cheaper cell phone plan?

[Ramee151]

You do have to buy the phones from Republic directly because they have proprietary software that has to be installed--you won't be able to connect to their network with a used phone from another network (even if its from the cell company they use the towers for). They have 2 options right now: the Moto G for $150 and the Moto X for $300.


With a conventional plan, you are making installment payments (plus lotsa interest) against your "free" phone every month...they just don't bill it that way.

[esperanza]

True about paying for the other phones over many months. Good point. I guess in our situation, the problem is that we do still have one phone that works (but certainly not in a condition that anyone would want to buy it so can't get any money for it).

So many options to investigate! I wish cable was like this- finally other providers breaking into the market at cheaper prices!

[TraceMama]

I'm also seriously considering Republic Wireless. From the research and cost analysis I've done, it looks to be the cheapest option and it gets great reviews.

[ECingMama]

I ordered a phone and plan from Republic Wireless to try for 30 days. My husband just got a job on a college campus and his no-texting, flip phone isn't going to cut it.

He's on his parent's plan ($10 a month), so $25 a month will be more for us.

I don't have a smart phone either, but right now, I have zero desire to have one.

I'll be sure to update how he likes it/how the service is! His current plan is Sprint towers too, so it shouldn't be super different.

[TraceMama]

I'm actually considering the RW $10/month plan, since we have wifi at home and it's so prevalent in our Metro Area.

I'll look forward to hearing what he thinks. Thanks for being willing to share. One of my friends uses it and has had no problems at all.

[esperanza]

I'm looking at RW now too. I wish there was a store we could go to and see the products/talk to someone. My dh is a little hesitant that it is all online and wondering how it works if we need service. I like how you can change plans during the month- that's very cool!

[ECingMama]

full refund in first 30 days sold me!

[Beth1231]

Subbing,this is a discussion in my house atm.
We have very simple tmobile phones,no contract,limited minutes and text....I can't remember the number because I don't usually use all of them...$30/mo
I would be fine with that except everyone else is upgrading and I can't get friend's pictures,videos or sometimes even texts depending how they send them.

[Ramee151]

Originally Posted by esperanza

I'm looking at RW now too. I wish there was a store we could go to and see the products/talk to someone. My dh is a little hesitant that it is all online and wondering how it works if we need service. I like how you can change plans during the month- that's very cool!

DH had an issue with his text-messaging--he was really happy with the customer service. He chose to do it all through email--RW was quick to trouble-shoot with him that way.

They also have a member message board that has a TON of threads for support issues and it seems there are many active members who would reply to troubleshoot an issue as well....

[schmamy]

Originally Posted by Jeanette598

We are looking into Ting.com. You pay based on usage, so for two of us who don't use our phones heavily, we could pay less than $40/month. They have used phones for sale.

I was going to recommend Ting. Our bills are consistently $40/month or less for two smartphones, and the customer service is excellent. We are super happy with it. And I can give you a referral link for $25 off your first bill!

FTR, Ting runs on the Sprint network. While they do have phones for sale, you can bring your own device with a LOT of approved phones--just has to be a Sprint phone. I got a used Sprint iPhone on eBay pretty cheap (the price point on the 4s really dropped when the 5 came out).

It's definitely a great deal if you don't need or want much data. That's what made us leave Sprint - we wanted smartphones to use on wifi, but Sprint wouldn't even let us activate them without paying an extra $30/month for a data plan. With Ting, we can leave data turned off and only use it if needed (it is nice to have the option at times). We are saving a lot of money, and we weren't even paying for smartphones before. I can't fathom the people who are spending $150+ monthly for phone bills.

[Lady TS]

Originally Posted by Ramee151

You do have to buy the phones from Republic directly because they have proprietary software that has to be installed--you won't be able to connect to their network with a used phone from another network (even if its from the cell company they use the towers for). They have 2 options right now: the Moto G for $150 and the Moto X for $300.


With a conventional plan, you are making installment payments (plus lotsa interest) against your "free" phone every month...they just don't bill it that way.

You may be able to get a Republic Wireless phone off of ebay for cheaper than on their website. Check out the forums on their site to see how to go about it.

We went with Republic a couple months ago. The only thing I don't like is that sometimes there is a delay of 1-2 seconds when talking with someone. Not sure why that is, and it's not consistently like that every time. I loooooove the ~$12/month bill though. I had been carrying my ipod in my purse for my "data phone" and had an old school flip-phone from Verizon for my actual phone use. The plan I picked is the equivalent to that. I plan on switching up to the $25/month plan when we travel across the country, and then I can switch back when we get back(you can switch plans 2x/month if you so desire).


If you decide to go with RW, pm one of us that has it and we can link you to get us both $20 credit towards our monthly plans.

[esperanza]

Talked to dh a little more about this. I finally got to his reluctance on RW- he doesn't like their phones. I figured that might be part of it. He had a Samsung and is mad that his broke. It restarted on its own one day, and then after that was dead. It's out of warranty, so our phone company wouldn't do anything about it. I have a feeling he'd like an iPhone, but he hasn't said that yet.

I looked at Ting, and it looks really appealing. He would have a lot more phone options, which is more important to him than it is to me.

[esperanza]

Still working on this. Dh wants to go look at phones tomorrow. He did finally say that he would really like an iphone, but it's okay if he doesn't get one. As I suspected, the hold out with RW is the phone options. I really, really would looove to go with Ting. But they run on the Sprint network, and everything I am reading sounds like they don't have good coverage here. When I put in my address, it shows that the signal is "good" (3 bars out of 5). I've read so many comments online about how bad the reception is in this area though. We're in a medium sized city, not out in the boonies or anything. I'm so frustrated that their signal is so bad here!

I've looked at lots of other no-contract options. We're paying 60/month for each phone right now. It seems like pretty much all the other options are close to that price, and then we'd still have to get new phones. I was really hoping we could find something cheaper. Plus if we get new phones through our current provider, we're stuck with two year contracts. Ugh.

[ECingMama]

Reviews said Sprint was bad here too, and so far, no issues. Had phone for four days.

[esperanza]

I'm going to post on fb to see if anyone in the area has Sprint. Doesn't really look like it would be easy to cancel/get money back with Ting if it doesn't work. I did read online that Sprint is #4 in coverage in the big carriers here, so not so hot. I also saw a news article that our city is particularly bad for cell phone coverage compared to other cities our size, so I guess that factors in too.