# Best BYOP Smartphone Plans?



## Devo1237 (Apr 22, 2008)

It seems like we're getting to a point these days where there's a lot of great options for smartphone plans if you bring your own phone. Especially in the unlimited space. After spending a few years with my iPhone on both AT&T and Verizon (where the wife and I were paying ~$135/mo for 700mins talk and unlimited data), I've been pretty happy the last couple months on Straight Talk, where we get Unlimited Talk/Text/Data for $45/mo each. It's even less if you buy multiple months at a time. I like it because the coverage comes from a major carrier (AT&T) and includes LTE speeds. The only downside seems to be them doing some throttling when you try to watch video over LTE, but I haven't really needed to do that when I'm not on Wi-Fi.

Anyway, the reason I'm posting is because I saw AT&T has a new offer where you can do 4 lines with Unlimited talk & Text, plus 10GB of shared data for $160/mo (or $40/line). Seems like a pretty good deal for those that don't use a ton of data, or if your family members only need a little bit and you can use the excess.

So, what kind of plans are you guys using for your smartphones? Are you still on the big boys (AT&T/VZW) plans? Or have you gone the cheaper route with Virgin or Straight Talk and the like?


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

Republic Wireless

https://republicwireless.com/plans


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## Devo1237 (Apr 22, 2008)

sigma1914 said:


> Republic Wireless
> 
> https://republicwireless.com/plans


Seems like a good deal, but it uses the Sprint towers, which I've heard are spotty. Do you get consistent 4G coverage?


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## sigma1914 (Sep 5, 2006)

Devo1237 said:


> Seems like a good deal, but it uses the Sprint towers, which I've heard are spotty. Do you get consistent 4G coverage?


I don't use the 4G or data, but a buddy does and Sprint is weird here... 4G literally stops and restarts on my road.


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

With AT&T we just went to the $145 share plan. unlimited talk/text 10 GB
We have 3 smart phones if we add addtional phones they are now $15 extra per month.
$40 only if you accept a free upgrade with a 24 month commitment. 

Im not sure what you do with your phone but we never went over 1.5 GB per month in the 7 months with Att.
But we don't stream movies unless we have Wi-Fi available. 

Sent from my PantechP8010 using DBSTalk mobile app


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

Also Straight Talk gives each Line 2.5 GB per 30 days. Thats it. Thats why your getting slowed way down on your LTE streaming.

Straight talk is Verizon's towers.
Trackphone and Net10 are ATT.

Sent from my PantechP8010 using DBSTalk mobile app


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## Devo1237 (Apr 22, 2008)

damondlt said:


> Also Straight Talk gives each Line 2.5 GB per 30 days. Thats it. Thats why your getting slowed way down on your LTE streaming.
> 
> Straight talk is Verizon's towers.
> Trackphone and Net10 are ATT.
> ...


Not exactly true. They do limit LTE use to 2.5GB, but that's not why my LTE slows down since I've never used even 2GB in a month. They also throttle for video streaming even if your under the limit.

And ST only uses verizon towers if you buy a phone from them. You can also buy a Sim Card from them that works with T-Mobile or AT&T's towers. I chose the AT&T sim because that one supports LTE, whereas the Verizon phones at the time were limited to 3G. I think they all may be at LTE speeds now, though.


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

Devo1237 said:


> Not exactly true. They do limit LTE use to 2.5GB, but that's not why my LTE slows down since I've never used even 2GB in a month. They also throttle for video streaming even if your under the limit.
> 
> .


 This is why we tossed our Straight talk phones and signed up with ATT. Too often we found our phones failing to load or extremely slow in general. My straight talk phones didnt have removable sim cards either. 
A common Verizon's practice.

