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Yes. You can bring any AT&T compatible phone to GoPhone; at least as long as the phone is either unlocked or locked to AT&T, and not blacklisted.
lennydude
Android Expert
Trooper
Android Expert
That is what I have used since day 1
What are the plan options? Do you need to go to a store? What is the best way to go about getting this setup? Currently using T-Mobile and not happy with signal/coverage.
Thanks.
The cheapest way to get started is to go to a corporate AT&T store as they will give you a free SIM when you start a plan; otherwise you have to buy the SIM for about $10, stores like Walmart or the AT&T website have them. GoPhone uses the exact same SIMs as AT&T postpaid.
There are currently 3 GoPhone plans for smartphones: $40 for 500 minutes talk, unlimited text, and 500 MB data; $60 for unlimited talk and text, and 2.5 GB of data; there is also a "Walmart" plan for $45, which gives unlimited talk and text, with 1 GB data. Data is cut off once you hit your limit but you can buy extra for $5-10 (the amount of extra data you get depends on the plan).
The Walmart plan can be a pain to sign up for as most AT&T reps don't know about it and don't know how to get people moved to the plan -- and to be clear, you don't need to do anything with Walmart to sign up for it. The suggestions I've seen are, if the rep doesn't know of the plan, sign up for GoPhone with a different plan but don't add money, then call 611 from the phone and change your plan (it should be available on the automated prompts) -- only after you are on the $45 plan add money.
Callingmart (or some other online sellers) frequently offers 10% off GoPhone refills, bringing down your price on the plans (not to mention, not charging sales tax).
Also, there is also Cricket -- which is now owned by AT&T and uses their network. They have cheaper plans with higher data limits, with all taxes included in the price and $5 autopay discount; the downside is their speeds are limited to 8Mbps on LTE and 4 Mbps on 3G.
Good writeup, mogelijk. I've been on the $60 plan and really like it. The $40 plan would work except for the low data limit (especially as my new car has good streaming support such as Pandora, etc.).
The GoPhone coverage area is not quite as extensive as it would be with a full AT&T plan, but it will work almost anyplace I plan to be. The one time recently where I couldn't get a signal in a remote area of far norther Michigan, nobody in our group had any luck (AT&T, Verizon, etc.)!
CallingMart always has a 10% discount and once a month they run an additional 10% deal so that I have been paying $54/mo. You can easily charge it on PayPal, get the code, punch it right into the dialer, and you're set for another month.
The GoPhone coverage area is not quite as extensive as it would be with a full AT&T plan, but it will work almost anyplace I plan to be. The one time recently where I couldn't get a signal in a remote area of far norther Michigan, nobody in our group had any luck (AT&T, Verizon, etc.)!
CallingMart always has a 10% discount and once a month they run an additional 10% deal so that I have been paying $54/mo. You can easily charge it on PayPal, get the code, punch it right into the dialer, and you're set for another month.