Wow. Painless, FAST port in to Redpocket!

It is finally, finally time for me to get done with using TF on my one, unlocked GSM phone !!

Some time ago I got the Redpocket 1 year deal & put it aside for when this day would arrive.
Also had a minimally allotted Twigby number that has barely gotten any usage, so:
Activated the 'new' services as well as a port-in from Twigby late last night.

1st thing today confirmations arrived from both places that it is all completed.

This may be the smoothest, easiest processing I've ever gone through !!

Now I may even bother to set up CN so as to collect credits to keep the Redpocket services going - that is, if CN is actually working...about which I have my doubts all the time seeing what a bumpy road others report about it & the lack of active responses here from Tom & company for such a long time...

Many of us have yearly redpocket plan through cellnuvo.

Paying monthly was a pain for me

All the recent things I see about CN seem to point at it not crediting well & nobody from there shows up here either...not encouraging IMO.

When the Redpocket yearly deal goes on sale again it is easy enough to grab it again & it is very affordable when at the lowest price for a whole year of services.

I've always wished that some service provider would offer a super cheap voice & text only plan that'll work around here.
Until that happens (if ever) we'll stay with Twigby for their great VZ backup & also whatever GSM provider is cheapest for those times that we're in an area which has no VZ coverage.

Hi E_Z,----Have you looked at what "FreeUp Mobile" has to offer on the AT&T cellular network? @Frasier says one can knock off $7 from the monthly $20 unlimited T&T and 1GB data by spending a minute or less per day printing one 25 cent crediting coupon from the FU site, and there are other ways to reduce the monthly cost. FU also offers a $10 starter plan providing 500 min. or texts and 100mb of data. Might be worth a look for AT&T service.

Thanks for the reminder Isamorph !!
I did check them out & seeing as they're so new it was my thought to wait a while & see if they stick around...
Now also, since my need for GSM services is covered for a year there's no hurry for that.

In our immediate area we mostly use Twigby because...it works and, it is the cheapest of all.
The only thing I could imagine beating that would be some sort of VZ deal for voice & SMS only, which I've not seen or heard of.

It is confusing to discuss our usages because we have no choice other than to have the cheapest possible coverage from both providers in our area or we risk getting stuck in the boonies someplace in an old car with no means to call for any help - and that possibility just scares my partner to bits, so we do it this way for her ease & comfort.

Just a heads up. Risk is that VZ is roaming, so if you end up using it mostly, you are at risk of having your plan terminated.

It's been more than a year since we got on Twigby's services - no variances in our rather low usages - and:
Zero troubles, no complaints, and very fair rates.
Seems to me that if our usage of that 'roaming' would pose any problem, it would have shown up by now.
Thanks for the info all the same - it'll either remain OK...or not - nothing to be done about it either way.

A bump in the road, for which I am hoping someone here knows the 'cure':
My newly activated RP phone is set as a forwarding number from my 'main' GV number, which is also my chosen VM provider.

I keep the cellular powered off when I'm home, and now all the calls to the 'main' number are getting waylaid after 1 ring to a bogus message telling callers that my VM is not set up....grrrr !!

I've opened a ticket at RP and I'm hoping very much that someone here can tell me how to just shut off the doggone RP VM, please ?!?

Thanks.

Why not use the chat feature? It is faster or can they not help?

I suspect the issue will be dependent on which vendor's services you're using. We have an AT&T line through RedPocket, never set up the VM, and also use our Google Voice # as our primary line for calls/texts. We've had it off before and the forwarding works fine to the other phones (or GV picks up VM) without it going to AT&T's VM service.

I also believe the issue is network dependent. Red Pocket CS may be able to help, but detailed assistance probably isn't their forte'. If you prefer messages left via GV, Red Pocket might be able to disable carrier voicemail. If you set up carrier voicemail, it might be possible to designate the number of rings before VM picks up, or it may at least delay the time until carrier VM picks up.
I believe GV is fixed to something like 30 seconds before transferring to Voicemail. As an examplar, Sprint network voicemail can neither be turned off, nor modified for ring time before transfer to VM. The timing is very close on my Sprint-network lines, and sometimes Sprint Voicemail is triggered, while other times GV grabs it first.

