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  1. #1
    George
    Guest
    SMS wrote:
    > Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
    >> In article <[email protected]>,
    >> SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
    >>
    >>> Besides the parent's suggestions of saving electricity by eliminating
    >>> all video games, and the scouts suggestion of cutting showers back to
    >>> once a month to save water and natural gas

    >>
    >> Obviously the latter is a joke, but the way you put those together,
    >> you seem to think "elminating all video games" is a joke?
    >>
    >> It's a perfectly rational thing to do. Of course, today's "I'm too
    >> busy" parents just love the video games as an electronic babysitter...

    >
    > Except that the video games use very little electricity. Other than
    > that, I agree with you that many kids spend way too much time on video
    > games.


    So does taking the dog for a walk or playing ball or all that normal
    non-electronic stuff.



    See More: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even thoughthey are usually the cheapest option with the best coverage




  2. #2
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even thoughthey are usually the cheapest option with the best coverage

    Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
    > In article <[email protected]>,
    > SMS <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >>> OK, so do you want to point to actual documentation, say on their web
    >>> site, where they say any of this?

    >> http://www.telecomservices.net/cgi-b...tam?tcon=21130

    >
    > That's not PagePlus's web site, that's on a reseller's web site.
    >
    > No phones, no documentation about the rollover thing, nada. Just
    > minutes for sale.
    >
    > BTW, this particular reseller has a funny on this page: "Your IP
    > Address and Physical Address have been recorded." hehehehehehe Yeah,
    > my physical address. Ummmmm...guess what. Not mine. And a cellular
    > reseller of all people should understand that concept...
    >
    >
    >
    >> The big advantage of PagePlus, besides the low rates, is that you get
    >> coverage that is unavailable with most other MVNOs, most of which are
    >> GSM on AT&T, or CDMA on Sprint. In the west anyway, Verizon coverage is
    >> far, far better than Sprint or any of the GSM carriers. Check Consumer
    >> Reports for coverage surveys for your area.

    >
    > What happens when Verizon dumps analog?


    Very little. First of all, most of the AMPS that isn't coincident with
    CDMA is in rural areas where Verizon is not the carrier, and where AMPS
    will not be turned off. Second, CDMA coverage, even without AMPS is
    still much better than GSM coverage.

    I will miss coverage in some places that will lose coverage if AMPS is
    turned off even in areas where there is no digital coverage. These
    include areas of the San Mateo Coast and the Santa Cruz mountains. But
    many of the areas with no CDMA or GSM coverage are covered by rural
    carriers that have no incentive to turn off AMPS.



  3. #3
    Kevin Weaver
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even though they are usually the cheapest option with the best coverage

    And I also added that maybe that changed. But not to long ago you had to buy
    from a dealer.

    "Elmo P. Shagnasty" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    > In article <[email protected]>,
    > "Kevin Weaver" <[email protected]> wrote:
    >
    >> You cant buy from Page Plus direct. You have to go thru there sellers.

    >
    > Just go to their web site, you'll see that indeed you can buy from Page
    > Plus. Although their web site SUCKS.
    >





  4. #4
    Godzilla Pimp
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even though they are usually the cheapest option with the best coverage


    "SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
    news:[email protected]...
    > Today I was doing the den meeting for my son's Cub Scout den, and part of
    > the program was about family budgeting and reducing recurring monthly
    > expenditures.
    >
    > Besides the parent's suggestions of saving electricity by eliminating all
    > video games, and the scouts suggestion of cutting showers back to once a
    > month to save water and natural gas, one of the topics was saving money on
    > items like internet access, long distance, and cellular.
    >
    > I mentioned that I paid only about $2.50/month each for cell phone service
    > for my kid's phones, and after the meeting I was surrounded by parents
    > wanting to know how to sign up.
    >
    > PagePlus must be about the worst in terms of getting the word out about
    > their service. They'll be getting about six new accounts in the next week
    > thanks to me. Since Verizon is the predominant carrier in my area, almost
    > everyone at the meeting had at least one spare Verizon phone to use
    > (though the kids of course want a fancy camera phone--tough luck!).
    >
    > I had to go into explaining how to sign up (having to buy activation on
    > eBay is kind of strange), and which phones to use (any phone that was ever
    > on Verizon CDMA), and explain the rollover, the re-upping every four
    > months, etc. All these parents were thinking of prepaid in terms of the
    > horrible deals with high minimums from Verizon, AT&T, Virgin, Tracfone,
    > Net10, etc. (T-Mobile doesn't work in my area, so they are not a
    > consideration).
    >
    > PagePlus costs:
    > --------------
    > $76/1400 minutes = 5.4¢/min
    > $47.50/700 minutes = 6.8¢/min
    > $10/83 minutes = 12¢/min
    >
    > Add a minimum of $10 every 4 months to keep account active and roll-over
    > existing minutes. 50¢/month service charge.


