Monthly Archives: July 2009

TracFone or Net10 Success Stories?

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I’ve received a number of comments lately from people wondering how they can return the favor after I’ve helped them with TracFone and Net10 questions. Well, I’ve finally come up with an answer – I hope it isn’t too demanding.

My main objective with this blog is to help people save money. Right now, though, I’m mainly just reaching people that already have a prepaid phone with one of these companies. I’d like to do something to spread the word about how TracFone and Net10 can help people save money. That’s where you come in.

If you or someone you know has switched to TracFone or Net10 from another provider, could you take some time to share your story? Here are some ideas to consider:

  • How much money do you save each month?
  • How difficult was it to switch?
  • Have you persuaded anyone else to dump their expensive contract phone and join the prepaid world?
  • Do you pay significantly less than your friends and family?

If you have a story that can help demonstrate the potential savings of prepaid, I’d love to hear it. Please share it in the comments section by clicking here. I’ll read through them and share some of the best, and maybe learn a little bit about how I can reach out to Post-Paid wireless subscribers and convince them to make the switch.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer!

Port your phone number – TracFone and Net10 porting info

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I thought that with all the time I’ve spent writing about the advantages of TracFone and Net10, there might be some people that decide they want to switch from one to the other, or from a different carrier to one of those two. So I thought I’d write a post with a few tips on how to do that best.

I recently ported a number from TracFone service to Net10. I was very nervous that something would get messed up and my number would get lost, but it actually went very smoothly. In my case, I went from a TracFone GSM phone to a Net10 GSM phone, and the underlying carrier on each phone was AT&T, so that certainly made my port an easy one. But I was very pleased that it was done in less than an hour.

One important thing to point out before I go any further, though, is that minutes and service days are NOT transferrable between these two brands. So if you have a lot of minutes and/or days of service left on your current phone, I’d advise you to use up those minutes with your current service before switching to another provider.

Once you are ready to make the switch, though, here are few basic tips to help you out:

  • As I alluded to above, a port will go most smoothly if the underlying carrier is the same for the old and the new phone (i.e. your old phone has an AT&T SIM card, and so does the new one). Switching from GSM to CDMA, or vice versa, will take a little longer (perhaps a couple of days).
  • Don’t activate your new phone until you are ready to port. Porting to a phone that’s already active will make the process more complicated.
  • In my experience it’s best to use TracFone’s or Net10′s website to initiate the port. If necessary, you can call Tech Support once the port is initiated, but in most cases it will go through without a problem.
  • My friend Jim, who is as knowledgeable about TracFone and Net10 as anyone I know, has put together a step-by-step tutorial, complete with screen shots of the steps, for porting to TracFone. His tutorial is actually designed for the purpose of  porting an inactive TracFone number to a new TracFone, which is another discussion for another time. But the basics are the same whether you are porting to TracFone or Net10, from one of those two companies or another provider entirely. Here’s a link to Jim’s tutorial:

http://thejmart.com/port.htm

I hope you’ve found these tips helpful in case you need to port your number or are considering a switch to TracFone or Net10. If you have any suggestions or questions on this article, please share them in the comments section. Thanks!

TracPhone Prepaid – Info for beginners (and veterans)

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“TracPhone” Prepaid?

You probably noticed right away that I wrote “TracPhone” instead of TracFone. You also probably know the correct spelling, but people who are looking for help figuring out how to get started don’t necessarily know. And this article is meant to help people who have never used TracFone, or those of you who may be considering a switch to “TracPhone.”

Earlier this week I posted about the advantages of Net10 – now I thought I’d counter with all the reasons that people should consider TracFone for their wireless needs. I hope that those of you who are long-time TracFoners will consider it worthwhile to spend some time reading, and maybe consider passing it along to friends who are looking for a prepaid phone.

It’s actually partially a repost of an article I wrote 6 months ago, but I thought it was worth another look, especially for people that weren’t reading this blog back when it was first published. After I initially published the article, I was happy to have a great deal of feedback, and I’ve now incorporated many of those comments and suggestions to make the article even more informative.

Again, I’d really appreciate it if you would pass this info, and/or the previous post, on to those who might benefit from it. Now, here’s the link:

TracPhone Info

Net10 Prepaid Phone Service – Is it right for you?

