Is US Mobile a good carrier?

[rtroxel]

My wife and I are looking for a new smartphone carrier. A neighbor has suggested US Mobile, which, among other things, would cost us only $20 per month, per phone.

Is anyone familiar with this company? Here's a recent review:

https://www.whistleout.com/CellPhones/Reviews/us-mobile-review

Thanks,

Roy

 

[Jeb-NY]

I have used US Mobile for a couple years now on 3 phones and 2 iPads. 3 devices are unlimited plans and 2 are on lesser plans. Cost a little under $100/month on Verizon towers. They offer both Verizon and ATT carriers. I have been happy with it. Customer service can be a little hard to understand, obvious overseas customer service. I have had better results doing live chats for questions. A couple times I had to ask the question a couple of ways before they understood but they have always answered my questions. Most of my questions and problems were initial setup and plan questions, no problems in a long time. One of the phones that has a limited plan I add data to for one trip a year and that works smoothly from the phone or a computer.

 

[Bflotomny]

USM

I recently switch to USM and I'm very pleased. I had some initial issues with my previous carrier releasing the phone. (I've owned the phone 3 years but I never knew it was still locked by my previous carrier) But the USM rep hung with me and got everything taken care of. Previous carrier costs $31/month for 5gb times 2 phones. USM $30/month for 12gb shared by two phones. Savings $32.00

 

[GenXguy]

I have used US Mobile for a couple years now on 3 phones and 2 iPads. 3 devices are unlimited plans and 2 are on lesser plans. Cost a little under $100/month on Verizon towers. They offer both Verizon and ATT carriers.

From everything I've read, they currently still offer only Verizon and T-Mobile, NOT AT&T. AT&T is supposed to be coming in a couple months or so and not available, yet.

 

[rtroxel]

Thanks, everyone, for the quick replies!

Roy

 

[Qs Laptop]

We've been on them for exactly 2 years now (I just checked.) Four lines, all are on unlimited data with 50GB hot spot. This is overkill for DW and I but for our two sons it works out great. We chose the Verizon option. Never had a problem, very satisfied.

Minor glitches related to IMEI numbers when setting up the phones initially, but since then it's been smooth sailing. They do have an 800# support line and their chat service is very good.

I see that they have a new unlimited plan which is around $15 a month, if you prepay for a year. (In this case "unlimited" means 10GB a month, an amount of data we've never used, though our sons have used more a couple of times.) We will likely step down to this plan and turn the boys loose on their own plans.

 

[camfused]

^^^ I too have been with them for a couple of years. I recently moved us to the 10GB $15/month (tax included) plans. The 10GB is high speed, and when that runs out, you are at 1Mb/sec, unlimited. It's a no brainer for $15. The only thing you miss on that plan is hotspot, but that can be added for $2.50/month if you need it. Customer service is actually good (yes, really).

Oh, and you get unlimited calls and texts to 200+ countries, for free.

I have one phone on the T-Mobile towers and one on the Verizon. When AT&T comes out (probably June-ish), I will probably switch the T-Mobile line over to that. I have signed up for the AT&T beta test, if/when they offer it.

 

[REIJM]

USM is fantastic. We had post-pay Verizon for years, and switched to USM on Verizon's network. Between 5 of us in our family, we're on the shared 30GB plan on it's never been an issue for us.

My only regret with USM is that I didn't switch sooner, it's been fantastic.

 

[GenXguy]

Do you get to choose which network? For example, I'm using T-Mobile with Tello $7/mo with a phone I used to use on Verizon with Tracfone. So the phone supports both networks, but I would prefer Verizon if I had a choice, or AT&T when it becomes available.

 

[REIJM]

Do you get to choose which network? For example, I'm using T-Mobile with Tello $7/mo with a phone I used to use on Verizon with Tracfone. So the phone supports both networks, but I would prefer Verizon if I had a choice, or AT&T when it becomes available.

Yes, you get to choose your network (T-Mo or VZW), and AT&T is coming at some point. The only downside is if you want on the VZW network and you do not have a 5G phone, you will not get priority data (or at least it was that way when I switched over). But as long as your phone can support 5G, then you'll be fine.

If you have a phone that supports eSIM, you might be able to have a T-Mo & VZW sim on the phone at the same time, and just turn-off whichever one you don't want to use for the area you're in. I'm not certain on that though.

Their customer service is excellent, so definitely give them a call and they can answer any questions you have.

 

[camfused]

Re Verizon / T-mobile / AT&T
Everyone’s experience is different, but from what I have read, in general, Verizon has the best coverage, urban and rural areas, for getting a signal, at the expense of speed. T-mobile has good coverage in cities, less so (or none) in rural areas, and the best speed. AT&T has coverage almost as good as Verizon, including rural areas, and better speed than Verizon. This is why I am going to switch my USM to AT&T as soon as possible.