    Yes indeed. PP is the best prepaid service out there for anyone in native
    Verizon territory. An old and reliable company. You can use any Verizon,
    Alltel and some Amp'd phones or buy a shiny new INpulse phone at Walmart or
    Target. The other good alternative for folks in the central US where native
    Verizon coverage is often lacking is Tmo2go. Check out the people who know
    instead of posting speculative crap.

    http://www.howardforums.com/

    GP






  5. #5
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even thoughthey are usually the cheapest option with the best coverage

    Godzilla Pimp wrote:

    > Yes indeed. PP is the best prepaid service out there for anyone in native
    > Verizon territory. An old and reliable company. You can use any Verizon,
    > Alltel and some Amp'd phones or buy a shiny new INpulse phone at Walmart or
    > Target. The other good alternative for folks in the central US where native
    > Verizon coverage is often lacking is Tmo2go. Check out the people who know
    > instead of posting speculative crap.


    T-Mobile has very spotty coverage in the western region, so they're not
    a good choice for prepaid (or postpaid) out here. I've used them with no
    problem on the east coast. It's not that they don't want to improve
    their coverage, it's that to do so means placing towers in places where
    they can't get zoning approval for towers. It's not like satellite
    dishes where the FCC prohibits any zoning ordinances from preventing
    satellite receivers.



  6. #6
    Todd Allcock
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even though they are usuallythe cheapest option with the best coverage

    At 24 Sep 2007 06:18:02 -0400 Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:

    > The whole thing smacks of Fiddy Cent selling me a phone on the
    > street corner.


    Except 50 cent is much better financed than Page Plus!

    PagePlus is probaby the longest lasting of the "smally fry" MVNOs,
    and offers
    a much better deal than most. If the shoestring operation scares
    you, don't buy it! It's a risk/rewards thing- what's at risk? A
    $20 eBay phone and $2.50/month airtime? The reward is a cheap
    prepaid system with outstanding coverage. For (almost) the same
    coverage, Verizon InPulse is less risk at $15/month, and certainly a
    contract plan is virtually risk free at $40+/month.

    PagePlus is intended to be sold through small independent brick and
    mortar cellular dealers, and unlike some MVNOs like Beyond Wireless
    who undercut their dealers' MSRP on their website, PP seems to want
    to let their dealers make the sales and deal with the "headaches"
    (activations, ESN changes, etc.) rather than try to be a web-based
    business. If I were still a cellular dealer, I'd be selling them.
    (Why represent a company who actively "steals" your business?)


    --

    "I don't need my cell phone to play video games or take pictures
    or double as a Walkie-Talkie; I just need it to work. Thanks for
    all the bells and whistles, but I could communicate better with
    ACTUAL bells and whistles." -Bill Maher 9/25/2003




  7. #7
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even thoughthey are usually the cheapest option with the best coverage

    Todd Allcock wrote:
    > At 24 Sep 2007 06:18:02 -0400 Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
    >
    >> The whole thing smacks of Fiddy Cent selling me a phone on the
    >> street corner.

    >
    > Except 50 cent is much better financed than Page Plus!
    >
    > PagePlus is probaby the longest lasting of the "smally fry" MVNOs,
    > and offers a much better deal than most.


    It's rather telling, that many "big fry" MVNO's have come and gone
    during the time PagePlus has been around. Their low-overhead business
    model seems to be working for them.

    They know they can't compete head-on with the carrier's own prepaid
    services, which are usually terrible deals but heavily advertised and
    promoted. Nor can they compete with the large MVNO's like Virgin,
    TracFone, and Net10, which sell phones through big box stores at loss
    leader prices and hope to make up the loss through their extraordinarily
    poor deals on airtime or high minimum monthly charges.

    They seem to be content to sell to people that are looking for low
    monthly minimums, low per minute chargers, and superior coverage, and
    that don't mind getting a phone on their own. If they became too
    successful then Verizon might cut them off.

    When I mentioned PagePlus yesterday at the meeting I was at, someone was
    asking "is this a better deal than Verizon's family plan? Verizon gives
    you a free phone on the family plan." There are still a lot of people
    that become obsessed with getting a "free" handset, and lose sight of
    the big picture.



