View Full Version : new phone?
DH is driving me nuts shopping for a new cell phone to replace his geezer one. He has ruled out wi-fi only data so I gather Republic is out. Any suggestions for phone and service (no contract) from my simple friends that doesn't cost a ton of money.
For smart phones, Virgin Mobile operating on the Sprint Network, $35 per month (although you buy the phone up front) with Unlimited Minutes, Texts & Data, with $5 per month discount for Auto Pay. My wife has this plan on her iPhone 6 Plus although there are a ton of much cheaper phones available.
I have Virgin Mobile (for the smart phone I never use :)) and have no problem with it. They just recently sent me an e-mail granting me unlimited talk, and I can top it off with Paypal.
My phone is an HTC Desire 816; I'm happy with that, too.
rodeosweetheart
9-6-15, 2:05pm
I had good luck with Virgin but bad reception where we live now.
I went with a 5.5 inch android phone from Blu, unlocked off Amazon for 112, and Cricket, for 40 dollars a month. It goes down to 35 if I auto deduct from Credit card.
If you don't need a big phone, DH got a Samsung III from Total and pays 35 dollars a month, but the phone (which he loves) was 250, I think.
The Blu phones are not bad. . .
Look into refurbished iPhones for a good price upfront and then choose your supplier.
I will just say that I use Republic Wireless and they definitely offer packages of wifi and data, it's just that they also offer plans without data. I'm quite happy with my phone and service - no data $12 a month. I think the new program gives you flexibility to buy a certain amount of data and then get a refund if you don't use it, starting around $20. Again, I like RW. I loved Verizon except that it was ridiculously expensive, in comparison.
ETA: with Verizon I had a Samsung Note 2, with RW a motorola moto E. So it might be more a matter of the phone itself than the service, the Samsung is fantastic and I still use it as a tablet.
Williamsmith
9-7-15, 6:48am
I struggle with the whole concept of carrying around a phone with you 24-7. I've been on a cell phone contract for maybe 20 years. Have they been around that long? During one ten year stretch I maxed out with five devices on it and a monthly bill well over 200 dollars. With just two basic phones on Verizon my monthly bill is $67. A good estimate is that I have forked out over $20,000 for the privilege of constant communications 24-7. What a scam. So if I was hubby, I wouldn't be looking to replace my cell phone.....I'd be looking to drop it altogether. I never really considered Republic...have to check into that one.
if I was hubby, I wouldn't be looking to replace my cell phone.....I'd be looking to drop it altogether.
I guess that's another thread. We were probably one of the last to get rid of our landline four years ago and have had very basic phones and plans since then. I don't know what his current itch is about but any counter on my part leads to an unpleasant discussion. In a marriage as long as ours, you learn to go along with some things to keep the peace. Since we plan to move next year, my suggestion was that he stay with our current carrier for now - ATT - and just get one of their prepaid GoPhones but he doesn't like that idea.
miradoblackwarrior
9-7-15, 9:12am
Tracfone is cheap ($100) per year, and is carried on AT&T. I've gotten and received calls in the Adirondacks, where Verizon can't reach. Clean, good reception.
I use the $100 per year Tracfone too and have never had any issues with it. I can also use the Google Hangouts app on my iPod wherever there is wifi access as a phone alternative as well. I only keep the Tracfone for emergency situations or when the internet service is out.
Don't shop for the phone first. Shop for coverage first. A brand new iPhone bought for $12 is a paperweight (and not a good one, I might add) if DH cannot receive and make calls wherever he wants to.
Every one of the "big four" carriers has a prepaid/no contract arm -- and contracts per se are getting harder to find in postpaid service as well. Quick rundown:
- AT&T: GoPhone is the Audi of cell carriers -- it's postpaid AT&T except for some roaming and the way you pay for it. Service at any AT&T store and top-up cards are almost everywhere. Great customer service, including in-store, if needed. Cricket is the AT&T's Golden Corral: lots of minutes, lots of data, lots of coverage -- but customer service is minimal and the data is just fast enough. Beyond AT&T itself, Consumer Cellular offers the same roaming as postpaid AT&T and excellent customer service, but for just one or two users, can be surprisingly expensive. Airvoice Wireless offers rock-bottom pricing ($10/month buys you 250 minutes or 500 texts or 140 MB of data) and good customer service.
