Cell Phones -- A Great Question !

This page talks about different carriers - some better in our area than others.  It also talks about monthly plans that are paid automatically so time, minutes, or phone numbers are not lost.  It also talks about pre-paid phones -- forget contract phones unless you know you will be here for more than 2 years:  

First note, if you think you want to bring your own smart phone to use here, the best you will be able to do is at AT&T and it will cost $60 per month, guaranteed!  See "Bringing your own phone" below.  (See also notes below related to T-Mobile & changing Sim cards -- and their attractive advertized plan prices do not include the extra fees for int'l calls & texting.)  

NOTE, the information below is for those who cannot afford expensive phones & plans.  If you can afford IPhones etc, this is fine.  If you are looking to buy new IPhones, first consider the Window's Mobile Phone.  Many consider it better because they don't have to go with AT&T.  Others who are techi and like to program their aps, you might like the Android better. 

Verizon & AT&T are the two most widely used carriers -- with the best coverage.  Other carriers are cheaper but not used by very many in our area because of poor coverage, including T-Moblie (see end of this doc).
Note:  This does not mean we recommend AT&T -- It is the most expensive of all, regardless of the phone used.  Period!

In many countries, texting is free & calls are cheap.  In the U.S. calls are expensive & texting is an extra add-on. 
 

Plans:

The cheapest plan available, and with excellent coverage, is with Net 10 company.  You buy their phone (we recommend one that costs $30) and then you get a plan that suits your need (see comparision below). 

The choice will depend on how much time you spend on the phone on average per month.  One plan is cheaper per month but the other is much cheaper per minute (less than half).  Remember texting & international calls will always add a lot more per minute -- but with NET 10 it doesn't raise the cost per month.
Comparisons of recommended plans:  (There are others at Net10.com, but these are cheapest.)

    actual cost per minute per plan  ||    avg minutes & cost per month
            total min     cost    price/min      || for # months   avg min/mo   avg cost/mo
Prepaid Plan you renew when it's due:
               1500        $100        0.07          || (180 day) 6mo      250           $16.67    
>>   This may be preferred if you don’t talk or text much and remember to refill it.
Monthly Plan that renews itself automatically each month (no contract):
               750          $25          0.03          ||              1mo          750              $25

                  200          $15          0.075        ||              1mo          200              $15
>>  If you start with fewer (avg) minutes and use up the minutes before the time limit, consider the 750 plan.

>> There is also an unlimited plan for calls, texting & Internet:   $50/month.  You will not find one like this cheaper anywhere -- and have good reception also.  (recomment the better phone, LG800 or LG900.)

-- You cannot beat these prices (or rates per minute) anywhere --

And the air-coverage is great, using the same towers as Verizon.

Phones:
 The phone we recommend is a Motorola W408 flip-phone.  This is only $30 and it's built strong.  Sometimes the stores have the more expensive phones (LG800 & LG900) at special discount sale prices but this Motorola W408 is usually still cheaper.  You can see them at  http://www.net10.com/phones.jsp?nextPage=&task=phonedoc&phoneNum=0&hasflash=YES&b=n.  We can check on sale prices for the others if interested. 
To check out the plans, go to WWW.Net10.com.  For the prepaid plans, see Buy Airtime.  For the auto-refill non-contract plans see Enroll in (Buy) Monthly Plan.  

 
 * NOTE:  Texting only works within the U.S. -- not international.  

Most students are happy using email to 'text' back home. 

Also, since most students need to have their laptops with at all the time, home or at school, and all of MIIS is wireless, most students get use to using Skype or MSN which also allows video exchange. 

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Bringing your own phone with you:  

This is huge:   If you want to bring a "Smart Phone" and hope to make it work, you need to read this first.  For more information, go here.

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Prepaid phones seem cheap, but they add up quickly -- they are very expensive in the U.S.  Understand the biggest problem with prepaid phones:  Students get so frustrated at the unexpected high cost, many stop checking voice mail and text messages unless they are programmed in with names they recognize.  Then they stop answering their calls if they don't recognize the caller.  This happens a lot, which makes it frustrating to connect.  It becomes an "emergency only" phone.  Then some forget about it and also forget to reload it before the month is up -- which means they lose their number and have to start all over.   With Net 10 phones, this will never happen!
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Family Plans
This also is a very big issue.  Before you consider this, you need to read this:  Check out this page.   Family plans may seem good, but it probably won't save money.

Other carrier options:   
T-Mobile,     Metro PCS,     Sprint,  Virgin Mobile
All three of these can seem good at first if you look at their cheapest package.  BUT, if you call any store that carries all of them and ask for an honest comparison, they will suggest against them because their coverage is so unreliable.  They work better in big metro cities and in the eastern US, but not as well here.  The prices you see may also be for talking only, before adding texting or Internet -- or international calls. 

EXAMPLE:  One student recommended Virgin Mobile to a new student because it had a cheap international rate.  They bought it and brought to our house for help setting it up -- but the coverage was so poor it didn't work at our house so we couldn't set it up for them.  Some phones are just more dependable.  Another talked someone into taking them to a different city to get a T-Mobile Sim card for their I-Phone (can't get them in Monterey).  A year later he was disappointed because of poor reception.  Enough said!

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Where to buy phones:
There are several places to buy Net 10 phones, and some stores have special discount sale prices -- week to week.  Locally, Target has the best choice of phones (for all carriers).  Walgreens (near MIIS) sells the Mobile W408 flip-phone because it is the cheapest and most popular.  If you are interested, we can get one for you and have it ready to use when you arrive -- so you don't spend the time it takes to set-up and initiate for international calls.  Contact us if interested.