New Cell Phone plan question

[Wayne Krivsky]

So a lot has changed in the 11 years since I first made this post.

FWIW, after going with StraightTalk, which seemed to fit my needs when I made this post, I eventually went back to Verizon for the deal on new phones and data plans. Was with the life span of my first Iphone then thru the first 2+ years of my IPhone 11. Switched to Spectrum (still using the same phone) and I see no difference. I figure I'll probably need a new phone in about a year or so, so perhaps I'll switch back if decent phones are included in the cost of the plan and make sense, or just buy a new phone and stick with what I got.

I think what Verizon and other large carriers have figured out, is that most people recognize that their phone works just as well on any carrier in most places so why spend $X on their plan if I can get the same service for $z less on another plan.

Yeah for the most part carriers are all using each others towers and unless you really need 5G speeds 100% of the time it's irrelevant at this point what carrier you have. It's an interesting time because the Spectrums of the world are losing their cable customers, the big phone companies are having to diversify because the cable companies are using cheap phone plans to get them to bundle in order to keep cable & internet and we are seeing giants from different industries become direct competitors.

I just switched back to Verizon. I'm paying more than I was at Spectrum for phones, but I'm also getting a really quality home internet for $30 a month too so it evens out. To me I would pay a few bucks more just to not be a Spectrum customer, paying the same amount is a plus in my book.

[goreds2]

The Best Cheap Phone Plans Under $40/Month

https://clark.com/cell-phones/best-cheap-phone-plans/

[oneupper]

Wow. I checked this thread and was shocked to see I had posted on it - TWICE. And don't remember.

FWIW. I'm now on T-mobiles' 55+ plan. Two unlimited lines for $30/mo each. Only the main subscriber needs to be 55.
T-mobile also gives some deals/trinkets/stuff in its T-mobile Tuesdays, which can add up.
Last year I got MLB.tv free for the season, plus Paramount+, AppleTV+ and discounts here and there which added up. Also got an umbrella, cap, mug and other stuff in the trinket giveaways.

This year they are giving MLS for free. Hoping for MLB. tv again.

[goreds2]

H2O Wireless is a prepaid wireless carrier that offers service on AT&T’s network.

You’ll find great deals on multi-line phone plans for two or four lines ($25 per line per month) and unlimited plans begin as low as $18 per month with autopay for 2GB of high-speed data followed by unlimited 2G speeds.

However, even before you hit your high-speed data allotment, know that speeds are capped at 8 Mbps on 5G/LTE networks and 4 Mbps on 4G networks with H2O Wireless.

Still, you’ll find far cheaper prices than AT&T’s postpaid plans with H2O Wireless, and a decent amount of high-speed data available with the $45 Unlimited Plan.

More information here:

https://clark.com/cell-phones/h2o-wireless-review/

(Not that I have no affiliation with this. I just listen to Clark Howard’s podcast and found this interesting.)

[goreds2]

Wow. I checked this thread and was shocked to see I had posted on it - TWICE. And don't remember.

FWIW. I'm now on T-mobiles' 55+ plan. Two unlimited lines for $30/mo each. Only the main subscriber needs to be 55.
T-mobile also gives some deals/trinkets/stuff in its T-mobile Tuesdays, which can add up.
Last year I got MLB.tv free for the season, plus Paramount+, AppleTV+ and discounts here and there which added up. Also got an umbrella, cap, mug and other stuff in the trinket giveaways.

This year they are giving MLS for free. Hoping for MLB. tv again.

——————

T-Mobile customers score free MLB.TV for the entire 2023 season, a $150 value. Live stream your team at home or away.
Remember—this offer is only available from Tuesday, March 28 through Monday, April 3. Switch to T-Mobile today to get started.

https://www.t-mobile.com/benefits/mlb

[Kingspoint]

I pay $20/Month (T-Mobile) which includes taxes and fees and no matter how much taxes and fees go up, the price remains $20/M. I have text, limited to about three sentences at a time (no pictures), but I have a quality cameraphone, Galaxy A51, but it is never linked to a Satellite, so there's no updates, no internet connection, no cloud. I can take photos, upload them to my computer and do anything I want with them from there. Decided to not have a smartphone two years ago and haven't regretted it for one day.

[goreds2]

Mint Mobile Will Soon Be Owned by T-Mobile

T-Mobile Is Acquiring Mint Mobile for Up to $1.35 Billion

On March 15, T-Mobile announced that it will be acquiring Ka’ena Corporation and its subsidiaries, which includes Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile.

Mint Mobile and Ultra Mobile will complement T-Mobile’s current prepaid service offerings including Metro by T-Mobile (Review), Connect by T-Mobile (Review) and T-Mobile branded prepaid.

