T-Mobile now allows 800 Mhz roaming on their prepaid service.

T-Mobile's prepaid service has been one of the best prepaid services due
to their low cost (10 cents per minute) and 1 year expiration (rather
than 30, 60, 90, or 120 days like most prepaid carriers). But a major
limitation was the you could not roam onto 800 Mhz prepaid networks when
outside T-Mobile's limited 1900 Mhz coverage area.

According to "http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/coverageprepaidfaq.aspx"
this situation has now changed, and roaming is available, and at no
extra cost!

This makes PagePlus (a Verizon MVNO) and T-Mobile To Go, the two best
prepaid services in the U.S. in terms of price and coverage. Both are 10
cents per minute if you buy the largest value card. PagePlus requires
buying airtime every 120 days, but with T-Mobile To Go you can go a
whole year once you buy an initial $100 airtime card.

PagePlus has more coverage because it works on both CDMA and AMPS, but
you pay a high price per minute when off of Verizon's network. If you go
out into the boonies, where there is no GSM, then the CDMA/AMPS on
PagePlus may be a better choice, but for urban and suburban use,
T-Mobile would be fine.

If you have teenagers, prepaid is a good way to give them a phone for
occasional use without spending a fortune per year. But the prepaid
plans from Verizon, Cingular, Sprint, Virgin, etc., are not good values,
and MetroPCS has very limited coverage and costs $40 per month.

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› See More: T-Mobile now allows 800 Mhz roaming on their prepaid service.

Per SMS:
>T-Mobile's prepaid service has been one of the best prepaid services due
>to their low cost (10 cents per minute) and 1 year expiration

When the year rolled over for the first time on my two tMobile prepaids, I found
it was even better than expected.

These are basically standby/seldom-used phones.

The first year I paid $100 for 1,000 minutes.

When the year rolled over, I found that the unused minutes rolled over too - and
all I had to do was make a minimum additional purchase of something like $10
worth of minutes per phone..... seems like these two are basically good for the
foreseeable future at $10/year once the $100 entry fee has been paid.
--
PeteCresswell

SMS wrote:
> T-Mobile's prepaid service has been one of the best prepaid services due
> to their low cost (10 cents per minute) and 1 year expiration (rather
> than 30, 60, 90, or 120 days like most prepaid carriers). But a major
> limitation was the you could not roam onto 800 Mhz prepaid networks when
> outside T-Mobile's limited 1900 Mhz coverage area.
>
> According to "http://www.t-mobile.com/coverage/coverageprepaidfaq.aspx"
> this situation has now changed, and roaming is available, and at no
> extra cost!
>
> This makes PagePlus (a Verizon MVNO) and T-Mobile To Go, the two best
> prepaid services in the U.S. in terms of price and coverage. Both are 10
> cents per minute if you buy the largest value card. PagePlus requires
> buying airtime every 120 days, but with T-Mobile To Go you can go a
> whole year once you buy an initial $100 airtime card.
>
> PagePlus has more coverage because it works on both CDMA and AMPS, but
> you pay a high price per minute when off of Verizon's network. If you go
> out into the boonies, where there is no GSM, then the CDMA/AMPS on
> PagePlus may be a better choice, but for urban and suburban use,
> T-Mobile would be fine.
>
> If you have teenagers, prepaid is a good way to give them a phone for
> occasional use without spending a fortune per year. But the prepaid
> plans from Verizon, Cingular, Sprint, Virgin, etc., are not good values,
> and MetroPCS has very limited coverage and costs $40 per month.

The FAQ on your link says that the prepaid "tmobile to go" doesn't
include 800 MHz roaming:

What is 850MHz roaming?
850MHz roaming allows T-Mobile postpaid customers to access roaming
service in areas that previously were not accessible. Currently 850MHz
roaming is not available for T-Mobile To Go customers.

George wrote:

> What is 850MHz roaming?
> 850MHz roaming allows T-Mobile postpaid customers to access roaming
> service in areas that previously were not accessible. Currently 850MHz
> roaming is not available for T-Mobile To Go customers.

Hmm, if this isn't a typo, then I stand corrected. What would be the
point of 1900 Mhz GSM roaming, as there is so little non-T-Mobile 1900
Mhz GSM in the first place?

If you look at NC, it is all Cingular Roaming. There's quite a bit of the
country where T-Mobile does not have 1900 coverage, and relies on its
roaming partners.

