Top 4 Reasons to Switch Cellphone Plan Providers

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Woman frustrated and confused by her phone service
Dean Drobot / Shutterstock.com

Many people end up staying on the same cellphone plan for years simply because they don’t want to go through the trouble of changing plans.

Hopefully, this article can be a bit of a wake-up call for both me and you. I’ve been on an AT&T family plan for all my adult life despite the fact that I can’t get a bar of service when I go to my local grocery store.

Think how many marital disputes I could have avoided had I been able to contact my wife in the grocery store and purchase the correct item.

Let’s talk about the top reasons why you should switch your cellphone plan.

Coverage

The biggest motivator for changing cellphone plans is poor coverage. If you constantly find yourself without cell coverage in your day-to-day life, it’s definitely time to change your wireless network.

The easiest way to find the best network is to check out the coverage maps for each major network. Yes, this takes a few minutes of legwork for you to make an informed decision, but it still beats having your calls suddenly drop. I’ll give you a head start and link to all the major coverage maps below:

Click on each of the links above to get a breakdown of each coverage network. You can also click on the interactive maps and enter your ZIP code to get a glance at coverage in your specific neighborhood.

Cellphone data

If you’re the type of person who gets a text message from your carrier halfway through the month that you’ve used up all your data, it might be time to upgrade your cellphone data plan.

In the past few years, unlimited data has become much more affordable than it used to be. In fact, you can get an unlimited data plan for as cheap as $30 per month right now.

Many unlimited data plans come from smaller prepaid carriers that offer discounted unlimited plans. Prepaid carriers typically offer cheaper rates, with the caveat that your data speeds can throttle and slow down when the network gets congested.

Upgrade your cellphone

Cellphone carriers constantly offer deals for brand-new phones when you switch carriers. If you time it right, you can take advantage of a promotion to get a brand-new Android or Apple device.

For example, you can a brand new iPhone SE if you switch to Cricket Wireless right now.

You can also regularly find free cellphones from major carriers as well. Another example: AT&T can hook you up with a brand new iPhone 12 if you switch over to AT&T or upgrade to an unlimited plan for current customers.

You can always hit up your local brick-and-mortar AT&T, Verizon or T-Mobile store to have someone walk you through all the free phone options.

Get some new perks

Another worthwhile reason to switch cellphone plans is to hook yourself up with some new perks. Each of the big three carriers (AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile) offer some free streaming perks if you opt for a premium unlimited plan.

Here’s a pro-tip: You can cancel your subscription with your favorite streaming service (whether that’s Netflix, HBO Max or Disney+) and opt for a premium-tier cellphone plan that includes that streaming subscription.

You get the subscription you want, and you’ll get a better cellphone plan. To help you decide, here are the free streaming perks that come with each carrier:

  • T-Mobile: Free Netflix subscription
  • Verizon: Free Disney Bundle (includes Disney+, ESPN+ and Hulu)
  • AT&T: Free HBO Max

Take a look at cellphone plans to see if you’ll get a better deal by combining your streaming subscriptions with your cellphone plan.

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