Buying a cell phone plan for me and family (San Jose: 2014, month-to-month)

[sabapc]

Hi everyone,

I'm relocating to the US (San Jose, CA) with my family (wife and 2 kids) and will be arriving to the area next week. One of the first things I need to do is to get a cell phone.

Coming from another country (Chile), I just wanted to ask for some pointers regarding cell phone plans in the US and some of the details I should be concerned about when choosing a plan for my family.

This is basically what I want:
* I'll be talking A LOT to my family.
* I'll need equipment (3 cell phones, ideally iphones)

This is what I've been looking at:
Family Cell Phone Plans

But there's so much information that I'm not used to and special terminology, that I'm not sure what I should be looking for. Also, it's unclear to me how I acquire the equipment. There's a page there to "shop" for devices but I'm not sure if those are the prices you get when you get a cell phone plan or just buy the device.

So, btw, is AT&T the only provider I should be looking at? Are there other providers? Do I care about them?

Any tips will be appreciated.

Thanks!
Juan Ignacio

[alizawill852]

Hi Juan
There are many options available other than AT & T like 24-7 Telcom, Alascom ,ATMC and many more
.The main problem is that all of us just forget to do so, and until we found out we lost great deal of money! This problem is being faced by every citizen of US. So i will suggest you
1. Choose plan according to your need
2. Compare plans of competitors
3. Use Skype its very much cheaper than other things

4. Keep a check on your bills and subscriptions.
This is the most important thing to lower your bill . but its very difficult to keep track record of all the subscription dates . So i will suggest you a tool that i am using .
The tool helps me keep track of my monthly payments to my service providers when my promotion expires it will remind me to call them with the best promotion out there.

[vadaseri]

Originally Posted by sabapc

This is basically what I want:
* I'll be talking A LOT to my family.
* I'll need equipment (3 cell phones, ideally iphones)

Try T-mobile: Family Cell Phone Plans | Compare Cell Phone Family Plans | T-Mobile
There is no contract
Unlimited Text+Talk+Data: $50/month
2nd line: $30/month for Unlimited Text+Talk+Data
3rd line: $10/month for Unlimited Text+Talk+Data
4th line: $10/month for Unlimited Text+Talk+Data

Coverage is not as good as AT&T/Verizon. But not bad at all.

iPhone 5/5S - Get no contract phone from apple: $650+tax or $500 from Craigslist

Or go with StraightTalk: Prepaid Cell Phones| Unlimited Mobile Plans | StraightTalk Wireless

[nagleepark]

If you sign a 2-year contract, you will get discounted or free phones. The older, cheaper models will be free and the newer models will be discounted. But, even if you get the phones for free, that doesn't mean that you don't pay! Even though you got the phone for free, you might have to pay an activation fee, shipping and taxes which might turn out to be $100+.

The big carriers are Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. I recommend Verizon or T-Mobile. AT&T has a big service hole in Cupertino. I'm with Sprint but they are struggling and their service is hit-or-miss. I know people with Verizon and T-Mobile who like them and get good service.

You should expect unlimited phone calls and unlimited texting. Depending on the carrier, all their plans may have that or you might have to upgrade to a more expensive plan or buy an add-on to the plan. Plans without those features are not worth considering; they are just scams to try to trick you into going over your amount and then have you pay expensive per-minute or per-message fees.

Some plans have limited data, unlimited data or throttled data after you reach your limit. Realistically, you will be using no data at home and at work because you'll be hooked up to the wifi. So, if you have a 2GB limited data, you should be fine as long as you or your family aren't using tons of data while in the car on a daily basis.

[80skeys]

Juan,

I was an AT&T user for several years, until this past month I just finally got tired of my exorbitant monthly fees and I cancelled my plan, had them unlock my phone (iphone), and I signed up for GoSmartMobile which is no contract and a flat $35/month fee. In addition to GoSmartMobile there are other similiar services in the $40-$50 range with higher bandwidth. All of them are month-to-month. There are no contracts. You must bring your own unlocked phone in order to use these services.

there are a bunch of cell phone shops in the area that provide these services. The one I go to is an Asian (Chinese) shop and i believe they sell phones too. You have to buy the phone outright, or as I said walk in with your own (unlocked) phone.

If you don't want to spend money on brand new iphones, you can get used iphones that are in good condition on craigslist or Ebay, as long as you have a discerning eye.