Cheaper carrier than Verizon?

[Rand]

The phone was on Verizon. They shafted me by putting me on a different plan I never asked for.

so you are planning on getting a new phone or no?
if no, you need to make sure the phone is paid off and any contracts you have with verizon are terminated.
typically when you get a new phone you sign a 2 year contract to keep verizon.. and if you leave early you owe on the phone and a possible early termination fee.

If you are planning on getting a new phone you still might want to do the above so they don't send you to collection.

 

[53' Stude]

so you are planning on getting a new phone or no?
if no, you need to make sure the phone is paid off and any contracts you have with verizon are terminated.
typically when you get a new phone you sign a 2 year contract to keep verizon.. and if you leave early you owe on the phone and a possible early termination fee.

If you are planning on getting a new phone you still might want to do the above so they don't send you to collection.

I’ll do what I have to do. Never had debt in my life. I pay my bills. If anything I will get another phone and decide on this phone later. I was not told about a contract. Told they gave me new plan. I didn’t sign anything.

 

[dishdude]

I was in the process of switching from Verizon (20+ years) to Visible. As soon as I clicked the port lock code, I got an offer to save $20 per line per month so I stayed for just a couple dollars more than Visible was going to be.

The main problem with a lot of these sub-brands is they are MVNOs so officially they are 2nd tier with respect to network priority. This goes for Visible, Tracfone (also VZW network), Mint, Google Fi, etc.

Is it a risk? Yes.
Is it really a risk? Probably not.

Google Fi has the same network prioritization as T-Mobile postpaid base plans. There are "premium" MVNOs that cost a bit more but don't depriortize traffic as much as the really low cost MVNOs.

 

[CKN]

BUT their signal sucks in my area. Already tried em’ and TELLO without success

T-Mobile, Verizon sucks in immediate two block area too. But that's why there is Wi-Fi calling.

 

[f355spider]

One other reason for us is Canada

Yes, I think T Mobile was one of the first to offer a "North America" plan that included unlimited calls and texts, and a generous amount of data.

 

[Nessism1]

US Mobile current rates...

 

[53' Stude]

so you are planning on getting a new phone or no?
if no, you need to make sure the phone is paid off and any contracts you have with verizon are terminated.
typically when you get a new phone you sign a 2 year contract to keep verizon.. and if you leave early you owe on the phone and a possible early termination fee.

If you are planning on getting a new phone you still might want to do the above so they don't send you to collection.

No new phone. I’ll ask why I owe and pay it off. Definitely won’t ever use Verizon again as they don’t value long time customers although they told me this. Try tracfone and see. Hopefully Wal Mart can help me set it up since no one here knows if they can do it.

 

[Cropduster172]

Google Fi has the same network prioritization as T-Mobile postpaid base plans. There are "premium" MVNOs that cost a bit more but don't depriortize traffic as much as the really low cost MVNOs.

I like Google Fi. It's T-Mobile without the hype or nonsense. Straight forward billing... reasonable pricing..about $45/line unlimited...no throttling.
Plus, regular good deals on Pixel phones. But I get OPs situation...too few T-Mobile towers.

 

[Trashman]

We made the switch from Verizon to Total Wireless about 10 years ago, they are owned by Verizon. We have been happy with them. I don’t miss Verizon’s crazy expensive bills, and I cannot recall any time during the last 10 years wishing that we had stayed with Verizon. We made the switch for a similar reason as you, our bill was always changing with no explanation, and I got tired of having to call every month to get it straightened out.

 

[IveBeenRued]

We use Comcast for our cell service because that is our internet provider. Previously, we had Verizon. 2 cellphones with unlimited data is about $ 82/month after fees, etc. with Comcast.

Correction: 80.53/month I just looked at the bill

Use caution with Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile. Their employees did two swim-swap attacks on me and tried gaining control of my investment accounts.

 

[6.7 CTD]

Use caution with Comcast’s Xfinity Mobile. Their employees did two swim-swap attacks on me and tried gaining control of my investment accounts.

How did you reconcile that issue? Were there any repercussions for the employees involved?

 

[willbur]

T mobile service is horrible here in my area

in my experience, call customer service with a question or a problem, talk to 5 representatives and get 5 different answers

 

[willbur]

That plan (as well as T-Mobile own brand overall) is not the deal that it used to be. Now it has no phone subsidy and only 50 GB of data.

50gb? Mine is unlimited everything. At least I think so- gotta check

 

[Nukeman7]

No new phone. I’ll ask why I owe and pay it off. Definitely won’t ever use Verizon again as they don’t value long time customers although they told me this. Try tracfone and see. Hopefully Wal Mart can help me set it up since no one here knows if they can do it.

