I only included carriers that I have experience with.
Cricket also throttles speeds to about a max of 8Gb from what I've read.
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Carrier Do you MVNO?
- Thread starter willmtaylor
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Cricket also throttles speeds to about a max of 8Gb from what I've read.
Ya true. 8 gb but I don’t notice a difference. But hey some people are sensitive to that I guess.
Yes, but pre-paid/MVNOs are not for everyone, and involve compromises that some may not wish to endure, but there are benefits as well.
The chief benefit, of course, is monthly cost. A single-user not on a multi-line plan or other discount plan would expect to pay, what, at least $50/mo postpaid, along with fees and taxes? An unlimited talk/text prepaid line with 2-3GB of data runs ~$30 month or less, regular pricing.
Pre-paid users are often excluded from carrier deals and financing offers (even Apple's IUP--which shows carriers still have a lot of clout with Apple), so there is the upfront cost of buying an unlocked phone at full-price.
Data speeds may be throttled, and deprioritization during heavy traffic may also occur.
Extra features, like Wi-fi calling, VoLTE, MMS, tethering and Visual Voicemail are often not part of pre-paid plans, though there are certain MVNOs that offer some of those features, especially those owned directly by one of the big four (i.e.-Cricket/AT&T). Some MVNOs owned by big corporations (like Straight Talk/TracFone--American Movil) also offer those features. Those names appear on Apple's carrier page, which is a good place to see which ones support them.
Pre-paid requires a more hands-on approach, both in terms of shopping for the service and the specific features desired, and setting up and maintaining that service, though auto-pay setups relieve a lot of the last part. APN settings aren't plug-and-play and must be manually configured, but that's not difficult for anyone with a modicum of computer sense.
In the extreme, a MVNO may suddenly shut down, so if one isn't comfortable with porting numbers, or with little notice, then it may be a downer.
Lastly, customer service can be spotty, but one can't be certain it's all that great with postpaid carriers either.
These companies buy access from the Big Four wholesale, at varying levels of service, and resell it for a lower cost, so logically, something has to give.
Much to consider, but if you're not proactive, then it's probably not the best option. But there is a lot of flexibility, and cost savings to be had, for the initiated.
The chief benefit, of course, is monthly cost. A single-user not on a multi-line plan or other discount plan would expect to pay, what, at least $50/mo postpaid, along with fees and taxes? An unlimited talk/text prepaid line with 2-3GB of data runs ~$30 month or less, regular pricing.
Pre-paid users are often excluded from carrier deals and financing offers (even Apple's IUP--which shows carriers still have a lot of clout with Apple), so there is the upfront cost of buying an unlocked phone at full-price.
Data speeds may be throttled, and deprioritization during heavy traffic may also occur.
Extra features, like Wi-fi calling, VoLTE, MMS, tethering and Visual Voicemail are often not part of pre-paid plans, though there are certain MVNOs that offer some of those features, especially those owned directly by one of the big four (i.e.-Cricket/AT&T). Some MVNOs owned by big corporations (like Straight Talk/TracFone--American Movil) also offer those features. Those names appear on Apple's carrier page, which is a good place to see which ones support them.
Pre-paid requires a more hands-on approach, both in terms of shopping for the service and the specific features desired, and setting up and maintaining that service, though auto-pay setups relieve a lot of the last part. APN settings aren't plug-and-play and must be manually configured, but that's not difficult for anyone with a modicum of computer sense.
In the extreme, a MVNO may suddenly shut down, so if one isn't comfortable with porting numbers, or with little notice, then it may be a downer.
Lastly, customer service can be spotty, but one can't be certain it's all that great with postpaid carriers either.
These companies buy access from the Big Four wholesale, at varying levels of service, and resell it for a lower cost, so logically, something has to give.
Much to consider, but if you're not proactive, then it's probably not the best option. But there is a lot of flexibility, and cost savings to be had, for the initiated.
Last month, I opened two of the specially priced prepaid plans, one the unlimited for $65 and the other, 8GB for $45, both autopay discounts. Neither of them were supposed to be throttled and they weren't. I cancelled the autopay and haven't renewed them past the first month because I've noticed too many times where I had slow data speeds and on one Saturday night, I had no service at all in my entire area whereas my postpaid accounts had service.
I had the same experience with an AT&T prepaid account that I opened a few years ago when T-Mobile went down in my area for a week.
I was hoping to be able to save money and just go prepaid but I couldn't. You do get what you pay for in many cases and for me, postpaid has been more reliable over prepaid with AT&T at least.
I had the same experience with an AT&T prepaid account that I opened a few years ago when T-Mobile went down in my area for a week.
