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How to Get FREE Cell Phone Service in Big Bear Lake

11/21/2013

12 Comments

 
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All the major cell carriers work in Big Bear area, but due to mountain terrain, there are some dead zones. If your house is in a cell tower dead zone there wasn't much you could do in the past. But today I heard about FreedomPOP wireless.  You can either buy a phone for $99 or activate an old unused Sprint smartphone that you have lying around. I happened to have my old HTC EVO 4g phone from my last upgrade. 

I logged on to FreedomPop.com/phoneactivate and within 10 minutes I had a new phone number and a 30 day free trial with unlimited cell minutes and txt.
Also you can try http://www.freedompop.com/byod


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SIGNUP TIP: Even if the FreedomPop site says service is unavailable in your area, if you know Sprint works in the area, just signup with a friend's address in another area. FreedomPop site said it wouldn't work in my area, but it actually works fine. I think their site says, "Signup Anyway" and they will ship you the phone to your area even if their coverage map says no coverage. Its a 30 day free trial anyway, so give it a shot. Let us know if it works below!

After 30 days you can choose either from these plans: 
Free Plan with 200 voice minutes, 500 txt
$8 plan with 500 voice minutes, unlimited txt
$12 plan with Unlimited voice minutes, unlimited txt

There is limited cell phone data with these plans, but if you limit your phone data usage you can save a ton of money.  (internet browsing, email, and phone apps use data) 

How do they do it. Well whenever your phone is on WIFI, your voice calls are routed through the WIFI instead of a cell tower. (Much like SKYPE on VONAGE) 
This is where the cell phone dead zones come into play. If you have WIFI at home but no cell tower reception, your FreedomPop cell phone will work at home through your WIFI and when you are out and about it works through the Sprint cell towers. 

If I wasn't still on a Sprint contract I would save a ton of money monthly and go with their $12/month unlimited talk/txt plan and just use WIFI for data. 

How does FreedomPop make money? Well, they are hoping to up-sell you on higher data plans and phone features. I think you have to pay $2.50/month for voicemail with the free plan. And higher cell data plans like 2GB/mo for $19.99. 

Their website is pretty good and you can switch plans or keep track of your usage online easily: 
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Setting up my phone was pretty easy, just a few settings updates and download the FreedomPop android app and I was online in minutes. 
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I made a few test calls and txts and everything works fine, but like any VOIP service, the call quality is limited by your internet connection speed. I will update this as the month goes on and let you know of any drawbacks I find. 

I tested the phone calling over my Charter Internet WIFI by putting the phone in airplane mode, then turning on phone WIFI manually. This way you know the phone is not connected to a cell tower. You still use the android phones normal dialing process and the call is seamlessly routed over VOIP and your WIFI connection. TXT messages come in as normal even when you are on only WIFI. Pretty cool! And you can't beat the price. Did I mention there is NO CONTRACT and you can cancel quit anytime? 

What do you think? Are you ready to ditch your expensive cell plan and get unlimited minutes for $12/month? Let me know in comments below! 

12 Comments
Ward Christman
11/25/2013 03:42:56 am

Nice write up - thanks!
I wish there was an easy way to know for sure which phones could be activated before buying them... i did order one of "their" phones and it is in "kitting" mode so i am patiently waiting. If it works well in my area (Philly) my wife will be ditching VZ for sure!

Reply
Curious Lurker
2/8/2014 05:17:18 am

Try http://www.freedompop.com/byod

I saw this in the comments of http://gigaom.com/2013/11/19/got-an-old-sprint-phone-freedompop-will-activate-it-under-its-freemium-plans/ and am waiting on a friend to end their Sprint contract so I can inherit their phone and try out the service!

Reply
Ken
11/26/2013 12:41:26 am

I got only 1 problem: incoming calls work only when the screen is on (no matter wifi/3g/4g is/are on). It just does not wake up my phone. Is this the problem for everyone? Tech support told me they are fixing it and should be fixed in a few days.

Reply
James
11/26/2013 01:25:39 am

I'm on my old EVO 4g.
With just 3g on and screen off, it didn't ring. FP icon not present.

I turned on WIFI and the FP icon appeared "freedom pop registered" and turned off screen and it rang with screen off.

Reply
James
11/26/2013 01:27:55 am

Also I haven't played with it yet. But as soon as you sign-up and get a new FreedomPop number. You can use that to get a new google voice number. Then give people your google voice number to call and make GV ring to FP phone. If FP phone doesn't answer, then GV voicemail takes message. Set FP phone voicemail number to your googlevoice number and you should have free voicemail.

Reply
Joe the plumber
1/25/2014 04:07:35 am

Does the phone have to be unlocked from Sprint?

Reply
James
1/25/2014 04:30:23 am

Not unlocked or rooted. I assume it just needs to have a clean ESN. Which means the phone isn't tagged as stolen and you haven't left sprint mid contract without paying termination fees.

Reply
Ward Christman
1/25/2014 08:02:49 am

I recently bought a used Galaxy S2 and it was a Sprint phone now I'm using it on FreedomPop and overall it works great! I am having trouble getting Google Voice to completely link up with it though, otherwise works like a charm in all respects.

Reply
James
1/25/2014 08:07:52 am

Ward... What city are you in?

Reply
Ward Christman
1/25/2014 10:43:39 pm

West Chester, PA. What's weird w/ GV when on VZ I could call my GV number from my mobile and talk to the other phones that ring on the GV line but now GV sends me right to GV vmail.

Reply
Curious Bystander
2/10/2014 01:53:18 am

After a few months, how would you say your experience has been with FreedomPop? I'd like to try it out, but it seems like few people have posted their opinions after using the service for a while.

Reply
James
2/10/2014 02:21:39 am

I'd say, you get what you pay for. It works, but its not like a normal cell phone since its VOIP over WIFI much of the time. Once and awhile the phone won't ring and callers go to voicemail. But if you just want cheap service, it can't be beat.

Reply



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