• Log InLog In
  • Register
Liquid`
Team Liquid Liquipedia
EDT 10:28
CEST 16:28
KST 23:28
  • Home
  • Forum
  • Calendar
  • Streams
  • Liquipedia
  • Features
  • Store
  • EPT
  • TL+
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Smash
  • Heroes
  • Counter-Strike
  • Overwatch
  • Liquibet
  • Fantasy StarCraft
  • TLPD
  • StarCraft 2
  • Brood War
  • Blogs
Forum Sidebar
Events/Features
News
Featured News
[ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall10HomeStory Cup 27 - Info & Preview18Classic wins Code S Season 2 (2025)16Code S RO4 & Finals Preview: herO, Rogue, Classic, GuMiho0TL Team Map Contest #5: Presented by Monster Energy6
Community News
Weekly Cups (June 30 - July 6): Classic Doubles5[BSL20] Non-Korean Championship 4x BSL + 4x China9Flash Announces Hiatus From ASL66Weekly Cups (June 23-29): Reynor in world title form?14FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event22
StarCraft 2
General
The GOAT ranking of GOAT rankings Weekly Cups (June 30 - July 6): Classic Doubles Jim claims he and Firefly were involved in match-fixing Esports World Cup 2025 - Final Player Roster Statistics for vetoed/disliked maps
Tourneys
Sparkling Tuna Cup - Weekly Open Tournament RSL: Revival, a new crowdfunded tournament series FEL Cracov 2025 (July 27) - $8000 live event WardiTV Mondays Korean Starcraft League Week 77
Strategy
How did i lose this ZvP, whats the proper response Simple Questions Simple Answers
Custom Maps
[UMS] Zillion Zerglings
External Content
Mutation # 481 Fear and Lava Mutation # 480 Moths to the Flame Mutation # 479 Worn Out Welcome Mutation # 478 Instant Karma
Brood War
General
ASL20 Preliminary Maps i aint gon lie to u bruh... BGH Auto Balance -> http://bghmmr.eu/ [ASL19] Finals Recap: Standing Tall SC uni coach streams logging into betting site
Tourneys
[BSL20] Non-Korean Championship 4x BSL + 4x China [BSL20] Grand Finals - Sunday 20:00 CET CSL Xiamen International Invitational The Casual Games of the Week Thread
Strategy
Simple Questions, Simple Answers I am doing this better than progamers do.
Other Games
General Games
Nintendo Switch Thread Stormgate/Frost Giant Megathread Path of Exile What do you want from future RTS games? Beyond All Reason
Dota 2
Official 'what is Dota anymore' discussion
League of Legends
Heroes of the Storm
Simple Questions, Simple Answers Heroes of the Storm 2.0
Hearthstone
Heroes of StarCraft mini-set
TL Mafia
TL Mafia Community Thread Vanilla Mini Mafia
Community
General
US Politics Mega-thread Russo-Ukrainian War Thread Stop Killing Games - European Citizens Initiative Summer Games Done Quick 2025! Summer Games Done Quick 2024!
Fan Clubs
SKT1 Classic Fan Club! Maru Fan Club
Media & Entertainment
Anime Discussion Thread [Manga] One Piece [\m/] Heavy Metal Thread
Sports
2024 - 2025 Football Thread Formula 1 Discussion NBA General Discussion TeamLiquid Health and Fitness Initiative For 2023 NHL Playoffs 2024
World Cup 2022
Tech Support
Computer Build, Upgrade & Buying Resource Thread
TL Community
The Automated Ban List
Blogs
momentary artworks from des…
tankgirl
Culture Clash in Video Games…
TrAiDoS
from making sc maps to makin…
Husyelt
StarCraft improvement
iopq
Customize Sidebar...

Website Feedback

Closed Threads



Active: 630 users

help me get a phone plan

Blogs > fight_or_flight
Post a Reply
fight_or_flight
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States3988 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-15 01:26:09
September 15 2009 01:25 GMT
#1
So the Go Phone I was using was ok but its not going to cut it now. I need a good family plan, however, I'm pretty noob when it comes to phones and plans. Hopefully someone here is pretty knowlegable.

The deal is I need a family plan with 5 - 7 lines, in the United States. Not too minute heavy, maybe 1400 minutes/month I'm hoping. Unlimited data and text messaging would be nice, but not essential (I feel paying for text messaging is kind of a ripoff anyways so would consider trying to go without it). Seeing as I don't have internet at home right now, I could use 5 GB/month in data (I'm assuming thats what all 'unlimited' data plans allow?).

