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Westside guy

macrumors 603
Oct 15, 2003
6,354
4,173
The soggy side of the Pacific NW
Pretty much every current T-Mobile plan rate is only promised through 2014 or 2015 as well. Most plans go up $10/month after the promo date ends. Same with that free 200MB/month in data - that has an end date too.

Incorrect. T-Mobile's rate isn't a promotion. What WILL change after January 2, 2016 is the high speed data allotment (the line above which you drop down to EDGE speeds) drops back to 1 GB per line.
 

bchery21

macrumors 6502a
Aug 3, 2009
783
586
Boston, MA
Why do wireless packages have to be so expensive....seems like if you have a smartphone, no matter what...you can't find a reasonable plan costing less than $60 a month, and that's if you chop off unlimited messaging and use the lowest data plan available.

Even then, it's too expensive for me.

I decided to pay out my contract with AT&T and terminate.

Right now I don't have a cell phone. It's just too expensive.

I'm not paying $1200/year for cell service!

I have an old AT&T plan that gets me 450 minutes and 2gb of data. I had them disable my ability to send/receive texts. My workaround for that is using iMessages for my iPhone friends and Google Voice for everyone else. With the discount I receive from my place of employment, I pay roughly $61.13/mo. I don't talk a lot on the phone for 450 mins is enough (plus I have Rollover minutes) and data is never an issue.

This all might change as I'll be getting married next year thus my future wife and I will most likely start a new plan together :/
 

RiddlaBronc

macrumors 6502a
Oct 14, 2013
870
640
Mcallen Tx
Its great for people like me that get a fully working lte coverage. Not sure whats with you guys in bigger cities? I live in a small town near the border and it works perfectly fine
 

icyrock1

macrumors newbie
May 15, 2014
25
0
Now if only they had coverage... Sigh, I really envy the EU when it comes to phone provider selection.
 

Woochifer

macrumors 6502a
Apr 22, 2007
772
56
Any phone made after Jan 2015 will be unlockable and can work on any carrier I believe according to new regulations. Probably makes sense to wait to buy the 6s then if thats the case.

My understanding is that they can still lock down the device if you're on contract or an installment plan. If someone has fulfilled their contract or paid for their phone in full, the carrier cannot prevent a customer from unlocking their phone.
 

macduke

macrumors G5
Jun 27, 2007
13,199
19,854
Verizon customers: For those interested, Verizon is offering a free gig per month (for two years) for those who upgrade their phone, essentially "re-upping" your contract. I called and they said the promotion is good through 9/30/14. So those upgrading to the iPhone 6 next month anyway could get some free data.

Haven't decided yet decided if I'll stay with Verizon. It's a little pricey but has better coverage and speed than everyone else. Honestly speed and coverage is less important to me today than it was a year ago since my wife doesn't travel for work now and I'm usually in a WiFi zone. But sometimes when we travel home we push up against our 3GB plan. Having that extra gig would make all the difference. Having 10 gigs would make me less paranoid, and home is KC where Sprint is headquartered with decent coverage (for Sprint). Not sure about here in CoMo. I'm also kinda curious to try out my Verizon service next week when I go to NYC.
 

tennisproha

macrumors 68000
Jun 24, 2011
1,592
1,087
Texas
iPhone 5, 79€ (one time payment)
35€ a month for 24 months gets me:
unlimited text and calls (throughout the EU and some additional countries)
1.2 GB of LTE before i get throttled (still unlimited after)
cant think of how much data i get in the EU but i dont really have use for that so i don't know

how do they get the remaining payment for the value of your phone? 79€ is only about a 5th of the value isn't it. 35€ would only cover network charges for your plan.

but yeah that's way better than ours here. actually all our communication charges are outrageous. my Internet is $40 for 6MB, which is stupid. doesn't matter if I'm getting 3MB or 50MB, it's costs them very little extra.
 

specialfellow

macrumors newbie
Jun 23, 2010
2
0
$100 to $160 A MONTH :eek::eek::eek:

and people in Germany look at me crazy when i tell them that i pay 35 Euro a month.

$100 is more than i pay for netflix, Nexus Plan, iPad Plan, unlimited 100mbit internet, spotify and cable HD tv combined lolol

Yeah but you do live in Germany, so there's that.
 

