The 2019 cell/smart phone plan thread

[omni550]

One more question about MVNOs.

Years ago, in certain parts of my house, I was getting poor Sprint reception while on a Sprint plan. Sprint "loaned" me an Airave unit that plugs into my broadband. It is a personal base station that provides enhanced voice and 3G mobile broadband coverage for my Sprint CDMA phone. The Airave uses my broadband Internet connection to route calls to the Sprint Nationwide Network. It seems to have helped. I've had it for years, so I don't know if going to 3G or other Sprint system improvements might have eliminated the need for a signal boost or not.

If I switch to an MVNO, I would have to return the Airave to Sprint.

I'm wondering if any folks here on MVNO have experienced any 'dead spots' in their homes or in other structures?

omni

 

[omni550]

Does anyone here have direct experience with good2go mobile? BTW, the price for 5GB is $30, not $20 as shown in the quote above. But still excellent pricing for an AT&T MVNO. Just can't find much in the way of user reviews online. They seem to be really small.

I called their customer service and got disconnected after waiting on hold for about 5 minutes. Called back and had this exchange after another long hold:

Cobra: How much are taxes and fees on the 3GB plan?
G2G: It depends on your state.
Cobra: I'm in Texas. How much are taxes and fees for Texas?
G2G: I'm not sure.
Cobra: Umm... can you find out?
G2G: I think it's just your regular sales tax and maybe some other stuff. It varies by state.
Cobra: Thanks.

Not getting a warm fuzzy feeling after that.

Not exact, but will give you a sense of what the taxes & fees might be. Click on
Operators" tab here https://prepaidcompare.net/ and choose which MVNO you are interested in.

EXAMPLE:

Good2Go Profile

Founded: 2015
Approx Number of Lines: 100,000.
Taxes collected: Point of sale plus telecom taxes and fees (USF, cost recovery fee, etc), averages about 20%.

omni

 

[rodi]

I have data addicted teenagers. We were using Ting but kept going well part their max data. When the T-Mobile 55+ came along we switched. One teenager is on my account the other is on my husband's account. At the time you could only have 2 phones per 55+ year old. (Just got a text from TMobile that I can add a third line.)

We did get a warning from them about too much international roaming when we were in Italy earlier this summer. But no penalty or extra charges. I love the international roaming, but will look at local Sims if we do any extended travel.

 

[Cobra9777]

After reading this thread and searching plans online, I find it hard to beat Ting’s prices. For two lines with data, DW and I are averaging less than $45 per month [for both lines], all in. We typically use less than 1 MB of data, 200 minutes of talk, and 100 SMS text messages. Costs are kept down by connecting to WiFi when possible, such as when streaming music at the gym. I first learned of Ting here on E-R.org; thanks to whomever first posted about it!

That said, I’d like to have an unlimited plan that would allow me to use Google Maps and Waze on CarPlay [without fretting about data charges]. Maybe on my upcoming road trip I’ll just do that and see how much data I rack up. For the occasional trip it will likely come out ahead just paying for the extra data now and then.

I agree that Ting is great for light users. After 5 years, we were averaging $39/mo (all in) for 2 lines, with combined data usage consistently below 1GB. That's sub-$20 per phone. But we were never thrilled with either network (Sprint or T-Mobile).

Then, we bought a new car with an Android Auto head unit and we are doing more road trips and camping, using a lot more mobile data for Google Maps, Waze, and other stuff on Android Auto... and increasingly unhappy with T-Mobile out in the boonies. All the coverage maps (and fellow campers) say we'd be better off with AT&T, so we're going to give it a try.

Good news is: there are plenty of AT&T MVNOs in the $18-20 range with 1-3GB per phone. Like you, I'm tired of fretting about data usage on Ting. For basically the same low cost, we can get access to the much larger AT&T network and use more data without having to use offline mode and other things, which ultimately just detract from the otherwise excellent Android Auto experience.

