2Degrees Monthly plan versus T-Mobile monthly (non contract) plan

Forums › 2degrees (including Slingshot, Orcon, Flip, Stuff Fibre, MyRepublic, 2talk and Vocus) › 2Degrees Monthly plan versus T-Mobile monthly (non contract) plan

lchiu7

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#71673 15-Nov-2010 10:48

I wasn't sure where to post this since there is no general forum for cellphone (non carrier specific) but given I am a 2D customer and planning to visit the US over Christmas and probably not roam, I thought I would post here.

Anyway after looking at the two carriers I could use to roam, viz. AT&T and T-Mobile I decided to go with T-Mobile. It wasn't entirely clear how their plans worked so I called them to ask and signed up.

They have two prepaid plan types. One is like 2D's monthly plans (no contract but you pay in advance) and the other is more like a Pay as you Go type plan. For example for $30 you get 160 minutes of talk, messages cost 5c to receive and 10c to send. For the big texters they have a monthly plan of $15 for unlimited texts and 10c/minute for calls. That would go down well here I would imagine!

I decided that a monthly plan was good for me. I chose the option of US$30/month which provides for 1500 minutes talk and text (mix and match I guess) and 30MB of data. The CSR said while I could buy the SIM card in a T-Mobile store, he recommended I purchase it with him and save money. The stores could charge up to $30 for the SIM(!) whereas he would sell it to me for $7.42 including shipping and tax to a US address.

Extra data is $10/100MB (but it lasts only 7 days) or $30/300MB for 30 days but I think I can live with 30MB. The main usage of data wil be for Google Maps navigation I suspect and e-mail.

I did that and it will be waiting for me when I arrive. The SIM comes with 10 minute of complimentary time but he also recommended that I activate the SIM and put the money on it using a landline since even calling a toll-free number from a cellphone incurs airtime charges and that 10 minutes would be used up easily.

So all in all a very good customer experience. Since I only will be in the US for just under 3 weeks, I won't be renewing the plan of course. And I don't care what number they assign me since I plan to tell people my Google Voice number and have GV route calls to the cellphone number. My 2D phone will have a message telling people to call my GV number.

Just some notes for others who might be planning to visit the US and are looking at local SIM options.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

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#404794 15-Nov-2010 11:46

just be aware that US carriers almost always count *recieving* a call as one of your minutes (same for SMS).

also remember that the prices quoted often exclude sales tax (their version of GST).
This is usually around 5% on top of whatever price you are expecting.

30Mb won't last you long if you use google maps for navigation.

the data seems very expensive:

"$30/300MB for 30 days"

that's around $38NZD, which will buy you well over 500MB on any network in NZ.

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sarahk

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#404797 15-Nov-2010 11:50

Great post.

I have a teenager headed to LA next April and was looking at getting her a SIM card so that she can text/call/fb while she's there.

We'd need to get the SIM posted to her hotel which may not be possible but I'll look into it.

I need to check GV out a bit more thoroughly too.

lchiu7

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#404799 15-Nov-2010 11:58

NonprayingMantis: just be aware that US carriers almost always count *recieving* a call as one of your minutes (same for SMS).

also remember that the prices quoted often exclude sales tax (their version of GST).
This is usually around 5% on top of whatever price you are expecting.

30Mb won't last you long if you use google maps for navigation.

the data seems very expensive:

"$30/300MB for 30 days"

that's around $38NZD, which will buy you well over 500MB on any network in NZ.

I know about airtime charges. But it's going to hard to use up 1500 minutes in a month, let alone 17 days even including inbound calls.

Data is expensive but this is a prepaid plan. There was another plan at $50 for unlimited talk and text at 100MB data.

As for data. I can always add US$10 for another 100MB but I plan to use GM only a little bit.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

lchiu7

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#404859 15-Nov-2010 13:56

sarahk: Great post.

I have a teenager headed to LA next April and was looking at getting her a SIM card so that she can text/call/fb while she's there.

We'd need to get the SIM posted to her hotel which may not be possible but I'll look into it.

I need to check GV out a bit more thoroughly too.

It's difficult to sign up to GV here but easy in the U S now that they have opened it up to anybody.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

shermanp

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#404883 15-Nov-2010 14:35

Using your own phone is much harder than it should be over in the US.

For example, try going to an AT&T store and asking for a SIM. Their reply is "Sorry, we don't sell standalone SIM cards..."

The only GSM/WCDMA network that does is T-Mobile. There is no point trying Verizon or Sprint (the other two big networks) as they are CDMA based (like Telecom's pre-XT network).

In the end, I got so?frustrated trying to find a SIM card, I ended up buying a cheap pre-paid phone. I didn't need any data, so I got a $30 pre-paid phone which gave me 300 minutes to use (calls billed at 10c/min). Best of all from my perspective was that international calling was only 15c/min, so it was relatively cheap to call home if needed. T-Mobile charges an arm and a leg to call international numbers.

