Thread: Straight Talk from Walmart

I am considering changing carriers to save money and was wondering if anyone has used Straight Talk from Walmart? $50 a month just sounds a lot better than the $100 I am paying now. Any input would be appreciated. Thanks

You can get a lot of different feedback from Straight Talk (ST) users because it all depends on where you expect to use the phone. Some areas have better reception than others, depending on which carrier line ST uses to piggyback it's signals.

I don't use ST, but they are owned by Tracfone, and I have been a Tracfone user for about 5 years, and have dealt with Tracfone and its services for the same length of time. ST works on the same principals as tracfone: they piggyback on an existing carrier (e.g., AT&T, Verizon, etc.) line. ST chooses the carrier line for your plan based on where you tell ST that you expect to use the phone most often. With this carrier line ST also takes into account one of two phone technology types (i.e., GSM or CDMA), so it can choose the proper phone selection for you. Once ST chooses a carrier line and phone tech. for you, then you're on them until you change phones. And, as you know, not all carriers have good reception in all areas.

You may want to first find out which are the best carriers for the areas that you intend to use the phone in the most. AT&T and T-mobile use GSM; Verizon and Sprint use CDMA.

Since you're looking to save money, have you considered the T-mobile $30 unlimited plan sold exclusively at Walmart?

+1 on Henry's remark about the carrier with the best coverage. Every one of them is great in some areas and terrible in others. If they work well in your area, it comes down to Verizon and Sprint IMO. If you have good coverage from Sprint and your data needs are modest, Sprint through ting.com is far and away the most economical. If you require a LOT of data, Verizon's unlimited plan is probably the best (remember though that unlimited means "unlimited unless you use more than we'd like, then we'll throttle you down"). If you are in an area with rotten coverage from those two, then ST might be the best alternative.

rs,
Tack

The wife and I switched to ST about a year ago..

She is using a "Smart Phone" and the $45 unlimited Plan I have a phone and the $30 plan we went with the Verizon system because we knew it was better for the area..
Their Customer Service SUCKS I mean the worst ever, don't expect much help from the people at Wally World either at least ours know NADA.. So if you can handle the set up yourself or at least struggle through it then it works great... The price is set, and once you get it set up and working with your phone number then switch to auto pay trust me it is way easier..
Good Luck

Thanks everyone for the input. My problem is I spend a lot of time in Colorado Springs which has good coverage from most carriers but I live out in the country, so I will have to see which carrier has the best coverage for my house.

Henry, I have not looked into T-mobiles $30 plan but I definitely will!

Tack, I will look into Sprints plans and see how the coverage is out in my neck of the woods.

Glen, how bad was the setup? Was it more of a just follow the instructions and you will get there or is it just a nightmare to set up?

If you decide upon Sprint, buy it through ting.com instead. It's the same network - they are resellers, same idea as the companies that sell electricity much cheaper than the big mega corporations. The carriers deliberately make it difficult to compare plans but you can scope it out by looking at your actual usage history with your current carrier. I switched to ting six months ago and dropped my bill from $94 to $17-21/month - couldn't be happier with them. It depends upon your coverage area. For example, a friend of mine happens to live in a little pocket with no Sprint or AT&T coverage and is forced to use Verizon - just the breaks of the game.

rs,
Tack

Originally Posted by InHonorOfRay

My problem is I spend a lot of time in Colorado Springs which has good coverage from most carriers

Glen, how bad was the setup? Was it more of a just follow the instructions and you will get there or is it just a nightmare to set up?

Can't believe yer in my old hometown, try and make next years Mile High Meet in Denver middle of July

The set up is very easy the problem was that the system and webpage is really bad, it locks you up and kicks you all over the place, setting up your account is a nightmare, I even went into town to make sure I had a solid connection and that didn't even help, took me 4 hours and about 2 more on the phone before I finally got it to work.. The second account when I switched to it was just the 4 hours...