Total Wireless is cheap with $25 and $35 plans tax included and uses the Verizon network. Earlier this year I ditched Verizon when my phone bill hit $182 a month for four phones. One I switched to Total Wireless with the same phone and its $25 another I went to Tello for $8 a month.
Are MVNO'S the same
- Thread starter Warstud
- Start date
Anyone here heard of “textnow”? Used to run on sprint towers now T-Mobile buy a sim they guarantee free texting and phone data you buy separately… downside is using their app and having ads. 
They sent me a SIM and it's to big, I need a Nano. What should I do ?
Take a picture, Sims usually have punch outs for standard-micro-nano
MVNOs are the same until congestion. Then the priority kicks in. If you are a fire fighter, EMT, along those lines, Verizon will bump up your priority on the network. 
"Regular data (i.e. tiered plans, unlimited plans before the threshold) is QCI 8. All deprioritized data (go, other unlimited beyond the threshold, MVNO, Visible) is all QCI 9. There isn’t any distinction between the various plans other than QCI 8 and QCI 9. All QCI 8 traffic is the same and all QCI 9 traffic is the same to the network."
One time on Tracfone a morning after a snow storm, our local cell tower was overloaded, everyone calling into work or whatever, and kept getting the error that "all sockets are full"
"Regular data (i.e. tiered plans, unlimited plans before the threshold) is QCI 8. All deprioritized data (go, other unlimited beyond the threshold, MVNO, Visible) is all QCI 9. There isn’t any distinction between the various plans other than QCI 8 and QCI 9. All QCI 8 traffic is the same and all QCI 9 traffic is the same to the network."
One time on Tracfone a morning after a snow storm, our local cell tower was overloaded, everyone calling into work or whatever, and kept getting the error that "all sockets are full"
You may not be aware, the SIM they sent you and most everyone sends out now is a multi size fits all SIM. If you look carefully at the SIM you will see you can break it along the lines and it becomes a smaller SIM.
I assume it looks like this? You will see 2 cut outs, actually their maybe 3 cut outs as Dennywires posted, this is the only photo I could quickly find. The large cut out for a large sim and the smaller cutout or maybe 3rd cutout for micro but gives you the idea about the sim
(oops, I can see Im late to the "party" you figured it out. I leave this post for others and also avoid another post which I say "Deleted" *LOL*)
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Its impossible to "paint" cell phone service from Verizon, ATT, TMobile and also MVNOs with one brush. They are all different companies. The fantastic part about MVNOs AKA Red Pocket, if you dont like your service, much like the gas you put in your car, your not tied to a cell phone company, you can switch like you switch gas brands (or oil) anytime you want. There is no contract. What is even more WAY cool about RedPocket is they carry Verizon, ATT and TMobile... so lets say the OP is unhappy with Verizon service in his area, he can call Redpocket and switch to ATT or TMobile instead of bothering switching companies but again, he isnt tied to anyone with no contract service.MVNOs are the same until congestion. Then the priority kicks in. If you are a fire fighter, EMT, along those lines, Verizon will bump up your priority on the network.
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One time on Tracfone a morning after a snow storm, our local cell tower was overloaded, everyone calling into work or whatever, and kept getting the error that "all sockets are full"
BTW- contract service is a product of the USA, I mean, many places in the world people do not sign contracts for telephone/data service, its backwards thinking but here in the USA we sign contracts because we want phones we cant afford to buy on our own... *LOL*
There are just about 100,000 cell towers in the USA its impossible to say for any service one is better then the other or be concerned about MVNOs and congestion when any area of the USA can be different. Heck even the main providers distribute "priorities" based on your plan.
Once nice thing with RedPocket (at least with their ATT service) is they dont throttle down your data speed like other companies owned monthly services do from ATT and Verizon.
This is not a commercial for RedPocket, even though it sounds like it. For me, price rules, if my rate ever goes higher Ill drop them the next month for someone who cost less. Right now, as much as I try, I cant find ANYWHERE but RedPocket I can get THREE lines ATT unlimited service with unthrottled 10Gb of data per line and tethering for $70.95 ACTUAL monthly payment. I try!
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Yes, they do throttle data speed. I have Red Pocket AT&T that I use in a ZTE MF279 4gLTE WiFi router for Internet service at my country lake house. The highest speed that I get from it is about 40 mb/s (which seems low to me), but I regularly see as low as 100 kb/s when the tower is congested, like on a holiday weekend when there are a lot of people on/around the lake. Regardless, they are still the best deal going right now.
Im not so sure what we are talking about when it comes to throttling and you would need to have a ATT to hook up to your router to know if it is throttling or congestion. Congestion slows everyone up. With that said, being you are tethering using your router? I dont know what the Red Pocket terms of use are with tethering and not a concern of mine ...
Also for clarification purposes When I say they "do not throttle" down your speed I am saying in my area on my CELL Phone I get full network speeds of around 25 to 50 Mbps also the VERY few times I had to tether during a Spectrum outage... (I haven't checked in a while) With ATT owned Cricket their terms of service clearly state you will get 8Mbps ( I have not had Cricket in years)... more or less by using Redpocket you are not subscribed to a plan that right out of the gate is limited to a lower data rate then some of the other secondary services do and most do limit, all I am saying is Redpocket has not for my ATT service, maybe that would have been a better way to say it because ATT, Verizon and TMobile all throttle when their networks are congested, or maybe better said, are congested so your data slows down.
What I am saying, when networks are not congested I get full ATT speeds as you do and I suspect the slow downs in your area also affect regular ATT subscribers in the same way as you.
Im in no way promoting Redpocket. I just like facts, there is so much misinformation out there... for example, this is something most people never bother to look at, took me five minutes to find it buried on Verizons Home page, I meant to look for ATT but somehow ended up at Verizon which people think is the holy grail anyway...
