Family cell phone plans

September 18, 2012 8:47 AM

Please choose a family cell plan for us.

We are four adults, we all want iPhones, we call and text a lot but not over 700 minutes a month. I get confused by all the possibilities and just want someone to choose for us. We live in MN.

posted by Kazimirovna to Shopping (5 answers total)

What are your needs as far as mobile data?
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 8:53 AM on September 18, 2012

MyRatePlan and BillShrink should help narrow down your choices.
posted by evoque at 8:54 AM on September 18, 2012 [1 favorite]

T-Mobile does what they're now apparently calling value plans, where you buy the phones yourself (or buy them unsubsidised from T-Mobile) and don't have a contract. You spend money up front to buy the phone, but over the life of the plan this is cheaper (the monthly charges are less). That said, unlocked iPhones are incredibly expensive, which might well wipe out the savings. T-Mobile is not the only carrier that does the no contract/no phone subsidy plans.

(Having discovered this, I think I have to go mess about with our plan, as those are significantly cheaper than the old no contract family plans.)
posted by hoyland at 9:02 AM on September 18, 2012

Response by poster: I don't know how to assess our needs. Normal?
posted by Kazimirovna at 9:48 AM on September 18, 2012

What network? What is your budget?

Get a Family Share plan from ATT, or the Verizon equivalent. You can probably get the 6GB Plan. Includes unlimited calling and messaging, 6gb of data. Can add or drop lines easily.
posted by Patbon at 10:16 AM on September 18, 2012