Save $ on cell service -- Ting Mobile / Solavei (+ other MVNOs) (2 Viewers)

[Hooper31]

I'm about halfway through my first month using Ting.

We have three Samsung S2 phones on the account. Bill for this month projects to be about $60. We were paying well over $180 every month for two iPhones (3GS) and a crappy flip phone through AT&T.

I can't envision a future where AT&T survives in its current state. No way people keep paying triple for the same service.

 

[Abraham]

Mobile to mobile in part of the minutes usage on ting and solavei, correct? That isn't unlimited?

 

[Wingnut]

I'm about halfway through my first month using Ting.

We have three Samsung S2 phones on the account. Bill for this month projects to be about $60. We were paying well over $180 every month for two iPhones (3GS) and a crappy flip phone through AT&T.

I can't envision a future where AT&T survives in its current state. No way people keep paying triple for the same service.

AT&T is hopping on the no-contract/lower price train, although their upcoming prepaid plans pale in comparison to Tmo's and many of the MVNOs (especially when it comes to data caps). Someone will have the most expensive pre-paid plan at any given time, and Im pretty sure its gonna always be AT&T.

Bastards.

 

[(HULK)]

I'm on vacation all this week, so I probably won't be able to get to these until Sunday. I won't forget though.

 

[JMon348]

FFFFFFFF, just signed a new contract with Verizon last week.

Damn!

 

[Corporation]

I'm on vacation all this week, so I probably won't be able to get to these until Sunday. I won't forget though.

Thanks. My parents are eligible for new phones on Saturday but I don't envision them switching. Trying to figure out what my family should do.

 

[UOFI_316]

What is a good cheap smart phone for Ting?? My wife and I both have old flip phones. She probably wants to keep hers as a feature phone (and I don't mind since she wont get into texting like crazy, and when she losses it they are cheaper to replace). I can go with the upgrade to a smart phone but have no idea what to get. I don't need the latest and greatest, just something that will work.

I'd recommend the Galaxy S2. They sell them new for approx $250. I think they are currently out of stock but should have them back within the next week or so. Use one of the links in post#1 and get $25 off to boot. Its a very good phone for that price.

Thanks. What about one of the super cheap smart phones for the wife. She has lost or broken her phone 3 times now in 3 years (plus lost my sisters old phone that she was borrowing), so I do not want to spend much on hers. I asked her if she wanted another flip phone or a cheap smart phone and she decided on a smart phone "in case she needs to text someone to get directions when going to a play date". She doesn't like/can't figure out the texting on a 9 button keypad.

I am thinking of getting a used one for her. Ting has a Samsung Transform Ultra for $76. Is that any good? Again I am just looking for something to be used as a phone 95% of the time, with some random texts thrown in. If it does not have all the bells and whistles I don't care.

 

[Jaysus]

Cheap android smart phones are awful. I would think a "dumb phone" with a keyboard would be the best bet.

 

[Uwe Blab]

Cheap android smart phones are awful. I would think a "dumb phone" with a keyboard would be the best bet.

Total smart phone nooooob here. Ting mentions that the Galaxy S2 will sell again soon (we're up to 4 or 5 right?). Is that've. too cheap an android or is that a fine phone?

 

[Hooper31]

Cheap android smart phones are awful. I would think a "dumb phone" with a keyboard would be the best bet.

Total smart phone nooooob here. Ting mentions that the Galaxy S2 will sell again soon (we're up to 4 or 5 right?). Is that've. too cheap an android or is that a fine phone?

The S2 runs the latest Android operating system. Works fine.

 

[Abraham]

went and played with a new blackberry at Fryes. I was VERY impressed. In fact, I thought it was a much better device then the Galaxy 3 sitting next to it. It's basically like an iPhone 5 (size, build quality) and the keyboard is every bit as good as has been reported. If it truly learns typing patterns and word choices I can see how it would be super powerful.

OK, so I want to try this again when HULK returns. 78681, I use an iP5 and wife uses an iP4. I could probably be convinced to sell mine and replace with a Nexus 4 or something if needbe. My current bill is $184 a month and that is nuts. Usage is about 1k minutes, 1k texts, and a few gigs of data (I used to use 5G a month but that was when I was using my phone a lot more during the day). Ting looks like 1k, 1k, and 2G of data could cost under $100 ($77 with taxes). But my current phones won't work on that one, correct? Solavei would take both of my phones right now, right? But there is no LTE using ATT iP5. I might just sell the 5 and use the money to pay out my wife's ETF and take the difference and buy a Nexus 4.

 

[No. 4]

Hulk, I am currently with Verizon on the Share Everything plan: Unlimited Talk & Text, 6 GB Data, ZIP 54409. Averaging about 1000 minutes talk, about 22,000 texts (11K for two sons each, about 2K myself), and 4.5 GB of data (preaching WiFi to the sons at every opportunity). I am paying $230 a month which includes a 20% discount on some of the services through my company. I think this is outrageous.

