Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

creativedogmedia

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 26, 2011
1,344
66
I've worked in the wireline/mobile industry for 22 years....I've never had to pay for wireless service. Starting to explore my daughters first phone before next year's school. For an iPhone, what are the most economical plans on the market right now? I'd expect very low voice requirement and 1GB of data. What is everyone seeing out there? I can obviously Google this and see retail plans but I know there are ways to get better deals. Thanks in advance.
 

BeeJee

macrumors 6502
Nov 27, 2011
369
2
Long Island/North Jersey
If you're in the U.S., many people will probably tell you to go with T-Mobile for their very low prices. Personally I love the AT&T GoPhone Plan that costs me around 53 a month for 2.5GB of Data and personal HotSpot for free with Unlimited everything else. Depending on how old your daughter is, she may text her friends a lot more than you expect. But like I said, you should give us your location.
 

creativedogmedia

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 26, 2011
1,344
66
If you're in the U.S., many people will probably tell you to go with T-Mobile for their very low prices. Personally I love the AT&T GoPhone Plan that costs me around 53 a month for 2.5GB of Data and personal HotSpot for free with Unlimited everything else. Depending on how old your daughter is, she may text her friends a lot more than you expect. But like I said, you should give us your location.

Sorry...in Virginia. I know the ATT family plan (4 for $160) is a pretty decent deal but mine and my wife's plans are taken care of so not sure it makes sense putting one person on that type of plan...
 

nburwell

macrumors 603
May 6, 2008
5,436
2,352
DE
I believe that AT&T still offers single line plans for around $60/month (I believe). However, I would be more inclined to go with T-Mobile, AT&T Go, Straight Talk or Net10.
 

rockitdog

macrumors 68030
Mar 25, 2013
2,721
1,238
In Vrigina, I wouldn't touch T-Mobile. Their network coverage is still lousy and unless you are right in major market/ area, coverage is severely limited.
 

869639

macrumors 6502
Jan 2, 2014
327
0
Earth
Sorry...in Virginia. I know the ATT family plan (4 for $160) is a pretty decent deal but mine and my wife's plans are taken care of so not sure it makes sense putting one person on that type of plan...

Straight Talk $45 Plan - Buy 3 months at a time from Walmart making it $42.xx/month --- Great savings -- use a address for a state that doesn't charge tax and your set because they email it to you anyway.
 

rui no onna

Contributor
Oct 25, 2013
14,377
12,325
There's also Aio/Cricket Wireless for $45/mo with Auto Pay for 2GB if you want hassle free visual voicemail.
 

aneftp

macrumors 601
Jul 28, 2007
4,362
546
Just get T-Mobile for her. Low priced and decent service.

Att prepaid aio wireless better coverage and $45 a month with auto pay. All taxes included. Best overall coverage (for the money) with 2gb data and no over charges.
 

Jalopybox

macrumors 6502a
Nov 13, 2012
699
5
Whatever you do put a data cap on the line. 2gb or whatever you decide. Not fun to pay for overages.


Also, read the fine print on some of these $45 all in one packages. Virgin only allows 3g while using youtube, which makes it almost unusable. Many of these plans that claim unlimited data are not without issues, they throttle you back to snails pace after 2gb.
 

KUguardgrl13

macrumors 68020
May 16, 2013
2,492
125
Kansas, USA
If coverage is decent in your area and most places your daughter goes, look into T-Mobile. $50/month for unlimited talk and text and 1gb of data plus $27/month for 24 months for the iPhone 5s or $22.91/month for the 5c. Both are no money down.

If you don't want to pay that much, I'd find a used phone and a prepaid service like AT&T Go Phone or Verizon prepaid that will let you bring your own device (a Verizon iPhone 5/5c/5s can be activated on any GSM carrier, but service quality might vary). This is because many prepaid plans don't offer the newer iPhones. They have the 4 or the 4S. Of course any bring your own device plan will be cheaper since you'd just be paying for the service.

Since your plan is paid for though, is there any way to add your daughter to it? Then you don't pay anything.
 

HobeSoundDarryl

macrumors G5
Walmart has it's own unlimited* plan for $39.88/month: http://www.walmart.com/cp/Family-Mobile/1076544. NET10 can be found for $45 for unlimited*. The latter can use AT&Ts same network- even at LTE speeds. The Walmart plan may be limited to 3G speed only.

Look around at the off brands for the best pricing deals. AT&T, Verizon, etc are getting there but are still clinging to old tricks. Some of those off brands don't play the same games so the bill ends up being pretty much what was quoted.
 

869639

macrumors 6502
Jan 2, 2014
327
0
Earth
Walmart has it's own unlimited* plan for $39.88/month: http://www.walmart.com/cp/Family-Mobile/1076544. NET10 can be found for $45 for unlimited*. The latter can use AT&Ts same network- even at LTE speeds. The Walmart plan may be limited to 3G speed only.

Look around at the off brands for the best pricing deals. AT&T, Verizon, etc are getting there but are still clinging to old tricks. Some of those off brands don't play the same games so the bill ends up being pretty much what was quoted.

Walmart $40 plan is absolute best deal if OP lives in good T-mobile coverage area. Otherwise Straight Talk (3GB) or AIO/Cricket (2.5GB) are best options as AT&T Coverage is way better than T-mobile anyday
 

creativedogmedia

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Jun 26, 2011
1,344
66
I was able to get an iPhone 5 through my company at no charge but it doesnt have a SIM installed....It's an ATT iPhone 5 and we wont be activating service for a few months. Is there a way around the "no SIM installed" message at startup so she can just use as wifi device until then?
 

EDH667

macrumors 65816
Nov 25, 2009
1,035
278
Northern California
I was able to get an iPhone 5 through my company at no charge but it doesnt have a SIM installed....It's an ATT iPhone 5 and we wont be activating service for a few months. Is there a way around the "no SIM installed" message at startup so she can just use as wifi device until then?

Yes, put it into Airplane mode and then turn on Wi-Fi and Bluetooth.
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.