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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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Would I just be switching to "shared data"? Or is NEXT any part of this?

You don't have to mess with Next unless you want to. You can use your current devices for now (assuming they're not still under contract).

When you want to upgrade, you can buy it yourself (phones like the Moto X are available straight from the manufacturer for around $400 right now), buy it used, or use ATT's Next to spread the payments out of a length of time. Even if you go the Next route, you're not required to do the early upgrade unless you want to. I usually keep my phones for a while so it works well for me.

Are you able to root or otherwise alter the software on the phone if using Next? Since it seems basically like leasing the phone I wonder if they can restrict what you can do to it as opposed to when you are purchasing it outright..

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You don't have to mess with Next unless you want to. You can use your current devices for now (assuming they're not still under contract).

When you want to upgrade, you can buy it yourself (phones like the Moto X are available straight from the manufacturer for around $400 right now), buy it used, or use ATT's Next to spread the payments out of a length of time. Even if you go the Next route, you're not required to do the early upgrade unless you want to. I usually keep my phones for a while so it works well for me.

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I have 2 phones eligible for upgrade. Would there be an advantage to do that before I switch?

We have to iphone 6's we got last October and they are showing as "under contract". Other 2 smart phones are showing out of contract.

If you're planning on turning it back it, that would be a consideration.

In most cases, you can return those things to stock fairly easily though. It would bring up warranty implications if you bricked it but that is always the case.

I think if you upgrade to new phones now, you'll be extending your current contract by two years so you wouldn't be eligible for this plan.

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Are you able to root or otherwise alter the software on the phone if using Next? Since it seems basically like leasing the phone I wonder if they can restrict what you can do to it as opposed to when you are purchasing it outright..

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You aren't leasing it you are financing it. You can do whatever you want with the phone. If you break it you'll just have to pay off the balance, same as when you want to upgrade.

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I have 2 phones eligible for upgrade. Would there be an advantage to do that before I switch?

We have to iphone 6's we got last October and they are showing as "under contract". Other 2 smart phones are showing out of contract.

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From what i remember when i switched to this plan ~18 months ago or so was that all of the phones that were on contract became eligible for an upgrade soon after. There was no monthly charges for the phones on contract as they were treated as a bring your own. Once people on my plan started to upgrade then the monthly charges began to kick in. essentially ATT ate what was left of the the subsidy charge on the phones that were on contract to switch us to the next. Since i buy my phones outright i don't have that charge on my line.

I would have to look over it more but it may be possible to upgrade to new iphones in october and switch plans in November and not have to pay the $2X.XX a month per phone that would occur if you bought them on the next plan.

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You aren't leasing it you are financing it. You can do whatever you want with the phone. If you break it you'll just have to pay off the balance, same as when you want to upgrade.

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you are essentially "leasing" it if you choose the option to turn it in early and upgrade.

I don't think they're going to let you upgrade to a discounted (subsidized) phone then quickly switch to the un-subsidized Mobile Share Value plan.

If you upgrade on a two year contract, you'll have to keep that contract for at least a year before you can switch to Next and even that will take sweet talking an associate to get it done for you. That's what AT&T told us when we were debating between a two-year contract or Next.

Ok. Anyone want to help me understand this whole Next thing and whether I should look to switch or not?

2 Lines - iPhones
550 Minutes w/Rollover ($50)
Added Line ($10)
iPhone Unlimited Data Plan ($30)
iPhone Unlimited Data Plan ($30)
200 Texts ($5)
1000 Texts ($10)

Out the door w. Taxes: $155 ish

Our average per-month usage over the last 6 months:

8.7 GB Data (6.4 Wife, 2.3 me) 3 out of the 6 months we went just above 10 GB total.
100 Texts (60 wife, 40 me)
400 Minutes (230 wife, 170 me)

I just can't really see any cheaper plan than the one I am on, considering my plan is probably 10 years old at this point. But I'm open if there's a way to save some cash.

you probably won't beat that since you use a lot of data but don't have much need for unlimited texting or minutes.

The mobile value plans are better for larger families that don't use a ton of data.

You can't just look at the cost of the plan, you have to factor in the $450 subsidy for the 2-year contract plans (non shared data plans). So even if you find a plan that is slightly a better value, just remember you will pay roughly $15-20/ month more for the full price of the phone on Next, so factor that into your monthly plan.

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Ok. Anyone want to help me understand this whole Next thing and whether I should look to switch or not?

2 Lines - iPhones
550 Minutes w/Rollover ($50)
Added Line ($10)
iPhone Unlimited Data Plan ($30)
iPhone Unlimited Data Plan ($30)
200 Texts ($5)
1000 Texts ($10)

Out the door w. Taxes: $155 ish

Our average per-month usage over the last 6 months:

8.7 GB Data (6.4 Wife, 2.3 me) 3 out of the 6 months we went just above 10 GB total.
100 Texts (60 wife, 40 me)
400 Minutes (230 wife, 170 me)

I just can't really see any cheaper plan than the one I am on, considering my plan is probably 10 years old at this point. But I'm open if there's a way to save some cash.

