Switching Cell Phone Plans

[ISUCyclones2015]

Currently on ATT since August with 2GB shared between my stepmother and I. She used to only use 0.4GB of data average per month before the switch and now she uses 3.5GB because her job took out the WiFi in the breakroom in October. So we're getting charged out the *** because of her and now she wants to switch again. I don't use that much data because I am usually always on WiFi but it is about 1GB a month. We're averaging about $170 per month right now

Anyone know how to go about that without getting bent over in ETFs and things? And which one would be the best deal for us? She wants to go back to Sprint but that's who we had since the late 90s (with Nextel and then just added and subtracted lines as needed) and we left them because they were becoming painful to work with.

Thanks

 

[ISUAgronomist]

Tell her tough **** and make her pay for overages.

 

[CarlHungus]

https://republicwireless.com/

By far the best deal out there. They use Sprints network, but their customer service has been great for me so far. Any problem you have you just email them and they're usually pretty quick about getting back to you

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

Tell her tough **** and make her pay for overages.

That's what I've been currently doing. She's not happy about it. But I told her in great detail the penalties if we went over. She was worried I was going to be the one going over.

 

[QCCyclone]

If you're willing to switch to prepaid (easily the best way to go IMO) some of them will pay all/a portion of your ETF as an inventive to switch. I know T-Mobile does something like that.

 

[dmclone]

If where you live has good coverage, it's hard to beat what tmobile is offering. $100 for two smartphones with unlimited everything.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

If where you live has good coverage, it's hard to beat what tmobile is offering. $100 for two smartphones with unlimited everything.

Does Ames have good T-Mobile Coverage?

 

[Colossus]

Just curious, what age do kids nowadays go off the family plan? I know people still in their late 20s who are still on their parents plan.

 

[ISUCyclones2015]

Just curious, what age do kids nowadays go off the family plan? I know people still in their late 20s who are still on their parents plan.

I've paid my portion since I got a job at 16. It was paid by my parents for exactly 6 months. I am going to get my own plan once I leave college

 

[JD720]

If you like AT&T's network, I'd check out Cricket too. 1GB or 3GB plans for under $50. There are no overage charges, the data just slows down after your limit. You should also be able to keep your AT&T phone if you want.

One thing to note - Cricket doesn't have any roaming agreements with other carriers in the US. If you can't connect to an AT&T tower, you are SOL.

https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phone-plans

 

[Dopey]

Just curious, what age do kids nowadays go off the family plan? I know people still in their late 20s who are still on their parents plan.

I'm late 20's and still on my parent's plan. I only have a "dumb phone" so it didn't make sense for me to pay $40 - $50 bucks a month to start a new account rather than just give them $10/month to keep me on their plan. I know of a lot of people that do this just because of the savings associated with family plans. Not that big of a deal IMO.

I am, however, looking strongly into Republic Wireless. I'd kind of like a smart phone now for various reasons and don't want to deal with that on my parent's plan.

 

[wxman1]

We switched to Verizon when we moved to Kansas. Before that we were on my parents plan after we got married (a span of about 7 months) since money was really tight my parents offered to pay for it.

We have been very happy with Verizon.

 

[cyadict]

We have AT&T but are tempted to switch to Sprint with their claim of cutting our cell bill in half. Anybody else try this new plan out yet?

 

[dmclone]

Does Ames have good T-Mobile Coverage?

I think so. No LTE but 4g.

 

[baller21]

We switched to Verizon when we moved to Kansas. Before that we were on my parents plan after we got married (a span of about 7 months) since money was really tight my parents offered to pay for it.

We have been very happy with Verizon.

Verizon has great coverage but is about the most expensive out there. I used to pay $58 a month for a dumb phone with their lowest minutes plan and unlimited texting. I've been on StraightTalk for close to 2 years now and the coverage has been every bit as good as Verizon. Only paying $45 a month for an I-phone with unlimited everything.

 

[CarlHungus]

Verizon has great coverage but is about the most expensive out there. I used to pay $58 a month for a dumb phone with their lowest minutes plan and unlimited texting. I've been on StraightTalk for close to 2 years now and the coverage has been every bit as good as Verizon. Only paying $45 a month for an I-phone with unlimited everything.

This is what my wife has. I keep trying to get her to switch to Republic since it's $20 a month cheaper, but she likes being on Verizons network and is happy with Straight talk so far

 

[baller21]

Yeah I haven't checked out Republic too closely because I've been really happy with StraightTalk. Can you use any phone with them? I use mine mainly in Iowa but have used it on trips to New York and Hawaii with zero problems. Not sure if the Sprint network would be as good.

 

[Ficklone02]

https://republicwireless.com/

By far the best deal out there. They use Sprints network, but their customer service has been great for me so far. Any problem you have you just email them and they're usually pretty quick about getting back to you

I've had thoughts of switching to RW as well. Do you have to change your number? How did you migrate your contacts into the Moto phone from the old? How much of a pain is it to maintain connectivity when you are on the go?

 

[MNCYWX]

Does Ames have good T-Mobile Coverage?

Yes, quite good actually. Data coverage is spotty in rural areas though. (Nothing on I35 between Albert Lea, MN and Ames except Clear Lake)

 

[JD720]

Yeah I haven't checked out Republic too closely because I've been really happy with StraightTalk. Can you use any phone with them? I use mine mainly in Iowa but have used it on trips to New York and Hawaii with zero problems. Not sure if the Sprint network would be as good.

You only have a choice of 4 phones. They are all Motorola, just different levels of quality/specs/etc.