I am looking for a budget friendly cell phone service for my wife if possible (does have to be unlimited and good service). Currently we are using cricket wireless (about 10 years) and if my remember serves me right we are paying like $120 a month for 5 lines with unlimited everything (internet does cut back after 25 gigs) but my wife seems to always have issues with her line including very slow internet while mine is perfectly fine, we have tired getting a new sim card, upgraded phone for her but problem still continues and cricket says everything seems to be working fine on their end so to keep my wife happy I am on the hunt for a different carrier for her and maybe the whole family. Please share if you had good experience with a budget friendly wireless service. Thanks!
Best cell phone carrier for the money?
- Thread starter diyjake
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I have used Visible for at least 2 years. No issues, works great and the 25/mo price is even better
I heard of mint, US mobile, Tello but I never heard of visible. What other carriers have you used? Just curious how visible compares?
Cricket uses cell service provided by AT&T. Depending on your particular area, Version or T-Mobile may be better. If so, you may benefit from a network switch. Mind you, you don't need to sign up for Version or T-Mobile direct, you can go through a third part carrier, which Cricket is, and save some money. Maybe US Mobile? You can sign up for a trial offer, and if the coverage it's what you want, try a different network. They offer all major networks.
Doing some research now, looks like US Mobile and Visible offer good options. Does US Mobile run on all three carriers (ATT, Verizon and Tmobile) or you choose one?
iPhone 15 but this issue has been on going as long as I remember. When we got Cricket that was the best prepaid option but looks like for a few more bucks I can get better service now.
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She’s most likely hitting the monthly data allowance for her line. I think no matter what prepaid plan they’re eventually going to cap the data and start throttling also with prepaid there’s network prioritization. Which cricket has in bold on their site they’ll slow speeds during congestion
Visible doesn’t work if you are in a congested network area. You’ll have 5 bars of 5G but no data will get through.
US Mobile give you the choice of selecting Verizon (Warp), T-Mobile (Light Speed) or AT&T (Dark Star). With their higher tier plans (e.g., unlimited), you can switch between networks at any time for no charge. For example, your best coverage at home is with T-Mobile, but you plan to take a trip to a more rural location where only Verizon works. You can log into your account and switch network at will. For their lowest cost plans, there is a $2 charge each time you want to flip to a different carrier network.
Also, they just implemented a new optional feature where you can load different carriers as a backup network when you travel. I don't know the details about this new feature since I prefer to stay on Verizon (Warp).
Details can be found here: US MOBILE PLANS
I know that is not the case because when the month starts fresh she still has these issues. I know it's prepaid so cricket won't do much to look too much into so my best option is to find something else for her - happy wife, happy life
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I don’t know I’ve had cricket wireless in the past and my mother had them for years they were always reliable. customer service was always helpful if there was an issue which was not often. iPhone 15 has no SIM card have you tried resetting network settings without erasing the eSIM? if that doesn’t help maybe cricket can send a new eSIM over to the phone. Could be a sim provisioning issue.I know that is not the case because when the month starts fresh she still has these issues. I know it's prepaid so cricket won't do much to look too much into so my best option is to find something else for her - happy wife, happy life
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Had AT&T before Visible. Switched to cut costs. Have a little better reception with Visible (Verizon) where I live. I use it for work purposes around Austin,Tx area and have no issues with congestion as the person from Virginia stated. The only real downside is no call center for customer support if there is an issue. Luckily I have not needed any support. Knock on wood
Visible user here. I have the cheap plan, wife has the expensive plan with more priority. I cap at 2 MB/sec, she caps a little higher. I notice no difference.
I get a signal in rural Maine, often superb. Congestion does hit it in extreme situations, like lunch hour at work with thousands of other clowns on the same tower, or track meets in a field in the middle of BFE. Still like it, still recommend it.
I get a signal in rural Maine, often superb. Congestion does hit it in extreme situations, like lunch hour at work with thousands of other clowns on the same tower, or track meets in a field in the middle of BFE. Still like it, still recommend it.
Been using ATT Prepaid annual for three years now. $300 per year. Tax free if you buy the reload card from target online for some reason.
Unlimited with 16gb data and rollover. Works in US/Canada/Mexico, the three countries I travel to.
I need ATT down here in south texas nothing else is good in the rural areas.
Unlimited with 16gb data and rollover. Works in US/Canada/Mexico, the three countries I travel to.
I need ATT down here in south texas nothing else is good in the rural areas.
Another factor to consider is that the budget carriers resell "unused" capacity of major carriers. For example, Mint with T-Mobile. This makes them cheaper, but if the major carrier they rely on is busy enough, your own data won't get through. It's not about whether you've used your own allocated data, but how busy is the carrier they rely upon at that place and time.I know that is not the case because when the month starts fresh she still has these issues. I know it's prepaid so cricket won't do much to look too much into so my best option is to find something else for her - happy wife, happy life
My adult daughter is pretty happy with Mint, but she does get slow or non-service sometimes despite having 5 bars of signal strength. The cost-reliability tradeoff works for her. That's a personal choice, but everyone should make it fully informed.
Congestion hits your budget line or your wife more expensive line as well?
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