AT&T upgrade

Switch carriers

t Mobile might pay your early termination fees

 

You could do it that way. There is no easy or right answer. Too many purchase options. Too many service plans.

You could add another line and put the new phone on that, and then swap them.

You could do ETF.

You could buy outright.

You could do next.

You need to do the math for the next 24 months to see what works best. AND, consider the new data share plans unless you REALLY need unlimited.

And, by the way, related topics like this are all over this message board.

 

Why switch carriers and deal with ETF? The other carrier may pick up the ETF, but you will still have to buy the phone for full price anyway from Tmobile. For all that just do Next on ATT as it should yeild the same result except losing unlimited data.

 

In certain time frames it's cheaper to pay the ETF and start a new contract. The issue is keeping your number. There's a slight chance that you could just tell them your plan (if can actually convince them you are not bluffing) and they'll just work the numbers. But it is cheaper in certain situations...

 

I read that you have to make two months of the installment payment, then you can pay the phone off fully if you wish.

 

If you add another line and swap, are you essentially paying for 2 data plans? I have some confusion over this. I've been told in the past that you can add another line and cross upgrade and keep a basic phone on the new line so you're only paying for 1 data plan. And then I've also been told you would be paying for 2 data plans.

 

The cross-upgrade swap doesn't require a data plan on the line with the dumb phone. At least not on AT&T unless something has changed. Still, check your numbers since you're committing to 24 months at ~$14 per month depending on taxes/fees/etc.

 

What you'd probably have to do is get a new line and get the iPhone on that line but apply the changes to your old number, then pay the ETF for the new line. If you cancel your current line it cancels the service and put the phone number into the ether for someone else to grab; you can't just pay the ETF to get off your contract so you can turn around and upgrade. I don't think this would affect your unlimited plan.

Your next best bet if you don't want to switch to Next (which would eliminate your unlimited plan) would be to switch to T-Mobile. They'll pay your ETF and you can get a new phone and sign up for their unlimited plan.