Ava
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Post by Ava on May 30, 2015 22:43:20 GMT -5
Right now I only have a home phone and a small pre-paid cell that only allows local calls. It's only phone; no internet, etc. It's not working because I never use it, and forgot to buy a new card.
My idea is to get rid of the home phone and get a cell phone instead. I want a phone that has whattsap because that's what my family uses and I would be able to talk to them with that app even though they live in another country. My mom has whatsapp in her cell phone and now that she's here we talk to my brother several times a week. I love that. So I need Android for that.
Since I know nothing about cell phones, I asked at work. Everyone I talked to recommended T Mobile as the cheapest carrier. They said you can buy a cell phone from them and they let you pay for it in 24 months with no interest. The plans are the most affordable, and no contract. This afternoon I went to T Mobile and asked. The guy recommended a plan that would cost me $120 a month between the phone, plan, taxes, etc. I said "No". He told me he could reduce it to $100 a month by eliminating some features I won't probably need. Again, I said "No". He finally said I could get by with paying $60 a month with a prepaid plan. I don't want prepaid because I forget to charge them. Besides that, I felt it would end up costing much more if you use internet, etc. It would eat the $60 quickly and you would need another card.
Am I way out of touch? Are cell phone plans really that expensive? When I got back home I looked at the Ting website but again, I know zero about cell phones and I don't understand what I just read. Do I have to buy my own phone to use Ting? How do I know if it will cover my needs? I also looked at Walmart for phones and plans, they have some, but I'm not sure if that's what I need.
Thanks for your input.
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quince
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Post by quince on May 30, 2015 22:59:11 GMT -5
Republic Wireless. I have an Android phone that I bought up front for $200. I pay<$30 a month for an unlimited plan. There are cheaper plans. republicwireless.com/My husband and I both use it and it has worked out for us.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2015 23:17:28 GMT -5
Ting! Ting! Ting! I was with Sprint for 10 years and switched to Ting last year. They use all the Sprint towers and roam off of the other ones, so I've never had problems with reception at all (but if Sprint is bad where you live, it's probably not a good choice). I use lots of data, have two phones on the plan and my bill is normally about $40/month including fees.
You do have to buy your own phone, but you can pick up any Sprint or unlocked phone off of Craigslist or ebay and use that. I bought my son his iphone 4s for $100 and I got a Galaxy S3 for $150. My savings on phone bills more than makes up for having to buy a phone, those "free" phones with plans end up costing a lot.
Right now they're running a deal where you can get $100 towards a phone or as a statement credit which is a great deal. It could cover your first 3 months bills. If you're interested, PM me and I can send you a referral link.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2015 23:23:20 GMT -5
If you are buying the phone on the plan & are getting a high end Android phone, then $400-$600 of the fee is the phone payment plan. When you talked to TMobile, how much of the monthly amount is the "phone" and how much is the service?
What internet service do you have at home & do you have a wireless router so the phone can use the internet instead of data plan?
Make sure whichever service you choose that you carefully look at their coverage map & know which plan you have to be on to get coverage. Republic has some great plans IF you are in their coverage areas, where I typically am needs their 4G plan, so the cheaper plan would not work for me. This varies greatly depending on the carrier (or carriers used by the vendor), so be sure to check their map for the zip codes you live & work in.
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Ava
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Post by Ava on May 31, 2015 0:01:46 GMT -5
If you are buying the phone on the plan & are getting a high end Android phone, then $400-$600 of the fee is the phone payment plan. When you talked to TMobile, how much of the monthly amount is the "phone" and how much is the service? What internet service do you have at home & do you have a wireless router so the phone can use the internet instead of data plan? Make sure whichever service you choose that you carefully look at their coverage map & know which plan you have to be on to get coverage. Republic has some great plans IF you are in their coverage areas, where I typically am needs their 4G plan, so the cheaper plan would not work for me. This varies greatly depending on the carrier (or carriers used by the vendor), so be sure to check their map for the zip codes you live & work in. The guy didn't show me any particular phone. But I told him I wanted a Samsung with Android. Then he quoted me $120 monthly payment, which is crazy expensive for my very basic needs.
