# Best Wireless Plans



## 1929chrysler (Jan 11, 2013)

What are your picks for the best wireless plans out there. I'm hearing a lot about this "Straight Talk" plan from Wal-Mart I believe. My understanding is that you have to buy the phone outright and then you have unlimited talk, text and internet for $45/mo??? Is this right?


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## flashheatingand (May 3, 2008)

I use Cricket, and it has been quite reilable. $35/mo. Unlimited talk, text and $5.00 for the navigational app. I believe, with the Walmart plan, they own the cell #.


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

My mate had one of these plans. He ended up back on a normal plan after about 3 months. From what I remember he said the data is as good as useless. Which is why the plan is cheap.


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## jlsconstruction (Apr 26, 2011)

I know people that have it and like it. Me personally at&t I've had it forever like 13 years besides a 6 month period I tried out Verizon. But we have 4 phones on our plans. I'm on my internet all the time and don't think I've ever gone over a gb even though I have 3gb plan. WiFi is everywhere, so the unlimited part means nothing. To me atleast.

Correct me if I'm wrong but I believe any at&t phone will work on straight talk, so maybe try it out if you or someone you know has an old phone. Then get back to us and let us know.


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## 1929chrysler (Jan 11, 2013)

flashheatingand said:


> I use Cricket, and it has been quite reilable. $35/mo. Unlimited talk, text and $5.00 for the navigational app. I believe, with the Walmart plan, they own the cell #.


I'm pretty sure you have to purchase the phone at full price.


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

Wow I just read the restrictions on straight talk.

2gb month cap or 100mb a day. What ever comes first.
No music streaming or app downloading:blink:
3G only speeds
No tethering
Have to buy the phone out right


Well that ain't such a great deal. 

When you figure the cost over 2 years and use a iPhone 5 as an example it's cheaper to have Verizon or AT&T on 4G. You can sell the phone for more than you paid for it used also which def won't happen with a phone you buy outright. 

For me and my wife

$1730 2 years straighttalk with iphone5 3G(each)
$1560 2 years Verizon with iphone5 4G(each)


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## TimelessQuality (Sep 23, 2007)

sprint, 2 phones, unlimited everything, un-throttled, 140/mo


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## flashheatingand (May 3, 2008)

You can get a phone for $70.00 with a full qwerty board. Or a basic one for $40.00. If you want to go smart phone, they have plans as well, that beat Verizon and the other guys (opinion)


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## 1929chrysler (Jan 11, 2013)

BCConstruction said:


> Wow I just read the restrictions on straight talk.
> 
> 2gb month cap or 100mb a day. What ever comes first.
> No music streaming or app downloading:blink:
> ...


Excuse my ignorance but what does all that 2gb and 100mb lingo mean? The only thing I really use my phone for is talking and texting. Very rarely hit the Internet.


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## We Fix Houses (Aug 15, 2007)

http://www.contractortalk.com/f17/smart-phone-dummy-131126/#post1713028

Had Verizon for several years with a flip phone.

Paying same $48 with Straight Talk with a Samsung S2. For individual plans, can't beat it. Its AAT service or Verizon depending where you're at. If your not doing 10 - 20 YT, FB or a lot of office files, pics all day long you'll be fine. I seldom use half of my daily / monthly allowances. 

I have many friends paying $90 - $120 for the same arrangement. I paid $280 for my S2. You can get a good Android dual processor 1 ghz for under $200 now days. 

Here's addl info from the top forum on the subject:
http://www.howardforums.com/forumdisplay.php/551-Straight-Talk


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## We Fix Houses (Aug 15, 2007)

1929chrysler said:


> Excuse my ignorance but what does all that 2gb and 100mb lingo mean? The only thing I really use my phone for is talking and texting. Very rarely hit the Internet.


That's 2 GB month and 100 mb a day. I don't use half that with Straight Talk. You need to do about 300 emails, 40 pics, 10 - 15 YouTube vids a day to max out those limits. There is unlimited internet and texting with ST.

You could do well with Straight Talk.


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

1929chrysler said:


> Excuse my ignorance but what does all that 2gb and 100mb lingo mean? The only thing I really use my phone for is talking and texting. Very rarely hit the Internet.


If you use over 2Gb a month or 100Mb a day they can terminate your line. You should be fine if you don't use the net a lot. I pass that 100Mb a day easy every day I have used up 347mb today. If I'm very careful and stream a very low bit rates and watch what I do on the phone I can keep it under 100mb but it ain't easy.


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## We Fix Houses (Aug 15, 2007)

BCConstruction said:


> My mate had one of these plans. He ended up back on a normal plan after about 3 months. From what I remember he said the data is as good as useless. Which is why the plan is cheap.


I think that could be true for any carrier. A few % of all of them won't work out.