I would prefer to stay on the Verizon network if it meant I could use my existing phones. I just renewed my contract in Jan with a new Droid Razr Maxx HD, so my term penalty would be very high. My sons have an Iphone 4 and an HTC Thunderbolt (my old phone). The Thunderbolt is out of contract come Sept. I would consider different plans for each of us instead of a shared plan if it saves money. I plan on moving one son to Straight Talk in Sept unless I find something better.

Obviously, if I can't use existing phones, the new phone cost along with term fees from Verizon make this to0 costly to swallow now. But as the contracts get closer to terming, I will move to the best option for each phone.

Let me know what options you think might work for me. Thanks in advance.

 

[saintfool]

pageplus could work for you since it is VZW. Unlimited talk/text with 2 GB data is $55, for example.

 

[culdeus]

Anything better than Tmo 1500 text+minutes 30MB data for $30? I would like to add more data and give up minutes or add more data at reasonable cost on ATT platform.

 

[saintfool]

Anything better than Tmo 1500 text+minutes 30MB data for $30? I would like to add more data and give up minutes or add more data at reasonable cost on ATT platform.

on ATT? nope. pageplus at that price has 1200 mins + 3000 text + 250 mb data on VZW.

 

[Jaysus]

Anything better than Tmo 1500 text+minutes 30MB data for $30? I would like to add more data and give up minutes or add more data at reasonable cost on ATT platform.

For $30 on T-mobile you can also get 100 Minutes, Unlimited text, and Unlimited data (up to 5GB @ 4g speed). That is the plan I am on.

 

[Abraham]

Question about Android and, more specifically, the Nexus 4.

I use an Iphone which means I use ITunes to manage all my music. None of it is iTunes purchased. It's mine all mine. How do I manage my music library with Android? How does it compare to Music on my iPhone in terms of user experience?

I also use iPhoto for all of my photo management on my Mac. Does Android play nicely with iPhoto so I can get my pictures off easily and categorize them and stuff?

I use the Podcast center to listen to "I'm Alive" and Bill Simmons podcasts. Whats the best way to handle podcasts?

I like my iPhone because it's very simple to use and does what I need in a very intuitive way. But it's also too expensive to justify keeping as is.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

Abe - Your music isn't really "in" iTunes, it's on your computer and your iTunes browser just kind of "sees" it.

To get it on an Android phone, the easiest thing to do to manage it is to do the same thing with Windows Media Player. It searches your directories for songs and adds them to WMP application. Then, when you plug your Android phone into the computer, it recognizes it and you can drag/drop songs to it just like you do with your iTunes/iPhone.

That's the simple version anyway.

 

[culdeus]

Anything better than Tmo 1500 text+minutes 30MB data for $30? I would like to add more data and give up minutes or add more data at reasonable cost on ATT platform.

For $30 on T-mobile you can also get 100 Minutes, Unlimited text, and Unlimited data (up to 5GB @ 4g speed). That is the plan I am on.

intriguing. what if you go over on talk?

 

[Abraham]

Abe - Your music isn't really "in" iTunes, it's on your computer and your iTunes browser just kind of "sees" it. To get it on an Android phone, the easiest thing to do to manage it is to do the same thing with Windows Media Player. It searches your directories for songs and adds them to WMP application. Then, when you plug your Android phone into the computer, it recognizes it and you can drag/drop songs to it just like you do with your iTunes/iPhone. That's the simple version anyway.

I'm not sure how simple it's going to be to get windows media player working on a Mac, but thanks for trying.

 

[Jaysus]

Abe - Your music isn't really "in" iTunes, it's on your computer and your iTunes browser just kind of "sees" it. To get it on an Android phone, the easiest thing to do to manage it is to do the same thing with Windows Media Player. It searches your directories for songs and adds them to WMP application. Then, when you plug your Android phone into the computer, it recognizes it and you can drag/drop songs to it just like you do with your iTunes/iPhone. That's the simple version anyway.

I'm not sure how simple it's going to be to get windows media player working on a Mac, but thanks for trying.

Check out Google's Play Music service... it is one of the core android apps. There's a thread for it here somewhere, it just got a major overhaul and is pretty slick. It's what I use on my Nexus 4P.s. I never used iTunes.

 

[Jaysus]

Anything better than Tmo 1500 text+minutes 30MB data for $30? I would like to add more data and give up minutes or add more data at reasonable cost on ATT platform.

For $30 on T-mobile you can also get 100 Minutes, Unlimited text, and Unlimited data (up to 5GB @ 4g speed). That is the plan I am on.

intriguing. what if you go over on talk?

10 cents per minute. I use a free VOIP app when connected to Wi-Fi, and have not yet cane anywhere close to 100 minutes as a result.

