Tow Truck Cell Phones

[das_peikko]

Can you guys recommend a cell phone strictly for calling tow trucks? I don't need it for anything else.

Everybody automatically assumes that the person broke down on the side of the road already has a cell phone.

 

[GrtArtiste]

No, but if a tow truck is your only reason for wanting a cell phone then I don't think a cell phone is going to help you in the long run.

 

[Skippy722]

Idk how their coverage in your area is, but T-Mobile offers a $3 a month plan. Only data, 30 minutes a month.

ATT has a $2 PER DAY of use plan. Basically if you don't use it, no charge.

 

[Andrew1972]

Cell phone is step 3. I think you need to figure out what provider has decent service (Sprint vs T mobile or drats superior but $$$Verizon) then pick provider. https://www.moneysmylife.com/top-5-cheap-prepaid-cell-phone-plans-under-10/ Finally pick a cell phone that works.


I am curious without a cell phone do you pay for landline?

 

[das_peikko]

Originally Posted by madRiver
I am curious without a cell phone do you pay for landline?


Yes. $10 per month. The phone company told me that if I ever upgraded to a fiber optic line, they'd never let me have the copper line back.

 

[Virtus_Probi]

Originally Posted by das_peikko

Yes. $10 per month. The phone company told me that if I ever upgraded to a fiber optic line, they'd never let me have the copper line back.

We get our interwebz over the fiber, pretty cheap and fast.
Only bad thing is the phone dies after maybe a day if the power is out.

 

[MoneyJohn]

Originally Posted by madRiver
Cell phone is step 3. I think you need to figure out what provider has decent service (Sprint vs T mobile or drats superior but $$$Verizon) then pick provider. https://www.moneysmylife.com/top-5-cheap-prepaid-cell-phone-plans-under-10/ Finally pick a cell phone that works.


I am curious without a cell phone do you pay for landline?

This is a good link, just stay away from H2O wireless. Get Airvoice Wireless PAYG if you decide to go with at&t. I have used this in the past, now on their $10/month plan.

Unless you have a reason to pay for a Copper line, Google Voice hooked up to OBi 200 is free.

 

[atikovi]

Originally Posted by das_peikko
Originally Posted by madRiver
I am curious without a cell phone do you pay for landline?


Yes. $10 per month. The phone company told me that if I ever upgraded to a fiber optic line, they'd never let me have the copper line back.


Do you have indoor plumbing and electricity?

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted by das_peikko
Originally Posted by madRiver
I am curious without a cell phone do you pay for landline?

Yes. $10 per month. The phone company told me that if I ever upgraded to a fiber optic line, they'd never let me have the copper line back.

We knew that already, you told us before under your old name

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by das_peikko
Can you guys recommend a cell phone strictly for calling tow trucks? I don't need it for anything else.

Is this something you do / need on a routine basis ?

What about a phone strictly for calling 911, ambulance, etc ? Too bad one couldn't do both.... If you get in an accident, you also should call your insurance company so there's phone # 3. You could end up with quite a few phones.

 

[BJD78]

I rarely use my cell phone maybe talk an hour a year if that and I do not text ,so I have an old LG flip phone that is from "Trac phone" I bought it at a Shopko about 5-6 years ago for $15.00. No monthly bills. It is double minute so you can buy a 60 minute card for $20.00 and most trac fones have double minutes so you get 120 minutes. Some of their phones have triple minutes. I have no use for a smart phone so it works fine for me with no monthly bills. I have over 800 service days left before I need to buy another card. Every card gives you the minutes and adds 120 service days, and more days with a triple minute phone. There are other similar type phones like Net 10 and Jitterbug that are just basic phones, you can make receive calls and text and nothing more. I have been to some very remote places and my $15.00 trac fone would get a strong signal where these fancy I phones and smartphones could not get any signal strength. I would check TracFone, Net 10 or Jitterbug.

 

[Wolf359]

If all you want to do is call a tow truck, I think just about any phone that doesn't have a plan will work. They're all supposed to work with 911 even without a service plan. So just call 911 and tell them you're broken down by the side of the road and they'll send out a tow truck for you.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted by Wolf359
If all you want to do is call a tow truck, I think just about any phone that doesn't have a plan will work. They're all supposed to work with 911 even without a service plan. So just call 911 and tell them you're broken down by the side of the road and they'll send out a tow truck for you.

