Cheap but Decent Phone Plans
I'm looking to switch from ATT to a cheaper phone carrier. Does anyone have any suggestions or experience?
I have looked into Mint Mobile the most. But I'm just not sure if I will like going from an unlimited data plan to a data cap.
Mint Mobile's largest plan is 12GB for $45/month paid in 3 month increments - cheaper for longer increments. Now I pay about $70/month for my unlimited plan and line. My average use on ATT is 17GB. I think I could shave a bit off of my data usage by making sure to use my wifi while at home. Since I am on an unlimited plan I just don't worry about it that much right now.
I know that YMMV and no-one can guarantee that one company/plan will work best for me, but I would like to hear the opinions of others who have used Mint Mobile or another cheaper phone carrier.
Thanks!
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Single line?
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I pay for my data plan and I pay for my phone line. Something about an added charge for the smartphone capable line itself. I have a Samsung Note 9.
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Good topic. I’ve been with Verizon forever with 2 lines for $100 for 8 GB data. I’ve just started to look around.
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I've been using Google Fi for just over a year now. I'm pretty happy with it, but the coverage outside of my metro area is not that great currently (Phoenix, AZ). I don't travel outside that radius often, so that's not a deal breaker for me.
I'm on the Flexible/Pay for What You Use plan ($20 base fee + $10 per GB, that fee is capped after 6GB used). I have one service line, and I'm normally around .5gb data per billing cycle since I'm usually at home on wifi, or at work on wifi. I rarely have bills larger than $30 now including taxes/fees. I was previously paying around $70/mth with T-Mobile for an unlimited plan. So I've saved around $480 over the last year - which is significant for me!
Google Fi also have unlimited plans, but those start around $70 for a single line; so no real savings there based on what you're already paying.
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Melissa - LOL, since I have no shame...
If anyone decides to give Google Fi a try and wants to share the love, we'll both get a $20 account credit if you sign up with my referral code, after the new account's been active for 30 days: E9ED42
💖📱
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I've been using Red Pocket. get unlimited talk and text, with 5GB data for $30. and $20 each additional line. I'd been paying $50 for my wife and I, now I just got our son a smart phone, so added him onto our plan, and now we're paying $70.00/month for 3 lines. each of us gets 5GB data.
The cool thing about Red Pocket is you can pick any of the main 4 providers, so you don't necessarily have to get a new phone. As long as it's unlocked, or your provider will unlock it for you.
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Bruce You each get 5 GB? That sounds amazing. I'm sharing my 8 GB currently.
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From everyone's responses, I'm starting to think that my usage of data is extreme. Which is odd as I rarely do more away from home than listen to music or podcasts on Amazon Music. At home I do watch youtube videos on my phone but, as I said, I could/should be using my home wifi for that. I really need to button down on my data usage while I'm trying to decide on a new carrier. That will also give me good information that will help me with picking a new plan.
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Peripherie If you are on iPhone there is a way to check your usage in settings. You can easily turn off cellular. There is also a feature that uses cell when wifi is too slow. you can turn that off also. Additionally it may be worth looking into the speed you are paying for wifi. It may be cheaper to up that to a better plan if you are at home a lot. Also, see my comment on ting. they also have usage alerts.
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Black cat Thank you! I have a Samsung Galaxy Note but I did hunt around to find my data settings. I use the most on videos - youtube probably. I was able to disable some background data, and set a cellular warning and a cellular limit on data. I will also make sure that when I am home (which is currently all the time now) that I make sure I am connected to my wifi.
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Peripherie You can also use a lower grade of video when cell is in use. If you must download video on a cellular network unlimited is definitely the better option but you do loose some features with some of the discounted ones. Additionally you might consider that some carriers with unlimited sometimes degrade media when you hit a certain amount. hmmm... if you are in quarantine you should definitely be seeing a reduction unless your home wifi is lacking.
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Black cat Thanks! I'll have to look into my youtube settings for video quality. I don't care if it is super hi-def. I think that for a while during the stay-at-home time I didn't connect my phone to my home wifi. I think having unlimited cellular data has made me not as diligent about keeping it on. And you are right - I do think my carrier does slow things down at a certain point. Even more reason to make sure my home wifi is connected.
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cricket - it is owned by AT&T and you get unlimited data for $45 a month
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I have had Ting for about a year. The model is to pay by usage however the rates are very transparent. They answer the phone. Normally my bill is 43 to 53 but covid has dropped it to 30. The only adjustment I made was to download music on wifi. The most I have paid is 100 when I went to England where wifi is limited. They accept gsm and cdma phones. If you have a phone that works on both like iPhone you can try both sims and use the one that gets you the best reception. This is great if you move and the reception is bad in that area.