Mint Mobile already runs on T-Mobile’s network, which means Mint Mobile customers should continue to have access to the same fast, reliable 5G network. Additionally, T-Mobile announced that they intend to continue Mint Mobile’s value pricing starting at $15/month. However, we don’t know for certain what will happen to Mint Mobile’s current plans and pricing.

https://clark.com/cell-phones/t-mobi...es-mint-mobile

[goreds2]

Wow. I checked this thread and was shocked to see I had posted on it - TWICE. And don't remember.

FWIW. I'm now on T-mobiles' 55+ plan. Two unlimited lines for $30/mo each. Only the main subscriber needs to be 55.
T-mobile also gives some deals/trinkets/stuff in its T-mobile Tuesdays, which can add up.
Last year I got MLB.tv free for the season, plus Paramount+, AppleTV+ and discounts here and there which added up. Also got an umbrella, cap, mug and other stuff in the trinket giveaways.

This year they are giving MLS for free. Hoping for MLB. tv again.

I have T-mobile internet only (I do not have their phone service). On the T-mobile Tuesdays app, I just got 14 free printed pictures from CVS. No credit card required. Awesome deal for free.

My T-Mobile internet is $50 a month out the door. I live in a rural area so this has been great. I had to get on a waiting list. My previous internet was Century Link.

[RedTeamGo!]

I’ve been a Verizon customer since I got my first cell phone when I was 16 years old 23 years ago. Verizon used to have a great reliable network. It’s absolute garbage now. It’s so weird. And it’s not just me, I’ve talked to many other Verizon customers about this over the past couple of years and everyone agrees Verizon has gotten worse and worse the last 5 years. It’s so weird.

[hebroncougar]

what’s the best network in the area? i have verizon. i’m just not impressed anymore


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Strikes Out Looking]

The T-Mobile Tuesdays is a pretty nice added benefit.

[BernieCarbo]

what’s the best network in the area? i have verizon. i’m just not impressed anymore


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

It's funny, from 1999 to about 2010, I used Sprint, and then I switched to Verizon for whatever reason, and it sucked so bad whenever I traveled. I'd have five bars at Dulles, and still couldn't use the internet or use the hotspot. Switched back to Sprint, and it was fine again. Switched to Straight Talk about eight years ago though, and it worked flawlessly. But it really sucks how the rest of the world figured this whole thing out years ago. I'm using an OPPO phone from China right now, and it blows the iPhone away, although probably Chairman Mao is reading my sexting messages.

[goreds2]

Senior Discounts for Cell Phones

Consumer Cellular: Offers AARP members a 30% discount on eligible accessories and a 5% discount on monthly services.

AT&T: AARP members are eligible for a slew of savings, including up to $45 off upgrade and activation fees, 15% off eligible accessories and more.

T-Mobile: Offers seniors 55 and up an array of discounted phone plans, ranging from $27.50 a line a month to $45 a line a month.

Verizon: Gives people 55 and up a special discounted rate for one or two lines ($15 off).


https://www.forbes.com/health/health...ior-discounts/

[goreds2]

——————


https://www.t-mobile.com/benefits/mlb

Reminder that if qualified, you only have 2 or so days remaining to redeem.

T-Mobile customers score free MLB.TV for the entire 2023 season, a $150 value. Live stream your team at home or away.
Remember—this offer is only available from Tuesday, March 28 through Monday, April 3. Switch to T-Mobile today to get started.

[goreds2]

50 years ago, he made the first cell phone call

New York
CNN
—
On April 3, 1973, Martin Cooper stood on a sidewalk on sixth avenue in Manhattan with a device the size of a brick and made the first public call from a cell phone to one of the men he’d been competing with to develop the device.

“I’m calling you on a cell phone, but a real cell phone, a personal, handheld, portable cell phone,” Cooper, then an engineer at Motorola, said on the phone to Joel Engel, head of AT&T-owned Bell Labs.

While cell phones would not be available to the average consumer for another decade, anyone walking by Cooper on the street that day could have seen history being made.

In the fifty years since that first call, Cooper’s bulky device has evolved and been replaced by a wide range of thinner, faster phones that are now ubiquitous and reshaping industries, culture and the way we relate to one another and ourselves. But while the vast reach and impact of cell phones may have caught some off guard, Cooper said the possibility that mobile phones would one day be deemed essential to much of mankind was clear from the start.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/03/tech/...-50/index.html



Motorola vice president John F. Mitchell shows how easily the company's newest product-Dyna T-A-C Portable Radio Telephone System can be used in New York, NY, on April 03, 1973.