OH, COME ON!!!!!

We just missed on another 3 threads asking how to get to a phone dealer, then what color and shape the phone should be....

 

[supton]

I use a tracfone, my wife uses PagePlus. Verizon is the only towers that sorta work at home, and Verizon works everywhere we go, thus we are stuck with CDMA.

I upgraded to a Moto G4 and wife uses an iPhone 6. I bought mine new for $180 but I use it constantly on wifi. She got hers used off ebay for I think $230, and likewise uses it mostly on wifi. But we both have data available on our plans. We use our phones mostly on the web and occasionally for texts. Once in a great while we will even use it as a phone...

I pay about $7/month for service, which is a $20 every 3 months. She pays I think $5 a month and puts on like 6 months at a time.

 

[Hall]

Originally Posted by Wolf359
If all you want to do is call a tow truck, I think just about any phone that doesn't have a plan will work. They're all supposed to work with 911 even without a service plan. So just call 911 and tell them you're broken down by the side of the road and they'll send out a tow truck for you.
Not sure if that's an "emergency" worthy of 911 but if you're lucky, they might transfer you to the non-emergency number to get add'l help.

 

[Quattro Pete]

Originally Posted by supton
I pay about $7/month for service, which is a $20 every 3 months. She pays I think $5 a month and puts on like 6 months at a time.

Wow. This makes me feel like a sucker paying $50 to Verizon every month. I need to look into these low priced services. How much data do these plans come with?

My usage varies from month to month, depending on how much time I spend on the road. Sometimes I'll use 200 MB a month, and sometimes 4-5 GB.

 

[pandus13]

Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by supton
I pay about $7/month for service, which is a $20 every 3 months. She pays I think $5 a month and puts on like 6 months at a time.

Wow. This makes me feel like a sucker paying $50 to Verizon every month. I need to look into these low priced services. How much data do these plans come with?

My usage varies from month to month, depending on how much time I spend on the road. Sometimes I'll use 200 MB a month, and sometimes 4-5 GB.

Check the MVNO with the best reputation using the network you use already.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Originally Posted by supton
I pay about $7/month for service, which is a $20 every 3 months. She pays I think $5 a month and puts on like 6 months at a time.

Wow. This makes me feel like a sucker paying $50 to Verizon every month. I need to look into these low priced services. How much data do these plans come with?

My usage varies from month to month, depending on how much time I spend on the road. Sometimes I'll use 200 MB a month, and sometimes 4-5 GB.

You might not fit well. My $20 card ($7 per month) gets me 60 texts, 60 minutes and 60MB per month. That won't work well for you! There are other plans, and the more you buy, the cheaper it gets. But if you alternate between 200MB and 5GB per month, a full out plan might be better. You'd have to run the numbers.

 

[kschachn]

Originally Posted by Quattro Pete
Wow. This makes me feel like a sucker paying $50 to Verizon every month. I need to look into these low priced services. How much data do these plans come with?

My usage varies from month to month, depending on how much time I spend on the road. Sometimes I'll use 200 MB a month, and sometimes 4-5 GB.

I'm sure you already know this but when you read about a plan's data allowance you have to be careful to read the fine print. Some start to throttle your speeds at relatively low thresholds or put other restrictions on your usage. All of which may or may not concern you but it is good to know the details.

I have four phones on our current provider and we all use anywhere from 25 to 50 GB total per month. My current unlimited plan says they may restrict data usage after a certain amount in congested areas, but there is no predefined cap or throttle threshold. One month when my daughter stayed at college over the summer she used about 60 GB when she didn't have WiFi and was using her phone to stream Netflix to her TV.

I'd love to lower my monthly cost but I really can't find one that is liberal with data usage.

 

[PandaBear]

Originally Posted by madRiver
Cell phone is step 3. I think you need to figure out what provider has decent service (Sprint vs T mobile or drats superior but $$$Verizon) then pick provider. https://www.moneysmylife.com/top-5-cheap-prepaid-cell-phone-plans-under-10/ Finally pick a cell phone that works.


I am curious without a cell phone do you pay for landline?


Wow, $3 a month....