The sticking points are price, obviously, but I also hate contracts, termination fees, and unreasonable over-minute/over-data fees. So IF there is some variation in the way fee/contract structure of phone companies, I'd be willing to consider a higher monthly payment.

Also, the phones themselves don't matter too much.

So if anyone could help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Do you really want chat rooms?
DeathByMonkeys
Profile Blog Joined March 2008
United States742 Posts
September 15 2009 02:06 GMT
#2
On September 15 2009 10:25 fight_or_flight wrote:
So the Go Phone I was using was ok but its not going to cut it now. I need a good family plan, however, I'm pretty noob when it comes to phones and plans. Hopefully someone here is pretty knowlegable.

The deal is I need a family plan with 5 - 7 lines, in the United States. Not too minute heavy, maybe 1400 minutes/month I'm hoping. Unlimited data and text messaging would be nice, but not essential (I feel paying for text messaging is kind of a ripoff anyways so would consider trying to go without it). Seeing as I don't have internet at home right now, I could use 5 GB/month in data (I'm assuming thats what all 'unlimited' data plans allow?).

The sticking points are price, obviously, but I also hate contracts, termination fees, and unreasonable over-minute/over-data fees. So IF there is some variation in the way fee/contract structure of phone companies, I'd be willing to consider a higher monthly payment.

Also, the phones themselves don't matter too much.

So if anyone could help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.



Good luck...


But definitely the best way to go about it is to go to your local cell phone service providers and talk to them about it. They have the best knowledge of what will fit your needs.
fight_or_flight
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States3988 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-15 02:39:54
September 15 2009 02:31 GMT
#3
So far the basic parameters I've identified are:

1) Monthly cost fo 2 lines for x minutes/month?

2) Cost to add aditional lines?

3) Cost/reduction of cost to add/remove messaging/data?

4) Cost for over-data or over-minutes?

5) Roll-over minutes?

6) Free nights and weekends?

7) Free in-network calling?

8) Activation fee?

9) Cancellation fee?

10) Lost phone replacement fee/insurance fee?

11) Free top 5/10 friends?

12) Service quality in my area? (somewhat not important to me within reasonable limits)

13) Phones available? (generally not important to me)

14) Non-contract plan which uses existing phone?

That last point is pretty interesting. 6 - 8 months ago, I think, AT&T made this anouncement of a new plan that was the exact same monthly pricing as their regular plans, except there was no contract involved, however the customer had to supply/buy their own phone. Then it just evaporated and now no one seems to know anything about it, not anyone in an AT&T store or anything. I'm wondering if its one of those unadvertised options or something, but I don't know...
Do you really want chat rooms?
iceburn
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States303 Posts
September 15 2009 04:12 GMT
#4
have you tried area based phone services, like cricket wireless. its like a solid fee but unlimted everything for a set monthly fee. there is no contract.
CharlieMurphy
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
United States22895 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-15 23:57:36
September 15 2009 22:05 GMT
#5
I work for verizon,
Verizon is equal in pricing (including overage and termination fees) to other companies like AT&T, Tmobile, and Sprint (the biggest ones) They all have pretty similar features on their plans too now. It really depends on what plan exactly you want before you can compare pricing. But in general you can expect verizon to be slighty higher prices because of the fact that more people use verizon (and you can call anyone with verizon for free) and the fact that verizon has generally better service overall.

Oh yea, verizon ETFs go down by 5$ every month and starts at like 175$ I believe. This is due to a law that passed a year ago or something and all the companies have to do it by X date, but so far verizon is the only one who asap'd it.

The main thing that sucks about verizon (and sprint and some other lesser companies) is that they use the CDMA network instead of GSM. Which means no sim cards, no unlockability, and generally have to buy phone from strictly verizon (it also sucks if you get your phone wet, can't salvage contacts unless you backed them up previously via backup assistant). So you can't use it in other countries (with exception to some parts of canada, mexico and peurto rico) and you can't buy cheap phones off the internet (unless they are verizon). The only exception would be a few models of phones (motorola z6c and a few blackberries) which have a slot for a sim card and take a verizon sim which roams the world. (i think it's pretty expensive though and you still can't get the phone unlocked like other companies.


Anyways here is a scan I just made of the single and family plans. there are other plans for like seniors and mexican/canadian plans.
[image loading]



As far as the data goes, you can either get an aircard (100$ with 50$ MIR) and a plan that is either 40 or 60 bucks depending on monthly cap. 250mb versus 5gb. The better option imo is to just get a blackberry (the tour seems good, check out www.phonescoop.com ) which requires you to have a BB web/email plan for 30 bucks. Then you can tether it to a computer via usb and use it as a modem. The internet speeds of either option is 600-1.4mbs DL and less on UL(DSL speeds)


Which brings me to another point, depending on what plan you choose and how many lines you are gonna be activating, the deal for phones varies. But generally you can expect to get 150-200$ off the price of any phone when activating a brand new line. So you can get some lesser phones for 50$ with 50$ MIR making them free. The main line is worth more commission though so a 400-500$ blackberry can be brought down to 100$ or less depending on the plan.

