Deals.Woot

This depends largely on where you live and the service available, as well as how you use your phone. We live around Boston and we get great service from several companies, but choose to go with Verizon because we travel often and need our phones to work everywhere we go (they have an awesome coverage map). Also, do you need a data plan, or is this just for calls? The Verizon 4G LTE network is quite fast in our area. The Verizon family plan works for us - you buy the basic plan and can include extra basic lines for $10 on the plan (your parents lines, perhaps?). We are in a pickle at this point, though, with 5 kids that now go in different directions and need phones. Verizon limits the family plan to 5 lines total, and we really need 7. We are looking into options at this point for the additional lines, but plan to keep our Verizon plan as is and add something else.

@caron7:

It's been a while since I've needed it, but I used to have two family plans when we needed six phones and they were all with TMobile.

I go with Verizon. They can be pricey for some, but I get great coverage, great service, and am happy with them.

I use AT&T. Except for a few recent hiccups with customer service, I've been quite happy with them.

I used to have Sprint, but for the first year I was with them, I had to call them at least once, sometimes twice, each and every month for new billing issues. By the time we got close to the end of the contract, my father was counting down the days, and we both ended up just ditching our old numbers so we could get on AT&T sooner.

I dunno how Verizon is now, but they were the first carrier I was with, and I REALLY wasn't pleased. I could be standing on one side of my room where I was living at the time and be fine, and take five steps toward the other side and drop the call. Plus, their upgrade policies at the time must've been really skewed, because when I went for an upgrade, they wanted me to pay $130 for a phone my dad had picked up for free not long before then.

Like someone already said before, it all really boils down to where you live, how you would use the phone, and do you travel. I have Verizon for 10 years now I believe and overall I am happy in knowing that wherever I might be in the United States my phone as a cell phone will work. Yes they are expansive but I feel like they are worth the money for service that does work. I now at this moment have the droid X by Motorola yes I know not the best phone out but it does get the job done. My wife has a Sprint and the new HTC Evo Design phone is great but the service on it isn't all that when compared to Verizon. We both live in NYC.