Totally new to cellphones. Seeking advice.

[adrift98]

Yes, you read that right. I'm one of the very few last hold outs who never jumped on the cellphone bandwagon. I just never liked the idea of being that accessible. Well last week the company I work for sold me a barely used iphone 3G that was passed over for some fancy blackberry. I got a decent price on it, and figured I'd finally join the 21st century. First thing I did was jailbreak and unlock it using blackra1n and blacksnow... now all I need to do is find a service provider.

Could anyone help me out with this? I don't know anything about the cellphone world, or about carriers, or anything. I rarely use the phone and would probably use the phone mostly in case someone needs to desperately get a hold of me, or in case of emergencies. I'm not at all interested in texting. I am interested in data plans though (data plans are internet plans, correct?). I'd also like to be able to tether my macbook if that's at all possible. If not, that's cool, but having unlimited internet would be very nice. I'm really looking for the cheapest options available to me. As I understand it, only t-mobile and AT&T support unlocked iphones so that narrows my options. I've heard people discussing pay as you go programs and this sounds nice as well seeing as I don't think I like the idea of being locked into a contract.

What all do you advise? Also I want to apologize up front if this question has been asked a million times before. I did search through the forum a bit, but it seems that carrier deals, and iphone unlocks change monthly, and I figured any advice I might find too far into the past would be pretty much irrelevant.

Thanks!

[GIRLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL]

Uhh, just to note incase you didn't know T-Mobile's 3G bands aren't supported on the iPhone so you can't get 3G through T-Mobile, just EDGE.

You can get a Talk+Data plan and they are only $5 cheaper than the Talk/Text/Data plans.
So you can get Talk+Data for $55 a month. 500 minutes, no contract, unlimited data.

AT&T will not allow unlimited data without a postpaid account (Credit Check required - deposit or denial if your credit is marginal or bad) and they start at $70 with postpaid iPhone accounts.

[adrift98]

Uhh, just to note incase you didn't know T-Mobile's 3G bands aren't supported on the iPhone so you can't get 3G through T-Mobile, just EDGE.

You can get a Talk+Data plan and they are only $5 cheaper than the Talk/Text/Data plans.
So you can get Talk+Data for $55 a month. 500 minutes, no contract, unlimited data.

AT&T will not allow unlimited data without a postpaid account (Credit Check required - deposit or denial if your credit is marginal or bad) and they start at $70 with postpaid iPhone accounts.

Thanks for the info! I'm not too worried about the speed of the data plan at this point. I'd just be happy with something. After a bit of consideration I think I may hold off on the data plan for now and just go with the 500 min. Talk plan. I think I can live with just having wi-fi for now. 55 bucks doesn't sound bad though. What would a comparable plan like this cost over at AT&T?

[GIRLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL]

$70 - 450 minutes/unlimited data.

Yeah that 500 minute plan is just 29.99 at T-Mobile. You can even try the Other phones data (Not Smartphone) and that's just a $10 add-on. You just can't tell them you have an iPhone, and it should work. No Guarantees though.

[adrift98]

$70 - 450 minutes/unlimited data.

Yeah that 500 minute plan is just 29.99 at T-Mobile. You can even try the Other phones data (Not Smartphone) and that's just a $10 add-on. You just can't tell them you have an iPhone, and it should work. No Guarantees though.

ah darn. I already told them i had an iphone. hmm.


Edit: Sweet! I just did the 10 dollar unlimited net access online. Works great. Slow as dial up, but at least it works. Thanks for mentioning it here.

[Nukie]

Sounds like you have already signed up for a plan. Well, if anyone else is looking for this information and fits this description, ie, wants phone, little texting, will use wifi for data, I would recommend the T-Mobile Pay As You Go Plan. It's a pre-pay plan. I buy 1,000 minutes at a time for $100. They expire after one year. My 1,000 minutes lasts me a good 6 months or so since I am not a big phone user or texter. I have wifi at work and home so get all my data from that, or just find it in coffehouses, etc when traveling. I also have Skype's $30 a year plan which allows me to make unlimited calls to land lines and cell phones over wifi. So I can stretch my 1,000 T-Mobile minutes even further by making phone calls over wifi through Skype.

[adrift98]

Sounds like you have already signed up for a plan. Well, if anyone else is looking for this information and fits this description, ie, wants phone, little texting, will use wifi for data, I would recommend the T-Mobile Pay As You Go Plan. It's a pre-pay plan. I buy 1,000 minutes at a time for $100. They expire after one year. My 1,000 minutes lasts me a good 6 months or so since I am not a big phone user or texter. I have wifi at work and home so get all my data from that, or just find it in coffehouses, etc when traveling. I also have Skype's $30 a year plan which allows me to make unlimited calls to land lines and cell phones over wifi. So I can stretch my 1,000 T-Mobile minutes even further by making phone calls over wifi through Skype.

Excellent advice. Thank you Nukie. Too late for me right now, but i'm not under a contract so it may be something i'll shift to later.