Cell Phone Plans - Which One do you use and why?

[tryan]

paying thru the nose for 4 phones via verizon. Look at dropping to T-mobile/Sprint/ATT but none have service at the lake. And I can't go weeks without a phone.

Soo for all those who come to the lake with thier no-service cells ... I have OOMA at no monthly cost (bought BEFORE they added the taxes and 911 fees). Tried vonage for years but noticed "price creep" ... 14.99 became 17.99 became 24.99. ENOUGH ALREADY!

To each his own.

[Surfdaddy]

Quote:

Originally Posted by JoeWras I used to be amazed and used to tell people so when I had Virgin Mobile pay as you go grandfathered plan. Spent about $5 to $10 per month. Then I was let down by Sprint's terrible coverage (nothing in most of NoDak for instance). Virgin uses Sprint's network. And now, I've caved and have a smartphone on a different carrier. Paying more, yes, but have to admit is darn near necessary considering everyone "needs" to text me, need email access, etc. I'm converted. I've seen the light. Blah, blah. I'm not amazed anymore.

I also used Virgin Mobile for a couple of years and didn't like the coverage and slow data speeds. I bought a Nexus 5 unlocked off contract and am now on TMobile plan for $45/month, as I travel internationally at times and now I get free data and texts internationally as well. My Virgin (Sprint) CDMA phone wouldn't work internationally.

The guy at the TMobile store said that TMobile is currently experiencing a 2:1 inflow versus outflow of customers since they changed their plans.

I don't ever plan on having a contract again, or a phone locked to a specific carrier.

[ShokWaveRider]

Texts are available on T-Mobile Pay as you go. (Pre-Paid). Only time you need a plan is if you need Data.

We are supposed to be retired now. when working I could not be without data. Today there is nothing that cannot wait till I get within Wi-Fi Range of some place.

[Lsbcal]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Surfdaddy I also used Virgin Mobile for a couple of years and didn't like the coverage and slow data speeds. I bought a Nexus 5 unlocked off contract and am now on TMobile plan for $45/month, as I travel internationally at times and now I get free data and texts internationally as well. My Virgin (Sprint) CDMA phone wouldn't work internationally. The guy at the TMobile store said that TMobile is currently experiencing a 2:1 inflow versus outflow of customers since they changed their plans. I don't ever plan on having a contract again, or a phone locked to a specific carrier.

This is just what I was thinking of doing.

Did you buy the Nexus 5 through TMobil or Google or ... ?

[Mulligan]

I am stuck with a $30 virgin mobile monthly text/phone plan with internet so slow on the phone I have maybe used it twice in 4 years (no landline). I would not mind having a smart phone and paying extra, but I am at the point in my life where my eye sight is great just beyond arms length or having bright sunlight available. So I only have my readers on in the house and I already have the iPad available. So until my eyesight deteriorates a little more there is no use for a smart phone because I couldn't read anything on it as I never carry my readers out in public.

[Chuckanut]

Straight Talk. I bought their ATT sim card, and pay about $42 a month plus taxes for unlimited minutes, text, and data. But, data speeds are 3G not LTE, and after 2.5 Gigs a month, they are throttled to 2G speeds. (Note: I have never come near using 2.5 gigs in a month, but then I don't stream video on my phone, download thousands of songs, etc.)

Customer Service long a sore point with them has been better. I recently called when I lost my data service after updating the OS. Rather than keeping me on hold, they called me back in less than an hour and connected me with a fellow who walked my through the necessary phone changes to get my data back. My only gripe is that they should have had this information on their website since the problem had been well known for months. That would have saved them money and me some aggravation.

[oldtrig]

Page Plus is what I use. $12 per month and I pre-pay at radio shack. 250 minutes and texts. I have always got text and minutes left over as I am not a phone person but I have one in case I ever need it. I just use voice text if I need to use that option for someone who will not answer the phone. The 10 meg data is useless and I never use it. Have a hard enough time seeing things on my 24 inch computer monitor.

[tfudtuckerpucker]

Lycamobile. I put $10 in the 2 cents per minute plan, and have used around $5 in the past 6 months. I only use the cell phone when I'm away from home (I have the free Obihai VOIP service). I am learning from the frugal wizards on this board, so it's a good fit for me. DW uses Pageplus for $30/mon, since she's a heavier user. Oops, I mean she uses her phone more.

[samclem]

Quote:

Originally Posted by SteveNU We are switching to Republic Wireless. You buy the phone, a Moto X, nice phone for $300 and then you have a choice of 4 plans. My phone is $10/month unlimited calling and text and my wife is on the $25/month plan which is unlimited everything. They use WiFi if available then Sprint and then Verizon if Sprint network is not available. We've been testing them for the past few weeks and the service is exactly the same as our $150/month Verizon plan!

This Republic Wireless concept looks great for my needs. You have to use their phone, but the phone and service get great reviews. They have a 30 day "try it free" offer, and you can also upgrade/downgrade among their various plans easily as often as you want. I'll probably start with the $10/mo plan you are on and use the "native" phone number that comes with their phone, then if I really like the service and get good Sprint connections where I usually travel I'll switch my existing number to them. If I get hooked on the smartphone and convinced of the need/value of "web access everywhere" I'll upgrade to the $25/mo plan that offers data via the cell network (when there's no wifi). Seems like a good way to dip my toe in the digital milieu of the 21st century.
Thanks for bringing this option up, I hadn't heard of Republic before.

[ERD50]

Quote:

Originally Posted by samclem This Republic Wireless concept looks great for my needs. You have to use their phone, but the phone and service get great reviews. They have a 30 day "try it free" offer, and you can also upgrade/downgrade among their various plans easily as often as you want. ... Thanks for bringing this option up, I hadn't heard of Republic before.

Yes, I'm also looking into this for a friend, and might switch at some point (less likely though, the T-Mobile Gold plan with optional $2-$3/day data when you need it works for us).

But a note on that 'as often as you want' comment. They say you can switch 2x a month, but that includes switching to and from. So let's say the first week of the billing month you decide you need data while you are out and about, so you switch to the $25 plan for a few days, then switch back. Then the 3rd week of the month you find you have a need for data - but you are stuck as you already used your two switches.

So if you want to use data, probably best to just leave it at the $25 rate until the near end of the billing cycle, unless you can be certain of your needs.

I can understand they don't want people switching in/out every few days, but a lot of people are bringing this issue up on their forums. I think it would make more sense for them to charge a 'transaction fee' of a buck or two for switches past the first one/two per billing cycle. It's not good to get 'locked out'.

-ERD50

[Gotadimple]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ShokWaveRider Texts are available on T-Mobile Pay as you go. (Pre-Paid). Only time you need a plan is if you need Data. We are supposed to be retired now. when working I could not be without data. Today there is nothing that cannot wait till I get within Wi-Fi Range of some place.

+1

[tulak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lsbcal The reason I want to get a GSM phone (means probably an Android phone) is because that will work in Europe. Although we don't go there very often, it could be handy. Also I really like my Nexus 7 tablet, so I imagine the Android experience on a phone will be OK. The Nexus 5 has a decent size screen for web browsing on the go.

Another benefit with t-mobile: free data/text and cheap voice calls when roaming. We took a short trip up to Canada for a few days and were still able to use our phones. The data wasn't fast, but it worked well enough. The biggest plus was being able to text without any problems. At this point, I doubt I'll be searching for a local sim card when traveling internationally.