It looks like whatever plan I choose I will have to buy my own phone instead of getting a "free" one from the carrier. I am very interested in what you said about using my own internet. I have Comcast and my mom, who brought her cell phone, is able to connect to my internet and use it. I am fine with having a phone that only works as a cell phone while I'm out and using the internet at home for whatssap, etc. I don't really need anything else than that.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2015 0:16:15 GMT -5
TMobile's basic plan is $50/month, which includes unlimited talk/text/in-network data/and 1G of 4G network data. There are taxes & fees on top of that (no matter which carrier/plan you choose).
The Samsung Phones seem to be $22 - $30/month for 24 months. To purchase the phone outright is $500 - $700ish depending on the phone you pick.
$120/month makes no sense for a single phone and plan that doesn't really need data at all. Look on their website and you will see that.
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Ava
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Post by Ava on May 31, 2015 0:26:54 GMT -5
I did. They have $50 as their lowest plan, and then $60 and up. The guy at the store quoted me $120 a month buying the phone from them and probably getting all the bells and whistles.
Still, $50 a month plus $22 for the phone, and all taxes and fees puts me at roughly $85 a month. That's expensive, but doable. I am currently paying $51 a month for the home phone, which is basically useless. I would get rid of it and the money would go towards the cell phone bill.
I'm still so confused. I don't need much from a cell phone, and definitely don't want a huge monthly bill. Let's say $85 is the highest I am willing to go.
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ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ
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Post by ՏՇԾԵԵʅՏɧ_LԹՏՏʅҼ on May 31, 2015 0:34:06 GMT -5
Doesn't your telecommunications provider have package deals for internet/home phone? Mine does.
Then I just have an el-cheapo flip-phone that I top up every month to use when I'm away from home - for emergencies, etc. I don't need to be connected online when I'm on the road.
I can also text with my cell and it has a camera - though I don't use the camera feature much - I have a digital camera for photos.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2015 1:13:37 GMT -5
If you go with TMobile or Verizon I think your bill will be about $90/month with the phone included. If you keep your phones in good condition & don't upgrade every 2 years, then TMobile is going to be a better deal since the phone payment part drops off after 24 months.
If you want a cheaper plan, then I think you should look at Ting. You need to buy a phone that works on the Sprint network and then you will be paying about $35-$40/month. I vaguely remember discussion of school/condo location from a couple years ago & Sprint has decent coverage in that state.
Smart Phones are more expensive, so you need to decide whether this App to call your family is worth the extra money that a Smart Phone is going to cost you. Using Skype from your home computer might be a better choice for family calls if your budget is tight. However, I think there are some benefits to a young professional having a Smart Phone and learning the world of apps!
In any case, make sure you first check the coverage maps for any provider you are thinking of using. A phone that doesn't work well from home, work and travel route to work/school isn't any use at all!
ETA: And weren't you going to move to a different state when you were done with school? Maybe that already happened; but if you think you might move before your 24 months are up (if you take one of those contracts); then you need to consider whether that phone service is going to work in the states you may move to. Also whether the phone is compatible with the network in your home country if you travel there (CDMA vs GSM networks). Ask about the international plan for your home country so you know if the phone will work there or not. When we traveled out of country we were able to add the country plan just for the couple months of travel since phone was compatible.
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alabamagal
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Post by alabamagal on May 31, 2015 8:46:29 GMT -5
One thing that may be driving the cost of the plan up that they are trying to sell you is data.
If you have wifi at your apartment you won't use your cell data. My DS who uses his phone a lot uses less than 0.5 mb data because he is careful of how he uses it.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2015 9:15:33 GMT -5
Seriously. Ting. Don't go near any of those contract plans. The rates you are saying, $80, $90, $120? OMG. What a waste. Data is just to get on the internet when you don't have WiFi available. If you have that in your house or wherever you'll be using it, you'll never need to use data at all if you don't want to. Even so, I use quite a bit and still don't pay even half what you're talking about and that's with my son on my plan too. You can buy from Ting or go on eBay and get yourself a brand new Samsung Galaxy phone for a few hundred dollars. (Don't get the latest and greatest S6 which will be double). Here's an S4 for $250 that would work on Ting. www.ebay.com/itm/BRAND-NEW-Samsung-Galaxy-S4-SPH-L720-White-Frost-Sprint-Clean-ESN-Smartphone-/181713010080?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item2a4ef07da0I have an S3 and have had it for 3 years. I have seen no need to upgrade yet and have another S3 I bought off Craigslist for $100 waiting in case it dies. But a $250 phone and sign up for Ting. Don't be locked into a crazy expensive monthly contract. Check Sprint service in your area on their maps, but that would be the ONLY thing thing that would change my mind on this being the best option. Trust me on this one.
