ST, H2O, Jolt Mobile, Red Pocket Mobile, and any other AT&T MVNO comparison.

[lantus915]

This is my first post i just bought red pocket earlier this week, what an upgrade from tmobile... here are my speeds in las vegas.

EDIT: I WROTE ATT UP THERE BECAUSE "RED POCKET" LOOKS LAME

[Endeavor]

I've created a detailed FAQ that includes information about most of the Prepaid Carriers. See the link in my signature.

[water-reality]

Hi please forgive any breaches of etiquette (First-timer). But I'm wondering if someone could kindly advise me.

Recently bought an unlocked iphone 4s from Apple and am using Redpocket as the carrier. All is good except I don't receive sms (text) messages from T-Mobile customers, I do get sms messages from ATT customers. I have spent about 5-hours on the phone with Redpocket customer service - to no avail. Any suggestions?

I'm wondering if I can use Jolt on my iPhone 4s and also use mms and data. Does my Iphone have to be jailbroken to use Jolt?

Thank you

[Endeavor]

Do you get text messages from Sprint and Verizon customers?

I can get you in touch with a high-up technical person at Red Pocket if you need. PM me your contact information.

Hi please forgive any breaches of etiquette (First-timer). But I'm wondering if someone could kindly advise me.

Recently bought an unlocked iphone 4s from Apple and am using Redpocket as the carrier. All is good except I don't receive sms (text) messages from T-Mobile customers, I do get sms messages from ATT customers. I have spent about 5-hours on the phone with Redpocket customer service - to no avail. Any suggestions?

I'm wondering if I can use Jolt on my iPhone 4s and also use mms and data. Does my Iphone have to be jailbroken to use Jolt?

Thank you

[water-reality]

Yes I do get text messages from sprint network (boost) not sure about verizon.

FYI - Just in case it has any relevance the number was originally a T-Mobile number ported it to ATT (for appx 3 years) then to Virgin Mobile ( appx 2 years) then to Red Pocket. First time I'm having this problem though.

Thx for advice/help.

Do you get text messages from Sprint and Verizon customers?

I can get you in touch with a high-up technical person at Red Pocket if you need. PM me your contact information.

[Guest 282]

I'm wondering if I can use Jolt on my iPhone 4s and also use mms and data. Does my Iphone have to be jailbroken to use Jolt?

My friend is using an iPhone 4s on Jolt right now. Everything works great. In order to use data you will need to go to unlockit.co.nz and setup a Jolt profile (this procedure goes for all ATT MVNOs). As far as MMS I used a Tmo sim swap to setup the MMS apn settings but unfortunately it did not stick. After unlocking the 4s though MMS worked great (again all this is necessary on an iPhone when using any ATT MVNO). Hope that helps.

[hasasimo]

Wasn't sure where else to post this, but I created an account just to share my Red Pocket nightmare and hopefully help anyone who was thinking of switching to them.

So I have a Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone that I'd like to take full advantage of, but couldn't on T-Mobile given that the device doesn't use T-Mobile's 3G band. Also, I don't get reception where I work with T-Mobile, but the AT&T folks do. I didn't want to pay up the wazoo for AT&T so I went the MVNO route.

My first choice was Jolt. I called them and got an answer immediately (which almost caught me off guard, expected to wait a while). The problem was that they didn't have a retailer near by. Red Pocket on the other hand did, and their plans are virtually identical to Jolt's, so I decided to go with them. I called them to verify that their 3G band matched up with ATT's. I was on hold for about 30 minutes. A smarter man would have taken that as a warning and ran the other way. I decided to proceed.

So I go to American Wireless at the Ballston Mall in Arlington, VA to switch to Red Pocket. It had been 40 hours and my number still hadn't been ported to Red Pocket. So I call them, I wait 40 minutes, and finally someone picks up (it took just as long for their chat representatives to answer on their website by the way, in case you thought that might be faster). They told me "since its the weekend, not a lot of people are working so it might take longer than expected). I had my doubts, given that my 3G band question was asked on a Thursday when it took 30 minutes on hold.

Fast forward 8 hours (48 hours total) and my number was finally ported over. However, MMS and Voicemail were not working. I configured internet settings myself and that worked, at least. When I called my own number from my handset, I'd get a message saying "This person has not configured their voice mailbox." WTF?

So I call them to let them know MMS and voicemail aren't working. 41 minutes later, someone finally picks up. I'm put on hold again as my account gets "re-configured." They tell me to turn my phone off, remove the sim, then insert it back in the phone and turn it back on and that voicemail and MMS would be up and running. So I carefully follow those instructions and it does not work... voicemail and MMS still not operational.

I call back, and wait about 35 minutes this time. I repeat the problem to them and tell them how the previous phone call with their representative went. I'm put on hold another 10 minutes, and when the representative returned he told me that my account had been "reset a different way this time, so it'll work." He said to turn off my phone and remove the sim card, wait 5 to 10 minutes than put the sim card back in and turn the phone back on and "it should be working."

So I wait 15 minutes, turn it back on, and surprise surprise... both voicemail and MMS still not working.

I don't know if T-Mobile customer service (which was good, not great) spoiled me, or if my experience was an anomaly (probably not, considering it took 30 to 40 minutes for Red Pocket customer service to answer each and every single time), but if you choose to go with Red Pocket, do so at your own risk!