Sent from my PantechP8010 using DBSTalk mobile app


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

I Switched from the evil empire of AT&T to T-Mobile and I have been happily ever since. my bill went from $240 to $160. I have 3 iphones plus one Air all on their service. the iphone gets unlimited everything and the Air gets 2.5GB every month 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Devo1237 (Apr 22, 2008)

peds48 said:


> I Switched from the evil empire of AT&T to T-Mobile and I have been happily ever since. my bill went from $240 to $160. I have 3 iphones plus one Air all on their service. the iphone gets unlimited everything and the Air gets 2.5GB every month
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


Yeah, I hated AT&T when we had that with the old iPhone 3g, but the phone service has been much better since we came back via Straight Talk. I've thought about T-Mobile but also worry about their coverage.

Sent from my iPhone using DBSTalk mobile app


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Devo1237 said:


> Yeah, I hated AT&T when we had that with the old iPhone 3g, but the phone service has been much better since we came back via Straight Talk. I've thought about T-Mobile but also worry about their coverage.
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using DBSTalk mobile app


coverage with T-Mobile seems to be good where I live. the issue with them is the lack of the lower spectrum which helps a lot when you are indoors. But this is going to get better since they got the Extra bandwith from the red devil

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## Cyber36 (Mar 20, 2008)

Verizon = Satan?


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

I have Verizon for my iPhone 5, but I'm not a big data user at all. Started with the 'america 65' plan or some such, limited talk, no text and 2Gb of data.

But recently they've been changing their attitude about having smartphones and data plans. So yesterday I changed to the 'more' plan that fits me. Unlimited talk/text, 250Mb data for $55/month.

Around here, if you want great coverage it is Verizon or Alltel. All the others are spotty though ATT has gotten better. Unfortunately if when my contract is up I decided to use straight talk, I'd be on ATT and it is a dead zone right at my house.


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## harsh (Jun 15, 2003)

damondlt said:


> Straight talk is Verizon's towers.
> Trackphone and Net10 are ATT.


In my area, Tracfone runs on Verizon who has the best coverage here. AT&T and Sprint don't reach my house consistently.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

peds48 said:


> coverage with T-Mobile seems to be good where I live. the issue with them is the lack of the lower spectrum which helps a lot when you are indoors. But this is going to get better since they got the Extra bandwith from the red devil


Ya. This time last year, T-Mo LTE was hard to find in Westchester County, NY. Now I'm surprised if I don't get an LTE connection.

I don't need many voice minutes, so I'm on the T-Mo $30/month plan. 100 minutes talk, unlimited data. I'm using an owned iPhone 5.


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## Devo1237 (Apr 22, 2008)

lparsons21 said:


> Unfortunately if when my contract is up I decided to use straight talk, I'd be on ATT and it is a dead zone right at my house.


Straight Talk offers Verizon coverage for the same $45/mo unlimited everything deal. You just have to buy a phone directly from them, or see if your current CDMA phone is compatible by clicking on the link on this page...

http://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/shop/sims


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## Devo1237 (Apr 22, 2008)

Steve said:


> Ya. This time last year, T-Mo LTE was hard to find in Westchester County, NY. Now I'm surprised if I don't get an LTE connection.
> 
> I don't need many voice minutes, so I'm on the T-Mo $30/month plan. 100 minutes talk, unlimited data. I'm using an owned iPhone 5.


Yeah, that's a great deal if you don't talk much. I usually don't, but there seems to be one month every year where I use like a 700 minutes, that really blows my bank if I'm on a limited plan.


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

Steve said:


> Ya. This time last year, T-Mo LTE was hard to find in Westchester County, NY. Now I'm surprised if I don't get an LTE connection.


Well you do live in NY city. :coffee

Try Northeastern PA and see T mobile and Sprint coverage.

My in laws from Eastchester NY aren't so happy with their sprint service when they come to visit. :bang
I don't know anyone with T mobile near us, I'm guessing because its coverage is small.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Devo1237 said:


> Yeah, that's a great deal if you don't talk much. I usually don't, but there seems to be one month every year where I use like a 700 minutes, that really blows my bank if I'm on a limited plan.


surprised they still have metered voice as most cell companies are focusing on how to squeeze more money out of us but on data

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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

Devo1237 said:


> Devo1237, on 26 Mar 2014 - 1:13 PM, saidevo1237, on 26 Mar 2014 - 1:13 PM, said:
> 
> Yeah, that's a great deal if you don't talk much. I usually don't, but there seems to be one month every year where I use like a 700 minutes, that really blows my bank if I'm on a limited plan.


