How can you compare mobile communication plans?

With a growing number of Telcom moving towards unlimited and carryover plans, but older data allowance still available, you really need to work out what works best for your usage. That said, read the fine print and look for pitfalls such as speed throttling, no roaming and no hotspotting etc...

Telstra resellers like Aldi and Belong seem to have the edge. Both rollover data and justify buying the phone outright. Support is likely poor if you need it, so only for the streetwise.

The reality is that service providers have many secret knobs to manage your "Quality of Service" based on your plan costs. So what you believe is a great deal may not be the case. It's hard to compare plans on fair footing so best is to ask around folks in same phase of life as you. If a plan works for them, then it works for you. So avoid analysis paralysis, keep it simple.. Hemish Parikh, PhD.

My way is to buy a second hand device and get the cheapest SIM only plan on the market. I pay £5 for 5 gig. In the UK you shouldn't be paying more than £5 per month. You can of course pay £10 for 10 gig. Why waste time comparing contracts, get the cheapest SIM only for your data usage. Your device can be cheap too, don't pay top notch for a camera you don't really use. We could swap the 40 Megapixel cameras on phones to 5 Megapixels and most people wouldn't notice.

Keep it simple, that's key, both as a user or as a provider... avoid overcomplicated offers that only create noise, while trying to create value... remember (both ends) that users think more with a "share-of-pocket" approach... And also consider that most people in the world are more comfortable on a prepaid basis... and this is not exclusive of BRICA or emerging markets.... in the UK (as an example) around 60% uses a prepaid scheme to cover their mobile service access.

Cellular reception can dramatically change from outside to inside. Modern phones can adapt with wifi-calling, but if the power or internet is out you want a real connection to the tower. Spend a minute in each room of a property you're looking at moving into. Even better, bring some friends or coworkers with different carriers to see who does better. When I say take a minute in each room, I mean it. The signal indicators don't change immediately, and if you're too quick you won't see the differences. If you can, run a speedtest. This not only shows how good of a signal you can get, but how much of a bottleneck the cellular tower is.

With most networks having cross sharing agreements, comparing maps is not that much valuable. The main question is are you a heavy data download user (go with most dense operator) or light (go with any as you can use their network sharing agreements and keep your costs low).

This, would be even more important to check, for those who travel a lot on roads. Coverage of roads and rural places, or roaming agreements with the other operators who provide such coverage, could be very important for road travelers, and potentially lifesaving.

Network coverage is important but network capacity is as well key for the quality of experience. Considering that the main usage is mobile broadband, it is key that mobile network could support high throughput. Radio coverage could be correct but with very low throughput, high latency etc. Regulation bodies like ARCEP in France regularly check those performance of coverage, throughputs (time to download a file) and latency (important for gaming !) to measure the "real" performance of the networks.

Of course, it is very important. Poor quality leads to extra data consumption because of the différents attempts before getting the right download or freeze during streaming

It is important to consider some factors: 1.Personal usage of voice,sms,data, roaming . 2.Compare benefits of the tariff plan you choose with your personal usage.3.Consider carefully if there is any FUP( Fair Usage Policy) in the unlimited benefits .4. Carefully control the Step Charge policy of tariff plan especially for benefits you might use the most (Voice 30s+1,) bigger is the step charge faster your benefits evaporate.5. Cost per Sms,Mb,Min after your benefits are consumed,here is where all the carries make profit as usually they charge triple .6. Roaming cost mandatory to see roaming countries list that carries covers and cost per each of them, preferably charge is daily fee that gives you right to transfer local benefits in roaming.

Many MVNO's promote their plans including international roaming. But it is worth doing more research on before you buy it. My experience with GoogleFi unlimited plan on their most recent Pixle series phone was not positive. I had zero voice and data connectivity in London and Paris city centers which is not what I would expect in populated areas. So seems like some engineering gap where they did not provision my GoogleFi phone number to work internationally. So, some blog research is a good idea. Thx. Hemish Parikh, PhD.

Yes Fully ok Make sure you take a plan whose faire use policy is around your average consumption For roaming , chose the best Price plan

Customer service is critical. It is good to access a call center or at least a good self-care portal. There are good chatboat or CSP with good faq knowledge base

Customer service on technical matters rarely lives up to the user expectations. The fastest way is to switch plans to another provider and move on. Yes, non technical issues like billing etc. can mostly be managed successfully over phone or email or chat or with a coffee and a quick visit to a nearby store. Thx. Hemish Parikh, Ph.D.

It is always good to check the customer review and operator’s feedback! To verify your similar requirements by other’s review and consider if similar pitfalls may impact you! Also verify operator feedback if it is aligned what they want to offer and commit to provide your needed services.

In a cellular network plan, a single user's phone should be added as a last resort, when the signal level disappears, if there is another user nearby it can function as some type of repeater point. This is what some applications offer, but it can be done automatically when the network or a particular site goes down, this can help not lose 100% service, probably with less bandwidth and speed, but always connected. Think about this, you coverage planners.

After all the analysis, if you are still unable to make decision based on absolute metrics, then it is OK to go with subjective metrics, like the look and feel of things. In the end follow your intuition and stick with it and be flexible.

One of the reasons I chose my present carrier is when I realized I have free text and data (slow speed) when I'm traveling abroad. Given that most of my usage is WhatsApp and text internationally, it worked out perfectly

If you're in a challenging cellular reception area, you can look into signal boosters or wifi calling. I'd recommend avoiding carrier specific boosters as you'll get locked in or have to spend more to replace it. Get something carrier agnostic and keep your flexibility as a consumer. Wifi calling is nice to have, especially indoors, but adds overhead to your regular connection.

Consider family plans for best bang for buck. Consider fixed prepaid plans (some are as cheap as $10-$20 per month) suitable for people who are less mobile and mostly in WiFi vicinity. Thx. Hemish Parikh, Ph.D.