We've been with AT&T for years and the bills are too confusing to understand which leads me to believe I'm probably getting screwed.
What's the cheapest cellphone play for a family of three iPhone users?
(2 right now, but my son will probably get one in the next few years)
OK so there will be a little bit of legwork depending on who you go with, and in the end it may (or may not) be worth it.
First, the thing about pre-paid cell phone service is the stigma. There is probably a lot of it. The way they used to be, I agree with it.
You have the big four (Verizon, ATT, Sprint, T-Mobile). They are the only four who operate their own network towers. All the pre-paid carriers do is have a contract with those big four.
Things started changing a couple of years ago. Pre-paid services started offering to let you use your own phones vs. their branded ones with limited features, and the big four started "competing" with the pre-paid services (to a point) lowering their overall cost structure. When I originally switched over to Net10, I did so because Verizon wanted $140+ a month for two lines with texting, and 2gb data each. I went with Net10, who gave us the same thing for $81.50 +/-. A $700 a year savings. Now, costs at pre-paid carriers have started to creep up as they add services, and the big four are offering some pretty good bundle discounts. It's up to you to figure out which is best.
The biggest "con" with most prepaid carriers is they mostly limit download data speeds. For Verizon and Cricket for example, download speeds are limited to 5.5 mbps/8 mbps respectively. This is, for all intents and purposes, more than enough IMO. It's not a big deal for me, in actual every day usage. Lots of to-do is made on speed but I find that real world use it's still "plenty fast". Also, no detailed billing (no billing, really, ever) and no statements. You can't even go back and review what numbers you've called online, at least with ST/Net10.
There are a couple bigger players in pre-paid.
- Straight Talk (Wal-Mart exclusively, mostly) and Net10 (similar to ST) plus Tracfone, mostly pay-by-minute, but all owned by same company. ST and Net10 use all four carriers depending on the phone you have, and the sim you purchase. For most people, using an ATT or Verizon service is the best bang for the buck. I have Net10, using a Verizon sim. ST and Net10 costs are roughly the same.
- Page Plus - one of the original "name brand" pre-paid carriers. Verizon exclusive. Now owned by the same parent company as ST/Net10/Tracfone. US based customer service (or used to be, not sure now with the buyout)
- Cricket Wireless - now owned by AT&T. Used to be AIO (All-in-One). They are similar (but slightly different) than AT&T's own GoPhone prepaid service. Better value with Cricket, slightly less features.
- Boost/Virgin/MetroPCS/Republic Wireless - Sprint resellers. These work great for people who stay in one area, due to cheap cost and value. For us who make more than min-wage, they suck.
- The big four have now started to offer their own prepaid services under their own brand. In general, they don't offer much value when compared to others or even their own mainline service.
- I wouldn't mess with any of the smaller carriers
So first things first, with a Verizon MVNO, you'll get service on native Verizon areas, which in general are excellent. Even when I was at a commuter I never had a lack of coverage in our podunk overnights. Check out a coverage map on Verizon's site to see native vs. "partner" coverage. There are some limited exceptions. I think Kentucky had a large hole, which if you lived there you'd have no service. With a 4G phone, apparently due to FCC rules you can roam on partner areas now, which is even better. I wouldn't let a lack of coverage even enter your mind with a pre-paid Verizon sim as long as you don't live in an area with a large hole.
Under AT&T, it seems (although I haven't verified) that their coverage for their MVNO's is the same as their "mainline" service, including the roaming areas, although I really don't know. However that being the case I have actually had more coverage on Verizon pre-paid in areas where my father had mainline ATT service.
Net10 offers a nice family plan account where you can have all your phones under one umbrella. While it seems more expensive on paper, with auto-pay and with multiple accounts, your costs will be similar to Straight Talk. Both area kinda a PITA to get started, as there are no stores.
For all MVNO's, I recommend you buy your own phone off eBay/retail and bring it to the carrier. This will prevent any junk programs from being installed.
So anyway, this is a long out post to basically say:
With Cricket, there are stores and since it's actually owned by ATT, for your purposes they might be ideal. They are $35/month including taxes for up to 2.5gb data with auto-pay. You can get more data for an additional $10/month per line (which I see they just added Mexico usage too, interesting). You can go in and transfer your number easily, and you'd walk out with their service. They are a popular pre-paid service. If I wasn't so anti-ATT or pro-Verizon, I'd have switched to them by now. I have no personal experience with them but have heard good things. I actually just bought an iPhone 5S off eBay for $250 to try Cricket to see about switching, but elected to keep my Android over the iPhone.
https://www.cricketwireless.com/cell-phone-plans
Nothing says you can't have one or two phones on Cricket and one or two phones on a by-the-minute plan, either. If there were a buy-the-minute plan with lots of data I would probably have that as I hardly ever actually make phone calls.
When you stop and think about how much we spend on cell phones a year it makes me sick. $1000 in a year in my case. That's insane.