At my house, I am exactly in between two Verizon cells. I got one or none bars in my house and in my neighborhood. Sure I have WiFi at home, but as soon as I leave my driveway, I got a poor signal. So I switched to the T-Moble eSim and it is much better. Hopefully, before a trip to rural Oregon this summer, I can be on AT&T towers, since traveling with T-Mobile service seems dicey. If AT&T service is not ready by then, I’ll switch to the Verizon eSim before I go.

 

[FIREd_2015]

Good timing! I've been thinking of switching to US Mobile for the past year. I just went to their website and it looks like they are now offering annual pre-pay plans - Unlimited Starter for $276 for 12 months. Under the Unlimited Starter features it says 1 GB Int'l Data. I'm headed to Europe in July. How does the 1 GB Int'l Data work? What happens if I go over 1 GB while I'm in Europe?

Edit: Don't know if it makes any difference but my phone does not have 5G

 

[camfused]

^^^^ Goto the USM website and click the chat button if you have specific questions. When you are out of the 1GB, it stops working. You can top off from their app.

Personally, I would not use USM for overseas data, simply because people have reported problems getting it going. I have used Airalo and never had any problems. With that said, if I were you, I would go with the $15 plan and add an Airlo eSim for any trips.

 

[GenXguy]

Yes, you get to choose your network (T-Mo or VZW), and AT&T is coming at some point. The only downside is if you want on the VZW network and you do not have a 5G phone, you will not get priority data (or at least it was that way when I switched over). But as long as your phone can support 5G, then you'll be fine.

Thanks. I have 3 phones I can currently move my Tello/T-Mobile SIM between and use, but none are 5G, but I'm not concerned about speed so much as long as I am able able to have data/voice available and not shut off completely. I have a relative in the area on the low cost $25 Visible plan (which is on Verizon network) using a 4G phone, and she is happy with the data service. This is the first deal that has made me consider it as an alternative to my Tello service (T-Mobile) $7/mo paid monthly, which I've been using for years.

Tello includes free hotspot on the lowest data plan, which I almost never have a need for, but it's nice to have as a backup for my home internet. Plus I can instantly change my plan to a higher data plan in the middle of the monthly billing cycle if needed for more data and then switch back to the lower plan later. The low data U.S. Mobile Lite plan ($6/mo annual payment) says hotspot isn't included and the plan needs to be paid annually to get the comparable price, and I read you can only upgrade to a high data plan (that includes hotspot) at the start of new annual billing cycle (although it sounds like that is supposed to be changed to allow it.) I'll probably hold off any changes for now and stick with my $7/mo Tello with free hotspot.

 

[camfused]

^^^^ Yes, the $15 10GB plan does not include hotspot, but you can add 5GB of hotspot data per month for another $2.5/month.

 

[RetiredAndLovingIt]

Thanks. I have 3 phones I can currently move my Tello/T-Mobile SIM between and use, but none are 5G, but I'm not concerned about speed so much as long as I am able able to have data/voice available and not shut off completely. I have a relative in the area on the low cost $25 Visible plan (which is on Verizon network) using a 4G phone, and she is happy with the data service. This is the first deal that has made me consider it as an alternative to my Tello service (T-Mobile) $7/mo paid monthly, which I've been using for years.

Tello includes free hotspot on the lowest data plan, which I almost never have a need for, but it's nice to have as a backup for my home internet. Plus I can instantly change my plan to a higher data plan in the middle of the monthly billing cycle if needed for more data and then switch back to the lower plan later. The low data U.S. Mobile Lite plan ($6/mo annual payment) says hotspot isn't included and the plan needs to be paid annually to get the comparable price, and I read you can only upgrade to a high data plan (that includes hotspot) at the start of new annual billing cycle (although it sounds like that is supposed to be changed to allow it.) I'll probably hold off any changes for now and stick with my $7/mo Tello with free hotspot.

You probably know this about Tello but just in case you don't....
If you renew manually the day before auto renewal, you get to keep your unused minutes and data so you can bank all the excess each month for no extra cost for when you might need it.

 

[GenXguy]

You probably know this about Tello but just in case you don't....
If you renew manually the day before auto renewal, you get to keep your unused minutes and data so you can bank all the excess each month for no extra cost for when you might need it.

Yeah, I do, but the only time I've actually done it is when changing plans before the billing cycle ended. They've increased my data to 1 GB, and I never come close to using all of it. It used to even be unlimited throttled data beyond the full speed allotment, but they took that away from my plan a while back, but that wasn't an issue for me with my low usage. I've been happy with Tello going back years, but T-Mobile does have more weak signal areas around where I live compared to Verizon and possibly AT&T.

 

[ncbill]

Love it...currently on the annual 30GB/month plan which was $250 last Black Friday.

Hope the $10GB/month plan normally $180 gets discounted this coming Black Friday.