Cell Phones - Package or Pay-as-you-Go?

[FATCAT]

My wife and I have had our current cell phones for over 5 1/2 years now using Verizon. Biggest problem is that there are so many "dead zones" in New Hampshire that they almost become useless unless we are at work.

The cell phones defenitely do not work within 10 miles of our home.



Is there any provider with good coverage? Verizon is junk as far as I'm concerned.



Also, are the pay as you go any good? Like Virgin Moble? My wife and I use our phones about 5 to as much as 10 minutes a month (only for emergencies or important stuff). Are any plans good for people like me who use the phone so infrequently?

 

[dhill]

I have Nextel because that's the only phone that works at my house, but I also have an at&t prepaid wireless phone for when we are traveling and are not in the Nextel service area. The card costs $10 for 70 minutes for 90 days. You don't need a new phone, you can use any at&t phone (almost) that has a clean electronic serial number ( thats a phone that was not stolen or has a balance owed against it) . go to phoneshark.com for details.

The verizon plans are way too expensive.



Dave

 

[barbwire]

I have the Cellular One plan. And, I, like you, cannot use the phone in my own home. And there are many dead zones in the 3 states that I travel in. So in conclusion, I would have to say that the cell phone industry has a long way to go to be real efficient. And that niether company is much , or any better, than the other.

dhill, thanks for the info.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

You may want to check into Alltel. I've had Alltel service for 12 years now (used to be CenturyTel) and in all my travels around the country I had literally NEVER not had a signal. That includes up in the mountains of Colorado and California at ski resorts, etc. I had a number of people ask me what type of phone I had because I was on my phone talking with clients and they couldn't get service at all. It's important that if signal is your #1 concern that you tell them that. You won't get one of the little tiny phones but you will get a signal. The phone I have right now is a Toshiba CDMA2000 - it's a tri-mode phone and it seems Alltel has reciprical agreements with all of the other carriers out there. When I looked into the pre-paid phones (was considering one for my wife) they cost just as much as buying a plan (or a little more). The advantage to them was for people that had bad credit and couldn't get a phone otherwise. I have no clue what their low minute plans are like because I'm on my phone a LOT. I have a 2000 daytime minute/3000 night & weekend nationwide roaming and nationwide long distance - never any roaming or long distance charges no matter where I go in the states.

 

[rmrc]

Steve,



I also have Alltel and not meaning to contradict your statement, I have found quite a few dead zones in central and southern Virginia. I do agree that Alltel has better coverage than Verizon and currently, offers the best foot print for the east coast. Just my two cents.

 

[Lnwing]

I, too, have been looking for a cheap cellular phone for my wife to use when she travels. She had one, and just didn't use it any other time. I've not found anything less than $30/mo. The phone cards look good, but what about the phone and service/connection charges?



Thanks,



Lynn

 

[FATCAT]

OK, now in my case since I have been with Verizon for over 5 years (originally a 2 yr plan) if I go with another company, I shouldn't have a problem canceling my Verizon plan ... should I? I'm not gonna get wacked with some cancelation fee?

I see at www.cnet.com that they have a wide range of phones and plans summerized and links to each company ... but no info on how to change companies and what to look out for when canceling a plan.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

Which phone do you have rmrc? That makes a big difference. Especially if you have one of the digital only phones. If you want coverage everywhere then you need a tri-mode and not all tri-mode phone are created equally. In general the smaller the phone the worse the coverage is going to be. I wear out my phones in about 2 years so I go through a lot of them. This last time I tried a Kyocera and had a number of dead areas, went back and complained and switched to this Toshiba which was the phone they said had the best range.

 

[FATCAT]

Which phone do you have rmrc? That makes a big difference. Especially if you have one of the digital only phones. If you want coverage everywhere then you need a tri-mode and not all tri-mode phone are created equally. In general the smaller the phone the worse the coverage is going to be. I wear out my phones in about 2 years so I go through a lot of them. This last time I tried a Kyocera and had a number of dead areas, went back and complained and switched to this Toshiba which was the phone they said had the best range.

I have a Nokia and my wife has a Motorola Star-Tac. Both are about 6 years old so I guess they were made when the first Digital phones started coming out. I just went for the cheapest phone they had so I didn't have to pay much for them.

But as I asked before ... there should be no problem dropping an old phone plan ... should there? As you can tell, I'm not to technologicly orinted.

 

[TSpecht]

Definitely get a Tri-mode phone. I find it distrubing that most new phones are digital only. Maybe some day in the future when there are more than enough cell towers to get a digital signal everywhere it'll be ok, but unless you're in a metro area I would never get a digital only.

I have a Motorola V265 through Verizon. I've only found a couple small (probably not even a mile long) dead spots. Even in northern Indiana I seemed to have good luck with it. I switched from Alltel, where I couldn't use the phone in my house or too far away from main roads in my local area although it did seem to work ok in unexpected places, although that was a Motorola T720, which is the biggest piece of junk I've ever seen. If you ever have the opportunity to buy one of these, don't.

 

[Steve St.Laurent]

It all depends on what you agreed to when you signed up FATCAT. Typically to get a free phone you have to agree to stay with them for 2 years so you should be well out of that. There was a law passed that you can keep your phone number even when switching carriers but I'm not sure exactly how that works. You'd want to talk to your new carrier about that.

 

[dhill]

Go to phoneshark.com. They have lots of different prepaid wireless plans. The one I chose was Airvoice. They don't charge a connection fee, no roaming fees or no long distance charge. Their minutes are good for 90 days and they have a very good coverage area. You can use any AT&T phone. it doesn't have to be a new one. You can find used ones very reasonably priced on ebay or do a search. The Tri mode phones are best. The plan I have is the basic $10 for 70 minutes and the minutes last 90 days. That's less than $3. 50 a month. If you add minutes to your account before the 90 days are up, then the minutes you have left roll over.

You can keep your present number when you change carriers but you have to contact your new carrier first. If you cancel your contract first you loose your old number, at least that's how it was explained to me.



Dave

 

[Hammer]

I am with Cingular on one of their Nationwide GSM plans and would not have anything else. Their service is about as good as anyone could want and I have been coast to caost with it and have had only minor problems with service. I have three phones,mine being the primary and phones for the wife and son at college. With the ability to tie all the phones into one package,Unlimited off peak minutes,unlimited mobile to mobile with any Cingular or ATT customer at any time for free,rolling over unused Daylight minutes, and the option to have your off-peak minutes extended from 7pm to 7am,their packages are hard to beat along with saving me money. I have been with them 10years,since they came into my area,enjoy the service they provide and will stay a while longer as here where I am at there are not many which can compete... ... ... . Andy

 

[phloop]

I, too, have been looking for a cheap cellular phone for my wife to use when she travels. She had one, and just didn't use it any other time. I've not found anything less than $30/mo. The phone cards look good, but what about the phone and service/connection charges?



Thanks,



Lynn

Check into t-mobile. They have a plan for 19. 99 a month. It might work for you.