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Equivalent plan on Cricket:

"Smart" Plan
unlimited minutes
unlimited texts (including usa, canada, mexico and 38 other countries)
5GB data per line (10GB total for your two lines)

$45/mo x 2 = $90/mo
$10 discount on 2nd line
Total = $80 per month including taxes and fees (with auto-pay)

If you run out of data you can add 1GB for $10, or you can just live with throttled data until your next cycle. The throttled data is slow but usable for stuff like surfing texags. At least you have the option whether to buy another gig, unlike ATT, which automatically dings you $15 a GB even if your billing cycle starts over the next day.

Your savings on the plan would be $75 a month, $900 per year. Even if you buy a new top of the line phone every year for $600 you are coming out $300 ahead.

isn't it either groupsave or autopay discount?

Cricket would save me a bit, but the no teathering/hotspot thing would bug me. I use it all the time for my kids ipad or when our crappy work internet goes down.

Here is a file I created last year when they were doing the double data promotion and I was debating switching. If you would like the file to play with, I can email it to you if you like. Basically I went through and calculated the total costs for the plans for 6 years since the initial periods were all for different periods, and 6 years was the least common multiple, then converted each to an annualized cost. It appears your current plan is the best option and would save you almost $400/year compared to the cheapest Next plan. That assumes I haven't missed anything in my formulas or assumptions.

If you buy phones resale, don't upgrade every 2 years or buy an android phone for $3-400, those assumptions are way off.

If you want a new iPhone every 2 years, the two year might make sense for some people.

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If you buy phones resale, don't upgrade every 2 years or buy an android phone for $3-400, those assumptions are way off.

If you want a new iPhone every 2 years, the two year might make sense for some people.

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If the queen had balls she'd be the king.

You're telling me my assumptions are way off, but you're okay assuming he's willing to buy a used phone and then keep an already used phone longer than the common two year upgrade cycle. If he's willing to buy used phones, then he can get a new old-model phone less than the price shown in my scenario, possibly even free, depending on the phone.

In my scenario, each phone is $31.25 per month on Next, so if you don't upgrade after two years, you are saving $62.50 on your bill. But on a two year contract, with the same phone, the cost for two phones is about $29/month, so your savings on Next are $33/month after two years, which would take about a year to recoup the savings on the Next plan.

I've already stated previously in this thread that I think that if you're going to keep your phone longer than two years, Next may be the better option. If you're going to keep phones 3 years or more, then Next is probably the better choice in almost all situations. Also, from what I have seen, Next also generally becomes a benefit for families with 3 or more phones on a plan, or if you have two phones each on a $30 data plan (unlimited or 3GB) and family texting plan and would only need 10GB of data or less on a shared plan.

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Here is a file I created last year when they were doing the double data promotion and I was debating switching. If you would like the file to play with, I can email it to you if you like. Basically I went through and calculated the total costs for the plans for 6 years since the initial periods were all for different periods, and 6 years was the least common multiple, then converted each to an annualized cost. It appears your current plan is the best option and would save you almost $400/year compared to the cheapest Next plan. That assumes I haven't missed anything in my formulas or assumptions.

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Can you run down the calcs for the Next 12 option (column E)? What calcs are going into each number?

Taxes and fees are based on my taxes and fees percentage of my bill when I originally created the spreadsheet. The phone charge is (I assumed a 64GB iPhone in my case) $750/20*12, because the monthly payment is spread over 20 months, but you only pay it for 12 months before you upgrade. The phone taxes I assume are included as a one time charge on your initial bill after the purchase and would be 8.25% (most likely) of the $750 purchase price. The voice, data and text charge just comes from the plans shown on AT&T. The device fee is the access fee per device on the plan, again, taken from AT&T's site.

Thanks

wasn't trying to start an argument so don't take it that way. Just pointing out that different people will approach these things in different ways. Buying a used phone was just one option.

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Ok. Anyone want to help me understand this whole Next thing and whether I should look to switch or not?

2 Lines - iPhones
550 Minutes w/Rollover ($50)
Added Line ($10)
iPhone Unlimited Data Plan ($30)
iPhone Unlimited Data Plan ($30)
200 Texts ($5)
1000 Texts ($10)

Out the door w. Taxes: $155 ish

Our average per-month usage over the last 6 months:

8.7 GB Data (6.4 Wife, 2.3 me) 3 out of the 6 months we went just above 10 GB total.
100 Texts (60 wife, 40 me)
400 Minutes (230 wife, 170 me)

I just can't really see any cheaper plan than the one I am on, considering my plan is probably 10 years old at this point. But I'm open if there's a way to save some cash.

