Which plan for 1year stay in the US?

[martinpelant]

Hello I am from the Czech Republic but I am going to study 1 year in Milwaukee, WI starting on 18.8.2011.
The thing is I have an EU HTC Desire which is compatible with these networks HSPA/WCDMA: 900/2100 MHz
GSM: 850/900/1800/1900 MHz. After a bit of investigation I've found out that it will work only with AT&T or T-Mobile and only in GSM mode. I am also going to buy the new nexus and I don't want to change the carrier because of it.

My question is simple:
Which carrier/plan would you recommend me? (I want it as cheap as possible)
I dont call much (10 minutes a month) nor text (10 SMS a month) but I use about 500MB of data a month (when I am in 3G, I will be using EDGE until the new nexus is released)

Since I will be staying in the US for only 1 year, I suppose that all the 2yr contracts don't apply to me, right?

 

[Swizz]

If that is your planned usage every month I would get a data only plan. After that you can set yourself up with a free Google Voice phone number and purchase GrooveIP from the Android Market for $3.99US. It will route all of your voice calls, from your Google Voice number, through your data package and SMS is free on Google Voice to start.

I've been using this combination for a while and see no degradation in voice quality whether I'm on network data or WiFi.

Honestly, if you're only going to be using 10 minutes of voice and 10 SMS per month, you would be a sucker to pay for any monthly service. Utilizing a data connection as VoIP is not only the best for your situation, but probably the way of the future.

As for specific plans, if you wish to follow my advice, T-Mobile offers a prepaid package that is $30 every 30 days and gives you 1GB of data.

Mobile Broadband Data Plans | T-Mobile

 

[martinpelant]

Will I be able to make normal calls with data plan only (and how much does 1 minute cost)? Because I will be using EDGE until the new Nexus is released and I don't thing Google Voice works well with EDGE.

In EU it is common to just pay for the called minutes if you don't have a monthly plan. For example I pay $10 a month for the data and 30c for each minute I call + 15c for each SMS I send. That means If I don't call nor SMS I just pay for the data. But I am able to make calls and SMS when needed.

EDIT: I just found this PayAsYouGo plan http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/pay-as-you-go-plans. Can I combine it with the data only plan you mentioned? That would suit my needs.

 

[Swizz]

If you use the method i provided it would be unlimited minutes and sms. This is because everything would be routed over the data network. if you are going to be strictly on edge, i cant speak for voice quality.