Verizon is tops yes, not quite the coverage of ATT / Straight Talk. 

If your friend is in an area like Roanoke or similar areas, other than Verizon there may be some difficulties.

Also my brother just got a 4S that will receive 4G and gets it in Atlanta via Straight Talk / ATT.

When he goes into the mountains, fishing, camping it is more spotty than his previous Verizon.

4G and then LTE is coming to ST in a year or two I'm sure. If your a smart phone person I'd look at a 4G phone.


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## renov8r (Feb 16, 2013)

I'm with Telus mobility they are Canada's third largest cellular phone provider. My plan is a loyalty plan that was offered to me.

BlackBerry 9800 Smartphone
Unlimited Talk and Text
Unlimited 3G Data
Called ID & Voice Mail 25

all for $55/month plus taxes

I know people who have Canadian company equivalents like "straight-talk" from Wal-Mart and I've heard nothing but horrible reviews. Some people don't get full coverage outisde their zone and sometimes no coverage at certain times. For me I'd rather pay a few extra bucks and have the proper customer service support and more importantly a working phone at all times.


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## WarriorWithWood (Jun 30, 2007)

The best place I've found for service is Ting. You only pay for what you use. I've had monthly bills that were $10. Check it out.
https://ting.com/


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## 1929chrysler (Jan 11, 2013)

WarriorWithWood said:


> The best place I've found for service is Ting. You only pay for what you use. I've had monthly bills that were $10. Check it out.
> https://ting.com/


I did look into them but the problem is they don't have Apple products. I'm looking to sync my phone with all my other devices.


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## schaefercs (Jul 10, 2008)

Verizon gets me and the old lady for $190/month. That includes 700 out of network minutes (free Verizon to Verizon), unlimited texting, and 2 gb each data. We never go close with the data but its the minimum package. Even with my 15% military discount it's still ridiculous.


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## WarriorWithWood (Jun 30, 2007)

I have AT&T family plan. 3 phones (iphone 5, note, and S3). I pay $210 mo. and I get unlimited cell to cell, text, 3 gigs internet, and 600 phone minutes. All and all not too bad IMO.


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## RobertCDF (Aug 18, 2005)

Have you guys looked at the data share plans? Dennis you should be paying $190 for you to have 4gb shared among the 3 phones and unlimited minutes and text. 

Schaefercs: You should switch to the data share plan too, unlimited calls, unlimited text, share 4 gb of data and you should be at $150, you can save another $10 a month if you drop to shared 2 gb.


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## Warren (Feb 19, 2005)

Sprint, 5 phones, unlimited everything, ends up at $230/ month.


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

Yep some of you guys can save a lot of money. We just switched ours to the shared plan and we got unlimited talk and text, 8gb shared data and free tethering and costs us $156 a month.


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## BamBamm5144 (Jul 12, 2008)

I pay $238 a month. Three IPhones, unlimited text and data. 2000 shared minutes. Also have a regular flip phone and the home voice connect thing.


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## flashheatingand (May 3, 2008)

$238 a month? Buh-Dang!! I hope that includes laundry services as well.


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

BamBamm5144 said:


> I pay $238 a month. Three IPhones, unlimited text and data. 2000 shared minutes. Also have a regular flip phone and the home voice connect thing.


That would have been costing me about $166 a month with Verizon but with much better options. They were also gonna let use keep the old iPhone 4 which had the unlimited data plan for $10 a month on top of the $156 we pay. Im what they class as a heavy data user and they put me in the top 1% of worst data users and I will struggle to do 8gb a month with the way I use the plan so you should be good with a plan like that.


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## BamBamm5144 (Jul 12, 2008)

flashheatingand said:


> $238 a month? Buh-Dang!! I hope that includes laundry services as well.


It was $315


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## Randy Bush (Mar 7, 2011)

I use att , two phones. but I am on a old Altel plan which I think is pretty good. Also on a unlimited internet air card old Altel plan too. which is really good for me seeing how I used 171,286,958 KB this last month. All for around 130 a month.


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

Randy Bush said:


> I use att , two phones. but I am on a old Altel plan which I think is pretty good. Also on a unlimited internet air card old Altel plan too. which is really good for me seeing how I used 171,286,958 KB this last month. All for around 130 a month.


You sure you have your numbers right? That's about 160GB you used? If so what on earth are you downloading to use up bandwidth like that. 

Are you sure you didn't mean Kb not KB?


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## Randy Bush (Mar 7, 2011)

BCConstruction said:


> You sure you have your numbers right? That's about 160GB you used? If so what on earth are you downloading to use up bandwidth like that.
> 
> Are you sure you didn't mean Kb not KB?


Bill says KB , we stream a fair amount. :whistling I would be hurting if didn't have unlimited.