One more note: discount carriers get less features than the primary carriers they are buying from (ATT). Ting does not have less features. Visual voice is one of those features you tend to loose on the discount carriers.
here is a discount referral link: https://zihh4n8af5h.ting.com/
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Black cat Ting is awesome! I've used them in the past, and really liked their plan, and their transparent billing policy. The only thing to consider is OP has high data usage, and Ting is far from the cheapest on Data. Very reasonable for talk/text, but Probably not a fit for what they're looking for.
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Bruce Which is why I also made suggestions on how to troubleshoot that in another comment. I use way more than text/talk. Thanks for the comment but it comes across as a bit patronizing.
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I switched from AT&T to T-Mobile. Admittedly, I am retired military, so I qualified for T-Mobiles military plan, but I honestly went from $400 to $150 a month (large family....6 phones). AT&T had data limits, T-Mobile is unlimited.
No brainer for me. Oh, and netflix is included in the T-mobile plan.
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Consumer Cellular- I am very pleased with them. I pay approximately 42/month for 2 lines with shard 500 MB data. They have other plans as well. This is one of the most straightforward forward companies I have ever dealt with, no gimmicks at all. If you go over your data they will bump you up to the next level and you can simply go on line and bump it back down going forward and there is no charge for changing either way and no contracts.
Also, 5% discount for AARP members.
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Thank you to everyone for giving me suggestions for different carriers! I will look into them all and make a spreadsheet of sorts to compare. If anyone has tried Mint Mobile I would still like some feedback on that service/plan.
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Peripherie I believe they do a trial, don't they? Where they send you a temporary sim card that you can use to take the service for a test drive. I really want to give them a try since we would save so much money, but I'm having trouble convincing the husband to leave one of the big 4.
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Tobias They do have a trial but I'm not sure how it works while you still have your major carrier activated. It is something to look into though, thanks for the reminder! The trouble with my ATT plan is that I have a grandfathered unlimited rate so if I leave ATT I can't ever go back with the same data at that price - it would be more expensive. So I want to really know what I'm getting into before I leave.
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We've been using Mint Mobile for a year and haven't had any issues with bad connections, etc. We have wifi available at home, work, bus, so our data usage is low. The one time I had to buy extra data it was (I think) $10 for 1 Gb and easy to add through their app. I believe they are currently offering unlimited data due to the pandemic. We pay $180/year/line for two lines. Considering that my phone bill was sometimes close to $180/month, it's a great deal!
If you decide to sign up, using my referral link will get both of us a discount ;-) http://fbuy.me/oakQ2
Thanks!
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Alemap Thanks for the feedback. Do you have the 12 month 3GB plan? So you can share your 1 plan between multiple lines? I may have lots of questions over the next little while as I think about switching.
Thank you for the referral code - I'm all about discount codes!
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Alemap Dang, I might have to give Mint Mobile a try. I thought dropping from $70 (tmobile) to $30 (google fi) a month was good. If I can get my bill down to $180/yr ($15/mth), that's crazy good! How was switching over? Any complications or other quirks that you ran into?
Peripherie Thanks for starting this post! Lots of good information from everyone sharing their information/experience.
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Melissa , it was easy-peasy and the savings are crazy good. Best price is the annual payment, so I've added it to my True Expenses to save for the annual fees. Note that we only have 3 gb of data/month, so if you need more the price goes up, but not that much.
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Peripherie , you can't share data, so my kid and I have separate lines with 3GB/month for each of us. Feel free to ask any questions--I'll answer any I can from my experience.
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Alemap On Mint Mobile do you have access to any network-based hot-spots or network community wifi locations? (I'm not sure if I am asking that correctly.)
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Alemap I'm using less than 1 GB data per month right now, so having a buffer of up to 3 GB/mth is even better, and for less $$.
I see that there's a $45 for 3 months intro offer right now; so only $15 more upfront over what I'm paying monthly now to give it a try. May need to jiggle a fews things budget-wise to fund the annual payment if I do switch, but I think it would be worth it to WAM from some other category if necessary since I'd be saving around $180 over a year.
I'm going to look into it further, and I'll definitely use your referral if I sign up. Thanks
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Peripherie , if you're referring to something like how Xfinity offers wifi access to subscribers through any other subscriber's network, no, they don't. Obviously public/guest wifi connections are available just like they would be for anyone else.
What I did like is that they allow wifi calling and tethering (connecting another device to your phone to use the data plan) without any additional cost. AT&T charged additional fees for both of those.
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Melissa , yes, we did the three-month trial first and then extended for a year at the same price--no downside to doing it that way. Gave me time to save up enough for the annual cost once the three months was up.
