I would say my Samsung victory L300 has served me well. I get free talk, text, & 1GB LTE data per month. I use clever ways to conserve data--like using a browser that disables pictures, and always using the mobile version of a website--so it lasts a long time. I use passive data collection apps to make the phone PROFITABLE. It's a sweet deal. Enjoy it while you can (they will probably be bought out). Thanks for reading!
I like the idea of Freedompop, but it really isn't as free as they advertise it as. You still have to pay for the phone, and you still have to pay a fee every month. The smallest amount you have to pay is 6 dollars, and it has to come directly out of your credit card. I know it's cheaper than most, so we shouldn't complain, but if I'm going to have this service I might as well get the good stuff, and go with Metro or Boost.
I wish I could get freedom pop here but we can't get a lot of good providers we would like like T mobile, in this Godforsaken area. we have few choices and those we have we pay out the nose for. I think straighttalk could be used out here but other than that only a few providers service this area.
I've been looking around for a while for a low priced cellular service with good customer service. I was initially impressed with what I was seeing about Freedom Pop, but I did some more looking and reading the other day, and it seems there are sometimes catches. I think a lot of the catches are from the mobile broadband aspect of the service, rather than strictly the cellular, but it still concerns me, because I always worry about hidden costs.
They run on Sprint's network which is pretty large. Did you check their site? Their 4G WiMax is obviously moot at this point, since that is being shutdown on a nation-wide level, if I'm not mistaken. I would have gotten CLEAR long ago if WiMax were in my area. I would be fairly surprised to find out that Sprint is not available whereas others are. If I were you, I would check the site to see just in case. There aren't catches, as far as I know, but there are some caveats. Like call quality can be low, but, it's over VoIp so I don't know why you would deliberately limit yourself to begin with. Meaning if you are okay with VoIp, might as well use Google Voice since that is guaranteed to be free--international calls notwithstanding. FreedomPop's appeal lies in it's data, not it's voice/text services. I will soon have 3 phones, all with 1gig free per month. If you are conservative with data as aforementioned, this will be more than enough. 100MB per day should be more than enough for basic information, email, some online games, et al. I had their $15/mo unlimited data plan, until Sprint throttled the data speeds significantly. I figured if I was going to need to monitor usage, why pay for it? Thanks for reading!
This sounds like a fantastic deal, and I too would agree that your samsung victory L300 has served me well. I wish I could get my hands on that one, for sure. But I'm pretty sure it's not accessible to me at all, given where I am. Our network providers are completely different. Well, enjoy it and thanks for sharing I wonder though, why others believe there's a catch?
To anyone here that is based out of the United States but finds themselves outside of range of service of this--and/or other--providers, I would suggest you look into a signal booster/repeater. These can significantly improve the range one can be from a cell tower and still receive service. I have heard anecdotal reports from others that have experienced favorable results from such a strategy... sometimes the parent corporation will provide one of said pieces of equipment for free! This claim is demonstrably false. Their business model is best described as "freemium." Meaning a baseline level of services are provided for free; additional services require a fee be paid. This model is increasingly popular as it benefits from the ubiquity of access to services provided by the internet. Meaning it becomes a numbers game. As long as, say, at least 1% of their customers pay for something, the rest of the 99% are paid for in overhead. So as long as 2% or more of their customers convert to paid, they are profitable. (Numbers are estimates, of course.) I got the L300 phone for $30 on amazon and activation was free; it was refurbished I believe. However my samsung s3 was activated with their BYOD plan--bring your own device. I was charged a one-time activation fee of EXACTLY $19.99 for the BYOD service. Never any hidden fees, charges, taxes, et al. You are right, to not pay an activation, one must buy a phone. I don't remember FreedomPop ever advertising free phone(s). But they DO advertise free phone SERVICE. Thanks for reading!