New wireless plans.... trying to break down the math

#26
#26
Still have Unlimited everything for VZW. I use too much data for me to change plans. If I want a new phone I head to Craigslist and keep the unlimited
 
#28
#28
We have a 5 person family plan on AT&T. I looked into the AT&T next and it was going to save us money...until we upgraded phones. Once you do that, the per phone bill actually goes up. So not any big change.
 
#29
#29
VolnTitan said:
We have a 5 person family plan on AT&T. I looked into the AT&T next and it was going to save us money...until we upgraded phones. Once you do that, the per phone bill actually goes up. So not any big change.
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So the big 3 are charging for not only your regular monthly charge but an additional monthly charge for having a newer phone?

I know year ago they would only charge an additional $10 a month for "smartphone plans", has that gotten worse?
 
#30
#30
Freak said:
I think I may go ahead and switch to the AT&T NEXT plan. By my math I'm getting $450-$500 phone subsidies twice a year. That's $900-$1000 annually. Switching plans would save me $1200 a year and I can either buy my own phone or finance it in my bill.

My only hesitation is I'm still grandfathered in on the unlimited data plan for iphone. However anything over 5GB is throttled down to ridiculously slow speeds anyway, so it's kind of pointless.
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I currently have a family plan with VZW, and looked at both of the new plans from them and AT&T. The counter, as I understand your analysis above, is that I could save essentially the same if I keep my phone and use my "upgrade" phone every two years to buy at a significant discount (and maybe even a BOGO free offer) and then just sell the phones. The end result would be about the same... saving (or in this case making) about $500/phone every two years.
 
#31
#31
Freak said:
I currently have a family plan with four smartphones through AT&T. It seems every carrier is not trying to stop subsidizing phone prices as part of the plan cost.

I could save about $100 per month with the new plans, but it seems you will no longer be able to get phone upgrades as part of your plan with a new two year agreement. This AT&T NEXT plan instead allows you to bring your own phone or pay for it by increasing your bill each month.

For example, the new S5 adds $32.50 to your bill each month. After 12 months you can trade it in and get a new phone or pay on it for 20 months and you own it.

Do these plans roughly work out the same? Any thoughts?
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Get rid of ATT. Theyre absolutely terrible.
 
#32
#32
Burger said:
Get rid of ATT. Theyre absolutely terrible.
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Their customer service is terrible, but the combination of their network quality, decently priced family plans and flexibility of supporting all GSM devices makes them a great choice for a lot of people.

Purely on the merits of network quality, Verizon is the best, but their pricing structure basically forces you into buying their phones.
 
#33
#33
Freak said:
I think I may go ahead and switch to the AT&T NEXT plan. By my math I'm getting $450-$500 phone subsidies twice a year. That's $900-$1000 annually. Switching plans would save me $1200 a year and I can either buy my own phone or finance it in my bill.

My only hesitation is I'm still grandfathered in on the unlimited data plan for iphone. However anything over 5GB is throttled down to ridiculously slow speeds anyway, so it's kind of pointless.
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I wouldn't necessarily do Next were I you, but at the 10GB level, it's pretty reasonable. You still have to operate in the mindset of two year time frames, because that is the alternative. 25 a month times 24 months means a $600 discount every two years, i.e. the average cost of most smartphones. Pretty reasonable if you either like the Next program (big on getting the new phone every 12 months -- would do that one as it would put you on the new phone release cycle, when new devices drop as it all happens April-June), or if you're cool with dropping full retail for phones as they get released.
 
#34
#34
Freak said:
I think I may go ahead and switch to the AT&T NEXT plan. By my math I'm getting $450-$500 phone subsidies twice a year. That's $900-$1000 annually. Switching plans would save me $1200 a year and I can either buy my own phone or finance it in my bill.

My only hesitation is I'm still grandfathered in on the unlimited data plan for iphone. However anything over 5GB is throttled down to ridiculously slow speeds anyway, so it's kind of pointless.
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don't get rid of the unlimited data
I regret it
 
#35
#35
milohimself said:
Their customer service is terrible, but the combination of their network quality, decently priced family plans and flexibility of supporting all GSM devices makes them a great choice for a lot of people.

Purely on the merits of network quality, Verizon is the best, but their pricing structure basically forces you into buying their phones.
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It's a lot cheaper to just buy the phone. Our buddy Freak is going to pay 500 bucks for a 300 phone because of the interest.
 
#37
#37
vol_in_ar said:
don't get rid of the unlimited data
I regret it
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I never got throttled, but I know people who have. Generally they slow it down to edge network, which may as well come with a dial up sound.

Generally speaking, in the last few years, people got into smart phones at a rate that networks haven't been able to keep up with. I think we'll see Verizon and AT&T reintroduce unlimited plans at some point in the distant future. But 3-4 years ago, something like a third of subscribers had smart phones, now it's something like two thirds. You invert that ratio with well over 200 million subscribers between the two, and you start to get a sense of how drastically things have changed in such a short amount of time.
 
#40
#40
milohimself said:
I never got throttled, but I know people who have. Generally they slow it down to edge network, which may as well come with a dial up sound.

Generally speaking, in the last few years, people got into smart phones at a rate that networks haven't been able to keep up with. I think we'll see Verizon and AT&T reintroduce unlimited plans at some point in the distant future. But 3-4 years ago, something like a third of subscribers had smart phones, now it's something like two thirds. You invert that ratio with well over 200 million subscribers between the two, and you start to get a sense of how drastically things have changed in such a short amount of time.
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verizon has no plans to launch unl data. i assure you.

their future is in television.
 
#42
#42
jackcrevol said:
verizon has no plans to launch unl data. i assure you.

their future is in television.
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Not a good idea for them. I bet they get their ass kicked by the big boys in TV. I actually just read about that phenomena in Peter Lynch's book. Diworsification.
 
#44
#44
jackcrevol said:
if i could i would do edge, on 10 gb plan. get a new phone every year? no contract? cheaper price? hell yeah. where do i sign up. luckily im on a 10 gb plan.

sadly i dont qualify.
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I rarely get close to using 2GB. Basic web browsing and streaming music doesnt eat up that much data. (Now my home cable usage, where a ton of video gets streamed, is more in the 115GB range).

As for yearly upgrade? Meh.
 
#46
#46
Burger said:
I'm truly surprised. I'll take my crow with peace.
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I figured the same thing as well when I first saw it. I don't blame you.

ATT isn't the worst deal out there. They've improved a lot the last year with new plans.
 
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#49
#49
milohimself said:
Their customer service is terrible, but the combination of their network quality, decently priced family plans and flexibility of supporting all GSM devices makes them a great choice for a lot of people.

Purely on the merits of network quality, Verizon is the best, but their pricing structure basically forces you into buying their phones.
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I haven't had any customer services issues with AT&T. I have their Premier business plan, not sure of that matters.

And I prefer GSM to CDMA.
 
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