I've tried them all and am now convinced that nothing can beat the value of US Mobile as suggested above by several BITOG members. There are some good discussions on this previous BITOG thread from last summer on affordable cell phone services. I switched to US Mobile two years ago and stayed on Verizon (i.e., Lightspeed) network since T-Mobile & AT&T coverage is poor in many locations where I travel. US Mobile is everything you need with no games or hidden fees...what you see is what you get. I set up service via the US Mobile website in 10 minutes and my unlocked phone has worked flawlessly since. No loss of priority data or call service at all...works exactly like when I was with Verizon...except I am paying 1/3 of the cost of the Verizon contract. I did not even lose service last week when Verizon customers had the partial global outage. FYI, TracFone plans cost more and has more limitations than US Mobile.

 

[53' Stude]

in my experience, call customer service with a question or a problem, talk to 5 representatives and get 5 different answers

I’ll say it one more time: I AM NOT USING T MOBILE PERIOD! Signal/ service horrible in my area.

 

[alarmguy]

Choose from T-Mobile, AT&T or Verizon at USMOBILE.COM
No reason to think, best rates anyplace and you pick what carrier that you want. Learned about them on BITOG member. I used to have Red Pocket and they are good too. But US Mobile is king so far.

My wife and I do not require a lot of data at the current time since most times on WiFi. We share 12 GIGs a month on two lines. Total Cost, actual payment is $33 a month for both lines to repeat total cost. ($16.50 a line) She is on Verizon and I am on AT&T under one account for $33 actual payment, no fees and includes taxes.

If we ever go over on data which is possible a couple times a year I have auto top off at $4 for every 2gigs.
Chose whatever network you want, both annual plans and monthly.
We do the "Pay for what you need"
"BY The Gig" plan, scroll down halfway to the bottom of the page on this link.
They also have annual plans
https://www.usmobile.com/plans

Its a no brainer, cool part is, if you are unhappy lets say with Verizon, on your account you can switch to ATT and it takes less than 15 minutes and you are on ATT. Cost is $2 to switch. I did this and why my wife and Verizon and I ATT. still both under the same plan. Cost for both lines combined is $33 a month total payment. I love the freedom to switch carriers keeping our plan!!! It was a fun think for me. I Think ATT has a very slight advantage in my area, my wife, does not seem to think so she stays on Verizon. All under the same US mobile monthly bill.

 

[Lubener]

I once had Verizon then switched to Consumer Cellular which has worked great for me.

 

[Nessism1]

Choose from T-Mobile, AT&T or Verizon at USMOBILE.COM
No reason to think, best rates anyplace and you pick what carrier that you want. Learned about them on BITOG member. I used to have Red Pocket and they are good too. But US Mobile is king so far.

My wife and I do not require a lot of data at the current time since most times on WiFi. We share 12 GIGs a month on two lines. Total Cost, actual payment is $33 a month for both lines to repeat total cost. ($16.50 a line) She is on Verizon and I am on AT&T under one account for $33 actual payment, no fees and includes taxes.

If we ever go over on data which is possible a couple times a year I have auto top off at $4 for every 2gigs.
Chose whatever network you want, both annual plans and monthly.
We do the "Pay for what you need"
"BY The Gig" plan, scroll down halfway to the bottom of the page on this link.
They also have annual plans
https://www.usmobile.com/plans

Its a no brainer, cool part is, if you are unhappy lets say with Verizon, on your account you can switch to ATT and it takes less than 15 minutes and you are on ATT. Cost is $2 to switch. I did this and why my wife and Verizon and I ATT. still both under the same plan. Cost for both lines combined is $33 a month total payment. I love the freedom to switch carriers keeping our plan!!! It was a fun think for me. I Think ATT has a very slight advantage in my area, my wife, does not seem to think so she stays on Verizon. All under the same US mobile monthly bill.

I started out on USM w/Verizon network, but switched to ATT later, and it took just a few minutes. "Dark Star" = ATT. My cheap USM (unlocked) Pixel 9 phone is working well too. I paid for an annual plan, quite affordable, but I'll likely move to a cheaper plan next year because I never use all the data. Even with the high data plan, it's way cheaper than most other carriers.

 

[skyactiv]

Ultra Mobile was acquired by T-Mobile and has unlimited talk & text to over 90 countries including Mexico and Canada.
A prepaid 12 month unlimited plan is $204. The cheapest plan is $78 for 12 months @ 4Gb's data. They do both sim types, E sims are the way to go.

 

[bovine1]

Consumer Cellular here. We moved from StaightTalk years ago and it's much better. Hits all towers, good customer service, and cheap phones. I buy androids and I've never paid over 40$ for a phone and the one I have now was free because they updated from 3 to 4G I think and told me my old phone was obsolete. 2 phones and our bill is like 54$ tax and all.