And you're right, it's only a short-term WAM because the savings will be realized so quickly!
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Alemap I am just worried about if there will be issues with Porting. Did you get a new line or ported from another carrier?
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BigFanofRacing I ported my number to Mint Mobile from another carrier and it worked great, if that helps.
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Matthew Yes, thanks.
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BigFanofRacing , yes, porting was easy-peasy
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Melissa Alemap I also thought about maybe paying a year in advance after the first 3-month trial (if I do go with Mint Mobile). I still have a $300 phone installment payment with ATT that I have to pay off before they will unlock my phone so I can switch. So I am trying to save up $300 first to pay that off. And then save up $375 to potentially put towards that 3-month and then 1-year payment. The time it takes me to save up for those things will give me space to really do my homework.
It feels like such a big decision to leave a company I have used for so long to go with a relative 'newbie'. But it worked out for me with cable. I had a large cable bill for a bunch of channels I didn't watch. So I switched to the streaming service Philo for $20.00 a month (and then add Netflix every now and then). I like the change in price and Philo has all the channels I care about.
So hopefully this change will be just as beneficial.
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Peripherie Completely understand where you're coming from as I felt the same way leaving T-Mobile after having been a customer for 10+ years (and was also grandfathered in on a plan I'd never get back if I left). Not to mention that anyone I talked to about switching (friends, coworkers, family) were in no way supportive of it... But I followed my own priorities, and honestly have little complaints with Google Fi (except now that I know Mint Mobile would been half as much cheaper, I'll likely switch over to that!). And leaving cable several years ago for Netflix and Hulu, also gave me the same sort of anxious/panicky feeling. But I haven't regretted either of those decisions in the long run, and saved a significant amount of money to boot.
Saving up for the transition and paying off the installment is definitely the smart way to handle things so you're not overextended. Nothing wrong with that! 🙂
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Peripherie , I hadn't heard of Philo--will look into that. Thanks!
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Thanks everybody for this wonderful topic. I feel like I am in "Cyber Hell". Hopefully your replies will give me a direction to move toward. It is all so overwhelming for me. argh!
I just moved into an apartment where utilities and internet are 'on me', instead of the landlord paying. Yikes! Navigating the best/cheapest plans is challenging for me. Here goes:
1) I have NOT had/wanted a TV for many years. So, I signed up with Comcast for internet only.
2) I also signed up for a 2-yr. payment plan on a new iPhone with Xfinity Mobile. (Was that a mistake?)
3) Now, I'm hearing about a new offering from Xfinity (Comcast?) offering a whiz bang streaming service. I would love to stream TV programs like, "When Calls the Heart" and "Heartland"... Netflix too-- no commercials ON MY LAPTOP.
4) As for my phone, I am sooo tempted by the Mint Mobile being discussed, for $180/yr. I feel stuck with the new 2-yr. commitment.
I am a low income person that doesn't qualify for utility assistance; apparently I'm not low-income enough.
Does anyone have ideas on how I can navigate all this for the least amount of money? So I can use YNAB to budget for it?
Very much appreciated! Stay safe and stay home--- perfect time to work on these things. ;-)
Blessings, Heartsong
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I'm thinking about moving to Mint Mobile after reading comments here. I'd pay about half of what I'm paying now. Have a call into Verizon right now to see if my phones are unlocked. I could always go back if I'm not happy with the coverage.
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I'm looking for a plan that allows for hardware mobile hotspots, because tethering wifi to a phone is a major battery drain and we use it as a backup on the rare occassions when home internet goes down or when we're in the car and a passenger needs wifi on a computer. I haven't found a cheap carrier that meets my needs. Paying $160/month all in for 3 smartphones and a hotspot with 9GB/month shared on AT&T.
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nolesrule A phone charger would be cheaper...
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dakinemaui Nah. Can't keep it plugged in that long. plugging a phone in while causing excessive electrical draw results in overheating, and then you have to unplug it and stop tethering till it cools down again. I'm a power user. 😉 When traveling we often have 4-5 wifi devices connected simultaneously... While still using the phone heavily.
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nolesrule "power user"... I see what you did there. 😉😂
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nolesrule Not sure if this is what your are referring to but this is from Mint Mobile's FAQ
Do all plans include Mobile Hotspot?
Yep. All plans include the Mobile Hotspot feature at no extra charge. The data you use just pulls from your monthly 4G LTE amount. All you need is a hotspot capable phone.
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B's Gambit No, I mean a physical hotspot device. As I outlined above, using a phone as a hotspot isn't going to work for my needs.
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nolesrule Sorry, I figured I you had already checked it out.
