Best mobile phone and plan for me.....can you help?
I mainly use my smartphone when I go out and for navigation. I overheard someone saying they use tracfone and only spend $30 every few months. I have T- mobiile, the reception is terrible...can’t get signal frequently and spend 50 per month flat-rate. Should I purchase phone minutes and buy data for navigation? Current plan is wasted money for me.
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ASKER
Kimputer, I used to have straight talk, and a cheap phone, and I never had any connection problems. Someone I spoke to said perhaps it's my settings, so if you know what they're talking about please help.
I still want to get a service more in line with my usage, but reliable.
I still want to get a service more in line with my usage, but reliable.
If you or someone else has a spare phone lying around, try the sim card in that phone to test it a week or so. As one of the bigger telcom provider, it's hard to believe service is so bad when others have it. So it might be due to the phone. There aren't a lot of settings to tweak with when it comes to connecting to the voice/data network. EVERY basic phone you buy in the stores should work reliably straight out of the box.
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ASKER
You know, I am not familiar with turning data on/off or checking my usage. I went to the website to check reception and T-Mobile should be OK. However, I can only tell you that when I had Straight talk, I was able to call from inside a hospital but not with this much more expensive phone and plan.
That being said, if you can add some more explanation about the data usage, how to use offline maps, I would appreciate it and I can close this question.
That being said, if you can add some more explanation about the data usage, how to use offline maps, I would appreciate it and I can close this question.
Hi sheana11,
If you wanted to download a map and use it offline like Kimputer mentioned, you would open up the map area you'd want in your Google Maps app and click the 3 dots to open up the more menu and Download offline map -> Download.
Then you can turn turn on Wi-Fi only in Maps and only your offline maps will be accessible, which should reduce your data usage.
If you wanted to download a map and use it offline like Kimputer mentioned, you would open up the map area you'd want in your Google Maps app and click the 3 dots to open up the more menu and Download offline map -> Download.
Then you can turn turn on Wi-Fi only in Maps and only your offline maps will be accessible, which should reduce your data usage.
ASKER
Thanks to all for your help!
- Why can't you get a signal? Is it the T-Mobile coverage (check on the website how the coverage should be in the neighborhoods you often frequent). If it's bad, do other providers do it better (change providers), or are they lacking as well? (No reason to change providers)
- Data usage, if you really keep it under wraps (use Google Maps, load regions to offline maps where you frequent), Tracfone could be an option. Leave data connection open, and you'll beat traffic most of the time (rerouted when needed, Google Maps keeps track of it, obviously, your data usage will be higher). If you don't care about the traffic and re-routing, you can turn off data after route has been calculated (you'll save TONS of money this way, if you keep track of your routes and keep downloading those regions while on WiFi)