I was hoping to be able to save money and just go prepaid but I couldn't. You do get what you pay for in many cases and for me, postpaid has been more reliable over prepaid with AT&T at least.
Ever since they got rid of phone subsidies I haven’t had a reason to use postpaid service anymore ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Now I simply buy the phone outright and save $$$ on the prepaid service side of things.
For the last 6 months I’ve had AT&T prepaid ($40/mo for unlim talk + txt + 8gb LTE data) and haven’t had any issues. I do wish they had WiFi calling, but they are slowly starting to roll out VOLTE which helps. If it was a big enough deal I could easily switch over to a prepaid provider who had these 2 features.
Awhile back, during an eBay sale, I ended up purchasing a 1-year plan (unlim talk + txt + 5gb LTE data per mo) from RedPocket Mobile for $215 total and I plan on switching over to them this month now that I’ve stayed with AT&T prepaid long enough to get my iPhone SE unlocked.
Now I simply buy the phone outright and save $$$ on the prepaid service side of things.
For the last 6 months I’ve had AT&T prepaid ($40/mo for unlim talk + txt + 8gb LTE data) and haven’t had any issues. I do wish they had WiFi calling, but they are slowly starting to roll out VOLTE which helps. If it was a big enough deal I could easily switch over to a prepaid provider who had these 2 features.
Awhile back, during an eBay sale, I ended up purchasing a 1-year plan (unlim talk + txt + 5gb LTE data per mo) from RedPocket Mobile for $215 total and I plan on switching over to them this month now that I’ve stayed with AT&T prepaid long enough to get my iPhone SE unlocked.
Cricket's Unlimited Extra plan does not throttle speed but quite frankly 8 mbps on a phone is sufficient for pretty much everything.
I've only used MVNOs. I started with Virgin Mobile (horrible coverage through Sprint) and now use Cricket which has had fantastic coverage with AT&T. I alternate between 2 GB and 5 GB plans (which are throttled at 8 mbps)depending on needs and never spend more than $40 month.
I’ve read that US Mobile’s speeds are actually NOT deprioritized (though I obviously can’t confirm this myself).
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We also receive an 18% line access discount. Our TOTAL monthly bill (for 2 lines and 2GB of shared data) is $84/mo.
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Thank you very much; an extremely helpful post all around.
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I’ve read that US Mobile isn’t deprioritized, so I’m hoping that’s true, but would like to hear from actual customers.
Depending on your use case, being with the actual carrier, even postpaid, may still be a better deal. It depends on how much data you use, whether larger family plans can make sense, etc. The advertised $40/month for some postpaid carriers may require 4 lines.
Or, if you want a lot of data for a single line, the prepaid part of the main carrier may be a better deal. Especially if you buy PINs at a discount through another carrier, and apply them your account rather than just waiting for Verizon Prepaid to auto debit your card for the next month and tax.
I currently have ATT Prepaid for my primary line. Unlimited data, and just started getting VoLTE.
A Verizon MVNO for a backup line for US travel purposes. Expands coverage. Not the cheapest available service, but I haven't bothered changing for just $5/month (I pay $15/month).
And H2OWireless for my "home" number. Since it is just the number I give out as my home phone, but not when I really want to be called, it is costing me $3/month (To keep active, have to add minutes every 3 months at $9. I have over $30 balance on it). If google voice supported my local market, I would just use GV.
There are some limiting factors that may or may not apply. Most ATT MVNOs don't yet offer VoLTE or Wi-Fi calling. That may not affect you. Verizon MVNOs are more likely to offer VoLTE since Verizon wants to turn off 2g/3g by end of year.
Verizon can make it more expensive for MVNOs to accept customers directly from Verizon. So that can be an issue.
International roaming is generally limited, if allowed at all, to Mexico and Canada. So you can't use your number in England.
You can really see how limited the Sprint network is if you look at the coverage area of a Sprint MVNO.
I have an Apple Watch that supports LTE. I cannot use that feature since prepaid carriers don't support the Apple Watch.
I hadn’t heard of RedPocket but I’m reading up on it now.
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My wife uses almost no data, and I use some, but we currently get by with 2GB shared. I’d like to have a little more
With VZW, I do need VOLTE, but I’ve disabled WiFi calling.
Like ATT, only on supported phones. ATT Prepaid is rumored to be getting Wi-Fi calling soon, but not yet. ATT just got around to enabling my account this last week for VoLTE.
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I'm pretty sure that all the MVNOs are de-prioritized, at least at times. Verizon isn't going to drop the speed unnecessarily of a postpaid customer to allow a MVNO customer to have faster speeds.
