Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority
TL;DR If you’re looking for unlimited tablet data, Straight Talk and Total Wireless may be your very best option.
Plans are just $10 to $20 a month for those with an existing phone plan from either provider.
You’ll get truly unlimited data, though it will see deprioritization during periods of congestion.
While all three major US wireless providers offer optional tablet plans for both prepaid and postpaid customers, official tablet support is actually much less common in the prepaid world. That’s why I was excited when I stumbled upon a Reddit thread claiming that Straight Talk now has tablet plans. Apparently, I wasn’t the only one interested, as the post quickly rose to the top of the hot list on the No Contract subreddit.
As it turns out, Verizon actually announced these changes for Total Wireless and Straight Talk customers back in February, but the news seems to have flown under the radar for many. While Total and Straight Talk differ in plan structure and marketing, the new tablet plans are universal across both Verizon Value brands.
There are two plans on offer: a base plan with LTE speeds for $50 a month, or a 5G plan for $60. That’s certainly steep for a stand-alone tablet plan, but the good news is you’ll save $40 if you sign up for (or already have) a phone plan with either carrier. That brings the price down to just $10 and $20 a month, respectively.
Aside from 5G support, the base plan also offers just 5GB of hotspot access versus 30GB with the 5G plan, and 720p streaming instead of full 1080p.
Normally, Straight Talk and Total adding tablet plans wouldn’t be newsworthy this late after the fact, but I’ll be honest: there’s really no better option out there if you want unlimited tablet data. While Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile all offer prepaid and postpaid tablet plans, you’ll typically pay more — and you won’t find truly unlimited options in most cases. For example, T-Mobile prepaid starts at $10 a month for 2GB of data and tops out at 50GB for $50 a month, plus taxes and fees.
In fact, the only official unlimited tablet plan I could dig up was the Cricket Simply Tablet Plan, which gives you unlimited data on AT&T’s network for $15 a month, though it does require a phone plan. That said, this plan doesn’t include hotspot access and is limited to SD speeds. It’s possible there are others out there from smaller or more obscure providers, but the point is your official options remain limited.
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