Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Carrier T-Mobile $30 Prepaid plan (100 min, unlimited text, 5GB of 4G LTE data)
- Thread starter EbookReader
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
T-Mobile are replying to questions on Facebook saying any current plan would be grandfathered, as long as you don't make any changes to your plan.
That's good to know, thanks!
Still think it's a bad move on their part. Before, while their general prepaid plans (not the $30 one) were a little higher than Cricket, they offered more features on a faster network. Now, unless I'm missing something, there's no advantage to using T-Mobile prepaid over Cricket except for wifi calling. No tethering, no music streaming, same max speeds on a network with less coverage nationwide.
The only thing I can think is that maybe they're hoping to convert prepaid users to postpaid?
Yeah, I'm not sure if this is worth the tradeoff -- basically, capping the data speeds and stripping the "uncarrier" benefits away just to save $10/month. It might be another way of trying to move prepaid customers to their Simple Choice plans.
Over the past year, T-Mobile quietly added free tethering and unlimited music streaming to the $30 plan. But, they never announced this, and never officially added these extras to the plan terms. It would be easy to take these benefits away, since they were never promised to prepaid customers to begin with.
Having a low cost $30 plan option with a high data allotment and low voice minutes was a major reason I went with T-Mobile in the first place. I would hope they don't eliminate the $30 plan altogether, because that would effectively double the minimum price for any 5 GB plan on T-Mobile.
For those of us who don't care about voice minutes, the options offered by other carriers would suddenly look a lot more attractive, since $60 would now be T-Mobile's entry level cost for a 5 GB plan. On Verizon and AT&T, you couldn't touch anything for $30 or even $40/month. But, $60 can go a lot further, and they have the added advantage of a broader network.
----------
From reading the press release, it looks like the Simply Prepaid plans are a "complement" to their Simple Choice plans. Basically gives customers the option of stripping out the "uncarrier" features and capping their data speeds to save $10/month. For practical purposes, 8 Mbps is more than enough for most smartphone functions, including HD video streaming.
If T-Mobile's not eliminating any of their current prepaid options, then this move to counter Cricket makes sense, if only to keep AT&T from grabbing a larger foothold in the prepaid market.
For the time being, I still see the $30 plan hidden away in its usual inconspicuous place on T-Mobile's prepaid page. We'll see if this changes on January 25.
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans
Prior to switching away from AT&T last fall, I would have totally agreed that 8 Mbps was enough. After all, I rarely got more than that on AT&T! But now I'm spoiled. LOL
Well, we'll see what happens after the 25th.
Anyone done a speed test yet today on the $30 plan, now that the new plans have taken effect? I only get 4G at home, not LTE, and haven't been out yet, so my 7.36 Mbps this morning isn't any different than usual. I'm hoping we find speeds haven't changed.
I did test hotspot, and that seems to be still enabled. Not sure about Music Freedom, if someone wants to test that...
And while the new speed-limited no-frills Simply Prepaid plans are the only ones they're advertising on their site (our plan shows on that page in it's usual unobtrusive spot, which is why I'm still a bit concerned about speeds), the Simple Choice prepaid plans, with all the bells and whistles we're used to, are still available when you go into my.t-mobile and look at available plans. So upgrading to one of those is still possible if needed, though of course if you do that, you can't go back to the $30 plan without activating a new SIM.
I did test hotspot, and that seems to be still enabled. Not sure about Music Freedom, if someone wants to test that...
And while the new speed-limited no-frills Simply Prepaid plans are the only ones they're advertising on their site (our plan shows on that page in it's usual unobtrusive spot, which is why I'm still a bit concerned about speeds), the Simple Choice prepaid plans, with all the bells and whistles we're used to, are still available when you go into my.t-mobile and look at available plans. So upgrading to one of those is still possible if needed, though of course if you do that, you can't go back to the $30 plan without activating a new SIM.
Wow those are some amazing speeds! Wish T-Mobile worked in my area, I would've snatched this plan right up.
T-Mobile takes care of us here in Denver and always have. Areas that were spotty a year ago now have solid LTE speeds. I can pretty much travel my whole city now and never have a problem.
First, the plan has not been pulled from the website and second, it would make no business sense to simply take away the plan from existing customers.
http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-plans
Last edited:
Thanks for the correction. Not sure how I missed that, but I am glad to be wrong in this case.
Sure no problem. I just signed up for the plan in November. I doubt they will get rid of the plan anytime soon but a price hike would not be surprising.
With the Simply Prepaid options now available, I wonder if T-Mobile will quietly switch off the free tethering and free music streaming that they just as quietly added to the $30 plan last summer. The Simply Prepaid plans explicitly cap the data speed and exclude most of the "uncarrier" extras, in exchange for $10 off per month.
The $30 plan never had tethering or music streaming officially added. But, they became active features, regardless.
Looking over T-Mobile's prepaid site, the most interesting change is actually their new pay-by-the-day options. They now charge a flat $3 for 30 minutes and a month of service. Texts and any additional minutes cost $0.10. Not a bad deal for anyone who doesn't talk much.
But, now the data blocs go for $5 per day (500 MB) or $10 per week (1 GB).
Under the old plans, the daily $3 rate gave you unlimited voice minutes plus a bloc of high speed data (IIRC, 200 MB and unlimited throttled). Under the new plans, there's no more daily option for unlimited voice minutes, and all pay-by-the-day data is now hard capped.
The $30/5 GB plan seems like the only carryover remaining from the pre-uncarrier era. I would guess that the plan is still too popular an item for T-Mobile to muck around with.