With unlimited data, you can use the Vonage VOIP app to make free U.S. calls that show your cell phone # as the CID. This way, as long as you initiate the call, you can keep your minutes under control.


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## Steve (Aug 22, 2006)

peds48 said:


> surprised they still have metered voice as most cell companies are focusing on how to squeeze more money out of us but on data


It's unlimited data up to 5GB LTE, then throttled after that. I've never exceeded 5GB, so I don't know how severely they throttle.


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

Steve said:


> It's unlimited data up to 5GB LTE, then throttled after that. I've never exceeded 5GB, so I don't know how severely they throttle.


We have 3 Smart phones, and we always have 8.5 GB left every month. But since the New ATT plans our Bill went from $226 for 2 GB
to $176 for 10GB plan
That includes all the Taxes and the Insurance.
We could Drop back down to the 2 GB for around $135, But I plan on adding a 4th line so I want the 10 GB data.

How is Insurance handled with Straight Talk or T Moblie?


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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

Devo1237 said:


> Straight Talk offers Verizon coverage for the same $45/mo unlimited everything deal. You just have to buy a phone directly from them, or see if your current CDMA phone is compatible by clicking on the link on this page...
> 
> http://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/shop/sims


True. But unless my iPhone 5 dies, I'm not going to replace it. It does all I want/need.


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## Devo1237 (Apr 22, 2008)

lparsons21 said:


> True. But unless my iPhone 5 dies, I'm not going to replace it. It does all I want/need.


Yeah, I do think you'll get better service through Verizon, just a matter of long-term monthly savings versus up front costs usually.


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

I find it interesting that ATT, Verizon , Sprint, or even customers for that matter, haven't filed suit against T Mobile and Tracphone for their "Unlimited DATA"
claim that is clearly false advertizing.

If that were Directv ,comcast and Dish, Wow look out!


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## Devo1237 (Apr 22, 2008)

damondlt said:


> I find it interesting that ATT, Verizon , Sprint, or even customers for that matter, haven't filed suit against T Mobile and Tracphone for their "Unlimited DATA"
> claim that is clearly false advertizing.
> 
> If that were Directv ,comcast and Dish, Wow look out!


Seriously. I guess it is technically unlimited after it's throttled. Just not worth using. Those big guys do the same thing though. I had a grandfathered Unlimited plan from Verizon that was actually limited to 5 or 6 GBs.


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

Devo1237 said:


> . I had a grandfathered Unlimited plan from Verizon that was actually limited to 5 or 6 GBs.


 Im not so sure they do that anymore. Their unlimited data plan is a few hundred dollars.

Sent from my PantechP8010 using DBSTalk mobile app


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Steve said:


> It's unlimited data up to 5GB LTE, then throttled after that. I've never exceeded 5GB, so I don't know how severely they throttle.


on T-Mobile when you get throttle it becomes useless. My son used all of my 2.5GB in one day. reason I found out is when he came to me to tell me the ipad was not working. wonder why.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## wingrider01 (Sep 9, 2005)

damondlt said:


> Also Straight Talk gives each Line 2.5 GB per 30 days. Thats it. Thats why your getting slowed way down on your LTE streaming.
> 
> Straight talk is Verizon's towers.
> Trackphone and Net10 are ATT.
> ...


Straight talk also uses ATT towers, you can get GSM sims from them

http://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/shop/sims#.UzPn3bEo7RY


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

wingrider01 said:


> Straight talk also uses ATT towers, you can get GSM sims from them
> 
> http://www.straighttalk.com/wps/portal/home/shop/sims#.UzPn3bEo7RY


If you are Bringing your own phone.

But not if you are buying it right out of the Straight Talk box.
Verizion phones don't have removable Sim cards.
At least I've never owned one that did, only a short 7 months ago.