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trippypea
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Post by trippypea on May 31, 2015 10:27:08 GMT -5
I have a cable/phone/internet bundle from my cable company that is running me around $170/month, and I don't even have the fastest internet or any extra channels. The only person I talk to on the phone with any regularity is my mother; the rest of the calls are politicians, scammers, or telemarketers. So I plan to ditch the landline this summer, and switch to basic cable to get local stations so DH can watch sports (tried an antenna and we can only pull in one network because of mountains). I can then double the internet speed, and should still be able to cut $100/month from the bill. With this plan in mind, I dropped my Tracfone prepaid cell plan ($38/month) and changed to a Verizon prepaid plan ($48/month).
Talk, text, and internet was pay by the minute on the Tracfone. The Verizon plan I'm on has unlimited talk and text and 1gb of data. Because I have internet at the house, I use wifi for internet, so don't use my data unless I am someplace without wifi access. I haven't used more than my allotted amount yet. There are plans with more data if you need it. Even though it is a no contract plan, I do not have to worry about remembering to add minutes because I have it set up for automatic renewal every month. Also by doing this, they give me an extra 1/2 gb of data.
So if you have internet at home, and home is where you do most of your internet surfing, you can use the phone with the wifi...
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andi9899
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Post by andi9899 on May 31, 2015 10:49:54 GMT -5
I have tmobile and I pay $100/month for 4 phones. I bought the phones outright for about $100 each.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 31, 2015 12:32:53 GMT -5
Listen to MPL.
We can afford to pay for a cell phone plan, but do not. We paid $650 each for a new iPhone 6 that we bought online unlocked and a SIM card through Ting ($10).
For the TWO of us, we pay between $30-40/mo for our phone.
You can go cheaper than an iPhone, so don't need that much of an outlay. But if you consider that if we average $35/mo for our plan, that is $840 for a 2 years of service. At $85/mo for 2 years (that you were quoted), that is $2040. You can buy a hell of a nice cell phone for the $1000+ that you are paying in excess of what we are paying for our plan (and there are 2 people using the phone, text and data).
ETA: If you decide to buy the newest Samsung available through Ting, it'll be $648 with the SIM card installed. Like I mentioned earlier, the SIM card is not expensive so that you can always purchase one from Ting if you find a phone cheaper elsewhere that is supported by Sprint.
What you do want to do is find out how where you live is supported by Sprint (because Ting works off of Sprint cell phone towers). I live in an area of the country where Sprint service is decent. However, Sprint service absolutely SUCKS in upstate NY where my dad lived and there is no way in hell I'd get this service there.
The best way to do this is ask around at work and find out which companies your coworkers use. Ask if anyone uses Sprint, and how the service is if they have it. You also might want to ask some of your neighbors too.
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Ava
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Post by Ava on May 31, 2015 14:12:55 GMT -5
Thanks, everybody. Ting it is. I don't need data. I really don't. l'm going to get a phone from them and get their plan. Looks by far as the best deal.
I'll probably have to call customer service a million times, but they will know how to set things up for me. I don't want one of the traditional carriers and above all I don't want to get locked into a 2 year contract.
I'm still in CT, Rockit. Last week I sent my CPA application to the Florida Board of CPAs and waiting to receive the approval to start studying. I can do some of the exams here in CT, even though it's for Florida. As long as it is an approved Prometrics place, it doesn't matter that it's out of the state.
I am decluttering and cleaning my condo to put it up for rent. My manager approved me for 3 weeks vacation for December-January.
I've decided I'll move to Miami after I come back from vacation. I think I'll move in February-March, depending how long it takes me to rent out the condo and get everything ready.
I think Ting should work fine in Florida, but I'll check with Ting when I call them.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 31, 2015 14:32:22 GMT -5
It looks like CT has good Sprint service (you want to look at coverage maps) and I know that the Miami/Key West area works well with Sprint as I used my phone there a LOT when I was there a few years ago. I can also vouch for the Orlando area too.
