WSB
For very very basic service, one other decent option is Virgin Mobile pay as you go. You can order the bottom-line phone, the Oystr (no camera), online basically for free (you pay $20 but you get $20 prepaid airtime). Then you can “top up” online. We did this for our business phone when we first set it up late last summer after “pledge day” made that possible; we kept it that way till we ported the number to Verizon just a few weeks ago because finally we were using the phone enough that the pay-as-you-go pricing was adding up to more than a semi-basic cell plan (now we have a family share on Verizon for the home and business numbers, both now mobile phones). If you have friends with different carriers, you might have them come over and check the signal strength at your house. Because of West Seattle’s unique topography, some carriers do better in some spots than others. Just so happens that Verizon does better at our house.