The $30 5 GB plan has always been somewhat hidden on T-Mobile's prepaid site. They're obviously pushing the monthly unlimited voice plans much more heavily.
I noticed that their other $30 plan (unlimited voice/text, zero data) got bumped up to $35.
The $30 plan never had tethering or music streaming officially added. But, they became active features, regardless.
Looking over T-Mobile's prepaid site, the most interesting change is actually their new pay-by-the-day options. They now charge a flat $3 for 30 minutes and a month of service. Texts and any additional minutes cost $0.10. Not a bad deal for anyone who doesn't talk much.
But, now the data blocs go for $5 per day (500 MB) or $10 per week (1 GB).
Under the old plans, the daily $3 rate gave you unlimited voice minutes plus a bloc of high speed data (IIRC, 200 MB and unlimited throttled). Under the new plans, there's no more daily option for unlimited voice minutes, and all pay-by-the-day data is now hard capped.
The $30/5 GB plan seems like the only carryover remaining from the pre-uncarrier era. I would guess that the plan is still too popular an item for T-Mobile to muck around with.
The $30 5 GB plan has always been somewhat hidden on T-Mobile's prepaid site. They're obviously pushing the monthly unlimited voice plans much more heavily.
I noticed that their other $30 plan (unlimited voice/text, zero data) got bumped up to $35.
You're comparing apples to oranges. The Simply Prepaid plans are unlimited voice while the $30 Walmart plan is unlimited data.
That's what I did...I made the switch from AT&T last fall. T-Mobile runs specials on their sims periodically; I picked mine up for 99¢ shipped and was up and running on the $30 plan a couple of days later. Just make sure you activate it online, not over the phone. It was pretty painless.
All the old monthly plans are still available, they're just not promoted. Click on the link that says something like "compare our prepaid plans"; the old plans are now called Simple Choice prepaid. You can see them if you look changing your plan at my.t-mobile.com as well; both old and new are listed.
I imagine there are several ways to do it but first you need to buy the activation kit and then get the correct T-Mobile Sim card for your phone. Walmart sells the activation kits but they don't seem to carry them in the stores and if you buy it online, it takes a few weeks for them to deliver it. I ended up buying the kit from a vendor on Amazon and since I'm a prime member, it was delivered in 2 days.
http://www.amazon.com/T-Mobile-Micr...sbs_cps_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=04CKD8G1XE8YPX9W01AR
Originally, I was planning on enabling an iPhone 4s but I ended up buying the T-Mobile version of the iPhone 6+ directly from Apple, so it had the correct SIM card already. I followed the instructions in the kit but substituted the SIM# of the SIM card that came with the iPhone 6 instead of the one in the kit.
The activation was very straightforward and done online. Also, you must have an unlocked phone.
As an Amazon Associate, MacRumors earns a commission from qualifying purchases made through links in this post.
I'm simply noting that out of T-Mobile's two $30 prepaid plans, one got a price bump and the other one didn't. The 5 GB plan stayed at $30, while the unlimited minutes/texts plan (which has been relabeled as the "Simple Starter" plan) got bumped up to $35. It's an apples-to-apples comparison in that both plans are prepaid monthly plans, and both of them cost $30 a month until Saturday.
----------
None of the other currently available plans date back to before T-Mobile's "uncarrier" offerings started. Simple Choice was one of the first "uncarrier" moves. The $30 5 GB plan dates back to 2012, and it's now the only option from that period that still remains valid. Every other pre-"uncarrier" plan now either costs more or has gotten junked.
Last edited:
Fair enough, it would be nice if some carrier came out with a true pay-as-you-go prepaid plan for both voice and data where you're only charged for what you consume.
I have to admit that I somehow managed to get signed up with this plan without buying the "Activation Kit". When I bought my SIM-free and unlocked iPhone 6 from the Apple Store, I asked if I could get a T-Mobile SIM because I thought that was all I needed to activate the phone.
Anyway, I got home and went online to activate the phone and found that it was impossible to do, because I didn't have some number that comes in the kit. Oops. So, just for the heck of it, I called T-Mobile, thinking it might be possible to sign up using their automated phone system. Next thing I knew I was talking to one of their phone reps and she said she could sign me up. She asked me what plan I wanted and I told her the $30 plan, figuring she would tell me that she couldn't do it, because it's supposed to be a website-only deal. Well, lo and behold, she was able to get it done. Yes! So I guess I saved a few bucks by not buying the kit, which was solely due to my ignorance. And kudos to T-Mobile customer service for helping me out. I guess they have to put up with idiots like me all the time!
Speaking of which, their customer service came through again yesterday when I called to get my Verizon phone number transferred over to the new T-Mobile account. I had no idea what my Verizon PIN number was (again, I had no idea I needed it) but they submitted the request and it went through a few hours later. I think they might have used my T-Mobile PIN and it probably matched what I had been using for Verizon.
So, basically, what I'm saying is, don't do what I did if you want things to go smoothly!#
You can pay $3 per day for unlimited everything on T-mobile, as far as paying for exactly what you use, I think that would make you not want to use your phone as you'd try and save as much money as possible.
The $3 per day plan is just another sales gimmick and really not practical since most people make use of their phone in one form or another on a daily basis.
Just like the cable and satellite TV providers force customers to buy bloated TV bundles, the reason why all of these carriers don't want to adopt a only pay for what you consume approach is because it is more much profitable having customers overpay for these unrealistic usage plans that the majority of their customers will never meet. Our waste is literally their profit but most people are too clueless to understand that.
$3 per day is not a gimmick. It's not for everyday use. I used it when I needed a phone line for just 6 days.