Well, its here in Verizons own website for their regular customers...
"5G Nationwide
Unlimited access to our 5G Nationwide network. 5G access requires a 5G Nationwide-capable device. Includes 480p video streaming. In times of congestion, your data may be temporarily slower than other traffic.
4G LTE
Our 4G LTE network provides the high speeds and reliability Verizon is known for delivering. Includes 480p video streaming. In times of congestion, your data may be temporarily slower than other traffic."
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Just as a suggestion: I have never gotten a good signal at my house from sprint or verizon. I had my phone with pageplus cellular (uses verizon) and typically had 1 bar or sometimes zero or 2. I always got good signal everywhere away from home but I need a reliable signal at home.
I got an unlocked moto phone and bought a couple of cheap ($10/mo) sims from red pocket - one GSMT (T-mobile) and one GSMA (ATT). I tried them and found both had much better signal at my house.
I settled on their GSMA annual plan for $240 (unlimited talk & text + 8 Gb data at highest speed, unlimited reduced after that). I then ported my home VOIP number to that sim/plan/phone. BTW, Ooma are very difficult to port out of.
I got an unlocked moto phone and bought a couple of cheap ($10/mo) sims from red pocket - one GSMT (T-mobile) and one GSMA (ATT). I tried them and found both had much better signal at my house.
I settled on their GSMA annual plan for $240 (unlimited talk & text + 8 Gb data at highest speed, unlimited reduced after that). I then ported my home VOIP number to that sim/plan/phone. BTW, Ooma are very difficult to port out of.
Ok, one more, then I have to go cut the lawn *LOL*
Right from ATT Website ... I only point this out because MNVOs in general get a bad rap by always reading about throttling, but all networks throttle ATT, Verizon and TMobile. You can not, not throttle if the network gets overloaded. Again to simplify, Redpocket does not dumb down your service like some others, it also allows tethering that a lot of MNVOs do not, including ATT owned Cricket which limits your speed right in its "Terms Of Use" it also does not allow tethering.
Anyway, *LOL* think we all agree I said enough... I posted Verizons website above, Here is right from ATT website for their regular customers just like Verizon, they at least say it better and more direct then Verizon ...
)
"One network management practice we use to manage our wireless network resources may affect customers with most AT&T post-paid and AT&T PREPAIDSM unlimited mobile data plans (“AT&T Unlimited Data Plans”). During periods of congestion, these customers may experience reduced data speeds and increased latency as compared to other customers using the same cell site (“Congestion-based Data Management”)."
Source = https://about.att.com/sites/broadband/network
BTW - Hope all know I am just having a normal conversation, sometimes my posts are read like I am not...
Right from ATT Website ... I only point this out because MNVOs in general get a bad rap by always reading about throttling, but all networks throttle ATT, Verizon and TMobile. You can not, not throttle if the network gets overloaded. Again to simplify, Redpocket does not dumb down your service like some others, it also allows tethering that a lot of MNVOs do not, including ATT owned Cricket which limits your speed right in its "Terms Of Use" it also does not allow tethering.
Anyway, *LOL* think we all agree I said enough... I posted Verizons website above, Here is right from ATT website for their regular customers just like Verizon, they at least say it better and more direct then Verizon ...
)"One network management practice we use to manage our wireless network resources may affect customers with most AT&T post-paid and AT&T PREPAIDSM unlimited mobile data plans (“AT&T Unlimited Data Plans”). During periods of congestion, these customers may experience reduced data speeds and increased latency as compared to other customers using the same cell site (“Congestion-based Data Management”)."
Source = https://about.att.com/sites/broadband/network
BTW - Hope all know I am just having a normal conversation, sometimes my posts are read like I am not...
Give us an update on how it worked out for you in a few days ...
The ZTE MF275 is a 4gLTE hotspot WiFi router. Red Pocket allows tethering/hotspots to be used on AT&T, but, you have to call them to have this functionality enabled on the account.
AT&T could be throttling my Red Pocket connection because of network congestion (which is something that they, and every other carrier regularly does, with all MVNO customers), or it could be that network congestion is affecting everyone on the tower. No way of knowing for sure.
Agree, it’s just sometimes the word throttling is use loosely and as a detriment to prepaid plans. Yet everybody gets throttled when cell towers become overloaded/congested according to Verizon and ATT websites.
Just for full disclosure I have no idea about the use of LTE hotspots just my experience with cell phone use and data
Just for full disclosure I have no idea about the use of LTE hotspots just my experience with cell phone use and data
It works just like any other WiFi router but it has a built-in 4gLTE receiver and uses a SIM. It also has a phone port and can be used as a phone system, which is how I have telephone service out there. Important to me is that it has provisions to add an external antenna. I live far enough away from the tower that I can't use a regular smartphone inside because of low signal strength. I have a yagi antenna mounted outside on a 10 foot mast pointed directly at the tower that gives me 4 out of 5 bars signal strength without a booster.
Throttled occurs when you exceed your data limit and the carrier allows you to continue to access data but at an extremely slow speed.
Network prioritization means that since only so much data can be transmitted and received through a tower at any given time, postpaid customers receive priority. I suspect some of the premium MVNOs come next like the carrier's prepaid plans, and plans like Google fi. The super low cost MVNOs are on the bottle of the rung which means if you're at a football game or crowded event you're probably not going to be able to use your phone.
Network prioritization means that since only so much data can be transmitted and received through a tower at any given time, postpaid customers receive priority. I suspect some of the premium MVNOs come next like the carrier's prepaid plans, and plans like Google fi. The super low cost MVNOs are on the bottle of the rung which means if you're at a football game or crowded event you're probably not going to be able to use your phone.
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