If you have any more questions about those plans just pm or whatever.
..and then I would, ya know, check em'. (Aka SpoR)
CharlieMurphy
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
United States22895 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-15 22:59:46
September 15 2009 22:50 GMT
#6
Oh yea, forgot to answer these questions:

1) Monthly cost for 2 lines for x minutes/month?
see picture above

2) Cost to add aditional lines?
refer to picture
either 10$ (or 100$ for unlimited plan) plus cost of phone.

3) Cost/reduction of cost to add/remove messaging/data?
refer to picture.
You can add msging to lines individually at 5$ for 250 msg or 20$ for 5000 with unlimted in network text (and there are inbtween options as well). Or you can pay 30$ and add unlimited text to all lines in the plan.
Also you can usually change your plan at any time and there is no fee or anything, its effective immediately.

4) Cost for over-data or over-minutes?
refer to picture
1.99 per mb and depends on plan for minutes/texts (really expensive for any company)

5) Roll-over minutes?
only ATT does this, its pretty dumb though. You usually end up with a stockpile of minutes that you never use. It's better to just have constant unlimited in network calling like Tmobile or Verizon does. Especially since verizon has over 80million (more than this I think now) subscribers.

6) Free nights and weekends?

yes 9pm-5am

7) Free in-network calling?
yes

8) Activation fee?
25-35$ plus all the other fees and taxes from the gov't and shit, expect to pay double what the plan is (probably less though) for the first month's bill. If you have bad credit there may be a deposit also, which can be pretty expensive and you may not even get it back if they apply it to the activation fees.

9) Cancellation fee?
yes, refer to post above

10) Lost phone replacement fee/insurance fee?
verizon uses asurian insurance which is 5-10$ a month per line. The way it works is; you usually pay a deductible on a replacement phone of 50-100$ (depending on model) and they ship you a phone fast after you call them. The phones are usually refurbished from people like you who mail in their old problem phones. (ie they suck) this is a problem with any company though. Most phones have 1 year manufacturer warranty though so that covers any problems besides water damage (and obviously lost or stolen phones). So insurance can help, but it is most definitely a huge huge rip off.

11) Free top 5/10 friends?
yea with red plans, refer to picture

12) Service quality in my area? (somewhat not important to me within reasonable limits)
Most of US is covered (even when not it's free roaming and long distance). Mountainous areas are problematic in any provider. Verizon has the best coverage of all.

13) Phones available? (generally not important to me)
Samsung,Motorola,LG,Blackberry, Nokia,Casio/Starcom, etc. (iphone soon) Verizon has good choices of phones. Cheap plan companies like Boost or amp'd or whatever generally have poor selection and bad phones.

14) Non-contract plan which uses existing phone?
yes you can do this. Prepaid is way too expensive imo on any company but is particularly bad for verizon and ATT (you end up paying 30$ a month at least just to use the phone and then minutes/msg are like 10 cents each) unless you just go flat rate which is 25c.
..and then I would, ya know, check em'. (Aka SpoR)
CharlieMurphy
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
United States22895 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-15 22:54:25
September 15 2009 22:54 GMT
#7
Would be nice if you lived near by me (so cal) then I could hook you up and it's win:win
If you want, maybe we can work out some kind of mail delivery deal and do it over the phone/msn/aim?
..and then I would, ya know, check em'. (Aka SpoR)
fight_or_flight
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States3988 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-16 05:17:25
September 16 2009 05:16 GMT
#8
Thanks Charlie, I guess there weren't many responses because its basically a monopoly and I don't have any real options.

I think I'm down to just a standard Verizon or AT&T plan, because I don't get coverage from anyone else. The cricket wireless thing looks interesting, but it won't work for me. I don't even get cable or dsl at my house...

It would be nice to get at least 6 lines on a family plan, but it looks like anything more than 5 and you are paying a bunch for it.

btw, charlie CDMA may seem to suck from a phone availability perspective, but it seems to be a superior technology compared to GSM (TDMA).