PocketSand11

macrumors 6502a
Jun 12, 2014
688
1
~/
$100 to $160 A MONTH :eek::eek::eek:

and people in Germany look at me crazy when i tell them that i pay 35 Euro a month.

$100 is more than i pay for netflix, Nexus Plan, iPad Plan, unlimited 100mbit internet, spotify and cable HD tv combined lolol

Yeah, we Americans have to pay a lot extra for cell phone service and some extra for home Internet service. It's not just Sprint but every provider. I've heard various explanations for this, one or a combination of our spread out geography, a small oligopoly of service providers, or higher demand in the U.S.
 
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furi0usbee

macrumors 68000
Jul 11, 2008
1,790
1,382
Well folks, $100.00/mo I think will be the norm in the near future. Right now, the only reason I have an iPhone is that I pay Virgin Mobile just $30.00/mo (with my $5.00 online payment discount). I get 2.5GB of 4G LTE then dropped to 3G speeds after that. I use the Sprint network, which isn't the best, but it's not too bad around me. But I would never pay $100.00/mo just to use an iPhone. I DO NOT pay for cable, and only pay for cell service because I have no land line and need a phone.

I used to use my iPad mini with skype in/out and google voice as my phone. It worked pretty good, but one Skype update ruined a bunch of stuff, and I eventually went back to an iphone.
 

malman89

macrumors 68000
May 29, 2011
1,651
6
Michigan
Well folks, $100.00/mo I think will be the norm in the near future. Right now, the only reason I have an iPhone is that I pay Virgin Mobile just $30.00/mo (with my $5.00 online payment discount). I get 2.5GB of 4G LTE then dropped to 3G speeds after that. I use the Sprint network, which isn't the best, but it's not too bad around me. But I would never pay $100.00/mo just to use an iPhone. I DO NOT pay for cable, and only pay for cell service because I have no land line and need a phone.

I used to use my iPad mini with skype in/out and google voice as my phone. It worked pretty good, but one Skype update ruined a bunch of stuff, and I eventually went back to an iphone.

In an ideal world, the big name carriers keep undercutting one another to get down to the prepaid/no contract providers. They're actually very close today and made huge gains in the last year (thanks, T-Mobile). I've been on VM since January 2011 and it's worked well for me. I need a phone upgrade and their LTE is junk around me, so I'm looking at Cricket most likely. AT&T GoPhone is too expensive. T-Mobile is ridiculously fast, but spotty in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area. Go even a little bit out of town and you're either on no service or 2G/partner service, even on a major interstate (I-94) driving to Chicago.

----------

Perhaps Verizon, but I don't see AT&T making a move unless T-Mobile does.

The only thing T-Mobile might do is offer more data for their new family plans. No need to cut their already lowest price out there.
 

vpro

macrumors 65816
Jun 8, 2012
1,195
65
Clearly...

Hands down the worst competition around. My friends in Asia pay pennies a month for all the mentioned above. Pennies.

This should not be acceptable nor touted as anything great ever in my humble opinion, I mean I still own a dumb phone and I have for 10/mo unlimited txt and calling. I use my wifi 128GB iPad Air for everything else exclusively on secured free wifi hotspots. Seems I can get everything done in life this way. There is so much advancement in technology it is a shame we default to being data slaves to these crooks called "providers"?????? Laughable really!!


I love you all.
 

KpaL

macrumors newbie
Aug 18, 2014
5
6
It seems things are quite nice in Finland.

I have dual-sim data plan. One sim for phone and other for iPad. Both devices have 50/50mbit (usually 50/20mbit :p) unlimited data and it never throttles. All that 24,90 euros/month. It's like 33 dollars.

Funny fact is that lots of people ask why I pay so much for mobile data. :D
 

JBaker122586

macrumors 65816
Jun 21, 2007
1,378
83
Wait, I have a family of 3 on Verizon with only 4GB and I'm pretty sure my bill is near $160. Assuming you actually can get some LTE on Sprint this may not be a horrible deal...

