Cell phone plans- Massachusetts

[perc-o-prince]

Heh, heh, Jim... please don't shuttup!

Is the MetroPCS/T-Mobile map not accurate at all? It shows a lot of NE is covered with just some small exception except for the most rural of areas. And it also shows a lot of the area I'll have to travel for training (to Princeton NJ) and our occasional antique hunting grounds (Adamstown PA) are covered with at least 2G. I looked where Rich's parents are (Sebago ME) and it looks like the route there and all around is also covered. Here's the coverage link: https://www.metropcs.com/coverage.html We don't always need the best speed, but at least availability.

We're hesitant to go with LG, though my last two flip phones have been LG, because of lack of reparability on their smart phones. Rich's work phone had to be sent to AZ or something like that. I've been leaning toward Samsung myself- like the Galaxy Core Prime, Galaxy Lite, Galaxy Avant, or the Kyocera Hydro or HTC Desire 626s.

Pulling my hair out,
Chuck

BTW, Rich and I both have a work phone. His seems to be good, but when I get mine, it'll be on the Sprint network which has the worst coverage of any carrier in our area. Always did. So, I'd like to be sure my personal phone can fill in where needed if I can't get my new employer to get me on a better network seeing navigation and contact will be a priority for my job! If Consumer Cellular really did give the coverage they claim and the T-Mobile coverage wasn't what they claim, then it may be worth looking at CC again.

 

[kb0nes]

iOS and the stock Safari browser. Never had a significant issue with either. I use Google chrome instead of Safari on the Mac, but never desired a different browser on the phone.

Same with the keyboard and I have a tiny old iPhone 5 and I text a fair bit, no problem with the standard keyboard.

Finally if you have friends with iOS devices, Apple's iMessaging offers some nice advantages over simple SMS texting. You get delivered/read receipts and the messages are sent via wifi if you don't have coverage. Malcom's issue with a weeks worth of texts showing up when returning to cellular coverage won't happen if you are in wifi coverage.

 

[mattl]

I added the Chrome browser to all my Android stuff, I feel it's the best browser for Android.   Hate the generic one that comes installed.

 

I think we need a thread to list all our favorite apps...

 

[fan-of-fans]

I have AT&T on a Samsung Galaxy here in Florida. Verizon has the best coverage here, but is also more expensive. Sprint has very spotty coverage. I had a TracFone before just texting and phone and I was perfectly happy with it and the service, but I wanted to be able to go online.

I do not have a texting plan, as I don't text enough to pay another $20 for that. I pay about 20 cents per text. I also have the lowest amount of minutes offered, but only make a few calls a month. I believe I also have the smallest data plan offered, I use Wi-Fi at home and in areas that have it, so my data useage isn't all that high. I do listen to Pandora in the car so I do have some use there.

When my contract is up in a few months, I will probably switch to AT&T prepaid and see if I can save any.

When I got my phone I looked into the prepaid plans as well. I was concerned Virgin Mobile would be spotty, given they use Sprint towers. I also looked into Straight Talk and maybe I should have went with them instead of AT&T. Seems like T-Mobile/MetroPCS had spotty coverage in my area also.

 

[eronie]

I have been a Tracfone user for over 15 years. Have been very happy, uses AT&T network. Spend about $40 every 3 months. currently have a LGL41C smartphone with 4.5" screen nice camera, couldn't be happier
Paul Harvey talked me into it years ago.

 

[gusherb]

Tony

That particular phone uses the Verizon network.

For Tracfone, If the model number ends in C that indicates that it's a CDMA phone, or if it ends in G that's a GSM phone.

 

[eronie]

Still works everywhere I want it to. No problems ever.

 

[perc-o-prince]

My bad for not updating....

We went to MetroPCS to sign up. Well, you can't sign up two people on the $60 family plan and both get promotional cell phones. If you sign up individually, then call in and merge the accounts before the first 30 days are up, if they still have that promotion, fine.

To get the promotional phone, you have to sign up for the $60 unlimited plan, then downgrade during the first month. But, you also get an additional $10 credit on the 2nd month, so it's cheaper than the $30/month if you factor the cost for the first two months.

Then, there was one other glitch where we just looked at each other, said we'd have to re-evaluate the decision, and walked out. Cudos to the rep for being very upfront about everything!

We called Ron (Kenmore58) to find out where he got his phone/plan that he's happy with. Walmart. The long and the short of it is that we didn't go with the plan he chose, but did go with a Walmart plan. Total Wireless, a sub of Trac-Phone just for Walmart, offered a plan for $35 per line with unlimited talk and text and 2.5Gb of data. If you merge to a family plan, it's $60 for both and a shared 5Gb data. Plus, a 5% discount with auto refill for the charges- no going to the store to buy the card and enter it, and no calling every month! The bonus? They use the VERIZON TOWERS!!!

So, we're getting the same superior coverage with more features and better phones for about 3/4 the price we were paying before!

Chuck