  8. #8
    Vic Smith
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even though they are usually the cheapest option with the best coverage

    On Mon, 24 Sep 2007 14:35:19 -0700, Bob Fry <[email protected]>
    wrote:

    >SMS has been hard-selling PagePlus on another group, claiming it is
    >the only prepaid plan worth squat...and that other plans are never any
    >good.
    >
    >I say that given the variety of ways the prepaid plans charge for
    >their service (connection fees, daily use fees, minute fees, monthly
    >charges, and expiration of minutes), the best plan depends on a
    >person's usage pattern.
    >
    >But SMS can't see that. Kinda a black-and-white view of a colorful
    >world.


    So I've noticed. I don't spend much time on this, because I hardly
    ever use a cell, though in the past I paid for a few various plans for
    the kids. I've come to see cell selection as having only 2 major
    components; coverage and cost.
    COVERAGE
    I'm assuming coverage always includes good signal quality. SMS has
    claimed he can get a signal - with PagePlus I think - in some isolated
    backwoods area he frequents, where other carriers don't work.
    Fine. For him. Others might not care about that.
    My phone is used locally, and where I vacation, namely Chicago,
    Florida, and points between. I don't care about anything else.
    But for anybody, adequate coverage - for them - is the FIRST
    consideration.
    COST
    Determined by usage, but I call it cost, because like coverage, it is
    basically out of your hands. Sure, you can adjust your usage to
    change the cost, but from what I've seen, that's not much of a
    consideration when one gets a cell phone. Since I'm reading/posting
    in the frugal group my thoughts are mostly on the frugal tack that
    has been discussed here, for limited cell use.
    Before that, what I've seen on the cost side in dealing with the
    monthly contracted plans I initially bought for the kids, and their
    current ongoing plans that they pay for, is that it is a fluid market,
    and costs change fast. It is best to keep contracts as short as
    possible, no matter how attractive they may seem.
    Keying on "limited use" prepaid and my own usage, cost per minute is
    virtually meaningless if you can lose the minutes you initially paid
    for.
    I went with T-Mobile prepaid 2 years ago, and my fist year cost with
    new phone was $150. That got us 1200 anytime/anywhere/no roaming
    charges minutes. The phone worked fine everywhere we went from
    Chicago to Florida (remember, coverage, coverage, coverage.)
    Since I bought a $100 fill that made me a "Gold Member." An extra
    200 minutes got tossed in as some kind of bonus.
    Last year near yearly expiration I loaded up another $100 minutes.
    The old minutes were still valid, so we had about 1300 minutes.
    Last month it was time to re-up, but since we still had 638 minutes
    I just paid $50 and we now have about 1200 minutes, so my yearly
    cost is minor, and the cell is great to have.
    Anyway, I look at this as a pretty cheap way to have a cell phone.
    It looks like we use about 600 minutes a year - mostly while on
    vacation - and I realize others might use this much monthly.
    10 hours a year on a cell phone is plenty for me.
    But one of my kids had a U.S. Cellular contract and is currently
    in Tennessee incommunicado because of the roaming charges.
    Of course he has no problem paying $60-100 a month to yak at somebody
    1/2 mile away who he will be seeing in 1/2 hour and do useless text
    messaging.
    As you said, lots of colors out there.

    --Vic













  9. #9
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even thoughthey are usually the cheapest option with the best coverage

    Bob Fry wrote:
    > SMS has been hard-selling PagePlus on another group, claiming it is
    > the only prepaid plan worth squat...and that other plans are never any
    > good.
    >
    > I say that given the variety of ways the prepaid plans charge for
    > their service (connection fees, daily use fees, minute fees, monthly
    > charges, and expiration of minutes), the best plan depends on a
    > person's usage pattern.
    >
    > But SMS can't see that. Kinda a black-and-white view of a colorful
    > world.


    "Never argue with an idiot. He'll drag you down to his level and beat
    you with experience." Loath as I am to neglect this excellent advice, I
    feel that I need to respond to this post by Bob, so here goes...

    It's certainly possible to come up with a usage pattern where there are
    better deals and expirations than with PagePlus.

    When looking at prepaid carriers you want to look at:

    a) per minute cost
    b) minimum monthly cost
    c) coverage

    SpeakOut Wireless has a lower minimum monthly cost at $2.08/month ($25
    per year). They also have a one year airtime expiration versus four
    months on PagePlus. On the other hand, their airtime prices are much
    higher, and their coverage poorer.

    T-Mobile can have a minimum monthly cost of as low as $0.83/month if you
    "go gold" with an initial purchase of 1000 minutes for $100. The $100
    purchase also extends all future airtime purchases to a 1 year
    expiration. But their airtime cost is more than PagePlus at each
    recharge level. Their coverage is much, much poorer.