 

[(HULK)]

FFFFFFFF, just signed a new contract with Verizon last week. Damn!

you can usually cancel within the first thirty days

 

[(HULK)]

I will get to all of these Sunday evening when I get back. Hopefully before game of thrones

 

[Abraham]

I spent 52 minutes and 6 seconds on the phone with AT&T trying to get my bill down. I had switched to the Family Share plan earlier in the week for the next billing cycle. $70 for unlimited talk and text....then $40 per device (2 of them) to share 4gigs. Come to find out my 22% corporate discount doesn't apply to family share so I'd be out the full $150+fees. I called to switch back and was told that by making the switch a "manager" would need to get involved since the 2G data plan my wife had is no longer available. And oh yeah, my 4k rollover minutes are gone.

The lady was very helpful and eventually things were restored to me paying "only" $130+fees/taxes for 700 shared minutes, 2G on the wifes phone and 3 on mine and unlimited texts and M2M minutes.

At one point while all of this absurdity was being explained to me I told Colleen (ATT lady), "I know you are doing the best you can and I don't mean this directed at you, but whoever is making these types of decisions is going to run your company out of business. There are competitors using the same towers you use that are 40% of the price...the only reason you aren't dead yet is because of these contracts..." She didn't have much of a reply.

 

[FBG26]

Do any of these companies allow access to Verizon's LTE network?

 

[None_More_Black]

I spent 52 minutes and 6 seconds on the phone with AT&T trying to get my bill down. I had switched to the Family Share plan earlier in the week for the next billing cycle. $70 for unlimited talk and text....then $40 per device (2 of them) to share 4gigs. Come to find out my 22% corporate discount doesn't apply to family share so I'd be out the full $150+fees. I called to switch back and was told that by making the switch a "manager" would need to get involved since the 2G data plan my wife had is no longer available. And oh yeah, my 4k rollover minutes are gone.

The lady was very helpful and eventually things were restored to me paying "only" $130+fees/taxes for 700 shared minutes, 2G on the wifes phone and 3 on mine and unlimited texts and M2M minutes.

At one point while all of this absurdity was being explained to me I told Colleen (ATT lady), "I know you are doing the best you can and I don't mean this directed at you, but whoever is making these types of decisions is going to run your company out of business. There are competitors using the same towers you use that are 40% of the price...the only reason you aren't dead yet is because of these contracts..." She didn't have much of a reply.

The mvnos only exist because the big carriers sell them access to their networks. If you want an 800 phone for 200 every two years and the fastest data available it is going to cost more.

 

[Abraham]

As a note, HULK once noted that AT/T is the worst provider in my area and Verizon is best. Verizon doesn't work in my house so I can't use that. In my backyard using Speedtest, ATT gets 13MB download speeds. In the Tmobile store it got 4.5 while the Nexus 4 got 14. At my desk I'm getting download speeds under 2mbps.

 

[(HULK)]

Do any of these companies allow access to Verizon's LTE network?

not currently. Sprint is the only carrier mvnos access to their lte network thus far. T-Mobile supposedly will before the year is out. Verizon and at&t, might be a long while.

 

[(HULK)]

I spent 52 minutes and 6 seconds on the phone with AT&T trying to get my bill down. I had switched to the Family Share plan earlier in the week for the next billing cycle. $70 for unlimited talk and text....then $40 per device (2 of them) to share 4gigs. Come to find out my 22% corporate discount doesn't apply to family share so I'd be out the full $150+fees. I called to switch back and was told that by making the switch a "manager" would need to get involved since the 2G data plan my wife had is no longer available. And oh yeah, my 4k rollover minutes are gone. The lady was very helpful and eventually things were restored to me paying "only" $130+fees/taxes for 700 shared minutes, 2G on the wifes phone and 3 on mine and unlimited texts and M2M minutes. At one point while all of this absurdity was being explained to me I told Colleen (ATT lady), "I know you are doing the best you can and I don't mean this directed at you, but whoever is making these types of decisions is going to run your company out of business. There are competitors using the same towers you use that are 40% of the price...the only reason you aren't dead yet is because of these contracts..." She didn't have much of a reply.

The mvnos only exist because the big carriers sell them access to their networks. If you want an 800 phone for 200 every two years and the fastest data available it is going to cost more.

no phone costs 800. You know the average value of the subsidy the carriers offer in the US is just $280. Now, if you get the latest phone on launch day, you're probably getting a subsidy of $400 to $450. Still, they rape you on price for the next two years and make much more than that back from you. Nexus 4 is a sweet phone for $299 unlocked. Late summer expect the Moto X to be high end and cost just $199 unlocked. It's something to think about if the two year cost of an iPhone on at&t is $3560 and the two year cost of a nexus 4 on Solavei is $1525 (my exact set up). This would be for unlimited minutes, texts, and 5 GB of data. Is having an iPhone 5 with at &it's lte worth 2k more? Is really not that much faster than hspa+42. I get 12 Mbps downloads typically. I just don't see the arbitrement in favor of the major carriers unless you have money to burn. I don't.

