I haven’t paid “full worth” for a cellular telephone plan for many years, however that doesn’t imply there haven’t been any trade-offs. Cell Digital Community Operators (MVNOs) purchase community capability in bulk from main carriers (MNOs like T-Cell, Verizon, AT&T) and resell them to particular person clients. For some time, the principle trade-off for going with an MVNO (which buys bulk minutes and knowledge from the foremost carriers) was barely worse mobile protection attributable to a scarcity of roaming agreements with different carriers. If you happen to had been on a AT&T MVNO, you may solely use AT&T cell towers.
Nowadays, the first catch is knowledge de-prioritization. To handle the demand, there are completely different High quality of Service Class Identifiers (QCI ranges) which have completely different priorities on the community. In areas the place there are lots of people, particularly issues like live shows and sporting occasions, there may be a number of demand and people not on the entrance of the road will discover sluggish or no knowledge.
This r/NoContract Reddit put up gives a wonderful assortment of the information prioritization insurance policies of the foremost carriers. It’s nonetheless lots, so I’ve tried to summarize every part beneath as a lot as potential.
For Verizon, QCI 8 is the very best precedence degree for customers. Consists of:
- All Verizon Postpaid “Conventional” plans (besides “Welcome”).
- Seen+ and Seen+ Professional (owned by Verizon).
- Whole Wi-fi’ Whole 5G Limitless and Whole 5G+ Limitless (owned by Verizon).
- Xfinity Cell and Spectrum Cell (owned by cable firms).
- US Cell Limitless Premium “Warp” (*for 5G w/ Premium Solely)
QCI 9 is a step decrease, the bottom tier. Consists of:
- Verizon’s Limitless Welcome plan (their most elementary plan)
- Seen Base plan
- US Cell Limitless Starter “Warp” and different Warp plans.
- All different Verizon pay as you go MVNOs.
For AT&T, QCI 7 is the very best precedence degree for customers. Consists of:
- Choose AT&T Plans with particular “Turbo” knowledge.
QCI 8 is a step decrease, however nonetheless thought of greater precedence. Consists of:
- Choose AT&T Plans with “Further/Premium/Max” knowledge.
- Cricket Supreme Limitless, Cricket Wise 10GB plans (*owned by AT&T)
- H2o, Shopper Mobile, and PureTalk MVNOs.
- US Cell Limitless Premium “Darkish Star” (*Premium Solely)
QCI 6 is one other step decrease, the bottom tier. Consists of:
- AT&T base Limitless plans for each AT&T postpaid and AT&T Pay as you go.
- All different AT&T plans as soon as the “Turbo/Premium” knowledge is used up.
- Cricket Choose Limitless, Cricket Sensible Limitless plans (*owned by AT&T)
- US Cell Limitless Starter “Darkish Star” and different Darkish Star plans.
- All different AT&T pay as you go MVNOs.
For T-Cell, QCI 6 is the very best precedence degree for customers. Consists of:
- All T-Cell Postpaid and Pay as you go plans (besides “Necessities”)
- Google Fi
QCI 7 is a step decrease, the bottom tier. Consists of:
- T-Cell Necessities plans (their most elementary plan)
- All different T-Cell pay as you go MVNOs, together with Metro and Mint Cell (each owned by T-Cell).
Lengthy-time readers will know that I used to be with Mint Cell for a very long time. I didn’t want a lot knowledge again then. However annually, I felt the low precedence of Mint Cell knowledge grew to become increasingly more noticeable. Wherever crowded, even an airport, and issues would decelerate considerably. Oftentimes, I mainly had no knowledge in any respect, which was very irritating when simply making an attempt to name up an Uber. T-Cell sells a number of knowledge to MVNOs, so maybe that’s one more reason. I first tried to leap ship to Seen, however they tousled my quantity port so badly that I couldn’t get 2FA verification codes for days so I shortly switched again to Mint Cell.
Late final yr, after a optimistic expertise with US Cell’s customer support involving their Apple Watch plans, I made a decision to modify to US Cell’s Limitless Premium plan which provides “Precedence Information” on their Warp (Verizon) and Darkish Star (AT&T) plans. They run a number of promotions (usually extending them again and again) however I jumped on the Warp plan with Limitless Premium as a result of it additionally included a free Apple Watch mobile plan. I’m paying a bit greater than I used to with Mint Cell, however I’ve undoubtedly observed the development in knowledge high quality. My quantity port was almost prompt. With their Limitless Premium plan, I may even change between networks without cost if one place has higher protection, permitting me entry to AT&T and T-Cell towers.
I’m proud of US Cell as I now have excessive knowledge speeds, multi-network protection, affordable price, and first rate customer support.
The present US Winter Cellphone Deal is on Darkish Star (AT&T). Limitless Starter for $119/yr pay as you go upfront ($9.92/mo) for the primary yr (common knowledge precedence) with promo code WINTER119 and Limitless Premium for $149/yr pay as you go upfront ($12.42/mo) for the primary yr (which provides greater knowledge precedence and different perks) with promo code WINTER149. Port-in required. Begins 1/28 at 11am ET via 1/31.
You may stack the present promo with my referral hyperlink to get an extra $25 off:
To qualify for the $25 referral bonus, you could keep energetic paid service in good standing for six months, port in a brand new line, and spend a complete of $100 on Limitless, By the Gig, or Smartwatch plans — Different plans, top-ups, units, add-ons, roaming, and sure promotions (listed at usmobile.com/promo-archive) are excluded. Annual plans can be prorated month-to-month (e.g. $228 equals $114 after 6 months).
If you need a deal on Verizon (Warp), I’d simply wait round for a bit. Nonetheless, it in all probability received’t ever be as low-cost as this Darkish Star (AT&T) deal. I paid $299 for a yr of Limitless Premium (contains Precedence Information and Apple Watch mobile plan) throughout a earlier sale. Full worth at renewal can be $390/yr ($32.50/month), which remains to be less expensive than any conventional main provider plan after you add taxes/charges and $10/month for the Apple Watch add-on.