Your biggest choice is going to be trying to figure out what phone you get. The one thing that I do suggest is that if you have the chance, go for more memory if you can. I got 64 GB on my cell phone, and think it will work for me. But my iPad (which has almost all the identical apps that I have on my iPhone) is almost maxed out at 32 GB. Once you start using it, you'll realize how much more that you CAN use it and do so.
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Ava
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Post by Ava on May 31, 2015 14:52:58 GMT -5
See, that's the thing. Believe it or not, everything you just said is like a foreign language to me. I've never dealt with a cell phone other than a very basic prepaid one.
I just went to the Ting website. You have to purchase a device, and none of them are what I'll call cheap. I need Android in order to get Whattsap that everybody uses. Then I need to buy a SIM card, no idea exactly what that is. There seem to be two different systems. CMDA and another one. All the phones I like are in the CMDA but according to the map both my current area and the Miami area work better on the other system.
It is really all that complicated or is it me? I find it so confusing. I'll call customer service a thousand times, that's all I can do.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2015 14:53:37 GMT -5
Here's a link to get the $100 (or use someone else's, I don't care, I just don't want you to miss out on the deal). ting.com/?promo=zc7sga33q56
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on May 31, 2015 16:07:14 GMT -5
I just went to the Ting website. You have to purchase a device, and none of them are what I'll call cheap.These are the prices of the phones, Ava. This is what you are paying for when you sign a contract, you pay for the phone too. You said you wanted a Samsung (which is a good choice and should do what you want it to). Your choices at Ting are: $172 SIII. It is refurbished and only 16 GB but can support a micro SD card up to 64 GB. $648 for the S6 as new. This is the newest one, I think. The others listed on the website are tablets, which I don't think you want. I need Android in order to get Whattsap that everybody uses.No, you do not need to get an Android. Apparently this app works across platforms. www.whatsapp.com/Then I need to buy a SIM card, no idea exactly what that is.If you buy your phone from Ting, it seems like most of their phones have one. If you do not buy your phone from them, they sell SIM cards (which is a tiny card you install in your phone, very easy). There seem to be two different systems. CMDA and another one. All the phones I like are in the CMDA but according to the map both my current area and the Miami area work better on the other system.You are not wedded to a Samsung phone, Ava. Other phones will allow you to use this app as well. I communicate on apps quite freely between my iPhone and my friends who have Android. I would consider that as you visit your home country regularly, you consider the phone which you can easily change out your SIM card so you can use it there too.
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dannylion
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Post by dannylion on May 31, 2015 16:09:02 GMT -5
See, that's the thing. Believe it or not, everything you just said is like a foreign language to me. I've never dealt with a cell phone other than a very basic prepaid one.
I just went to the Ting website. You have to purchase a device, and none of them are what I'll call cheap. I need Android in order to get Whattsap that everybody uses. Then I need to buy a SIM card, no idea exactly what that is. There seem to be two different systems. CMDA and another one. All the phones I like are in the CMDA but according to the map both my current area and the Miami area work better on the other system.
It is really all that complicated or is it me? I find it so confusing. I'll call customer service a thousand times, that's all I can do. You shouldn't need to buy a sim card if you get a Ting-ready phone. I bought my Galaxy S5 from the Ting website and it was ready to go when it arrived. It was really easy to set up and get going once I received the phone, so it is likely that you really don't need to agonize over this. Just verify with Ting customer service that the phone you are selecting will be ready to go out of the box, and you'll be fine.
I found the price of the phones available from Ting to be quite competitive (this was about 6 months ago-things could be different now, though). If you get a "free" phone from another provider, it's not really free. You will pay for it in higher monthly fees or actually pay off the phone in monthly installments. Then you'll still have a higher monthly bill than you will with Ting. You always pay for the phone one way or another.
My monthly Ting bill is around $10. I previously had Virgin Mobile (another fairly low-cost service) where I also had to buy the phone (available from them at a moderate discount from retail--still more expensive than the newer generation S5 I got from Ting). Their monthly fee was $35. Setting up the phone was very complicated and customer service left a great deal to be desired. Ting was much better on all counts. I've been very happy with Ting.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2015 17:03:40 GMT -5
See, that's the thing. Believe it or not, everything you just said is like a foreign language to me. I've never dealt with a cell phone other than a very basic prepaid one.
