need advice for a phone with no dataplan

dtg22 · Mar 17, 2014

So I have a samsung galaxy s II and I love it but we are in a bit of a money crunch and are going to drop out of our dataplans. My hubbie has said that we cant do it with the phones we have now (he has the same phone) and so we are looking around. I got awesome advice from this forum before which is how we ended up getting our galaxies but now we are looking to step down. Can anyone recommend a few good suggestions? Looking for an unlocked gsm touchscreen with camera, android os, qwerty, maybe a micro sd slot. Have seen ones with mp3 and fm radio and video but not neccesary. I like samsung but I can do another brand. And trying to stay around the $100 mark or lower. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks for your help.

Rukbat · Mar 17, 2014

Why are you looking to buy a phone if it's the data plan that's causing the financial problem? Use the same phones but get a cheaper data plan. (You can't just give the phones back to the carrier and call it quits - if you have a plan it'll cost you in the neighborhood of $300 per phone to get out.) If you're already off-plan (you had a 2 year plan and it's been more than 2 years), look into Straight Talk for $45/month each.

As far as not being able to do "it" with the phones you have now, your hubby is probably wrong. If they're AT&T or TMobile, it costs you $7 each (for a new SIM) to convert to Straight Talk. If they're Verizon or Sprint, look into a Verizon or Sprint month-to-month plan, or look to one of their virtual network operators. If it's Verizon, it may still be elligible for Straight Talk - look at Straight Talk Compatibility Test.

There are a lot of alternatives.

mikedt · Mar 17, 2014

dtg22 said:
So I have a samsung galaxy s II and I love it but we are in a bit of a money crunch and are going to drop out of our dataplans. My hubbie has said that we cant do it with the phones we have now (he has the same phone) and so we are looking around. I got awesome advice from this forum before which is how we ended up getting our galaxies but now we are looking to step down. Can anyone recommend a few good suggestions? Looking for an unlocked gsm touchscreen with camera, android os, qwerty, maybe a micro sd slot. Have seen ones with mp3 and fm radio and video but not neccesary. I like samsung but I can do another brand. And trying to stay around the $100 mark or lower. Anyone have any suggestions? Thanks for your help.

I don't think you need to get rid of the S2s just because you no longer have a data plan, they don't need wireless data anymore than other Android phones I think. You only need a data plan if you're doing things on the internet really. Do you have WiFi available?

Think many Android devices around the $100 bucks mark are likely to be off-brand Chinese devices(which I don't usually recommend) or very budget Samsungs etc, and less capable than the S2, even though the flagship S2 has been around for 2 years or more.

boathead · Mar 17, 2014

in april, moto g will be available at republic wireless for 159 for 8g or 179 for 16g. then, get the $10/month uinlimited text and calling plan.

i have a moto x on the $10 plan. i love it. in any month, i can switch my plan twice, so if i need data for a few days, i can get data for a few days. and only pay for a few days.

republic wireless uses wifi calling where available, and sprint towers where not available.

edit: sorry, didn't see that you wanted gsm. sprint is not.

Hadron · Mar 17, 2014

It's the apps you run, rather than the phone model, which determines data usage.

You can simply turn off background syncing, set some apps to update manually only, and/or turn mobile data off. You could reduce mobile data usage to zero and use only WiFi, or turn on data when needed and use just for the apps you want it to.

Or root, install a firewall app, and block the apps you won't want to from using mobile data.

But I don't think that a different Android phone will make a huge difference to data usage. If it does that will be because there's some Samsung-specific app gobbling data, in which case the answer is to stop that app using data so liberally.

smguffer · Mar 17, 2014

i was forced to have a data plan if i had a phone that required it (and my carrier at the time did require it with certain phones).. maybe not all carriers are the same but i thought it was BS.

moral of the story, get out of the contract as soon as possible and go pre-paid (wal-mart family mobile is pretty awesome for me)

funkylogik · Mar 18, 2014

Just adding to what the rest have said. A smart phone will use data if you let it but you can easily disable that function.
The s2 is still a great phone so if youre happy with them, keep them and remove the APN so that they cant possibly connect to mobile internet. theyll still be able to connect to wifi if you want

kate · Mar 18, 2014

I think you're better off replacing your plan rather then the phone. Check out some GSM MVNO carriers for cheaper prices. You might have to unlock the phones SIM first.

AIO, H2O Wireless, Straight Talk, MetroPCS, or Lyca Mobile are options.

