Low Cost Cellular Phone Service

[Cogito]

I used to have cell phone service. T-Mobile, US Cellular, and others. I usually found that I had to spend at least $50/month to get a plan with enough minutes to meet my needs (meaning avoiding very high per minute rates for going overtime). Then about 4 years ago I needed to cut expenses, so I decided to go cold turkey and get rid of the cell altogether.

Lately though, I've been thinking about getting one again as my needs have changed. I don't need to get incoming calls, just need to make a few outgoing calls when I am not at home, so I could probably get by on a couple hundred minutes per month. The big companies don't seem to offer much that is cost effective in that range, but some of these newer, smaller companies have some good deals, if they are what they seem.

I was wondering if anybody here is in a similar situation and has found anything that they have been happy with? Does anyone have any experience with Cricket? Or this outfit?
http://www.consumercellular.com/Info/Plans
They offer a 250 min/month plan for $20, before it kicks into the expensive per minute overtime mode.

 

[JTK]

Everyone I've known with Cricket loved the service. If you just need a single phone w/ basic service, it's a good way to go. I hear you with respect to plan prices. It aint cheap. I've got a basic 2 phone 'family plan' through Verizon with a small discount thru my employer. My bill total is ~$75/mo.

Joel

 

[opus1]

I have Cricket broadband, but not cellular. But I am happy with the broadband service so far.

I use Virgin Mobile for cheap cell service, one of the pay-by-the-minute plans. They also have some monthly plans, but I can't quote any prices since I never looked -- my cell phone battery runs down due to sitting around rather then daily use. Virgin buys time on Sprint's network, so coverage is pretty good.

One thing about Cricket is that they're not "everywhere" yet, so if you plan on traveling, this may be a problem for you. Something to keep in mind.

 

[wander2039]

If it's available in your area look at the straight-talk from Wal-Mart. They have two plans $30 - 1,000 min , $45 unlimited min. - for 30 days. No contracts. It was a plan put together by wally and tracfone. Parents have a tranfone and never has had a service issue.

 

[labman]

Big article in the Forbes dated I think today. Check online. By piggy backing on our son's sprint plan, we are getting dirt cheap service.

Metro sounded good if you are in a city they serve. They are cherry picking and cutting rates to those cheapest to serve. If you are in the boonies a lot, roaming charges may eat you up.

 

[The_Jeff]

virgin gets me for a minimum of $5/mo which wears down at 18 cents a minute. I don't bump the modest ceiling.

 

[Tom NJ]

I have a T-Mobile Pay-as-you-Go service which is really cheap for those with low usage. My wife and I only use our cell phones for emergencies and travel, so we use only 200 minutes per year each and our cost is only $2/mo each.

The deal is if you buy a $100 card you automatically become a permanent member of the "Gold Club". This provides three benefits:

1. You get an extra 15% of minutes.
2. Your minutes are good for one year.
2. If you top off each year, even with just $10, all of your minutes, old and new, are good for another year!

So, I bought 1,000 minutes for $100 and received 1,150 minutes (+15%). Each year I top up with $10 of minutes, and all minutes roll over for another entire year. That's a total of only $150 over six years, or $2/mo.

For you, you'll need two $100 cards or 2,000 minutes/year, plus 15% equals 2,300 minutes. That's about $17/month, and no contracts.

Tom NJ

 

[rastoma]

It's not the cheapest but I think the best deal on cellular service is Pagepluscellular. They are a reseller of the Verizon network but it's branded under their name. So if Verizon has good service in your area you'll have good service with PP.

For $39.99/month, no contract, you get unlimited minutes, unlimited text and 20mb of data (if you have a phone that uses the internet).

For $29.99/month you can get 1200 minutes, 1200 texts and 50mb of data. Minutes do not roll over, but if you have minutes at the end of the month on any plan you have, you don't have a plan that suits your needs anyway and are paying something you'll probably never use. It sounds good to have a ton of minutes after many months or years time but if you didn't need them before, there's probably never going to be a situation all of a sudden you need to use a years worth of air-time in ONE month. Roll over is a marketing gimmick and not practical.

Walmart carries refill cards and I was told they are a couple dollars cheaper but you pay tax. You can pay PP directly and all you pay is $39.99/$29.99 respectively. No tax, no extra fees at all.

You can buy a phone from them, or use a previously activated (or new) Verizon branded phone. You can also get one of Verizon's prepaid phones at Radioshack and other places and then don't activate it with Verizon, but call PP and activate it, which is cheaper than buying a phone directly from PP. Or get a higher end Verizon phone from Ebay. I've read on more than one site that they are soon making the data unlimited as well for the same $39.99/month price. Once that happens, it will be by far the BEST plan from anyone, anywhere for what you get.

Unless you use a cell so little that buying minutes is cheaper, for $40/month you don't have to worry and monitor your minutes.

 

[FADEC]

Originally Posted By: rastoma
It's not the cheapest but I think the best deal on cellular service is Pagepluscellular. They are a reseller of the Verizon network but it's branded under their name. So if Verizon has good service in your area you'll have good service with PP.

For $39.99/month, no contract, you get unlimited minutes, unlimited text and 20mb of data (if you have a phone that uses the internet).

For $29.99/month you can get 1200 minutes, 1200 texts and 50mb of data. Minutes do not roll over, but if you have minutes at the end of the month on any plan you have, you don't have a plan that suits your needs anyway and are paying something you'll probably never use. It sounds good to have a ton of minutes after many months or years time but if you didn't need them before, there's probably never going to be a situation all of a sudden you need to use a years worth of air-time in ONE month. Roll over is a marketing gimmick and not practical.