 

[None_More_Black]

An unlocked 32gb iphone 5 is 800 on amazon. I have been on puretalk with an iphone for 3 years so I know the benefits. I was just pointing out that the big carriers are not going to put themselves out of business with mvnos. It is is a business strategy.

 

[(HULK)]

Didn't make it in time, will catch up tomorrow with everything

 

[(HULK)]

An unlocked 32gb iphone 5 is 800 on amazon. I have been on puretalk with an iphone for 3 years so I know the benefits. I was just pointing out that the big carriers are not going to put themselves out of business with mvnos. It is is a business strategy.

it's $750 unlocked from apple itself?

 

[(HULK)]

This probably has already been asked so apologies in advance. If I have 3 phones/lines with Ting, and I choose the XXL (3000 minutes) bucket - is that for each phone/line (eg 3000X3=9000 minutes) or is that 3000 minutes cap for all 3 phones/lines collectively?

Its shared between the 3 lines.

Also, if you choose 3000 minutes and then use 2000, they only charge you for the 2000.

If you're using that many minutes though, maybe I can find you something cheaper. Post your zipcode, and the mins/text/data usage for each line individually and I'll take a crack at it.

Zip is 22209. Would prefer to have unlimited talk & text - will use very little data.

In Arlington you should be pretty well covered by all of the big 4 which is good, gives you lots of options.

Looking at it, if you want unlimited talk and text, T-mobile comes in at $90 for 3 lines with unlimited talk/text and 500 MB of data on each phone.

Ting comes in at $80 for 2000 mins, 6000 texts, and 500 MB (shared between all 3 lines, so less data overall by 1 GB).

So, if you're going to stay under 2K mins and 500 MBs, then Ting is cheapest. If you're going to go over that, T-mobile's new Uncarrier base plan with 3 lines is the cheapest. Good luck.

 

[(HULK)]

Thanks for all your work on this HULK!

Situation: I'm on my parents plan, which I think is the 700 Family plan from ATT (I think 70 bucks). Add $20 for the 2 extra lines. We all 3 have iPhones, I have the old grandfathered unlimited for $30, they both have they 250MB for $15 a piece. None of us have texting. We are now eligible for new phones, which we each want updated iPhones. We also want to text now. My parents are in their late 60s and not good with change, so they are pretty much locked into using ATT. I figure the bill is $150 plus fees. She does get a 15% discount for her employer.

My wife has StraightTalk and is on the $45 unlimited with her iPhone. I think I got a $5 per month discount for autopay. My son is turning 13 and we want to get him a phone.

I'd like to upgrade to the iPhone 5 (not sure when the new one is coming out) and then give my wife the 4S and she can give the 3G to my son. I'd really like him to use the iPhone as wifi only (no data plan). I'd like to lower my parents bill while also getting texts for them. Also considering bringing my son onto my parents bill for the 10 additional line, but I'm not sure they will let that be an iPhone without a data plan.

What's the best scenario, with the only lock in being keeping my parents on ATT? Zip is 35244. Should I try to add my son to my parent's plan? Should I get a family plan for my own family (will have another son get a phone in 2 years). Is there an option to add a dumb phone to Straight Talk since my wife is already on?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Okay. Your situation is all sort of tough, but here is what I think.

For the grandparents, they can either keep the bill they have (minus you) and use the upgrades to get the new iPhone5 (don't recommend this route, but if they must get it, then at least they get the subsidy). Or, they can switch to AT&T's in-house prepaid GoPhone plans. Both could be on a 250 mins, unlimited texts, and 200 MB of data plans for $40 each. The plan is much cheaper, but AT&T won't subsidize their phone purchases. The next iphone will come out later this summer anyways, which will drop the price on the 5. Wait and buy it then. Or upgrade to the 4s for much less.

For you, I don't really have a clear idea of your data usage as "unlimited" is pretty vague. How much are you actually using? If its <1GB, I'd say PureTalk USA (on AT&T's network) for $43.95. Unlimited calls/texts and 1 GB of data. If you're using more than that, I'd say Solavei for $49 a month. Unlimited calls, texts, and 4GB of data. They're on T-mo's network, which is supposed to actually have the best coverage in Birmingham. You should STRONGLY consider forcing your parents over to T-mobile, as you could put them + your kid all on one plan for $90 which would have unlimited calls/texts and 500 MBs of data on each line. Tell them you know they hate change, but you were wondering if they liked saving money more than they hate change.

If your wife is doing well with Straight Talk, she should stay put.

Your son... depends on what he actually needs. Red Pocket Mobile for $19.99 gets him 250 minutes and 500 texts. For $5 more though, both Simple Mobile and Spot Mobile offer unlimited calls/texts with no data. Still, the best would be for him to be the 3rd on your parent's T-mobile plan.

It actually might be the best by far for all of you to be on T-mobile's family plan together.

