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Next you pay the phone off month to month, 2 year paying off the phone works a bit differently- Im sure somebody could explain it better. All i know is Next is more flexible when it comes to buying new phones every year

instead of $15/mo per line you get charged $40/mo per line when you are under contract.

So $25/mo per line more when you decide to go under contract.

AT&T Next you pay full-price for the phone divided by however many months you want to pay for it (20 or 24), but no increase on the monthly plan.

Yeah, subsidized phones on mobile share plans pay $40 per line instead of the $15 or $25 a month the unsubsidized (BYOD or Next) folks do.


The 15/25 difference is you pay $15/mo per line on a 10 gig or higher plan, and 25/mo per line on under 10 gigs.

That's why NEXT is cheaper than subsidized 2 year contract if you're on a 10 gig or higher plan.

if you're on a lower than 10 gig data plan then NEXT is more expensive, but only by about $50 over two years... and that $50 might be worth it since you get the option to pay it off in full any time and get it unlocked, which you can't do with the 2 year contract.


Thanks to everyone that answered!:p That helps! I will have to see what I wanna do now! Hopefully once I get my phone, I can go in and have AT&T fix or change my plan. :D
 

Saralee1323

macrumors member
Original poster
Sep 16, 2014
42
6
Ok..not to completely change topic. Can someone tell me the difference between Next and 2 year contract. Just got a stupid text (initially excited thinking tracking number...not!) saying that I would be charged $40/ additional a month for 2 year :eek:. What the heck!? I have the mobile share family plan if that makes a difference...
 
Ok..not to completely change topic. Can someone tell me the difference between Next and 2 year contract. Just got a stupid text (initially excited thinking tracking number...not!) saying that I would be charged $40/ additional for 2 year :eek:. What the heck!? I have the mobile share family plan if that makes a difference...

Next you pay the phone off month to month, 2 year paying off the phone works a bit differently- Im sure somebody could explain it better. All i know is Next is more flexible when it comes to buying new phones every year
 
Ok..not to completely change topic. Can someone tell me the difference between Next and 2 year contract. Just got a stupid text (initially excited thinking tracking number...not!) saying that I would be charged $40/ additional a month for 2 year :eek:. What the heck!? I have the mobile share family plan if that makes a difference...

instead of $15/mo per line you get charged $40/mo per line when you are under contract.

So $25/mo per line more when you decide to go under contract.

AT&T Next you pay full-price for the phone divided by however many months you want to pay for it (20 or 24), but no increase on the monthly plan.
 
Ok..not to completely change topic. Can someone tell me the difference between Next and 2 year contract. Just got a stupid text (initially excited thinking tracking number...not!) saying that I would be charged $40/ additional a month for 2 year :eek:. What the heck!? I have the mobile share family plan if that makes a difference...

I JUST got one. I haven't gotten an email or text about it yet. I wouldn't give up hope quite yet!

You just received the physical phone or ordered it?
 
Ok..not to completely change topic. Can someone tell me the difference between Next and 2 year contract. Just got a stupid text (initially excited thinking tracking number...not!) saying that I would be charged $40/ additional a month for 2 year :eek:. What the heck!? I have the mobile share family plan if that makes a difference...

Yeah, subsidized phones on mobile share plans pay $40 per line instead of the $15 or $25 a month the unsubsidized (BYOD or Next) folks do.


The 15/25 difference is you pay $15/mo per line on a 10 gig or higher plan, and 25/mo per line on under 10 gigs.

That's why NEXT is cheaper than subsidized 2 year contract if you're on a 10 gig or higher plan.

if you're on a lower than 10 gig data plan then NEXT is more expensive, but only by about $50 over two years... and that $50 might be worth it since you get the option to pay it off in full any time and get it unlocked, which you can't do with the 2 year contract.
 
Yeah, subsidized phones on mobile share plans pay $40 per line instead of the $15 or $25 a month the unsubsidized (BYOD or Next) folks do.


The 15/25 difference is you pay $15/mo per line on a 10 gig or higher plan, and 25/mo per line on under 10 gigs.

That's why NEXT is cheaper than subsidized 2 year contract if you're on a 10 gig or higher plan.

if you're on a lower than 10 gig data plan then NEXT is more expensive, but only by about $50 over two years... and that $50 might be worth it since you get the option to pay it off in full any time and get it unlocked, which you can't do with the 2 year contract.

So it would be better for me to do NEXT than my 2yr contract is what you're saying for a single line. I have the unlimited data at the moment. But was told I could still do NEXT.

