Phones on the Cheap

[jacob]

http://earlyretirementextreme.com/wiki/ ... hone_plans

There's a wiki entry for cheap phone plans. (Not sure how up to date it is)

[LiquidSapphire]

I've been combining a CDMA iPhone 4 with the $80 standard plan for Page Plus with the $40 FreedomPop Device which for $4/mo gives me 3G access via Hotspot for 500mb on the Sprint Network anywhere I go. It's good enough for personal wifi calls (talkatone app) but the short calls I make on the road are only 4 cents a min so I usually don't bother with it. Works well because wifi is not everywhere here and it's very convenient. The $4/mo is only required if you don't have 4G Clearwire in your area (I don't), but if you have it, you can get away with the $80 FreedomPop Photon and then 500mb of data is free each month.

For business calls/very long personal calls I have service from VOIPO.com at home - $180 for 2 years, 2000 minutes a month which is plenty. And that is all inclusive as far as taxes, etc go. It is a big improvement over the Talkatone app over wifi as far as quality goes, which I used for close to a year almost exclusively.

[JohnnyH]

Available plans change so rapidly it's hard to keep up...

VirginMobile has iPhone 4 for $200 and 300 mins, unlimited text, "unlimited" data (2gb then throttle) is $30/mo with auto payment. Likely even less if you buy refill cards on ebay... Only problem is close to no roaming, Sprint towers only.

[skinnyninja]

You have to decide how many hoops you are willing to jump through, versus how smooth you want your cell phone experience to be.

SeanBrenna has the right idea for ultra frugal......right now one of the cheapest but most flexible/powerful combinations is:

* Android smartphone (buy used older model on eBay, etc.)
* Sprint network (via Ting service)
* Phone number ported to Google Voice
* Calls made via wi-fi, text messages routed to gmail automatically (via Google Voice). Data is available but if you want to keep your bill under $10/month then stick to wi-fi only.

If you stick to those requirements then your bill is under $10/month. If you use cellular voice minutes or data your bill will go up using Ting's "buckets" system.

If you use a lot of data/voice minutes your bill will be roughly $30, same as Republic Wireless.

Here is a guide that explains the setup in detail.

But it is a lot of hoops to jump through. Very cheap and flexible though. JohnnyH posts a decent alternative for $30/month. Similar rates and deals through T-Mobile as well for $30/month. Both are less hassle than the Ting/Google Voice/Android mess described above.

[RealPerson]

Has anyone tried Republic Wireless?
http://republicwireless.com/
It's $199 for the Android phone, and $19/month after that for unlimited calls, texts, and data. They route traffic over wifi whenever possible, switching to the Sprint network when out of wifi range. The catch is that too much Sprint network usage (550 mins, 150 texts, 300mb data) will get you booted from the plan.
It seems like a good deal to me. Am I missing anything?

I don't have Republic, but I believe the biggest drawback is the interruption when going from WiFi to cell service and vice versa. You could start a call with WiFi and leave the WiFi covered area. The phone will drop the call and automatically redial on cellular. The interruption in the call would make it difficult to use it professionally. If the dropped calls don't bother you, I think it works well.

[skinnyninja]

Wow, impressive new plans announced today for Republic Wireless.

I will probably jump on it in November for their $10/month plan. They even have a zero cost plan, wi-fi only. Amazing options imo.

You do have to spring for a $300 phone, which I don't mind. I think i can make that phone last 2 solid years then sell for at least $100 and maybe a bit more. Not bad at all, do your math.....

[JohnnyH]

I'm underwhelmed by new Republic plans, especially on the upper end... The $19 unlimited 3g service is now $25+taxes/fees, 4g $40+taxes/fees. VirginMobile already blows this out of the water with $30-35 "unlimited" 4g, no taxes and fees with discount refills all over web. Although, Republic roams and Virgin does not.

Good to see they finally got a decently powered phone, but I'm not throwing down $300 for a $28 (RW adds taxes and fees) plan... It would be a 41(!) months for the RW 3g + MotoX to become less expensive than my $60 phone + $34 StraightTalk. The way competition is heating up in prepaid, no way I'm committing to that.

They should have left the pricing alone, the $19 plan ($21 post fees) would have been only a 19 month breakeven, I would have seriously considered that.

[JohnnyH]

Anyone using Freedompop for phones? If service is decent was going to move some heavy user family members onto the $20 unlimited (data speeds throttled over 1gb).

[Did]

Old thread. Just wanted to register my shock at Jacob having a phone! I just ditched mine last week and was reading his post for inspiration!

Living the high life man!

[methpearice]

From experience, it is best to buy a phone outright and go with pre-paid rather than go on a plan. I have a Nexus 5 that I purchased for $400 outright and pay $100 per year for 10GB per year of data. While $400 might seem like a lot for a phone, phone plans are about $70 per month for a 24-month contract, which results in overall costs of $1680 over the life of the contract.

For a smartphone that is bang for your buck, you cannot go wrong with the Motorola Moto G, which is about $200 for a very decent phone.

[methpearice]

From experience, it is best to buy a phone outright and go with pre-paid rather than go on a plan. I have a Nexus 5 that I purchased for $400 outright and pay $100 per year for 10GB per year of data. While $400 might seem like a lot for a phone, phone plans are about $70 per month for a 24-month contract, which results in overall costs of $1680 over the life of the contract.

