Phone plan for the whole family?

digitalwanderer

digitalwanderer

wandering
Legend
I suck with phones, mobile ones doubly so...but I gotta find a good family plan/package/phones for me and mine. The days I can live without a cell phone are rapidly dwindling, and my kids refuse to stop growing up so I'm stuck with it.

Right now we have a Blackberry, (the Blueberry, it's what I call it so we're all stuck with that now), that we have tons of minutes per month and unlimited data for $60/mos through Sprint. I'd really like to pick up 3 phones, (me, my 13 year old son, and my 10 year old daughter), that don't necessarily need a lot of talking minutes but will probably need unlimited data.

Any decent plans out there anyone knows of for that? I'm clueless again and feeling all grateful for your inputs in advance... :oops:
 
Verizon has the best coverage in the US by far. T-mobile is the cheapest but has the worst coverage.
AT&T combines the two for mediocre coverage at a higher price. If you don't travel much Cricket offers very cheap regional plans.
 
Roaming across networks isn't supported in the US? In Sweden, it's AFAIK mandated by law that network providers must support it, they can't even overcharge you for the pleasure... :p
 
Grall said:
Roaming across networks isn't supported in the US? In Sweden, it's AFAIK mandated by law that network providers must support it, they can't even overcharge you for the pleasure... :p
Click to expand...

Yeah, but what happens when you leave Sweden? :)

European roaming rates are obscene, especially considering how small Europe is geographically. All of the major US carriers have most of the US covered with the exception of remote areas and have no roaming fees over the complete US.

Also, the top two US carriers (Verizon and AT&T) use different technology (CDMA vs. GSM) so you'd need two different phones to roam between them. T-mobiles (vodaphone) is GSM to, but uses different frequencies than AT&T so, again, no easy roaming (though there are plenty of spots where T-mobile users can hop on one of the old GSM bands on AT&T towers with no excess charges).
 
Mize said:
Yeah, but what happens when you leave Sweden? :)

European roaming rates are obscene, especially considering how small Europe is geographically. All of the major US carriers have most of the US covered with the exception of remote areas and have no roaming fees over the complete US.

Also, the top two US carriers (Verizon and AT&T) use different technology (CDMA vs. GSM) so you'd need two different phones to roam between them. T-mobiles (vodaphone) is GSM to, but uses different frequencies than AT&T so, again, no easy roaming (though there are plenty of spots where T-mobile users can hop on one of the old GSM bands on AT&T towers with no excess charges).
Click to expand...

T-Mobile = Deutsche Telecom
Verizon Wireless = Verizon & Vodafone (55%/45% ownership). And yes, T-Mobile USA uses some odd frequencies! Multi-band devices for the win
 
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Yeah you got it they are evil.

I have a family sprint plan and actually like it pretty well. I did not know tmobile was cheaper as spring was pretty dirt cheap. It is 5 unlimited data lines and is like $130 a month or something.
 
digitalwanderer said:
Wow, that comes with some phone talking ability too? That sounds like what we're looking for. :)
Click to expand...

Check coverage first. T-mobile < Sprint << AT&T << Verizon

and << means orders of magnitude with both T-mobile and Sprint being the suck in the boonies.
 
Mize said:
Check coverage first. T-mobile < Sprint << AT&T << Verizon

and << means orders of magnitude with both T-mobile and Sprint being the suck in the boonies.
Click to expand...

That is true since you roam in a super slow data mode. But if you don't roam much it doesn't matter.

I had blazing fast 3d here so you never know :)

I was lost more or less when my GPS led me down a tiny road, had grass up to my windows. Eventually turned on my laptop and tethered to google maps to get sat maps and figure what the heck I was doing. Guess I shoulda done that ahead of time.
 
digitalwanderer said:
I suck with phones, mobile ones doubly so...but I gotta find a good family plan/package/phones for me and mine. The days I can live without a cell phone are rapidly dwindling, and my kids refuse to stop growing up so I'm stuck with it.

Right now we have a Blackberry, (the Blueberry, it's what I call it so we're all stuck with that now), that we have tons of minutes per month and unlimited data for $60/mos through Sprint. I'd really like to pick up 3 phones, (me, my 13 year old son, and my 10 year old daughter), that don't necessarily need a lot of talking minutes but will probably need unlimited data.

Any decent plans out there anyone knows of for that? I'm clueless again and feeling all grateful for your inputs in advance... :oops:
Click to expand...

THe sprint plans are great. Roaming isn't a problem as they are cdma and have a roaming agreement with verizon and they don't charge you to roam on verizon. I get the same signal as my friends on verizon here in new jersey and when we were in florida and up in niagra falls.

Thy have evreything data family with 1500 minutes. This has Any mobile any time so calling each other or other cell phones do not count towards your minutes. You get Unlimited data including BIS , GPS , Sprint tv , Radio and nascar. Unlimited texting , pictures and video and then unlimited calling after 7pm. With 3 lines it will cost you $150 . Your wife might also qualify for discounts depending on where she works

Here in jersey the list would be

T- Mobile << ATT << Sprint < Verizon. Unless you love iphone no one in thier right mind gets ATT using data with edge sucks. Using data with 4G on sprint is amazing. Yes its in few areas but I happen to be in those area's for work and it is a nice step up from 3G . 3G on sprint is as fast as 3G on ATT and is avalible in at least twice the areas that 3g on sprint is avalible.
 
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Had an android update a couple of days ago that I finally got around to installing, and it bricked my damned phone...and I was just starting to really like my phone! :(

http://forum.androidcentral.com/sprint-sanyo-zio/63480-anyone-brick-their-zio-updating-2-2-ota.html
http://community.sprint.com/baw/message/265730

Damn it, and it worked fine on both my kids phones and it now does some tricks I really wanted. Gonna keep trying to unbrick it tonight, then give up and take it in tomorrow. If I have to get it replaced I'm definitely gonna upgrade to a decent android with an actual keyboard on Sprint, any recommendations?
 
I'm liking my epic 4g .

Sprint also has windows 7 phones now if you want to change it up. Whatever you do stay away from the EVO . A few of my friends got it and the kick stand keep breaking on them
 
So engadget has an article up about AT&T sending warning text messages to iPhone users who are "illegally" tethering their handsets.

How exactly would AT&T know a handset is tethering? For example I have an app on my Symbian phone that allows me to create a wifi hotspot. It uses NAT. Granted, I'm not worried as I have a 2004 unlimited data plan that makes no disclaimers about not-tethering as that was a non-issue then.

Just curious how AT&T would know without snooping (thus violating wiretap laws).
 
Mize said:
What? Their upgrade bricked the phone and you had to pay for a new one?
I will never buy subsidized phones. Ever.
Click to expand...
Yup, pissed me off to no end. Ranted for hours at tech support supervisors. One of those "it's not the money, it's the principle!" things for me. :(
 
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