Would it be:
tax on $849 (64gb 6+)
42.50x20 (based on 12mo plan)
$30 unlimited data
$20 unlimited text
What about talk plan? Currently $39.99

Or do i have to switch to mobile share value?
 
So it would be better for me to do NEXT than my 2yr contract is what you're saying for a single line. I have the unlimited data at the moment. But was told I could still do NEXT.

Would it be:
tax on $849 (64gb 6+)
42.50x20 (based on 12mo plan)
$30 unlimited data
$20 unlimited text
What about talk plan? Currently $39.99

Or do i have to switch to mobile share value?

I have the same as you. Was going to do NEXT until I did the math. The monthly numbers below include a 23% FAN discount -

Unlimited data with 2 year contract - $120.61 x 24 + $299.99 = $3194.64
Unlimited data with NEXT - $120.61 x 24 + $799.99 = $3644.63

I don't want to give up my Unlimited data plan so I would end up paying full price for the phone on NEXT plus I wouldn't get a service discount because of the Unlimited. A discount would apply to my monthly charges if I went with a shared data plan (iPhone and iPad).

10GB Shared with 2 year contract - $109.50 x 24 + $299.99 = $2927.99
10GB Shared with NEXT - $109.50 x 24 + $749.99 = $3377.99
 
I have the same as you. Was going to do NEXT until I did the math. The monthly numbers below include a 23% FAN discount -

Unlimited data with 2 year contract - $120.61 x 24 + $299.99 = $3194.64
Unlimited data with NEXT - $120.61 x 24 + $799.99 = $3644.63

I don't want to give up my Unlimited data plan so I would end up paying full price for the phone on NEXT plus I wouldn't get a service discount because of the Unlimited. A discount would apply to my monthly charges if I went with a shared data plan (iPhone and iPad).

10GB Shared with 2 year contract - $109.50 x 24 + $299.99 = $2927.99
10GB Shared with NEXT - $109.50 x 24 + $749.99 = $3377.99

How many lines you talking about here? I think your 10gb mobile share plan math is wrong, because you have both showing $109.50 for 2 year and with next... the plans are no the same price on 2 year or on next for service... 2 year contracting price is more expensive.
 
How many lines you talking about here? I think your 10gb mobile share plan math is wrong, because you have both showing $109.50 for 2 year and with next... the plans are no the same price on 2 year or on next for service... 2 year contracting price is more expensive.


Sorry, I should have mentioned that I have an iPhone and iPad. The iPad has a 5GB data plan. I could be wrong on with that number. I went over each options quite a few times to figure out which was the best way to go. Maybe I'm missing something with that one?
 
Sorry, I should have mentioned that I have an iPhone and iPad. The iPad has a 5GB data plan. I could be wrong on with that number. I went over each options quite a few times to figure out which was the best way to go. Maybe I'm missing something with that one?

If you do a 10 gb plan w/ next (and DON'T upgrade):

$77 plan (after fan)
$15 line fee
$10 ipad fee
----
$102
+
$37.5 /mo for phone for 20 months.

= $2790 over the course of 20 months


If you do a 10 gb plan w/ 2 year contract:

$77 plan (After fan)
$40 line fee
$10 ipad fee
----
$127 * 24

= $3048 + $299 (2 year phone price) + $40 (renewal fee)

= $3387 over the course of 24 months


To compare the next program if you don't upgrade at an even 24 months for both plans, you'd be at $3179.99 for 20 month next vs $3387 for contract. Obviously there's a lot of factors as to when you upgrade and such. Of course i'm not including taxes and fees.
 

I don't think that link is showing everything. I put in a 64GB iPhone 6. It shows the price of the phone as $339. I guess they are figuring in $40. for an upgrade fee (I had that waived). Then showing $960.00 for a monthly access charge. That's $40. per month. That can't cover everything (I'm excluding the iPad for now). When I go into my AT&T and see what they suggest. It shows a 10GB data plan for $125.00 (before my FAN discount). $100.00 for talk, data and text, add $15. for the phone and $10. for the tablet. After my discount it's $109.50 with tax. Then it notes -
If you upgrade to a 2 year wireless contract, you're no longer eligible for the Mobile Share Value discount of $15/mo. or $25/mo. To get the discount, upgrade with AT&T NextSM or pay full price for a smartphone/bring your own.

My current plan is $120.61 with 450 minutes, unlimited texting and unlimited data plus 5GB for the iPad.

