Learn Me : Cell Phone Plans

Same deal as my insurance thread. I've been on my parent's cell phone plan since whenever I got my first cellphone. After I graduated school I've just been pitching in to cover my portion. I may continue doing this if it ends up being cheaper because they don't mind it. Only issue is my phone is starting to look a little rough and I think I am going to finally have to get a data plan when I get a new phone.

Wish list:

CHEAPEST while still having iPhone/similar smart phone. I don't really need data or a lot of minutes

My current setup is ideal. I have an iPhone 3G but no data plan. I have WIFI at my work/home/almost everywhere I need it. If I could, I wouldn't have a data plan but I realize you usually are required to have it with a smart phone. I do do a lot of texting.

Who is your provider and do you have any recommendations? How much are you paying?

You have what I want. AT&T doesn't let you have a smart phone without a data plan; otherwise I would have bought a used one by now.

FWIW, I'm in a similar situation (22, just graduated, on parents plan w/o data), and I plan to continue paying them because it is significantly cheaper than having my own plan.

They don't let you, but I have been doing it for the past 5 or so years. I have the iPhone 3G with data turned off. They have ways of finding you and I am not sure why it hasn't happened to me yet, hence why I haven't updated from 3.1 firmware. I did the same thing for my sister and within 2 weeks of updating to 4.0 she got a text from ATT saying they added a data plan to her account.

I think Cricket is doing prepaid data plans now on smart phones and that includes iPhones and 'Droids.

I have the original unlimited AT&T data plan for our two iPhones and with my company discount, it is pretty reasonable.

First question I have is where you are located?
Location is important to see if some carriers provide service in your area. Said otherwise...check coverage maps before making a move.

If your AT&T is unlocked and out of contract consider placing in it a t-mobile or a Straight Talk SIM:
http://www.straighttalksim.com/shop.php

If thinking new handset, look into Virgin Mobile (VM). Check Coverage!
Tomorrow, VM starts selling iPhones but at $550 which is a ton of coin.
In a more GRM fashion, you will be adequately served by the original Optimus V. Keep an eye and sales and you should be able to find one for less than $99.
For service, $35 gets you data and a little talk 300 minutes. Also a $45 and $55 if you need/want more.
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/

I use Virgin and pay $35 a month for 300 min, unlimited text and data. I use an LG phone with slider because I suck at screen typing. They have newer and more fancy phones at good prices.

I agree with mtn. In this case it makes sense to stay on your parent's plan for as long as you can.

I read a news article recently that Verizon will be stopping std cell phone plans & unlimited data plans and only offering data plans with some obscure by-usage formula - regardless of whether you have a smarty phone or not. The thought is once they do this (and start raking in profits), the other companies will follow suite. I have a Droid with an older unlimited data plan and pay about $90/mo. I plan to keep this for as long as I can.

AT&T data plans kinda suck...you're paying $100/mo in some form whether you like it or not. My wife was grandfathered into the old Unlimited Data plan, but then they started SEVERELY throttling her at anything over 2MB. Bastards.

Ian F wrote: I agree with mtn. In this case it makes sense to stay on your parent's plan for as long as you can. I read a news article recently that Verizon will be stopping std cell phone plans & unlimited data plans and only offering data plans with some obscure by-usage formula - regardless of whether you have a smarty phone or not. The thought is once they do this (and start raking in profits), the other companies will follow suite. I have a Droid with an older unlimited data plan and pay about $90/mo. I plan to keep this for as long as I can.

They are already doing this as of last year sometime, forcing you to get a data plan with every phone (like a $5 or 10 data plan for non smart phones or something), and no more unlimited plans, unless you are grandfathered in.

You can upgrade your phone as per usual and as long as you stay with the same type of plan you keep the unlimited. I have heard if you upgrade from 3g to a 4g phone, you lose your grandfathered unlimited data plan. Not sure if that's true or not but they probably would stick it to you like that.

I am stuck with Verizon. I have a discount applied to my account from a previous employer that saves us about 20% on the bill, we pay $125 a month for 2 smartphones with unlimited data.

I'm located in Tampa FL. Looks like I should stick with what I have and maybe just try to get another iPhone 3G (mine is on its last leg) and try to run the newer firmware while still not getting data. I would like the newer firmware because I can't download any apps until I do so.

jrw1621 wrote: First question I have is where you are located? Location is important to see if some carriers provide service in your area. Said otherwise...check coverage maps before making a move. If your AT&T is unlocked and out of contract consider placing in it a t-mobile or a Straight Talk SIM: http://www.straighttalksim.com/shop.php If thinking new handset, look into Virgin Mobile (VM). Check Coverage! Tomorrow, VM starts selling iPhones but at $550 which is a ton of coin. In a more GRM fashion, you will be adequately served by the original Optimus V. Keep an eye and sales and you should be able to find one for less than $99. For service, $35 gets you data and a little talk 300 minutes. Also a $45 and $55 if you need/want more. http://www.virginmobileusa.com/

I've heard of Straight Talk. So basically if I get a unlocked 4G iPhone or unlocked android phone , I get get data and everything for $45 a month? That sounds pretty reasonable.

I am looking to cut my cell phone bill too, I am currently paying over $170 for 2 phones, one gets 2 gb of data the other gets the 300 mb and we share 700 minutes a month. To me that is such a rip off. I hardly use my phone anymore and could care less if I had one but i guess i would be a social pariah if I didn't.

