What smartphone/family plan is best?

[Shinare]

I've been out of touch with phone tech for years now and haven't paid any attention to it. My current contract is up Dec. 6th. I've read some forum threads here and there and it seems like a Nexus or Galaxy S 2 phone would be a good choice, or even an Apple of some kind. My current carrier is Verizon but I sure would like to drop them like a hot rock because of the lousy service and gorilla tactics used on me and my family to try and change our contract, which we haven't (we currently have a totally unlimited family plan they used to offer years ago but realized their error and dissolved about as long ago). I love their coverage tho, its the best I've ever had.

I would like a family plan with 4 phones (three smart, one not smart, whatever you call that). I would like the phones to have 2GB data and unlimited messaging. My main concern is monthly cost. Currently we are paying $145 for unlimited everything, but Verizon is screwing us over to get us off that plan. I'm thinking its going to be over $200 a month for 4 phones with those things which is ok.

What's the best phone/family plan out there? What's the best way to sign up: wirefly, the carrier store, the carrier online page, or other?

Thanks everyone.

[DevilGirl]

We have AT&T, 2 iPhones, and 3 "dummy" phones. Our total bill is just under $200.

Depending on the minute plan (we have 700, and come no where near close to it, but it's the lowest plan for 5 phones, the next lowest is max of 3).

There are roll-over minutes. And now, mobile to any mobile on any carrier calls do not charge against the minutes (used to just be AT&T to AT&T calls).

$30 gives us unlimited texting for the whole family.

Data plans on the 2 smart phones are charged per phone ($25 for 2gb, and he is grandfathered in under the unlimited data at $30).

The main line will have the base charge of $60, plus the texting plan ($30), so that line is about $90 before any other factors (data, taxes, etc).
All other lines are $9.99, plus taxes, and any data plans on those lines.

All in all, it's pretty good for us. Have very little service issues (main area we use them in is not heavily populated, but I travel to Philly for work every day and still don't have issues). We did have the problem of running on Edge instead of 3g at my cousin's house in NH this past weekend (literally the middle of no where). Other than that, I haven't had problems with them, and I've been with them, my own line, since they were Cingular in 2001.


Hope this helps!

For signing up, probably the carrier's webpage or in store would be my guess, just depends on if you are importing your old numbers or not. Not sure if you can do that online. Then there's the factor of how long do you want to wait for the phones to come in?

[cali yaris]

We have Sprint. ATT doesn't work in my house (but it does out on the sidewalk), or in the canyons where I drive a lot.

The Sprint store I go to has really knowledgeable employees that give me their direct phone lines. Nice, especially when you're trying to learn a new smartphone.

Our 4 lines share 3000 minutes and unlimited data for $270 a month. We use our phones a LOT.

Bandwidth never gets squashed and the 4G (when it's available) is smoking fast.

[Shroomster]

READ
READ
READ
^^^THIS. I cannot stress reading enough.
Go in store and get the pamphlets
Talk (if you must) to the people at the counters and get what they tell you in writing about your plan and options.

check the carriers websites for your coverage areas. if you do go with another carrier like Garm said with At&t, check to make sure you have coverage in the areas you will be the most.

There is no right or wrong carrier. you usually make 1 of two choices:

The carrier that has the phone you want
---or---
The carrier that has the plan you want

odds are low that you can say yes to both situations (you can come close, but sometimes there is one thing in your plan or that one thing your phone can't do on your network that drives you up a wall)...

[Shinare]

I think I'm going to head into a t-mobile place and just look at phones and talk about family plans with the stor person. From the looks of the online "compairator" type things the t-mobile familyplans are the most reasonable with smartphones.

[Shinare]

Looks like I'm going with Sprint. They still have the truely unlimited plan and because of where my daughter works she gets some kind of hella discount for the family unlimited plan. Now I have to decide if I want to fork out the bux for a galaxy S 2. Since its truely unlimited I want something that can stream netflix. I think that means I have to choose the galaxy s 2 but at $200 with contract I'm not sure. :( They have an HTC Evo 3D for $49 that specs wise looks good. Will that stream netflix? Or the Samsung Conquer 4G is free? Does anyone know?

[Shinare]

Thanks PK, thats exactly the feedback I was looking for. Looks like a winner for me then. :)

[tomato]

don't forget, you have a 14 day trial period (usually) to try out the phone. There may be a restocking fee, and a charge for data usage but you do not have to keep a phone that doesn't work out for you. So always ask before signing the contract "what are my options, how long is the trial period, what are the fees for returning the phone if it doesn't work out, what is your return policy? etc.

I didn't say anything in this thread because I don't know anything about family plans. But I do know that the best phone for you is a phone with a carrier that has the best coverage in your area. Out here, for example, AT&T sucks so I cannot get any of their devices, and that is primarily why I did not get an iPhone. But other parts of the country, At&T is OK.

So ask your friends, co-workers, etc., what they h ave that works well for them.

I have Sprint and my bill is always the same each month, and they give me a tiny little bit of a AAA discount.

Hope that helps some.

[tomato]

PS> I agree with PK. I have an older EVO and I can stream stuff on Wi-Fi no problem, so the newer EVO you are looking at will certainly do it. Then it's a question of personal preference, which phone do you prefer for the bucks.

[tomato]

Best approach if you have the funds to waste for a phone that will be "old" within 6 months, is to buy the phone right out without contracts and fully unlocked and then choose the carrier that has the best plan for you and that without having to sign a contract. All you have to really watch for is that your phone will work on that specific carrier. Either GSM or CDMA

That's hard to do here in the States, or in California, at least because the only one that will accept you without a contract is T-Mobile (I believe). Sprint will require you to sign a contract for a data plan, and so will Verizon (even if you bring your own phone). TMo has flexible plans, month to month and flexible rates depending on whether they sponsor the phones or not. I love them for that. AT&T, I don't know, because the signal for AT&T network sucks in SF so I never set foot in the store even, what's the point. No signal or poor signal means that you're walking around with an expensive brick in your pocket ...

There are smaller networks like Metro PCS that have month to month but I don't really know what the deal is. They don't have high end phones, just phones that do not consume too much data.

yeah, shopping for a plan is fun fun fun ... NOT! but it pays to do your homework because over the life of the contract, you can save quite a bit of money by doing your homework. Good luck.

[Shinare]

OK I took your advice and asked around my work (sent out a mass email heh) about Sprint's coverage and customer support here in OKC and everyone's really happy with them. Its a lock now, thanks everyone for your help.

Me and my daughter are getting the Evo 3D, my wife wanted the Evo Shift, and my son wanted an lg rumor touch. (I wouldnt let him get a smartphone) Reserved today's online deal for Friday at a local store.