Wireless Plan Buyers Guide

Picking a Wireless calling plan is a complicated process. Between family plans, individual plans, free incoming plans, myFaves plans, Rollover, and… well we could go on for a long time; figuring out what you really need is a challenge. Wirelessinfo.com will make this process easier for you by providing powerful tools, informative reviews and articles like this one to help point the way.  The trick is asking the right questions…

Step 1: How many people are you buying for?
Voice plans on carriers are divided into two major categories: individual plans that include just one line, and family plans that share minutes between two to five different lines. As is indicated by the name “family” plans are targeted towards families that want to buy multiple phones for everyone in the family and have everything show up on one simple bill.

Step 2: How many minutes will you use?
When considering this most people only think of the “anytime” minutes that are included in the plan. For example; a cell plan might provide 450 anytime minutes, and on your bill you will see that you actually used 400 of those minutes. This may make you think that you only made 400 minutes worth of calls, but the reality is that you may have used two or even three times that number of minutes when you include all of the calls you made under one of the “free” options, for example free calls to others on the same network or free evening and weekend calls. When thinking about how many minutes you need you should count ALL of the minutes you actually use. This is especially important because if you move to a new plan you may find that some of the “free” options have changed, and this can have a drastic impact on how much you do or do not have to pay.

Step 3: What types of minutes do you use?
Once you have figured out your total number of minutes you should consider how those minutes are divided. Given the plans that are out there right now it is a good idea to estimate the following:

• Minutes per month used during daytime hours
• Minutes per month used on evenings and weekends
• Minutes per month used with others on the same network
• Minutes per month to and from your top 5 phone numbers

It isn’t necessary  to have exact numbers, but a rough estimate will help you find the best deal.

Step 4: Which carrier do you want to use?
Many people tend to stay with the carrier that they originally signed up with, this is why carriers offer so inducements such as free or reduced price phones to get customers to sign up with them; they are often getting a customer for life, but shopping around can help you find a plan that better fits your needs. You also want to find a carrier that provdes good coverage where you need it. Regardless of whether you are open to switching, or want to stay put, the carrier or carriers you are looking at can offer very different types of plans, which will impact your decision.

Step 5: Where can you get the most free minutes?
Once you know what type of plan you are looking for, how many minutes you use, where those minutes are being used and what carriers you are going to look at, you can put it all together. The key to finding a good deal on a cellular plan is figuring out where you can get the most free minutes. Once you know where you use the most minutes you can shop your carrier(s) plans to find the right one. Below are some examples to get you thinking along the right lines:

I make most of my calls to a small group of people
Consider plans like T-Mobile’s myFaves, which give you unlimited calls to any five phone numbers. You can then choose a smaller number of anytime minutes because you don’t need them.

My usage is unpredictable, I use a lot of minutes some months and few the next
In this case a Rollover plan from AT&T might be a good choice, as it allows you to bank unused minutes for future use.

Most of the people I call are on Verizon’s network
In this case you may want to consider moving to Verizon yourself and taking advantage of their “IN” calling feature, which makes calls to and from others on the Verizon network free.

I hardly ever call other people; they always call me
If you find that the vast majority of your calls are incoming you should take a look at Sprint’s free incoming calling plans, which make all incoming calls free.

Regardless of your situation, you are likely to find a plan from one of the carriers that will fit your needs. Remember that you want to strike a balance between not paying through the nose for more minutes than you need, but also not putting yourself in a situation where overage fees are going to hit you hard in the wallet. Knowing your own calling habits is the place to start. Happy shopping!