# Any affordable smart phone plans that have unlimited data **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 7, 2012, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266 "2012-12-07T03:21:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266/21 "2012-12-14T04:05:01Z")
I have unlimited data and never really use all that much. I have Verizon 4G and a Galaxy SIII. Streaming on a smart phone screen with the variable quality of connections in the real world loses its novelty quickly, trust me. It’s very unlikely you will pull all much data once you get bored with squinting at the screen and dealing with data flow hiccups. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266/22 "2012-12-14T04:10:38Z")
Another Tmobile 30$/month plan user here. Over all I recommend it. 5gb if data is plenty, and i’m a power user(although I rarely stream video). Another bonus is that with my Galaxy Nexus I can use the built in mobile hot spot feature even though officially Tmobile says i’m supposed to buy an additional plan upgrade. It works, and I’ve never heard a word from Tmobile about it. That all said, the only problem is reception can be spotty when compared to Verizon or AT&T. Tmobile works great down here in Los Angeles. Never have a problem, but I always hit dead zones when I was up in the Bay area(mostly around redwood city, the city itself seemed ok). I’d check out Tmobile’s network in your area first before I take the plunge. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266/23 "2012-12-14T04:53:43Z")
> [@Harmonix](#): > > Another Tmobile 30$/month plan user here. Over all I recommend it. 5gb if data is plenty, and i’m a power user(although I rarely stream video). Another bonus is that with my Galaxy Nexus I can use the built in mobile hot spot feature even though officially Tmobile says i’m supposed to buy an additional plan upgrade. It works, and I’ve never heard a word from Tmobile about it. > > That all said, the only problem is reception can be spotty when compared to Verizon or AT&T. Tmobile works great down here in Los Angeles. Never have a problem, but I always hit dead zones when I was up in the Bay area(mostly around redwood city, the city itself seemed ok). I’d check out Tmobile’s network in your area first before I take the plunge. Yeah that is a good point. It says it is only 2G in the areas I would want to use video streaming. So I guess T Mobile is out. Virgin mobile does offer 3G coverage in the areas I’d want. ---
**Author:** ![antonio107](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7ea924/32.png) [@antonio107](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antonio107)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266/24 "2012-12-14T05:01:52Z")
Where do you use your data, if you don’t mind my asking? I ask because I thought about getting an obscene super data plan for my phone, but when I got Onavo data tracker, I found out I was using about 250 MB of data a month! Thing is, I connect to wifi when I’m at home, grandma’s, school, McDonald’s, Starbucks, etc. In an urban area, there’s only so many places you actually need data! ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266/25 "2012-12-14T05:46:43Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Yeah that is a good point. It says it is only 2G in the areas I would want to use video streaming. So I guess T Mobile is out. Virgin mobile does offer 3G coverage in the areas I’d want. Comparing data speeds between carriers based on their own self-naming (2g, 3g, 4g, LTE, etc.) is folly, at best. There are various [helpful articles](http://lifehacker.com/5939237/whats-the-best-wireless-carrier) a[nd websites](http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2405596,00.asp) you can research to get real-world [user reports](http://www.phonedog.com/) and [coverage maps in specific areas](http://www.rootmetrics.com/compare-carriers/), but it’s all pretty haphazard. I can’t know for sure, of course, but I wouldn’t be all that surprised to find that you’d still get higher speeds in your area with Tmobile’s “2g” than with Virgin’s “3g” - there are no real, hard standards. You’d do well to ask family, friends, and coworkers in your area for their experiences. Regarding Virgin Mobile, it’s actually rebranded Sprint service, but (I think) without any roaming, and (I’m pretty sure) the speeds are capped by Sprint to be well below what you’d get with actual, branded Sprint service. (you get what you pay for) And no offense intended to people here who have and recommend Virgin service, but [I’ve heard a lot of bad things](http://www.phonedog.com/carriers/virgin-mobile/reviews/). Also, when and where do you expect to be doing most of this video streaming that you are planning this around? If it’s usually somewhere that you can get a land-based wifi connection, wireless data speeds/limits won’t be so much of an issue. The vast majority of most people’s smartphone data usage winds up being on wifi, unless their smartphone is their only means of internet access. ---
