About suspended account and 3G speed

[ea888]

Hi,

I need two phone numbers but one of them is only for receiving SMSs. I would like to know what it the minimum payment I can achieve. I'm thinking the folowwing scenario: pay $10 and use it for 1 month, then stop paying for 3 months, pay another $10 and so on... I don't know if I have to pay back what I owed during suspended. Can someone answer? Thanks!

Another question is about the 3G speed, I need to constantly load youtube videos, is it ok using the 3G data?

Thanks a lot!

[smp99]

I did have a FreePhoneLine (Powered By Fongo!) account that did get canceled because of inactivity, but not Fongo. 

[popping]

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@srlawren wrote:

@popping are you sure about that?  I rarely ever use my Fongo account and I've never seen any indication of it being suspended or anything.  And I've never given them a penny.

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Yes.  They canceled my account because of inactivity twice. I mean my account was gone which I cannot login.  No requirement to put money in my account for the first time.  Then, the second time, Fongo changed the rule, I put in $5 in my account which I can used to call US number or small town in Canada which Fongo does not have free service.

I just call my fongo number which is always forwarded to my home number for my fax machine in my office.  It is not longer valid. 

Fongo may have changed the period of inactivity.  It may be longer than 30 days now.  It used to be 30 days.

[stonechucker]

My Fongo is always logged in, rarely do I make a call with it.  My last outbound call was 29 days ago, just to test something.

[smp99]

I go months without touching my Fongo acct and it works fine - I just did a quick test now before I made the suggestion.

I have noticed recently I get a monthly text from Fongo talk about CCTS - or whatever the cell phone complaint line acronym is.

I think TextNow has some kind of use-it-or-lose-it policy.

[srlawren]

@popping are you sure about that?  I rarely ever use my Fongo account and I've never seen any indication of it being suspended or anything.  And I've never given them a penny.

[popping]

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@smp99 wrote:

If all you need for one of your lines is to receive text, just get a Fongo number, It's a free number to set up and all incoming texts are free.

You can put the Fongo App on your phone, and notifications pop up when you receive a text.

And, for now at least, it does not expire

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Fongo will cancel your number if it is not used.  You need to make a call from your Fongo number at least once per month.  I think they get money from the phone system fore every call.  You can get your Fongo number back within 90 days before Fongo recycled it.  But they want you to put $5 in your account so that your account will not be canceled again without activity.

I use Fongo for receiving fax and visual voicemail. I program my phone to forward my calls to my Fongo number on no answer, unavailable and busy.  Fongo will send the voicemail file to my email inbox.  I hate the voicemail sequential access. 

[smp99]

If all you need for one of your lines is to receive text, just get a Fongo number, It's a free number to set up and all incoming texts are free.

You can put the Fongo App on your phone, and notifications pop up when you receive a text.

And, for now at least, it does not expire

[ShawnC13]

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@popping wrote:

I have read people can stop paying for couple of months and re-activate before 90 days to keep their phone number. Will I be able to go back to the same plan again if my old plan is no long offered?

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Yes you can.  The plan that is suspended is the one that you are on and that is the one that would be re-activated UNLESS you ask a mod to change it as they are the only ones that can change a suspended plan

[popping]

I have read people can stop paying for couple of months and re-activate before 90 days to keep their phone number. Will I be able to go back to the same plan again if my old plan is no long offered?

[ShawnC13]

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@ea888 wrote:

Hi,

I need two phone numbers but one of them is only for receiving SMSs. I would like to know what it the minimum payment I can achieve. I'm thinking the folowwing scenario: pay $10 and use it for 1 month, then stop paying for 3 months, pay another $10 and so on... I don't know if I have to pay back what I owed during suspended. Can someone answer? Thanks!

Another question is about the 3G speed, I need to constantly load youtube videos, is it ok using the 3G data?

Thanks a lot!

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The $10 plan would be good if you are only receiving messages as you can only send 50 a 30 day period.  Your scenario will work if you are only planning on using it one out of every 4 months.  If you are uploading video all the time I would go against the throttled LTE "3G" and go wtih the full speed, but that is going to be more than $10 a month lol

[KMG]

Just keep in mind that if you let the account stay suspended for 90 days, the account is automatically closed and cannot be reactivated.  So always make sure to reactivate before day 88-89 or so, just to be sure.

[ea888]

I do not need to keep it active all the time, but when I need it, I can re-activate.

Thanks a lot! It's really a warm community!

[mimmo]

As your your YouTube videos I guess it depends how big they are.   My gut says no it will not be fast enough. But I don't really upload so. Can't say for certain.

Edit I thought you meant upload.  Regular streaming it is fine.

[will13am · Accepted solution]

@ea888, as a prepaid service you are in the driver's seat.  If you pay, you get service.  There is no such thing as arrears.  You are totally free to buy a 30 day period of service and then let the account go into suspension for 89 days and then renew it. 

With respect to 3G speed capability, it is fine for video streaming.  Just don't try 4k videos, 1080 is okay.  Here is a fairly recent thread comparing 3G and LTE.

https://productioncommunity.publicmobile.ca/t5/Getting-Started/3G-vs-LTE/m-p/248442

[KMG]

If you need one number for receiving SMS only, it still needs to be active all the time to receive.  You should use the $10/30day plan, but you will need to pay every month.  If you stop paying for the 3 months, you will not receive SMSs during those 3 months.  Because it is prepaid, you won't owe anything for the time the account is suspended.

3G speed will be slower for downloading watching Youtube videos, but for most people, it would be barely noticeable.  I would recommend trying it for 1 month.  If you find it too slow, then you can switch to a LTE speed plan.