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## Cholly (Mar 22, 2004)

Whole family switched from Verizon to T-Mobile last week. Swapped our old phones for new (gotta pay full retail). So far, quite happy. Although T-Mobile coverage is spotty in many areas,they're supposed to go all LTE by year's end. Time will tell.


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

Cholly said:


> Whole family switched from Verizon to T-Mobile last week. Swapped our old phones for new (gotta pay full retail). So far, quite happy. Although T-Mobile coverage is spotty in many areas,they're supposed to go all LTE by year's end. Time will tell.


LTE was my "beef" with AT&T. they had rights to the iphone first and as such they got lots of business from folks that otherwise would not have switched. And instead of investing money on their lousy network they decided just to stuffed their pockets with tons of cash. On the other hand, T- Mobile was always and still is investing on their network

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## lparsons21 (Mar 4, 2006)

damondlt said:


> If you are Bringing your own phone.
> 
> But not if you are buying it right out of the Straight Talk box.
> Verizion phones don't have removable Sim cards.
> At least I've never owned one that did, only a short 7 months ago.


The iPhone 5 from Verizon is an unlocked phone so you can move it to StraightTalk with a micro-sim kit.


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## damondlt (Feb 27, 2006)

lparsons21 said:


> The iPhone 5 from Verizon is an unlocked phone so you can move it to StraightTalk with a micro-sim kit.


Yes, Bring a phone. But not the ones they sell out of the box thats marked Straight talk.


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## wingrider01 (Sep 9, 2005)

damondlt said:


> If you are Bringing your own phone.
> 
> But not if you are buying it right out of the Straight Talk box.
> Verizion phones don't have removable Sim cards.
> At least I've never owned one that did, only a short 7 months ago.


Verizon world phones have both CDMA and GSM capabilities, the Verizon Iphone 5/S/C have both CDMA and GSM capabilities, the 5S/C are carrier unlocked on the GSM side. They sell the Iphone 5C and the 5S


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## djlong (Jul 8, 2002)

I was a Verizon Wireless customer since, literally, the 1980s. A variety of circumstances caused me to reconsider everything and basically do a "free and open" competition for my 'next' phones in 2011.

Verizon forced a $30 per phone "smartphone" fee on me - even if I didn't want to use data on it. My wife's HTC Ozone was PERFECT for her (looks like a Blackberry with the physical keyboard, thing, etc) But they FORCED a $30 fee for her - no option. Same for my HTC Touch Pro 2 but I *did* use data. My daughter had a $10 "feature phone" fee.

I asked for discounts having been a customer for 24 years who's bill was now over $200/mo. They basically said "We're Verizon. You Need Us."

I went to Sprint. The day the iPhone 4S was released, I was on a plan that cost *$10* for each smartphone, TRULY unlimited data, MORE prime minutes AND a discount for being a military employee. I bought 3 iPhones (2x64GB and one 32GB) and saw my monthly bill go down some $50/mo.

A day or two after the phone numbers switched to Sprint, Verizon started calling begging me to come back. I said "Will you pay my ETF and price-match SPrint's bill". The poor drone on the other end of the line had nothing to say. I politely said "Please tell your bosses that they had their chance to keep the customer that gave them nearly $3000/year and I'm sorry that YOU, in your position, had to hear it and couldn't really do anything about it."


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## peds48 (Jan 11, 2008)

djlong said:


> I was a Verizon Wireless customer since, literally, the 1980s. A variety of circumstances caused me to reconsider everything and basically do a "free and open" competition for my 'next' phones in 2011.
> 
> Verizon forced a $30 per phone "smartphone" fee on me - even if I didn't want to use data on it. My wife's HTC Ozone was PERFECT for her (looks like a Blackberry with the physical keyboard, thing, etc) But they FORCED a $30 fee for her - no option. Same for my HTC Touch Pro 2 but I *did* use data. My daughter had a $10 "feature phone" fee.
> 
> ...


this literally happened to me but I was with AT&T for about 13 years and I went to T-Mobile

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