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B's Gambit Don't worry about it. It was a gambit worth taking in the attempt to help. 🙂Speaking of Mint Mobile, that's the direction I'm leaning. Everybody here using it like it?
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Thanks Superbone , I should never try to be helpful in the tech world ☺️. Your humor did make me laugh though!
I for sure am going to try their 7 day free trial. If it works well where I live it will be a $70 month savings.
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B's Gambit 🙂I would save almost the same. That's $840 a year! Definitely worth giving a shot.
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Superbone - Alemap uses it and has shared positive experiences with it. I am getting closer and closer to switching over (as soon as I pay off my phone).
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For anyone who’s interested, here’s my referral link that gives us both a discount: http://fbuy.me/oakQ2
Thanks!
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Alemap How does the referral discount work? What do both you and the person who uses the link get?
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Peripherie , we each get $15 dollars off our annual costs.
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Alemap Awesome! Is that only if we both choose a 12 month subscription?
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Peripherie , I don’t think so. I already got the referral bonus—you should be able to see how it applies when you log in to your account.
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Alemap I think I used your referral link. At least that's what I clicked on a while ago and left it open in a tab. I finally pulled the trigger this weekend for two plans. One for my son and I.
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Superbone , I got an email from them, so I think it worked--thank you!
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Alemap I also just used your referral link!
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Vibrant , great—thank you!
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Alemap I sent you a private message.
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Thanks for these great replies. All this thinking on switching my phone plan has me starting to think of my next cut back (I have already cut back my vet prepaid plan and cable).
Next victim - my car insurance. I use State Farm. Right now they are going to give us about $20.00 off a month for a month or two due to current world events. But I might start looking around for a new company after that. I think Geico is giving a longer reduction in price than State Farm AND will apply it to new policies between now and October.
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Peripherie I have Geico and they gave 15% off your total policy. Not sure if it is difference for new policyholders.
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Peripherie I saw your posts and wrote a post on my experience with saving on car insurance. Here is the link in case you are interested.
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I've used Page Plus for a decade. Easy to use, no complaints. It uses Verizon (or fully unlocked) phones.
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Did you make the switch to Mint Mobile from AT&T? I have been thinking about it as well and just not sure about connectivity and also people have reported porting issues.
If I make the leap and switch, I might end up saving atleast $ 450 a year though. :)
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BigFanofRacing , yes, I switched from AT&T and had to ask them to unlock one of our phones. We ported both numbers and all went smoothly. We’ve been with them over a year and connectivity is fine and no other issues. They’ve been offering free data for anyone that exceeds their limit during the pandemic, so have appreciated that. The savings are huge so was a no-brainer for me with no downside to-date.
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Alemap Thank you very much. I have ordered their test kit. If all of it goes well, I will make the switch too. Do you remember if the PIN Number is the same as the Passcode AT&T has ? If not, I will ask them.
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BigFanofRacing I’m making the switch from Verizon and they have the PIN numbers on my account page. Hopefully, AT&T has something similar.
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Superbone I do see something called "Passcode" that is used for a few things like Unlocking the phone. I am just not a 100% if that is the same for porting the number. I will call AT&T and find out.
Good luck on your porting, please keep me posted on how it goes.
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Alemap Thank you for all the reference and guidance. I tried their Starter test kit and noticed that for some reason the Wifi calling wont work. Tried few things and nothing worked. We then noticed T Mobile is offering a Prepaid plan for $ 15 (Unl text, talk and 2 GB data) and opted for it :)
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Made the switch from Verizon to Mint Mobile on Friday. So far, so good. Still bugging my son in another county, to install his and make sure it works for him. I plan to cancel Verizon this week. Bill for our two lines will be going from $100+ per month to $35 per month.
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Final update: The change has been a success. Our phone service (in two different counties) seems no different than before. This will result in $780 savings per year. Thank you Peripherie for starting this thread. It gave me the motivation to finally attempt a change after many years of using the same full price provider.
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Superbone Cant agree more. I recently joined this forum and I was in the process of looking at other Reddit forums too. Irrespective of which plan we took, it makes total sense to pay as less as possible for what we use. Based on my calculations I save about $ 480 a year with 3 GB more data each month compared to my previous plan.
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I think I'd like the T-Mobile $15 plan..but their site is being annoying right now. I did go look at my Straight Talk account and found that they now have a $35 5GB plan, so I switched from the $45 25GB plan (which I believe was originally a 3GB or 5GB plan) to that starting next month (my renewal was a couple days ago), so that's a start!
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TechieM2 I went to the T Mobile store to get it done. Took about 20 - 30 minutes in total to Transfer 2 lines.
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BigFanofRacing Unfortunately there isn't one in town. :(
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