Walmart carries refill cards and I was told they are a couple dollars cheaper but you pay tax. You can pay PP directly and all you pay is $39.99/$29.99 respectively. No tax, no extra fees at all.

You can buy a phone from them, or use a previously activated (or new) Verizon branded phone. You can also get one of Verizon's prepaid phones at Radioshack and other places and then don't activate it with Verizon, but call PP and activate it, which is cheaper than buying a phone directly from PP. Or get a higher end Verizon phone from Ebay. I've read on more than one site that they are soon making the data unlimited as well for the same $39.99/month price. Once that happens, it will be by far the BEST plan from anyone, anywhere for what you get.

Unless you use a cell so little that buying minutes is cheaper, for $40/month you don't have to worry and monitor your minutes.


+1 on the Page plus cellular. They use the Verizon net so the coverage is usually very good nationwide. I have had them for 3 months now and am very satisified. Have unlimited talk and text and 30 mb of data for $39.99 a month. I have it set up for automatic deductation from my debit card every month. No fees hassles or other [censored]. I can cancel my account at any time with no fees. They will activate any verizon phone as long as it doesn't have a prior balance on it or is lost, stolen etc. Tom

 

[mechtech2]

T Mobile's pre paid service nets you about $.010 a minute per call [if you buy $100.00 at a time].
No monthly fees, no taxes, texts are $.010.

 

[Audi Junkie]

I have Boost, which is easy to switch between $.10c/minute and $50/mo unlimited, but Imma look at Pagepluscellular.

 

[tonycarguy]

There's a price war going on with wireless phone companies. Virtually all of them have introduced monthly plans (post paid or pre paid) that are cheaper than before. Tmobile, Pageplus, Boost, Virgin and Straighttalk all have something in the $30ish range for moderate users.

Pageplus and Straighttalk have the best rates but I've heard Pageplus has very bad customer service (even by wireless provider standards).

I personally like prepaid plans because there's no additional fees or taxes (besides sales tax) and no credit check. Giving your SSN to a wireless company is an identity theft waiting to happen

 

[FADEC]

I have only had to contact Pageplus twice over the phone since I have been using them. Once for the first activation on a phone I bought at Walmart, and just a few weeks ago to transfer my number over to a nicer phone I bought used on ebay. No problems either time, took about five minutes each. You will however have to wait usually 15 to 20 minutes to reach a customer service person...thats when I just put it on speaker phone and surf the net. Alot of your account settings and payments can be accessed/changed online. Tom

 

[ksJoe]

Originally Posted By: Tom NJ
I have a T-Mobile Pay-as-you-Go service which is really cheap for those with low usage. My wife and I only use our cell phones for emergencies and travel, so we use only 200 minutes per year each and our cost is only $2/mo each.

The deal is if you buy a $100 card you automatically become a permanent member of the "Gold Club". This provides three benefits:

1. You get an extra 15% of minutes.
2. Your minutes are good for one year.
2. If you top off each year, even with just $10, all of your minutes, old and new, are good for another year!

So, I bought 1,000 minutes for $100 and received 1,150 minutes (+15%). Each year I top up with $10 of minutes, and all minutes roll over for another entire year. That's a total of only $150 over six years, or $2/mo.

For you, you'll need two $100 cards or 2,000 minutes/year, plus 15% equals 2,300 minutes. That's about $17/month, and no contracts.

Tom NJ


Yup, thats what I was about to post, but I see you saved me the trouble. I think we're spending about $5 -$8 / month.

 

[JustinH]

I have an old grandfathered plan with Sprint, and it has my corporate discount on it.

Right now I pay 26 dollars per month (including tax) for 500 minutes, unlimited internet access, and free nights and weekends.

If Sprint ever got rid of my plan (I've had it for 4 years), then I would take a good look at Boost Mobile.

They have some decent plans out there, and they use the Sprint Network for service, so it will be decent.

I see no reason to spend no more than 30 bucks a month for phone service. Those Iphone bills are insane!

 

[Audi Junkie]

I just did a "65 Plus" family deal with Verizon for two lines, 450 shared minutes, plus night, weekends and Verizon to Verizon for $59/mo. Mom uses zero minutes, but wants an emergency phone. I end up using 400-600 minutes pre-pay anyway, so I said ok to a plan with her paying. (she can well afford it)

Doing the deal online meant free activation and about a $100 each discount on the particular phone I chose for both of us, a Motorola Entice.

I did the cheap phone pre-pay for a long time, and still my wife only uses $15 a month Net10 phone, but I'm sick of hurrying calls and counting dimes. A normal phone deal is not bad.


I have a nice boost phone here if anyone wants it. A Motorola i776, a $100 phone. I'll sell it for $25.

 

[crinkles]

company pays for my mobile now, about $40 per month. when i get fired or quit i will no longer have a cellphone. I am not paying money for what we done without for decades, centuries.

 

[PandaBear]

If you do not use a lot, most likely if you can find a relatives to tag on a family plan that would be the cheapest.

 

[Cutehumor]

I don't know if anyone has this. but I'm saving a ton of money off of my prepaid cell phone service by using google voice. I have everyone call my google voice number and my home and cell ring at the same time. I always pick up my home phone and I don't use up any of my prepaid. T-mobile is worried, they sent me a text asking if I needed a refill. I have 660 minutes and they expire in August. haven't used a minute in 3 months. I'll be on the $10/year plan now since t-mobile rolls over minutes under gold member status. muhahaha!

 

[nthach]

Cricket is very much like MetroPCS here - flat rate all you can eat cell phone service, the most basic plan is $30 for unlimited voice, $45 with unlimited text, and $50-60 with unlimited data with optional "enterprise" email for smartphones.