PAYG dataplan can work.

[LandSurveyor]

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.

That would be a definite advantage in my book. Still, I could deal with CDMA if they would make a decent smartphone offering. Can't really kick about Verizon because MVNOs can only use their host carrier's network and not their roaming partners'. With Big Red, that disadvantage is minimized.

[LandSurveyor]

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

I didn't use it much since my BB8800 could only get EDGE, but tethering was no extra charge on T-Mobile. They even set up my laptop to hook straight up to the BB. I assume it still applies, even though they have 3G nowadays. I believe the Dash 3g has preloaded tethering software.

On the prepaid discussion, I have recently read that new prepaid users have just pulled ahead of new contract subscribers in the U. S. for the first time. I wonder if these bargain prepaid all-you-can-eat services will put pressure on the telcos to bring down their prices as well?

[JRakes]

Diverting a slight bit in a different direction, I thought I'd throw in my experience this past week with my AT&T PAYG plan...

Background
I've been using a cheap PAYG plan with AT&T, which is actually a carryover from Cingular (before AT&T bought them.) All has been well, and it is definitely the most cost-effective route for me. Even with my frequent work use (on-call 24/7,) I STILL keep my $500 rollover max.

I started this some years ago with a cheap dumbphone, but carried it over to my smartphone when I got that last year. Basically, I just called 611, told 'em I was swapping phones (to make sure they had my account provisioned correctly) and swapped my SIM. Great!

Recent Discovery
I've done a bit of texting, using plain old SMS stuff, but never fooled with MMS. Frankly, I don't have a lot of use for it - An occasional pic would be handy for some purposes, but I have better things to do than sit around listening to every type of silly sound effect or joke or crude video that so many people are wont to send. Nevertheless, I decided I wanted to try it. I might occasionally have a use for it, such as sending a pic of a work-related thing in the midst of a crisis. That would be rare, but a use. To my surprise, I couldn't send or receive MMS. I can do whatever online, have my 100MB data bucket, no problems with voice or SMS, but errors with MMS. So I started digging, calling AT&T support repeatedly. They were always very friendly and helpful - I have NO complaints with AT&T in this region. But we could never figure out what was amiss, even after they connected me directly with HTC support. My main objective was to have the capability working, since it's supposed to work. Think of it as an academic OC geek project.

What I Learned
The very helpful lady at HTC support recommended I go by an AT&T store and have them look at it in person. Let them see for themselves what was (and was not) happening. So off I went... Once there, I found yet another very friendly and helpful lady who, like everyone before her, was quite confused as to why MMS wasn't working. After a brief consult with a coworker, she swapped my SIM. POOF! All was fine. Apparently the older SIM was the roadblock - Some simply can't handle the combo of data transmissions used for MMS. Seems weird to me (and to the AT&T lady, as well,) but it worked. She laughed a bit when I popped out my old, wrongly-presumed-trusty SIM that said, "Cingular." She commented that it might have been the oldest (~6 yrs) functioning SIM she'd ever seen!

The Moral Of the Story
When having weird issues with your mobile comms, seemingly minor hardware items can be a factor. If, like me, you've been using the same piece of hardware (SIM) for a long time, then upgrade to a much more capable device and have issues, don't overlook the basics. It's not always an account setting, a device setting, etc.

Now all is well and I can do whatever type of comm I want on Touchie. And I have to say: My experiences with AT&T Customer Service, as well as HTC, have been entirely First Rate. (I'm a demanding pr!ck along those lines, so that's actually quite a compliment to them. ) They might not have gotten the issue sorted out over the phone, but it wasn't for lack of effort. They were 100% professional and friendly at all times. It was a very strange issue to diagnose, but they continued to happily assist and work on it, despite the fact that I have no contract - I'm just a lowly PAYG cheapskate. (One of them actually said she thought I had the best setup for my use and that a contract would be silly for me.)

Oh, and just FWIW: You do NOT have to have a messaging bundle with AT&T in order to do MMS. Without a messaging bundle, SMS is charged at $.20 and MMS at $.25 (data comes out of your data allotment.) I kept wondering (and asking) if that was the problem, and they kept telling me that it wasn't. I even offered to burn $5 for a month to see, and the lady at the store said she didn't want to sell me something I didn't need - There had to be some other issue.


