The Best of Everything Cellular
Mountain Wireless chooses The Best cellular plans and services. We consulted the Our Choice Page of recommendations and picked one of each type of cellular plans as "The Best" and why. If you're looking for someone to tell you what's best among cellular offerings, this is the place. The T-Mobile Prepaid plan we previously rated as the best cellular deal is still shown, below.

• Benefits:
  • Once you have spent $100 in refills you achieve "Gold Rewards" status which gives you a 365-day expiration on your minutes.
  • Your per-minute rate is only .10 per minute and Texts are .05 received, .10 sent.
  • You can send and receive email (sent as text messages) with an address of (your 10-digit-number)@tmomail.net.
  • You get Free access to a handful of useful web sites such as news, sports, weather, horoscopes, etc. Yes, free, they don't use minutes.
  • T-Mobile Prepaid coverage is almost the same as T-Mobile's regular plans, which is very good. Check their prepaid coverage viewer.
  • T-Mobile Prepaid phones work in Canada and Mexico.
  • Refills are easy to find. You can buy them from T-mobile online or at their stores. Discounts can be had from PrepaidWireless, and stores like Target, although Target's cards need extra steps to be activated toward your account, and "stacked" to achieve Gold Rewards.
  • Refills can be as little as $10, and with "Gold Rewards" that could reset your existing minutes for another 365 days.
    
    
• Buying Direct from T-Mobile:
  • 1. Visit the T-Mobile web page. Click on Plans > Prepaid.
  • 2. Choose from among their phones and purchase a T-Mobile "Prepaid Starter Kit".
  • 3. After receiving your phone, activate it and choose from a range of local phone numbers. Be careful, in some markets they aren't too detailed on what numbers are local to you. This isn't important If you don't plan on many incoming calls. The entire process is handled right on your new phone.
  • 4. Add $100 to your account. This gives you "Gold Rewards" status and your new minutes won't expire for a year. Mark your calendar for next year. If you run out of minutes you can refill with whatever amount you'd like, you're still "Gold," and your refill resets your account for another year. Your per-minute cost will rise with smaller refill amounts, but this isn't significant. Your $100 refill will give you about 83 minutes a month, but you can use more or less and your rate stays the same. If, after one year, you haven't used all your minutes, you can refill with as little as $10 and your minutes are good for another year. Discount refills are also available from PrepaidWireless.
  
  
• Using an Existing Phone:
  This could mean an T-Mobile phone you already own, a phone you acquire from a friend or buy on eBay, or any "Unlocked" GSM 850/1900 MHz phone.
  • 1. Visit the T-Mobile web page. Click on Plans > Prepaid.
  • 2. Purchase a "T-Mobile SIM Activation Kit".
  • 3. After receiving your SIM, insert it into your phone, activate it and choose from a range of local phone numbers. Be careful, in some markets they aren't too detailed on what numbers are local to you. This isn't important If you don't plan on many incoming calls. The entire process is handled right on your phone.
  • 4. Add $100 to your account. This gives you "Gold Rewards" status and your new minutes won't expire for a year. Mark your calendar for next year. If you run out of minutes you can refill with whatever amount you'd like, you're still "Gold," and your refill resets your account for another year. Your per-minute cost will rise with smaller refill amounts, but this isn't significant. Your $100 refill will give you about 83 minutes a month, but you can use more or less and your rate stays the same. If, after one year, you haven't used all your minutes, you can refill with as little as $10 and your minutes are good for another year.
  
  
• Expiration:
  Once you have achieved Gold Rewards level, your minutes are good for one full year, regardless. Those minutes do disappear at the end of that last day, (Midnight Central Time)...Poof! If you should pass the expiration date without refilling, here are your options:
  • Call T-Mobile To Go customer service (877-778-2106) within 48 hours and you can get all minutes back with your refill.
  • Refill within 90 days and you can keep your Gold Rewards status and keep the the phone number, but your minutes are lost.
  • After 90 days past expiration, you must enter as a new customer and you'll need another $100 to once again achieve Gold Rewards.
    
    
• Additional Tips:
  • T-Mobile Prepaid phones are also available at retailers like Target, Wal-Mart, Walgreens and others, sometimes on sale.
  • You cannot activate an existing phone by just getting a new SIM from places like eBay. The SIM must be "activated" and can have some minutes already available. With an inactive SIM, you may need to buy an "Activation Kit."
  • T-Mobile SIM Activation Kits are available online or at T-Mobile stores. Prices range from $5 to $10.
  • You can change your phone number once every 6 months. This is helpful if you buy a card that was "activated" somewhere else, even if the seller says otherwise.
  • When calculating among different refill amounts, T-Mobile always rounds up your per-minute total to your advantage. If your previous fill was $100 and your new refill is $10, the calculated per-minute rate is between the amounts, pro-rated on the number of remaining minutes...a good deal!
  • T-Mobile also offers a per-day prepaid plan that allows "Unlimited" calling during certain periods.