<div dir="ltr"><div>That is the latest trend around the block. My youngest kid have Republic Wireless phone which default is voice over WiFi and backs up to cellular if some form of WiFi is not present. The lowest rate is actually WiFi only.<br><br></div>Tracfone also lately start using it on certain phones.<br><div><br><br><br></div></div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Mar 9, 2017 at 12:13 PM, Neal Rhodes <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:neal@mnopltd.com" target="_blank">neal@mnopltd.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><u></u>
<div>
The really really fine print, or at least forum traffic, suggests that FreedomPOP really doesn't offer a voice capability at all. Rather, they offer data, and a VOIP app which runs on a smartphone to pretend it's offering voice. <br>
<br>
So, on a fixed platform like a cheap smartwatch, it will provide bupkis. <br>
<br>
On Thu, 2017-03-09 at 11:40 -0500, Neal Rhodes wrote:<br>
<blockquote type="CITE">
I didn't see the .99 cent, but maybe I don't have the right kind of friends referral. I'm still seeing $1.99. Still, statistically close enough to zero. <br>
<br>
Note that you end up providing a credit card and they automatically sign you up for $25/mo plan. You have to dig through the really small grey print to find the option to downgrade that to the free plan. <br>
<br>
Also note that their coverage really sucks in the East, and is pretty much non-existent west of Mississippi. I would still retain my Verizon phone for travel. <br>
<br>
I friend of mine works for Verizon and has observed that they are phasing out 3g support in their newer towers, so efforts to use old 3g-only devices may be less and less useful in the long term.<br>
<br>
On Wed, 2017-03-08 at 22:36 -0500, Chuck Payne wrote: <br>
<blockquote type="CITE">
Right now, it's .99 cent for a sim. I am going to get, I have an old T-Mobile Hotspot I am going to try to unlock and use with it. <br>
<br>
On Wed, Mar 8, 2017 at 8:48 PM, Neal Rhodes <<a href="mailto:neal@mnopltd.com" target="_blank">neal@mnopltd.com</a>> wrote:<br>
<blockquote>
This is indeed fascinating. The verbiage talks of 4g LTE coverage. I wonder whose towers? And for how long is this free? Until they decide it isn't free? Are they just hoping eventually enough free users will want more data? <br>
<br>
My impression is that most of the inexpensive smartwatchphone devices are 3G only. Thus far I've only experimented with TMobile SIM, which seemed to work. <br>
<br>
On Wed, 2017-03-08 at 15:18 -0500, Mark Ulmer wrote:
<blockquote type="CITE">
<pre>Nothing is free yet close is FreedomPop has 100% Free Plan (200 mins,
500 Texts, 200MB) and no Credit Card required. Right now you can order
3-in-1 SIM card for $1.99 (normally $10-15). Of course be sure to opt
out of mails and trials.
<a href="http://fpop.co/jp1f" target="_blank">http://fpop.co/jp1f</a>
I've already ordered 2. I got one for my android tablet and going to try
second in my old 3G iPad. Plan to order more if my laptops have SIM slots.
-Mark
On 3/8/2017 2:47 PM, DJ-Pfulio wrote:
> <a href="https://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-as-you-go" target="_blank">https://prepaid-phones.t-</a><a href="https://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-as-you-go" target="_blank">mobil<wbr>e.com/pay-as-you-go</a>
> "Pay as you go. $3/month
> Get any combination of 30 minutes of talk or 30 texts."
>
>
>
> On 03/08/2017 12:45 PM, Chuck Payne wrote:
>> Neal,
>>
>> My son is 12 going on 13. He has a nice LG phone I found at Wally World
>> for $30 dollars,I wasn't going to buy him a $300 to $600 phone. All I
>> had to do what replace the prepaid sim with a sim I could add to my
>> account, his phone is $10 a month with 2Gigs of Data, which he burn thru
>> in the week watching YouTube the meth of his gen.
>>
>> I bought that watch this morning on amazon I found there for $15 for a
>> first time watch, I though ok. It will be here tomorrow, wow Amazon
>> surprise me with there deliverys. Well, it his second watch, the first
>> was a Darth Varder Lego watch, which I don't think will be cool in
>> Middle School. He seemed excited because a lot of friends have iWatches.
>> I guess I am mean dad, as I can't see buy kids, those expense phones and
>> watches.
>>
>> As for the $3 on T-Mobile, I can't answer that, I pay $100 for my phone
>> a month, I have a plan back from like 2000, that have me unlimited text
>> and phone and 7 Gigs a data, and my I don't have to pay to use my phone
>> as a hot spot. So between my phone and my son and taxes, it's about $125
>> a month. I looked at changing plans, but what I have I am saving some
>> money.
>>
>> Sounds like JD might be able to answer the T-Mobile question.
>>
>> On Wed, Mar 8, 2017 at 11:36 AM, Neal Rhodes <<a href="mailto:neal@mnopltd.com" target="_blank">neal@mnopltd.com</a>
>> <<a href="mailto:neal@mnopltd.com" target="_blank">mailto:neal@mnopltd.com</a>>> wrote:
>>
>> __
>> <a href="http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_174048.html?wid=21" target="_blank">http://www.gearbest.com/cell-</a><a href="http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_174048.html?wid=21" target="_blank">p<wbr>hones/pp_174048.html?wid=21</a>
>> <<a href="http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_174048.html?wid=21" target="_blank">http://www.gearbest.com/cell-</a><a href="http://www.gearbest.com/cell-phones/pp_174048.html?wid=21" target="_blank"><wbr>phones/pp_174048.html?wid=21</a>> is a
>> link to the watch I bought. It is $10.99 with free shipping to the
>> US. ( I had some bonus points left from buying a SJCAM. That's why
>> it was just $3 for me.
