AT&T looking good..

[Bkr11]

This is awesome - it should be front page news so everybody knows about it. We've gone from $186 (w/ taxes) for 2 smart phones, 2 basic phones, unlimited text, 700 minutes/month to $136 before taxes (haven't seen bill w/ taxes) for theoretically up to 4 smart phones (we're still 2 smart, 2 feature), 10GB, unlimited talk & text. No brainer to go in there and compare for people w/ lots of lines and a bit of data.

P.S. The old pricing my wife's 24% discount was on the $60 part of the "talk" plan, not on the add-on data, etc. Now the 24% discount is on the $100 10GB plan...so even more of a win. Get in there and update your plans people!

 

[NACEOD]

I stumbled across this deal yesterday while looking at the enterprise data plans. We were looking to upgrade our 920's to the 5GB data pro for enterprise so we could use internet sharing while on business travel. Turns out internet sharing is free for all phones on the mobile share plan. Ended up getting the plan savings, plus the savings for the two upgraded enterprise data pro plans.

 

[Jazmac]

If you switch, prepare for the worst mobile phone company service ever. AT&T is SHlT. I couldn't tell you how many times I've called for problems on their end. How many times, they've sent out free accessories and took money off the bill for their incompetence. The only reason I'm there is because of the 1020.

Clarification: Worst customer service ever. The network itself isn't bad. I get plenty of 4G signal all the time.

I've been with AT&T for almost 2 years this March. They have been nothing but accommodating to me. When I called about a problem I had with dropping phone calls in my house, they had me head to a AT&T store to get a microcell. Didn't charge me a dime for it. Corrected a problem I had with my bill a couple times. Both issues but they were corrected quickly. Corrected my LTE signal then adjusted my bill without my asking for that. Promised to call back in a week to see if everything was cool and in a week, customer service called. Nothing but aces from me.
And yes, I'm going to Next and I think I'll get the Beats unlimited streaming option for my family too. AT&T is bangin'.

 

[tjwheels]

I thought this deal was BYOD. That's why there's a discount of $25/device. The only difference in price between this deal and the normal contract Family Share plan is that the phone is only $15/device rather than $40/device. But you have to either bring your own compatible device, buy it with Next, or buy it full price from AT&T. I guess I'll have to inspect it more closely!

That is what I was told today at the AT&T store too, I have an upgrade available and couldn't use it if I wanted to change to the new plan.

 

[jmshub]

AT&T has just been lighting up LTE in my area too. They are winning in my game.

 

[Editguy1900]

And all of you AT&T people should thank T-mobile because this never would have happened without the pressure they ahve brought to AT$T.

 

[WinU]

I think I am making the switch and I thank T-Mobile and Sprint. I was about to leave AT&T. This will cost me $20-$30 more a month but with a MUCH BETTER plan than what I have now. Thank for the post!

 

[LoriInWA]

Awesome! Just dropped my monthly fee $50 with same amount of data! Thanks for the heads up!

 

[anon5954042]

Are single plans any cheaper or share plans whatever they're called?

 

[Curtieson]

I love thinking about it this way...I save enough money to buy a Lumia 520 (on sale) EVERY SINGLE MONTH! haha We have 5 lines, and I'll save over $60.

The only downside is that my wife is still rocking an overPriced phone (aka: iPhone)...we used to get "$450 off" on them every 2 years, and that is why the subsidies were so nice. So if she wants a new phone, she'll eat up ~8 months of our savings... Luckily the other people on our plan (I combined with my Sis+her Hubby, my mom, me) all have WPs [2-520s, 1-920, 1-1020].

Are single plans any cheaper or share plans whatever they're called?

There isn't really a deal here for people with 1 line, or 2 lines even... But when you get up to 3-4-5 lines, you really start to save some cash.

 

[peterdroid]

I love thinking about it this way...I save enough money to buy a Lumia 520 (on sale) EVERY SINGLE MONTH! haha We have 5 lines, and I'll save over $60.
There isn't really a deal here for people with 1 line, or 2 lines even... But when you get up to 3-4-5 lines, you really start to save some cash.

oh nice. thank you for info about "3-5 lines." did not know about it :|

 

[radmanvr]

I would save $30 by switching and also getting 4gig more data. However, for my soul..... nah I am good. I used to use ATT as an ISP. Outage all the time every time and I am a gamer so internet outage is a big no no.

This is probably why I was never a fan of ATT. Lately, I have been thinking VZW is too pricey but than I remember its because I love their customer service.