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## WarriorWithWood (Jun 30, 2007)

RobertCDF said:


> Have you guys looked at the data share plans? Dennis you should be paying $190 for you to have 4gb shared among the 3 phones and unlimited minutes and text.
> 
> Schaefercs: You should switch to the data share plan too, unlimited calls, unlimited text, share 4 gb of data and you should be at $150, you can save another $10 a month if you drop to shared 2 gb.


3 gigs each phone for data


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## WarriorWithWood (Jun 30, 2007)

BCConstruction said:


> You sure you have your numbers right? That's about 160GB you used? If so what on earth are you downloading to use up bandwidth like that.
> 
> Are you sure you didn't mean Kb not KB?


I used about 500 gig last month on my home connection. HD movies eat it up.


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## The Coastal Craftsman (Jun 29, 2009)

WarriorWithWood said:


> I used about 500 gig last month on my home connection. HD movies eat it up.


I Upload more online now than I download. I use up silly amounts of bandwidth on backing up pictures each month. I anit streamed HD movies for years. I would be through my allocation of data in a couple of hours if I used my phone hotspot to do that. 8gb a month on my phone just about gets me thought the month if I stick to low bit rates on songs.


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## carolinahandyma (Jan 6, 2006)

Unlimited talk, data and text for $19 per month with https://www.republicwireless.com

It runs off Wifi and uses the Sprint network when you aren't within Wifi range.


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## astor (Dec 19, 2008)

I bought a Android 5.3" phone in Hong Kong and hooked up with Ultra T-Mobile talk, txt and 1 GB web for $49/month(which includes $20 or 1000 min/land line 500 min/cell international talk-,I was happy, but shortcode messaging did not work with T-Mobile, so I got AT&T prepaid $65.month plan. My phone has dual SIM so, I can able to use both lines with single phone, but I am dropping Ultra.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

Verizon
1 Samsung S3 ($99) with a two year
1 Motorola QWERTY keyboard smart phone (FREE)
2 iPhone 4's (FREE)
1 Cheapy QWERTY keyboard phone (Not a smart Phone)
1 Wireless Hotspot

$330 a Month - Unlimited Talk, Unlimited Text, 6GB Shared Data

It's a lot, but for everything that I get it's worth it. And no, I don't think that those pay what you use or El Cheapo Straight Talk, Cricket, Boost plans all have crap coverage. Anyone that I know never has as good service as I do regardless of who's network they use. No dropped calls. I can get calls in basements.


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## EthanB (Sep 28, 2011)

I switched up my plans about 14 months ago. I now have the Virgin Mobile unlimited plan(pay-as-you-go) for $60.23, including taxes, with a phone I bought outright for $215. I have a Verizon pre-pay unlimited plan for a text phone with mobile web(not a smart phone) for $54.75, including tax. I was on a $49 plan, including tax, until last summer but switched to the unlimited plan because my consulting biz chews up a lot of minutes.

The Sprint service has been pretty good but I wanted a Verizon line for when we travel as it's better up in Vermont. I don't know if my smartphone plan has throttling as I don't really use the data for much outside of email and running some apps.

I'm pretty happy with $110 total bill. Buying the phones outright was ridiculously cheaper than what they value the phones at. My wife's phone was $90, my mother got the same phone with a regular plan and when it broke they told her the replacement was almost $250.


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## TNTRenovate (Aug 19, 2010)

My plan included insurance. So for $50, I get a new phone.


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## jamestrd (Oct 26, 2008)

We Fix Houses said:


> That's 2 GB month and 100 mb a day. I don't use half that with Straight Talk. You need to do about 300 emails, 40 pics, 10 - 15 YouTube vids a day to max out those limits. There is unlimited internet and texting with ST.
> 
> You could do well with Straight Talk.


Thats not true..you will max that out in 2days with that much usage(video)..i got 6gb and have come close to maxing out..i ate up 2 and 3GB often


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## BamBamm5144 (Jul 12, 2008)

I have 2 gigs and have yet to go over 550mb.


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## EthanB (Sep 28, 2011)

TNTSERVICES said:


> My plan included insurance. So for $50, I get a new phone.


My mom's did too. I just thought it was interesting that she paid a monthly fee for replacement insurance plus the $50 and they are allowed to give you a refurb. It's a $90 phone, you could but a refurb for the $50.

I also understand that a new iPhone 5 is $850. Apples to oranges for me. I don't ever plan on buying the FOTM device.


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## Driftweed (Nov 7, 2012)

Kickin it with a galaxy prestige smartphone on straight talk.

Only complaint so far is lack of signal in basements.

I stream music either through pandora or tunein app all day as well as upload roughly 150 pics to dropbox daily. 

I basically run my biz from my phone. It speeds things up. Bandwidth hasn't been An issue yet.


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