What this isn't mentioning is the cost per line.
$40 per line on top of the $100 is $220 a month for the advertised plan.
For parity with your current VZW plan, you'd get 4GB for $40 a month... And then $40 a month per line, netting you out at... $160 a month with Sprint.
 

whoknows87

macrumors 6502a
Aug 8, 2012
676
31
S.Florida
And get throttled after 5GB to dial up speed? No thanks.

I have an unlimited Data Plan and I do not get charged/throttled with T-Mobile I use about 30GB a month lol +unlimited streaming

I cant figure out why people stay with carriers that charge them ' overages' such a trap
 

iPhysicist

macrumors 65816
Nov 9, 2009
1,343
1,004
Dresden
$100 to $160 A MONTH :eek::eek::eek:

and people in Germany look at me crazy when i tell them that i pay 35 Euro a month.

$100 is more than i pay for netflix, Nexus Plan, iPad Plan, unlimited 100mbit internet, spotify and cable HD tv combined lolol

I dont thinks so. Calculus? 100 US$ Is roughly 75€ and you are a Student with all discounts on that. So You don't count anyway. These Are shared Family plans.
 

lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,720
Boston, MA
Why do wireless packages have to be so expensive....seems like if you have a smartphone, no matter what...you can't find a reasonable plan costing less than $60 a month, and that's if you chop off unlimited messaging and use the lowest data plan available.

Pay as you go should be an opti
Even then, it's too expensive for me.

I decided to pay out my contract with AT&T and terminate.

Right now I don't have a cell phone. It's just too expensive.

I'm not paying $1200/year for cell service!

Is pay as you go not an option for you? I know there are plans that are around $45 a month, I believe with att.

But even at $60 a month (a number you gave) you wouldn't be spending $1200 a year, so kind of confused lol.

Anyway, $45 a month is about what you would pay for a basic landline. Not sure how feasible it is to expect it for less.
 

vpro

macrumors 65816
Jun 8, 2012
1,195
65
Try this People.

What about deals to keep existing customers?

Have you tried to call up to the highest point of customer support and complaints department? Try it, be real firm in your order with only the highest ranking agent, don't bother with the call center people, they have scripts, so bypass them all together. Just ask for their manager, then ask for the individual who has the most authority to take customer complaints and quality control personnel about very specific account inquiries ok? Try it. All the BEST! I did this with my "provider" and I pay at most 15/mo on unlimited txt and calling.

So maybe people, instead of paying what they advertise and what they want you to pay, suggest what you feel is best for you, no, order them to give you the MOST COMPETITIVE rate as a long time - loyal customer, especially if you've been with them more than 5 years.

Just give it a shot people.
 

lordofthereef

macrumors G5
Nov 29, 2011
13,161
3,720
Boston, MA
I have an unlimited Data Plan and I do not get charged/throttled with T-Mobile I use about 30GB a month lol +unlimited streaming

I cant figure out why people stay with carriers that charge them ' overages' such a trap

People stay with carriers that are able to provide them service.

I can't figure out why people feel that just because their carrier works for them it should work for everybody.

I think plenty of folks would like nothing more than to go with TMobile (or another carrier) in order to save money. I personally tried it and I couldn't live with the Edge data and spotty reception. At that rate I may not as well even be using a smartphone.

----------

I have an old AT&T plan that gets me 450 minutes and 2gb of data. I had them disable my ability to send/receive texts. My workaround for that is using iMessages for my iPhone friends and Google Voice for everyone else. With the discount I receive from my place of employment, I pay roughly $61.13/mo. I don't talk a lot on the phone for 450 mins is enough (plus I have Rollover minutes) and data is never an issue.

This all might change as I'll be getting married next year thus my future wife and I will most likely start a new plan together :/

You would end up paying $130 minus whatever perxentage discount (Shen off of $100) you get now, so it actually might work out to be the same. You would get unlimited minutes and texts and share 10gb of data, which sound like more than enough. You could go to a lower data plan for some slight savings.

Of course you wouldn't be getting a subsidized phone, but consider that you also aren't dropping $200+ on the device (rather paying monthly installments or buying outright), there are savings there.

The short end of it, if you upgrade every year, you will be paying slightly more monthly when your wife is added to your line (speaking per line of course, your total will obviously be much more than your single line is now), but it shouldn't be an astronomical change.
 
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