Cell Phones and Service Providers

[spazzyfry123]

I feel like I just sat down and looked at the menu for The Cheesecake Factory. There are a million options for plans and providers and phones and storage and and and...

This will be the first time in probably ten years that I'm going to have a phone bill. I've accepted a new role with a new company, and I think it's time to make a change and become a "two phone guy." I've always just used my company phone as my personal phone, but I've got to get some separation.

I'm overwhelmed with the sheer amount of paths. Android vs Apple. Verizon vs AT&T. Purchase a phone outright vs monthly. Free phones with a bonus iPad and we'll walk your dog every Tuesday just because you're you!

If anyone has some direction or is going through something similar, please share your input. I guess this has just always been one area of my life that's been decided for me.

[2000cs]

Figure out who has the best coverage where you live and travel most, go with that provider. Look to see if they have any good phone deals. If you already use a Mac or other Apple products, you’ll probably prefer an iPhone; if you not in the Apple universe, get whatever you like.

I’m a fan of keeping all personal stuff, including social media, on a personal phone and only work stuff on the work phone.

[vreihen16]

Dumb question - Was your former company phone an Apple, Android, or plain old dumb phone?????

[Tyga11]

Verizon has the best coverage by far. Nothing else is really close. If you want to cheap out - I would go TMobile.

[spazzyfry123]

Thanks folks. I should have mentioned that I'll be sticking with Apple. Thanks for that. I feel that I actually prefer a Samsung, but the reality is that I have an Apple watch, Apple ear buds, and have used Apple exclusively for the past several years as it was the only option for work. It's probably been five or six years since I've had a non-Apple phone.

Knowing that I need to get a new phone, I'm seeing a myriad of plans for "free" phones, but the terms have me skeptical. Some of these seemingly have perpetual monthly payments - almost like a phone "lease" of sorts. Confusing.

[vreihen16]

I always buy my phones outright. If you go into an Apple store, you can apply for their credit card and get 2-year free 0% financing.

On the phone plan front, I've been a post-paid Verizon (and predecessors) customer since the 1980's. My monthly bill is $208 after taxes and fees for two unlimited phones plus a cellular Apple Watch.

Since I was involuntarily retired back in July, I am looking at Verizon-owned pre-paid plans. If you have 1-2 phones, Visible by Verizon has a special for $35/line all-in right now with unlimited 5G UW, tethering, and free cellular watch service. For 4+ phones, Total Wireless by Verizon starts to become a better deal at $30/line all-in although it may charge extra for tethering and cellular Apple Watch service. I'm going to be changing to Visible before their promotion ends, because $70 all-in versus $208 after taxes/fees to use the same towers at apparently the same network priority is a no-brainer. Oh, and there's no contract or lock-in with either pre-paid plans if you bring your own phone.....

[avantegardestyle]

Originally Posted by spazzyfry123

Thanks folks. I should have mentioned that I'll be sticking with Apple. Thanks for that. I feel that I actually prefer a Samsung, but the reality is that I have an Apple watch, Apple ear buds, and have used Apple exclusively for the past several years as it was the only option for work. It's probably been five or six years since I've had a non-Apple phone.

Knowing that I need to get a new phone, I'm seeing a myriad of plans for "free" phones, but the terms have me skeptical. Some of these seemingly have perpetual monthly payments - almost like a phone "lease" of sorts. Confusing.

three phone guy here, one for business, one for personal and one for the side chicks lol
I have T-Mobile, I have 5 phones on my plan and pay about $160 per month for all 5
Good for international travel too with a $30 roaming charge for like 10 days providing you call them in advance

my two main phones are apple with one android
my gripe with apple is after a year the phone Battey sucks, then you either have to get new battery or upgrade the phone. I think this is intentional on apples part and I hate it

[M_Six]

Think about what you do with your phone. Especially since it'll just be a personal phone. Some folks watch movies and shoot video and do Facetime, etc, so they need the biggest and best iPhone. Others, like myself, use the phone as a phone and some texting/email/surfing and the occasional picture. So I stick with the iPhone SE as it's smaller and cheaper. I'm already bummed that the upcoming iPhone SE4 is going to be bigger. I'll be keeping my current SE2 until it's no longer supported.

