Question about Prepaid CellPhones

What do you guys suggest I should do If I want a prepaid cellphone. And some questions.
1. Do I have to buy a raw Cellphone and then buy a prepaid sim card?
2. Does the raw cellphone give you a cellphone number or is it the simcard that gives you the cellphone number?
3. Where should I buy these simcards? (Amazon/Brick&Motar stores/ Online retail shops/ Sythe?)
4. How does the messaging work?
- Does each text/message/call that comes in to the card get deducted from the prepaid sim card?
5. What brand is best for prepaid cellphones?

Thanks if you are answering.

 

If you were unlucky and didn't buy an unlocked phone to begin with, you can only unlock your phone if everything is fully paid, and if the carrier thinks they've made you jump through enough hoops and whistles. THEN, you can only use what networks your phone allows. You'll have to google your specific phone.

Sim cards are what give your phone number. Sort of. Almost every company allows a port-in of a phone number.

You buy the sim card where you can. Probably just their website.

Yes, every message / call that comes to that phone number gets deducted.

Brand is a very hard thing to answer. There's a ton to consider:
Customer service is probably lacking the cheaper you go - this doesn't matter if you've got your sheep figured out.
There are a lot of fees to consider in what you deem best - how much is data per MB, how much are each message, each pic message, each minute, monthly fees.



Getting your phone unlocked and finding out if there are carrier limitations in the hardware is what you need to do, so you know what you're dealing with.

 

Thanks man, informative. damn. I actually thought cellphone gave the phone # lol.