[Giesela]

Willzzz88 - thanks for your reply! But.....I'm not sure I understand it. I googled "native cellular netwoks" and didn't come up with much.

I think what you are telling me is that AT&T has full ownership of all its coverage in Michigan and so if you were on AT&T wouldn't be dependent on roaming. I.e. what the others said, AT&T in northern MI is one of the only options.
But AT&T doesn't have the pay as you use options I would like.

How do I determine if goredpocket MVNO works up there?

[Nephler]

Giesela, Net10 uses AT&T towers in N. MI. Net10 is part of the TracPhone group, along with StraightTalk, but stick with Net10. For what ever reason, Net10 is the higher end of the three and seems to have much better coverage.
I've used Net10 for a good number of years, from Alaska to Michigan, and have never had a problem with coverage. Make sure though to put in the proper zip code on their website. If you put in a southern MI zip, you could end up with a sim card that uses T-Mobile.

[Giesela]

Nephler, great info. But I actually live in Ohio so..............what does that mean? I could end up with a T-mobile sim card? how did you get coverage from MI to Alaska, switching sim cards? It looks like if you have your own phone you just need to make sure you buy the sim card you need. Do you need multiple ones for better coverage in different areas? Say T-mobile in Ohio and buy an At&T one for up north?

I went to their website and see the buy however minutes you want at a time option but didn't see data.
I think this may still be the biggest gap in customer service. None of the carriers want to sell talk/text and data separately pay as you go, except T-mobile sort of.
Do you have data?

[Giesela]

Ok, well I just wanted to let people who gave info thanks and let you know how my quest was going (if anyone cares and I double checked the ATT website and they do seem to allow
bring your own phone
10c a min talk/test or 2 dollar a day for days used
then add random single months for data

Not exactly what I want as i would like to just pay for however much data I used on the road/traveling out of state when need it vs buying a whole month at a time. T mobile allows for a week at a time. But if they are both GSM(?) maybe I could switch sim cards down the road if Tmobile gets better coverage

Maybe someday use wifi for home data the rest of time? If that ever comes to pass

[willzzz88]

Giesela,

Yeah if you can afford it I'd recommend signing up with AT&T and Verizon directly so you don't have a middleman in terms of the wireless networks. Sometimes the MVNO's (re-sellers, etc.) have a hard time resolving issues that AT&T directly can resolve more easily. Plus you can go to any AT&T store in the US and get the device troubleshooted and looked at.

[Nephler]

Originally Posted by Giesela

Nephler, great info. But I actually live in Ohio so..............what does that mean? I could end up with a T-mobile sim card? how did you get coverage from MI to Alaska, switching sim cards? It looks like if you have your own phone you just need to make sure you buy the sim card you need. Do you need multiple ones for better coverage in different areas? Say T-mobile in Ohio and buy an At&T one for up north?

I went to their website and see the buy however minutes you want at a time option but didn't see data.
I think this may still be the biggest gap in customer service. None of the carriers want to sell talk/text and data separately pay as you go, except T-mobile sort of.
Do you have data?

I know you already posted with what you've done, but thought I'd answer anyway.
Your first Q, yes, you could end up with a T-Mobile card, that's way you need to input a zip code for the area you will be in. I guess I was thinking you were moving up here.
From AK to MI; I had a AT&T sim, so it worked everywhere I went. Even after moving back to MI, I kept my AK number for quite awhile, until I got a corporate phone through my work.
Yes, you can use your own phone as long as it is unlocked and a GSM phone.
If you were to go with Net10, and you have good AT&T coverage in OH, then that is what I would do. You would be covered in both areas.

Hope this helps a bit.

[Bebeloves]

We live in SE Michigan and had AT&T for years and years...we were tired of paying something like $180/mo. for our 2 smartphones so decided to try straighttalk and bring our phones with us (we were no longer under contract). We now pay half the cost for unlimited everything. We've been pretty happy with it. The customer service SUCKS and it sometimes is a hassle to understand the APN stuff, but we save a lot of money and have no contract. We have the AT&T phone compatible SIM cards (not sure these are still available but you could try ebay) and they still use the AT&T cell towers from what I understand....