I just went to the Ting website. You have to purchase a device, and none of them are what I'll call cheap. I need Android in order to get Whattsap that everybody uses. Then I need to buy a SIM card, no idea exactly what that is. There seem to be two different systems. CMDA and another one. All the phones I like are in the CMDA but according to the map both my current area and the Miami area work better on the other system.
It is really all that complicated or is it me? I find it so confusing. I'll call customer service a thousand times, that's all I can do. You don't have to buy a phone from Ting to use them, you can get them from wherever you want as long as they're compatible with Sprint. There are lots of S4's on Ebay for around $250 new. The S6 is not a huge improvement and the app you want to run will work fine on it. It would on an S3 too if you want to go cheaper yet. I love my S3. But, Ting has amazing customer service if you want to call them and work through some of your questions. A real person will answer the phone if you call and they speak understandable English.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on May 31, 2015 20:02:47 GMT -5
Ava, you're intelligent. You know a smartphone is a small computer. That's not going to be free.
Our cell phone bill is $260/month; that's for four phones, 1500 minutes outside of the carrier, unlimited data, unlimited texting. It also includes two "leases" for my and DH's iPhone 6s. I'm not fond of the lease, but I didn't know they switched that purchasing route.
So, that's $65/month per person.
I went to the ting site just now, typed in our usage, and ting, without phone purchase would save us $30/month.
Cell phone use; it is what it is.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on May 31, 2015 21:12:03 GMT -5
Knee Deep in Water Chloe - You must use a massive amount of data. I typed in 10 GB, 6000 texts and 2000 minutes with 4 phones and it still showed more savings than that.
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Knee Deep in Water Chloe
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Post by Knee Deep in Water Chloe on May 31, 2015 21:50:17 GMT -5
I typed in the same texts and minutes, and I think 6000MB of data. (I've closed the tabs already.) I did look it up on my account what we average per month for the data. I put in the $216 for the amount per month. It said to put it in pre-tax. So, ours is $216 month for the plan, ~$22 in taxes, and $30 for two phone leases.
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truthbound
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Post by truthbound on Jun 1, 2015 5:29:43 GMT -5
Seriously what idiot pays hundreds a month for a freaking cell phone?
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Jun 1, 2015 10:20:24 GMT -5
lol. More wise words..... Yes, cell phones with lots of data use are expensive.
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shanendoah
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Post by shanendoah on Jun 1, 2015 10:46:02 GMT -5
I know that Ting is the thing around here right now. I don't have Ting, but I have a very similar company. I use P-Tel wireless. They run off of T-Mobile's towers. If Sprint have better coverage in your area, go with Ting. If T-Mobile's is better, I suggest you check out P-Tel.
We do use the pay as you go plans. I purchase $100 worth of minutes/data/texts and it's good for a year. (I go through mine in about 11 months). C doesn't even use his $100 worth in a year. So for two of us, we're paying barely over $200/year for our service. We happened to get our phones for free as they are older model iPhones that friends gave us when they upgraded.
So, that's what we use. But P-Tel does plans starting at $20/month and phones from $19 (probably not what you want) to $229. You'll also pay $5 for their SIM card. They do a great job of helping you figure out what kind of plan you need (all are unlimited talk and text, and unlimited data starts at $25/month, but only at 2g).
Anyway, one more option for you.
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Post by The Walk of the Penguin Mich on Jun 1, 2015 10:46:42 GMT -5
lol. More wise words..... Yes, cell phones with lots of data use are expensive. It is fairly easy to keep data use to a minimum. If we are home or at work/school, both TD and I use WiFi. The only time we use data is if we are in a place where we can't get a WiFi signal. Both of us pay attention to this.
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saveinla
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Post by saveinla on Jun 1, 2015 10:57:04 GMT -5
just wanted to mention - whatsapp works on an iPhone also.
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HoneyBBQ
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Post by HoneyBBQ on Jun 1, 2015 11:14:01 GMT -5
lol. More wise words..... Yes, cell phones with lots of data use are expensive. It is fairly easy to keep data use to a minimum. If we are home or at work/school, both TD and I use WiFi. The only time we use data is if we are in a place where we can't get a WiFi signal. Both of us pay attention to this. Yeah, we travel a lot. Most hotels charge per device on their wifi, which is highly annoying. So... we have an unlimited data plan, but it's 100/month for 2 lines.
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