You can sorta get close with MVNOs like Tello. I have a plan that’s $6.16/month, including taxes.
this post was submitted on 28 May 2024
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The unlimited data plan offers 35GB at full 4G LTE/5G speed with 5GB of hotspot included. Data speed is reduced after 35GB.
Wow. Truly unlimited. And how much does it get reduced?
Let's check ToS.
Your data speed will be reduced to lower speeds once you have used 35 GB of data in a billing period.
Uh, huh. Very precise information.
Also...
New and existing customers on qualifying plans including data have streaming video optimization technology automatically applied to our plans, and video is delivered at a lower resolution (typically 480p) rather than at a higher resolution which is better suited for larger screens. This helps customers stretch their Data Plans by reducing the amount of high-speed data consumed for streaming video.
What, how? How does that work?
Anyway, I am probably spoiled by Swan (4ka) in Slovakia.
It is the 4th carrier, weakening oligopoly of T-Mobile, O2 and Orange since 2015.
I have their unlimited data plan, which is 300GB, not 35GB, nor 5GB on hotspot. Of that I used 220GB so far in this month (usually I do around 100GB though). €13/month for me, €15 for new customers.
I am not even sure if limiting hotspot usage could be a thing in Europe. It sounds stupid enough.
Limited hotspot usage was definitely a thing in Europe
Twenty years ago 😂
I have a limited understanding of how the video thing works. I think there is a black box installed locally at most ISP connection points. These are from the major streaming services like Google/YouTube and they sit inline with all if the traffic I/O. From what I recall seeing on reddit (not a primary citation worthy memory or source), people that worked on said ISP infrastructure had no idea what the black boxes actually do in full scope, but empirically, they cache the most active streaming content locally.
Speculatively, this was one of the big reasons YT changed so much in 2017 where they started focusing on promoting fewer prominent creators over an egalitarian community. They needed to promote a narrower scope that could be effectively cached. You can usually see this behavior by watching old and obscure content. It takes longer to load, change resolutions, etc., whereas on newer stuff that is popular, the content is nearly instantaneous.
Yep I’ve got my kids lines on Tello, very easy, no bs.
I think Google Fi works like you describe.
I am on Fi and can confirm that this is how my plan works. I pay a standard rate per GB of data used, up to a cap where I will not be charged any more for the cycle.
Same. I also found that, for my usage, I wasn't actually saving any money compared to the unlimited data plan.
Ting
I've used it for years. I'm never changing.
ting hasn't been the same since dish bought it from tucows.
The Ultimate Collection of Winsock Software. Man, it's been a loooooong time since I've heard that name.
I don't have any problems. They are awesome and by far the cheapest cellular service.
Do you know if you can pause your service? I'm overseas for months at a time but like to be able to preserve my phone number.
IDK, I haven't had a need to do that. But it's a pay for what you use type of bill. Their support is real people, last time I used it was very pleasant. They might have something in their FAQ.
Sure would be nice to have real support compared to the garbage service I have right now.
They do not and will kick you out of the phone and restart the new phone line. I had this happen with hotspot.
Aw okay good to know. Thanks for the help.
We had that twenty years ago, it just wasn't a very good deal. Nobody wants to pay 2¢ per text.
It was easier before every random website wanted to send you a text with an OTP just to log in and order a pizza or whatever.
That said, if it was $10 / mo for unlimited, or $0.02 per text, I'd take the per-text charge. I don't use texts much and I'd probably save $8 / mo or more.
Wait, you pay to receive texts?
Do you not? I really don't know, I don't use texts much and we've had unlimited texts for like, 15+ years. I always see 'normal carrier fees apply' on OTP notifications, so I just assumed they counted against limited plans.
Finn here. For us, receiving SMS has never cost anything. Downloading MMS, that used to cost, but no-one uses those.
Sending an SMS could be as expensive as 20c when I was a kid. And an SMS is 160 characters. So if you wrote a long one it'd send it as three.
Then when I was about 12-13 there started being unlimited texting packages, which advertised as unlimited but after giving kids access to the service for a few months, limits were soon imposed to like a 1000 sms a month.
I can't imagine being a teenager with only 1000 sms a month. I think at one point i was sending hundreds of texts per day
People in Europe switched to internet based messaging (mostly WhatsApp) as soon as smartphones got popular enough.
It should be more like $2 per gigabyte and everything streamlined as only data. Signal is a better service than any of the service providers offer anyways.
Google Fi is similar, but I'm sure they are using it to farm the fuck out of your data.
What's the alternative, pay so they farm the fuck out of your data? Do you think big carriers don't do that?
Yeah, I'm a Fi subscriber, but some people might be averse to giving Google even more data about themselves.
The closest Pay as You Go plan is Ultra Mobile. You do have to pay $3 a month but that also gives you 100 mb of data and 100 minutes, 100 text messages (data might apply). You can then pay for extra time as you would for $5 which is around $8 dollars total if you only plan to use talk and text. This plan also includes communication with other people worldwide unlike America only phone companies. So it’s a pretty good plan for low usage people.
mint is $15 and comes with WAY more.
There's Ting but it ends up costing more. I just use a cheap mvno and am pretty happy.
As a non heavy data user, ting works great for me, and is still cheap.
Yeah. It gets to whether you are a heavy data user or not. I use data a lot, so it makes sense for me to get an unlimited plan. I know others don't, so it makes more sense for them to use pay as you go.
I’m on tello mobile and pay $5 after taxes. It bills PayPal too for easy payments. Very happy with the service. Can use an app to change my plan or add more data or minutes at any time. I can also do tethering and other things that some services charge extra for.
The US has had prepaid plans for ages. The first phone I got, back in 2006 or 2007 was like that. If I recall correctly, it was 25¢/minute to call and 10¢/text. If I bought a $25 balance card, the credit would expire after 90 days instead of the usual 30 (plus unused balance would roll over, as long as I had unexpired money in my account.
Mobilex
"like Europe"? Where in Europe. In Sweden pretty much every single subscription are unlimited calls and sms. Unlimited data is also becoming more common but you can still get a specific amount if you want. I have 100 GB but that's way overkill for a phone. I can easily use terabytes on my computer but I have a hard time using just 50 GB on my phone.
An old friend from the UK moved to the States for awhile. They used to reminisce about buying sims at the corner store in Scotland and having reasonable rates for what they used instead of all the contract focused exploitation in the USA. IIRC they said that they had no periodicity to their purchase.