cell phone service

[EricNoah]

So what's a good monthly rate for two phones/two numbers, no frills, voice mail, and maybe a couple of short calls per day at most? One place said $60 a month and that seemed a little high to me.

 

[Dimwhit]

Unfortunately, if you want two phones sharing minutes, most companies require a family plan. With Cingular, you have to have their $69/month plan, some might be a little cheaper.

Most cells will come with voicemail, caller ID, etc. for no extra charge.

I'd say if you can get two phones and enough minutes for $60/month, you're doing good.

 

[Rel]

With Cingular, you have to have their $69/month plan

That's about what we pay for the service that Eric says he wants.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

http://www.t-mobile.com/

FamilyTime Basic Plan

Price (per month): $49.99
Whenever minutes(per month): 500 Minutes
Weekend minutes(per month): Unlimited
Weeknight minutes(per month): Unlimited
Mobile-to-mobile minutes(per month): Unlimited
Additional minutes: 40¢
Included Services: Access to 411 And More, Call Waiting and Call Hold, Caller ID, Conference Calling, Customer Care, Detailed Billing, Emergency Calls, VoiceMail with Paging

Does cover Madison and a good portion of WI.

 

[Angcuru]

I'd go with pre-paid. If you don't have them already, you won't have a great need for them, therefor using them rarely. Monthly fees are the devil.

 

[der_kluge]

So what's a good monthly rate for two phones/two numbers, no frills, voice mail, and maybe a couple of short calls per day at most? One place said $60 a month and that seemed a little high to me.

If I don't use my Virgin Mobile phone, it costs me nothing. If I use it a few times, it might cost me $30 to "top up". So, for me, it's all about how much I use it.

 

[IronWolf]

So what's a good monthly rate for two phones/two numbers, no frills, voice mail, and maybe a couple of short calls per day at most? One place said $60 a month and that seemed a little high to me.

That sounds about right for two phones. And don't forget, there are taxes on top of all of the base monthly fees. For example our old Sprint phone as a $29.95 a month plan. But the bill after taxes and fees as $34 a month.

If you are only going to use them for a few minutes a day you really should look at Virgin Mobile. Pre-paid plan and when you buy a $20 top-up card it really only costs $20. You can top-up online so no need to hunt down a phone card. I think you can even auto top-up if you want to. For casual cell phone users they are really the way to go.

Linky with more info:
http://www.virginmobileusa.com/home.do

 

[Tarrasque Wrangler]

http://www.t-mobile.com/

FamilyTime Basic Plan

Price (per month): $49.99
Whenever minutes(per month): 500 Minutes
Weekend minutes(per month): Unlimited
Weeknight minutes(per month): Unlimited
Mobile-to-mobile minutes(per month): Unlimited
Additional minutes: 40¢
Included Services: Access to 411 And More, Call Waiting and Call Hold, Caller ID, Conference Calling, Customer Care, Detailed Billing, Emergency Calls, VoiceMail with Paging

Does cover Madison and a good portion of WI.

That's the plan my family and I are on. It's a really good deal if you mostly make calls to family, as we do. Reception's OK - not sure how it stacks up to other providers and it may just be my area (I work near an airport).

 

[Treebore]

My SPRINT plan:

3 cell phones
Picture Phone taking/storage/transmitting, unlimited
2,000 anytime minutes (needed because I got rid of my home phone)
Unlimited calling 9PM to 7 AM and weekends
Unlimited calling between the 3 phones
Voicemail
Caller ID
911 service
Couple of other minor options
Insurance on each phone, $5.00/phone (get this if you buy a very expensive phone, if you phone costs under $100.00 look at what your co-pay AND re-connect fee will be, if damaged, lost, or stolen, and do the math. Also be careful to read when they WON'T replace your phone)


Plus when my 2 year contract expires it will automatically stay the same, no increase in fees, which is good because the cheapest I could get all the options I have now through SPRINT is $180/month, before taxes and other fees. Which would tack about another $20.00 onto that. So I am saving about $53.00/month because of my plan.

$137.00/month including all taxes and insurance fees. (All 3 phones are picture phones)

No land line phone.

Make sure every promise they make you is in writing before you sign. They will lie/mislead because you can't prove they did if it isn't in writing.

 

[Abstraction]

My plan:

T-mobile, 2 phones, 2 numbers, shared minutes (800 I think), and calls to T-mobile customers (read: each other!) use no minutes. Free nights and weekends on top. We have never used our minutes and almost all our calls are to each other. T-mobile has no such thing as roaming, you either get service or you don't across the entire US. Coverage is good in major metropolitan and along major roads, can be spotty otherwise. We live in the rocky mountain and I am not so happy with the reception, but understand that no company out here gives good reception.

All told, about $50 a month if I remember.

EDIT: No fancy bells or whistles, like pictures or texting. Also, only have good things to report on customer service.