Best cell phone carrier for the money?

[tburke]

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.

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.

This has been my experience with the "budget" (MVNO) carriers as well... Mint, US Mobile, and even one of the cable company branded mobile services. Two devices, same model, same location, same signal strength -- MVNO will be unusable, while direct service from the carrier will have great throughput.

I live in an area where population growth is outpacing infrastructure growth -- so experience will absolutely vary. FWIW, I have AT&T (FirstNet) service and am very happy with it.

 

[Blagoje]

I am not a huge Verizon fan that I've been with them for a few years now and have stayed with them really only because of their credit card program which I use to pay off most, if not all, of my wireless bill every month. If not for that I would go back to AT&t because I was much happier with their service

 

[kpatter]

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

agreed regarding virginia person.. I live in the heart of DFW. Plus I drive a bus and use Waze all day. No issues at all with data.

 

[Pablo]

T-Mobile here

Best coverage of all. Great senior pricing. Great cross border freedom. Great customer service.

 

[Skippy722]

Us Mobile. I haven’t noticed any throttling, even at 27gb usage, they do promise 35 “premium” gigs before they may throttle you on my 25/month tier.

 

[Nessism1]

US Mobile has been pushing expansion, in part, using cheap phones as enticement. Earlier this week, I ordered a Google Pixel 9 for $250 + tax. My Red Pocket is running out next month, so the timing is good for a switch. Most of my usage is on wifi, so I'm going to go with their $17.50/month (10GB) annual plan. Thinking of starting with ATT, but for only $2, you can switch to Verison or T-Mobile, which ever works better in your area. I'm not a power user, so not worried about throttling (fingers crossed). Never had a problem with Red Pocket anyway.

 

[factorytuned2012]

US Mobile has been pushing expansion, in part, using cheap phones as enticement. Earlier this week, I ordered a Google Pixel 9 for $250 + tax. My Red Pocket is running out next month, so the timing is good for a switch. Most of my usage is on wifi, so I'm going to go with their $17.50/month (10GB) annual plan. Thinking of starting with ATT, but for only $2, you can switch to Verison or T-Mobile, which ever works better in your area. I'm not a power user, so not worried about throttling (fingers crossed). Never had a problem with Red Pocket anyway.

if red pocket is working for ya.. wouldnt you just stick with it?

 

[Pablo]

Whatever you choose try to find out how secure the company is regarding porting your number (not right term I'm sure) over to another phone held by a scammer. Neighbors had this happen, really easy. Terrible, stolen ID's, everything. The cell provider just switched it over. Yeah I know, details.

 

[Nessism1]

if red pocket is working for ya.. wouldnt you just stick with it?

I need a new phone, and the cheap Pixel sucked me in.

 

[DemoFly]

Visible+ 2 years, love it. 5GUW everywhere, I hotspot a device almost every day, free eSIM for my watch. No de prioritization.

 

[mccandish]

We've been with Red Pocket for years (GSMA) - no complaints.

 

[nthach]

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.

It depends on which Visible(or cable company or other Verizon MVNO) plan you’re on. If you’re on the basic $25/month plan, you’re on the lowest tier along with the other Verizon pre-paid(Ultra by Verizon and Xfinity Mobile/Spectrum Mobile). If you’re on Visible Plus, you’ll be higher up the ladder with “regular” Verizon users. The same with Xfinity Mobile if you pay for the HD streaming option.

T-Mobile is similar but also weird. Some Pre-paid customers are actually lumped into the same QOS bucket as “regular” customers on their Magenta/base Experience plans, they have a a lower tier bucket for their Essentials customers and Mint customers.

 

[factorytuned2012]

I need a new phone, and the cheap Pixel sucked me in.

It happens to the best of us

 

[Zee09]

I have used Visible for at least 2 years. No issues, works great and the 25/mo price is even better

Me three.....

 

[Chevyc10]

I have excellent service with ATT prepaid, $300.00 per year, 16gb data month and rolls over. Tried the budget carriers, no servicein some areas was frustrating.

 

[Hermann]

My Mint Mobile expires on July 4th. My 5gb data plan costs me about $17.50 a month paid annually with all taxes and fees. This will be my 4th yearly renewal. Never any issues and far less spam than the big boy carriers. Probably less than 3 spam calls a month.

 

[JMJNet]

Have you do a network reset on the IPhone 15? The downside is you have to put all the password again for network connection so make sure you have the password handy.

 

[JGmazda]

Cricket. I see no reason to switch. $30 a month and never had an issue. AT&T coverage.

 

[goofy]

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

No matter the carrier or the priority level of the plan, I've had difficulty with a line that has had high use in the past, even when starting the new month fresh. In my experience, high use requires "flexibility," so wife has two phones to accommodate her usage and her switching.

 

[alarmguy]

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.

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.

US Mobile gives you priority data. Better than T-Mobile and Verizons own pay as you go service. You can also go to the US MOBILE website as they also have multiple premium offerings besides the link I posted here. Doesn't matter much to me but we did chose the Verizon "warp" service.

I never had an issue before but this is included anyway and if works well.
https://www.usmobile.com/blog/unlimited-premium-coverage-on-5g-warp-speed/

Also on the above link if you click "Updates" they also offer premium data on "Dark Star" which is ATT's network.