How to Buy a Wireless Phone

When purchasing a wireless phone, there are many things to consider. The service coverage area in relation to the places you'll be using your phone, the manner in which you'll use it (emergency only, primary point of contact, PDA style, etc), the features you want, the pricing of the rate plan and the pricing of the hardware.

Let's look at these issues individually. Starting with "I want my phone to work everywhere I go". This is just not technically possible. Service coverage depends on the topography of the region, atmospheric conditions and the layout of the towers that supply the signal. Although in one city a carrier may be great, when you go to another city, that same carrier may not be great. In one area, they may have more subscribers so they build better coverage, then in another area not so many subscribers. No carrier is great everywhere you go, and despite the commercials, the small print says the same things we've discussed above. Understanding that being in a building in a rural area or even in the midst of downtown NYC could prevent you from getting a signal (where is the cell tower located in relation to where you are is what will determine your signal ability) or being behind a big mountain can cut you off will better prepare you for stress free wiresless using.

The next issue is, how are you going to be using your phone? If it's just for emergency use, any physical phone will do the job. If it's for business, you may want a more expensive model with PDA style features. If you're going to be calling home/friends/family often, maybe one of the more middle of the road phones with moderate features will suffice. Remember, when you buy a phone the first time, yuo get a big discount on the phone. So if a wireless phone is $29 with activation, that phone most likely cost the carrier $59 but they know you'll be paying a monthly bill, so they sell it to you for less, knowing they'll get their money on the back end. However, if you break that phone and have to replace it, you'll be paying the full price (for example, $129 for this phone) because now the carrier has already absorbed the cost of one phone and now a second phone. They'll want to make profit somewhere on these phones, and the replacement phone is one place they do. So expect that is how it works, because it is how all carriers do business. It's not a scam or some kind of ripoff.

Next is rate plan. These days, many carriers have an unlimited or all in one plan. These are usually pretty good deals. Although you have no intention on using it so much, payyng the extra can in the long run save you money, as you can now use the phone anytime you want and not pay long distance from your home phone to most places. Choose your plan wisely, often times there is a fee to change plans, which is just wasted money. Try to avoid contracts when you can, even if you have to pay and extra $5 a month. What they don't tell you is the contract rolls over automatically unless you give them 90 days notice in writing of your intention to go month to month or cancel the service. Big penalties apply if you don't.