Wednesday, June 27, 2018

More Routes to Cheaper Wireless

We updated our "Cheaper Wireless" page to include a few new ideas.  Check to see if you're eligible as a military family, first responders or reaching a certain age.  We also note that many of the current "Family" plans, which could include a large number of people in your "family", can be even more generous.

Also, if your carrier doesn't offer free international calls, consider a carrier that offers a way to make those calls for Free, like TracFone, or carriers that provide Free international texting, like Twigby.

Monday, June 25, 2018

2G Now Tastes Better

A few days ago we reported how at times we are using 2G data and still enjoying most of the features we want.  Since then, our low-cost example of Unlimited 2G at Twigby has improved even more.  Today, Twigby now offers 300 minutes Talk, Unlimited Texts and 200 Mb of high-speed data at their still ridiculously low price of $9 per month (yes, plus tax, if any).  Not many of us choose the cheapest plan, but many of us do like the option of a cheaper plan.  We can choose it when we realize how much of what we want can be done at 2G speeds. Joy!

(BTW, we didn't get paid for this post but we do have an affiliate relationship with Twigby...and everybody else.)

Friday, June 15, 2018

The Joy of 2G

I was reviewing plans from one of our advertisers, Twigby, and was struck by how much they were offering.  For the rock-bottom promotional rate of $9 they provide 100 Talk minutes and 150 Mb of  high-speed Data.  Not a big deal, right?  What is a big deal is what shows at the top of each plan: "Plans Include Unlimited 2G Data for Free!". Before you recoil in horror at a 2G download, let me share my experience traveling in Europe. I made the mistake of bringing my most expendable phone, some base model LG phone, which, unfortunately, did not have access to the high-speed spectrum used by my randomly-chosen carrier in Italy.  Yes, I was stuck in 2G hell...but I didn't know it.

I hopped on the train and began following my trip on Google Maps.  The train's Wi-Fi was hopelessly slow so I switched to Cellular Data and was able to easily follow the map and keep tabs of my email at a much faster download rate.  Distracted by the passing scenery of Tuscany, I did not notice the 2G symbol on my screen until some time later in the trip.  Yes, I did not notice that my data was coming in at a maximum rate of 128kb, and until then, it didn't matter.

                                   Related: Unlimited Data: The Alternatives

This leads me to believe that cheapskates like me can get a bargain-basement data plan with a few hundred bits of data and still find our phones quite usable.  What doesn't work well? Streaming video and poorly-constructed web sites, something I rarely use.  To make these cheap deals even sweeter, carriers like Twigby also offer, "Unlimited Global Texting...FREE." This is actually a lot of Unlimited for only $9.

Keep in mind this is artificially-created 2G, not the old 2G that carriers like AT&T have stopped providing on their network.  It's also called "throttling" and I now see it as as my way to get the lowest-price wireless.