Walmart Straight Talk Phone Plan

rtate wrote:
... If I go with one of Walmarts prepaid plans will I be able to use my Samsung Galaxy phone? ....

Getting back to the initial question, the answer is probably. There are several MVNO operators. (MVNO = Mobile Virtual Network Operator) Both Straight Talk and Tracfone have "Bring Your Own Phone" options and there are many others not carried at Walmart.

I just moved 2 "dumb" cell phones to Tracfone from Verizon. We don't use many minutes and Tracfone was the least expensive. Their BYOP gives me triple minutes. I pay for 60 minutes/90 days and get 180 minutes/90 days. You also get 180 texts and 180 MB of data.

Here are 2 links where you can input your cell phone MEID (serial number) and see if it can be used with their program.

Straight Talk => http://www.straighttalkbyop.com/

Tracfone => http://tracfonewireless.com/byop/

The Tracfone program is only for Verizon CDMA phones that are "off contract" meaning they are past any 2 year program and are month to month. I am not sure about Straight Talk but they let you purchase a CDMA access code or you can purchase an AT&T sim or a T-mobile sim. Both let you port your own phone number to them so you keep your existing number.

Robin1953 wrote:

Gene&Ginny wrote:
Also, Straight Talk and Tracfone do not allow teathering.

Which is strange. I bought the Straight Talk Hot Spot, 3G only, and it has TracFone on the bottom. You would think that data is data no matter which device.

Not strange at all. Tracfone is well aware that cell phone users typically use much less data for the phone alone than they do with it tethered to one or more laptops, tablets, etc. Since they pay the carriers for bulk data usage, keeping the usage down saves them money. The hotspot obviously is a different deal, since users pay for all data usage, with no unlimited plan available as there is for the phones.

Gene&Ginny wrote:
Also, Straight Talk and Tracfone do not allow teathering.

Which is strange. I bought the Straight Talk Hot Spot, 3G only, and it has TracFone on the bottom. You would think that data is data no matter which device.

coolmom42 wrote:
Straight Talk runs off ATT towers. ....

It depends which phone you buy. If the model number ends in C then it is a CDMA phone on Verizon towers. If the model number ends in G it is a GSM phone on AT&T towers, usually ... BUT look at the box it comes in. Some say GSM-A for AT&T and some say GSM-T for T-mobile.

T-mobile coverage in my neck of the woods is not good. Currently AT&T coverage in my area is very good. On the Walmart website, pick a phone and it will let you put in a ZIP code and tell you if the phhone will work in that ZIP code.

Also, Straight Talk and Tracfone do not allow teathering.

MrWizard wrote:
tmobile pay as you go, you buy the $$/minutes you want

Bought T-Mobile last year. Tried to use it from Indiana to Montana and back. Absolutely sucked. Never could get to work.

We could get a little in Michigan. But absolutely worthless out west.

Is Walmart Family Mobile the same as Walmart Straight Talk? Walmart Family is T-Mobil.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

We use ours as telephones with limited texting. Saving about $65 a month with Tracfone over Verizon and are using Verizon towers.

So all the Straight Talk phones are capable of using as a WIFI hotspot but you are not allowed to? Could someone please clarify this for me.

How about using a Motorola Rayzr cable tethered to a laptop?

Looks like I will be using postcards north of the border.

I have an iPhone 5 on straight talk for the past 2 years with trackphone which uses the Verizon towers. If you have a GSM phone and had been unlocked, you can get a sim and use straight talk on the AT&T, the CMDA phones can not use a sim for Verizon towers unless the new iPhone or other makes are bought to be used on straight talk. I get unlimited talk, unlimited text, unlimited dataset 3G. After 3 gs, you are throttled for the remainder of the 30 days. With the 5 s phone on AT&T you can connect with 4g lte but not with a cmda phone at this time on straight talk. My wife still uses Verizon, and my phone works where hers does but her data is 4g LTE, so it is much faster.

Last Christmas, son gave me an iPad air and put a sim in it for t-mobile and I get free 200 mb every 30 days and can buy extra gigs for $10 per gig. T-mobile does not give the coverage like Verizon, but in the larger cities I do get 4g LTE data.

This works well for me, but might no for heavy users.