To many options and numbers after awhile. I guess the best way that I can summarize my situation is - my plan price really can't go much lower than it is now with the data that I have. Giving up Unlimited and going with a 10GB shared plan only saves me about $11.00 per month. Looking at the phone, if I do a 2 year contract it's $299.99. If I do NEXT it's $749.99. I'm going to wait 2 years before I upgrade anyway so I midas well save $450. by signing another contract. No financial benefit in going with NEXT.

Edit -Oridus - you posted while I was typing. I'm making sense of the numbers now :)
 
If you do a 10 gb plan w/ next (and DON'T upgrade):

$77 plan (after fan)
$15 line fee
$10 ipad fee
----
$102
+
$37.5 /mo for phone for 20 months.

= $2790 over the course of 20 months


If you do a 10 gb plan w/ 2 year contract:

$77 plan (After fan)
$40 line fee
$10 ipad fee
----
$127 * 24

= $3048 + $299 (2 year phone price) + $40 (renewal fee)

= $3387 over the course of 24 months


To compare the next program if you don't upgrade at an even 24 months for both plans, you'd be at $3179.99 for 20 month next vs $3387 for contract. Obviously there's a lot of factors as to when you upgrade and such. Of course i'm not including taxes and fees.

Ok, after looking at all of the numbers, maybe it's because what I'm being shown is if I change my plan now. Maybe the numbers are different when I upgrade? When I chatted with the guy at AT&T the other day, we went over the figures and came up with that I posted.
 
then why would anyone go for the $40 and 2 yr renewal if it is more expensive in the end?

That's the idea, you don't. The only REAL reasons they have it are A) Some people don't qualify for financing, and B) you only can do 4 lines on next right now (but it's still cheaper to pay outright for any lines after 5).
 
Last edited:
I just wish i could decide if i want to keep my unlimited data and $100/mo bill or switch to the mobile share and be at $115 + taxes before i switch from the 2yr to NEXT. I use 8-9gb a mo and see myself dipping into rollover minutes every month now.
 
then why would anyone go for the $40 and 2 yr renewal if it is more expensive in the end?


the 2 year is cheaper on mobile share plans UNDER 10 gigs.


The thing is, it's only a tiny bit cheaper... about $50 total over those 2 years.

If you don't care, at all, about unlocking the phone then might as well save the 50 bucks though.


if you do care about unlocking then it's worth the extra $50 to do next and be able to get it unlocked anytime you want (by paying off the phone)


If you're on a mobile share plan 10 gigs or higher than the 2 year never makes sense compared to next.



(folks on old grandfathered plans no longer offered will have to do their own comparisons as there's dozens of possible old price structures they might be operating under)
 
One thing about a Next plan. You lose that phone. You are fudged. Like hard fudged.

Because you don't have anything to trade into a new phone. So you have to pay the full term of your payment plan.

Which will be beyond the date the next iphone comes out. Its a tricky game.
 
One thing about a Next plan. You lose that phone. You are fudged. Like hard fudged.

Because you don't have anything to trade into a new phone. So you have to pay the full term of your payment plan.

Which will be beyond the date the next iphone comes out. Its a tricky game.

what?

lose how?

after you make the 20 payments or pay it off early it is yours. subsized phones are a think of the past. no matter what you do you are paying full price for the phone. later.
 
I have 6 devices in 10 gig and 1 next phone with my discount from work I pay 224 vs paying 320 like I was before.

Having more devices is a plus for using family shared and next for me.
 
subsized phones are a think of the past. no matter what you do you are paying full price for the phone. later.

the 2 year contract option, if you're on a less than 10 gig plan, costs you about $50 less than NEXT does.... so it's still, very slightly, subsidized compared to NEXT.






One thing about a Next plan. You lose that phone. You are fudged. Like hard fudged.

Because you don't have anything to trade into a new phone. So you have to pay the full term of your payment plan.

Which will be beyond the date the next iphone comes out. Its a tricky game.


Uh... what?

If you lose the 2 year contract phone you're exactly as out of luck- you're paying full price for a replacement phone if the 2 years aren't up yet.

Again for folks on current plans the ONLY real difference in cost between 2 year and next is determined by if you are on 10 gigs or more or not.

If you are, next is always cheaper. If you aren't then 2 yr contract is, very slightly, cheaper.



People on next who are "trading in" an iphone after 12 or 18 months are idiots... they're losing money compared to pretty much any other option.

If you're someone who MUST have the new phone every year then your "cheapest" option is selling it privately after 12 months and paying off your NEXT balance with part of the sale, not trading in to AT&T for a lot less value, then buying a new one.
 
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