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Net10 Prepaid Phone Info

I started this blog mainly to cover TracFone topics, but recently I’ve been getting a lot of interest from people considering Net10 as well, for the following reasons:

  • The release of the Net10 mp3 player/1.3 MP camera/full Bluetooth phone, the Motorola EM326g
  • Fewer phone + airtime bundles being offered on TracFone.com
  • Fewer good TracFone Promotional Codes
  • All new Net10 activations will start you out with 300 free minutes and 60 days of service
  • Current Net10 Promotional Codes give an $8 discount on Net10 orders  – see links later in this article

Since more people are reconsidering Net10, I thought now would be a good time to revisit an article I initially published over a year ago, comparing TracFone and Net10. For those that don’t know, TracFone and Net10, as well as the recent upstart Straight Talk Wireless, are owned by the same parent company. Below, I’ve cut-and-pasted some of the text from that old article, making a few updates where necessary:

Advantages of both Net10 and Tracfone compared to other prepaid providers:

  • EXCELLENT coverage with either CDMA or GSM (but not both on the same phone), due to network usage contracts with major carriers. A Trac or Net10 phone using either of these technologies will get good coverage around the US
  • Roaming is free on all phones currently available for sale from these companies
  • Minutes never expire as long as you keep service active
  • Minutes can be transferred to another phone with the same service.
  • Number of minutes left on the phone and expiration date are clearly displayed
  • Low cost to get started
  • Phones are inexpensive
  • You can port your number in from your current carrier (including from TracFone to Net10, or vice versa). In many cases, this will take less than 24 hours.

Disadvantages of both Net10 and Tracfone compared to other providers:

  • Limited selection of phones, and many lack the latest features of other phones
  • No free nights and weekends
  • No free in-network calling

Okay, that pretty much covers how the two services are similar, and how Tracfone and Net10 compare to other prepaid services. Now for the differences between these two related companies:

  1. Net10 generally charges more for the phones initially. This is to compensate for the 300 minutes offered on activation, and to cover the cost to Net10 of a lower retail rate being offered on the minutes compared to Tracfone.
  2. With Net10, you MUST add at least 150 minutes per month. Note that you can add several months at a time, or enroll in a program that automatically adds 150 minutes or other denominations every month. Using Net10’s full retail pricing structure, this means you will be paying a minimum of $15 per month to keep your phone number and the minutes you’ve already paid for but haven’t yet used up.
  3. With Net10 there are no “Promotional codes” or “Double Minutes for Life” as with Tracfone. So what you see is pretty much what you get in terms of refill cards, with the exception of the package deals I discussed here.
  4. TracFone offers a wider variety of airtime card denominations.
  5. Net10’s refill cards offer more variety in terms of the number of days they extend your expiration date.

Net10 vs. Tracfone Conclusion

Since Net10 started, they had a smaller selection of phones than Tracfone. In the last year, Net10 has really caught up to TracFone in terms of the variety and quality of phones offered. In fact, Net10 actually has moved ahead, at least temporarily, with the Motorola EM326g.

If you are someone that uses your cell phone somewhere in the range of 150 to 300 minutes per month, I think that Net10 is the best option among prepaid providers. Other prepaid providers definitely have nicer phones, and some are comparable on the cost per minute.

But no other prepaid services compare to Net10 (or Tracfone) in terms of coverage. If you have a Net10 (or Tracfone) phone and there’s a compatible network available, you’ll be able to make and receive calls. Even better, you’ll pay a flat rate regardless of whether it’s “home” or “roaming” coverage. In my experience, other prepaids can’t make this claim, either in terms of roaming on other available networks, or charging a flat rate for calls made while “roaming.”

To sum it up, if you are using less than about 150 minutes per month, I still recommend Tracfone. There you have more options available in terms of the minimum monthly cost to keep your phone active. And if you’ll regularly use more than 300 minutes per month, the new Straight Talk Wireless service seems like a great way to go, though that service is relatively new so I don’t have a lot of information on it yet.

But if your usage falls in the 150-300 minutes per month range, I’d say Net10 is a good choice. I strongly recommend one of the phone plus airtime package deals for either $22 or $52 – it’s a great way to start off your Net10 service. Click here for more details. If you then decide that you’re happy with the Net10 service, it’s easy to upgrade to a nicer phone – perhaps the Motorola EM326g mp3/camera phone for $52 – a month or two down the road.

EM326g Video Review Link Corrected

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I have to apologize for putting an incorrect link in my post yesterday about the video review of the Motorola EM326g. I didn’t catch the error, obviously, before the email updates went out to everyone. I’ve corrected the link in the original post, but thought I’d publish another quick update for those that are still looking for the link. Here it is:

Motorola EM326g Review on YouTube

Once again, if you watch it, I would appreciate you taking a second to give it a rating. Thanks!

Phone review updates: Motorola EM326g and Samsung T201g

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Motorola EM326g

Some of you may be sick of hearing about the Net10 mp3 player phone, but for those of you that still want more you can watch my Motorola EM326g review video on youtube. If you do check it out, I would be very grateful if you could give it a rating for me. Thanks!

