OT: Cell phone family/shared plans

[newAD]

It's time for the fam to get new phones for a few reasons. Currently on a Verizon Shared Plan with 4 lines and 8GB. The total bill is around $300 a month usually. Thanks to the teenagers, we've gone over the 8GB and got charged extra. I have been the good person using much data if Wifi is not available and rarely go over about .5 GB a month, so I don't really care much if the data is slower for the kids.

Has anyone with a similar family plan (especially in Nebraska, as the taxes and fees would be more similar to compare) switched to another carrier recently? Did you see any real big savings?

I had been considering Sprint (and of course they have a fire at the Omaha building yesterday) if it really saves money, but if I'm looking at it right, it'd just be saving on the data charge and not the individual lines, so I'm not sure if it really will add up to much? Hadn't really considered T-Mobile or AT&T, but maybe I should?

I see that I can get a better deal now with Verizon than I have now, but it won't lower my bill.

Anyone out there an expert and got any views on switching or saving any $$? Thanks in advance.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan_rivals19671]

Admittedly I shouldn't do this, but I run all our phones through my business. 7 lines, but we have limits on data which isn't a problem for me personally...... I can't help you because our plans are different because of a business versus personal, but I had to smile real freaking big when you mentioned data usage. Somehow I manage to use my phone to travel around the country and run a business and take and keep thousands and thousands of pictures yearly and I use about .5GB

My 11 y/o son uses about 4-5GB every month and he rarely gets off the couch and has his phone running thru our Wi-Fi when he's here. I don't get it.

Sometimes I feel like I don't get a lot of stuff.

 

[newAD]

I guess I should clarify as I think I've answered some of my questions.

Has anyone switched from Verizon and noticed a difference in speed, quality, coverage? I'm not sure I see much savings out there to be had by switching.

 

[litespeedhuskerfan_rivals19671]

If you travel I-80 west, Verizon >>>>> Sprint by a huge margin. I have Sprint. Same for I-29 South.

 

[NikkiSixx_rivals269993]

tracfone

 

[BigRedPimp]

It's time for the fam to get new phones for a few reasons. Currently on a Verizon Shared Plan with 4 lines and 8GB. The total bill is around $300 a month usually. Thanks to the teenagers, we've gone over the 8GB and got charged extra. I have been the good person using much data if Wifi is not available and rarely go over about .5 GB a month, so I don't really care much if the data is slower for the kids.

Has anyone with a similar family plan (especially in Nebraska, as the taxes and fees would be more similar to compare) switched to another carrier recently? Did you see any real big savings?

I had been considering Sprint (and of course they have a fire at the Omaha building yesterday) if it really saves money, but if I'm looking at it right, it'd just be saving on the data charge and not the individual lines, so I'm not sure if it really will add up to much? Hadn't really considered T-Mobile or AT&T, but maybe I should?

I see that I can get a better deal now with Verizon than I have now, but it won't lower my bill.

Anyone out there an expert and got any views on switching or saving any $$? Thanks in advance.

My wife and two kids are on a Verizon family share plan. I'm on my employers plan. Family is on 16GB plan and we pay approx $150-160/month for 3 lines. Oldest daughter gets 8GB, son 4, and wife 4. One thing we did is we added the feature to hard cap the data on all lines. We pay $5/month total for that feature, but more than worth it as my kids would burn through $5 of overage on data.

We switched from Sprint with unlimited data. However, we were paying $200/month+ and the coverage area was not good for us with Sprint. No coverage issues at all with Verizon.

 

[newAD]

My wife and two kids are on a Verizon family share plan. I'm on my employers plan. Family is on 16GB plan and we pay approx $150-160/month for 3 lines. Oldest daughter gets 8GB, son 4, and wife 4. One thing we did is we added the feature to hard cap the data on all lines. We pay $5/month total for that feature, but more than worth it as my kids would burn through $5 of overage on data.

We switched from Sprint with unlimited data. However, we were paying $200/month+ and the coverage area was not good for us with Sprint. No coverage issues at all with Verizon.

Yea I've never had any problems with Verizon coverage.

These Unlimited plans by Sprint and T-Mobile sound good, until you really read into it, as they don't include the price of the phones. Still trying to figure out the bottom line on any potential changes.

 

[newAD]

If you travel I-80 west, Verizon >>>>> Sprint by a huge margin. I have Sprint. Same for I-29 South.