Picture this:

Your Mom: Unlimited Calls, Texts, 500 MB of data

Your Dad: Unlimited Calls, Texts, 500 MB of data

Your Wife: Unlimited Calls, Texts, 2500 MB of data

Your Son: Unlimited Calls, Texts, 500 MB of data

You: Unlimited Calls, Texts, Unlimited data

The grand total for all of that is just $140 a month. The catch, no phone subsidies. They'll help you finance new phones at 0% though if you need that help. Plus, they're rated the best in your part of Alabama. If I were you, I'd convince your parents its time to change.

 

[(HULK)]

What is a good cheap smart phone for Ting?? My wife and I both have old flip phones. She probably wants to keep hers as a feature phone (and I don't mind since she wont get into texting like crazy, and when she losses it they are cheaper to replace). I can go with the upgrade to a smart phone but have no idea what to get. I don't need the latest and greatest, just something that will work.

I'd recommend the Galaxy S2. They sell them new for approx $250. I think they are currently out of stock but should have them back within the next week or so. Use one of the links in post#1 and get $25 off to boot. Its a very good phone for that price.

Thanks. What about one of the super cheap smart phones for the wife. She has lost or broken her phone 3 times now in 3 years (plus lost my sisters old phone that she was borrowing), so I do not want to spend much on hers. I asked her if she wanted another flip phone or a cheap smart phone and she decided on a smart phone "in case she needs to text someone to get directions when going to a play date". She doesn't like/can't figure out the texting on a 9 button keypad.

I am thinking of getting a used one for her. Ting has a Samsung Transform Ultra for $76. Is that any good? Again I am just looking for something to be used as a phone 95% of the time, with some random texts thrown in. If it does not have all the bells and whistles I don't care.

That might work fine for her purposes. I'd go crazy if I had to use that phone though. The S2, while old, is a workhorse. Sounds like she needs a donkey though... and that phone fits.

 

[(HULK)]

went and played with a new blackberry at Fryes. I was VERY impressed. In fact, I thought it was a much better device then the Galaxy 3 sitting next to it. It's basically like an iPhone 5 (size, build quality) and the keyboard is every bit as good as has been reported. If it truly learns typing patterns and word choices I can see how it would be super powerful.

OK, so I want to try this again when HULK returns. 78681, I use an iP5 and wife uses an iP4. I could probably be convinced to sell mine and replace with a Nexus 4 or something if needbe. My current bill is $184 a month and that is nuts. Usage is about 1k minutes, 1k texts, and a few gigs of data (I used to use 5G a month but that was when I was using my phone a lot more during the day). Ting looks like 1k, 1k, and 2G of data could cost under $100 ($77 with taxes). But my current phones won't work on that one, correct? Solavei would take both of my phones right now, right? But there is no LTE using ATT iP5. I might just sell the 5 and use the money to pay out my wife's ETF and take the difference and buy a Nexus 4.

Correct, you would need new phones for Ting. For Solavei, not really, but it depends if T-mobile's tower upgrades are finished in your area, wether you get HSPA+42 or Edge speeds. I would recommend avoiding Edge network only situations, as thats molasass slow. The Nexus 4 has all of the bands needed to get Tmo's HSPA+42 and is an awesome phone in general. In practical terms, HSPA+42 isn't as fast as AT&T's LTE, but it is pretty darn fast. If its fast enough for you, Solavei is probably your best best if you're going to be using a fair amount of data. If T-mo has upgraded its towers in Round Rock (I'll check--- looks like it has been upgraded in Dallas, Ft Worth, Austin, and Houston, not sure if you're near those areas, not up on my Texas geography) it would make a lot of sense to just bring your phone over as is. Or sell it like you said and pay off your wife's ETF with the cash gained by switching to the less pricey Nexus4.

I just double checked in general for you... with what you outlined, Ting is still the cheapest. But it seemed like you were estimating a severe drop in data. In practical terms, what usage do you think is most accurate for you and your wife individually? Might be best to split you guys up on seperate carriers.

 

[(HULK)]

Hulk, I am currently with Verizon on the Share Everything plan: Unlimited Talk & Text, 6 GB Data, ZIP 54409. Averaging about 1000 minutes talk, about 22,000 texts (11K for two sons each, about 2K myself), and 4.5 GB of data (preaching WiFi to the sons at every opportunity). I am paying $230 a month which includes a 20% discount on some of the services through my company. I think this is outrageous.

I would prefer to stay on the Verizon network if it meant I could use my existing phones. I just renewed my contract in Jan with a new Droid Razr Maxx HD, so my term penalty would be very high. My sons have an Iphone 4 and an HTC Thunderbolt (my old phone). The Thunderbolt is out of contract come Sept. I would consider different plans for each of us instead of a shared plan if it saves money. I plan on moving one son to Straight Talk in Sept unless I find something better.

Obviously, if I can't use existing phones, the new phone cost along with term fees from Verizon make this to0 costly to swallow now. But as the contracts get closer to terming, I will move to the best option for each phone.

Let me know what options you think might work for me. Thanks in advance.

