i use mint mobile its super cheap
I use Ting and I have the 5gb data plan so I pay $25 plus tax a month.
I have been using Boost Mobile since 2012. For $50 a month, I get unlimited talk and text and data of 35GB. They have lower prices too but less 35GB. They were bought out by DISH. I get good coverage.
I was a trackfone purist for years and years.
Looking for some thing w good coverage coast to coast Feel folks who travel know best which works/gives service wherever u r (may be not in the stix)
Hi there
Considering changing ,service' providers/carriers
Looking for some thing w good coverage coast to coast Feel folks who travel know best which works/gives service wherever u r (may be not in the stix)
Looking for suggestions/folks experience:
What y'all use?
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No offense, but tracphone has always been one of the worst options in the market. Very expensive, very few talking minutes, ridiculous data limits. Not sure if that's changed since they got bought out, but their reputation is so poor that I'm not even going to bother googling their latest prices.
No offense taken at all. Per minute or text or gb of data used you are paying a lot for tracfone. When I started using the system I was grandfathered in on a few things. They used to sell a (doubling) or (tripling) card that once applied would double or tipple any future cards loaded onto the account. That plus almost never using my phone. And I was spending less then 100 dollars a year on it for years. So for me. At the time. It worked out well. The whole platform has drastically changed over the last 5 years to the point were what limited value was there to start just isn't there any more. It is sad. I valued it as a "pay for use" model as opposed to a "subscription" model. Unfortunately most things are moving to a subscription over ownership model these days. But ill rant about that another time.
I use Ting and I have the 5gb data plan so I pay $25 plus tax a month. If you want a referral code I can get you one. The only issue with them is they're an online only retailer so you'll need an address to get the SIM card at
Edit: also they piggy back off of TMobile, they buy wholesale data, text and call time from them and resell it for dirt cheap.
I use Verizon because of great coverage across the country. I get a signal in the middle of nowhere. Cheap plan$30 a month and no contract. Unlimited talk and text and 20 gigabytes of data.
Visible seems to be the best deal I've come across too.
Hands down, Verizon towers have the best coverage in the continental US.
I'm lazy and still haven't changed my service. Been on the same StraightTalk $45 plan since like 2018.
I don't know if I'm grandfathered in, but I have unlimited text, talk, and data.
Plus, I think I have a 12gb hot spot allotment. I use pdanet+ to hotspot my other stuff, so don't quote me.
Ya, Mint is good. Its been recommended to me by a few people.
I have been using Boost Mobile since 2012. For $50 a month, I get unlimited talk and text and data of 35GB. They have lower prices too but less 35GB. They were bought out by DISH. I get good coverage.
The two best options out there are mint mobile and visible. Visible runs on the Verizon network, and mint mobile runs on T-Mobile.
Mint Mobile is cheaper the more time you pay for, so if you pay for a year in advance, it's $360 or $30/mo for their 'unlimited' data plan.
Visible costs $30-45, depending on your needs. If you don't need international calling or roaming in Mexico/Canada, just stick to the $30 plan.
On a side note, EVERY carrier says 'unlimited data' and this is a bald face fucking lie. There is ALWAYS a data limit. The reason they can say 'unlimited' is that they 'throttle' your internet speeds down after a certain amount of data. The thing is they throttle it down so far, it's basically at dial-up speeds, making it completely unusable.
Mint Mobile's highest 'unlimited' plan cuts you off after 35gb of data, which is more than what most people will use and is the best deal out there other than...
Visible, which has 'theoretically' truly unlimited data, although even their small print says there is no data limit, some people say they start jerking your connection around after 40-60gb. I've been using visible for years and have only had issues in the most remote places and have done as much as 40-50gb in a month without problems.
The 'catch' with Visible is that they will 'de-prioritize' you for full-price paying Verizon customers if there's too many people connected to the same cell tower. This is essentially the same as 'throttling' but works slightly different on a technical level. I've only experienced this de-prioritization (very rarely) in very busy cities. If you're traveling in the USA, it almost never occurs.
Both carriers will let you bring your own phone if that phone is unlocked, or was previously activated on their carrier (i.e. an old T-Mobile phone on mint mobile, or an old Verizon phone on Visible) but Visible is much stricter on what kinds of phones will 'work' on their network. Unfortunately, this is mostly bullshit, as they just want you to use a newer phone or buy one from their store. You can get around this though by submitting a fake IMEI number when signing up, but that's a discussion for another time.
Ting is no longer a good choice due to the options that Mint Mobile and Visible have been offering for years now. You can get more data/better service for much less money.
Boost has always run on the Sprint network, which was bought out by T-Mobile a few years back. You're better off going with Mint Mobile if you want to stay on that network, you'll save yourself up to $20/mo.
No offense, but tracphone has always been one of the worst options in the market. Very expensive, very few talking minutes, ridiculous data limits. Not sure if that's changed since they got bought out, but their reputation is so poor that I'm not even going to bother googling their latest prices.
I've tested Visible in just about every part of the country and only had a major dead zone in eastern Utah on the South Wyoming border. So if you want most coverage, they got it. I have to say though, I've used Mint Mobile for years as well, and they're a very close 2nd in terms of coverage.
I think it's worth noting that Verizon/Visible in the past has pretty much given law enforcement unlimited access to their phone databases without a warrant. This means they can look up a record of where you've been and when and who you called/text at any time. They literally had a portal set up for law enforcement to log in whenever they want. I recall this being in the news many years ago, but I can't seem to find a reference article other than this one:
Which just lays out what information which companies save and for how long. I also found a page on Verizon's site stating they don't give that information out without a warrant, so maybe they changed gears on this, but it's something to consider.
Anyway, hope that helps!
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