What he bought does not exist from T-mobile. You can not get that plan from them. Great deal, and great somebody figured a way to package it to sell.

You didn't read the OP, did you.

Hi FWIW I have been researching this for some time, for the phone I have used a company called ekit, found at www.ekit.com Data is still a little expensive.

When I arrived to my hotel tonight the Fedex was waiting for me. It was a standard T-Mobile SIM already activated. I just popped it into the phone and it worked. As soon as I powered on I got a text letting me know my FlexPay balance was $5. So it looks like I got their standard "Even More Plus" on FlexPay with an extra five bucks credit. No complaints here, it was worth it to avoid the hassle of trying to find one once I got to the US.

FWIW there is a shop in the newly remodeled TBIT at LAX selling the same thing. Their price sheet said $55 for one month unlimited. I didn't ask about data. The shop is to the left as you come out of customs, all the way to the end of the building past the public phones.

TBIT?

So EDGE speeds on T-Mo?

No, I'm getting good 3G everywhere in town.

I use the Tmobile prepaid. It is the only one I can find in the US for which the time does not expire. I go to the US often, but also sometimes go six months or more without being there. The TMobile lets me solve that problem. When I'm not is the US I forward it to my Vonage US number so I still get incoming calls. So far that seems the cheapest and more reliable deal. There is a problem, their coverage is not as high quality as are a couple fo others seem to be, notably Verizon. The flexibility makes TMobile my choice anyway.

T-Mobile has different 3G frequencies though, doesn't it? Different than the standard use overseas?

Just back from the US and used MrSimCard for the second time. Agree, the site is horrible, but customer service has been good, both times I've had a call or email a day or two into the trip to check that all is OK. I do use an iPhone and have bought the month's service with unlimited data and international call plan. Got good 3G service over LA and NYC, decent EDGE service in Palm Springs on the whole. Certainly better than I used to experience with O2 in the UK.

Advantage for me is much as alanw says, I get it sent to my home address in the UK before I travel, the SIM is activated a day or two before I go, so all I have to do is swap SIMs on landing, change the APN on the iPhone (a one-time change) and I'm ready to go. Don't have to find a store, explain what I want, etc, etc. Because I currently only go to the US a couple of times a year, I'm happy to let the SIM expire and get a new one with a new number each trip. I forward my UK number to the temporary US number and make sure I call people back rather than have long calls diverted to me from the UK. I have not hit problems with data limits and use data extensively on the move for maps, email, Slinging and general surfing.

:confused:

I think it was *you* that didn't read the OP. He was looking for a data enabled sim card, not a way to get a prepaid CDMA phone.

Pretty clever of them actually. Did you pay $55 for unlimited voice and data? Because that makes their margins really slim on this stuff. Still, awesome to know of this option.

That's what I paid from Mr. Simcard, the shop in TBIT had the same price but they didn't break out whether it was for data or whatever and I didn't ask. I figure they must get a commission for lighting up new numbers or something because otherwise they aren't making squat.

wco81: Yes, they do, and my phone supports both worldwide and T-Mobile US frequencies.

I'm quite interested in the idea of a pre-paid sim card for calls and data, after receiving my latest bill in for a US trip - £300. Glad I stumbled across this thread.

Although not a technophobe, I could do with some help regarding what steps I would need to take in order to get my phone set up to take a pre-paid US sim card. I currently use a Blackberry Bold on Vodafone in the UK.

I visit the US on holiday maybe one or two times a year.

The problem with a Blackberry is that it requires a special kind of data plan, a generic one won't work, as it won't allow access to the Blackberry data servers. You will probably get it working with web and some other basic apps, but email is going to be a problem.

Thanks,

Will have a look around and see if I can find anything suitable.

I take it that I need to get my phone unlocked to allow me to take a US sim card, and then it's just a matter of swapping them over.