Hmmm...looks like I will be finally be making the move to a cell phone after all these years. If all goes well with Starlink for the next 30 days, I am going to cut the cord to my Big Bend Telephone service. Right now I am paying $101/month for phone and slow DSL. Just phone service alone with unlimited long distance from my land line would be $57/month - so if I keep Starlink and cut off just my DSL, my monthly nut for phone and internet would be $156/month. If I do away with BBT altogether and make the switch to Mint Mobile (big fan of Ryan Reynolds), I will have high speed internet and unlimited calling for $114/month - and a smart phone that will work just about anywhere. When I am home where there is no cell service, I can access the network with wifi calling. I will even be able to keep my old land line phone number by porting it over to Mint Mobile when I cut the cord. They are currently running a special with $50 off select smart phones as long as I pay for 12 months of service in advance. At $15/month for unlimited calling and texts and 4 GB data (the data cap isn't an issue since I plan on using it as a phone only), the total package for the $50 off smart phone I have in mind (Samsung Galaxy A01) and 12 months of service would be $249 (phone $69 + service $180).
In the meantime, I dug up the old phone I got with TracFone service that I bought for one of my doctor trips to Odessa 5 years ago. The service is no longer active on it. While researching phone options, I came across an app that allows an old smart phone to make VoIP calls. Installed TextNow and signed up for a FREE account. Made and received a couple of calls with it and they were crystal clear. I was pleasantly surprised as I had tried MagicJack 12 years ago and at the time, the call quality was kind of crappy. Since TextNow is free, I thought I would give it a try just for fun. This isn't really an option in place of a new phone and cell service with Mint Mobile as VoIP 911 service is a bit convoluted and unreliable and this old smart phone does not have the wifi calling feature in the settings menu to use it with a mobile phone service provider. I guess I can use it as a backup phone. 34,41,18,0,C
4 comments:
I myself get pretty tired of researching options. Glad you've got the gumption and that it is giving you a good time!
I went and looked at the Mint plan. Looks pretty nice. And I noticed that the 4gb of data is not a limit. It's just 4gb at 5G speeds and then unlimited data at a lower speed. Not bad at all.
Thanks Russ... I didn't read the fine print on that.
I'm not one to "advertise" products I have no financial interest in, but...we have had great results using the "WhatsApp" app. Phone calls, video calls, etc... All free. Very useful in keeping touch with friends and relatives that live in other countries. Just FYI.
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