Cell Phone Questions
 

We currently have Galaxy S10e phones using Verizon's network. The phones were purchased on their monthly plan over the last 24 months and are now paid for. Our usage bill with Verizon will now be $90/month.

We're contemplating new phones (5G) or keeping these and obviously getting a new plan. Do the 5G phones get acceptable signals in TV? And if so, which carrier is the best? We also spend some time time up north where the Verizon 5G is very localized. Also, we have Xfinity at both locations (:loco:) and they have a very low cost monthly plan. We use very low data on our phones; normally less than 1GB. Cellular One seems to have decent plans and inexpensive 5G phones as well. Advice on plans and phones are appreciated.

Since there are very few cell towers (I think maybe 2 INSIDE of TV itself) 5G coverage is spotty as is cell coverage in some areas. AT&T here in Amelia is ZERO within 3 blocks of my house. Most towers are on the outskirts. (EDIT: Maybe 3. There is a T-Mobile tower way at the south end near the turnpike) The 2 towers in the area aren't Verizon from what I can tell from the tower map apps so we are on the edge of their signal. . I see 5G about 1/2 the time wherever I am in TV but in truth 5G is meaningless UNLESS you are streaming hi def movies or playing games. I have run SPEEDTEST app dozens of times both with 5G off and 5G on in the same spot and often the 5G speeds are LESS than standard LTE speeds but BOTH are plenty fast for normal use. Based on that I have disabled 5G on my phone since I doin't stream HD movies or play games and 5G uses much more battery. Also, if you are on Verizon's SENIOR PLAN or low end unlimited plan or on one of their MVNO's like Xfinity or US Mobile or Visible your data speeds are very often throttled. I am using an iPhone 12Pro Max on a Verizon MVNO but your Samsung should do just as well. I would suggest downloading SPEEDTEST app or go to SPEEDTEST.NET and check your speeds if you REALLY need 5G. For 90% of users 5G is just advertising BS because (read the fine print) you rarely get what they promise if at all.

We have two newer iphones on the AT&T 55+ plan. We pay about $120 for unlimited talk/text/data. This amount includes $7 towards purchasing the phones (trade-in deal) and $24 for insurance so right around $90/month for the cell service for two phones.

The 55+ plan includes unlimited data but does not include hotspot capability. If you don't use much data you might be able to find a cheaper plan.

Coverage has been good. There may be one or two places where I haven't been able to get a signal but they were inside a rec center or other building. At my house my phone generally prefers wifi calling though I do have an adequate signal.

We switched from Verizon to Xfinity's low cost, l GB data plan two months ago. No problems with reception so far, including time traveling in Texas. They gave DH his first smart phone as part of the deal. Even though he said he would never use a smart phone, he has been converted.

Only problem has been my inability to access the mobile billing account. Will require a trip to their office to straighten out.

I have Xfinity Mobile and my monthly bill is $13.60 for one phone. It uses the Verizon network which is the only cell network I would ever use. I can use up to 1gb of mobile data for that price, but I hardly use any data because almost every place I go in The Villages has a wifi connection. If you exceed 1gb of data, you pay about $12 per gb.

I would definitely buy a 5g phone.

Fast.com is Netflix speed test

Cellular One is the way to go. Soon, there will be a brick and mortar store in Brownwood and one is being added in Lake Sumter.

Verizon reported terrible earnings. The capital requirements are enormous and there is no more cheap money. 5g a pipe dream here. Empty promises to sell phones

Cellular One is the way to go. There will be a brick & mortar store soon in Brownwood, and one in Lake Sumter at a later date. I have 1 gb of data and the reception is excellent and the customer service is top notch. I pay about $22 per month with unlimited talk and text. I will be looking to purchase a new phone when the Brownwood store opens.

Wife and I switched from Verizon to Xfinity mobile a couple years ago. $32 a month. We exceeded the 1gb data limit one time when my wife was running a hot spot for an open house so the bill was 44-46 dollars that month. You Verizon wireless customers are getting ripped off like I was for years. Like the OP stated you have to use another Xfinity service to qualify and you have to have a phone that is compatible or buy another one. Amazing to me they haven’t raised the price yet (probably just jinxed myself)

Your post hits 100% of my personal experience here. I came in as a Visible customer, changed to a AT&T program, but now back on a Xfinity program. My experience with any 5g data speeds has been horrible. What a gimmick.

TMobile is the way to go. Have not had any problems.

The Villages is a very large area. Some areas have great reception, while others have terrible or unusable service.

And yes, a newer phone will likely be better than an older phone.

That is why you are seeing quite a range of responses, with varying degrees of service.

When we moved to Marsh Bend in 2019, ATT sucked. I didn't change service, and learned to use WiFi calling with my Samsung and spouse's Apple iPhone.
Fast forward to 2021, and service is now great. We are by Lowlands. I've helped neighbors test reception, and I seem to be doing better with ATT. Verizon and T-Mobile aren't as good. The other companies being mentioned are called MVNO carriers, and they piggy back on the ATT, Verizon, or T-Mobile towers.

So in the end, it's location, location, location! Ask your close neighbors to find out who they use, and about the phones they are using.

Plus one! :BigApplause:

If you use less than 1G of data, why do you need 5G service and a new phone?
I have Verizon, 2 phones including a Galaxy 9 (older than yours) unlimited data for $80/ month and no problems.

Mint Mobile 15$ per month includes 4 gig which I use (but have never gone over) when outside of WiFi…..2 phones 30per month - Verizon was 140 per month- rip-off.

