Cheap "glove compartment" Cell phones redux

[BUM]

. Dad wanted to know FOR SURE that this would work before it was needed but didn't want to get in trouble so he called the local police dept and asked if there was any way that he could test it - they told him to go ahead and call 9-1-1 - he did and it worked
DrLLLong

Hi Doc

You've reminded me of a story that over time has become funny if not legendary in our family. While trying to dial area code 914 I mistakenly dialled 911. Our dry winter air gives me occasional nosebleeds. With my head tilted back and red tissues stuffed up my nose, I had to do a pretty convincing sales job to keep the state trooper from coming into the house.

BUM

 

[TromboneAl]

asked if there was any way that he could test it

Apparently you should also be able to call 611. So you can test using 611.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

611 will dial the customer service of the last company that 'owned' the phone.

Testing 911 is another matter though; in some areas you'll get the same 911 as if you dialed it on a home phone. They may or may not have any information about you or where you live though, depends on what the cell phone provider gives the emergency people and if your phone has the ability to 'tell' where it is by GPS or tower triangulation.

Depending on the area, you might get a PSAP (I think thats what its call- public safety access point). This might be a sheriffs office, might be a specialized response center. They will NOT know who you are or where you are no matter what. They are connected to police, fire and ambulance service.

So it might be beneficial to 'try it out' and see who/what you get as long as there are no ramifications. And to know if you'll have to be able to speak into the phone after dialing 911 and give information.

I shortened up the cycle a little; I live next door to the shift supervisor for the local ambulance service and his wife who is always home when he's not has one of his radios. One of the guys who lives in back of me is on the CHP. Fireman next to him. Plumber on the other side.

I'm covered.

 

[rockman13]

Thanks for the info.

Sorry to by lazy, but could you tell me the best deal, bottom line total expenditure for one year, starting with no phone and assuming very minimal usage?

Thanks,

On a pure cost of ownership basis, BEYOND WIRELESS is the cheapest of the 10(?) plans that I have seen. You can buy used phones on ebay for $10-$20 plus shipping, plus a $5 prepay purchase (35 minutes) and you are set to go.
The following years, just 85cents! Tri-mode phones are available from Beyond for $50-$110 with 80 minutes service included.
· Minimum cost, 7.1 cents per month,
· Minutes last forever,
· Minutes cost 14.2-10 cents each ($5-$100 purchase quantities),
· Most metropolitan areas and many rural areas of the country are treated as local,
· No extra charge for long distance calls,
· Roaming is included in the service (not even available on many other prepaid services),
· Roaming incurs a charge at 4x the local rate (40-57 cents),
· One phone call every 60 days is required to keep the phone # active,
· Phone numbers are available in only some states, therefore some people will have to get a number from outside their area code and their incoming calls will be long distance to the caller,
· You can use your own phone if you have an ATT TDMA tri-mode phone,
· Analog service is used where digital is unavailable,
· The service tells you at the beginning of each call how many minutes remain,
· More at http://www.gobeyondwireless.com/

I feel like a salesman for them, but really, I was just so happy to find such a low cost service for the absolute minimal usage of 6 calls per year! My wife and I are retired and don't need to make a very many cell phone calls, but this is so cheap that we have purchased 2 used phones and can easily justify registering and using both of them. Most services are $8, and up, per month, even if you do not make any calls at all! But this service is so cheap that you can afford to have one just to serve as a backup service in case you have any sort of service problem with your regular cell ph!

A very good starting point to compare prepaid services is the cellguru at http://www.cellguru.net/prepaid_compare.htm

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

We went ahead and bought the t-mobile for my wifes car and her use. Spent $39 after rebate for a decent nokia phone (we have 10,000 nokia chargers and headsets) that came with $15 worth of airtime good for 60 days. At 59 days I'll add $100 to it which will give us 1000 minutes good for a year. Then I'll repeat every 364 days until some idiot at t-mobile gets the bright idea to change their plan and I'll be back at this again.

My wife wasnt comfortable with a texas or florida phone #, even though its pretty much irrelevant...your outgoing calls include long distance and our home phone has unlimited free LD. But what the queen wants, she gets.

I'm going to keep the old at&t free2go phone, which still has 100 minutes left on it and just got rolled forward another 90 days by the last blast from the 12/20 program. When that finally expires, I'm going to convert it to a beyond wireless plan, put $25 on it and make a quick call every month...leave that one in our other car.

That will put us at $39+$100+$25 for TWO cell phones for the first year, one with 1000+ minutes and the other with plenty on it for a once or twice a week "hi...want anything at the store" or "I'm hung up getting the car fixed" calls. $13.66 a month for the first year, then 8.33 per month the second year until that $25 runs out on Beyond, then another $25 for that one.

Pretty dang good considering most people I know spend $40-100 a month for ONE cell phone...