Anyone use a straight talk phone?

Check the box of the phone your looking to buy, especially if it's a DROID or I phone.
The coverage areas are different and spotty for the smart phones.
If you can get a phone that is on GSM-A, that will give you the best national coverage, especially if you get off the beayen path.
The smart phones will typically only have coverage along major cities, and interstate highways.
They have maps that show typical coverage areas for each network, and on back of box will show the network that phone works on.
I have my kids on it with att network.
Works good most everywhere.
I carried one for a while too.
The phones are phones, walmart doesn't make them. .. you can get I phone 4 and 5 now. Galaxy s3 and s4.
50 bucks a month unlimited everything, they do throtyle back data Internet after 2 gig.
That being the only reason I switched to sprint, otherwise I would have stay with straight talk.
I bought a galaxy phone s2 at the time could get it on att network.
Now I have galaxy note 2 on sprint.
As far as dropped calls and coverage not that much of a difference.
Biggest different is real remote areas like Northern Nv.

 

I have Boost from Sprint . It has better phones than Straight Talk and better coverage . I had coverage 90% of the way running from KY to TX using I-55 to I-12 and I-10 , also up I-71 , I-75 , to I-94 to Canadian border . Boost starts at $50 per month and reduces payment $5 for every 6 on time payments (don't have to be consecutive . If you make 4 on time and are late on the 5th it will drop $5 after the 6th and 7th payments ) until payments are $35 . Payments on smartphones start at $60 and reduce down to $45 . Unlimited text , talk , and data

 

Friend of mine who worked for Verizon told me on services like Straight Talk, you are NOT getting full access to their towers and service.

 

I've been using Straight Talk for about a year. I don't run Cali or New England. The service works fine for me.

 

My husband uses it. Very few places HE goes that he doesn't have reception. Be aware, that there are certain functions that if used in great quantity, will get your data turned OFF for a month. Or more. And you will have to deal w/ customer support. Who don't speak much English other than their scripts. Other than that, we have no problem. (Our family has 3 straight talk lines, adding a 4th in October.)

 

Most people I talk to who are otr drivers that have sprint say it sucks, internet is slow as hell in most areas, lots of dropped calls unless in major cities. My friend has sprint and he can be sitting next to me getting 0.5mb/s while im hitting 15mb/s at home.

I have AT&T and only reason I keep it is since im grandfathered into unlimited data and I average 25-35gb a month with movies and stuff, I lose reception in some remote areas but when I need to use it I normally have signal, in the cities the LTE gets over 30mb/s at times, average speeds is probably between 5mb/s-10mb/s

Verizon has the best all around, I would go to them if they would give me unlimited data

as the one above said pre paid companies do not get the best tower space.

 

They all work along the interstate system. It's when you get off the beaten path that you notice a difference. Scooter that is somewhat correct. Straight Talk has it's flaws but for the money it isn't bad. You get what you pay for. It all depends on the person's usage and phone. If you are one that uses a smart phone and browses all the time and talks and texts forever then it might not be the best plan for you. Their unlimited plan is limited but isn't every company if you read their terms. You have to read their TOC which many don't do. For someone like me I have a basic Samsung 355c that all I do is use it to talk, it works great for $30. I was paying $80 before on my Sprint contract.

I've had two Samsungs with StraightTalk I believe since 2008? 2009? As long as I refilled on the computer on my expiration date everything was fine. One time I tried to use the reserve plan. Come the refill date the phone reprogrammed and it wouldn't work. Customer Service sucks with Straight Talk. It took them two weeks to get me going again. After about 10 service techs one fixed it in about 2 minutes. They are script reading Indians that don't know what they are doing.
Then I bought another phone online and they sent me one with a SIM card that wouldn't work. It was scratched and they did send me another one quickly. But I couldn't get that phone to work at home so I went back to my old phone. That ordeal took 10 days to get my service back.

If you ever have to deal with customer service don't call them or use the website. Go to their Facebook website and fill out a ticket there. The lady on there seems to know what she is doing and will give you better service.

Why I don't change? I like paying $30 a month which suits me fine and it works fine as long as I manually refill it. On the road I always used my laptop. If you are like me that uses less than a 1000 minutes and 1000 texts it's great. Heavy users no, pay for a contract.

 

I also am set up that they automatically fill or pay for my 2 phones lines that my kids use. That don't have smart phones. But man do the text and picture messages. I'm talking thousands of texts.
No issues or problems.
Bill is automatically deducted from accoint.
Initial setup was a bit of a deal since ad others said I had to go through customer service in Pakistan. But other than that easy.
Also when I switched phones was as easy as swapping sim card and a phone call.
Same when one kid wanted to get a better phone.
Customer service Sucks with just about every carrier.
And your simply not tied into a plan or have to worru about credit.

 

Its perfect if you need a naughty boy phone that you don't wanta spouse to see.
Or the law.
Or the. Government
Your not tied or linked to it, unless you pay with a card.
Pay cash. By the refill card...nobody is the wiser.
Can even pick your area code and prefix.

 

i have used straight talk for over 3 years now,could be closer to 4,transfering my number from at&t that was cingular when i got my first cell phone back in 1999 or so.I live in cherokee county alabama and it is 10+miles to the nearest traffic light for me.rural is an understatement.my straight talk works beyond well for me.

my first straight talk was on the at&t network and i dropped calls everywhere i went JUST LIKE i did when i was still w/at&t.i then switched to the verizon network,which is now the only network the walmart here sells,and i rarely drop calls regardless of where i drive.

you simply can't beat the prices and i am on the verge of upgrading to a samsung smart phone via straight talk.to heck with any contract.

my opinion is that you should use the straight talk system.you'll be happy with the money you save and the service that you get.