Okay, first off, what I am seeing is that T-mobile and Verizon are the best in coverage in your area:

Coverage Reviews for Antigo, WI 54409 Reviews Towers [SIZE=7pt]FILTER:[/SIZE] [SIZE=7pt] AT&T[/SIZE] [SIZE=7pt] SPRINT[/SIZE] [SIZE=7pt] T-MOBILE[/SIZE] [SIZE=7pt] VERIZON[/SIZE] Carrier Avg. Rating No. of Reviews Towers Coverage Map 1. T-Mobile 4.5 2 Towers Map 2. Verizon 3.25 12 Towers Map 3. AT&T 1.69 13 Towers Map 4. Sprint 1.5 4 Towers Map

AT&T and Sprint appear to be "okay", but it would be a step down in service. Unfortunately, the majority of Verizon MVNOs do not allow you to port in your old Verizon phone. This is changing over time, but right now its a dicey proposition. Your best best might be to just start from scratch with Nexus 4s ($299 each, or $349 if you want the extra storage) or to wait out the upcoming Moto X Phone (due late summer, rumored to be $199 unlocked, and to be a very nice phone).

If you want to keep everyone on the same plan, then T-mobile is going to be your best best (side note, do NOT buy Nexus 4's from Tmobile, buy them from Google directly, Tmobile charges way more for the exact same thing). Anyways, you could have unlimited talk/text with 2.5 GB of data on each line for a grand total of $120. Insanely cheaper than what you're paying now. It probably even makes sense to just pay the ETF with Verizon and switch immediately. Sure, between buying new phones and the termination fees, you're looking at a 4 digit gut punch, but you'd be making that back within a year. The best bet may be to wait for Sept when son1 is out of contract and then just hopping all 3 of you to Tmo then. Takes some of the sting out of the ETF and the Moto X should be out by then.

 

[(HULK)]

pageplus could work for you since it is VZW. Unlimited talk/text with 2 GB data is $55, for example.

Maybe. They don't port every phone, just some. Worth a call to them I guess. But its still $45 more a month than he would pay on Tmobile. Plus they'll charge you for roaming, whereas Tmo won't.

 

[(HULK)]

Anything better than Tmo 1500 text+minutes 30MB data for $30? I would like to add more data and give up minutes or add more data at reasonable cost on ATT platform.

AirVoice Wireless (on AT&T's network) has unlimited calls/texts plus 100 MB of data for $35. Would that work?

 

[JMon348]

FFFFFFFF, just signed a new contract with Verizon last week. Damn!

you can usually cancel within the first thirty days

Ok, my info is:

600 talk

600 text

4gb

22152 zip

Thank you.

 

[Abraham]

went and played with a new blackberry at Fryes. I was VERY impressed. In fact, I thought it was a much better device then the Galaxy 3 sitting next to it. It's basically like an iPhone 5 (size, build quality) and the keyboard is every bit as good as has been reported. If it truly learns typing patterns and word choices I can see how it would be super powerful.

OK, so I want to try this again when HULK returns. 78681, I use an iP5 and wife uses an iP4. I could probably be convinced to sell mine and replace with a Nexus 4 or something if needbe. My current bill is $184 a month and that is nuts. Usage is about 1k minutes, 1k texts, and a few gigs of data (I used to use 5G a month but that was when I was using my phone a lot more during the day). Ting looks like 1k, 1k, and 2G of data could cost under $100 ($77 with taxes). But my current phones won't work on that one, correct? Solavei would take both of my phones right now, right? But there is no LTE using ATT iP5. I might just sell the 5 and use the money to pay out my wife's ETF and take the difference and buy a Nexus 4.

Correct, you would need new phones for Ting. For Solavei, not really, but it depends if T-mobile's tower upgrades are finished in your area, wether you get HSPA+42 or Edge speeds. I would recommend avoiding Edge network only situations, as thats molasass slow. The Nexus 4 has all of the bands needed to get Tmo's HSPA+42 and is an awesome phone in general. In practical terms, HSPA+42 isn't as fast as AT&T's LTE, but it is pretty darn fast. If its fast enough for you, Solavei is probably your best best if you're going to be using a fair amount of data. If T-mo has upgraded its towers in Round Rock (I'll check--- looks like it has been upgraded in Dallas, Ft Worth, Austin, and Houston, not sure if you're near those areas, not up on my Texas geography) it would make a lot of sense to just bring your phone over as is. Or sell it like you said and pay off your wife's ETF with the cash gained by switching to the less pricey Nexus4.

I just double checked in general for you... with what you outlined, Ting is still the cheapest. But it seemed like you were estimating a severe drop in data. In practical terms, what usage do you think is most accurate for you and your wife individually? Might be best to split you guys up on seperate carriers.

Well, because she has an Iphone ATT makes her have a data package even though she doesn't actually need/want one. My contract with them is up at the end of the week and the guy I talked to there last night said to call when it expires and threaten to leave and they will probably offer me some sort of discount.

