OT: What cell phone providers do you guys have?

[JMORC2003]

I’m paying like $200 a month with AT&T for my wife and mine own phones and feels like I can save some money. I don’t use a lot of data, not concerned with having the latest phone. Anyone get any good deals lately? Any issues with service?

as long as I can text, make calls and back up my pictures on iCloud I’m good.

 

[zappaa]

I’m paying 400 for Verizon.
2 kids a wife and a mother in law.
All 4 of us are on the phone all day long it seems

 

[RUevolution36]

I’m paying like $200 a month with AT&T for my wife and mine own phones and feels like I can save some money. I don’t use a lot of data, not concerned with having the latest phone. Anyone get any good deals lately? Any issues with service?

as long as I can text, make calls and back up my pictures on iCloud I’m good.

Try T-mobile. Stick to the big 3 imo. Reception and data gets hokey with resellers from my friends' experiences

 

[robcac26]

I'm paying something like 57 or 58 for Verizon, just my one phone on the plan. It was a 2 GB plan but they increased it to I think 10 GB at no additional cost. I'm using a BlackBerry PRIV, which is one of the relatively newer BlackBerry phones with Android, although it's five years old now and needs to be replaced. I would like to get one of the newer BlackBerry phones, but they are both 4G LTE and CDMA, and Verizon is shut down CDMA at the end of this month, so I'm not even sure how well these phones are going to work on Verizon anymore, and not a single person at Verizon customer service can give me an answer.

I looked into switching providers but everyone else seems to only offer unlimited data plans, but for $15 a month more than what I'm paying now, so I guess I'll just have to wait to see if my phone still works in January and then decide based on that if I'm staying with Verizon or not, and then I'll finally be able to get a new phone. Pretty annoying.

 

[GoodOl'Rutgers]

I have google fi and its cheap.. but iphone support is not 100% there yet with the wifi calls, from what I understand.

I used to be on Republic Wireless.. which I liked.. but at that time they were late to support new phone models.. here's the iphones they support.. and the backbone they use is T-Mobile and Sprint.. when I was with them the deal was you paid small fee per hone plus like $10 per gigabyte and got refunds for data you did not use. They are heavily based on how using wifi for calls... which everyone can do now.

Walmart's Straight Talk might be worth looking into... and if you like ATT's network (reaches your home and work and where you use the phone most often) that is what Cricket Wireless uses.

T-Mobile looks decent at Rutgers Stadium

Verizon even better

Assuming that site's data is up to date

 

[BigRnj]

Cricket is AT&T’s no frills arm

 

[saltpepperketchup]

T mobile. $140 for 3 lines that includes unlimited data. Really like it. The one minor gripe is the cell service can occasionally be be wonky for phone calls compared to Verizon. But it is minor and isn't a huge deal. The benefits of unlimited data far out outweigh an occasional phone call bring dropped. No issues with texting. Add in the much cheaper bill made it a no brainier. Switched like 2 years ago and they even paid off all three phones that we had just purchased from Verizon. I don't know what promotions they have now a days.

So dropped Verizon wireless for T-Mobile on the mobile side. Then dropped Verizon FiOS land line/TV/internet bundle. Switched to optimum for internet service only. Ported my my land line number to Google voice which is now free every month and switched to YouTube TV for TV. Love YTTV and with the unlimited data with T-Mobile can watch TV anywhere on our cell phones without having to worry about being in Wi-Fi.

Saving a lot, though YTTV has increased their price still way worth it.

 

[Plum Street]

If you have Comcast cable or internet, get their cell service . It’s cheaper and service is good

 

[hoquat63]

VZ - it’s on my daughters plan - for me and Mrs Hoquat it’s $120 a month with unlimited data.

 

[hankee18]

The key is hanging on to your phone and not upgrading for as long as possible.

It used to be that technology changed so much in that 2-3 year period you just had to upgrade. Now? Ive had the same phone almost 4 years now, still works great. And my monthly AT&T bill has been about 30 bucks lower last 2 years

 

[mikebal9]

I have Verizon. Two phones, $152/mo for unlimited. December is our last payment on our phones, so it's about to go down quite a bit.

 

[Plum Street]

The key is hanging on to your phone and not upgrading for as long as possible.

It used to be that technology changed so much in that 2-3 year period you just had to upgrade. Now? Ive had the same phone almost 4 years now, still works great. And my monthly AT&T bill has been about 30 bucks lower last 2 years

Agree . I had an iPhone 6 for about 5 years . Replaced the battery once . But it just got too damn slow and had to replace

 

[Scarlet4Shore]

Agree . I had an iPhone 6 for about 5 years . Replaced the battery once . But it just got too damn slow and had to replace

Plum, I still have an iPhone 6. I already replaced the battery , but it’s just not holding a charge anymore. What did you replace your phone with? I have Verizon 2 GB plan for me and a family member. We don’t really use data. Pretty much just talk and text. I pay $78 a month.