[JeffL0]

T-Mobile's over-55 plans really can't be beat. Coverage is pretty good. Sure, not like Big Red but neither is the phone bill either. We have two lines unlimited data and our bill, including taxes and fees, is $80.

[spazzyfry123]

Originally Posted by M_Six

Think about what you do with your phone. Especially since it'll just be a personal phone. Some folks watch movies and shoot video and do Facetime, etc, so they need the biggest and best iPhone. Others, like myself, use the phone as a phone and some texting/email/surfing and the occasional picture. So I stick with the iPhone SE as it's smaller and cheaper. I'm already bummed that the upcoming iPhone SE4 is going to be bigger. I'll be keeping my current SE2 until it's no longer supported.

Great point for utilization. I am definitely looking for an unlimited plan of sorts so that I'm not thinking of any overages. I am an "extreme" phone user in the sense of work (100+ calls and meetings, who knows how many texts a day, etc.). But for personal use, I just need to check my personal E-mail, make the ocassional call, text, surf Bimmer Post, stream some tunes, and GPS. So certainly a smartphone, but I also don't need the latest and greatest $2000 phone.

Originally Posted by JeffL0

T-Mobile's over-55 plans really can't be beat. Coverage is pretty good. Sure, not like Big Red but neither is the phone bill either. We have two lines unlimited data and our bill, including taxes and fees, is $80.

I've got some years to go before I join the 55+ club

[RickFLM4]

I would look at actual usage before signing up for true unlimited, especially with a lot of calls going over WiFi nowadays. One way to save money is to go slightly above high usage point without paying for unlimited (unless of course, unlimited is really warranted by usage or there is a great deal on unlimited plans).

We switched from AT&T to Verizon. Had a good deal on phone prices, trade ins and rates on the switch at the time. I used to always buy phones outright but when I looked closely at the numbers, it isn’t a bad deal to pay as you go so we do that now. I recommend getting the phone in a store, as mine was stolen in transit and while it got worked out, it was a big PITA.

We pay $239/mo., which includes the monthly cost of 2 iPhone 15 Pro Max 1 TB phones (which are priced like laptops) with unlimited plans, phone protection plans for both, unlimited data for 2 iPads we own outright and all government fees, surcharges and taxes. Those prices include subsidized money for trade ins of old phones and the unlimited plans were the right price when we were shopping so we got them despite not really needing them. They also sent me some nice Bose headphones and an Apple TV when we switched.

Verizon is supposed to have the best coverage. For the places we frequent, they are about the same as AT&T in reality.

[M-technik-3]

One phone, $45 a month T-mobile 55+ own my phone outright just a Samsung 5G phone with normal storage and I put a larger sd card in for more storage not that I do much with it.

Been with Verizon and AT&T before and T-mobile before. Felt that addition costs with Verizon and AT&T just did not warrant paying for the same coverage. I live beside a large hill and my house is a spotty dead zone no matter who the carrier is so I liked T Mobile while I was in Germany so went back.

Honestly it's like gas at Mobil vs Shell vs BP. All tier III at different price points.

[eliphil]

I see no big difference between Verizon and att never tried T-Mobile. I’m a Samsung guy rest of my family apple.

[c1pher]

I switched around a lot and have stayed with Verizon for over ten years now just because it tends to work when I see other people with issues. I wish the satellite calling would be more widespread because that could potentially level the playing field.

[guitarman1]

Take a look at US Mobile. Starter plan is $25 per month for way more data than you'll need it sounds like. Also, they offer all three carriers, Verizon (WARP), AT&T (Darkstar), and T-Mobile (Light Speed). You can switch pretty easily from carrier to carrier to find the one that works best for your location.

