Advice on prepaid SIM cards for US

J

jc100

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I have an unlocked Nexus S and I'm off to the US for a week in a little bit. I want to call home (Ottawa), text etc and a prepaid US SIM looks like a way better deal that paying Robbers...sorry Rogers....for a roaming package.

I'll be in Texas but it looks like T-Mobile or AT&T have good coverage.

Seems like there's quite a lot of SIMs available with different features. I'd love to have a bit of data too but this can be pricey.

Anyone have experience with any US SIM cards...which ones, where to get, where to top up etc. I'm not interested in any contracts hence the prepaid cards, and it's not a super problem if the card lapses but I'd like to be able to use it casually (ie use it for this week...then maybe again in a month's time when I go back...I realise most of these cards only guarantee the number for a month after last use).

Also..I just slot the card in, give the number to Wifey and off I go correct? No settings to change or anything?
 
you will have to call in/or go online to activate your simcard. after that it starts working...
at at&t keep it is cheaper the buy a pay-as-you go phone which comes with sim card, instead of the sim-card itself...
At&t provides data with their "pay as you go" but i couldn't really get it working ... not sure, i don't think i enabled that option online, when selecting "pay as you go plan"
 
If you don't want web, H20 wireless has a $40 month unlimited talk/text plan that also includes $20 of long-distance. (calls within the U.S. are always free). Oh yeah, texts to Canada are included in the plan and do not carry a surcharge.

H20 wireless uses the AT&T network. You can get a sim card at Best Buy.
 
when we got ours T-Mobile was the only one you could top up on line.
The others need to be done from the phone which means you would need to be in the US to top up.
The $10 on T lasts 90 days most others are 30.
After a while you will be "gold" and the top ups last 12 months.
 
Still trying to find this on google but does anyone know if the T Mobile data will work on my unlocked Rogers Nexus S
 
DaveG said:
when we got ours T-Mobile was the only one you could top up on line.
The others need to be done from the phone which means you would need to be in the US to top up.
The $10 on T lasts 90 days most others are 30.
After a while you will be "gold" and the top ups last 12 months.
Click to expand...

H20 Wireless is done through their website, not over the phone.
 
jc100 said:
Still trying to find this on google but does anyone know if the T Mobile data will work on my unlocked Rogers Nexus S
Click to expand...

It will work but you won't get GSM speed. t-mobile and Rogers use different bands. You will end up getting the old network speeds (as in slow). To get proper data speeds in the U.S. with a Rogers device, you need to be on the AT&T network (or one of the resellers such as H20 Wireless I mentioned above).
 
Thanks. I ended up ordering a TMobile card and an ATT card from Amazon and had it shipped to my hotel. They were only a couple of dollars. I'll see if I can get an H2O one though as that sounds like the better deal.
 
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