- Sprint: Has Boost and Virgin as subsidiaries and resells its service to dozens of virtual-network operators. If Sprint works for you, great. Just read the fine print in the customer agreement. I'm comfortable saying that any deal you can find on another carrier probably can be matched somewhere in the Sprint universe.
T-Mobile: Their own prepaid is not the deal it once was. If T-Mo is your carrier of choice and you can find a store, go with MetroPCS -- it's T-Mobile's Toyota in a Chevy wrapper and a much better deal. Beyond T-Mo itself, Ultra is a very-low-cost carrier.
Verizon: Their prepaid just is not a competitive product. Verizon by far strips the most features for going prepaid. If you want the Verizon network, though, check out Selectel Wireless. There also is PagePlus. But PagePlus was bought by the America Movil empire (Tracfone/Net10/Simple Mobile/bunch of others) not long ago and people are waiting to see if PagePlus plans and service will devolve to the AM standard. AM is inexpensive and they do offer some roaming on whichever network they're using, so if you don't use much data or much help they certainly could be an option.
My iPhone is on GoPhone, partially for the fast data (though I don't use much of it), partially because I like to reward good service, and partially because I "tether" (use my phone as a WiFi hotspot for my other devices). Tethering will get you kicked off most other carriers, so I picked one on which it's OK. DW's phone, my business phone, and my mom's are all on Airvoice. Inexpensive for casual use and I've never had a problem that they did not resolve cheerfully and quickly and in understandable English.
razz makes a good point about buying refurbished phones; note that some carriers (notably Republic, Sprint/variants, AM empire and Verizon) lock their phones down so well that your choice of phones to buy and how much you might get in selling them is way down there. But definitely buy your own phone and bring it to whoever once you're sure it meets that carrier's specs.
If DH is just going to use the functions built into the phone and you run Windows at home/work, there are some great deals on Windows Mobile phones. But if he's the type who will want to download the latest "gotta-have-it" app, Windows Mobile pickings are mightly slim and likely to remain that way for the foreseeable future.
In the Android world, I would highly recommend buying whatever Nexus model he likes. Nexus is the purest implemenation of Android; it gets the updates first (or at all) and it's less encumbered by the layers companies like Samsung paste onto their phones. LG makes some good phones, too, and doesn't get the credit (or the price) for them that, say, Samsung does. Stay a version back (like the G3 now that the G4 is out) for the best deal.
Head swimming yet? :treadmill:
The phone I actually use is a simple $15 GoPhone flip. It's small and the charge lasts about a week. Coverage is fine. I second Steve's recommendation.
rodeosweetheart
9-7-15, 12:12pm
The phone I actually use is a simple $15 GoPhone flip. It's small and the charge lasts about a week. Coverage is fine. I second Steve's recommendation.
As always, Steve gives great advice!! I had forgot about the tethering. Cricket lets you Tether. My husband's Total does not. Straight Talk does not.
My Blu phone will tether. My HuWai would not.
And tethering was one of the big reasons I went with Cricket!
Head swimming yet? :treadmill:
Yup!
Bottom line. What do you pay per month for use of your phone? I do have an iPhone. I tell myself it's a business expense, but also I have a family plan and my kids pay me monthly for their iPhones (about $50). I feel $50 a month is decent, but what are you paying?
I use the $25 GoPhone plan. If I will need data one month, I bump up to $45 plan. DH's is $39 for phone/text only. His employer contributes $35 to that monthly. So all total, we spend less than $50 per month for two phones that mostly meet our needs. We cringe when we hear of families paying several hundred a month for multiple phones.
I use the $25 GoPhone plan. If I will need data one month, I bump up to $45 plan. DH's is $39 for phone/text only. His employer contributes $35 to that monthly. So all total, we spend less than $50 per month for two phones that mostly meet our needs. We cringe when we hear of families paying several hundred a month for multiple phones.
I almost always need data, because I travel and need to be in touch with clients. I don't have an employer to contribute to the phone bill, so to me, it sounds like my going for a GoPhone would not save me a lot of money ($16 for two phones--DH and I--plus I write mine off). That's not worth a switch to me..
Thank you for sharing that, pinkytoe
4 people on our plan. $200 a month bill. 2 of the 4 are adult kids who pay us 50 each. SO and I have iPhones with unlimited data - something we've had for over ten years. We don't have home phones, home Internet, or cable. So 100 a month total sounds good to me as it covers all of our technology needs.
