Hi, My first post. My wife and I are exploring new wireless plans. We presently have a plan with AT&T. We each have a cell phone with no internet access. We pay $73 a month. We get 550 minutes per month and unused minutes roll over. We use about 350 minutes per month on average. We have never used all 550 minutes. We have a 2 year plan which is expiring soon. Some questions: 1. Are there any plans out that have simlar amount of minutes (or more) that are less expensive? 2. Can we continue to use our same phone numbers? 3. I assume we need new phones but this is ok with us. 4. Are there any good plans where I can also get internet access on my phone only for a cheap price? We just thought it made sense to check out things before we renew our plan with AT&T. Any hel is appreciated! Thanks, Bob
You pretty much already have the cheapest family plan. Have you looked into maybe going prepaid? Your usage is low enough that it may be more affordable for you. I am on the exact same plan, except I have 3 lines, and unlimited internet ($20) on the primary line. My bill has run about $100/mo after discounts (You may want to check with your local store and/or employer to see if there is a discount affiliated with your employer) Just this past month I added unlimited family texting and internet on one of the secondary lines, so my regular bill will be going up from what it has been.
I'd second the suggestion to at least consider prepaid options. Typically prepaid is not going to be a better alternative for someone on a family plan because family plans receive such a price discount from the individual post paid plans - but if your voice usage isn't fairly evenly split between you and your wife then there could be other ways of working it that would save you a little money on a combined basis. For example, if you wife uses most of the minutes on your current plan, she could switch to an individual plan with at&t with 450 minutes (and rollover) for $40/month. You indicate you'd like to have data added to your phone, and the prepaid feature plans can be a better deal than their post paid cousins. For about the same price, with a prepaid feature plan you get "rollover" of unused feature balances - so depending on your data needs, you may be able to use at&t's $20 100 MB data plan for many months just by renewing each subsequent month with the $5 1 MB plan - this can save a decent amount on your side if you want data but your voice needs aren't great. The only thing to keep in mind re: at&t's prepaid service (especially on the PayGo plans) is to make sure the coverage is adequate for where you will be using your phone. In many areas there isn't any difference between post paid and PayGo coverage, yet in others there is a tremendous difference - so double check the prepaid coverage maps before you make a decision.
I tell anyone who doesn't need the latest and greatest phones and doesn't need a lot of data useage (only about two percent of readers on here) to check out prepaid. Overall, it is generally a better value. If you two want to do away with a landline then the one who uses the phone the most could go with a $45 StraighttTalk at Walmart and the other get a Net10 or a double minute Tracfone. Then you can save on your twenty dollar or so on your POTS by canceling it. If you want mobile internet (like my wife) then your best bet may be to stay put because I don't think your plan is offered anymore. You could play the wireless game and extend your contract to get the free phones but BE SURE TO ADD ON A DATA PLAN SO YOU DO NOT GET HIT WITH HUGE OVERAGES. Check out the Verizon forum to see what I am talking about.:wink: Good luck. Do your research before agreeing to anything with the company.
I'm also thinking that Straight Talk may work for you. They use Verizon's Network and are ran by TracFone, the phones are sold at Wal-Mart. They have two plans which I will list below. That being said you are paying a reasonable price for two lines and it seems to fit you well. So if you are happy with AT&T I really wouldn't look at switching. $30 (All You Need Plan) 1000 Minutes 1000 Texts 30 MB of Mobile Data Calls to 411 $45 (Unlimited Plan) Unlimited Minutes Unlimited Texts Unlimited Mobile Data Unlimited Calls to 411
How much will your bill be with Unlimited Text and Internet? You may want to see if you're better off with: Sprint's Everything Plus Data Family Plan ($109.99, lines 3-5 $14.99/ea) 1600 Shared Anytime Minutes Unlimited 7PM Nights & Weekends (not 9PM like other carriers) Unlimited "Any Mobile, Anytime" (UNLIMITED calling ANY U.S. mobile number 24/7... Sprint, AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, etc) Unlimited Messaging (Text, Picture, Video, IM, etc) Unlimited Data (Internet, E-mail, etc) Unlimited BIS (Blackberry Internet Service, BES costs extra) Unlimited GPS Navigation Unlimited Sprint TV Premier (ESPN Mobile TV, a few other live streaming channels and some pre-recorded channels) Unlimited Sprint Music Premier (streaming radio) In the case of 3 lines, you'd be paying $109.99 + $14.99 = $123.99 + tax (http://forums.wirelessadvisor.com/sprint-pcs-forum/73151-sprint-employee-e-mail-address-cid.html). If you have a LARGE corporate discount, you may want to consider the "non-Plus" version of this plan which is more expensive (see Cell Phones, Mobile Phones, and Wireless Calling Plans from Sprint), but allows you to add the corporate discount on ("Everything Plus" plans are already pre-discounted by Sprint, so no discounts are allowed). EDIT: And to OP, I agree that there are some very good prepaid plans in the $30-$40 range that might fit the bill (many have been mentioned already). Another possibility is that some provider may be willing to put you on an unadvertised "retention" plan. I think T-Mobile has a 700 Minute Family Plan for $49.99/mo (but it costs extra for messaging and data). They may have a lower minute one as well for less.
I can't use Sprint. The 2 additional phones on my plan are phones I gave to my parents. Sprint does not work inside my house (To use Sprint phones you have to go out on the deck) and Sprint does not work at all at my parent's house. AT&T works perfectly at my house, and AT&T is the only carrier that works at my parent's house. Plus, almost everyone in my family has AT&T so we hardly use our anytime minutes.
I see. If you've tried Sprint a long time ago, you may want to take a look at their coverage map again, and/or try them out again (if you want). Perhaps they finally improved coverage in your area in those few years you were away. And to solve your problem with in-house reception, just call up Sprint Account Services and complain about in-house reception. They'll send you a couple Airaves for free and waive the monthly fee (seems like a pretty easy thing to get). I'm not pushing you to switch or anything, so don't get me wrong. AT&T seems to work just fine for you. Just letting you know there are options to help remedy the issues you had with Sprint in the past. Thanks for replying to my post!
Yeah, my last roommate (moved out about 2 months ago) had Sprint. He was on the deck in 2 feet of snow to talk to his wife.
