Author Topic: Cell Phone Plan  (Read 2578 times)

JackieTreehorn

  • 5 O'Clock Shadow
  • *
  • Posts: 50
Cell Phone Plan
« on: September 09, 2018, 06:26:47 PM »
I apologize in advance for being too lazy to research this myself, but I'm looking to switch cell phone plans and wanted some input.

Current situation:

DW and I currently on Sprint. Signed up a year ago when the had a special going that was basically free unlimited data for a year, we were only paying about $8 per month in fees for both of us to have unlimited data until recently. Then that promotional period expired and now our bill went up to $100+.

Both have iPhones, wife has SE and I have iPhone 8. Both are paid for in full already.

What we want:

Want to keep iPhones, since we are kinda sorta hooked up into their ecosystem. I'm not snobby/dogmatic about Apple products but we are just too busy to learn a new system at this point in our lives.

Don't really care what provider or MVNO we end up with as we live in a large Urban area (largest in USA) and service on all networks probably ok for us for the most part.

I don't think we are particularly large consumers of data.  When we were on Verizon before switching to Sprint for that deal, we could get by on 2GB per month total for the two of us.  Haven't checked in the past year but I don't think it's gone up too much, but I will check if you think it's pertinent.

Basically looking for the cheapest overall plan for our situation, hopefully with minimal headaches involved for switching.

I am far from a tech guru as you can probably tell so thank you so much for the help in advance. Really appreciate this community and all the wonderful, knowledgeable people on this board. 

Frankies Girl

  • Magnum Stache
  • ******
  • Posts: 3899
  • Age: 86
  • Location: The oubliette.
  • Ghouls Just Wanna Have Funds!
Re: Cell Phone Plan
« Reply #1 on: September 09, 2018, 07:26:52 PM »
As far as bringing over your existing phones - you'll need to confirm that they are unlocked through whatever plan you are thinking of using. If they aren't unlocked, doesn't matter what you want to use; they are bricks for you if you want to leave your current provider. Pretty sure you have to use a network compatible phone too, so like a Sprint compatible phone for a Sprint coverage area provider (like Ting), but that may have changed since I joined up with my phone service (it's been a few years).

So I have Ting, and iphones work just fine on it. And as it utilizes the Sprint network which you already use, you know the coverage works for you.

It may not be the cheapest for your situation, but your requirement to use iphones (preferably your currently owned ones) is going to mean you can't go someplace like Google FI or Republic Wireless, and cost you much more than being flexible about the phone, and the high data use requirement is going to cost you as well. Learning to cap your own data and being smarter - using free/available wifi first choice and maybe forgoing data usage unless really necessary - will save you so much money in the long run. And there is a large amount of free wifi out there if you're desperate to check a website or stream something. 

So for Ting,you can check here based on your assumed/average use:
https://ting.com/rates

No contract, you most likely can bring over your phone (you can check that on that same link) and you pay for what you use each month. You very likely could use MUCH less data than you currently do right now since we tend to get lazy about it when it is unlimited. If you start slowing down on the amounts and aren't a crazy 1K/month texter/streaming on data and utilize free/available wifi more often, you could see a total bill of under $50 for both phones. And their customer service has been stellar for me (Ting is a great company).

If you do end up going with Ting, they have a referral program too - see my signature for my code. You get $25 off when you sign up (and I do too - you can share your own code with friends/family and you'll get the same deal for as long as anyone uses your sign up!)

I believe that Boost Mobile’s $35 a month plan (so around $70 total) includes unlimited talk/text and 3GB of 4G LTE data per line are Sprint's MVNO solution. Cricket is ATT and they offer similarly priced plans. In both places, you'd need to check your phone's ability to port over.


zeli2033

  • Pencil Stache
  • ****
  • Posts: 508
  • Location: West Coast
Re: Cell Phone Plan
« Reply #2 on: September 10, 2018, 08:06:28 AM »
+1 for Ting. Our bill averages about $50 or so for two iPhones on the Sprint network you can leverage using Ting. May not be the cheapest possible plan as Frankies Girl said but based on your guidelines, I’d recommend the switch.

nkt0

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 259
Re: Cell Phone Plan
« Reply #3 on: September 10, 2018, 08:11:26 AM »
Another Ting +1. My SO and i both have iPhones SE on Ting and our total monthly bill is less than $50 most months.

Should also note that Ting offers a GSM option for phones that support it (both of your iPhones can function on either CDMA/Sprint or GSM). They resell Tmobile for their GSM network. It's up to you to determine which works better (and you can switch if you don't like the one you're currently on).

HipGnosis

  • Handlebar Stache
  • *****
  • Posts: 1825
Re: Cell Phone Plan
« Reply #4 on: September 10, 2018, 11:07:06 AM »

asiljoy

  • Bristles
  • ***
  • Posts: 407
Re: Cell Phone Plan
« Reply #5 on: September 10, 2018, 11:26:14 AM »
+1 Ting w/IPhones works great.