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I can get you 2 new iPhone 6's, unlimited talk, text, unlimited 4G LTE data, free everything to Canada and Mexico, free international text and data to over 180 countries, free Wi-Fi calling anywhere in the world back to the US for free (you have Wi-Fi, you can call over it) 7 gb of hotspot each month for each line with both phones insured (loss theft and damage)
$146 before taxes.

Oh yeah and no contract, no overages, no bs

Yeah, I probably shouldn't have responded like that. My scenario I posted was just one that is most similar to what the common practice has been for people upgrading their phone on the old two-year contracts, just so you're starting from a familiar point of view. I don't even have it to where you can buy phones at multiple price points, but if I gave the file to anybody, they could change it as they see fit.

No worries. Here's an example of highly reviewed Android phone that came out a few months ago for $500 brand new on eBay.

LG G4 H815 - Factory Unlocked - 32GB 4G LTE Smartphone

I think now that carriers are moving away from subsidized contracts, consumers are becoming a lot more aware and sensitive to pricing so you'll see prices continue to trend downward from phone makers (expect for iPhones because apparently price elasticity does not exist for Apple).

Two Questions:

1. Does switching to Next end an unlimited data plan?

2. The $40 fee is just a one-time thing, right? As long as I don't let them talk me into a Next plan there really should be no changes to the current billing?

(Currently on staggered two-year plans with 5 different phones with a premier business account, wanting to upgrade an iphone 4 and not change anything else at all. Four of them have unlimited data plans, one is a few GBs a month and never even gets close to it).

We had the same type of plan zurca. We had 6 phones all unlimited data. One of the phones got changed to the new shared media plans, and that changed ALL of them.


So with that in mind, heres the answers to your questions that we found out...
1. Yes, it ends it.
2. No, it is not a one time fee. It is $40 a month for 2 years. Ridiculous.

Are you talking about the $40 upgrade fee for a 2-year contract? If so, that is just a one time fee.

However, I'd look at your plan and total cost and look at the typical and then your high months of data usage. I would not be surprised if Next would be cheaper for you. Yes you pay more for the phone, but with that many unlimited data plans that are not using more than 3 gigs or so each, you could likely cut your costs over a 2-3 year period, especially if you don't upgrade phones every two years.

For those that are currently on Next and have a premiere account, how did your discount change when you switched to Next? I get 15% off the first line rate plan and the unlimited data plan line, and I'm just wondering how that translates to a Next plan. I think I have read that it applies only to the shared data portion, but just wanted to verify with those that have already made the switch?

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Are you talking about the $40 upgrade fee for a 2-year contract? If so, that is just a one time fee.

However, I'd look at your plan and total cost and look at the typical and then your high months of data usage. I would not be surprised if Next would be cheaper for you. Yes you pay more for the phone, but with that many unlimited data plans that are not using more than 3 gigs or so each, you could likely cut your costs over a 2-3 year period, especially if you don't upgrade phones every two years.

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Line 1 & 2 use about 3GB total.

Line 3 uses about 4GB.

Lines 4&5 use about 13GB combined. (We get throttled after 5GB so its hard to go much over that).

The $40 fee is only a one-time fee if you are NOT on a 2 year contract with Next. I.E. you are financing your phone. If you go to the mobile data share plan, which is what Next is, and you still want to sign a 2-year contract to get a cheaper phone instead of paying full price via financing monthly, you pay $40 per month for 2 years just to have the phone.

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The $40 fee is only a one-time fee if you are NOT on a 2 year contract with Next. I.E. you are financing your phone. If you go to the mobile data share plan, which is what Next is, and you still want to sign a 2-year contract to get a cheaper phone instead of paying full price via financing monthly, you pay $40 per month for 2 years just to have the phone.

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You are confused. The $40 per month is a per device access fee that costs more if you are on a 2-year contract and mobile share data plan. If you are on Next with the mobile share data plan, the per device access is $15 or $25 per month, depending on the size of the data plan you have. 6GB or less is $25/device/month and 10GB+ is $15/device/month if you're on Next. Basically it's your "voice plan" when trying to somewhat compare to the old plan types. It's just that every line is charged the same instead of having additional lines be $9.99 like with the old plans.

For me, the discount is only off the date package. I think that's the case for most people.

Basically AT&T wants out of the phone business. I don't blame them. Probably has to do with a contract with Apple.

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What in the hell are they doing now where you are forced into ATT Next to tack on 20+ dollars a month to your bill?

My bill for one phone with crap data would go from 70 to 90+.

What happened to the plain 2 year contract upgrade? That is an insane bill for 1 phone.

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welcome to ATT's billing BS to extract every nickle out of you they can. Friggen hate ATT.