Many people confuse throttling with de-priorizitation. throttling, you hit your 22GB cap, and you slow down to 128kb/sec the rest of the month. Even if you are the only person on the tower. With de-prioritization, you hit a cap and on busy towers your speeds will drop but your speeds are still going to drop if you are on postpaid. The tower is busy. You just drop more than if not subject to de-prioritization.
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Which is 5G type speeds, and faster than most people's home networks. 8mb for Cricket, with some cheaper plans lower than that.
This is another thing I really like about Mint Mobile. You can use it internationally and there's a separate bucket it pulls from that doesn't expire. These rates are really good. You wouldn't need data if you have a Dual SIM but can get texts & calls if needed. Waaay cheaper than even Verizon's $10/day scam or TMO payg roaming.
I used Redpocket for several months last year for Verizon. But wanted VoLTE since coverage without it was getting worse. So I changed to another MVNO and found out a week or 2 later that RedPocket actually offered it. There was just NOTHING on their website to indicate that. Their $10/month for 500 minutes/500mb was great for a backup phone used when on the road.
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Just looked. Data IS way expensive. I used the Verizon $10/day plan 2 years ago (before they started limiting the daily data usage). I just bumped to a higher plan and had internet in my hotel that was cheaper than the $21 charge by the hotel. My last trip, to England, I was on ATT postpaid so got a local SIM and didn't need to make US phone calls. I used iMessage and Facebook Messenger.
Flexibility of Prepaid. As long as you don't have a large balance on your account, you can decide to port to a company like Mint just before a trip. Have your normal number. Then when you get back stay with them as long as they are useful or port to someone else. Though Mint's map shows they don't offer any of the domestic coverage that ATT Prepaid and Cricket offers. Which I've heard is exaggerated on the map but I haven't tested myself in places like western Nebraska or Wyoming. (Which is why I carry 2 phones when I'm on the road in the US. My X is still adequate even without eSIM)
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Just looked. Data IS way expensive. I used the Verizon $10/day plan 2 years ago (before they started limiting the daily data usage). I just bumped to a higher plan and had internet in my hotel that was cheaper than the $21 charge by the hotel. My last trip, to England, I was on ATT postpaid so got a local SIM and didn't need to make US phone calls. I used iMessage and Facebook Messenger.
Flexibility of Prepaid. As long as you don't have a large balance on your account, you can decide to port to a company like Mint just before a trip. Have your normal number. Then when you get back stay with them as long as they are useful or port to someone else. Though Mint's map shows they don't offer any of the domestic coverage that ATT Prepaid and Cricket offers. Which I've heard is exaggerated on the map but I haven't tested myself in places like western Nebraska or Wyoming. (Which is why I carry 2 phones when I'm on the road in the US. My X is still adequate even without eSIM)
Not sure what hotel you stayed but assume it was an American type chain? Most places in the EU have free WiFI these days. Not just hotels but coffee shops & regular shops. It's everywhere so you just have to put a little effort into it with data roaming off but you'll still be able to get (for free) and send text messages at a really good payg price which adds up to a lot less than $10/day.
Literally the only reason I'm with Verizon is for eSIM. But I'm seriously considering just moving over to TMO's pre-paid service that allows eSIM . And if Mint ever moves to eSIM, I'll move my primary there (it's just my 2nd line w/ them now). I've had my Three UK prepaid for many years as I travel overseas often and really don't need any data roaming from my home carrier anymore now that we have dual SIM phones.
But that's why competition is good. Everyone has different needs that can be filled with different carriers. Depends on if you prioritize ease over cost.
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Speaking of deprioritization (not throttling), it appears as if VZW removed the 5 Mbps cap for most MVNO's in late 2017.
According to bestMVNO.com:
For the longest time, Verizon MVNO's had their data speeds limited to just 5 Mbps download and 2 Mbps upload. However, back in August Tracfone owned brands became the first Verizon MVNO's to have their data speed restrictions lifted. Soon thereafter US Mobile announced new plans on the Verizon network that also lacked those speed restrictions. In December Boom Mobile proclaimed that it would start testing unthrottled data speeds.
To date, Red Pocket Mobile has not formally announced any such changes to their Verizon based network plans. However, my speed tests indicate things have clearly changed. In fact, for a few days, I even had access to VoLTE. I'm not sure if the VoLTE access was a glitch or something that Red Pocket Mobile is testing because I no longer have it.
With the changes at Red Pocket Mobile, it seems likely that Verizon has finally ended the data speed restrictions that it had in place with most, if not all of its major MVNO partners.
To date, Red Pocket Mobile has not formally announced any such changes to their Verizon based network plans. However, my speed tests indicate things have clearly changed. In fact, for a few days, I even had access to VoLTE. I'm not sure if the VoLTE access was a glitch or something that Red Pocket Mobile is testing because I no longer have it.