For a smartphone that is bang for your buck, you cannot go wrong with the Motorola Moto G, which is about $200 for a very decent phone.

[Gilberto de Piento]

I don't have Republic, but I believe the biggest drawback is the interruption when going from WiFi to cell service and vice versa. You could start a call with WiFi and leave the WiFi covered area. The phone will drop the call and automatically redial on cellular. The interruption in the call would make it difficult to use it professionally. If the dropped calls don't bother you, I think it works well.

My moto g has never dropped a call when transitioning from wifi to cellular. There is no "automatic redial on cellular" that I've noticed. https://community.republicwireless.com/ ... provements

[bradley]

Right now one of the cheapest but most flexible/powerful combinations is:

* Android smartphone (buy used older model on eBay, etc.)
* Sprint network (via Ting service)
* Phone number ported to Google Voice
* Calls made via wi-fi, text messages routed to gmail automatically (via Google Voice). Data is available but if you want to keep your bill under $10/month then stick to wi-fi only.

If you stick to those requirements then your bill is under $10/month. If you use cellular voice minutes or data your bill will go up using Ting's "buckets" system.

Here is a guide that explains the setup in detail.

Right now I'm locked into a contract with Verizon, but that expires in two months. When it's up, adiós Verizon, hello Ting. I curbed my habits and now barely use my "smart" phone off Wi-Fi so I'll probably be looking at $15 + taxes for Ting service.

On a side note, Mr. Everyday Dollar's referral link still works for the $25 Ting service credit

[dot_com_vet]

We've been through a recent phone refresh.

For the heavy users in the family: Republic Wireless, $29/month with taxes and fees

Everyone else is on PagePlus at around $5/month. ($80/year plan and carrying over unused minutes.)

Verizon no longer activates flashed devices on PagePlus as of last week. They have to be genuine Verizon, post-paid devices. You're generally stuck with buying over-priced used devices or previous generation new devices. We will migrate to an ATT MVNO (GSM phones) when it's time for new phones. GSM phones are as common as dirt and I'm tired of dealing with Verizon's lock on devices.

We no longer use TING, as it's incredibly expensive for a heavy user. They charged a $30 cancellation fee too, lame.

[SavingWithBabies]

My wife and I are both on prepaid T-Mobile. I'm paying $30/month for 100 minutes and 5 GB of data. She is paying $60/month for unlimited minutes and same data. We both have paid for Nexus 5 phones. Total: $90/month plus taxes.

Within the next couple weeks, we are both going to switch to Google Fi or "Project Fi" from Google:

https://fi.google.com/

That will cost us $20/month each for unlimited voice/text plus $10/GB which rolls over to the next month. Neither of us are heavy data users so based on past data usage, I expect our total to be $50/month + tax. We will have to each get a new phone but Google has subsidized the Nexus 5x to $199 each (and if desired, can be spread over two year payment plan with no penalty/interest). So we'll sell our old phones for $100 each and be out $100 each to upgrade.

Google Fi uses both Sprint and T-Mobile networks. This is a bit unusual which is why only the Nexus 5x and 6p currently work with it. One footnote on the whole thing is that Fi makes use of the Google Voice features so if you have a GV number linked to your email and use that email to sign up, that number has to come to Fi (unless you port it out to another provider). If you decide to leave Fi, you can't get that number back onto GV. You have to port it out to another provider or loose it.

We're switching because $50/month is better than $90/month and our data usage fits well. I also like it's not a long term contract and the 5x subsidy only requires a month of usage so easy to leave and sell. T-Mobile is spotty where some of my family live so being able to use Sprint too will likely fix that issue. Finally, 100 minutes is fine for me however on rare occasions, it has been a hassle. Once during a job interview I was disconnected as I didn't have some extra money on the account to fall back to the 10 cents a minute overage charge. I figured out how that works and have that setup now but not having to think about minutes will be nice.

[SimpleLife]

Has anyone tried Republic Wireless?
http://republicwireless.com/
It's $199 for the Android phone, and $19/month after that for unlimited calls, texts, and data. They route traffic over wifi whenever possible, switching to the Sprint network when out of wifi range. The catch is that too much Sprint network usage (550 mins, 150 texts, 300mb data) will get you booted from the plan.
It seems like a good deal to me. Am I missing anything?

How is that an unlimited plan? lol...

No, my phone plan is not ultra cheap, but $40 a month for a true unlimited everything plan on the AT&T network using my 3 year old Android works for me as far as service, price and capability.

Yes, you may find a $20 a month plan for a phone, but expect gotchas like the above. If all you need the phone for is an occasional call, then get a cheap prepaid phone and refill as necessary. You can even just carry a phone without service for emergencies, they can always call 911.

[C40]

I've been testing what may be an ideal cheap phone AND internet setup.

The summary:
- unlimited data with tethering
- unlimited talk and text using the data
- About $100-$150 upfront cost for equipment, including a nice Android smart phone.
- only $5 per month !!!!!

There is one catch, which some or many might not mind at all.. I'll share details within one week (send me a PM reminder if I don't )