Posted on 01/30/2025 3:18:12 PM PST by Jamestown1630
I am thinking of changing cell phone plans, and have been looking at Pure Talk.
I make very few calls on my cell phone, and maybe a couple of texts a week, both usually from home. I need to have some data, in case I’m out and need to call someone, or a cab, road service, find a map, etc. – but I have almost never used that. I do NO business on the cell phone, and most of our telephone use is VOIP from home.
Frankly, the main thing I use a cell phone for is listening to the radio at home, over the Wifi; and having it for emergencies when I'm away. My husband’s needs are a little greater, but not much greater.
Does anyone here have Pure Talk, and have you been happy with it? We’re also interested to know if the monthly data allowance can be rolled over if you don’t use it, which has always been the case with our TracFone plans.
Thanks for any advice.
Tello.com On the T Mobile network for $14/month
The wife and I have had Tracfone for probably 20 years. I finally changed mine to an unlimited plan for about $22 a month. I hardly ever text, make 20 calls a month and have data left over, but I do all my net surfing on my computer. My wife has the same, except she is always on her text and many calls, but doesn’t use data. We have had good luck with Tracfone.
Visible wireless is 25$ a month and you get unlimited talk/txt/data the data here is just 4g but I live in the sticks.
They let you connect to the phone using wifi and use the internet on a tablet or pc (hotspot) but that is limited to like 5kbps or just fast enough to watch maybe a 720p youtube but that’s enough for a lot of folks. The data to the phone itself is much higher and works well, at least in my area.
My wife and I have similar cell usage as you.
We have used Tracfone for more than 20 years.
It costs about $100 a year for each of us (2 x $100). We have plenty of minutes and texts. If you need more texts you can buy 1000 more for $5, and 1 gigabyte of broadband for $10.
You should talk to your neighbors. Cell phone coverage can be VERY important. We just changed to verizon, because coverage for Sprint resulted in dropped calls in our area of far north Phoenix.
With Sprint I had to stand on the front porch of our Payson, Arizona cabin just to get a dial tone.
Thanks. We’ve never had a problem with that - we’re in a very metropolitan area.
Yes!!
We’ve had PureTalk for almost a year. No problems at all anywhere ever.
You cannot beat the price and the service is tops.
“Tello.com On the T Mobile network for $14/month”
100% happy with Tello myself and your plan (same as mine) appears to be overkill for what the OP needs.
Other tello. plans
1gb data, 300 minutes phone, unlimited text = $7 + taxes a month.
2gb data, 500 minutes phone, unlimited text, $9 a month + taxes.
Take a look at Visible. It’s on the Verizon network, unlimited data.
The deals from tracfone on ebay are good. I got one just to keep in the glove compartment so if I forget my regular phone it will always be there.
It was 69.95 for the Samsung phone and a year of service with something like 1.5gb of data, 1500txs and 1500 minutes of talk.. but you could of course buy more.
I used Tracfone for many years and was happy with it, and bemused that so many people spent so much more than the $10-15/month that I did. I switched to Mint last year because I was doing more international travel and Mint is tied in with T-Mobil’s excellent international coverage. It’s in the same price range and I’m happy with it as well.
coverage, can you work it? Does it meet your needs? Plan price. In that order.
I remember a few years ago my wife had to give up her keypad phone... Verizon didn't support 2g anymore. She almost cried. She loved that phone.
I really like Motorola phones myself. They are cheap but reliable and work well.
Does your unused data roll over?
My brother and his wife also have Visible and are very happy with it. They’re pretty remote and the T-Mobile towers weren’t in their area so they switched. (It’s a Verizon thing.)
ping for later.
Can you do wifi calling with Pure Talk?
Our Tracfones did not work when we traveled into the Caribbean. After a total of 18 Caribbean trips, the last one in 2024, the wife and I are giving up on “international” travel. It’s just not worth the hassle.
Funny story about my visible phone.
I live in a valley so I can only use the phone on a wifi connection as no carriers signal reach my home.. so if the internet is out so is my phone unless I drive somewhere... soon as I get 500ft away from the house I have great signal.
We had a power failure and of course internet went out so I duct taped my visible phone to a 40ft push up pole for ham radio antennas and it allowed it to connect to the cell tower and I had internet over that phone.. it was kinda like the old “Green Acres” phone on a pole... if you remember “Green Acres”
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