Too funny - but tolerable now...maybe.
My ticket got replied to by someone who had definite trouble with english, and after a day's worth of back and forth their VM feature is now shut off, so it answers after 1 ring with the phone off & has a 'not accepting calls' message instead.
I'll reactivate it at GV & see how that works & if it is a problem this way too, then I'll just leave it off of there.
I can get messages via my Twigby phone usually & if that is all, then it can be enough.

It amuses me that in this one regard TF was a wee bit better for GSM usage - but nothing else about them is in the great enough to pay for their services IMO.

Every carrier seems to do voicemail by their own set of arcane logic & rules. It's the biggest problem I have with Google Voice. (Who also does not allow customizing VM wait time.......) It would surely help if they'd all get on the same page.
I usually carry the same phone for at least a day at a time, so I just retrieve voicemails locally from wherever they might have been stored before I switch phones. I know your situation is a little different, Et_Z, since you have to carry 2 networks just to be reasonably certain of receiving calls at all. That makes Google Voice an especially good solution, other than the VM issue.

Being mostly a homebody these days I use my cellular stuff more when I'm out doing errands, so VM is not a huge concern.

The only time it matters is on those few times that I go farther from home in my 24+ year old car & either a client or my partner is calling to say:
WHERE ARE YOU ?!?

It is at such times that I keep both phones powered on as I cross from dead zone to dead zone in hopes that at least 1 of them will work somewhat - but seldom is it a real worry.

The only time lately that it was revolved around a damaged tire going flat in our 'newer' (only 20 years old !!) car when I was over 100 miles from home with only a 50 mile donut spare on hand.

The fix for that was easier than finding cellular coverage though:
Now that car has a full-sized, matching tire instead !!

US mobile's super LTE (verizon) now has a unlimited talk and text plan for $10 plus $2 service fee and then I guess $1-2 taxes on top. Not too bad for verizon. Might be what you are looking for?

Thanks for this pointer Mmfacemm !!
May I ask where you saw this info please ??
I just looked at their site & did not see it, but I do seeit listed here:
https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhones/Carriers/US-Mobile

We never use up our Twigby allotments & we're paying about that same amount for that right now;
The main difference of course would be the unlimited aspect if we made such a change.
Given that we're both using CDMA (originally) Sprint based phones, that detail might not work out so well...?

Yes it was newly launched yesterday

or more info here

and here

(Thanks yeswap)

If you click on the whistlelout link.
www.whistleout.com/CellPhones/Carriers/US-Mobile
You can also get a new sign up credit of $30 paid out over 2 months.

We're paying ~$26/month all inclusive for 2 phones right now, and most likely our phones will not pass - anyhow, its not really worth the change to pay maybe ~$2 less/month IMO.

I've now seen the info there, thanks to Mmfacemm for the pointer to that press release:

Maybe sometime in the future there may be some other very good reason to switch...we'll see.

Thanks also to Als for the discount pointer !!
We're really in good shape cost-wise right now with essentially free TF for about another year & the Redpocket deal I got from another thread here for AT&T GSM, and then our 2 Twigby phones for VZ only areas.
Between all that stuff we pretty much have coverage anyplace that there is any signal a'tall & the only monthly bill for all of that is just the $26 to Twigby

'Redpocket support' is an oxymoron, I have just found out !!
I made a call last night & a automated voice told me that my (year) plan was expiring & that I must pay soon - WHAT !!!???

So I looked at the account at the site today and it shows this:

Baffling indeed - time to ask for help, if possible.
After a 17 minute hold for a chat, here is what happened...

I just totally wasted an hour of my life getting non-support.
Nasty indeed.

Looks like every month now when its ready to renew it'll jump into a call & tell me to pay...
Might be annoyed enough after all the coming months to get a different provider...again.
Meh.