>>
>> This is just a curiosity for me. My understanding is that for
>> $3/mo I can have some very limited amount of voice phone time from
>> TMobile. Like for the dozens of times I'm out somewhere and my
>> normal android phone is dead again. If I never run their software
>> to send emails from android phone to the watch it's still ok.
>>
>> Without knowing how old your son is, be aware that there are similar
>> phone/watches more oriented to children: they include GPS location,
>> and a panic button to dial a set number and .... I've not
>> researched them; I just ran across some on Amazon.
>>
>> On Wed, 2017-03-08 at 07:53 -0500, Chuck Payne wrote:
>>> A $3 watch, do you have a link, I love to get one for my son. He
>>> keeps trying to take my Samsung S and S3 that I have paired with
>>> my Note 4. One thing about those smart watches I don't like is,
>>> that you have to pay $5 buck a month for data plan. Yes, they do
>>> have a telephone number. Yes, I can make calls like Dick Tracy on
>>> it. Honestly the pairing and wireless are enough. I can use Wifi,
>>> and my Note will connect to the watch remote if I am not close
>>> enough for BT.
>>>
>>> I love my watches, I am on T-Mobile as well, been with them since
>>> they were VoiceStream. I have my S, before iWatch came out it nice
>>> to be able to sit in meetings and see alerts with out my phone
>>> making a lot of noise.
>>>
>>>
>>> What I would be worried about, and this is just me, if there any
>>> malware spying on you, you did say you got the watch from China.
>>>
>>> On Tue, Mar 7, 2017 at 5:59 PM, DJ-Pfulio <<a href="mailto:DJPfulio@jdpfu.com" target="_blank">DJPfulio@jdpfu.com</a>
>>> <<a href="mailto:DJPfulio@jdpfu.com" target="_blank">mailto:DJPfulio@jdpfu.com</a>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> On 03/07/2017 05:25 PM, Joey Kelly wrote:
>>> > <snip>
>>> >> Just for fun, I ordered an
>>> >> $8 SIM card to hook up with the $3/mo Tmobile service.
>>> >
>>> > Huh? What do they provide for three measly dollars?
>>> >
>>>
>>> Access to their network on a PAYG plan.
>>>
>>> 30 minutes and 10 texts allowed, I think. Never use them.
>>> Zero data,
>>> but you can add a 7-day 1G data plan for non-roaming locations
>>> for $10.
>>> "Roaming" has burned me a few times - OBX and Alaska are
>>> "roaming" and
>>> not covered in the $10 data add-on, for example. They wouldn't
>>> refund my
>>> money - I'd used 50 bytes to verify the data was enabled in
>>> Portland on
>>> the way.
>>>
>>> I have wifi almost everywhere. Can't see a need to have data
>>> plan most
>>> of the time. Plenty of off-line apps, plus ads don't get in
>>> the way or
>>> suck data.
>>>
>>> Sorta shocked about the SIM cost. I've always gotten one free
>>> or for $1.
>>>
>>> BTW, I've been on the t-mbl PAYG plan since 2007. It used to
>>> be better.
>>> No monthly costs, pay just for minutes used. Bought $10/yr for
>>> about 8
>>> yrs, that was it, before they changed it to $2.95/month in
>>> late 2015.
>>> $48/yr is pretty reasonable for an emergency cell phone, IMHO. My
>>> prepaid account expires yearly, so just put $50/yr on it. I
>>> figure most
>>> people are paying $50+/month, so adding the $10/wk for data during
>>> travel is a bargain!
>>>
>>> But it is t-mobile and sometimes the coverage does suck
>>> completely.
>>> OTOH, in those places pretty much every cell networks suck
>>> including
>>> verizon and AT&T.
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>> Terror PUP a.k.a
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>>> ------------------------------<wbr>-----------
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Terror PUP a.k.a
>> Chuck "PUP" Payne
>> ------------------------------<wbr>-----------
>> Discover it! Enjoy it! Share it! openSUSE Linux.
>> ------------------------------<wbr>-----------
>> openSUSE -- Terrorpup
>> openSUSE Ambassador/openSUSE Member
>> skype,twiiter,identica,<wbr>friendfeed -- terrorpup
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>>
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>> to package and distribute , or create your own linux distro. Give SUSE
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>>
>>
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>>
>
>
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</pre>
</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
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</blockquote>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
-- <br>
Terror PUP a.k.a<br>
Chuck "PUP" Payne<br>
------------------------------<wbr>-----------<br>
Discover it! Enjoy it! Share it! openSUSE Linux.<br>
------------------------------<wbr>-----------<br>
openSUSE -- Terrorpup<br>
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freenode(irc) --terrorpup/lupinstein<br>
Register Linux Userid: 155363<br>
<br>
Have you tried SUSE Studio? Need to create a Live CD, an app you want to package and distribute , or create your own linux distro. Give SUSE Studio a try.<br>
</blockquote>
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