EDIT: Moved to the Device/Carrier Comparisons forum

rui-no-onna · Mar 18, 2014

What carrier are you with, how many minutes and messages do you use per month, and how much are you guys paying right now?

@Hadrod and funkylogik
The issue in the US is both AT&T and Verizon require you to have a data plan on postpaid if you have a smartphone. It doesn't matter if you use data or not, you're still required to have it. I know for a fact that on AT&T, if they recognize your IMEI as a smartphone, they can and will add a data plan to your account and it's usually the most expensive plan. It's stupid but their network, their rules. I reckon the OP's best bet is to switch carriers (or to an MVNO of their current carrier).

dtg22 · Mar 25, 2014

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. We have spint and they force us to have a dataplan using the phones we have now. Even with data functions disabled. Phones are locked to sprint so we cant switch carriers and still use our phones and I have heard around town that unlocking them is illegal. We are still on contract I think. Cheapest plan we can get with sprint is $50 a month plus cost of new phones and a two year contract. I use alot of talk and text and my hubby uses more text than talk but we both are heavy users, me more so than him. I've been told by a samsung rep that the only good samsungs to have are the galaxies - even my old 2 is better than some of their other ones. I've asked at at&t, verizon, sprint, t-mobile, metropcs, radioshack, staples, target, bestbuy and a samsung rep. The concensus seems to be that I either have to buy a used unlocked samsung on amazon or craigslist or cex etc., illegally unlock my current phone, buy a new samsung for a boatload of money even on a plan, or get a cheaper phone that isnt a samsung galaxy. Bummer. I will check out some of the other options youve all posted (straight talk, aio, h2o, lyca) and to the person who suggested moto g - if I have to get a new phone that will be it. I'll check out republic wireless too cuz $10 per month unlimited talk and text and the ability to add data for a partial month really sounds good. So thanks again everyone!

rui-no-onna · Mar 25, 2014

Check out Ting. They're a Sprint MVNO so you'll probably be able to use your current phone.

Hmm, is that $50 per line or $50 for both lines? Because if it's the latter, then that's actually pretty cheap for a major carrier.

kate · Mar 26, 2014

I'll second a recommendation to look at Ting, which I use - I would have included them in my earlier post but you originally said you were looking for GSM carriers.

Your Sprint Galaxy S2 - you can bring it to Ting after you pay your ETF to Sprint (if you're still in contract).

With Ting you get charged for what you use, so when you don't use data you don't pay for it, and you can use WiFi for free internet. They even let you completely disable data on smartphones. The link in my signature above (or this link here) will get you $25 off when you signup with Ting.

Another cheap Sprint MVNO is Republic Wireless, which you mentioned., but you would definitely have to buy a new phone with them.

dtg22 · Mar 26, 2014

It's $50 per line.

dtg22 · Mar 26, 2014

Thanks Kate and Ri-no-onna for the Ting suggestion. I just logged onto the site and it does look like I could use my Galaxy S2 there so I will suggest it to the hubby and tell him about the link for the $25 discount. One thing I just realized however. When I searched my phone for a way to check my usage (so I could do their estimator) and clicked on the Sprint Zone app, but the text message reply from Sprint said I was not a valid customer. It was then I remembered that even though our phones are locked to Sprint, my husband switched us to Credo a while back. So this might complicate things even further. Oh man - and did I even mention in my original post that I need to keep my phone number? I don't think I did.

I will tell the hubby about Ting but I think he is pretty dead set on switching to Consumer Cellular which will only work with the phones they offer, phones locked to AT&T or unlocked GSMs. Unless he does Consumer Cellular and I do Ting.

kate · Mar 26, 2014

dtg22 said:
It was then I remembered that even though our phones are locked to Sprint, my husband switched us to Credo a while back. So this might complicate things even further. Oh man - and did I even mention in my original post that I need to keep my phone number? I don't think I did.

If your phone was originally from Sprint you might still be able to use it on Ting, but I would check with them first. You can usually port your number to them, ask them to verify that your number can be ported.

dtg22 · Apr 14, 2014

Hello and thanks everyone for your advice. Just to let you all know I went with the Moto G. My contacts got a little messed up so I am sorting that out now. The Moto G is ok. Good for a low-end smartphone but it is no Samsung Galaxy that's for sure. But on the flip side I am off the Sprint Network and on the AT&T network through Consumer Cellular and I have to say the coverage where I lived is way better served by AT&T. Not one single dropped call or my voice going in and out on the other callers end and me having to say "Can you hear me now?" every 5 minutes. So that is some good news. Thanks again everyone!

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