 

[(HULK)]

FFFFFFFF, just signed a new contract with Verizon last week.

Damn!

you can usually cancel within the first thirty days

Ok, my info is:

600 talk

600 text

4gb

22152 zip

Thank you.

Springfield, eh? Lots of Virginians on this board imo.

Coverage report:

Coverage Reviews for Springfield, VA 22152 Reviews Towers [SIZE=7pt]FILTER:[/SIZE] [SIZE=7pt] AT&T[/SIZE] [SIZE=7pt] SPRINT[/SIZE] [SIZE=7pt] T-MOBILE[/SIZE] [SIZE=7pt] VERIZON[/SIZE] Carrier Avg. Rating No. of Reviews Towers Coverage Map 1. Sprint 1.9 20 Towers Map 2. T-Mobile 1.61 23 Towers Map 3. AT&T 1.44 45 Towers Map 4. Verizon 1.44 62 Towers Map

You should be well enough covered by any of them. The sticky/tricky part is that you use a LOT of data.

Your best bets come down to 2 options: Voyager Mobile and Solavei.

Voyager Mobile: $39 for Unlimited Talk/Text and 5 GB of data. They use Sprint and have access to their LTE. Phone selection is good, but not the best. Also there is no roaming.

Solavei: $49 for Unlimited Talk/Text and 4 GB of data. They don't have LTE yet, but they do have HSPA+42. Its on T-mo's GSM network, so you can use any SIM based phone. Roaming is free.

These are far and away your best 2 options. The main differentiatiors should really be the $10 price difference, the phone choice, and the roaming access. As an added tidbit, if you refer 3 people to Solavei, you'll get $20 off a month as long as those 3 people are with Solavei. They're also adding some sort of discount program in September featuring a lot of major retailers, but details are pretty scarce so far. If you go the Solavei route, PM me or click the link in my sig as I can save you the $9 for the sim card.

 

[(HULK)]

went and played with a new blackberry at Fryes. I was VERY impressed. In fact, I thought it was a much better device then the Galaxy 3 sitting next to it. It's basically like an iPhone 5 (size, build quality) and the keyboard is every bit as good as has been reported. If it truly learns typing patterns and word choices I can see how it would be super powerful.

OK, so I want to try this again when HULK returns. 78681, I use an iP5 and wife uses an iP4. I could probably be convinced to sell mine and replace with a Nexus 4 or something if needbe. My current bill is $184 a month and that is nuts. Usage is about 1k minutes, 1k texts, and a few gigs of data (I used to use 5G a month but that was when I was using my phone a lot more during the day). Ting looks like 1k, 1k, and 2G of data could cost under $100 ($77 with taxes). But my current phones won't work on that one, correct? Solavei would take both of my phones right now, right? But there is no LTE using ATT iP5. I might just sell the 5 and use the money to pay out my wife's ETF and take the difference and buy a Nexus 4.

Correct, you would need new phones for Ting. For Solavei, not really, but it depends if T-mobile's tower upgrades are finished in your area, wether you get HSPA+42 or Edge speeds. I would recommend avoiding Edge network only situations, as thats molasass slow. The Nexus 4 has all of the bands needed to get Tmo's HSPA+42 and is an awesome phone in general. In practical terms, HSPA+42 isn't as fast as AT&T's LTE, but it is pretty darn fast. If its fast enough for you, Solavei is probably your best best if you're going to be using a fair amount of data. If T-mo has upgraded its towers in Round Rock (I'll check--- looks like it has been upgraded in Dallas, Ft Worth, Austin, and Houston, not sure if you're near those areas, not up on my Texas geography) it would make a lot of sense to just bring your phone over as is. Or sell it like you said and pay off your wife's ETF with the cash gained by switching to the less pricey Nexus4.

I just double checked in general for you... with what you outlined, Ting is still the cheapest. But it seemed like you were estimating a severe drop in data. In practical terms, what usage do you think is most accurate for you and your wife individually? Might be best to split you guys up on seperate carriers.

Well, because she has an Iphone ATT makes her have a data package even though she doesn't actually need/want one. My contract with them is up at the end of the week and the guy I talked to there last night said to call when it expires and threaten to leave and they will probably offer me some sort of discount.

Your wife should be on Net10. 750 mins, unlimited texts, no data, free roaming for $25 a month. Can use either AT&T or Tmo's network with Net10.

You should probably be on Solavei. If you keep the iPhone5, I can't get you the free sim card though as it requires a nano sim and I can't buy those in bulk yet. If you sell it and switch to the Nexus 4 though, hit me up for the free sim card.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

I'm pretty sure a company could get a competitive edge by offering decent basic phones again. I think of "all" the things I do on my smartphone and it's not much and definitely things I could live without.

But all the basic phones are terrible.

 

[JMon348]

Thank you!