With the changes at Red Pocket Mobile, it seems likely that Verizon has finally ended the data speed restrictions that it had in place with most, if not all of its major MVNO partners.
plusnet is the MVNO I am really happy with. Uswitch currently has an exclusive deal at £8 per month for 4GB data (tethering is usually allowed, haven't checked on this deal), unlimited minutes and texts on a 1 month contract (keeps on at the same price, but you are not stuck with them).
My information is likely to be out of date with the others.
Yes absolutely! Here in the UK on Tesco Mobile Sim only MVNO, great value and service, but they use the O2 network which isn’t the best, but gets me by.
The main networks are a lot more money.
In fact I’m on it, my mother is, my sister and nephew and brother in law are all on Tesco Mobile. My brother in law and nephew just moved to it from Vodafone, saved them money.
I pay £13.50 a month on a very recent 12 month contract, special Black Friday price, I get 5000 text and 5000 cross network minutes and 10 gig of data. Then next year I’ll see what else they offer unless they keep the price at £13.50 when I’m out of contract.
The main networks are a lot more money.
In fact I’m on it, my mother is, my sister and nephew and brother in law are all on Tesco Mobile. My brother in law and nephew just moved to it from Vodafone, saved them money.
I pay £13.50 a month on a very recent 12 month contract, special Black Friday price, I get 5000 text and 5000 cross network minutes and 10 gig of data. Then next year I’ll see what else they offer unless they keep the price at £13.50 when I’m out of contract.
This is my experience so far with Xfinity Mobile as well. In December, I tried Verizon post paid for a month to see how well it did in my area. I cancelled the service and have also now tried Xfinity Mobile. The speeds seem to be pretty much in line with what I got with Verizon, topping out at 130Mbps at my job.
I also have VoLTE and WiFi calling.
That's ironic, given that VZW's own pre-paid psuedo-MVNO, Visible, has a 5Mbps cap.
"Visible’s service plan allows customers to download and upload at connection speeds up to a maximum of 5 mbps, which is typical based on our internal testing and testing commissioned from third-party vendors. Videos will stream at DVD-quality resolution of 480p. With respect to latency ( how much time it takes for a packet of data to get from one designated point to another) for use of real-time data applications, we expect network to device (round-trip) latency to be about 150 milliseconds."
Albeit, that's for an "unlimited" service, and better than Cricket's 3Mbps cap for their unlimited plan.
I wouldn't be surprised to see carriers ratchet down speeds regardless of plan level, eventually.
That is interesting. I’d assume it’s to “add value” or for differentiation between the prepaid and postpaid plans.
I’d venture that the average potential customer has no idea what an MVNO is, so an apples to apples comparison is less likely than one between Verizon’s own services.
The “unlimited” is also a good point.
I think I’ve narrowed it down to either IS Mobile or Net10.
I was liking RedPocket, but you can’t keep your current numbers when you move over from VZW.
Anyone have recent firsthand experience with either?
I was liking RedPocket, but you can’t keep your current numbers when you move over from VZW.
Anyone have recent firsthand experience with either?
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I use a VZW MVNO called Boom Mobile. There's no cap on speeds and I get VoLTE, HD Calling and Visual Voice Mail which is all I care about. And I get 2 gigs of data which suits my usage patterns quite well ... we all have our own respective canoes to paddle our own respective ways, but I'm on my phone for what seems to be all the time (at least in my wife's eyes) mostly for work but I've never come close to going over 2 gigs of data ... unlimited calling and texting for $29.99 a month. And they have top-rate, U.S. based customer service. And I don't have to sign anything with one of the spawns of Satan, excuse me one of the carriers. 
Ok, ladies & gents, I have concluded my investigation. Thank you all for your contributions and experiences.
The wife & I are going to switch over to Pix Wireless and get 4GB & 2GB of data with VOLTE, wifi calling, visual voicemail, etc. for $50/mo. (TOTAL out the door with taxes & fees)
Mom & dad have an iPhone and a flip phone (respectively) but currently pay VZW around $135/mo. They'll be switching to US Mobile where they'll pay $54/mo. + taxes and mom will get 5x as much data.
Attaching my spreadsheet with my findings.
Thanks again!
The wife & I are going to switch over to Pix Wireless and get 4GB & 2GB of data with VOLTE, wifi calling, visual voicemail, etc. for $50/mo. (TOTAL out the door with taxes & fees)
Mom & dad have an iPhone and a flip phone (respectively) but currently pay VZW around $135/mo. They'll be switching to US Mobile where they'll pay $54/mo. + taxes and mom will get 5x as much data.
Attaching my spreadsheet with my findings.
Thanks again!