Alternative phone services

[Hellgate]

I've been with ATT since 2000ish and in general I've been happy with the service. They cover many rural Western US areas, West Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, etc. They also make is easy, simple and reasonably priced for international calls coverage. Most other carriers don't offer that. Besides, work pays for it. The plan I'm on not longer exists and ATT CS tells me not to change it as none of their current plans come close.

[HenryA]

Yep, we were on an old plan that was pretty much great. Then bought new phone w/trade-in and that got all messed up. After a coupla of 30 minute waits to get it sorted and no joy, I am pretty sure I'm done with them.

[fiamme red]

Originally Posted by Ralph

We use Consumer Cellular also. 3 Iphones. Low prices and so easy to deal with. However....they use T mobile, not my favorite, and if you have problems, they will switch you over to AT&T service.

I had trouble with Consumer Cellular when I first joined, because T-Mobile was the carrier and there were many places in upstate NY where coverage was very poor. So they sent me an AT&T SIM card, and I've had no problems since.

[efixler]

Originally Posted by dan_hudson

I know many consider Google a bad-y but their Fi service has some nice features and pricing is attractive. If you travel overseas in particular, the pricing + level of service are pretty good. Clearly only available via Android and on a small subset of devices (mostly their Pixel line).

I have no idea who they piggyback on in the US but coverage is pretty good in far-flung areas in the lower-48 (or at least those I frequent)

I’ve been using Fi on an iPhone for years. It’s fully supported on iOS.

It’s great if you travel outside the US a lot. Otherwise it’s T-Mobile at an ok price.

[coffeecherrypie]

Originally Posted by tbarreira

Mint Mobile
$202 for 1 YEAR of 3 GB of monthly data, unlimited text/talk without the initial promos. It uses t-mobile network. I had it for 5+ years now.

I also have Mint and it’s been totally fine. I paid 240 for one year of 8 GB per month which I have yet to even approach.

[arimajol]

Originally Posted by Nath

I have used republic wireless for the last 5 or so years and been pretty happy overall. You can bring your own device, pay for the data you use, and mostly run off of WiFi to make calls.

Occasionally it will act funny or miss a call due to having a "wifi first" preference when the internet connection is poor, but overall it's been really great.

It will also save you quite a bit of money if you are not a big data user.

+1 I've been with republic for 6 or 7 years. They have a limited phone selection, which turns some people off, but I really like them.

[lookout2015]

What you’re after is an MVNO — google “best MVNO” and you can get lots of comparisons of them to pick the one which fits your needs best

Very generally speaking you can find MVNOs with better pricing and support models than the big carriers they ride on, but you’re also going to make trade-offs in what they support (models of phones may be limited, or they may not support things like eSIMs)

Where we live (somewhat rural), Verizon has far better coverage than the other national carriers so our kids are on Reach Mobile which is a Verizon MVNO. We’ve been very happy with them

My wife is still on Verizon proper because no MVNOs available in our area support number sharing between cell and watch which is a function she uses constantly because of her job.

(The only Verizon MVNO supporting number sharing that I can find is Xfinity, but we don’t live in an Xfinity market and they only sell to their existing cable customers, not to the public at large)

[Don49]

Another recommendation for Ting, a T-Mobile MVNO. I use it with Google Voice so that all my phones share the same number. I use an Obihai 1062 as a VOIP home phone also linked to GV. Monthly charges average around $15.

[merlinmurph]

US Mobile, anybody?

This thread has prompted me to look at alternatives to our Verizon plan with two phones. I was originally looking at Mint, but they use TMobile and they're weak in rural areas where we travel a lot. So, I'm looking for a Verizon MVNO and US Mobile popped up. US Mobile can actually use Verizon or TMobile.

So, any US Mobile users out there?

[slowpoke]

Technically, Visible is not a VZW MVNO, but they offer some competitive plans, especially their group "party pay" options.

[DRZRM]

This is very interesting. I switched the family to Verizon when we moved to central PA, because of their coverage, and have been happy. But I see I can save a lot with US Mobile using Verizon towers. Sounds like a win.

We are Xfinity wifi customers, can anyone advise if their coverage and cost would be comparable to US Mobile? I believe they also use Verizon towers, correct?

Thanks.

[jmvernon]

The only thing you have to consider with MVNO is network congestion. The big carriers will prioritized their customers and their data over their MVNO partners. If the network becomes too congested your data will be throttled.

Depending on where you live and the coverage this may not affect you but if you live in an urban area with a lot of network congestion your network speed can seriously be impacted.

[jmvernon]

Originally Posted by DRZRM

We are Xfinity wifi customers, can anyone advise if their coverage and cost would be comparable to US Mobile? I believe they also use Verizon towers, correct?

Thanks.

I am not familiar with US Mobile to provide info on coverage or cost.

Yes, Xfinity uses Verizon towers. One thing to realize with Xfinity is they mainly rely on their WiFi network and when a WiFi network isn't available then it default back to use Verizon's cellular towers. It is an interesting concept and I don't have any experience using it.

[jlwdm]

The first question is the best service in areas where you use your phone. I live in an area where AT&T sucks and Verizon is great.

I have used Verizon for a long time and have had great coverage, ease of use in Europe and excellent customer service.

No complaints.

Jeff