Uncle----how does this work

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Gary Max

Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2004
Messages
6,224
Location
Southern Kentucky
Yup it's time to give in----the just built a cell tower about three miles from our place and it's time to join the rest of the world and buy a cell phone.

Questions

Does it make any difference if I buy the phone from ebay or Walmart?

What do they mean by locked or unlocked--?????

I have been reading that some plans only cost $15.00 per month ---I don't plan on texting or watching tv so I won't need a bunch of air time.

Can someone point me in the right direction????
 
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Locked to a particular network. There could be a number of networks but some cell phones are locked to a certain network
 
Gary, you'll have to do some research to help find which phone (make that phone company) is best for you.

Ask friends and neighbors in your area who they use and how their coverage is.

For a first time buyer, you may want to steer clear of ebay for your phone, go with a place you can walk into if you have a issue with the phone or your service. Again, who you choose should largely revolve around who has the best coverage for you in your area. All companies are not equal in coverage, so be sure you do your research on that point. Buying off of ebay does have one main advantage tho... It allows you to buy a decent used phone WITHOUT locking you into a 1 or 2 year contract. That is how and why I bought my current Android phone to use on Verizon's network... No contract, so I can bail or upgrade when I want without facing any penalties or limitations.

Locked vs unlocked is largely a issue associated with GSM technology phones that utilize a SIM card (ATT). Verizon (CDMA technology) does not use that protocol except in their "world phones", and their two networks do not play with each other at all. So, if that new tower belongs to ATT, buying a Verizon phone may be useless to you... And vice-versa. If you have a phone with a SIM card (say ATT), you can remove the SIM card and insert it into a different unlocked GSM phone from another network (say T-mobile) and then start using that phone on your network with your same phone number. Contacts and other info can be stored on the SIM card as well so they transfer from phone to phone with the SIM card.

While some companies offer a so-called "$15" plan, be careful with them. They offer those prices because they either have very limited coverage, or there are other fees associated with it's use. They are usually associated with pay-per-use phones which usually cost you about twice as much.

I hope that helps answer some of your questions.
 
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yea. I would just go to one of the major providers in your area, probably att or verizon and get a cheap phone or a free one. Be warned, you may have to sign up for a one or two year contract. One of the nice things about cell phones is that long distance is free (at least on the ones i am aware of) so if you make any long distance calls from your land line and have to pay for them, be sure to use the cell phone for long distance.
 
Locked: your phone can only work on the one phone provider's network. Unlocked: you can change your SIM card to change from one provider to another. Most useful if you plan to travel out of the country with your phone. If you are only using it at home, locked doesn't hurt anything and saves you lots of money on the phone.

"Minutes" usually refers to how many minutes of "talk time" you have per month. Warning, unlike your home phone you will be billed for incoming calls as well as outgoing calls. Usually in 1-minute increments. If you call someone's phone and their answering machine picks up on the first ring and you hang up... that is one minute of usage for that 12 second call.

"Long distance" (calling out of your area) and "Roaming" (using your cell phone while out of your area/off your carrier's network) both cost extra. Usually significantly extra.

"Texting" is billed separate than minutes and is billed based on number of texts sent and received.

Movies, SMS, email, web browsing to IAP, etc all come under "Data" plan and is billed separately from your Minutes and Texting. "Roaming Data" costs extra. Usually WAY extra.

How you size the above items creates your monthly "plan". Around here you can get a MetroPCS phone with unlimited minutes, data, texting for $40/month while in your Metro area. Go Roaming and you will get eaten alive.

There are "Minutes only" plans but, as Billman said, be very careful with those. Unless you can have the provider disable incoming texts and incoming data someone sending you a "cute picture you just have to see" could cause you to really regret getting this plan.

Talk to your friends and neighbors and find out who has good coverage and good quality around you. (Don't believe the providers maps, they "market" (aka lie)). Find out who owns that new cell tower right behind your house. Use that info to help decide.

Good luck!
 
I second DCBluesman's idea. Buy a cheap pay as you go phone and see if you actually use it. But do ask your neighbors which network they're on and if the signal strength is good in your neck of the woods. I have ATT and my signal strength along the Blue Ridge Parkway a couple of weeks ago was non-existent while other said they had full strength on Verizon.

Go figure.
 
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Gary
All of the above is great info....I would just add this to the mix. Best Buy sells all of the major carriers and they match the price, but here is the part I will never understand but, oh well........
If you buy your phone at Verizon, you will have to mail in for a rebate for the price to match the one at Best Buy. If you get it at Best Buy, you don't have to mess with the rebate, they just knock it off the price up front.
Same phone - Same Price - Same service
Just my 2 cents worth
Cheers (and welcome to the new world!)
Bob
 
I second the advice above about dealing with someone local to get your cell phone service. You can hold and compare the phones, judge size, listen to the voice quality, etc. Most companies give you a "free" phone when you sign a 1 yr. contract. I generally advise folks to look at paying a little bid more (maybe $20-40) and getting a more expensive phone. But you judge for yourself.

In addition to asking your friends and neighbors about who they recommend, visit this web site - http://www.cellreception.com/ You can enter your zip code and get info on which cell phone companies serve your area, and what their coverage is like. Another web site evaluates and recommends cell phone companies http://cell-phone-providers-review.toptenreviews.com/ and gives more info than you ever wanted to know about their service.

Most if not all cell phone companies give you a 30 day trial period. If unhappy, you can cancel and get a refund. Ask about that.

