Goodbye high dollar phone bill - Trying Mint Mobile

I think even Cricket and Metro cost too much, based on on what I got.

When the plans start to cost less than ohh say $25 a month is where they get dicey.

I still have unlimited talk and text and even if I go over on data. Everything still works. Everywhere. So who cares. And my phone bill is about $26.91 a month..
 
I'm still on an old Unlimited everything Sprint plan from ~2014. If it wasn't $55/month including international I would have probably switched if these new plans weren't tier'd.
 
I'm on a mint trial myself. Haven't had a personal cell for over 10yrs, but with upcoming lay off had to get myself a phone. Mint is awesome, all I can say. 15$ a month. Service in house is quite crappy - 2 bars, but still enough to receive and make calls. Anywhere else around Houston - no problem. Fixing to renew my plan after 3 months trial for another 12 months at 180$ - can't but that. Plus a new Xiaomi smart phone for 200$ (first time android use after years of applemania) - killer combo, all pre paid so no bills to worry about (debt free life is awesome)
 
Something to keep in mind about the MVNO companies (Cricket, Mint, etc) is that they get a lower priority on congested towers.

So if the tower is owned by AT&T or Tmobile, then customers who actually have service through those companies often get served before someone else on a MVNO plan.

It isn't a big deal 95% of the time.
 
I got a SIM starter kit from a company called US Mobile. They were one of the more prominent MVNOs in my research. The kit has two cards. One puts you on the T-Mobile network and the other puts you on Verizon's network. I have read some really mixed reviews. Does anyone here have experience with them? I currently have T-Mobile. I switched from a post paid plan to a prepaid plan a few months ago and it's saving me $35/month. I pay $15 plus tax for unlimited talk and text with 2GB of data. I rarely went over 500MB so it seemed like a no-brainer. Except, T-Mobiles signal strength at my house is very weak. I had a femtocell on the post paid plan, but they cut it off as they don't offer that amenity on prepaid plans. As long as I use WiFi calling at home I seem to be OK. If I decide to try US Mobile I would be using the Verizon SIM, but as Redy45 said above, the actual carriers to preferentially treat their direct customers.
 
the actual carriers to preferentially treat their direct customers.
Is this something that has been proven to negatively impact an MVNO customer's quality of service, or is it just something that could happen in theory?

I imagine trying to objectively prove it/measure it would be challenging.
 
The only thing that needs to work every time is my pistol.

If my phone works most of the time.. I'm cool with that.

I pay 26 bucks a month, call it 27 if we are rounding up... I used to have a Virgin Mobile plan that went legacy before I went to another provider...

Verizon phone bills are more like car lease payments. Which should also be avoided..

Most people that have Verizon, or at least many I've talked to. They like to brag about how they have Verizon. Verily, verily, I say unto thee, they have their reward..
I get it JT20 I have no pistols but I have 2 phones and they gotta work all the time. Verizon is pricy but their service is drop dead reliable in my neck of the woods. I’ll cut corners elsewhere. Just grab the phone when it rings, not the pistol.
 
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I use Wing. I was told they resell AT&T business plans, so the date is not depriorized like AT&T prepaid. So far I am very happy with the service.
 
Yeah, the existing customer vs."new" customer treatment is always an interesting discussion with phone, internet, and television provider CSR's.
 
I left verizon a couple years ago. My wife was doing lyft and that required that data be on. Verizon did not offer unlimited data and the bill was more than she was bringing home.
We switched to Metro pcs. Coverage is as good as verizon where I go.

3 lines,free phones,unlimited talk,txt and data plus insurance ran us $108 a month.
 
Plenty of good MVNO's out there. My grand daughter just went with Hello which is cheaper than Mint. There's also a bunch of companies that sound just like it Helio, Tello, etc. I guess my Boost plan is MVNO with TMo for the next couple of years until Dish (hopefully) builds its 5G out. Can't tell if coverage is better than the old Sprint towers (I'm sure it is) since I haven't been out of the area since the disease which can't be mentioned here.
 
I think even Cricket and Metro cost too much, based on on what I got.

When the plans start to cost less than ohh say $25 a month is where they get dicey.

I still have unlimited talk and text and even if I go over on data. Everything still works. Everywhere. So who cares. And my phone bill is about $26.91 a month..
What company did you go with to get that deal? What is your data limit? I'm looking to bolt from Verizon after many, many years. I've got 6 phones, including me, wife, kids, and mother-in-law, so I stand to save some big bucks. I just bought my first unlocked phone, a Pixel 4a, so I'm ready to switch!
 
Never been so excited to get rid of a phone company, but said goodbye to Verizon and switched to Mint Mobile this afternoon.

I didn't really have any qualms with Verizon other than the price and that they incentivize people to switch by offering their best promotions to new customers (and/or lines) only. Their existing customers get penalized in a way for staying because they're not eligible for the good promotions such as BOGO phones. All the phone companies do that, so it's not just Verizon, but a gripe of mine regardless.