[dreamingat30fps]

This is what I do. If I want a new phone I just do a trade in with Apple or sell mine on Ebay. If you don’t own any phone then bite the bullet and just buy it outright then you don’t have to worry about that especially if you don’t change your phone every year.

Then for me Verizon seems to have the best service here in FL and in NC. However Verizon is expensive as fuck. I also like to have good hotspot data since I work from home and sometimes I need to do work when I’m out and about or on vacation or whatever.

So I went with Visible. Basically cheap Verizon. I got their premium plan which gives you un-throttled data and hotspot for $35/mo. I have been very happy with it. If you do need help or have issues the support is limited and I think maybe chat only but I rarely if ever need to talk to anyone. During hurricane Helene I used the hotspot as my primary internet for almost a week and had no issues. Even streamed shows on my TV and what not. I believe it’s up to 50GB of un-throttled data, but I have never had an issue so I’m guessing I’m always under that.

[spazzyfry123]

Thanks all. Ended up with the cheapest unlimited plan with Verizon and a new iPhone. Stuck with Verizon as I’ve had good luck with coverage. I’m in a bit more rural area and am frequently in the mountains. Got the phone for I guess somewhere around 50% off and a $200 gift card in addition.

[RockCrusher]

Guess I'm late to the party.

I've had a Tracfone pay as you go plan/phone for years. Some few years ago I upgraded to an iPhone (7 series).

IIRC I get for a one year card ($125 before taxes) I get 1500 minutes of talk time, 1500 minutes of text time, 1.5GB of data.

With taxes roughly I pay $12/month for my cell phone service. Phone cost $325 and I pay for that outright.

At first I had a double option but Tracfone phased that out when I switched to a new phone. Was forced to because the old phone was not compatible with the newer cellular service.

I only use my phone for voice calls and text messaging. I use very little of the cellular data. It wouldn't take long to use it all up.

As for coverage, I have used Tracfone for years and been all over the western US and some of the eastern/southeastern US and with few exceptions -- in the middle of nowhere -- service has been ok.

(In Europe on business my Tracfone didn't work and I rented a cell phone at the Zurich air port.)

My sister has been a Verizon customer for years. She has a SE iPhone and a talk/text/data plan (unlimited?). Currently she pays $70/month for Verizon.

I've considered getting Verizon cell phone service (and a new phone).

But I just can't bring myself to sign up to pay more money for my cell phone service.

[bagekko]

After moving from US to Switzerland, shocked how cheap cell and simple cell service is here, its a giant scam in the US with contracts, fees, and limits.

[iminhell1]

Here's an option I don't think many really know about,,,
https://digits.t-mobile.com/#/


I don't know if it's something other carriers have or not. The ability is in most phones.

[SpeedBuggy]

Hey T.O.,
Switched from Verizon, terrible coverage in our neck of the woods and terrible customer service. Been with Verizon with what seemed like forever. Figured maybe get new 5G phones for the wife and I would give us better coverage.

Stopped at Verizon store, terrble interaction in the store. Told bill would increase from 125 t0 150 per month for my line. Wife shares with daughter and increase in bill. Said the hell with it and stopped at T-Mobile. Got free S23 and A14 for wife (switched from Motorola to Samsung) Her and I now share a bill w/2 Lines total for $100.00 ($60.00/$40.00) unlimited.

Got quite a round around with Verizon when we switched. They owed us money back against our bill. Had to make 3 or 4 phone calls over a two month period trying to get a refund. Different excuse each time, but finally got our refund.

Also T-Mobile gave free subscriptions to Netflix and Apple TV at the time. Also we each got a 200.00 gift card to use anywhere. Coverage has been great and customer service has been good.

T-mobile Tuesdays is a neat perk, discounts on lots of stuff per week. I take advantage of 0.25 of gallon of gas at Shell.

[Esteban]

Have Spectrum Mobile. Switched from Verizon. Doesn't sound any different/coverage is just as good. $59.97 for 3 lines. Don't remember which plan but it's not unlimited. Very happy with the change.