Net 10 Pre-Paid Wireless Review

[casenickles]

I just wanted to tell everyone who reads here what Net 10 Service, phone, and activation is like. Here's the abridged version if you don't want to read it all. (these figures can change as I have more experience)

On a scale of 1-10

10 ----- Ease of phone buying and price
5 ----- Activation and redeeming airtime
5 ----- Customer Service
7 ----- Phone quality and functionality
8 ----- Call quality and clarity of voice on other end
7 ----- Signal strength in rural area and ability to make calls inside buildings
10 ----- Remaining airtime display and notification of minute due date
10 ----- Price per minute, roaming, and coverage area

In the past I have used Sprint Pcs, Cingular, and most recently Verizon under 2 year contracts. By far the best service has been Verizon in every way.

This past week I decided to make the switch to Pre-Paid due to the fact I am using 200 minutes or less on a regular basis, sometimes much less. After comparing all the Pre-Paid options in the Columbus Ohio area I decided on Net 10 as my first attempt. My reasons for choosing this carrier are:

1. $.10 per minute flat rate regardless of where I place the call and to where.
2. Phone I wanted was $39.99
3. No daily access fees or other misc. charges to deal with
4. Pre-Paid minutes can be added by card, on website, or with phone itself

Here's 3 days so far. I'll try to be as accurate as possible

Activation took several attempts

You can activate the phone 1 of 3 ways. By the phone, the website, or by calling a 1-877 number. I chose to use the website the first time. When I reached the last step in activation I received an error that my activation request could not be completed. So I called customer service (automated) and activated that way. That didnt work either. I called again and spoke to a person (Indian - Outsourced). This halfway worked, the phone activated but did not load my minutes on the phone correctly. My last call to customer service worked like a charm. The process wasn't too bad but could have been better. Some things to note were I spent NO time holding to speaking to CS and they were extremely easy to deal with. You do however have to listen close as they have thick accents.

Call Quality and Coverage Area

Net 10 is a GSM phone and has a huge coverage area. As I expected the call quality is exactly like that of any GSM phone I used when I had Cingular service, or like that of any T-Mobil phone I have used before. There is no static or noise when making a call, and the voice is loud and clear. Compared to my Verizon service I rate nearly the same, although there is something to be said that the Verizon phone is a $400 LG and this Pre-Paid phone is a $40 Nokia so yes there is somewhat of an obvious difference to the characteristics to the call each phone delivers.

So far it works in all the rural areas I drove to up to 50 miles outside of the city, and it works inside buildings just fine. I will update everyone as time goes on.

Thank You For Reading.

Casey Nickles

[LIVEMEGADEALS]

I Use A Net10 Phone As A Back Up When Im Low On Mins On My Cingular Monthly Plan Roll Over Helps Me None And I Find It To Be A Decent Company And Batt Life Is Very Good And Its Affordable As A Prepaid Svce

[char777]

Originally Posted by LIVEMEGADEALS

I Use A Net10 Phone As A Back Up When Im Low On Mins On My Cingular Monthly Plan Roll Over Helps Me None And I Find It To Be A Decent Company And Batt Life Is Very Good And Its Affordable As A Prepaid Svce

Why Do You Use Capitals For Every Word?

[Bourn Identity]

Originally Posted by char777

Why Do You Use Capitals For Every Word?

Sometimes when people post from their phone, it capitalizes every word.

By the way, great post casenickles!

[secrecyguy]

You should have very good coverage because they share networks with Cingular, T-mobile, and others. It says that. I forgot where, probably on the pamphlet.

[jc.jaycee]

I'm thinking of getting a Net 10 prepaid phone. As of right now I use Cingular. I love that it picks up in places my Verizon never would, but it's not really good at my house. It drops calls here but to be fair I live out in the sticks. The $1.00 daily charge is bad too cause someone asked me to call them and they have Verizon...so the 30 seconds they had me on the phone wound up costing me $1.10 off my balance. It seems I can't find a best of both worlds for the coverage but if Net10 will pick up in the same places as Cingular that should be alright.

So it seems Net10 would be my best choice cause the Verizon prepaid also has a daily charge. And before I forget I got a Cingular text message saying they would be deducting each month an E-911 charge from my balance.

[roberts1953]

If the level of use makes sense for you then net10 is a very good plan. If you get a Net10 with "P4" on the box then it should have the same coverage as Cingular. Net 10 is a much better rate and no daily fees or junk fees.

[jc.jaycee]

Hmm...if I decide to not go ahead and try to get a calling plan I will look into that next time I'm at Wal-Mart. The only downside right now then would be the fact that no local stores close to me sell Net 10 refill cards. I have to drive at least 30 minutes or more to any Wal-Marts...I can't purchase more time online as I have no credit or debit card.

[casenickles]

Originally Posted by jc.jaycee

Hmm...if I decide to not go ahead and try to get a calling plan I will look into that next time I'm at Wal-Mart. The only downside right now then would be the fact that no local stores close to me sell Net 10 refill cards. I have to drive at least 30 minutes or more to any Wal-Marts...I can't purchase more time online as I have no credit or debit card.

Just a guess but you may not be a good candidate for a cell phone.

[jc.jaycee]

And might I ask why you would say that? Regardless of your thoughts...I need one. Once I pay a deposit and all that to get my phone service going, I'll be able to pay my bill each month by check.

[roberts1953]

If you can muster the money for larger Net10 refills, they have longer expirations, and make it more convenient. You can buy a Net10 phone from WM for around $40, that comes with 60 days and 300 minutes. Try it out to see if coverage works. If not then return it to WM. If it works you can buy a 6 month or 1 year card. The 1 year, $150 card is the best deal in terms of monthly cost. 1500 minutes total, and averages $12.50/month

[casenickles]

Review Update


Since I work literally all over the city of Columbus and all surrounding areas I want to give and update because I've now been to nearly every part of the city including most of the outlying areas.

1. Not one dropped call yet. In fact the calls have been extremely clear with no static or audio artifacts.

2. I noticed that calls go through much faster than on other phones and service providers. I'm not really sure how that's possible because Net 10 GSM phones work on the Cingular and T-Mobile network primarily.

3. Batter life is amazing on this Nokia phone. Even though it is only a 2.8oz phone I think.

4. I have not experienced any mysteriously missing minutes like I have heard rumors of when using pre-paid phones. So far so good on the $.10 per minute 24/7/365 anywhere.


......So basically everything is working out great. Time to buy more minutes soon, almost out.

[CoolNate32]

You all might want to try "Cool Prepaid" they have good phones and use the cingular network. Also, its 10cents a minute all of the time.

[Microwave Mike]

Originally Posted by CoolNate32

You all might want to try "Cool Prepaid" they have good phones and use the cingular network. Also, its 10cents a minute all of the time.

Beware of frivolous fees! From Cool Prepaid's site:

# $0.30 per day access fee deducted from your account in advance every seven days

They also charge twice as much for text messages.

[jc.jaycee]

Good phones? They currently have 2 to choose from.