I don’t know if I even have the terminology right, but as I understand it there are really only 4 providers in the US: AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, and Sprint (with talk of the last two merging). All other providers piggyback on their networks. Sound right?
Circumstances mean I have to change my plan, I can stick with Verizon on a different plan but think there might be cheaper options, will I be losing anything major? I got Disney+ for free, don’t know if I’ll lose that if I cancel but it’s not a major factor if I save more per month.
My usage: I make phone calls very, very rarely. Text fairly often, and need some data but not an excessive amount (Spotify in car, rarely watch movies and such and only on wifi). I think most of them are contract-free now, and while the networks are more universal my phone is not unlocked and I’d rather not buy a new one, so I assume a Verizon network would be best. I’m not happy with their recent signal quality but I understand other networks are worse.
The primary difference between a MVNO and a major provider is priority. If the local tower/network is overloaded, your data speeds will get slower first, so that the main provider’s users are less affected.
There’s also likely to be differences in support, of course.
Thanks, I think US Cellular is an option but didn’t know they were separate. I’ve never heard of C Spire, they have nationwide coverage but I think are more of a midwest thing?
I was looking through lists like this, but I think your links have better filtering options.
Thanks. I will also look in a local forum.
Another question: since Verizon killed 3G, does that imply that their MVNOs also killed it? I assume so.
Edit: C spire is in parts of the south, not midwest.
For the ultra-cheap like me, $3/mo 30 minutes or text, $0.10/min or text thereafter. $10/week 1GB 4G. https://www.ultramobile.com/paygo/?icid=WMM_TMNG_PPEULTRA_O6BDJUPVQ5RM3G9P617763 I don’t know when they changed to Ultramobile, but it’s linked through T-Mobile. I’ve been on this for several years and have two extra emergency phones with it. I keep this mini phone in my wallet: Amazon.com
Several posts on the local subreddit suggest Verizon is the best coverage here (and rural), Sprint the worst. As mentioned, by data has become really spotty around the 3G closure time so I don’t know if it’s my phone or what. Google Fi uses the big 4 minus Verizon, is that a good idea?
I’ve used StraightTalk (which is just Tracfone with fancy branding) ever since I got a smartphone. I use the AT&T SIM for where I am, but if it’s a truly unlocked device with both GSM and CDMA support, you can make it work on the network of your choice. With a locked phone for Verizon, it’d probably work on the Verizon towers. I’ve hit a pretty happy medium of paying $50 a month for unlimited talk and text with 25 gigs of LTE data before the slowdown to 2G. The only problem is that they don’t have a really good cheap plan; $35 for 3 gigs isn’t terrible, but 3 gigs isn’t a whole lot of data these days. The only other issue I ever really had with them is that they might not support all the fancy things, including hotspots, but now I see that they’ve added hotspot to their “unlimited” plan (which isn’t really unlimited, because they’ll start checking your account at 60 gigs.)
I get not wanting to buy a new phone, but there are some pretty good mid-range fully-unlocked Androids out there for $200-300. If your phone is old enough, you might find you appreciate the upgrade.
It looks like all modern Verizon phones are already unlocked, or unlock themselves after 60 days. Obviously that doesn’t mean it will definitely work on a given network, but you don’t need to do any ROM hijinks.
Anyone have experience with Spectrum Mobile? I know the company is a megacorp who doesn’t have the best reputation, but I already have their internet to bundle, and the mobile side isn’t necessarily the same. Hopefully I could then get a discount on both as they’re normally stingy with that.
I have Simple Mobile, which is related to Straight Talk. It runs on T-Mobile towers. I get truly unlimited talk, texts, and data for $45 a month with auto pay, as well as 10Gb for a mobile hot spot. Of course, it can be deprioritized during heavy usage times in favor of regular T-Mobile customers. I paid about $160 for a Nokia 6, which admittedly is not the newest of phones, but it’s a damn good phone running Android 9.0.
Verizon has been the better coverage, but in my rural Virginia area it almost seems like Verizon gave up their spot on a few towers, I get less service nearby than I used to.
I use Puppy Wireless, a Verizon MVNO. ~$28 a month gets me unlimited talk and text and 2GB of data. As long as I don’t watch video, 2GB is more than enough for occasional navigation and browsing.