Checking in with phone plans

Prices for cell phone plans are changing so quickly that if you haven’t shopped for new service in the last six weeks, you’re paying too much!

Two low-cost options are Xfinity Mobile and Republic Wireless, but how do they compare?

Here’s what you should know if you’re trying to decide between the two.

Price

Republic Wireless just introduced the new “My Choice Plan.” You pay $15 a month for unlimited talk a ndtext,then just $5 per GB of 4G LTE data.

Xfinity Mobile offers two options: $12 per GB or $45 a month per line for unlimited data.

Here’s a key difference: You must have internet service through Xfinity to sign up for the mobile deal. It includes unlimited nationwide talk and text, 100 MB of shared data and no line access fees on up to five lines.

Extremely light data users (less than 100 MB per month) could potentially have a $0

monthly bill with Xfinity!

Wi-Fi, cellular network

Republic uses T-Mobile and Sprint’s networks for cellular data, plus Wi-Fi for calls, texts and data where cell service can’t reach. Xfinity Mobile runs on Verizon’s 4G LTE network and connects to Xfinity’s 18 million Wi-Fi hotspots nationwide.

Phones

Republic Wireless sells a number of Android devices, all for under $100. The most affordable phone Xfinith offers is the LG X charge, which is $180 or $7.50 a month for 24 months.

Final thought

Xfinity and Republic are two of the cheapest options for cell phone service going into 2018.