Thank you! and some questions.

[Etrogann]

First off, thank you for finally making a NET 10 Dedicated forum!

Now, I am a current Virgin Mobile user and have been having problems figuring out if it would be worth it to switch to Net 10. I have decent coverage with VM (Sprint) but there are several friends of mine who have better service with Verizon. AT&T service is not so great.
So my questions are....
1) If I get an unlocked phone (ie Galaxy Note 2) does it matter if I get one origionally for Verizon or AT&T? In other words will I be able to use both companies towers reguardless of the origional carrier of the phone?
2) Will I be able to get 4g?
3) Will data be limited? I have read somewhere that the unlimited plan gives 50000 minutes a month and that you are charged per minute you are pulling data from the network. I rarely make calls, and text very little, my concern is data usage and I am getting tired of having to watch it like a hawk to make sure I don't go over 2.5MB.

Thanks in advance for any responses!

 

[TVCCS]

Here's the answers...I hope:

1) Yes...the phone has to be GSM compatible to use NET10...in other words, Verizon or Sprint unlocked handsets will generally not work, AT&T or T-Mobile will. NET10 sells SIM cards that are designed to work on either the AT&T network or the T-Mobile network, and should generally match the phone you are purchasing. Some AT&T users are using T-Mobile SIM's as T-Mobile is re-purposing spectrum and towers to 1900mhz.

2) Yes, you can, on either AT&T or T-Mobile's networks. T-Mobile generally has faster data speeds than AT&T where coverage is available, but AT&T has wider coverage. Check the data maps at NET10 and OpenSignalMaps to better understand your likely coverage.

3) Most reports say NET10 gets antsy and may throttle data at levels of 100MB per day or 2MB per month on AT&T SIMS...there are fewer reports of issues with T-Mobile SIMS. If you're a heavy Pandora/YouTube/Streaming user, prepaid services are generally not a good idea, although T-Mobile now has a 4G unlimited service no contract plan for $70 a month with 14.4Mbps max 4G service. Net10 says "unlimited", but they also have specific non-uses in their TOS like streaming and tethering that can trigger problems. Most people use WiFi as often as possible to avoid running into data cap issues, but if you don't have access to WiFi and use a lot of data, NET10 and Straight Talk are likely not the best choice. One other prepaid option that's out there with "unlimited" 4G data is Solavei, which offers 4GB of full speed 4G data and throttles to 256k after that for $49 monthly with unlimited talk and text.

Hope that helps.

 

[jackbquick123]

If you are wanting Verizon coverage thru straight talk or net 10 you will need a cdma phone which doesn't take a Sims card. I just came from boost mobile (sprint) and had a cdma galaxy s2 and s3 and it couldn't be switched over because so far all 4g coverage has to be gsm phones thru the att and T-Mobile towers.
I started getting a lot of dropped calls with boost and no coverage and when I was lucky I could find 4g and wow for like 2 min lol sprint said the we're working on towers. I got tired of it and had store credit at bb from returned phones and tried net 10,, I miss my nice phone but Verizon towers rock,, not one dropped call since and making call where I never could before

 

[TVCCS]

If you are wanting Verizon coverage thru straight talk or net 10 you will need a cdma phone which doesn't take a Sims card. I just came from boost mobile (sprint) and had a cdma galaxy s2 and s3 and it couldn't be switched over because so far all 4g coverage has to be gsm phones thru the att and T-Mobile towers.
I started getting a lot of dropped calls with boost and no coverage and when I was lucky I could find 4g and wow for like 2 min lol sprint said the we're working on towers. I got tired of it and had store credit at bb from returned phones and tried net 10,, I miss my nice phone but Verizon towers rock,, not one dropped call since and making call where I never could before

Yes that is correct...since this post was originally made NET10 is now offering service for some Verizon CDMA phones for a $14.99 initial fee...and yes...I'm not at all surprised you've found much better coverage on the Verizon network through NET10 than you had on Boost/Sprint. Good luck.

From the Straight Talk variant of the CDMA BYOP plan:

"This program is not compatible with CDMA carriers Sprint or Metro PCS, 4G LTE devices, iPhones, BlackBerry, data only devices, lost or stolen devices, branded TracFone, SafeLink, NET10, Straight Talk or Telcel America handsets"

http://www.net10byop.com/