That's actually what I like best about the NZ mobile market as it currently stands. It is so easy for someone to walk into any consumer electronics store and buy a pre-paid SIM card from any network -- and 2degrees are even more widespread.

lchiu7

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#404912 15-Nov-2010 15:34

shermanp: Using your own phone is much harder than it should be over in the US.

For example, try going to an AT&T store and asking for a SIM. Their reply is "Sorry, we don't sell standalone SIM cards..."
...

I bought an AT&T SIM from AT&T directly. They shipped it to my friend's house for US$6.95 including tax. I asked if they sold micro SIMs for iPhones and they said they don't support iPhones on prepaid. Of course since the iPhone I plan to use is not locked, they won't know anyway. I haven't received the SIM yet but I had read posts that the SIM comes in a card that can be punched out as a standard SIM or microSIM. I will find out when I get there. If not then I do have a SIM cutter I can use.

This is for my wife's iPhone. I plan to use T-Mobile for my Nexus One.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

shermanp

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#404919 15-Nov-2010 15:48

Hmm... interesting. Go in store, and they don't seem to want to know you.

pwner

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#404947 15-Nov-2010 16:32

shermanp: Hmm... interesting. Go in store, and they don't seem to want to know you.

2degrees or T-Mobile store?

Any posts are personal comments and not that of my employer

DrCheese

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#404950 15-Nov-2010 16:41

Just be aware that T-Mobile use 1700 and 2100 MHz for WCDMA so you might fall back to Edge or 2G if you are in a 1700 MHz area, unless your phone can handle that frequency. GPRS and Edge are on 850 and 1900 MHz.

David.

NonprayingMantis

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#404978 15-Nov-2010 17:28

lchiu7:
shermanp: Using your own phone is much harder than it should be over in the US.

For example, try going to an AT&T store and asking for a SIM. Their reply is "Sorry, we don't sell standalone SIM cards..."
...

I bought an AT&T SIM from AT&T directly. They shipped it to my friend's house for US$6.95 including tax. I asked if they sold micro SIMs for iPhones and they said they don't support iPhones on prepaid. Of course since the iPhone I plan to use is not locked, they won't know anyway.

they will know. They have the ability to tell what device you are using and dissallow certian plans if they want.
Of course, that doesn't mean they will definitely do so for you, but they might.

shermanp

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#405012 15-Nov-2010 18:36

pwner:
shermanp: Hmm... interesting. Go in store, and they don't seem to want to?know you.

2degrees or T-Mobile store?

AT&T.

old3eyes

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#405014 15-Nov-2010 18:46

DrCheese: Just be aware that T-Mobile use 1700 and 2100 MHz for WCDMA so you might fall back to Edge or 2G if you are in a 1700 MHz area, unless your phone can handle that frequency. GPRS and Edge are on 850 and 1900 MHz.

David.

It's actually worse that that for T-Mobile 3G. They use both 1700 and 2100 at the same time (AWS standard) . 1700 for send and 2100 for receive so you could very well be running GSM most of the time if your fone does not support AWS

Regards,

Old3eyes

quickymart

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#405649 17-Nov-2010 06:13

I roamed on T-Mobile and AT&T (VF on-account) when I was there last year, my wife (VF Prepay) could only roam on T-Mobile. I was told that AT&T are the only ones that sell a standalone SIM card, although that could be wrong. Just an FYI if you were thinking of roaming :)

SaltyNZ

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#405681 17-Nov-2010 08:25

quickymart: I roamed on T-Mobile and AT&T (VF on-account) when I was there last year, my wife (VF Prepay) could only roam on T-Mobile. I was told that AT&T are the only ones that sell a standalone SIM card, although that could be wrong. Just an FYI if you were thinking of roaming :)

We have prepay roaming on both.

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These comments are my own and do not represent the opinions of 2degrees.

lchiu7

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#406956 19-Nov-2010 23:36

quickymart: I roamed on T-Mobile and AT&T (VF on-account) when I was there last year, my wife (VF Prepay) could only roam on T-Mobile. I was told that AT&T are the only ones that sell a standalone SIM card, although that could be wrong. Just an FYI if you were thinking of roaming :)

Well that is wrong since I bought a standalone SIM from T-Mobile. Spoke to a very nice CSR who said he was in Idaho but was bemoaning the cold weather. Though I was calling from NZ, I was using Sipdroid on my Nexus One over wifi and so was showing a number in the (925) area code. Therefore I said to continue the conversation, that the weather was quite nice in California (better than trying to explain it was cool in Wellington!). Actually I had no idea what the weather as like in CA but it seemed like a good bet :-)

The card has arrived at my US address and when I get there, all I have to do is dial a toll-free number, enter the card # I guess and activate it and choose a plan to be charged (prepaid) to my credit card.

Staying in Wellington. Check out my AirBnB in the Wellington CBD. https://www.airbnb.co.nz/h/wellycbd PM me and mention GZ to get a 15% discount and no AirBnB charges.

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