Need help with figuring out cellular plans

Alright guys, I need your help. (warning, wall of text)

I have never had a smart phone or really even a cell phone before. I simply never really needed one. Well that changed last week. I just moved to Seattle, and I have no idea how to get around. Sooooooo I think it is time I get one.

I need to get two phones and a plan for two people.

Cellphone plans kind of confuse me a bit. I can not really get a good idea of how much data I will be using. I expect that both my mom and I will be relying very heavily on gps and potentially checking gmail every once in a blue moon.

Neither of us will use the phones to watch videos through the data plan. What ever sort of heavy downloading we will do will be done on wifi at home or wherever.

I have had some sales men say that I really need 3GBs and others say that I might only need 1GB. Most people online seem to think 2GB is a good number, but I thought I would ask you guys.

The other question I had about that is that both sprint and Tmobile offer unlimited data. Now I know that once you use up your 1GB (or what ever) the speed slows down to 2G speed. My question is if 2G can load google maps and still function as a gps.


Now as far as the phones themselves go, I am just totally lost.

All the phone for my mom really needs is a good clear screen, a good camera, and a long battery life. She wont play any games, she will pretty much only make calls, maybe take a picture or two, and of course use it as a gps.


For my phone, its a bit different. I want a pretty solid camera, solid battery life, but the kicker is that I want a good development platform. I want to be able to install my own custom OS, and make little games and what not.

I have been eyeing those one plus phones, but maybe you guys have a different recommendation.


Thank you in advance for any guidance you can provide.

T-Mobile doesn't slow you down. Literally downloaded 100GB for lolz one month with no issues. Went to the T-Mobile store to get my little brother a phone and the look on the rep's face was priceless. As for data, if you're only using it for maps and aren't going to be browsing or watching videos much then 2-3GB is probably fine. It will save you a lot of data if you use the offline map save feature in Google maps and download that shit once. As for companies, personally I love T-Mobile. They have been good to me. Not sure how the coverages is up in WA but when I was up there for LANSyndicate I didn't have any issues. I have never personally used Sprint but I don't recommend them. CDMA is a dying and stupid system and their phones have zero resale value. Verizon phones are factory unlocked and will work on other GSM networks so that's a plus. ATT also has unlimited but you MUST have Uverse TV or Direct TV and it MUST have exactly the same billing address and name on the account for it to work. Screw ATT though.

This is all assuming you want post pay however. If you want prepaid then go with T-Mobile. $40 gets you Unlimited talk and text with 3GB of high speed data that drops to ~100kbps when depleted. It would be enough for messaging but not really mapping. Binge On is also a thing. If you've got more questions let me know. I'm in the mobile department at work.

I have heard good things about Ting, you only pay for what you use. As for phones, I like to keep to Nexus devices, I currently have a Nexus 5X and I'm very happy. As for your predicted useage, I thought I wouldn't be using much data till I got a smartphone. How things have changed...

Ting is crap. It's over priced as hell and is marketed as "only paying for what you use" while still costing way more than anything else. If you want any data from them then prepare to be bent over.

Nexus 5 or 5x
Get in on a Ring plus flash sale
Right now they are offering 4000min 4000text and 4000mb every month with a one-time activation payment of 40$
Look into it great for people who don't waste a lifetime posting pictures to Instagram

Waist is the bit you need to measure when buying pants. Waste is the word you're looking for bro.

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