Presently I don't need or want a new phone/device, so I got interested in the MVNOs, which ought to work out good for my use case. I live in a fairly rural area and very rarely am in congested places (especially not as of late), so the possibility for data de-prioritization is remote. The only unknown is T-mobile coverage in this area (which Mint uses); I haven't had them since the early 2000's shortly after Voicestream became T-Mobile, but liked them well enough back then. We have 10 days risk-free that we can request a refund if we're not satisfied. Activation and porting numbers over only took a couple minutes.

If Mint is paid 12-months at a time, between the wife and I, we'll save roughly $75 a month and get a bump to unlimited data versus the 12gb shared data plan we had with Verizon. Already passed the at-home test with 2-3 bars, but we always have Wi-Fi calling turned on at home anyways. I hope it works out!

Anyone else have experience / feedback regarding Mint Mobile?
I've been with Mint for 3 years. Here's what l recommend before switching:

  1. Bring an unlocked phone that supports all T-Mobile LTE bands (2,4,12,66,71)
  2. Don't even think about using a phone without band 71.
  3. Visit http://band71.batcave.net/ to check compatibility.
  4. Verify that your phone supports voLTE and WiFi calling on the T-Mobile network. Wifi calling has come in handy, but you need to do your homework and bring a compatible phone.
  5. Check cellmapper or other tool to see TMobile coverage in the areas that you frequent.
  6. Be aware that mint only works on T-Mobile and you cannot roam on other networks as T-Mobile users can so it is essential to diligently check TMobile coverage.
  7. Avoid non US market phones as they usually don't support the correct LTE bands.
  8. Galaxy S9, 10, 20, Note 9,10,20, galaxy A51,A71, Moto z3 play, newer pixel phones that are US market unlocked are some phones that meet the requirements above. There are others too, but do your research. Be careful buying a phone on ebay as many are international models and not fully compatible with T-Mobile.
  9. Be aware that mint is an MVNO that runs on T-Mobile. During congestion, you may get deprioritized. You may want to get a 3 month trial sim before committing for an entire year to try it out.
I love the service as l live in an area with solid T-Mobile coverage and all of our phones are fully compatible with band 71, volte and wifi calling. My wife's 5G Samsung note 20 gets amazing data speeds. My motorola z3 play is mediocre 4 to 8 MB a second speeds, but more than adequate for my needs.

Our phone bill went from $160 a month for 2 lines to $30. We noticed zero decrease in quality compared to Verizon.
 
Is this something that has been proven to negatively impact an MVNO customer's quality of service, or is it just something that could happen in theory?

I imagine trying to objectively prove it/measure it would be challenging.

I've heard/read it widely reported that in some areas of large cities during peak hours, or during large events (concerts, sports stadiums, etc.) de-prioritization is common.

But absent those things (which includes me), I don't think you'd ever notice it.
 
I've heard/read it widely reported that in some areas of large cities during peak hours, or during large events (concerts, sports stadiums, etc.) de-prioritization is common.

But absent those things (which includes me), I don't think you'd ever notice it.
The only time l ever noticed it was when walking through times square on a night it was packed with tourists. Phone worked, but data was slow as molasses. I popped into a Starbucks and used wifi.
 
I've been with Mint for 3 years. Here's what l recommend before switching:

  1. Bring an unlocked phone that supports all T-Mobile LTE bands (2,4,12,66,71)
  2. Don't even think about using a phone without band 71.
  3. Visit http://band71.batcave.net/ to check compatibility.
  4. Verify that your phone supports voLTE and WiFi calling on the T-Mobile network. Wifi calling has come in handy, but you need to do your homework and bring a compatible phone.
  5. Check cellmapper or other tool to see TMobile coverage in the areas that you frequent.
  6. Be aware that mint only works on T-Mobile and you cannot roam on other networks as T-Mobile users can so it is essential to diligently check TMobile coverage.
  7. Avoid non US market phones as they usually don't support the correct LTE bands.
  8. Galaxy S9, 10, 20, Note 9,10,20, galaxy A51,A71, Moto z3 play, newer pixel phones that are US market unlocked are some phones that meet the requirements above. There are others too, but do your research. Be careful buying a phone on ebay as many are international models and not fully compatible with T-Mobile.
  9. Be aware that mint is an MVNO that runs on T-Mobile. During congestion, you may get deprioritized. You may want to get a 3 month trial sim before committing for an entire year to try it out.
I love the service as l live in an area with solid T-Mobile coverage and all of our phones are fully compatible with band 71, volte and wifi calling. My wife's 5G Samsung note 20 gets amazing data speeds. My motorola z3 play is mediocre 4 to 8 MB a second speeds, but more than adequate for my needs.

Our phone bill went from $160 a month for 2 lines to $30. We noticed zero decrease in quality compared to Verizon.
Did that include unlimited data? That's a big need for me with so many kids.
 
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