough to decide between the Nokia 5800 and n810, but the 810 finally won out, and one is on the way!
Meanwhile, I've been testing TMo service on a Moto Renew (phone cost less than the free minutes it came with after Bing cash back) and it hasn't connected that well inside my house, which is a problem. Don't know if it's the phone or the TMo coverage?
My next question is, If I unlocked the Renew now, would it be possible to test an AT&T sim simultaneously with the TMo sim? Does the phone use the Tmo number when the Tmo sim is in, and switch to an AT&T number when the ATT sim is inserted? I hope that was not a dumb question, but just trying to learn all this phone stuff is like drinking from a fire hose - TMI!

Yes, the phone number belongs to the SIM, not the phone. In the rest of the world, it is not uncommon to have several phones and switch a SIM in and out depending on what you want to use that day. Number stays the same.

By and large, coverage maps do a pretty good job of telling you what you will get as long as you drill down enough ti really see your local area and where the darker versus lighter colors fall by street.

I assume, yes, unlocked, it would do voice and edge with an AT&T SIM, but since I know nothing about unlocking phones (as opposed to buying them unlocked), I'm not much help here.

[jigwashere]

Here's an article from today's Lifehacker that might be of interest: How to Decide Between a Prepaid or Contract Wireless Plan - Cellphones - Lifehacker

[LandSurveyor]

Here's another wrinkle on the prepaid data discussion. I have just read about a plan through Walmart called StraightTalk which give unlimited talk, text & data for $45/mo. They work off of Verizon's network so coverage should be no problem. Only downside is an extremely lackluster device selection. I wonder if anybody here has had any experience with them? I also wonder if services like this and Cricket will push down data prices with the major carriers. The latter would be the better outcome with me as I'm otherwise pretty satisfied with Tmo.

[Hook]

Here's another wrinkle on the prepaid data discussion. I have just read about a plan through Walmart called StraightTalk which give unlimited talk, text & data for $45/mo. They work off of Verizon's network so coverage should be no problem. Only downside is an extremely lackluster device selection. I wonder if anybody here has had any experience with them? I also wonder if services like this and Cricket will push down data prices with the major carriers. The latter would be the better outcome with me as I'm otherwise pretty satisfied with Tmo.

The trouble is, both straighttalk and Cricket are CDMA, so it is easy for them to keep you on non-optimal phones and it has minimal impact in the GSM arena. If these were prices for GSM, you could take the SIM out and stickit in any GSM unlocked phone with the right frequencies.