Since I am not an experienced arranger player, I can't contribute much but I benefit from this forum and I wanted to contribute in a different way.

We've been with AT&T more than 10 years. Currently paying $220 and more for 4 lines. The monthly bill reflects a 28% corporate discount. So it could have been worse. I did some homework and made up my mind to switch to T-Mobile. If you don't need a new phone, the best route seems to be pay off the early termination fee yourself and bring your device to T-Mobile. With us, three lines are still under the AT&T contract. Even after we pay the early termination fees of $600 ourselves (actually you are paying for the phones), we will be saving $600 a year and $1,200 from the following year on while taking advantage of more features from T-Mobile. Besides T-Mobile, there is Google Fi That might work better for others. I should have shopped around sooner. It is amazing to see a lot of young people paying $1,000 for a phone.

I've been using T-Mobil for more than a decade, but I determined very quickly that the best plan for me was no plan. Instead, I pay in advance, .10 cents a minute - that's it! It's a great deal for me because I spend very little time on my cell phone, I don't play around with apps, just use it to call someone, or have them call me, and I don't usually talk very long. That prepay plan allows me to purchase 1,000 minutes for $100. My annual cost is usually less than $200.

As for cells, the only place I tend to lose them is when I'm more than 15 miles out in the ocean, and even then, I sometimes get a weak signal. Not bad for a $32 Walmart flip phone.

All the best,

Gary

Sounds like your plan for no plan is indeed a good plan for you. Yes, the key thing, I think, is determining your needs yourself (not the phone company) and then shopping around based upon them. To me your minutes are very expensive, but then again your annual cost is only $200. I wish I had been as wise in buying music gear as you have been with your phone plan. Anyway, I pulled the trigger today and switched to T-Mobile. It is interesting to note that about 15 years ago or so before we had switched to Cingular/AT&T, we had been paying $100 a month to T-Mobile for voice calls, but now we are getting a lot more features at the cost $120 a month and we will be saving about $1,200 a year over AT&T. $1,200 extra money? Oh, no. The Casio PX560 happens to be $1,200...... I can identify with the person who said, "I can resist anything except for temptation."

With Regards,
Chris

Best plan out today IMHO. $25 unlimited talk and text add data for $10 more. Verizon network. Walmart exclusive. I love it!

https://www.totalwireless.com/wps/portal/home

ScottL

T Mobile coverage does not quite reach my house. Too many dead spots in their coverage here. ATT has excellent coverage. Family plan (four phones) isn't too bad. Customer support is really good.

I found out yesterday that a friend pays as much as $320 a month for 5 lines on Sprint. Just checked the coverage in my area and reviews online. Sprint the worst, T-Mobile better than AT&T.

The T-Mobile, I think, is the only US company that offers free international wifi-calling. All calls/texts to and from your phone is considered domestic. Also, T-Mobile supports a number of different phones for their wifi-calling while AT&T wifi calling supports only the iPhone which I try to stay away as much as possible. Sorry about my ranting but in my view Apple is an unethical company. Once I was looking for a connector for my iPad, the Apple product $30. I bought a non Apple connector on eBay. $3.50 including shipping all the way from Hong Kong. That worked flawlessly for midi and everything else. Now, Apple places a micro chip in their cables and connectors so nobody else can sell cables for their products. Once I purchased a little apple dongle(HDMI connector) for $40 only to find out that it was not compatible with the next generation of my iPad. Whether it is music gear or whatever, I just do not care for proprietary stuff. Yes, proprietary stuff controls quality, but I think corporates are more interested in their profits.

Straight Talk might have improved......

I sold phones at Walmart for a year. Sold Straight Talk along with all the rest. Reasonable price wise but nothing but trouble and Zero technical support.

never had any problem with straight talk after 3 years using it love it....always works great for me for so much less cost...
will never go back to Sprint ..