Right now, I'm teetering between the good2go mobile 3GB plan for around $24 (all-in) and the airvoice wireless 6GB plan for $27 (all-in), which is really a 3GB 4G LTE plan, but with a larger, more established company.

I've thought about just staying with Ting, knowing that when we travel, data usage will be high, but year-round average is still very reasonable. The kicker is T-Mobile vs AT&T out in the boonies. I want to give AT&T a try and if there's not a significant improvement, we may go back to Ting.

 

[GenXguy]

One more question about MVNOs.
I'm wondering if any folks here on MVNO have experienced any 'dead spots' in their homes or in other structures?
omni

Not in my home, but I have experienced dead spots in certain rural areas I've driven through and inside some business structures, however, I experienced the same thing on Sprint proper, that I had for years prior to going to a Spring MNVO. I don't travel around that much or yap on the phone much, so it's probably not something I would normally even notice.

 

[pb4uski]

This is typical of many providers as well as cable companies in my experience. I always want to ask them if they can’t tell me what my actual bottom line is going to be, then how the heck are they going to print my bill at the end of the month?

Did they come from a doctor's office or are they training to work in a doctor's office?

 

[Senator]

I have been with Sprint, Walmart Family Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile. I am currently on AT&T.

If you want and need coverage, Verizon is the way to go. It is the most expensive, but works best. AT&T is probably a distant second.

All the others are not even a close third place.

 

[FreeBear]

Consumer Cellular, including taxes and fees
-2 lines
-2 GB data
-text and talk unlimited
$49.42

If I understand correctly, the base rate for this plan is $45. So only $4.42 in taxes and junk fees? Not bad.

I'm wondering if any folks here on MVNO have experienced any 'dead spots' in their homes or in other structures?

Left Sprint over a decade ago for AT&T and my reception immediately improved. No more standing outside my house! Still with AT&T now, except through Consumer Cellular MVNO. AT&T used to have trouble by our boat club, which we frequently regularly. The problem cleared up last year. I get the impression that AT&T coverage has greatly improved over the years.

Originally, Consumer Cellular tried to push T-Mobile on me, claiming it was the best for the area (suburban huge city in flyover country). It was terrible in my basement office, where I spent most of the time on the phone! I requested that CS send me an AT&T sim and my reception returned to what I was accustomed to with AT&T directly.

I'm not suprised T-Mobile was just so-so. I've seen friends struggle on the first floor, even by the window. I'm afraid to even consider Sprint...

I have been with Sprint, Walmart Family Mobile, Virgin Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, T-Mobile. I am currently on AT&T.

If you want and need coverage, Verizon is the way to go. It is the most expensive, but works best. AT&T is probably a distant second.

All the others are not even a close third place.

This has been the conventional wisdom around here in my 'burbs for years. I think T-Mobile scores well in some reviews/tests if lots of people live downtown. Here in the suburbs, it's tolerable, but not great.

Folks switch to T-Mobile around here to save $$, not to improve or even maintain reception. I don't know anyone on Sprint. A couple of folks are running T-Mobile or AT&T MVNO's.

We do some epic road trips out in the sticks, so Verison has always been of interest. We're hostages, I mean customers, of Xfinity, so I'm tempted to get a $100 smart phone activated with them on a new number just for travel & emergencies out in the boonies. If I'm careful with data, it's about less than $50/month. I'm reluctant to port a "real" number with them though since the service is relatively new and, well, it's xfinity.

 

[GalaxyBoy]

My Ting connection to T-mobile is certainly no great shakes in my neck of the woods. In the house we only get a bar or two; less in the basement TV room. However, wifi calling with the iPhones solve that issue. At home, anyway. There are some areas in town that are dead spots.

My upcoming road trip goes through the center of West-by-God Virginia, and I expect to get very little, if any, reception. I wonder how much of that is due to the National Radio Quiet Zone? Nah, probably more due to the sparse population and, well, T-mobile.

