Eligible for an upgrade. Verizon Wireless.

[JTK]

I was just doing some browsing of the VZW site and my account, given I'm eligible for a phone upgrade. I'd also like to get a phone that allows for wifi calling. Two of the options that seemed cost effective are an iPhone SE for $0.99 provided you sign on for another 2yrs, or a free Samsung Galaxy J3v w/ 2yr agreement. The other option for these two phones is to make monthly payments on them (ridiculous). The iPhone SE was $16.66/mo and the Samsung was under $10 IIRC.

Here's the kicker, if you don't do the monthly payment plan for phones, my monthly access charge would go up by $20/mo! Pay for the phone monthly and my monthly access fee wouldn't go up. Unreal. You pretty much have to buy a phone elsewhere and just activate it to your account.

 

[Jimzz]

I would skip and use pageplus, straight talk, or many other 3rd parties that offer better prices on the same towers.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: JTK
Here's the kicker, if you don't do the monthly payment plan for phones, my monthly access charge would go up by $20/mo! Pay for the phone monthly and my monthly access fee wouldn't go up.


That's right -- you're paying for the phone either way. If you pay the retail price of the phone through monthly payments, you get a $20 "discount" on your line each month (compared to the 2 year contract option). If you elect to get the phone "for free", your line charge is $20/month more than the by-the-month option.

I would skip either, and just buy a retail phone. Pretty much any phone will do wifi calling with Google Hangouts Dialer (which I use extensively with my Moto G4), and you have much better selection than by going through Verizon.

My family has used Verizon for over a decade, and are happy with their service. You just have to play the game to get the best rate.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Both phones are a better value if you pay for them by the month. With the iPhone, you save $20/month to pay $16/month. With the Samsung, you save $20/month to pay $10/month. Both are over-priced in my opinion. Even with the Samsung, that's a $240 phone over 2 years if you go by the month (and it's not a $240 phone!). If you do the contract, it's essentially a $480 phone, and it's certainly not worth that.

Buy a Moto G4 for $150, use Google Hangouts for wifi calling, and get a much better phone and better deal over all.

 

[ram_man]

Motorola z droid is an I incredible device I love mine

 

[Dan55]

I left Verizon 6 months ago for Cricket wireless (ATT) and actually get better svc at my home. I traded my Apple 5 for an SE and got a $100 credit thru Apple. The payment plan works out to $12 a month

 

[Donald]

Buy your own phone of your choice. No free lunch. Contracts are not great. Look at Consumer Cellular. And others, CREDO.

If you want a Google phone, look at Project Fi as carrier.

 

[Hokiefyd]

As a follow-up to my post yesterday, an article about wi-fi calling using Google Hangouts Dialer:

http://www.androidcentral.com/how-make-free-wi-fi-calls-google-hangouts-android

I don't believe you need any specific hardware...just the Hangouts Dialer app.

 

[JTK]

Originally Posted By: Hokiefyd
As a follow-up to my post yesterday, an article about wi-fi calling using Google Hangouts Dialer:

http://www.androidcentral.com/how-make-free-wi-fi-calls-google-hangouts-android

I don't believe you need any specific hardware...just the Hangouts Dialer app.


Hokes, thanks for that! I did download the Hangouts app to my iPhone 5c last night and made a test call to our home's land-line. Of course I haven't got an inbound call yet on my cell in the house where we're lucky to get one bar of cell service. Does Hangouts automatically kick in for calls over wifi when no cell service is available?

 

[JustinH]

WIFI calling has always involved a little network tweaking at my house to make it right, and port forwarding on the router.

Also it does not work using my employers wifi, since that wifi blocks required ports.

Leasing a phone sounds dumb to me.

If you have good ATT service check out Cricket, my wife has had them for a while for $30 per month or something cheap.

They probably will be running a promo this holiday season to give you $100 in credit to port in a phone number, and give you a cheap phone.

 

[ddrumman2004]

Originally Posted By: Jimzz
I would skip and use pageplus, straight talk, or many other 3rd parties that offer better prices on the same towers.


That's exactly what I'm doing in December when my contract with Verizon runs out. I have been with Verizon for over 10 years and they have wore out their welcome with me. Looks like Straight Talk for me.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: JustinH
Leasing a phone sounds dumb to me.


Per-month payment plans are not leasing. It's actually a 0% interest loan. You're paying the MSRP of the phone, but spreading the payments across 24 months instead of all at once. Whether you pay for the phone up front or spread the payments out, you pay exactly the same either way, and the phone is yours at the end either way.

 

[JTK]

I still can't fathom shelling out $400+ for a decent smart phone, plus your never ending monthly fees. I know refurbs exist and we've gone that route a bunch of times, but only when they were still subsidized through verizonwireless. Even then you were only talking $50-100 all in for a decent phone.

Unfortunately, Verizon is king in my area. Others have sketchy coverage.

Still can't figure out how to get Google Hangouts to allow in-coming calls over WiFi..

 

[bmwjohn]

I'm sure no phone Guru, but I see lots of medium grade smart phones in the $50 to $250 range that seem to have full features, many are unlocked, some specify Verison. To me it would appear the difference between an Apple phone and other big bucks phones AND the cheaper phones is small and getting smaller.

 

[JTK]

I hear you John.

I wound up re-upping with Verizon yesterday. Given I've really liked the iPhones we've had on our account, I went with an iPhone SE for $10/mo ($240 total). Retail on this phone is $450+ The "deal" was $16.66/mo - a $6.66/mo rebate. No upgrade fee, etc. The SE looks like a iPhone 5, but with 6 features and it's got wifi calling which I need for the house.

I've tried Google Hangouts like suggested for a version of wifi calling. It's OK for outbound, but doesn't help me for inbound calls.

 

[Hokiefyd]

Originally Posted By: JTK
I've tried Google Hangouts like suggested for a version of wifi calling. It's OK for outbound, but doesn't help me for inbound calls.


You can use Google Voice to be able to take wi-fi calls anywhere in the world, through Hangouts. I home a home office and use Google Voice and Hangouts exclusively for work. It works great. Every now and then, there are some glitches when using phone menus and the Hangouts Dialer (press '1' for English, etc), but it generally works extremely well.

I'm sure the iPhone will suit you well, though, especially since you have experience with them.

 

[Al]

Originally Posted By: ddrumman2004
Originally Posted By: Jimzz
I would skip and use pageplus, straight talk, or many other 3rd parties that offer better prices on the same towers.


That's exactly what I'm doing in December when my contract with Verizon runs out. I have been with Verizon for over 10 years and they have wore out their welcome with me. Looks like Straight Talk for me.

Check out Consumer Cellular. Many of my friends have gone there. Customer services fantastic. Everyone there speaks "American". They actually have stores in Target.

My iphone cost 150 bucks and my wif's was ported over for free. We now pay $28.50/month with each phone having 250 min., 2000 texts, and 200 mb. we paid $76.40 with ATT. I don't know how you can do better.

 

[newtoncd8]

Originally Posted By: JTK
You pretty much have to buy a phone elsewhere and just activate it to your account.


swappa.com is a really good site to address the statement above.

 

[JTK]

New iPhone SE is nice. The WiFi calling on it is seamless. If it gets no bars of cell service, it automatically switches to wifi for in/out calls.

I typically use about a 1GB/mo of data myself and the 3 of us on our Verizon plan share 4GB and use most all of it.

Just got my oldest the $99 black Friday iPhone 5s and $45/ Straight Talk plan from Wally. Not going to add any more to my VZW plan.