**Author:** ![voltaire](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voltaire/32/313_2.png) [@voltaire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/voltaire)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266/26 "2012-12-14T05:56:09Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > You’d do well to ask family, friends, and coworkers in your area for their experiences. Have them download a [free speedtest app](https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=org.zwanoo.android.speedtest&hl=en) to see some hard data. Make sure they turn off wifi when they do the test, so that you get useful results of actual wireless data speeds. ---
**Author:** ![Rachellelogram](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rachellelogram/32/8689_2.png) [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266/27 "2012-12-14T06:16:11Z")
> [@voltaire](#): > > I’ve got the Tmobile $30 unlimited\* 4g data plan that comes with unlimited texts and 100 voice minutes (only .10 a minute if you go over) a month. > > - “Unlimited” means no limit to the \*amount \*of data (you are never charged any extra for going over), but after the quite ample 5gigs a month, they throttle you down from being able to use the full 4g speeds. (Though, there are workarounds possible on at least some phones.) > > I highly recommend Tmobile in general, and this plan in particular, if you don’t use a lot of voice minutes but want to be able to use data liberally without paying an arm and a leg. The other thing to look forward to is that Tmobile and MetroPCS have merged, so if you are in an area where Metro has a presence, you can expect near-future bandwidth improvements (and LTE) to Tmobile’s already pretty awesome (IME) level of reception and speeds. (MetroPCS users can expect even more drastic future improvements from the deal, since quite frankly, their network previously sucked!) > > As for what phone to get, if you don’t want to hunt for used bargains and want to get new at a reasonable price, I highly recommend [Google’s Nexus4](https://play.google.com/store/devices/details?id=nexus_4_16gb&feature=device-featured#?t=W251bGwsMSwyLDIwMiwibnVsbC13ZWJfaG9tZV81MDAwMDA1X25leHVzVVNfZGV2aWNlc19VU19fNTAwMDAwNV9uZXh1c1VTXzFfcHJvbW9fMTM1NDMxMjk0MTEzMSJd). (Go for the slightly more expensive model with more memory, since memory isn’t upgradeable later, which is the only real con to its many pro’s… WTF Google, that’s Apple territory!) I highly recommend this plan, but if you talk on your phone on a regular basis it’s not for you. 100 minutes isn’t a lot. But I only hit the 5gig data throttle once, when tethering to play world of warcraft for 2 weeks because my former roommate wasn’t fond of paying bills on time. And then tmobile stopped letting me tether for a while after that. It just pulled up a redirect saying I’d need to pay for tethering from “this device”–aka my computer. Although I was able to successfully tether again since then, at the same location. Maybe it resets every month since I’m not in a contract? ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 6:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266/28 "2012-12-14T06:25:24Z")
> [@Wesley\_Clark](#): > > Yeah that is a good point. It says it is only 2G in the areas I would want to use video streaming. So I guess T Mobile is out. Virgin mobile does offer 3G coverage in the areas I’d want. 2g?!?!?!?!?! where the hell do you live? ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266/29 "2012-12-14T23:23:39Z")
> [@Harmonix](#): > > 2g?!?!?!?!?! where the hell do you live? Looking at the map, it seems every city outside of the 10-15 biggest cities in Indiana is 2g. Even the ones with 20-40k people in them. At least according to the Tmobile website. ---
**Author:** ![Harmonix](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Harmonix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harmonix)\ **Post date:** [December 14, 2012, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266/30 "2012-12-14T23:28:17Z")
Well. I guess that makes sense. I swear I thought you were Californian. In anycase, I can’t imagine virgin is going to be any better coverage wise. ---
**Author:** ![Wesley\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wesley_clark/32/20581_2.png) [@Wesley\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wesley_Clark)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266/31 "2012-12-15T02:05:35Z")
> [@Harmonix](#): > > Well. I guess that makes sense. I swear I thought you were Californian. > > In anycase, I can’t imagine virgin is going to be any better coverage wise. I wish. I spent a few months in San Diego and liked the scenery there, but I’m from Indiana. San Francisco seems nice but unaffordable (plus I’d need a job, etc). Virgin actually has pretty good data coverage all over Indiana based on their map including lots of small and mid-size towns. TMobile 3G/4G seems to just be limited to the biggest 10-15 cities and everything else is 2G and talk. I’ll find a Tmobile store and ask them for clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266/32 "2012-12-15T19:35:47Z")
I tested my phone for time and mb the other day. I listened to radio online for like an hour or so, maybe it was longer. Used up 60 mb streaming in that time, till phone battery said that’s enough. So, I would need around 4.5 gb a month to do that everyday at work. At Verizon Prices, that’s not gonna happen. I’m looking into something else that would work better. Preferably FREE! (that was both 3G and 4G depending on my location in the shop area.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/any-affordable-smart-phone-plans-that-have-unlimited-data/643266.md?page=1)