Samsung T201g

Also, I’ve previously posted about part 1 of my Samsung T201g review. Parts 2 and 3 are now available as well. You can find them here:
Samsung T201g review part 2
Samsung T201g review part 3

Samsung T201G Review Now Available

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I had this written for a while, and simply got too caught up in the Motorola EM326g and forgot to post it. Now in an effort to keep the blog from getting too cluttered with reviews, and because I don’t expect it to be too popular of a review, I’m putting the review up in a separate page and not putting out a new blog post as frequently as I normally would for a new phone. Just to give you a taste, here’s the first paragraph of the review:

Samsung T201g

Samsung T201g

The Samsung T201G, currently available for Net10, just doesn’t get me too excited. I have been meaning to complete this review for a while now, but more interesting topics seem to pop up every time I’m ready to put out the T201 review. So I kept putting it off. That seems to be a metaphor for performance of the phone – it’s there and it works, but it’s nothing too exciting.

I bought the T201G for Net10 back in early April when it first came out, and activated it shortly thereafter. It has been my backup phone ever since, and I’ve used it for about 150 minutes of talk time, but I just don’t find it that inspiring.

If you’re interested, you can read the rest of the Samsung T201g review here.

TracFone Promotional Codes Updated

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For the current TracFone Promotional Code database, click here.

I updated the list of codes, as of July 8th, and made a few changes. There were just a few codes that dropped off the list, including 62498, 53994, 51578, and 57122. These codes, are marked as expired, but left in with the valid codes because they have worked very recently. All older expired codes have been moved to the bottom of the list to avoid confusion.

I’ve added several new codes, as follows:

  • 17236 for 40 bonus minutes on a 200-minute card
  • 51540 for 50 bonus minutes on a Double Minute for Life card
  • 99121 for 250 bonus minutes on a double minute, 800-minute, one-year card

All of these codes are now in the database, in bold to indicate that they are recent additions.

I also have one code where I found mixed results in my research. Code 27076 had previously been awarding 50 bonus minutes on a card of 60 minutes or greater. I’ve seen some sources report that code as expired, while others say it is still working. If you happen to give that code a try, I would love to hear whether it works or not. Please post in the TracFone Promotional Code comments section.

Thanks!

Info for Motorola w376g Users

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As I mentioned briefly in my last post, the comments sections on the various posts relating to the Motorola w376g have become very crowded over the last year. There, many people have asked questions about using the phone, and others have very kindly helped them out with those problems. All that interaction has presented a different problem, though.

There are now so many questions and answers that someone visiting the blog for the first time has a very difficult time sorting through it all to find the piece of information they need. Thankfully, another helpful visitor to the blog (Paul) has taken it upon himself to organize some of the most useful pieces of that information into a helpful article for users of the w376g.

Now, inspired by Paul, I’m going to try to keep things organized for the future. I’ve added Paul’s document to a separate WordPress blog, and I hope to take some time very soon to sort through the existing comments for more info that can be summarized into a convenient article or two similar to that created by Paul.

If you have a w376g, you’ll definitely want to check out:

Motorolaw376g.wordpress.com

See if you can find a new tip or trick, or maybe contribute a change or addition to the article. If you find something that you’d like to know more about, or want to add something, please make a note of it in the comments section over there and Paul or I will attempt to incorporate it into the current article or a future addition.

Finally, this obviously would not have been possible without contributions from readers. I would like to send many, many thanks to Paul, Ortizmro, Dick Blaine, and everyone else who has contributed to the comments section regarding the Motorola w376g. Many readers have had their questions answered due to your effort.

Thank you!!!

Motorola EM326g Review Summary

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Motorola EM326g Review – Wrapping Up

I’m doing something a little different here, and I’m not quite sure how it’s going to work. There are nearly 500 comments on the various posts and pages of this blog related to the w376g. While those comments are often very helpful, the shear volume of them makes it difficult for new readers to get any value out of them.

In hopes of achieving better organization for the EM326, I’ve set up a separate wordpress blog specifically for questions and comments on the Motorola EM326g. The first post to that blog is my summary of the review I’ve written for that phone. In the near future, I will be locking the EM326g posts for comments, and moving those comments over to MotorolaEM326g.wordpress.com. All future comments on this phone should also posted there.

This site, pbush14.wordpress.com, will still remain the “hub” of my info distribution. I’ll continue to publish here once or twice a week, and if you get updates by email or rss, you’ll continue to get them. But I hope that this new site will help keep things organized so that user contributions will be more helpful and easy to read.

As I said, the review summary is posted at the new site. I won’t repeat too much of it here, but I will say that during the time I spent playing with the EM326g for my review, I really grew to like it. I have a couple nit-picky complaints, but I stand by my earlier claim that it’s “The funnest Net10 phone ever.”

Here’s the link to the Motorola EM326g Review Summary.