Don't get me wrong: I don't have a terribly high opinion of the carriers, in general. But AT&T has provided me with good mobile service and have always been top-notch in CS for me. For those using a PAYG plan and bringing your own device to the party, it's nice not to be treated as chattle. I still think the carriers are, at a higher level, money-grubbing exercises in arrogance and control (one of the main reasons I don't want a contract with any of 'em.) But this past week, AT&T has at least given me a reason to consider maintaining my monthly donations directly to their bottom line.

Apologies for the ramble. Carry on!

[hal]

J-B, I know you are what people call, a "thorny" customer, to be polite. Well, it speaks high of you that you in turn speak high of a carrier. I think nobody is fond of no carrier currently. On Earth. They have commonly revealed themselves as cheating and misleading (when not openly robbing) businesses with few to none customer loyalty.

Surprisingly, I am also able to speak good of my carrier. They suck big time in several fields, but Customer Care is I believe their best feature. About AT&T I gotta tell you that I actually miss that brand over here. Currently they've been moving out of business. It has never offered mobile services here, so this is actually a side note; AT&T used to run long distance and VoIP, but something happened and the company that was serving the AT&T brand in MX has switched alliances and now it's working with... AOL (yuck). I don't know where or how did AT&T evolve their customer care, but it is the best of the best of the best. A corporation develops a culture, and AT&T certainly has one around a good attention, that I know it for personal experience. It was my Internet provider ever since the days of dial-up connection, until Alestra (the local company) switched corporate alliances without notice and AOL stepped in. All the services I contracted to AT&T (around 4) were passed over to AOL and I've been spending some two years killing them to move elsewhere. In customer care AOL is the total opposite. BTW, I am this far --> <-- (scale 1:1) of a legal suit against AOL for misleaded contract adoptions, covert costs, and for services already terminated that they gently insist in trying to keep me paying for.

[JRakes]

Thanks, Hal! I'm the first to admit that I'm, errr... "A tough Customer" in most things. When the money is flowing from my hand to their's, I have high expectations and demands, and I don't apologize for it. I treat MY Customers at workie exactly the way I'd want to be treated, and I expect my employees to do the same - I'm not above reminding folks of who actually provides our paychecks.

That said, I think it's important to acknowledge good Customer Service, and I told the lady at the AT&T store that I appreciated her professional and friendly assistance, and that I'd had the same experience with my calls to their CS center.

AT&T is probably the best overall choice in this area for coverage and signal. I'm appreciate the fact that, even though I'm a lowly PAYG Customer, they seem to always treat folks well.

See, I'm not always a curmudgeon.

OK, off to stuff my face with Joe-Daddy - Our weekly adventure of silly fun.

[0sync0]

Hook, thanks for the great info in this thread. Now I'm ready to take the plunge and get a N1 without contract and use GoPhone.

I have a 2 week trip to Canada coming up next month. Anyone have suggestions on how to get voice service while I'm there?

GoPhone works in Mexico but not Canada.

[Hook]

Hook, thanks for the great info in this thread. Now I'm ready to take the plunge and get a N1 without contract and use GoPhone.

I have a 2 week trip to Canada coming up next month. Anyone have suggestions on how to get voice service while I'm there?

GoPhone works in Mexico but not Canada.

Welcome to Brighthand, Osync0!

You can probably get a PAYG SIM from any GSM telco up ther-- I know you can or used to be able to from Rogers. I believe Telus may even use AT&T 3G frequencies, but again not sure.

Hopefully some of the Canadian folks here will pop in.

[0sync0]

You can probably get a PAYG SIM from any GSM telco up ther-- I know you can or used to be able to from Rogers. I believe Telus may even use AT&T 3G frequencies, but again not sure.

I forgot to mention that I need to use the phone in the airport when I get there.

[Hook]

I forgot to mention that I need to use the phone in the airport when I get there.

Check with T-Mobile. They look like they do Prepaid in limited parts of Canada. I'm pretty sure they have a deal with Rogers.

You won't have data, but you should have voice.

[0sync0]

Check with T-Mobile. They look like they do Prepaid in limited parts of Canada. I'm pretty sure they have a deal with Rogers.

You won't have data, but you should have voice.

Thanks. I checked and they do provide coverage where I'm going. They charge 70 cents a minute in Canada. But at that will get me started and then I can see about getting another SIM while I'm there.