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Help me understand cell plans. Use small words.


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My head is going to explode. Ds is leaving for college in a little over 3 weeks. I need to get him a cell phone that won't break the bank. I have a smart phone. I would like him to have a phone that can be a camera and music source (optional) and I'd like it to be able to sync to Google Calendar. (This boy cannot seem to learn how to use a paper calendar.) I don't want to break the bank. We have US Cellular right now with 3 phones and need to have a 4th phone. With US Cellular, each smart phone has to have its own data plan. Plus, we have WAY more minutes than we need and have to pay extra for texting. We only make about 300 minutes worth of calls from all 3 phones. I use maybe 150 mb of data a month. We do about 100 texts a month - I am sure that will go up with ds being away at school. So, I need 4 phones incl. 2 smart phones - not a lot of voice minutes, texting and reasonable data. Is there something out there that will be less than my grandfathered US cellular plan?

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Since you don't indicate what you're paying now, it's hard to say what might be better. But when you're looking at new cell phone companies, make sure you check their coverage charts/areas, especially since your son will be away at college and you'll have 2 areas to consider. You don't want to go with a company that has poor reception in the place you need phone service. For us, we use Verizon even though they're often more expensive because they have the best reception in the rural areas where my husband frequently works.

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I'm sorry, but I'm of no help. But I've been considering talking to dh about changing our plan. Older ds and I have regular phones and dh has an iphone. Ds would love to have a smart phone, but he doesn't need one. To be honest, I'd like one too, but I don't need it either. So, we'll see what ATT comes out with to decide if it is worthwhile.

 

We pay about $160/month which includes ds' $20/month for texting - his choice for unlimited texts (comes out of his allowance). I don't have a texting plan, so I have to pay/text which gets expensive really quickly.

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I currently pay about $135 including the outrageous miscellaneous taxes. This is for 3 lines (750 minutes talk that we only use a small portion of) and one data package (for my smart phone.) We probably need to add another smart phone.

 

check out platinum tel. They are frankly the lowest priced cell phone of any I have seen anywhere period.

http://platinumtel.com/

 

I checked what PlatinumTel has and they wouldn't be cheaper for the OP. It'd be about $180 for four phones from what I could tell.

 

I used to sell cell service, and T-Mobile was consistently the lowest in the big-name market. That's who we have used since those days, and still do. But we're paying about what you're paying at this point, with three phones (one smart phone), one data package, unlimited texting and 750 minutes a month talk time.

 

But they released some new "Value" plans recently and from what I can tell, you could get 4 lines for $99.98/month. This is if you can use the SIM cards you have, so you'd have to check on that. Or you can purchase phones (full price). Here's a link.

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My head is going to explode. Ds is leaving for college in a little over 3 weeks. I need to get him a cell phone that won't break the bank. I have a smart phone. I would like him to have a phone that can be a camera and music source (optional) and I'd like it to be able to sync to Google Calendar. (This boy cannot seem to learn how to use a paper calendar.) I don't want to break the bank. We have US Cellular right now with 3 phones and need to have a 4th phone. With US Cellular, each smart phone has to have its own data plan. Plus, we have WAY more minutes than we need and have to pay extra for texting. We only make about 300 minutes worth of calls from all 3 phones. I use maybe 150 mb of data a month. We do about 100 texts a month - I am sure that will go up with ds being away at school. So, I need 4 phones incl. 2 smart phones - not a lot of voice minutes, texting and reasonable data. Is there something out there that will be less than my grandfathered US cellular plan?

 

Dh and I have smart phones through Straight Talk. We have unlimited talk, text, AND data for $45 per line. There is no additional data plan/fee.

 

They have a 1000 min/mo. plan for $30.

 

Dh, ds, and I had Cricket for the last six months. It was lacking. Compared to Straight Talk, Cricket's customer service was horrible, horrible, and the Straight Talk phone is loads nicer (well, it's a smart phone, and the other wasn't, but still . . .).

 

Dd has an unlimited texting only plan from tmobile for $15. I will occasionally put minutes on it, $.10/min. to talk. But she never talks on it.

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Dh and I have smart phones through Straight Talk. We have unlimited talk, text, AND data for $45 per line. There is no additional data plan/fee.

 

I agree with the above poster about ST. Dh and I have had it for years with no troubles.

 

The OP said she needs four lines though, and that would be $180 -- much more than they are paying now. They might be able to do something in the $120-$150 range, but still about or a little more than what they are paying now.

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My sister signed up with Kitten Wireless (the premier online dealer for PagePlus cellular). Here are the summaries of their most popular plans.

 

  • $55.00/mo Unlimited Talk n Text Plan with Unlimited Minutes/Messages & 2000mb of data
  • $39.95/mo Unlimited Talk n Text Plan with Unlimited Minutes/Messages & 100mb of data
  • $29.95/mo Talk n Text 1200 Plan with 1200 Minutes, 3000 Messages & 100mb of data
  • $12.00/mo Talk n Text 250 Plan with 250 Minutes, 250 Messages & 10 mb of data.

This is a pay as you go plan, I believe. It's not traditional cellular, so you'd have to read about it and whether or not it would work for you. But if you could combine some of the $39.95 or $29.95 programs with the $12.00 program, you might be able to bring your costs down.

Edited by milovaný
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The OP said she needs four lines though, and that would be $180 -- much more than they are paying now. They might be able to do something in the $120-$150 range, but still about or a little more than what they are paying now.

 

No, it would only be $180 with four smart phones, and she said she only needed two, plus two additional phones.

 

OP, check out Virgin Mobile. They get consistently great reviews, and there are two plans here that might interest you, one with 300 mins., and one with 1200 mins. Both have unlimited messaging, and unlimited web. "Unlimited" is not really unlimited--it's limited to 2.5 GB, and here's a discussion about how much that really is. The cost for each is $35 and $45.

 

With your different needs, you might consider using a few different companies to lower your overall family cost.

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Do you have to have him on your plan? Sometimes there are very good student deals that are way cheaper than what you could get, but they usually require a separate plan and proof of enrollment, like a student ID. I would bet that there will be plenty of companies vying for his business during orientation week. Perhaps wait and see what kind of deal he can get at his college locale first.

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Have you looked at the LG800G Tracfone with triple minutes for life? You pay in advance, and every time you add minutes you get 3x the usual amount for the price paid. Here's a great deal on one from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/LG-800G-Prepaid-Minutes-Tracfone/dp/B006E8MKZU/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1343799926&sr=8-1&keywords=lg800g+tracfone

 

When we were in the States back in April, James Bond and I didn't want to use our European cells because, well...$$$ or maybe that should be €€€. My step-dad let me use his iPhone (thank goodness because I was hyperventilating thinking about not having mine!), but JB needed one too. We went to Target and they happened to have the phone linked above on sale for $15, with 750 minutes. It worked really, really well. I was impressed and JB decided when we move back to the States, he will just go with that again as he doesn't use his phone that much. He can't take anything electronic into his office, for security purposes and really only needs it for when someone from his unit is trying to get in touch with him or he calls me. He's not big on chatting on the phone. IIRC, it had a really great coverage map. Oh, and they add triple minutes for as long as you use them. JB's phone came with 750 minutes, but he actually got 2250 minutes, which he would never use in an entire year.

Edited by Mom in High Heels
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