 

[JoeWras]

My upcoming road trip goes through the center of West-by-God Virginia, and I expect to get very little, if any, reception. I wonder how much of that is due to the National Radio Quiet Zone? Nah, probably more due to the sparse population and, well, T-mobile.

Let us know, seriously.

I commented on the TMO hole in southern West Virginia a few days ago. This is after hearing about the hole, and seeing it on their map.

Today, I pull up their coverage map and they now show strong coverage all along I-77 and I-64 in the Beckley area.

Was I hallucinating? I know they are trying to improve the network, but did we seriously catch them in the middle of turning on an upgrade?

Edit: zoomed in on Beckley. They added a "LTE partner" box and Beckley is primarily covered by this "partner". I wasn't hallucinating. On TMO's site, you can use their "compare carriers" coverage tool to show native coverage. TMO still has a hole in much of WV. They "cover" this with roaming on a partner, which their fine print mentions they may throttle and limit data in this area (200MB per cycle).

 

[tinlizzy]

I've had a tracfone for 2 yrs now. I just upgraded from the $29 Altel phone after I broke the screen. I bought the new tracfone that is bundled with service, min, data, text. Extra texts cost $5 per 1000 and data is $10 for 1gb and both data and texts usually have promo codes to double the amount. Cost is approx $12/mo for me.

What I like is that it uses any network so coverage is coast to coast.

 

[Done]

I've been using Red Pocket Mobile on the Verizon network, 2GB/mo for $229/yr = $19.08/mo, with no other taxes or fees. Verizon gives me the best coverage when traveling (and MMS support on iPhone), so I chose this network but you can select whichever you prefer. Monthly plans are available on their site https://www.redpocket.com/ but annual plans are sold on eBay and Amazon. I've been satisfied with their customer service via chat.

 

[Springer58]

Be careful on changing if you travel internationally. A friend of mine switched from AT&T to Sprint and discovered the fees were higher by about $200 when outside of the US.

 

[target2019]

As always, over-research the MVNO, features, etc.

We're on a family plan with Verizon (10GB shared). Soon we'll loose a discount on the promary phone. It seems likely that we'll move one phone in a couple of months to an MVNO that supports the iPhone 7.

Great thread. Can't wait to hear of more experiences with MVNOs.

 

[FIYes]

Tracfone user for many years here. Tracfone is an MVNO that uses either Verizon, AT&T, or T-Mobile depending on the sim. It does not roam outside of the native towers for the sim you are using. Most Tracfone bundles sold on HSN or QVC use the Verizon network. I have a Tracfone sim that uses the AT&T network because that works best for my area. Tracfone is very low cost for a light user but it helps to be knowledgeable about their system. If you use Tracfone I recommend checking out the Howard Forum Tracfone subforum and Turkforum. Both have great information and can alert you to sales and promo codes.

 

[ncbill]

Be careful on changing if you travel internationally. A friend of mine switched from AT&T to Sprint and discovered the fees were higher by about $200 when outside of the US.

DW just came back from a trip to Germany...several of her traveling companions were paying a $10/day surcharge to have their smartphones fully work (including data) there.

Since every place they stayed had Wi-Fi DW & I just used email to stay in touch.

And I would love to use a cheaper MVNO like Telio, but having tested T-Mobile & Sprint coverage (especially data coverage) years ago in my area AT&T had the best coverage w/o paying through the nose for Verizon, so I went with Cricket.

Be interesting to see if the cheapest T-Mobile/Sprint MVNOs survive after those two providers complete their merger.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Don't forget anytime you have WiFi available you have many free options for calling back and forth when out of the country or here in the USA. Google Voice is always good but I prefer Facebook. Both my kids have visited the UK and my son was also in Germany for 2 weeks, they never purchase any data and rely on WiFi to keep in touch. The Europeans have free WiFi everywhere. When my daughter went to Japan they were not so sure of the WiFi situation so they rented a mobile hot spot that they picked up at the airport, cost about $70 for two weeks of internet everywhere.

