Good cell phone companies

15USAFAap

5-Year Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2010
Messages
12
:rolleyes:Hi,
This question might sound kind of lame, but I need some suggestions. I read in a much earlier post that Verizon phones work well at the academy. Are there any other companies that have dependable service? I have only used prepaid cell phones, and plan on doing the same. Would Virgin Mobile be alright (really good monthly rates)? I just don't want to get a new phone that might not work once I'm there. I know that it's not something super important. Still, I will want to be able call home when I can.

Thanks
 
my Verizon worked great. some friends with ATT and Sprint not so much. Don't know people with Virgin Mobile
 
I know a cadet (firstie) with an iPhone (AT & T) that has given him few problems as he's climbed as many 14's as he could.
 
Verizon is pretty terrible in Sijan, where AT&T seemed to work without problems. Thankfully Verizon's coverage is much better in Vandy.
 
My son has used AT&T all four years and the service has been great. He uses his iphone for internet access in his room on his desktop computer and it also works well for that.
 
My son has used AT&T all four years and the service has been great. He uses his iphone for internet access in his room on his desktop computer and it also works well for that.

Ditto exactly what Bandit said. In the 4 years there, our son has been in both ends of Sijan and Vandenberg and has never had a problem with AT&T service.

Stealth_81
 
Sprint works in Sijan, but it can be spotty (even within my room). It works great over in Fairchild.

Later,

Brian
 
at what point do kids leave the cell phone nest?

It's kind of funny to think about it but do kids even at USAFA typically just stay on the parents plan even through UPT?
 
It's kind of funny to think about it but do kids even at USAFA typically just stay on the parents plan even through UPT?

That will be completely up to the parents and cadets. I have heard of just about every type of arrangement. Some parents have their cadets get their own plan and the cadets pay for it, others have a separate plan for the cadets, and the parents pay for it. Others just keep the cadet on the family plan.
In our case, we kept our son on our family plan and we paid. With 5 family members on our plan and having unlimited texts, the extra cost of having him on the plan were minimal.
We will keep him on the plan through UPT as well, becasue we told that kids that they could stay on the plan through grad school, and we consider UPT sort of a grad school. (His sister is getting away with three years of grad school so how could we deny him one year?):biggrin:

Stealth_81
 
My son is in Vandy, he has Verizon and there are no problems with the service. We pay for his cell phone, I think it adds $ 10 per month to the bill. Unfortunately it is a Smart Phone and they make you take a data plan. I told all my kids (6) that there will be no more smart phones.
 
I know a cadet (firstie) with an iPhone (AT & T) that has given him few problems as he's climbed as many 14's as he could.

I know a cadet just like that!

Stealth_81

PS. Your daughter arrived at our house safely this morning. We'll take good care of her.
 
We pay the extra $9.99 for the added line for our cadet on the family plan. The unlimited texting is the same regardless of how many phones we have, so we pay that too.

When my son wanted to get an iphone, which meant he needed a data plan, he pays for that part each month.

Once he graduates, I imagine he will reimburse me for the other $9.99 portion but stay on our plan.

We kind of look at things from the perspective of the family as a business entity and what makes sense for the "whole" family rather than just from an individual standpoint. I can't come up with a single reason that would make sense for him to get his own plan, which would likely cost him about $40 if he can be on ours for $9.99. Plus, AT&T lets you call anyone on their network, so it doesn't use minutes. Plus you can list 10 numbers that our outside their network that don't count either. So between 4 of us, we never even use up the 1400 minutes a month we have for our plan. Plus the unused roll over every month.
 
My son is in Vandy, he has Verizon and there are no problems with the service. We pay for his cell phone, I think it adds $ 10 per month to the bill. Unfortunately it is a Smart Phone and they make you take a data plan. I told all my kids (6) that there will be no more smart phones.

LOL, we have Verizon too, and son needed a new phone after his screen got smashed during army/navy week...we told him if he wanted a smart phone he would have to pay for the data part...he said he didn't need the distraction and ended up getting a ruggedized, waterproof flip phone that meets military specs, so hopefully no more phone casualties!
 
LOL, we have Verizon too, and son needed a new phone after his screen got smashed during army/navy week...we told him if he wanted a smart phone he would have to pay for the data part...he said he didn't need the distraction and ended up getting a ruggedized, waterproof flip phone that meets military specs, so hopefully no more phone casualties!

Good luck. If they don't break the phones they either lose them or they get stolen.
 
my son's iphone was stolen while working as a usafa ranger trainer at Philmont Scout camp. Was sitting next to him while he was taking a nap on the porch.

Just goes to show there are bad people everywhere.

The good news is their USAA insurance covers such thefts
 
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