Best Cell Phone Plans in Java, VA

Coverage is still king: a few things to keep in mind

Coverage has gotten dramatically better for all carriers in the last few years, especially for Sprint and T-Mobile. While the country's two smallest carriers often had their coverage compared to Swiss cheese in the early 2000s, their LTE networks today are fully modernized, dense, and ready to perform well even during times of peak demand. With that said, it's a good idea to take a look at independent test results that show the strengths of each network. These tests, performed by RootMetrics, will help clarify which carrier is best for clear calls, fast data, or consistent texting.

Best for Calls: For the third time in two years, RootMetrics testing found that all four major carriers are almost the same in Java, VA when it comes to 'call performance.' This indicates that all four carriers have crystal clear calls, and that all four carriers rarely drop a call that has been initiated. That's great news if your main area of usage each month is wireless minutes.

Best for Texting: During the second half of 2016, RootMetrics testing found that AT&T, Verizon, and T-Mobile were tied for first place in overall texting performance. All three carriers had a near-100-percent success rate in sending and delivering texts. Sprint's texting performance was just a bit shy of making this metric a four-way tie.

Best for Data-Heavy Usage: This category is a bit more nuanced than the others. Overall, Verizon's LTE network delivered both the fastest speeds and the most reliable connections to customers in Java, VA. T-Mobile's average data speed increased dramatically in 2016, however, and AT&T showed improvement in average speeds as well.

Breadth of Coverage: All four carriers have an extremely broad network in Java, VA, with coverage almost everywhere. Sprint, which is still expanding its LTE network, has slightly less high-speed coverage. Even so, it has the high-density city and suburban areas covered very well.

Getting started: what types of cell phone plans are out there?

While the American wireless industry is changing rapidly and becoming exceedingly competitive, the basic structure of wireless plans remains the same. In Java, VA, you'll be able to choose from a multi-line family plan, a single post-paid line, or prepaid options that present no long-term contractual or device financing requirement. Here's a primer on each type of plan:

Family Plans

By far the most popular type of plan in the United States, family plans allow multiple people to 'share' a single account, splitting line and data fees across several different people in order to get a lower monthly cost of service for each person. Most carriers offer significant discounts on the price of a gigabyte of data for multi-line accounts, making it the economical way of signing up for service. Of course, multi-line accounts are also hard to move between carriers due to different device payment plans and coverage concerns.

Individual Plans

Quite the opposite of a family plan, individual plans allow a single person to pick the amount of data they need each month without splitting the bill. Though more expensive than family plans, individual accounts are easier to manage and are perfect for people who don't want to split expenses and device upgrades with friends or family members.

Prepaid Plans

Once a strong draw because they lacked contracts, today no-commitment plans are a more affordable alternative to individual plans. Most prepaid plans offer more data at a lower cost than an individual plan at a major carrier. Furthermore, prepaid family plans offer a lower cost for multi-line accounts than some traditional family plans at the 'Big 4.' These plans are ineligible for device financing, however, which means you'll have to pay full price to buy a new phone upon release.

Deciding which cell phone plan is best in Java, VA

Choosing the right plan requires consideration of the types of services a person really needs. As mentioned previously, most carriers offer three primary services: minutes, text messaging and data usage.

The cheapest plans often limit the amount of minutes and text messages used on a phone line. Some are 400 or less; others might be as high as 1,000 minutes per month. For the person who talks extensively on his or her cell phone, an unlimited plan is the better selection.

No contract plans require loading the cell phone with a certain number of paid minutes. More time is added once the prepaid amount has been used.

Most carriers in Java, VA charge a lot for huge amounts of data usage since this has become a major factor in the way customers choose their cell phone plans. With plans often priced per megabyte and gigabyte, going over data limits can become very expensive when overages start adding up. Choosing a plan that covers data usage needs will help customers avoid overly expensive cell phone bills.

Cell phone service providers in Java, VA

The companies listed below all provide coverage to Java, VA. The majority of the lesser-known providers run on one or several of these major carrier systems, so it's likely that your current location has coverage.

AT&T

AT&T is among the most widely known cellular service providers and offers several kinds of plans, including personal, family, and prepaid mobile plans.

Sprint

Sprint offers several different kinds of options, one being its just-launched friend/family plan referred to as the 'Better Choice Plan.' In addition, Sprint is one of very few large companies to provide unlimited wireless 4G data usage with no bandwidth throttling.

T-Mobile

All of T-Mobile's plans are classified as prepaid or pay-per-use plans. These plans allow the company's clients to receive unlimited talking, texting, and data usage (with varying levels of throttling) at one monthly rate. T-Mobile provides personal as well as family mobile phone plans.

Verizon

Verizon provides personal, family, and pay-as-you-go plans. Verizon lets you choose a no-contract or family data usage plan to start off. Family data plans may cover just one person or a whole household, and they have no talking or texting limits and a predetermined level of data.

MVNOs

A number of other smaller but high-quality mobile companies exist and cover Java, VA that you can review together with the previously listed large providers through the use of the mobile carrier plan compare tool above.