For what you are paying you could make payments for a used car
 

cell phones service are over priced

I pay $15 per month for unlimited text and voice and 4 gigabytes of data. I hardly consider that overpriced and is less than I was paying 10 years ago.

Note that the rec centers have free wifi service. Logon once with your Villages ID and golf pin, and you will get automatic access every time you enter any rec center.

Also, if you have Xfinity internet service, you could save a lot of money using the Xfinity Mobile cell phone service and have the Verizon network, which has always been rated the best of the four national networks. My monthly bill is only $13.60.

Consumer Cellular
 

Consumer Cellular is great. MUCH cheaper than your current payment. About half for two lines.

I have both T-Mobile and Verizon. Both are pretty minimal. So I have a cellspot from tmobile in the house which improves it far beyond what i would get inside the house. I also have a verzion extender device that works so-so. Verizon runs a company iphone and not impressed. TM runs the rest of the phones. I have a S22 Ultra, although I no longer buy through the cell service I buy direct, I find it's less hassle and in the long run far less expensive. Wife is changing from iphone12 to S22 Ultra next week. it just works better. Cost well since I'm carrying the world on my TM plan that's 135 for 6 unlimited lines (phones and watches). all the phones, watches and insurance for those is carried through samsung or apple.

The short version is this - no matter who you use it's going to cost you roughly the same amount. Even if you get your phones for free, they aren't. there is always a catch. However I realize some people don't see this either, so I've input my two cents.... good luck!

what area do you live in?

Thanks for the info.

I have used the rec center wifi a couple of times but I typically don't think of it.

I may look into Xfinity mobile. Their pricing today starts at over $60/month for two phones. While this is cheaper than what I currently have, my current package is getting me $1,600 worth of phones for about $200 total. I'll have to see what Xfinity offers for phone upgrades.

What I found out is that often if you have a specific model cell phone that you got from one service provider it most likely will not work with another provider. Nothing wrong with Verizon but your phones may not be compatible with any other provider.

We’ll get whatever you want but the last 3 yrs.in TV Verizon for us was terrible. We & some neighbors had to go to the end of our driveway to keep connected. After we were told Verizon was going to put another tower near Charlotte village it never happened. We now live in Texas & presently use T-Mobile which was terrible in TV, plus only paid $23. a month but with 2 phones $46. a month, unlimited everything. Couldn’t see $150. a month for 2 Verizon phones.

If you are using a cell phone as a text and phone device and want to select your own data use, and no contract, just monthly take a look at tello.com. I pay 10/mo for 1 gb and unlimited text/calls. It uses almost any unlocked GSM phone, either buy one from them or use your existing unlocked phone, and the uses the t-mobile network which seems to work well.
If you are going somewhere and will be needing more data for that month, you can up your plan for that month,unlimited is 29/mo and then drop down again the next.

And even much better if you are using less than 1G a month, why isn't everyone on Xfinity Mobile at $12.00 a month. Wife and I share 1G and it is a screaming deal! On the rare occasion we go over 1G the months bill is $30.00 total with taxes. We have saved thousands over the 4 years we have been on this plan.

In the past, you needed to log on to the rec center wifi every time. But, now it will automatically reconnect you every time you enter any rec center.

I've seen two posts about $12 Xfinity service and the post above seems to imply that is for two lines. When I go to their website they advertise $15/line for 1Gb of data. Is there a special deal I am missing?

My total Xfinity Mobile bill is $13.60 per month, including taxes, as long as I don't exceed 1gb of data. If I use more than 1gb, I am charged a "by the gb" price which is about $12 per gb, but I have never exceeded 1gb. You can also subscribe to an unlimited data plan. Note that, there seems to be a lot of Xfinity Mobile wifi hotspots in The Villages, so I often don't even use any mobile data. So far, this month, I have only used 223 mb of data, and the month is almost over.

I think you suffered a "brain cramp." I believe you meant to type Consumer Cellular. Consumer Cellular will be opening stores in Lake Sumter Landing and Brownwood. I use them and love the service and price.

Cell phones are a necessary tool in our daily lives. Lets face it, you need one today. Cell phone towers can be disguised as trees. Why the lack of cell towers in TV? Doesn't make sense to me.

Shop T-Mobile

We had been with Verizon for years. Shopped T-Mobile, got two new iPhone 13s on a two year contract. Our monthly bill was HALF of Verizon’s! And they didn’t even want out IPhone 11s. We can sell them on eBay and cut our costs even further!

Cell phone service
 

Hi, we use Straight Talk. (recently bought out by AT&T) $143. 44 for 3 months of 25 Gig service for each phone. Multiphone savings need minimum of 3 cell phones on the plan.
When I went overseas I added international for $10 more a month.
Never had an issue with reception.

we switched from verizon to t mobile and 6 months ago. Should have done it earlier

Verizon could care less we left after 20 years

Put cell antennas in (or on) the water towers. Put cell antennas on the top of buildings.
Since they pay rent, why would the developer not want more income for doing nothing?

locked phones
 

OK. You have me interested in switching from Verizon to Xfinity mobile phones. We bought our two phones from Verizon. How do we know if they are locked? Can they be unlocked or is locked a permanent condition?

Call Verizon and ask them. I have switched providers in the past and simply called and asked. I needed one phone unlocked and they told me how to do it.

I have used Pure Talk $45 a month unlimited everything. never have had an issue.

Take the phones to the Xfinity store at Rolling Acres Rd and Rt 441, near Best Buy in the Starbucks shopping center. You can sign up for Xfinity Mobile there and they should be able to tell you if you need to get Verizon to unlock the phones.