What's everyone's thoughts on straight talk wireless

[53' Stude]

Happy Friday Bitogers. What does everyone think of Straight Talk wireless?


Hardly use my data I have with verizon and looking around. I dont call or text much either.

Thank You in advance

 

[GON]

I had Straight Talk for three years, AT&T was the carrier.

I liked it except (1) I no longer could use my phone as a hotspot, (2) the data plan would run out of data, (3) they bill on thirty day cycles, not monthly, so your due date changes most every month and is mostly a day earlier, (4) seems to be conflict when traveling out west- I was transferred from East coast to Rockies and had major roaming coverage issues in Nebraska and Wyoming- yet ATT phones worked just fine in the same area.

I ended up going to ATT prepaid- about the same money but seemed to have less issues and about the same price. It killed me as I am no fan of ATT (they play way to many pricing and billing games). The best phone provider I ever had was T-Mobile- by far, except they did not have coverage when I was transferred from Phoneix to Pennsylvania, so after eight years I went to Straight Talk, and then to ATT.

Bottom line- I would not use Straight Talk- consider spending a few dollars more per month and go direct with one of the big three pre-paid plans.

 

[Donald]

Straight Talk is one of many companies that buy cell service wholesale from the big companies that own the cell towers. Consumer Cellular is another as is TracPhone.

I would just ask then whose cell towers they use. If they use Verizon then you will get basically the same signal as you do today. But if they used AT&T cell towers and AT&T was poor in your area, then that might not be a good switch.

From a little reading, Straight Talk for the most part uses Verizon's cell network. But some phones use AT&T. Ask about the phone you will use.

 

[krismoriah72]

I was a straight talk user for about 3 years. Seemed the phones always had an issue after about a year.. had to buy a new one. Other than that no real complaints.

I have switched to Boost and been with them for about a year. Iphone 6 cost me $25 with Boost vs $150 straight talk.. they also offered more phones for free.

Boost also hits the sprint towers where my Straight talk would not. So i have much more coverage in my area with Boost.

 

[diyjake]

Quite a bit of my family members used Straight talk and although it was decent service, they switched to Cricket Wireless. Cricket is better (better data, pay same date every month ect.)

 

[dogememe]

Straight talk is a stupid name for a company. Can I make my own MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) and call it gay talk?

But seriously, check out Xfinity Mobile - I'm loving it. Verizon's network without the Verizon price tag. Switched recently from T-Mobile and Xfinity Mobile/Verizon's coverage is soooo much better -no more dead spots. I drive for Uber sometimes and since I switched to Xfinity Mobile I've had absolutely no more issues starting/ending trips all over Marin County, Sonoma County, SF... And pricing is great. I have two phones - unlimited talk and text are included for free plus there are no line fees. I have two lines on Xfinity Mobile... one phone that I don't use data on so it costs me NOTHING. Then I have the phone that I use every day and on that I have unlimited data for $45/month. Device payments are $5/month on a Moto e5 Play and $30/month for my brand new Galaxy s10e for a total of about $80/month all in including my brand new phone.

 

[WagonWheel]

Used Straight Talk for a few months for my daughter's phone ( unlocked AT&T iPhone 6). No issues with coverage but switched to Simple Mobile since it was ~ $15/mo cheaper.

 

[ArtDart]

Check out Rebublic Wireless...I've been with them for years
Can not recommend highly enough.
Had Straight Talk once....never again

 

[chainblu]

My TracFone uses Verizon. It works just as well as my wife's StraightTalk phone (also on Verizon). Like the OP, I rarely use it, so I like the 90 day rollover. Comes out to less than $7 a month with a $19 card. Works for me.

 

[Milkman]

I've had StraightTalk for about 6 years now. Around here they use the Verizon network. Absolutley no complaints.

 

[HangFire]

StraightTalk network service is great if you are locked to Verizon or AT&T. If you get a GSM phone then by default you get the poor coverage T-Mobile network, so choose your phone wisely. If you call up and complain, ST will send you a AT&T-only SIM card for your GSM phone. But you have to know to ask.

My general opinion is StraightTalk isn't the cheapest pay as you go service, but you get a lot more data than most services, and if you're on AT&T or Verizon, it's a better deal than getting the same amount of data than most un-carriers and certainly cheaper than AT&T or Verizon traditional plans. If you are a light mobile data user, there are cheaper un-carriers out there.

 

[WhyMe]

i used ST on ATT for a few years . never had an issue with it. i found Red Pocket on Ebay and switched in oct last year. i paid $270 for 10gb data for a year. i was paying close to $50 on ST for the same amount. have had no issues with Red Pocket. i have done some speed test and depending on the area i have gotten speeds up to 80 down and 40 up so that tells me there is no speed cap.

there are many other prepaid less expensive these days than ST. Mint mobile if you like TM. on using a phone as a hot spot, it usually depends on the phone. my Nokia allows hotspot out of the box while my huawei before that needed an rooted and a new system installed

i will never go back to post paid service

 

[Rand]

I would try sprint with their free for a year plan, they switch again.