Regarding locked/unlocked phones - it is a technical issue (explained above) about which the average user need not be concerned, IMHO.

Just my $.02.:biggrin:
 
Trac Fone

I would start with Trac Fone - if you don't use it much thats a pretty cheap way out. I think you can even get one that is only a phone with no bells and whistles.
 
Gary Max said:
Ok---how does this work----the new tower is owned by Kentucky Bluegrass phone systems. So I need to us them or the tower doesn't work???
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That really all depends. Carriers will pay to use each others towers for a certain fee (I THINK), so it may be that you can use "Company A" or "Company B" and still make use of the tower, but are ther no other towers in your area? Would you not have a signal at your house if it weren't for this new tower?
 
Ask friends to come visit. make sure each is on a different carrier: Verizon, Sprint, AT&T, Kentucky Blue Grass, etc. If there was zero signal at your house before the only those who can use that tower will have signal now.

You could also call KBG and ask them who they partner with.
 
Well it's about time. Look like the Amish have been busy:wink:. I always lose signal when I turn onto your road. Will have to see what happens when I come down in a couple of weeks.
 
I just did a Google search and it appears Kentucky Blue Grass Cellular is a cellular carrier in your area. If so, then that is who I would be talking to since it appears to be their tower. I would ask them first though, if that tower is theirs. Around here, many of the cell towers are not actually owned by the cell carriers. The various carriers lease space on the tower from tower owner companies.

One other thing to consider...I believe you have said before that you only have dial-up at home. You may be able to get a pretty good deal on a bundle to get cell service and wireless broad band service for your computer. Then you could ditch your landline if you wanted to.

Just an idea. Take it for what it is worth.
 
Curtis I am heading to town in the morning to talk with them. I did a search and found out that Verizon still doesn't offer service here. Dumping my land line would be very cool.
 
Has the Android version of the mobile access to the board here been done? It would be pretty cool if you got an android phone (like a droid 2) and could access your forums right there waiting for the doctors office!
 
just got home from the phone store. Wireless Broad band $60.00 per month-- unlimited cell with data---$77.00 per month. That's a big 2 year bill to sign up for.
 
I started out with a Virgin Mobile pay as you go phone; worked OK - runs on Sprint towers, so coverage was OK (no service at my house though, for example), but I was ending up paying ~30 a month to make my calls.

Now I'm with Verizon - which has EXCELLENT coverage area, and I'm on a 450 minutes a month plan (no texts or data included) for about $40 a month - and my sister is also on Verizon, so all my calls to her are free. I have gone thru 3 phones though - so if you are hard on phones, buy the cheapy phones and keep replacing them (my last replacement was a verizon pay as you go phone that I didn't activate as "pay as you go" - works fine in the regular service and was only $15!!)

So my suggestion is that you may want to try to get your plan to be the same carrier as where you expect to make most of your calls. Except for the pay as you go plans, most of the "minutes" plans include free calls within their own network...
 
The key is to get a cell phone carrier who has good phone service in your area. Second consideration is get one who offers good plan for mobile to mobile. Wife and kids all have AT&T so we never use any billable minutes calling each other.

First cell phone I bought worked great everywhere except in my house. Next one worked every where except in the office. That is when I began to ask around about what carrier and phone did my friends use and how was the service. Ended up with Verizon which is excellent but more expensive that most other carriers. Now with AT&T because that is what our company uses.

Most carriers offer pretty decent phones free for new customers. One last piece of advice is go ahead and get a minimum text plan (usually about five bucks) because you will probably end up using it, particularly if you have any teenagers you want to communicate with.
 
There is only one place that offers service here----I did remember to ask them if the "Shared" the tower. They said it is shared with Verizon which is not a local company.
I really don't see how I can justify the cost----I seldom use a phone.
 
Gary:
If they share the tower with Verizon, find out (I'm sure that some friend or family has a Verizon account) if Verizon reaches your home. If it does, you can get a prepaid cell phone that will work nationwide (very nice when doing shows). The Kentucky account will likely only work locally without incurring heavy roaming fees.

IF the Verizon works, you can add time with a credit card, debit card, Paypal account, or simply "buy a card" with cash at almost any convenience store, pharmacy or grocery store.

With the prepaid account, there are no monthly fees, etc and you only pay for the minutes you use.

We once forgot the phone charger while traveling. It was cheaper to buy a TracPhone ($9.99 with 20 minutes of airtime) than to buy the $20 phone charger. We now keep that phone in the "travel vehicle", even with ZERO minutes we could still make a 911 call, FREE.
 
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Gary Max said:
How long are the minutes good for----I have a friend who has to use the minutes every month or they expire.
Click to expand...


Gary, That depends on the company. Most that I know of are good for 30-90 days. With some companies, if you buy $50 or more at the time they are good for a year.

My point was that with your travel schedule, even having a phone with no minutes could be a real help, if you ever needed 911.
 
Since i have been retired i use the $15 a month plan from Verizon, one phone. LOML and i are always together most of the time. Who ever goes out takes the cell. We like it because our kids use verizon and we have unlimited calling to Verizon to them and one lives in CA so that's a big savings. I think we average $130-$160 worth of time saved on it now. You have to pay the $15 a month on time or you lose all your bucks you have accumulated. I have a credit card set up to just call it in and re-up for another month. You can pay a few months at a time to if you want. I find it easier to call in monthly or i will forget which month i am in. Carl
 
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