Is the grandfathered unlimited data from AT&T obsolete?

[randy98mtu]

I've said multiple times that if you are riding solo, 'unlimited' but not plan is the cheapest option for what you get. All I am arguing against is for people who has multiple lines that wants to decide if they should let it go for shared plan to save money and deception while still getting decent data, hotspot and no throttling at 5GB

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Are you certain that there is $25 charge for a line that uses 2 year contract? If so, either way you get ****ed for sure and one should go with NEXT to avoid paying hundreds of dollars up front.

I have the same regret as you. Even bigger regret is what I should have switched to Verizon years ago instead of holding onto this 'unlimited' plan.

Yes. It's all over the AT&T page. If you are over 10 GB, you pay $15/mo for each phone. If you are under, you pay $25/mo. If you pick up a new 2 year contract phone, you pay $40/mo. Thus the "subsidy" costs $600 for the over 10 GB crowd and $360 for the under. So if you are on a 10 GB or higher plan, the 2 year contract is definitely NOT worth it. Next is the way to go. If you are below, I believe it is a break even. You pay the $360 over time, plus the $40 upgrade "tax", plus $200 for a base model phone. Which works out to $600. So you might come out $50 up.

 

[gopherblue]

We have 2 iphones, both with unlimited data plans and Family Talk 550 plan with rollover. We're on a FAN discount and currently pay $52 per line, including taxes/fees. We wont be giving up our UDP.

 

[mizerab1e]

Yes. It's all over the AT&T page. If you are over 10 GB, you pay $15/mo for each phone. If you are under, you pay $25/mo. If you pick up a new 2 year contract phone, you pay $40/mo. Thus the "subsidy" costs $600 for the over 10 GB crowd and $360 for the under. So if you are on a 10 GB or higher plan, the 2 year contract is definitely NOT worth it. Next is the way to go. If you are below, I believe it is a break even. You pay the $360 over time, plus the $40 upgrade "tax", plus $200 for a base model phone. Which works out to $600. So you might come out $50 up.

Fantastic information. I knew ATT would want to screw us one way or another. I've been using NEXT for last 2 Iphone orders and been wondering if I am getting ****ed, but this is wonderful to know. Next it is.

Thanks ATT

 

[normanfox]

We have 2 iphones, both with unlimited data plans and Family Talk 550 plan with rollover. We're on a FAN discount and currently pay $52 per line, including taxes/fees. We wont be giving up our UDP.

my plan is like yours, except only one unlimited line and the 3GB second line. I keep my unlimited.

 

[mizerab1e]

Yes. It's all over the AT&T page. If you are over 10 GB, you pay $15/mo for each phone. If you are under, you pay $25/mo. If you pick up a new 2 year contract phone, you pay $40/mo. Thus the "subsidy" costs $600 for the over 10 GB crowd and $360 for the under. So if you are on a 10 GB or higher plan, the 2 year contract is definitely NOT worth it. Next is the way to go. If you are below, I believe it is a break even. You pay the $360 over time, plus the $40 upgrade "tax", plus $200 for a base model phone. Which works out to $600. So you might come out $50 up.

By the way, If one bought Iphone 6+ 128 and paid $499 for 2 year contract, at $40 a month for 24 months, thats extra $960 you would have to pay for the iphone.

**** that.

 

[randy98mtu]

By the way, If one bought Iphone 6+ 128 and paid $499 for 2 year contract, at $40 a month for 24 months, thats extra $960 you would have to pay for the iphone.

**** that.

Not exactly. You would be paying $15 if you didn't do the contract. So you pay $25 extra per month, which works out to $600, plus the $40 upgrade fee, plus the $499. So that's $1140 for a $950 phone. I'm getting the 128+ and it's costing me $39/mo for 24 months. And if I want to upgrade sooner, I pay it off, sell it, and buy a new phone.

 

[mizerab1e]

Not exactly. You would be paying $15 if you didn't do the contract. So you pay $25 extra per month, which works out to $600, plus the $40 upgrade fee, plus the $499. So that's $1140 for a $950 phone. I'm getting the 128+ and it's costing me $39/mo for 24 months. And if I want to upgrade sooner, I pay it off, sell it, and buy a new phone.

Quoting what you said, new 2 year contract pay 40 a month right?

 

[ToroidalZeus]

It's actually very simple math

With 2 year contract, you pay $199 + $40 for a $649 phone, which equals to $410 subsidy over 24 month

$410/24=$17.08

So if you can lower your bill by more than $17 per line, then no subsidy plan is cheaper

incorrect, you forget about resale value.

 

[Melodeath]

I'm on a family plan with 2 other iPhones, and an iPad, but my iPhone is the only one with Unlimited data. We don't use much data overall (10GB would be more than enough), but switching to Mobile Share would be more expensive overall. Sounds impossible, but we checked out the pricing just a week ago.