We are with Verizon. Someday they will kick us off this unlimited data plan and we will have to regroup on our scheme ...
What are your DH's usage patterns/needs? We're perfectly happy with our $30. Tracfone that we almost never use. When we do need to use it, it works fine. It's a simple flip-phone. I have been doing pay-as-you-go, spending $20. every 3 months. That gives us 30 minutes, but we get double minutes for life with this phone, so we get 40 minutes (that's total, not per month). We don't ever come close to using that much time, but realize this wouldn't work the same way for everyone. So we're paying a little less than $7.00 per month, so that's only $84.00 a year. That's the cheapest option I could find.
Lots of good info here - thanks! Ironically, I just went to refill my GoPhone for the month and my rate had moved up to $30 from $25. In dealing with all of this phone biz, I am certain that keeping us confused or unclear on plans is part of their strategy.
ToomuchStuff
9-7-15, 11:08pm
Steve,
"T-Mobile: Their own prepaid is not the deal it once was. If T-Mo is your carrier of choice and you can find a store, go with MetroPCS -- it's T-Mobile's Toyota in a Chevy wrapper and a much better deal. Beyond T-Mo itself, Ultra is a very-low-cost carrier."
Could you please expand on that, so I understand what you mean? I don't know if some sort of plans changed or what, as I still am on the $100 a year, for 1000 minutes, with no texting (had it blocked), on my phone.
They still have a few phones of a similar style, and still sell the cards at multiple locations.
Thanks
Bottom line. What do you pay per month for use of your phone?
I am on GoPhone's $45/month plan. Autopay cuts it to $40/month. Then there are taxes (around $3-4/month here). That's for unlimited talk/text/data. The first 1.5 GB of data are at LTE speed (that may be limited either by your phone or data speeds in the calling area). There also is rollover data (high-speed data you don't use in a month is added to your allotment for the next month). Tethering is permitted. There may be some Mexico/Canada roaming, but I haven't looked at that since I haven't needed it.
I don't actually use even close to the 1.5 GB of data, but the next cheapest plan is $35/month with just 100 MB of data and offers no auto-pay discount. For $5/month, I don't have to worry about access.
Steve,
"T-Mobile: Their own prepaid is not the deal it once was. If T-Mo is your carrier of choice and you can find a store, go with MetroPCS -- it's T-Mobile's Toyota in a Chevy wrapper and a much better deal. Beyond T-Mo itself, Ultra is a very-low-cost carrier."
Could you please expand on that, so I understand what you mean? I don't know if some sort of plans changed or what, as I still am on the $100 a year, for 1000 minutes, with no texting (had it blocked), on my phone.
Earlier this year, T-Mobile changed their prepaid plans. Now there is a $3 charge each month even if you didn't use your phone at all. They cushioned this blow by throwing in 30 minutes each month (you pay by the minute after that). But it means even the $100/year folks now spend $36/year on phone service even if they never use the phone. Not as good a deal as it was. Similarly, they used to let customers switch freely between their voice/no data plan and plans offering much more access for $2-3/day (depending on amounts); that's no longer the case. There were days I would have liked to use a little data on my phone, but losing my existing prepaid plan wasn't worth it to me.
If you are on their Gold Rewards program (as I was), you can keep Gold Rewards, but you will be subject to the $3/month anyway.
Metro PCS is being offered as T-Mobile's entry-level prepaid brand. Their stores are separate from T-Mobile stores. Tech support is handled out of a different call center and far more DIY/automated. No tethering (you can get away with it often on T-Mobile prepaid). In exchange, you get lower rates and flat-price pricing (fewer add-ons).
Ultra buys blocks of airtime from T-Moblie and resells it. Cheap. They also offer free international texting and several free/low-cost international-calling add-ons and LTE high-speed data (not every virtual operator offers the fastest data). They've been pretty reliable and don't seem to generate many complaints from customers.
Hope that helps....
ToomuchStuff
9-8-15, 2:35pm
That clears it up. I am on the gold rewards, but not sure if people can get it now. I will watch my total more closely, as I know my use went up the last year due to work, and figured that may be why it went back up to $100 when I renewed. (so tired of extra work, due to others medical, and then they ignoring the issues that create their issues)
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