It does not require a phone from WalMart. I ordered a new SIM card from t-mobile.com and activated it with the $30 plan. However, you cannot get it in T-Mobile stores.

I tried to do the same, but I can't activate the plan because my sim card is not activated. If I go into a store, they can't activate the Walmart Plan. How did you do it?

"I can't activate the plan because my sim card is not activated"

When you order the sim from T-mobile directly, you can activate it. You can purchase it online from them for 99 cents.

They let me activate it in the store. Just ask politely and they'll do it.

Not accurate, actually, though I understand your confusion. I ordered a SIM from them a few weeks ago (on the website) and then activated my phone with one of those plans. No Walmart.

Went to T-Mobile store friday, they sold me a microsim for my nexus 4 and told me to go to the walmart down the street to activate the $30 plan. I tried calling customer support but they also told me to go to walmart to get the plan.

I get to walmart and they tell me I have to buy one of their shitty phones to activate the plan. I call customer support again and asked if I could return the sim I bought at the store, and they said "it depends on the store."

Lied to and pissed off customer here. Just ordered a sim online and we'll see how that goes. I'm going to try to get a refund for this card anyway.

The 99cent sim on their site works fine.

I've got that plan on my Nexus 4, bought from the Google Play store. It's not Walmart exclusive, it's only available at Walmart or T-Mobile's website.

This is not true at all. I am on the $30 plan on a Galaxy Nexus purchased through the play store. You can order your sim card for the plan from T-Mobile now as well as Walmart.

Yes, however you can order the (micro, if applicable) SIM activation kit online for $0.99 and free shipping. If you can't wait then your only option is picking up a SIM card kit from a T-Mobile store for $20.

T-Mobile stores no longer sell SIM card kits; you must buy them online.

You can also regularly get a T-Mobile prepaid phone of some variant for $20 at Walgreens, which comes with the "Activation Kit" (SIM card and secret number) as well as a terrible GSM-only phone you can throw away.

They do sell SIM cards, I was at a T-Mobile store yesterday. I don't understand the rationale for selling SIM cards in-store at 20 times the cost of buying online.

If you are charming like me you can get a SIM card at a T-Mobile store for free (did so last week in SF). Everything is negotiable.

I picked up a SIM card for my new Nexus 4 in-store a couple of weeks ago. Just walked in, told them what I needed, was promptly given a card for $0.