Straight Talk phone service

[Bob_Vaughn]

We have had Verizon for our phones but the cost has gotten so expensive I am thinking of going with Straight Talk. It is about 1/2 the cost of what I am paying now. We hardly ever make or get calls.....so why shouldn't I?

[GoPackGo]

I've been using an Iphone on the Straight Talk network for a couple years now and have been very happy. I would never switch back. I full time and have been using it all over the country with no problems.

I recommend getting a phone that uses the Verizon network. That's what I did. They seem to have the best coverage. I also use the Straight Talk auto-refill every month.

Straight Talk is unlimited voice, text and Data. I think I get 2 gigs of data at high speed, then the rest at lower speed. So it really is technically 'unlimited'. I monitor my data usage and usually am right at 1 gig/month. Just don't stream movies, etc and it will be fine. I do not make any effort to minimize my data usage.

You cannot use it as a hotspot so it's actually pretty easy to stay under the 'high speed' data limit.

If you want to use the phone as a phone, do some texting, read mail, access various apps, use Google Maps and surf the web a little it's ideal. I suspect that's all many people really do with their phones anyway. So why pay those insanely high prices ?

Tim

[rockhillmanor]

I just switched to Straight Talk after my ATT Iphone bill reached over 140.00 a month!

Just BEWARE.

When you go to buy one of the Straight Talk phones at Walmart READ ALL OF THE FRONT COVER LABEL.

Each "model" phone has a specific carrier attached to it. Look very carefully at the info on the label. Some are Verizon and some are ATT.

I actually switched to Straight Talk just to try out Verizon as a provider. All the ads kept calling it Verizon Straight Talk.

Bought the phone and when I went to activate it found out it was an ATT provider.

Other than that hickup, 45 bucks a month for unlimited text, talk, and data IMHO can't be beat! And the generic smart phone works just fine!:C

[MrWizard]

Crawfordville wrote:
I bought my own phone and used the sim card route with straight talk. I get 4g and have no issues with data. Get 3g of data at 4g speed. No issues. I stream music and netflix without any problems.

just to clarify

you get 3GB of data at 4g speed

just saying 3g and 4g , to somebody that is new to cell data
is going to be confusing

[Veebyes]

Have had the ST for a few years. No problems. As pointed out before, be sure to get a phone which is going to operate on the Verizon network. ST does have phoines that only work on other networks so be careful.

We also carry a Tracfone. Same company as ST but the charges are different. You buy time & minutes. The minutes carry over from month to month. ST is month to month only. No minutes to carry over. The Tracfone may be a better choice, also Verizon, if your minutes usage is low.

[Pirate1]

I was using ST with my Nexus 5 but didn't like the no tether rule. Went with ATT bring your own phone for $5 more bucks per month, 2.5g, tether all you want.

[judy_frank]

We switched from Verizon to Ting.com (Sprint Towers) and bought Google Nexus 5 phones $400 each. Bills dropped from $150 to $52 per month. Payback on the phones 8 months. Service is just as good as Verizon all over the west coast. PM me for more details if desired.

[2oldman]

Merrykalia wrote:
If you have never tried it, is there any reason whatsoever to be so negative? Sheesh!!

Never tried it.?..that's a wild assumption. Is there a difference between 1g on ST or on Verizon? Are you claiming to do FB on 1x (1g) speeds?

[Crawfordville]

I bought my own phone and used the sim card route with straight talk. I get 4g and have no issues with data. Get 3g of data at 4g speed. No issues. I stream music and netflix without any problems.

[Merrykalia]

2oldman wrote:

Merrykalia wrote:
..3G of data for that price and any data over that, we get at 1G speed.

Which is, for all practical purposes, unuseable. I'm sure this plan is fine for talk. Hence the name.

We do our email, facebook, etc. each and everyday and don't have a problem with it.

If you have never tried it, is there any reason whatsoever to be so negative? Sheesh!!

He said that he talked on the phone, not that he needed to be able to run sophisticated programs, so it would definitely fit his needs.

[lampooner]

Just a thought, you may want to look at Consumer Cellular before you make the final decision. They give discounts for seniors and have very inexpensive plans starting as low as $10 dollars per month. They are endorsed by AARP. They provide phone, text. internet, etc. They notify if you get close to a monthly limit. You have to the end of the month to upgrade your plan to get price break. You can also then downgrade the next month at no charge. I also believe there is no charge to switch to them initially. They seem to provide good coverage and excellent customer support, you can actually talk with a real person.

I have been with them for 5+ years and very very happy. Just a customer not connected with them otherwise.

[2oldman]

Merrykalia wrote:
..3G of data for that price and any data over that, we get at 1G speed.

Which is, for all practical purposes, unuseable. I'm sure this plan is fine for talk. Hence the name.

[Merrykalia]

We have utilized Straight Talk for over 5 years and have little if no problems with them. We both (DH and I) have smart phones, so we have to pay the $45/month plan. It totals $46.87, including taxes, etc. for a total of $93.74/month vs. the $178 we were paying for AT&T service.

Our Straight Talk uses the Verizon network and anywhere that gets Verizon service, you will have service. We also get 3G of data for that price and any data over that, we get at 1G speed. It's still unlimited, however much we use. That being said, we don't watch movies or seldom watch videos, so we don't go over that amount.

We have had a couple of instances in our travels that we haven't had any service, but those areas also have little/no Verizon service, so it wouldn't make any difference which one we had.

We will NEVER go back to one of the major carriers. It's just too easy to sign up for the automatic payment each month and not worry about it.

ON EDIT: You do not have to purchase one of their phones if your phone is compatible. You can go to www.straighttalk.com and check the "bring your own phone" program. Enter your phone's ID# and it will tell you if it's compatible or not. If you just want a new phone, just purchase one that meets your needs.

If you just want something for an occasional phone call, if you purchase it online, it can be pretty cheap, sometimes, even free.

[Cobra21]

I am very happy with "Trac Phone" I have one of the LG triple minute phones.
You can take and send pictures, text, and talk. Calls work out to be 3 cents
a minute and it runs on Verizon towers. I can add time via the lap top or
phone itself, don't need to run to the store to buy time. It also works
on the net, but we don't use it for that. Our yearly bill around $110.

Brian

[scbwr]

We've been using Straight Talk for a couple of years without problem. If you buy a Straight Talk phone, select one with the red network map and Verizon will be the network provider. I just upgraded my wife's phone to a Mo Go (Motorola) phone to get a bigger screen, and the phone seems to work quite well for less than $100. She does quite a bit of texting and I do what texting I have to do. I use the wifi connection occassionally, but if I want to do internet tasks, I'd rather do it on my tablet or laptop.

There are options for using many smart phones by purchasing a new chip, but you really need to research what phones will work with AT&T or Verizon.

From what I've seen, you can't beat the price if you tend to use the phone for phone calls, texting and some internet use.

[Homer1]

I use Straight Talk with a Verizon compatible i-phone and have excellent experience with it in every mode. Yes it is much cheaper. I use the CC monthly billing and Straight Talk advises me every time they send a billing to my CC and a new service to date. I have had absolutely 0 problems with it. I had a Verizon brick before this Straight Talk with a 2 year contract that was much more expensive and very little other than talk. My i-phone with full capabilities cost considerably less.