Do you have to trade your phone in with the the NEXT plan?

I've always sold my phones and what I got for them paid for the new phone contract price.

They do run trade in special's from time to time, we got $200 for a Iphone 4 when the going rate was $100, like last year.

BYOD plans look to be the future, so get used to it.

I don't mind them at all.

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If they would just tell the customer up front that the Next is benefiting them AND the customer it would be a much easier sell.

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This. A thousand times this.

I got PISSED when the moron clerk was pushing next because the moron clerk couldn't explain why I was paying so much more for the phone.

The store manager came over pulled up my last 12 months usage. I upgraded to the iphone 6 plus 64GB, my wife to an iphone 6 and our monthly bill went up by $40 for the next 18 months. After 18 months it goes down $80 a month ($40 net) We traded unlimited data for 15 GB that seems to be much faster.

I am very happy. But the process is so different they need to sit you down and walk you through it.

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I still have unlimited data on ATT but have an iPhone4. Dont want to do the Next but done want to buy a new phone either. Screw ATT.

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You can still sign a two year contract and not pay the additional charge for not being on Next since you are on an old plan. You will get a subsidized phone as well.

I stayed on the contract. Next would have been cheaper if I would have had either one more user or about another gig or two of usage monthly between the two of us. My wife and I just don't use enough data to make the #s work for us, but I know that we are in the minority there. The chick at the AT&T store told my wife flat out that there were no 2 year contracts, so I just went online and completed it. Then my wife went back to the store to pick up the phone.

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Do you have to trade your phone in with the the NEXT plan?

I've always sold my phones and what I got for them paid for the new phone contract price.

They do run trade in special's from time to time, we got $200 for a Iphone 4 when the going rate was $100, like last year.

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You don't have to trade in if you don't want to, but it requires you to pay for the remainder of the phone if you want to keep it. So if you trade after 18 months and they are running a promotion, it might be better to go through the upgrade instead of paying it off and selling on your own.

Blame your federal government for this change. They are the ones driving this decision

Cricket. Same network, half the cost.

Just switch to T-Mobile. 2 lines unlimited 4G LTE data and no contract. You can either finance your phone over 24 months no interest, lease it 18 months and upgrade 3 times a year at any time or flat out buy your phone. Can pay any amount any time when you finance. Unless T-Mobile blows where you are (and this isn't your old T-Mobile) there is really no reason not to go with them.

I'm a month overdue for an upgrade. Ordered a phone online and went to pick it up. That's when I was informed about the $25/mth discount that I would no longer receive if I didn't go with Next. They flat out confirmed that if I walked out of the store with a new phone my bill was going up $20-25 no matter what. Difference was whether or not I paid anything up front for the phone.

This is a load of crap. Bad part is that it looks like most of the other companies are doing the same thing. My options are except the $20+/mth or go buy a new phone full retail.

Check out cricket. Same network, half the cost.

Problem with switching to anyone else right now is... we technically have 1 yr left on our contract. Wife and I got out of sync for our upgrades yrs ago. Basically one of us gets an upgrade each year and the contract gets extended another 2 yrs. Wife renewed last summer so we are another yr from being able to leave without a buyout.

Cricket uses the exact same network as AT&T?

AT&T bought Cricket. They used to be a cmda mnvo but are now gsm.

Yes, Cricket uses same network.

I'll just buy a phone that is a couple of years old every year or so and save all the extra $$.

I get 5 gigs of data and unlimited everything else for $90 a month (2 lines, $10 discount for extra line).

I use data heavily, and never go over 5 gigs (spend a lot of time in wifi).

Saving over $150/month from AT&T next, which will easily buy myself and my wife a brand new phone every year if we wanted.

Easy decision.

Do the math... I'd bet they payback period on buying out your contract and switching to Cricket is <12 mo. If you need to refresh your device pick one up off ebay. "Last gen" galaxy or iPhone should be able to be had for around $250. Or you can try one of the cheap Chinese smartphones offered by cricket.