Since we both are out of contact and own our iphones I am going to switch to one of the following.

prices per phone

http://goredpocket.com/ $60 unlimited and 2 gb

http://www.mysimplemobile.com/ $60 unlimited and 2gb

http://www.straighttalksim.com/ $45 unlimited and 2gb

https://www.h2owirelessnow.com/ $50 unlimited and 500mb

all of these plans piggy back off att's network so if you have an att phone it will work on these plans.

If your iPhone is unlocked (if it's AT&T and hasn't been jailbroken it probably isn't) and you don't need a lot of data or (currently) a 3G data connection, look at the T-Mobile 4G Prepaid plans. I have a $30/month 100 Min/unlimted text/"unlimited" data plan on my iPhone 3GS. "Just works", albeit at a lower data rate - still good enough for email. There are additional variations (see link above) when it comes to talk time, SMS and data.

They are supposedly adding the necessary frequencies to support GSM iPhones later this year, too.

In reply to Keven:
I have not done it but here is a link to the Straight Talk section of the largest cell phone forum and it is spoken of, in depth, here:
http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php/551-Straight-Talk

jonnyd330 wrote: all of these plans piggy back off att's network so if you have an att phone it will work on these plans.

Piggy Back:
In the industry, this piggy back is known officially as a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator)
In real world terms that means the company you are dealing with buys minutes in bulk off the big carriers (like AT&T, T-mobile, Sprint or Verizon) and does their own billing and rate plans back to the customer. These MVNO's do not own their own towers and infrastructure, rather they borrow, buy it, therefore a Virtual Network.

I am not familiar with red pocket but i believe AT&T towers.
Simple Mobile is T-Mobile towers.
Straight Talk is T-Mobile and ATT for GSM products. Verizon and Sprint for CDMA offerings and Sprint only for Android CDMA offerings.
H2O is ATT.

jrw1621 wrote:

jonnyd330 wrote: all of these plans piggy back off att's network so if you have an att phone it will work on these plans.

Piggy Back: In the industry, this piggy back is known officially as a MVNO (Mobile Virtual Network Operator) In real world terms that means the company you are dealing with buys minutes in bulk off the big carriers (like AT&T, T-mobile, Sprint or Verizon) and does their own billing and rate plans back to the customer. These MVNO's do not own their own towers and infrastructure, rather they borrow, buy it, therefore a Virtual Network. I am not familiar with red pocket but i believe AT&T towers. Simple Mobile is T-Mobile towers. Straight Talk is T-Mobile and ATT for GSM products. Verizon and Sprint for CDMA offerings and Sprint only for Android CDMA offerings. H2O is ATT.

I didn't know simple Mobile was t-mobile thanks for the heads up.

My point was you don't necessarily need an unlocked phone to use these services, anyone that uses/rents the att towers will work with a locked att phone.

Also if you didn't know att will now unlock your out of contract iphone for free. Once t-moible starts to support the iphone frequencies that will be a good deal too since you will be able to get the full 3g/4g data speeds.

jonnyd330 wrote: My point was you don't necessarily need an unlocked phone to use these services, anyone that uses/rents the att towers will work with a locked att phone.

The above statement is not necessarily true. I would verify that with each carrier. My expectation is that an locked ATT will not work directly with an ATT based service without some unlocking.

So many options. My iPhone 3G is unlocked and jailbroken, but also very beat up. Looks like I will look into getting another phone off eBay and then go with straight talk. If I understand correctly, I just need an AT&T phone (unlocked ), and then plug in the Straight Talk Sim Card to get unlimited Talk/Text and 2 GB of data? Since it is using the AT&T towers I assume I will have the same call quality as AT&T?

BoxheadTim wrote: If your iPhone is unlocked (if it's AT&T and hasn't been jailbroken it probably isn't) and you don't need a lot of data or (currently) a 3G data connection, look at the T-Mobile 4G Prepaid plans. I have a $30/month 100 Min/unlimted text/"unlimited" data plan on my iPhone 3GS. "Just works", albeit at a lower data rate - still good enough for email. There are additional variations (see link above) when it comes to talk time, SMS and data. They are supposedly adding the necessary frequencies to support GSM iPhones later this year, too.

Another option, I guess I need to see how many minutes I need. 100 sounds a little low. Plus T-Mobile doesn't seem to have the best coverage in my neck of the woods.

Keven wrote: Since it is using the AT&T towers I assume I will have the same call quality as AT&T?

Maybe.
Straight Talk, which is a brand of TracPhone uses either T-Mobile or ATT; whichever benefits TracPhone. You have no input into which is chosen. It could be one for 6 months and then the other after that. It tends to vary by call as well.
My guess is that you will get T-mobile in the heavy urban areas and ATT in the rural areas that T-Mo does not support.
In reality, your calls and data will go through and all should work fine.

The management of sending the calls over the lowest cost is much of what makes TracPhone profitable. The parent company of TracPhone (Straight Talk) is América Móvil of Mexico. The "owner" of the company (and more), Carlos Slim, is well known for often being the richest man in THE WORLD http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlos_Slim

So lets say that I find a unlocked phone on Amazon, chances are it'll work on StraightTalk?

In reply to PHeller:
Yes and definitely yes, on a "typical" GSM phone.
Form more understanding on getting an iPhone to work, read here...
http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php/551-Straight-Talk

What's the point of having an android or iPhone without a data plan?

PHeller wrote: So lets say that I find a unlocked phone on Amazon, chances are it'll work on StraightTalk?

As long as it is a GSM phone.

Newegg sells unlocked phones too.

I could definitely see having a smartphone with data...lots of WiFi options.