 

[james92se]

For a single line, unlimited is fine. I pay only $54 a month with my current unlimited plan so I don't think ill be switching anytime soon. I average just about 4GB a month so its perfect for me.

What plan is this exactly? No text package I assume. FAN discount too? Is that $54 total after all taxes and fees?

I thought I was doing pretty well at $72 total.

 

[normanfox]

here is my plan comparison between mobile share 10GB + Next and Family 550 with unlimited:

Mobile Share Total =((100 + 15 + 15 -21) * 24 ) + 849 + 849
Family 550 Total =((50 + 30 + 30 -16.8) * 24 ) + 400 + 400

The I save $1277 after 2 years with Family 550 plan.

 

[mizerab1e]

I'm on a family plan with 2 other iPhones, and an iPad, but my iPhone is the only one with Unlimited data. We don't use much data overall (10GB would be more than enough), but switching to Mobile Share would be more expensive overall. Sounds impossible, but we checked out the pricing just a week ago.

I totally believe ya, Ipad doesn't have any talk and text cost so it'll be bit cheaper than 2 line shared plan for sure.

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here is my plan comparison between mobile share 10GB + Next and Family 550 with unlimited:

Do you have next installment payment on your family 550 plan?

 

[macher]

At the risk of getting my ass chewed by the members here, I was thinking the other day how the grandfathered AT&T unlimited data plan for the iPhone can actually be obsolete.

Here is my train of thought. AT&T has now made it cheaper in some cases NOT to have it. By removing the unlimited data plan and switching to a data share plan, monthly bills can be lowered quite a bit a AND you also get the hotspot feature and no chance of data throttling. It's not like you don't already have unlimited data. If you bust your cap you simply pay extra for that month.

Now I understand this does not apply to everyone but if you have two or more phones, all with unlimited data, the monthly bill can get pricey especially if the phones really don't use much data.

From a personal standpoint, I went to the AT&T website and ran the report of how much data my phones used over the past year and it turns out that between my wife and I, we used less then 10GB between the two of us. I switched us over to the data share plan and now we are saving almost $40 a month. Hanging on to the unlimited data plans were just not feasable anymore and we added features we didn't have before (hotspot, free international texting, unlimited talk, unlimited text).

As far as the iPad, that's a tough one. The unlimited data on the iPad is like gold simply because it can be a data hog. I admit I'm not giving that one up yet.

Again, this may not apply to everyone.

We have a 4 line family plan. Each line has unlimited data. We have 700 minutes, roll over minutes and mobile to ANY mobile. And unlimited text.

With my FAN discount the monthly bill is $225 with taxes.

3/4 users on our plan use an average of 4-4GB/month data. The remaining one uses 2GB/month.

The average data/month between the 4 lines in our plan has been 18GB/month.

So in our case it's not cheaper going on a tiered plan.

The only thing I miss is unlimited hot spot. I have a VZW work phone and it has unlimited hot spot.

 

[mizerab1e]

We have a 4 line family plan. Each line has unlimited data. We have 700 minutes, roll over minutes and mobile to ANY mobile. And unlimited text.

With my FAN discount the monthly bill is $225 with taxes.

3/4 users on our plan use an average of 4-4GB/month data. The remaining one uses 2GB/month.

The average data/month between the 4 lines in our plan has been 18GB/month.

So in our case it's not cheaper going on a tiered plan.

Not doubting ya but that is very hard to believe. I paid $230~250 for 3 lines with my military discount before I switched to 10GB Shared Plan, so unless you have some killer discount deal that is top secret, something doesn't add up there.

Do you have any NEXT installment costs? If not, I need to discuss in private what the secret is.

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Does anybody know if the cost of the plan differ from State to State? I know cable companies charge depends on your location, and it would be nice to know for sure if it applies to phone companies also. That might explain the price difference for so many people with similar accounts.

 

[g-limited]

$54 total for your bill? That's crazy, do you not have a text messaging plan?

What plan is this exactly? No text package I assume. FAN discount too? Is that $54 total after all taxes and fees?

I thought I was doing pretty well at $72 total.

Got rid of unlimited text two years ago so I use apps for text. I'm on an old $29.99 minutes plan and FAN discount as well. $54 is after all taxes and fees.

 

[mizerab1e]

Got rid of unlimited text two years ago so I use apps for text. I'm on an old $29.99 minutes plan and FAN discount as well. $54 is after all taxes and fees.

That's what I thought and it's smart thing to do for sure. Unlimited Text costs $30 or something like that, and it would be wise to use app texts.

How does it work if someone who doesn't have the same app sends you a normal text? do you get charged for it?

 

[syclick]

If I switched my entire plan over to MSV, my monthly cost actually goes up. And to top it off, if I upgrade (using 2 year contract), the per line charge will go up from $15 to $40, making it not a value. I'm going to stick with my current plan, for as long as I possibly can.