 

[newell138]

For anyone with limited data and Verizon you should call and upgrade to unlimited. When I did my bill actually went down a few bucks and no more overage payments. I have 4 phones and a watch and pay $290 a month

 

[RC1978]

I have used Google Fi for the last three years. My average monthly bill is $45. I have never had coverage issues and I travel all over the country. The second best thing other then price is service. All you need to do is click support and they will call you back within minutes. If security is in issue they have VPN mode.

If you are married to your iPhone might not be the best plan. But if you are a Android user I highly recommend get a Pixel phone and use Google Fi.

Google Fi - A Simple, Wireless Phone Plan With Unlimited Data

Make the switch to a wireless phone plan at an affordable price. Get unlimited data, international roaming, and more from your friends at Google Fi.

fi.google.com

 

[RUinPinehurst]

Total Wireless. Uses the Verizon network at less than half the cost. We pay $60 for two lines (auto-pay) with more data (30 GB) than we ever use.

 

[JMORC2003]

I have Verizon. Two phones, $152/mo for unlimited. December is our last payment on our phones, so it's about to go down quite a bit.

Yeah I need something like this. My phone is paid.
For T-Mobile I’m not using my phone for customers or anything so the occasiona

Total Wireless. Uses the Verizon network at less than half the cost. We pay $60 for two lines (auto-pay) with more data (30 GB) than we ever use.

Is there a catch? were you able to keep To keep your phones and phone numbers. I have an iPhone, wife has a LG

 

[Plum Street]

Plum, I still have an iPhone 6. I already replaced the battery , but it’s just not holding a charge anymore. What did you replace your phone with? I have Verizon 2 GB plan for me and a family member. We don’t really use data. Pretty much just talk and text. I pay $78 a month.

I went with the new generation iPhone SE . It’s apple’s cheapest new phone . It is very similar to the 6 and still has the home button! Battery health is already down to 96% after 6 months . It took about 2 years for it to reach that level on my 6. Things just aren’t built like they’re used to . But it’s a good, basic phone. .
I have Comcast so the plans are pretty cheap and the phone cost is competitive.

 

[RU205]

I have Verizon. 4 lines unlimited. All 4 phones are paid off and I pay $250 a month.

 

[rutgersal]

I’m paying like $200 a month with AT&T for my wife and mine own phones and feels like I can save some money. I don’t use a lot of data, not concerned with having the latest phone. Anyone get any good deals lately? Any issues with service?

as long as I can text, make calls and back up my pictures on iCloud I’m good.

the best deal is with a cable provider such as Spectrum or Xfinity (Comcast). It’s $12 per Gig or $45 per line Unlimited. They use Verizon for their service. If Optimum services your area, Altice Mobile is an option and has similar pricing. Their service is provided by AT&T.

 

[RU_DIO]

Xfinity(which uses Verizon towers) is usually a really good deal. $250 rebate on phones right now before 1/15.

 

[Legendary Irish]

I’m paying like $200 a month with AT&T for my wife and mine own phones and feels like I can save some money. I don’t use a lot of data, not concerned with having the latest phone. Anyone get any good deals lately? Any issues with service?

as long as I can text, make calls and back up my pictures on iCloud I’m good.

ATT. $420 per month. 6 phones and 1 iPad with unlimited use for all devices. When I first went from Verizon to ATT I also had direct tv and the same plan included unlimited watching of direct tv on all phones and the iPad which was very useful to watch college football on the iPad when I was at sporting events for my kids. I have since drop direct tv after 20 years and went to you tube tv

 

[Phi_1055]

Verizon. It’s the only provider that has good service on my street.

 

[DennisHajekRC84]

Been version for 20 years. 4 phones of wh8ch mine and my wife's are paid. 10gigs we split 3 ways with adult son and adult daughter. I still get my 20% corp. Discount on plan and 25 bucks rebate per line So it only costs 15 vs. 40 buck each.

After my kids pay their share me and the wife cost is like 75 bucks for 3.3 gig we hardly use.

Verizon reps said they can't beat my deal given how old it is and grandfathered in.

 

[Plum Street]

ATT. $420 per month. 6 phones and 1 iPad with unlimited use for all devices. When I first went from Verizon to ATT I also had direct tv and the same plan included unlimited watching of direct tv on all phones and the iPad which was very useful to watch college football on the iPad when I was at sporting events for my kids. I have since drop direct tv after 20 years and went to you tube tv

Damn ! $420. That’s a payment for a very nice car to own. I guess these are the times we live in. Seems about right with the amount of devices on the plan.
But another pricey bill that didn’t exist years ago ! It’s not how much you can make, it’s how much you can keep

 

[beaced]

VZ - it’s on my daughters plan - for me and Mrs Hoquat it’s $120 a month with unlimited data.

Same here

VZ - it’s on my daughters plan - for me and Mrs Hoquat it’s $120 a month with unlimited data.

Same here.On my Daughter's plan for 20 bucks a month. Gave me a free Motorola which more than meets my needs.

