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Cell phone providers. Not the big 3.

MattMan81

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Joined
Jan 13, 2020
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The Mitten
Can anyone give a review to either way to these smaller companies pooping up? mint mobile, Patriot, or few others. (Can't bring politics up) but considering supporting something like patriot.
Who has switched over and what was the result. Currently running the Big V company.
 
Or internet. We don't have cable but only have AT&T or Comcast available to us for Internet. We switched to Comcast a few years ago. They have a mobile wing called xfinity mobile. We run under 20 dollars a month for 4 lines unlimited talk and text, $12 for a GigaByte of data used. We are almost always on wifi at home or work so I only turn on my data if I really need it. I don't think I have ever gone over 1 GB in a month. Of course, if you watch a lot of videos from the woods, that might not work out for you. They do have some unlimited plans as well.

Man, I hate feeling like a salesperson :frowning:
 
Or internet. We don't have cable but only have AT&T or Comcast available to us for Internet. We switched to Comcast a few years ago. They have a mobile wing called xfinity mobile. We run under 20 dollars a month for 4 lines unlimited talk and text, $12 for a GigaByte of data used. We are almost always on wifi at home or work so I only turn on my data if I really need it. I don't think I have ever gone over 1 GB in a month. Of course, if you watch a lot of videos from the woods, that might not work out for you. They do have some unlimited plans as well.

Man, I hate feeling like a salesperson :frowning:
I have a jet pack for internet. I live just outside the world good internet. And I'm good with it.
 
There are detailed maps (down to counties) of what each carrier covers. I dabbled a few years ago and ended up going back to the Big V. One of the places I hunt I couldn't even send a text on a smaller company, with "V" I could carry on a full phone conversation on "V". I live and hunt in VA if that helps. Good luck.
 
Most of those run on one of the major carriers or are even owned by them. I use Cricket that is essentially AT&T. We pay a flat $70 for two phones and like 10GB of data. Mint Mobile is T-Mobile and Patriot is Sprint I believe, which I think is also T-Mobile now. Depends on how their coverage area looks for you. If you live in the sticks T-Mobile probably won’t have great service. Consumer Cellular is a decent option, even though their target demographic is the AARP group. It runs on AT&T.
 
Cricket runs on the AT&T network. They've been ok by me.

Good place to research this kind of thing is reddit. Cricket and Mint have dedicated subforums where customers share all their various issues.
 
I've been using Straight Talk for over a decade. It runs on At&T network although I think T mobile is also a choice. $35/month for 10 GB of high speed data, unlimited 2G data. I have no complaints.
 
I put my teens on Tello when they got their first phones starting high school. It's been a few years, but the current plans are $19/mo for unlimited texts & voice calls, includes 5gb/month of data. When they exceed the 5gb of data in a month their data service keeps working but is throttled back to 2G speeds. Wifi connectivity doesn't count against data, and if they're mostly at home or school, then the only times they ever hit their data "cap" is if we're on vacation, and I can just PayGo a one-off increase in data for that month.
Tello was Sprint, now is T-mobile's network, which is not a problem where we live/work/school/hunt.
 
I switched from AT&T to consumer cellular. Also got rid of direct tv. Saved like $130/month.
 
We switched to Cricket a few years back, we pay $80 a month for unlimited data on 2 lines. Service is essentially AT&T, there hasn't been a noticeable difference for me.
 
I’ve run straight talk for about a decade as well. They run on AT&T T-Mobile or Verizon. I run a Verizon model but I have to go to the next town over to get it. They don’t carry Verizon phones at my local Walmart even though that’s the best coverage here. T Mobile they carry but their coverage here is terrible.
 
Can anyone give a review to either way to these smaller companies pooping up? mint mobile, Patriot, or few others. (Can't bring politics up) but considering supporting something like patriot.
Who has switched over and what was the result. Currently running the Big V company.
Just FYI any small phone company you find will still be using one of the big companies Satellites/towers for their phones. Not sure if that changes your mind.
 
Mint for last 2 years. $15 per line with 4 GB of data. We've saved thousands the past 2 years. Only complaint is not great service once you get out in the boonies.
 
Another for cricket. We have had a five line plan for years with them. It's around $120 a month for unlimited data on all. Two of my grown children still are on our deal, happily paying $30 a month for their lines. My wife uses the 5th for a tablet. Service can definitely get spotty in the forest where we live.
 
Didn’t see it mentioned here but Visible is awesome. Seems little known and it has 99% the same coverage as Verizon. In fact I’m pretty sure it’s owned by Verizon.

You can get your bill down to $25/month if you get at least 4 people in you “group” as they call it. Doesn’t have to be friends or family. Can be anyone.

Unlimited talk text and data for $25/month with essentially the same coverage as Verizon is hard to beat IMO.

You can get a phone through them or use your existing phone.

Couple drawbacks I experienced was that it was difficult to transfer the existing number for everyone I had convert with me and in fact my number ended up not working at all so I was forced to get a new one through them. It ended up being fine in the end but still that would probably upset some people. Also their customer service is good but the only way you can get help is through the chat function within their app. There’s no possible way to call or email for help.

But for the money and the cell service, I think the service is awesome. It’s totally smooth sailing once you’re set up. And your mileage may vary when setting up and may not have the same issues I had.


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Can anyone give a review to either way to these smaller companies pooping up? mint mobile, Patriot, or few others. (Can't bring politics up) but considering supporting something like patriot.
Who has switched over and what was the result. Currently running the Big V company.
I switched to Cricket a few years back. Two phones, unlimited talk, text, data and has a few G's of mobile hot spot for $90.00. Runs off AT&T towers also owned by AT&T. I get great service anywhere AT&T does. I do notice that the data speed isn't as fast as AT&T but that doesn't effect me. I think with any smaller cell provider you will throttled down in speed when they are using the big boys towers.
 
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