What I did was NOT that complicated & had nothing to do w/ using a phone to top up. I bought time based on how long I'd be using the modem. That's how it was set up online. Looks like maybe I'll have to go to Digicel, too, if I can't get mine to work the way it did in the summer. Getting it to work effortlessly would be waaaaay too easy. I won't go into the modem (old & new) stories from last summer. Too frustrating.