Any nanny or PC restrictions on Consumer Cellular / AARP?

[230RN]

I'm not taking purely illegal stuff of course, but restrictions for GUH-UHNs and some erotica and maybe some political stuff.

I'm thinking I want to get a senior-type smart phone and desktop from them, don't want to get all set up and find I can't hit my goodie spots.

I've been on a flip top cell phone for maybe ten years with them, and though I rarely use it, the few times I've had minor issues they've been super solicitous and courteous.  Mainly connection problems away out here where the rain is Tess, the fire's Joe, and they call the wind Mariah.

Terry

[RocketMan]

We've got Consumer Cellular cell phone service for about six months and we're quite happy with it. We did not go through AARP as I don't like that outfit at all.  Instead, we went directly to the CC website and signed up.
We were able to port over my wife's existing Samsung Galaxy 8+ to the CC service.  I had to buy a new cell phone from them as my old Samsung Galaxy 4 was too old to work on their service.  I ended up getting a Motorola Moto G7 Power phone, and it's a nice piece of kit with a large screen.  Android based, it has all the features of any other good smart phone.  IIRC, it cost me $140 new from Consumer Cellular.  I could have saved ten bucks and bought a refurbished version of the same phone, but figured for that little difference I might as well buy new.
There were a few minor technical hiccups when we initially started our service, mostly related to porting over my wife's existing phone, but their service reps handled the issues quickly and efficiently via online chat.
Two lines of service and an optional roadside assistance service are costing us $56 a month.  Your cost would likely be lower with just one line.

[230RN]

Oh, thank you, thank you.  Confirms my observation of good customer service.  Are there any nanny-hooks you've discovered or know about?

I'm going to go through AARP, though I agree about their Californicity.  I just bite my tongue over that, and yes, I'm aware of other Senior orgs that are more friendly to thee and me politically, but...

[zxcvbob]

Oh, thank you, thank you.  Confirms my observation of good customer service.  Are there any nanny-hooks you've discovered or know about?

Hypothetically if there were, couldn't you just use a different DNS server to get around it?  Either OpenDNS or Google DNS.

I have a cheap Android phone (Moto E6) on what-was Virgin Mobile but was absorbed by Boost Mobile.  The phone was about $50 with no contract, and Boost is $35 a month, taxes included.  (Virgin was $35 plus tax.)  I'm generally pleased with it.  If starting from scratch I would look into the same plan directly from Sprint because Boost locks a few feature that would be handy, like wifi calling.  At least they don't lock wifi tethering like Virgin did, although I haven't actually tried it yet. 

Boost is also better than Virgin was for roaming, even tho' both used Sprint towers.  That will be handy when I visit MIL in northeast Alabama, where last time I was there there were still no Sprint towers but there is Verizon.

Who does CC buy service from?  I really doubt they have there own towers.

[Nick1911]

Oh, thank you, thank you.  Confirms my observation of good customer service.  Are there any nanny-hooks you've discovered or know about?

I don't think they are allowed to interfere with your traffic.  They are a common carrier, yea?  And thus, subject to net neutrality.

[JN01]

I’ve been using Consumer Cellular for about 9 months now, no complaints.  I’ve had no problems connecting to political and gun related sites, couldn’t tell you about porn sites.

I love the fact that their customer service is in the US so you can actually understand what the rep is saying.

[RocketMan]

Who does CC buy service from?  I really doubt they have there own towers.

In this area they use AT&T, which is the carrier we had before CC.  That made the switchover simpler from a technical standpoint.
With essentially the same service as what we had with AT&T, we cut our cost down to less than half of what we were paying before.

[RocketMan]

Oh, thank you, thank you.  Confirms my observation of good customer service.  Are there any nanny-hooks you've discovered or know about?

I'm going to go through AARP, though I agree about their Californicity.  I just bite my tongue over that, and yes, I'm aware of other Senior orgs that are more friendly to thee and me politically, but...

I'd go directly to CC through their website.  No sense letting AARP get a cut for the referral.  The price you pay should be the same.  You should be looking at about $25 a month for a basic phone and data plan without a lot of bells and whistles.  You can chat with them online and get exactly what you need.  Their customer service is US based, although they do go offline right at the crack of 6:00 PM PDT, regardless of whether you are already in a conversation with them.  That's the only thing I don't like about their customer service.  Otherwise, it's great.

[zxcvbob]

I'd go directly to CC through their website.  No sense letting AARP get a cut for the referral.  The price you pay should be the same.

on CC's web site, there's a checkbox for AARP to get a 5% discount.  I don't konw if they verify membership.

[230RN]

All good stuff, all good stuff.  I think I'm looking at about half of what I'm paying now for a hardwired phone, internet access on a PC, amd a flip-flop cell phone, which I want to switch to a smart phone.  My carrier is under fire for some kind of billing fraud or something which I have to look into, as well.