Cricket is probably still a better deal but I just got off the phone with att retention. Talked me into Next. Getting an S6 priority shipped and ended up getting my total bill lowered by $40/mth.

Proof you can still get an old fashioned upgrade if you don't have shared data.

With their new plans the upgrade way is a bad choice. It'll cost more per month and you are locked into the contract. The unlimited plans andre generally cheaper to go the upgrade route.

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With their new plans the upgrade way is a bad choice. It'll cost more per month and you are locked into the contract. The unlimited plans andre generally cheaper to go the upgrade route.

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I have 5 phones (4 smart phones, 1 dumb phone) and an ipad on my plan. When I priced it upon the introduction of NEXT, my old plan was cheaper.

But I am open to anyone who wants to help me figure this out.

what are the details of your current plan?

How come I would only get a $15/month discount for doing AT&T NEXT as opposed to the $25/month savings?

Is it because my mobile share plan is only me and I only have the 3GB of data plan?

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what are the details of your current plan?

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$265 total after taxes

3 smartphones with 3gb data
1 iphone with unlimited
1 ipad (currently $16)
1 dumb phone (currently $13)
unlimited texting ($30)

We get a 28% discount from my hubby's work.

Minutes are not an issue. All smart phones are currently under 2 year contract; dumb phone and ipad are not.

Geez, remember when none of us headphones and we got along ok?

My ATT plan
15G shared data
4 iphones with all differenct #'s.
Unlimited text/talk

$225 drive out.

(2) iphone 6's...2 iphone 5S

I get a 20% discount for something....

why not personal hotspot the ipad dubi?


I don't do NEXT. And will check out cricket when it's time to upgrade again.

My Cricket plan:

2 phones. 5 gigs data each. Slows after five gigs of data are used up. Unlimited everything else.

$90/month. No contract. Quit whenever I want.

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why not personal hotspot the ipad dubi?

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i can't with my current plan.

Can I get double data or was that a 1 time deal?

How much data are you using across those devices?

Under the new family share plans, your corporate discount is applied to the data pool only.

With these new plans, figure about $20 per line for all your phones (not sure if they have a discount for "dumb" phones anymore. I'll assume 10 GB for the shared date but you may need more.

With 5 phones you would be paying $100 for the phones and $72 for the data ($100 less the 28% discount). Round up to about $80 to factor in taxes and you should be all in for about $180.

You'll be able to use the ipad on the mobile hotspot from any of your smartphones so I didn't include that.

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How much data are you using across those devices?

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Less than 10gb per month

I have a 7 GB plan for $75 month which works for us but I don't see that offered anymore. Looks like 10 GB is the lowest plan they offer which gives you the $25/line discount. The lower ones look to only give you $15 off per line.

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How much data are you using across those devices?

Under the new family share plans, your corporate discount is applied to the data pool only.

With these new plans, figure about $20 per line for all your phones (not sure if they have a discount for "dumb" phones anymore. I'll assume 10 GB for the shared date but you may need more.

With 5 phones you would be paying $100 for the phones and $72 for the data ($100 less the 28% discount). Round up to about $80 to factor in taxes and you should be all in for about $180.

You'll be able to use the ipad on the mobile hotspot from any of your smartphones so I didn't include that.

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What the hell am I doing wrong then? My wife and I just moved over to NEXT and choose the 12 month version, and our bill is $160/month pre-tax. That's for 3GB shared data and two Galaxy S6 Active phones. I realize we could have chosen NEXT 24 and saved $10/phone, but still...

$40 - data
$25 - access for phone 1
$25 - access for phone 2
$35 - NEXT payment for phone 1
$35 - NEXT payment for phone 2
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$160 + tax


Edit: Nevermind, I think I figured it out. If dubi isn't paying for phones as well then your estimate is good...

Welcome to the gift that keeps on giving: AT&T phone plans!

AT&T phone plans are kind of like an STD. Which, is why I now have cricket wireless.

Yeah, but this phone is frickin' awesome...

yeah, the big x factor is whether you own the phones outright.