Best cell phone carrier for the money?

[PandaBear]

I think carrier is location specific and also what band they support has to match between their local radio unit and your phone. Sometimes they add new bands and your old phones won't take advantage of it.

Having said that, if your wife's phone doesn't work you can either try a newer phone or switch companies to see how things go. For my location my ex-wife's office used to get no signals except ATT / Cricket, so we were on it for like 10 years. She switched jobs and our kids need Apple Watch cellulars (so we don't have to buy them phones so they won't be on the screen all the time), and the only plan with standalone cell watch is the big companies in my area like TMO, ATT, Verizon. TMo has the best deal and good enough signals, that's why we are on it now.

You can check with people you know in your area to see what works well for your area. Or try with a new number for a week in a new carrier.

 

[alarmguy]

So I ended up switching my wife's and daughter's phone plan from Cricket to US Mobile Dark Star. I wanted to get Warp but Dark Star had a deal I couldn't pass up, buy one line and get the second one free for the year. So far the service is great! I have been checking speedtest on my Cricket phone and wife's US Mobile Dark Star last few days and this is what I get:

Cricket:
2.75Mbps download
2.59Mbps upload

US Mobile Dark Star:
54.6Mbps download
4.75Mbps

I don't remember ever seeing these speeds with Cricket and what's weird is Cricket uses At&T just like US Mobile Dark Star. If this continues I will be dumping my cricket for US Mobile as well.

The good news with US Mobile, if you're not happy with the service you can log into your US Moble account and with a click of the mouse switch between the 3 networks. ATT, Verizon and T-Mobile.
Good news is, like you are experiencing if ATT works in your area it will continue to work well. But if not, there are the other 2 networks.

( A lot of the credit for brining US Mobile in this forum goes to a member, I forgot who it was but it was why we switched over a year ago) Ill try one day to go back and see who it was someday because I constantly thank that person)

 

[Nukeman7]

The good news with US Mobile, if you're not happy with the service you can log into your US Moble account and with a click of the mouse switch between the 3 networks. ATT, Verizon and T-Mobile.
Good news is, like you are experiencing if ATT works in your area it will continue to work well. But if not, there are the other 2 networks.

( A lot of the credit for brining US Mobile in this forum goes to a member, I forgot who it was but it was why we switched over a year ago) Ill try one day to go back and see who it was someday because I constantly thank that person)

I am also grateful to @14Accent and you for enlightening us on the value that US Mobile provides with their cellular service. I believe the original thread started here.

 

[factorytuned2012]

i dont like switching i am getting too old it is still paining me that i upgraded my device. maybe ill pull the old one from the drawer and continue to use even with all its flaws.

 

[alarmguy]

I am also grateful to @14Accent and you for enlightening us on the value that US Mobile provides with their cellular service. I believe the original thread started here.

Yes thats him!