This isn't to say that other ATT MVNOs are this terrible, but I don't want to risk going through something like this again, so I'm probably just going to switch to AT&T (sigh) and live with the astronomical prices.

Sorry for the long post, but hopefully it was worth reading if you were considering Red Pocket.

[fonezfonz]

There's Jolt of course and there's Horizon Mobile which both run off of Red Pocket as sub mvnos and have identical monthly (if not paygo) plans as alternatives. Idk much about Horizon (their 2gb plan is a little higher at $65) but I believe it is possible that Red Pocket sims may work on all three. Red Pocket CS is hit or miss. Jolt's is consistently fast and open 247 though their quality can vary. At least with Jolt , you can try and get a better one right away. I refuse to waste 30 minutes on hold with any prepaid carrier. H20 is another bad one.

[Guest 282]

@hasasimo I would suggest you go with Jolt Mobile. As you said you had a better experience with their customer service.

I can also confirm that they do have very good CS and I have never had to wait more than 5 mins any time I called.

I am also from the DC area and can confirm that coverage and data speeds are just as fast with Jolt as they are with ATT. And the best benefit is that you will be paying half the price ATT charges for it (120 vs 60).

Lastly, I ordered my Jolt sim from eBay as it was cheaper than ordering it directly from Jolt's site. Below is a link to where you can order the sim for under $5 plus free shipping:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Jolt-Sim-Car...#ht_933wt_1139

EDIT: After receiving your Jolt sim call CS to have it activated and your number ported.

[DannyNY]

Wasn't sure where else to post this, but I created an account just to share my Red Pocket nightmare and hopefully help anyone who was thinking of switching to them.

So I have a Nokia Lumia 800 Windows Phone that I'd like to take full advantage of, but couldn't on T-Mobile given that the device doesn't use T-Mobile's 3G band. Also, I don't get reception where I work with T-Mobile, but the AT&T folks do. I didn't want to pay up the wazoo for AT&T so I went the MVNO route.

My first choice was Jolt. I called them and got an answer immediately (which almost caught me off guard, expected to wait a while). The problem was that they didn't have a retailer near by. Red Pocket on the other hand did, and their plans are virtually identical to Jolt's, so I decided to go with them. I called them to verify that their 3G band matched up with ATT's. I was on hold for about 30 minutes. A smarter man would have taken that as a warning and ran the other way. I decided to proceed.

So I go to American Wireless at the Ballston Mall in Arlington, VA to switch to Red Pocket. It had been 40 hours and my number still hadn't been ported to Red Pocket. So I call them, I wait 40 minutes, and finally someone picks up (it took just as long for their chat representatives to answer on their website by the way, in case you thought that might be faster). They told me "since its the weekend, not a lot of people are working so it might take longer than expected). I had my doubts, given that my 3G band question was asked on a Thursday when it took 30 minutes on hold.

Fast forward 8 hours (48 hours total) and my number was finally ported over. However, MMS and Voicemail were not working. I configured internet settings myself and that worked, at least. When I called my own number from my handset, I'd get a message saying "This person has not configured their voice mailbox." WTF?

So I call them to let them know MMS and voicemail aren't working. 41 minutes later, someone finally picks up. I'm put on hold again as my account gets "re-configured." They tell me to turn my phone off, remove the sim, then insert it back in the phone and turn it back on and that voicemail and MMS would be up and running. So I carefully follow those instructions and it does not work... voicemail and MMS still not operational.

I call back, and wait about 35 minutes this time. I repeat the problem to them and tell them how the previous phone call with their representative went. I'm put on hold another 10 minutes, and when the representative returned he told me that my account had been "reset a different way this time, so it'll work." He said to turn off my phone and remove the sim card, wait 5 to 10 minutes than put the sim card back in and turn the phone back on and "it should be working."

So I wait 15 minutes, turn it back on, and surprise surprise... both voicemail and MMS still not working.

I don't know if T-Mobile customer service (which was good, not great) spoiled me, or if my experience was an anomaly (probably not, considering it took 30 to 40 minutes for Red Pocket customer service to answer each and every single time), but if you choose to go with Red Pocket, do so at your own risk!

This isn't to say that other ATT MVNOs are this terrible, but I don't want to risk going through something like this again, so I'm probably just going to switch to AT&T (sigh) and live with the astronomical prices.

Sorry for the long post, but hopefully it was worth reading if you were considering Red Pocket.

So your experience with Red Pocket didn't go well...that doesn't mean you should go to AT&T and pay the astronomical prices.
There are plenty of people who are on Jolt Mobile, Straight Talk, and other AT&T MVNO's that are very happy and have no issues.
Is your MMS configuration on the handset correct?
Are you dialing the voicemail access #? Call them up again and just say that your voicemail isn't turned on and that you want it turned on. Maybe you'll get an agent who can do that for you.
Don't expect much from Red Pocket as they are fairly small and aren't as big as the main carrier's prepaid division or Tracfone's family of prepaid (ex: Straight Talk).
Many have been the Prepaid/MVNO route for a long time without issues.

[fonezfonz]

There are a number of mvnos hosted by larger mvnos. Skyview off of H20. Jolt Mobile and Horizon Mobile off of Red Pocket. Fuzion Mobile off of Air Voice. Does anyone know if the host mvno's sim can be used on the smaller mvno?

[momotarosan]

I signed up with H2O a month ago. 80% of my outbound international calls failed to one way audio (called party can't hear). Their customer service is nearly non-existent.