I just bought a N900 off ebay earlier today. I intend for this to replace my N770(which is awesome, even though its a bit slow), and my aging $20 TracFone(pay-as-you-go) cellphone(Note: I am in the US).

Now that I have my new device bought, I need to find a cellular provider.
I'm a very light phone user; somewhere around 30-60 minutes/month. This may change in the future however, so I want to find a solution that won't lock me into just a few minutes a month or something.
SMS wise, I have never yet -sent- a SMS, but I would like to be able to -receive- them.
Data wise, I have never had a Smartphone, especially not one with the features of the N900, so I don't know what my use will be. I know that with my N770, I do use wi-fi a lot, though being able to do light browsing almost anywhere(even slowly) would be -very- nice.
Now, as far as providers go, I think I'm looking for a prepaid or pay-as-you go solution; I don't really want to be locked into a contract, unless I find a -really- good option.

Do you guys know of some compatible providers? I've heard a lot about Tmobile on this forum, but I'm not sure how I'd go about getting a sim from them and hooking it up to my phone.

Thanks,

-Rob

Edit: Stupid me forgot to mention that I am in the US.

I've nothing to recommend but...

I want to say welcome to the community. ^^

I think I would look hard at the "Travel Sim" option. Depending on the type youcan get deals all over.

I like to travel though....

Welcome by the way!

where are you from dude?? US? if yes, only T-mo will work for 3G connections. well that's the only option for you to have 3g... since it is your 1st smartphone, you'll really need to have a good/fast connection coz the main/best feature of this phone is the browser. I will tell you, you'll love browsing with this. im paying $40/mo with t-mo here.. no contract.. 450min,pay-per-text, unli web.

Yea, I'm from the US. Forgot that in my first post, edited and added it.

While that deal from TMobile seems interesting, $40 a month is a bit high for now, which is why I'm looking in the pay-as-you-go categories.
Any other stuff? 3G, while it looks nice and all... I think I can handle slower speeds for now. I'll just use free wifi when I need to d/l something.

Sorry for the double-post but...

Seeing as I'm not hearing anything about other alternatives, would this work?:
On Tmobile's website, I can get this "Tmobile prepaid activation kit"(sim) for $7, then use either this $15/month prepaid plan, and simply do without data, or go for that Sidekick plan(which I recall reading is possible to use on the N900?) if possible.

Will this work?

My situation is similar to yours. Before I got the N900, I used an unlocked phone with a T-mobile US prepaid SIM and used a N800 with wifi when I wasn't near a laptop.

The T-mobile prepaid plan is a great way to buy small amounts of voice airtime and SMS and their prepaid SIMs should work in any unlocked GSM phone, including the N900. Once you spend $100 on the account, any refills are good for a year so this is much less expensive than most prepaid plans for very light use. I got my SIM many years ago bundled with a very cheap backup phone at a T-mobile store because I was in a hurry at the time, but a bare SIM is even better for you since you already have another phone.

Data is a bit more complicated. The only smartphone data plan that a T-mobile service rep will tell you about is their Even More Plus plan with 500 monthly voice minutes and "unlimited" data and SMS for $60 per month or $80 with unlimited voice. The plan is month to month with a $35 fee to start and no charge to stop. I haven't tried it but it looks like a good deal for someone who expects to use it heavily.

At the other extreme, T-mobile provides limited web connectivity to a few sites for free on prepaid accounts. I haven't bothered trying it on my N900, but it worked on my old dumbphone. If you search the forum, you will find discussions of other inexpensive data options through T-mobile and ways to get more out of them than the carrier expects but I believe that all of them violate the terms of the subscriber agreement in some way. Lots of iPhone owners used to sign up for the Sidekick plan but T-mobile has cracked down on that practice, for example.

The US carriers are really overpricing their data services by only making them available on top of ridiculously expensive voice plans that few people really need. I have been tempted to just pay the $60 per month for a Mifi that I can use with my N900, N800, laptops, etc and be done with it but I don't really want yet another gadget and wifi is hard on battery life.

Now that the phony "unlimited" plans are starting to go away, the US mobile data market may start offering us some better choices that don't involve a contract or a bundled voice service. I definitely wouldn't submit to a two year contract today because things are changing fast.

I'm on T-Mobile Pay-As-You-Go. It's wonderful. I don't use many minutes, and when I'm on wifi I don't use hardly any at all, I have Google Voice ring my SIP account.

Until this week, I've been getting free SMS, also through Google Voice, while I'm out and about. It still works when I'm on wifi.

Tmobile Pay As You Go and Pay By the Day and Sidekick plans are all virtually the same; once you have signed up for one you can switch to either of the others for a max of $1. So just pick one and read about them online.

Note: Tmobile just announced they are stopping selling Sidekick, but i don't think this affects these plans.

Hi ,

So youve never had a smart fone or send a sms !

Dude your in for one massive learning curve !

You have started in the right place for help and advice.

Do alot of homework now or u'll find your self in a very confusing mess when you power up the n900 and start !