 

[Corporation]

Thanks for all your work on this HULK! Situation: I'm on my parents plan, which I think is the 700 Family plan from ATT (I think 70 bucks). Add $20 for the 2 extra lines. We all 3 have iPhones, I have the old grandfathered unlimited for $30, they both have they 250MB for $15 a piece. None of us have texting. We are now eligible for new phones, which we each want updated iPhones. We also want to text now. My parents are in their late 60s and not good with change, so they are pretty much locked into using ATT. I figure the bill is $150 plus fees. She does get a 15% discount for her employer. My wife has StraightTalk and is on the $45 unlimited with her iPhone. I think I got a $5 per month discount for autopay. My son is turning 13 and we want to get him a phone. I'd like to upgrade to the iPhone 5 (not sure when the new one is coming out) and then give my wife the 4S and she can give the 3G to my son. I'd really like him to use the iPhone as wifi only (no data plan). I'd like to lower my parents bill while also getting texts for them. Also considering bringing my son onto my parents bill for the 10 additional line, but I'm not sure they will let that be an iPhone without a data plan. What's the best scenario, with the only lock in being keeping my parents on ATT? Zip is 35244. Should I try to add my son to my parent's plan? Should I get a family plan for my own family (will have another son get a phone in 2 years). Is there an option to add a dumb phone to Straight Talk since my wife is already on? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide.

Okay. Your situation is all sort of tough, but here is what I think.For the grandparents, they can either keep the bill they have (minus you) and use the upgrades to get the new iPhone5 (don't recommend this route, but if they must get it, then at least they get the subsidy). Or, they can switch to AT&T's in-house prepaid GoPhone plans. Both could be on a 250 mins, unlimited texts, and 200 MB of data plans for $40 each. The plan is much cheaper, but AT&T won't subsidize their phone purchases. The next iphone will come out later this summer anyways, which will drop the price on the 5. Wait and buy it then. Or upgrade to the 4s for much less. For you, I don't really have a clear idea of your data usage as "unlimited" is pretty vague. How much are you actually using? If its <1GB, I'd say PureTalk USA (on AT&T's network) for $43.95. Unlimited calls/texts and 1 GB of data. If you're using more than that, I'd say Solavei for $49 a month. Unlimited calls, texts, and 4GB of data. They're on T-mo's network, which is supposed to actually have the best coverage in Birmingham. You should STRONGLY consider forcing your parents over to T-mobile, as you could put them + your kid all on one plan for $90 which would have unlimited calls/texts and 500 MBs of data on each line. Tell them you know they hate change, but you were wondering if they liked saving money more than they hate change. If your wife is doing well with Straight Talk, she should stay put. Your son... depends on what he actually needs. Red Pocket Mobile for $19.99 gets him 250 minutes and 500 texts. For $5 more though, both Simple Mobile and Spot Mobile offer unlimited calls/texts with no data. Still, the best would be for him to be the 3rd on your parent's T-mobile plan. It actually might be the best by far for all of you to be on T-mobile's family plan together.Picture this:Your Mom: Unlimited Calls, Texts, 500 MB of dataYour Dad: Unlimited Calls, Texts, 500 MB of dataYour Wife: Unlimited Calls, Texts, 2500 MB of dataYour Son: Unlimited Calls, Texts, 500 MB of dataYou: Unlimited Calls, Texts, Unlimited data The grand total for all of that is just $140 a month. The catch, no phone subsidies. They'll help you finance new phones at 0% though if you need that help. Plus, they're rated the best in your part of Alabama. If I were you, I'd convince your parents its time to change.

This is just awesome, thanks for the insight!

 

[(HULK)]

FYI, the Solavei Marketplace thing is pretty interesting. Essentially you get a Solavei card when you sign up with them and then you get discounts at a ton of retailers. Launches in Sept. Early list of retailers offering between 2 and 15% cash back:

Ace Hardware, Ann Taylor, Apple, Estee Lauder, JC Penny, Kmart, The Container Store, Gap, Walmart, Outback, Redbox, FedEx, Dollar General, Sports Authority, AutoZone

I'm sure the list will grow between now and Sept.

 

[culdeus]

Anything better than Tmo 1500 text+minutes 30MB data for $30? I would like to add more data and give up minutes or add more data at reasonable cost on ATT platform.

For $30 on T-mobile you can also get 100 Minutes, Unlimited text, and Unlimited data (up to 5GB @ 4g speed). That is the plan I am on.

intriguing. what if you go over on talk?

10 cents per minute. I use a free VOIP app when connected to Wi-Fi, and have not yet cane anywhere close to 100 minutes as a result.

I am going this route. For all that's being passed around here this plan seems like the uber deal to me. Thanks all for your help.

 

[culdeus]

I'm pretty sure a company could get a competitive edge by offering decent basic phones again. I think of "all" the things I do on my smartphone and it's not much and definitely things I could live without.

But all the basic phones are terrible.

MOT looks to be trying to go that route in the next go round. If you don't mind slow OS upgrades and decent functionality that's probably the place to be.