 

[Curtieson]

I would save $30 by switching and also getting 4gig more data. However, for my soul..... nah I am good. I used to use ATT as an ISP. Outage all the time every time and I am a gamer so internet outage is a big no no.

This is probably why I was never a fan of ATT. Lately, I have been thinking VZW is too pricey but than I remember its because I love their customer service.

ISP vs. cellular...two different beasts there. I wouldn't expect someone to throw out Verizon cellular as an option because their FiOS DVR deleted an episode of The Walking Dead one week, haha. I love AT&T CS for the most part. Sure, you'll get a bad apple from time to time after years of being a customer but it is typically quality.

oh nice. thank you for info about "3-5 lines." did not know about it :|

Yep, I am not hunting for family members to add...get $100 back and the cost per line will go way down. Currently, we have about 5GB that will be left over after the current 5 people get done with an average monthly usage.

 

[robertre]

The way I read it, you do not give up the ability to upgrade to a subsidized phone. To keep the $15 for a line phone, you have to BYO, pay retail or use NEXT. If you upgrade a phone with a 2 year contract and subsidized price, you just have to pay $40 a month for that line, just as you do with the existing share plans. For me, I went from 1g to 10g and am saving $23 a month since 2 of the phones I was paying $40 a month. People who just upgraded before the new plans make out the best. Also, my Fan discount now applies to $100 instead of the $45 before. Plus I can give my old windows phone to my wife and not pay more to switch her from a crappy feature phone to a half decent windows phone. I would have had to pay $5 more on the previous plan. And if I decide to upgrade one phone, I will pay about what I was paying before. If I decide to upgrade 2, I can go back to my old 1g plan and pay what I was paying before, and will have saved $230 over the next 10 months until my 2year contract is up on 2 of my phones. I really do not need all of the data... although now I can tether my 920 to my Lumina 2520 with all of that data.

 

[Curtieson]

The way I read it, you do not give up the ability to upgrade to a subsidized phone. To keep the $15 for a line phone, you have to BYO, pay retail or use NEXT. If you upgrade a phone with a 2 year contract and subsidized price, you just have to pay $40 a month for that line, just as you do with the existing share plans. For me, I went from 1g to 10g and am saving $23 a month since 2 of the phones I was paying $40 a month. People who just upgraded before the new plans make out the best. Also, my Fan discount now applies to $100 instead of the $45 before. Plus I can give my old windows phone to my wife and not pay more to switch her from a crappy feature phone to a half decent windows phone. I would have had to pay $5 more on the previous plan. And if I decide to upgrade one phone, I will pay about what I was paying before. If I decide to upgrade 2, I can go back to my old 1g plan and pay what I was paying before, and will have saved $230 over the next 10 months until my 2year contract is up on 2 of my phones. I really do not need all of the data... although now I can tether my 920 to my Lumina 2520 with all of that data.

Once you get out of contract though, if you can get away with only 1GB of data; I'd say to do that. Once you are both out of contract: The 1GB plan is only $45 + $25 per line = $95 vs. the $130 for 10GB. But, how are you saving $23? 1GB is $45 + $40 + $40 = $125...wouldn't you have spent $5 extra to move to the new plan?

(Also, just a side note: don't say 1G and 10G...because then people say 4G when they mean 4GB and it just gets confusing . In Cellphones, G means Generation, GB means Gigabytes.)

But I would never buy a subsidized phone again on the new 10GB plan. You are correct in your pricing, but $25 extra a month; PLUS the $200 cost up front (typical cost) means you end up paying $800 out of pocket for a phone that probably has an MSRP of $600-$700. You will always* be better off using NEXT if you don't have the $700 to drop in 1 month. Even if you went and put down the typical $200, the next pricing would only be $22.50 a month for the 12 Month plan. But if you stay with the 1GB plan, it is only $15 extra a month ($25 vs. $40 per line). Could save you $50-$100 over 24 months by going with the subsidy.

*I guess I say always but could be wrong if phones start to get an MSRP off $900-$1000...I do not see that to be the case in the US; ever.

 

[Curtieson]

Also, currently...AT&T is saying they will knock your phone down from $40 to $25 if you get onto the NEXT plan no matter how much time you have left on contracts. So, on the 1GB plan, if you went in and got 2 new Lumia 925s on NEXT 18, you'd be looking at $45+$25+$25 and $16.54x2 for the phonesor basically $130 a month. So, at that point the question would be...you are going to be paying roughly $130 a month for your service no matter what...Would you rather have 9GB of data that is working as an overage insurance until the current contracts expire or would you rather be getting phones that you don't really need.

