Our cell contract is up in June and I am wondering if there's a better deal out there. Looking at a comparison site, the plans all look pretty comparable.
We have AT&T right now. It's a family plan and we get three phones, one of them has unlimited texting (DD pays for it herself) The limit on minutes per month is 500 which I don't think we've ever exceeded, but we can come close. The minutes rollover from month to month too, so that helps.

It usually runs about $100 per month. Just wondering if anyone has a better deal. We'll probably be going to 4 phones with the next contract, and I don't even know if you can get that many with a family plan. Anyway, as I was doing the research, I thought I would ask all of you for any advice. Thanks!

We have AT&T also and i would have to say it's not the best, but I am keeping it because I just went throught the same thing, going back and forth with going with a new company or staying. I decided just to stick with AT&T and not sign a new contract, it just stays the same as it is, but I am not locked in to a certain time frame. We also have the family plan, 700 minutes, 3 phones, one phone has unlimited texting (DD's) I am usually the only one that uses the actual minutes, so it works for us. AT&T does NOT have the cheapest unlimited texting at $19.99 for 1 phone, most other companies it is $9.99, but when you add in the cost of $35 to activate 3 new phones ($105 +taxes) AND the fact that you would have to lock into a new 2 year contract, it wasn't worth it to me to change. I just like the flexibility of being able to leave AT&T anytime I want with not having a contract, with the economy the way it is, if one of us was to lose our jobs or something (I hope that won't happen, but you just never know) the cell phones would be one of the first things to go. Or if I want the flexibility to switch to pre-paid phones or something I can, I just like NOT being in the contract anymore.

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I love my Verizon I get service in places where other peoples' phones don't work. The customer service is excellent. We pay around $100 a month for two lines that share 1500 minutes (we NEVER use all the minutes and I use my phone all the time) Navigator, Internet, full texting and photo sharing.
And now they have where you can pick five people no matter who their carrier is and have free unlimited talking and texting to those people.

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Verizon here, too. We have 4 lines, first line is $60 I think??? then 3 more at $9.99 each. Unlimited calling to other verizon customers, and free nights and weekends, 700 minutes. No texting plan, we pay .25 for each text. We get an employer discount and pay $100 a month.

I am considering going with a pay as you go plan when our contract expires. Not due to bad service or anything, just looking to cut back in some areas.

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We have had them all at one time or another (no home phones here). The best reception was by far Alltel but the CS was just ok. We just switched to AT&T and so far it is ok. Reception is not as good as Alltel. AS for Verizion. It was good but I still had better reception on Alltel. Oh and Alltel was the cheapest service for 2 phones on a family plan with unlimited texting and internet.

We have AT&T. It is the best reception by far around here. My brother has tried them all and now he's staying with AT&T. I think it really depends where you live. They offer A LOT of corporate discounts. I think the customer service person told me that 75% of people who are working qualify for a discount but they just don't know it. My hubby gets 25% off with the discount. We inquired with the HR dept and found out the "code" AT&T needs to give you the discount. We pay around $70 for 4 phones on the family plan. We don't have a texting plan and we share 550 minutes a month (the lowest plan they have). AT&T is the only cell company we know that gets service inside my DH's building at work (which is important). We know people who work with him with Sprint and Verizen that don't get service. AT&T also has decent service in Kansas....my in laws live there and they have 2 of our family plan phones.

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Our contract is getting ready to be up and I'm shopping around also. We have been with Alltel for years and they have been okay. I would really like to limit the number of minutes per phone (kids). Do any of the companies do that?

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I know AT&T will do that but they said it would cost me an extra $5 or $10 per phone you want to do it too (I thought of limiting my FIL who was using too many minutes and wouldn't stop until I threatened to limit his minutes)

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Proud to say I haven't shopped at a Wal-Mart since Sept 2003

We have Verizon. We have just the one phone, 450 minutes and free calls to other Verizon customers. With the company discount, we pay about $38 a month.

Thanks everyone, all this info really helps. I hadn't thought of all the activation fees for new phones, that will definitely help in making the decision.

i have nextel, it seems to be the best around here. we have alot of "dead" zones. the biggest problem is that when i get anything new and get a rebate back...it's like pulling teeth w/ customer service. the last one i filled out took over 6 mths to get back. i had to contact them several times on the matter. i think they believe some people might just give up after a while and forget the rebate. 2 phones is about $70 for 800 min. the new plans are changed to 700 min. i hate to change for less minutes.

We have four phones for our family...

Oldest child has an Alltel plan that's a prepaid pay-per-day plan. For $.75/day (about $22.50/month) he has unlimted texting and unlimited mobile to mobile calls. He can call landlines and pays $.10/minute. Because he pays his account online, he gets some free minutes worth of talk time each month. He rarely, rarely ever calls anyone on their landline. His friends all have Alltel phones so he can call them whenever... but mostly he just texts.

My husband, our middle child, and I all have Tracfones and we are on the Family Value Plan. For $22/month total, I get 100 units and they both get 60 units. One unit = One minute of airtime. It costs .3 units to send/receive texts.

So... our total cell bill is about $45ish/month for four phones. Since I'm home all day I can almost always be reached on our landline, so the 100 units is plenty for me. DH isn't much of a talker, so the 60 is plenty for him. There may come a time when our other child texts more... but for now, this is inexpensive and perfect for our needs.

Two of our Tracfones use the Alltel network (so oldest can call those two phones for free) and mine uses AT&T.