All these phone commercials can be confusing! Let’s take a look and see which is really the best deal!
What to look for?
There seems to be a big push towards “unlimited data” but what they don’t tell you is that “unlimited data” doesn’t mean unlimited 4G/LTE data. The cheapest plans start with 1 gig of 4G Data and then speeds slowwwwww down to 2G data. That means you can’t really use the internet for much but checking your email.
This guy explains it here:
Hopefully you aren’t asleep now!
So now that you know the difference between 4G and 2G, you also have to think about service reliability in your area, how many people will be on your plan, if you care about a contract and how you plan on using your phone. It is also important to know if you travel often outside of the U.S.
Coverage:
Generally Speaking Verizon is known for the most reliable coverage, however they are also generally the most expensive carrier in the U.S.
You can check your specific area to make sure you have adequate coverage using a tool like Open Signal. If you don’t travel often, its probably best to get the least expensive carrier with coverage in your area.
Now what we have all been waiting for! The plans
Sprint claims to allow 50% savings from Verizon, AT&T or T-Mobile Rates. Generally, sprint has the worst coverage out of all the carriers and the slowest LTE speeds, so check to make sure that it works well in your area. If it does work well in your area and you want to buy a phone at a discount, Sprint offers some of the least expensive rates.
Their starter plan starts at $20 a month, but that only gets you 1 GB of data. It is $30 for 2 GBS of data, $50 for 4 GB of data, 8 GB for $70, 10 GB for $100, 40 GB for $120, 60 gig for $225.
You can also get unlimited high speed data for one line for $70.
You can add up to 4 lines and that includes getting a great discount on a phone (which is where the real savings are). It does require a 24 month contract.
Check out Sprints plans at Sprint.com
T-Mobile
T-Mobile is my personal favorite. Much depends on how many phone lines you need, but it provides exceptional value for a family of four. They are now offering four lines with 6 gigs high speed data per month per each line for around $120 total. That equates to around $30 a line. You get an additional 10 gigs per line of high speed data per year per phone in case you run out of the 6 gigs per month. After you use up that additional 10 gigs given any unused data will be saved towards your next month.
Recently they also added a new “Binge On” feature making all video and music not count towards that 6 gigs limit. Generally most of the data used by power users are for video.
It also includes a wireless hotspot feature where you can turn your phone into a router and allow other devices to use its internet connection. While there is a couple gig a month cap on this, this service is included with the plan.
In the past this deal was for 10 gigs per month instead of 6, but it is still a great deal. The other great news is that since there is no contract, if a better deal comes available you can always upgrade your plan at no additional charge. You can also cancel at any time.
Their network also works for no additional charge in Mexico and Canada and the data network works at reduced in other countries for free. Their out of country use chareges are extremely competitive making it great if you travel abroad often and don’t want disrupted service.
Cost for four lines $50 for the first two lines $20 for the 3rd line and the fourth line is free ($30 per line). Additional lines are $20 per line after that for up to 25 lines.
Cost for a single line at the time this was written was $50 for 2GBs, $65 for 6GBs, $80 for 10GBs, and $95 for UNLIMITED. Note these prices seem to change frequently.
*Price doesn’t include the cost of the phone, but they have some great lease programs for that.
Check out T-Mobile here
MetroPCS
This pretty much uses the T-Mobile network. It is generally more affordable for single lines but with more lines T-Mobile makes more sense. Plans start at only $30 for a gig of high speed data. It offers some (but not all) of the same perks as T-mobile including free music streaming, mobile hotspot and Data Maximizer to make it so streaming video takes less data.
Costs for a single line are $30 for 1 GB, $40 for 3 GB, $50 for 5 GB and $60 for unlimited
*Price doesn’t include cost of phone
AT&T
AT&T is known as being in the middle of the pack in terms of reliability. Generally known as being more reliable than T-Mobile but less than Verizon. The biggest difference from the previous plans mentioned is that it does not have unlimited 2G data once the 4G data runs out. There is a $20 per 30 MB overage charge for the first plan and $15 per GB overage charge on all other plans.
Perks include a rollover plan that rolls over data you don’t use to the next month.
Costs for a single line are $20 for only 300 MB, $30 for 2GB, $50 for 5 GB or $100 for 15GB, $140 for 20 gigs, $175 for 25 gigs, $225 for 30 gigs, $300 for 40 gigs and $375 for 50 gigs. You can add up to 10 phones on the same plan and everybody shares the same data. That could cause some fights, but great if you have some lines who rarely use data and others who use more!
Get Unlimited Calling and Text to Any Mobile Number on Any U.S. Carrier with AT&T.
*Price does not include phone. Discounted phones are included with 24 month contract.
Verizon is known for having the absolute best coverage out of all the carriers although other carriers like T-Mobile are making larges strides to close the gap. They are also known as being the most expensive. Like AT&T they offer a share data plan where everyone shares from one pool of data. They don’t have “unlimited data”. They also recently have a program for using your phone out of the country. It works on 3G and 4G/LTE abroad (unlike T-Mobile), but the daily price for it is expensive.
The prices: 1GB is $30, 3 GB is $45, 6 GB is $60, 12GB is $80 and 18GB is $100.
They require a 2 year contract if you buy a phone through them and they have lots of extra charges.
Still if you are in a rural area, or travel all over the US for work and need to have absolutely reliable service all the time, the extra cost might be worth it for you.
Phew, that was a long post. Hopefully this gives you a bit more insight on cell phone plans. Note the deals constantly change!
November 22, 2015
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