Cell phone providers?

[McBiggity]

My 2 yr contract w/ verizon is up this month. I have had verizon since 2000. If I continue with them my plan changes and goes up another $15/month for some reason. Bill would come to $100+/month.

I have an i-phone and use less than 1gb a month data wise. Kinda sick of paying through the nose for this thing. Anyone use any of the other non ATT/Verizon providers and can provide some feedback?

[nhbubba]

Many/most of my coworkers use T-mobile now. Their plan is pretty reasonable; unlimited everything. Although I guess they throttle if you exceed certain data usage brackets?! Sounds like you wouldn't have a problem.

My concern is coverage. I live in the sticks. Most of my coworkers do not. Most of the T-mobile using ones I'm thinking of live in Boston or at least inside 128.

[csmutty]

Tmobile customer service is horrible. I would never ever go with them.

[rice_rocket]

Wirelessly posted

There are a bunch of other options that are cheaper, but the key is reception... if you know any neighbors near you I would ask, because I'd be super mad if it wouldn't work at my house, which already is the case with most providers and I don't really live in the sticks!

[McBiggity]

yeah, it's my house phone as well so I need to be sure I have reception.

[tsorfas]

Tmobile customer service is horrible. I would never ever go with them.

They ranked #1 in customer service actually!
They also ranked last in network coverage and quality between the 4 major providers.

As far as AT&T goes I can get you a plan of $60 a month for an iPhone without texting or $80 a month if you want texting.
I can make sure you keep your verizon number and by trading in your verizon phone we can take off some cost of your new device. Let me know if you need more details.

[nhbubba]

...$60 a month for an iPhone without texting...

Why is such a plan even offered in 2013?!? SMS texting costs providers nearly nothing to provide. Yet it costs $20/mo to add it? WTF!

[tsorfas]

I don't have a saying in the plans or their cost.

[bstnsboy]

This is why it cost so much....http://bgr.com/2012/07/19/verizon-q2...s-smartphones/

[tsorfas]

That's 2012..?

[nhbubba]

I don't have a saying in the plans or their cost.

That gripe was DEFINITELY not directed at YOU as an individual.

[Stoneman]

I can tell you matter-of-factly that T-Mobile reception sucks in my neck of the woods...

[SprintPoser]

Verizon still seems to have the best coverage I've found, except for some remote areas of western MA and Vermont.

What plan are you looking at that costs so much? How many voice minutes per month do you use, historically speaking?

I have a 1400 min/mo and grandfathered unlimited data (I use barely 500Mb) for now and it totals $128 a month. Fortunately my employer reimburses up to $130. When I get a new phone it'll be going down to 700 min.mo and the smallest data plan.

[breakdirt916]

I'm a cheapo - I went to Target and got the virgin mobile prepaid plan (uses sprint towers)...coverage is a little worse than verizon, and it drops calls maybe 1 percent of the time, but it's $45/month for unlimited data, text, and 1200 minutes of voice

No contract...so if I get fed up with anything I can sign up for another service and let them port the number

A target employee buys the top up cards, roughly 15 percent off so it's about $38 per month

[nhbubba]

Verizon still seems to have the best coverage I've found, except for some remote areas of western MA and Vermont.

ATT was better than Verizon for me both here in south eastern NH and in Burlington, MA; right in the center of the tech corridor.. within earshot of Rt 3 and barely a mile or two from I-95/128.

[jasnmar]

Yea. Verizon is great for me at home and in our mht office (full 4g, even in the basement). Turrible in our Waltham office on 128.

[tsorfas]

I have a 1400 min/mo and grandfathered unlimited data (I use barely 500Mb) for now and it totals $128 a month. Fortunately my employer reimburses up to $130. When I get a new phone it'll be going down to 700 min.mo and the smallest data plan.

not with verizon. you have to go to a mobile share plan now

[tsorfas]

Yea. Verizon is great for me at home and in our mht office (full 4g, even in the basement). Turrible in our Waltham office on 128.

waltham is a rough area for all carriers from what i know

[McBiggity]

not with verizon. you have to go to a mobile share plan now

yeah, that's why it is going up. I always had unlimited data up until now when it's time to renew.

[Slyder]

I got my phone a few weeks ago and I still have unlimited data. I'm also not locked into any BS contract. I can go get a new phone right now, if I wanted. I will never again have a 2 year contract. Do yourselves a favor and buy your phones outright. In the long run, it will be cheaper, I can make a couple changes on my plan and have unlimited everything for $120. If you travel around a lot and like your phone to get service, there really is only one company to go through. Or do the straighttalk thing and make sure you get the phones that bounce off of Verizon towers.

Edit...you don't have to go to a mobile share plan, you don't have to lose unlimited data, you don't have to pay more a month. I haven't. I pay the same a month with my new phone as I did with my old.

[nhbubba]

How do you figure it is cheaper in the long run?

[csmutty]

They ranked #1 in customer service actually!
They also ranked last in network coverage and quality between the 4 major providers.

As far as AT&T goes I can get you a plan of $60 a month for an iPhone without texting or $80 a month if you want texting.
I can make sure you keep your verizon number and by trading in your verizon phone we can take off some cost of your new device. Let me know if you need more details.

It took my parents 6 months and hours and hours over those 6 months on the phone to finally get T-Mobile to acknowledge that we were cancelling and they should stop billing us. Customer service SUCKS.

[scubasteveRR]

I've had Sprint since 1998. in my eye's it's the best of both worlds, great reception and a little cheaper than Verizon and it's unlimited everything with no data throttling ever.

I've been an extremely happy customer for 15 years.

[Slyder]

How do you figure it is cheaper in the long run?

Probably didn't word that so good, I'm still beat from last night

My current set up with unlimited data is 90 / month. If I changed the plan around, I could get unlimited talk txt and data for $120. If I went to those dumb ass share plans, I could only get 6gb of data a month for that price. But for $650, I kept unlimited data, I can chuck my phone and go get another without any penalty, etc. Well worth it IMO.

[Slyder]

The only way to upgrade now without being forced into new plans / tiered data is to buy your phone outright.