+ Show Spoiler +
I still don't think I'll get text messaging if for no other reason than principle. It costs them pretty much 0 for text message traffic, where do they get $30/month from? If anything they should offer it as a free service as long as you have a phone that works on their network. One single phone call exchanges more data than a lifetime of text messages. It wouldn't be so bad if they lowered their voice only plans to be more competitive using all the revenue they get from text messaging, however somehow I don't think thats true.
Do you really want chat rooms?
CharlieMurphy
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
United States22895 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-09-16 10:07:10
September 16 2009 10:06 GMT
#9
yea text messaging is a huge scam and americans are fucking retarded on even questioning the costs. In europe a lot of the plans have like free incoming calls and free texting either way I got some Irish kids in the summer time and they were tripping out on the costs.

But to be fair, you can send large pictures and ringtones to and from texts (it's still only a few hundred kb though)
..and then I would, ya know, check em'. (Aka SpoR)
fight_or_flight
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States3988 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-10 20:38:37
October 10 2009 20:34 GMT
#10
So I think I found what I'm looking for. $29.99/month with 1200 minutes/texts and 50 MB of data.

http://sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com/sanfrancisco/prnewswire/press_releases/national/Ohio/2009/10/07/CL88833

All I need to do is find some old verizon phones.

If I were to get a family plan, with, say, 2100 minutes and 5 lines, that would be 110+10+10+10 = 140/month + activation fees + taxes. No texting included.

With this it would be 30*5 = 150/month (no taxes) That includes texting and even email, and thats 1200 minutes per person, not combined for everyone. Plus, I can get 7 lines if I want. All with no contract.

The downside is there is no in-network calling, nights, weekends, top 5, etc. However, 1200 minutes is 40 minutes per day, which should be enough. If not, they have an unlimited plan for $39.99/month.
Do you really want chat rooms?
CharlieMurphy
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
United States22895 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-11 04:58:41
October 11 2009 04:53 GMT
#11
That's really good deal. But the downside (aside from what you mentioned) is the coverage (may not be as good as others, it's probably leaching off some other network /sharing satellites and towers) and the phones available. It probably has cheaply made phones and limited selection. Also what kind of deals do they have for sign ups? Normally with the big companies you can get 200-300$ phones for 0-100$ and mail in rebates.

edit-
Yea, these phones blow (2-3 year old models, mostly refurb) and they are greatly overpriced.
http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Online Store/Phones.aspx
A refurbed razr for 70$ !

and yea, it looks like they are leaching off verizon's network because they have all verizon cdma phones (so you probably couldn't get a better phone off the internet or something instead of the ones they offer)
http://www.pagepluscellular.com/Online Store/Phones/lg vx8300.aspx?tab=2

That's probably the most solid phone of the bunch.

Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but usually when stuff sounds too good to be true it is. :/

..and then I would, ya know, check em'. (Aka SpoR)
fight_or_flight
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States3988 Posts
October 11 2009 04:58 GMT
#12
It uses verizon's network, and it can't roam to any other networks. I don't think there are any phone rebates. You have to use old phones people don't need or buy them yourself.
Do you really want chat rooms?
CharlieMurphy
Profile Blog Joined March 2006
United States22895 Posts
October 11 2009 05:00 GMT
#13
so they do some kind of flash/unlock thing with any verizon/sprint phones then I assume? Then yea if you can get your hands on a better phone that wouldn't be too bad.
..and then I would, ya know, check em'. (Aka SpoR)
fight_or_flight
Profile Blog Joined June 2007
United States3988 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-10-11 05:11:52
October 11 2009 05:07 GMT
#14
I don't think they have to be unlocked. I'm still learning all the details, but I think if the ESN number is part of verizon's network, the phone is unusable. If the phone is no longer part of a contract with verizon, then it is likely the ESN will not be controlled by them. If it is, I think going through the carrier phone number transfer process will make the phone available.

I'm still learning about this and I don't really know all the details so I could be wrong. Just found out about it today.

