# Experiences with cell phone sub-carriers

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiences-with-cell-phone-sub-carriers/955807>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [December 9, 2021, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiences-with-cell-phone-sub-carriers/955807 "2021-12-09T21:59:52Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Showing post:** 2

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**Author:** ![bordelond](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bordelond/32/150_2.png) [@bordelond](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bordelond)\
**Post date:** [December 9, 2021, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/experiences-with-cell-phone-sub-carriers/955807/2 "2021-12-09T20:02:20Z")

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_Resurrecting this two-year old topic in lieu of starting a new topic:_

What experiences have Dopers had switching from major carriers like AT&T, Verizon, or T-Mobile to sub-carriers/MVNOs like Mint or Cricket?

Is the general service of the budget carriers a good deal at the lower prices they offer? What do you compromise going with a budget carrier over a major carrier?

From the research I’ve done so far … it looks like budget carriers throttle their data speed at lower limits than the big carriers, even with otherwise comparable “unlimited data” plans. And there are apparently network prioritization issues as **control-z** ’s post above describes. Otherwise, plans between the budget carriers and the major carriers seem comparable – especially on the no-frills basic stuff like calling and texting (where “unlimited” is the standard and has been for a while).

Our household is going from 3 to 4 phones as my son is getting a phone for Christmas. The three of us that have phones now … none of use up a ton of data, but my son might. My wife and daughter typically use the home WiFi when surfing on their phones at home – my son might, but he might not if I’m not checking on his use often. None of us view streaming movies or TV on our phones, though will be a lot of YouTube viewing, Instagram, and other sources of video.

If it makes a difference in the calculus – we are not in a rural area, but in a suburban area near New Orleans.

Trying to figure out if we can switch to a budget carrier and not notice a difference in phone usage and quality of experience. Thanks for any info or advice.

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