Finally Switched Cellphone Plans

jyl · jyl's Garage

Damn I feel good, finally getting the ATT wireless monkey off my back.

Our ATT bill kept going up. About a year ago, ATT stopped subsidizing phones, but my bill kept going up. I decided to switch carriers, but the various plans are so complicated that I got lost in analysis paralysis. I have a lot of friends who had the same experience, choosing a new plan and switching carriers is just too complicated to deal with.

Finally this summer our bill was up to $320/mo for four smartphone data plans (2 legacy unlimited, 2 at 2GB) and a fifth line for the home phone. My daughter was about to leave for nine months in Europe. I couldn't tether my laptop, and had to keep nagging the kids about every 1 GB of data overage. So I finally got motivated to act.

Switched to T Mobile's One plans on four phones plus a fifth line for home. Each phone has unlimited data, although with limited resolution on video and limited speed on tethering. My daughter can use her phone in Europe for data, with same number as here, although calling is expensive (20c/min) so she might buy local sim cards anyway. Saving about $140/mo. Yeah, still not the cheapest way to go, but a big savings over ATT.

I'm read that T Mobile coverage has improved significantly. Looking at some signal strength maps, still seems maybe not as good as ATT and definitively worse than Verizon, but in our area it's more than good enough, and that's where we spend 95% of our time. Tethering is useful and fast "enough" for me. SD video looks fine on a tiny phone screen. Took less than a day to unlock all phones, less than an hour to port over numbers.

stomachmonkey · 09-03-2016, 11:24 AM

I agree, around here ATT is also the best network but it's not double the T-Mobile price good.

Did the same thing a year ago.

Zero regrets.

scottmandue · 09-03-2016, 11:31 AM

Welcome to the dark side!

Been with T- Mobil for about a decade, every few years I go shopping for a new provider but have yet to find a better deal.

pksystems · pksystems's Garage

Be thankful you're not in Canada.

John Rogers · 09-03-2016, 11:34 AM

I left AT&T right after Sprint started that 50% bill cut deal and it was true. I had been with AT&T for a long time but as you noted the costs kept inching up a couple times a year! I was surprised when the store manager, who waited on me said she wanted to run a credit check and said not to worry, I might like the results.

Sure enough she came back and said I would have to turn in both our iPhones BUT since my credit score was so high.....my wife would get an iPhone 5s for free and I could have my choice of an iPhone 6 model so I took the big one for free! And I did not have to sign a contract but I did have to pay the tax on both phones, some weird CA law I guess?! So far great coverage, no outages and all the same limits/rules as I had with AT&T.

scottmandue · 09-03-2016, 11:39 AM

Anyone else remember when you could get a decent phone for $50?

Now we pay $500-$600 and rejoice at the 'great deal'.

jyl · jyl's Garage

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Anyone else remember when you could get a decent phone for $50?

Now we pay $500-$600 and rejoice at the 'great deal'.

The death of subsidized phone plans, sadness.

jyl · jyl's Garage

Sitting in coffee shop on T Mobile LTE. 95 Mbps down, 32 Mbps up. Wow. I never got this speed with ATT. I wonder if the carriers give you especially good speeds for the first month, when they know you're still evaluating.

rockfan4 · 04:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyl

My daughter was about to leave for nine months in Europe. My daughter can use her phone in Europe for data, with same number as here, although calling is expensive (20c/min) so she might buy local sim cards anyway.

T-Mobile has Wi-Fi calling, so if she can get on Wi-Fi she can call home for free. It's great, I can sit in my basement (no signal from anybody) and still get calls and texts.
Edit: has to be a T-Mobile phone, can't use an AT&T phone for the wi-fi calling.

WPOZZZ · 09-03-2016, 04:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockfan4

T-Mobile has Wi-Fi calling, so if she can get on Wi-Fi she can call home for free. It's great, I can sit in my basement (no signal from anybody) and still get calls and texts.
Edit: has to be a T-Mobile phone, can't use an AT&T phone for the wi-fi calling.

There is also Kakao Talk. It is a free app out of Korea where you can make wi-fi calls and text each other. It works very well, and the sound quality is very clear.

Btw, I finally upgraded my phone 2 weeks ago, and wouldn't you know it, it's being recalled. lol

Porsche-O-Phile · Porsche-O-Phile's Garage

The Samsung one? I heard there were some issues with batteries exploding hence the recall (probably a good idea!) I figure you'll get a better device out of the deal at the end of it all anyway but curious to know whether you had any issues...

rfuerst911sc · 09-03-2016, 04:58 PM

I dropped AT&T and went with Google FI. For two phones my wife and I average a 50.00 a month bill, that's total for both .

stomachmonkey · 09-03-2016, 05:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rockfan4

Edit: has to be a T-Mobile phone, can't use an AT&T phone for the wi-fi calling.

No such thing.

The GSM devices are identical.

Carrier dependency is only relevant if there is a carrier lock.

You are not getting an ATT device on T mobile or vice versa unless the previous carrier lock has been removed.

legion · 09-03-2016, 06:52 PM

Been with Ting for 3 years. At our usage level, we pay $33 a month, for two phones with data.

VincentVega · 09-03-2016, 07:01 PM

legion - thanks for mentioning ting. You posted about them in the past and I picked up a sim to switch over. Should be so much cheaper than ATT its not funny. Now I just need to switch.

impactbumper · 09-03-2016, 07:12 PM

i am getting drilled by att every month. Gotta do a switch soon.

WPOZZZ · 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Anyone else remember when you could get a decent phone for $50?

Now we pay $500-$600 and rejoice at the 'great deal'.

Quote:

Originally Posted by jyl

The death of subsidized phone plans, sadness.

If you are with Verizon, they still have the 2 year upgrade plan. That is how I got my Note 7 for $350. They don't advertise it, so you have to ask. My sister got hers from Sam's and I got mine from Costco. Same price at both, but got a portable battery from Costco. The Square Trade insurance is $15 cheaper at Costco with $10 lower deductible, too.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Porsche-O-Phile

The Samsung one? I heard there were some issues with batteries exploding hence the recall (probably a good idea!) I figure you'll get a better device out of the deal at the end of it all anyway but curious to know whether you had any issues...

No issues at all and the battery lasts me 3 days standby. It could be longer, but I didn't want to have a dead phone. Charging from dead only takes 90 minutes with the Samsung charger.

gprsh924 · 09-04-2016, 02:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by scottmandue

Anyone else remember when you could get a decent phone for $50?

Now we pay $500-$600 and rejoice at the 'great deal'.

But that was just a phone. The only thing it could do was make calls. Now you have a full fledged computer in your hands. Of course it's more expensive.

wildthing · 09-04-2016, 07:09 AM

How much data do you guys use? I pay for the 3GB with 2 lines and pay about $90. And I barely use my data.

Been with AT&T for 10 years after TMobile signal was nonexistent in my apartment.

J P Stein · 09-04-2016, 07:17 AM

Me & the cell phone took a trip into the river the other day. I need a new phone.
My previous provider is no longer an option at the cheep-ass store so I got another one that don't work......but I'm working on that.

I just use a basic service that costs about 10 bucks a month.