 

[robertre]

Once you get out of contract though, if you can get away with only 1GB of data; I'd say to do that. Once you are both out of contract: The 1GB plan is only $45 + $25 per line = $95 vs. the $130 for 10GB. But, how are you saving $23? 1GB is $45 + $40 + $40 = $125...wouldn't you have spent $5 extra to move to the new plan?

(Also, just a side note: don't say 1G and 10G...because then people say 4G when they mean 4GB and it just gets confusing . In Cellphones, G means Generation, GB means Gigabytes.)

But I would never buy a subsidized phone again on the new 10GB plan. You are correct in your pricing, but $25 extra a month; PLUS the $200 cost up front (typical cost) means you end up paying $800 out of pocket for a phone that probably has an MSRP of $600-$700. You will always* be better off using NEXT if you don't have the $700 to drop in 1 month. Even if you went and put down the typical $200, the next pricing would only be $22.50 a month for the 12 Month plan. But if you stay with the 1GB plan, it is only $15 extra a month ($25 vs. $40 per line). Could save you $50-$100 over 24 months by going with the subsidy.

*I guess I say always but could be wrong if phones start to get an MSRP off $900-$1000...I do not see that to be the case in the US; ever.

Before I paid $45 (minus my fan discount) plug 2x40 for two smartphones on contract, plus $25 for purchased Lumia 520, plus $20 for a feature phone: $35+80+25+20=160 ($35 is data with Fan discount). New plan: $100 data (less fan discount) plus $15 per phone: $77+60= 137. All plus taxes of course. I of course will look at dropping down to a lower plan if we decide to upgrade out phones, depending on the direction we decide to go, and which is the cheapest. I agree. We will never upgrade more than 1 or 2 phones, as we will pass them down. My wife and older daughter are not picky. And of course I will look at all of the options at the time we want to upgrade. If I go down to a lower plan, then the difference in price between a non contract and contract phone is only $15 per month (25 vs 40), so a subsidized phone is not as expensive on those plans. It all depends on what price all of the prices are (buy vs Next vs subsidies). The Next plan avoids the $36 activation cost too, so that will be taken into account. But plans and prices could always change by then. For now, I will enjoy my $23/month savings before I even have to think about upgrading any phones.

 

[Curtieson]

Before I paid $45 (minus my fan discount) plug 2x40 for two smartphones on contract, plus $25 for purchased Lumia 520, plus $20 for a feature phone: $35+80+25+20=160 ($35 is data with Fan discount).

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, haha. I was missing that you had 4 lines (I still don't see that mentioned in your first post, haha, so I don't feel too bad). I thought before you mentioned only two lines.

Yes, once you get up to 4 lines, it is hard to not save with the new plan; unless you can get by with very little data usage. But people with only 2 lines, sometimes you can save, sometimes not. The lower your data usage, the more lines you need to have to save money (I guess that is decently obvious, haha)

 

[kuffcakes]

I just signed up for the 2 phone plan with the 10gb of shared data. I was paying $138 on AT&T for 2 devices with 2gb of data each. This switch sounds too good to be true.

 

[robertre]

Keep in mind that ATT really did not drop prices as much as they are are giving more discounts to customers who have phones not on contract for 10g plans and above. With the old share plan, you paid $15 per month less (25 vs 40). With the updated play, you pay $25 less per month (15 vs 40), if your phone is not on contract. If you add phones under contract, the price goes up a lot, making the Next program or outright purchasing a phone a better option, at least in my opinion. And in my case, I have 2 phones in the middle of my contract, and with the switch, I was rewarded with lowering the monthly cost to $15 for each of them from $40, for the rest of my contract. Now if my daughter wants to foolishly upgrade her iphone 4s to a 5s at the end of her contract and make Apple richer, she can pay for it herself and I can keep paying her $15 a month charge. Then she will realize that phones are not free or only $100 or $200....we have been paying for them every month in high usage charges. And the money I save through the end of this year can go towards me upgrading my 920 to whatever Microsoft/Nokia have out by that time (next generation 1020 with all of the great specs of the 1520 or Icon and then some?). My younger daughter I am sure will be fine with the $39 Lumia 520 I picked up on sale at Amazon late last year, and my wife should be happy with my old Samsung Focus, as she is not into smart phones at all. The funny thing is we will never need the 10g per month. I told my kids to feel free to use a lot more data, and I do not think we will use 300 or 400mg this month between us, but with the new pricing, for our situation, it is cheaper to have the 10g plan than the 1g plan we had before.