[COLUG] No Contract Wireless Phone advice

[Andy Ingraham Dwyer]

We went with Verizon.  $100 for the phone, then $30 every other month.  
$.40/min is the worst rate, $.10 is the best.  Rates vary based on
time-of-day, roaming, calling other verizon mobile, etc..  Got $50 worth
of free time when we signed up, plus they sometimes give me extra
night/weekend minutes when I add money via credit-card through
customer-service (as opposed to buying a card at the Kroger).  Text & 
internet are extra, but I have no interest in them.

Coverage has been excellent.  Driving to/from Washington DC, I think we 
were only in "roaming" in a couple of small areas around West Virginia.
Larger swaths of roaming to/from Milwaukee, particularly along US 30 from 
Fort Wayne to the edge of greater Chicagland.  But even while roaming, the 
call quality was quite good.


My siter-in-law got a Trac-phone.  Initial cost and rates are a bit 
cheaper, but the quality when roaming is horrible.  Almost 50% of roaming 
calls are completely unintelligible.  If you can manage to recognize that 
and kill the call before the first 45 seconds are up, you don't get dinged 
for it.  I don't know what network they use.

-Andy

--
                 Those who bite the hand that feeds them
                sooner or later must meet the big dentist