Apples to Oranges: Comparing Phone and Internet Services

Comparing phone services used to be simple. You just compared landline carriers. Easy peasy.

But now in the age of television, new phone, phone service and internet bundles, it is getting increasingly harder to compare the deals.

For instance, the fast talking foreign speakers at Sprint tried to convince me I had to decide on THAT CALL whether or not to accept a deal on their new iPhone + extra iPhone free + phone service + plus a phone hot spot for my internet connection.  They talked over me when I tried to ask questions and finally disconnected when I asked the second guy to hang on for a minute while I thought about it. 

At least the two people I spoke to at AT+T spoke better English and spoke slower and actually listened, but I still got disconnected when the guy named something like Jamai put me on hold to check rates. At least I wasn't getting a bunch of fast talking jibber jabber about setting up my second free phone for a with a hot spot RIGHT NOW on this call.

Sprint

Sprint said they had a deal where I could get 50 Gigabits (gigs, Gbps) of hot spot through a second free phone, plus the phone service, for only $72 a month. Would 50 gigs be enough for fast connection? They didn't offer that info, and I found out later it probably would not. Would using the 2nd phone as a hot spot burn it up pretty quickly? I found out later it probably would. Would the $72 a month cover service for BOTH phones or be in addition to the service on the phone I was already paying for. They never said. So if I had signed up IMMEDIATELY as I was pressured to do, I would have had slow internet service through a second phone that would probably burn up pretty quickly from being used as a hot spot all the time -- and my service might cost twice as much.

I have been satisfied with Sprint as a carrier although I usually have a slower LTE signal in my area if I am not on wifi. But if Sprint wanted to keep my business, they would have to do better than pushy, fast-talking bundle deals.

I called Sprint back and was able to get a lower price on my phone bill but found that there was no bundle for phone plus internet, and their internet price wasn't low enough to tempt me, although with my reduced phone bill, it would be lower than the next place I checked, AT&T.

AT&T

At least the two people at AT&T listened to me and didn't immediately launch a spiel at me. Before I was disconnected, I was told they could ship a box out for free that I would plug my computer into for the internet. Hello! No burning up a phone as a hot spot! A friend mentioned the box would probably come at a $10 a month charge, but before the guy could get me the pricing or tell me if there is a bundle deal, he disconnected me. He had taken my number to call me back, but after waiting an hour, I called AT&T back to get the rest of those rates.

The reps at AT&T didn't talk gigs; they talked Megabits (MBps). The best bundle deal I was offered at AT&T was $110 a month less a $10 promotion which would be $100 a month for 12 months.

Comcast

Comcast priced their services differently since they are not a phone service. For 60 Megabits per second that will provide hi-speed to up to 7 devices, they offered a rate of $53 per month for 12 months. For 25 MBps, which covers up to 5 devices, Comcast charges $43/month. They also mentioned they have a special rate for students, senior citizens and financially strapped people who qualify of $9.99 a month, or 15 MBps, which would take care of two devices. 

To their credit, Comcast didn't disconnect me like the other two companies, and although their reps are clearly outsourced, their English was easy to understand.

Sometimes a bundle is the best way to go and sometimes it is better to get your phone service with one carrier and your internet elsewhere. It can be tricky if you don't know the difference between Gigabits and Megabits (1 Gbps = 1,000 Mbps). And sometimes you have to wade through a lot of proptional hype to get to the basic numbers, but comparing the different rates and  packages is still the best way to come up with a plan that works for you.

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