Cell Phone Service...your thoughts

[N Parker]

OK, about to drop my Verizon plans (Have a voice plan and a data card plan for my laptop) They are rooting me out of house and home and not getting much in return.

Im losing my company paid phone (AT&T) as well due to cutbacks and was trying to come up with a way to make my calls, txt's, and data unlimited (or close to it) and all on one simple damn plan. I have so many "upgrades" on my Verizon plan, but still seem to go over my limits. I dont really need the "Blackberry setup", but I would like to be able to tap my phone into my laptop for data purposes. (Access the company VPN and the web.)

Sprint's Everything Plan for 99 bucks a month looks really nice. Im looking through Cingular now, but I wanted to hear it from ya'll on your experiences with this...

 

[Matthew Harding]

My fiance and I are sprint customers, and for roughly $130 a month (2 phones) we have unlimited data (including internet), unlimited mobile-to-mobile and 1500 anytime minutes. We have never went over on our anytime minutes and we have had the same plan for 3 years.

To your point about Blackberrys, if you want something where you can access the web and your company's VPN, then Blackberry is the only way to go. I suspect that the reason your hitting your data limit is because you are trying to access regular web pages that are not "phone friendly" and are having to use more data. With a Blackberry, that won't be a problem and you will likely not hit your ceiling on data.

 

[D. Hayes]

You may try to get new contract with alltel. Yes they merged with verizon but far as I've found out they are going to keep the policy for the alltel customers that allows them to change plans any time any way you want. I love it. I just can't wait till I can renew to upgrade phones. Best plan for me is the smart choice 500 family plan. Comes with "unlimited" data and tethering is easy.

 

[Benjamin Rock]

I have Verizon with unlimited data, txt, web, and 750 anytime minutes. I also have a Sprint aircard. i use the Sprint as the primary when in the car and a backup at home, and my Verizon as a backup in the car. Granted, it seems expensive, but I have a triple redundancy at home and a double in the car just in case. So far, no problems..

 

[Rob Wadsworth]

It is times -like these- that make the Tracfone/disposable phone earn its keep. WallyMart has em for $10-20 (depending on the flip-open variety or not), buy a double minutes card and -voila- you can use as much phone as you need. Of course, it isn't a data phone. But I can always hook up the Alltel Hue when the season begins.

The Tracfone is useful when the Hue is hooked up to the laptop. This way, I still have a phone to use w/o interrupting the data flow to the laptop. For the money expended, the Tracfone has proved itself and worth the few bucks that it has clearly saved.
And then some...

 

[John Wetter]

Sprint's simply everything plans are really the sweet spot right now.

 

[Jason Foster]

Being and east coaster not living in Florida, Verizon hands down. I prefer Sprint for data however. I'm on a non-contract voice plan that is older than dirt...and only pay $37-39 monthly, and I can adjust the minutes upward (and usually do in May/June, and August/September) when needed for chasing, or other events, then return to the old rate. Can't beat that.

 

[N Parker]

Well according to Sprint's customer service hotline, they do not offer tethering anymore. You have to purchase a "laptop card" to access the internet with your laptop. The little gal said they would knock it down to a flat $50 for a total of 149.99 with the simply everything plan. WTF?? I'm I just stuck having a phone and card or what?

 

[Andrew Revering]

I have to put my vote in for Sprint as well. Couple key reasons:

1) You can get a family simply everything plan that includes text, internet, TV, lots of minutes, etc. and put up to 5 people on that plan. We do that and each phone pays about $47 a month and never have to worry about overages or inability to use any features since everything is included in the plan.

2) Sprint is rolling out the first and (currently) only 4G network. Its 'probably' not in your area now, but if you have a 2 year agreement it's nice to look to the future. Sprint is pretty much the leader in data right now, and they look to continue to be the case for at least several more years.

 

[Steve Polley]

I dumped Sprint when they went to the 5GB cap and 300mb roaming limit. Supposedly if you go over this over a couple months, they dump you and charge you the ETF. This is the reason I went to the Alltel card. No roaming, unlimited as of now until its officially Verizon. The word is they will grandfather these perks if you sign up while its still Alltel. The 300mb roaming cap with sprint was a deal breaker since most of KS and NE are served by Alltel. Also, Alltel cards right now will roam on Verizon, Sprint and Alltel EVDO. Sprint does not play nice with Verizon and vice versa. Really, need to look at what areas you will use it most and what fits your budget.

 

[Andrew Revering]

The point about sprint not roaming on verizon and vice versa is not entirely correct. They do roam, but verizon is not sharing their EVDO coverage as far as I know, just 1xRTT.

 

[N Parker]

Ok, so I guess im staying with Verizon. After reading all of Sprint's "fine print", they just aren't for me. Now, how are Verizons larger plans? Im still looking into the whole Blackberry thing for work purposes, but if I do upgrade, I want data capabilty to tether my laptop to the phone. It will be the only source of data for me shortly when I move to BFE Kentucky. (dial up or satellite internet land)