 

[koleszar]

Had Sprint now sort of T-Mobile after the so called merger. I say, "sort of" and "so called" because the merger apparently wasn't well thought out. As a Sprint customer you can no longer get service at all their stores if it's a business account. Then to top it off, if you're a Sprint customer not all T-Mobile products are available to you as they ween down the old Sprint stock.

I know this because my wife decided to wash my phone. The flip phone lasted 16 yrs. with a concrete block dropped on it, sand, concrete, cement in it, dropped in the ocean and washed once before. Used to pay $217 a month for my phone. wife(unlimited data) and home box to keep my business number after we moved. Now, who the hell knows, but I do know T-Moblie/Sprint upper management is pretty incompetent.

 

[RUAZ]

Republic wireless if you try to make most calls on Wi-Fi and in a good area for Sprint. (Sprint is fallback carrier). Less than $20 month. No voice contact with company. All communication via internet. I have been using for about 6 years.

 

[JMORC2003]

Damn ! $420. That’s a payment for a very nice car to own. I guess these are the times we live in. Seems about right with the amount of devices on the plan.
But another pricey bill that didn’t exist years ago ! It’s not how much you can make, it’s how much you can keep

But if you look at it as 7 devices, that’s actually not bad ($60/per). Get your point though, what we’re paying for phones is a lot. Moral of the story, have everyone pay their own bill haha

 

[RUinPinehurst]

Yeah I need something like this. My phone is paid.
For T-Mobile I’m not using my phone for customers or anything so the occasiona

Is there a catch? were you able to keep To keep your phones and phone numbers. I have an iPhone, wife has a LG

No catch. Your phones have to be Verizon-compatible. CDMA? And you can keep your numbers, of course.

 

[Legendary Irish]

But if you look at it as 7 devices, that’s actually not bad ($60/per). Get your point though, what we’re paying for phones is a lot. Moral of the story, have everyone pay their own bill haha

Correct. I have 4 kids and as each one finishes college they start paying for their own phone. 1 is currently paying for his own but I leave him on my plan because it’s cheaper for him. The cost is not the service it’s the phones. The iPad and 2 of the phones are paid for. We dropped the house phone as well which was $35 per month. The calls we get on that are robo and telemarketing

 

[Terry_2426]

Have 2 lines on TMobile with unlimited call/text/data for $70 total

 

[bobzilla]

Same here, 2 lines on Tmob/Sprint, unlimited data, $80. Fons paid off.

 

[Bleed_Scarlet]

Straight Talk is a decent option .. uses the airwaves of all the majors and ranges from $35 -$65 a month (and 65 includes 20gb hotspot , phone protection, unlimited data, etc)

You won’t notice the difference from ATT and Verizon

 

[fg7321]

I'm paying something like 57 or 58 for Verizon, just my one phone on the plan. It was a 2 GB plan but they increased it to I think 10 GB at no additional cost. I'm using a BlackBerry PRIV, which is one of the relatively newer BlackBerry phones with Android, although it's five years old now and needs to be replaced. I would like to get one of the newer BlackBerry phones, but they are both 4G LTE and CDMA, and Verizon is shut down CDMA at the end of this month, so I'm not even sure how well these phones are going to work on Verizon anymore, and not a single person at Verizon customer service can give me an answer.

I looked into switching providers but everyone else seems to only offer unlimited data plans, but for $15 a month more than what I'm paying now, so I guess I'll just have to wait to see if my phone still works in January and then decide based on that if I'm staying with Verizon or not, and then I'll finally be able to get a new phone. Pretty annoying.

You are using a 5 year old phone? What Android OS is that?

 

[fg7321]

Buy your phones on ebay they are discounted and your carrier will give you a lower rate because they did not subsidize the device.

 

[robcac26]

You are using a 5 year old phone? What Android OS is that?

Yeah I hate getting used to new phones but I'll have to soon though since the battery life on this thing is terrible and they don't make it easy to just replace the batteries anymore. It's also been slowing down and the GPS isn't very reliable. A physical keyboard is pretty much a must for me though so I'll be sticking with BlackBerry as long as I can. I'm sure at some point Apple or Samsung or whoever will release a phone with a keyboard and sell it as a new feature.

 

[Extra Point]

I don't talk or text a whole lot so I switched to Tracfone and get the 90 day plans that accumulate. It comes out to $7.10/month including tax. Verizon just acquired Tracfone and I am praying that Verizon doesn't ruin a great thing.

 

[thegock]

Straight Talk is a decent option .. uses the airwaves of all the majors and ranges from $35 -$65 a month [I pay $45/month all in for 5gb by prepaying year in advance for the last four years.]
You won’t notice the difference from Verizon

I have to buy my own device (which I have more control over the selection), but the economics are still compelling and the service is flawless.

 

[Bleed_Scarlet]

Buy your phones on ebay they are discounted and your carrier will give you a lower rate because they did not subsidize the device.

Make sure you either get the phone for your carrier or an unlocked model