Things are changing in my family this year. I no longer travel much and no longer have a serious need for that big red Verizon map. But the security of a large coverage footprint is nice but maybe not affordable anymore. I want to have an open competitive playing field where cost is now more important than highest quality of service.
In addition, my wife just informed me that her company, a large regional Bank is switching from mandatory Blackberry to a company owned PDA smart phone using Microsoft Exchange server / Outlook this year. We do not know when this switchover will take place and until then, she has to maintain the personal Blackberry approved phone, the 8830. ( She hates it). Additionally, we get an expense allowance from her company for the BB but the company IT dept controls it's programming. To qualify for that we have to maintain the BB on a separate billing invoice.
I recently upgraded with a 2 year contract and an htc Touch Pro 2 and I also have a Dell internal Laptop card EVDO Rev A. I only use this for traveling, consequently it will rarely get used this year. Additionally, I can tether my TP2 to the Laptop.
With 3 lines and data plans, I have been paying $320 per month with a refund for her phone so the net out of pocket is $240.
When my wife gets the company phone she will not be permitted to use it for personal calls so we will need to get her a new phone. She has requested a simple phone with just e-mail. I have been looking at the Samsung alias and the LG EnV3 since both of these offer Qwerty and simple number keypad. She likes that idea.
I can drop my laptop card since I can tether my TP2 when I do need it.
The new bill for two lines with data plans on both will net me out of pocket $130 per month by using the family plan for 1400 minutes which is way more than I will use. We're not chatty phone users but I'm a data hog averaging 3-4 Gb a month on my TP2 and I suspect higher with tethering on those months I travel.
Verizon has advised me this week that my data plan will be grandfathered in with no 5Gb limit as long as I keep it on the tp2. This is why they didn't bill me for the overage in November when I had 9 Gb that month. I was not aware of this. It is also why I am allowed to tether and not be charged for that either. Nice!
I'm interested in any suggestions on a new basic phone for my wife for personal voice and e-mail and if there is anything I might do to save even more per month on the cost. What do you all pay for family plans? This is all new to me. Verizon has been good to me but I always knew I paid a top rates for what I got.
In addition, my wife just informed me that her company, a large regional Bank is switching from mandatory Blackberry to a company owned PDA smart phone using Microsoft Exchange server / Outlook this year. We do not know when this switchover will take place and until then, she has to maintain the personal Blackberry approved phone, the 8830. ( She hates it). Additionally, we get an expense allowance from her company for the BB but the company IT dept controls it's programming. To qualify for that we have to maintain the BB on a separate billing invoice.
I recently upgraded with a 2 year contract and an htc Touch Pro 2 and I also have a Dell internal Laptop card EVDO Rev A. I only use this for traveling, consequently it will rarely get used this year. Additionally, I can tether my TP2 to the Laptop.
With 3 lines and data plans, I have been paying $320 per month with a refund for her phone so the net out of pocket is $240.
When my wife gets the company phone she will not be permitted to use it for personal calls so we will need to get her a new phone. She has requested a simple phone with just e-mail. I have been looking at the Samsung alias and the LG EnV3 since both of these offer Qwerty and simple number keypad. She likes that idea.
I can drop my laptop card since I can tether my TP2 when I do need it.
The new bill for two lines with data plans on both will net me out of pocket $130 per month by using the family plan for 1400 minutes which is way more than I will use. We're not chatty phone users but I'm a data hog averaging 3-4 Gb a month on my TP2 and I suspect higher with tethering on those months I travel.
Verizon has advised me this week that my data plan will be grandfathered in with no 5Gb limit as long as I keep it on the tp2. This is why they didn't bill me for the overage in November when I had 9 Gb that month. I was not aware of this. It is also why I am allowed to tether and not be charged for that either. Nice!
I'm interested in any suggestions on a new basic phone for my wife for personal voice and e-mail and if there is anything I might do to save even more per month on the cost. What do you all pay for family plans? This is all new to me. Verizon has been good to me but I always knew I paid a top rates for what I got.