edit: things that cause the ESN number to be locked are if there is an outstanding bill or if the phone is reported as lost/stolen. I think in that case you can flash it or something.
Do you really want chat rooms?
Please log in or register to reply.
Live Events Refresh
Next event in 1h 32m
[ Submit Event ]
Live Streams
Refresh
StarCraft 2
Creator 98
StarCraft: Brood War
Bisu 2596
firebathero 1292
EffOrt 1241
Shuttle 1142
Hyuk 674
Mini 588
GuemChi 555
Larva 495
Soulkey 425
PianO 366
[ Show more ]
Snow 247
Soma 185
Mind 148
ToSsGirL 144
Rush 141
Pusan 113
Hyun 75
Sea.KH 67
Sharp 66
Barracks 64
JYJ36
Aegong 34
Terrorterran 29
yabsab 27
Movie 23
soO 23
GoRush 21
Sacsri 21
JulyZerg 19
Free 18
Yoon 17
HiyA 17
IntoTheRainbow 13
Bale 12
ivOry 4
Dota 2
Gorgc11214
qojqva2604
XcaliburYe267
syndereN168
League of Legends
singsing2349
Dendi1330
Counter-Strike
flusha369
kRYSTAL_211
fl0m85
Super Smash Bros
Mew2King81
Other Games
tarik_tv24005
gofns19022
B2W.Neo1373
hiko913
DeMusliM397
crisheroes394
Lowko339
FrodaN254
Pyrionflax131
ArmadaUGS100
QueenE56
Rex21
Organizations
Other Games
gamesdonequick38174
StarCraft 2
angryscii 43
StarCraft: Brood War
Kim Chul Min (afreeca) 8
StarCraft 2
Blizzard YouTube
StarCraft: Brood War
BSLTrovo
sctven
[ Show 12 non-featured ]
StarCraft 2
• AfreecaTV YouTube
• intothetv
• Kozan
• IndyKCrew
• LaughNgamezSOOP
• Migwel
• sooper7s
StarCraft: Brood War
• BSLYoutube
• STPLYoutube
• ZZZeroYoutube
League of Legends
• Nemesis6247
• TFBlade639
Upcoming Events
WardiTV European League
1h 32m
MaNa vs sebesdes
Mixu vs Fjant
ByuN vs HeRoMaRinE
ShoWTimE vs goblin
Gerald vs Babymarine
Krystianer vs YoungYakov
PiGosaur Monday
9h 32m
The PondCast
19h 32m
WardiTV European League
21h 32m
Jumy vs NightPhoenix
Percival vs Nicoract
ArT vs HiGhDrA
MaxPax vs Harstem
Scarlett vs Shameless
SKillous vs uThermal
uThermal 2v2 Circuit
1d 1h
Replay Cast
1d 9h
RSL Revival
1d 19h
ByuN vs SHIN
Clem vs Reynor
Replay Cast
2 days
RSL Revival
2 days
Classic vs Cure
FEL
3 days
[ Show More ]
RSL Revival
3 days
FEL
3 days
FEL
4 days
CSO Cup
4 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
4 days
Bonyth vs QiaoGege
Dewalt vs Fengzi
Hawk vs Zhanhun
Sziky vs Mihu
Mihu vs QiaoGege
Zhanhun vs Sziky
Fengzi vs Hawk
Sparkling Tuna Cup
4 days
RSL Revival
4 days
FEL
5 days
BSL20 Non-Korean Champi…
5 days
Bonyth vs Dewalt
QiaoGege vs Dewalt
Hawk vs Bonyth
Sziky vs Fengzi
Mihu vs Zhanhun
QiaoGege vs Zhanhun
Fengzi vs Mihu
Replay Cast
6 days
Liquipedia Results

Completed

BSL Season 20
HSC XXVII
Heroes 10 EU

Ongoing

JPL Season 2
BSL 2v2 Season 3
Acropolis #3
KCM Race Survival 2025 Season 2
CSL 17: 2025 SUMMER
Copa Latinoamericana 4
Jiahua Invitational
Championship of Russia 2025
RSL Revival: Season 1
Murky Cup #2
BLAST.tv Austin Major 2025
ESL Impact League Season 7
IEM Dallas 2025
PGL Astana 2025
Asian Champions League '25
BLAST Rivals Spring 2025
MESA Nomadic Masters
CCT Season 2 Global Finals
IEM Melbourne 2025

Upcoming

2025 ACS Season 2: Qualifier
CSLPRO Last Chance 2025
CSL Xiamen Invitational
2025 ACS Season 2
CSLPRO Chat StarLAN 3
K-Championship
uThermal 2v2 Main Event
SEL Season 2 Championship
FEL Cracov 2025
Esports World Cup 2025
Underdog Cup #2
StarSeries Fall 2025
FISSURE Playground #2
BLAST Open Fall 2025
BLAST Open Fall Qual
Esports World Cup 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall 2025
BLAST Bounty Fall Qual
IEM Cologne 2025
FISSURE Playground #1
TLPD

1. ByuN
2. TY
3. Dark
4. Solar
5. Stats
6. Nerchio
7. sOs
8. soO
9. INnoVation
10. Elazer
1. Rain
2. Flash
3. EffOrt
4. Last
5. Bisu
6. Soulkey
7. Mini
8. Sharp
Sidebar Settings...

Advertising | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use | Contact Us

Original banner artwork: Jim Warren
The contents of this webpage are copyright © 2025 TLnet. All Rights Reserved.