 

[camfused]

+1 for Cricket (AT&T). Works flawlessly, and good coverage, at least around us. At the in-laws, who live in the sticks, we get nothing at all, but we just do wifi calling there...no problem.

Unlimited everything: $100 for 4 lines, all taxes/fees included. We spread the lines around the family, since we don't need all 4. For us, it is hard to beat $25/month, for what you get.

 

[camfused]

When I travel out of the country, I always get a local SIM for my destination and plop it in. It gives me peace of mind to have a phone that works no matter where we are, in case we get separated or something. Local SIM cards are usually reasonable. I get them on eBay.

For example, I am going to Italy and Paris in the spring. Local SIM card is about 25 bucks, and lasts for 15 days. Has plenty of data. We use Facetime audio or Google voice if we need to call back to the USA.

Between that and wifi at hotels, you are plenty covered.

 

[FIREflower]

Looks like I'm not the only one who has discovered Red Pocket Mobile! I use their $15/month plan (I think taxes are like 72 cents) for 1000 minutes, unlimited texts and 1 GB data. The data is tricky for me but I ration it and make it work. I have to use GPS for my job with traffic data so that eats a fair amount.

DH is a heavy user, and I found Visible a flat $40 for unlimited everything works great for him. The hotspot allows tethering, so I connect to his phone for my wifi whenever we're both home to save my data.

 

[JoeWras]

We are with Total Wireless, which is an MVNO using the Verizon network. (We need to be on Verizon because we travel a couple of times a year to rural Nebraska and AT&T has no coverage there.)

We pay $65/mo for 2 lines with unlimited talk/text and 15GB of data. We don’t use anywhere near that much data, but it’s the lowest 2-line plan Total Wireless offers. (On the plus side, I never worry about running out of data like we did when we were with Verizon. )

The web site says $60, so I presume $65 is your "all in" price?

I might consider this if we need to get on the VZW network. Looks hard capped with no throttling, i.e. generally well behaved with no behind the scenes data games. They are a very large MVNO too.

 

[WyndChym]

The web site says $60, so I presume $65 is your "all in" price?

I might consider this if we need to get on the VZW network. Looks hard capped with no throttling, i.e. generally well behaved with no behind the scenes data games. They are a very large MVNO too.

We've used Total Wireless for over two years and love it here in NE OH. We have two lines. First 30GB shared data at 4G then 2G. $57/mo using Auto-Refill. All in $62.70/mo. DH is heavy YouTube video watcher while waiting on me shopping at a brick and mortar. We've never come near the 4G data limit.

 

[Jerry1]

My cable company (Spectrum) uses the Verizon network. They offer an unlimited plan for $45/mo and a unlimited talk and text with with pay for data at $14 per GB. The unlimited plan is not a good deal, but I’m looking into the pay per GB plan. If you stay under one GB, it’s only $14/mo. I don’t think I use much data but I’m going to start tracking it and verify. The main data use on my phone that I can’t really offload to WiFi is using Waze while driving. I’m going to start resetting my phone every month and tracking my data usage more carefully. The $14 would be good as long as I don’t go over 1GB for data per month. Going over a couple times a year wouldn’t be a deal breaker, but if it happened consistently, there would probably be better options.

 

[braumeister]

I’m going to start resetting my phone every month and tracking my data usage more carefully.

My monthly bill shows the data usage for each line. You can probably download copies of them (if you don't already save PDFs like I do) and see your past data usage.

 

[FreeBear]

When I travel out of the country, I always get a local SIM for my destination and plop it in. It gives me peace of mind to have a phone that works no matter where we are, in case we get separated or something. Local SIM cards are usually reasonable. I get them on eBay.

For example, I am going to Italy and Paris in the spring. Local SIM card is about 25 bucks, and lasts for 15 days. Has plenty of data. We use Facetime audio or Google voice if we need to call back to the USA.

Between that and wifi at hotels, you are plenty covered.

Thanks! Good tips on picking up local sim ahead of time on eBay. Any Recommended vendors?