Sprint is not *THAT* bad.. they actually have MUCH better service(signal strength) than tmobile here

If you have an unlocked phone their is really no easy way for them to block you from using it as mobile hotspot.

Its when you buy a cricket/verizon/etc model phone with their firmware.. it makes it easy to block you and charge $$$ for hotspot.

 

[BrocLuno]

I would think you might get better coverage and pricing from Simple ...

 

[53' Stude]

Originally Posted by Rand
I would try sprint with their free for a year plan, they switch again.

Sprint is not *THAT* bad.. they actually have MUCH better service(signal strength) than tmobile here

If you have an unlocked phone their is really no easy way for them to block you from using it as mobile hotspot.

Its when you buy a cricket/verizon/etc model phone with their firmware.. it makes it easy to block you and charge $$$ for hotspot.



Sir, my phone I have now I got the Verizon and its unlocked. I could use it elsewhere correct?

Thank You in advance

 

[alarmguy]

www.redpocket.com

You can use your Verizon phone on red pocket.
$30 a month unlimited everything (5 gb per line of high speed LTE, CDMA 3gb per line) with tax about $32 a month.
They also offer a limited data plan for $10 less a month.
Red pocket offers all four Networks so they are compatible with anybody in the USA.

We have unlocked AT&T phones from cricket plus one AT&T unlocked phone that I purchased on my own and switched to red pocket. We pay less than $75 a month unlimited everything for 3 Lines. Same exact service..
There is nothing wrong with straight talk either. We used it for a number of years then went to Cricket for a couple years and now red pocket. The only reason we switched any of them was price I'm always looking for price. Never ever had a service issue with any of them zip none nada nothing!

 

[Andrew1972]

Absolute garbage reception in my area of coastal New England. Verizon rules locally.

That being said it may work pretty well in your area. Maybe try a pay as you go SIM for a month before committing if you have to.

 

[alarmguy]

Most people understand the performance of ALL cell phone companies is determined how many local towers there are in any area.

Verizon su**ks in some areas where ATT rules and the other way around.
However, you can get Verizon or ATT on Straight Talk and Redpocket which ever one prefers.
Avoid TMobile and Sprint for sure UNLESS you know those two will work for your needs.

Otherwise ATT and Verizon on Straight Talk or Redpocket is the way to go and no reason to settle for Sprint or T mobile.
Cricket is another option, owned by ATT they only of course work on ATT towers.

In my state ATT rules for me personally but Verizon is very good too. I actually use BOTH cell companies 5 days a week for the last 7 years so I know.
My personal is ATT and I carry a work supplied Verizon Iphone. I prefer my personal ATT but Verizon is right up there with ATT.

 

[JustinH]

Obviously this is regional.

But, we had Metro PCS for about six months, it was terrible. They use Tmobile towers and I never had reception, in many spots of Metro San Antonio.

We went to Cricket because ATT is king here in SA. The coverage has been much better.

Two phones for $70 per month total bill, can't beat it.

We have cheap Iphone SE's. One thing to consider, is all MVNOs do not support Iphone Facetime or MMS.

This is not acceptable for us, so we know that Cricket supports it so we chose them.

As for straight talk, they could not guarantee that I would get ATT coverage, so we didn't choose them.

 

[alarmguy]

Originally Posted by JustinH
Obviously this is regional.

But, we had Metro PCS for about six months, it was terrible. They use Tmobile towers and I never had reception, in many spots of Metro San Antonio.

We went to Cricket because ATT is king here in SA. The coverage has been much better.

Two phones for $70 per month total bill, can't beat it.

We have cheap Iphone SE's. One thing to consider, is all MVNOs do not support Iphone Facetime or MMS.

This is not acceptable for us, so we know that Cricket supports it so we chose them.

As for straight talk, they could not guarantee that I would get ATT coverage, so we didn't choose them.


We pay 3 lines Total Bill of less then $75 ATT through Redpocket and LTE speeds 100% to 400%+ faster LTE speeds then Cricket depending on what Cricket plan you have.
Not that is matters on a cell phone IF you have the 7Mbps plan on Cricket but Cricket (ATT) has dumbed down 3Mbps on some of their new plans so need to be careful on what one chooses.

Im not disparaging Cricket, its a great Service for those not motivated or able to jump through a few more hoops for Redpocket.
(we have had Cricket since around 2013 until this year.)

I would just warn people to grab the 7Mbps Cricket service while they can.Recently they started offering 4 lines for $100 and 3Mbps. More or less they have been raising prices/slowing down data speeds in the last year or so for new subscribers. But you can still get the 7Mbps Cricket by choosing the 5gb high speed plan and adding lines which equals your $70 a month.

I agree on Tmobile and Sprint, doesnt make sense when for less money you can choose ATT or Verizon.

Here is my ATT speed through Redpocket -