Same here. I'm also grandfathered into an unlimited data plan. My wife actually doesn't use data much, and so with the two of us our monthly bill comes out to about $115. Changing would make our monthly costs go up a minimum of $25 per month.

 

[blunti]

I have no idea why everyone insist you must give up your 'unlimited' plan if you switch to NEXT, but I have done so several times before without any issues.



I stuck with ATT for years just to keep my unlimited. I did not care how much of a bastard they were, but once I started hitting +5GB mark and noticed the pain and save $100 dollars on my 3 lines, I told them to go **** themselves. Keep your 2 lines and unlimited, yes it will be cheaper, but saying you haven't been throttled is just delusional.

My wife loads up the nighttime stories on her iPhone every single day when she puts the baby to sleep & never had any issues with loading speeds. She also uses it to watch workout videos on youtube & never complained about loading times.

I just checked on att's website, she's well over the 5GB (close to 8) and still have more than a week till the next billing cycle starts...

Are we lucky? Could be. But i'd probably keep unlimited even if we were to get throttled. Possibly switch to T-mobile.

Bottom line is we're happy w/ what we have

 

[HPLouis]

Not doubting ya but that is very hard to believe. I paid $230~250 for 3 lines with my military discount before I switched to 10GB Shared Plan, so unless you have some killer discount deal that is top secret, something doesn't add up there.

Do you have any NEXT installment costs? If not, I need to discuss in private what the secret is.

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Does anybody know if the cost of the plan differ from State to State? I know cable companies charge depends on your location, and it would be nice to know for sure if it applies to phone companies also. That might explain the price difference for so many people with similar accounts.

There are a couple of freebies left for his type of plan. He might have $20 family texting with unlimited any mobile ($10 savings). There is also a $10 a month discount for 12 months. They also have 200 bonus minutes per line available.

 

[mizerab1e]

My wife loads up the nighttime stories on her iPhone every single day when she puts the baby to sleep & never had any issues with loading speeds. She also uses it to watch workout videos on youtube & never complained about loading times.

I just checked on att's website, she's well over the 5GB (close to 8) and still have more than a week till the next billing cycle starts...

Are we lucky? Could be. But i'd probably keep unlimited even if we were to get throttled. Possibly switch to T-mobile.

Bottom line is we're happy w/ what we have

I'm honestly glad for you. If you don't mind though, do you mind running speedtest app on her phone and see what speed she gets? If it goes past 1MB, then you have fooled ATT and more props to you. If not, then I'm glad it still works enough for her to use it.

 

[randy98mtu]

Quoting what you said, new 2 year contract pay 40 a month right?

You are talking the total plan cost. I'm saying the DIFFERENCE between Next and a Contract is $25/mo (15 vs 40 for 10 gig or higher plans)

 

[macher]

Not doubting ya but that is very hard to believe. I paid $230~250 for 3 lines with my military discount before I switched to 10GB Shared Plan, so unless you have some killer discount deal that is top secret, something doesn't add up there.

Do you have any NEXT installment costs? If not, I need to discuss in private what the secret is.[COLOR="#808080]

I get 25% discount on each line data. Plus I'm in a grandfathered 700 minute with roll over minutes with mobile to ANY mobile.

 

[g-limited]

That's what I thought and it's smart thing to do for sure. Unlimited Text costs $30 or something like that, and it would be wise to use app texts.

How does it work if someone who doesn't have the same app sends you a normal text? do you get charged for it?

Unlimited text is $20 extra a month. I did text message opt-out so anyone who sends a text to my number, I won't receive it/get charged. I only text a handful of people on a regular basis and they all have the same apps. I also have a Google Voice # which I can use/give out if I need to receive text via a phone number

 

[randy98mtu]

We have a 4 line family plan. Each line has unlimited data. We have 700 minutes, roll over minutes and mobile to ANY mobile. And unlimited text.

With my FAN discount the monthly bill is $225 with taxes.

3/4 users on our plan use an average of 4-4GB/month data. The remaining one uses 2GB/month.

The average data/month between the 4 lines in our plan has been 18GB/month.

So in our case it's not cheaper going on a tiered plan.

The only thing I miss is unlimited hot spot. I have a VZW work phone and it has unlimited hot spot.

You sure? Looking at AT&T you would pay $150 for 20 gig, plus $15 per phone putting you at $210 before discounts and taxes for 20 gig. This does NOT take into account upgrade costs of your current plan vs Next or Contract on a Mobile Share Value plan.

Edit: Your 25% would apply to that full $150 (in most cases) putting you at $172/mo for 20 gig on a Mobile Share Value. You might want to talk to AT&T.

 

[mizerab1e]

Unlimited text is $20 extra a month. I did text message opt-out so anyone who sends a text to my number, I won't receive it/get charged. I only text a handful of people on a regular basis and they all have the same apps. I also have a Google Voice # which I can use/give out if I need to receive text via a phone number

Brilliant.