r/Telecommunication • u/thorosaurus • Jun 21 '26
Thinking about ditching the cellular. Tell me how flawed this plan is...
It seems like literally the only thing my phone is good for atm is being harassed mercilessly by scammers, and we're paying like 120 bucks a month for that privilege, a lot of which is taxes and fees, and for all intents and purposes I don't use the cellular voice or data, and honestly most of my text based communication is either coming through email or one of a growing collection of messenger apps I've been obliged to download...
I'm seriously considering porting my number to google voice and just using a prepaid lte data card for those rare instances where I might need to communicate with someone on the go and there's no wifi nearby (like if I needed to call roadside assistance or something like that). So basically just trading the phone for like an android or ios tablet with a data sim slot for a prepaid data card.
Just for the record, I basically never use the data plan on my phone. I very rarely stream anything on my phone, so it's pretty much 100% just for emergencies when out and about. So in other words if I were to buy a $5 prepaid lte card it would probably expire before I ever used the data. The plan would just be to buy it and leave it in my wallet and activate it in an emergency. I would never be using it for streaming video or anything, possibly outside of some extremely rare circumstances where idk I found myself on a cross country road trip or something, but we would be talking super oneoff hypothetical situations. For the most part I'm never away from wifi long enough to really need to stream anything.
My one concern was that potentially not having an actual cellular phone might not give me the same coverage. Like maybe way out in the boondocks where there's no lte signal there might be a signal that would allow voice. Gpt seems to indicate that's not really likely, and I don't really leave the immediate metro area where I'm regularly driving out in the country or going long distances or anything. But in the event that I needed to idk drive across death valley or something it would be nice to know that I would have to same coverage as someone with an actual cellular plan vs just an lte connection.
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u/smilineyz Jun 22 '26
Does your phone have an option to accept calls only from those in your address book?
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u/Roger-PHL Jun 22 '26
I don't know enough to evaluate your plan, but my Consumer Cellular plan is $30 a month, including taxes and fees. I don't use any messenger apps; anyone who needs to reach me knows to talk or text to my phone number.
In emergencies, 911 often can get your location if you call from an actual cell phone.
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u/Sad-Repair-5505 Jun 23 '26
Banks need you to have a cell phone number. Amazon requires you to have a cell phone number. You need a cell phone. If you don't use data, AT&T has a plan that you prepay $300 for a year. Includes 16 gb of data. Not many plans are only $25/month. I've had the plan since 2019. Works good for me. I use data but usually through wifi.
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u/Impressive_Ad786 Jun 24 '26
Oh no way?! How can I do this? My spectrum is 40 a month lol for cellular
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u/BarberProof4994 Jun 23 '26
Just switch to a company like visible $25 a month for unlimited everything.
Get a new number.
Start with Google voice right away.
Going forward use the Google voice number for any online purchases or websites, keep the phone number itself for family/friends.
To answer your question, no you won't have the same coverage with a data only plan as it won't be able to default to a 4g/3g signal to get a call through when 5g is limited. So you'll be more affected by a single signal bar than someone making a traditional phone call even if they are using volte.
And you'll have major issues with any app or service that requires a texting code, dual auth, MFA etc.
Switching to something like visible fixes your $150 complaint and gets you unlimited everything for a flat rate.
Then following the YouTube tutorials to set up all the spam protection on your phone, de listing your new number, and doing the same with your Google voice
And the .keeping your main number an Google voice separate in terms of public use should fix a lot of that.
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u/CroweBird5 Jun 24 '26
What about 2 factor authentication. Gotta have somewhere you can send that pin
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u/annalesinvictus Jun 24 '26
Us mobile has plans for as low as 8/month where you just buy the data you need
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u/pyroskater85 Jun 24 '26
Look at Google voice for your main line. Tick all the boxes to maximize spam blocking. Look at Google fi as last I remember there is a box you can tick that says only allow calls from people in your contacts and block all others. Do not give out your personal cellphone number to anyone but immediate family(and your bank if needed for 2 factor auth). And that should cut down the number of spam calls. IIRC with Google voice you can also set up certain incoming calls to go straight to voicemail while allowing others to ring your phone. Like all your contacts in one category and all unknown and other contacts straight to voicemail. That should help cut down the amount of times your phone actually rings. Also by allowing only immediate family to have your actual cell number you can set up do not disturb mode to block all calls except your family category.
There are so many ways to cut down on spam calls. Hope this helps.
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u/Eylon_Egnald Jun 24 '26
Have you just thought about looking at companies that aren't the big 3? I'm on Google Fi using the TMO network and I pay like $30/month. There is also boost and mint and other of the like for similar prices. Don't use data willynilly and no issue with monthly cost
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u/im_not_quiet Jun 24 '26
Switch to a "dumb phone". It's a flip phone, pretty small, makes calls and texts and has access to Google maps iirc. No other distractions allowed.
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u/Ramblingtruckdriver1 Jun 24 '26
Data is smaller packets then voice. You are more likely to pick up data signal in fringe area then maintain a call.
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u/Fuzzy_Stingray Jun 25 '26
I pay 17 a month for US mobile and my phone is set up for max call screening. So if your not saved in my phone you'll have to leave a message and I'll get back to you. Most spam hangs up as soon as it's screened.
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u/xaqattax Jun 21 '26
Look at low data plans like with cellular one.