What To Look For When You Compare Prepaid Wireless Plans
What to Look for When you Compare Prepaid Wireless Plans
Are you needing to compare prepaid wireless plans? Well, there are a number of things you need to consider when deciding on a prepaid plan. Things such as the kind of network need to be considered, in line with the carrier's service offerings and price.
These are only some of the things you need to consider when you have to compare prepaid wireless plans; here are them all:
1) Network type
The kind of network (CDMA or GSM) is actually worth considering first for the simple fact that you may already have a wireless cell phone, and are just looking to find a well priced prepaid plan to work with it.
CDMA and GSM are two different types of technology, which basically means that you can't use a GSM phone on a CDMA network and vice versa. This is why carriers in the US are either completely CDMA or GSM, and don't offer both types of support on their network.
So if you already have a phone you're limited to whatever technology the phone uses. Unless, of course, the phone itself supports both CDMA and GSM, but these kinds of phones are usually very expensive.
2) Budget
It goes without saying that you need to decide on what kind of budget you have. Prepaid makes things easier for you in this respect, as most prepaid plans are created around varying budgets. You can get a plan where you pay a straight fee for calls or a plan where you pay a higher fee upfront but get unlimited network to network calls, and so on.
Prepaid allows you to budget ahead of time, so there are no surprise bills. You 'top-up' your airtime as you need it. This is one of the major advantages of prepaid.
3) Network coverage
You really don't want to choose a carrier with excellent pricing but shocking coverage. Carriers such as Verizon Wireless, AT&T, Sprint Nextel, or T-Mobile have nationwide coverage. Verizon Wireless is currently the biggest, especially since it has recently acquired Alltell Wireless.
4) Phones on offer
Many times you can pick up a wonderfully priced phone on a prepaid deal with a carrier. You should always be on the lookout for these kinds of deals. However, make sure that the phone you get is not 'locked' to the service provider (meaning it can only be used on their network) or, if it is, that there will not be a problem if you want to unlock it and use it on another prepaid plan if you're not happy with this carrier. Check your options here carefully.
Otherwise, look at places such as eBay for some really great deals on second-hand or even new phones.
5) Perks
Take a look at the various perks offered. All the carriers offer you certain call rates and certain unlimited rates, depending on your package. To simplify, take a look at their most basic prepaid plans and work from there. That will usually give you an idea as to which carrier really does have the best prices.
These are the five points you must take into account when you compare prepaid wireless plans.