Mike Schumann

"SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> George wrote:
>
>> What is 850MHz roaming?
>> 850MHz roaming allows T-Mobile postpaid customers to access roaming
>> service in areas that previously were not accessible. Currently 850MHz
>> roaming is not available for T-Mobile To Go customers.
>
> Hmm, if this isn't a typo, then I stand corrected. What would be the point
> of 1900 Mhz GSM roaming, as there is so little non-T-Mobile 1900 Mhz GSM
> in the first place?

SMS wrote:
> George wrote:
>
>> What is 850MHz roaming?
>> 850MHz roaming allows T-Mobile postpaid customers to access roaming
>> service in areas that previously were not accessible. Currently 850MHz
>> roaming is not available for T-Mobile To Go customers.
>
>
> Hmm, if this isn't a typo, then I stand corrected. What would be the
> point of 1900 Mhz GSM roaming, as there is so little non-T-Mobile 1900
> Mhz GSM in the first place?

Given their small network which means there would be a lot of roaming I
would imagine they can't afford to offer it to the tmobile to go users.
I would also imagine they are taking a big financial hit with roaming
on postpaid.

George wrote:
> SMS wrote:
>> George wrote:
>>
>>> What is 850MHz roaming?
>>> 850MHz roaming allows T-Mobile postpaid customers to access roaming
>>> service in areas that previously were not accessible. Currently
>>> 850MHz roaming is not available for T-Mobile To Go customers.
>>
>>
>> Hmm, if this isn't a typo, then I stand corrected. What would be the
>> point of 1900 Mhz GSM roaming, as there is so little non-T-Mobile 1900
>> Mhz GSM in the first place?
>
> Given their small network which means there would be a lot of roaming I
> would imagine they can't afford to offer it to the tmobile to go users.
> I would also imagine they are taking a big financial hit with roaming
> on postpaid.

Sorry, this was a mistake by me, there is no 800 Mhz roaming. Scratch
T-Mobile To Go as a prepaid carrier.

Stick with PagePlus, a Verizon MVNO. PagePlus uses Verizon's network,
but allows off-network roaming. You can use any tri-mode CDMA phone, and
E-911 capable phone is not required.

Why scratch T-Mobile To-Go??? If it works where you need it, why not take
advantage of the best rates available?

Mike Schumann

"SMS" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> George wrote:
>> SMS wrote:
>>> George wrote:
>>>
>>>> What is 850MHz roaming?
>>>> 850MHz roaming allows T-Mobile postpaid customers to access roaming
>>>> service in areas that previously were not accessible. Currently 850MHz
>>>> roaming is not available for T-Mobile To Go customers.
>>>
>>>
>>> Hmm, if this isn't a typo, then I stand corrected. What would be the
>>> point of 1900 Mhz GSM roaming, as there is so little non-T-Mobile 1900
>>> Mhz GSM in the first place?
>>
>> Given their small network which means there would be a lot of roaming I
>> would imagine they can't afford to offer it to the tmobile to go users. I
>> would also imagine they are taking a big financial hit with roaming on
>> postpaid.
>
> Sorry, this was a mistake by me, there is no 800 Mhz roaming. Scratch
> T-Mobile To Go as a prepaid carrier.
>
> Stick with PagePlus, a Verizon MVNO. PagePlus uses Verizon's network, but
> allows off-network roaming. You can use any tri-mode CDMA phone, and E-911
> capable phone is not required.

Mike Schumann wrote:
> Why scratch T-Mobile To-Go??? If it works where you need it, why not take
> advantage of the best rates available?

The coverage is pretty poor in many places, but if you can live with it,
then it's a good deal. PagePlus is a better option, if you don't mind
buying time every four months versus every twelve months.

For example, my mother got conned into changing from AT&T TDMA to
Cingular GSM at a Cingular mall kiosk. Her coverage at home was still
fine, but coverage while traveling to the places she goes most often
(South Florida to Atlanta (driving) and the SF Bay Area) went way down,
plus her monthly cost increased by about $15 per month. I warned her
that with T-Mobile ToGo, her coverage would be even worse than with
Cingular GSM, including no coverage at my house, or my sister's house in
Atlanta. But she didn't care. Her biggest concern was not getting a new
phone (I walked her through unlocking her Nokia phone) and having to
transfer her phonebook over!