    Virgin, Tracfone, AT&T, have high minimum monthly fees at $5.00, $6.67,
    and $8.33 respectively. All have poorer coverage than PagePlus.

    If you do a lot of international calling, STI Mobile is a good deal with
    a $3 monthly fee, but a flat rate of 10¢/minute plus a fee for some
    countries, but many countries you can call at no extra charge, including
    most of Mexico, and much of western Europe and Asia
    ("http://www.stimobile.com/ratelookup.aspx"). Their coverage isn't
    nearly as good as PagePlus because they use the inferior Sprint network,
    with no roaming.

    The worst deals in prepaid are from the companies with very high monthly
    minimums, such as Net10, which has a $15/month minimum. The per minute
    rate isn't very good either, considering the high monthly minimum,
    though it's better than Tracfone.

    See "http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm" to learn more.

    -For the absolute best coverage, choose PagePlus
    -For the absolute lowest recurring monthly cost, choose T-Mobile and go
    "gold"
    -For the lowest international rates, direct from the phone, choose STI.

    I think the problem is that in Bob's case he got taken in by Net10 and
    is trying to defend the decision by making these ridiculous statements.
    No one would think any worse of him if he just admitted the mistake and
    moved on. After all it's not such a big deal in the scheme of things.

    I have no connection to PagePlus. I just hate seeing people getting
    taken in by these carriers that trick people.




  10. #10
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even thoughthey are usually the cheapest option with the best coverage

    Vic Smith wrote:

    > I'm assuming coverage always includes good signal quality. SMS has
    > claimed he can get a signal - with PagePlus I think - in some isolated
    > backwoods area he frequents,


    Not so backwoods actually. All on fairly major roads, often not far from
    mid-size to large cities. One of the routes to Lake Tahoe, past a major
    ski area (CA 88). Much of Crater Lake. Much of Yosemite and the roads
    into it (served by Golden State Cellular, a Verizon affiliate). Much of
    CA 1 between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz. None of these are out in the
    woods at all.

    It's true that if you never leave the urban core that prepaid services
    that use AT&T's network are fine. What you want to avoid, at least out
    in the west, is any Sprint or T-Mobile based prepaid carrier, as both
    the 1900 MHz GSM and 1900 MHz CDMA networks are _much_ less developed
    than AT&T's 800 MHz GSM and Verizon's 800 MHz CDMA networks.



  11. #11
    Vic Smith
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even though they are usually the cheapest option with the best coverage

    On Mon, 24 Sep 2007 17:39:01 -0700, SMS <[email protected]>
    wrote:

    >Vic Smith wrote:
    >
    >> I'm assuming coverage always includes good signal quality. SMS has
    >> claimed he can get a signal - with PagePlus I think - in some isolated
    >> backwoods area he frequents,

    >
    >Not so backwoods actually. All on fairly major roads, often not far from
    >mid-size to large cities. One of the routes to Lake Tahoe, past a major
    >ski area (CA 88). Much of Crater Lake. Much of Yosemite and the roads
    >into it (served by Golden State Cellular, a Verizon affiliate). Much of
    >CA 1 between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz. None of these are out in the
    >woods at all.
    >
    >It's true that if you never leave the urban core that prepaid services
    >that use AT&T's network are fine. What you want to avoid, at least out
    >in the west, is any Sprint or T-Mobile based prepaid carrier, as both
    >the 1900 MHz GSM and 1900 MHz CDMA networks are _much_ less developed
    >than AT&T's 800 MHz GSM and Verizon's 800 MHz CDMA networks.


    I agree that needed coverage is the most important consideration.
    But in your previous post you said:

    "When looking at prepaid carriers you want to look at:
    a) per minute cost
    b) minimum monthly cost
    c) coverage"

    Try to keep priorities straight.
    And nominal per minute cost is meaningless if you lose minutes.
    Refill hassle is also a consideration, and sometimes related
    to losing minutes.

    --Vic



  12. #12
    Marsha
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even thoughthey are usually the cheapest option with the best coverage

    SMS wrote:
    > Vic Smith wrote:
    >
    >> I'm assuming coverage always includes good signal quality. SMS has
    >> claimed he can get a signal - with PagePlus I think - in some isolated
    >> backwoods area he frequents,

    >
    >
    > Not so backwoods actually. All on fairly major roads, often not far from
    > mid-size to large cities. One of the routes to Lake Tahoe, past a major
    > ski area (CA 88). Much of Crater Lake. Much of Yosemite and the roads
    > into it (served by Golden State Cellular, a Verizon affiliate). Much of
    > CA 1 between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz. None of these are out in the
    > woods at all.
    >
    > It's true that if you never leave the urban core that prepaid services
    > that use AT&T's network are fine. What you want to avoid, at least out
    > in the west, is any Sprint or T-Mobile based prepaid carrier, as both
    > the 1900 MHz GSM and 1900 MHz CDMA networks are _much_ less developed
    > than AT&T's 800 MHz GSM and Verizon's 800 MHz CDMA networks.