That's what I've heard from others too.

 

[T...Chafes]

A year ago we switched from Verizon to Sprint, same exact scenario you had (4 phones). Our bill at Verizon was pushing $320 for 12GB and we were going over our data quite a bit so our bill was higher than that about every other month.

Been with Sprint now for a year, been very happy! Our bill is now about $200/month for about 40GB of data (compared to 12GB with Verizon). Very glad we made the switch!!

(We used to be with Sprint for about 12 years but moved over to Verizon because we were getting terrible data speeds. That was about 4 years ago. Sprint is MUCH better now as they are 4G in Omaha, very comparable to Verizon- just like the commercials say. Make the move!)

 

[KiewitHusker]

Look into Total Wireless they use the Verizon network and have a 4 line share package at $100 a month. If your phone is eligible you can bring it with or buy one of theirs. I have had no issues with them.

 

[newAD]

Look into Total Wireless they use the Verizon network and have a 4 line share package at $100 a month. If your phone is eligible you can bring it with or buy one of theirs. I have had no issues with them.

Just looked at that. That'd be a great option if our phones we're all in pretty bad shape right now. Still could be an option.

 

[newAD]

A year ago we switched from Verizon to Sprint, same exact scenario you had (4 phones). Our bill at Verizon was pushing $320 for 12GB and we were going over our data quite a bit so our bill was higher than that about every other month.

Been with Sprint now for a year, been very happy! Our bill is now about $200/month for about 40GB of data (compared to 12GB with Verizon). Very glad we made the switch!!

(We used to be with Sprint for about 12 years but moved over to Verizon because we were getting terrible data speeds. That was about 4 years ago. Sprint is MUCH better now as they are 4G in Omaha, very comparable to Verizon- just like the commercials say. Make the move!)

How much do you pay per line?

 

[CameronKrazie86]

I switched from Verizon to US Cellular and have not noticed a difference in the year and a half I've been with them. I also pay substantially less than I did before. I was just in there to pay my bill and they mentioned they're having some good sales this Saturday since it's the last one before Christmas. Have had a great experience overall.

 

[T...Chafes]

How much do you pay per line?

Not sure as the wife pays the bill, but I want to say it's around $30/line. We did the cut your bill in half play, plus got special pricing on the phones when we bought them. Sprint basically bought us out of our Verizon plan plus we got 4 new phones. Total bill is around $200 for a Note 5, iPhone 6+, and two iPhone 6's.

 

[TheBeav815]

I switched to Republic Wireless and I have been incredibly happy. They use Sprint's towers for their cell coverage. Just did the Chicago to Omaha drive and had great coverage, much better than I used to with T-Mobile. My bill is $29.65 a month for unlimited talk, text, 3G data. Not sure if they still offer an unlimited plan, I'm grandfathered in.

www.republicwireless.com

 

[BigRedPimp]

A year ago we switched from Verizon to Sprint, same exact scenario you had (4 phones). Our bill at Verizon was pushing $320 for 12GB and we were going over our data quite a bit so our bill was higher than that about every other month.

Been with Sprint now for a year, been very happy! Our bill is now about $200/month for about 40GB of data (compared to 12GB with Verizon). Very glad we made the switch!!

(We used to be with Sprint for about 12 years but moved over to Verizon because we were getting terrible data speeds. That was about 4 years ago. Sprint is MUCH better now as they are 4G in Omaha, very comparable to Verizon- just like the commercials say. Make the move!)

Makes me curious why there is such a difference in Verizon. We have 3 lines at 18GB at $150/month.

 

[Kleitusbpn]

used to have verizon

use straight talk now -- it's about the only thing walmart does right. the service is fine and i've been in western nebraska, wyoming, montana, north dakota etc.

it's not perfect, but 45 a month and unlimited everything makes up for a lot

 

[litespeedhuskerfan_rivals19671]

I switched to Republic Wireless and I have been incredibly happy. They use Sprint's towers for their cell coverage. Just did the Chicago to Omaha drive and had great coverage, much better than I used to with T-Mobile. My bill is $29.65 a month for unlimited talk, text, 3G data. Not sure if they still offer an unlimited plan, I'm grandfathered in.

www.republicwireless.com

Damn....

 

[siebo454]

Just switched to US Cellular from Verizon as they have better coverage in my area (south central NE) and am saving about $30/month. Just my wife and I have phones.