Getting the right coverage plan for a family is certainly not an easy nor simple task. It is hard enough getting a consensus on what to have for dinner, much less getting an agreement on which service provider t mobile vs verizon their family should patronize. Important to remember, a family cellular phone plan works just like a regular individual one. 

The difference is that instead of it working for one line or phone number, it works for a number of lines with customers being able to choose how many they want to add. By essentially providing the purchaser of the plan with a package deal, it works out cheaper as a person should be paying a lower cost individually because the cell phone provider benefits from having a whole family signed up at once. It is important to note that most family plans could be considered just shared plans as it could be just a group of people either living together or a close friends group.

The mechanics of these family plans usually break down to share a monthly allotment of minutes, with each member of the group having his or her own phone and phone number, and all charges going to one combined bill. The people within the family plan can call each other for free. Now special thought has to be given as to how the whole family uses their phones. Thought also needs to be given to how many people the plan needs to cover, as well as the available budget. 

Each member within the family plan has their own quirks and preferences so selected plans have to take that into account. For example, someone who uses the plan to check email once in a while doesn’t require as much data as maybe another member who regularly streams YouTube videos or plays online mobile games frequently. 

Typically, with these plans there are penalties for not having the knowledge of what the consumption could possibly be. It makes sense to pick out a plan that offers unlimited data when looking for a family plan of three or more lines. 

Despite many cell phone providers promising unlimited data, many also have soft caps on usage. While connections won’t be disabled for excessive use, some people may find speeds dropped down to  2G if their family plans exceed the, carrier imposed, data cap. Customers should be aware of this and try not to let their family plans go over the data cap. 

Who Has The Best Plans For The Family?

Now there are a couple different points of possible contention that could arise when attempting to filter out the best family plan offers from the top two wireless telecommunications service providers, T-Mobile and Verizon. 

Boasting the industry’s fastest data speed, T-Mobile offers their Magenta MAX plan. This plan has unlimited talk, text, and data. Also every additional line selected has a 50 gigabytes (GB) monthly data cap. This network has the largest fifth generation 5G coverage in the United States of America and so should have less data drops or lulls. Other features of the Magenta Max plan come with: 20 GB of high-speed 4G LTE mobile hotspot data, plus unlimited hotspot at 3G speeds; Unlimited in-flight Wi-Fi on domestic flights; A free Netflix subscription (2-screen); Unlimited minutes international texting in over 210 different countries, plus data and calling benefits in Canada and Mexico and free giveaways and discounts with T-Mobile Tuesdays. 

That being said, it is quite expensive as one single line on T-Mobile’s Magenta MAX Plan will cost the buyer $85 a month. However, this plan becomes a better deal as more lines are added. For two lines it’s $140, or $70 per line. Once you get up to four lines it’s just $170, or $42.50 per line. 

Verizon offers a family plan that is geared towards setting the right parental controls for young children.The Just Kids plan allows parents to pick their kid’s contacts, block inappropriate content, reduce access to chosen apps, and even track phone locations. There is also the Verizon Smart Family app to control filters and settings on the minor’s phone from the parent’s own phone. Kids will get unlimited talk and text on this plan but are limited to 20 contacts. Kids’ lines on this plan should also come with 5 GB of full-speed data. 

Unfortunately, someone can’t just sign kids up for this plan on their own. Instead, the children’s lines need 3G or 2G to be connected to an existing unlimited data plan from Verizon. The Just Kids Plan is costly at around $160 for four lines, but for many parents the control options makes the price more than worth it.