Phones for family, much frustration

[Bateluer]

Several months back I bought my former brother, now sister, a Lumia 521 to replace his checkout lane Tracfone. I gather she's been very happy with it, to the point that my other brother might want one as well.

He's on an iPhone 3GS, which I'm 90% sure is running on whatever firmware came on it when he got it since he's most certainly never connected it to iTunes to update it. Him, my mom, my sister, and two aunts all share the same AT&T Family Plan. And apparently, both my mom and brother state they have to disable the mobile data on their phones because they go over the data limit regularly. But neither of them actually knows what the monthly limit is or how much they use.

I'd pick up him another Lumia 521 from Walmart, even though I feel dirty putting more Windows Phone devices into the wild, its still a big upgrade from a 3GS, and have him activate under Walmart's 30/month 100min/5GB plan. But TMO also has a straight 40/month plan with unlimited minutes/texts, with only 500MBs of data. That plan would allow him much more freedom of phone choice and upgrades later. Yes, I know the Walmart plan can technically be used with any compatible phone, but he needs to port his number over and Walmart won't touch a phone that wasn't bought by them.

Edit - They could all probably get a TMO Family plan for less money, but those two aunts live in a heavily rural area and I doubt they'd get signal there.

 

[s44]

Yes, I know the Walmart plan can technically be used with any compatible phone, but he needs to port his number over and Walmart won't touch a phone that wasn't bought by them.

So what? You can order a T-Mo prepaid SIM and port during the online activation process on T-Mo's site... doesn't matter what phone you use, Wally isn't involved at all.

But... what you really should do is have them give your their AT&T account info, or fax/photo email you a picture of their last statement. Then perhaps switch to an unsubsidized 10gb share plan ($175 for 5 lines, $160 for 4). Alternately, you could put 3-people on T-Mo family ($90 for 3 lines, 1gb each before throttle) and the aunts on AIO ($35 per line for 500mb throttle, $45 for 2.5gb).

 

[paperwastage]

it's not really "Walmart's" plan... t-mobile lists the $30 5GB plan on their website too, and you can do the porting procedure by yourself online without anyone's assistance

look at crowd sourced maps (http://www.sensorly.com, http://www.opensignal.com) to see what T-mobile signal is like

most likely if you are in a rural area, you'll want to stay on AT&T's network. you could look at AIOWireless and Straighttalk for alternative choices (they can use AT&T's network)... compare it with your existing Mobile Share/Family plan

 

[Bateluer]

it's not really "Walmart's" plan... t-mobile lists the $30 5GB plan on their website too, and you can do the porting procedure by yourself online without anyone's assistance

The 100min/5GB plan was removed from TMO's site a while back. If its not listed there, he's not going to be able to do it.

look at crowd sourced maps (http://www.sensorly.com, http://www.opensignal.com) to see what T-mobile signal is like

most likely if you are in a rural area, you'll want to stay on AT&T's network. you could look at AIOWireless and Straighttalk for alternative choices (they can use AT&T's network)... compare it with your existing Mobile Share/Family plan

I don't particularly care about the aunts. They can stay on AT&T.

 

[cronos]

That plan is still available online. I just activated one from T-Mobile's website maybe two weeks ago.

 

[Bateluer]

That plan is still available online. I just activated one from T-Mobile's website maybe two weeks ago.

Where did they bury it? I'm not seeing it.

Simple Starter is the cheapest plan they're offering right now, 40/month.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Where did they bury it? I'm not seeing it.

Simple Starter is the cheapest plan they're offering right now, 40/month.

Go here, then scroll down and it's just underneath the "pay by the day" plans.

They really hide it.

Disclaimer reads "This plan is only available for devices purchased from Wal-Mart or devices activated on T-Mobile.com" Just activate on T-Mobile.com and you're set.

 

[Bateluer]

Go here, then scroll down and it's just underneath the "pay by the day" plans.

They really hide it.

Disclaimer reads "This plan is only available for devices purchased from Wal-Mart or devices activated on T-Mobile.com" Just activate on T-Mobile.com and you're set.

Ah, Prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com.

 

[cronos]

Ah, Prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com.

Yeah. You actually activate from here: http://prepaid-phones.t-mobile.com/prepaid-activate

It will give you the option to activate the plan you want, including the 100 min/5 GB 4G

You order the SIM card directly from T-Mobile. They sometimes give these out for free or cut the price down to 99c. I always have at least a couple of T-Mobile SIM cards at home. It's really handy to keep them around so I could activate plans for (internationally) visiting friends.

 

[Oyeve]

Several months back I bought my former brother, now sister

wait........what?

 

[AstroManLuca]

wait........what?

check your privilege

 

[Bateluer]

wait........what?

Yeah, he's a she now.

 

[Oyeve]

Yeah, he's a she now.

Cool.


I would definitely check out the tmo route. Even in rural areas tmo has been consistently upgrading their network. A couple of years ago i could get any signal at the Berkshire hills NY now I get H sometimes even H+ when I visit.

 

[midwestfisherman]

Yeah, he's a she now.

Why does that matter in this conversation? Why even bring it up, except to advertise it for some reason?

 

[notposting]

Yeah, he's a she now.

Can we ask for pics here, or do we have to wait for an appropriate moment in OT? :hmm:

Maybe a pic of her holding the phone, that would be on topic-ish. :awe:

 

[Bateluer]

Why does that matter in this conversation? Why even bring it up, except to advertise it for some reason?

Because I type like I talk and I'm still sorting the pronouns. No pics, don't ask, I don't have any.

But this for a different sibling anyway. Who, even though I offered to buy him a Moto G and walk him through the porting and activation process, and even though 30/month is cheaper than the 35/month he currently pays into the Family pot, he wants to mull it over. Heh, even though he tells me has has to keep mobile data disabled on his 3GS because it just pulls enough data 'on its own' to go over the limit every month. A limit that he still doesn't actually know.

 

[Bateluer]

And they have 200MB/line on the family plan. Explains why they go over the limit so often. wtf.

 

[Trombe]

Lol...shame it appears to be hard to show them finances. That has to be some old legacy plan with subsidy built in that has been out of contract for a long time if there's still a 3GS.

 

[Bateluer]

Lol...shame it appears to be hard to show them finances. That has to be some old legacy plan with subsidy built in that has been out of contract for a long time if there's still a 3GS.

I know he didn't get the 3GS when it launched, he got it some time after AT&T was giving them away for free with contract. 2011? 2012?

Still, he's been offered a 2014 smartphone for free, and a plan that offers 10x the monthly data for 5 dollars less per month than what he currently pays. And he has to think it over. Honestly, wtf is there to think about?