Ask Techland: How Should I Replace My Ancient Cell Phone?

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Monthly Fees

You’ll have to renew your contract to get any of the above prices, which will extend it to two years. You’ll also need to add a data plan to your voice plan, which adds between $15 and $25 extra per month. I’d go with the $15-per-month plan at first, which gives you 200 megabytes of mobile data.

Use the phone’s Wi-Fi connection at home and at work, and use the AT&T data connection when you’re out on the town. The phone will switch seamlessly between the two as long as you’ve set it up to connect to your home and work Wi-Fi networks first (this is done under Settings > Wi-Fi).

You’ll have to add another $5 per month for text messages, too. That’ll allow you to send up to 200 text messages per month.

So your minimum total cost would be $80 or $100 for the phone, $40 per month for the 450-minute voice plan, $15 per month for the data plan, and $5 for texting. Basically, plan on $80 to $100 for the phone and around $60 per month before taxes for the next two years.

Be aware that AT&T charges you extra if you go over your data, voice, and messaging allotments. If you go over on your data plan, you’ll pay another $15 for 200 more megabytes. If you go over your voice minutes, you’ll pay a whopping 45 cents per minute. If you go over your messaging limit, you’ll pay 20 cents per text message and 30 cents per picture or video message.

 

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