    I have Page Plus and several times have gotten strong
    signals where my friend was not able to pick up
    anything and she had to borrow my phone - e.g. Amish
    country in Central Ohio.

    Marsha




  13. #13
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even thoughthey are usually the cheapest option with the best coverage

    Marsha wrote:
    > SMS wrote:
    >> Vic Smith wrote:
    >>
    >>> I'm assuming coverage always includes good signal quality. SMS has
    >>> claimed he can get a signal - with PagePlus I think - in some isolated
    >>> backwoods area he frequents,

    >>
    >>
    >> Not so backwoods actually. All on fairly major roads, often not far
    >> from mid-size to large cities. One of the routes to Lake Tahoe, past a
    >> major ski area (CA 88). Much of Crater Lake. Much of Yosemite and the
    >> roads into it (served by Golden State Cellular, a Verizon affiliate).
    >> Much of CA 1 between Half Moon Bay and Santa Cruz. None of these are
    >> out in the woods at all.
    >>
    >> It's true that if you never leave the urban core that prepaid services
    >> that use AT&T's network are fine. What you want to avoid, at least out
    >> in the west, is any Sprint or T-Mobile based prepaid carrier, as both
    >> the 1900 MHz GSM and 1900 MHz CDMA networks are _much_ less developed
    >> than AT&T's 800 MHz GSM and Verizon's 800 MHz CDMA networks.

    >
    > I have Page Plus and several times have gotten strong signals where my
    > friend was not able to pick up anything and she had to borrow my phone -
    > e.g. Amish country in Central Ohio.


    Yeah, several times when I've picked up my daughter for sporting events,
    I have to wait because her friends are using her PagePlus phone to call
    their parents because their cell phones don't have a signal. This isn't
    out in the middle of nowhere either, it's typically at playing fields
    located at middle schools. The schools are usually in very residential
    areas, with no tower very close. When I look at the maps for T-Mobile
    they show no coverage, and I assume Sprint is the same since they have
    almost identical needs in terms of towers (CDMA has slightly longer
    distance from the cells, but not enough to make much of a difference at
    1900 MHz).



  14. #14
    SMS
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even thoughthey are usually the cheapest option with the best coverage

    Vic Smith wrote:

    > Try to keep priorities straight.
    > And nominal per minute cost is meaningless if you lose minutes.
    > Refill hassle is also a consideration, and sometimes related
    > to losing minutes.


    Yeah, four months is about as short as I'd tolerate in terms of having
    to do refills. I can't imagine having to do them every sixty days.
    PagePlus is one of the easier ones to refill, just call them and they
    re-up your account, without having to enter any PIN numbers, or buy the
    card directly from their web site (which does require a PIN number IIRC).

    On the one occasion when I missed the refill date, I called them and
    they restored $50 worth of minutes I had lost. I doubt if the large
    carriers would have been nice enough to do that.

    Always look at the big picture, coverage, cost, and hassle.



  15. #15
    Todd Allcock
    Guest

    Re: PagePlus, the Prepaid Service Few People Know About even though they are usuallythe cheapest option with the best coverage

    At 24 Sep 2007 18:47:07 -0700 SMS wrote:

    > On the one occasion when I missed the refill date, I called them
    > and they restored $50 worth of minutes I had lost. I doubt if the
    > large carriers would have been nice enough to do that.



    When I was a Southwestern Bell Mobile Systems (eventually Cingular,
    then AT&T) dealer I'd called them on behalf of customers several
    times and had expired balances restored. (And that was back when
    prepaid minutes were $0.65!) Generally their policy was they'd do it
    for anyone, ONCE. After that you were stuck if you forgot to refill.

    I used to keep a calendar for my prepaid customers and call them a
    week or so prior to expiration, take a credit card over the phone and
    refill for them (only if they preferred that arrangement and agreed
    to it, of course!)



    --

    "I don't need my cell phone to play video games or take pictures
    or double as a Walkie-Talkie; I just need it to work. Thanks for
    all the bells and whistles, but I could communicate better with
    ACTUAL bells and whistles." -Bill Maher 9/25/2003




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