Find the Best Cell Phone and Plan for You
PhoneDog's innovative comparison tool can help you save on cell phones and plans. Find the best phone and plan for you today with PhoneDog!
PhoneDog's innovative comparison tool can help you save on cell phones and plans. Find the best phone and plan for you today with PhoneDog!
Compare cell phone carriers in Illinois to find the best cell phone carrier for your needs using PhoneDog. Compare cell phone carrier coverage maps in your area. Click or tap on the wireless carrier logos to view the coverage map for that carrier. Use our cell phone plan comparison tool to find and compare the wireless carrier plans, pricing, and more. The comparison tool includes major and minor carriers. The minor carriers and MVNOs run on the networks of one of the major carriers.
Everywhere you look there are many different options when it comes to cell phone service in Illinois. You really don’t have to look hard to find a company that is begging for your business. But you don’t want to settle for the very first company that offers you a great deal. You may think one deal looks like the best, but it may put a large dent in your budget if you don’t compare it to another plan that has the same text, talk, and data limits. When you find a cell phone plan that you believe will work the most it is very important to compare it next to other plans to ensure it is the best one. You can do this here at PhoneDog. We offer a comparison tool that will allow you to check out various plans next to one another at one simple website. We can help you save the time you would have spent researching various plans on your own, which will then allow you to save money.
When debating between different brands, what carrier options should you value the most? When looking for the right cell phone plan, pay close attention to the coverage quality, carefully assessing the cell phone carrier with the best coverage in Illinois before deciding. Many companies attempt to sway you with slick offers, charging you next to nothing, tempting you with low rates, only to trick you into signing a contract that chains you into years of poor or even non-existent coverage. At home, without coverage, your calls will go to voicemail, forcing you to step out of the house to make a call. Thankfully, this rarely happens, as most major national carriers have coverage in almost all U.S. cities, which means that such situations rarely happen. However, avoid this rare conundrum by carefully checking the carrier's’ coverage maps, giving you the peace of mind that your city is completely covered.
Even though every consumer is a bit different, they’re all looking for the same basic things when it comes to cell phone service. They want a plan with enough minutes and text messages that they won’t go over their limits, and enough data to cover the amount that they use.
A consumer always needs a cell phone plan that fits his needs, but it’s even more essential if he plans to use his cell phone for the majority of his communication. This is becoming more and more common as consumers eschew home phones entirely. Using PhoneDog, the consumer can check out the plan and carrier options in Illinois to see how much money he could save over his current wireless plan.
There are three types of wireless plans: individual, family and prepaid plans.
Individual plans are also known as single-line plans, and the name is self-explanatory. The consumer pays one rate and receives a certain amount of data, texts, and minutes per month for his one phone line. For single adults, an individual plan is usually the most affordable option.
A family plan allows a group of people to each have their own device. This is by far the best deal for two or more people who want to get phone service together, as they’ll pay less on a per-line basis than they would with multiple individual plans. With a family plan, everyone shares the same pool of minutes, texts and data, making it important that the plan has a sufficient amount to cover everyone’s needs, whether they live in Illinois or not.
Prepaid plans have several other names, including no-contract plans and pay-as-you-go plans. The consumer pays in advance for phone service, which means he only has to pay for what he uses, although there can be extra fees. The main advantage with these types of plans is that the consumer isn’t committing to a contract. The downside is that phones can have a higher upfront cost because the consumer must pay the full price. The most recent and advanced smartphones are often available with prepaid plans.
Individual and family plans are either contract or no contract plans, and the consumer must commit to the plan for a certain length of time if it is a contract, with the standard being two years. Some carriers with service in Illinois also have one-year plans available. The consumer must pay for the plan monthly, and if he wants to get out of his contract early, there will almost always be an early termination fee. The early termination fee will typically include a percentage of whatever was left on the contract, along with a penalty.
How do you know what plan will work best for you in Illinois? First of all, ask yourself how many people will need to be on your plan. Is it just you, or are you looking to get a family plan? Next, you should calculate exactly what kinds of services you will need. The three basic things to consider when forging your plan are your minutes, your text messages, and your data usage.
Cheaper plans let you limit your minutes and text messages. Usually, you will have about 400 minutes to talk and 400 text messages to send every month. However, if you're always on the phone or constantly texting your friends, it's often best to get an unlimited plan, that way you will never run over your talk, text, or data limits. Data plans in Illinois usually are sold per gigabyte, and you should be aware that in many cases, if you go over your data limit, you will be hit by significant overcharges. Make sure that you choose a data plan that will sufficiently cover your communication needs, otherwise you might run into this problem.
AT&T, T-Mobile, Sprint, and Verizon Wireless all offer cell phone coverage in Illinois. Even smaller carriers usually operate under one of these carriers, and are known as MVNOs.
AT&T has been one of the largest wireless providers for years and offers many different types of plans. Customers can choose from individual, no contract, contract, family, and pay-as-you-go wireless plans. AT&T even offers an unlimited data plan.
T-Mobile offers all no contract plans for customers. All T-Mobile customers receive unlimited text, talk, and data (data is throttled at different levels) for one monthly price. They also offer family and individual cell phone plans.
Sprint offers a few types of plans including an unlimited plan that many find affordable. Sprint offers a variety of plans at an affordable rate.
Verizon Wireless offers family, individual and no contract plans. You can choose from a prepaid plan, shared data plan, or unlimited data plan to start. A shared data plan may be used by one individual or within a family and include unlimited texting and talk time, with a pre-set amount of data.
MVNOs also offer reasonable cell phone plans and prices in Illinois. These can be compared along with the other major carriers by using our simple cell phone plan comparison tool right here on our page.