Cell Phones? (home, price, store)

[TimNovitsky9]

Moving to VA Beach in about a month now! My girlfriends cell phone plan expires shortly after and trying to find what some of the top cell phone carriers are down there?

[Trevor92]

Here is your last thread on the subject in case you couldn't find it //www.city-data.com/forum/hampt...ll-phones.html

If you have At&t, and want free mobile-to-mobile calling to her, that works fine. Verizon seems to be the most popular followed closely by Sprint judging by people I know. T-Mobile is also in the area. nTelos is another provider with good plans, but they're more of a regional than a national carrier. Alltel is also here for now, but they're merging with Verizon.

There's really a ton of cell towers and densely populated areas here so you shouldn't have too much trouble with anybody. Each provider may have little trouble spots here and there, but they all seem to do a good job.

[Erma]

Verizon has acquired Altel, so it seems to be the best bet on services. I don't pay for my phone, but we have a family plan on our private cell and it works out great for us.

[sailors__sweetheart]

I've had Alltel now for 5 years. I hardly EVER lose service except when I'm traveling through the woods of North Carolina and that last briefly. I've never had any complaints or problems with them. And yes, they are merging with Verizon.

[bbguy05]

If you want to get more bang for your buck, you can try some of the regional carriers. Ntelos to name one of them. My cousin has it, and she gets unlimited everything for $39.99. Which is great if you plan on just using your phone regionally.

[TimNovitsky9]

we would need something national to still talk to family here in Michigan

[Trevor92]

The nTelos unlimited plan for $39 also charges extra for long-distance and roaming, so that would probably not be a good option for you. They do have some plans where there's no roaming or long-distance charges anywhere in America (they roam free on Sprint outside of Virginia), but I would still avoid them in your situation because if you go back to Michigan and have phone troubles, there won't be a local store or much help they can provide.

When you get here, you might want to see if you can still get an alltel plan with My Circle. You'll have the coverage of Alltel and Verizon's combined networks, and you'll have a great plan where you can choose your own circle of numbers to call unlimited. They should honor that plan at least until your contract runs out. I use to have alltel and agree their network was great around here. I'm on Sprint now (just wanted to try something new), and their network is very good too, but I roam on alltel in more rural parts of Virginia and North Carolina that Sprint doesn't serve.

[Shoobie]

Do NOT deal with nTelos. I had that bunch before I left WV and they layed the screws to me. Not only did they tell me I was on a 2 year contract, after I bought the phone outright, they double-charged me for my last bill, tried to keep my phone number, and then keep trying to charge me, even after it was cancled. Took a lawyer, 4 months of non-stop calling, and coutless copies of my contract and related documents before these people even began to believe that they might just be a little wrong. If cellphone companys were cartoon characters, this bunch would be Peter Griffen from Family guy. OH! And another thing, their unlimited plan isn't unlimited. The bulk of your calls have to be made within your home calling area AND they can penilize you for not calling enough. I know, it sounded stupid to me too, but I swear to you that is what they told me. Apperntly, the month I spent with my parents, where there is no such thing as a cell tower, costed me an extra 100 dollars on my bill. Ether someone BSed me and took my money, or their India helpdesk got their scripts mixed up. Eather way, I was out 100 dollars and it was over nothing.

Now, if you need an unlimited plan for data/cell/message I would go for Sprint. They get good coverage, have decent phones, and the price you pay is $99 dollars a month. If you want a cooler phone or something fancy but not business, ATT has nice phones, 99 dollars a month for unlimited phone, and between 10 and 30 dollars a month for internet. Also, their unlimited messaging is $10 dollars a month or 200 messages a month if you get a data plan. *I believe mine is 200 a month with my unlimited data plan, but I'm not sure if it stays at 200 if you go for a cheaper data plan. :/*

Personally, I suggest you just get Sprint unlimited, if you need that kind of plan, and stick with them until the company tanks or releases the Palm Pre and becomes bigger than ATT. Stay away from nTelos at all cost. It's prom night and nTelos is your date, but she has mono. Dun dun dunnnnnnn

[Spazkat9696]

I have alltel. Love it!

[bbguy05]

Tmobile is good. I have it. It's coverage may not be as good as Verizon or Sprint, but I've rarely if at all have dropped calls or no signal. And Tmobile plans are cheaper too.

I had Sprint, it was back when it was Sprint PCS and before it merged with Nextel. My mom has it now, and the coverage is pretty good too. But they have some expensive plans.